Posted on 12/18/2005 4:48:35 PM PST by Wolfstar
PRESIDENTIAL NEWS OF THE DAY As is their custom when in Washington on a weekend, the President and First Lady attended St. Johns Episcopal Church this morning. The President will address the nation this evening from the Oval Office. In the meantime, Vice President Dick Cheney made a surprise visit to Iraq on the first leg of his Middle Eastern trip.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: From the Vice President's remarks to the troops at Al-Asad Air Base, Al-Asad, Iraq, Sunday, December 18, 2005. (Click here to read the entire transcript.)
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, I'm not Jessica Simpson. (Laughter.) But I'm glad to be here, and I thank you for that warm welcome; General Johnson, for the kind words. And I want to say good afternoon to all my fellow Americans. I happened to be in the neighborhood, so I thought I'd drop by.It's a privilege to be here, to stand on the ground of the world's newest democracy -- to be with so many men and women who helped make this history. I wanted to pay this visit during the holidays to express appreciation to all of you and to every American serving in this part of the world. With Christmas and Hanukkah arriving next week, I know your thoughts naturally turn to home. And your fellow Americans are thinking of you more than ever. I'm pleased to bring you the good wishes of the entire country, and personal greetings from our Commander-in-Chief, President George W. Bush. (Applause.)
From Marines going into combat and dominating the battle space, to the precision strikes of the Air Force, to the Army brigades holding and operating across wide terrain, to Navy corpsmen risking their lives to help the wounded, and to Seabees all over the country, day and night, preparing runways, fixing water pumps, and doing a hundred other tasks, Americans serving in Iraq have been absolutely superb.
They've made clear, as well, their ultimate ambition: to acquire weapons of mass destruction, to destroy Israel, to intimidate all Western countries, to cause mass death in the United States. The terrorists' war against America began long before 9/11. And during those years, they were the ones on the offensive. They grew bolder in their belief that if they killed Americans, they could change American policy. In Beiruit in 1983, terrorists killed 241 of our servicemen. Thereafter, the U.S. withdrew from Beiruit. In Mogadishu in 1993, terrorists killed 19 Americans; thereafter, the U.S. withdrew from Somalia. Over time the terrorists concluded that they could strike America without paying a price because they did -- repeatedly: the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York in 1993; the murders at the Saudi National Guard training facility in Riyadh in 1995; the attack on Khobar Towers in 1996; the attack on our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998; the attack on the USS Cole in 2000.
Ultimately, of course, they attacked the homeland on 9/11 and took the lives of 3,000 people aboard passenger jets, and at the World Trade Center, and at the Pentagon.
Now terrorists are making a stand here in Iraq, trying to force the United States to abandon our friends, and permit the overthrow of this new Middle Eastern democracy. Zarqawi has sworn his allegiance to bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda. And recently we got our hands on a message from bin Laden's deputy, Zawahiri, sent to Zarqawi. The letter makes clear that Iraq is part of a larger plan of imposing Islamic radicalism across the broader Middle East, making Iraq a terrorist haven and a staging ground for attacks against other nations. Zawahiri also expresses the view that America can made to run again. But we're giving him an education. We're in this fight to win. These colors don't run.
That always used to me as a kid
I think he has. I'm not judging from his face, but from his tummy. It looks flatter than I've seen it in awhile.
It would not be a real problem except that hubby hurt his shoulder getting his luggage out of this car at the airport recently. He has to have a MRI in the morning. I told him we were a pair! Not sure what kind, yet, though.
Me, too, Snugs! My dad used to say "All that ham, and no potatoes"! ;p
No we wont and I knew you meant GHWB and I agree he does look good for his age and it is remarkable the amount of travelling he still does.
Blitzer also wanted to talk about all sorts of negative things in Iraq, the latest commotion in Washington, etc., and she was great. She told Blitzer in no uncertain terms that the direction he was taking the conversation was "wrong-headed." I grinned from ear to ear when I heard her say that.
...and he still jumps out of airplanes!
I think having a wife like Barbara helps keep him young.
Sara is one hour in front of me so in Poland it is about 2.45am
Ouch! Hopefully it is just a sprain.
Wow! Thank you both for spending time with us in the middle of your night.
Good for Lynne she will not take any nonsense from anyone.
How I wish we could have seen the talking heads giving Hill and Bill such a hard time in their interviews and not asking them such softball questions!
Presidents and Vice Presidents are, unfortunately, bound by the need for decorum, protocol, and such (something which many Americans don't understand). Their wives are not quite so constrained, thank goodness.
At this time, he is in more pain than I am. He told me this morning that we need to take off for a week or so and go to Florida. We went shopping today and got a new car radio and speakers for our granddaughter. All 3 of us were worn out. She went with us so she could pick out the one she wanted plus the speakers. Now, we need to get new tires for our grandson. Her radio has a remote control which she really liked. Never heard of such.
Agreed. The Leftist tilt of our MSM simply cannot be denied any longer, even by the likes of Rather, Brokaw, and their ilk.
Cheney Visits Iraq, Officials Laud Historic Vote
As yet there are no photos of the VPs trip but I will check tomorrow just in case they post some.
Indeed
Thanks Wolfstar, Great pics
Grin...I work for Nissan. I had to drive a new Maxima to one of our regional offices this week. It was like driving a space ship with all the buttons and other electronic gadgets. This from someone who is familar and comfortable with technology.
There was this one button with an icon that appeared to be an indicator for when the front hood was open. The light was on, so I hit the button thinking it would go off. It never did. So I drove the car all the way to Costa Mesa wondering if the hood would fly up. It didn't. Turns out the icon on that button signified the flow of outside air into the car.
The heat was on and it was a warmish day in the L.A. area, so I tried to turn the heat off. Turns out the heat and AC are controlled by sensors that automatically blow warm or cold air depending on the desired temperature set in the car's computer.
Its one of the in things at present remote controls for electrical items in cars.
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