musing minds

She‘s thirty-five – again.

June 6, 1944. The largest air, land, and sea operation ever undertaken. Over 150,000 men, 5,000 ships, and 11,000 planes. It was the beginning of the end for Hitler.

After years of meticulous planning and seemingly endless training, for the Allied Forces, it all came down to this: The boat ramp goes down, then jump, swim, run, and crawl to the cliffs. Many of the first young men (most not yet 20 years old) entered the surf carrying eighty pounds of equipment. They faced over 200 yards of beach before reaching the first natural feature offering any protection. Blanketed by small-arms fire and bracketed by artillery, they found themselves in hell.

When it was over, the Allied Forces had suffered nearly 10,000 casualties; more than 4,000 were dead. Yet somehow, due to planning and preparation, and due to the valor, fidelity, and sacrifice of the Allied Forces, Fortress Europe had been breached.

(source)

Google, on the other hand, has this logo up today:

honoring artist Diego Velazquez, whose baptismal day was this date in 1599. His actual birthdate is unknown, but presumed to be shortly before the baptismal date. The painting is Las Meninas (1656, English: The Maids of Honour).

Over at Althouse, she asks What exactly is Hillary Clinton going to say after the last primary is over?

I left a comment there at 3:24 pm CDT:

It will not be a concession speech of any kind whatsoever. It will be a victory speech. She will declare that she is the winner of the popular vote, she will declare that the Michigan and Florida delegates were misallocated, and she will declare that the super delegates all have a right to a change of mind, right up until the final vote at the convention.

It’s not over until the weight challenged refined and gentle woman sings…

That’s my prediction and I’m sticking with it.

Also Bill Clinton said this earlier today (via Hot Air):

“I want to say also, that this may be the last day I’m ever involved in a campaign of this kind,” the former president said at a town hall at the Milbank Visitor Center (emphasis mine).

Others seem to see the “campaign of this kind”as the presidential campaign.

My take is that it’s the Primary campaign he’s talking about.

Or is it Christmas in June? My Christmas cactus that didn’t bloom at Christmas, but did bloom at Easter, is blooming again in June…

I think it’s confused…

Alaska doesn’t have an income tax. Alaska can pay for everything with royalties from oil production. Some years, Alaska can even pay her residents a dividend.

California wants to pay for lots of things and has a budget deficit.

Florida has an aging population and would also like to pay for lots of things in addition to recovering from Hurricanes now and then.

There is oil offshore of both California and Florida. That oil could solve some money problems for both states. All they have to do is allow drilling.

That would also increase US production, which would, in turn, reduce our need for foreign sources. It may not be a lot, but it’s sure better than not increasing our own production.

Little white flowers

Happy little pansy face

Hedley Lamarr has passed. February 15, 1927 to May 30, 2008. He was 81.

The man that had the hardest time keeping a straight face playing opposite Tim Conway on the Carol Burnett Show. In fact, he failed most of the time, breaking down in uncontrollable laughter at Tim’s antics. I enjoyed the Carol Burnett show the best when Harvey and Tim were in the same skits.

Slim Pickens as Taggart and Harvey Korman as Hedley Lamarr in Blazing Saddles

Hedley Lamarr: Repeat after me: I…

Men: I…

Hedley Lamarr: …your name…

Men: …your name…

Hedley Lamarr: [to himself] Shmucks. [continues aloud]

Hedley Lamarr: … do pledge allegiance…

Men: …do pledge allegiance…

Hedley Lamarr: …to Hedley Lamarr…

Men: …to Hedy Lamarr…

Hedley Lamarr: That’s *Hedley*!

Men: That’s Hedley.

We pray for his family and friends and offer our condolences. He will be missed.

The post just below has a link to the book by Scott McClellan that is coming out shortly. Amazon generally has a “Better Together” section for its items. The “Better Together” for this item is reproduced below. I’d really suggest the second book… Clicking the link will get you to a page where you can purchase Doug Feith’s War and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism. Clicking the image below will get you to where you can purchase both books, which will garner you free standard shipping because they total more than $25.

Write a book that bashes President Bush

AND

Write a book that validates everything the left has been saying for years. That’s the way to guarantee both sales and LOTS of media attention. What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception

Just what Richard Clarke (Against All Enemies) did four years ago. What was that Scott McClellan said in response to that book? Ah, yes:

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, why, all of a sudden, if he had all these grave concerns, did he not raise these sooner? This is one-and-a-half years after he left the administration. And now, all of a sudden, he’s raising these grave concerns that he claims he had. And I think you have to look at some of the facts. One, he is bringing this up in the heat of a presidential campaign. He has written a book and he certainly wants to go out there and promote that book. Certainly let’s look at the politics of it. His best buddy is Rand Beers, who is the principal foreign policy advisor to Senator Kerry’s campaign. The Kerry campaign went out and immediately put these comments up on their website that Mr. Clarke made.

Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL) jumped on the suggestion in the book that Karl Rove and Dick Cheney were in cahoots to “out” Valerie Plame. The Day in New London, CT reports:

Democratic Rep. Robert Wexler of Florida, however, said that McClellan should testify before the House Judiciary Committee to tell what he knows about the White House role in the leak of a CIA operative’s name and how the administration “deliberately orchestrated a massive propaganda campaign to sell the war in Iraq to the American people.”

He must have forgotten that Robert Novak and Richard Armitage took responsibility for the “outing” and that Lewis “Scooter” Libby was actually convicted in association with the case. He wants to bring in Scott McClellan to testify under oath to the committee. A guy who pretty much said: I lied then, but now I’m telling the truth so you should believe me now and forget what I said before….

We had a nice parade in town with participation from the Navy (there’s a base nearby).

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Then there was the S.W.A.T. vehicle…

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And then there was the idiot who thought that the Parade didn’t matter, he could drive out onto the main parade route … and hit a child who was going for candy thrown from the floats. The child was taken by ambulance to the hospital. Our prayers are with the child and his or her family. These ambulances were not participating in the parade, sadly they had to be doing their jobs…

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