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WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona announced Sunday she intends to resign from Congress this week to concentrate on recovering from wounds suffered in an assassination attempt a little more than a year ago that shook the country.
abcnews.go.com
“I don’t remember much from that horrible day, but I will never forget the trust you placed in me to be your voice,” the Democratic lawmaker said on a video posted without prior notice on her Facebook page.
“I’m getting better. Every day my spirit is high,” she said. “I have more work to do on my recovery. So to do what’s best for Arizona, I will step down this week.”
The Haircut
One day a florist went to a barber for a haircut. After the cut, he
asked about his bill, and the barber replied, ‘I cannot accept money
from you, I’m doing community service this week.’ The florist was
pleased and left the shop. When the barber went to open his shop the
next morning, there was a ‘thank you’ card and a dozen roses waiting
for him at his door.
Later, a cop comes in for a haircut, and when he tries to pay his bill,
the barber again replied, ‘I cannot accept money from you , I’m doing
community service this week.’ The cop was happy and left the shop. The
next morning when the barber went to open up, there was a ‘thank you’
card and a dozen donuts waiting for him at his door.
Then a Congressman came in for a haircut, and when he went to pay his
bill, the barber again replied, ‘I can not accept money from you. I’m
doing community service this week.’ The Congressman was very happy and
left the shop. The next morning, when the barber went to open up, there
were a dozen Congressmen lined up waiting for a free haircut.
And that, my friend, illustrates the fundamental difference between
the citizens of our country and the politicians who run it.
BOTH POLITICIANS AND DIAPERS NEED TO BE CHANGED OFTEN AND FOR THE SAME
REASON!
Posted by Jim Hoft on Thursday, October 21, 2010, 10:51 AM
NPR website can’t take the heat…
The NPR website is no longer taking comments today. They blame it on user volume.
Really? They’re taxpayer funded but can’t keep a website running?
The Ombudsman also tweeted that she is working on a Juan Williams’ column.
Whatever the results of the December review — and regardless of Obama’s steadfast refusal to change the schedule for beginning the withdrawal — Republicans must find their voice on the war. Whether or not they gain control of either house of Congress, they are duty-bound to publicly dissect Obama’s strategy and recommend how it can be repaired. Two Republican candidates who may be elected in two weeks — Army Lt. Col. Allen West and Marine Lt. Ilario Pantano — by their experiences in the war should lead that public reexamination of the war.
Allen West — running in Florida’s 22nd district — is a 20-year Army veteran who saw the counterinsurgency first-hand in Iraq. West, a civil-military affairs officer at the time, was accused of abusing a prisoner. The incident occurred when an Iraqi policeman, arrested for conspiring with the terrorists, refused to give information on a planned attack on West. Intervening in the interrogation, West held the man down and discharged his pistol into a sand-filled barrel next to where the man stood. As a result, the man divulged information that saved American lives. West immediately went to his commander’s tent, woke him up, and told him what he had done. The political correctness police went after him, and he retired from the Army.
After retiring, West signed on as a civilian advisor and served there for nearly two years. He’s running against doctrinaire liberal Ron Klein (ACLU rating 90%, ACU rating 4%).
West is an intellectual who understands the war as few others do. (Full disclosure: Allen is a friend whom I admire comprehensively. He’s presidential material.)
Ilario Pantano is a warrior. He served in the Gulf War in 1991 and — after 9/11 — returned to active duty. He was leading his platoon against insurgents in the Sunni Triangle when they came under fire and he shot two men. Pantano — accused by a disgruntled sergeant who he had demoted — faced charges of killing the two Iraqis without justification and was exonerated. He later wrote the book Warlord about his experiences. He is tough, well-spoken, and has the intensity of intelligence we so often see in Marines.
Pantano is running in North Carolina’s 7th district (which hasn’t had a Republican congressman in more than a century) against incumbent Mike McIntyre (ADA 85%, ACU 32%).
There are two factors that make West and Pantano ideal to lead Republicans in a public examination of the war in January. First, they have seen the enemy first-hand and understand him as no one who lacks that experience can. Second, they both have had to fight both within and against the culture of counterinsurgency that places pressures on our troops that they, as warriors, should not have to bear.
The latter is what makes these men rise above the rest. There are other military veterans, some with service in Iraq and Afghanistan, who are in Congress or running for the first time this year. But none of them have faced the grim truths that West and Pantano have had to overcome.
See the full American Spectator article: http://spectator.org/archives/2010/10/18/wholl-put-afghanistan-back-on
