“The land of the free, and the home of the brave.” Those words were written 193 years ago by Francis Scott Key. Those words are in our national anthem, meaning to describe the whole of our country. But those words were written in a time much different than now. Those words were written in a time when Americans were Americans. When we were united as one.

Our country was founded when people got tired of being pushed around, when we were tired of being rolled over and overtaxed. Tired of not having representation and tired of being controlled by a corrupt government. We united for a change, we united to be free, we united to be America.

And it is true that things were good. After the revolution we had a clean palate. A clean piece of parchment. And our honorable founding fathers grabbed the quill and went to work to form a new government. And they did a damn good job.

Most everything was great, we had little taxation, separation of powers, and an organized small government that did things with the people in mind, It’s too bad we can’t go back to those days.

Lately it seems that the corrupt government that we so desired to rid ourselves of has come back, be it in a much different form, but all the same it’s there - and it’s in control. The Democrats in congress are not looking out for the people. They are looking out for themselves, and they are looking out for their pockets.

E are a country at war and yet, instead of keeping our brave men and women safe, the Dems decided to rename post offices while they decided weather or not to give our troops body armor and ammo. People died so they could make political points.

At least we have our military to say we are still (sort of) the home of the brave, because those men and women are the bravest I know. And I wish they represented the cumulative attitude in America. Too bad they don’t because although you may argue that we are still the land of the free, that’s hard for me to see.

Yes we may be “free” as it’s called, but are we really? Is it freedom when the lawmakers try to shove an unwanted immigration bill down our thoughts? Is it freedom when we can’t put a Christmas decoration outside of our city offices? Is it freedom when we have Senators saying that we need to limit Conservative talk radio because it’s becoming too dominant? Absolutely not.

But of course it’s not all about being free, is it? Isn’t it also about us, as a country, standing together as one, political opinions aside, and saying “we are America”? Isn’t it also about respecting your neighbors and your nation? It seems like the great respect for even a symbol such as our flag is all but gone in America.

Just yesterday a business owner in Reno flew the Mexican flag above the American flag. Not only is that deeply disrespectful to the country which has given him everything, but it’s also against the law. See, back then when those laws were written people were patriotic. Almost everyone was those days.

But now we have kids walking out of class because they think the words “in God we trust” from the Pledge of Allegiance are “religious oppression”. Come on! It is despicable that we have so-called Americans who don’t care about their country. It is terrible that they take for granted everything they get as an American citizen.

So, I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States of America. And to the Republic, for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible. With liberty and justice for all.

First of all, I would like to apologize for not writing a column last week. Personal matters kept me very busy, and things were quite emotional, I had neither the time nor the willingness to write and I want to assure you I will do my best to prevent that from ever happening again.

I would like to write about Iran, something I have covered before in a previous column and many posts on my blog (http://bwreport.blogspot.com/). The country is a direct sponsor of terror and is indirectly killing Americans.

They are providing weapons to Iraqi terrorists to be used to kill American soldiers. That is disgusting. And now, the man at the top, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is in America. On a controversial trip he has come to our side of the pond to speak about him, his country, and his world views.

The reason for all the uproar is not only because he is supporting the murder of U.S. Troops, but because he has denied that the holocaust has ever existed, said that he believes Israel should be “wiped off the map”, and despite requests from America and our friendly countries, continues to develop a nuclear program.

The man is a terrorist and I was glad when he was denied his request to descend to the bottom of ground zero (a place restricted from public access). We are in a war because of what happened at that delicate location, and in that war our people are being killed by his weapons. That kind of irony is hard to come by, which is a good thing.

But the story gets worse, at his speech at Columbia university on Monday Ahmadinejad dodged the questions he was asked. At one point the even made the stunning claim that there are no “…homosexuals, not like in your country…” The people over at Hot Air were joking wondering weather it was a bad translation and what he really said was “there will be no homosexuals”.

Then today he gave a speech at the U.N. where he again made the shocking and laughable statement that “In Iran there are no homosexuals”. The funny thing is, as soon as he took the stage, the U.S. delegates got up and left. Which may have been a good thing because over the course of his speech he continually bashed America and its allies.

Now, finally, as far as the nuclear program is concerned I look at Iran like North Korea. They do not like us. They are building weapons that could potentially cause massive damage on American soil. They must be stopped.

