Theodore's World

Pelosi: I would not give Congress high marks on ending the war
The HIll
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Sunday that she would not give Congress high marks with regard to ending the war in Iraq, adding that she understands voter dissatisfaction on the issue that has sent the congressional approval rating tumbling.

The speaker, in an interview aired on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” stated it was ironic that, as an outspoken opponent to the Iraq campaign, anti-war activists are targeting her now. However, Pelosi added that she understands and respects the frustrations of the Democratic base.

“We will continue to pass legislation to make that point that the war should end,” she said. “And we happen to be blocked by a 60-vote hurdle in the Senate, but the public doesn’t want — care about that. They just want us to end the war.”

Pelosi also said that she would not bring up to a vote language that designates Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization.
The measure had passed in the Senate earlier this year.
Pelosi said now is the time to take up action on the Armenian issue because the last of the survivors are dying.
“Some of the things that are harmful to our troops relate to values — Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, torture. All of those [are] issues about who we are as a country,” Pelosi said. “And I think that our troops are well-served when we declare who we are as a country and increase the respect that people have for us as a nation.”
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said on Fox News Sunday that there is “no question that the suffering of the Armenian people some 90 years ago was extreme.” However, he added that those events “ought to be a subject for historians to sort out, not politicians here in Washington.”

“Bringing this bill to the floor may be the most irresponsible thing I’ve seen this new Congress do this year,” Boehner said.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
Pelosi is doing all she can to make this war harder for our troops to fight. I think that is why she has pushed this Turkey thing like she has. Just to mess with our soldeirs and what they are up against.
She feels more for these wretched punks the anti-war cowards, than she does her country or our military. Try feeling the pain of the 911 victims families, or the families of those murdered by Saddams henchmen and al Queda.

Rice: Now is time for Palestinian state
AP via Yahoo news
Saying the time is now for a Palestinian state, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday prodded Israel and the Palestinians to agree at a U.S.-sponsored conference this fall on how and when to start formal peace talks.

In one of her strongest statements yet on the issue, Rice declared that creation of a Palestinian state is a key U.S. interest and urged the two sides to drop contentious demands and reach consensus on a substantive joint statement ahead of the international conference.

“Frankly, it’s time for the establishment of a Palestinian state,” Rice told a news conference with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who she saw on the second of a four-day intense Middle East shuttle diplomacy mission.

“The United States sees the establishment of a Palestinian state and a two-state solution as absolutely essential for the future, not just of Palestinians and Israelis but also for the Middle East and indeed to American interests,” she said.

“That’s really a message that I think only I can deliver,” Rice said, explaining her mission to prepare for the conference to be held in Annapolis, Md. as early as late November.

The secretary is facing daunting challenges in trying to bring the two sides close enough to make the conference worthwhile.
Rice, who expects to return to the region at least once before the conference takes place, played down the chances for any breakthroughs before she traveled here.
Rice met with Israeli officials on Sunday and will see both sides again on Wednesday after visiting Egypt on Tuesday and finally traveling to London to meet Jordan’s King Abdullah II in a bid to build support for the meeting among skeptical Arab nations.
In her talks in Jerusalem and the West Bank, she is seeking to bridge wide gaps between Israel and the Palestinians over the declaration to be endorsed in Annapolis that President Bush hopes will lead to negotiations for a final settlement of the long-running conflict.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said he does not see the document as a prerequisite for the conference. He wants it as vague as possible on critical so-called “final status issues” like the borders of a Palestinian state, the status of disputed Jerusalem, Israeli settlements and Palestinian refugees.

The Palestinians, meanwhile, have said they will not attend the conference without a document that contains details on these matters as well as a specific timeline for their resolution. Arab states share the Palestinian concerns.

“No doubt that before we go to (the conference), the document will be ready,” said Abbas, whose authority has been limited to the West Bank since the militant Hamas movement seized control of the Gaza Strip in June.

“The negotiations should not be open-ended, but subject to a certain time period,” he added.

Standing next to Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Rice insisted the conference will be “serious and substantive.”

“We frankly have better things to do than invite people to Annapolis for a photo op,” she said in the first public confirmation from a U.S. official that Washington has chosen the Maryland capital as the venue for the meeting.

Speaking to reporters at her Jerusalem hotel after seeing Abbas, Rice declined to reveal her private discussions with Israeli and Palestinian officials but suggested that neither side would get its way in their demands for the joint statement.

“I am not certain that a timetable that says we have to complete X by Y time is where we want to go,” she said when asked about the Palestinian demand for deadlines.

“We’re talking about ways to demonstrate continued momentum if and when they begin formal negotiations but we haven’t come to any conclusions at this point,” Rice said.

