Sine Qua Non

United States of America

Happy 232nd birthday to the greatest country the world has ever seen.

"Coal Makes Us Sick"

No doubt Senator Reid, but salicylic acid and paracetamol are derived from coal tar, so it makes us better too.

I would have linked a YouTube video, but oddly, all instances of Senator Reid beclowning himself seem to have vanished down the memory hole. It went from most popular video to vanished in less than a day. I have to laugh at all the people who thought Microsoft was the dark side of the force.

The Oebama Factor

The boy wonder wanders in:

Former Vice President Dan Quayle said Tuesday he respects Democrat Barack Obama "because he beat the Clintons" and fears Republican John McCain has an "uphill battle" to defeat Obama in November's presidential election.

But hey, it's not like he's going to be taken seriously. Heck, he doesn't take himself seriously:

Quayle also acknowledged that he expected Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton and Republican Mitt Romney would meet in the general election.

Hey it could happen. In 2012.

When Heller Freezes Over

What if Colt made a big show of offering Senator Obama a custom engraved 1911 to celebrate Heller? If he accepts it, his base is up in arms, no pun intended. If he declines it, well, let's just say that 5-4 vote will look a little more frightening to everyone not in his base. Seem like a win-win to me.

DOWNDATE: An Instalanche! Thank you, sir. One subsequent thought -- I know this is a cheap theatrical stunt, but isn't that basically what the presidential campaigns are made of these days?

So, Citizens Should Not Enjoy the Rights of Violent Criminals?

I've seen a couple of references to Colbert I. King's column today wherein he writes:

There's one group of District residents absolutely unfazed by today's U.S. Supreme Court ruling shooting down the District's strict handgun ban: the dudes who have been blowing away their fellow citizens with abandon since the law was put on the books 32 years ago.

Operating under the notion that it's better to beg forgiveness than to ask permission, our shooters long ago decided not to wait for the high court's thoughts on the matter. They simply arrogated to themselves the right to keep and bear arms and, with that right, license to shoot and kill, with impunity, whatever and whenever the evil spirits moved them.

Set fazers to stun. But wait, there's more:

If D.C. street thugs are pleased by anything, it's probably the fact that five of the justices -- a slim majority, but that's all it takes to win -- have come around to seeing things their way.

That's almost funny in a sad sort of way, though I missed his column last week about how terrorists around the world are pleased that five of the justices -- a slim majority, but that's all it takes to win -- have come around to seeing things their way.

Still not enough for you? Well, Billy Mays has nothing on Mr. King, he's not through by, pardon the pun, a long shot:

Scalia also wrote this hymn to the handgun: "The American people consider the handgun to be the quintessential self-defense weapon." He went on to argue: "There are many reasons that a citizen may prefer a handgun for home defense: it is easier to store in a location that is readily accessible in an emergency; it cannot easily be redirected or wrestled away by an attacker; it is easier to use for those without the upper-body strength to lift and aim a long rifle; it can be pointed at a burglar with one hand while the other hand dials the police. Whatever the reason, handguns are the most popular weapon chosen by Americans for self-defense in the home, and a complete prohibition of their use is invalid."

And if machine guns one day should become the weapon of choice for home protection -- what say ye then, Justice Scalia? With the exception of that reference to dialing the police, D.C. street thugs' response to Scalia's ode to the handgun was undoubtedly, "Hear, hear!"

See how easily Mr. King goes from Justice Scalia writing that a complete prohibition on handguns in the home is invalid to implying that Justice Scalia would be down with gang bangers having machine guns? What an ass.

Mr. King finishes with:

So now it has come to pass that D.C. residents can keep handguns, as well as rifles and shotguns, in their homes. A well armed, informal militia we shall be -- ready to fire back in self-defense at the shooters who believed they had the right to their guns all along.

America, more body bags, please.

If the body bags are for Mr. Colbert's precious thugs, I won't be shedding any tears. Maybe we can just use the body bags for them that have been used for citizens up to this point. Mr. King's apparent ignorance of actual crime statistics where guns are allowed and refusal to consider the deterrent factor of armed citizens speaks poorly of the Washington Post's decision to allow him to beclown himself on this issue with an op-ed as full of emotion as it is devoid of reason.

Utterly Depressing

That's how it feels to note that liberty wins 5-4. Until the next vote anyway, at which point no one will be able to be heard over the stare decisis cacaphony. Am I supposed to celebrate because liberty, not me or what I want, mind you, but liberty prevailed by the thinnest of margins? Imagine, just one more vote, or perhaps a little more growth by Justice Kennedy and Drudge's headline might have read "Second Amendment Dies" instead.

Note these headlines:

Supreme Court says Americans have right to guns

Weird, huh? I thought it was the US Constitution that said that. The Supreme Court's job is just to make sure that Congress doesn't usurp it.

Americans have right to guns under landmark ruling

Again, it's not the ruling that gives us the right, although I understand the confusion of people who believe in the living, breathing, ever-mutating constitution. But hey, don't get cocky, kids:

Pelosi Says D.C. Should Continue Gun Regulation
Mayors: Gun ruling won't stop prevention efforts

At least Tackleberry finally gets his wish.

DOWNDATE: While Heller has given the citizens of Washington, DC, the right to protect themselves with firearms once again, it has effectively killed The Volokh Conpiracy blog. Just an observation.

Fair DNCum

Pelosi Supports 'Fairness Doctrine'

Well, duh. And since she's in charge, guess who gets to decide what's fair?

Obama Does Not Support Return of Fairness Doctrine

Well, duh. Could you imagine if Big Media were forced to to postpone their adoration of Lord Hope, the Marquis of Change to give John McCain equal time? But who wouldn't pay money to hear Chris Matthews say, "We interrupt this funny feeling in my leg to bring you equal time for John McCain"?

Free At Last, Free At Last

Thank Mammon almighty, he's free at last!

U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon, a conservative Republican who lost his primary to an opponent who accused him of not being conservative enough, said Wednesday that his defeat frees him to move on to pursue other opportunities.

I know nothing about Representative Cannon, but it is hard to believe he will be missed.

Rocky Mountain Sigh

RTWT. It's the only way to appreciate the lunacy of people who imagine reality is whatever they want it to be.

If No Sitcoms Were Made In the Forest, How Would We Know?

The Film Actors Guild is not happy:

The Screen Actors Guild on Wednesday accused major Hollywood studios of offering a contract deal worth less than an agreement approved by the leaders of a smaller actors union.

The deal with the federation was reached during a temporary halt in the talks between SAG and the studios.

Race As a Social Construction

Apparently Senator Obama should "talk black" like, um, Ralph Nader?

Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader accused Sen. Barack Obama, the presumed Democratic Party nominee, of downplaying poverty issues, trying to "talk white" and appealing to "white guilt" during his run for the White House.

You really can't make this stuff up.

Because I Said So

Nope, it still doesn't sound good coming from an authority figure:

The Supreme Court declared Wednesday that executions are too severe a punishment for raping children, despite the "years of long anguish" for victims, in a ruling that restricts the death penalty to murder and crimes against the state.

