Democrats Under Siege

The networks won't be reporting much of this, but it's fun to watch the Democrats unraveling.

GOP Forces House Democrats To Pull DC Voting Bill (Via Drudge)

House Democrats pulled a bill to grant voting rights to Washington, D.C., after Republicans offered a motion that would repeal the gun ban for the District.

The move is a clear signal that Democrats have lost control of the House floor on the voting rights issue after minority Republicans presented the Democratic majority with a politically unpalatable motion that their conservative members would be forced to support for fear of angering the gun rights community.

Fifty-two Democrats voted with Republicans on a similar measure to repeal the gun ban in 2004. That would be more than enough support for Republicans to add a repeal to the voting rights bill - something a majority of Democrats would vehemently oppose.

Republicans have taken great pride in offering motions to recommit during their time in the minority, an often over-looked legislative procedure that has allowed them to amend various bills on the House floor.

Meanwhile, the Communist hags from Codepink, who recently camped outside Nancy Pelosi's home, now plan to invade her office. Doesn't this idiot have any security?

Allahpundit seems to be enjoying things.

Three Arrested in London Bombings

I'm sure they were all good kids who enjoyed football and fish and chips, in between bouts of mass murder and attempts to flee the country.

Three held over 7 July bombings

Three men have been arrested in connection with the suicide bombings in London on 7 July 2005.

Two men, aged 23 and 30, were arrested shortly before 1300 GMT at Manchester Airport when they were due to catch a flight to Pakistan.

A third man, aged 26, was arrested at a house in Leeds shortly after 1600 GMT.

The men were arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation, or instigation of acts of terrorism under the Terrorism Act 2000.

No names divulged yet.

UPDATE: More at Hot Air.

Let the Seething Begin

Let's see how calmly the practitioners of the "religion of peace" comport themselves. There may be a lot of carbeques in the Paris suburbs tonight.

French Cartoon Editors Acquitted

The editor of a satirical French magazine accused of insulting Muslims by reprinting cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad has been acquitted.

A French court has ruled in favour of weekly Charlie Hebdo, rejecting accusations by Islamic groups who said it incited hatred against Muslims.

The cartoons were covered by freedom of expression laws and were not an attack on Islam, but fundamentalists, it said.

The case was seen as an important test for freedom of expression in France.

Applause broke out in the courtroom at the announcement of the verdict, which ruled that the three cartoons published in February 2006 were not insulting to the Muslim community, the AFP news agency reports.

Editor Philippe Val had rejected the allegations, saying the cartoons were not an attack on Muslims, but on terrorists.

Expect riots to commence any minute now.

Senate Panel OKs Subpoenas

Shameless political whores Charles Schumer and Patrick Leahy know when they have a good thing going, and they plan to milk this nonscandal for all it's worth. Schumer, in particular, is obsessed with Karl Rove, his intellectual superior, and just hates the fact he's never been able to nail him for anything.

Senate Panel OKs Subpoenas for Key Aides

A Senate panel, following the House's lead, authorized subpoenas Thursday for White House political adviser Karl Rove and other top aides involved in the firing of federal prosecutors.

The Senate Judiciary Committee decided by voice vote to approve the subpoenas as Republicans and Democrats sparred over whether to press a showdown with President Bush over the ousters of eight U.S. attorneys.

Democrats angrily rejected Bush's offer to grant a limited number of lawmakers private interviews with the aides with no transcript and without swearing them in. Republicans counseled restraint, but at least one, Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, backed the action.

A House Judiciary subcommittee authorized subpoenas in the matter Wednesday, but none has been issued.

Democrats said the move would give them more bargaining power in negotiating with the White House to hear from Bush's closest advisers.

"We're authorizing that ability but we're not issuing them," Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said of the subpoenas. "It'll only strengthen our hand in getting to the bottom of this."

Republicans countered, however, that subpoenas were premature.

"I counsel my colleagues, both Democrats and Republicans, to work hard to avoid an impasse. We don't need a constitutional confrontation," said Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the panel's top Republican.

Still, in the end, I think the truculent, childlike behavior by these buffoons will backfire. The White House needs to stick to their guns, however, and cannot fold under the relentless pressure from the drive-by media.

Gore's Big Lies

It was painful watching The Goracle's theatrics and thankfully I watched only brief portions of his hysterics Wednesday. The part where he babbles about global warming being a moral issue and nearly crying was really ridiculous. Safe to say the Hollywood idiots won't be nominating him for Best Actor next year.