She also said the joint statement “does not have to be detailed in order to be serious (or) substantive.”
At the same time, she said that despite Israeli reservations, the document would have to include references to the final status issues.

“If it’s going to address the establishment of a Palestinian state, then it has to address core issues,” Rice said. “You do have to have enough that is concrete so that people know that we’re not just starting out with the general principle that everyone would like to have a Palestinian state.”

She also defended the plan for the conference, which some critics believe Bush called prematurely when he announced in July that it would be held in the fall — a year before the next presidential elections.

“I understand as well as anybody that there are risks to announcing a meeting and then doing the hard work to get it prepared,” Rice said. But the other side of that … something had to spark their active and intensive engagement, something had to spark the region to take advantage of what was a slowly opening historic opportunity.”

Palestinian officials had expressed disappointment with Rice’s less-than-optimistic comments on Sunday and in her meeting with Abbas she sought to reassure the Palestinians of the U.S. commitment to peace.

“We have come a long way,” she said. “We have got quite a long way to go, but we are not going to tire until I have given it my last ounce of energy and my last moment in office.”

Also Monday, the Israeli and Palestinian teams charged with drafting the pre-conference document were to meet in Jerusalem, Qureia’s office said. The teams had met only once before.
At the same time, Olmert hinted Monday that he is ready to share control of Jerusalem, saying for the first time that Israel could do without controlling some of the holy city’s outlying Arab neighborhoods.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
We are definitely living in some alternate universe. The former producers of Twilight Zone would have a field day getting script ideas from today’s morons in DC.
I don’t know if they want a State but they sure do want to kill Jews.

Rockies earn first World Series berth
Colorado sweeps Diamondbacks to win NL pennant
DENVER (AP) — Riding a Rocky Mountain High like none other, Colorado is heading to its first World Series.
With their 21st win in 22 games, the relentless Rockies beat the rattled Arizona Diamondbacks 6-4 in Game 4 Monday night to sweep the NL championship series at a chilly Coors Field.
The Rockies are the first team since the 1935 Chicago Cubs to win at least 21 of 22 after Sept. 1, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
I am a Cub fan, Rockies and a Red Sox fan, and Nick is a Dodger fan. This is just so awesome, the way the Rockies have played all year. It is just so cool, I love it. The Red Sox so far are still in it. So we will see what happens. If it ends up that it is Rockies and Red Sox I will go with the Rockies since they have never won the World Series.

Examiner

Speaking with XM Radio’s Bob Edwards on Tuesday, former President Jimmy Carter (you know, the guy who gave the “malaise” speech) told the radio host that he “would not want to have changed anything” during his presidency.

Well, okay, maybe one thing. Referring to the Iran hostage crisis, Carter said:

“I have a specific regret in not having one more helicopter when I wanted to rescue our hostages. If I had had one more helicopter, they would have been rescued. I might have been reelected president.”

Wild Thing’s comment……..
Jimmah “one more copter” Carter regrets nothing. Well he is delusional that’s for sure. He should regret his entire life.
“they would have been rescued. I might have been reelected president”
Oh really?? It sounds to me like Carter is more interested in that he could have been reelected then in the hostages.

Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to seek approval from parliament next week to launch attacks against Kurdish rebels in Iraq.

US Tries To Halt Turkey Attack
Observer
Diplomats fly to Ankara to stop military move against Iraqi Kurds after ‘genocide’ resolution
Senior US officials were engaged last night in last-ditch efforts to persuade Turkey not to launch a major military incursion into Iraqi Kurdistan to target armed separatists.
A team was diverted from a mission to Russia to make an unscheduled stop in Ankara yesterday. Against the background of the escalating diplomatic row between Turkey and the US over a congressional resolution that branded as ‘genocide’ massacres of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915, US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, revealed she had personally urged Turkey to refrain from any major military operation in northern Iraq.
The row between the two Nato allies comes against the dangerous background of a threat by the Turkish parliament to approve this week a ‘hot pursuit’ of the Kurdish separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party, the PKK, across the border into northern Iraq.

‘I urged restraint,’ said Rice, on a visit to Moscow, acknowledging ‘a difficult time’ between the two countries as she described her telephone conversations with Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul, its Prime Minister and foreign minister.

‘It’s a difficult time for the relationship,’ Rice said. ‘We just thought it was a very good idea for two senior officials to go and talk to the Turks and have reassurance to the Turks that we really value this relationship.’ Rice said that in her conversation with the Turks ‘they were dismayed’ by the congressional resolution. ‘The Turkish government, I think, is trying to react responsibly. They recognise how hard we worked to prevent that vote from taking place.’

