tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-307597262011-11-27T20:06:42.071-05:00<b><big>Welcome to the official website of columnist and combat journalist Jeff Emanuel.</big></b><br><br>Click the tabs for biographical information, column archives, a regularly-updated blog, embedded reports from Iraq, and information on current projects.<br>J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.comBlogger3711100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-81027687995970303602009-03-29T13:06:00.002-04:002008-09-10T09:17:13.106-04:00

The official website of Jeff Emanuel has moved to www.JeffEmanuel.net. You will now be redirected.Thank you.

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-92148930964789928902008-03-10T18:15:00.009-04:002008-03-10T18:25:01.598-04:00

Nothing like that "Culture of Corruption" Bit Coming Back to Bite You, Is There?

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-50551833007866522822008-03-10T13:36:00.000-04:002008-03-10T13:37:50.466-04:00

March 10, 2008Anybody else remember this outstanding debate moment from 2006 in New Mexico? Heather Wilson -- the Republican, on the left, who is now running for Pete Domenici's open Senate seat -- only won this election by 800 votes.That's a whole lot of New Mexicans in the state's 1st CD who voted for Stupid.

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-19583523123602976752008-03-06T21:06:00.001-05:002008-03-07T09:06:46.492-05:00

March 6, 2008 Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), the primary sponsor of bipartisan Senate Bill 334 (the “Healthy Americans Act”), has spent the last few days on the stumping for his plan to “fix” America’s health care system. Burdened with the mouthful of a title "A bill to provide affordable, guaranteed private health coverage that will make Americans healthier and can never be taken away,” S. 334

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-66222924900583326552008-03-04T20:40:00.002-05:002008-03-04T20:43:43.032-05:00

March 4, 2008 At the end of last week, the House passed an energy bill that stripped $18 billion in tax credits for research and exploration from five “major integrated oil companies” (Exxon, Chevron, BP, Shell and ConocoPhillips). Believe it or not, that’s the good news. Given that, I’ll bet you’re wondering what the bad news must be. Well, it’s simply this: Citgo, which receives all of its oil

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-30799208776520319562008-03-01T23:03:00.001-05:002008-03-01T23:05:16.873-05:00

3/2/2008 "The Texas Democratic Party is warning that its primary night caucuses could be delayed or disrupted after aides to White House hopeful Hillary Clinton raised the specter of an "imminent" lawsuit over its complicated delegate selection process," reports the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The paper managed to obtain a letter sent late Thursday to the Clinton and Obama campaigns by Chad Dunn,

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-86427460651466877272008-03-01T23:01:00.000-05:002008-03-01T23:03:09.655-05:00

3/1/2008According to The Birmingham News:In the segment aired Sunday [on 60 Minutes], north Alabama lawyer Jill Simpson said Republican strategist Karl Rove in 2001 asked her take a compromising photo of [former Democrat Gov. Don] Siegelman with one of his aides.Rove has denied knowing Simpson at all. Siegelman was, of course, convicted of conspiracy and bribery in 2006. During his trial:

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-74469538173244059992008-02-25T22:05:00.001-05:002008-02-25T22:07:37.034-05:00

2/25/2008I just want to piggyback a bit on the excellent post by Neil Stevens at RedState on erstwhile wannabe mullah Muqtada al Sadr's most recent declaration that his "Mahdi Army" will continue its "truce" for another six months with these quick notes: Sadr keeps extending this "truce" because he has no army, has no more devotees, and has no control whatsoever. He makes these declarations not

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-14825709089823584702008-02-25T09:18:00.003-05:002008-02-25T10:30:47.589-05:00

2/25/2008A friend just returned from a week's vacation with no television or internet (how nice!) and asked what he missed in terms of important topics of discussion -- so, I encapsulated the week below (you can tell my priorities by what topics I found newsworthy out of the plethora presented by the media last week).(1) The NYT hacked off the world, including Ds and Is who read them, with their

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-68627746905703249772008-02-19T00:38:00.002-05:002008-02-19T01:11:53.161-05:00

2/19/2008"For the First Time in My Adult Lifetime, I Am Really Proud of My Country," said Michelle Obama, rich lawyer and wife of Barack Hussein (same last name), yesterday.Excuse me? A female, African-American, Princeton-and-Harvard-educated attorney, who has achieved a great deal in her life, who lived through the Civil Rights revolution (and was the daughter of a Chicago city worker who really

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-293116068754871442008-02-18T00:20:00.000-05:002008-02-18T00:22:06.770-05:00

2/18/2008From the Catoosa County News comes this very apt description of the difference between the two sides of the political aisle on health care reform (and on problem-solving as a whole):Among the major proposals in front of lawmakers right now [to reform Georgia's health care system and help those in need of coverage to be better able to attain it] is a move by Gov. Sonny Perdue to embrace

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-304758631281559892008-02-17T22:20:00.001-05:002008-02-18T00:23:23.364-05:00

2/18/2008Reps. Chris "Has Rafael Palmieri gotten his 300th hit yet?" Shays (Rumored to be "R"-CT) and Jim "I'm such a nobody that not even I've heard of me before" Langevin (D-RI) announced their new plan to solve America's health care problems last week. They're billing their new legislation, called the "American Health Benefits Program," as "the first bipartisan universal health care plan to

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-55920792843394273242008-02-15T12:55:00.008-05:002008-02-15T16:08:47.338-05:00

2/15/2008Via wcbstv.com. I don't really have anything to add, except that this guy claims to be Republican and wants to be President. Oh, and he also said the U.S. "has a balance sheet that's starting to look more and more like a third world country." But, you know, we should vote for him when he almost inevitably decides to make his third-party Presidential run.Stay classy, Mike Bloomberg.

