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U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney speaks during his keynote address to the U.S. Labor Department’s 2006 National Summit on Retirement Savings at the Willard Hotel in Washington March 2, 2006.

The LEFT could only hope……

H/T Matt Drudge

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Technorati Tags: DickCheney, retire

Cox & Forkum: Made in Iran

Previously on Flap:

Iraq War Watch: Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld – “Iranian Revolutionary Guard is Infiltrating Iraq”

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Technorati Tags: Iran, Iraq, Cox&Forkum, IraqWar

President Bush signs the USA Patriot Terrorism Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2005 in the East Room of the White House Thursday, March 9, 2006 in Washington.

ASSociated Press: Bush Signs Renewal of Patriot Act

A day before parts of the USA Patriot Act were to expire, President Bush signed into law a renewal that will allow the government to keep using terror-fighting tools passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Bush’s signature came two days after the House gave final approval to the legislation over objections that it infringes on Americans’ privacy. The president said the law has been vital to protecting Americans from terrorists.

“The Patriot Act has accomplished exactly what it was designed to do,” Bush said during a signing ceremony in the White House East Room. “It has helped us detect terrorist cells, disrupt terrorist plots and save American lives.”

Senate Democrats held up the reauthorization for partisan political purposes. When the issue failed to gather support (read the public supported the Patriot Act) they dropped opposition like a hot rock.

The changes in the legislation are minor and could have been negotiated without the histrionics and drama from the LEFT.

Combat Methamphetamine Act provisions are incorporated in the act and are now law – a good thing.

Previous:

Patriot Act Watch: United States Senate Approves Renewal

Patriot Act Watch: Extended Until February 3

Patriot Act Watch: Playing Politics But Extended for Six Months

Combat Methamphetamine Act of 2005 Watch: Bill Dies with Patriot Act Extension

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Technorati Tags: ThePatriotAct, PresidentGeorgeWBush, CombatMethamphetamineAct, methamphetamine

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice speaks at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington March 9, 2006.

Reuters: Rice: Iran may pose greatest challenge to US

Iran is probably the No. 1 challenge to the United States, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday after Tehran vowed no compromise in a standoff with the West over its nuclear programs.

Rice, who wants the United Nations Security Council this month to start taking action against Iran that could lead to sanctions, also repeated concerns that Washington believes Tehran supports anti-Israel militants and meddles in neighboring Iraq.

The ball is clearly in the United States court.

Stay tuned for United Nations Security Council discussion next week – unless Iran attempts again to provoke America and/or Israel.

Meanwhile in Iran…..

Iranian demonstrators carry an anti-U.S banner in a rally to support Iran’s nuclear program in front of the Natanz Uranium Enrichment Facility, some 200 miles (322 km) south of the capital Tehran, Iran, Thursday, March 9, 2006. Iran said Thursday it won’t be bullied into abandoning its nuclear program, rejecting its referral to the U.N. Security Council as ‘unjust.’ Both President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and supreme leader Ali Khamenei were defiant in the face of the mounting international pressure on Iran over its nuclear program.

A slideshow of Iranian protests in support of their nuclear program are here.

Previous:

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran – “NO Compromise”

Iran Nuclear Watch: Russia – “United Nations Sanctions on Iran Would Be Ineffective”

Iran Nuclear Watch: United Nations Security Council to Meet on Iran Next Week

Iran Nuclear Watch: Hassan Rowhani Boasts of Fooling the Europeans

Iran Nuclear Watch: Vice President Cheney – “Iran Faces Meaningful Consequences”

Iran Nuclear Watch: Europeans Capitulating for Iran Uranium Enrichment

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Increasing Development of Missles Capable of Delivering a Nuclear Warhead

Iran Nuclear Watch: IAEA Optimistic

Iran Nuclear Watch: United States WARNS Iran of “Painful Consequences”

Iran Nuclear Watch: The Final Proposal from Iran

Iran Nuclear Watch: Condoleezza Rice – United Nations Security Council Sanctions UNLIKELY

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran and European Union – NO Agreement

