Most people simply don't have the patience to wade through 3 hours of testimony put to paper, but since you read RWN, you don't have to! That's right, I've gathered the most salient quotations from Condi Rice's testimony for you to peruse right here...

-- Back on March 5th I said the following about the new, iron-fisted, indecency rules that are being put in place for radio...

"When you raise fines to that level and threaten to revoke licenses you are in effect engaging in "stealth censorship". By that, I mean that since what is considered to be "indecency" on the radio is very subjective and since the fines are so high, no radio stations are going to be able to afford to continue to carry "shock jocks" once this goes into effect."

The new penalties haven't even taken effect yet, but what I talked about in that post has already started happening...

"Federal regulators Thursday proposed $495,000 in indecency fines against Clear Channel Communications for broadcasts by Howard Stern, prompting the nation's largest radio chain to drop the country's best-known shock jock.

..."Mr. Stern's show has created a great liability for us and other broadcasters who air it," said John Hogan, president of Clear Channel Radio. "The Congress and the FCC are even beginning to look at revoking station licenses. That's a risk we're just not willing to take."

As I've said before, I would not be troubled in the least by Clear Channel dropping Stern for business reasons, but when the government in effect makes the penalties for carrying Stern so high that no company can afford to do so, I get concerned, very concerned about what is obviously censorship by another name....

-- I think it's quite ironic that many of the people claiming that President Bush didn't do enough to fight terrorism before 9/11 seem to have little interest in fighting terrorism TODAY. Many of these same people who criticize Bush claim the Patriot Act somehow mysteriously strips us of our freedoms (rarely do they have specifics), they bitterly complain about no-fly lists, rabidly oppose going after rogue states that support terrorism, etc, etc, etc. If you're not serious about fighting terrorism after 9/11 and everything we've learned since then, how can anyone take you seriously when you complain about what was done before 9/11?

-- Despite all the mainstream media hype of Richard Clarke's testimony and their snarky put downs of Condi, the public isn't buying the spin. According to Rasmussen Reports...

"...Following the Rice testimony, President Bush recorded his best single night of polling in over a week.

An earlier survey found that half of all Americans thought Clarke made his accusations against President Bush to help sell books or help the Kerry campaign."

-- I caught "Hellboy" tonight and was pleasantly surprised. As far as I'm concerned, only "Spider-Man" was a better adaptation of a comic book to the big screen. The main character -- Hellboy -- was a compelling character. Cocky yet quirky & funny, nearly invulnerable yet all too human, you couldn't help but root for him. Although the storyline was a touch convoluted -- and that's usually the case when you try to convert comics that have been running for years into a 2 hour long movie -- the secondary characters were intriguing and the villains were competent, ruthless, & brutal. Unfortunately, not everyone liked this movie as much as I did -- it's on pace to lose a bundle. So alas, it looks as if I'll be denied the pleasure of seeing "Hellboy 2"...

-- While I'm no fan of "Ken "Red Ken" Livingstone, the grating mayor of London, I fully agree with his latest comments about Saudi Arabia....

"I just long for the day I wake up and find that the Saudi royal family are swinging from lampposts and they've got a proper government that represents the people of Saudi Arabia."

Personally, I always imagined the Royal family being lined up against a wall and machine gunned, but otherwise well said Ken, well said!

-- Because the Shiite al-Arbaeen celebration, US forces aren't going to go into Najaf to put a bullet in al-Sadr this week-end, nor are they going be on hand to try to stop terrorist attacks. It could be a very bloody week-end in Iraq and next week, when I expect us to start going after al-Sadr and company in earnest, probably isn't going to be much better. Probably by Friday of next week or so we should have a much better idea of how long the fighting is going to last...

If you ask me, Gregg Easterbrook's latest column by is one of the best that I've seen this year. I'd love to post the whole thing, but this should give you the gist of it...

"AN ALTERNATIVE HISTORY: washington, april 9, 2004. A hush fell over the city as George W. Bush today became the first president of the United States ever to be removed from office by impeachment. Meeting late into the night, the Senate unanimously voted to convict Bush following a trial on his bill of impeachment from the House.

...Bush seemed bitter. "I was given bad advice," he insisted. "My advisers told me that unless we took decisive action, thousands of innocent Americans might die. Obviously I should not have listened."

