The question is on the lips of many.  Some  decry our failings and insist they are endemic, and show the decline of our Country's greatness. 

They point to our prosperity as evidence of our selfishness. 

They point at our innovation and insist that we are lazy and weak.

They insist that in their lives we have never done anything worthy of pride.

Some point to the White House and our president, and decry his failings and decide the America has suffered under his leadership.  They accuse him of crimes and demand his oust.

They demonstrate against our Military, and defame them.  They falsely accuse them of crimes and atrocities.

They protest in the streets against the war we fight, against our foreign policy, against our leaders, against our culture and against religion.

The take the symbols of our country and deface them in protest.

They write articles and blogs and columns pointing our in glorious prose and detail the sins of our country, past present ad future.

So I ask myself:  In the face of so much hatred, disappointment and vile rhetoric, is America Still Great?

You bet your ass it is.  The proof is in the protest to start with.

We are virtually unique in the world where so much protest and anti government sentiment can be openly displayed, and not just tolerated, but downright celebrated.

Our Constitution, which continues to thrive despite the naysayers best arguments, protects those who speak against America the loudest.

For every person who speaks about how America has declined in greatness, their very words continue to prove we are still great.  All the Journalists that write diatribes against America do so because America values the freedom of dissent.

For those who protest our Military, and slander them, the fact they can do such acts is a testimony to how well our Military has preserved those freedoms.

Obama first:  In response to Rene Marie surprise substitution of Lift Ev'ry  Voice and Sing:

 Obama: Only one national anthem

Barack Obama picked some low-hanging fruit and scored some points in Denver today, after a local jazz singer substituted what some called the “black national anthem” for the Star Spangled Banner at a municipal event.  Saying that Rene Marie should have sung what she promised, Obama made clear that he only recognizes one national anthem for Americans:

Sen. Barack Obama said today a jazz singer’s decision to sing the ‘Black National Anthem’ at Denver’s State of the City speech this week was wrong.

“Well, ‘Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing’ is a beautiful song that has been sung in African-American churches and other events for a very long time,” Obama told the Rocky in phone interview. “We only have one National Anthem. And so, if she was asked to sing the National Anthem, she should have sung that. ‘Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing’ is a beautiful song, but we only have one National Anthem.”

Hot Air is right, it was an easy score.  But I admit, I would have expected a much more nuanced response from him.   He stuck to a simple truth.

And McCain posted this powerful 4th of July message:

Putting The Country First

Two of our greatest statesmen, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, took their last breaths on July 4, 1826, exactly 50 years after they presented America with our Declaration of Independence. They had been fellow revolutionaries, the closest of comrades, who went on to become bitter political rivals. Then, as the new era of the 1800s dawned, they reconciled, reminded of their old friendship and the momentous history they had made together. "Who shall write the history of the American revolution?" Adams asked Jefferson in one of the 158 letters they exchanged after they'd rediscovered their bonds. "Nobody," responded Jefferson, suggesting that while writers could understand the facts, they might never grasp the sacrifices.

First the wrong way.  This kind of thinking honestly flabbergasts me.

Chris Satullo: A not-so-glorious Fourth: 

U.S.  atrocities are unworthy of our heritage

Tuck the soaring speeches in a drawer for another time.

This year, America doesn't deserve to celebrate its birthday. This Fourth of July should be a day of quiet and atonement.

For we have sinned.

We have failed to pay attention. We've settled for lame excuses. We've spit on the memory of those who did that brave, brave thing in Philadelphia 232 years ago.

The America those men founded should never torture a prisoner.

The America they founded should never imprison people for years without charge or hearing.

The America they founded should never ship prisoners to foreign lands, knowing their new jailers might torture them.

Such abuses once were committed by the arrogant crowns of Europe, spawning rebellion.

Today, our nation does such things in the name of our safety. Petrified, unwilling to take the risks that love of liberty demands, we close our eyes.

We have done such things, on orders from the Oval Office. We have done them, without general outrage or shame.

...

Our silence is complicit. In our name, innocents were jailed, humans tortured, our Constitution mangled. And we said so little.

...

The world sees this, even if we are too dim to grasp it. We've lost respect. We've shamed the memory of Jefferson, Adams and Franklin.

...

So put out no flags.

Sing no patriotic hymns.

We deserve no Fourth this year.

Let us atone, in quiet and humility. Let us spend the day truly studying the example of our Founders. May we earn a new birth of courage before our nation's birthday next rolls around.

Ah, liberal self loathing.  I have never understood it. 

Sister Toldjah weighs in:

Douglas J. Feith recaps the reasons we went to war in Iraq.

It won't be popular as he avoids rhetoric and accusations, and instead lays out the real timeline and thoughts behind the decision to go to war from an insider's perspective.

Agree or disagree with the reasons all you want, but it is important to stop the BDS and the Bush lied accusations and see the big picture.

A lot of poor commentary has framed the Iraq war as a conflict of "choice" rather than of "necessity." In fact, President George W. Bush chose to remove Saddam Hussein from power because he concluded that doing so was necessary.