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran – “The Process of Uranium Enrichment is the Sovereign Right of Any Country”

Iran Nuclear Watch: IAEA Report – “Iran DETERMINED to Expand Uranium Enrichment”

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – United States and Russia Should Give up Their Nuclear Weapons

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran and Russia Have Reached a “BASIC” Agreement on Uranium Enrichment

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran WILL Retaliate Against Israel Nuclear Facility

Iran Nuclear Watch: Russia – “IAEA Can Still Solve Iran Nuclear FLAP”

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran President Ahmadinejad Blames United States and Israel for Iraqi Shiite Dome Destruction

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Foreign Minister Mottaki – “Returning to the Suspension of our Nuclear Activities Is Not on Our Agenda,”

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Would Become Top Supplier of Oil to China

Iran Nuclear Watch: Russia Hosts Iranians to Discuss Uranium Enrichment

Iran Nuclear Watch: Suicide Bombers Warn United States and Britain

Iran Nuclear Watch: Jacques Chirac Says France’s Stance on Iran Unchanged

Iran Nuclear Watch: France Accuses Iran of Clandestine Military Nuclear Activity

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran’s Ambassador to Portugal Questions Holocaust

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran OWNS Russia and China Vetoes on United Nations Security Council

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Begins Small Scale Uranium Enrichment While Russia and France Oppose

Iran Nuclear Watch: Talks with Russia Postponed

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Reaffirms Commitment to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty

Iran Nuclear Watch: United States Preparing Military Strikes Against Iran Nucear Sites

Iran Nuclear Watch: Natanz Uranium Processing Plant has Restarted

Iran Nuclear Watch: “MYTH” of the Holcaust Redux

Iran Watch: Iran Paper Holds Holocaust Cartoons Contest

Iran Watch: Iran Paper Plans Holocaust Cartoons

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Tells IAEA to Remove Surveillance Cameras and Seals From Nuclear Sites

Iran Nuclear Watch: Russia Warns Against Iran Conflict

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Ends Cooperation With IAEA and Resumes Uranium Enrichment

Iran Nuclear Watch: IAEA Reports Iran to United Nations Security Council

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Threatens Full-Scale Enrichment Work

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Says BACK OFF Or…

Iran Nuclear Watch: Bush – United States Will Defend Israel Against Iran

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Will Resist “Bully Nations”

Iran Watch: Bush: Iran ‘Held Hostage’ by Clerical Elite

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Documents Point to Nuclear Warheads

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Threatens End of Diplomacy

Iran Nuclear Watch: Permanent Five Say IAEA Must Report Iran to U.N. Security Council

The Natanz uranium enrichment complex in Natanz is pictured in this January 2, 2006 satellite image.

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Technorati Tags: Iran, Russia, China, SergeiLavrov, UnitedNations, UnitedNationsSecurityCouncil, ZhouWenzhong, NicholasBurns, EuropeanUnion, MahmoudAhmadinejad, ManouchehrMottaki, JacquesChirac, Chirac, France, Iran, Nuclearweapons, nuclear, AbdulQadeerKhan, AliLarijani, CondoleezzaRice, JohnBolton, RezaVaidi, GholamHosseinMohseniEjehei, SergeiKiriyenko

Country singers Faith Hill and Tim McGraw hold their awards for best country collaboration backstage at the 48th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles February 8, 2006.

ABC News: Faith Hill, Tim McGraw Blast ‘Humiliating’ Katrina Cleanup

Country Stars Lash Out in Anger Over Conditions in Storm-Ravaged States

Faith Hill and Tim McGraw REALLY need to SHUT UP AND SING.

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Technorati Tags: FaithHill, TimMcgraw, HurricaneKatrina, Shutupandsing, LauraIngraham

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton laughs as she received an Honorary Doctorate from Bar-Ilan University in Israel at a Jubilee Annivarsary National Dinner and Academic Convocation held at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York Sunday, March 5, 2006.

ASSociated Press: Sen. Clinton slams GOP immigration bill

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a potential White House candidate in 2008, said Wednesday some Republicans are trying to create a “police state” to round up illegal immigrants.