Want to know why Bush wasn't doing everything he did after 9/11 before 9/11? That's why...

After accusations that Vice President Dick Cheney's January duck hunting trip to Louisiana with Justice Antonin Scalia has compromised the integrity of both men, Condoleezza Rice has spoken out in defense of Cheney and Scalia.

Dr. Rice, speaking on CNN's American Morning regarding a number of matters, said that while she could understand "how it looked," she was also certain that "if you get a group of men together in any situation -- a hunting cabin, a restaurant, a boardroom -- there is really only the slimmest possibility that they will discuss anything important. These are men, after all."

Rice said that she not only doubted that "the words 'Sierra Club' or 'Judicial Watch' ever came up during that trip," but that she also "seriously doubted that there were any issues of any significance discussed" by Cheney, Scalia and their cohorts, "unless you count snack foods, lying about your sexual prowess, 12 year old Scotch or cars as important." An exasperated Rice added that "I've been working with men my whole professional life. Trust me, I know."

If you enjoyed this satire by Marni Malarkey, you can read more of her work at Broken Newz.

Many opponents of the Bush administration have noted that they've attempted to keep the press from taking pics of the flag draped coffins of soldiers who've died fighting the war on terrorism. Well look at the caption below on this pic from Yahoo and I think you'll understand the Bush administration's position...

"US military families can only watch and wait for that fateful knock on the door"...what is this -- Al-Jazeera or Counterpunch?

Since the war on terrorism started, we've been hearing Vietnam comparisons. A couple of weeks into Afghanistan it was Vietnam. Then less than a week into Iraq and it was Vietnam. Now we're absolutely slaughtering Al-Sadr's militia and a bunch of Sunni gangs and their terrorista allies and that's Vietnam.

The only thing that I've seen that reminds me of Vietnam is the relentless negative spin the left, many Democrats in Washington, and the mainstream media have put on everything that happened since the war on terrorism began. There's your Vietnam comparison and this attempt to sap the moral of American families with loved ones fighting the good fight overseas is part of it...

***Update #1***: Allah says the following,

"Please note, John: To the best of my knowledge, Yahoo doesn't write the captions for the photos it hosts. The agency that produced the photo does. In this case, the culprit is--surprise--Agence France Presse."

It's entirely possible that what Allah is saying is correct and the AFP actually wrote the caption. But, if that's the case, then the AFP should be excoriated for writing it and Yahoo should be ripped for running it....

***Update #2***: Little Green Footballs confirms that the AFP wrote the caption and also notes that this picture was originally taken on March 22. So why run a two week old picture now, without revealing that it isn't current, & with a caption designed to undercut the moral of military families? Draw your own conclusions...

Since the Democratic National Committee still advertises at the Daily Kos, wouldn't it be entertaining and even appropriate to see an exchange like this on let's say "Hannity & Colmes"...

Sean Hannity: Now Terry MacCauliffe, the DNC advertises on a...I believe they call it a blog -- called the Daily Kos. There was a big flap last week when a Markos Zuniga from that website seemed to support the murder of those 4 American contractors in Fallujah and the desecration of their bodies. By giving the Daily Kos advertising money, aren't you endorsing their views?

Terry MacCauliffe: Terry that's outrageous. We certainly would never support anything like that. I think you may be mischaracterizing what he said....

Sean Hannity: Here's a quote, "That said, I feel nothing over the death of mercenaries. They aren't in Iraq because of orders, or because they are there trying to help the people make Iraq a better place. They are there to wage war for profit. Screw them." Why do you think it's appropriate to talk about ex-soldiers, Americans, who were over in Iraq protecting food that way?

Terry MacCauliffe: You...Sean..I...I really didn't know about this link. I think there was an aide....

Sean Hannity: It's despicable Terry, despicable...

You know, I can't say that I'm happy that the Bush campaign treats conservative bloggers like a bunch of lepers (they don't even have links on their blog), but I can understand it. Personally, I think John Kerry is making a big mistake by linking all those lefty blogs. If contenders for the presidency are held accountable for their campaign contributors, people who are allowed to stay overnight in the website, and controversial groups they meet with, then it certainly makes sense to hold them accountable for blogs they link to.