So far, it looks as though our talks with North Korea have worked well and we haven’t had to force military action. This is good because that could cause strain on Iraq, as well as decrease the chances of a Republican being elected in 2008.

But where Iran is concerned I get worried. We persistently ask them to discontinue their production of nuclear weapons but to no avail. Nobody wants to invade Iran, but we need to understand that if they are planning to kill Americans they need to be stopped. And if gets to the point, we may need to fly over and bomb their facilities. Yes, innocent lives will be lost. Yes, this would greatly increase the tension between us, as well as the chances of a full fledged war. But we have to look at it this way: Us? Or them?

Yesterday was the sixth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The sixth anniversary of tragedy. The sixth anniversary of the day we were targeted. The sixth anniversary of the day that we knew something had to be done. Something, anything that would tell them “we won’t stand for this.” That thing was and is the War in Iraq.

Six years. Six long, painful, and chaotic years. Nobody can deny that Iraq was not in chaos sixth months ago (and probably now as well). But why wouldn’t it be? When you invade a country and take out it’s only form of leadership (even when that happens to be a cruel and selfish dictator) you will have chaos. The job wasn’t just to get rid of Sadam Hussein, but to get rid of Al Qaeda, and to secure the country.

It is clear that the mission has not been completed, but it is being worked on, and we have to stay the course until the job is done. I know that Americans are war weary, we want out, but is it really us we should be thinking about? What about the Iraqis who need a safe a secure place to live free of terrorists. Now, I will submit that it is not entirely our responsibility to take care of everyone else (especially since there is a civil war in Iraq) but when we take something apart, we need to put it back together better off than when we found it.

The Democrats are always so eager to say things like “we don’t belong in Iraq” and “We need immediate pull out” and sure that all sounds fine and dandy, nobody likes war, it is a terrible thing, but when Americans are dead it is also a necessary thing. When we looked at the TV screen and saw those two almighty towers surrounded by blackness, and when we watched those two land marks fall to their knees we knew there would be war. We had to of.

So, when we were deciding how to go about retaliating (if you want to call it that) we had to look at what we knew then, what intelligence we had at that time. We couldn’t sit around to see if things changes we had to make a decision based on what we had, regardless of weather it was true or not. At that time we were being told that Al Qaeda was in Iraq and that they had weapons of mass destruction which they were prepared to use against us. And weather or not that it true (because they still could have WMDs in Syria) doesn’t matter now.

We acted, we did what we had to do, and everyone was for it. But now, after we see how terrible it is there, and after we hear that our intelligence was flawed we can’t just “cut and run”. You can’t tell the Iraqi people “Oh, sorry we created chaos in your country but we don’t feel like helping you anymore” and leave. We need to show that we are a noble nation and finish what we started.

Six months ago the President devised a new plan for the future of this war, it has been called the “surge”. Well, as predicted, it was met with ill feelings from the Democrats. And now that the surge time limit is up it is General David Petraeus’s job to testify to congress how he think it went. Most discarded what he would say as “Bush rehearsed propaganda” but that’s bull, Petraeus is an honorable man who we should listen to.

Petraeus began his testimony on Monday and has said that the surge worked. I knew it had because you could see that violence is down, more cities are secured., there are considerable less roadside bombs. It is overall better than it was six months ago. But he also testified, much to my surprise, that the surge worked so well that we can bring the extra 30 000 troops home…soon.

It is unclear as to the future of the war from this point, but I am confident that General Petraeus has a plan to get us and the Iraqi’s through this as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Then the very Liberal MoveOn.Org actually paid a lot of money to run an ad in the New York Times that said “Is General Petraeus really General Betray Us?”. That is so far beyond disrespect it is absurd. In fact, much to her credit, even Nancy Pelosi condemned the ad.

Yesterday I was reminiscing about 9/11 with a very Liberal friend of mine who actually had the nerve to say that she doesn’t feel bad for those who died in the attack. And in fact, she went on to say that it “helps to stabilize our out of control population” I could not believe it. I don’t know how any sane human being could be so heartless, so cruel. Now, I understand that that doesn’t reflect all of Liberal thought but I thought it was worth noting while we were discussing the attacks.

Of course my heart goes out to all the victims and their families. Their only crime was to go to school, go to work, walk down the street, get on a plane, or try to save lives. They were innocent, they did nothing wrong. They were murdered by vicious people who want Americans to die.

