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Tuesday, August 31, 2004

Jonah and Gary Agree
Kerry's pronunciation of Ghengis Khan is smarmy and pretentious.


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Courage
David Brooks has a good column on why McCain, Giuliani, and Ahnold are speaking at the GOP convention. It's not about moderate/'big tent' posturing, says Brooks, they "are featured because they embody the brand of courageous conservatism the party has sought to project since 9/11." Here's the final paragraph,
The coming weeks will be so tough because the essential contest - of which the Swift boat stuff was only a start - will be over who really has courage, who really has resolve, and who is just a fraud with a manly bearing.
Let's get ready to rumble!


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Monday, August 30, 2004

GI Jess
Be sure not to miss the touching and powerful story of the amazing recovery of Sgt. Jessica Clements.


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Thursday, August 26, 2004

Ending the Vietnam "Truce"
Wow. This is very good. Read it.


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Disputing the War Record
I think something's getting lost here in the whole Swift Boat controversy. Jonah has a great G-file today regarding "the right to judge." I don't need to suggest that you read it.

At issue is not what John Kerry did while he was in Vietnam. He went, he served, he saw combat, he was shot at, he was wounded. Fine. Nobody should be debating whether he did good things or bad things, herioc or cowardly things, while he was there. The crucial issue is how he has represented those 4 months in the years since. "I was in Cambodia on Christmas eve while President Nixon was telling America I wasn't there. That memory is seared - seared in me." Is that true or not?

Did he actually return, under heavy enemy fire, to rescue a fallen soldier? Or was that a lie? If he actually bugged out because he thought he was under attack, realized that wasn't the case, returned and fished Jim Rassman out of the water, that would be fine. Nobody would be questioning that. But is it possible he embellished his record to receive a medal? Well, that's something that should be looked into.

At issue is his honesty, his integrity, and the strength of his grip on reality and truth. Is John Kerry a man of principle and honesty or is he self-serving, calculating, and egotistical? That is a question pertinent to this election.

UPDATE: Today's New York Post editorial says much the same thing - including a little on Max Cleland. They call him, "bitterly resentful, highly partisan and an effective deflector shield for Kerry whenever the latter's military bona fides are called into question."

UPDATE II: See Marvin Olasky.


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Wednesday, August 25, 2004

Max Cleland
I feel sorry for this guy. Not so much because he's wheelchair bound, which is difficult enough, but because he allows himself to be used so abominably. Whenever John Kerry wants to blunt any attacks against his military record, he says, "Hmm, what would Jenjis Khan do?" No, that's not right. He says, "Hey, we need to accuse Bush of attacking veterans, where's the crippled guy?" So they send Max Cleland out to proclaim how unfair it is, blah, blah, blah. Today they had him roll up to the front gate of Pres. Bush's Crawford ranch to deliver a message. Give me break. Shouldn't a former Senator at least have the dignity, the self-respect to place a phone call rather than show up like a door-to-door salesman?

Now, Rich Lowry tells me that Max has been collecting a $136,000 salary as a Bush appointee "to the board of directors of the Export-Import Bank"! As my buddy Rich says,
If Cleland had any decency, wouldn't he resign? Why would he accept a political appointment from a man he so loathes and thinks represents the very worst in American politics?
It's too bad a man who has lost so much physically, doesn't at least have his self-respect to hang on to.


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Tuesday, August 24, 2004

Beach Volleyball Gold
Would beach volleyball even be a sport without TV?


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Another Phone Call
John Kerry has been busy. Newsmax is reporting that Kerry telephoned former Sen. Bob Dole "to complain about Dole's demand a day earlier that he apologize to Vietnam veterans for protesting the war."
"He said he was very disappointed, we'd been friends. I said John, we're still friends, but [the Swiftvets] have First Amendment rights, just as your people have First Amendment rights.

Dole told Kerry, "I'm not trying to stir anything up, but I don't believe every one of these people who have talked about what happened are Republican liars."

And very frankly, Bush is my guy, and I'm tired of people on your side calling him everything from a coward to a traitor to everything - a deserter."

Dole said he urged Kerry, "Why don't you call George Bush today and say, 'Mr. President, let's stop all this stuff about the National Guard and Vietnam - and let's talk about the issues."

Dole said Kerry responded, "I haven't spent one dime attacking President Bush."

But the Republican war hero shot back, "You don't have to. You've got all the so-called mainstream media, plus you've got MoveOn.org and all these other groups that have spent millions and millions of dollars trying to tarnish Bush's image."

"Don't tell me you don't know what some of these people are doing," he told Kerry.

"Everybody likes quiet heroes," Dole added, saying he told Kerry, "John, everybody knows you were in Vietnam and the less you say about it, the better."

Dole said he tried to end the tense conversation cordially by telling Kerry, "I wish you good luck, up to a point."
Bob Dole continues to serve his country honorably. Thank you, Senator.


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Clang
Kerry, on the left side. He takes a feed from Cassell. He puts one up

Clang!

Oh, Kerry really missed that one. That's about the tenth miss tonight for Kerry. He's been throwing up some really ugly shots this quarter.


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Waaaaahhh!
John Kerry cannot take the heat. Drudge is reporting that one of the Swiftees got a call from Kerry Sunday night.
KERRY: "Why are all these swift boat guys opposed to me?"

BRANT: "You should know what you said when you came back, the impact it had on the young sailors and how it was disrespectful of our guys that were killed over there."