However devastating the crime to children, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in his majority opinion, "the death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child." His four liberal colleagues joined him, while the four more conservative justices dissented.

I beg to differ on the law and the morality. The thing is, if these bastards don't deserve it who does? Oh, that's right, no one.

I hope they have comfortable beds at my reeducation camp.

Up, Up With People Primates

There the best kind of folks we know...

Spain's parliament voiced its support on Wednesday for the rights of great apes to life and freedom in what will apparently be the first time any national legislature has called for such rights for non-humans.

Any guesses at what rights come next?

The Pendulum Has Stopped Moving

Which means it is headed back the other way:

The environmental movement, only recently poised for major advances on global warming and other issues, has suddenly found itself on the defensive as high gasoline prices shift the political climate nationwide and trigger defections by longtime supporters.

About time.

Global Warming

Is there anything it can't do?

The tomato scare that has sickened 170 people and is the worst food scare since the E. coli/spinach outbreak is being blamed by some environmental activists on climate change and the need for more food grown with the help of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Crypto-Racism

Republican Huckabee says don't denigrate Obama

Obey!

Al Gore endorses Obama! Well, duh, but considering the rather late nature of the endorsement, why is this news? All in all, a rather curious display of, ahem, leadership, wouldn't you say? But then leadership isn't Mr. Gore's strong suit when it comes to setting an example, is it?

Hugo Would Be Proud

It's the government's world, we just live in it:

Among other things, the Democrats called for the government to own refineries so it could better control the flow of the oil supply.

For control, one can only read constrict since they seem to be unwilling to do anything to increase it. Can you say rationing? Sure, I knew you could.

The race to the bottom is picking up speed.

No Means No

Except when it doesn't:

The long campaign to forge a new dispensation for the European Union descended into panic and uncertainty yesterday when Ireland turned its back on its 26 EU partners and voted down the Lisbon Treaty.

The Irish voted by a 7% margin, 53.6 to 46.4, against the treaty, which has already been ratified by 18 EU countries and is expected to be endorsed by the other eight.

Ratified in 18 EU countries without a vote. Funny how that works. One man, one vote, one time, once they get the right answer, of course.

Everything suggested that Europe's key leaders were urgently conferring on a scheme to steamroller their blueprint through despite the Irish rejection, a course likely to trigger protest from Eurosceptics and deepen Europe's democratic legitimacy problems.

The EU is lucky they aren't attending Oberlin as they won't take no for an answer as they keep trying to screw their people.

Schismism

Say goodnight, grace:

Male priests marry in Anglican church's first gay 'wedding'

The Anglican church is done. Just ask Christopher.

McCain's VP Choice

Two words: Boris Johnson.

Why? Ten reasons:

1. He's young and energetic.
2. He's demonstrably not of the left.
3. He just defeated Red Ken Livingstone for Mayor of London. Senator Obama should be a piece of cake.
4. The debates later this year would be the best and most brutal we have ever seen in America.
5. How better to strengthen the Anglospheric alliance?
6. Boris wants to be president, and he was born in New York.
7. A candidate named Boris should put an end to any xenophobia triggered by a candidate named Barack Hussein Obama.
8. New blood. He's not Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, or any of he other craptacular candidates bandied about for the position. I exlcude Bobby Jindal from this because he's still too young for the job and Louisiana needs him more than the Senate.
9. The proposed Question Time for the President before Congress might actually make sense.
10. It'll never happen.

How To Make Mike Huckabee Look Good

It's not easy, but Hillary manages to outdo Goober's gaffe:

"My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. I don't understand it," she said, dismissing calls to drop out.

Jeez, is she worried that even then they might pick someone other than her?

Miss It, Noonan! Miss It!

Usually, it is right after the elections that we get the predictable glut of stories wondering whether the Democrats or Republicans can survive, depending on who just won. Peggy Noonan jumps a little ahead of the news cycle:

The Democrats aren't the ones falling apart, the Republicans are. The Democrats can see daylight ahead. For all their fractious fighting, they're finally resolving their central drama. Hillary Clinton will leave, and Barack Obama will deliver a stirring acceptance speech. Then hand-to-hand in the general, where they see their guy triumphing. You see it when you talk to them: They're busy being born. The Republicans? Busy dying.

Ms. Noonan has fallen into the all too frequently sprung trap of interpolating a trend forever based on the last couple of data points, not to mention that it is far from obvious that Hillary is going to be such a gracious team player. But, hey, that Maverick™ brooch you get to wear by criticizing your own does get you invitations to the best parties.

Not being a Republican, I only care to the extent that something has to balance the Democrats, if only to keep them moderately honest. In St. Louis, Chicago, and Washington, DC, I've seen enough of local governments utterly dominated by one party to know it isn't a good thing. Anyway, anybody who thinks the Republicans are doomed need to read the stories written about the Tories in Great Britain about five years ago. These would be the same Tories that just kicked Labour's butt and are threatening to make Gordon Brown their shortest serving Prime Minster since Harold Wison's second term, though a better reference might be to Alec Douglas-Home more than forty years ago since Harold Wilson resigned for health reasons, rather than losing an election. Interestingly enough, Harold Wilson's first term came at the expense of Alec Douglas-Home. But I digress.

There's plenty to despise when it comes to the current crop of elected Republicans and the Republican Party right now, but let's not get carried away. Is anybody really that excited about a triumvirate of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and President Barack Obama running the country? And do you really think they'll do such a bang up job that their future's won't be on the line in 2010 and 2012?

Monday, Monday

Can't trust that day:

U.N. racism investigator to visit U.S. from Monday

Help us Mr. U.N.!

A special U.N. human rights investigator will visit the United States this month to probe racism, an issue that has forced its way into the race to secure the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.

Presumably he will be limiting his investigation to Democrats then. No?

The United Nations said Doudou Diene would meet federal and local officials, as well as lawmakers and judicial authorities during the May 19-June 6 visit.

"The special rapporteur will...gather first-hand information on issues related to racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance," a U.N. statement said on Friday.

Notice the subtle way this is all just assumed to exist here in quantities to justify the visit?

Race has become a central issue in the U.S. election cycle because Sen. Barack Obama, the frontrunner in the battle for the Democratic nomination battle, stands to become the country's first African American president.

His campaign has increased turnout among black voters but has also turned off some white voters in a country with a history of slavery and racial segregation.

FWIW, we also have a history of eliminating slavery and spending untold billions to help rectify its legacy, eliminating segregation a long time ago, and generally rescuing all manner of folks all over the world. Again. And. Again. And. Again.

Diene, a Senegalese lawyer who has served in the independent post since 2002, will report his findings to the U.N. Human Rights Council next year.

Must take a long time to catalogue our sins. Well, at least there is one silver lining:

However, the United Nations has almost no clout when it comes to U.S. domestic affairs and is widely perceived by many as interfering. The United States is not among the 47 member states of the Geneva-based forum, but has observer status.

Of course, we should expect utopians to prefer the perfect over the good:

A U.N. panel which examined the U.S. record on racial discrimination last March urged the United States to halt racial profiling of Americans of Arab, Muslim and South Asian descent and to ensure immigrants and non-nationals are not mistreated.