President Bush inherited a worrisome Iraq problem from Bill Clinton and from his own father. Saddam had systematically undermined the measures the U.N. Security Council put in place after the Gulf War to contain his regime. In the first months of the Bush presidency, officials debated what to do next.

As a participant in the confidential, top-level administration meetings about Iraq, it was clear to me at the time that, had there been a realistic alternative to war to counter the threat from Saddam, Mr. Bush would have chosen it.

...

The Iraq policy debate remained unresolved when the September 11 attacks occurred. Like all major national security issues, Iraq policy was re-examined in light of our post-9/11 sense of vulnerability and the heightened worries about terrorism and, especially, about the danger that terrorists might obtain WMD from a nation state.

When the president ultimately decided that the Iraqi regime must be ousted by force, he was influenced by five key factors:

1) Saddam was a threat to U.S. interests before 9/11. The Iraqi dictator had started wars against Iran and Kuwait, and had fired missiles at Saudi Arabia and Israel. Unrepentant about the rape of Kuwait, he remained intensely hostile to the U.S. He provided training, funds, safe haven and political support to various types of terrorists. He had developed WMD and used chemical weapons fatally against Iran and Iraqi Kurds. Iraq's official press issued statements praising the 9/11 attacks on the U.S.

The new direction Pelosi and the Democrats have chosen for us appears to be a more expensive one as fuel prices continue their spike, along with higher prices on everything else.

And their answer?  Nothing.  Not a single realistic proposal, just platitudes about impractical solutions and obstructionism of the obvious ones.  

And American is getting tired of it.

Hot Air:

Confirmation at last that the “pristine” wilderness is looking a lot less pristine these days than it used to. Note that the swing towards expanded exploration in general is even more dramatic, to the point of a near-majority. Couple that with 52% of the public laughing at Harry Reid’s hyperventilation about sickness from oil and coal and Maverick’s got a gimme. Assuming, of course, he’s not too stupid to take it.

Follow the first link up top and scroll down to see which two groups have swung most sharply towards increased exploration since February. Exit question: How likely is this issue to shift votes, really? If gas prices get much worse, Obama will simply do what Obama does and flip-flop merrily towards the middle.

So there ya go Democrats.  Your mandate to get off your lazy arses and do something, you know, like you keep promising?

Or is this really the New Direction you want us to go?

Frankly I think it is.  The democrats like higher priced oil, it fits their mantra of forcing people to mass transit, scaring them about Global Warming and all that.  If they cannot GUILT us into using less oil, they will damn sure make it so we can't afford it.

For our own good...of course.  Not that it affects them in their Limos and SUVs.

 Trackposted to Pet's Garden Blog, The Virtuous Republic, Allie is Wired, 123beta, Right Truth, The World According to Carl, Rosemary's News and Ideas, The Pink Flamingo, Cao's Blog, Democrat=Socialist, Conservative Cat, and Right Voices, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

In the lead up to the Democrat's National Convention, we have a little controvery.

From Hot Air:

The city of Denver has already begun to celebrate the Democratic National Convention, which officially begins less than two months from now.  Pre-events have included the Colorful Food Watch and the Festival of Unpaid Bills, and yesterday’s State of the City speech began with Leftist Patriotism on Display.  Instead of singing the national anthem as requested, Rene Marie replaced it with a protest song:

Mayor John Hickenlooper’s annual State of the City address may get more attention for what wasn’t included than what was.

At the start of the event Tuesday morning, City Council President Michael Hancock introduced singer Rene Marie to perform the national anthem.

Instead, she performed the song “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing,” which is also known as the “black national anthem.”

When she finished, the audience responded with mild applause. The national anthem was never performed.

(shaking head)

Hickenlooper and city officials got caught completely by surprise, as Marie kept her intentions hidden until the actual performance.  None of them acted to stop her or lead the crowd in the actual national anthem either, but by the time they would have realized what was happening, it was probably all over.  Marie wanted to make a political statement, and succeeded — in setting off a firestorm.

Angry officials and residents lit up talk-radio phone lines in Denver afterwards.   Councilman Charlie Brown declared that the US has one national anthem for all Americans, and that the Star Spangled Banner was the appropriate choice for the event.  Marie could express herself in any number of venues, Brown noted, but that official city events should feature the actual American national anthem.

No jokes, this is a tragedy.  Darcy Burner, the democrat nominee to the 8th District Congressional seat, lost her home to a fire this morning.

The Burner's and their dog escaped injury, and their cat was lost.

As I said, this is every family's nightmare.  To be woken up at 7am by your child telling you his room is on fire is an experience I am happy to avoid.  Thank God they did waken and escape.

Now the cause is under investigation, with rumours off a gas main blowing and a faulty light in the child's room running forefront.

The fact it started in a child's room might lead to other speculation, as it would not be the first time that a child has done something tragically stupid.

Hopefully not.

What I was curious about when I read this story this afternoon was how long it would take our local loony left to blame this on the republicans.

I didn't have long to wait, nor was I the first to wonder.  Browsing to Horsesass.org, the local den of rabid liberals, and a stronghold of Burner Support, I was not disappointed.

