Mitt's Secret Weapon

Mitt Romney's best counter for those that wish to discredit him is his personal family life, married his childhood sweetheart and has been the devoted family man for almost 40 years, no divorces or affairs just a deep devotion to his wife and life partner. This is so unlike his main competition in Rudy Giulliani, I like Rudy alot and would be a whole hearted supporter if he is the nominee as I would Sen. McCain. If you can read Mitt's tribute to his wife Ann and not draw a tissue then you have know idea of love, marriage or family. Goat has zero doubt about Mitt's conservatism and his ability to lead America into a new century. His recent ad buy was message based and he is sailing the relatively quiet waters away from the break of the daily tides while raising alot of money. It is worth noting that Mitt will run his campaign as the fiscal genious he is and not a dime will be wasted. That is why I want Mitt as President, a solid family man that knows the value of his dollar.
Gov. Jim Gilmore and Rep Duncan Hunter give a major voice to the GOP debate as does Newt Gingrich and Gov. Huckabee. Though both these guys are great conservative voices Goat does not see somebody named Newt or Huckabee as POTUS, sorry guys it is the name, so sad.
Goat would like to see a Romney/Giulliani ticket with the rest of the field being brought in as cabinet positions. I would like to see Hunter or Gilroy as a sub at veep though Mitt and Rudy can reach where they can't. the independant crowd. Yeah. we are devided but look at the caliber of candidate as compared to the left, Hillbillary and Hussien Obama.
Mitt as Pres, Rudy veep, Dr.Rice stays at State, Newt gets a major policy position as does Hunter and Gilroy if not on the ticket. Lots of formulations and ideas to consider, lets pick the best, hint, Mitt Romney

Oh So Rich

When I saw this I about fell out of my chair, one has to wonder how Rev. Al Sharpton felt when it was made news that his ancestors were owned by none other than the late Sen. Strom Thurmond's family and they may share common blood. While the Barnyard does not agree with the historical stand of either of these men, the irony and small worldness has to be appreciated, the "reparations" voice and the "segregationists" historically and forever linked by blind fate. How long before Sharpton files a suit against the Thurmond estate demanding to be paid off? He may actually have a case, though I think he should not make a big affair out of it as it would do nothing to help his community. Slavery was and still is a great sin upon humanity. We must remember that the practioners of the slave trade of the last couple centuries has mainly been by Islamic cultures and that it has been Christianity that has led the fight against it.
It was Islamists that ran the Barbary Coast, the hub of the African slave trade untill smashed by America under Jefferson. tens of millions more African slaves were taken to Arabia and Persia than were sent to the West. The difference, most of those sent to the West have extended surviving families not so for those sent East. Here in America a slave was a valuable asset and expensive and most owners at least treated them as such, a beaten unhappy slave was not as productive and the big plantations knew that and they lived no harder lives than white share-croppers and starry eyed settlers and in some cases better.
Goat did not miss a minute of the TV series "Roots" as a kid, and then went on the library waiting list for agonizing weeks for the book and it remains one of the most influential books ever read. Dr. Rice just a few miles away at the time and in a totally different world overcame that diminsion to become the most powerful woman in the world. She matured in the hell of Bull Connor's Birmingham inside the tight community of her fathers Church. Goat ran around like a useless twit on thousands of acres of farm and parkland, learning about snakes and large mouthed bass while she practiced Chopin. It is one thing to be able to hit a moving target at 500 yards it is another to move rogue nations with words. Some how I have a feeling Dr. Rice might know a bit about the finer arts of fishing and hunting as well.
Slavery is wrong but what went on in America must be put in context of what did and still goes on in the Islamic world. The treatment of women being a blatant and blaring signal to civilized people of a very real threat from modern day Islamic slavery. That is why Sam Adams' famous quote has a prominent place in the Barnyard.

The Art Of The Interview

In the Goat's humble opinion Hugh Hewitt is the media master at this time, especially the extended format. His full show length talk with Andrew Roberts on his new book " A History of the English Speaking People Since 1900" was absolutely fascinating and another book added to a bloated reading list. Hugh doesn't have the transcript or audio up yet but it will linked when he does. Goat wants to read it before delving in though he was riveted during the broadcast. Hugh is a master at this format and conducts interviews like the attentive law proffessor should, deep and informative and lively enough to hold an audience.

Meanwhile the good Joe on the Dem's side, Sen. Joe Lieberman has published a fantasic piece in the Wall Street Journal on why American commitment to the Middle East is so important. The Barnyard may disagree with the good Senator 90% of the time, but he is absolutely correct here.

Congress thus faces a choice in the weeks and months ahead. Will we allow our actions to be driven by the changing conditions on the ground in Iraq--or by the unchanging political and ideological positions long ago staked out in Washington? What ultimately matters more to us: the real fight over there, or the political fight over here?

If we stopped the legislative maneuvering and looked to Baghdad, we would see what the new security strategy actually entails and how dramatically it differs from previous efforts. For the first time in the Iraqi capital, the focus of the U.S. military is not just training indigenous forces or chasing down insurgents, but ensuring basic security--meaning an end, at last, to the large-scale sectarian slaughter and ethnic cleansing that has paralyzed Iraq for the past year.

Read the whole thing, Senator Lieberman is an extremely decent, sober individual and exibits classic liberalism in most of his policy positions and should be applauded for his moral clarity in standing up to what is increasingly his former party's leadership.

Mitt Romney continues to be willing to sit down with the New Media talk and answer tough questions as this interview with Real Clear Politics further shows his desire to get ahead of the wave while appearing to be in placid water.

High Sierra light, God's ethereal morning fire

Yes, there is glory on High, the Lord's Glory, and the Grace to recieve it!

Weekend Roundup

A better picture of the what the Denocrats are trying to do with their nonbinding resolution soapboxing is starting to take shape. It is a move to keep the base happy and as Iraq stabilizes over the next year because their own defense forces have taken over the battlesphere and to take credit as troops are able to redeploy. Their "slow-bleed" set of proposals put forth by John Murtha will not get much traction now that it has been exposed and full funding will continue though the GOP may have to stiffen their collective spine a bit. America wants to win this war and is disheartened by the constant negative bleet from the main stream press, and that dissatisfaction is being misread by the Left in a big way.
What to do with Iran, Amir Taheri sums that up much better than the Goat can. (here)

Has war between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran become inevitable?

