Seriously, folks, I'm not kidding. Tom Dasc-hole actually came out and said that unless we capture Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar, then we have failed. And Sen. John Kerry whined that Bush is "hiding behind a veil of patriotism."

On a related note, just as Dasc-hole starts criticizing the war effort, along comes CBS with a documentary reprising Sept. 11 and the destruction of the World Trade Center. This will only serve to remind Americans of why we are still fighting. This, in turn, will have voters rallying to the president's side, which may trickle down to the GOP. Criticism by the Left will not be looked upon favorably.

If this keeps up, election day this November should be a hoot.

Which is why it's time for Bush to show some of that political gravitas, trust his high approval rating and veto the sham of a bill called "campaign finance reform" if and when it passes in Congress.

What upsets me is that Bush actually said he will sign a campaign-finance bill he thinks is unconstitutional. That's almost as bad as Congress passing a law they know is unconstitutional, then saying that it's okay since the Supreme Court will no doubt get ahold of it and trim what is legal and what is not under our system. Why don't they just pretend for once to be public servants and do their job, making sure they pass constitutional laws that make a difference. Actually, scrap that. Maybe they should just go home for the rest of the year, because anything they try to regulate turns into a money-sapping bureacracy that serves little purpose anyway.

Besides money issues, the insulting bill will also ban ads that mention a politician within 60 days of a general election. "So, if a pro-life group wants to run an ad saying a congressman it supports is pro-life, it can be dragged into a lengthy Federal Election Commission investigation until financially ruined." (Brent Bozell, Media Research Center). If these ads are illegal, then "The West Wing" and it's Leftist drivel should also be banned until mid-November.

It's obvious why Andrea Yates's family is defending her killing her five children: They feel just as culpable for letting her watch over the kids alone, even though she was clearly loony and headed for disaster.

Sen. Majority Leader, Dem. Tom Dasc-hole, was up in arms earlier this week because of a self-proclaimed slight from Pres. Bush, that he wasn't told that high-level government employees are deployed to secret locations outside Washington in case of a major terrorist attack. Apparently Dasc-hole doesn't talk to his aides or scores of other Congress members who say they've known about the plan for months, including Democratic Sen. Pro-Temp Robert Byrd, who is fourth in line for succession to Commander-in-Chief. Dasc-hole also doesn't read much, as the Cleveland Plain-Dealer and U.S. News & World Report both reported on the 'shadow government' back in October!

Maybe Dasc-hole would like for Bush to release all names and where to find them as well.

Hold on to your seats, the speed of the Earth could slow down! A report by a Belgian researchers claims that "the carbon gas spike could add 11 extra microseconds every ten years."

Whoa! Someone stop this crazy world, I wanna get off! Anyone else feel dizzy? Or is that just a swoon from silly science?

So what do you plan on doing with your extra eleven-millionths of a second? I think I'll blink an extra time every decade.

I enjoyed the Grammys for the most part, and Jon Stewart was a laugh riot, but whose idea was it for the goateed whiner to get on stage for four hours and rant about the kiddies downloading music on the Internet? Bo-ring! And disingenuous, considering he didn't feel the need to mention any record execs screwing with the profits from the musicians, and that they have started making many CDs "copy-protected," meaning they won't work in a computer.

And who is this India.Arie - and what's with the period in her name? I never heard of her until the day of the Grammys, yet she's nominated seven times! I feel very out of touch, yet strangely comforted by that.

Former Pres. Jimmy Carter has decided that Bush's use of the term "axis of evil" will jeopardize progress made with North Korea, Iran and Iraq in recent years. Huh? What progress? They still hate us, they still support terrorists, they still do whatever possible to oppress their own citizens, and he's worried that the threesome is "overly simplistic"?

Whatever. This coming from the worst foreign policy president we've had since Woodrow Wilson. And Carter continues to be very naive.

Palestinians have stepped up their terrorist war effort against Israel, sending out fleets of suicide bombers and snipers to kill innocent civilians. Now comes news that Arafat won't like, one of his underlings admitted that not Hezbollah, not Hamas, but Arafat's own controlled goons of his Fatah movement were ordered to attack Israelis.