PS: On the other hand, people running for Congress, like my advertisers, Bryan Coffman, Robert Lamutt, and my soon to be advertiser Nathan Tabor, all obviously deserve your money since they're smart enough to recognize the genius that is Right Wing News and understand that unlike the Daily Kos, we're not cheering on the murder of Americans in Iraq...

Despite his initial reluctance to allow National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice to testify publicly before the 9/11 commission, U.S. President George Bush today said he would like to see a sequel.

"I could watch a couple more hours of that movie," said Mr. Bush. "Maybe we could do a whole series of them in primetime."

Meanwhile, Democrats in Congress appealed to the FCC to investigate the live coverage of Dr. Rice's testimony, charging that it may violate election laws.

"It was a free commercial emphasizing the competence and leadership of the Bush administration," said one unnamed Democrat House member. "We demand equal time."

If you enjoyed this satire by Scott Ott, you can read more of his work at Scrappleface.

In the past, I have ranked blogs based on their Alexa ranking. However, Alexa isn't a perfect tool and it also is unable to evaluate certain types of websites, which makes it less than ideal way of establishing a blogger pecking order.

Therefore, I decided to try a different approach just to see how that compared -- ranking political blogs based on how many links they're receiving from their fellow bloggers. I went to Technorati, Daypop, Blogstreet, and the Truth Laid Bear Ecosystem on Tuesday and counted how many links went to the top 100 POLITICAL blogs listed. Then I went through and weeded out any blog that didn't make the top 100 on at least 3 of the 4 measuring tools.

At that point, there were only 29 blogs left and I took their best 3 scores (or there only 3 scores if that was the case) and added them up. For example, if "Blog X" was the 3rd, 12th, 19th, & 26th, most linked to blog on the 4 top 100 pages I used, the 26th place finish would be dropped and "Blog X" would get a score of 34. Blogs with a score <34 would be ahead of "Blog X" and blogs with a score >34 would be ranked behind it. Understand the scoring? Good deal.

In that case, here are the blogosphere's 29 most influential political bloggers based on the number of links they receive from other blogs...

One thing you frequently hear from the left -- John Kerry included -- is that we should let the UN handle Iraq. Kerry isn't suggesting that we pull out the troops at this point, but other people, Dennis Kucinich among others, have.

But, here's what people who favor this idea either don't understand or don't want to tell you: the UN and/or the international community is not capable of handling Iraq without America still doing all the heavy lifting.

Here's why I say that....

When it comes to projecting force around the world, there's the United States, then there's Britain, and then there's the rest of the world. That's not to say that other nations can't help out or contribute, because they can. Australia, Poland, Spain, Italy, and plenty of other nations have put blood and treasure on the line to support us in Afghanistan and Iraq and that's certainly appreciated.

But still, if we're talking about any military operation that doesn't involve a bunch of blue helmets standing around picking their noses and trying to stay in the shade, then the US is going to be the core of the force, the Brits are going to make a large contribution, and then we'll round out the coalition with Australia and whoever else we can talk into coming along. It was that way in the Gulf War, in Kosovo, and it was that way in the war in Iraq.

Again, that's not to disparage the nations sending men into harms way to stand shoulder to shoulder with us, but the majority of the world has let their militaries atrophy down to almost Canada...ehr, I mean almost nothing. For example, the current numbers I'm finding vary, but there seems to be roughly 130,000 US troops in Iraq and 25,000 Coalition troops from other nations, about 10,000 of which are British.

Now the idea that the nations that aren't currently participating in Iraq like Germany, France, Belgium, Canada, Mexico, etc, could replace 130,000 of the finest, best trained troops in the world is laughable. So anyone trying to tell you that the US should pull out and let someone else handle it is for all intents and purposes saying "Let Iraq collapse into civil war, it's not our problem".

On the other hand, if you take the comparably moderate "turn things over to the UN" position, what are you really accomplishing? The rest of the world just doesn't have THAT MANY troops they're going to contribute. And since we -- and the Brits of course -- will still have the best militaries in Iraq by far, we will still end up doing almost all of the dirty work that no one else wants / is capable of doing. Meanwhile, Kofi Annan and the rest of the corrupt bureaucrats at the UN, the same guys who ran from Iraq like scalded dogs after they got bombed, would be at the center of the decision making process.

