Well-deserved.  There is no candidate nor potential candidate more deserving of this award than Mitt Romney.

If you still wonder why he should be our next President -- you're not paying attention ....

The Video

Listen to this.

He's again spot-on.

Bob Parks

What a sad reflection on our media and on society in general, if we allow the image of a deranged, cold, heartless killer become the focus of the travesty that occurred on April 16, 2007.

I don't want to hear the bastard (in the words of our media) "speaking from the grave" he maliciously dug for himself and 32 innocents.  There is a special place in hell for him --- may the torment he allegedly felt in life be quadrupled a million times in the darkest, loneliest corner in hell.

Instead -- let the voices of the innocents be a guiding light toward federalizing acts of violence toward citizens AND legislating -- not the sale of legal guns -- but the requirements for purchasing legal guns.

**** Let no person convicted of any crime of violence (felony or misdemeanor) -- including stalking and/or harassment -- be eligible to legally purchase a gun.

**** Let no person who has been confined to a mental health facility, either voluntarily or involuntarily, be eligible to legally purchase a gun.

**** Let any person who procures, sells or provides (legally or illegally), an ineligible person a gun or weapon of injury, be charged with a federal offense.

**** Let any person who is aware that a person ineligible to possess a gun or weapon of injury is in possession of  such weapon, be  liable for aiding and abetting the ineligible person.

If we do nothing else, let us write this law in the memory of the victims. 

And let the students, the staff of Virginia Tech and the state of Virginia be the leaders in drafting this law.

My four semesters at Va Tech were hurried, packed with conferences, meeting residency requirements while burning the mid-night oil  -- cramming for daily classes or to prep for an exam.  It was 1983; I had been commuting to several satellite classes to pick up required courses while working full-time.   I was finishing my doctorate and hardly had time to appreciate the campus atmosphere.  I remember the buildings -- the professors, the architecture, the expansive campus, the drill field, the friendliness, the parking permit which was little more than a hunting license. 

Possibly because it was my last degree, but of the four campuses at which I had either worked or studied, it was the most memorable. 

Many bloggers and politicos have begun politicizing this horrendous incident, appealing for tighter gun controls and/or more secure campuses -- apparently seeking someone or some policy to hold accountable. 

I don't know how you hold anyone or any specific policy accountable for the tragedy at Va Tech.   Personally, I don't fault the administration.  There was no way every student in harm's way could have been protected from the tragedy that occurred.  Had a lock-down been called, would buildings have been secured?  As a student, could the perpetrator not have gained access into a building?  I don't know the answers.  I don't know if lives would have been saved had a lock-down been called ....

At best, if the perpetrator had acted out some prior sordid act, had communicated a specific threat for which he could be held accountable -- then the fate of thirty-two lives might have been averted.  But even had authorities had reason to remove him from the campus environment, totally isolating him from society would have been improbable, if not impossible.

I'm not confident there IS an answer for this tragedy.  It was a despicable, ugly incident that happened because society had no warning, no control to protect itself from a very sick person.  Could the medical community have warned us?  They did .... but again --- no one could have accurately predicted the depth of the perpetrator's monstrous, anti-social behavior.

Not many years ago, I worked with a student who demonstrated overt anti-social behaviors.  I've feared few students in my career, but this student I feared.  Within months of removing him from the regular school setting, he participated in two savage murders.  He was later murdered in prison.

Gun control?  Is that the answer?  If the state had circulated a sales list or if someone had cross-referenced backgrounds of individuals who legally purchase guns, would mental health history be a credible variable?  Should it be?  Maybe this is a future control that society might consider ....

I own four guns.  There is no way I would relinquish them -- I keep them in my home for protection.  My feelings are and have always been that it is not the gun that kills, it is the one who aims the gun.  But to make campuses more secure is a realistic and critical goal.  There are credible procedures for enhancing communications, but we will never be able to completely immunize our institutions from human attack -- until, at least, we can somehow, someway, protect ourselves and our institutions from individuals who obtain guns for the sole purpose of using them to commit horrendous harm to others. 

