Understandably so. 

When asked how they feel about President-elect Barack Obama as commander in chief, six out of 10 active-duty service members say they are uncertain or pessimistic, according to a Military Times survey.

In follow-up interviews, respondents expressed concerns about Obama’s lack of military service and experience leading men and women in uniform.

“Being that the Marine Corps can be sent anywhere in the world with the snap of his fingers, nobody has confidence in this guy as commander in chief,” said one lance corporal who asked not to be identified.

For eight years, members of the U.S. military have served under a Republican commander in chief who reflected their generally conservative views and led them to war in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Now, the troops face change not only at the very top of the chain of command, as Obama nears his Jan. 20 inauguration, but perhaps in mission, policy and values.

Sadly. we are going to learn the hard way that Obama has as much business being commander-in-chief as I have flying a rocket to Mars.

In Tennessee, at least:

On Election Night, voters spoke loudly with the echoes reverberating still today. In Tennessee, John McCain carried the state with 57% of the vote, Senator Lamar Alexander was re-elected with 65%, and fourteen new Republican legislators were elected yielding a Republican Majority in the General Assembly for the first time since 1868.

Voters elected legislators that carried the same values and principles that are held by average citizen in these districts. Those values and principles are pretty simple.

* Taxes and spending: The government should live within its means and oppose higher tax bills to fund a bloated budget; the voters know government needs to cut spending.

* Gun Rights: Voters want commonsense carry laws making it easier for them to protect themselves and their families.

* Local economies: Families in their community know that improvements are needed by investing in transportation and education infrastructure to support existing jobs and recruit new businesses. They are tired of the powerbrokers in Nashville increasing entitlement programs instead.

Candidates, who displayed the courage to challenge Democrat incumbents and in open seats were solid, qualified individuals. They were not just “known” in their communities. They are people that truly represent the values of their communities.

We believe this is what our founders intended with citizen legislators. The hard work and time commitment that is necessary to run campaigns are a good test of how hard each legislator will work for his or her district. The people of these districts will be well represented by their new representative’s principled leadership.

But it should be noted that Alexander out performed McCain by 8 percentage points – and had McCain jazzed up GOPers as much as he should have, we might have had a different result nationally.

The Tennessee GOP showed how its done – in an anti-GOP year with arguably the most unpopular GOPer ever in the White House, the Tennessee GOP clobbered the Tennessee Democrats. We have to get back to our roots, and back to the people – the left talks a great game about being for the people, but what they are really for is themselves…and for too long now, too many GOPers have aped this attitude, and now we’ve paid the price for it, and very deservedly.

It will be a long, hard road back to national power and it may even take a decade or two to complete (though I do think we have bright prospects for 2010), but it is a road we must travel for the sake of the nation. Liberalism, that dead dog of the past, will have its day – and it’ll be our job to ensure that it is the very last day liberalism ever has.

Yeah, right. This from Antioch, California which is in Contra Costa County (Obama 68%, McCain 30%):

As more and more black renters began moving into this mostly white San Francisco Bay Area suburb a few years ago, neighbors started complaining about loud parties, mean pit bulls, blaring car radios, prostitution, drug dealing and muggings of schoolchildren.

In 2006, as the influx reached its peak, the police department formed a special crime-fighting unit to deal with the complaints, and authorities began cracking down on tenants in federally subsidized housing.

Now that police unit is the focus of lawsuits by black families who allege the city of 100,000 is orchestrating a campaign to drive them out.

“A lot of people are moving out here looking for a better place to live,” said Karen Coleman, a mother of three who came here five years ago from a blighted neighborhood in nearby Pittsburg. “We are trying to raise our kids like everyone else. But they don’t want us here.”

City officials deny the allegations in the lawsuits, which were filed last spring and seek unspecified damages.

Across the country, similar tensions have simmered when federally subsidized renters escaped run-down housing projects and violent neighborhoods by moving to nicer communities in suburban Washington, Chicago and Los Angeles.

As a rather idle set of questions, I wonder for our white liberals here on Blogs for Victory, just when was the last time you got a hug from a black person? For me, it was a bit more than 12 hours ago, as I write this. When was the last time you lauded – by name because you’ve known her for years and watched her struggle – a hispanic, single mother as the ideal of what an American can do when determined to work hard? When was the last time you shot the breeze with someone who didn’t look like you? Attended a religious service where more than half the congregation was non-white? Gave a ride to a black person who just came up and asked for a ride? Had a gay guy hit on you and just passed it off as if nothing had happened? Called a black wino “brother” as you handed him a fiver? Worked for a black man? Worked for a black woman? Worked with openly gay people and didn’t give a twopenny damn about it? Was the only white person at a party? Was given a lift by a black gangster when your car was broke down at 1am in the middle of the most African-American community in your locality? Have mixed race relatives? Have friends who have mixed race grandchildren? Compared photos of your own grandchildren with those of your black friend, who’s grandchildren are from a mixed-race marriage?

