Tonight's Political Pistachio Radio, which is now playing on the media player on this site, was a successful broadcast. Governor James Gilmore, one of the major players in the Republican Party, took time from his busy schedule to be a part of the program. We spoke with him about his recent withdrawal from the Presidential Race, as well as his position on a number of issues, including the war on terror and the immigration issue. Listener participation was amazing. I had a number of callers submit questions to Mr. Gilmore, and I also fielded a number of questions submitted by Yahoo Messenger. Thank you for the support.

By the way, BlogTalk Radio also posted a blog entry on the broadcast. This is the second time Political Pistachio has been recognized by the host network.

Thank you, my friends, for your support, and continued listenership of the show. The growth of the radio show has been tremendous, and that growth is due to you, the listeners.

Thank you.

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Tammy Faye Messner passed away. The cancer finally completed its course, and has taken this woman of faith to Heaven. She actually passed away Friday morning, but it was requested that news of her death not be released until tonight.

She was a shining example of how a person can make mistakes in life, serious ones in her case regarding the scandals that surrounded the PTL club, and her then husband, Jim Bakker, in the 80's, and through faith and repentance find her way back to the Lord.

Despite the storms of her life, and the battle with cancer, she kept her Christian Faith. She became a shining example of faith and forgiveness in the end, and we are all better for knowing her. God Bless you, Tammy Faye, and rest easy in the arms of the Lord.

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I just received news that my employer is sending me out of town for the week to Las Vegas. I leave Sunday Morning. It'll take me probably a good six hours to drive my big rig to the location. Then it'll be fun in the sun (100+ degree weather). Anyway, the point of this portion of the post is to advise you, my loyal readers, that due to the accomodations set up for us the internet may not be readily available to me, so I am going to leave Political Pistachio, and my family of sites, to my lovely wife, the one you know as Mrs. Pistachio. Treat her well, and I'll talk to you next Saturday on Political Pistachio Radio with my guest, Stephen R. Maloney, who is one of the national coordinators for Sarah Palin for Vice-President on the Republican national ticket.

James Gilmore's term as Governor of Virginia ended in 2002. He has served as the RNC Chairman, Head of a National Committee on Terrorism, Chairman of the National Council on Readiness and Preparedness, and is a veteran of the U.S. Army. Governor Gilmore recently withdrew from the 2008 Presidential Race, and will be my guest on Political Pistachio Radio this coming Saturday, 4pm Pacific/7pm Eastern.

Captain Ed of Captains Quarters today had Senator McCain on his BlogTalk Radio Show, CQ Radio. Check it out. You may not necessarily agree with McCain, but the interview is interesting to say the least.

John Bootie is an independent Presidential Candidate and was my guest last Saturday on Political Pistachio Radio. If you are reading this post prior to July 21st, 2007, then the podcast you are currently listening to is my interview with him. John Bootie and his family needs your prayer. His brother, Robert E. Bootie, passed away last Sunday after being hit by another vehicle on the roadway head-on. He was 55. His wife and child survived, but have been hospitalized. Robert Bootie's wife is currently in a coma, but expected to awaken soon. Robert's son is up and around and currently healing. The family of John Bootie also requests that we extend our prayer to the driver of the other vehicle, as well as her family. The driver of the other vehicle is currently in a coma and near death.

My good friend, Dumb Ox, is launching a new site on July 20th, 2007, and I have been invited to contribute. The new site is Ox. . .After Dark, and it is an honor to be asked to contribute to the site. The blog deals with relationship issues, family, and especially marital and romantic relationships. Fiction, true stories, tips, warnings, and some news will all be a part of this new blog. As a happily married man of 23 years, and a man who holds tight to his good and moral principles fueled by a faith in God, I am thrilled to be able to write a different kind of post. Any how, I actually contribute to a number of sites, but of late my contributions to these other sites have been few and far between due to a busy schedule - but that will change.