It also said America should impose a moratorium on the death penalty and stop sentencing young offenders to life in prison until it can root out racial bias from its justice system.

Can we leave the UN now?

Please?

Pretty please?

An Observation

For the first time in several election cycles, all of the candidates for president are so flawed that perhaps we can actually discuss their pros and cons without having to proclaim "our" candidate as the best thing since sliced bread and the "other" candidate as capable of bringing down the republic in four short years. I expect the Republicans to start out a little more civil since they are fresh out of Kool-Aid when it comes to John McCain and George Bush. At least half minus one of the Democrats should be able to join the Republicans soon in elevating the dialogue somewhat. The other half plus one are still too busy hoping the supply of changy flavored Kool-Aid will last until November.

Yes, of course there will be a given number of die-hard partisans, foul-mouthed supporters, and people totally lacking in any graciousness or civility on both sides no matter what. But perhaps the other 80% that are paying attention can move forward in a battle of ideas rather than personalities and caricatures.

Yeah, I'm a dreamer.

Aren't They Taking the Masks Off a Little Early?

Too late for the whole "don't get cocky" advice:

Republican presidential candidate John McCain's family background as the son and grandson of admirals has given him a worldview shaped by the military, "and he has a hard time thinking beyond that," Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Ia., said Friday.

Harkin said that "it's one thing to have been drafted and served, but another thing when you come from generations of military people and that's just how you're steeped, how you've learned, how you've grown up."

Perhaps Iowa Senator Tom Harkin is too corny.

Link via Instapundit.

Living Overseas As a Child, Perhaps?

Senator Obama has national security credentials?

Barack Obama rebuked Republican rival John McCain and President Bush for "dishonest, divisive" attacks in hinting that the Democratic presidential candidate would appease terrorists, staunchly defending his national security credentials for the general election campaign.

Who new?

LOL

Obama criticizes McCain for 'naive' foreign policy

Beware!

Behold the undemocratic concentration of power in the hands of Big Offset!

Stuff White People Like

Not the website, it's Hillary!:

Hillary Rodham Clinton vowed Wednesday to continue her quest for the Democratic nomination, arguing she would be the stronger nominee because she appeals to a wider coalition of voters — including whites who have not supported Barack Obama in recent contests.

"I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on," she said in an interview with USA TODAY. As evidence, Clinton cited an Associated Press article "that found how Sen. Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me."

Imagine the hue and cry if that last sentence had come out of the mouth of, oh, I don't know, Karl Rove? Regarding the Democrats' promotion of identity politics for so long, I am reminded of Macbeth's comment:

“We still have judgment here, that we but teach bloody instructions, which, being taught, return to plague th’ inventor.”

Anyway, Hillary! needs to listen to some Boz Scaggs:

Best of friends,
Never part,
Best of fools has loved forever
From the bottom of his heart.
So why pretend?
This is the end.
You'll have to find out for yourself,
Go on ask somebody else.
Why can't you just get it through your head?
It's over, it's over now.
Yes, you heard me clearly now I said,
"It's over, it's over now."
I'm not really over you,
You might say that,
"I can't take it, I can't take it,
Lord, I swear I just can't take it no more."

Now, who else can tie stuff that white people like, Macbeth and Boz Scaggs together all in the space of 30 seconds reading?

Huevos

Just when you think it can't get any weirder:

And James Carville, the Clintons' ubiquitous former aide, booster, and informal adviser made the point even more vividly, giving Clinton a two-gonad edge on her primary rival, Senator Barack Obama. "If she gave him one of her cojones, they'd both have two," Carville said.

So she has three now? Anyway, shouldn't Ol' Snakehead already know that every woman has two gonads? And I'm not referring to the ones Mary keep in a jar by the bed.

Of Course He Did

Al Gore Calls Myanmar Cyclone a 'Consequence' of Global Warming

And here I thought it was the curse of the lepidoptera.

Tulip Mania

Oil nears $123 on $200 oil prediction

My first thought is that somebody has trouble with simple math if this is even remotely close to being true. But then I started thinking... anybody want to take bets on when we'll be asked to respond to the crisis of falling oil prices and have to bail out all the speculators? I mean, the entire economic system might collapse if we don't rescue the financiers and commodity traders who were only trying to efficiently channel resources towards getting more oil, except when they weren't.

Of course, depending on the timing of the fall in crude and its proximity to the election, there'll be a significant clamor from some quarters to use taxation to keep the cost of gasoline where it is. For The Environment™, of course. And The Children™.

An Emblem of Conformity and Hypocrisy

According to Richard Cohen. Eek, wish I had time for a well-earned Scourge.

DOWNDATE: I picture Richard Cohen stammering and spitting like Niedermayer saying, "Is that a flag pin on your uniform?"

Evil!

Well, to some people:

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, announced Monday it would expand its discounted prescription drug program to offer 90-day supplies for $10 and add several women's medications at a discount. It also said it would lower the price of more than 1,000 over-the-counter drugs.

In a Perfect World

Mugabe beaten

Would have been the complete headline instead of having this appended to it: ... in presidential vote, says government source

Brilliance

For the record, Antonin Scalia is so much smarter than most people it isn't funny. I can understand that people have different judicial philosophies and temperaments, but anyone who thinks he doesn't belong on the US Supreme Court is not to be taken seriously.

May? That's Still Two Days Away

Newt Gingrich has a vice like grip on the short and curlies of the bleeding obvious:

Gingrich: Wright May Be Deliberately Trying to Hurt Obama

A little OT, but I respect Senator Obama more now. He could have embraced Rev. Wright and written off the presidency but made a fortune and completely displaced Rev. Sharpton and Rev. Jackson, not to mention Rev. Wright, who's burnishing his image at the expense of tarnishing Senator Obama's. This is a shameful episode on Rev. Wright's part.

Grandstanding

Whenever Al Sharpton speaks of justice, remember Steven Pagones.

Three Wright Turns Equals One Left Turn

With apologies to Three Dog Night, here's a .., um ..., transcript of Senator Obama's press conference today:

Jeremiah's left my agog,
Was a good friend of mine.
I never understood a single word he said,
But I helped him a-think his whine.
And he always had some mighty fine whine.
Singing, joy to the world!
All the boys and girls, now,
Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea,
Joy to you and me!

If I were the King of the world,
Tell you what I'd do.
I'd throw away the cars, the dollars and the wars,
And demand that you shed your cynicism. That you put down your divisions. That you come out of your isolation, that you move out of your comfort zones. That you push yourselves to be better. And that you engage. [I] will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual, uninvolved, uninformed.

Sorry, Michele Obama sort of took over at the end there.

I like Senator Obama, though I'll never vote for anyone quite as statist or as immersed and gullible concerning Marxist policy prescriptions as I believe him to be. While I remain convinced he is just another politician, especially one out of Chicago, he does seem less slimy and substantially more decent than most. I'd actually like having him as a neighbor, which isn't true of most politicians I've ever met.