Just wondering – wondering, that is, if there is really anything other than words and attitude in your views on race in America?

Showing just how wicked they are:

Today (Wednesday, December 31 2008), 12 Palestinians entered Israel for medical treatment in Israeli hospitals. Two of those evacuated were children injured during the military activates, the remaining are chronically sick people, and their escorts, that entered Israel for treatment that is not available within the Gaza Strip.

Further more, despite ongoing rocket fire, Israel continues with the extensive humanitarian effort in coordination with the international organizations, Palestinian Authority and various donors. Ninety three trucks, with approximately 2500 tons of humanitarian aid, medical supplies and medication were conveyed through Kerem Shalom cargo terminal. The World Food Programme has informed Israel that they will not be resuming shipment of food commodities in to Gaza due to the fact that their warehouses are at full capacity and will last for approximately two weeks.

Since the beginning of operation “Cast Lead” some 6500 tons of aid have been transferred at the request of the international organizations, the Palestinian Authority and various governments. Preparations are underway to facilitate further shipments expected to arrive in the coming days.

Yep, we really need to stop those darn Israelis – next thing you know, they might try to foster genuine democracy in Gaza and start giving the Palestinian people hope for a better future. Can’t have any of that!

A bit of poetry:

SONNET #12

by: William Shakespeare

WHEN I do count the clock that tells the time

And see the brave day sunk in hideous night,

When I behold the violet past prime

And sable curls all silvered o’er with white,

When lofty trees I see barren of leaves,

Which erst from heat did canopy the herd,

And summer’s green all girded up in sheaves

Borne on the bier with white and bristly beard;

Then of thy beauty do I question make

That thou among the wastes of time must go,

Since sweets and beauties do themselves forsake

And die as fast as they see others grow;

And nothing ‘gainst Time’s scythe can make defense

Save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence

A joke:

I object to all this sex on the television. I mean I keep falling off.

And a wish:

In the New Year, may your right hand always be stretched out in friendship, never in want.

Governor Blagojevich – indicted, but not convicted and under American usage innocent until proven guilty – has made his selection to fill President-Elect Obama’s seat. Roland Burris, from what I can quickly gather about him, seems a rather uninteresting, Democratic political wheel horse. Probably a decent man and certainly someone who can at least represent Illinois in the Senate in rough accord with the expressed will of the Illinois electorate. But Blagojevich is toxic to Democrats – you see, he risks Democrats in power…there’s a chance a GOPer might even win the Illinois governorship and Obama’s Senate seat in 2010, and that is something which cannot be tolerated. And so, Senate Majority Leader Reid has come out against seating Blagojevich’s choice:

In what is shaping up to be an unprecedented political row, disgraced Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich of Illinois has named former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to replace Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate.

The problem is that the chances of Mr. Burris — a well respected, squeaky clean, more than qualified African-American — ever taking his seat in the Senate chamber are not very good. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid released a statement regarding the Burris appointment where he flatly rejects the idea of seating anyone chosen by the current Illinois governor, who is accused of trying to sell the Senate seat to the highest bidder:

It is truly regrettable that despite requests from all 50 Democratic Senators and public officials throughout Illinois, Gov. Blagojevich would take the imprudent step of appointing someone to the United States Senate who would serve under a shadow and be plagued by questions of impropriety. We say this without prejudice toward Roland Burris’s ability, and we respect his years of public service. But this is not about Mr. Burris; it is about the integrity of a governor accused of attempting to sell this United States Senate seat. Under these circumstances, anyone appointed by Gov. Blagojevich cannot be an effective representative of the people of Illinois and, as we have said, will not be seated by the Democratic Caucus.

The statement also called on Blagojevich to “put the interests of the people of Illinois and all Americans first by stepping aside now and letting his successor appoint someone who we will seat.” The statement was endorsed by Illinois’ senior senator, Dick Durbin, who has been calling for a special election to fill the vacancy — something many local Democrats wish to avoid due to the possibility that a Republican might win.

The Constitution gives each house of the Legislature the sole right to determine whom shall be seated – so, Reid can do what he says he’ll do and it’ll be perfectly legal…but should Reid do it?

