There are citizens in Iraq who are grateful to America:

The Iraqis asked me to convey a message of thanks to the American people. ” Thank you, thank you,” the people were saying. One man said, “Thank you for peace.” Another man, a Muslim, said “All the people, all the people in Iraq, Muslim and Christian, is brother.” The men and women were holding bells, and for the first time in memory freedom rang over the ravaged land between two rivers.

Thanks, Michael Yon, for passing this along.

If you have a minute or two go check out this letter from former President Carter to his sister-in-law in regards to her cat.

Seems lots of secrets about animals somehow attached to former Presidents and their families are surfacing lately.

For those interested, the remarks of the French President to Congress today have been made available here.

Among what I thought were many noteworthy passages was this:

From the very beginning, the American dream meant proving to all mankind that freedom, justice, human rights and democracy were no utopia but were rather the most realistic policy there is and the most likely to improve the fate of each and every person.

America did not tell the millions of men and women who came from every country in the world and who–with their hands, their intelligence and their heart–built the greatest nation in the world: “Come, and everything will be given to you.” She said: “Come, and the only limits to what you’ll be able to achieve will be your own courage and your own talent.” America embodies this extraordinary ability to grant each and every person a second chance.

Here, both the humblest and most illustrious citizens alike know that nothing is owed to them and that everything has to be earned. That’s what constitutes the moral value of America. America did not teach men the idea of freedom; she taught them how to practice it. And she fought for this freedom whenever she felt it to be threatened somewhere in the world. It was by watching America grow that men and women understood that freedom was possible.

What made America great was her ability to transform her own dream into hope for all mankind.

I hope the tone of friendship towards our country which was struck in this speech will continue throughout the Presidents term and that we will not be faced with the hostility shown to us at times by his predecessor.

Many Christians are on the wide road to destruction and don’t even know it. They follow flim-flam arists, false teachers and self-proclaimed prophets who promise them health, wealth and happiness — all in God’s name.

Recently I watched a lot of late night TV (wasn’t pleasent, believe me). Hoo-boy, what a load of garbage. I don’t mean the Hollywood stuff, but the snake-oil salesmen claiming to be prophets of Christ!

Some of these were paid ads on cable: one man was offering free “spiritual holy water”, another was offering free “blood of Christ,” another was offering free “prayer cloths,” and two more were offering prayers of power if you just sent in some money. All of them guaranteed — guaranteed!! — to unleash God’s power into your life by drinking their water or sprinkling their blood or sending them $1,000 **immediately**. And what would this great cash register/vending machine in the sky do? Why, he would heal their tumors, give them money, pay their debts, buy them cars and new houses!

Oh, joy!

And, oh, the parade of people came forward to claim their heaven-sent booty in the name of God!

Tumors healed! Bills paid! Houses bought! Cars driven! Diabetes gone!

I watched all of this with a mixture of sadness and outrage.

NOT ONCE was Christ preached. NOT ONCE was forgiveness of sins discussed. NOT ONCE was the peace that surpasses all human understanding given even a nodding pass. NOT ONCE was the cross used except as a prop. It was all gimme, gimme, gimme, and if you don’t have faith or my holy water/holy blood/holy cloth/prayer system (or—ahem—send us $$$) the Lord won’t do squat for you.

That’s why this stuff is bad news — and not the Good News.

I am a sinner, and God knows my sins. I pray that someone reaches these people who are on the wide road to destruction.

The NYT has an an article about Sarkozy visiting the US and the great promises he makes to us about being our friend.

I found the following quote interesting and almost insulting at the same time:

Mr. Sarkozy awarded the Legion of Honor on Tuesday to seven World War II veterans, including Senator Daniel K. Inouye, Democrat of Hawaii, who, as a 20-year-old lieutenant, lost an arm leading an attack in Italy in 1945.

The reason I find it insulting is that seven veterans were awarded the Legion of Honor, the highest civilian award France has.

One of those seven was my mother’s first cousin, Charles Norman Shay, who was a medic who landed on the beach on D-Day and was awarded the silver star and three bronze stars.

