Just A Good Picture

BRAYLON DOES HIS PART

I came across the picture on the Army.mil website. Thats Browns wide-receiver Braylon Edwards signing the prosthetic leg of Spc. Terry Dean from the Ohio National Guard, who lost his leg after an IED exploded in Iraq. I dont know the story of why this soldier was visiting the Browns, and I really dont care, I just think its really cool to see a pro-athlete taking time out of his practice to do something nice for a guy who sacrificed so much for this country.


The only part about this picture that I dont particularly care for is the big Michigan connection these two men have, however with everything Spc. Dean has done for us all, I guess I can let that one go. If you want to see more pictures from the United States Army, go to www.army.mil and check them out. Later.

-Brad

Kerry is Still Crying over '04

WAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH

Ted Strickland should know better than to seek the help of a guy like John Kerry. Kerry no asset to Stricklands campaign and will only hurt his chances in my opinion. Here is the proof: Kerry is still complaining about the fact he lost Ohio in 2004, which luckily cost him the election. He now lays the blame with Ken Blackwell, how nice. Having John Kerry blame Blackwell for defeat will only rile up the conservative base, which is obviously beneficial to Republicans. Here is the hilarious story:

Sen. John Kerry didnt contest the results at the time, but now that he's considering another run for the White House, hes alleging election improprieties by the Ohio Republican who oversaw the deciding vote in 2004.

An e-mail from Kerry will be sent to 100,000 Democratic donors Tuesday asking them to support U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland for governor of Ohio. The bulk of the e-mail criticizes Strickland's opponent, GOP Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, for his dual role in 2004 as President Bush's honorary Ohio campaign co-chairman and the state's top election official.

"He used the power of his state office to try to intimidate Ohioans and suppress the Democratic cote," Kerry says in the e-mail, according to a copy provided in advance.

Kerry, D-Massachusetts, conceded thet election when he lost Ohio and its 20 electoral votes. A recount requested by minor-party candidates showed Bush won by about 118,000 votes out of 5.5 million cast. But Kerry's e-mail says Blackwell "used his office to abuse our democracy and threaten basic voting rights."

Multiple lawsuits by outside groups were unsuccessful in challenging Ohio's 2004 election. One case filed by the League of Women Voters is still in U.S. District Court in Toledo. It claims Ohio's election system discriminates against minority voters.

Blackwell, who is black, says the election was run fairly, citing 1 million more votes cast than in 2000 and record turnout among black voters.

"People will say anything for money," Blackwell campaign spokesman Carlo LoParo said. "Fortunately, the historical record contradicts Senator Kerry."

Strickland spokesman Keith Dailey said the campaign welcomes Kerry's support.

Normally I would call Kerry and idiot and tell him to shut the hell up, but in this case, him spewing this ridiculous garbage only makes the GOP and Ken Blackwell for that matter, look damn good. So I say, keep on talkin Johnnie-boy. And by the way, anyone out there think Kerry has a shot in 2008? Yeah me neither.

-Brad

The 1O most Contended Senate Seats

AS OF TODAY

Most people with endless political knowledge, like myself, figure there are 11 Senate races that are currently up for grabs. I am going to make my first predictions about these races and I plan to do so numerous times before the election. Everyone knows that 10 weeks is an eternity in politics, but if the election was today, here is now I believe these races are leaning:

Connecticut: Leaning Lieberman
Joe Lieberman is ahead in the polls and should win this race. The GOP candidate hasnt a chance so many republicans are throwing their support, and even their money, to Lieberman. Believe it or not, Ned Lamont is just too liberal, even for Connecticut.

Ohio: Leaning Democratic
Well the polls are showing a small lead for Sherrod Brown. This race is getting the most attention in Ohio, and will get really interesting when the debates start. I believe the first one will be on Meet The Press, and that will be huge. DeWine still can win this thing and hopefully will, but right now I have to go with the polls and give Brown the minute advantage.

Minnesota: Likely Democratic
Minnesota is becoming a pretty Democratic State, and I believe Klobuchar will win this race without much of a problem. Most polls have him with a double digit lead, which makes a win for the GOP very improbable.

Missouri: Leaning Republican
The polls have this one very close, but I think that Sen. Jim Talent will keep his seat. This is another race that will rely heavily on the debates, and I think that incumbants will do very well when facing the challengers. Look for Talent to win.

Montana: Dead Heat
This one is very very close. I hope that Conrad Burns can pull it out, but it will be difficult. I think out of all the Republican Senators, he is the one in the most trouble of getting the boot. This one should get interesting.

