218

Almost 2,500 years ago at Thermopylae, 300 Spartans and some 700 of their allies, the Thespians, stood fast long enough to give the rest of Greece the time it needed to defeat a Persian invasion. Their heroic stand has come down through history as the very ideal of devotion and heroism.

Fast forward to today when 218 members (216 Democrats and 2 Republicans) of the United States House of Representatives voted to hand victory to the enemies of this nation. Make no mistake about that. They voted to lose a war. They voted for American defeat. Their vote today has no chance of becoming law, a fact they were absolutely assured of before they even counted the votes. They also set a precedent that will - with absolute certainty - come back to haunt a Democrat who holds the office of the President someday in the future.

They make movies about the 300. The 218 will not be similarly remembered.

UPDATE: Others: The Crimson Blog, The American Pundit, 7.62mm Justice, Mary Katharine Ham, Riehl World View, JammieWearingFool, Ace of Spades, The Mighty Righty, The LLama Butchers, Hot Air has the video of Bush slamming this bill for what it is: betrayal of the troops, Gateway Pundit has a partial list of the gigantic, glistening, gobbets of pork that were included in this bill to buy enough votes to get it through.

Poisonous Pet Food

The story of the recall of tainted pet food just got worse. It turns out that the food was contaminated with a rat poison, according to tests conducted by the New York State Department of Agriculture. ABC news is reporting the poison has been identified as aminopterin, which is used in some foreign countries but is not licensed for use in the United States. The New York authorities are not confirming that report at this hour, however.

Spokeswoman Jessica Chittenden would not identify the chemical or its source beyond saying it was a rodent poison.

ABC News reported it was aminopterin that may have been on imported wheat used in the pet food. Aminopterin is used to kill rats in some countries but is not registered for that use in the United States, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The chemical, also a cancer drug, is highly toxic in high doses.

Officials from the agriculture department and Cornell University's Animal Health Diagnostic Center would not immediately confirm the ABC report but scheduled a news conference Friday afternoon to release laboratory findings from tests on the pet food.

The Food and Drug Administration has said the investigation was focusing on wheat gluten in the food. Wheat gluten itself would not cause kidney failure, but the common ingredient could have been contaminated by heavy metals or mold toxins, the FDA said.

State and FBI officials said they knew of no criminal investigations in the case.

This is pretty ugly right now. There are a number of different press conferences scheduled for later today, I'll update or put up a new post as appropriate.

Berlin Zoo To “Activists”: Get Bent

The Berlin Zoo will not execute Knut the Kute, the baby polar bear. "Animal Activists" had demanded the bear be killed immediately because he was being hand fed by humans. That, they informed the world, meant that Knut would never be a "proper polar bear".  Now, never mind the fact that Knut was born in the zoo and would never have been released to the wild to practice proper polar bear-ery. The "activists" wanted Knut's hide - presumably to decorate their official headquarters. But the zoo is flat out promising that Knut will live and his pelt will stay firmly where nature placed it.  

BERLIN (AFP) - Knut, a polar bear cub who has become a global sensation after cheating death, made his first public appearance at the Berlin Zoo Friday under the gaze of dozens of photographers and cameramen.

Knut seemed to lap up the attention, toddling around his enclosure, occasionally nibbling the boots of his handler Thomas Doerflein and poking his nose into a pond.

Even German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel got in on the act, appearing with the little bear after adopting him through the zoo's sponsorship scheme.

The nine-kilogramme (19-pound) bear has triggered a wave of media coverage in recent days after an animal activist said he should have been put down after he and his brother were rejected by their mother following their birth in December.

Now, it just gets better. Annie Leibovitz has swooped in and taken Knut's picture for an environmental campaign. Presumably, Knut did not have to leak any information  to the press to get this honor, as James Baker did. Unless Knut did what bears do and took a leak on someone from the press, anyway.

Iran Crosses A Line

Iranian naval vessels have illegally seized 15 British sailors operating inside Iraqi territorial waters on routine smuggling control operations. They have openly engaged in an act of war against two sovereign nations. They really are pushing their luck this time.

LONDON - Iranian naval vessels seized 15 British sailors who had boarded a ship suspected of smuggling cars in the Persian Gulf off the Iraqi coast on Friday, officials said.

The British government demanded "the immediate and safe return of our people and equipment."