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-9172036362766474972008-02-15T12:55:00.005-05:002008-02-15T13:21:18.003-05:00

2/15/2008Well, the teaser trailer for the May 22-released fourth Indiana Jones film is out. View it for yourself below.Thoughts? My first reaction was: he looks -- and especially sounds -- really, really old. My overall first thought was, "Meh." I know, that's not exactly a ringing endorsement.As an archaeophile of sorts -- my area of academic emphasis was, after all, in Classical Archaeology --

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-72210214315235665492008-02-15T12:12:00.005-05:002008-02-15T20:48:32.387-05:00

February 15, 2008Update: The plot thickens, as the indispensible Grace-Marie Turner reminds us:Hillary Clinton criticized an individual mandate in 1994, saying, "The individual mandate...makes it very difficult to determine and monitor who is in the system and who is out. It would require tracking individuals as they move in and out of jobs, as they move in and out of the insurance market. It

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-24038308904759968212008-02-14T22:43:00.003-05:002008-02-14T22:52:39.242-05:00

February 15, 2008An association of restaurant operators in San Francisco has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overrule a decision by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowing the city’s health insurance employer mandate law to go into effect. It will be best for all of San Francisco if the Court sides with the association on this one.The association is seeking reinstatement of a federal

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-41035172547990636942008-02-14T12:27:00.006-05:002008-02-14T22:43:26.794-05:00

February 14, 2008Update: Just moments ago Just before 2 this afternoon, Republican Representatives walked off of the House floor in response to the Democrats' refusal to pass (or even debate) the bipartisan, Senate-passed FISA legislation. "Meanwhile," according to a source close to the House GOP, "the Democrats are debating the merits of former White House staff."Video:* * *From the venerable

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-47055546878167527882008-02-13T12:20:00.001-05:002008-02-13T12:22:30.333-05:00

February 13, 2008Britain's Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, according to its summary, is: An Act to make provision for and about the interception of communications, the acquisition and disclosure of data relating to communications, the carrying out of surveillance, the use of covert human intelligence sources and the acquisition of the means by which electronic data protected by encryption

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-11104939932766814632008-02-13T12:12:00.001-05:002008-02-13T12:13:30.558-05:00

February 13, 2008Republican Dino Rossi lost the Washington state governor's race to Democrat Christine Gregoire in 2004 by 129 votes -- a difference found on the third counting, after Rossi led through the initial vote count and through the first recount. Following that shady, by-hand third recount, Rossi declined to act like a Democrat and didn't appeal the result the state Supreme Court,

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-90290636209749278562008-02-11T01:31:00.000-05:002008-02-11T08:27:47.442-05:00

February 11, 2008In his budget for Fiscal Year 2009, though at $3.1 trillion still far too large, President Bush made several steps in the right (government-limiting) direction. Overall, is this effort “too little, too late” for the nearly-lame-duck President?Perhaps. There is still reason to be encouraged, though.Of particular significance in the health care field was his recommendation that

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-87051148142805245212008-02-10T21:04:00.000-05:002008-02-10T21:31:03.724-05:00

February 10, 2008Update: For another entrant into the below-mentioned department of legislation, check out this oldie but goodie from 2006: a Democrat State Senator from Ohio filing legislation that would make it illegal for registered Republicans to adopt in that state.From the department of "ridiculous legislation ostensibly submitted for the purpose of getting folks' attention" comes this gem

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-44005677979335057722008-02-09T00:19:00.000-05:002008-02-09T09:59:25.026-05:00

2/8/2008My good friend J.D. Johannes (an embedded documentarian) will be screening the Anbar portion of his new documentary trilogy at CPAC tomorrow morning. J.D. was on the ground at the fron in Anbar from the beginning of the now-famous Awakening, and this documentary is well worth seeing.Following the screening, there will be an embedded reporter Iraq panel discussion featuring J.D., Bill

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-86782192425436033152008-02-07T17:14:00.000-05:002008-02-07T17:21:12.701-05:00

2/7/2008ABC News's Jake Tapper has a great piece up about how the Obama for President campaign resembles nothing so much as an evangelical movement surrounding the elevation of a man to Godhood.

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-16658102516366605072008-02-07T12:38:00.001-05:002008-02-07T17:23:27.030-05:00

February 7, 2008In light of the Super Tuesday results, I welcome Mitt's apparent decision to "suspend" his campaign, beginning today (provided that "suspend" means "end").One of my biggest worries as this primary season has worn on was not that a candidate with the resources, ambition, and nebulous core of Mitt Romney would win the nomination, but that he would lose it and still refuse to get out

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-50826982165765773822008-02-06T20:00:00.000-05:002008-02-07T03:07:39.183-05:00

February 7, 2008At the beginning of this legislative session, State Senator Karen Keiser (D-Kent) introduced legislation that would radically increase government control of health care in the state of Washington. The legislation was based almost entirely on a plan that had been considered – and rejected – a year before by a state halfway across the country. Thanks to the efforts of pro-market

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-86292393022526720322008-02-06T19:50:00.000-05:002008-02-06T20:33:12.415-05:00

2/6/2008That's right -- the Obama Girl, of YouTube, Hardball, etc. fame, couldn't be bothered to actually go vote for her man in the primary Tuesday.She made it to the NYC party just fine, though.

