Quick takes around the ‘sphere

This Valentine’s Day – for no reason I can discern, I am pointing you toward The Maternal Optimist who shares Our Lady’s Answer to Infertility.

Speaking of Valentine’s – An Iraqi Mayor thanks US Troops, which you will not hear on David Gregory’s or Terry Moran’s news programs:

I have met many soldiers of the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment; they are not only courageous men and women, but avenging angels sent by The God Himself to fight the evil of terrorism.

[…]

Officers and soldiers alike bristle with the confidence and character of knights in a bygone era. The mission they have accomplished, by means of a unique military operation, stands among the finest military feats to date in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and truly deserves to be studied in military science. This military operation was clean, with little collateral damage, despite the ferocity of the enemy. With the skill and precision of surgeons they dealt with the terrorist cancers in the city without causing unnecessary damage.

God bless this brave Regiment; God bless the families who dedicated these brave men and women. From the bottom of our hearts we thank the families. They have given us something we will never forget. To the families of those who have given their holy blood for our land, we all bow to you in reverence and to the souls of your loved ones. Their sacrifice was not in vain. They are not dead, but alive, and their souls hovering around us every second of every minute. …Let America, their families, and the world be proud of their sacrifice for humanity and life.
H/T Mudville Gazette.

We SHOULD be hearing about that in the US press…but we’re not. David Gregory said today, “I’ve got my job to do” and that job is – seemingly – never about reporting anything good about our troops or our nation. The Reliapundit brings us the bad news that our troops may be at risk thanks to a movie.

Whoa, I totally forgot this! In watching the press go beserk because Dick Cheney did not immediately call David Gregory and say, “I plugged my pal full of birdshot!” I had remembered that Ted Kennedy had driven a car off a bridge and left a girl to die while he waited hours before notifying anyone…but I’d forgotten what Michelle remembers, that Hillary Clinton and her WH were behind a 30 hour delay in releasing Vince Foster’s suicide note. Oh, yeah…I wonder if Terry Moran remembers that…meanwhile Victoria at Sundries has coined the term “Cheneyquiddick” but I don’t know if I agree with the association there. It minimizes the Chappaquiddick incident, which did cost a woman her life. I think I like “Birdshotgate” better.

Michael Ledeen at NRO’s The Corner points to the best (non-Cheney) line of the week:

ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s Reform Minister Roberto Calderoli has had T-shirts made emblazoned with cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in a move that could embarrass Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s government.

Calderoli, a member of the anti-immigrant Northern League party, told Ansa news agency on Tuesday that the West had to stand up against Islamist extremists and offered to hand out T-shirts to anyone who wanted them.

“I have had T-shirts made with the cartoons that have upset Islam and I will start wearing them today,” Ansa quoted Calderoli as saying.

He said the T-shirts were not meant to be a provocation but added that he saw no point trying to appease extremists.

“We have to put an end to this story that we can talk to these people. They only want to humiliate people. Full stop. And what are we becoming? The civilization of melted butter?” Calderoli said.

Yours truly was Watched by Weasels last week and is flattered to have been named a “non-member” winner! Check out the site for some excellent blog-posts from last week!

Ed Driscoll has a long and amusing round-up of Journalists Gone Wild that you’ll enjoy.

Alexandra points out that Valentines are scarce when it comes to Islamofascists who are shouting “Death to Denmark. Not content with only killing Denmark, it seems that Islamic cartoon-o-phobes are also killing Col. Sanders and Ronald McDonald while shouting “death to Tony Blair! Death to Britain! Death to America!”.

What was it the Al Qaeda said right after 9/11? Oh, yeah…”you Americans love Pepsi; we love death!” A German cartoonist is now getting death threats for joking about a SOCCER match-up! Allah isn’t even in the picture! If nothing else demonstrates what a ginned up and phoney controversy the whole “cartoon war” is, it’s the fact that this fellow is being threatened, and Allah had nothing to do with it! When you’re worshipping death, btw, it’s hard to get romantic.

Tim Graham examines a contrast in story emphasis:

The Washington Post did their original front-page Monday news story on Quailgate? Check. Today, another front-page story questioning the slow alerting of the media? Check. Outraged unsigned Post editorial? Check. Outraged column by liberal Eugene Robinson? Check. Two Style section pieces to lead off the Beltway buzz? Check.

Anything on Al Gore’s America-bashing speech in Saudi Arabia? Not in the paper, yesterday or today.
Investor’s Business Daily has more on Gore, at least.

Experts are predicting that if we go in and take out Iran’s nukes 10,000 people will die and a war will begin. They didn’t predict what would happen if Iran uses a nuke against Israel or EU, or our interests, though. Since the “experts” were terribly wrong about the “hundreds of thousands of refugees and dead” that would occur were we to go into Afghanistan a few years ago, I think I’ll take it all with a grain of salt, this time.

Betsy Newmark, who is not normally one to carry on about religion, is pretty angry about the double standards of the left when it comes to religion. She points out that the new Democrat talking points seem to be that “Jesus loved the poor, so he’s a Democrat.” Well, actually, Jesus loves (note present tense) EVERYONE, not just the poor. He loves the blue-collar worker going into Wal-Mart and he loves the limosine liberal who shops at Saks, standing outside Wal-Mart with the protest sign. He loves the corporate executives of both of those companies. And Jesus, friend of Nicodemus and Joseph of Aramethia, understood that the rich and well-connected have their roles to play in the ongoing story of human salvation. It was the rich man, remember, who had the connnections needed to get Jesus’ body down from the cross before sundown, and the new tomb in which to lay him. I think these “Jesus is a Republican/Jesus is a Democrat” rants are always disedifying, and I’m glad Betsy brought it up.

Finally, on Valentine’s Day, I link to a post by Shrinkwrapped, that I meant to link to several days ago – about cuddle puddles and the whole manner in which love and sex and relationships have come distorted. Sorry to end on a bummer.