If it wasn’t for coffee, I’d have no discernible personality at all. ~ David Letterman

Don Surber Standing up to tyranny — “Iraq is not a distraction from the war on terror. It is at the heart of what this war is about: Standing up to tyranny throughout the world.”

Blue Crab Boulevard What to do about North Korea — “Opening negotiations will simply reward Kim Jong Il’s derangement and bring even greater aggression later. It is also necessary to show Iran that there are distinct consequences, not rewards, for nuclear aggressiveness.”

Captain’s Quarters (Ed Morrissey) Mexico Wants UN To Block Fence — “The American border barrier will sit on American territory, and it will be used to enforce our national border. The need for that enforcement comes from a failure of Mexico to ensure that its citizens cross the border in a legal manner, as well as a failure of the Mexican government to provide the means for their citizens to prosper on their own. Derbez opposes the border because Mexico depends on the American money these workers send home to their families as well as the safety valve the border provides that keeps angry and starving young men from threatening the political order. If Derbez thinks the UN can solve those problems, then he will be sorely disappointed when he files his complaint.”

Right Wing News (John Hawkins) North Korea Blows It — “Whatever the case may be, we still have a starving, threatening, incompetent, unpredictable, dictatorial regime that may or may not have nuclear weapons. That’s a dangerous situation and it really needs to be taken a little more seriously by everyone involved, from the Bush Administration to the Democrats who’ve offered no support for Bush’s policy or workable alternatives to it, to the “international community.” ”

In The Bullpen (Chad Evans) More Fizz Than Pop — “Perhaps the NK nuclear test had the same success as the nation’s long-range rocket? That test, if you recall, was also timed when the six nations working to reach an agreement were scheduled to meet. It’s hard to take a man who wears platform shoes to appear taller seriously, and Kim Jong-Il’s own rushed tests give credence to my weariness.”

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Making coffee has become the great compromise of the decade. It’s the only thing “real” men do that doesn’t seem to threaten their masculinity. ~ Erma Bombeck

Right Wing News (John Hawkins) Mexico Get Worked Up Over A Wall — “Well, take heart folks — if the wall is upsetting Mexico this much, that means that they think it’s going to work. So, we may have a lot more work to do to take care of the illegal immigration problem, but the wall will be one of the biggest steps in the right direction that we’ve taken in decades.”

Captain’s Quarters (Ed Morrissey) Nuclear Terrorism Or Better Enforcement? — “A disturbing report in the Times of London raises the question about whether terrorists have increased their efforts to find nuclear material, or whether the West has improved its ability to stop them. Confirmed incidents of nuclear trafficking have increased sharply since 2002, with most of the material falling into the “dirty-bomb” category:”

Blogs for Bush (Mark Noonan) Iraq’s Tribal Leaders Join Anti-Terrorism Fight — “This will get a bit ugly from time to time – as I’ve been saying for a while, the final extermination of the terrorists will happen when the Iraqis themselves take a hand at it…all we’ve done is provide enough security and shown enough staying power to finally convince the wavering masses that it is safe to go after the terrorists.”

Right Truth (Debbie) American voters are not stupid — “American voters are not stupid and I hope they will prove that in November. But ‘the latest Associated Press-Ipsos poll found that about half of likely voters say disclosures of corruption and scandal in Congress will be very or extremely important when they enter the voting booth’. Surely Americans are smart enough to understand that the actions of one man, Mark Foley, does not negate all the good that other Republicans have accomplished.”

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The first cup is for the guest, the second for enjoyment, the third for the sword. ~ An old Arabic saying

Happy 2nd Blogiversary to:
Chaotic Synaptic Activity
and
The Bull Speaks!

Michelle Malkin AP runs to the Washington Post — “What do you do when you are a global news organization under fire for suppressing five-month-old news of the capture of one of your employees by American troops in a Ramadi apartment with an alleged al Qaeda leader and a weapons cache?

You run to a sympathetic news organization to help you whitewash the story and smear the U.S. military. Naturally.”

Captain’s Quarters (Ed Morrissey) Swift Program Auditor Found No Abuses — “The Swift program actually helped catch al-Qaeda terrorists, ending the career of the senior AQ leader in the Philippines as one example. It broke no laws and it worked, but the Times insisted on neutralizing it by sticking it on the front page of their paper. The original report never even bothered to allege any systemic abuses, and the one person discovered to have improperly searched the records had been dismissed.”