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-43969731017118201152008-02-06T18:35:00.000-05:002008-02-05T17:21:58.426-05:00

January 21, 2008California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R? Yes, but apologetically) sat down with the L.A. Times yesterday and apologized -- deeply and from the bottom of his heart -- for being a Republican, citing "political inexperience" as his excuse for having espoused semiconservative ideals and principles during his first campaign and in the early years of his Governorship. The man who

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-36058150319800753072008-02-01T11:45:00.000-05:002008-02-01T11:47:48.192-05:00

2/1/2008Update: "They're all just hoes looking for a job" -- that's Colmes's summary (at 5:15) of Coulter's assertion (at 5:05) that not one of McCain's endorsement's means a single thing except that the politicians who have backed him see him as the frontrunner and want a job. "NOTHING means less than an endorsement," says Coulter.From the department of "I'll say anything for a bit more

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-64896891061573256692008-01-30T13:03:00.000-05:002008-01-30T13:04:40.465-05:00

1/30/2008Remember the oil shortage in the 1970s, and the nationwide 55 mile per hour speed limit that resulted from it? Well, some environmentalists are agitating for a return to the old drive-55-arrive-alive days, and are pushing for a nationwide slowdown on the grounds that it will "reduce emissions by 15%."According to Northwest Public Radio:An old idea for saving gas is resurfacing as a

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-53052878110103348082008-01-30T13:02:00.000-05:002008-01-30T16:57:47.888-05:00

1/30/2008File this one under "religion":That's a whole lotta bronze . Think she's happy with it?

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-82713890506689209612008-01-30T13:01:00.000-05:002008-01-30T13:03:07.616-05:00

1/30/2008A 27 year old Philadelphia man was convicted yesterday of beating his 17 month old daughter to death while his pregnant wife slept in the next room. The reason? She broke his X-Box.[Tyrone Spellman] spent six to seven hours a day...playing Xbox," Assistant District Attorney James Berardinelli said. ..."When [his daughter Aaliyah] pulled down his Xbox console...[he] pummeled [her],

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-74346756938694845212008-01-29T00:22:00.000-05:002008-01-29T00:25:13.834-05:00

January 28, 2008Barack Obama (via his campaign flunkies) sent out the following email (with the subject line "My response to Bush") after tonight's SOTU:Tonight, Governor Kathleen Sebelius spoke eloquently to the nation on behalf of our party.But I wanted to share my personal response to George Bush's final State of the Union with you.Watch my response here: [Note: Yes, there's a video; no, I

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-92025711483742746862008-01-28T20:21:00.000-05:002008-01-28T20:24:28.355-05:00

1/28/2008According to a study by the National Center for Policy Analysis, school choice could help keep Latinos from dropping out of school, which they currently do at the highest rate of any race in America.The NEA, though, persists in fighting school choice, and continues to drive this minority group out of school. How sad.

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-75150812064168642162008-01-19T22:34:00.000-05:002008-01-20T00:09:39.966-05:00

January 19, 2008So long, Fred; we hardly even knew ye. Well, that's not entirely accurate -- we knew you far better than we've known many a politician who's thrown his hat in the Presidential ring in years past (or even this year; see "Hunter, Duncan" or "Gravel, Mike" for examples). We knew you well enough that, when it seemed that the Republican field needed a White Knight to ride in on a shiny

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-80035696794296983322008-01-19T00:01:00.000-05:002008-01-21T19:37:15.103-05:00

January 21, 2008The New York Times has a long-overdue article up today profiling my good friend Michael Yon, one of the two longest-serving independent journalists in Iraq. Yon first traveled to Iraq shortly after the Blackwater contractors were killed and defiled in Fallujah, and has been in and out of the country (more in than out) for the better part of the last three years. Only J.D. Johannes

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-88610820314438476192008-01-18T09:44:00.000-05:002008-01-18T23:17:45.967-05:00

January 18, 2008The ACLU sues to prevent a change from a voting method they sued to force a change from.Yesterday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio (yes, the same one that sued the state over its "Choose Life" license plates, citing "viewpoint discrimination" against pro-choicers) filed a lawsuit to prevent Cuyahoga County (the state's largest county, and home to Cleveland and its

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-11394131469844215462008-01-17T14:51:00.000-05:002008-01-17T14:53:25.602-05:00

January 17, 2008On the heels of a meeting between Democrat and Republican leaders about a forthcoming economic stimulus package, Capitol Hill's major newspapers featured -- on their covers -- photographs of jubilant Democrats accompanied by fawning, subservient Republicans (see images at right for examples).Though no caving in was done yesterday, the GOP's Congressional leadership still appears

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-74696217124502040112008-01-17T12:46:00.000-05:002008-01-17T13:00:59.470-05:00

Or, "The Federal reserve and the Department of the Treasury are *different*? Well, it doesn't matter -- I'm sure you're evil too!!"1/17/2008Democrat Budget Committee Member Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) apparently thinks she's grilling a different person about economics and policy here (the Secretary of the Treasury) than the person she's actually talking to (the Federal Reserve Chairman).As you see, she's

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-43925269903309414162008-01-17T10:44:00.001-05:002008-01-17T10:47:57.309-05:00

1/17/2008...is no Ronald Reagan."I love it. ...and the netroots begin to pounce, with OpenLeft taking the first shot.