Knowing all this, it makes no sense to go the UN or the "international community" with our hat in our hands asking for help. To be honest, if we're not capable of pulling this off, then the UN hasn't got a hope in hell of doing it. Ultimately, the Coalition we have is best able to help the Iraqi people move towards Democracy and despite the problems we're having in Iraq right now, we're still slowly, but surely, moving in the right direction...

I thought you might enjoy a few select quotes about what's happening in Iraq right now from the Guardian's readership. It was surprising intelligent discussion about the war for a left-wing site, but that doesn't mean there weren't a few bad apples in the bunch...

desertfish: I think the everyone should withdraw their troops, except the Americans. They should fight until the last man, so that world is rid of them in 5 years from today.

Softech: "The proposal that the US/UK stay to make restitution is wrong. They should leave and make restitution. Having them stay to make restitution is like asking a rapist to move in with his victim to make restitution."

StanleyFeatherstone: "Double Agent Micki Jim Al Sadr is taking orders directly from Mr. Bush, that you can bank on. He's been a US agent since 1999. I have very credible sources concerning this.

This entire uprising is meant to coincide with the June 30th handover to the "entity" which Bush intends to carry out fully aware of the chaos that will descend upon the country. This will force NATO and the people of Europe to become embroiled in this fiasco while Americans set about getting to the bottom of who's making excessive profits out of these steady increases at the gas pump that we see here everyday in sunny Southern California."

And my very, very, favorite response to a question comes from jigme31 in a response to someone who points out how unfeasible it is to use UN troops in Iraq...

Chris: "UN peacekeeping forces"

The US troops fire back. The UN troops will just wait to be slaughtered. You want to see a real bloodbath? Kick the US out and invite the UN in."

jigme31: "UN troops arrive as a result of negotations and do not need to shoot back, at least that is the theory. In the case of Iraq the iraqis are pretty pissed off and it will be difficult ot bring UN troops in, especially with the Bush gang's ideas on the UN, ready to deflate any attempts at peacemaking ..."

Yes, there is nothing wiser than sending in troops thinking they will "not need to shoot back"...

The John Kerry campaign has announced its new slogan: "John Kerry -- he has 57 varieties of answer to every question! And he has voted 57 ways on every bill put before the House and Senate!"

Kerry campaign spokeswoman Melissa Flommerliar said that Kerry and his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, discussed the "burden of such a famous name as 'Heinz'," and felt that rather than fight it, "it was best to just use it."

Flommerliar added that, "since John is getting so much grief from the Bush people, you know, just because he votes several times and in several different ways on every possible issue, and just because he changes his tune on everything, again we thought, 'why fight it?' So we decided to just use it to our advantage. Oh, and we've decided to no longer refer to it as 'changing his tune.' We've decided to call it 'being flexible.' Think how much easier it will be to deal with, say, Al Qaeda, if the man in the White House is flexible!"

If you enjoyed this satire by Marni Malarkey, you can read more of her work at Broken Newz.

If you'd like a cleaner image to send in email, make into a flyer, or put up on your web page, you can get it here.

As I'm sure you remember, Trent Lott was publicly excoriated -- and rightfully so -- for praising Senator Strom Thurmond in a way that seemed to endorse the racist views he had held earlier in his life.

But now, Senator Christopher Dodd has done almost exactly the same thing, except Robert Byrd, instead of Thurmond, was the target of his compliments. Here's Dodd's quote...

"It has often been said that the man and the moment come together. I do not think it is an exaggeration at all to say to my friend from West Virginia that he would have been a great Senator at any moment. Some were right for the time . ROBERT C. BYRD , in my view, would have been right at any time . He would have been right at the founding of this country. He would have been in the leadership crafting this Constitution. He would have been right during the great conflict of civil war in this Nation. He would have been right at the great moments of international threat we faced in the 20th century. I cannot think of a single moment in this Nation's 220-plus year history where he would not have been a valuable asset to this country. Certainly today that is not any less true."

That's high praise indeed! Especially this part...

"I cannot think of a single moment in this Nation's 220-plus year history where he would not have been a valuable asset to this country."