New Jersey: Leaning Democratic
I cant believe Im saying this but the GOP has a shot in New Jersey! Bob Menendez, who was appointed after John Corzine became Governor, is in deeeeep trouble over there. That state has been ravaged by scandel in the Democratic Party. Basically, the Dems are in the same situation in New Jersey as Republicans are in Ohio. Tom Kean, who has a famous name in New Jersey, could actually win this thing, although I think that Menendez still has a very small edge.

Pennsylvania: Leaning Democratic
This race is still leaning Democratic, but incumbant Rick Santorum has been steadily gaining ground in the polls, and I am not ready to count him out just yet. There are plenty of Republican voters in PA to pull this one out for Santorum, who is a good Senator. If he continues on this recent tear, he should be able to pull this one out. But he still has a bit of an uphill battle.

Virginia: Likely Republican
I think George Allen will still win this race even after all the hoopla surrounding his recent comments. Im not even exactly sure what he said and I dont care, he should just be more careful about what comes out of his mouth. While he should win his Senate race easily, I think his presidential aspiration have all but sailed away.

Washington: Likely Democratic
This one is easy, Washington is a Democratic stronghold, and while Republicans have contested some high profile races lately, like the 2004 Governor race up there, I still think the Dems will rule the day.

Rhode Island: Dead Heat
Yes, Lincoln Chafee is in trouble, but I think he can pull this out. The polls have this one basically even, but with Chafee's recent call for a timetable to withdrawl US troops from Iraq, he is doing just what the liberals in Rhode Island want him to do. As he distances himself from Bush, he will do better in the polls. He should win, but could still lose.

There you have it as of August 28th, I will be updating this periodically. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Thanks.

-Brad

Good News from the Middle East

DID I SERIOUSLY JUST SAY THAT?

Im not a big fan of the Muslim world. I think the majority of those people over there are ignorant, arrogant, and violent. However, today they took a step in the right direction by releasing the two FOX NEWS journalists that were kidnapped in Gaza about two weeks ago. From the beginning, Palestinian leaders, both political and religious, called for the realease of the two men, and it appears their calls for a peaceful release paid off huge. Both men, Steve Centanni and Olaf Wiig should be on their way back to the United States within a matter of hours to reunited with their families. Its good to finally report a positive story from the Middle East, since they are so few and far between. I give credit to everyone involved in getting these two men out of the hands of terrorists safely, awesome job.

-Brad

Dem Congressman Takes Trip Paid for by Terrorists

PLEASE TELL ME YOU'RE NOT SURPRISED

Yes an Illinois Congressman took a trip to Sri Lanka in 2005 which was paid for by a group of rebels on the U.S. Governments terror list. Appearently this group uses suicide bombers and child soldiers to do their dirty work...sound familiar? I dont think this will help his reelection campaign, but I guess you never know when dealing with them liberals. You can read the complete story here. I would type the whole thing out but I am just too lazy to be quite honest with you. But its worth a look considering these are the kinds of people expected to take over the House come November. I feel like Im on the Titanic.

-Brad

Cleveland Rocks the RNC

A Pictorial

Here are a few pictures I shot last night at the ROCKIN THE RNC party at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It was a hell of a good time, and a lot of big names showed up for the event. Now, without further adue, here are the pics:


This was a shot of the Rock Hall as we were walking up to it. The outside decorations were not as elaborate as I would have liked, but it still looked pretty good.

This is Don King posing with a friend of a friend of mine. Ya gotta love Don King just because of how much the man loves his country. Evidentally he is a diehard Republican, and also a Clevelander. I dont know how much his presence will help us land the convention, but it was still cool of him to show up.

That there is the stage inside the Rock Hall. If you look closely you can see a guy talking at a podium. There also was various singers and entertainers who wow'ed the crowd throughout the night from that there stage. The entertainers were better than I expected to be honest, even though it wasnt my type of music.

This is just a random picture I took from inside the Hall. I thought it was cool with the city in the backround.
Above is about the extent of the outside decorations which I mentioned earlier. Even up close, its not so great.
I thought this was pretty cool. You cant really beat a 12 foot elephant while being around hundreds of fellow Republicans. The elephant was a good touch.

And finally here is a picture I snapped of myself without knowing that balloon was directly over my big head. It really looks like Im balancing a ball there, but Im not. Awesome.

Overall I think it was a great night. I hope that the committee who will ultimately decide who gets to host the convention was impressed, because they should be. Cleveland has many venues, like the Rock Hall, that no other city has. I heard that they could make their final decision earlier than the previously believed deadline of December or January, but it still probably wont be before the November elections. Getting the convention here in 2008 would be great for our city, just ask Democratic Mayor Frank Jackson, who showed up last night and gave a speech. I think having this bipartisan support is a huge plus for our city. With the road to the White House truly running through Ohio, Cleveland is the only logical choice for the RNC in 2008. Lets show the world why we are the best location in the nation.