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-59515016810719410142008-01-14T16:48:00.000-05:002008-01-14T16:52:13.833-05:00

1/14/2008Credit where credit is due: the New York Times came up with that article title, and I just had to "appropriate" it for use here.Anyway, Abscam Jack Murtha made another seriously good haul for his district in 2007, bringing home $162 million in pork and favors, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan budget watchdog group. Such huge district favors are nothing new for the

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-28037426569239584242008-01-09T18:56:00.000-05:002008-01-09T18:58:05.148-05:00

1/9/2008We should all applaud Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s stark honesty about the disastrous condition of California’s finances in his State of the State address Tuesday. The budget deficit currently being run by the state is $14 billion and, with the recent revelation that another $118 billion will have to be found over the next 30 years to cover guaranteed health benefits for retirees, this

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-75221143794999278362008-01-09T09:48:00.000-05:002008-01-09T09:51:47.059-05:00

1/9/2008I joined Townhall.com and Glamour magazine political writer, and my good friend, Amanda Carpenter, and RedState's Ben Domenech last night as the New Hampshire results were rolling in to discuss that primary and its impact on the future of the race. Discussed within:Republican results and Democrat resultsPatrick Ruffini on the Hillary comeback">Theories to explain polling vs. results">

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-87912724779692168382008-01-09T09:43:00.000-05:002008-01-09T09:46:11.318-05:00

1/9/2008Michigan's horrible economic situation should mean one thing for the Republican presidential race: if ever there was one, this is Mitt Romney's time to shine. The Michigan GOP primary will almost be a referendum on the Democrat government and the abysmally failed economic policies of Gov. Granholm. With no Democrat race there, independents can turn out en masse and show what they think

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-59901496873736208632008-01-08T16:57:00.000-05:002008-01-08T17:00:14.432-05:00

January 8, 2008I really don't have the time or the patience to expand on this more than you see here at the present moment. If there's enough commentary -- especially of the naively simplistic kind -- I may say more about it, but there's really no need.FACT 1: Osama bin Laden does not matter one whit to the security of the United States or of our allies. The movement he champions does, of course

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-80735474621949845922008-01-08T00:09:00.001-05:002008-01-08T00:11:06.895-05:00

January 7, 2008The day after Christmas, US District Judge Jeffrey White ruled that San Francisco’s attempt to expand its public health care initiative violated a federal law regarding government regulation of employee benefit plans. Judge White’s ruling halted the implementation of a mandate, scheduled to go into effect on New Year’s Day, that would have required employers to offer their

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-38472632276812220612008-01-06T18:23:00.000-05:002008-01-06T18:34:25.351-05:00

January 6, 2008In late 2007, after a single perfunctory committee meeting, the Michigan House of Representatives passed a series of four bills which, if approved by the Senate and signed into law by Gov. Jennifer Granholm, will have a very negative effect on the health insurance market in the state.House Bills (HBs) 5282 through 5285 regulate in insurance market in several ways, including by

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-86501486527528224482008-01-06T18:22:00.000-05:002008-01-08T00:24:30.358-05:00

January 6, 2008A US District Judge has ruled that a controversial city health care plan expansion violates a federal law regarding government regulation of employee benefit plans. Judge Jeffrey White’s ruling halted the city of San Francisco’s attempt to expand its public health care program by preventing a mandate from going into effect that would have required employers to offer their employees

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-53899746339954054572008-01-03T23:07:00.000-05:002008-01-03T23:17:07.202-05:00

1/3/2008I'll be filling in for host Tim Bryant on Friday morning's Newsmakers program on Athens, GA's NewsTalk 1340 WGAU. Topics will run the gamut from Iowa Caucus results to foreign policy to universal health care.Guests will include:Chairman Jane Kidd of the Democratic Party of GeorgiaMacon City Councilman Erick Erickson, managing editor of RedState.com and PeachPunditJohnathan McGinty of

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-26980657806706303102008-01-02T14:34:00.000-05:002008-01-02T14:56:21.042-05:00

1/2/2008Yes, it's a McCain-for-President ad, but the Mitt Romney quote in the below video stands on its own, both as a statement of future policy and as a powerful indictment against Mitt Romney's fitness to hold the office of President of the United States:If we need foreign policy experience, then we can go to...the State Department??Yes, I understand that foreign policy, diplomacy, and

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-57263051457436429302008-01-01T23:06:00.000-05:002007-12-24T02:25:38.238-05:00

Reports from Jeff's 2007 missions "Inside the Surge" in Iraq can be found here.

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-44043701690812036372007-12-26T16:09:00.000-05:002007-12-26T16:12:56.322-05:00

12/26/2007With all due respect to Larry Kudlow, who today wrote in the Washington Times that 2007 had been "a good year for President Bush," I believe that the results were, in fact, far more mixed than that.2007 brought wins and there were losses to the President, as a full year will bring to anybody. However, the year included some enormous blunders on the part of the 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-74745374296637936532007-12-26T16:06:00.000-05:002007-12-26T18:08:34.018-05:00

12/26/2007...as it seriously defies comprehension.