These days, the question is at the center of discussions in diplomatic circles across the globe. A good part of the talk on the sidelines of the annual International Security Conference, held in Munich, Germany, last week was precisely about that.

The same question will be at the center of talks between Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad who is due in Tehran today to coordinate his strategies with Iran.

And (Here)

Even a month ago, few believed that Syria would make a definitive switch over to Iran in the current struggle over reshaping the Middle East. We had it from well-placed Syrian sources that the leadership in Damascus, debating the wisdom of throwing in its lot with the Khomeinists in Tehran, might end up joining the new Arab bloc of moderate states.

And yet, the switch over to Tehran came last weekend in a dramatic way when President Bashar Al Assad paid his sixth visit to the Islamic republic and was received by the Khomeinist "Supreme Guide" Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

While we could spend all night posting positive links, we are winning this war though in the two steps forward, one back fashion, America prefers the quick rush to victory over a few hours of football and pizza. America understands it did not want this job but in our workman like way want to finish it as best they can.

Weekend Rambler

Hmmm, well, the Barnyard just learned from Chris Matthews' show that Al Gore is a major hedge fund manager in the stock market. That of course begs the question of whether his piece of science fiction documentary "An Inconvenient Truth"is nothing more than a super hyped infomercial for companies he has major holdings in? Al Gore may be a lunatic but he is far from stupid and as we have stated before this whole thing is about power and money not the environment.
There is much blather about computer models and their dire predictions well any computer model is only as good as the data fed into it, if the data is incomplete or flawed the model can be drastically skewed. Only recently was man able to design a computer able to beat a man at chess and its millions of variables are well documented. There are so many billions more times more variables in the earth sciences that prediction on that scale is impossible especially by simple computer models built on limited data input.
So lets assume we warm a few degrees at the northern and southern latitudes, that would mean extended growing seasons throughout those regions and previously unavailable cropland made available thus more food, higher CO2 levels contribute to vibrant flora and thus a healthy fauna with ample food and higher levels of oxygen because of the increased flora. Dang, that sounds good to the Goat, much better than an iceage at any rate, it seems life flourishes during our warm periods in history and suffers during the cold, well who'da thunk it? Does Al Gore prefer an iceage environment like other blubber encased creatures where the predatory strong prey on the weak?
A quick mention on ethanol, we get about 250 gallons of fuel per acre of corn, do the math, and it takes about half of what is produced to produce the other half so double that acreage. How many acres would it take to fuel your car on ethanol for a month? Get the picture, it is a pipe dream that will drastically drive up the price of food basics for the world's poor as starch, corn, rice, grain etc gets converted to fuel not food. Dang that cost vs. price thing always gets in the way of pipe dreams doesn't it. At least global warming would allow those crops to be grown in a larger region, how ironic is that?
Hey this Goat loves to dine on clean veggies and game, breath clean air and drink clean water from mountain streams, the last folks he wants in control of that are the neo-socialist greenies of which he is a former member and avid supporter of.
Conservation and survival is about freedom, freedom to overcome obstacles, freedom to maintain your own land, freedom to create new and profitable alternatives, not government mandates, taxation, and social engineering. This Goat is tired of beaurocrats talking about something they don't do, when was the last time Nancy Pelosi or Barbara Boxer hauled a backpack full of toilet paper and beer cans out of the backcountry of the high Sierra? How many truckloads of soiled diapers, beer cans and assorted garbage have they helped remove from our waterways on their own time with their own vehicles?
The Goat doesn't need just hipboots to get through the liberal duplicity, he needs a spacesuit.

Must Read

From Mike Yon while "Walking the Line" in Iraq with our troops

California Spring

Sensing Weakness

The terrorist thugs in Iraq, sensing weakness here in America, have started using chemical weapons in attacks against the Iraqi civilians with at least three truck bombs loaded with chlorine gas going off recently and the Pelosi-Murtha defeatocrats want to just surrender Iraq to the mercies of those savages. Con. (arab despot lover) Murtha has put forth a "slow bleed" strategy to damage our troops ability to do their job properly in Iraq and Afganistan assuring a victory for the jihadi terrorists and their Islamo-fascist backers and an excruciating blow to American credibilty just to hurt a President that shunned his advice in '02. This is a shameful, dare we say, traitorous move by the Democrats that only fuels the hope our enemies have of defeating us with pure propoganda and bloody headlines. The move to poison gas by the terrorists should galvaninize noodle spined Republicans and hopefully a few dozen sober Democrats to supporting finishing this war with a victory and bringing our much deserving Patriot Armed Forces home triumphate, not in scorn tobe called scared dogs by the Arab media.
Yes, more troops have been killed or injured of late because we have been seriously taking names, taking it to the fanatics and kicking ass. Iraq will soon have one of the largest and best trained armies in the Middle East and an increasingly better equipped one as Iraq's oil wealth begins to flow and American arms pour in. Real wars take much longer than a video game to win, there are so many millions more variables than in a simple game of chess, that a computer was only recently ably to beat the Chess Champion and I believe the match is at draw at this time. How can we defeat a ruthless dictator, set up a new government, defeat a nascent insurgency, train a self defense capable military, and rebuild a rotted infrastructure in four years when it takes three months to get a building permit for a storage shed here in America? We are really good at making things nearly instant, from sex to wealth, however , war will never fit a cyber reality, it is human life at its base and as unpredictable as life itself and without a decisive victory lasts forever. Where is Vince Lombardi when you need him? Yes, Coach, Winning is everything!

Goat's Not Prescient But...

Well the first shots have been fired by the Obama and Clinton camps at each other, appears Hillary is jealous that Barak is stealing her thunder among the Hollywood elite. Arianna Huffington referees, (Hat Tip: HughHewitt) and this is so rich. David Geffen, movie mogul for Dreamworks, called the Clintons expert pathological liars, in so many words, when interviewed about an Obama fundraiser among the glitterati. The sparks are flying as Obama moves in on her political money base, the wrath of a woman scorned, this is going to be fun to watch. Hillary will not be upstaged by anybody, but maybe Bill if she sees it as helping her along, in her despotic preordination fantasy. Goat doubts that Barak is ready for the full on, knee-high, rear assault coming his way aimed at clipping his momentum in the backfield, Hillary has a notabley vicious linebacker core...