So, aside from Ox. . .After Dark, here is a list of the other sites I currently contribute to.

American Pundit
Conservative Crusader
Heading Right
My Point Radio
Pig Dip
Sky Dive Rick

Oh, and one more thing. This hit me today while at work. It seems to me that Liberalism is attempting to make normal immoral and destructive behavior. Just ask Obama who wishes to teach Kindergartners Sex Education, or any number of the members of the Left that wishes to make legal full term abortion, Gay Marriage, Public displays of nudity (tonight on Hannity and Colmes a liberal actually defended the nudity calling it art), and cowering away from the enemy rather than facing them and defending this nation.

By the way, the Congressional sleep-over to pressure Republicans regarding voting for a withdrawal date from Iraq was unsuccessful, as expected.

A passenger jet crashed in Sao Paulo, Brazil earlier today. The entire compliment of 175 people on board are feared to be dead. The accident occured at the Congohaus airport. After sliding down the short runway, the airliner hit a gas station and a building.

TAM Airlines initially indicated there were 176 people on board the Airbus 320, then later lowered the total to 175. Due to the deaths of bystanders the death toll is thought to be as high as 200.

As many as 12 people on the ground (aside from those feared dead) are said to have been injured and taken to hospitals.

Last year reports rose out of Britain that the Parliment was banning the term "Global War on Terror," because it might send the wrong message.

Earlier this year the Democrats wished to do the same because the term is considered by them to be "too broad." (Meaning that they don't like the idea it's Global - they want everybody to think the whole war is all about Iraq)

The Left wishes to impeach Bush and Cheney for high crimes and misdemeaners - adding Cheney is ridiculous because Cheney is a part of the Leglislative Branch of government serving as head of the Senate - and any impeachment idea is insane. Think about it. One of the cries for impeachment is calling the current battle in Iraq illegal (does the Left forget that in 2001 by a margin of 98-0 the Senate passed a resolution authorizing the president to "use all necessary and appropriate force" against terrorists and any nation that provided safe harbor and support to them?)

And now, in another attempt to ban truth, in Nebraska a judge has decided to ban the words "rape," "victim," "assailant" and "sexual-assault kit," in a rape case, and ordered witnesses to sign papers saying they wouldn't use the words. Words such as "sex" and "intercourse" were allowed. The reason? He didn't want the words to prejudice or mislead the jury.

Okay, let's back up a little. The Left wishes to ban "Global War on Terror," I believe, because they don't believe that this is a war at all. It's just a little misunderstanding, I suppose. A criminal act, perhaps.

Listen, my dear liberal friends, when a group says that they wish to destroy your civilization and then fly planes into buildings and kill over 3,000 people it is an act of war. And how, pray tell, should a nation respond to an act of war? Oh, I don't know, maybe we ought to take the war to the enemy so that they learn not to attack America again!

Are you afraid you might hurt the feelings of the enemy, or something?

Just like this judge banning those words in the sexual assault case - if the accusation is rape, it's rape. Don't sugar coat it. Since when are we supposed to be worried about the facts getting out? Hmmm?

As for this idiotic impeachment movement, name a crime. The Left says Bush has set himself up as King, or something like that. Are you kidding me? Radical Islam committed an act of war against the United States of America. And he didn't lie about the WMD either, idiots. We telegraphed that we were coming to look for the damn things and Saddam had plenty of time to ship them out. That's not lying, that's the Left warning the enemy before we come and then trying to shift the stupidy to the right.

If Bush is guilty of anything, it's handcuffing the troops. It's a war, and should be fought as a war. Let's take the gloves off and fight the dang thing!

"Oh, but Doug, don't you know that poor, innocent people may get killed. Not all Muslims are terrorists."

True. But all of the terrorists have been Muslim. And it's war. It's unfortunate, but sometimes innocents are lost in a war - especially when the cowardly enemy uses innocent people as human shields.

The Left is playing a game of seek and destroy. Instead of all this bull, how about using a little common sense?

