Thank you for fighting for the freedom we enjoy today. Your actions made this country what it is today, and for that, you truly are, The Greatest Generation.

President Bush is often misunderstood by those who do not know him personally and are unaware of his sensitive side, Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said in a television interview on Sunday.

…

“On the contrary, we are defending ourselves and trying to root out terrorists from their hideouts. That’s what happened in Afghanistan and that is what Bush has said is the case in Iraq.”

If we didn’t know it before, I think it would be safe to say that Berlusconi is a good friend.

Berlusconi dismissed concerns about the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, saying the former regime of Saddam Hussein could easily have destroyed or exported them and, in any case, the arrest of Saddam was justification enough.

“The real weapon of mass destruction in Iraq was Saddam Hussein — and he was found.”

Did you get that? “The real weapon of mass destruction in Iraq was Saddam Hussein”. Enough said.

A vicious skin infection resistant to all but the most powerful antibiotics has jumped out of New York City hospitals and onto the streets.

The “superbug,” as health officials refer to it, can cause anything from reddening of the skin, to abscesses, tissue loss, amputation or even death in severe cases, doctors said.

For decades confined to hospitals, where it preyed on patients and built up immunity to antibiotics, the bug – known officially as Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus or MRSA – has also grown in strength.

“Usually with infections you need a break in the skin to pass it,” said Dr. Howard Grossman, who has a private practice in Chelsea.

“Not with this. It gets through unbroken skin with casual contact.”

Nasty…

We have never been afraid to air our own dirty laundry, prosecuting those amongst us who commit crimes. Although at times we smear our nose in it much longer than is needed, repeatedly broadcasting things that do more harm than good. But yet, we stand fast to our ideals and our principles, ready to hold all accountable for their actions.

Go.Read.Chief.Wiggles.Now.

Bells tolled from the National Cathedral and swing music from the 1940s rang out at the Mall as veterans of World War II assembled by the tens of thousands Saturday for the dedication of a memorial to their great struggle.

Finally, the national recognition they deserve.

Speaking at the ceremony to formally open the National World War II Memorial, President Bush praised those it honored. “When it mattered most, an entire generation of Americans showed the finest qualities of our nation and of humanity,” he said.

A dedication and a monument truly befitting the Greatest Generation.

Every morning since 9/11, Donald Lamp has hung his American flag from the balcony of his Omaha apartment.

Management of the retirement community where he and his wife live – citing policy about maintaining the appearance of the building’s exterior – wants him to lower the flag for good.

Lamp refuses.

“I’m not about to take it down,” the 89-year-old World War II veteran said.

Lamp is like many Americans who, because of housing covenants, are discouraged from flying their flags this Memorial Day weekend.

No matter which side of this issue you support, this would not be a “national” story if the following were not true:

What makes Lamp different is that he is the father-in-law of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

They say they do not want their connection to Justice Thomas to influence anybody, but by merely mentioning his name, it already has.

And on it goes. This conventional wisdom–that our two most determined enemies were not in league, now or ever–is comforting. It is also wrong.

…

An Iraqi of that name, Carney knew, had been present at an al Qaeda summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on January 5-8, 2000. U.S. intelligence officials believe this was a chief planning meeting for the September 11 attacks.

…

The meeting lasted for three days. Khalid al Mihdhar departed Kuala Lumpur for Bangkok and eventually Los Angeles. Twenty months later, he was aboard American Airlines Flight 77 when it plunged into the Pentagon at 9:38 A.M. on September 11. So were Nawaf al Hazmi and his younger brother, Salem, both of whom were also present at the Kuala Lumpur meeting.

Read the rest of “The Connection” at The Weekly Standard.

Pat Tillman, the former Arizona Cardinals football player who died in April while a U.S. soldier fighting in Afghanistan, likely was killed by friendly fire, an Army investigation has concluded.

When the men and women of our Armed Forces are sent to battle, there is always the possibility of friendly fire, it’s an inevitable, and terrible, fact of war.

The Army reported last month that Tillman, 27, was killed April 22 while leading his team of Army Rangers up a remote southeastern Afghanistan hill to knock out enemy fire that had pinned down other U.S. soldiers.

As Tillman and other soldiers neared the hill’s crest, the Army reported, Tillman directed his team into firing positions and was shot and killed as he sprayed enemy positions with fire from his automatic weapon.

The Army did not specify who fired the shot or shots that killed Tillman.

For his actions, the Army posthumously awarded Tillman the Silver Star, its third-highest award for combat valor, saying Tillman led his Ranger team that day “without regard for his own safety” and was shot and killed heroically trying to save his comrades. The Army said his actions helped the trapped soldiers maneuver to safety “without taking a single casualty.”

This man, along with ALL of the men and women fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, are American heros and we should all remember that.

“This does not take away one iota from the heroic nature and courage of the man. The source of that fire is of little consequence in terms of heroism,”

Let’s take a moment this weekend to remember all of those who have died fighting for our country. Their sacrifice throughout our history has paved the way for freedom, and we should honor them all.

The FBI office in Denver has received “numerous” calls about the seven people believed to be associated with al-Qaeda pictured Wednesday in newspapers.

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Samuel Mac, manager of the Denny’s in Avon, isn’t happy with the response he got from the FBI when he reported that two of them ate at his restaurant Wednesday.

When he called the FBI in Washington, D.C., Mac said the man who answered the telephone said he had to call the Denver office and declined to take down any of the information.

When he called the Denver office, he was shuttled to voice mail because the agents were busy, Mac said. It was five hours before a seemingly uninterested agent called back.

Mac said two men – he subsequently identified them from their photographs as Adnan G. El Shukrijumah and Abderraouf Jdey – came into Denny’s, which is just off Interstate 70, about 8 p.m.

…

When the FBI agent called him back, she took a few notes and said she would pass the information along to the field agents, according to Mac.

Kelso said the Denver FBI office has received at least a dozen calls about the pictures. The calls are all taken seriously and “we follow up on every lead,” she said.

But she said the FBI has no reason to believe any of the seven are in Colorado or traveling through.

If she is so sure they are not in Colorado, that must mean she knows where they are. How else could she state, with confidence that they are nowhere near where this man says he saw them?

If the FBI is not going to listen to people when they ASK for help, why bother asking for help in the first place?

A soldier in the same ambush as former POW Jessica Lynch was not killed in action but captured by Iraqi fighters and then executed, officials said.

And people worry about Abu Ghraib?

“He was executed – shot twice in the back,” Guard spokesman Maj. Arnold Strong said in a telephone interview Thursday. “An Iraqi ambulance driver witnessed six Fedayeen rebels standing outside a building guarding him while he was still alive. That same witness evacuated his dead body to a hospital.”

And people worry about Abu Ghraib?

Defense investigators confirmed the account by matching Walters’ DNA to blood splatter on the wall where he was executed, Strong said. He died from two gunshot wounds to the back, fired from more than 20 feet away, according to Strong’s account of the investigation findings.

And people worry about Abu Ghraib? Only the fools do.