When I read the raw transcript of Osama Bin Laden’s latest words, I had one of those, “Okay now I’m going to say what I really think” moments. I stopped in the interest of the Purpose Statement of this blog, however, there is something I feel I must say before I pass along the links to those who perhaps are a bit more objective at this moment.

When you give the impression to a terrorist that the President of the United States is a loser and a liar a neo-con and a bumbling fool and couple that with a consistent pounding of how our military is less than up to the mission set forth (how many times did we hear we are losing on the battlefront?) you get those words thrown back from a place you might not ever expect. I will say no more.

Here is an overview of the statements by Bin Laden followed by a raw transcript and a breaking news video from Fox News.

For analysis of the Bin Laden transcript there are links at Instapundit and also a good synopsis at Powerline.

I am certain by now there are scads of others but I choose at this point not to read further. Maybe tomorrow.

You must visit Blogs for Bush to see the choice the Democrats have made for their 2008 campaign bumper sticker.

Here’s a teaser courtesy of Mark Noonan:

Well, Democrats, as you get ready to be the “decider” next year, you want want to take note of the fact that President Bush won’t be on the ballot. You go ahead and run against W, we’ll run against your actual candidates, and we’ll see who wins.

Seriously, this is a must see.

Betsy Newmark has what I consider to be among one of the best “suspicions” of the week incorporated into this piece, simply entitled, Hillary Clinton’s Experience.

“I suspect that a lot of Americans are still not comfortable with the idea of an unelected First Lady having substantial influence in government policy, particularly foreign policy choices. And a focus on her role as First Spouse raises questions about what her husband’s role would be in an Hillary Clinton adminstration.”

Bravo! In a simple four sentences, Ms. Newmark has spoken for many average Americans.

Check out the rest of this post and while there, take a minute to look at the referenced material from Michael Crowley especially if you are one who questions the “experience” of Senator Clinton.

Michael Yon has posted Part IV of his series and like all of his work he drives home points and touches on information which we do not read here at home in the press. This dispatch is loaded with more wonderful photography. Here’s a snippet:

At one of the houses, Iraqi soldiers said that there had been a lot of shooting on a recent night. What had all the shooting been about? Were insurgents trying to take over? No, the old man said, it was just a couple of brothers having a shootout over a small land dispute. “Okay,” the Iraqi soldiers shrugged it off. It was just a shootout between brothers. Nothing more to ask about.

There are many similarities between Iraq and home, but at the end of the day, a Cain and Abel shootout is not even something that warrants paperwork. Tribal law. This is not Kansas. Some things are very different.

Another worthwhile read from Mr. Yon

I want to take this opportunity to thank Sue from the bottom of my heart for the hard work she has put into this blog this week.

I didn’t announce it, but I’ve been away this week and she has carried the entire load in an esxemplary manner all by herself, even with all her other commitments.

Sue, I love you and I owe you big time.

Very, very true. And pretty darn clever too!

Poor Abe wouldn’t stand a chance today.

Now that Fred Thompson has officially kicked off his campaign for the presidency, he is putting forth his ideas and visions for America. After watching what I considered a rather lackluster and uninformative debate the other evening, it would be refreshing to see a candidate who comes across with clear message on the issues which face the United States today.

The slogan on the bumper stickers was simple and direct: “Security. Unity. Prosperity.” Painted on the side of the two campaign buses: “United By Our Core Beliefs.”

That’s a reference to one of the fundamental rationales for Thompson’s candidacy: that he is the true-blue conservative in a field now led by one candidate (former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani) who supports abortion rights and gun control, and another (former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney) who used to support abortion rights, though he doesn’t now.

In his speech, Thompson noted he held “the same small-town conservative beliefs that I had when I ran (for the Senate) in 1994,” first among them “the sanctity of life.”

He advocated stricter border controls, lower federal spending, free markets, property rights and a strong national defense.

“We’re living in the era now of the suitcase bomb,” he said. “Iraq is part of that conflict, but Iraq is not that conflict. That conflict will be with us long after Iraq is in our rearview mirror.”

It will take much more than one campaign speech to convince voters but the quotes above are a great first step.

Read More

Guss has his inventory in place, the chairs are comfy, and the lights are on!

Coffee’s good too!

Go visit. Guss’ Coffee House
 
(gussescoffeehouse.com)

There’s a link in our sidebar as well.

Mike Nifong will serve his twenty four hours in jail beginning this morning.

Mike Nifong, the former Durham County District Attorney who led the now-discredited Duke lacrosse rape case, reported to jail Friday to begin serving a 24-hour sentence for contempt of court.

Nifong was disbarred for his handling of the highly publicized case, and a judge found him in contempt for lying to the court when he insisted he had given defense attorneys all results from critical DNA tests.

While the disgraced prosecutor can contemplate how he will spend the balance of his life, the young men who were the target of his false accusations have begun negotiations with the city of Durham seeking restitution.

The players attorneys, meanwhile, have proposed a settlement with the city of Durham that includes reforming the legal system.

If the terms aren’t met, the attorneys will file a civil rights lawsuit early next month, the person close to the case said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the proposed settlement wasn’t complete.

Durham’s police department helped Nifong secure the indictments, and a special committee probing police handling of the case stopped working last month because the city’s liability insurance provider warned that findings could provide material for civil lawsuits.