Iain Murray exposes this fraud today.

Al Gore was born and spent most of his life in Washington, D.C. Yesterday, he returned to the fever swamp to show he's forgotten none of his old political tricks.

Addressing the House and Senate on global warming, he put forth a litany of half-truths that he twisted into a morality tale. But the facts tell a different story. The former veep is a master politician, not a prophet or a planetary savior.

Gore's biggest rhetorical trick is saying that the Earth has a fever. He says that 10 of the hottest years in history came in the last 11 years, and this proves we must do something, because, "If your baby has a fever, you go to the doctor."

This is meaningless. The Earth has been much, much hotter in the past than today. No giant space nanny fed it medicine.

Moreover, a healthy baby has a constant temperature - that's why a fever is bad. The Earth does not have a constant temperature. It has been generally warming since the end of the Little Ice Age in the early 19th century, but that has not been uniform. It's had warming phases (the 1920s and 1930) and cooling phases (the 1940s to 1970s).

It's also had periods like today, when temperatures are flat - there hasn't been much warming since 1998. Yes, it's warmer today than it was a hundred years ago, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Talking about fevers is misleading, but it's a great rhetorical trick.

Read the rest.

If you had any doubts Gore is a charlatan, watching his absurd performance should put those doubts to rest.

Edwards to Withdraw From Race?

The buzz this morning is John Edwards may drop out of the 2008 presidential race due to his wife Elizabeth's health.

John Edwards, the North Carolina Democrat making a second bid for the presidency, announced late Wednesday night that he would hold a news conference Thursday, a day after he and his wife, Elizabeth, visited Mrs. Edwards? doctor to assess her health following her recovery from breast cancer.

While I certainly am no fan of Edwards, we should all put politics aside and wish John and Elizabeth Edwards well and keep them in our prayers.

More at Captain's Quarters.

UPDATE: Edwards apparently is staying in the race.

John Edwards said Thursday his wife's cancer has returned, but said he will continue his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.

"The campaign goes on. The campaign goes on strongly," Edwards told reporters, his wife by his side.

Chris Horner

I saw this fellow Chris Horner on Hannity and Colmes and really took a shine to him. I enjoyed his sense of humor. Went and did a little research on him.

He hammers Al Gore here.

Front Page interview here.

His book here.

Funny guy. Hope to see more of him.

Couric Cheers on The Goracle

Goodness, this is embarrassing.

Hi everyone.

The last time Al Gore came to Capitol Hill--six years ago--he was there to certify the electoral college results that made George Bush president.

But today it was a triumphant return, this time as a private citizen, to declare that the world faces a "planetary emergency" over climate change. And now, a lot of his skeptics agree that Gore makes a powerful point.

The scientific consensus is clear, and Gore urged Congress to listen to scientists, not special interests. He pushed for an immediate freeze on greenhouse gases, as well as cleaner power plants, more efficient cars, and stronger conservation efforts.

Gore said "a few years from now...the kinds of proposals we're talking about today are going to seem so small compared to the scale of the challenge."

Here's hoping Congress puts partisanship aside, and comes together to act boldly on global warming.

Via NewBusters.

Paging Rick Kaplan. You have a lot of work to do.

I have a hunch this may turn out like the last time Katie was pining for The Goracle, and all those comments mysteriously disappeared. We'll be sure to check back. Here's a sample, in case they have one of those funny mishaps again:

Cleaning up the air and water of this planet should be a priority. But why are we letting the "anti-carbon" zealots peddle misinformation? And why is Couric -- who is supposed to be a journalist -- making a bold declaration without considering the facts? Scientific consensus on this topic is cloudy, at best.
If you don't know about the Great Global Warming Swindle, look at its Channel 4 website before you go seeking it out. It's must-see TV.
http://www.channel4.com/science/mic
rosites/G/great_global_warming_swindle/i
ndex.html
Posted by bobm81 at 08:17 PM : Mar 21, 2007

Creator of Hillary 1984 Ad Identified

Carl Cameron on Fox has reported that Blue State Digital was the creator of the now infamous 1984 ad, and the founder is purportedly on the Obama campaign team. The creator has allegedly been fired.

Maybe this will put to rest the speculation by some braindead morons that the GOP was behind it.

From Wikipedia.

Blue State Digital is an Internet strategy and communications firm based in Washington, DC. The company was founded in early 2004 by four members of the Howard Dean Presidential Campaign: Clay Johnson, Jascha Franklin-Hodge, Joe Rospars, and Ben Self. They are involved in providing custom Internet applications and communications strategies to primarily Democratic organizations, political candidates and non-profit organizations.