Finally there is an alternative petition to counter the global warming alarmists led by Al Gore, figures it would be "The Patriot Post" leading the way, sign the petition here. If the icecaps are shrinking, why are they adding thickness? Could solar cycles play a major role in planetary surface temperature fluctuations? How accurate are meteorlogical data from a century ago as a very young science? Would not ice core, tree ring, and other more specific geologic and biologic evidence be just as viable even if it doesn't fit the socialist hype? The "earth" sciences have long held a passionate amateur lure to the Goat, considering his godfather is/was a geo-physicist astronomy professor and an uncle with NASA. It was a world of wonder and delight for a kid with access to the largest telescope in the SouthEast at the time and the planetarium at Birmingham Southern University and regular stops at the Chicago Museum of Natural History along with access to an extensive private High School's library year round from an early age. The region was an ancient sea floor rich in fossils and elaborate limestone caves, it was all this that kept me from Christ, rejecting the 5000 year view held by the religious surroundings at the time, till early adulthood being one of the earliest to understand intelligent design. The Goat is not just spewing BS when he posts on the environment, it has been a big part of his life's passion and a serious hobby.

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DNC Dilimma

While much is written and said about divisions in the rank and file GOP base very lttle is mentioned about the very deep divisions in the loose coalition called the DNC. There are still plenty of Reagan and 9/11 Democrats among the public that don't support retreat or the far left agenda of Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Harry Reid or prospective POTUS candidates, Hillary Clinton, Barak Obama or John Edwards. All three are running on a neo-socialist platform that will not play well with the voters once they are informed and are playing leap frog to see how far left they can go. Hillary now has to make pretty faces for the loony base of her party while trying to attract center and center right voters, she ain't Bill when it comes to a silver tongue, ingratiating personality, or ability to triangulate.
The fight between Hillary and Obama could get very ugly as she will pull no punches and her operatives are among the best and slimiest in the political business, Gov. Bill Richardson will benefit from the fallout.
Goat expects just the opposite from the GOP side, with ideas and real solutions being put forth with real discussion. Has there been a more solid, well rounded set of candidates put forth by either party that meets the caliber of those the GOP has put forth in decades? In fact, Newt Gingrich (video) and Mario Cuomo have launched a very intriguing idea where instead of a scripted moderated debate, the candidates sit down eye-to-eye and have a conversation in a townhall setting with a Q&A afterwards about the issues. Goat very seriousely doubts there will be much mudslinging by conservatives at each other and if there is, it will be squelched. While the Barnyard will fully support Mitt Romney in the primary bid, it will also fully support the GOP nominee and will not attack them in a personal way. In the Barnyard opinion, personal life that does not interfere with the ability to lead or govern should be left off the table, ie. messy divorces, affairs, etc. Goat did not support the impeachment of Bill Clinton as it was a waste of time and money over a personal fault, irrelevant to the nation as a whole, now if the Dems wish to try and impeach Pres. Bush over the war, that does affect an America that is engaged in a war for our way of life, a very different prospect.
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PS: Comments by visitors from banned sites will be deleted.

President's Day

While the Barnyard honors Presidents Washington and Lincoln as rightfull heroes of our history, it does not honor this holiday as an excuse for government slackardness and paid union timeoff on its taxdollar.
Another thing that has seriousely disturbed the Goat is the severe ignorance or lack of understanding of so many of our pols to grasp the scope of what we face from Islamo-fascism and its desire to destroy or rule us. The Goat challenges a person to spend some time at Bill Roggio's Fourth Rail or the CounterTerrorism Blog, and not feel their hair start to stand up and hackles rise is a blind fool. It appears many of our pols have not taken advantage of the new media to get a more rounded sense of what is really going on in the world, the Goat is just a third tier blogger with more upfront info than any newspaper in the country is willing to put out. Not that its bahhhed about but linked to on the blogroll, with feeds from Centcom, Bill, and Mike Yon, currently embedded walking the line with our troops or stop by Benador Associates and read some of the articles by Amir Taheri and others. It is not hard to find information if you look.
What bamboozles this already fuzzy Goat noggin' is why America's left wants to surrender to its exact opposite, the extreme religious far right as represented by Iran's Shia Mullahs and Wahhabiist supported Al Qaida of radical Islam? Oh yeah, sorry, Goat forgot the left firmly subscribes to, almost to religious fervor, victimology, and with Sha'ria law over them they could be eternal victims. Christians and Jews just aren't rough enough dominatrixes, we welcome them and love them and try to persuade them from their sinful ways, they want to be beaten so their "message" can claim a higher post in the victims list than their much hated Jews and Christians. While not claiming any psychiatric analysis skills, Goat spent much time reading Jung and Freud because ,well, it was more interesting than my HS teachers at the time, it is hard to understand how badly the left wants a Christian to kill a gay or abortion clinic worker in Christ's name. It won't happen but if a Muslim did it in Mohammed's name it would not make the press, that has been shown in many recent events.

The Unoriginality of the Left

As I sit and watch the Mitt Romney campaign unfold, the efforts on the left to discredit the man have officially amused me.

When I say amuse, it is more along the lines of frightened and/or boredom. Politics is a rough game and at the presidential level, really, only the very best should be involved. Strategies need to be implemented to chip away at the opposition's cores and done so in a very specific manner tailored to each candidate. Enter my amusement at the "been there, done that, may as well recycle the Republican method with John Kerry cause we can't think of anything ourselves" style.

While many things have hit me as of late, two stand out in my mind.

First is the very sad, ongoing, yet absolutely ineffective school yard gutter game of insinuating and injecting perceived prejudice into a candidate that simply isn't there. If you do an internet search for Romney's acceptance speech, odds are you will wind up in a random blog closely resembling a sandbox where the authors and/or contributors are assailing Romney for his "insensitivity" in choosing the museum of an anti-Semite for his announcement speech. EGADS! Could it be, "Moonbats," that the man, as a capitalist to the core, was thinking more along the lines of, Michigan, successful American businessman etc??? Honestly, the ankle biters are tedious.