Oooooh, ooooh, I can think of a moment! How about the moment Byrd wrote this back in 1946...

"I am a former kleagle of the Ku Klux Klan in Raleigh County and the adjoining counties of the state .... The Klan is needed today as never before and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia .... It is necessary that the order be promoted immediately and in every state of the Union. Will you please inform me as to the possibilities of rebuilding the Klan in the Realm of W. Va .... I hope that you will find it convenient to answer my letter in regards to future possibilities"

...Or better yet, how about the moment Byrd wrote this back in 1944...

"Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds."

Someone should run those quotes by Senator Dodd and see if he'd like to revise his comments...

I've refrained from commenting on what's happening in Iraq right now because in my opinion, the information that's coming out the country just isn't good enough to allow us to get a full picture of what's happening.

However, I can tell you this: We will pacify Fallujah, we will break al-Sadr's men (he does not have wide support), we will end the rioting, and al-Sadr will end up in a cell or a pine box. How long will this take & how many of our Coalition partner's troops, American soldiers, and innocent civilians will die? I honestly don't know, although I think we should have a much better idea of how things are going to play out in a week or so.

This certainly isn't good news and in fact the only possible upside I can see to this is that we're much better equipped to deal with these threats today than a fragile, new Iraqi government would be on June 30th. So by clearing out a lot of the bad elements in Fallujah and breaking al-Sadr, we may give Democracy in Iraq a better long-term chance of success.

Helping the people of Iraq build a democracy is difficult, but if we succeed, and I certainly believe we will, it'll be just as important as helping Japan or Germany become free was. The example set by a free Iraq is the key to helping the rest of Middle-East move towards Democracy, which is the ultimate key to defeating terrorism long-term & thereby preventing a terrorist from one day detonating a nuclear weapon on American soil.

It's tough, really tough, to know there are American soldiers, contractors, & our allies over there getting shot at, wounded, & killed. But, what they're doing is vitally important not just for the people of Iraq, not just for the Middle-East, but for all of us here at home. They're risking their lives in a foreign land, so civilians like us won't end up having to risk our lives trying to get out of a burning skyscraper or climb out of the twisted wreckage of a bombed out train. God bless and keep 'em safe while they're doing what has to be done in Iraq right now....

I've never been a particularly big Jeb Bush fan and this certainly isn't going to do much to improve his standing....

"Saying rigorous screening standards would ensure recipients ''won't be terrorists,'' Gov. Jeb Bush on Monday strongly endorsed issuing state driver's licenses to both illegal immigrants and foreign nationals who make Florida home for part of the year."

So we have a Republican governor who supposedly intends to run for President in 2008 endorsing driver's licenses for illegals? Boy, Jeb sure must have a lot of campaign contributors hiring illegals to pick oranges out there if he's supporting something this anathema to his base.

Especially when the reasoning behind sounds like something from a Scrappleface parody...

"Sen. Rudy Garcia, a Hialeah Republican pushing the measure in the Senate, says it would enable those stuck in immigration limbo to drive with valid licenses and get insurance while they work to become citizens.

''Our roads and streets will be safer because of this,'' Garcia said, adding that the sprawling nature of most Florida cities makes owning a car a necessity, and that the state, by not giving illegal immigrants licenses, ``almost tells these folks to break the law, because that's the only way they're going to be doing anything.''

Oh well, that explains it. We wouldn't want to put ILLEGAL aliens in a position where they had to BREAK THE LAW. This like allowing felons to legally have guns when they get out of jail on the grounds that if they commit crimes, we don't want them to do it with an illegal weapon.

Here's more wit and wisdom from Jeb himself, a man who I can almost assure you will not be GOP nominee for President...

"''We shouldn't allow them to come into our country to begin with,'' Bush said. ``But once they're here, what do you do? Do you say that they're lepers to society? That they don't exist? It seems that a policy that ignores them is a policy of denial.''

Why what DO we do with these illegals? Maybe we could...I don't know...ARREST AND DEPORT THEM INSTEAD OF GIVING THEM DRIVER's LICENSES?!?!?! How does that sound, Jeb? Maybe you could start cracking down on some of the businesses who are hiring these illegals, which would remove the reason these illegals are coming to the US. That doesn't qualify as a "policy of denial" does it?