On one hand, Reid gets to play the outraged tribune of the people – that he’s also the guy who gets lobbied by his own children for government money and that he’s had some rather shady land deals out here in Nevada doesn’t seem to impinge upon Reid’s calculations here. On the other hand, all this blow up over Blago’s choice does is bring the Blago issue – and the larger issue of Democrat corruption – back to front and center, not something Democrats need a mere 21 days before The One takes office.

Burris is also a barrier-breaking African-American – the first, I understand, to hold State-wide office in Illinois and, also, the desired (by racial bean counters) black man to replace a black man in the Senate. Is Burris going to be out for good, now? What will happen if the putative next governor appoints a white man to replace Obama? Burris is going to have his ardent defenders in the African-American community, and justly so as he seems a good man…Democrats have brewed this toxic mix of race-baiting and racial quotas and now they are completely hoist upon their own petard: to go after Blago’s choice, now, means going after a black man. It won’t be long before someone says that Reid is motivated by a desire to keep an authentic black leader out of the Senate (and you know how those Mormons had a history of discriminating against blacks back there in the past, right?)…

Then there is now the new fight – Blago has made it not just about him and his indictment, but about carrying out the job he was elected to do and working for the best interests of the people of Illinois, while everyone else on the Democrat side is only worrying about electoral politics. Blago can now cast himself as the selfless warrior of the people, brought low by They who want to keep the people down. This is nonsense, of course, but there will be liberals to buy such a line of thinking – we’ve seen just this past November how entirely gullible liberals are for a good fairy tale.

A nasty bit of politics here – and a lot of fun for a GOPer to watch…especially a GOPer who saw the Democrats’ way out of it a while ago and watched as they blew their chance to bury this dead cat quickly.

Miracles do happen, and lets pray we get one:

To President-elect Obama

As your inauguration day approaches, my heart is burdened with grief at the thought of all that you may do, and all that may happen for years to come as a result. Will anyone be able to change your mind? I hope so, for untold lives depend on it. I am convinced that only God will be able to change your heart, so that is how I, and all those who believe as I do, must direct our prayers. Life is sacred, Mr. Obama. Yours, mine, and our neighbor’s…I mean that tiny, developing life concealed in the womb. Concealed to us, always seen and known to God.

My mind goes back to your passionate speech at a Planned Parenthood event in 2007, and how eloquently you talked about the dreams you have for your daughters and for all the girls of the U.S., stressing that our nation must protect their “rights” and ensure that we don’t go backward to a time when women didn’t have those “rights.” I kept thinking, “Senator, if you have your way, this nation’s daughters won’t have the chance to be born!” That fundamental and genuine right will be taken from them before they ever see daylight.

All this concern for women’s rights seems hollow. It strikes me as profoundly hypocritical that women march and scream and protest and demand this “right” to kill their unborn babies, conveniently forgetting that that baby may be a girl…a daughter…a woman in the making! What about her rights? Is there no equality for women among women?

And I’m not at all diminishing the rights of unborn boys…the future husbands and fathers of our families. They are not expendable any more than our girls are. They deserve to be born. Indeed, we need them to be born…

This is written by Mrs. Jennifer Hartline, a lady who sees things clearly, and approaches issues with great passion. What a lot of people in the so-called “pro-choice” movement fail to realize is that our hearts are starting to wring with pity for them. It is ever so much more clear that the unborn human is, indeed, human that to maintain the pro-choice position requires an ever more stern determination to deny reality and close the heart – the human heart, made by God to receive and give love! – off to the pleas of the unborn.

We are such a selfish people – we demand the right to do whatever we please and then demand the right to have the result of our idiocy taken care of for us…and then we make it doubly horrific by insisting that everyone applaud not just our idiocy, but the obscenity covering up the idiocy! There is never a thought in those who scream about keeping hands off their wombs that there is a very simple expedient to ensure that absolutely no one has anything to do with a person’s womb – don’t have sex, problem solved. But, no – we demand the right to have sex without consequences, even though this is impossible…because we’re a bunch of petulant children; the spoiled brats of a civilization we don’t understand and won’t defend.

We must stop this nonsense – and the best place to start is with abortion. End it. It is simply bizarre to think that we figure that killing a child is the proper response to our irresponsibility. Abortion is a Final Solution to a temporary condition, and if we value our humanity and wish to be known by future generations as other than beasts in human skin, we must stop this terrible crime. And wouldn’t it be that much more wonderful if, in response to the payers of millions, Barack Obama awoke one morning, looked at his daughters, and realized that the gift he has been given is the most precious a person can obtain in this world?

With our money? Peter Kirsanow over at NRO’s The Corner:

Abbott: The economy’s a wreck. People have a lot less money now then they did three months ago.

Costello: No problem. The federal government’s going to spend $1 trillion to put more money in our pockets.