UPDATE: Now look who we find mentioned in this Hotline report:

The most recent hire was announced this weekend: former Dean Web strategist Joe Rospars will be Obama’s new media director on the campaign. He joins his former colleagues from the Dean Internet staff Gray Brooks and Jim Brayton, who has directed Obama’s internet operation since his 2004 Senate campaign.

OK, so a founder of the group who supposedly produced the ad now works for Obama. I'd say this has his fingerprints all over it.

Let the fun begin.

UPDATE II: Naturally, Allahpundit has more.

UPDATE III: The creator resigns.

I've resigned from my employer, Blue State Digital, an internet company that provides technology to several presidential campaigns, including Richardson's, Vilsack's, and -- full disclosure -- Obama's. The company had no idea that I'd created the ad, and neither did any of our clients. But I've decided to resign anyway so as not to harm them, even by implication.

Obviously a Rove plant. Still, some nagging questions.

Rock Star Goracle Plays Capitol Hill

Environmental extremist and gaseous windbag Al Gore takes to Capitol Hill today to lecture us all once again on the myths of global warming. Or climate change. Or whatever he and his cronies will decide to call it next. This is sure to turn into a circus and we'll be told that debate is over and we're all doomed.

Leading up to this, there are an assortment of stories this morning. Check out this absurd piece from the Contra Costa Times.

Boxer criticized for Gore e-mail

Attackers say call for campaign contributions in thank-you letter to former vice president is ethically questionable

Al Gore, global warming rock star, will grab the media spotlight today before Sen. Barbara Boxer's Environment and Public Works Committee -- and Boxer is using Gore's appearance to help raise money for her 2010 re-election campaign.

In an e-mail sent earlier this month, Boxer asked her supporters to sign an online thank-you card to Gore "for his many years of leadership and hard work," which she plans to give to him today. So far, more than 63,000 people have signed the card, according to a campaign consultant.

Next to the link for signing the card is a link to "contribute today" to the Friends of Barbara Boxer, which takes the user to instructions on how to donate online.

One campaign finance watchdog, Melanie Sloan, called the e-mail "inappropriate, coming close to an ethical line," because it suggests a link between a congressional hearing, legislative activity and campaign contributions.

Critics are referred to as "attackers" and Gore is called a rock star in the first sentence. No editorializing there.

Be it unethical or of questionable legality, it doesn't matter. Barbara Boxer is a Democrat. She can do as she pleases.

Not to be outdone, the Washington Post slavishly fawns over The Goracle:

Gore Returns to Capitol Hill a Hero and a Target

Al Gore wowed moviegoers and Hollywood elites with his Oscar-winning documentary on global warming. Today he faces a far tougher audience in Congress.

The 2000 Democratic presidential nominee will testify about the urgency of addressing climate change in two appearances on Capitol Hill before panels that include skeptics of the sort that Gore probably hasn't met on the red carpet.

For instance, Sen. James M. Inhofe (Okla.), senior Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee, once called global warming "the greatest hoax ever perpetuated on the American people." The other witness scheduled to appear at the House Energy and Commerce Committee is Bjorn Lomborg of Copenhagen Business School, who asserts that global warming is real but argues that "the trouble is that the climate models show we can do very little" about it.

Look for Inhofe and Lomborg to be called deniers at some point. The audience will likely be stacked with environmental wackos and other assorted leftist nutcases preaching apocalyptic doom.

"He's the leader on global warming," said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), who chairs the environmental committee and who invited Gore to testify. "He's world-famous," said Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), another fan, who attended the premiere of "An Inconvenient Truth" and requested a personal photo op with Gore this afternoon.

Sounds like they want his autograph. Goodness, can they gush a little more?

Meanwhile, as noted over at Hot Air, actual scientists from NASA, not divinity school dropouts like Gore, note the sun could actually play a role in the earth's temperature rising all of one degree the past century. This is truly shocking news. Perhaps climatologists like Harry Reid and Barbara Boxer will put down their pom-poms and subpoena the sun to come down and explain itself.

Long-term climate records are a key to understanding how Earth's climate changed in the past and how it may change in the future. Direct measurements of light energy emitted by the sun, taken by satellites and other modern scientific techniques, suggest variations in the sun's activity influence Earth's long-term climate. However, there were no measured climate records of this type until the relatively recent scientific past.