It is absurd to me to hear the so-called “truthers” preach “9/11 was an inside job” because anybody should know that their country would not kill its own people just to go to war, that is a sick thought and it is disrespectful to those who died, and their families.

And more disrespect was seen yesterday when Representative and Presidential Candidate Dennis Kucinich was the only member of congress to vote against a 9/11 commemoration bill which designated that day as a day of remembrance for the victims. He said it was because he didn’t want to support the “lies” Bush told to take us to war. That is of course more bull.

This is a time that we, as a country, need to stand united against the forces which want us dead. We need to stop showing them that we are a divided group, because that shows vulnerability. We need to stand together, as one, and say strongly: “We are America, we will not give in!”

It is amazing to think that our country is at a place where our own national media takes sides, but unfortunately that is the case. I am not talking about a local TV show in some small town somewhere, I am talking about the mainstream media.

First off, there is the worst of the worse, which is on cable news. That prize goes to MSNBC. That’s right, but it’s not just the “most liberal bias” prize they win, they also earned the “most unprofessional” prize and of course the very coveted (not) prize (especially among television organizations) called “the worst ratings in cable news.”. Even their liberal friends over at CNN do much better than them in that respect (more coming up on that).

Before we go back to CNN, however, let’s take a look at the mainstream networks-I am talking NBC, CBS, and ABC. Of the three NBC is obviously the most biased (probably stemming from the fact that they are affiliated with the aforementioned MSNBC) A good example of this is that NBC News refused to run an ad put together by a group including some wounded U.S. soldiers who fought in Iraq talking about why we need to stay the course. You are supposed to make decisions based on business, not politics. This is especially pathetic when CNN chose to run it (and of course FOX News, no surprise there however as they are fair and balanced).

Now let’s jump back to cable for a moment to cover CNN. At least they deserve some respect; they stood up to Michael Moore when he went into full combat mode when they didn’t like his new movie, Sicko. Of course I’m only kidding about that, although they do get my respect for choosing to run the previously mentioned pro-war ad. That was a smart choice, and it distances them from their notorious liberal bias.

And finally, let’s finish up with the networks. CBS doesn’t have too much going for them. Still more biased than ABC-take the Katie Couric broadcast for example (although that is more of a poor television show rather than an anti-conservative program) But they do give more time to liberal thought than they should.

And then there is ABC, probably the least biased of all three, and the most respectable. Most of their commentators know that they need to separate hard news from opinion and do a pretty good job of it. However, they are cracking under pressure over the DVD release of last years mini-series “The Path To 9/11”.

Apparently some people like Bill Clinton, Sandy Burger, and others were upset because they felt the movie interpreted them incorrectly or wrongly accused them. And now, after being on the receiving end of this anger, they are hesitant to release the movie to DVD as it was planned for January of this year. That I think is a mistake. The ratings were through the roof for the series, and they would makes a killing off the DVDs.

In conclusion, it is all really despicable that we are at a place in America where we can’t even turn on the nightly news just for the news. We can’t just hear about crime, war, and weather in a non-biased fashion. It is sad that we have to hear propaganda, lies, and over exaggerated comments on what is supposed to be a respectable non-biased broadcast. It is sad that America has come to this.

It has been apparent for some time now that Liberals tend to be hypocritical…very hypocritical. In fact, time and time again, they prove this by pulling off dumb maneuvers which make them look stupid and idiotic.

One great example is Al Gore. Anyone who believes an ounce of his global warming propaganda is insane, anyone who trusts him is more insane. A couple of examples to back up my accusations follow, and I think they are pretty concrete.

He preaches to people about how to live a "carbon-neutral lifestyle" when he doesn't follow that himself. He comes down on the regular everyday Americans telling us how to live our lives with things such as hybrids, fluorescent light bulbs, et cetra et cetra. But then after he finishes his speech he hops into a huge private jet and flies back to one of his three mansions.

Nashville, where his primary residence is located (a mere 10,000 square foot behemoth) offers a program where, for a few pennies per kilowatt hour, you can use wind power. The Bush administration has equipped some of its buildings with similar programs but Al and Tipper have yet to sign up.

Here's some statistics for you: A trip he took in that huge plane to talk about global warming used more emissions than the same trip four times by regular car. Has he ever heard of commercial jets? I just think that he has no right to criticize everyday Americans when he has done little to slow down the "ticking time bomb" that he claims we are all sitting on.