Clinton, D-N.Y., spoke out on the U.S. immigration policy after largely staying away from an issue that has roiled Congress in recent months and spurred a number of conflicting proposals.

Speaking at a rally of Irish immigrants, Clinton criticized a bill the House passed in December that would impose harsher penalties for undocumented workers.

“Don’t turn your backs on what made this country great,” she said, calling the measure “a rebuke to what America stands for.”

The House measure would make unlawful presence in the United States, which is currently a civil offense, a felony.

Clinton said it would be “an unworkable scheme to try to deport 11 million people, which you have to have a police state to try to do.”

She called instead for immigration changes “based on strengthening our borders in order to make us safer from the threat of terrorism.

Hillary throws a bone to the Hispanic LEFT.

But, what is Senator Clinton REALLY saying besides protect the border?

Sounds to Flap that Hillary supports an AMNESTY for the many millions of illegal aliens already present in the country.

The senator also sent a four-page public letter to constituents outlining her views on immigration. In the letter, she shied away from specifics but said she does support allowing at least some of the estimated 11 million undocumented workers to earn citizenship.

Such changes should include “a path to earned citizenship for those who are here, working hard, paying taxes, respecting the law, and willing to meet a high bar for becoming a citizen,” Clinton wrote.

Of course, Flap knew what Hillary’s and the LEFT’s true position was on these issues: AMNESTY first and protect the border maybe.

The illegal immigration issue will be key in the 2008 Presidential election…..

Previous:

Hillary Clinton Watch: Unaware of Husband Bill’s Dubai Ties

Hillary Clinton Watch: Hillary Meter: 43% Will Vote Against

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Technorati Tags: HillaryClinton, IllegalImmigration, policestate, election2008

In front of an anti-aircraft gun, Iranian women make their way at the conclusion of a rally in front of the Natanz Uranium Enrichment Facility, some 200 miles (322 km) south of the capital Tehran, Iran, Thursday, March 9, 2006, to support Iran’s nuclear programs. Iran said Thursday it won’t be bullied into abandoning its nuclear program, rejecting its referral to the U.N. Security Council as ‘unjust.’ Both President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and supreme leader Ali Khamenei were defiant in the face of the mounting international pressure on Iran over its nuclear program.

Reuters: Iran pledges to stand firm in row with West

Iran’s top leadership on Thursday vowed no compromise on its nuclear dispute with the West, which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said would suffer more than Tehran if it continued to confront Iran’s atomic ambitions.

Speaking a day after it became clear the U.N. Security Council would take up Iran’s case, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — the ultimate decision-maker in the Islamic state — urged officials not to give in to Western pressure.

The Quotes:

“If the Iranian nation and government step back on nuclear energy today, the story will not end there and the Americans will make another pretext,” state television quoted him as telling the Assembly of Experts, an elected body of senior clerics which supervises the Supreme Leader’s activities.

“The officials are responsible for continuing Iran’s drive for advanced technology, including nuclear energy, without yielding to the pressures.”

But Khamenei also noted the need for “wisdom and expediency” in handling the issue, a possible nod to faint internal criticism in Iran that Ahmadinejad and other senior officials have antagonized the West with inflammatory statements.

It is on to the United Nations Security Council for Iran. But, will they attempt to provoke the United States prior to the meeting?

Officials from the Security Council’s five permanent members met on Wednesday to discuss their strategy when the council takes up Iran’s case early next week.

Most diplomats expect the 15-nation council, which can impose sanctions, to first issue a statement urging Iran to comply with resolutions by the International Atomic Energy Agency board that it halt all uranium enrichment activities.

Iranian confrontation or conciliation prior to next week’s meeting?

Stay tuned……

Iranians chant slogans in a rally in front of the Natanz Uranium Enrichment Facility, some 200 miles (322 km) south of the capital Tehran, Iran, Thursday, March 9, 2006, to support Iran’s nuclear programs.