Scientists have traditionally relied upon indirect data gathering methods to study climate in the Earth's past, such as drilling ice cores in Greenland and Antarctica. Such samples of accumulated snow and ice drilled from deep within ice sheets or glaciers contain trapped air bubbles whose composition can provide a picture of past climate conditions. Now, however, a group of NASA and university scientists has found a convincing link between long-term solar and climate variability in a unique and unexpected source: directly measured ancient water level records of the Nile, Earth's longest river.

In the end, expect a circus-like atmosphere on Capitol Hill and nothing of substance to arise out of this sham other than excessively fawning coverage from the networks.

Sister Toldjah exposes more Goracle hypocrisy.

UPDATE: After showing up late and avoiding the GOP, in his typical understated fashion, The Goracle warned of a planetary emergency. How original.

Former Vice President Al Gore, who organized the first congressional hearings on climate change three decades ago, returned to Capitol Hill today to urge lawmakers to address a ``planetary emergency'' by passing legislation to cut emissions that cause global warming.

``The consequences of inaction would be devastating to both the environment and the economy,'' Gore said in remarks to a joint hearing of the energy and science committees in the House of Representatives. He previously served on both panels.

Gore called for a freeze on the level of carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S., followed by mandatory reductions. He also backed revising the tax code to discourage such pollution; raising fuel-economy standards for cars; having the U.S. spearhead a new international climate change treaty; requiring companies to disclose their carbon emissions; and banning the construction of new coal-fired power plants that can't capture and contain carbon pollution.

In other words, wreck the economy.

UPDATE II: Hot Air has had continuous coverage today. Turns out Gore delivered a copy of his testimony almost 24 hours late. What a fraud.

Aussie Muslim Suggests Integration

Seething and fatwas are sure to follow after this.

Imams urged to be lifesavers and fireys

MUSLIM clerics will be encouraged to become surf lifesavers and volunteer firefighters as part of a push by one of the nation's most influential Islamic leaders for greater integration of his community into the mainstream.

In a report to be considered by imams at a meeting this weekend, Lebanese Muslim Association president Tom Zreika likens the unpopularity of Muslims to attitudes to communists, and urges spiritual leaders to improve the image of Islam in Australia.

Mr Zreika says in the report, commissioned by the powerful LMA, that Australians have "had enough of us".

Trust me, Tom, it isn't just the Australians. Are you listening, Dougie Hooper?

Mr Zreika blames the bad English-language skills of some imams for poor understanding and "bitterness" towards local Muslims.

"We have become the new communism, particularly in the West, and some people in our community are so repulsed by our actions, it is making life unbearable for us and our offspring," he says.

The document, obtained by The Australian and dated November last year to this month, says Islamic spiritual leaders should not "be fooled that this country belongs to Muslims at the exclusion of others".

Cleric Taj Din al-Hilali came under fire in January for attacking the West for being "oppressive" and saying immigrants had more right to live in Australia than the "descendants of convicts".

In the 16-page paper, titled "Australian Imams: The Way Forward", Mr Zreika recommends that imams should not "bring problems experienced overseas to Australia".

One of the report's 95 recommendations says imams should not be linked to any organistions of suspicion. Another says clerics must declare as income all gifts from officiating at weddings and funerals, as well as any other financial gift.

The Sydney-based lawyer accuses some imams of negligence in their incitement of hate against the West. "The last thing this society wants is angry men and women following radical but charismatic cults, like figures who promote breaches of the law and violence on the preposterous justification that they are simply acting in self-defence in a time of war," he says. "We are not at war, and we need some of our imams to stop being negligent."

Memo to Tom: Beef up security.

Louisiana Governor Blanco Will Not Seek Reelection

One term was more than enough for this nitwit.

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco, whose popularity plummeted after two hurricanes devastated south Louisiana less than halfway through her first term, will not seek re-election, according to a letter written by Blanco and obtained by The Associated Press.

"Today, I am announcing that, after much thought and prayer, I have decided not to seek re-election as your governor," Blanco said in the letter, provided by a source in the Democratic party.

Elected Louisiana's first woman governor in 2003, Blanco, a Democrat from Louisiana's Cajun country, had already drawn a half dozen challengers for this fall's election, including popular Republican U.S. Rep. Bobby Jindal, whom she defeated the last time out with 52 percent of the vote. Former U.S. Sen. John Breaux, a popular Democrat, has said he will decide soon whether to enter the race.

More at Hot Air, Ace of Spades, Right Voices, Michelle Malkin.