"We ordered the Palestinian people to fire on all these roadblocks because they are the symbol of the hated occupation," Marwan Barghouti, a leader of Arafat's Fatah movement, said in an interview broadcast on Israeli television. Fatah is also linked to many suicide bombings and attacks on Israeli civilians, and don't forget the arms shipment from Iran that was stopped on the way to Palestinian thugs.

More and more as this news comes out, information that any rational person already knew about the terrorist that Arafat is, maybe some of his sympathizers will begin to realize that the PLO doesn't want anything to do with peace. Arafat won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994.

First and foremost, I'm a big fan of Charles Barkley. Sure, he's a blowhard and says a lot of stupid things, but he's entirely entertaining and actually has a lot of serious thoughts and insights into the sporting world and even the world-at-large.

Now, saying that, I think his accusing Augusta National Golf Club of racism is the silliest thing I've heard this month. Yes, in the past I'll concede that the members of Augusta National were largely bigoted and never wanted a minority, Jew or anyone else not a WASP to be a member.

For those who have been in the Arctic, in Sports Illustrated magazine, Barkley said that the course is guilty of "blatant racism" toward Tiger Woods by changing the course for next month's Masters, then added, "Jack Nicklaus won the Masters six damn times, and he was hitting it past everybody else, and they never made a change."

Barkley is incorrect. Every hole has been altered since the course opened in 1934, and several changes in the 60s were put in specifically to throttle Nicklaus, then the game's most dominant player. The recent changes are due to technology gains, as everyone hits it long nowadays.

Democrats had to reveal a little more about their constituents the other day, proving that they're out of touch with common Americans and instead focusing on ways to subvert the electoral system.

A plan was put before Congress to require some sort of a picture ID for people registering to vote the first time. Dems went ballistic in an effort to protect their monopoly on illegal voters, instead proposing that the people merely "guarantee" their identities by their signatures. Yeah, that should do it. Let's just hope they don't cross their fingers behind their backs while doing so.

Regarding those captives in Guantanamo Bay on a hunger strike: Let them starve.

For those who roll their eyes when I start talking about how feminists actually need more abortions in the country and the world to enable their cause, I inform you:

It's always worth pointing out - because it's so embarrassing for feminists - that Margaret Sanger, the feminist icon and founder of Planned Parenthood, was a repugnant eugenicist and racist who championed sweeping sterilization laws. She called for the elimination of "weeds . . . overrunning the human garden" and for the segregation of "morons, misfits, and the maladjusted." Her magazine warned of "The Rising Tide of Color Against White World-Supremacy" and published such declarations as: "[W]e must resolutely oppose both Asiatic permeation of white race-areas and Asiatic inundation of those non-white, but equally non-Asiatic regions inhabited by the really inferior races." (Jonah Goldberg, National Review Online)

Celebrate good times, Dan Duquette is out as General Manager of the Red Sox! Who says prayers are unanswered? What a disastrous tenure his was, as even going to the playoffs and having winning records still left a sour taste in the mouths of Boston fans. His farewell press conference made me vomit. He was so arrogant, so pompous, I swear I think he's really a Frenchman. He took credit for anything good, yet never once mentioned the negative vibe he left everywhere he went, or any of the above average managers and coaches he unceremoniously fired with no justifiable reason. Farewell, Danny boy, and get lost!

Meanwhile, a group of Red Sox fans have been looking in the bottom of a suburban Boston pond in search of Babe Ruth's piano, which, as the story goes, he tossed in the water in 1918, the last time the Red Sox won the World Series. These desperate fans (aren't all us Red Sox fans?) believe if they can bring it up, the curse of the Bambino will be lifted and Boston fans can celebrate again.

One more reason to hate the Yankees: When pitcher Andy Pettitte's seven-year-old son visited the dugout during spring training last week wearing a Mets cap, Yankees general manage Brian Cashman demanded an explanation. Then, Pettitte was asked to be more selective in where his son's Mets hat shows up. The Associated Press reports that neither Pettitte nor Cashman described details of the discussion, though it seemed clear their talk took on a serious tone.