Previous:

Iran Nuclear Watch: Russia – “United Nations Sanctions on Iran Would Be Ineffective”

Iran Nuclear Watch: United Nations Security Council to Meet on Iran Next Week

Iran Nuclear Watch: Hassan Rowhani Boasts of Fooling the Europeans

Iran Nuclear Watch: Vice President Cheney – “Iran Faces Meaningful Consequences”

Iran Nuclear Watch: Europeans Capitulating for Iran Uranium Enrichment

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Increasing Development of Missles Capable of Delivering a Nuclear Warhead

Iran Nuclear Watch: IAEA Optimistic

Iran Nuclear Watch: United States WARNS Iran of “Painful Consequences”

Iran Nuclear Watch: The Final Proposal from Iran

Iran Nuclear Watch: Condoleezza Rice – United Nations Security Council Sanctions UNLIKELY

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran and European Union – NO Agreement

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran – “The Process of Uranium Enrichment is the Sovereign Right of Any Country”

Iran Nuclear Watch: IAEA Report – “Iran DETERMINED to Expand Uranium Enrichment”

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – United States and Russia Should Give up Their Nuclear Weapons

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran and Russia Have Reached a “BASIC” Agreement on Uranium Enrichment

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran WILL Retaliate Against Israel Nuclear Facility

Iran Nuclear Watch: Russia – “IAEA Can Still Solve Iran Nuclear FLAP”

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran President Ahmadinejad Blames United States and Israel for Iraqi Shiite Dome Destruction

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Foreign Minister Mottaki – “Returning to the Suspension of our Nuclear Activities Is Not on Our Agenda,”

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Would Become Top Supplier of Oil to China

Iran Nuclear Watch: Russia Hosts Iranians to Discuss Uranium Enrichment

Iran Nuclear Watch: Suicide Bombers Warn United States and Britain

Iran Nuclear Watch: Jacques Chirac Says France’s Stance on Iran Unchanged

Iran Nuclear Watch: France Accuses Iran of Clandestine Military Nuclear Activity

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran’s Ambassador to Portugal Questions Holocaust

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran OWNS Russia and China Vetoes on United Nations Security Council

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Begins Small Scale Uranium Enrichment While Russia and France Oppose

Iran Nuclear Watch: Talks with Russia Postponed

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Reaffirms Commitment to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty

Iran Nuclear Watch: United States Preparing Military Strikes Against Iran Nucear Sites

Iran Nuclear Watch: Natanz Uranium Processing Plant has Restarted

Iran Nuclear Watch: “MYTH” of the Holcaust Redux

Iran Watch: Iran Paper Holds Holocaust Cartoons Contest

Iran Watch: Iran Paper Plans Holocaust Cartoons

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Tells IAEA to Remove Surveillance Cameras and Seals From Nuclear Sites

Iran Nuclear Watch: Russia Warns Against Iran Conflict

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Ends Cooperation With IAEA and Resumes Uranium Enrichment

Iran Nuclear Watch: IAEA Reports Iran to United Nations Security Council

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Threatens Full-Scale Enrichment Work

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Says BACK OFF Or…

Iran Nuclear Watch: Bush – United States Will Defend Israel Against Iran

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Will Resist “Bully Nations”

Iran Watch: Bush: Iran ‘Held Hostage’ by Clerical Elite

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Documents Point to Nuclear Warheads

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Threatens End of Diplomacy

Iran Nuclear Watch: Permanent Five Say IAEA Must Report Iran to U.N. Security Council

The Natanz uranium enrichment complex in Natanz is pictured in this January 2, 2006 satellite image.

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Technorati Tags: Iran, Russia, China, SergeiLavrov, UnitedNations, UnitedNationsSecurityCouncil, ZhouWenzhong, NicholasBurns, EuropeanUnion, MahmoudAhmadinejad, ManouchehrMottaki, JacquesChirac, Chirac, France, Iran, Nuclearweapons, nuclear, AbdulQadeerKhan, AliLarijani, CondoleezzaRice, JohnBolton, RezaVaidi, GholamHosseinMohseniEjehei, SergeiKiriyenko