Iraqis Throw Beatdown on Al Qaeda

This just warms my cold, callous heart. Via Strata-Sphere.

Members of an Iraqi tribe along with local police managed to kill 39 al-Qaeda fighters in the town of Falluja, west of the capital city, Iraq's state TV said on Tuesday.

The clash between the two sides resulted also in the arrest of seven more al-Qaeda fighters, said the TV station. Falluja falls within the al-Anbar province which has witnessed a marked escalation in recent times in the pursuit of fighters from the al-Qaeda by local tribesmen with the full support of local government forces.

Surely, this will be reported on all the networks tonight, right after 28 minutes on nonscandal news about Alberto Gonzales.

Also at The Jawa Report.

The Enemies Within

Over at Front Page, an expose of the political frauds doing the best to defeat us.

Meet the Domestic Enemy

No foreign enemy could have engineered a strategy more likely to cripple America’s war effort in Iraq than has the homegrown political Left. Modeled after the age-old technique of inducing "cultural pessimism" by means of relentless criticism, it is a strategy that casts the U.S. as a nation motivated by nothing more noble than a dual lust for oil and empire; a nation guilty of unspeakable war crimes and human rights violations; a nation morally unfit to impose its will on any other government in the world; and a nation doomed to fail militarily against a foe whose resistance is allegedly inspired by a high-minded, inextinguishable yearning to free itself from the yoke of American oppression. Promoted by political charlatans and sympathetic media outlets, this depiction aims to demoralize the American people and crush their political will to do what is necessary to win the war.

Boxer, Rangel, Waters. All the usual suspects. Oh, and the Communist group Code Pink.

Code Pink, it should be noted, was co-founded by the pro-Fidel Castro, pro-Hugo Chavez communist activists Medea Benjamin and Jodi Evans. In 2004, this organization helped establish Iraq Occupation Watch, whose stated objective was to thin out U.S. forces in Iraq by causing soldiers to seek discharges as conscientious objectors. During the last week of December 2004, Code Pink joined Global Exchange and Families for Peace in donating a combined $600,000 in medical supplies and cash to the families of the terrorist insurgents who were fighting American troops in Fallujah, Iraq.

Code Pink and the Out of Iraq Congressional Caucus are ideological soul mates. Unfortunately for America, the OICC can do something Code Pink cannot do: set American policy.

Read the whole thing.

Just Don't Question Their Patriotism

More leftwing thuggery (WXYZ.com photo).

Congressman Mike Rogers' home is under police guard after his Lansing office was severely vandalized last night.

The case is being handled by the FBI and the US Capitol Police, who have requested that the Lansing Police investigate the matter.

According to the Congressman's spokesperson, the office was extensively damaged.

Two security cameras were destroyed and the building was spray painted.

The tapes from the cameras are being reviewed to see if they recorded anything before they were destroyed.

The vandals also spread red paint all over the 8th congressional district sign in front of the building, as well as on a sign that says "We Support Our Troops."

These punks are out of control, but I see no effort on the part of Democrats to tone down the rhetoric.

Meanwhile, they're running amok on college campuses, as noted by Michelle Malkin. Also check out Indoctrinate U.

Guilt by Association

Somehow I doubt the New York Times would get all hot and bothered if a Democrat administration hired a bunch of ACLU lawyers or appointed one to the Supreme Court, but when someone from the dreaded Big Oil has anything to do with their obsession over global warming, then it's time to stop the presses and start the investigations.

Material Shows Weakening of Climate Reports

A House committee released documents Monday that showed hundreds of instances in which a White House official who was previously an oil industry lobbyist edited government climate reports to play up uncertainty of a human role in global warming or play down evidence of such a role.

In a hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, the official, Philip A. Cooney, who left government in 2005, defended the changes he had made in government reports over several years. Mr. Cooney said the editing was part of the normal White House review process and reflected findings in a climate report written for President Bush by the National Academy of Sciences in 2001.

They were the first public statements on the issue by Mr. Cooney, the former chief of staff of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Before joining the White House, he was the “climate team leader” for the American Petroleum Institute, the main industry lobby.

He was hired by Exxon Mobil after resigning in 2005 following reports on the editing in The New York Times. The White House said his resignation was not related to the disclosures.

Read the rest. Henry "Nostrilitus" Waxman suspects a conspiracy. But of course.

The documents “appear to portray a systematic White House effort to minimize the significance of climate change,” said a memorandum circulated by the Democrats under the committee chairman, Representative Henry A. Waxman of California.

