It's Out: ISI Books releases Senator Rick Santorum's first book, "It Takes a Family"

ISI Books just released "It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good," by Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA). It's Santorum's first book and it is in opposition to Hillary Clinton's 1996 title, "It Takes a Village."

I'll have more to say on this book later, as I'm in the middle of reading it. But, so far I like it. I think it will help bring readers of popular conservativism and politics into the intellectual conservatism fold. We'll see. I pretty much agree with Rick Santorum on almost everything. He's a solid Catholic politician who clearly puts principles above politics (except for that Arlen Specter gaff last year where he supported longtime Republican RINO Specter over the more conservative Pat Toomey for the Senate primary race in PA). But, on his own agenda, Santorum is solid as a rock. This book explains the intellectual philosophy behind his public policy initiatives.

So far, my favorite quote is on page 4: "Liberalism is an ideology; conservatism is common sense." Also, he quotes Russell Kirk on page 7 as he claims in Kirk's vision, that conservatives are "stewards of a patrimony." We are caretakers of a "precious inheritance" and that inheritance is the American founding.

The Demise of Ann Coulter ... among conservatives

This should be it. She's lost credit with a lot of people, including yours truly. In a day that conservatives are celebrating and congratulating Bush on - for picking a strict constructionist, a pro-lifer, and (for me) a Catholic, Ann Coulter just doesn't think this is good enough.

My guess? She'll do anything for attention ... whether it is wearing short skirts (yea, tell me THAT exemplifies conservatism), saying outrageous comments, or simply getting herself on the Drudge Report as the "Fight From the Right" over Bush's nominee.

It's no wonder students shell out over $25,000 an hour to hear her speak on their campus. She gets attention, and that seems to be what most conservative students crave on Leftist-dominated college campuses. And if attention is what they want, they should keep shelling out the cash.

As for this conservative, I consider Coulter a passing fad. An attention-getter that is fried, cooked, and overdone. NEXXXXTTTTT!!!!

It's John G. Roberts, Jr.!

Aww yea. Bush came through. Bush came through. I can't say it enough. I was nervous he was going to go moderate on this one, but with this nominee, he has now "tilted" the court in the "right" direction. Bush has just "won back" his base, if he ever really lost it.

Judge Roberts is on record as saying, 'No support in the text, structure or history of the Constitution' for legal reasoning in Roe vs Wade... and 'We continue to believe that Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided and should be overruled'...

3 cheers for Roberts! 3 cheers for President George W. Bush! And, the next best part? Roberts is only 50 years old. He could influence a generation or more.

THEY DIED FOR ALLAH

Here they are... marching to their death... the 4 London bombers who killed themselves and at least 48 other people. A terrorist act, all in the name of Allah. There's more of them out there and there's no time to waste.

The Enemy is Among Us

They're here. Check out this report from ABC NEWS.

The London bombers have ties to the United States, reports ABC News. "One of the bombers in last week's attacks made a direct phone call to a suspected recruiter for an extremist group in New York. Authorities told ABC News that records show Mohammed Sidique Khan, the eldest of the bombers now believed to be the field commander of the attacks, had called a person who is associated with the Islamic Center, a mosque in Queens, N.Y. Yet, a member of that mosque claimed they had no knowledge of the phone call."

Of course they didn't. But someone there must have.

M.J. Gohel, a terrorism analyst at the Asia-Pacific Foundation put it best, "Whilst we are watching the ports and the airports trying to prevent people from coming in, al Qaeda and its global jihadi friends are a step ahead. They have already penetrated into the West and are recruiting Western born Muslims to join terrorism."

The time to end political correctness must be over now. It's do or die.

David Brooks Endorses McConnell

In the NYT today, David Brooks told Bush to "pick a genius" and gave an argument for Senator Mitch McConnell from Kentucky.