Secondly, is the pathetic attempts by the other team to discredit Mr Romney as a, you may not have heard it here first since, again, these Democrats like to steal others' strategies because their own do not seem to work, but yes, the dreaded "FLIP FLOPPER." While his positions on a couple of core issues did change, and whose hasn't over a 50+ year life time, I can not get the scnt of crayons and glue out of my nose to save my life! Changing one's personal position on abortion as public policy in a country where its original intent has been skewered and morphed into a form of easy birth control is slightly different than, "I voted for the war before I voted against it."

Kids, do we really, honestly want to send a Democrat whose people can come up with nothing better than this stuff, to 1600 PA Ave?

Mr Romney is perhaps the most competent, qualified candidate this country has seen in decades. Don't for a second believe the school yard tactics of the Left in regards to Mitt. As Cal Thomas said, "They only make an issue if they think you're a threat."

Mitt Gets Hit With the “Pretender” Label

I knew the questions, or should I say, accusations, regarding Mitt Romney’s Mormonism would surface, but I didn’t quite expect them to be this rude or blunt.

As usual, Mitt handled himself with the tremendous poise and grace that is indicative of his character. It, eventually giving way to a standing ovation. Click on the thread title for the video feed.

Weekend Wanderings

The early spring weather sent the Goat out on one his favorite local trails, in the Spenceville Wildlife area a short bucolic drive from the Barnyard, for a meander through the oaks and gray pines to a little known waterfall. He was in search of early spring flowers for an ever hungry camera lens but, alas, found none and with the falls at normal flow so after a few minutes to graze and water, uphill it is to the best vista point.




This is a good idea of what vast parts of California look like, it sure ain't what that ten square mile peninisula of earthquake country, SanFrancisco, that yearns to rule us through dicdat, looks like. Those big city folk want to tell us country boys about the environment they pollute so we have to be carefull about the fish we eat or the game we hunt for sustenance because we don't trust meat factories.
Note the young age of these oaks, these hills were nude a century ago as was most of America, not so anymore, America has reclaimed most of its forests and it grasslands are suffering a bit from exotic invasion but are coming back as well. Americans are the best stewards of their homeland of any and the leading innovators in clean technology and the last thing we need is ultra-rich big city liberals like Nancy "Mommycrat" Pelosi telling us countryboys how to manage the wilderness we so love. Goat will stack the Nature Conservancy and Ducks Unlimited against the Sierra Club and Greenpeace any day for actually making a difference, not a buck or a liberal social club, though the folks at that DU do carry guns and shoot ducks...
Goat intends to own a chunk of land one day, hopefully bordering NFS or BLA land, and dreams of going "Aldo Leopold" on it while being disconnected from the electric grid. He knows we are much cleaner today than we were thirty years ago under alarms of global cooling and we will be thirty years hence without the socialization of that cause but rather by the free market forces that drive the technology. We don't need a bloated gasbag spewing excess CO2 and methane into the air, Al Gore, and his neo-socialism to save us. The free market will take care of the problem just fine , thank you.
The Goat, well he is going to enjoy all those oxygen spewing trees and plants and keep spouting manure and CO2 so they continue to grow well, hey and paperless press, Dang, who thank of that, was it Al Gore?

The Barnyard is totally into our environment and as fully against the "Global Warming" hysteria mongers, socialism gets no free ride down this river. Come bang heads with a mountain goat on the subject if you dare on one of my favorite subjects.

The "Whiteflag republicans" leave me too angry to comment at this time lest I break into language more in accordance with Edward's former employees. Just join the Victory Caucus if you feel the same frustration.

Thursday This and That

"Good Grief", as Charlie Brown would say so often in Charles Shultze's beloved "Peanuts" comic strio, as a conservative I feel much like Chuck trying to fly a kite, the kite being Iraq and the "kite eating tree" being Congress, many, many anologies can be drawn from this classic strip, Lucy and the football, Snoopy's fantasies, etc.. Our congress looks like 'Pigpen' was let loose in a white room and smells worse.
Join the Victory Caucus and if your congressman is a whiteflag republican or blue dog democrat, find a replacement for the primary soon and put the pressure on. We cannot lose or walk away from this conflict without devestating results in the greater African, Asian and European regions of influence. Are our politicians that brainlesss and so eager to hold their seats or gain political power that they are willing to sacrafice America's good name once again on the world stage by showing us to be cowardly dogs and paper tigers? After all, thanks to our 2nd Ammendment, I can buy the same Styre .50 cal sniper rifle here in the US as Iran is supplying militias in Iraq with. It is a single shot, bolt action, target rifle that happens to be of elephant gun caliber, big game, not an illegal weapon. A trained sniper can kill with a squirrel gun and secure a country, America is proof of that.
As an American Patriot whose family has been here since the 1620's, Prayers are sent that our Congress will not show its tucked tail to our enemies but rather our teeth in a silent but deadly snarl, they consider us "dogs" anyway so lets turn our Dogs of War loose upon them.
Please join the Victory Caucus

Interesting Straw Poll

GOP bloggers runs a regular straw poll of GOP POTUS candidates and only four are on the positive side, Rudy, Newt, Mitt and Duncan and Newt has not declared. The results so far are interesting in that we are still many months away from the first primary and Sen. McCain is in a hole and sinking fast, it appears the base wants a fresh face for the party and John is old news. Mitt and Rudy are new and fresh, while Duncan and Newt are old stalwarts of the GOP base, true bastions if you will.
Here is the Goat's dream scenario: a Mit Romney ticket wins, Newt gets a high level policy position, Rudy would be an awesome Attorney General, Dr. Rice stays at State and maybe McCain at SecDef., bringing in Michael Steele and Ken Blackwell to important roles would be awesome. Mitt is far smarter than the average bear seeking political fat and that is why the Barnyard supports him, besides he is the only one with any fiscal knowledge dealing with lots of really big numbers and been very successful at it.
Take the poll here.

Mitt Romney's Announcement Speech

link here.

