Give a frontiersman coffee and tobacco, and he will endure any privation, suffer any hardship, but let him be without these two necessaries of the woods, and he becomes irresolute and murmuring. ~ U.S. Army Lt. William Whiting, 1849

Blogs for Bush (Mark Noonan) UN’s Nuclear Watchdog Group Bows to Iranian Pressure — “As long as the Iranian regime is as it is, we simply will not know what they are up to, and we can place no reliance on agreements they make with us. Corrupt, power mad and entirely unresponsive to the will of the people, the only thing we can be sure of is that Iranian government actions will be done with a mind to whatever most benefits the tyrants to run Iran.”

Captain’s Quarters (Ed Morrissey) Understanding The Palestinian Death Wish — “They do not want peace. They want Israel. Nothing short of that will satisfy the Palestinians, and all of the talk in the world will do not one whit of good until they understand that we will not allow them to destroy Israel, and of course neither will the Israelis.”

Dr. Sanity (Dr. Pat Santy) CAIR: Just Another Pissant Apologist For Islamic Terror — “It is hardly “simplistic” to oppose totalitarianism, whether it’s anti-human agenda masquerades as “religion of peace” or a “worker’s paradise”. What has really become “old” is the reflex apologism and casual glossing over of evil routinely committed in the name of Islam.”

Everyone needs a smile to start their week. Here’s two:

TMH’s Bacon Bits (DL) Eating is Un-American — “Item: Harry Reid and Hillary Clinton led a large contingent of Democrats to the Capital steps today to announce their motto for the next election. The motto: “A vote for us is an empty plate.” Hillary held up a gold-embossed plate to emphasis the point, but Howard Dean was overheard saying that the plate looked like the same pattern that once was in the White House.”

ScrappleFace (Scott Ott) Time: Bush to Start Era of ‘Pirate Diplomacy’ — “The cowboy label came as a result of the president’s declaration that he wanted Usama Bin Laden “dead or alive.” But in the new era of pirate diplomacy, Time’s editors write that the Commander in Chief will respond to North Korean missile launches and Iranian nuclear snubs with new picturesque expressions like “Aaargh!” and “Shiver me timbers!” ”

And (sorta) related to Scott’s post:

Sister Toldjah Oh, how I love pirates and Hollyweirdo of the week – and a salute to old-style masculinity.