Let me know what you thought of the Clinton impression!

Text of Bush’s Speech in New Orleans
Bluey:  Has Our President Gone Mad?
Field:  Socialism on the March
Johnson:  Big Government Is Not a Goal, It Is a Tactic—and Now It Is Republican Tactic
Sheehan attracts protestors, supporters


This is the e-mail from my friend Hank at NC State University (reprinted with his permission):

I wasn't there most of the time.  Class and Battalion lab cut into most of the time she was there.  From what I hear, she spoke to the crowd for less than 5 minutes, and spent an undetermined amount of time talking to reporters.

During the few minutes I witnessed the debacle, I'd say there was a max attendance of 150 people, contrary to what the Technician article says.  But even if the Technician article is accurate, State's enrollment is 30,000+, so turnout was extraordinarily low.

She was met by a group of less than 50 students and other students, mostly passers-by, eventually joined.  Most of Sheehan's statements were met with mixed applause and booing and bouts of silence.  I was never in earshot, so my fragile little mind wasn't poisoned by her anti-military rhetoric.

The battalion's standing orders were to avoid the area as much as possible, so everything I've said is based on talking with other members of the battalion who viewed this spectacle.  Most of the battalion disapprove of her being on campus, and loudly voiced their complaints to the higher-ups of our unit.

I believe she chose NC State to attempt to win more converts to her cause.  Despite the Technician, the counter-protest was extremely effective, perhaps more effective than Sheehan's visit.  I say she came here because NC State is relatively close to the I-95 corridor, and as Raleigh is the capital of NC, there are plenty of news stations, not only here, but in the Triangle Area.  She craves nothing more than the attention she's getting.  She is making a mockery of her son's death.  Her son volunteered, which means that he was well aware of the ramifications of joining the uniformed services.

A little line-by-line analysis:
"My son was killed in Iraq during a rescue mission that he volunteered for," Sheehan said, "He was a combat-certified lifesaver. He went out there to help his buddies, not to fight."
      You don't join the US Army, or any branch of the military, unless you're prepared to fight, kill, and perhaps give your life.
      United States Military Code of Conduct, Article I:  I am an American, fighting in the forces, which defend my country and our way of life.  I AM PREPARED TO GIVE MY LIFE IN THEIR DEFENSE (emphasis added).

Hank Swaim
Midshipman Third Class, USNR
NC State NROTC
Hoping for submarine warfare service selection.


Football (my picks in bold)

Top 25
Rice at #2 Texas
San Diego State at #9 Ohio State
Michigan State at #10 Notre Dame
Oregon State at #11 Louisville
#12 Purdue at Arizona
Eastern Michigan at #14 Michigan
Illinois at #15 California
Northwestern at #18 Arizona State
Sam Houston State at #19 Texas Tech
#21 Oklahoma at UCLA
Northern Iowa at #22 Iowa
#23 Fresno State at Oregon

SEC
Mississippi at Vanderbilt
Ball State at Auburn
Alabama at South Carolina
Kentucky at Indiana
Mississippi State at Tulane
Arkansas at #1 USC
Louisiana Monroe at #7 Georgia
#5 Tennessee at #6 Florida

ACC
West Virginia at Maryland
VMI at Duke
Eastern Kentucky at N.C. State
East Carolina at Wake Forest
Wisconsin at North Carolina
Ohio at #4 Virginia Tech
#8 Florida State at #17 Boston College
#13 Miami at #20 Clemson
Connecticut at #16 Georgia Tech
#25 Virginia at Syracuse