Blue Crab Boulevard Right Again — “I have been writing fairly frequently about what has been going on down in Mexico with the leftist losers who refused to concede the election and now refuse to recognize the winner. One thing I asked, time and time again, was where was the money coming from for all the antics the leftists were pulling? It seems Mexico has a pretty good idea. It is exactly who I speculated might be behind it.”

The Jawa Report (Good Lt.) Dems, NYT, WaPo Willfully Obscure NIE — “Of course – the portions that undermine their anti-war causes and Democrat campaigns. The papers, with their Democrat leakers in the Intel community, cherry-pick a 6-month old report to find select quotes, while omitting the rest of the report entirely.”

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I believe humans get a lot done, not because we’re smart, but because we have thumbs so we can make coffee. ~ Flash Rosenberg

Happy 1st Blogiversary to:
a metamorphoself

In The Bullpen (Chad Evans) England Rounds up More Suspects — “England rounded up 14 more terrorism suspects in an overnight raid at a Chinese restaurant. Apparently hirabahs dine at Chinese food establishments. Hey, who would have guessed a true to form Islamist would eat anything that might fund a non-Islamic individual or company [/sarcasm]?”

Flopping Aces (Curt) The Booming Economy — “Just in time for Labor Day comes a bevy of good news about our economy and the usual groans and moans from the left. For example, this report by The Democratic Strategist that states the problem with Democrats is that they are too pessimistic:”

Blue Crab Boulevard Mexico In Turmoil — “Leftist legislator supporters of leftist loser Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador blocked President Vicente Fox of Mexico from delivering his last state of the nation speech by storming the stage. Mexico is in a bad way right now.”

Tom Rants MFers Tea Party — [I am quoting a rather lengthy excerpt so that you have a better idea of what Tom is presenting. Of course the best thing to do is read the whole thing. Jim] — “From Thursday September 7th until the general election in November, the McCain-Feingold (MF) act will make it illegal, with very narrow exceptions that the average American and even the average grassroots organization won’t qualify for, to publish opinions favoring or opposing the election of any candidate for federal office in that election. It will be generally illegal for websites such as this one to editorialize in the same way newspapers do.

[...]

Well, when our civil rights are violated, it’s time we take a page from the civil rights movement, a little civil disobedience. Maybe dump a few tea bags in a harbor. We can keep it nice for now, no need to water the Liberty Tree just yet. Every day possible from Thursday until the election, I intend to post a piece favoring or opposing some candidate for federal office in this election. I intend to focus, to the greatest extent possible, on criticizing incumbents who voted for McCain-Feingold and supporting those who opposed it.”

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The first cup is for the guest, the second for enjoyment, the third for the sword. ~ An old Arabic saying

The Jawa Report (Howie) Remembering the 7/7 London Bombing — “Though the birth of the United States caused great pains on both sides, we and the British are one. The bond between our peoples is unbreakable and enternal. One will always stand for the other. This event brought home with deadly gravity what it means to have a true ally. Stand together we shall and we shall never forget!”

Outside The Beltway (Chris Lawrence) Calderón Wins Mexico Vote — “Even if AMLO were to somehow overturn the results, the impact on US-Mexican relations would probably be minimal–both candidates staked out similar positions (which mirrored those of the Fox administration) on the issues of immigration and border security, and while AMLO is something of a populist, there is little concern that he would turn out to be another Hugo Chávez in office.”

Captain’s Quarters (Ed Morrissey) — Captain Ed has done some great work bringing captured, translated Iraqi documents. Read Saddam And Anthrax Operations, Project Harmony Documents Show Chemical ‘Projects’ In 2003, and Iraqi Rosters In 2002 Show Interesting Department Names.

Wizbang (Kim Priestap) Army Officer Formally Charged — “Today, these anti-American, anti-war leftists hold up Ehren Watada as courageous and a hero. However, after Watada is found guilty of the charges against him and sentenced to hard labor in Leavenworth, the leftists who praise him now will still have their freedom as they abandon him and move on to their next pawn for the cause.”