The House Debates Iraq

In yet another empty resolution meant to send hope to our enemies, Nancy Pelosi's Defeatocrats brought their spineless message to the floor for extended debate today. Talk about a waste of time, Goat had Cspan on while working and listened to a few hours of the debate, and hats off to the GOP leadership for a spirited rebuttal and clearly showing which party understands what we face. Democrat speaker after speaker clearly did not understand the war, lied about it, and obviously was not concerned for the Iraqi people only about their own political posturing for a loonbat base. Conservative radio talkers will get plenty of play just from today's assinine performance by the Pelosicrats and the solid well schooled opposition led my Mike Pence, John Boehner, Duncan Hunter and others.
A comment on one theme that ran consistent in the Defeatocrat's speeches that we are hated because we are there and as a result spark terrorist violence and anger. Of course our military prescence provokes hatred and violence from the jihadis because it prevents them from operating undercover and establishing bases from which to attack the West and removes the threat of extortion from the people that would not support their terror gangs any other way. It threatens the jihadi extremists way of life and way of control since that involves intimidating the populous majority.
We are dealing with three distinct groups in this fight, common gangbanger type criminals, former regime elements and true jihadis led by AQ on the Sunni side and the Mullahs of Iran on the Shia. They generally don't like each other but comingle to various degrees depending on where you are in Iraq and in many cases it is the criminal gangs that spark further violence. Fairy GodMother Pelosi wants to wave her magic wand and make all that just disappear by removing us from its sight so her party can waltze into the White House , it ain't that easy, with both feet stuck in there mouth, which they did with unsurprising agility today.
GOP leadership is showing some backbone, putting the chips on the table in a proudly unPC way and supported the mission. The Democrats want to retreat and swaddle the poor little troops in socialist mommycare to help them recover from what this evil administration that the troops overwhelmingly support has inflicted on them.
Diplomacy was another theme, diplomacy is fine, just not appeasenik diplomacy, buying off or bribing our enemies not to hurt us amounts to falling victim to extortion. Oops, I forgot the left loves to be the victim since they crave sympathy not empathy. The ultimate diplomacy is the power to back up your word, by force if neccessary, not your willingness to tuck your tail and lick the other dogs scrotum, we need pitbulls and sheepdogs, not jittery chihuahuas.
Forgive the imagery but you hve entered the Barn Yard.
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Update: As Lisa announced earlier, Mitt is officially in the race and the video is here. He is talking cars and that will play well in the South East, Vrooooom.

It's Official!

The man who will, without question, save this nation from financial ruin, complete Bush's war on terror and be a renegade for family values, Mitt Romney, has made it official. He is a candidate for the '08 presidential election and will be, I firmly belive, THE candidate.

With qualifications and a resume second to none, Mr Romney, who has been proceeding under the radar operating a campaign as it should be operating at this level, from the inside out, is about to get outside and I for one can not wait.

I can not wait for the nation to see what this man has to offer. I can not wait for him to be onstage against these other so called opponents. I can not wait for everyday Americans to get to know the goodness of the man first and foremost, followed by what he can do. His moral character is outstanding and his beliefs admirable.

The only question about Mitt Romney is will the South embrace a Mormon? Even asking such a question hurts my fingertips since it is, imo, a ridiculous reason to cast aside a positively stellar candidate and a loss for such a reason would indeed be our country's loss.

I will end for now, with this quote from his speech, which like him, was also outstanding.

""Talk is easy, talk is cheap. It is the doing that's hard. And it is only in doing that hopes and dreams can come to life."

The Victory Caucus Launch

Two blog and radio stalwarts of the right Hugh Hewitt and NZ Bear have put up a great site, Victory Caucus, and the Goat has registered. It has launched with a boom, Jed Babbin of Human Events and Hugh of Townhall begin the discussion. Yes, this is the conservative "gold room"of bloggers that support the war and want victory, nothing less. It was an honor to be invited to join the coalition and look forward to helping in anyway possible. The New Media (conservative) is building a strong foundation of thinktanks, radio and blog personalities, milvoices and ordinary citizens to combat the old medias slide into one-sided, leftist inane spiel, ie. William Arkin. A vast army of fact checkers, and anti-idiotarians is stepping forward to pick up the soiled mantel of truth and once again bear it forth proudly .
The loonbats sure aren't going to, they support expelling some students, for trampling on a flag, from San Francisco State. It was not our flag which they support burning, it was Hezbollah's flag and the students are members of the young Republican Club. The students will win of course and their courage is saluted in fighting for our 1st Ammendment rights.

California Spring

Weekend Roundup

If you are actually interested in the Levant, Lebanon, Israel, Syria, Jordan, Michael Totten has lived in Lebanon and as a freelance journalist walks the steets and talks to the people as well as some of the leaders of the freedom movement. He has posted two, here and here, great interviews that are absolute must reading, with deep insight into the Middle East and the Levant in particular.
The Barnyard receives many news feeds and as always the best reporting has no agenda but hard facts and boots on the ground reporting. We'll see hours of footage from reporters withstanding a hurricane, not reallizing wind like that can than drive a soda straw through a tree, but go on a patrol in Al Anbar, no doing. So in answer to this the Goat has added some live feeds from the battleground.
The Goat does not spin, he bangs horns with those in front of him and kicks those ankle-biter pups approaching from the rear, after all,
This is The Barnyard.

Memo

Mitt's name was removed from the header, not because of a loss of support, but to protect his campaign from an errant Barnyard rant that some scum digger could misconstrue. Mitt Romney, is the Man and the Barnyard will need to be careful as not to put words in the mouth of the opposition to be used against him. Dang, Goat be PC, not, he will continue to bang heads as goats do and right now Mitt is buffing the Goat's horns better than the rest, in a big way.
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Any feedback on updates to the site, long promissed...???

Weekend Rambler

Though today was not particularly photogenic the Barnyard felt too small so a drive around the "world's smallest mountain range", the Sutter Buttes, was in order. It is a stunningly beautiful area of ranches, orchards, massive oak trees and rolling hills stuck in the middle of the vast Sacramento valley, volcanic by history of course with a couple buttes soaring a couple thousand feet above the valley floor. Rich in Native American and early settler history, they are held sacred by the Maidu tribe and would have served as vital high ground during winter floods and likely yearly migration point for the scattered tribes of the Maidu as they consolidated their resources and settled in for the winter in a perfect spot.

In an interesting sidenote, the last known"wild Indian", Ishi, was discovered not that far from these buttes and was a Maidu. The Goat is fascinated by our Native American history and culture and this gray , misty, wind swept day left room for the imagination to roam as the plaque can indicate. The buttes are a major part of California history and should be preserved as such, while private guided hikes are available an effort is underway to open a portion to the public. It is just miles from a major wildlife preserve so the birding is awesome, whether it is with a 12 gauge shotgun or a 35 mil. camera..