Why Senator Obama needs to do anything with Rev. Wright other than disassociating himself from him is beyond me. "Disowning" Rev. Wright is a rather odd turn of phrase since he never owned him or his words before. But Senator Obama has kept some strange company and that must be a consideration in how he is judged when it comes to electing him as President.

While I'm on point, I heard Cult of Personality by Living Colour yesterday and Senator Obama was all I could think of as it played. The cult of personality being built up around Senator Obama ought to make everyone squirm just a little, given the rather sordid history of the those who haved formed the basis of cults of personality.

Enough rambling. Regardless, I'd rather see a President Obama than a President Clinton. The goodwill generated internationally by a President Obama, however unfair or misplaced, would have some value, whereas all we'd get from a President Clinton is four, or eight, more years of people like Paul Begala and James Carville in the halls of power. I can't say I'm happy to get a President McCain, but what are you gonna do?

Too bad the Democrat's convention isn't in Chicago this summer. We could all relive the Summer of Love one more time. After all, it's been literally a few days since someone has wanted to relive the 60's all over again, man.

The Angostura-American

If I had been posting much a week ago I'm sure this would have been in a post somewhere. As it is, it's kind of old news, meaning that it is about as current as the last issue of Newsweek or Time, but I wanted to commit it to the ether before I forgot about it. I'm sure I'll be able to resurrect it if Obama doesn't win the Democrat's nomination. There'll be a lot of Angostura-Americans then.

That's Why We Call Them ...

Leaders:

"They will do so at their own risk of damaging the Republican Party forever,'' he said, because "people are always ahead of leaders.''

Famous leader Doug Wilder talking about something or other.

Question: How Do I Get Declared Persona Non Grata?

Answer:

Sources with knowledge of the incident said the official, Rafael Quintero Curiel, served as the lead press advance person for the Mexican Delegation and was responsible for handling logistics and guiding the Mexican media around at the conference. He took six or seven of the handheld devices from a table outside a special room in the hotel where the Mexican delegation was meeting with President Bush earlier this week.

Sources said Quintero Curiel made it all the way to the airport before Secret Service officers caught up with him. He initially denied taking the devices, but after agents showed him the DVD, Quintero Curiel said it was purely accidental, gave them back, claimed diplomatic immunity and left New Orleans with the Mexican delegation.

You gotta love it. I didn't do it! I mean, it was an accident! Diplomatic Immunity! Obviously, the devil (i.e., Bush) made him do it.

The John McCain Making It As Hard As Possible For Me To Vote For Him National Tour, Stop 1

Believe it or not, not everyone thinks the federal government should be responsible for replacing every bird that falls out of a tree:

John McCain toured still hurricane-damaged areas of New Orleans and declared that if the disaster had happened on his watch, he would have immediately landed his plane at the nearest Air Force base. The Republican presidential candidate is campaigning this week in what he calls forgotten areas of the country. He offered a pledge Thursday to New Orleans residents that their situation will not be forgotten and that such a botched disaster response will never happen again. McCain was unsparing in his criticism of the Bush administration. He said Congress must share some of the blame, too. Drawing a sharp contrast to President Bush, McCain said he would have landed his plane "at the nearest Air Force Base and come over personally."

Uh, ok. I understand using President Bush as a whipping boy and sucking up to the press, but wasn't somebody besides the President and the Congress responsible for, say, maintaining the levees and getting the people of New Orleans out? Even just a little? I'm curious as to when Senator McCain would have landed his plane at the nearest Air Force base. Is it worth the effort to remind Senator McCain and the lapdog press that Katrina wasn't Katrina until the day after Katrina when the levees gave way?

Senator McCain seems to be promoting the idea that the federal government can, and should, involve itself with every single aspect of American life. Sorry, I'd rather you leave this kind of village building to your opponents, but that's just me.

That's Not An Image I Needed This Early

Susan Estrich: Clinton or Obama on Top?

Dispatch From the Echo Chamber

Enjoy as Anatole Kaletsky sets out to lecture Americans concerning our next presidential election:

The 2008 US election has all the makings of a Greek tragedy, in which noble heroes and heroines are forced to follow a course to catastrophe, divinely preordained as punishment for sins and blunders committed by their forefathers in the dim and distant past. In acting out their ineluctable doom, the eloquent protagonists do not just destroy themselves but also their cities, their nations and even their entire civilisations.

Speaking of Greek tragedies, the word hubris comes to mind. But it is nice to see that he agrees with many of us that the election of Senator Clinton or Senator Obama would lead to end of Western Civilization.

If this description sounds too grandiose, consider yesterday's results from the Pennsylvania primary.

If?

The outcome seemed to be precisely calibrated by the gods to maximise the agony of the Democrats. It gave Hillary Clinton just the support she needed to stay firmly in contention, but not quite enough to turn the tide in her favour.

She's no Cnut, that's for sure.

Worse still, this result underlined the fear that senior Democrats have long been aware of, but have never dared to express in public: America may not yet be ready to elect a black President.

Is Mr. Kaletsky aware that these are Democrat primaries? Heh, at least by inference we are over our sexism.

Worst of all, it has created conditions for the possible election victory of a militarily belligerent and economically unqualified Republican candidate who supports many of President Bush's worst policies. Given the Bush Administration's domestic and foreign failures, the disasters in Iraq and Afghanistan and, most recently, the slump in the economy, the possibility of a Republican victory in November would seem to overturn every principle of proper democracy - and also the hope of America and its system of government being rehabilitated in the eyes of the world after the Bush years.

Wow, the election of John McCain would seem to overturn every principle of democracy? Really? Every one?

The fact that Mr Obama and Mrs Clinton are both such impressive candidates, intelligent, sincere, articulate and in command of the issues, while John McCain does not qualify on any of these criteria only makes matters worse.

Too bad Mr. Kaletsky lacks the nous to name the forefathers whose misdeeds have led to the suffering of these two impressive candidates.

... The certainty of a no-holds-barred attacks by the Republicans brings us to the potentially most tragic aspect of this election. If ever there was an election the Democrats ought to win this is the one. Yet on the basis of the primary results so far, they are all too likely to lose it. Mr Obama may be marginally ahead of Mrs Clinton in the popular vote but the Democrats seem to have forgotten that all the votes cast so far have been by their own supporters. In the general election their candidate will have to win over Republicans and right-leaning floating voters. Most of the evidence so far suggests that the Repulicans will find it much easier to frighten voters about the prospect of a President Obama than a President Clinton.

Cue Cardinal Ximinez, "Our chief weapon is fear. Fear and November surprise. Two! Our two chief weapons are fear, November surprise and our flashy red states. Three! Our three chief weapons are..."

Professional Democratic politicians now have the casting vote in their party's nomination and could yet force the two candidates into a “dream ticket” led by Mrs Clinton with Mr Obama as Vice President which would sweep all before it and would probably make Mr Obama unbeatable as a presidential candidate in 2012 or 2016. Yet the Democratic superdelegates who could now secure years of hegemony for their party seem to consider it “unfair” to use their professional judgment to overturn the “democratic” verdict of primary voters.

Must be some of that good old fashioned Democrat compunction about not overturing every priniciple of "democracy." Hmm..., but isn't hegemony supposed to be bad?