Fact: The Jihadists brought the war to us, not the other way around. They wish to kill us and destroy our society. Wouldn't it be prudent to take the threat seriously? All that the Left is doing is playing these stupid games for political reasons. America is the least of their worries. They are out to get the White House.

Violence is in the world because people are violent against each other, not because America is a superpower. The Middle East is in a shambles because extreme radical Islam has made it that way, not because of our presence. Once again, they declared Jihad on us, not the other way around!

In order to seize power in America, the Left has realized that they cannot win on the issues, so the Democratic Party has decided to wage an all out war single-mindedly bent on discrediting the President, thus winning back he White House - even if it means compromising our national security while in the process of shutting down intelligence procedures in the name of civil rights, shutting down a containment facility in Gitmo by accusing it of using torture, and proclaiming that the war in the Middle East is illegal even though the majority of them voted in favor of it in the beginning. The Democratic Party has ignored the lessons of history. Bad guys do bad things and must be stopped, and they can only be stopped from a position of strength. The Left's ambitions, it turns out, are more important than the National Welfare of this country.

And before any of you liberals that may be reading this gets too high on your horse, think about this. The Taliban has been successfully driven from Afghanistan, and Saddam Hussein has been removed from power (and executed) in Iraq. Afghanistan and Iraq no longer sponsors terrorism. Neither of these nations live under the evils of tyranny any longer. The seeds of democracy have been planted in these nations. If Saddam Hussein was still in power in Iraq his ability to manufacture and use weapons of mass destruction would be reached by now and he would be either using them, or distributing them to terrorists. Our actions in Iraq stopped that innevitability.

The truth, however, according to the liberals, may prejudice or mislead the American People, so the Left would rather smear lies all around, toss in a few accusations, and then try to throw the "Fairness Doctrine" in there as well for the soul purpose of silencing the conservative voice.

Banning Truth leads to destruction. The enemy attacks weakness, and runs from strength. Evil prefers their victims to be unarmed.

Spain suffered the terrorist attack on the train station after an anti-war candidate took office in order to more quickly persuade him to pull out their troops from Iraq. Now Britain has suffered attacks shortly after Blair resigned and a more anti-war Minister has taken office. The message is clear - The Islamists realize that liberals, when faced with an attack, will pull out as fast as possible.

We must stay strong. We must continue to wage the global war on terror, and that is the truth.

Jim Gilmore, former governor of the State of Virginia, and once the chairman of the Republican National Committee, has called it quits. He cites that though the experience has been rewarding for himself, his family, and his supporters, the combination of a late start and primary schedule has made it unrealistic that he can catch the front runners.

Another difficulty has been the money raised. Since January, according to Captain's Quarters, he has raised $381,000, while his rivals have collected tens of millions of dollars.

Gilmore has recognized this, stating in his announcement that he has ". . . come to believe that it takes more than a positive vision for our nation's future to successfully compete for the Presidency. I believe that it takes years of preparation to put in place both the political and financial infrastructure to contest what now amounts to a one-day national primary in February."

He will, however, remain active in the Republican Party and in public debate.

After an initial contact with his campaign representatives he has tentatively agreed to come on Political Pistachio Radio this coming Saturday to discuss the ups and downs of his short-lived run for President, and how he will remain involved in the Republican Party's candidates drive for the 2008 Presidency.

Stay tuned to Political Pistachio as more information becomes available.

A couple of Republicans are now challenging Bush's Iraq Policy. They are proposing that Bush must have a new strategy by mid-October, to make adjustments to the "reality" as they see it that sectarian factionalism is not likely to abate anytime soon. In the meantime, American Intelligence has determined that Al Qaeda is stepping up its efforts to infiltrate America as well as having acquired the capabilities it needs to strike America with another terror attack.