We should expect better than this from any Republican governor, especially one as prominent as Jeb Bush...

New York - “Radio Pinko,” the New York flagship station of the Humorless Liberal Radio Network (HLRN) signed on the air today for the first time. The leftist network, the brainchild of Al Franken who is hot off his stunning success as a movie actor in the Stuart Smalley direct-to-video franchise, is an attempt to counter the influence of conservative talk show hosts Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and others.

The network will feature leftist agitprop and disinformation, Hootie and the Blowfish songs, Ben & Jerry’s commercials and lame attempts at humor in the style of the sketches Franken used to write for Saturday Night Live that always seemed to go on for ten minutes too long.

“It’s going to be an exciting time for humorless liberals,” said Franken to an early morning press conference. “We’re gonna rock you off your Birkenstocks.”

Although subject to change, the following programs are slated for the HLRN’s weekday lineup:

6-10am - Grumpy with Garofalo: Gen-X unfunny girl Janeane Garofalo whines and complains about George Bush and former boyfriend Ben Stiller during morning drive time

10-11am - Local Leftist Programming

11-12 noon - Secular Humanism Hour with the Right Reverend Rowan Williams: The Archbishop of Canterbury awakens your inner spiritual child by apologizing for Muslim terrorists and denying the major tenets of Christianity. Sponsored by the Bin Laden Construction Company

Noon-3pm - Al Franken Is a Big Fat No-Talent: Going against the Rush Limbaugh juggernaut, every day for three hours Al Franken will show you why Bill Murray was the last funny person to appear on Saturday Night Live

3-4pm - Simulcast of Radio Havana’s News Hour

4-7pm - Hanoi Jane’s Funhouse: Evening drive time gets a little pinker with America’s best looking traitor

7-10pm - Rantin’ and Ravin’ with Howard Dean: Socialism’s answer to Morton Downey, Jr. lights up the evening airwaves

10-Midnight - Minority Remix with Jesse Jackson: Features an eclectic mix of Marcus Garvey, Marvin Gaye and Malcolm X

Midnight-6am - Clinton After Dark: Go bar (and bed) hopping with the former President of the United States as he trolls for chicks with former members of his administration.

If you enjoyed this satire by William Grim, you can read more of his work at Broken Newz.

In a major policy address at the Brookings Institution today Senator Edward M. Kennedy said that Democrat presidential candidate John Forbes Kerry's actions prove that "Iraq is George Bush's Vietnam."

"The parallels between Vietnam and Iraq are stunning when seen through the actions of one man who lived through both eras," said Mr. Kennedy. "Thirty-some years ago John Kerry fought in Vietnam, then later protested U.S. involvement in Vietnam. In October 2002, John Kerry voted to support war against Iraq, then later protested U.S. involvement in Iraq. Clearly, Kerry's actions and public statements demonstrate that Iraq has become a quagmire for Bush."

White House spokesman Scott McClellan responded to Mr. Kennedy's remarks by saying, "Ted Kennedy is John Kerry's Chappaquiddick."

If you enjoyed this satire by Scott Ott, you can read more of his work at Scrappleface.

Mars... "If not us, who? If not now, when?"

Why did Jefferson send Lewis and Clark west? Why did Sir Hillary climb Mt. Everest? Why did we go to the moon? Why did Shakleton go to the South Pole? Humans have a capacity for exploration-this is what differentiates us from spruce trees. Ronald Reagan put it best, "If not us, who? If not now, when?" The people will be Americans and the time is now.

Going to Mars gives Americans something to be excited about again. In todays world, many live in constant fear-of terrorism, losing jobs, and other societal problems (i.e., drugs/alcohol/etc.) A mission to Mars would bring the world together. Going to Mars helps reignite a passion for science that is lacking in schools today. Kids love space, and a mission to Mars gives biology, geology, chemistry, and physics teachers real world applications of their field to help students get more interested.

There are real scientific gains to come from a mission to Mars. NASA scientists recently announced that it appears water was once on the Red planet. A mission to Mars helps us understand our own background as humans.