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-42287784961734983022007-12-26T00:13:00.000-05:002007-12-26T00:14:18.265-05:00

12/25/2007Listen to this amazing claim about Delaware SB 177, known as the "Single-Payer Health Security Act":This Act will provide every Delaware citizen comprehensive health care coverage from conception until ones last breath is taken without a cent from out-of-pocket expense for extra health insurance, co-payments or deductibles.Wow. That is quite a claim to be making, indeed. The quote above

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-34080904590840794212007-12-25T23:28:00.000-05:002007-12-25T23:29:18.620-05:00

12/25/2007Need to nominate a candidate designed to appeal to moderates, that is.If there are two lessons that we as a party and as a movement should have learned from 2006, they are the following:(1) Republicans do not succeed when they abandon First Principles. Losing the high ground on spending, ethics, and leadership cost the party dearly in last year's election -- yet we seem to have largely

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-76756486264121102872007-12-25T21:39:00.000-05:002007-12-25T21:42:11.676-05:00

12/25/2007No, not personally. However, under the state insurance mandate that he signed into law in 2006 -- which legally requires every single Mass resident to carry health insurance -- those who are not carrying current health insurance by Jan 1, 2008 will begin having to pay monthly fines to the government."Those penalties may be up to half of the monthly premiums for the least expensive

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-15415552426014675222007-12-25T01:17:00.000-05:002007-12-25T01:18:54.316-05:00

12/25/2007According to the Wall Street Journal, Democrat presidential candidate Bill Richardson is, on the campaign trail, touting the benefits of "holistic and spiritual medicine" and their inclusion in his health care plan. From the WSJ blog:Responding to a question Saturday at a living-room gathering in snowy Des Moines, the first-tier-wannabe candidate touted his state’s expertise with

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-26370255352380575832007-12-24T00:10:00.000-05:002007-12-24T11:40:58.066-05:00

12/24/2007Yesterday, the Montgomery (Alabama) Advertiser newspaper ran an editorial in which the writers referred to President Bush’s December veto of a massive expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) as putting him on par with "Scrooge" and "the Grinch." Unfortunately, the authors badly missed the mark on several counts.In disapproving Congress’s early December SCHIP

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-34492081929826142202007-12-23T13:41:00.000-05:002007-12-23T13:47:12.755-05:00

12/23/2007From Mark Kilmer's Sunday Morning Talk Show Review at RedState:Ron Paul said that he has never voted for an earmark. Russert said that while this may be true, he's inserted them into bills. Ron Paul declared that the earmarks are a means of getting his constituents their money back from the federal government. Can somebody hand me some binoculars? The goal poast seems to have relocated

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-6412414779047403922007-12-21T19:07:00.000-05:002007-12-22T17:43:50.017-05:00

12/21/2007According to a just-released Field Poll, the proposed $14B California government health insurance expansion, which would be built on the backs of smokers ($1.50 to $2.00 a pack increase), business owners in the state (1% to 6% payroll tax increase), and hospitals ($2.3B in additional state taxes) is overwhelmingly supported by California voters -- including Republicans.According to the

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-60094514720666672012007-12-20T18:30:00.000-05:002007-12-20T18:50:34.665-05:00

The paratroopers of C Co 2-505 PIR (82nd Airborne) celebrate the 4th of July at Patrol Base Olson in Samarra, Iraq -- halfway around the world from their home country.This video was taken by a regular digital camera, so the sound of the guitar bleeds in and out as the "fireworks" go off. Specialist Alexi Scalco, RTO for C Co commander CPT Buddy Ferris, is on the guitar, and his fellow

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-73335199846331316242007-12-20T18:00:00.000-05:002008-01-18T20:55:55.778-05:00

December 26, 2007Faced with the looming expiration of another short-term extension of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), Congress this week officially threw in the towel on its yearlong attempt to expand the program, instead voting overwhelmingly to extend it in current form until March 31, 2009. The proposed $35 billion expansion of the SCHIP was crafted and pushed extremely

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-40616387922333368552007-12-19T01:09:00.000-05:002007-12-20T17:20:19.977-05:00

December 19, 2007Last Friday, after nearly a year of tense negotiations, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D) jointly announced that they had reached a compromise on a plan to add 3.6 million of California’s 5 million uninsured citizens to the rolls of the insured by 2010. Called “an incredible plan” by Speaker Nunez, the proposal – which, if passed

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-52796294058833336832007-12-15T01:14:00.000-05:002008-01-17T17:36:46.926-05:00

Jeff EmanuelDecember 17, 2007During the year that General Petraeus and his counterinsurgency force have been on the ground in Iraq, the Concerned Local Citizens program, until recently a tiny, localized “neighborhood watch” equivalent, has grown into a nationwide phenomenon.Called “basically a thumb in the eye at a Maliki government that won’t get its [act] together” by one American officer, the

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-73249249668803442702007-12-14T23:50:00.000-05:002007-12-15T11:15:30.225-05:00

12/14/2007If you can read this and not feel majorly concerned about this man controlling America's wartime foreign policy, then (a) you're probably in the wrong party to be supporting him anyway, or (b) chances are you're as clueless on these matters as Huck is (and therefore similarly unfit to be President).This isn't a personal attack -- it's an observation just how scarily ignorant Mike

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-77054792520121214182007-12-14T23:32:00.000-05:002007-12-15T04:43:00.781-05:00

12/14/2007The Politico has a somewhat troubling report on Huckabee's apparent penchant for rewarding donors and gift-givers with appointed positions in his government:Mike Huckabee accepted more than 90 gifts from 21 Arkansans he appointed to state posts during his decade as governor, a Politico analysis of state public records found.Since setting his sights on the White House, those supporters,

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-72792647226103532042007-12-14T11:34:00.000-05:002007-12-15T04:37:59.200-05:00

12/14/2007For example, don't pitch a national 30% sales tax to voters in a state that has no sales (or income) tax.