Here’s another one for you: Harry Reid. He has already proved himself as a biased, agenda-based senator who has no concern with the use of facts or statistics to support what he says; just straight opinion. This was very clear when he said that “The war is lost” before it was over, and before we could even tell if the troop surge was working. Which we now know it is, by the way.

But now some new information has come to my attention regarding Mr. Reid and his preferred way of travel. He owns two Chevrolet Suburbans, a car I have no problem with, but it is still one of the largest SUVs you can buy today and let’s just say its gas mileage is “below Al Gore’s standards” (if you can call them that).

Reid keeps one of the vehicles in D.C. and one at his home in Nevada, he says he needs them for protection, but does that mean that the safety and wellbeing of average Americans who buy them doesn’t matter? What makes him better than Jane Doe who wants to keep her family safe while on the road? Nothing, and worst yet, Reid rode in one of these huge SUVs to a conference on energy efficiency-which was across the street from where he was.

These people (Liberals) are the kings and queens of hypocrisy, ladies and gentlemen. And putting one of them as leader of the free world in 2008 would be a huge mistake.

ATLANTA, Georgia --- Falcon’s quarter back Michael Vick was arrested a few weeks ago for allegedly running a dog fighting ring called “Bad Newz Kennels”. The football star pleaded not-guilty, but due to the detailed indictment many believed him to be guilty from the start.

As if it couldn’t get any worse for Vick his co-defendants took a deal and pleaded guilty, turning over photos and other hard evidence over to the cops. This made the case against Vick even stronger. It seemed there was no way he could be innocent.

Because of the controversy, Vick was suspended from his job as quarter back which has lost him more than $10 Million in pay. Most thought that was a good thing, because as Bill O’Reilly from The O’Reilly Factor on FOX News put it: “This is barbaric.” And it is. Anyone who would do these kind of things is a monster.

The extensive indictment against him included allegations that he was in charge of “Bad Newz Kennels” and even worse, the way he ran it. Allegedly he and his cohorts would breed Pitt Bulls and then train them to be fighters. Often when they would fail their so-called “practice fight” they would be murdered; hung, shot, or having their legs cut off. The same thing was often done to the losers of the fights which people placed bets on.

Now, due to all the evidence mounted against him, Vick has agreed to take a deal and plead guilty. He could get up to five years in prison and up to a $250 000 fine. He probably won’t get five years, not only because he is a celebrity but because judges rarely throw the book at people who committed what some consider a “lower-level crime”. But I think he should. He participated in a disgusting act that is not acceptable on any level. Putting dogs into a pin to kill each other is not entertainment, it’s murder.

There is a twist to this story, though. Not everyone is angry about it. In fact New York Knicks guard Stephon Marbury defended Vick today, saying: "I think, you know, we don't say anything about people who shoot deer or shoot other animals. You know, from what I hear, dogfighting [sic] is a sport. It's just behind closed doors.''

That couldn’t be further from the truth. Although many people consider hunting as a form of murder as well, it is not cast in the same shadow as dog fighting for a number of reasons.

One, it is the way it is done; in hunting a human shoots the animal in as humane of a way as it could be; in dog fighting the dogs rip each other apart in one of the most brutal things imaginable. Two, in hunting the animals are wild they are not domesticated (or kept as pets) as dogs are. And three, the situations are nothing alike because hunting down a wild animal and killing it is considered a sport but betting money and watching two otherwise gentle dogs kill each other is not and should never be.

And the story goes deeper. Some are now saying that there is a racial aspect in this case. That’s right, people are saying that the only reason so many people considered Vick guilty before he had his day in court was because he is black. And furthermore, they argue that this can be proven by looking at the Duke rape case; they say that when the three kids were arrested everyone said not to “convict” them before they had a fair trial. That is all complete and utter bull.

The reason that people believed the allegations against Vick is because they saw the evidence piled against him and they saw his codefendants leave him high and dry by confessing; you can’t get much more guilty than that. And as far as the Duke case goes, most of the people (especially blacks) condemned the boys before they had their trial, very few actually spoke up in their defense and when they were proven innocent I didn’t hear any apologies. So actually you could say that case had a racial twist to it, but not this one.

Vick is now awaiting to plead guilty and hear his sentencing. He should get the full five years and the fine but he most likely won’t. As long as he serves at least one to two years, though, he probably will never play in the NFL again because they can’t take that risk, and that punishment will suffice.

