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Hoo boy.

Thank you very much. I'm overwhelmed, but I'm also smart enough to understand that this isn't about me.

I've gotta say that I'm very proud of the work we all did this past week, and really pleased that a couple of my posts on this thread may have contributed a small part, as well. We haven't had the kind of blogstorm that happened with Rathergate (so far) but I think we've definitely seen a change in the dialog about Haditha, even in the MSM. We (FR, the blogs, etc.) have done a lot to call attention to the discrepancies and outright lies being perpetrated in the name of the political elite about Haditha and the other (apparently bogus) accusations against our troops.

We are not just a "peanut gallery" offering up our individual critiques. Singly that might be true, but collectively, particularly with the community that we've built up here on FR and the "more specialized" team that has grown up around this Sunday Morning Talk Show Thread, we are a force for the good. The post I am most proud of this week is 222, which is a direct outgrowth of MNJ's post #14 from the Weekend Preview Thread. That's what we do. We "revise and extend" each others work. When necessary we correct each other, when we've missed something or when we've gotten bad data (as I have, frequently), but we also use each others posts as jumping off points for other information, tying together important data points, until we form a coherent picture with incredible strength.

Perhaps our greatest function, collectively, is as the "truth detectors" for the drive by media. I've got to emphasize again the work done by MNJ, in dissecting the CNN (propaganda) video provided by the so called "human rights group" about Haditha. I've never seen a more blatant example of outright bogus reporting in my life. We're still working on the research on who and what they are and that work has truly astounding implications. That original post by MNJ crystallized my thinking on the Haditha issue and really kicked me into a different place on not only that issue but many others. I'm beginning to think we may now be in an "end game scenario" on a LOT of issues, whether we think so or not. I think those who would oppose us see things this way and are pulling out all the stops, throwing all caution (and principles) to the wind.

My sister and her husband (uber liberal Democrats in SF) announced proudly that they were going to a benefit event the other night with Al Gore's new film as the feature. I realized when they told me that, in an astonishing revelation, that they thought I would see that as a significant event for them. I have incredible respect for my sister, an award winning graduate of Harvard, and her husband, perhaps the top trusts and estates attorney in the US. But they view these issues several sigma removed from reality and would be astonished if I questioned their orthodoxy.

That is our task. We must question the irrational orthodoxy of the doctrinaire left. They are descending into fantasy as more and more power slips away from them. Their loss in Cunningham's old district is a "great victory." They understand the pulse of the American people and therefore we must open our borders and kow tow to Al Qaeda. If we only listen to their wisdom all will be well with the world. These and many other fantasies are being pushed by the increasingly desperate left. Our task is to observe and provide the rational critique of their ever increasing lunacy.

I'm honored to be a small part of that.

Again, thank you very much.