Sincerest sympathies to the extended Va Tech community.

Revised and edited -- in thoughtful and sincere regards for today's tragedy at my alma mater, Virginia Tech ....

Patricia Buckley:  What a classy lady (no pun intended), but definitely a dying breed.

Years ago, I had the experience of having my picture in the NYT.  The article was short, to the point and totally focused on others, but there I was -- a poor, hard-working southern educator, immortalized forever in the archives of what was then, the most prominent print-media in the world -- surrounded by a few of (at that time) the most influential people in the world.  My mother kept the clippings until they literally crumbled.  And it wasn't even a good pix! 

Based on the circumstances of my 15 seconds of fame -- I may have met or rubbed elbows with Pat Buckley.  All I can honestly remember from those daze was Bobby Kennedy  ....

We met initially while ordering drinks .... Four Roses on the rocks .... He remembered.   When I returned to my humble abode in the real world, the florist delivered four roses in a bottle -- you guessed it ... in a Four Roses bottle. 

I cherished that bottle and the (soon thereafter) dried roses.  I'm sure they're still in some box in storage somewhere ....

As for Pat Buckley, she would have understood.  What a lady ....

Pat Buckley, for decades a leading player on Manhattan's social and charity benefit circuit, died yesterday in Stamford, Conn. Mrs. Buckley, the wife of William F. Buckley Jr., the writer, editor and television commentator, was 80.

She died of an infection after a long illness, according to her son, Christopher Buckley.

Mrs. Buckley was a commanding presence at designer fashion shows and big charitable and social events, but she attained that distinction not only by her social clout and force of personality. At a soupçon under 6 feet tall, she was Manhattan's tallest reigning socialite. At times she likened herself to a jolly green giant, or a stork.

She was a moving force behind the annual benefit dinner and dance of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute, which she turned into one of the most prestigious and in-demand social events of the New York season. She served as chairwoman of the gala from 1978 to 1995 and raised millions of dollars for the museum.

"There have been weeks along New York's charity circuit when it looked as if Mrs. William F. Buckley Jr. was chairman of everything," Charlotte Curtis once wrote in The New York Times.

Her fund-raising ability left her peers in awe. In addition to her work for the Metropolitan Museum, she raised large sums over the years for the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the Institute of Reconstructive Plastic Surgery at New York University Medical Center and the Hospital for Special Surgery, as well as AIDS causes and Vietnam veterans.

"Get Pat on a committee, and everybody will come" was a familiar refrain in benefit circles.

Patricia Alden Austin Taylor was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, on July 1, 1926. Her father, Austin C. Taylor, had lumber and mining interests, was a director of the Bank of Canada and helped establish thoroughbred racing in British Columbia.

Her education alternated between tutors and private schools that gave her a knowledge of languages, music, art and most of the basics other than mathematics. That small flaw precluded further education at Canadian universities that insisted on some proficiency in mathematics, and changed her life.

In 1948, she went off to Vassar College, which at the time was more accommodating to the mathematically challenged, and acquired a roommate named Patricia Buckley. Two years later she married her roommate's elder brother, then an instructor of Spanish at Yale, and left college. They settled in Hamden, Conn., while he wrote "God and Man at Yale," his first book.

Although Mrs. Buckley maintained that her interest in fashion was an evanescent flirtation, she was voted onto the International Best-Dressed List several years, and in 1975 she was named to the Best-Dressed Hall of Fame. She was a major supporter of American designers and a fixture at many of their semiannual shows. When she saw a design that she liked and considered versatile she would, on occasion, buy it in six or seven different colors.

She was admired for her sense of humor, which was caustic and irreverent, and she didn't always easily conform. She refused to give up cigarettes and puffed away even in nonsmoking areas of her favorite restaurants — when they still had them — an illicit privilege the proprietors allowed.