Abbott: But the government doesn’t have any money either. The federal deficit’s already around $1 trillion. And the federal debt’s around $11 trillion.

Costello: No problem. The government will use tax money.

Abbott: But that’s our money in the first place. And we don’t have any more money.

Costello: No problem. Then the government will just borrow the money.

Abbott: But the people who usually loan the money don’t have any more money either.

Costello: No problem. The government will just print all the money we need.

Abbott: But that will make the money worthless.

Costello: Yeah, but at least people will have money in their pockets.

Abbott: But they won’t be able to buy anything with it.

Costello: No problem. We’ll just blame it on Bush.

Abbott: Sounds like a plan.

And that, my friends, is how politics is done in America in 2008.

Read it and weep, liberals:

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was a strong second among the most-admired women, behind Hillary Clinton but ahead of television host Oprah Winfrey, when the USA Today/Gallup poll was conducted Dec. 12-14.

You can say she’s hated, but its really just you wallowing in your own bitterness. She’s a popular woman and has a great political career in front of her, if she decides to take it – after all, she’s not like a liberal who must have office or feel reduced as a human being. She can stay in Alaska and be a grandma and have a wonderful life with no regrets – or she can come roaring out of that State in to 2012/2016 and wallop you liberals but good. Her choice – and either one is all good, as far as I’m concerned.

Michael Ledeen correctly notes that the battle in Gaza is not a thing in and of itself, but part of the Global War on Terrorism (or, if you prefer, the war against Islamo-fascism):

It was only a matter of time before Israel lashed out at Hamas in Gaza. Even the appeasers in Israel, of whom there are many, could not indefinitely accept thousands of rockets landing in civilian centers, especially after the battle against Hezbollah in 2006, which was widely viewed as a fiasco for the Israeli Army and for the leaders in Jerusalem who are facing an election in two months. Defense Minister Barak says it’s “all-out war,” which suggests ground operations. The usual rule in these cases is that Israel doesn’t have much time to accomplish its objectives; the “international community” rallies to the side of Israel’s enemies, and Israel’s leaders invariably convince themselves that if they play ball, they’ll be rewarded for it. But that never happens. So far the Brits and the Vatican have already demanded an end to operations against Hamas, and by the time I finish typing this there will be more.

Israeli leaders say they want to bring an end to the rocket and missile attacks from Gaza. But, as opposition leader Netanyahu said, that can’t be done without regime change.

Our goal should be twofold – stopping the attacks on our cities and eliminating the threat of rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip…Stopping the attacks can be done within a short period of time, while eliminating the threat of rocket attacks from Gaza will entail toppling the Hamas rule over the Strip and uprooting the Iranian base there.

The last five words are key, because, as others have said, this is one more battle in the terror war in which we have been engaged since 2001. The Battle of Gaza cannot be understood as a thing in itself, but only as part of a broader whole: the war against the terror masters. And Iran is the most lethal, the most dangerous, and the most aggressive terror master in the world today.

I will take a moment to take exception to Ledeen’s characterization of the Vatican statement – clearly the Holy Father wants the violence to end, but he’s not just saying he wants the Israeli violence to end: all of it has to end, and the world should work diligently to assist the Israelis and Palestinians find a way out of this blind alley of hatred. With such sentiments I am in complete accord, as I think all right thinking people are – including Ledeen, a brilliant man but one some times given, understandably, to hyperbole when discussing the issues of terrorism and the threat of Islamism.

That aside, we cannot take the events in Gaza in isolation but must relate them to the whole picture – and in this picture, Iran looms exceptionally large. To just fight in Gaza or to just make a truce in Gaza won’t solve the issue. Fighting to a finish in Gaza will be more useful than making a truce in Gaza (at this point), but even a completely crushed Hamas in Gaza won’t resolve the issue as long as the Islamists have any place in the world where they can gather and plot and train unmolested. Ultimately, to Iran we must address ourselves.

In this, our largest problem will be when we have President Barack Obama – he doesn’t seem to have a clue about this, though one hopes that he’ll pay close attention to his Chief of Staff in middle eastern matters (one doesn’t really see Obama listening carefully to whatever Hillary believes about the area). If Israel pounds Hamas into submission in Gaza and, indeed, if Israel then goes on to temporarily cripple Iran’s nuclear program for a decade all we will have gained is time – time to work out a plan to overthrow the mullahs (who are terribly unpopular), or time to allow the mullahs to rebuild their terrorist infrastructure in order to attack again. It will be up to Obama to decide how this time is used – up to Obama, that is, to either figure out what a war is, or flub the issue horribly and to an ultimate high cost in blood.