Buckley and Reagan: The Qualities of Conservative Greatness – Bruce Walker @ American Thinker

Bruce Walker has a great piece today at American Thinker called Buckley and Reagan: The Qualities of Conservative Greatness. Mr Walker discuses how these men were great conservatives of our time.

But, I can that this paragraph is very true how the MSM and many liberals treats conservatives today:

No Leftist will ever be as loved by Americans as that “Arch-Conservative” Reagan and no Leftist will ever be as respected and admired as William F. Buckley, Jr. While conservatives thrash about to define ourselves, to find ourselves, to seek our inner selves, let us first study a bit what made these two giants unifying leaders who they were.

Here is a summary of the qualities that made these men great conservatives according to Mr Walker:

1. The first common characteristic is that both men were devoutly religious — it is impossible to think of either man without soon noting the importance of God in the biography.
2. As a natural consequence of the importance of God in their lives, Buckley and Reagan believed in the divine purpose of marriage and family.
3. Buckley and Reagan were also men with a genuine love of life.
4. The two conservative icons were, then, whole men.
5. This absence of finesse was the key to their eloquence.

I would suggest you read the article. I know that I am not close in achieving these qualities as these great men did. Mr Walker provided some supporting details how these men emulated these qualities.

In Mr Walker’s close paragraph, I would have to agree about those claiming to be our conservative leaders today:

Spoken plainly, conservative leaders today are too opportunistic, too interested in personal reward, too worried about what our enemies think, and too afraid too stand cheerfully alone. Buckley and Reagan were men of great gifts, but it was not their gifts alone that made them great. What made them great was certainty of moral purpose and absolute fearlessness in defending without equivocation what they knew was right. Nations always need such men. America particularly needs such men now.

Homework Assignment

Yesterday, Rush Limbaugh gave his listeners a homework assignment. Yes, the education never ends at the Limbaugh Institute of Conservative Studies. The assignment is to share his recent discussion on privileges and rights we have as citizens of the United States. So, I do not have a large circle of friends, so why not share it here.

Whether you agree or disagree with Rush, it is a good read on his website.  It should be posted for a couple weeks, but I have posted the meat of this great discussion on it.  Read further.

Feel Like Making Love

Well, today is the last day of February, best known for being the month of love, because of Valentine’s Day. So, on this extra day of February known as Leap Day, how about ending with a classic song called Feel Like Making Love.

I heard this song by Bad Company on the radio yesterday afternoon on the local Jack FM radio station. So, it is the first version that is best known to me. After some searching, I found their version at YouTube here.

But here is a YouTube version done by jazz artist George Benson:

Decide which version is best for you and your spouse on this day. Great way to end this month by showing how much you love each other.

Update 13 Mar 2008: Was able to get Bad Company’s version posted here. So Enjoy!
Update 23 April 2008: WordPress fixed an issue with YouTube videos not allow embed option. So follow the link. Sorry.

Cold Reception – Grapevine @ FoxNews

Courtesy of the SpecialReport with Brit Hume’s Grapevine at FoxNews, confirming my post earlier this week and discussed by Rush on his Wednesday program. Here is Wednesday’s Grapevine:

Tuesday we told you about several areas around the planet experiencing record cold and snowpack — in the face of all the predictions of global warming.

Now there is word that all four major global temperature tracking outlets have released data showing that temperatures have dropped significantly over the last year. California meteorologist Anthony Watts says the amount of cooling ranges from 65-hundredths of a degree Centigrade to 75-hundreds of a degree.

That is said to be a value large enough to erase nearly all the global warming recorded over the past 100 years. It is reportedly the single fastest temperature change ever recorded — up or down.

Some scientists contend the cooling is the result of reduced solar activity — which they say is a larger driver of climate change than man-made greenhouse gases.

Note the last sentence above. It is the real reason behind climate change on our Earth.

An Unlucky Anniversary?

Well, it is not really unlucky. But, thirteen years ago today, I became a pet owner for the first time. This cute, lovable Jack Russel Terrier named Rachel became a part of my family:

Several years ago, I had the above picture taken to an artist who did a pastel drawing of her in a field of grass and a blue sky. It hangs in my living room. One of my prize possessions.

How did I obtain her 13 years ago? Well, I picked her from a litter of four dogs in the Greenfield area, east of Indianapolis, Indiana. Her siblings were three male Jack Russel Terriers with markings similar to Eddie on the Frasier TV show. I remember two things when picking her out. First, she was attention getter and affectionate puppy. Two thumbs up in picking her. Second, her her parentage was from Jack Russell Terriers named Shirley, Laverne, and Fonzie. I do not remember which female was the mother, but they were interesting dog names.

Today, she is still a very active and affectionate dog at age 13. She provides the unconditional love I really need at times. Maybe someday my Ms Right may come in my life and replace her as top dog.

William F Buckley Jr Passes Away

William F Buckley Jr, one of the best known conservative voices of our era, has past away at 82 today.

Here are some blogs, columns, and stories about it: Breibart , Mary Katharine Ham, Michelle Malkin, Robert Knight.

National Review Online has a series of articles as well.

Here is a brief history of what Mr Buckley had accomplished from the AP story:

Editor, columnist, novelist, debater, TV talk show star of “Firing Line,” harpsichordist, trans-oceanic sailor and even a good-natured loser in a New York mayor’s race, Buckley worked at a daunting pace, taking as little as 20 minutes to write a column for his magazine, the National Review.

He will be sadly missed.

NHL at Trade Deadline

Let’s take a look at the standings today as the NHL Trade Deadline has past.

In the East, the top eight teams in order are: Devils, Senators, Hurricanes, Penguins, Canadiens, Rangers, Bruins, and Flyers.  There are six teams within 7 points of the final spot held by the Flyers.

In the West, the top eight teams in order are: Red Wings, Stars, Flames, Ducks, Sharks, Wild, Canucks, and Predators. There are five teams within 8 points of the final spot held by the Predators.

It is still real competitive in the race for playoff spots.  I see that the Senators lost their top spot for now, but they could regain it.  Most teams have less than 20 games remaining.  Also, in the East, the Flyers, the most improved from last season, last night rebounded with a win after 10 game losing streak.  In the West, the Stars are now challenging the Red Wings for the top spot.  So, it is to become real exciting as we reach the end of the season.

So, what is the big deal today?  Well, the trade deadline was at 3 PM ET.  So, who has improved? Check out the latest news headlines at the NHL here.

Colorado looks like it improved alot.  They got Forsberg and Foote back.

Pittsburgh landed Hossa from Atlanta.

Check how your team did. Here is the news on this year’s completed trades to date.