The technology benefits from a mission would pay back many fold. Lots of technology used today that came from the space program is taken for granted. Thirty-five years ago, someone didnt sit down and say "I am going to create the microchip." They were problem solving for how to get a craft to the moon. Cell phones, MRIs, bar codes, titanium used in golf clubs, food preservative technology-all this comes from past missions in space. I was recently asked to give an example of what we will discover by going to Mars. Obviously though, I am unable to say. If we knew, we would have invented "it". We cannot begin to comprehend the benefits of space travel.

Either way, we will invest in space. We are currently spending $11 Billion a year to fly the space shuttle and keep the International Space Station. Someone once said well that the ISS exists only as destination for the shuttle, and the shuttle only exists to take astronauts to the ISS. The Colombia Disaster demonstrated the lack of complete safety on the shuttle. The original plan called for all the shuttles to be fazed out by 2004. We can only travel a few miles away from Earth with the shuttle.

The American Institute of Cell Biology recently called the space shuttle the most expensive and inflexible research laboratory built in human history. But finally - We are designed, we are meant, to do this.

"A mans reach should exceed his grasp or whats a heaven for?" (Robert Browning).

Those are my two cents on why we should go to Mars.

Find More @ PATRIOT BLOG

I hereby proclaim Spike TV's new series "This Just In" to be the greatest.television.show.ever.EVER!!!!!

It's ultra conservative, as funny as "South Park" or "The Simpsons", and it's current. Things that happened a day or two ago end up on the show.

But hey, I know what you're thinking: "Hawkins, talk is cheap. How do I know this show is funny? I mean it's on Spike TV for God's sake. Don't those guys mainly do shows like "Slamball," "MacGyver," & "Bass fishing tractor pulls"? That's a fair point and I can understand where you're coming from. So let me show you a few suggestions from their Republicans for Ralph Nader parody page to prove that the show is funny....

"Republicans For Ralph Do's And Don'ts!

DON'T actually vote for Nader on election day! Remember, it's all about bait and switch. We bait, then switch! We're supporting Nader all the way up to November 1, 2004. And then, cast your vote for President Bush."

Funny, funny, funny? Come on!

How about these quotes from the show's blog...

-- "Kerry went on to say that “people have to be who they are.” Good advice from a guy who’s one guy one day, and another guy another day. It’s like his opinions are attached to some sort of a mood ring. Today, I’m Green, and for the war! Uh oh! The ring is black! And thus, I am not against it!

What a bunch of crap! Kerry doesn’t even know who he is. Hell, if you count the Botox, his FACE doesn’t even know who he is."

-- "The founder of Hamas Sheik Ahmed Yassin was struck by a missile this morning, killing him instantly. In a massive demonstration, thousands of Palestinians carried his remains through the streets of Gaza.

What the hell is going on in that part of the world that they have villains rolling around in wheel chairs. What was he, Dr. Evil? Is this a bad episode of MacGuyver?"

Like I said, this is greatest.television.show.ever.EVER!!!!!

***Update #1***: Next Show Time: Thursday April 08, 11:00 PM (ET/PT)

More from Brian Newport's (the lead character on the show) about page...

Newport on Gore
“Hey, if Al Gore doesn’t want Bush elected, maybe he should endorse him!”

Newport on Racial Profiling
“The hyphen (in a name) is evil. Al-Jazeera. Bin-Laden. Rodham Clinton. Evil. Evil, evil hyphen.”

Newport on Bush
“People keep saying Bush is an idiot, and he was responsible for 9/11. Hey, you can’t be an evil mastermind and a moron… so pick one!”

Newport on Lieberman
“He might be out of the race, but at least he got some good news. Sharper image licensed his voice to be used in one of their ambient noise sleep inducers. He’s going to be between “Babbling Brooke” and a Norah Jones song.”

Newport on voting
“Everybody’s vote shouldn’t be equal. Idiots making decisions for the rest of us is the reason is why Bruce Almighty won ‘The People’s Choice’ award.”

Newport on hygiene
“There are no more French Flags in the bathroom, so please feel free to use toilet paper.”

On how long it’s taking to rebuild Iraq
“It’s weird that it’s taking so long to rebuild Iraq. It only took three days to destroy it!”

On the democratic debates
“Watching democrats debate is like watching children put on a play. It’s cute, but it’s never gonna make it to Broadway.”