The British Navy personnel were "engaged in routine boarding operations of merchant shipping in Iraqi territorial waters," and had completed a ship inspection when they were accosted by Iranian vessels, Britain's Defense Ministry said.

"We are urgently pursuing this matter with the Iranian authorities at the highest level and … the Iranian ambassador has been summoned to the Foreign Office," the ministry said.

The seizure comes at a time of rising tensions between Iran and the West, which accuses the Islamic republic of violating a U.N. calls for it to halt uranium enrichment and open its nuclear program for inspection. It also comes amid U.S. accusations that Iran is funding and arming Shiite militias in Iraq, worsening sectarian tensions there.

A witness reports that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Navy came and captured the British sailors and took them across the boundary into Iranian waters.

Best Wishes

To Elizabeth Edwards. The Washington Post has a very nice article about her and her coming battle with breast cancer that has spread. This is a real tragedy for her and for her family and I am genuinely sorry about all of this.

Not once did the shadow of fear cross her face. Elizabeth Edwards stood before the nation, a graceful fighter steeled for personal tragedy again. The cancer is back and in her bones, a lung and possibly elsewhere. The news seemed worse than bad. Yet Edwards conveyed no hint of being hobbled by an incurable cancer. Self-pity was nowhere on the scene.

"Is this a hardship for us? Yes, it's yet another hurdle," she said. "But I've seen people who are in real desperate shape who don't, first of all, have the wonderful support that I have and have no place to turn."

With an openness that thrust her personal travails square into the public and political arena, Edwards, 57, laughed at times, seemingly free of stress as she spoke forthrightly yesterday about her health and its implications for her life and her husband's presidential campaign.

She appeared relaxed, fully in command of the public space she occupied as she couched her health status in the most optimistic terms possible, saying of her marriage, "We're going to always look for the silver lining. It is who we are as people, and we'll continue to do it."

A portrait of a strong and courageous woman. All the best. May you beat the odds and confound the doctors.

Principles? We Don’t Need No Stinking Principles.

The Washington Post is reporting that Nancy Pelosi has coerced the members of the so-called out of Iraq coalition in the House to cast aside their principles and vote for the supplemental funding bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Oh, and for the enormous, greasy gobbets of fresh pork that festoon that bill like an all you can eat buffet. So much for principle. You know, I actually had a bit of respect for the folks who actually had enough principle to stand by their convictions, even if I do not agree with their ideals.

Liberal opposition to a $124 billion war spending bill broke last night, when leaders of the antiwar Out of Iraq Caucus pledged to Democratic leaders that they will not block the measure, which sets timelines for bringing U.S. troops home.

The acquiescence of the liberals probably means that the House will pass a binding measure today that, for the first time, would establish tough readiness standards for the deployment of combat forces and an Aug. 31, 2008, deadline for their removal from Iraq.

A Senate committee also passed a spending bill yesterday setting a goal of bringing troops home within a year. The developments mark congressional Democrats' first real progress in putting legislative pressure on President Bush to withdraw U.S. forces.

Even more than the conservative Democrats leery of appearing to micromanage the war, House liberals have been the main obstacle to leadership efforts to put a timeline on the withdrawal of U.S. forces. They have complained that the proposal would not bring troops home fast enough. Their opposition has riven the antiwar movement, split the Democratic base and been the main stumbling block to the legislation, which had originally been scheduled for a vote yesterday.

But, the resultant bill will be vetoed, the Democratic leadership knows it. And the money will begin to run out for troops in the Field. The false, pious sanctimony of the Democrats who have been saying they would never abandon the troops in the Field has just been revealed in all its glaring hypocrisy. The money will run out for the troops in harm's way, but not for peanut farmers. Because the most ethical congress that Pelosi promised is a massive taxpayer funded pork festival. I believe this will surely backfire on the Democrats. Interestingly, so does the Washington Post editorial page.

As it is, House Democrats are pressing a bill that has the endorsement of MoveOn.org but excludes the judgment of the U.S. commanders who would have to execute the retreat the bill mandates. It would heap money on unneedy dairy farmers while provoking a constitutional fight with the White House that could block the funding to equip troops in the field. Democrats who want to force a withdrawal should vote against war appropriations. They should not seek to use pork to buy a majority for an unconditional retreat that the majority does not support.

Those abandoning principle to vote for this may have done themselves serious damage without actually accomplishing any real good. I suspect the voters are going to send that message along shortly.