About 60,000 Turkish troops are based near the northern Iraqi border. US military officials have said they believe they will get some warning if the Turks attack the PKK.
Rice’s phone conversations came as two senior US officials flew to Turkey yesterday to attempt to defuse tension that has seen the Turkish ambassador to Washington return home for consultations following the resolution, which Turks regard as deeply offensive.
And this……………………..
Premier Says Turkey Is Ready For Split With U.S. Over Kurds
Washington Post
ISTANBUL
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that he is prepared for a rupture in relations with the United States if his government launches an incursion into northern Iraq in search of Kurdish rebels.

“If such an option is chosen, whatever its price, it will be paid,” Erdogan said to reporters Friday after meeting with party leaders. “There could be pros and cons of such a decision, but what is important is our country’s interests.”

Erdogan criticized the United States for warning against a Turkish attack in one of the few relatively stable regions of war-ravaged Iraq.

“Did they seek permission from anyone when they came from a distance of 10,000 kilometers and hit Iraq?” Erdogan asked. “We do not need anyone else’s advice.”

“Democrats are harming the future of the United States and are encouraging anti-American sentiments,” Erdogan said Friday, referring to Democratic Party leaders who supported the measure.”

Wild Thing’s comment………
Turkey is full of it.They took forever to decide to let us use their country when our troops went into Iraq. They said no for a long time and we needed them right away. It is a Muslim country and I honesly think they are using this as an excuse.
As far as what stupid Pelosi did she is vile and horrible and knew all along what would happen and that it would put our troops in even more danger and she could care less.

Democrats: Children Will Get Insurance
WASHINGTON (AP)
House Democratic leaders said Sunday they were working to gather votes to override a veto on a popular children’s health program, but pledged to find a way to cover millions without insurance should their effort fail.
In talk show interviews, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer did not dispute claims by Republican leaders that the GOP will have enough votes to sustain President Bush’s veto when the House holds its override vote on Thursday.
Pelosi and Hoyer promised to pass another bipartisan bill if needed.

“Isn’t that sad for America’s children?” said Pelosi, D-Calif., when asked about the GOP’s assurances the override vote will fail. “It doesn’t mean we aren’t working hard throughout the country: governors, mayors, people who deal with children on a regular basis.

“We’ll try very hard to override it. But one thing’s for sure: We won’t rest until those 10 million children have health care,” she said in an interview broadcast Sunday.

Hoyer, D-Md., declined to predict Thursday’s vote.

“This is a defining moment for the Republican Party, in my opinion,” Hoyer said, before adding later: The program is “not going to die. We’re going to go back and we’re going to pass another bill.”

House Democrats scheduled the vote after Bush earlier this month vetoed legislation that would increase spending for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program by $35 billion over five years. Bush has called for a $5 billion increase.
An override requires a two-thirds majority in the House and Senate. The Senate approved the increase by a veto-proof margin, but the earlier House vote fell about two dozen votes short.
The program provides health insurance to children in families with incomes too great for Medicaid eligibility but not enough to afford private insurance. Bush has said the bill is too costly. The president now says he might be willing to provide more than $5 billion originally offered but that the current proposal shifts too much insurance burden onto the government rather than private providers.

On Sunday, House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said he hopes that Democrats will agree to negotiate once the veto is sustained so that the children’s insurance program can be reauthorized.

“We will have the votes to sustain the president’s veto,” Boehner said. “And I think the differences are resolvable, but we’re standing on our principle that poor kids ought to come first.”

“Most people don’t want government-run health insurance,” he added. “Republicans are working on a plan that will provide access to all Americans to high-quality health insurance, make sure that we increase the quality of health insurance that we have in America.”

Wild Thing’s comment……..
Interesting that the AP left out three key points:
1. This bill is funded by increasing the tax on cigarettes. This funding source is already declining due to the number of people giving up smoking. What are the RATs plans for funding when the cigarette tax increase is no longer enough?
2. As proposed by the RATs, this bill, originally designed for folks just barely outside Medicaid, will pay benefits for families earning in excess of $80,000 per year and will cover “kids” up to 25 years of age.
3. There’s nothing “wrong” with the existing bill, especially with the $5,000,000,000 that President Bush wants to add. This BS bill from the RATs is nothing more than one more stealth step towards government run health care.
These socialists pushing this thing are in our faces with it, but the media is perpetuating the big lie about the specifics. The media are no longer doing their jobs, instead they have blatantly chosen sides. They are nothing but full blown partisan democrats of the worst kind.