The Republicans will have no such compunctions about the fairness of launching personal attacks against a potentially vulnerable Democratic candidate. In this respect this Presidential contest may again manifest the tragedy of left-wing politics through the ages. Parties which care more about fairness than about power, end up achieving neither.

Those poor, fair Democrats. If only they would value power more then they could get what they deserve. Or should that be what we deserve?

Crisis? What Crisis?

Via Instapundit, we get Roger Kimball, who asks:

Why do politicians of whatever party love a crisis?

If I may, I will embellish Professor Reynolds answer by quoting Governor William J. LePetomaine:

"We have to protect our phoney baloney jobs here, gentlemen! We must do something about this immediately! Immediately! Immediately! Hurumph! Hurumph! Hurumph!"

DOWNDATE: A concurrent e-mail yields a sort of Instalanche.

Global Warming Climate Change

Is there anything it can't do?

Climate change could cause global conflicts as large as the two world wars but lasting for centuries unless the problem is controlled, a leading defence think tank has warned.

Is there anything besides spending money on think tanks that can save us?

The Royal United Services Institute said a tenfold increase in research spending, comparable to the amount spent on the Apollo space programme, will be needed if the world is to avoid the worst effects of changing temperatures.

Guess not, but there appears to be more hot air in the think tanks than the atmosphere:

Disconcerting as it may be to true believers in global warming, the average temperature on Earth has remained steady or slowly declined during the past decade, despite the continued increase in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, and now the global temperature is falling precipitously.

All four agencies that track Earth's temperature (the Hadley Climate Research Unit in Britain, the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, the Christy group at the University of Alabama, and Remote Sensing Systems Inc in California) report that it cooled by about 0.7C in 2007. This is the fastest temperature change in the instrumental record and it puts us back where we were in 1930. If the temperature does not soon recover, we will have to conclude that global warming is over.

Can It Possibly Be True?

The fate of our nation was decided today by fans of the Philadelphia Eagles?

Fear the Subjectivity

Al Gore speaks:

He answers: “Yes. I have to confess that I’ve recently begun to fear that I’m losing my objectivity on President Bush."

You can stop laughing now.

Man Bites Dog

The UN has apparently adopted supply side economics:

The U.N. chief warned Sunday that the world must urgently increase food production to ease skyrocketing prices and pledged to set up a task force on a crisis threatening to destabilize developing nations.

Maybe that explains the recent midwestern earthquakes.

Sentence of the Week

Well, as long as they insist:

However, the World Meteorological Organisation insists that this year's cooling has nothing to do with global climate change.

An Observation About Dangerous Old Men (and Women)

I'll bet that John McCain will be the last person ever nominated for president by either one of the major parties that will have served in Vietnam. In fact, he may be the last person who served we get to vote for in either party for president for the next four or five elections. I started thinking about this after reading this grim Grim post (via Instapundit). You will need to read that post for this to make much sense. Go ahead, I'll wait.

Of the Democrats who either ran this year, considered running this year, or might otherwise be considered, Al Gore, James Webb, John Kerry and Wesley Clark served in Vietnam. Of these, only James Webb can be taken seriously as a potential nominee, but I don't think his hawkish credentials will appeal to the Democrat's base and he's burned his bridges with Republicans. Amazingly, of all the remaining Democrats on the horizon I can think of only Mike Gravel has ever served in the military. This represents a major cultural shift from, say, the 1970's or 1980's. Oh, and claiming to have suddenly remembered that thirty years ago you maybe wanted to consider the possibility of perhaps examining the feasibility of joining the military doesn't help matters much.

Of the Republicans who either ran this year, considered running this year, or might otherwise be considered, aside from John McCain, Ron Paul and Duncan Hunter served in Vietnam but neither of them are ever going to be nominated for President. Even more amazingly, there are no other Republicans on the horizon I can think of who have ever served in the military. This represents a major cultural shift from, say, ever.

The only wild card exluded from this analysis is General David Petraeus. I don't know if he is a Republican or a Democrat. Hard to imagine the Democrats and their thousand little tribes of activists embracing him. Almost as hard to imagine the Republicans embracing him, though for entirely different reasons. The cultural shifts alluded to above are going to continue to make it more and more difficult for someone to come out of the armed services and get nominated or elected to the highest office in the land. Our politicians are as much a reflection of society as vice versa. Honestly, it makes me almost wish we would reinstitute the draft. Otherwise, the folks in uniform and the ethos they represent are going to continue to be further and further marginalized in the halls of power and Big Media.

I find this a little troubling. Not that a a president has to have served, but that no one running for the office for perhaps the next twenty years is likely to have served. "Speak softly and carry a big stick" may be kind of hard to understand, debate and articulate through policy when no one competing for the top job has ever bothered to pick up a stick.

DOWNDATE: Another Instalanche. Thank you sir.

Do They Know Wolfowitz Isn't There Anymore?

Considering that you can find someone to say absolutely anything, I have come to despise the substitution of this kind of cheap advocacy for news:

Developing countries and environmental groups accused the World Bank on Friday of trying to seize control of the billions of dollars of aid that will be used to tackle climate change in the next four decades.

So the World Bank is being accused of seizing ..., wait for it ..., the World Bank's money?

Controlling the Narrative

Provided without further comment:

Congressional Democrats are warning U.S. Iraq commander General David Petraeus, and the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, not to attempt to minimize the seriousness of the situation in Iraq when they testify to Congress next week.

Public Service

Pays rather better than I remember:

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, have made $109 million since 2000.

Being a pro-free market libertarian I don't begrudge them the money, but I found the next part interesting:

The couple paid taxes of $33 million and gave more than $10 million to charity between 2000, their last year in the White House, and 2007, the records released by the campaign showed.

That's an effective tax rate of 30%. I'd bet the Clintons, like Warren Buffett, have employees with higher effective tax rates.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

Some Truckers Plan Strike Over Diesel Costs

The funny thing is nothing will reduce prices quite like a drop in demand.

Babble On, Sister

More precious pretensions, purple prose™ as Alice Walker writes on ..., wait for it ..., Obama:

On any given day we, collectively, become the goddess of the three directions and can look back into the past, look at ourselves just where we are, and take a glance, as well, into the future.

This is the second sentence of her paean to the Senator Obama.

By the way, this my official entry into the Steely Dan lyric competition. I patiently await the Instalanche. Note, rejected alternate titles included "I Wanna Be Your Holy Man." That ought to answer this.

A Senior Moment

Senior Democrats mull Al Gore's nomination

This is perhaps the most wretched development in American politics since I reached the age of majority. I don't mean Al Gore as a candidate, however detestable that may be, but the idea that he will ride to the rescue of the aristocrats like some postmodern Scarlet Pimpernel. Let us never hear again of stolen or miscounted votes from people whose sense of entitlement has become so ingrained they now deem votes (and apparently voters) unnecessary and too unreliable.

