Cigar Weekend

Our sincere thanks to CAO and Rocky Patel for a great weekend.

Inspiring

'Bravo' to the man in black!

Who will meet us at the next rally?

White Flag #18

Found at Townhall.com:

Karl's Weekend Reading

Watch for another cigar posting this weekend, as we'll be celebrating the open seat on "The View" and re-reading these great articles:

Charles Krauthamer in his Townhall article: "How Yeltsin Brought Down the Soviet Union.

Victor Davis Hanson reminds us why we're at war in his NRO article: "Is There Still a War on Terror?"

A germ, some spent nuclear fuel or a vial of nerve gas could cause as much mayhem and calamity as an armored division in Hitler’s army. The Soviets were considered rational enemies who accepted the bleak laws of nuclear deterrence. But the jihadists claim that they welcome death if their martyrdom results in thousands of dead Americans.

James Taranto reviews the victim mentality of the other side with their latest whine about Giuliani saying "If a Democrat is elected president in 2008, America will be at risk for another terrorist attack on the scale of Sept. 11, 2001." The problem is, he never said that. But the whine drives the MSM, and the MSM drives the whine!

This is just the latest example of one of the oddest rituals of American politics: Democrats try to smear Republicans as mean and dirty by falsely accusing them of saying terrible things about Democrats. The classic example, to which we devoted a 2004 essay, is the plaint: Stop questioning my patriotism! As we wrote then:

Democrats themselves raised the issue of patriotism by defensively denying that they lacked it. A cardinal rule of political communication is never to repeat an accusation in the course of denying it ("I am not a crook"). These candidates "repeated" a charge no one had even made.

Reid in Baghdad

Another white flag found at Townhall.com:

Elena Tregubova

It appears another Russian journalist is the target of Putin's thugs. Elena Tregubova has asked the UK for asylum. The author of a 2003 book critical of Putin & Co. was recently the interest of Russian investigators. When Russians investigate radioactive poisoning... of Kremlin critics... by Russian thugs... who were working on orders of Russian leaders... and they ask about your whereabouts... it is time to leave.

Our hopes and prayers are with Ms. Tregubova.

UT: Alan Cullison, WSJ, "Putin Critic Seeks Safety" [$$]

It is official - the Democratic Party Banner

Three more from Townhall.com. Jeepers.

WhiteFlag.com?

This is getting ridiculous. Obviously everyone can draw a white flag, and everyone has in the past couple weeks. Lucky for the commies the election is far off. They can pass their symbolic bill now, and spend the next 18 months asking "What appeasement?" enough times to trick the voters. UT: Townhall.com.

Our white flag-to-content ratio is quite high these days. Here is an editorial from today's Wall Street Journal to give some more balance to Ushanka.us, titled "Harry's War".

So far, the surge is meeting that test, even before the additional troops Mr. Bush ordered have been fully deployed. Between February and March sectarian violence declined by 26%, according to Gen. William Caldwell. Security in Baghdad has improved sufficiently to allow the government to shorten its nightly curfew. Radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has been politically marginalized, which explains his apparent departure from Iraq and the resignation of his minions from Mr. Maliki's parliamentary coalition--a sign that moderate Shiites are gaining strength at his expense.

Another Flag

UT: Michelle Malkin

Tuesday Night Cigar

And More Flags...

More white flags found at Townhall.com

Gun-Free Zones

How come gun-free zones seem to attract mass murderers?

We've checked all the blogs and news sites. No word on the shooter at Virginia Tech yet. Tomorrow should be an interesting news day. Keep an eye out for those biased headlines!

Our sympathies to the families, friends, and fellow students at VT.

A primer (28 mins) for future gun-rights posts here at Ushanka.us:

UT: Washington Ceasefire

The AMT and Election 2008

Three million taxpayers will pay their Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) tomorrow. Karl included.

In 2008, 23 million (1 in 5 filers) will pay the AMT.

AMT is a tax for the "rich", designed by liberals for conservatives. Now liberals are paying AMT. Whoops!

You can read more about it - here - in the Wall Street Journal.

In short, say goodbye to deductions.

Some questions: Will the 23 million lead a revolt in their local polling place in November 2008? Will the debate shift next April with the AMT replacing bleeding heart topics? Or, will AMT filers roll over, agreeing that the extra cash is going to a good cause?

If you haven't yet, read "The Fairtax Book" by Neal Boortz.

New Survey

We posted a new survey today. We probably will not know the answer until after the February primaries when the Democratic nominee begins to act/dress/speak/hunt like a Republican.

Remember commies, you can't win unless you fool enough conservatives...

Thursday Night Cigar

Another Rocky Patel Edge, this time a maduro. (not as good)

We were celebrating the dismissal of Imus. Not for his nasty remark this week, but for his nastiness, period. Always over-optimistic here, but we're hoping others will be held accountable for their filth.

Suggested Headlines

Here are some more Headlines for the MSM:

Newsweek Poll: 68% say Thompson Cancer Announcement 'Political'
Thompson One-Ups Edwards With Own Cancer
Edwards: Two Americas - One with Cancer, One Without

"I'm SICK and TIRED of all this cancer!" - Hillary

Presidential Politics a "Carcinogen" - Experts
Imus: "I think I'm coming down with cancer"
Edwards Campaign Manager: "Donations are dropping, Elizabeth is still sick"
Obama's Two C's: Cancer and Cynicism

Karl's Iranian Hostage Resolution Hopes

Well... we really were off base in our predictions of quick and massive Thatcheristic retaliations last week - link.

Maybe we're spending too much time in our Cold War studies of Reagan and Thatcher to think SO MUCH has changed that the Iranians can commit an act of war and not suffer the consequences.

We are more in danger because of this last week's peaceful resolution, as Rich Lowry at the NRO explains in Capitulation Caucus - link.

We've been scouring the blogs, news sites, and other dark corners of the web to find something that best sums up this episode. To date, this is the best we've found. UT LGF.

Will the free world get another juicy opportunity to drop bombs on Iran?

Victor Davis Hanson provides an alternative view in his NRO article: Begging for a Bombing. (Don't hold your breath for intellectually honest analysis or a 3rd alternative from the MSM commies...)

What should we make of the Iranians’ behavior?

Namely that the country’s leadership is in deep political trouble. The Iranian government is desperate to provoke the West to win back friends in the Islamic world, and to quell growing unrest at home. Subsidizing food and gas, providing billions for terrorists and building nukes all cost money at a time when the state-run Iranian economy is in shambles.

4.11.07 UPDATE: Jimbo at Black Five has another take - here. We completely disagree. Also, LGF posts the Bolton response - here.

Sunday Afternoon Cigar

We fired-up a Rocky Patel Edge this afternoon. Happy Easter!

Monday Cigar Night

No pictures for this cigar night - the Ushanka.us camera is in Europe with Mrs. Karl. We burned our fingers with a CAO Brazilia this evening, and found two great blog posts to share. Enjoy.

A Zombietime.com hit piece on the San Francisco Chronicle: "Anatomy of a Photograph".

Over at Hugh Hewitt's site, the YouTube video of Reagan's speech in England. Classic.

More Flags!

Found at Townhall.com:

These aren't the flags of our fathers...

Maybe there is a commie blog out there collecting 'Bush is Hitler' cartoons?