"Life is very difficult and everything kills you," she once said. "The only thing you can do nowadays is sit fully clothed in the woods and eat fruit."

She used to tend her garden in Connecticut wearing a bikini, without regard to ultraviolet rays and "those loathsome Lyme ticks." Her husband — who, she said, "covers himself up as if he were going on a safari" — contracted Lyme disease anyway.

Mrs. Buckley, who became a United States citizen in the early 1990s, enjoyed describing herself as a housewife, even when it became unpopular to do so. She ran three homes: a duplex on Park Avenue, a house in Stamford and a Swiss chalet rented during the skiing season.

Despite her own highly visible profile, she generally identified herself as "Bill's wife and Chris's mother."

"I'm a lot of other things too, but those come first," she said. Christopher Buckley, the satirical author and editor, was her only child. "He's one of the funniest writers I know, probably because he has my sense of humor," she said.

In addition to her husband and son, she is survived by a granddaughter, a grandson and many nieces and nephews.

As one of New York's leading hostesses, she entertained royalty, industrialists and figures from the literary and music worlds. But her son said that beginning in the mid-1960s, she also served dinner every other Monday night to the editors of Mr. Buckley's magazine, National Review.

Throughout her life she clung to certain traditional views, some tempered over the years but never entirely discarded.

"Women were born to be taken care of by men," she told Women's Wear Daily in 1977. "I do think that's the law of the universe.

"There are many, many unfortunate cases where there isn't a man, and I feel a great compassion for those who do not have a man in their lives."

First chance I get, I'm gonna find that old Four Roses bottle .... maybe put a candle in it ....

Recently released Iraqi Intel docs speak louder than democrats.  There was a definite link between Saddam and Al-Qaeda pre- and post-9-11.

Here is just a small sample of what some of the Iraqi intelligence documents and other evidence collected in postwar Iraq has revealed:

1. Saddam's Terror Training Camps & Long-Standing Relationship With Ayman al-Zawahiri. As first reported in THE WEEKLY STANDARD, there is extensive evidence that Saddam used Iraqi soil to train terrorists from throughout the Middle East. Among the terrorists who received Saddam's support were members of al Qaeda's Algerian affiliate, formerly known as the GSPC, which is still lethally active, though under a new name: al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

Joe Klein, a columnist for Time magazine and an outspoken critic of the Bush administration, has confirmed the existence of Saddam's terrorist training camps. He also found that Iraqi intelligence documents demonstrated a long-standing relationship between Saddam and al Qaeda bigwig Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Other evidence of Saddam's terror training camps was reported in a paper published by the Pentagon's Iraqi Perspectives Project. A team of Pentagon analysts discovered that Saddam's paramilitary Fedayeen forces were hosting camps for thousands terror of from throughout the Middle East.

2. A 1992 IIS Document lists Osama bin Laden as an "asset." An Iraqi Intelligence memorandum dated March 28, 1992 and stamped "Top Secret" lists a number of assets. Osama bin Laden is listed on page 14 as having a "good relationship" with the Iraqi Intelligence Service's section in Syria.

3. A 1997 IIS document lists a number of meetings between Iraq, bin Laden and other al Qaeda associates. The memo recounts discussions of cooperating in attacks against American stationed in Saudi Arabia. The document summarizes a number of contacts between Iraqi Intelligence and Saudi oppositionist groups, including al Qaeda, during the mid 1990's. The document says that in early 1995 bin Laden requested Iraqi assistance in two ways. First, bin Laden wanted Iraqi television to carry al Qaeda's anti-Saudi propaganda. Saddam agreed. Second, bin Laden requested Iraqi assistance in performing "joint operations against the foreign forces in the land of Hijaz." That is, bin Laden wanted Iraq's assistance in attacking U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia.

We do not know what, exactly, came of bin Laden's second request. But the document indicates that Saddam's operatives "were left to develop the relationship and the cooperation between the two sides to see what other doors of cooperation and agreement open up." Thus, it appears that both sides saw value in working with each other. It is also worth noting that in the months following bin Laden's request, al Qaeda was tied to a series of bombings in Saudi Arabia.