Our tribe sent more men per capita to serve during World War II than any other tribe in the US.

Charlie was one of them and should have been recognized in this story as well as a senator.

So let me quote to you from Indiancountry.com some of Charlie’s story:

Charles Norman Shay received remarkable news the day he returned to his Penobscot reservation home in Maine from a journey to Omaha Beach and other battlefields where he soldiered as a young combat medic in the Second World War: During his first official visit to the United States Nov. 6, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France was expected to award him an honorary knighthood in the Legion d’Honneur, established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802. It is a fitting honor for a man who acted heroically in the war - and whose ancestors include Penobscot Chief Madockawando, whose daughter married a French baron in the 17th century.

In early October, the 83-year-old tribal elder returned to Normandy, his first entry since the invasion of 1944. He found his way to a 16th century manor in Crepon, a few miles from the coast, where he received a grand dinner from an honored host.

Sixty-three years ago, Shay had received a sharply different welcome to Normandy: a hail of bullets and shrapnel amid the smoke and noise of explosions and screams of wounded comrades.

Shay drove to the seacoast and gestured to the face of a low-slung dune. ”This was full of men. The tide was coming in real fast. Wounded men were unable to move to dry ground. The water was red,” he said, referring to D-Day.

At the time, Private Shay was a combat medic attached to a battalion in the 1st Infantry Division’s 16th Regiment. On June 5, 1944, his platoon boarded a troop transport ship for a night crossing of the English Channel - part of a large armada heading for the Normandy coast in stormy weather. At sea, Shay had one of the most memorable reunions of his life: a surprise encounter with Melvin Neptune, a battle-hardened 25-year-old from his own small reservation. Also in the Big Red One, Neptune formed part of the 26th Regiment, scheduled to land a dozen hours after Charles would face his baptism by fire. Avoiding talking about impending bloodshed, both Penobscots reminisced about home and said goodbye. In the months ahead, they would always be within 15 miles of one another, but did not meet again during the war.

Before dawn, some 12 miles offshore, the ships stopped and the assault troops climbed into landing crafts. As they moved towards the coast, naval artillery began bombing German military positions. The enemy had placed large obstacles on the sea floor near the shore, forcing the first wave of troops to disembark 400 yards from the beach. Jumping from the ramp, Shay landed in water up to his waist.

”Even before the ramps went down, all hell had broken loose on the ships. Some were hit before they hit the water - with machine gun fire, mortars, gunshots. It was every man for himself. We used the obstacles as much as we could for protection. I don’t know how I made it to the beach. It was complete chaos. On the beach there was a 3- to 4-foot-high dune where we could get some shelter. Once I was on the shore and in cover of the embankment, I took care of the wounded in the area where I was.”

Glancing toward the sea, Shay spotted many corpses rolling in the surf and lying on the beach. Wounded soldiers were about to drown in the rising tide.

”I went back to the water and pulled them up to the shoreline. I pulled as many as I could until I was exhausted. Then I paused and began again, until I couldn’t do more. I have no idea how many I saved.” He did this under an ongoing barrage of fire.

Late that day, separated from his platoon and dazed by the brutal reality of war, Shay staggered from the beach to an uphill trail, passing dead Americans and Germans. Unbeknownst to him, his friend Neptune crossed his path when the 26th Regiment marched up the same wooded gully to the hedgerow country swarming with enemy snipers. Charles remembers spending the night alone somewhere. The following morning, he found the regimental medical aid station set up in a tent in Coleville sur Mer. He also reconnected with his own F Company, finding that only two of its nine officers and 112 of the original 218 soldiers were present for duty. It was among the hardest-hit companies in a regiment that suffered nearly 1,000 casualties at Omaha, including 34 medics, seven of whom were killed. Weeks later, while the fighting continued, Shay and the other men were awarded with the Silver Star.

