For decades the familiar voice of The Reverend Dr. Billy Graham would issue that invitation to audience around the world.  The choir would begin singing “Just As I Am” and Dr. Graham, having preached the message of the gospel from the depths of his being would encourage sinners to make that step of faith to come and meet the Christ who bore the sins of the world.

The legacy of Dr. Graham, now 88 and in failing health, was honored today with the dedication of the the Billy Graham Library. Graham was joined by his son Franklin and by Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.

Ex-presidents join crowd at Graham library launch
USA Today
CHARLOTTE (AP) — A frail Billy Graham, using a walker and leaning on his son Franklin, was honored Thursday by three former U.S. presidents as they dedicated a museum built to be a “living crusade” that will carry on his work after the minister is gone.

Read more.

Billy Graham: “A Spiritual Gift to All”
Time Magazine
Bush, 83, gave the keynote address, and praised Graham for sparking a moral awakening in the U.S. and later, in communist countries. Graham, along with Pope John Paul, “helped tip the balance of history in freedom’s favor.” Bush also thanked Graham for ministering to four generations of his own family, starting with his mother and continuing through to his children and grandchildren. “Billy guided our kids, including our daughter Doro and the President, through their own spiritual journeys.” Graham, said Bush, “is a spiritual gift to all of us,” briefly choking up as he spoke.

Read more.

More about the library from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Now 88, and in poor health, Graham spends most of his time with his beloved Ruth, bedridden by bone degeneration.

One of the joys of growing older is the opportunity for us to spend more time together. Sometimes we’ll just sit for hours, holding hands and talking or watching a video, or even just enjoying each other’s company in silence. After a lifetime of travel and being apart so much, we treasure this stage of our lives.

Billy Graham opens up about heaven, Iraq war
By Pamela Miller
Minneapolis Star Tribune via StarNewsOnline.com

Graham once said,

Being a Christian is more than just an instantaneous conversion - it is a daily process whereby you grow to be more and more like Christ.

and through his life, he has proven it so.

Dr. Norman Vincent Peale

1898 - 1993

Nothing of great value in this life comes easily. The things of highest value sometimes come hard. The gold that has the greatest value lies deepest in the earth, as do the diamonds.

~ Dr. Norman Vincent Peale

Scientists Looking for Wayward Whales
Unpredictable Whales Leave Rescuers With New Data, Questions
ABCNews

More than two weeks after they were first spotted far up the Sacramento River, two lost humpback whales appeared to have finally found their way home Wednesday.

Officials said they assumed the pair returned to the open sea, undoing a wrong turn that drew thousands of admirers and a flurry of rescue efforts.

Read more.

Did they return to sea?  Or did something else happen?

In related news, researchers at a factory in San Francisco announce they have discovered the formula for transparent aluminum, and

A Marine Biologist is reported missing from the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Fascinating.

Write-in candidate for PWC Commonwealth Attorney, Hamilton “Ham” Sandwich will be live blogging tomorrow at The Daily Whackjob.  Head over now and post your questions.

H/T to Virginia Virtucon

For weeks, political pundits have been speculating about the Presidential candidacy of former Tennessee Senator turned actor Fred Thompson.  You might recall, you heard it here first.

Okay, so maybe we weren’t the first, but we called it early on.

Speculation about Thompson’s intentions hit fever pitch this week with Stephen Hayes’ saying “Fred Thompson is running.”

Testing the Waters:  Fred Thompson is running.
The Daily Standard

FRED THOMPSON IS RUNNING for the Republican presidential nomination. In a conference call Monday, Thompson addressed a group of more than 100 supporters and fundraisers whom the campaign has dubbed First Day Founders. He told them that he would be setting up an organization that will allow him to begin raising money and recruiting staff.

Then the Internet broke open with today’s article from Mike Allen that said Fred Thompson will run, advisers say.

Allen says:  Fred Dalton Thompson is planning to enter the presidential race over the Fourth of July holiday, announcing this week that he has already raised several million dollars and is being backed by insiders from the past three Republican administrations, Thompson advisers told The Politico.

That set of a firestorm of reactions:

Thompson To Dip His Toes
The New York Sun
Speculation over whether Fred Thompson is serious about running for president just went toes-up. Mr. Thompson’s not-yet-a campaign has confirmed: He’s dipping his toes in.

Fred Thompson Expected to Announce White House Candidacy in July
FoxNews.com
WASHINGTON —  It seems all but certain that former senator and “Law & Order” TV star Fred Thompson will formally announce his campaign for president sometime after July 4.