Brooks reminds the President that "this is a Supreme Court pick, not a programming choice. Nobody will care about superficial first impressions or identity politics tokenism a few years from now. What will matter in decades to come is whether you picked a philosophical powerhouse ... If you can find a philosophical powerhouse who is also a member of a minority or a woman (like, say, Mary Ann Glendon), so much the better, but picking a powerhouse matters most."

He tells Bush, "Look, for example, at how Michael McConnell, who is often mentioned as a possible Supreme Court nominee, has already influenced American life through sheer force of intellect. First as a professor and now as a judge, McConnell has outargued those who would wall off religion from public life. He's a case study of the sort of forceful advocate of ideas you have a chance to leave the country as your legacy."

McConnell is a great pick. I can't see Democrats filibustering a colleague who is a reasonable member of the Senate. I second David Brooks. The question is, does the President?

McCain's Strong Words on Supreme Court Nominee

When asked about who he thought Bush should appoint to the Supreme Court, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) stated, "During the campaign, President Bush said he will appoint judges who will strictly interpret the constitution... thinking anything else is either amnesia or ignorance... elections have consequences... whomever he nominates deserves an up or down vote and no filibuster... and an up or down vote is what we will have..."

Where are my liberal friends now? Isn't McCain the moderate voice in the Senate? Even he is telling Bush that Alberto Gonzales wouldn't fit the bill. Bush needs to keep his campaign promises and deliver the Supreme Court nominees that the people that voted for him would want him to appoint. "Anything else is either amnesia or ignorance."

A Religion of "Peace"

We need to do some serious investigating and perhaps undercover espionage in Islamic mosques. I'm sure most of the people in most of these places are never going to develop into terrorists, but apparently some will.

Profiles of the terrorists that killed scores of human beings in London last week are now emerging. It appears they were suicide bombers, as young as 19. One is said to have grown up in London and even enjoyed playing cricket - apparently he played it the same week he killed himself in a targeted explosion in London's transit system.

Here's some more details on the London "bombers"
(as the BBC won't use the word "terrorists")

When we ask the question: what is the root of terrorism? We should be answering: hatred. In today's context, it is a hatred fostered by Islamic extremism. We may even dare to go further and look at the history of Islam, a so-called "peaceful" religion. If this is "peaceful", I'd hate to see militant.

Victor Davis Hanson quotes

I have to thank Jonathan Browher from Bates College for passing this site on to me, it contains "The Best Victor Davis Hanson Quotes of 2004".

Here's my favorite: "Hitler, like bin Laden and his epigones, was the problem, not us. The only difference is that our grandparents knew that and we don't."

The Case for Justice Wilkinson

George Will nominates... J. Harvie Wilkinson III to fill Sandra Day O'Connor's empty seat.

Read what he has to say: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/08/AR2005070801689.html

What Makes a University "Great"?

In a piece I found on the Ethics and Public Policy Center's website, George Weigel argues that "A university that measures its "greatness" by application numbers and endowment rather than by the character of its graduates is a school with a decidedly secular notion of greatness. "

Read more here: http://www.eppc.org/publications/pubID.2381/pub_detail.asp

Heroic Stories from Afghanistan

I found this column via Drudge today. The story is worth the read: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-524-1688012,00.html

Even as we live our lives over here, we should not lose sight of what our military heroes are doing for us "over there." Our thoughts and prayers are with them, as they hunt down the enemy. As this story suggests, there are ongoing covert military missions going on that we may never know about - all in search of those "high value" targets. Let's pray some good news comes home soon.

We Are All British Today

We all felt it. The bombs that burst through buses and subway cars in London earlier today. We weren't there, we weren't one of the 37 dead (and rising). Nor were we one of the 700 plus injured in the deadly attacks carried out, most likely, by Al-Qaeda.

All the way across the Atlantic, we were glued to our television sets, to websites, and the radio. BLINDSIGHTED. It has been almost four years since America was attacked by Islamic radicals who are carrying their hatred against America and all of Western Civilization. It has been about 15 months since Al-Qaeda struck several trains in Madrid, killing over 300 there. It was reported that today's attacks in London were purportedly supposed to do "even more damage" than was done.