After Normandy, Shay continued serving as a medic in the battles of Mons (Belgium); Aachen and Huertgen Forest Battle (Germany); and the Battle of the Bulge (Ardennes) - earning an additional four Bronze Battle stars. Always on the front line, he treated a never-ending stream of wounded comrades. He was called ”Doc” by fellow soldiers, but typically, he said, ”If you were an Indian, other soldiers referred to you as ‘chief.”’

On March 25, 1945, after crossing the Rhine River near Remagen, Shay was captured by German troops in a rural hamlet and spent the last month of the war as a prisoner of war. Taken for interrogation, he recalls, ”I gave only my name, rank and serial number. My interrogator asked me my nationality - maybe he thought I looked different. I told him I was American Indian.”

In the weeks that followed, the German army continued its retreat, forcing Shay and other captives to move at night. On April 18, the camp guards were suddenly gone and American troops arrived. Liberated, Shay returned to the Penobscot reservation, where he finally saw Neptune again. But they never spoke of their wartime experiences.

Shay did not speak of the war to anyone until 2004, when he said he was disappointed to have missed the 60-year anniversary of the D-Day landings. His comment launched plans for the recently completed Normandy pilgrimage. During the journey, the Penobscot veteran performed a silent spiritual ceremony on Omaha Beach, burning tobacco, sage and sweetgrass in honor of comrades who lie buried in the vast American cemetery on the ridge above the sea. Earlier, while walking along the shore, he had turned his eyes to the stones underfoot, polished by countless tides. Picking up and discarding one after another, he selected one as a keepsake. He walked to the water’s edge, rinsed the smooth round stone, and said he intended to engrave it for Neptune’s son, since his comrade passed away a few years ago. When he turned the stone over, there was a small circle on its face - the mark of Gluskabe, the Penobscot tribe’s legendary culture hero.

With all due respect to Indiancountry.com I have quoted the entire piece and hope they don’t mind as I have lost the original link, but had emailed the story to some of my friends.

I just want his story and that of the other five told as well as Inouye’s story.

Promising myself I would not write about HRC for a least a week was a difficult choice as there is so much material available out there of interest.

Well, I almost made that week, but when Bill Clinton becomes the target of the Senator’s rivals and even those within her campaign, that is worth mention.

Bill Clinton was hit with caustic criticism Tuesday from his wife’s Democratic rivals, who accused the popular former president of falsely comparing questions about her candor to smears of past campaigns.

No surprise there, that’s what other contenders do. But I think Bill doesn’t get it. It isn’t a smear if you are using a candidates own words to call into question their candor and honesty.

Check out what those within the inner workings of the campaign have said about the latest words of the former President:

A senior adviser to Sen. Clinton’s campaign, speaking only on condition of anonymity, said the former president’s remarks were not part of campaign strategy and in fact were considered counterproductive by the her advisers.[Emphasis added]

Bill Clinton counterproductive, never!

This may be the first of only many missteps in the campaign of Mrs. Clinton..that is if she is aksed questions for which she has no scripted answers. I only hope between her and the former President it is enough to deny them the White House in 2008.

I received a request this morning in my email from Redstate.

It asked if I would sign Senator DeMint’s petition, 100,00 Strong for Earmark Reform.

I was happy to oblige and if you are interested, you too can help the good Senator fight the fight on behalf of the American people.

This article by Clarence Page from Real Clear Politics delves in to Hate Crimes but from the perspective of those which in the end turn out to be a hoax.

A student at George Washington University recently complained that swastikas were scrawled on her dormitory door. Thanks to cameras hidden by university police, they have a suspect: The student who filed the complaint.

I was shocked but not surprised, just as I am shocked but not surprised when, with thousands of cars on the road, some get into accidents. Similarly with the recent upsurge in national attention to swastikas, nooses and other racial vandalism in public places, I am shocked but not surprised that at least one case of racial-ethnic vandalism turns out to be phony.

The young woman’s sad case might have passed without much off-campus notice if these were not times in which any knucklehead with a rope or a felt-tipped pen can make national news by hanging a noose or scrawling racist graffiti in a conspicuous location.