Former Doolittle Raider passes away
Former Lt. Nolan A. Herndon, a member of the famed Doolittle Raiders, died of pneumonia Oct. 8 at the age of 88. The lieutenant was a navigator-bombardier on one of the B-25 bombers that took off from an aircraft carrier on April 18, 1942, to strike targets in Japan.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
God speed Lt. Herndon and thank you sir.

Turk Wendell, a former major league baseball pitcher, autographs a squishy ball to give out during his visit to Forward Operating Base Kalsu, Oct. 9. The tour allowed Soldiers to interact with professional sports players, get their autographs and share stories. Photo by Sgt. Kevin Stabinsky, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs.

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU
Three diamond heroes, baseball pitchers Mike Remlinger, Turk Wendell and Adam Bernero, recently visited heroes of the battlefield stationed here as part of a morale boosting tour.
The three pitchers were the latest professional athletes to visit Soldiers here this year. Earlier visits have included basketball players and professional golfers.
Pro Sports MVP tours, organized by a Colorado Springs-based sports and marketing firm, provide Soldiers a chance to get autographs, pictures, and swap stories with the pros.

“Lots of baseball stories, fun times we had on the field, off the field,” said Bernero of the stories commonly told. “We talk about home, baseball stories; tell a bunch of lies about what we do back home,” he added with a laugh.

While the Soldiers enjoyed the stories, the players were impressed by the Soldiers’ daily sacrifices.

“In the big scheme of things, I was just a baseball player; what have I done with my life?” Wendell asked. “You guys are putting your life on the line everyday just so we can do what we do back in the States. All I did was throw a baseball.”

Such admiration prompted Wendell, a pitcher best known for his time with the Mets, which included pitching in the 2000 World Series, to make the trip here.
Bernero said a desire to see the sacrifices of the troops prompted him to visit.

“You hear a lot in the news and you read a lot but you don’t really know what is going on until you see it firsthand,” Bernero added. “I wanted to look people in the eye and hear what they had to say. That is more truthful than anything you read (in the newspapers).”

Wendell said he sees a lot of determination in the Soldiers he meets. In the same spirit as professional athletes, Soldiers want to win, he said.

“Keep up the battle. Everyone who I know believes in you,” said Wendell.

Pfc. Brandon Gilley, Battery B, 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, said he was glad to see the players.
As a baseball fan, Gilley said he probably has many of the players’ cards in his baseball card collection at home. In addition to getting autographed pictures of the trio, he also added a signed Texas state flag to his baseball memorabilia.

“I brought it along to get it signed by famous people who visited,” he said. “I wanted to represent my state.”

Likewise, the players said they wanted to represent the regard American people have for service members fighting to protect freedom back home.
Bernero also brought along a message to the troops to keep their head up and continue to persevere.
Bernero, who last pitched in 2006 with the Philadelphia Phillies and Kansas City Royals, missed 2007 due to injury; he is currently preparing to get back on the mound in 2008, having been signed by the Boston Red Sox minor league team.
While he admits that his sacrifices are minor compared to the ones Soldiers are making everyday, he hopes that he can leave them with inspiration to continue to work hard and do their country proud.

“Some things are a little bigger in life and this is one of them,” Wendell said. “You really got to believe in yourself. You can’t settle for second. It is not an option.”

Clinton Congratulates Muslim-Americans on the Occasion of Eid ul-Fitr
Her stupid websitehttp://www.hillaryclinton.com/news/release/view/?id=3699
Hillary Clinton today released the following statement in celebration of Eid-ul-Fitr, which marks the end the month of Ramadan or fasting.

“I am pleased to join Muslim-Americans today in celebration of Eid-ul-Fitr, marking the end of the sacred month of Ramadan. During these times of conflict, it is critical that we recognize the positive role of spiritual renewal, compassion, and charity that the month of Ramadan symbolizes. In the United States, millions of Muslims represent hard-working, law-abiding, and family-oriented Americans of all ethnicities and national origins.
“I am committed to encouraging the principles of diversity and mutual respect that are the bedrock of our nation. We need to help all Americans understand the important contributions that Muslim-Americans make to keep our communities and country strong. I wish Eid Mubarak, or Happy Eid, with prayers for peace and harmony to all.”

Wild Thing’s comment……..
“We need to help all Americans understand the important contributions that Muslim-Americans make to keep our communities and country strong.”
Good grief, I can’t think of anything in my life, or anyones life that has imporved in any way by an invention, a scientific breakthrough or anything else by a Muslim. I can’t think of even ONE thing. I’m sure the enemy appreciates the aid and comfort.
One day there will be a Nobel Prize for Muslim Ass Kissing and Bush and Hillary can compete.