During a discussion Wednesday with Durham officials, players’ attorneys Brendan Sullivan and Barry Scheck stressed that the money they are seeking in the settlement — about $10 million each for David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann over five years — must be accompanied by legal reforms, the person said.

While the settlement would help settle all of the legal bills that this rogue prosecutor forced upon these families, it would be interesting to see what legal reforms could be gained stemming from this case. A good start might be that you cannot prosecute a high profile case while running for office.

Story

Finally, someone has asked for a firm answer from Senator Craig as to whether he intends to leave his Senate seat and when.

The AP is reporting:

Idaho’s senior Republican congressman called on Sen. Larry Craig on Thursday to make it clear he will leave his seat by Sept. 30, as GOP leaders sought to remove any doubt that the embattled senator will resign within weeks.

Craig’s chief spokesman said his boss had dropped virtually all notions of trying to finish his third term, which ends in early 2009. But prominent Republicans in Washington and Idaho wanted a firm deadline in hopes of putting the controversy behind them.

Craig pleaded guilty in August to disorderly conduct following a sting operation in a men’s bathroom at the Minneapolis airport, but he said this week he hoped to withdraw the plea. He also hinted he was rethinking his weekend announcement that he intended to resign by month’s end.

Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, told The Associated Press that Craig should make his resignation unequivocal so that Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter, also a Republican, can choose a replacement.

The game of take-backs which have been played this week are tiresome. Simple fact is the Senator announced his resignation, and if he wishes to attempt to clear his name of charges to which he pled guilty, then he should pursue that as a private citizen.

It is beginning to sound as though the harsh realization has finally set in according to Mr. Craig’s spokesman:

Craig spokesman Dan Whiting said Thursday that the senator was focused on trying to clear his name and to help Idaho prepare for a replacement. “The most likely scenario, by far, is that by October there will be a new senator from Idaho,” Whiting told the AP.

The only circumstances in which Craig might try to complete his term, Whiting said, would require a prompt overturning of his conviction, as well as Senate GOP leaders’ agreement to restore the committee leaderships positions they took from him this week.

Those scenarios are unlikely, Whiting said.

No more chances Senator Craig, let’s move on.

HT: yahoo news

Early details from the San Franscisco Chronicle.

Fugitive political fundraiser Norman Hsu, who skipped out on San Mateo County authorities this week rather than face sentencing in a fraud scheme, was apprehended tonight by federal and local lawmen in Grand Junction, Colo.

Authorities said Hsu was taken into custody at St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction at 7 p.m. local time. He had been on the lam for almost two days after failing to appear in a Redwood City courtroom Wednesday to surrender his passport.

I will update this post as further information becomes available.

A bit more information.

Hsu turned himself in to the San Mateo County Superior Court Friday, but when he failed to show up yesterday a warrant was issued for his arrest. The FBI said the federal charge of unlawful flight will be dropped after Hsu is handed over to California officials.

More

Hsu was traveling on an Amtrak train when he became ill. Grand Junction paramedics were summoned to the Amtrak station near downtown about 11 a.m. Thursday to treat a patient, Battalion Chief Robert Ferguson said.

The patient, whom Ferguson said he found out eight hours later was a fugitive, was not in great pain, Ferguson said.

“There was no extrication needed,” Ferguson said. “He walked out of the train on his own.”

He is currently in federal custody at St. Mary’s and is listed in fair condition, said St. Mary’s nursing supervisor Pete Smarr.

HT:Allahpundit

I can understand one person being involved with your campaign and not being properly vetted, I’ll even give you two, but after that, well , someone once said “you are judged by the company you keep”.

Among the 11 public officials arrested in an F.B.I. corruption sting in New Jersey today was a leading Democratic supporter of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign in that state, Mayor Samuel Rivera of Passaic.

It was the latest legal embarrassment involving an ally of the Clinton campaign, coming only one day after a wealthy Clinton donor, Norman Hsu, missed his court date in a California fraud case and apparently disappeared.

Clinton advisers this spring and summer have been aggressively touting their long list of endorsements from elected officials and prominent Democratic donors, to indicate the breadth of establishment support that Mrs. Clinton enjoys. Yet, in the case of Mr. Hsu and now Mayor Rivera, the criminal allegations indicate a cost that can come with quickly rounding up political support from far and wide.

Here is just a bit of the criminal complaint courtesy of the NYT.

According to the criminal complaint filed in Federal District Court, Mayor Rivera allegedly promised to deliver a majority of votes on the Passaic City Council to steer city insurance brokerage business to a dummy company set up by the F.B.I.

Federal agents posing as company executives offered a $50,000 payment to Mr. Rivera in return for the business, according to the complaint; Mr. Rivera allegedly accepted an initial installment of $5,000.

Mr. Rivera, according to a transcript of secretly recorded conversations laid out in the complaint, boasted profanely of essentially controlling the seven-member city council. He said that securing a four-vote majority would be “easy, easy, easy,” and, at another point, said the deal was as good as done

This has not been a good week for the Clinton camp.

“This story from March 2007 re-surfaced, then the Norman Hsu saga which was followed by this WaPo story.

Now we have this news out of New Jersey. I think if I were Senator Clinton I might be asking my staff to make sure my associates from now on are squeaky clean. Perhaps she had no direct knowledge of these issues as she has claimed, but it sure does not look good on the resume of someone aspiring to be our Commander in Chief.