Whether a hoax or the “real thing”, any hate crime is despicable. At least for the most part, the incidents Mr. Page discusses we know the targets were the perpetrators themselves..I suppose for attention.

The little man from another planet (He did see a UFO. He might have come out of it.) has decided on his own to bring impeachment proceedings against Vice President Cheney.

At first the Republicans went against the resolution but then must have had a meeting and decided to vote for the resolution to show just how stupid Congress can be. Maybe they were too cute by half, but I suspect the Democrats don’t want an impeachment fight in an election year and will either not move the legislation in committee or just table it anyway.

Yes, it’s hardball politics on the part of the Republicans and I think it was a foolish idea, but unfortunately that’s the way the game is played these days. The most unfortunate thing is it is a game.

Either way, Cheney is our Vice President for the next 14 months.

“This vote sends a message that the administration’s conduct in office is no longer unchallenged,” Kucinich said after the vote.

Kucinich savored the victory, saying that Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers had reassured him and backers of the resolution “that he would in fact launch an impeachment inquiry.” But Conyers told FOX News that he would announce his decision on Wednesday after speaking with House Democratic leaders.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has previously stated that she did not want the impeachment articles to come to a vote. High-ranking Democratic Rep. Alcee Hastings, who was himself impeached while a judge in Florida, said he was not happy with Kucinich’s attempts to raise the matter on the floor in an attempt to circumvent the normal legislative process.

Kucinich “is on a quest of his own. He sees flying saucers and he acts like one,” Hastings said.

For a week now we have been hearing from the Clinton camp that she didn’t really mean things she said in the last debate the way we heard them.

I’ve long since gotten used to the Clintons’ spin machine. This time she’s claiming a gender problem. All those men picking on this little, compassionate woman. How dare they?

I think the thing that really has my head spinning is this story, where she tells the women in her audiences to bring their brooms, mops, vacuums etc. so they can clean out the White House after GWB leaves and she becomes president.

Clinton speaking in West Burlington, IA, told a story about how she is going to clean up the White House. Telling it, Clinton rested her hand on her head and said “oh my goodness I feel like we are going to get into the White House again and we are going to walk around and say where do we start to clean up this mess?” Clinton remembered an audience member who shouted once out when she told this story before - “that’s what women are good at cleaning up the mess.” Clinton said “bring your vacum cleaners bring your brushes bring your brooms bring your mops.”

Of all the outrageous things for her to say, this is the most outrageous. Anyone else might be able to get away with that line, but coming from her it strikes me as a bit stupid.

The vision it brings to my mind is how the White House probably had to physically be disinfected after Clinton left his DNA all over the walls and floors of the Executive office suite. Not to mention a certain blue dress.

I would have had everything cleaned, including the doorknobs, with industrial strength cleaner two or three times before touching anything without rubber gloves on my hands if I were the Bushes.

Every time I see the Clintons, together or separately, all I can remember is the finger wagging, the give ‘em hell self-righteous tone of his voice as he proclaimed he didn’t do what he did do with that woman—Ms. Lewinski, while Hillary stood beside him and nodded her approval.

I remember their hand in hand walk on the White House lawn as they went on vacation after that.

I remember a cat named Socks who is now with Betty Curry and a dog named Buddy who was so loosely supervised he ran into the street and got killed.

I remember how sad they were that Buddy died and they were going to get a replacement dog right away.

I remember him coming down the steps of church each Sunday carrying a Bible probably never opened and big enough to give him a hernia, while biting his lip. Always the lip biting.

I remember they were fakes then and I know they are fakes now.

They tried to make us think they were Ward and June Cleaver when in reality they were Ma and Pa Kettle. At least Ma and Pa Kettle were funny. I wish I could say the same for the Clintons.

I remember our troops wearing blue UN helmets under the command of the UN, which is against our constitution, but Bill got around that by having an inept US general in charge of the troops and he reported to the UN.

Unless you were in a cave someplace during those eight horrid years you should remember all of this too, and ask yourself if you want four or more years of the same old stuff going on in the house you and I own and still pay for the cleaning bills now.