Rep. Jim McDermott of Seattle and two other far-left Congressmen visited Iraq over the weekend to sharpen their "Hanoi Jane" skills and shill for Saddam. The Wall Street Journal has a great piece on how this lurch to the left is likely to hurt Democrats this fall and in 2004.

Well, this news about the seizure of more than 33 pounds of weapons grade Uranium by Turkish paramilitary police is alarming, to say the least. The culprits hit the material in a lead box inside a taxi that was stopped 155 miles from the Iraqi border.

At this point, the culprits haven't revealed their destination. I imagine Saddam would have paid more than the $5 million dollar going rate for the package, had it reached him.

Apparently the Tawny Kitaen divorce from St. Louis pitcher Chuck Finley has taken an ugly turn. She's sued her husband for $12 million, claiming he promised to support her financially forever. Wow! Quite a sum in return for such services as helping choose Finley's hair color.

Wow! What a Fisking of Al Gore's speech in San Francisco on Iraq! Michael Kelly mops the floor with Gore; the final paragraph in Kelly's column sums up Gore's latest, saddest flip-flop better than most.

"What a moment! What a speech! What a man! What a disgrace."

Now that we've realized that the Web isn't going to cure every ill that society suffers, including canker sores and incontinence, one has to admit that the darn thing is awfully useful after all. If you live in Tacoma, it's pretty hard to get Dave Barry's column in print in a timely fashion. After spending days reading opinionated screeds--some of which are my own--we deserve to take a minute to enjoy the Web and have a laugh at one of the most vexing parts of modern life--laundry--as chronicled by Mr. Barry as only he can.

By the way, "cankersores.org" is a site under construction. Its advocates need to get on the ball like those who established "incontinence.org". The latter have an advantage since they have long practiced the ability to complete a job in a hurry.

"The great struggles of the twentieth century between liberty and totalitarianism ended with a decisive victory for the forces of freedom—and a single sustainable model for national success: freedom, democracy, and free enterprise. In the twenty-first century, only nations that share a commitment to protecting basic human rights and guaranteeing political and economic freedom will be able to unleash the potential of their people and assure their future prosperity. People everywhere want to be able to speak freely; choose who will govern them; worship as they please; educate their children—male and female; own property; and enjoy the benefits of their labor. These values of freedom are right and true for every person, in every society—and the duty of protecting these values against their enemies is the common calling of freedom-loving people across the globe and across the ages."

This is from the first paragraph of The National Security Strategy of the United States of America. The complete document is very well written, but nothing in it captures the spirit of America and the values we strive to protect like the portion quoted above.

Essentially, this is why we won the original Cold War, and why we'll win this war. People--everyone on earth--want a chance to build lives for themselves and for their children. No one wants to live in slavery, or in a war without end. Those who struggle to survive under the jackboot of totalitarianism yearn for freedom. This is Sadaam's greatest fear, and our greatest weapon.

ESPN.com's Ray Ratto has the goods on last night's ugly incident in Chicago.

This raises a question: why is it that so many of the perps on "Cops"--as well as the "father and son" in last night's episode--wind up shirtless? Warning--if you click the "Cops" link, you'll see someone a little more disrobed than the Chicago duo.

The end of General Magic comes at last.

They beat out Go Corp. for AT&T's favor, but never realized their potential. Kinda like Momenta failed to do.

The Command Compass was nice, but not $4,995 worth!

Hey, the White House has a blog ! It sure beats Democrats.com.

Actress Tawny Kitaen agreed Wednesday to a plea bargain on spousal abuse and battery charges alleging she attacked her husband, St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Chuck Finley, according to ESPN.

I don't usually go in for gossip, but I really liked her in that Whitesnake video and in "Bachelor Party" with the world's greatest actor, Tom Hanks.

According to MSNBC, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan says that he has received a letter from Iraq's Foreign Minister which says that Iraq accepts the unconditional return of weapons inspectors.