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-42464430398890175402007-12-13T20:30:00.000-05:002007-12-14T00:17:20.998-05:00

12/13/2007The Concerned Local Citizens phenomenon in Iraq has continued to grow throughout the year that General Petraeus and his counterinsurgency force have been on the ground in Iraq. At the Long War Journal, the indispensable Bill Roggio has posted a map showing the location and development of these citizens' groups which have mobilized themselves to fight against militias and terrorists for

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-57362573875388097342007-12-13T17:17:00.000-05:002007-12-26T23:37:07.159-05:00

December 13, 2007The increasing use of Computed Tomography (or “CT”) scans in today’s hospitals has prompted health professionals to take a closer look at the potential effects of the radiation from those scans, and to consider how patient radiation exposure during the procedure can be minimized.Earlier this month, a group called RCG Health Care Consulting, led by Dr. Giles Boland, Vice Chairman

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-71257170048951152172007-12-13T17:01:00.000-05:002007-12-13T17:05:19.595-05:00

December 13, 2007On December 12, President George W. Bush vetoed Congress's second attempt at to passing the controversial 2007 version of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP), a program which would dramatically expand government-provided health insurance for children.The slightly modified second version of the bill would have made nearly four million additional people eligible

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-66289891814645928802007-12-13T00:29:00.000-05:002007-12-13T01:09:57.790-05:00

12/13/2007[Update: The Democrats in question are: "No" votes: Ackerman, Clarke, DeGette, Hastings (FL), Lee, McDermott, Scott (VA), Stark and Woolsey."Present" votes: Conyers, Frank (MA), Holt, Payne, Schakowsky, Schwartz, Wasserman Schultz, Welch (VT) and YarmuthLee voted no on Christmas and missed the Ramadan vote.]What would you say if I told you that eighteen Democrat Representatives --

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-12182100960416221992007-12-12T23:51:00.000-05:002007-12-12T23:52:57.356-05:00

December 12, 2007We all remember the rhetoric surrounding President Bush's first veto of the Democrats' bloated S-CHIP bill this fall."[H]ow many children will be dead" if this measure doesn't pass? asked Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett on the floor of the House. "President Bush used his cruel veto pen to say 'I forbid 10 million children from getting the health benefits they deserve'," said America's

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-23045542139567382912007-12-12T13:49:00.000-05:002007-12-12T13:53:07.436-05:00

December 12, 2007As an aside before beginning, I have to say this: I really don't see how this issue speaks to a single moderate or conservative -- nor, in fact, to anybody who doesn't already hold the fringe-left view that all (American) war (carried out under a Republican president) is evil, and that (volunteer) soldiers are helpless and hapless victims (of being asked to actually do their jobs

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-13580603961096374642007-12-12T13:35:00.000-05:002007-12-12T17:37:05.445-05:00

12/12/2007This is all that I saw of today's debate (and that moderator almost put me to sleep with her 15 words shown in this clip), but I just wanted to post the vid and give props where due: to Fred Thompson, for putting his ridiculous size 44 foot down and refusing to play the "now do tricks, monkey!" hand-raising game that the moderator was commanding these candidates to play.Well done, Fred.

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-49023379865643437492007-12-10T21:53:00.000-05:002007-12-10T21:57:04.371-05:00

12/10/2007Ben and Alexham make good points over at RedState. I will completely agree that, just from a cursory look at their web page, the Arkansas Leader does appear not only to be a "shoddy little publication," but also to feature as their primary (if not exclusive) form of content hit pieces against Huck.Pardons are indeed the real, legitimate concern, not necessarily paroles; my apologies for

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-78092861489917241032007-12-10T15:29:00.000-05:002007-12-10T15:34:34.144-05:00

12/10/2007My RedState colleague Alexham, an avowed Huckabee supporter (who ditched Fred and jumped on the Huckster's bandwagon -- coincidentally, I'm sure -- at the exact same time that his evangelical idol Joe Carter -- you know, the one who can't argue, debate, or abide any dissent, and whose forays into the comments at RedState have often resulted in his flinging insults and criticism about,

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-72606501172927694562007-12-10T15:20:00.000-05:002007-12-10T15:21:32.442-05:00

12/10/2007From a 2004 column in the Arkansas Leader:Gov. Huckabee probably never read the confession of a demented killer named Glen Green before he made the monster eligible for parole.Green's confession is so depraved, its sadistic details so scary that no sane, responsible adult would consider him for parole.If the governor didn't read the confession, he is guilty of dereliction of duty.But if

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-72168811131384228742007-12-10T12:15:00.000-05:002007-12-10T12:39:28.600-05:00