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Many people are like instant coffee: the minute they get in hot water they dissolve. ~ Unknown

Dr. Sanity (Dr. Pat Santy) EVEN MORE BIZARRE THAN YOU THINK — “Kim Jong Il’s theories of what belongs to him and how much attention he should be getting from the world, are also the kind of fantasies indulged in by individuals who are [c]onvinced they are the center of the universe.”

Blogs for Bush (Mark Noonan) Vets for Freedom — “While our best and bravest are out there fighting for us, we here at home often feel a bit useless – no matter what we do, we aren’t doing anything close fo what our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines are doing. Nothing we do, of course, will allow us to measure up to the troops, but we can and should all do what small things we can to support the troops – and one thing you can do today is join Vets for Freedom:”

Wizbang (Kim Priestap) New Bin Laden Tape to Be Released — “According to the New York Daily News, a new Bin Laden tape will be released to correspond with the anniversary of the 7/7 London bombings:”

Mark in Mexico Mexico election – liveblogging the District counts — “The 300 federal election District Committees are reporting their vote package counts. Remember, they are not counting vote by vote. The votes from each casilla (poll) are sealed in “paquetes” and may not be opened except in 4 very special cases.”

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The first cup is for the guest, the second for enjoyment, the third for the sword. ~ An old Arabic saying

Iowa Voice (Brian) Would Americans Ever Support Amnesty? — “The American people are on record as being strongly in favor of securing the border FIRST, and THEN taking on immigration reform. Given the current climate, the American people simply will not support any “guest worker” or “amnesty” proposal because we’re positive that this same issue will come up again in the future.”

Right Wing News (John Hawkins) 10 Percent Of Mexico’s Population Is In The US? — “When it comes to immigration, the most important thing to consider is always, “What’s best for the American public?” Clearly, having so many illegal immgrants coming into this country from Mexico is not in the long-term interests of the United States.”

Captain’s Quarters (Ed Morrissey) ‘I Am Above All’ — “In this case, Saddam’s statement revealed his attitude about himself and his relation to Iraqis since the first day of his rule. No one ever doubted that Saddam considered himself “above all”, and no one doubted that Saddam did everything he could to make that statement true. Mass graves and uncountable victims of torture and rape attest to that fact.”

Stop The ACLU (Jay) Students Make A Stand For Their Rights, Defy ACLU And Judge’s Order To Censor — “Hats off to Russell County High of ‘06! One thing is for sure, the liberals can’t say this was government endorsed. I applaud these young men and women for standing up for their rights, and setting the example for others.”

bRight & Early (Me) Blogiversary Database Update — The Database now has 37 blogs and, with the addition of Right Truth in October (10/26), covers every month.

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Coffee falls into the stomach … ideas begin to move, things remembered arrive at full gallop … the shafts of wit start up like sharp-shooters, similes arise, the paper is covered with ink… ~ Honore de Balzac

One topic seemed to dominate all others on my blogrolls both today and late yesterday — the story saying that the US Border Patrol, under direction of the government, is providing the Mexican government with the locations of the Minutemen citizen patrols. Here is some of the reaction and commentary. Jim

Michelle Malkin DHS: DENY, HEDGE, SPIN — “Message to the White House: Stop blaming the messengers. Do us all a favor by ending this travesty and apologizing. And please don’t fire Mario Martinez for telling the reporter the truth.” [Michelle's original report on this is here with another update here. Another point she makes in the story quoted above is, "This White House has another burgeoning debacle on its hands." Jim]

Wizbang (Kim Priestap) US Border Control Gives Minutemen Locations to Mexican Government — “The US Border Patrol is supposed to protect US borders from illegal crossings, not encourage them. I thought this issue couldn’t possibly get any more out of control. I was wrong.”

Right Wing News (John Hawkins) The Federal Government Teams Up With Mexico To Thwart The Minutemen — “Not only should Congress demand that the Border Patrol stop working with the Mexican government to circumvent our laws, they should launch an investigation in order to find out who signed off on this unconscionable outrage.”

Iowa Voice (Brian) Who’s Running The Illegal Immigration Show Here, Anyway? — “I’m livid about this. I just fired off a terse email to Senator Grassley, demanding some answers. I’d certainly encourage others to start contacting their Senators and Representatives. This kowtowing to Mexico has simply GOT to stop. We’ve GOT to secure this border, or it’s going to ruin this country.”