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Mitt Romney and Rudy Giulliani continue to gather steam over John McCain and the Goat will go on record as saying that Duncan Hunter would be a wise choice at VP with Newt getting a high level policy slot and Rudy as Attorney General and John as DefSec, Dr. Rice stays at State and Mitt of course as President.

Yes , this is the Goat.

Please Tell Me

Who is Anna Nicole Smith? Why is her passing, while sad, worth wall to wall 24/7 news coverage? Is she royalty, a world leader, an accomplished anything? What was she besides an over madeup, blond bimbo with an over achieving decolletage that snookered an old man out of his money and parlayed that into tabloid fame. So whose life will the paparrazi destroy next? As the solo post on the passing of a fellow American, I would suspect the harsh dieting technigues used to control her voluptuous figure played a major role and should be used to inform the young ladies of the dangers of this wierd wild persona of purely tabloid fame. Our major news outlets fascination with this Hollywood whore is shameful and beyond the Barnyard to understand. Please tell me why this of any importance at all if it can't be used as a teaching moment for parents wth young ladies dreaming of Hollywood? Sad, so sad...
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Now a brief tribute to a real American Lady, Captain Molly Corbin, she fought alongside her husband manning a cannon in our Revolution, continuing the firing regimine after her husband fell and untill she herself was wounded and captured. The first woman to receive full honors and pensions in the US Military history and among the very few interred at West Point. While the Barnyard does not support women in combat, they can be fierce and able warriors and were very instrumental in our founding and very much so on the frontlines. They knew how to shoot and were as hardened as their husbands and with their farms destroyed, they joined the fight, salute!
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Now to the real and very modern war, despite what the naybobs and lunatics that want us to lose and now have that stake in the great gamble in the form of the MSM and the politicos in the Dem leadership. We are making real progress with thousands of jihadis killed in Iraq and Afganistan and many thousands more captured, as long as the citizens know we are there to kill the brutal thugs they will side with us and provide invaluable information. The opposite is also true, if we show weakness the average Iraqi will hedge his stance towards the strongest clan or sect is his area and clam up.
Bill Roggio of The Fourth Rail and Mike Yon, "Gates of Fire" fame, both former Special Forces and now independant journalists, are both embedded deep in Iraq with our troops, "Walking the Line" and providing real time unabrogated news and stories. Who can forget these dispatches from Mike Yon.?
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Iran is on the verge of cracking under its own retoric, Amir Taheri explains it very well here, here and here. We have an historic chance in the middle East even though it appears fully ablaze, as we are the "strongman" right now and all we have to do is put our foot down once and for all. The only thing keeping the Arabs and Persians from all out war is Israel and the US. The moderate Arab states appear to be waking up as does Pakistan but what that means is yet to be seen in what America does. Are we cowards or leaders of the free world?
Strange, the left here derides the right as Nazi for not approving of homosexual marriage while wanting the US to lose to those that not only would not allow them to marry but would instead remove their heads with a rusty blade. It shows the absolute and blatant divergence from reality and the truth the Hollywood elite and our MSM have acheived. In their warped little minds it is Vietnam all over again and in the case of the press, it is, and by golly it will fit that parameter no matter what. Our MSM has a horse in the race and they bet on the loser being the US and they'll be damned to be proven wrong even at the sacrafice of America. The Third Reich is not in this administration it walks the halls of the nations news rooms and editorial boards, comparing them to Hitler's reign is harsh but stifling opposing views is what they do as well as repeating false propoganda. Why do they want us to lose?
The Socialists have based their final stance in a couple popular issues, global warming and healthcare, and hope to hijack those issues for their political power, not that they care about those people affected, or their stated goals. It is about power and once you can control the people by fiat and demand, freedom is lost and liberty but a fleeting memory. One of the major reasons we have withstood the onslaught of Socialism is that we are NOT a pure democracy but a Federalist Republic with a Representantive gov't of the People by the People,and for the People. Those of us that actually study what our founders had to say are amazed everyday at the depth of wisdom that is brought forth in our Federalist Papers as written by Jay, Hamilton and Madison or the sheer brilliance of the documents they were justifying, The Constitution and Declaration of Independence. The Constitutution and later the Bill of Rights resemble nothing of the modern American leftist view of America. ***

Sen. Mitch McConnell, may just be the man the GOP needs in the hotseat, he knows what those documents mentioned say and mean and has been mentioned for SCOTUS.
The Barnyard is watching.

*** hmmm, don't know what to say to that just yet, it speaks so well for itself.

Hugh Hewitt at His Best

Hugh had some mush headed moonbat professor on today in what has to be one of his top ten ten shows. The Goat laughed so hard through the bumbling professorand then the hear,Jon Podhoretz, Mark Steyn, and James Lilecs just shred him, it was hard to listen through my own chuckling. Prof. Hugh shows his cross examination skills and backs this, Philip Bohlman, right bach into his leftist hole. The bloke could not admit Castro is an evil thug, wow. Anyway this Bohlman character was representing the Society for Ethnomusicolgy and their recent statement on music as a form of torture, an absolute pacifist, unless it is against democracy, anti-American leftist. That became evident when asked about Castro and the jihadis, Bohlman choked on his cognac. This is absolutely amazing how out of touch with reality this elite fool is.
Yea, the Barnyard would find being forced to listen to modern pop music or 70's oldies torture in a mild sense of the word after all Goat can claim knowledge of ethnomusicology as well being versed in the underground of heavymetal and fusion bands for four decades. Now my knowledge of or scorn for certain forms of music qualify me to make a statement on terrorist detainee policies of the US. I got stuck on a bus once, High School ski trip, for endless hours of Joan Jett's sole contribution to 'rock' history, pure torture yes, but my psyche remained intact. Where was Robert Sullivan when I needed him?
Oh the pain of having to listen to years of the same music played over and over and over again on out local radio stations. It is torture I tell you to be stuck in an elevator piping muzak. Who can I sue the next time I here a "golden oldie" for the gazillionth time and feel threatened by it?