We're rapidly getting to the point where it will be considered criminal to be a Republican or work for the oil industry.

Obama More Liberal Than Kucinich

This probably makes him the leading moderate with the base of the party.

WASHINGTON - The most liberal member of Congress running for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination isn't Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio.

It's Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.

And the Republican candidate who's grown less conservative over his years in Congress? Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

Those are among the interesting findings in a recent analysis of votes by all the members of Congress who are running for president. They cut to the heart of debates going on among activists in both major parties: Can a liberal Democrat win a general election? Which Republican is ideologically pure enough to win support from conservatives?

What about the GOP?

The most conservative member of Congress seeking the Republican nomination - based on lifetime voting records - is Rep. Duncan Hunter of California, with a score of 82.5. The most conservative score possible was 99.

Hunter isn't registering much support again the more well-known names, but I certainly could live with him as President. Obama? I don't think so.

The bad news on the Doubtetalk Express today?

McCain got a 46 for social issues - left of center - and more conservative grades for economic and foreign policy issues.

More at Captain's Quarters.

UPDATE: Sister Toldjah checks in.

First-Grader Brings Crack to Show-and-Tell

Just warms the heart, doesn't it? Score another one for diversity.

Mother Arrested After First-Grade Son Brings Crack Cocaine to Show-and-Tell

A 20-year-old Shreveport woman has been arrested after her first-grade son brought a rock of crack cocaine to school for show-and-tell.

Police were especially disturbed by the child's understanding of crack cocaine. They said he seemed so accustomed to the highly addictive drug that he thought there was nothing wrong with bringing it to school.

Police did not release the name of the school, saying they are still investigating.

Lachristie Thomas was booked on a charge of improper child supervision, a misdemeanor.

I guess wondering why a 20-year-old has a first-grader would be harsh. Who am I to judge?

USS Cole Mastermind Confesses

The left was quick to question the confession of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Let's see how long it takes them to dismiss this.

A Yemeni portrayed as an al-Qaida operative and a member of a terrorist family confessed to plotting the bombings of the USS Cole and two U.S. embassies in Africa, killing hundreds, according to a Pentagon transcript of a Guantanamo Bay hearing.

The transcript released Monday was the fourth from the hearings the military is holding in private for 14 "high-value" terror suspects who were kept in secret CIA prisons before they were sent to the U.S. facility in Cuba last fall.

Last week, Waleed bin Attash said he helped plan the 1998 embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania that killed more than 200, according to the transcript. He also said he helped organize the 2000 attack on the USS Cole in which suicide bombers steered an explosives-laden boat into the guided-missile destroyer, killing 17 sailors.

"I participated in the buying or purchasing of the explosives," bin Attash said when asked what his role was in the attacks. "I put together the plan for the operation a year and a half prior to the operation, buying the boat and recruiting the members that did the operation."

Also alleged to have been Osama bin Laden's bodyguard at one time, bin Attash is in his late 20s and is a Yemeni who was born and raised in Saudi Arabia, authorities have said. Said to be an al-Qaida operational chief, bin Attash is known as Tawfiq bin Attash or Tawfiq Attash Khallada or simply Khallad. He was captured in 2003.

UPDATE: Transcript here.

UPDATE II: Allahpundit has more.

Blaming America First

Great piece by Michael Barone today (via Power Line).

After seeing all the misinformed malcontents whining and parading across the country this past weekend, this is certainly a welcome piece.

"They always blame America first." That was Jeane Kirkpatrick, describing the "San Francisco Democrats" in 1984. But it could be said about a lot of Americans, especially highly educated Americans, today.

In their assessment of what is going on in the world, they seem to start off with a default assumption that we are in the wrong. The "we" can take different forms: the United States government, the vast mass of middle-class Americans, white people, affluent people, churchgoing people or the advanced English-speaking countries. Such people are seen as privileged and selfish, greedy and bigoted, rash and violent. If something bad happens, the default assumption is that it's their fault. They always blame America -- or the parts of America they don't like -- first.

Where does this default assumption come from? And why is it so prevalent among our affluent educated class (which, after all, would seem to overlap considerably with the people being complained about?). It comes, I think, from our schools and, especially, from our colleges and universities. The first are staffed by liberals long accustomed to see America as full of problems needing solving; the latter have been packed full of the people cultural critic Roger Kimball calls "tenured radicals," people who see this country and its people as the source of all evil in the world

Read the rest.