The document also recounts contacts with Mohammed al-Massari, a known al Qaeda mouthpiece living in London.

4. A 1998 IIS document reveals that a representative of bin Laden visited Baghdad in March 1998 to meet with Saddam's regime. According to the memo, the IIS arranged a visit for bin Laden's "trusted confidant," who stayed in a regime-controlled hotel for more than two weeks. Interestingly, according to other evidence discovered by the U.S. intelligence community, Ayman al-Zawahiri was also in Baghdad the month before. He collected a check for $300,000 from the Iraqi regime. The 9-11 Commission confirmed that there were a series of meetings (perhaps set up by Zawahiri, who had "ties of his own" to the Iraq regime) in the following months as well.

5. Numerous IIS documents demonstrate that Saddam had made plans for a terrorist-style insurgency and coordinated the influx of foreign terrorists into Iraq. In My Year in Iraq, Ambassador Paul Bremer says a secret IIS document he had seen "showed that Saddam had made plans for an insurgency." Moreover, "the insurgency had forces to draw on from among several thousand hardened Baathists in two northern Republican Guard divisions that had joined forces with foreign jihadis."

Cobra II, a scathing indictment of the Bush administration's prosecution of the Iraq war by New York Times authors Michael Gordon and General Bernard Trainor, offers additional detail about the terrorists who made their way to Iraq in advance of the war. "Documents retrieved by American intelligence after the war show that the Iraqi Ministry of Defense coordinated border crossings with Syria and provided billeting, pay, and allowances and armaments for the influx of Syrians, Palestinians, and other fighters."

Still another IIS document contains Saddam's orders to "utilize Arab suicide bombers" against the Americans. Saddam's agents were also ordered to provide these terrorists with munitions, cash, shelter, and training.

These are just five examples of the types of documents that have been discovered in postwar Iraq. There are many more examples not listed here. They all undermine the conventional wisdom that there was never any relationship between Saddam's Iraq and al Qaeda.

When will either MSM or Pesident Bush designate someone -- anyone -- to publicize this new, supportive evidence?  No one knows, but don't hold your collective breath.

For those of us who stand behind our troops, we may again have to rely on bloggers and talk radio to correct the dis-information which the liberal press and pundits ply every single day.

I told my new-found friends at the used car lot --- whatever you do, I want  everything finalized on 4-12-07.  If Friday the 13th shows on any document, the deal is off.  I was NOT going to categorize a new (or old) relationship by the 13th of anything.  And I meant it. 

So on the 11th, I prepped one of my best friends for the after-life.  I shudder to think what lies ahead .... a wholesale dealer's lot .... an auto parts junk pile .... maybe a fishin' car for someone to drive to the river in the afternoon .... Maybe a classic second or third vehicle for a family that has both the means and needs for such ... maybe a few more years of exploring highways and by-ways. 

I traded the ole jeep yesterday. 

Traumatic experience for me.  The family had been "nudging" me to trade since Christmas.  Laden with aura and miles of memories, my beloved 1993 Jeep Grand Wagoneer was showing it's age and I'd already spent enough in repairs (last year alone) for a substantial down-payment yada yada yada ... So I traded a perfectly functional, intact (except for a broken windshield  courtesy of a snowplow somewhere in Utah and a few other memorable dinks) high-dollar (in its day) home-on-the-road jeep for a 10-year younger front-wheel drive, loaded (as my brother sez) jag-of-a-lifetime regular-type former-lease low-mileage car that even algore would approve.  

I loved my jeep .... wanted to keep it, but it is (was) illogical for one person to keep two vehicles when there is only the need for one .... I hadn't looked in the storage space under the back seats in years.  Much less at what had been accumulating under the front seats or in the glovebox, console bin and door pockets ....