Senate Backbone in the GOP

Ohhh Yeeaaahhh,, three thumbs up for GOP senate leadership on the various Iraq proposals in preventing any of them from ever being passed. The Dems ran like the "stuck pigs" they are and are as scattered and as hard to nail down on an issue as piglets are to catch, see what happens when you grow a spine. Those of us bloggers that signed and promoted the NRSC Pledge, championed by Hugh Hewitt on his radio show, will never truelly know our impact. The signs are encouraging that the GOP caucus is back on its feet and ready to fight, maybe they should watch a few Stallone or Van Dam movies and get that spirit back, you know Rocky against the Russian or Kickboxer. People like a solid leader, a winner to get behind, our love affair with sports is a perfect example, sporting activity is a release for the energies of youth and a crucial building block in building leaders. As long as the GOP sticks to its conservative guns it will win every fight, if they go weakkneed, the Reagan-Gingrich revolution will mean nothing. They must stand firm in the face of liberal lunacy to expect any chance in '08.
"stuck as with a spear or arrow"
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Another commentor, Charlie, chose to argue about the environment and Global Warming while the Barnyard is fully suuportive of clean air and water, and a well maintained park system. He just missed the point that the environmental movement need not be highjacked by the far left socialists. The Goat is a mountain goat, not a sheeplike barnyard goat, sure footed and hardy in the most adverse conditions, we like to slam ours heads together to solve disputes, in the political realm that means concrete ideas and solutions to problems. I think most Barnyard denizens would agree that the Gov't is the least efficient vehicle for change and that the free market combined with the ingenuity of free people can deliver where the gov't could never aspire to.
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A couple articles from Townhall for Charlie's benefit: Debra Saunders and Paul Driessen. The Barnyard is opeb to fact based debate on global warming, Al Gore talking points will be summarily dismissed or ignored if offered with a closed mind. Do humans have an impact? Probab;y, but to a much lesser scale than the whackos want us to believe so they can control us. As the Goat told Charlie real soutions are best left to the free market forces that power us. The Katrina debacle is a perfect example of why the gov't is lousy about doing anything and the Dems want to give control of healthcare to this monstrosity. Its political, if they got it through they would blame the GOP for its failure, not its basic failed premise. The elections in '06 may prove to be more a rejection of loonbat policy than a rejection of conservative Reaganite policy as the new Dem majority faces the same hurdles they put up. They can cry foul all they want and their hypocrisy will be open for all to see as well as their record. Real debate, bring it on, was the message and the Dems ran like the cowards they are.

Seminar Posters

The Barnyard has received some commentary from a gentleman that claims officer ranking, retired as usual, with the US Navy ,spouting Dem talking points while claiming to be a Republican. Let me make this very clear, God, Country, Family and in that order. The Barnyard will not support trying to bribe our enemies in anyway, through "diplomacy", the ultimate diplomacy is in power, the power to back up your word. If the US were to pull out of Iraq, our "paper tiger" image is broadcast 24/7 by those that want to kill us simply for being non-muslim. Read and reread the message a founder has sent us as posted on my side bar from Sam Adams. Diplomacy has gotten us the wreck we have, the ultimate diplomacy is force in the Arab world. I expect full credentials with his next comment. So Mr. Republican wants to square off with the Goat, go for it. His service to this awesome country will not cow the Goat in rejecting his pleas to appease. American supremacy is cool in the Barnyard.
The Goat will throw a bone to an isolationist, Pat Buchanan, on his latest article about a conservative blogger favorite, Sen. Joe Biden.Dem. Joe loves to hear himself talk and on occassion his frankness can be interesting as Pat takes an interesting view on Sen. Biden:

Impolitic? Sure. But does Joe not have a point? Is America going to put into the Oval Office in wartime a guy who is today two years out of the Illinois state legislature?

Advancing on into the minefield, Joe asked rhetorically, "Are they going to turn to Hillary?" -- then answered his own question.

"Everyone in the world knows her. ... Her husband has used every single legitimate tool in her behalf to lock people in, shut people down. Legitimate. And she can't break out of 30 percent for a choice for Democrats. Where do you want to be? Do you want to be in a place where 100 percent of the Democrats know you? They've looked at you for the last three years. And four out of 10 is the max you can get?"

Hmmmm.... ole Slow Joe may have more giddy-up than we thought, while we rarely agree with Mr. Buchanan, he makes some good points here. Joe Biden is the DNC fox and the man to watch, after 36 years he knows the Senate well. He will be the DNC "power broker", mark my words.

Welcome, US Senate staffers, feel free to graze in the Barnyard.

As the Goat reads and rereads Samuel Adams' infamous quote on the sidebar, it is hard not to see how apropo it is today. Where are these leaders when we need them most, Nancy Pelosi, HillBillary, Harry Reid, yeah right, leadership, run and hide leadership, retreatist fools that have no idea what we face as a Nation. This Goat wishes he had the elonquence of Mr. Adams, an art long lost but he knows what those words mean and life means little without freedom. Scots-Irish blood flows in these veins and nobody has fought harder for freedom, other than Israel, our Sister, than us, been here since 1623 and don't intend for that to change.

Struck A Nerve

The Barnyard got visited by the Senate today at least a dozen times, hi Charlie, it looks like The Pledge has struck a nerve and the BarnYard is listed on the blogroll. It also appears to have worked as the anti-war resolution cannot get the votes needed for cloture. Yes, the GOP realizes its base has a spine and wants its Reps to as well, we would guess the NRSC cracked the whip and said that ignoring that petition/Pledge would hurt and badly. The loonbats are going to let off a major squeal, as stuck pigs do, and run around in frenzied circles screaming' the sky is falling' and hopefully abandon politics as too corrupt to change and spend all their time and money staging insanity/socialism displays posing as peace rallies for aging hippies and smelly, anarchist druggies. If this is the image of the DNC base is placed before America, along with the various "Pride" parades that go over the top, the DNC is in for the same wakeup that hit the GOP last year.
Much is written and spoken about the rifts in the conservative movement, they are there but not nearly as deep as those on the left, over many issues, mostly social. America is largely center-right libertarian, live and let live, and when the people get drift of the left's socialist stench, the stinkers will be soundly rejected and that is already happening. You can only put so much perfume and lipstick on a pig before it returns to its mudhole and reveals the pig behind the mask.
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Update: A must read from Michael Barone.