On Fans
“Fans are dangerous. Mark David Chapman? Fan. John Hinkley? Jodie Foster fan. The girl that killed Celine Dion? President of her fan club. I know it was actually Selina… but a guy can hope, right?”

On Kurt Kobain
“All I’m saying is he sobered up, realized he was married to Courtney Love, and took the easy way out.”

I received an email from someone named John Damon. Apparently he sent it to Rush, Hannity, O'Reilly, Brit Hume, and other "high profile defenders of the American way of life" -- like yours truly! While I was certainly flattered by that high praise, I must admit that I found Mr. Damon's suggestions to be a bit -- uh, what's the most diplomatic way to put this -- how about nutty and reminiscent of 1930's style fascism? Here's the crux of Mr. Damon's missive...

"...Rather than worry about holding the two "K's" (Kennedy & Kerry) accountable for "book-keeping" errors, since they are leading the defeat of America effort, both should be immediately arrested, charged with murder and imprisoned without bail or access to the Dans, Toms, Peters, Katies, Andreas, and Babs of the bleeding heart circuit....

This is not something to be debated, Rush, Hannity, O'Reilly et al should be DEMANDING the arrest and punishment of these two traitors every day forcefully. And Bush cannot hurt himself in the least by having them imprisoned and prosecuted, and brought to justice by the American people who they have betrayed. As it is now, no matter what Bush does, he is blamed anyway. He should have "anticipated" 9/11 and acted. He should not have pre-empted Iraq."

Why that's a splendid idea! We'll just arrest the Democrat's candidate for President and his more conservative fellow Senator from Massachusetts for 30 year old crimes and slap them in jail =) And I love this quote, "Bush cannot hurt himself in the least by having them imprisoned and prosecuted" -- really? =) So he doesn't think there would be anyone hollering if Bush had Kerry tossed in the hoosegow? Perhaps he thinks that if anyone did complain we could just toss them in a gulag for "supporting traitors". This guy is like a cartoon -- a Democratic Underground version of what conservatives are like. That's why I did a Google search for "John Damon" and found out -- are you ready for this -- well, not much honestly. This guy appears to some random kook who hates Kerry. But hey, slapping Kerry in jail? Woooo, what a wacko....

In the aftermath of news that 308,000 new jobs were created in March, Democrat presidential candidate John Forbes Kerry said today that "corporate fat-cats are padding their payrolls with unneeded workers to help George Bush win the election."

"These wealthy special interests are so desperate to give Bush some good news, that they've hired 308,000 people that they don't need," said Mr. Kerry. "Some say this is an expression of hope for a better future, but I think it's the worst sort of cynicism. Many of these same 308,000 will some day lose their jobs, and that tragic loss must be laid at the doorstep of George W. Bush who did nothing to stop his wealthy cronies from hiring these future unemployed people."

Mr. Kerry added that the corporations were just using the 308,000 new employees to take advantage of the "tax breaks for the rich" because salaries and benefits are deductible corporate expenses.

The senator from Massachusetts also suggested that the job creation figures had been manipulated.

"One must ask oneself whether these new jobs are real," he said, "since it is common knowledge that companies don't add more employees during a recession, but only during a recovery or in good economic times, and the latter scenarios are simply unthinkable."

If you enjoyed this satire by Scott Ott, you can read more of his work at Scrappleface.

Right Wing News emailed more than a 170 right-of-center bloggers and asked them to send us a list of who they considered to be their "Favorite Contemporary Dinner Guests". Representatives from 46 blogs responded.

All bloggers were allowed to make anywhere from 1-20 selections. Rank was determined simply by the number of votes received.

The bloggers were also told that their selections had to be currently living people from anywhere in the world that they'd really enjoy sitting down with for a long 1 on 1 conversation over dinner.

Here were their selections...(Cont)

***Update #1***: Here's my list. It was hella tough working it down from the original 26 I had on there....

George W. Bush
Ann Coulter
Tom Delay
John Douglas
Tommy Franks
Newt Gingrich
Victor David Hanson
David Horowitz
Rush Limbaugh
Vince McMahon
Tony Robbins
PJ O'Rourke
Karl Rove
Donald Rumsfeld
Antonin Scalia
Thomas Sowell
Mark Steyn
Tom Tancredo
Margaret Thatcher
Walter Williams