I'm more than a little disappointed in President Bush's appearance yesterday on Meet the Press. I understand that the President is not at his best when put in a situation where there is one on one, give and take and he has to answer questions on the fly. After all, he is not an attorney and as such he does much better when giving a speech or in a more informal atmosphere. I understand that President Bush is not the most articulate graduate of Harvards' MBA program but still, I wish he had been a little more forceful when answering the repeated questioning of the justification for War with Iraq. I have made the arguments here before and will continue to do so. Reader D. Lynch, Martinez, Ca. has kindly been keeping me in reading material of late and among the pieces have been several which point to a decentralization in manufacture of WMD.

In this respect, the production of these weapons has been outsourced as it were. The components are produced in many different areas of the globe and then brought together slowly in either rogue nations or terror havens such as Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. This is the great possibility of which we must be aware. The dems are trying to hamstring our response to the new threat by decrying the War in Iraq. In other words, while they failed for 8 years to address the growing threat and increasing activities of terrorists, the democrats would gladly trade American security in exchange for political expediency and gain. Get Kerry into the White House and THEN we can worry about Homeland Security and National Defense. The entire question of the War in Iraq becomes for the democrats a strawman argument, effectively shutting down progress on developing fronts because of a worry on the part of Republicans that the American public will believe the deceptions of the left. This doesn't exactly make me feel warm and fuzzy about my Republican brethren. They should be out there actively doing what the President himself doesn't seem able to do. ARTICULATE the Bush Doctrine of searching out and destroying terrorists and their enablers no matter where in the world they reside.

When the Bush Doctrine was first announced in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, Americans rallied to the common sense of purpose that the President's declaration had established. That is gone now. The left is in full attack mode in the heat of an election year. A man makes a judgement call, based on his best estimate of intelligence gathered over years and affecting hundreds of thousands of lives. For making this decision, he is reviled by the left. Another man, demonstrably lies, accepts campaign contributions from foreign powers and argues the meaning of "is" in a court proceeding. This man is held in the highest regard by the left. It is truly amazing to me that people out there would vote for this party of sedition. Kerry will be no different. Another Yankee gigolo who has made his life out of lies and the hardwork of others. We would do well to remember the words of our Founding Fathers in times like these. George Washington warned of foreign entanglements. I wonder what he would have thought of democrats, accepting massive campaign contributions from China and attempting to subordinate our foreign policy to a corrupt agency like the United Nations?

Now then, this week we laid out some sliders...you know, mini burgers a'la White Castle fame. They are wonderful, easy to make and a definate couch/gameday food. I picked this recipe up from Alton Brown of the Food Network and his show, Good Eats. This recipe is really simple so enjoy it...

1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 lb of ground chuck
8 3' buns or rolls, split in half. (I used Colombo potato dinner rolls)
2-3 tbsps mayonnaise

Combine onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper in small bowl and set aside.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees, preheat a griddle to 350 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and place the ground chuck in the middle of the pan. Cover the meat with with a large sheet of plastic wrap. Roll the meat with a rolling pin until it covers the surface of the pan, it should be very thin, no more than about 1/4". Remove the plastic wrap and sprinkle the meat with the seasoning mixture. Fold the meat in half, from side to side, using the parchment paper. Use a pizza wheel to cut the meat into eight even squares.

Wrap the buns in foil and place them in the oven for 5-10 minutes. Meanwhile, place the burgers on the griddle and cook for 2-3 mins per side. Remove the buns from the oven. Spread a small amount of mayonnaise on each bun and top with the burger and any other condiments as desired. Serve immediately. I liked mine with some potato salad and here is a picture of White Castle's finished product...yours may or may not resemble same, but the flavor will sure be there....



Smilin' Paul Villa U.S. Senate 2004
cyber-Congressman, R-Reno
Proud Member of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy and 2 SUV Family