12/10/2007From the "it could happen to anyone" category, Atheist parents who took their kids to see The Golden Compass this week thinking that they could have some good, clean atheist fun, were OUTRAGED that the preview for Prince Caspian -- the next installment in the growing movie franchise based on prominent Christian writer C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia book series -- was shown before the

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-88988153465918543072007-12-09T17:58:00.000-05:002007-12-09T18:08:24.694-05:00

12/9/2007According to the AFP via Breitbart:Appearing on Fox News Sunday, former Arkansas governor Huckabee said he would probably "say things a little differently" now than when he was asked his views on AIDS 15 years ago."But what I'm not going to do is to go back and now try to change every story I've ever had. I'm going to simply say that that was exactly what I said. I don't run from it,

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-76200779257233910482007-12-09T17:57:00.000-05:002007-12-09T18:06:06.855-05:00

12/9/2007This move sure doesn't make it appear that way. In an area that Romney's already going to have a whole lot of trouble gaining traction from the largely Christian population due to his Mormonism, it appears to me to be a pretty boneheaded move to hire as the campaign's state director a kid whose campaign experience has come as a member of two teams -- Ralph Reed for Lt Gov and Jim

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-58519358575012759132007-12-09T00:18:00.000-05:002007-12-09T00:19:52.421-05:00

12/8/2007...the Heisman Trophy isn't comparable to the Medal of Honor, and football is not war.From a Lukacs column on the history and mystique of the Heisman trophy comes this little nugget (emphasis added):the Heisman is now equal parts Oscar, Nobel Prize, Lombardi and Congressional Medal of Honor cast into one transcendent, iconic -- not to mention heavy -- 25-pound hunk of bronze.With all due

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-73477210941394867702007-12-06T23:34:00.000-05:002007-12-08T22:25:15.440-05:00

12/6/2007Vox Nova is questioning whether their anointed candidate, Southern Baptist pastor (irony of ironies!) Mike Huckabee, is really a "compassionate conservative" in the failed mold of George W. Bush.I could have saved them some breath and bandwidth by simply telling them the answer (an emphatic "yes," with a cherry on top). However, they apparently wanted the challenge of disproving that

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-21478375959205140372007-12-06T22:28:00.000-05:002007-12-07T14:24:59.542-05:00

12/6/2007Look no further than the above title for evidence of how far the once venerable niche conservative opinion site Townhall.com has fallen, due almost entirely to their editor-in-chief's inability to stop his constant crawl up a certain GOP presidential candidate's fourth point of contact.If you need more, here it is (try not to gag too hard):On every level it was a masterpiece. The

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-38289631166909099892007-12-05T14:32:00.000-05:002007-12-05T20:44:37.092-05:00

12/5/2007 At least, that's what those insightful cultural commentators on The View think American Christians would do -- a la Sudanese Muslim fanatics -- if a teddy bear in this country were named Jesus by elementary school students. As a commenter at Hot Air points out, "Mexicans call themselves Jesus all the time. Why isn’t The View freaked out about that?" (Note: "Mohammed" is, according to

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-68362832774347948822007-12-02T20:25:00.000-05:002007-12-04T22:38:35.446-05:00

December 3, 2007Over the several months since the implementation of the ‘surge,’ and General David Petraeus’s accompanying counterinsurgency strategy, the improving security situation in Iraq has caught the attention of the American people. A Rasmussen poll conducted at the end of November found that 35% of voters expect the situation in Iraq to improve over the next six months – “the first time

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-33409493682002236812007-12-02T14:01:00.000-05:002007-12-02T14:26:04.091-05:00

12/2/2007The latest skirmish between the Turkish military and the PKK, a Kurdish organization recognized by the US, among others, as a terrorist outfit, saw Turkey hammering a group of about 50 fighters in northern Iraq with artillery and airstrikes yesterday. According to the AFP:The Turkish army said it inflicted "heavy losses" on a group of around 50 members of the armed Kurdish separatist

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-5002652634904087182007-11-30T17:55:00.001-05:002007-11-30T20:35:10.952-05:00

November 30, 2007As most of you know, I'm a Director of conservative weblog RedState.com, and a contributor to Human Events, Ronald Reagan's favorite conservative newspaper. Following the disgrace that was this week's CNN/YouTube debate, our two publications have decided to join forces and to offer moderation, questioners, and a venue for a second attempt at a real Republican YouTube debate --

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-73443546151739415252007-11-29T23:14:00.000-05:002007-12-02T21:08:15.723-05:00

December 3, 2007This fall, the Hollywood left once again cranked up its propaganda machine, flooding American theaters with anti-military, anti-Iraqi Freedom films in hopes of capitalizing on the perceived abysmal public opinion of the War on Terror, the Bush Administration, and the United States military.The latest of these was Redacted, which opened in fifteen theaters on November 16. This

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-62601475843081720522007-11-27T16:08:00.000-05:002007-11-28T19:39:57.981-05:00

November 28, 2007 As predicted earlier this week, President Bush -- formerly (and arguably) the strongest supporter of Israel to inhabit the White House in years -- used his address at today's Annapolis Conference on Palestinian Statehood to renege on his 2004 promise of "defensible borders" to the then-Prime Minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon, and to demand that the Jewish state retreat to its

