exvigilare

We're off to Branson for the wedding. I can't imagine I'll have much chance to post until we get home next Tuesday. Pray for good roads - the Weather Channel is calling it a "big mess" between Denver and Kansas City.

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Great article:
Clinton & Clinton
To maintain their hold on the party, Howard Dean had to be destroyed.
Read the whole thing.

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One of my best friends is finally getting married, so we're packing up the family and driving down to Branson, MO. This will be the first time Tracey and I have been back since we left, Christmas '99. After 5 seasons in Branson, and having never been back after leaving, this will be a strange experience. So much has changed in the last few years. I'm no longer a musician (in any real sense), we have Emma and another on the way. What will our old friends think of Emma? Besides "where did she get that hair?" I'm glad they get to see Tracey pregnant - she's so beautiful!

So my buddy Jerry asked me to play trumpet for the wedding. No big deal, even if I am out of shape. But this is one of the most important gigs I think I've ever done. We've known Jerry forever, it seems. We were there when he met Amber (much too good for him, we first thought!) but never thought he would be the type to get married. Ever. Some guys are just like that, y'know? So I've had no time to practice or get my chops anywhere close to playing condition. Hopefully no one will notice. Hopefully no one reads this post!

We're going to leave tomorrow, mid-morning. Have you seen the forecast? Yuck. Driving across Kansas is bad enough, but doing it in the snow makes it just miserable. Winter storm warnings through tomorrow night for every city along I-70. The fun really begins in Southwest Missouri, though. They get freezing rain. What fun. I don't miss that. Say a pray for us for the drive.

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In the process of exposing John Kerry (in a non-Janet Jackson kind of way), Mark Steyn debunks one of the most infuriatingly false claims of the left.

But just to make it simple: The G-7 comprises the world's major industrial democracies. Aside from America, there are six other countries. Three -- the United Kingdom, Italy and Japan -- have troops in Iraq. Three -- France, Germany and Canada -- do not. So a majority of G-7 nations are members of this 'fraudulent coalition.'' Eleven of the 19 NATO members have contributed troops to the 'fraudulent coalition.'' Thirteen of the 25 members of the newly enlarged European Union have forces serving in the 'fraudulent coalition.''

So, when John Kerry pledges to rebuild America's international relationships, what he means is that he disagrees with the majority of G-7 governments, NATO governments, European governments and key regional players in Asia and the Pacific, as well as the people of Iraq.

On the other hand, Kerry's position has the support of a majority of the Arab League.

Mostly, the Sun-Times article blasts Kerry, so that's worth the read right there. Steyn's "coalition exposure" is way too good to pass up. Read it all.

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I wrote a couple of weeks ago about my nervousness regarding Wesley Clark, specifically that he is a favorite of the Clintons'. Jim Geraghty has a brilliant article on Wesley Clark, and his supposed "strength," that of

the perception that he is a strong leader who knows how to manage a war.

Interviews with a wide variety of current and retired military officials reveal that Clark was disliked by only three groups: Those whom ranked above him in the chain of command whom he ignored, his peers at the same rank whom he lied to, and those serving beneath him whom he micromanaged. Other than that, everyone liked him.

When Clark's bosses didn't agree with him, he just went around them.

But most of the Pentagon believed Clark crossed a line.

"He forgot that the national-command authority included the secretary of defense," said one retired defense official who worked with Clark. "He saw himself as having a direct line to the White House. Clark had his own point of view. He knew, in his heart, he was in tune with what Madeline Albright and Bill Clinton and the White House wanted, and he pushed it. The secretary of defense and chairman of the Joint Chiefs didn't agree, but he decided he didn't really have to listen to them."

Read the whole thing, it's a good indication of the kind of man that the Clintonistas prefer.

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