With the 2008 Presidential Election looming in the distance it is apparent that the Democratic Candidates all believe that appeasement of the enemy, and taking no action without first receiving approval from an impotent United Nations, is their position. The current president, though willing to take the fight to the nations that harbor terrorism, is unwilling to do what it takes to seal our borders which is necessary for national security. The Republican Presidential Candidates are undecided or wavering on a number of issues. They don't have a plan for the rapidly increasing fuel prices. None of them, aside from some of the minor candidates, have a definitive answer for the illegal alien problem. The War on Terror confounds them. Rudy is strong on terror, but a liberal when it comes to social issues. McCain is sunk. Romney has flip-flopped nearly as much as Kerry did during the last election.

What to do?

Minor Candidates like Hunter and Huckabee offer some possibilities, and the Conservative Right is hoping that Fred Thompson gets into the race, a possibility that may happen (and his numbers, even without officially announcing his candidacy are quite high).

The next four broadcasts of Political Pistachio Radio will address this conundrum by having grassroots conservative candidates on the show. First, July 14, 2007, we will have the self-proclaimed "next Lincoln/Reagan" on the show. His name is John Bootie.

On July 21st Cary Cartter will return to Political Pistachio Radio to talk more specifically on the issues that we did not get the opportunity to touch upon the last time he was on the show.

On July 28th a person close to Sarah Palin's candidacy will be on to tell us about her drive for the Presidency.

On August 4th Richard Smith, Christian Conservative, will be on the show to discuss his candidacy.

Then, after all of that, the shows get really interesting. On August 11th I have scheduled as a guest on Political Pistachio Radio Atlas Shrugs!

On August 25th one more candidate, Brad Lord-Leutweyler will be on the show.

Then, on September 8th Andrea Shea King will be my guest.

As always, the shows will air live at 4pm Pacific Time/7pm Eastern.

During the shows you may call in at (646) 652-2940 to join the discussion, or submit questions via Yahoo Messenger (My ID is douglasvgibbs).

A few hours ago the House of Representatives voted to withdrawal U.S. troops from Iraq by Spring of 2008. The measure passed 223-201. Democrats and the anti-war crowd does not agree with President Bush, or the Conservative Right, that we can succeed in Iraq.

One of my main concerns is regarding the message this sends the enemy, and our allies. Dick Morris actually did a piece saying that it would be wise for Bush to concede, and begin a troop withdrawal. I disagree. Political motives are not a good reason for doing the wrong thing. Ahamdinejad in Iran has been waiting for this. Fact is, Iran is bent on Israel's Destruction, along with the demise of The West, and this is exactly what he disires from us. Pulling out will invite terrorists to come to America and hit us (Al Qaeda has already regrouped and is ready for another strike), places Israel in greater jeopardy, and betrays those in Iraq that believed in us and our presence. That bitterness, caused by us abandoning these people, will create a hatred that Iran and Syria will feed upon, and Iraq will once again become a haven for terrorists. And a pullout will also place doubt in our ally's minds regarding us.

And all of this is going on as Pakistan falls under more attacks from Al Qaeda (remember, Pakistan has nuclear weapons), and Islamic militants kill 14 Philippine marines, beheading ten of them.

As this is going on, the Left desires to appease the enemy, underestimating the seriousness of the War on Terror. The MSM is content to focus on deathtolls in Iraq (rather than mentioning what good has been going on there such as the advances of most of the provinces toward self-protection, and the humanitarian efforts by American Troops such as immunizations of children, and the like.

Here's my grave concern about all this. It's not just that I see this as a dangerous mistake on our part. I see Islamism as a force determined to destroy the United States. Whether or not they can is not the point. The fact that they wish to is not something we should shrug off.

But it all goes deeper than that. I fear the very existance of the United States of America as being in grave danger. Not only do the Islamic Extremists wish to end our existance, but so does the Mexican extremists (and the movement is stronger than you realize), socialists in the Democratic Party, and the Internationalists in the Republican Party. Once, long ago, it was the communists from Russia. Now it's those groups above, as well as China, North Korea, and the like.