Speaking of le Pimpernel Scarlette, this situation reminds me of this excerpt from a great tome of British history, wherein Edmund Blackadder is interviewing the Comte de Frou Frou in Mrs. Miggin's pie shop. The Comte de Frou Frou is secretly the Scarlet Pimpernel, though this fact is unknown to Edmund at the time:

Edmund: "...Now, listen, Frou Frou, would you like to earn some money?"

Comte de Frou Frou: "No, I wouldn't. I would like other people to earn it and then give it to me..."

Dude, this applies on so many levels it is scary.

Ban the Ban, Ban

Can we leave the UN now?

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday condemned as "offensively anti-Islamic" a Dutch lawmaker's film that accuses the Koran of inciting violence.

"There is no justification for hate speech or incitement to violence," Ban said in a statement. "The right of free expression is not at stake here."

Uh ok, so what is at stake?

"Freedom must always be accompanied by social responsibility," Ban said.

Uh huh, and let me guess, the UN is going to define "social responsibility" for us?

DOWNDATE: Maybe The One can help:

"Part of what my role in my politics is to get people who don't normally listen to each other to talk to each other, who [say] crazy things, who are offended by each other, for me to understand them and to maybe help them understand each other."

I guess a groundbreaking speech to heal the rift between Islamists and the rest of the world will be forthcoming any day.

Better Doesn't Mean Good

Chelsea Says Hillary Would Make ‘Better’ President Than Father

Although why her judgment means anything here is beyond me.

The Force Is Strong in This One

Is it just me or does it seem to anyone else as though Senator Obama can stand before the representatives of Big Media, put on his best Alec Guinness voice and say, "these aren't the issues you're looking for." Dutiful representatives of Big Media stare at him for a couple of seconds and then say, "these aren't the issues we're looking for," before turning and suddenly discovering that Senator McCain is old and Senator Clinton is, well, Senator Clinton.

... That'll Be the Day I Go Back to Annandale

I wish I could write like this:

Ever see one of those creepy Eastern European films where the inmates take over the asylum and make grotesque faces at the camera while a sinister oom-pah band plays in the background? No? Well, now you have.

By all means, do watch the videos. Link via Tim Blair.

On Second Thought, Let's Not Go There, 'Tis A Silly Place

I found few things that better illutstrate what's wrong with the media when it comes to our national elections than this.

Counting Roosting Chickens at Home Before They Hatch, Or Something

With the nonsense going on with the Democrat's nominating process and the potential defection of a lot of sore losers if their candidate doesn't win, I'm beginning to wonder if the Democrat majority in Congress is as safe and secure as vrtually everyone assumes it to be. Of course there are a lot of retiring Republicans and a lot more secure Democrat seats, but a 5% swing in many races could be tsunamic in its effect on the balance of power. Pendulums swing both ways. Everyone remembers the swing to the left in 2006, but the swing to the right in 1994 that took down a sitting Speaker of the House, not so much.

OK

Chavez says U.S. relations could worsen with McCain

To be fair though, what couldn't?

Was There a Doubt?

Hillary owns up to one of her fibs, by claiming she is human.

Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday she made a mistake in claiming that she came under hostile fire in Bosnia 12 years ago, as rival Barack Obama's campaign continued to challenge her credibility.

"So I made a mistake," she said. "That happens. It proves I'm human, which you know, for some people, is a revelation."

Revelation? I'd be a little less hasty with the "end times" allusions if I were in her shoes.

Mayeb Obama Can Ask Ahmadinejad About This

Gee, who knew?

The most senior US general in Iraq has said he has evidence that Iran was behind Sunday's bombardment of Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone.

Obviously part of Bush's march to war with Iran!

From the Garden of Hedonism...

The serpent's head speaks:

The reaction of some of Mr. Clinton’s allies suggests that might have been a wise decision. “An act of betrayal,” said James Carville, an adviser to Mrs. Clinton and a friend of Mr. Clinton.

“Mr. Richardson’s endorsement came right around the anniversary of the day when Judas sold out for 30 pieces of silver, so I think the timing is appropriate, if ironic,” Mr. Carville said, referring to Holy Week.

China Gets An Abject Lesson In Getting What They Asked For

While we can shake our head at headlines like this:

Dalai Lama and his allies are out to destroy Olympics, says China

... it remains utterly unfunny that so many one party "states" with roughly the same mentality caused by a complete lack of political competition exist all over this country. Take St. Louis for instance, where there is no one alive who has ever been elected to public office as a Republican.

China's ascent is not going to be very smooth over the next twenty years. Any guesses as to who they will blame after the Dalai Lama assumes room temperature?

If You Can't Be Trusted With the Little Stuff, How Do We Trust With the Big Stuff?

When you get so used to lying that you can no longer tell the difference between a lie and the truth, maybe it's time to rethink a misspent life:

Hillary Clinton has been regaling supporters on the campaign trail with hair-raising tales of a trip she made to Bosnia in March 1996. In her retelling, she was sent to places that her husband, President Clinton, could not go because they were "too dangerous." When her account was challenged by one of her traveling companions, the comedian Sinbad, she upped the ante and injected even more drama into the story. In a speech earlier this week, she talked about "landing under sniper fire" and running for safety with "our heads down."

As a reporter who visited Bosnia soon after the December 1995 Dayton Peace agreement, I can attest that the physical risks were minimal during this period, particularly at a heavily fortified U.S. Air Force base, such as Tuzla. Contrary to the claims of Hillary Clinton and former Army secretary Togo West, Bosnia was not "too dangerous" a place for President Clinton to visit in early 1996. In fact, the first Clinton to visit the Tuzla Air Force base was not Hillary, but Bill, on January 13, 1996.

I only posted this for the response by Sinbad:

According to Sinbad, who provided entertainment on the trip along with the singer Sheryl Crow, the "scariest" part was deciding where to eat. As he told Mary Ann Akers of The Post, "I think the only 'red-phone' moment was: 'Do we eat here or at the next place.'" Sinbad questioned the premise behind the Clinton version of events. "What kind of president would say 'Hey man, I can't go 'cause I might get shot so I'm going to send my wife. Oh, and take a guitar player and a comedian with you."

In even a substantitally less-than-perfect world, Senator Clinton couldn't show her face in public, much less aspire to the highest elected office in the land.

Link via Instapundit.

Gunga Galunga... Gunga, Gunga-Galunga

The Dalai Lama says:

"I will go to Beijing."

Say hi to Nixon's shade for me.

Cui Bono?

Why some of us are suspicious of an ever-expanding government:

The State Department says it is trying to determine whether three contract workers had a political motive for looking at Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's passport file.

This is appalling, yet utterly predictable. My first thought was Hillary Clinton, what with the FBI files and whatnot, but then my mind works differently than others:

Bill Burton, a spokesman for Obama's presidential campaign, called for a complete investigation. "This is an outrageous breach of security and privacy, even from an administration that has shown little regard for either over the last eight years," Burton said. "Our government's duty is to protect the private information of the American people, not use it for political purposes."

Yeah, evil Bush! What, you think Karl Rove isn't still calling the shots? We need some changy hopiness that will give this paranoid freak more power.