The tears flowed as I cleaned out 15 years of maps, lotion bottles, combs, paper clips, 4 personal hygiene travel-packs, doggie bags (pooper scoopers), french fries (I think), hardly-recognizable pellets of dog food, assorted pens and pencils, keys to only-God-knows-what, three license plates (long stories each -- but I didn't mean to lie to the licensing bureaus in as many states -- honest), multiple faded receipts, original manuals and "how-2" pamphlets, forgotten CDs and tapes, four broken umbrellas, a can of WD-40 with companion duct tape, a dated rock from the Snake River in Dubois (WY), a brochure from the Silverado Gold Mine near Fairbanks (AK), three tubes of melted lipstick (in my favorite earth tones),  empty window cleaner bottles, handi-wipes, two cameras, one roll of film, a small mangle of tv cords and connections, a radar buster, one road-side flare thingie, a Pinehurst golf scorecard (referencing one birdie, a sporadic bogey or double-bogey), two old pay cell-phones, one expired phone card, four dog chew sticks, a dc converter thingie, four coffee mugs (two from the same set), one sock, two pairs of scissors, a sun visor, four screwdrivers, one hammer, several golf tees, a badminton birdie, a box of thumb-tacks, strange looking screws of all sizes with matching  turny-thingies, two non-matching earrings, gobs of dog hair, a six-pack of bottled water and at least $18 in coins. 

Last night I woke up twice to look out the window -- wondering if that faithful ole jeep had escaped the dealership fencing and found its way home.  I'll miss it --- the wondrous experiences, the miles we logged together, the vistas and horizons we sought, the bumps in the road along the way, the times of repose we shared ....

May the road always rise up to meet you, good and reliable friend. 

Godspeed.

Many, many thanks to Beth at MissBethsVictoryDance for the "tap" for the "Thinking Blogger Award."  The image is posted in the side bar .... Again -- Thanks to Beth for the recognition!

Now, I get to nominate five (5) blogs that "make me think" ..... This is going to be difficult -- I read in excess of 30 primary blogs a day -- and most of their links .... Each makes me think ..... I'll need to give this a bit of thought -- after all, it IS about bloggers who make you think!

As political as I may sometimes be, my blog reading is rather eclectic.  The five blogs I nominate reflect my daily interests, inspirations and (in many respects) aspirations .... Once you visit them, you will know why ... And check out THEIR links to learn how thinking is, after all, a rather contagious activity!

1.  (Sometimes) Photoblog Steven and I met a few years ago via the AOL Community Leader program.  Though we've lost personal contact, I continue to visit his blog regularly to relax, reflect and to appreciate the world he captures. 

2.  The Gray Dog  I happened upon this blog when I started visiting a Vietnam Vets forum ... And then I saw his Gathering of Eagles video.  I don't know why it hasn't received more publicity -- it's one of -- if not -- the most moving promotions I've seen.  NOTE:  GD seems to have reorganized his blog, and the video is difficult to locate .... Sorry --

3.  Our Beloved Angels  Jo is another associate from AOL's CL program.  Although the program was disbanded some time ago, Jo has continued to publish newsletters, host discussion groups and a write a blog for bereaved pet owners ....

4. Gay Patriot  An award-winning conservative blog that should be on every reading list.  I don't always agree with his perspective, but hey -- that's what makes the conservative umbrella so inclusive!
  
5.  Black and Right  The link is to Bob's powerful video message in support of our troops .... Check out his entire blog -- he's right, by the way. 

To nominees:  Should you choose to participate, please make sure you pass this list of rules to the blogs you are tagging. The participation rules are simple:
1). If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think;
2). Link to this post so that people can easily find the origin of the meme;
3). Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you write.

