How the Left views a post 911 world

This quote is from Mark Steyn - www.steynonline.com - one of the best columnists around, he pretty much sums up the veiw of the left:

"Nearly four years after "the day America changed forever," the culture is in thrall to the same dopey self-delusion it held on Sept. 10, 2001: There are no enemies, just friends we haven't yet apologized to."

Pessimism is not a policy.......

...and defeatism is not a strategy. (I wanted to comment on Pres. Bush's speech last, but I could not have outdone this article by John Hinderaker, blogger extraordinaire, so here is his take)....

That is my short answer to the Democrats' carping about President Bush's speech last night. Most absurd, in my view, are the howls of outrage protesting Bush's explanation that the war in Iraq is an important part of the war on terror that began on September 11. The Associated Press reports: "Bush Criticized for Linking 9/11 and Iraq":
Democrats in particular criticized Bush for again raising the Sept. 11 attacks as a justification for the protracted fight in Iraq...
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi accused Bush of demonstrating a willingness "exploit the sacred ground of 9/11, knowing that there is no connection between 9/11 and the war in Iraq."
Pelosi's claim that there is "no connection between 9/11 and the war in Iraq" is mind-numbingly obtuse. Let's itemize just the huge, obvious connections:
1) The people we are fighting in Iraq are Islamist terrorists, many of them associated with al Qaeda, the same organization that carried out the Sept. 11 attacks.
2) The principal purpose of the Iraq war is to promote the spread of freedom and democracy throughout the Arab world, which remains the only long-term cure for the problem of Islamist terrorism that anyone has proposed. (If the Democrats have an alternative, they're keeping it a secret.)
3) After Sept. 11, knowing what terrorists could achieve with (relatively) conventional weapons, it was no longer acceptable to risk leaving in power a tyrant like Saddam, who a) had a decades-long fascination with weapons of mass destruction; b) had used weapons of mass destruction on many occasions; c) was a long-time supporter of terrorist groups; and d) had long been viewed as such a threat to America and its allies that since 1998, regime change in Iraq had been the official policy of the United States government, based on an act of Congress.
4) Let's follow up on 3 c). One of the Democrats' most ridiculous mantras is that there was no connection between Saddam's Iraq and international terrorism. This claim is demonstrably false, but as usual, the Democrats are playing to the least well-informed Americans. Let's just itemize a few of Iraq's most notorious pre-war connections to 9/11 style terrorism:
a) Ansar al Islam, an al Qaeda branch, manufactured ricin for use in attacks on Europe.b) Saddam hosted al Qaeda's number two leader, Zawahiri, in the 1990s.c) Saddam harbored, and put on a government pension, one of the few perpetrators of the first World Trade Center bombing who escaped apprehension.d) Saddam harbored Abu Nidal, once the world's most famous terrorist, until, for reasons that remain mysterious, Saddam apparently had him murdered shortly before the war began.e) Saddam harbored Abu Abbas, organizer of the Achille Lauro cruise ship hijacking in 1984; Abbas was captured in Iraq during the first days of the war.e) Zarqawi, the world's most deadly terrorist, fled Afghanistan when the Taliban fell at the end of 2001 and went to Iraq. Why? Because he knew that terrorists were welcome under Saddam.f) From Iraq, Zarqawi organized the murder of American diplomat Lawrence Foley in Jordan.g) From Iraq, Zarqawi organized and financed a chemical weapons attack on Jordan that could have killed tens of thousands. The perpetrators of that scheme are now on trial in Jordan.h) Saddam paid the families of suicide bombers to encourage terrorist attacks against Israel.
These are just some of the many connections between Saddam's regime and international terrorism that we happen to know about. Others are known, and no doubt still more remain unknown.
The Associated Press seems to join in with the Democrats' ill-founded attack on President Bush with this paragraph:
Bush urged Americans to remember the lessons of Sept. 11 and protect "the future of the Middle East" from men like bin Laden. He repeatedly referred to the insurgents in Iraq as terrorists and said they were killing innocent people to try to "shake our will in Iraq, just as they tried to shake our will on September the 11th, 2001."
The "insurgents" are, in fact, terrorists, which is how they are pretty universally referred to by Iraqis. There are no soldiers taking the field against the U.S. armed forces in Iraq. There are only terrorists: suicide bombers with explosive belts around their waists and car bombers who blow up innocents, but not themselves. Why is this so hard for the AP and the Democrats to understand? In the case of the Democrats, I suppose the answer is that, if they admitted that the "insurgents" are in fact nothing more or less than terrorists, they would likewise have to admit that the war in Iraq has something to do with September 11 after all.

Rove is a genius, he never said Democrats, he said Liberals

Karl Rove was referring to the likes of MoveOn.org., not Democrats. He exposed those who came out and demanded an apology from him for what they are.....and that is that they are indeed liberal. So for those who call themselves Democrats, we now know that they really are Liberal Democrats, not Moderate Democrats.