DOWNDATE: Not wanting to be left out:

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has told Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton that her passport file was breached in 2007. In a statement from her Senate office, Clinton said she had been contacted by Rice. The State Department plans to brief Clinton's staff Friday about the unauthorized breach.

DOWNDATE: Bartender, a round of parity and bipartisanship for everybody:

The passport files of presidential candidates Sen. Hillary Clinton, a Democrat, and Sen. John McCain, a Republican, were improperly accessed by State Department workers, a U.S. official said on Friday.

Why anyone thinks this doesn't happen with any government records whenever someone with suction wants to find out something about somebody is what I can't figure out.

Subtle?

Powerline's post on Senator Obama saying "typical white people" includes a video of his speech, but the freeze frame there looks awfully familiar:

Where have I seen that before? Oh, yeah:

Do you think this was done intentionally, subconciously, or is it merely sheer coincidence?

Believe It Or Not, Not All the News Out of Zimbabwe Is Bad

Instapundit writes:

ALEX SINGLETON: "People say that the market promotes selfishness, but it turns out that it is when things are owned collectively that greed thrives."

Before opening his hyperlink, this seems obvious as the tragedy of the commons writ large. After opening the link, well, this is a poor example to illustrate the point as the example offered suffers a bit from implying correlation equals causation.

Whatever You Do, Don't Mention the Warmening

No one has seen Al Gore lately. Perhaps he's been hiding in his underwater lair:

Some 3,000 scientific robots that are plying the ocean have sent home a puzzling message.

It's only puzzling if you think you already know the answer.

These diving instruments suggest that the oceans have not warmed up at all over the past four or five years.

And if the observable data doesn't fit the theory, well... blame the observers!

That could mean global warming has taken a breather. Or it could mean scientists aren't quite understanding what their robots are telling them.

Aw, to hell with it. Read the article if you like and see if you can find anywhere that the possibility that global warming isn't happening is even for the briefest moment considered. Note carefully how the authors and the experts start generating theories to explain the anomalies rather than questioning their assumptions. Ever heard of Occam's Razor?

Killin' Heller

After Kelo and McCain-Feingold, I no longer take anything involving the Supreme Court for granted. As I think more and more about Heller and SCOTUS, I worry that early media reports are all a setup and that individual rights advocates are going to be sorely disappointed in what comes forth, especially if Chief Justice Roberts compromises to get something better than a 5-4 result. Here's hoping Mr. Heller's plea to be able to have a firearm to defend himself and not just our public, ahem, servants gets a fair and equitable hearing and result. Justice should indeed be blind, but there's no reason for her to be deaf and dumb as well.

If my worst fears are realized, spoons (and spoonerisms) may be all we are left with to defend ourselves.

The Ninth Circle of Heller

More on the SCOTUS review of the Second Amendment:

Justice Stephen Breyer appeared reluctant to second-guess local officials.

That's something to be filed away for future reference on something less, shall we say, progressive. But here's what you really gotta love about a progressive mindset:

Is it "unreasonable for a city with a very high crime rate ... to say no handguns here?" Breyer asked.

Does Justive Breyer really think that an executive edict actually got rid of all the handguns in the Disctrict? Of course, the fact that the handgun ban has been in place for thirty years in Washington, D.C., with crime steadily rising during all that time ought to plant a seed of doubt in an open-minded, thinking individual, unless, of course, you never actually worry about having to account for the results of your good intentions. Personally, I expect a little more penetrating thought and insight from someone wearing these robes. But I digress.

Dekarmafication

His Zenness better be careful about incentivizing the Chinese government in ways other than he intended:

The Dalai Lama responded to charges from China that he orchestrated deadly riots in Lhasa to sabotage the Olympics with a pledge to resign as temporal leader of Tibet’s Buddhist people if the violence — on both sides — did not stop.

This sounds like he thinks he has Master of the Universe type power.

Technically, the Dalai Lama cannot resign because he is revered as the reincarnation of his predecessor but he has often suggested that he will not return again.

Gee, what will Carl Spackler do on his deathbed now?

The Wright Stuff

Good speech, good man. Not a great speech, not a great man. But this is all a sideshow to the fact that Senator Obama is an illiberal utopian statist. I'll never vote for him, but my choice has nothing to do with his relationship to Rev. Wright or how he spins it.

Not that anyone will listen to me, but, sadly, I believe it was a strategic error to try and get serious at this point in the campaign, regardless of the specific merits or demerits of what he said. Most of the country isn't paying attention to the election and for many of them this controversy will now be the first time they have paid more than a passing thought to Senator Obama. However good a politician Senator Obama may or may not be, he seems to lack the killer instinct you have to have to succeed on this particular field of battle. Though the analogy is a bit strained, Senator Clinton (and her enablers) just succeeded in convincing Senator Obama to fling her into the briar patch. He's going to have a hard time catching her again and even if he does it won't be without pain and loss.

Heller On Earth, Or the Road to Heller Is Paved With Good Intentions

The Supreme Court seems ready to validate the, in my humble opinion, rather clear language of the Second Amendment concerning an individual's right to bear arms. But hey, I thought the same thing about the right to free speech too, so what do I know? Anyway, the usual suspects are running scared.

Personally, I'd like everyone to have to sit and listen to the audio clip I heard over lunch of Justice Stevens saying there was no right to self defense in the US Constitution. Folks need to know just how far from common sense some of our betters have strayed.

For posterity, here is the actual text of the Second Amendment:

"A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."

If You Give Into Them Every Time They Cry, They Will Become Little Tyrants But They Won't Remember Why

See if you can guess which one is from the news and which one is a lyric by Robyn Hitchcock:

"British police want to collect DNA samples from children as young as five who 'exhibit behavior indicating they may become criminals in later life'. A spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers argued that since some schools already take pupils' fingerprints, the collection and permanent storage of DNA samples was the logical next step. And of course, if anyone argues that branding naughty five-year-olds as lifelong criminals will stigmatize them, the proposed solution will be to take samples from all children."

... and ...

Uncorrected personality traits that seem whimsical in a child may prove to be ugly in a fully grown adult. Lack of involvement with the father, or over-involvement with the mother, can result in lack of ability to relate to sexual fears, and in homosexual leanings, narcissism, transexuality (girls from the waist up/men from the waist down), attempts to be your own love object. Reconcile your parents to you by becoming both at once! Even Marilyn Monroe was a man, but this tends to get overlooked by ourmother-fixated, overweight, sexist media. So, uncorrected personality traits that seem whimsical in a child may prove to be ugly in a fully grown adult. If you give in to them every time they cry, they will become little tyrants but they won't remember why. Then when they are thwarted by people in later life, they will become psychotic and they won't make an ideal husband or wife. The spoiled baby grows into the escapist teenager who's the adult alcoholic who's the middle-aged suicide. So, uncorrected personality traits that seem whimsical in a child may prove to be ugly in a fully grown adult.

Extra credit for determining whether Robyn's lyric is more applicable to the kids or the police. I admit it, I just love anything with the word "thwarted" in it. Aw heck, while I'm at it, here's more Robyn and still more. Sadly, I couldn't find My Wife and My Dead Wife.