But, we got the message. The terrorists are not only still out there, but there target is not simply America. In fact, they coordinated their attacks on the same day as the G-8 Summit was meeting only hours away in another part of the UK, Scotland. The G-8 is where the top 8 industrialized countries come together, not to decide how to exert power over the rest of the world, but instead how to be more compassionate, by lending aid, reducing pollution, and uplifting the Third World. Al-Qaeda obviously doesn't care about Westerners compassion. They only see the idea of a free society as contrary to their own ideas for how the world should be run. And, they'll go to all ends to kill each and every one of us that decides in favor of freedom. Al-Qaeda, we got the message, and today... we are all British, we are all Americans, we are all a part of Western Civilization, and we will all kick your ass until you get the message.

In the immortal words of Tony Blair, "It is through terrorism that the people that have committed these terrible acts express their values and it is right at this moment that we demonstrate ours." He continued, “by our spirit and dignity ... our values will long outlast theirs."

"The purpose of terrorism is just that," said Blair, "It is to terrorize people and we will not be terrorized.”

This is definitely the way we all feel towards the terrorists. This cover says it all, "Bastards." It could also read "Cowards." 

GREATEST AMERICAN: Ronald Reagan is the people's choice. 

Ronald Reagan voted "Greatest American"

This past week, Ronald Reagan was announced as THE "Greatest American." Over 3 million viewers of the Discovery Channel voted in the "Greatest American" contest, and Ronald Wilson Reagan came out ahead. The top 5 was rounded out by Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., George Washington, and Benjamin Franklin.

You can check out the top 25 and other fun facts here.

For my input, I've always considered Reagan my favorite President. However, I always remind people, that when asking me "who is your favorite President?", I always work under the assumption that the person asking that question really means "who is your favorite President after George Washington?" Washington was clearly the best of them all. He set the precedent, not just for the United States, but for any nation engaged in the experiment with democracy. So, after Washington, Reagan is my favorite.

July 4, 1776: Greatest Day Ever?

I wanted to pose this as a question to all my viewing audience, whoever that may be. Do you think that July 4, 1776 is the greatest day ever? How about the greatest day ever in the history of "freedom"?

Personally, the greatest day ever to me is the birth of Christ, as it not only brought our Savior into the world, but also was the birth of Western Civilization as we know it. However, historically, we do not know the ACTUAL day Jesus arrived into the world, even though we can guess which year within a solid decade.

Let's not lose the focus here. How important is the date: July 4, 1776? Where would YOU rank it in history?

VENUS IS BACK: Venus Williams jumps for joy after winning her third Wimbledon title. There had been a long drought in her winning a tournament, particularly a Grand Slam... the last time Venus won Wimbledon was in 2000 and 2001. This year, Venus beat Lindsey Davenport 9-7 in the third set of an All-American women's final. It was the longest ever women's match (by duration) in a Wimbledon final. Way to go Venus! Glad to have you back!  

The Obstructionists

Democrats, or rather, let's call them Obstructionists, will probably go to all lengths to block ANY nominee President Bush appoints to the Supreme Court, as they have done with many of his other nominations.

Check out this television ad for some much needed humor for the battle all sides are getting ready to fight over the next nomineed. It's great.

Sandra Day O'Connor retiring!

Alleluia! There is a God, too bad he can't post His commandments INSIDE the Supreme Court. But, He works in other divine ways, as we can see. Sandra Day O'Connor, has announced her retirement from the Supreme Court.

Here's the story out today: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/01/AR2005070100650_pf.html

"O'Connor, 75, said she expects to leave before the start of the court's next term in October, or whenever the Senate confirms her successor. There was no immediate word from the White House on who might be nominated to replace O'Connor."

The only word I want from the WHITE HOUSE is, "We're appointing someone who has a VERY STRICT interpretation of the Constitution." No more O'Connor's please. Thanks for your service Sandra Day, we appreciate that you at least sided on the (dissenting) side of property owners in last week's destructive ruling to property rights.