So I ask this question: Do we really wish to take the threat of ending American sovereignty lightly? Should we truly underestimate the possibility?

The sky is falling, the sky is falling, and Al Gore may receive a Nobel Peace Prize for spreading the lie!

That's right, folks, the great global warming lie may position Al Gore for a Nobel Peace Prize, and if he gets it, then he'll run for office as well.

And on the evening of 07-07-07 the music industry had a worldwide concert to raise money for the fight against human caused global warming via all of these outragious carbon footprints we are leaving all over the place.

Problem is, true science recognizes that mankind's itty-bitty contribution of greenhouse gases is not nearly enough to affect such a change to the global climate. The real cause of causing the globe to warm is - wait for it - drumroll please - the Sun.

What?

The sun is warming the planet? Oh, how absurd. Can't be so.

Yep, sunspot activity is the cause of global warming. And here's the real kicker (okay, sounds like deja vu, I've said this before, but it's just too dang interesting that the Left is so stupid to believe the crap pushed by the eco-nazis): Carbon Dioxide increases in the atmosphere is not being caused by us, but by the warming of the planet. In other words, they've got it backwards.

Dummies.

So, for all of those "Live Earth" bands playing their hearts out for the Global Climate Change Crisis, be happy to know that all that money you are raising is going into the pockets of the new reverends of environmentalism.

Now, it's time to plug my videos site. I know some of you have visited it, but honestly, I've got some good vids on it right now. Specifically, the last three. Check out the Binch, Dial 1 for English, and God Bless the USA at Political Pistachio Videos.

Also, when I was nineteen I had an accident that nearly killed me. The story of when I came out of my comatose state has been posted at my Defender of the Blahs site.

I planned to do a nice post about the Patriot Act tonight, considering that this Saturday's guest on Political Pistachio Radio is going to be Paul Ibbetson, author of the book, "Living Under The Patriot Act: Educating a Society," as well as an expert on terrorism and national security. However, news items and liberal musings about me, and observations of today's world got me thinking. And you know, it made me really think about people's motives.

I've posted about "motives" before, so I suppose this is nothing new. Some liberal motives are grounded in good intentions, but fall short when applied to reality. Human Nature, unfortunately, is not capable of behaving in the "Fair" and "Utopian" society that the far left seems to be wishing for (the proper name for such an unreachable society is "socialism"). Other liberal motives are sometimes simply to attack and be a mean as they can be to get their point across. A liberal writes often about me in such a way - my buddy SkyDiveRick usually alerts me when it gets really bad over there (No link to the liberal's site - he doesn't deserve the traffic, nor the attention), lashing out with name calling and attacks and facts more often than not retrieved from left-leaning sources. Sometimes a person's motives are good, but fall short. Sometimes their motives are poor, and somehow things work out fine. Regardless, I was once asked about "sin", and me being a Christian, of course, I had an answer. I believe that sometimes something is not necessarily wrong for what it is, but for the reason behind it. Example: It isn't a sin to eat, but if the reason for eating is to use the food to replace a void in one's life, in a vain attempt to make the person feel better, resulting in a gluttonous frenzy of overeating, it is a sin.

But sin is not what this post is about. It is about motives, and motives when it comes to the liberal left often perplex me. Environmentalists too. The reason is that it fascinates me how folks will say their motive is one thing, when often it is actually something different. Or claim to have certain motives and their actions don't necessarily follow suit (Gore is a shining example of that one - considering the CO2 he spews into the atmosphere with his private jets, etc.). The article that said this the loudest, for me however, was one I read in yesterday's newspaper.

The headline in my local paper read: Prius is pick for flashing green. The story, by the way, was on the front page, too. Now, I could not find the link to the story at the site of my paper on the web, but the same story also was in the New York Times, so the above link sends you there. Anyhow, the article states that the Prius hybrid car is selling well, while other hybrids are not. Why is this? The answer is startling.