-Brad

A Picture Truly Worth A Thousand Words

JOE ROSENTHAUL 1911-2006



Few photographs really stand the test of time. This one, where US Marines are hoisting the stars and stripes in Iwo Jima, on February 23, 1945, will forever live as a vision of victory for our great country. The man who shot the photo died today at the age of 94. Its incredible how few people know the mans name who shot this famous photo considering it has become such an important part of our nations history. It was again popularized after 9/11 when a group of New York City firefighters raised the flag atop the smokey remains of the World Trade Center. This picture gave people hope during the Second World War, and also follwing September 11th, so we owe a debt of gratitude to Joe Rosenthal. Although his name might never be historical, his contribution to the United States of America will never be forgotten. Thanks Joe.

-Brad

3 Ladies I just Dont Care About

AND YOU SHOULDNT EITHER

Ok the media has been going nuts over a few people and its really getting on my nerves. There are numerous more importent events to be covering these days, so their obsession with the follwing women is unfortunate to us as the views, not to mention freakin boring as all hell. The first women who I could care less about is Katie Couric. Now I understand she is about to become the very first full time female news anchor in network news, and I guess that is significant, but other than that, who cares? The show will be the same boring thing it was when Dan Rather hosted it, and they news will be the same as on FOX and CNN and the rest of them. To me, she has nothing about her that is interesting enough for me to tune in and watch her read a teleprompter. If she was in a bikini, I might watch. Maybe thats me being sexist but I dont care, its the truth. CBS is really hyping her arrival, hoping it will get their broadcast out of the ratings basement. My prediction, she will probably do well the first few nights, but after a week or so, the hype will die down and so will her ratings. She wont beat Brian Williams and she wont beat Charlie Gibson by October. Best of luck to ya Kate.

The second woman that I dont care about is Jill Carroll. You might remember her because she was kidnapped by terrorists in Iraq a few months ago. Now, for some reason, the media is going crazy over this women. CNN especially has been playing up her story on their website almost daily. That shouldnt surprise anyone. Why dont I care about this woman...let me induldge you. First, allow me to express my jubilation that she was not killed while she was captive. I was actually shocked she made it out alive, and Im grateful for that. On the flip side however, she should not have been in Iraq in the first place. Her presence in that country, and her subsequent kidnapping only made the job harder for our troops, who then had to go rescue her butt. These are the same troops I might add that whom she criticized before her trip there. People like her do not belong in a warzone, because they always run the risk of getting kidnapped or killed. Like I said, I am glad she is ok, but I had no sympothy for her while she was captive. If anything, it shows just how cruel and stupid the enemy is that we are fighting. My advice to her: stay home Jill and write some memoirs of your heroing experience in Iraq so you can make money off of you dumb liberal friends, and dont forget to write about how the US military saved your ass.

Finally, the last woman, or girl in this matter that I dont care about is JonBenet Ramsey. Again, the media is going nuts over this idiot who says he killed her. I personally think the guy is full of crap, yes he is a bizarre looking psycho, but thats not a reason to cover this story 24/7. Let the investigators do their jobs, and if at the end of the day, he is the one, then cover the story, but do I really care what the guy had to drink on his flight back to the states yesterday? Nope. Its just a circus these days in the media. Even if this jerk is found guilty, its not going to bring that little girl back. Sure, it will be closure for her family, but what do I care. This is the type of story that should be discussed on the third segment of a news show or in the 8th page of a newspaper, but in todays media its the top story. Remember, this murder happened ten years ago, so I should care today because?

-Brad

Woodrow Wilson and Terrorism

THE LAST DEMOCRAT WITH A FOREIGN POLICY

I want to post a speech given by President Woodrow Wilson back in 1917, which sent the United States to battle in World War I. The speech is amazing, and has a very appropriate for the war we are currently fighting against terrorism. Wilson was a visionary when it came to foreign policy. Maybe with the exception of FDR and JFK, he is that last Democrat to oversee a successful policy on the worlds stage. Im going to take out any reference to Germany in the speech and add the words terrorism, so you can relate it to today. With those few changes, you will be able to really see how ahead of his time Wilson truly was. I wish President Bush could give a speech like this. Anyways, please read this and enjoy it.

The present terrorist actions against [our interests] is a warfare against all mankind. It is war against all nations...The challenge is to all mankind.

Each nation must decide for itself how it will meet it. The choice we make for ourselves must be made with the moderation of councel and temperateness of judgement befitting our character and our motives as a nation. We must put excited feeling away. Our motive will not be revenge or the victorious assertion of the physical might of the nation, but only the vindication of right, of human right, of which we are only a single champion.