I doubt that there truly are no conditions on the return of weapons inspectors to Iraq. In any case, many questions remain unanswered, including these:

1) Will troops accompany the inspectors in case Iraq denies entry to the sites that the inspectors wish to visit?
2) The composition of the inspector groups is different than in the early 90s. Back then, the inspectors were composed of delegates from the US and coalition forces. Now, they are expected to be UN employees, subject to its silly politics and policies. Back then, the inspectors had access to confidential intelligence information to tip them off to activity around the sites in question. Now, the allies probably will not share sensitive information for fear that it will educate the Iraqis about the methods used to gather the data. Given these and other issues with the quality of the inspectors and the inspections, will the results be satisfactory to the US and its allies? I doubt they will, and rightly so.
3) What about the other resolutions that Iraq continues to violate?

Saddam is proving adept at negotiation through the media. I doubt that he can deflect the President from his course to see that Iraq disarms, stops supporting terror, and adheres to the UN resolutions in force. The pressure on Iraq to prove itself through deeds, not words, will continue.

Well Dilfer wasn't bad, his injured knee seemed sound, but the Seahawk defense, especially against the run, was anything but. Add to that, the Hawk special teams play was poor.

The new stadium is glorious. I'd forgotten what a treat the "real" half-time show at a football game could be. The Washington State Cougar and Washington Husky bands joined for the first time ever to perform patriotic songs along with a singing group from McCord Air Force Base. They also unfurled one of the largest flags I've ever seen in person.

As for fan support, they did their best; the metal bleachers resounded as the fans stomped and yelled when Arizona had the ball near the end zones. They cheered and booed lustily as the situation dictated; everyone wanted to see the Hawks win. Alas.

Still, a record of 0-2 does not a season make (yet). The Steelers and the Rams were picked to return to the Super Bowl, and both are also 0-2.

We will see what Coach Holmgren asks General Manager Holmgren to do. Without a big bodied run stopper in the middle, we may have to make a trade if the Hawks cannot stop teams from running on them. We won't give up yet!

We had a nice family barbeque last night over at Kathy's daughter's house. Lots of laughs, no talk of terrorism--as long as you leave out their Rottweiler, who is only a minor terror. Actually, she (Thora, the Rottweiler) is a good dog with some funny traits. Human howls encourage her to join in. She loves tug of war, petting, food treats, disobeying orders to stay "out of the kitchen", and eating cat food.

Our three Labrador dogs--I have dubbed them "Logs"--are much the same, minus the cat food habit, as we have no cat. The Logs love to sleep, eat, rassle, and play with their toys. The Black Log, Abby, loves the "Wooly Chew "Bone" (SI03PB)" I bought for them from Orvis.com. Abby, who gets no respect from the two other Logs, has claimed it for her own. She looks so funny carrying it around--a big body crowned with a smallish head clutching a big wooly toy tenderly in her jaws

Fun stuff to see.

Today we go to our first real football game at the new SeaHawk Stadium. Hope springs eternal once again as Trent Dilfer returns as the starting Quarterback, with knee brace. The Hawks were at their best in the preseason with Dilfer at the controls. Hopefully that wasn't a fluke, and that Dilfer's knee injury is truly ready to test game conditions.

The President has made his case to the UN. It was a direct, forceful statement. The President took Iraq to task for its failure to comply with every UN resolution that was passed by the Security Council following its defeat in the Gulf War. His speech detailed the suffering of the Iraqi people, its support for terror, and the waste of Iraq's treasure and productivity on weaponry and on enrichment for Saddam. The President detailed the US' long standing support for the UN. However, he cautioned the body that inaction on Iraq was not an option.

Prior to the President's speech, President Chirac of France proposed a time limit for compliance with UN inspection resolutions. His proposal outlined a three week period during which Iraq must begin to admit inspectors. I agree; Iraq should comply in short order, without further delay. However, the original resolutions--and their full terms--in all of the aforementioned UN Security Council resolutions must be complied with in that time. Failure to do so will only give the Butcher of Baghdad more time to pursue and acquire weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons. As the President said, once Saddam has such weapons, the world's options to deal with him will be limited indeed.

Today was a very tough day for most Americans. Like that fateful day a year ago, I sat riveted to the TV. I watched the ceremony at the Pentagon, the reading of names at Ground Zero, and the wreath ceremony at Shankesville. I tried to avoid the voices of the commentators; most of what can be said has been said. The best coverage was simply the images. Thankfully, CNBC World showed President and Mrs. Bush's interaction with the families at Shankesville without any announcers at all. The only sounds that were heard were the sounds of the wind, and faint, unintelligible speech. I shed tears more than once today. I said a prayer for those who lost a loved one that day and for those whose loss occurred in service to our country since then.