Another stroke of genius from Karl Rove.

How I met the Queen of Tequila

Back in the late 80's and early to mid 90's, I was with a start-up company, Arizona Pepper Products Co., and we made a hot sauce called "Arizona Gunslinger Smokin' Hot Jalapeño Pepper Sauce" which eventually evolved into many more products - www.azgunslinger.com , well this called for monthly trips in our trucks to farmers in eastern Arizona and New Mexico to buy fresh red ripened jalapeño's. Many of the farmers spoke spanish and we figured we needed to learn Spanish, so we took some classes at the local Community College to learn the language.

Well after about 3 semester's worth, the principal owner - Bill Marko (who is one unique cat and a hell of a lot fun to be around) said we need to take a trip through Mexico via a bus, but we needed to do this alone. I immediatley nominated myself to be the first to go......and I did!

It was late August of1994 when I boarded a bus in Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico and set off for Mexico City. This bus ride took approximately 24 hours and was a real trip! Now, I happen to be 6'5", blond and blue eyed, so I definitely stood out. I spent 4 days in Mexico City tooling around, visitng many famous places and eating a lot of great food. I then went to Guadalajara for 2 days and did the same thing.

After many interesting adventures, I decided to hitch hike home. This proved to be the most incredible adventure of my life. I walked along Avenida Vallarta for about 4 hours to Highway 15 and headed north to Tepic, Nayarit, it started to rain, and finally at about 4:30 or so, a lady stopped (my only ride) and gave me a ride to the next town called La Venta de Astillero. From there I got on a crowded bus. I made my way near the back of the bus when I saw a beautiful Mexican girl. She asked me if I spoke english, I said yes, and she said she was learning english. I replied..."I'm trying to learn spanish". Well I sat down next to her and found out she was on her way home from the University of Guadalajara to her house in Tequila.

As we talked, I found that she was just crowned the Queen of Tequila.....not the drink, but for the town and for their annual competition that commences on their "Dia de Independencia" or Independence Day on Sept. 16. She asked if I would like to meet her family and to see her house. Of course I said "yes"! She was 21 yrs old at the time and I was 33, she could have passed for 16, she was beautiful. I really had no inkling of starting anything with her at all, but she definitely captured my full attention, besides I was dating another girl for 6 years at the time.

The bus stopped in Tequila, we got off and then walked about 15 minutes to her house where her father was out in the street waiting for her. Well, I got to meet her family, I stayed for about 2 hours and then her and her father escorted me back to the bus stop area so I could continue my way back home. They were extremely nice

Well, we ended up as pen pals, writing each other in the language we were trying to learn (which, by th way was/is a great exercise in learning the language). I made 3 subsequent visits, Feb of 1995, April 1995 (to surprise her on her birthday) and August 1995. On the August visit, I proposed to her, she accepted!

In Mexico they have 2 wedding ceremonies, a civil ceremony and then the religous ceremony. The civil ceremony took place on October 27 that year and then the church ceremony took place April 27, 1996. Twenty five of my family and friends flew down for the fiesta, it was awesome, great food, all the tequila and beer you wanted and of course, a 12 piece Mariachi band! There is much more to the story.

We now have 3 great kids, Juul Francisco 8 years old, Daniella Fernanda 3 years old and Derrek Alejandro 14 months old.

Here is a link that our paper The Arizona Republice did on us http://www.azcentral.com/families/articles/1201fam_lovestory.html

Karl Rove gets blasted by Dems.......for telling the truth!

Nothing new though is it? Democrats are terribly upset with Karl Rove for telling the truth about how wimpy, weak, and generally useless they've been in the war on terror. Here are the remarks from Rove that are drawing the Dem's ire:

"Liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers," Rove said. "Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and prepared for war."
...Rove said the Democratic Party made the mistake of calling for "moderation and restraint" after the terrorist attacks.
"Conservatives saw what happened to us on 9/11 and said we will defeat our enemies. Liberals saw what happened to us and said we must understand our enemies."
Rove also denounced Sen. Dick Durbin's comments comparing interrogation at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp to the methods of Nazis and other repressive regimes. He said the statements have been broadcast throughout the Middle East, putting American troops in greater danger. Durbin has since apologized for the remarks.
"No more needs to be said about the motives of liberals," Rove said.
All of this obvious and true, but the Democrats have already gotten more upset with Karl Rove than are with the terrorists who are trying to kill Americans -- which, come to think of it, is pretty much the normal state of things.
Moreover, complaining about Rove's comments is very disingenuous, very John Kerryish, very "I want credit for being against the war and for the war too".
Isn't this the same Democratic Party that has complained incessantly about every aspect of the war on terror? Isn't this the same Democratic Party that has members who favor a draft simply because they think it would hurt the war effort? Isn't this the same Democratic Party that has called for Gitmo to be shut down? Isn't this the same Party that ran a Presidential Candidate in 2004 who called for a "more sensitive" war on terrorism and said he'd treat the war on terror "'primarily' as law-enforcement action?"
Just to drive the point home, here are just few quotes I've compiled, all of which were uttered less than a year after 9/11. Read these quotes and tell me what Karl Rove said about liberals isn't spot-on:

"My daughter, who goes to Stuyvesant High School only blocks from the World Trade Center, thinks we should fly an American flag out our window. Definitely not, I say: The flag stands for jingoism and vengeance and war." -- Katha Pollitt, The Nation, October 8
"Many families have been devastated tonight. This just is not right. They did not deserve to die. If someone did this to get back at Bush, then they did so by killing thousands of people who DID NOT VOTE for him! Boston, New York, DC, and the planes' destination of California--these were places that voted AGAINST Bush!" --Michael Moore, Michaelmoore.com, September 1
"The administration has bungled the challenge. ... The war effort is in deep trouble. The United States is not headed into a quagmire; it's already in one. The U.S. is not losing the first round against the Taliban; it has already lost it." -- Jacob Heilbrunn, Los Angeles Times, Nov. 4, 2001
"In a situation like this, of course you identify with everyone who's suffering. [But we must also think about] the terrorists who are creating such horrible future lives for themselves because of the negativity of this karma. It's all of our jobs to keep our minds as expansive as possible. If you can see [the terrorists] as a relative who's dangerously sick and we have to give them medicine, and the medicine is love and compassion. There's nothing better." -- Richard Gere
"I think it will take years before we can repair the damage done by that statement." -- Jimmy Carter on George Bush's use of the phrase "Axis of Evil"
"Melt their weapons, melt their hearts, melt their anger with love." -- Shirley MacLaine on her anti-terrorism policy
"In a war on Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden will either be left alive, while thousands of impoverished, frightened people are bombed into oblivion around him, or he will be killed in a bombing attack for which he seems quite prepared. But what would happen to his cool armor if he could be reminded of all the good, nonviolent things he has done? Further, what would happen to him if he could be brought to understand the preciousness of the lives he has destroyed? I firmly believe the only punishment that works is love." -- Alice Walker, The Village Voice
"America, America. What did you do--either intentionally or unintentionally--in the world order, in Central America, in Africa where bombs are still blasting? America, what did you do in the global warming conference when you did not embrace the smaller nations? America, what did you do two weeks ago when I stood at the world conference on racism, when you wouldn't show up? Oh, America, what did you do?" -- Former San Francisco Supervisor Amos Brown on September 17.
The Democrats are like Ken dolls who get upset because people won't pretend that they're GI Joes.
Here's my advice to the White House: whatever you do, don't apologize, because it will kill the debate. And aren't Democrats always talking about how we don't debate things enough in this country?
Well, let's have a nice, long debate about the Democratic Party's approach to terrorism. Let's hit it from every angle, let's study it, and let's see the Democrats try to defend their record. Let's have that debate as a nation, because as far as I'm concerned, it's long overdue.

Say it aint so Phil!

Word has it that Phil Mickelson is nearly $20MM in debt to a Casino in Las Vegas, and, get ready for this, has gotten a Black woman pregnant. Sounds awfully outrageous and definitely not what anyone would expect from someone who has a charmed life. What is interesting is that golfers in general have a gambling bent and we do know that for a fact Phil has a penchant for Vegas. Also, it has been said he does have a thing for the ladies, hard for the guy stay with one for a specific amount of time. If this is true, you can bet that PGA Commissioner Tim Finchem is doing everything in his power to keep this from going public, which by the way seems very likely.

Phil is one of, if not my favorite golfer/athlete, this would not be posted if it unless this information came from a reliable source. Hopefully it is wrong.

Opening Day for JoeGringo

Well, here we go, this site will be on topics relating to politics, current events, tequila (the town and the drink), golf, Mexico and my awesome family.

My first post will be about the ridiculous comments made by Senator (D) Dick Durbin of Illinois. I have taken this from John Hinderaker over at Powerline:

The Standard has posted Hugh Hewitt's outstanding column explicating Dick Durbin's thoughts on Guantanomo: "Breaking the Durbin code." Hugh performs a herculean task visiting the Augean stables of Durbin's mind. The column valiantly performs a public service that none of the doyens of the mainstream media have even attempted. Hugh observes that Durbin's comments last week represent "an escalation in the political rhetoric of the left, which is designed to undermine the public's confidence in the military, the administration, and the war."
On a related note, so to speak, Mark Steyn picks up in the New York Sun today where he left off in the Chicago Sun-Times yesterday: "Facing the music." You won't want to miss it.