Mitt Romney spoke at the George Bush Presidential Library in Texas on Tuesday.  Here are excerpts from his speech:

Romney: "We need leadership. We are fortunate today to have a President who loves America, who acts solely out of a desire to protect her and to promote liberty around the world. But I think most Americans look at Washington and are appalled at the divisiveness, the bitterness, the smallness, the disunity. Senator Arthur Vandenberg once famously opined that 'politics stops at the water's edge.' But last week, a committee chair said we have two foreign policies, one for each party. And then the Speaker of the House helped dignify a state sponsor of terror. At this time of war, her action stands as one of the most partisan, divisive, and ill-considered of any national leader in this decade."

Romney: "Unity also means supporting our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The challenges there are immense. But President Bush and General Petraeus are implementing a new strategy for Iraq – and it deserves a chance to succeed. Running away from Iraq now would embolden our enemies, giving them the sanctuary they need to plan more devastating attacks against our country. In this difficult time, some in Congress are trying to deny our troops the resources they need. This is a grave error. We need to rally behind the effort, and support our men and women in uniform in this time of war."

Romney: "I think many of us still fail to comprehend the extent of the threat posed by radical Islam, by Jihad. Understandably, we focus on Afghanistan and Iraq. Our men and women are dying there. We think in terms of countries, because we faced countries in last century's conflicts. But the Jihad is much broader than any one nation or nations. For radical Islam, there is one conflict and one goal – replacing all modern Islamic states with a caliphate, destroying America, and conquering the world."

Governor Romney's Four Changes Needed To Meet A New Generation Of Global Challenges:

First, We Need A Stronger Military. Our military suffered a dangerous decline under the Clinton Administration and has faced serious strains as we confront Jihadist threats following 9/11. To support our troops, we need to ensure we have the personnel and resources needed to maintain a strong America and safe world:

- We Must Increase The Size Of Our Military By 100,000 Troops.

- We Need To Dedicate At Least Four Percent Of Our Gross Domestic Product To Defense, Making Up For Critical Gaps In Our Military Modernization, Equipment, Personnel And Health Care Efforts.

- Investing In Our Military, We Need To Ensure Funds Are Used To Address Critical Needs And Support The Men And Women Of Our Armed Forces, Rather Than Political Or Contractor Interests.

Second, America Must Become Energy Independent. Our economic and military strength require that we end our strategic vulnerability to an oil shut-off by nations like Iran, Russia, and Venezuela, and that we address environmental concerns. To do this, Governor Romney has called for a bold and far-reaching research initiative - an Energy Revolution - to be our generation's equivalent of the Manhattan Project or the Moon mission. This will be a mission to create new, economic sources of clean energy.

Third, We Must Transform And Strengthen Our Civilian International Efforts To Meet A New Generation Of Challenges. Many of our civilian national security and foreign policy structures were created decades ago to confront Cold War threats. Building on the Goldwater-Nichols military reforms of the 1980s, we need to ensure that our civilian instruments of national power have the ability to build joint efforts among our civilian agencies and empower Regional Deputies with clear lines of authority, budgets and responsibility to develop and execute regional plans and strategies. We must also constantly challenge bureaucratic "group think" and revitalize our national security structures so we have the capabilities needed to meet 21st century challenges.

Fourth, We Need To Strengthen Old Partnerships And Alliances, And Inaugurate A New One, To Address The Threat Of Jihadism. The failures of efforts such as the United Nations Human Rights Council have given multilateralism a bad name. But America's strength is amplified when it is combined with the strength of other nations. We need to look to expand alliances such as NATO to face the new threat of radical Jihad and increase our homeland security.

- In The Struggle Against Jihadism, One Of The Greatest Challenges Is The Looming Demographic Crisis In The Broader Middle East Combined With Rising Unemployment. As President, Governor Romney will call together our Middle East allies and the major nations of the developed world to address these issues by establishing a Partnership for Hope and Prosperity. This Partnership would assemble the resources of all developed nations to assure that threatened Islamic states have public schools, micro credit and banking, the rule of law, human rights, basic health care, and competitive economic policies. Resources would be drawn from public and private institutions, and from volunteers and NGOs. Its policies would favor expansion of free trade and investment.