I hope that today has brought some solace and peace to those in pain of loss. For the rest of us, buck up. We have a call to action to heed. Let us listen carefully to the President's words tomorrow. I trust that they will shake the foundations of the butcher of Babylon to the core.

Then, let's roll.

Susan Sontag and Paul Krugman have forgotten much of what the President has said about the war on terror. The terrorists are not a group of thugs who act independently of any nation, like some set of characters from a Bond movie. They live somewhere; they receive economic support and aid from a government, or from a group of people within a nation, or both. While the war on terror may force us to live with ambiguity, it will have its D-Day and Vx-Day equivalents. It may not fit into the neat categories that the New York Times editorial board would like it to have--but it is no Vietnam.

If Saddam obtains nuclear weapons, he can place terrorists and his fellow "Axis" members under his protection. All of the Middle East, and Turkey, would be under constant threat, as we were during the First Cold War. This situation cannot be tolerated. We must deny terrorists their hidey-holes, and madmen their nightmare weapons, while we still can.

Many will link to Dave Barry's tribute to the passenger's on United Flight 93. I was very moved by it.

It will take some time, but I recommend reading this. Francis Fukuyama is the author of the famous article entitled "The End of History?". I don't agree with everything he says, but I agree with quite a bit, and respect his point of view on the rest.

I also enjoyed this. Remembrances and mourning have their place, and are important. However, let us get on with the job that we have been forced to undertake.

Many, many things have been written about the impact of 9/11 on America, and the world since that tragic day. Now a debate rages about Iraq: is it a sponsor of terrorists, or not? Should we give Saddam a chance through negotiation for more inspections, or assume that he would make a mockery of the process? Should we attack now in order to force a “regime change”, or wait?

Wait for what? For Saddam to strike? Or for Saddam to present incontrovertible evidence that he has nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them, if not to the US or Europe, then to Israel or other friends in the region?

It occurs to me that we were given a brief respite between the original Cold War and a new, more malicious version. The New Cold War pits America against a type of enemy who we call “evil doers” and terrorists. However, these enemies are not in one country, not sponsored by one state. They cannot be defeated on a battlefield; they do not seek that kind of war as a rule.

There are many parallels between this Cold War and the last:
• The enemy includes a number of states and a number of terrorist groups funded by them.
• Destruction of a group, or toppling a regime, will not end the threat. The threat will take years to contain, years longer to defeat.
• We will achieve victories in visible, and invisible, battles.
• Ideas, ideals, and economics are among the chief weapons to be used in this battle.
• Our convictions will be tested from within as well as by our enemy directly. There are many free people who fear war, who fear the loss of young lives, who fear—fear.

Are we more secure a year after 9/11? In some ways we are. Passengers have already shown both the willingness and the ability to protect themselves on aircraft. Citizens are volunteering for duty in police, fire, and military service in increasing numbers. We honor those willing to make the sacrifice in defense of our liberty more now than on 9/10.

However, the Homeland Security Department is a politicized mess, bogged down over turf and Civil Service rules. The Transportation Security Agency is at best a work in progress.

We have no choice but to slog through these messes. Our borders must be better protected than before. We have a right to know who is in this country, whether that requires a form of “profiling” or not. Public gathering places, mass transit, seats of government, and critical infrastructure must be protected. Sadly, we cannot count on the oceans to protect us from attack. We cannot hope for the best, and fail to prepare for the worst.

We have been called to act in our own defense. This is not like a failure to prepare for a natural disaster—something that may or may not happen. Something that can be compensated for by a neighbor’s generosity, or parcels from a relief agency. Now lives, and the future of our way of life, are at stake. To fail to act would be to fail ourselves and our children, and to embolden an implacable enemy who seeks signs of our weakness, and draws strength from them.

There is plenty of evidence that Saddam is a psychopath in the mold of Hitler and Stalin. Let us not give him the opportunity to prove that he is a killer on the same scale.