Beating the Church with Torture Memos

The SL Tribune's resident Mormon basher, Rebecca Walsh, is at it again. Not one to let any chance to bash the LDS Church go to waste, she is now going after the church because one of it's members was part of President Bush's legal team that authorized "torture". Of course, to make the story really work, she had to bring in a member of the LDS Church who didn't go along with "torturing" Iraqi prisoners. The member in questions decided to commit suicide instead of following the Evil BusHilter down the path of "torture".

To all this, the Great El-ahrairah says"Poppycock!". First of all, a very low-level interogator in Iraq wouldn't have been required or even asked to do anything remotely resembling what the lefties are screaming about as "torture". If she commited suicide, then is was for some other reason and to bring her up her name as someone who valiantly opposed the Evil BusHitler is ridiculous. As for the other member of the church who wrote the legal justification for "torture", I say we should give him a medal. He did what any true-blooded American would have done to defend his country, as opposed to all those anti-war, anti-American war protestors.

As for the Great El-ahrairah, I'll just paraphrase a saying from the Old West; "The only good terrorist is a dead terrorist." Whatever President Bush did to defend the United States against terrorists is fine by me. I'm all for the wanton killing and "torture" of any and all terrorists. If the loony left thinks that we are "torturing" terrorists, then we should run Gitmo like a gulag and take all the Korans and prayer rugs away from the inmates, force them to listen to speed metal music and make them all eat pork.

I think that some filmmaker should make a film of just Predator surveillance video showing terrorists being blown apart in Hellfire missle strikes. It might now win any awards, but it would make liberal heads explode 'cuz remember boys and girls, whenever a terrorists dies, Baby Jesus smiles and another angel gets his wings.

I left when an adult was president......

....and I returned with a teenager in charge. To all those readers of the Warren out there, I just got back from an all-expense paid vacation for one to President Obama's favorite War on Terror (can we still say 'war'?) country. I left the US just before his inauguration (and an adult was still president) and now I'm back. Here are my observations of President Hope for a Change's first 90+ days.

1. He is inexperienced. It didn't take a rocket scientist to realize this, but enough of the US population didn't take this into account. The liberals say that we should cut him some slack, but I'm sure that all the enemies of the US are getting ready to "bend him over" so that they can have their way.

2. He is basically a liar. The Chosen One made lots and lots of promises to get elected, but now that reality has set in, he is either letting his promises expire or he is forgetting that he made them all together. I remember that during the primary season, a well-known liberal film director ( I don't remember his name right now) said that he was supporting Obama due to the Clinton's propensity to lie ("All politicians lie but the Clinton's do it so easily" or something to that effect). Well, it looks like Obama has decided to make the Clinton's look like Honest Abe.

3. He is a socialist. Like all socialists, he believes that if you can spend your way to prosperity. If this was true, Communist Russia would have been the world's biggest economic power.

There are many other things that I can post, but they essentially come back to these three observations. If things keep going the way they are now, the elections of 2012 will be very interesting indeed.

Captain Holly's Hiking Blog, 2009 Edition: Angel's Landing, Zion National Park

I did this hike on March 27, 2009.

It's time for another fun-filled summer of hiking in the great outdoors of Utah. This year I have several good hikes on tap, starting with getting to the top of Box Elder Peak and then conquering the highest mountain in Utah, Kings Peak.

But for starters I decided to do the toughest hike in Zion National Park: Angel's Landing.


The "peak" is actually just a large slab of Entrada sandstone stuck right in the middle of Zion's Canyon. Because of its location, it provides incredible views of the entire canyon. These views come at a price, though: It's extremely steep and not for the faint of heart.


The trail is well-maintained and is quite easy for the first half-mile or so. Then as you start your way up it is paved with concrete or asphalt in order to accommodate the huge volume of hikers who climb it every year.


After about a mile, you get to what's called "Walter's Wiggles", a set of switchbacks built into the side of the mountain, leading to a flat area where there are pit toilets and places to relax and have lunch.

After that, the "easy part" is done. Now comes the white-knuckle climbing portion.


The trail from here is steep slickrock scrambling. The Park Service installed a chain because without it many people wouldn't be able to make it to the top.


Once you get on top, the view is worth it.


But be advised it's a long way down, especially on the north side.

A wonderful hike, it only took me about 3 hours to get to the top and back. But it is very strenuous, so be advised.