Fred Thompson Takes First Step in Presidential Run, Opposes Abortion
LifeNews.com
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) – Former Tennessee senator and well-known actor Fred Thompson has taken the first step in what could be a full-fledged candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008. Thompson will file paperwork on Friday saying he is considering an exploratory committee allowing him to start raising funds.

I understand where LifeNews is coming from.  But that’s still a very poorly written headline.  Unless of course they think the first step towards running is opposing abortion.  Oh…wait…

Elsewhere:

Thompson hurts Rudy in the polls
MSNBC.com
As we wrote earlier today, McCain could be the biggest loser with Fred Thompson establishing a “testing the waters” committee, because he will begin gobbling up GOP money that McCain needs for a strong 2nd quarter fundraising performance. But NBC/WSJ pollster Neil Newhouse (R) tells First Read that Thompson pulls more from Giuliani — at least in the polls.

Giuliani says he’d welcome Thompson into Republican race
AP via WBOC.com
Rudy Giuliani says he’d welcome former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson into the presidential race.

I could be wrong, but I don’t think Fred was waiting for Rudy’s permission.

As for the July 4 announcement, National Review says Politico got that part wrong:

Just talked to a Thompson source I’ll call “TA3″ (Thompson Associate 3). Much more coming shortly, but the first word was, there will not be a presidential announcement from Fred Thompson on July 4.

Still it could be wise to make an annoucement over that week.

SLANTblog has a snarky post about Filling out the Thompson ticket.

He manages to take a swing (albeit a gentle one) at Thompson, Ronald Reagan and Chuck Norris.  Yes, Ronald Reagan was a “B Movie” actor.  But he was a first class President. 

Still, while Thompson may have some Reaganesque qualities, he’s no Ronald Reagan.  And, as far as I’m concerned, Ronald Reagan isn’t who we need today.  Reagan was the right man for the right time, redeeming us from the misery and horror of the Carter years.  Reagan was the man to look Communism in the eye and say “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” 

Our needs are different now.  We face a different enemy.  Is Thompson the one to lead us?  I’m not yet sure.

But I am fascinated by the frenzy that this Thompson news has created across the Internet and spilling into talk radio.

Are our other ten choices really that bad?  They just might be.

Either way, when Thompson makes it official, the dynamics change.

Howler thinks my “defense of the recent Presidential Directive” is so “yesterday.”

But she missed the point.  I wasn’t defending the Directive (other than perhaps noting it’s not the power grab she thinks it is), I was pointing out the sheer absurdity of her quoting World Net Daily.

Cats and dogs live together; Howler quotes World Net Daily

Howler thinks that somehow, because conservatives are dissappointed with Bush that it proves her point.  But the reality is, they’re dissatisfied with him because he’s acting like…a Democrat.  Which really only points out that Howler doesn’t care what the President says.  She just doesn’t like him because he’s a Republican. 

In other words, no matter how far to the left he might move, even so far as to agree with Madame Speaker and Harry Reid or Teddy Kennedy, it’s not good enough for Howler and the other leftists.  Which, of course, proves our point all along that Democrat(ick)s don’t care about issues.  They care about power.

What’s most laughable is that, when I point out the absurdity of Howler quoting World Net Daily, she responds by quoting Richard Viguerie.

But hey, thanks for the link.

So to speak…

Travel through West Virginia and you’ll soon find out that you can’t swing a dead polecat without hitting something named for former Grand Kleagle and “Conscience of the Senate” Robert Byrd.  Byrd is famous for bringing home the pork to his home state earning him the nickname “King of Pork.”

But he’s apparently only willing to do so if you the public, that would be the taxpayers funding this pork, don’t know about it.  These little projects are called “earmarks” and Senator Byrd doesn’t think they’re any of your business.

“If all earmark requests are made public, this would certainly lead to an increase in requests, as members are pressured from home to compete for more projects.”

From a staff email from Senator Byrd’s office.

In other words, if the public knows the amount of funds being thrown away on other ridiculous, and often worthless, projcts, they’ll want more for themselves.  But you can’t have it.  It belongs to Senator Byrd.

Byrd isn’t alone in this regard.  And it’s not just a Democrat(ick) problem.  He’s just the best in this form of business.

Check out this CNN report on Congress and your money.

