Hardly unexpected, and long overdue, the President vetoed the Cut and Run funding bill.

In only the second veto of his presidency, Bush rejected legislation pushed by Democratic leaders that would require the first U.S. combat troops to be withdrawn by Oct. 1 with a goal of a complete pullout six months later.

“This is a prescription for chaos and confusion and we must not impose it on our troops,” Bush said in a nationally broadcast statement from the White House. He said the bill would “mandate a rigid and artificial deadline” for troop pullouts, and “it makes no sense to tell the enemy when you plan to start withdrawing.”

There is an interesting story about the pen used to veto the bill.

Bush signed the veto with a pen given to him by Robert Derga, the father of Marine Corps Reserve Cpl. Dustin Derga, who was killed in Iraq on May 8, 2005. The elder Derga spoke with Bush two weeks ago at a meeting the president had with military families at the White House.

Derga asked Bush to promise to use the pen in his veto. On Tuesday, Derga contacted the White House to remind Bush to use the pen, and so he did. The 24-year-old Dustin Derga served with Lima Company, 3rd Battalion 25th Marines from Columbus, Ohio. The five-year Marine reservist and fire team leader was killed by an armor-piercing round in Anbar Province.

One key reason for the rejection is beyond obvious, and it confounds me that others refuse to see it. From the President’s remarks:

It makes no sense to tell the enemy when you plan to start withdrawing. All the terrorists would have to do is mark their calendars and gather their strength — and begin plotting how to overthrow the government and take control of the country of Iraq. I believe setting a deadline for withdrawal would demoralize the Iraqi people, would encourage killers across the broader Middle East, and send a signal that America will not keep its commitments. Setting a deadline for withdrawal is setting a date for failure — and that would be irresponsible.

Well, yeah.

I’m glad that the President used his veto power on this pork laden surrender document. I do wish he had remembered this power of the presidency much sooner, say around the time of the BCRAp bill.

Ok Surrender Monkeys, you’ve had your day of political theatre. Now do what’s right.

Cross posted at bRight & Early.

Judith Weiss of Kesher Talk and Mary Madigan of Exit Zero called in from Israel and we talked about their current trip.

This was a most interesting podcast. Ben of Diary of an Anti-Chomskyite and Noah Pollak, editor of Azure, the current affairs journal of the Shalem Center, joined in the conversation. Please listen in, you’ll enjoy the discussion on Israel, the Middle East, the Left, anti-Americanism, and world politics.

Possibly:

“Last week, eight candidates for the Democratic nomination for president took center stage in a debate televised on MSNBC. While the important topic of ethics was largely ignored, Barack Obama was asked one question about his relationship with shady political fundraiser, Antoin “Tony” Rezko. (Earlier last week, The Chicago Sun-Times published a fairly thorough article on Obama’s ties to Rezko.)

Here’s an excerpt from Obama’s exchange with MSNBC’s Brian Williams: WILLIAMS: “You’ve promised in your campaign a new kind of politics, but just this week the Chicago Sun-Times reported on questionable ties you have with a donor who was charged last year for demanding kickbacks on Illinois business deals. Aren’t you practicing the very same kind of politics that many of the others on this stage have engaged in?”

OBAMA: “Well, not all, we have thousands of donors. This donor engaged in some ethical (sic) behavior and I have denounced it. But I have a track record of bringing people around this new kind of politics, since I was in the state legislature…”

You don’t need to read the rest because Obama deftly shifted the conversation away from Rezko, and Williams let him get away with it.”

How much is there to this? I would say with the Democrats lifting the bar of ethics in their campaign speeches, there is much that we need to know….

What did Obama know…..when did he……?

Crossposted at Macsmind.

Ah, May Day, spring has sprung, the birds are chirping in the tree’s and apparently tens of thousands of felon supporters will take to the streets to demand more from the American Government.

It’s that time of year again folks, where people who wontonly disregard our laws and their suppoorters, take to the streets to protest, or rather whine, about how unfair life is. Boo Hoo.

“The emphasis is to stay in school, get your education and participate in any demonstration you want to after school,” said Dan Isaacs, Los Angeles Unified School District chief operating officer. “To the degree that we can cause students to remain on campus and discuss the issues, that’s our primary goal.”

But if students walk out, school officials plan to march with them — walkie-talkies and cellphones in hand — to help protect them. In addition, buses will be on call to take students back to their respective schools after the march is over, officials said.

How much will that cost me, the Californian taxpayer? And aren’t those kids truant if they leave campus? And why the heck are the teachers not issuing detention?

Join me in boycotting any business that closes today in “honor” of those who break our laws. I’m still boycotting every single business that closed last year. I urge you to do the same.

As the early riser of the group let me point out today’s Heading Right hosts on Blog Talk Radio:

• CQ Radio - 3pm Eastern
• The Rick Moran Show - 4pm Eastern
• Atlas On the Air - 9pm Eastern

Make plans to listen and call in.