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-48611100415328223892007-11-26T10:48:00.000-05:002007-11-27T07:11:35.906-05:00

November 27, 2007It seems somehow fitting that this week’s Annapolis Conference on Palestinian Statehood, featuring appearances by Israel, the Fatah leadership of the Palestinian West Bank, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and other regional players, will be taking place just over a year from the time that President George W. Bush is scheduled to leave office. In what has become somewhat of a time-honored

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-11534602076036595832007-11-26T09:00:00.000-05:002007-11-26T16:41:57.981-05:00

11/26/07My alma mater, the University of Georgia, might actually have a shot at a national championship this year. IF Oklahoma beats #1 Missouri (again) and 4-7 Pittsburgh can upset 10-1 West Virginia, the Dawgs could inherit the #2 spot in the BCS. They’d be competing against teams like 10-2 LSU, 10-2 Oklahoma, 11-1 Kansas, and others for the spot, but hey — it could happen! Then again, Georgia

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-72065042684740054542007-11-24T14:03:00.000-05:002007-11-26T11:24:33.254-05:00

In what I'm hoping to make a Thanksgiving Day tradition, I ran my second Atlanta Half Marathon in the last three years this past Thursday.Besides being a great deal of fun (for non-runners like myself, the race atmosphere, much more than a shot at winning in an elite field, is a great motivator to keep training the rest of the year), it feels great to eat all the Thanksgiving goodies that you

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-86117866472687234552007-11-24T14:00:00.000-05:002007-11-24T14:01:19.452-05:00

Jay Homnick at the American Spectator online (www.spectator.org) appears to think that the rain Georgia got a few days ago (and, one would assume, on Thanksgiving, when I was running the Atlanta Half Marathon in a downpour) was a direct result of Governor Perdue's mid-November prayer on the Capitol steps ("Church and State! Church and State!"). His logic (and vocabulary) are a bit convoluted, but

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-7573141831470531032007-11-20T21:44:00.000-05:002007-11-20T21:48:16.476-05:00

No, I still haven't committed to a candidate in this race. Who knows? It could just as easily be Barack Obama as Rudy Giuliani! ;-) And no, I'm not jumping on the HuckChuck bandwagon just because of this ad. However, I stand by the title of this post -- the ad is just plain awesome.

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-89640205739692151802007-11-18T14:22:00.000-05:002007-11-29T08:50:07.502-05:00

November 29, 2007 When most Americans hear the words "Habitat for Humanity," they likely envision Jimmy Carter hammering a few nails into a wooden frame in whatever third-world country happens to be his current cause celebre. Unfortunately, the association with the unpopular former President, and the connotations that this association involves -- combined with the incorrect assumption that

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-61951347754308201622007-11-15T17:09:00.000-05:002007-11-18T11:00:19.581-05:00

November 11, 2007Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid stepped up to the microphone on Thursday to publicly deny that the significant military progress made in Iraq this year has actually taken place at all. “Every place you go you hear about no progress being made in Iraq,” the AP quoted the Nevada Democrat – who has clearly taken great care to avoid going to “every place” where people who actually

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-6692565919923094202007-11-15T17:08:00.000-05:002007-11-16T13:22:49.336-05:00

11/16/07Erick at Peach Pundit writes the following about Georgia 10th CD Rep. Paul Broun, Jr.'s new bill which would define life as beginning at fertilization, and therefore make abortion the legal equivalent of murder:I suspect that whatshisname would not have done this. U.S. Rep. Paul Broun, R-Athens, introduced a bill Wednesday that essentially would ban abortion. The “Sanctity of Human Life

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-74424237269178184852007-11-15T13:30:00.000-05:002007-11-15T13:35:26.696-05:00

11/15/07While it’s making news at the moment because it’s two airline heavyweights doing the merger negotiations dance, what’s going on between Delta and United at the moment really isn’t, at this point, any big deal. Delta didn’t stumble out of the gate in its first quarter back from bankruptcy — in fact, it did far, far better than most expected — and the current quarter, while not what it

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-66788728972719338512007-11-15T12:30:00.000-05:002007-11-15T16:10:03.194-05:00

11/15/07Senator Johnny Isakson’s letter to the Secretary of the Transportation Safety Administration was a bit more diplomatic than the above, but the gist is pretty much the same. Writes Isakson: I am writing in regards to delays at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. I remain concerned that TSA’s management at

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-15920277778013515672007-11-02T18:12:00.000-04:002007-11-09T13:37:50.820-05:00

"The Longest Morning": A Tale of Heroism, Courage, and Loss in the Face of Impossible Odds.Six weeks ago in the Iraqi city of Samarra, four paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division became the object of a pre-planned, coordinated effort by dozens of al Qaeda to kidnap and slaughter American soldiers only days before General Petraeus's internationally televised testimony to the U.S. Congress on

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com33tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30759726.post-10535969398863901592007-11-01T18:25:00.000-04:002007-10-31T10:01:10.066-04:00

The November issue of The American Spectator magazine features as its cover story the exclusive recounting of a chilling tale of courage, loss, and Medal of Honor-worthy heroism in Iraq.Six weeks ago in Samarra, as a small American sniper team was set upon by dozens of al Qaeda terrorists who had but one goal in mind: to humiliate America in front of the world, only days before General Petraeus's

J.P. Emanuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172107926420963768noreply@blogger.com0