Four great service academies.

If you saw any part of today's graduation ceremony at the Naval Academy at Annapolis, including President Bush's graduation address, you may have noticed some of the graduates wore white jackets while others wore blue.

Navy and Marine Corps buffs know those in white will serve as Navy officers; those in blue as Marine Corps officers.

The graduation was an inspiring reminder of how fortunate we are to have Annapolis and three other great service academies which train leaders to defend America and the civilized world.

Here are links to the four service academies' websites.

Air Force

Army

Coast Guard

Navy

God bless them all.

Senator Clinton's candor

Writer and talk radio host Hugh Hewitt's blog is always interesting. He'll be part of the blog roll I'll post in a few days, once some "technical difficulties" are worked out.

Meanwhile, Hewitt's May 26, 2005 postings include a revealing exchange (you may need to scroll down):

Senator Clinton, on CNN's Inside Politics Today, with host Judy Woodruff:

JW: "08? When do you have to make a decision on that?"

HRC: "I am not even remotely thinking about that."

Candor was never the long suit of the previous Administration.

Yes, Senator Clinton's "not even remotely thinking about" an '08 presidential run, yet somehow she keeps winding up in Iowa.

Thanks, Hugh.

Krugman leaves you hungry? Try Juan Cole.

I'm not a fan of Princeton Professor and NY Times columnist Paul Krugman. But many are, including media and academic folks.

Krugman's fans often finish his columns and wish, "Please, editor, more like Paul."

Well, for all Krugman's fans, "a second helping" is just a click away.

The click takes you to Professor Juan Cole's blog. Like Krugman, Cole's an academic (Michigan - Ann Arbor) who hates President Bush.

Are there differences between the Profs?

Yes. For instance, during the current three-year economic upturn, Krugman's predicted many more downturns than Cole. On the other hand, Cole is somewhat more supportive of Palestinian terrorists than Krugman.

Both Profs are available to speak at college lecture series and commencements near you.

Will Newsweek Change?

Now that Newsweek has started referring to the Koran as the Qur'an, will it rename itself Newswee'q?

FDR and America's last declaration of war

In the hours following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt and his aides discussed the speech he would deliver the next day to Congress. Of course, he would ask for a declaration of war.

But FDR's aides disagreed regarding whether the speech should be what historians now call "the long version," which would review in lawyerly detail Japanese-American relations going back over decades; or whether it should be "the short version," saying essentially: "Look, they attacked us; we're at war."

FDR settled on "the short version." The speech lasted just over seven minutes, including interruptions for applause.

Here's the first sentence of the typed "short version" draft

Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in world history, the United States of America was simultaneously and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

If you remember how FDR began the address, you know the above sentence is not the one he spoke before Congress.

Here's how FDR actually bagan:

Yesterday, December 7, 1941 --- a date which will live in infamy ---
the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. (Bold mine)

Who changed world history to infamy and simultaneously to suddenly?

FDR did.

And who added those --- pause cues?

Again, FDR.

The why of Roosevelt's changes and pause cues is obvious.

You can view and enlarge a facsimile of the first page of the draft with FDR's changes in his own hand here at the FDR Memorial Library site.

You'll also see a picture of FDR signing the war declaration. Notice he's wearing a black memorial armband. Some have said he did that in respect for the Pearl Harbor dead.

Not so. Roosevelt wore the armband in memory of his mother, Sara Delano Roosevelt, who died three months earlier. At the time, wearing armbands in memory of recently deceased family members or close friends was a fading but not uncommon custom.

FDR was the last President to formally ask Congress for a declaration of war.

It made me smile

Senator John Warner was a guest tonight on Special Report with Brit Hume.

With the interview nearing its end, Hume gave Warner the "we have only a few seconds left" cue.

Warner nodded and want on: "In the great panoply of American history ....

Do you think Warner's been taking public speaking lessons from Senators Robert Byrd and Ted Kennedy?

Tributes to Our Military

Any day's a good day to pay tribute to the American military, but some are especially appropriate. So I'll post tributes on June 4 and 6.

June 4 is the anniversary of one of World War II's most important battles, Midway. Our victory there stopped the Japanese advance in the Pacific and enabled Allied forces to take the offensive. U.S. Navy forces faced a Japanese fleet superior in number of ships and planes, yet achieved what historians acknowledge was an "incredible victory."

June 6 I'll post on some of Eisenhower's decisions related to D-Day, and what those decisions tell us about Ike's intellect and character. I'll also post some eyewitness accounts of those first minutes on Omaha Beach.

Both posts will include links.

DNC Chairman Dean on Meet the Press

Fans of DNC Chairman Howard Dean must have been shaking their pompoms while watching him yesterday on NBC's Meet the Press with Tim Russett.

The DNC website, Kicking Ass (Dean gave it that name), provides some quotes:

"Our moral values, in contradiction to the Republicans', is (sic) we don't think kids ought to go to bed hungry at night.".

And this: "Our moral values say that we ought to have a strong, free public education system so that we can level the playing field."

Millions of Democrats love Dean because he says things like Republicans "think kids ought to go to bed hungry." So what if it's false and mean spirited?

Democrats are happy Dean talks about "a strong, free public education system" without mentioning the many failing public school systems which they and their teacher union allies have controlled for generations.

I'm sure Dean's received many e-mails from Democrats saying, "Well done, Chairman."

That's sad. The Democrats were once a better party.

You can access the entire Meet the Press transcript here.

Away until Monday evening

Friends,

I'll be away until Monday evening at which time I'll post on DNC chair Howard Dean.

Tuesday morning I'll post about tributes to the American military that
will soon appear here.

Lots more will follow that.

Stay well.

John

MSM Dodges Owen's ABA Highly Qualified Recommendation

The American Bar Association awarded federal appellate court nominee and Texas Supreme Court Justice Pricilla Owen its highest rating - Highly Qualified. The ABA's committee on federal judicial nominees vote was unanimous. Owen is assured of confirmation by the Senate if it gets to vote on her nomination.

Most Senate Democrats and every powerful liberal interest group don't want Owen to get that vote. In their efforts to prevent it, they're getting huge assists from MSM.

Among MSM assists are reporting and commentaries that usually fail to mention the very important ABA recommendation. Here's an example from the May 21 Washington Post.

And here are two more from the current issue of Newsweek here and here.

The second Newsweek link is to Democratic spear-carrier Eleanor Clift's column. Clift doesn't mention the ABA's recommendation, but she does suggest that Owen's nomination is part of the religious right's effort to take over of America. Gosh, how did the ABA miss that?

If even half the MSM stories and reports concerning Owen had mentioned the ABA's unanimous recommendation, I think the Democrats would've been unable to sustain their opposition . The public would have said, "Enough of this nonsense about 'extremism.' Confirm the woman." And the Dems would have had to yield.

The Dems and liberal interest groups owe their MSM friends a big thank you.