Flopping Aces (Curt) Snitching On The Minutemen — “This sends the message to Mexico that we will do everything in our power to help you send us your poverty.”

Stop the ACLU (Jay) U.S. Tipping Mexico to Minuteman Patrols — “Not only absurd and intolerable, but also dangerous! Indeed this threatens our sovereignty to a great degree, however it also threatens our National security.”

Hot Air (Bryan) US Border Patrol Helps Illegals Avoid the Minutemen — I’ve seen several administrations do a lot of outrageous things, but tipping a foreign government to the legal activities of American citizens just might be the most outrageous thing I’ve ever seen any American administration do.”

Confederate Yankee Mexican Handoff — “Bush refuses to protect the territorial integrity of the United States, leaving us exposed to an importation of poverty that strains our social welfare system and artificially depresses wages. At least as important is the fact that President Bush’s border policies leave us naked to the threat of terrorist infiltration.”

Finally, this is by no means an exhaustive list. The outrage on this is palpable and justified. And while several of the posts point out the “corrections” that are trying to be made on this story, the spin just doesn’t wash.

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Making coffee has become the great compromise of the decade. It’s the only thing “real” men do that doesn’t seem to threaten their masculinity. ~ Erma Bombeck

Captain’s Quarters (Ed Morrissey) Who Comes After Goss? — “While many still wonder what prompted the resignation of Porter Goss from his position as CIA Director, others have already started looking ahead to his eventual replacement. Goss has offered to remain in place while George Bush selects his successor, but the process will likely take place over the weekend. Sources within the White House have already warned the press to be ready for an announcement as early as Monday” [Ed includes analysis of likely candidates General Michael Hayden, Mary Margaret Graham, David Shedd, and Frances Townsend. Jim]

Hot Air (Bryan) Pare Amnistia Ahora! The Cero Peso Campaign — “Let’s face it–both parties are awful when it comes to protecting our borders and enforcing our immigration laws. Neither party has learned anything from history. The 1986 amnesty and subsequent smaller amnesties have only resulted in more illegal immigration pouring across our borders.” [Yes, I realize this is a few days old. Still it's worth reading, and has a link to a doc where you can print out your own cero peso notes. Jim]

TigerHawk “Armée mexicaine” and the history of the day — “So, at some point when I wasn’t looking, Cinco de Mayo became another St. Patrick’s Day — an all-American ethnic holiday, warped into a license to drink.” [The post is about the history of the day, but I loved that line. Jim]

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Thank you for your coffee, seignor. I shall miss that when we leave Casablanca. ~ Ingrid Bergman

Blogs for Bush (Mark Noonan) A Perspective on the Illegal Immigration Demonstrations — “There is no intrinsic reason for Mexico to be poorer than the United States – indeed, with their smaller population and vast oil reserves, a case can probably be made that a rational Mexican economy would produce a per capita GDP even higher than the United States’.”

Power Line (John Hinderaker) Just Wondering — “I’m not clever enough to add to the hilarity already surrounding Rep. Patrick Kennedy’s traffic mishap last night. (“I’m a Congressman! I’m late to a vote!” Yeah, like 14 hours.) Perversely, perhaps, I want to make a serious comment. Which begins with a quote from a dentist who lived in my home town in South Dakota: “Voting for Democrats is like picking your nose. You like to do it, but you’re not proud of it.”"

The Strata-Sphere (AJ Strata) Fitzgerald Accused Libby Of Not Leaking — “Libby knew about Valerie Plame’s CIA job before talking to the press. So when he testified he told the press he did not know (i.e., he refused to leak his inside knowledge about a CIA agent) he lied and that is why he was indicted. For lying to the press and not leaking the classified information.”

It’s only Friday. Why are you all sleeping in and not giving me some good First Cup stuff? (More later)

Here’s a Friday Funny from Scott Ott (ScrappleFace) High Court May Replace Miranda with Kennedy Rights — “The 1966 Supreme Court Miranda ruling could face its toughest challenge to date during the fall court session when Justices will consider revising the famous “you have the right to remain silent” litany with a new set of statements known as the “Kennedy Warnings.” “

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