Don't Sell Youself Short

As Ty once said, "you're a tremendous slouch":

The conventional narrative for 2008 is that the Democrats would have to try really hard not to win the White House.

Gotta give an A for effort.

Isn't that Special?

Well, no:

The term "special relationship" is no longer in use at Britain's Washington Embassy. One British diplomat told Sunday Telegraph journalist Tim Shipman that the term wasn't much of a career enhancer.

Gordon Brown (who hasn't spoken regularly to George W Bush) prefers to work with EU allies rather than focus on the transatlantic relationship.

Churchill must be rolling in his grave.

Don't Tase Me Bro

Clintons Prod Dems on Delegate Strength

Free Tibet

Great bumper sticker, man. Really let's me know you care, you know, like, in theory, anyway. In real life, not so much.

Hundreds of Tibetans have died in unrest in Lhasa and elsewhere in the Chinese-ruled Himalayan region, the India-based Tibetan parliament-in-exile said in a statement Monday.

His Money Isn't Fungible

Unlike his, well, you know:

Gov. Paterson denies using state or campaign money to pay for liaisons with another woman during a rocky patch in his marriage.

Freedom Is Slavery, Yada, Yada, Yada

"There can be no freedom without limits." -- Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade

Europreening

Via Drezner via Instapundit, notes from the 2008 Brussels Forum, specifically two items within item 7 of 10:

7) The most potent symbol of waning American power at this conference: the entire U.S. Congressional delegation didn't make it because their DC-9 had to make a fueling stop in Newfoundland, and failed to re-start.

Meanwhile, the dollar sunk to a new low against the euro, which means that the EU economy is now larger than the American economy.

With respect to the former, methinks this is reading a bit too much into one data point. I wonder what finished second in the America in deline metaphor competition? With respect to the latter, I look forward to the economically larger Europe paying for our defense for the next 60 years.

Change!

In his story with respect to Rezko and Wright, and Hope! you will buy it. Mostly though, he just seems sorry that people are noticing.

What Would Muhammad Do?

Muhammad Ali, that is. Is Obama just laying against the ropes letting Hillary throw everything she can until she's exhausted, emotionally, mentally, and, most importantly, financially? We can call it the hope-a-dope strategery.

Roger Simons Asks, So I'll Answer

With Obama Wounded and Hillary Unappealing, Will Gore Finally Surface?

No.

Ends, Means and All That

Via Joe Gandleman via Instapundit, we get this gem from Daily Kos:

"Would Obama encourage that sort of anger, bullying, intimidation and hate from his followers toward another Democrat and her supporters? Do those followers of his help his cause at the end of the day?"

Because, of course, the cause permits anger, bullying, intimidation and hate if your opponents aren't Democrats.

Words Fail Me

Gere sees Olympics boycott if China mishandles Tibet

Because, of course, they've handled it so well thus far.

Obama

Barack Obama has always been a tabulas rosa on which people project their progressive fantasies. Now that the lights have been turned up a bit, it is unsurprising, to me at least, that people are finding the same sort of blemishes in the reflection they have admired that exist on their own selves.

The Bastards Say, "Welcome"

I stole the title from Tracy Kidder's The Soul of a New Machine, but it fits my feelings for this piece by David Mamet. I suppose I should be more gracious and thankful that he's seen the light, but I struggle with this a bit since, until last week, he's obviously thought I was a moron from before I reached the age of maturity for thinking these very same things things.

To be honest though, there's a PhD thesis in responding to the lunatic comment thread his little piece generated.

Who?

Ex-Governor Cuomo Says Close Democratic Race Could Be `Ruinous'

Now, Even Investment Bankers Are Victims To Be Made Whole By the Gummint

Fed Races to Rescue Bear Stearns In Bid to Steady Financial System

Yeah that's it, to, um, steady the financial system. Do the people doing this or those reading this have any idea how utterly obscene this is? Big Media and Big Politics have been discouting risk for so long they've forgotten that it exists in all investments. Tell me again about how the government needs to be bigger. Especially since I've made all my mortgage payments on a house I bought for under $200K eight years ago, but will be taxed to pay for folks that can't make their $5,000 house payments. And I don't even get one of those "rebates" being offered up to he'p the economy.

Another One Bites the Dust

The very definition of chutzpah:

The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas joined Hezbollah on Wednesday in accusing Israel of murdering one of the top commanders of the Lebanese Shiite movement, saying it was a "new example of Zionist gangsterism."

Free Speech for Me But Not for Thee

Right, Mr. Bollinger?

Iran’s judiciary has sealed off the offices of a popular news Web site critical of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s policies after journalists continued to update it despite official filtering, the Web site said.

Meanwhile, ...

Sure we'd invite Hitler to speak, says Columbia dean

Because like Churchill said, "to jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war." Unless, of course, you grasp of reality is capable of advancing beyond such limited dichotomies to deal with, say, Hitler's policy of burn-burn the Jew-Jew, the Taliban's policy of kill-kill the little girls who want to learn to read, or al Qaeda's policy of boom-boom for anyone not sufficiently submissive to their will.

FYI, the quote from Churchill is inexact as it was taken from untranscibed conversations in 1954, and pretty clearly must have been taken out of context given Churchill's experiences in the 1930s. But I digress.

Don't Do Drugs

Mmmkay?

U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton said Sunday she can appeal to Republicans as well as Democrats on the presidential trail.

Permanently

This made sense until the very last word ...

The Bush administration said Monday the only way to permanently fix Social Security is through some combination of benefit cuts and tax increases.
That was one of the key findings in a new paper on Social Security released by the Treasury Department in an effort to achieve common ground on the politically explosive issue.

"Social Security can be made permanently solvent only by reducing the present value of scheduled benefits and/or increasing the present value of scheduled tax increases," the paper said. The Treasury paper said that while other changes to the giant benefit program might be desirable "only these changes can restore solvency permanently."

Meanwhile, Senator Obama has half a solution ...

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., is considering a major tax hike on the rich to shore up the nation's Social Security system.

I'll begin to take Democratic proposals to fix Social Security seriously when they choose to address the spending problem as well, rather than just raising taxes.

John Ashcroft for AG

Why not? Last time he was in the news, the Democrats loved him.

Coffee

Coffee. Coffee. Coffee. Coffee. Coffee. Coffee. Coffee. Coffee. Coffee. Coffee. Coffee. Coffee. Coffee. Coffee.

Push On the Poppies and Make 'Em Come Up

With apologies to Ween for the title, I haven't bothered to watch the video or read the transcript because I could care less what Osama bin Laden says, and nothing I might see or read is going to help lead to his capture..., but that assumes he is still alive. What if the fake beard is to help cover up the fact that it isn't really him?

DOWNDATE: Ok, maybe it's him but he's still dead.

Down In Plames

Plame Lawsuit Dismissed in CIA Leak Case

Note to Joe and Valerie, your fifteen minutes are up.

See What Happens When No One Around Dares To Challenge Or Contradict You

Wow, I'm impressed ...

The Pentagon told Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton that her questions about how the U.S. plans to eventually withdraw from Iraq boosts enemy propaganda.