It is sad that so many people try to make stories into something they are not, but at least some good has come of this; how much, we will have to wait and see.

NEWARK, New Jersey --- Imagine: three smart, young college students. They have their whole life ahead of them; finding the loves of their lives, having children, making a living doing what they love to do. Now image all of that taken away from them, all because the city they lived in won’t follow our countries laws.

There really is no need to imagine it, because it really happened. Last Saturday Jose Carranza along with the help of a 15-year-old child allegedly forced three college students to kneel down while they shot them execution style-in the back of the head.

If Carranza did indeed commit the crime, which it looks like he did, it wasn’t his first beef. In fact Jose Carranza had been arrested for repeatedly raping a 5-year-old girl. His bail was set to $150 000, but then some brainless judge went in there and cut it down to an affordable $15 000.

Jose was out on the streets, this vile, deadly man was out on the streets. But it gets worse: Jose was an illegal alien, and every official in the city of Newark knew it. Yet they did nothing. The police knew it, the judge knew it, they all knew it, yet because Newark is a sanctuary city nobody ever notified ICE or Homeland security.

This story is about two things. One, it is a story about an idiot judge who should not be on the bench. And two, it is a story about illegal aliens and how they come into our country and commit crimes; deadly crimes.

The deaths of these three bright, young kids could have been prevented; as well as the rape of the little girl for that matter. If the judge would have done his job and set the bail high, Carranza wouldn’t have been out on the street to murder those students. And if we followed our own immigration laws, he would have never been in this country to rape the girl.

This is not the first time an illegal alien has been the direct cause of death for America’s young. A few months ago in Virginia Beach, Virginia Alfredo Ramos, an illegal alien, was driving drunk when he crashed into another car carrying two young girls; one 16 and one 19. They died, and he survived.

It has been proven over and over again that sanctuary city policies only make things worse, and not following our own immigration laws allows them to get that way. Washington is constantly buzzing about “comprehensive immigration reform” but that’s the last thing we need. We could end this problem with the laws we have now.

The Government has the money delegated to build a 700-some mile double layer fence on the border, but they have only completed 11. The laws we have now say that when somebody breaks into our country they are breaking the law. But the worse part is that we don’t follow those laws, we allow them to come in here and commit deadly crimes. And when it happened over and over again you have to ask yourself what is more important: The lives of young Americans, or an illegal being able to live in America. That one should be easy.

BAGHDAD, Iraq --- During a raid which occurred on Monday, August 6, American forces turned up a videotape which had some frightening imagery.

In the video was footage of Iraqi Insurgents firing rockets towards U.S. Base Hammer. Ordinarily this wouldn’t be much of a surprise, however, the rockets they were firing were Iranian made.

Iran is building rockets and providing them to our enemies to kill Americans with, Iran is killing Americans. And these aren’t your average bombs, these rockets are strong enough to cut through a Humvee. These rockets are lethal.

So many Democrats in congress say that attacking Iran is not the right way to go and will only lead to more problems. In fact, in response to Senator Joe Lieberman’s (I-CT) statements that launching a “pre-emptive strike on Iran” may be necessary, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said this: “The invasion of [Iran] is only going to destabilize that part of the world more,” But with Iran now helping the terrorists in Iraq to beat us, a pre-emptive strike on Iran might be the only way to win in Iraq.

The roadblock comes when you realize that the overwhelmingly Democratic congress will never approve an attack on Iran, but that roadblock might also be blocking the path to success in America’s future.

If we cut and run from Iraq, we would be giving up. And they will follow us home. You will all recall the tragedy that was 9/11. Well, if the Democrats have their way (and especially if one is elected to the office of President in 2008) you can expect more terrorist attacks like, or even worse than 9/11, to occur here in the states. Because the Democrats will foolishly pull out our troops allowing the terrorists a free place to train and a free pass to attack us.

It is vital that we finish what we started in Iraq, but if Iran continues to aid our enemy that job may become much more difficult. And if it does then it might be necessary to commence a war with Iran.

Our goal is peace for the middle east and peace for America, but that cannot happen until all parties are neutralized. Iran is a lose cannon, and stands as a huge roadblock in our progress in the war in Iraq. So people like Harry Reid need to wise up and really think about what’s better for America: Staying out of Iran for cheap political points, or doing whatever it takes to finish what we started and keep Americans safe. Which one do you prefer?