Here are a couple examples from the comments:

Blue John spews:

It’s a sad world where I considered that it could be some sort of republican dirty trick. “Can’t win legitimately, so burn her house down and distract her, at the very least.”

ME spews:

No conspiracy needed… just a right-wing jerk with a gas can and a chip on his shoulder.

I’m sure there aren’t any of THOSE types around there.

My Left Foot spews:

By the way, just where was Reichert this morning??

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmm??

ByeByeGOP spews:

Which of the right wing fuckheads did this and will there be justice? I knew the righties would resort to this shit. It’s all they have - it’s all they can do. They can’t win with ideas so they try to win with intimidation! Come to my house bitches and you’ll find it tougher to burn down.

Ok, this guy is at best and out of touch divisive idiot who has completely lost touch with reality, commonsense and truth.  He is clueless, dim and laughable.

Why Nevada keeps electing him is a bona fide mystery.

Here he is bloviating how Coal makes us sick, in YouTube's #1 video:

Now...in this video from last year, see Dennis Miller quite accurately dissect Harry Reid.

Poetry.  Pure poetry.

 Trackposted to Sister Toldjah, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, Perri Nelson's Website, The Virtuous Republic, Rosemary's Thoughts, Right Truth, Shadowscope, The Amboy Times, Beagle Scout - Support the No More Excuses Energy Act, Leaning Straight Up, Democrat=Socialist, Pet's Garden Blog, third world county, Woman Honor Thyself, DragonLady's World, Pirate's Cove, The Pink Flamingo, , Stageleft, Right Voices, The Random Yak, 123beta, Adam's Blog, Cao's Blog, Conservative Cat, Allie is Wired, Nuke Gingrich, Faultline USA, McCain Blogs, The World According to Carl, Walls of the City, Rosemary's News and Ideas, CORSARI D'ITALIA, Nuke's News, and Gone Hollywood, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Yes indeed, it is clearly happening, that fact is not being disputed.  The only real question is "by who".  This, by the way I regard as a serious issue.  I left Blogger 3 years ago to give my blog more creative control and security, and now I am even more glad I did.

We start at Sister Toldjah:

Just another example of how far some far left Obama supporters are willing to go to shut down criticism about the Obamessiah? Bloggasm and Stop The ACLU take a look.

I haven’t had much of a chance to dive too deeply into the controversy, but it wouldn’t be surprising to find out this indeed was happening, considering how so many far left Obama supporters react at the slightest hint of criticism of Barry Oh.

Yea, that much is certainly true.  The supporters of Obama defend him with a religious fervor.  Those who criticize him are essentially heretics.

Even denying Global Warming is a lesser sin then doubting Obama.

Stop the ACLU continues:

Google Shuts Down Anti-Obama Sites on its Blogger Platform

Update: Perhaps it isn’t google, but Obamaniacs taking advantage of google’s faulty sytem. A commenter explains:

The problem with blogger is that a group of people with an ax to grind can report any blog as spam and after enough complaints, it’s automatically suspended until a real live human being can get around to examining it. If enough complaints are registered with blogger, you might get a response within 5 days but it takes a concerted effort. This is a huge problem with blogger and something google needs to get a handle on.

Regardless who is at fault, this shutting down of free speech is disturbing.

-Edit by WTH: If I can find a link to prove that it was a concerted effort by Obama supporters, I’ll post it.

As the next story shows, one of the more interesting tidbits is that even liberal  blogs are being targeted, apparently for being critical of the Messiah.

Yes I know I have gone a few weeks.  I've been sick.  Sue me.

Topping today's blogs:  Is Obama even a US citizen? Are we coming close to electing the Illegal Alien in Chief?

It sounds like a joke, and initially I dismissed it as such, but the problem is the story has just enough legs to make it stick around, and the core issue it rubs against is a serious one:  Is Obama qualified to be the president?  Not by lack of leadership, but by nature of not being a US citizen?

At the heart of this, of course, is The US Constitution,  Article I section 3 and Article II section 1 specifically.  Those two areas deal with citizenship as a requirement for President as well as for the Senate.  Oh yes, the truth is that if Obama is not a citizen, natural born or otherwise, he would not be eligible for the Senate, though being a naturalized citizen for 9 years suffices for the Senate.  But only a natural born US citizen is eligible for the White House residency.

Laugh if you want, I think a reasonable question has been asked, and needs to be answered, one way or another.

While I don't fully know where the question/rumour started from, the principle defense used by Obama was posted at Daily Kos, a hi res copy of a Hawaii Birth certificate, which if real, would end the debate.  The problem was that there are some questions about its validity.

Polarik at Townhall details them:

The Daily Kos blog has posted a JPG that allegedly is Barack Obama's "Certificate of Birth." From a detailed analysis of the image and the text, it looks like it was created by a graphics program, and is not a true copy of an original, certified document.

I've been working with computers, printers, and typewriters for over 20 years, and given a set of printed letters, I can discern what kind of device made them. Printer output is quite different from the text created by a graphics program, and even if a document looks "official," it may not be.