Here's the reason: Pettitte's son, Josh, lives at the family home in Texas, where he plays for a Little League team called the Mets.

Only the Damn Yankees would start a civil war over what a player's son wears.

I'm sure you've all seen Arkansas basketball coach Nolan Richardson's tirade in front of the media. As usual, Richardson plays the race card, claiming that he isn't treated the same as all other Razorback coaches.

He's right. He's treated better. He makes $1.03 million annually, and recently saw his contract renewed for six more years despite losing in the first round of the NCAA tournament the past two seasons and had a losing record this season. I'd say that if he can't take criticism in a down year and feels the need to call all critics racists, then he doesn't deserve respect in the good ones, either.

Another note: In the most recent survey, covering the four entering classes enrolling from 1991 through 1994, Richardson's program had a graduation rate of ZERO percent. Tell me, how can he look any parent in the eye and convince them that he has the best interests of the black race in mind? I mean, come on, you're telling me he couldn't even get one or two to get a degree? Even he has to admit that less than half the players he recruits have pro potential.

The Web site for Black Entertainment Television includes the following blurb for a news story: "Vonetta Flowers becomes the first African American, from any country, to win gold at the Winter Olympics." (OpinionJournal.com)

There's a crisis in child care in Washington state. Kids are being watched by--you better sit down--family and friends! Check out this chilling story from the Seattle Times:

      Almost half of Washington children from infants to age 12--nearly a half-million total--are regularly in the care of extended family, friends or neighbors, says a University of Washington study released today.
      A majority of those informal care providers--nearly 300,000 people who are unregulated by the state--have no specific training in child-care, child-development or parenting skills and tend to be less affluent and educated than the state's general population, the study found.
      "There's this whole group of people out there caring for kids, and nobody is watching them, and nobody is helping them," said Nina Auerbach, chief executive officer of Child Care Resources, a King County information and referral service. "We can't just ignore this whole segment of care anymore." (OpinionJournal.com)

Why do so many stores put back pain remedies on the bottom two shelves?

Actress Kathleen Turner, 47, says she won't date men under thirty years old, because "men, until about the age of 29, lack conversation." Hey, I resemble that remark. Well she's just a poo-poo head and that's all I have to say about that.

I'm going through post-Olympic withdrawal! Give me my fix!

I love that the bobsled team broke the 46-year non-medal drought by using the sponsorship and design of NASCAR driver Geoff Bodine. Who says rednecks don't like the snow?

Geoff Calkins, sports columnist for the Memphis Commercial Appeal, relates a feel good story from the Olympics, while everyone worried about judging controversies:

      . . . Meanwhile, the sweetest story of these two weeks skated by, largely unnoticed.
      It unfolded in Provo, where a women's team from Kazakhstan finished dead last and inspired everyone along the way.
      The holes in their uniforms had something to do with it. So did the realization that some of the players came to the Games with a total of $30 to spend. But the volunteers at the rink decided to adopt them, to raise some money, to give them a small taste of what most Americans already have. Friends and neighbors chipped in $10 bills. The school bookstore donated 25 sweatshirts. Enough money was raised to put a knapsack stuffed with souvenirs on every seat of the team bus.
      The players wept. In disbelief and gratitude.
      "We have felt," Dinara Kikambayeva told reporters, "the warmth of strangers."
      So sure, there's been a lot of petty nastiness at these Games. And jingoism. And jealousy. And some will use it all to argue the whole deal isn't worth the trouble.
      But as for me, I prefer the optimism of Jim Shea, shining through triumph and tragedy.
      People are nice. People are good.
      And it's wonderful to see them come together in peaceful competition.

Batman's Words of Wisdom: "Let's go, Robin. The longer we tarry, the more dire the peril."

Homer quote: "I have feeling too, you know, like `My stomach hurts´, or `I´m going crazy!´"

Random site: American Foundation for the Blind -- A kids site, but adults might like to play, too. See your name in Braille!

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