I figure environmentally conscious folks who buy the hybrids do it as a way of doing their part in the phantom Global Warming Crisis, or perhaps they do it for the better mileage. Makes sense, right?

The main reason that the Prius sells better is not for the noble cause of being green, per se, but because it is more obviously a hybrid. In other words, the buyers want everyone to know that they are driving a hybrid because the Prius is sold only as a hybrid, and unlike the other hybrids (Honda Civic, Ford Escape, Saturn Vue) it can't be confused as being a non-hybrid vehicle. It's more about show than substance.

I got a kick out of the fact that the marketing research company that figured this out is based in Bandon, Oregon (you know, the town where I had a confrontation with the liberal hippie). Anyway, I just thought that was pretty shallow of the hybrid owners who talk about putting Earth first, but in reality it's all about putting their personal image first.

It's like folks who give to charities. It is good to give to charities, but if folks have to go around telling everybody they do so, and then list the charities they give to, one wonders about the real reasons these folks give to charities in the first place. Same thing with the Prius. These people didn't really buy the car, deep down, because of some virtuous attempt to save the world, but so that they could go around showing off to people that they are so-called "environmentally conscious."

It's bad enough that the liberal left has brainwashed the world into believing that we are causing Global Warming (when considering our minuscule output of greenhouse gases alone that is comically not likely - not counting the "real" scientific facts that the globe is warming because of sunspot activity, not CO2, and that in reality, the CO2 is not causing the warming, the warming is causing the increase in CO2!), and besides, I think the Earth has been too cold for too long and that in reality it is actually returning to its proper "warmer" temperature, which will allow, if one thinks about this, for us to grow more crops for our ever increasing population since the warming will create more fertile land further to the north. And we seem to forget that once, before the discovery of America by Columbus, and when Eric the Red located the Canadian Coastline, Greenland was green. But when these environmentalists claim they are so eco-friendly, and their real motivation is for them to look good and look green in the eyes of their peers over doing it for their cause, it sums up to me what these hypocrites are truly all about.

Oh, and as an added note, my first blog is getting a little attention again. Defender of the Blahs is supposed to be a journal of my journey to publication, but more often than not, nowadays, the news is little and far between, so I've decided to begin posting old stories and poetry I've written over the years on that site. Tonight I posted a poem I wrote way back in 1981 when I was fifteen years old. It's not a poem by a polished writer, considering my age and experience, at the time, but it's entertaining nonetheless. Anyway, if you dare, give it a read.

America gained its independence 231 years ago. The independence this nation gained was from the control of England. King George had determined that the American Colonies should continue to be controlled by The Crown when the American Colonies declared their independence, using the words that "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

"Created," and "Creator."

For those that argue that this nation is not founded upon Judeo-Christian principles apparently didn't notice those words - "created" and "Creator" in the Declaration of Independence. This also dismisses the current version of what people believe to be the "Separation of Church and State." That separation was designed to ensure that the government did not get into the business of the church, not the other way around.

Notice that among these are the "pursuit" of happiness. We are created equal, but it is by our ambitions, drive, or whatever that determines our success, and the Declaration of Independence recognizes that. There is no mention of "fairness" or "wealth redistribution." Our nation was founded so that the "opportunity" of a better life is available. This opportunity is to be worked for, not given, and only to those that value this nation and what she stands for.

In other words, earn it, and the government has no business taking it away and distributing such earnings to those that did not earn it.

Americans crave freedom, because freedom allows us to be self-reliant. Freedom allows us to live our lives without the tyranny of oppression. Americans are givers, teachers, and contributors. Americans retain a human spirit that enables us to be driven for success, and national pride.

I am proud to be uniquely American.

And on Independence Day it is not just a time to celebrate the independence of this nation from the tyranny of England, but to celebrate the qualities that make us American. It is a day to celebrate the principles this nation was founded upon. It is a day to celebrate the liberty we enjoy because of those that gave their lives to secure such liberty.