2155 Somewhere on a dark road near Meridian, MS

I've gone on an important mission which naturally I cannot reveal at this time...

But suffice it to say, it's not Bigfoot hunting.

We drove deep into the Mississippi Delta this afternoon and blew a cute Beaver's Dam 200 feet into the sky.

Tomorrow at dawn... I'll be catfish fishing... then taking a look at it's DNA...

More to come...

Rooting for Failure

On Wednesday, Maj. Gen. Richard Sherlock said this at a press briefing:

“In Al Anbar province, last week we had no casualties, killed or wounded in action. And that’s the first time in recent memory that I can be able to say that.”

Wait – hold on there for a second? Did you read that?!

NO CASUALTIES, killed or wounded.

I spent the month of November in Fallujah (heart of Anbar) last year. My nickname given to me by the Alpha Company of the 1/24 Marines was “whoosh-bang.” I got that name because it was the sound the RPG made when Al Qaeda fired it at my Humvee on my first day in Fallujah.

And now? No casualties or even injuries… I’m not an accomplished editor of any major news outlet… BUT THAT IS MAJOR NEWS.

After an extensive search of Lexis-Nexis, it appears that only FOX News’ Jennifer Griffin and Bill O’Reilly bothered to mention that statement. No major newspapers, no evening newscasts.

And you wonder why real Americans across this great nation go around asking those of us in the press: Are you guys rooting against success in Iraq?

That is pathetic.

Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week

It’s happening on college campuses all across America this week and it’s sparking both student protests and outrage.

Ahmadinejad is back again, you say?

Quite the contrary. According to Conservative Author David Horowitz, this week is being officially dubbed “Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week,” with over 60 speakers on over 100 campuses nationwide.

Horowitz launched a movement that he hopes will catch on beyond this week intended to make students more aware (in his own words) of who “the real enemy” is that faces our future. That enemy is radical Islam and it’s Horowitz’s belief too many people on the left make excuses for confronting groups like Al Qaeda, the Taliban, Hamas, and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Horowitz’s theme of IFAW is focused on the oppression of Muslim women in the Islamic world. And he says that the term “Islamo-fascism” - while appearing racist or offensive to some - actually comes from Muslims in Algeria in the 1990s.

Interestingly too but not surprising, many campuses so far have been less welcoming of Mr. Horowitz when compared to Columbia’s President and Mr. Ahmadinejad.

Nevertheless, Horowitz culminates his weeklong tour with a speech at Columbia University this Friday.

I will be interviewing Mr. Horowitz on Thursday and will dutifully report here how the controversial campus movement is being received. Mr. Horowitz says on his blog today(www.frontpagemag.com) that it’s “already a success.”

Beer for Breakfast

I am usually the first to rise in our household unless it’s a weekend and I had to work late the night before… which is why I was so puzzled to see my wife bound out of bed at O’dark thirty and mumble something about being very thirsty as she wandered out of the bedroom.

Now, let me pause for a moment to say something here about my wife’s Diet Coke addiction – it’s bad. She is a wonderful and gorgeous woman of great intelligence and compassion, but if you had to find one vice of hers… it’d be that silver, black, and red can of sugar-free cola.

And if you think of it, there are certainly worse things one could begin their morning with that would be much worse – a martini? a cigarette?

But this morning was different from other thirsty mornings for her.

“Did you buy beer in a can last night?” my wife asked a little later in the morning.

“Why, yes, dear. I did,” I told her a bit confused.

[Disclaimer: I am a beer snob and recently discovered a fantastic Colorado brew called “Dale’s Pale Ale” in a can.]

“Thanks a lot – I just reached in the fridge to my Diet Coke shelf in the dark, grabbed one and chugged it,” she said. “Now I have a headache.”

[Note: she has HER OWN shelf for Diet Coke – I told you there was an addiction here.]

Twenty-five or so years ago… I once told a childhood friend’s parents that my mom drank Jack Daniel’s in the bathtub. I have no idea where I got that – but it was pretty funny, or so I thought at the time. Now when I teach our daughters to tell their parents’ friends that “mommy drinks beer for breakfast,” there will be some modicum of truth.

Cheers!

World War III?

President Bush caught the WH Press Corps, as well as many Americans, off guard yesterday at a news conference when responding to a question about Iran and nukes by FOX’s WH Chief Correspondent Bret Baier.

“We’ve got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel. So I’ve told people that, if you’re interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them (Iran) from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon.”

Today at the Pentagon Blogger’s Roundtable, I had the opportunity to ask the new Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Gary Roughead for some clarity on Pres. Bush’s WWIII comments and find out how the Navy is planning to contend with the threat of a nuclear Iran.

Here’s what Adm. Roughead had to say:

“I would say that the diplomatic efforts that are on going with regards to Iran is a path we must be on. As far as our Navy is concerned, our Navy is globally deployed, it is a well-trained, well-prepared, well-equipped and my responsibilities is to be able to ensure the Navy remains that way and can be used in ways that the commander-in-chief dictates.”

Later in the day, Def. Sec. Robert Gates was asked about the WWIII comments as well and he spoke to the concern of a “nuclear arms race in the Middle east” should Iran be able to acquire them.

So the question begs:

IF Iran is able to go nuclear, will this administration – or even GOP Presidential candidates for that matter – be able to overcome cries for diplomacy from the Democrats?