AP via Yahoo

CAIRO, Egypt - An American member of al-Qaida warned President Bush on Tuesday to end U.S. involvement in all Muslim lands or face an attack worse than the Sept. 11 suicide assault, according to a new videotape.

“Your failure to heed our demands … means that you and your people will … experience things which will make you forget all about the horrors of September 11th, Afghanistan and Iraq and Virginia Tech,” he said in the seven-minute video.

Read more.

Make no mistake about it.  They’re not coming.

They’re already here.

On May 30, 1536, Henry VIII married Jane Seymour. 

Farewell! a long farewell, to all my greatness!
This is the state of man: to-day he puts forth
The tender leaves of hopes; to-morrow blossoms,
And bears his blushing honours thick upon him;
The third day comes a frost, a killing frost,
And when he thinks, good easy man, full surely
His greatness is a-ripening, nips his root,
And then he falls, as I do. I have ventured,
Like little wanton boys that swim on bladders,
This many summers in a sea of glory,
But far beyond my depth.

~ William Shakespeare, Henry VIII, 3. 2

I’m Henry the eighth I am
Henry the eighth I am, I am
I got married to the widow next door
She’s been married seven times before
And every one was an Henry (Henry)
She wouldn’t have a Willy or a Sam (no Sam)
I’m her eighth old man, I’m Henry
Henry the eighth I am

Second verse same as the first

~ Herman’s Hermits

Benny Goodman, 1909 - 1986

>

Astronomers announce the discovery of 28 new extrasolar planets, bringing the total known to 236.
David J. Eicher
Astronomy Magazine

On Monday morning at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Honolulu, an international team of astronomers announced the discovery and identification of 28 new extrasolar planets. This largest-ever announcement, made by post-doctoral fellow Jason T. Wright and newly minted Ph.D. John Asher Johnson, both of the University of California-Berkeley, brings the total number of planets known outside our solar system to 236. “In the last year we’ve found 37 substellar objects,” says Wright, “the 28 new planets constituting more than 10 percent of those now known.” Wright reported that 7 of the substellar objects are thought to be brown dwarfs, and that four of the newfound exoplanets lie within multiplanet systems.
Read more.

.

Sheehan ‘Resigns’ As Protest Leader
Cindy Sheehan ‘Resigns’ As Protest Leader, Drained by Biting Criticism and Partisan Politics

Cindy Sheehan, the soldier’s mother who galvanized an anti-war movement with her monthlong protest outside President Bush’s ranch, said Tuesday she’s done being the public face of the movement.

Read more.

.

Sheehan said, “I am getting out before it totally consumes me or anymore people that I love and the rest of my resources.”

Well, I hope you can do that Cindy.  But I think the reality is you’re leaving because you finally realized that you were being used by the radical left, and to them, you’re no longer useful.

I can’t begin to fathom your grief over the loss of your son.    It’s something I hope I never have to experience. 

Still, I can see why that would cause you to oppose the war.  Let’s face it, regardless of the reasons we’re there, a lot of things have gone wrong.

But Cindy, you’ve spent the last few years dancing on the grave of your son.  We’ve all seen your antics.  We’ve all heard your bizarre accusations.

Quite frankly, you lost any remaining pretense of credibility when you traipsed off to Venezuela to meet with Hugo Chavez.

People can protest the war in many ways.  You chose to be a circus clown.

Perhaps more naively, you chose to trust the radical Democrat(ick) left.  You thought they were your friends.  You thought they were your soulmates.

But political winds change and to them, you became yesterday’s sensation.

Do go home, Cindy.  Go home to heal.  Go home to take care of the family you have left.

And, in those quiet times, ask yourself if all this was really worth it.

You didn’t bring Casey back.  You hardly honored his memory or the cause for which he chose to offer his life.

Your quest to end the war didn’t bring the peace you said you desired.

I hope now at least, you can have peace in your heart.

Zoellick to be named to World Bank
AP via Yahoo

WASHINGTON - President Bush has chosen Robert Zoellick, a one-time U.S. trade representative and former No. 2 official at the State Department, to lead the        World Bank, a senior administration official said Tuesday.

Read more.

“Fairness doesn’t just happen. It requires the right government policies.”

~ Hillary Clinton

Clinton: ‘On Your Own’ Attitude Must Go

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) - Presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton outlined a broad economic vision Tuesday, saying it’s time to replace an “on your own” society with one based on shared responsibility and prosperity.

Read more (if you dare).

Yep, that’s what I said. 

Social Conservatives for Rudy ‘08!

(and no, it’s not my site)