Super Bowl Sunday

Since the Barnyard would obviously root for the Colts over the Bears, we are celebrating a well played game. Peyton Manning controlled that game from minute he stepped on the field the second time and fully deserved MVP as did his team. Tony Dungy finally as the true class act he is gets his Lombardi Trophy, he and friend and rival, Lovie Smith, are perfect models for any Dad aspiring to be a coach. Goat has been rooting for Tony's teams since he started coaching in the NFL, always judging a team by its coach and how the 'stars' act and his teams have always been exemplary especially with Peyton. Having been a rookie on a winning team in a key position, soccer goalkeep, and losing a big game is tough. Lovie and the Bears need to rebuild a young QB's psyche. The Colts are one of the most professional teams in the NFL and that was evidenced today in a big way.
Congratulations to both teams for making it and to a couple awesome coaches that exemplify what it means to be a coach, Goat was fortunate to have one like them. Want to win, Tony and Lovie are two perfect examples to follow, solid Christians, they don't curse or scream, they treat their players with full respect and earn it back.
Mark the Goat's words, Peyton is set for his run at very serious marks in the record books, this Colts team was as good as any I have seen win the Super Bowl and better than most. I would say a combination of alot of cumulative years of QB knowledge, studying Joe Montana, Ken Stabler, Dan Marino, etc, etc, etc and pure physical ability, not to mention heritage, have given us the best to date in Peyton Manning.
Sidenotes: Billy Joel did OK with The Anthem but his voice is just weak with age, he would have done a nice rendition in his heyday, would be surprised if he hasn't once before. He wanted to belt it out and couldn't and that can be respected unlike the thrashings heard since Miss USA, Vanessa Jackson or even Whitney Houston's incredible renditition. Goat says they should look in the opera world for National Anthem singers, not the 'Pop' world, to hear a powerful baritone or bass bellow out our Anthem with the unadulterated power it deserves would be a nice change. America doesn't care who sings it. we just want it delivered with the echoing Grace it deserves, not pansied and tweeked for some pop diva or aging piano bar icon. Last year the Goat had to leave the room as It was trampled on. Momma Goat has a close friend, an alto-soprano, soloist for her Church and our family weddings, that has a voice able to melt iceburgs, never has the Goat heard 'Amazing Grace" delivered with such power and beauty. The Barnyard would love to hear a Pavorati class baritone bellow our Anthem out.
Sidenote II: Prince, well a dairy farm looks, smells and sounds better. It has been 20 years since I played seriously and I can still sound that bad, though kudos for playing in the rain, could not of done it in my day, wireless technology. Put Stevie Vai out there if you want a real show or the original Van Halen, or ZZ Top, etc.
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Blogroll partially restored, need to hear from some friends.

Mitt on Iran "Hope Isn't a Strategy"

During an international trip abroad to attend the Herzliya Conference in Israel, Mitt Romney shared some of his beliefs regarding the continually emerging threat which is Iran.

Good stuff.

Also, here's the link to his 5 Point Plan for dealing with Iran. Forever the fiscal manager and creative problem solver.

http://mittromney.permissiontv.com/?showid=38225

Friday Frolic

You know what, the Barnyard is so sick of the socialists posing as eco-conservatives that we started feeding the Goat the recycle bin, he doesn't like that idea. The Goat happens to hold John Muir and John J. Audubon in extremely high esteem and the barnyard qualifies under the world wildlife federation,WWF, guidelines for habitat. All this 'global warming' squawk is just that , a bunch of "Chicken Littles" running around while grounded scientists, not politicians after a cause or activists, can clearly challenge the debate on any number of grounds.
The "Global Warming" movement is not about the environment, it is totally about Socialism and control of individual rights, where we work, what we drive, where we live and real ownership of that property. The Al Gores, Noam Chomskys and yes, Bin Ladens ,want to control the masses through socialism, Gore, or islamism, Bin Laden. Both are equally dangerous to us as a free republic, from opposite ends of a spectrum that seems to operate in a unique harmony of pain and submission. Though the American left would be the first target of islamic subjugation, Hollywood seems to like the idea of subjugation, let them have it first hand. Back to the enviro-whackjobs, Goat did his time with the Sierra Club, so he can opine as a high ranking contributor for idealistic reasons, the move away from the environment to social engineering, socialism caused the Goat to flee, even was a supporter of Greenpeace at the time. Even as a proclaimed environmentalist, the Barnyard will never support Al Gore in his lunacy .
Early in the '00 race their lunacy was exposed and it has only gotten worse, the propoganda from the left is as deep as the compost at dairies whose machine produces cow farts, that's right, bovine emissions far exceed all human production of gas, not to mention the methane gas cloud over the Amazon rainforest because of vegetative breakdown. Should we raze the Amazon to stop that methane plume? I betcha, the enviros would whack ya good if you tried.
In the Barnyard opinion, the enviro-whack jobs are just another attempt by the socialists, that can't accept the fact it doesn't work, to control society and its free market wishes. The Barnyard is a full believer in the marketplace and it's creative ability to solve problems, not the government's ability to regulate, free the market and watch solutions happen, regulate and stagnate.

Roll Mitt Roll

It depends on the polling source and the Barnyard scores Rudy, Mitt and John at about even with Sen. McCain falling fast to the benefit if Rudy and Mitt. America's Mayor, Mr. Giulliani and Mitt Romney would make a very formidable team based in Reaganesque policies, leaving their personal faults in the dust. Sen. McCain has not a chance against against them because though he is a true hero and patriot, he is a lousy GOP senator. Consensus builder, right, John McCain has done more to destroy the conservative consensus than anyone, McCain-Feingold, the 'Gang of 14', McCain-Kennedy on immigration, need I go on? Now you know a few of the reasons the Barnyard supports Mitt Romney. Rudy is highly admired here and as the candidate would be fully supported, Mr. McCain would be as well, though Mitt Romney is the real man needed to lead America.
If you are affilliated with the Mitt Romney campaign or the GOP resend your links as I lost my blogroll by mistake, attempts to recover it are being made, and they will be reposted.

Blogroll

I am working with blogger to recover it but if you are a friend of the Barnyard please resend your URL so I can get it reposted if needed, Jay, Mark, Karen, Tug and many more. I ain't Webster's dictionary and many URLs have been forgotten. I can replenish my sources easily with time, my friends not so without your help.