...Armed neutrality is ineffectual enough at best; in such circumstances and in the face of such pretensions it is worse that ineffectual; it is likely only to produce what it was meant to prevent; it is practically certain to draw us into [a] war without either the rights or the effectiveness of belligerents. There is one choice we cannot make, we are incapable of making: we will not choose the path of submission and suffer the most sacred rights of our nation and our people to be ignored and violated. The wrongs against which we now array ourselves are no common wrongs: they cut to the very roots of human life.

With a profound sense of the solemn and even tragical character of the step I am taking...I advise that the Congress declare the recent course of the terrorists to be in fact nothing less that war against the government and people of the United States; that it formally accept the status of belligerent which has thus been thrust upon it; and that it take immediate steps not only to put the country in a more thorough state of defense but also to exert all its power and employ all its resources to bring the terrorists to terms and end the war.

...We should keep constantly in mind the wisdoms of interfering as little as possible in our own preperation and in the equipment of our own military forces with the duty -- for it will be a very practical duty -- of supplying the nations already at war with terrorism with the materials which they can obtain only from us or by our assistance. They are in the field and we should help them in every way to be effective there.

...While we do these things, these deeply momentous things, let us be very clear, and make very clear to all the world what our motives and our objects are...Our object...is to vindicate the principles of peace and justice in the life of the world as against selfish and autocratic power and to set up amongst the really free and self-governed peoples of the world such a concert of purpose and of action as will henceforth ensure the observance of those principles.

...A steadfast concert for peace can never be maintained except by a partnership of democratic nations. No autocratic government could be trusted to keep faith within it or observe its covenants. It must be a league of honor, a partnership of opinion.

..The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon and tested foundations of political liberty. We have no selfish ends to serve.

We desire no conquest, no dominion. We seek no indemnities for ourselves, no material compensation for the sacrifices we shall cheerfully make. We are but one of the champions of the rights of mankind. We shall be satisfied when those rights have been made as secure as the faith and the freedom of nations can make them.

...It is a distressing and oppresive duty, Gentlemen of the Congress, which I have performed in thus addressing you. There are, it may be, many months of fiery trial and sacrifice ahead of us. It is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people into war, into the most terrible and disastrous of all wars, civilization itself seeming to be in the balance.

But the right is more precious than peace, and we shall fight for the things which we have always carried nearest to our hearts, for democracy, for the right of those who submit to authority to have a voice in their own governments, for the rights and liberties of small nations, for a universal dominion of right by such a concert of free peoples as shall bring peace and safety to all nations and make the world at last free.

To such a task we can dedicate our lives and our fortunes, everything that we are and everything that we have, with the pride of those who know that the day has come when America is privileged to spend her blood and her might for the principles that gave her birth and happiness and the peace which she has treasured. God helping her, she can do no other.

We once again, now in the year 2006, find ourselves thrusted into a monumental struggle of survival and sacrifice. Woodrow Wilson understood the threat his world faced, but he didnt become weakened by dissenters. Wilson knew what had to be done, even if it costed American lives and spilled American blood, because freedom itself depended on it. The past can always teach us valuble lessons as long as we are patient enough and willing to seek its wisdom. Lets learn from our mistakes and benefit from our triumphs. Let us be emboldened by our track record of victories through the ages, and let us have the power, both physically and spiritually, to see this new struggle to an ending beneficial to the entire free world. If we do this, we will undoubtedly prevail.

-Brad

Betty Sutton and Abortion

SHE'S A BIG FAN

Congressional candidate Betty Sutton isnt hiding the fact that she is a huge supporter of abortion. To date, she has received more than $600,000 of campaign contributions from 'Emily's List' which is a very pro abortion group. Even worse, Sutton supports the brutal and horriying practice of partial birth abortion. I dont really know how somebody with a conscience could agree with killing a fetus in the third trimester, considering the fact that by then it is a child and could survive outside the womb. Whether or not you agree with regular abortion, supporting it until birth is vial. Living in the 13th district, I think it is important that people understand her views on this controversial subject, because I think it could really help the Republican in the race, Lorain Mayor Craig Foltin.

Foltin is a Catholic and staunch opponent of abortion. I think Mr. Foltin understand that there are many alternatives to abortion which should be exercised before a fetus is murdered. I hope that Foltin nails Sutton on this issue whenever they debate face to face, because in this district, which is quite religious, opposing abortion will get you votes. I hope that everyone out there spreads the word about Sutton's unfettered support of both regular abortion and partial birth abortion, because I doubt you will ever hear it come out of her mouth. We dont need more people like her in Congress. She is a liberal on just about every issue there is. She will weakin national security and moral security in our country. Please, go to www.foltinforcongress.com and do whatever you can to support Mayor Foltin. Dont allow a person like Betty Sutton to support this district and our state.

-Brad