[Brant had two men killed in battle.]

KERRY: "When we dedicated swift boat one in '92, I said to all the swift guys that I wasn't talking about the swifties, I was talking about all the rest of the veterans."

Kerry then asked if he could meet Brant ["You were one of the best"] -- man to man -- face to face.

Brant declined the invite, explaining that Kerry was obviously not prepared to correct the record on exactly what happened during Vietnam and what happened when Kerry came back.
That initial question says it all. But the whole conversation is so smarmy and weak. Blecchh.


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Line of the Week - Runner-up
Man, what are the chances? I found a line (actually two lines) that, in any other week, would snag the top honor. But this week it's a close second. The New York Times (!) has printed a letter from one of our excellent soldiers fighting in Najaf. Let me set it up with this paragraph:
Michael Moore recently asked Bill O'Reilly if he would sacrifice his son for Falluja. A clever rhetorical device, but it's the wrong question: this war is about Des Moines, not Falluja. This country is breeding and attracting militants who are all eager to grab box cutters, dirty bombs, suicide vests or biological weapons, and then come fight us in Chicago, Santa Monica or Long Island. Falluja, in fact, was very close to becoming a city our forces could have controlled, and then given new schools and sewers and hospitals, before we pulled back in the spring. Now, essentially ignored, it has become a Taliban-like state of Islamic extremism, a terrorist safe haven. We must not let the same fate befall Najaf or Ramadi or the rest of Iraq.
Great comeback for Michael Moore. But it's disappointing to hear what he says about Falluja. They'll need to go in and clean it up eventually, it probably should have been done the first time. I think that lesson has been learned and that's why the pressure on Najaf continues today. The Major ends his letter with the runner-up line of the week:
I miss my family, my friends and my country, but right now there is nowhere else I'd rather be. I am a United States Marine.
Thank you, sir.


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Line of the Week
Today's OpinionJournal Featured Article contains the best line I've seen regarding the Kerry v. Swift Boat Vets imbroglio. The article starts with a good paragraph:
A good rule in politics is that anyone who picks a fight ought to be prepared to finish it. But having first questioned Mr. Bush's war service, and then made Vietnam the core of his own campaign for President, Mr. Kerry now cries No mas! because other Vietnam vets are assailing his behavior before and after that war. And, by the way, Mr. Bush is supposedly honor bound to repudiate them.
And then, 2 paragraphs later, is the Line of the Week:
Mr. Kerry brought the whole thing up; why is it Mr. Bush's obligation now to shut it down?
Perfect. Read the whole thing. (Hat tip: Hugh Hewitt)


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Monday, August 23, 2004

I've said it before...
...and I'll say it again: We owe these men a debt we can never repay.


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Saturday, August 21, 2004

nikita demosthenes
nikita demosthenes has a great blog. Check out the quote on the upper right by the famous Ancient Greek, Demosthenes himself:

Beware lest in your anxiety to avoid war you obtain a master.

Make you think about any particular political group in America today?


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The Nightmare Team
I watched about as much as I could take of the Nightmare Team against the clearly superior Lithuanians today.

The game illustrated everything that is wrong with who was picked for the team. The game is on the line, and the US desparately needs a three pointer in the waning seconds, and Richard Jefferson is taking the dang thing! Not Wally, not Fred Hoiberg, not Ray Allen, not one of the Barry brothers, but a Power Forward!

In addition, the US has two guys on the team who are utterly useless in international play: Marbury and Iverson. Both play a penetration game, but the other teams have learned just to pack the lane, preventing any penetration, and let the US have the three point line. Since they can't hit the three -- they were shooting 16%(!!) from three point land coming into the game today -- the other teams have no motivation to play perimeter defense, and so penetrating serves no purpose. There's no defensive three seconds in international play (have I mentioned lately that defensive three seconds is the dumbest rule in the NBA?) and so defenders just pack in the lane, making it even easier to defend the post. Teams can double Duncan with impunity, and everyone on the US is scared to take what amounts to a college three pointer. Marbury and Iverson have a game suited to the NBA, but for an international tournament, they are total liabilities. A guy like Chauncey Billups -- who can hit the three and play the point -- would be infinitely more valuable.

Originally, there was a big controversy about leaving Iverson off of the team, and guys complained that it was a slight to him, etc., etc, blah, blah, blah. Well guess what, Iverson is pretty much useless to this team. I'd rather have Hoiberg any day. The idea that we can pick a group of NBA All-Stars, have them practice for ten days, and then win a Gold Medal are over. I wonder how long it will take the US Basketball organization to realize this. Something has to give.

Now the Lithuanians? These guys can shoot. Unreal. The three pointer is nothing to them, and they just kept draining and draining and draining them. There's no post game to speak of in international play, and the US has all these post players and not one -- not one! -- pure shooter on the team. The Lithuanians had like five guys that just kept draining three pointers. I can't find a box score, but if the Lithuanians made less than twenty three pointers, I'll be stunned. The Wolves ought to get this Sarunas Jasikevicius dude (however you pronounce it) -- he's unreal.

It was pathetic to watch. We totally need to do something about who we pick for the team and how the team is run. We're getting steam-rolled.

My prediction stands: No medal for the US.


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Friday, August 20, 2004

Former POWs get into the Game
Now this is a really good ad. The SwiftBoat guys have struck back with a more devastating ad than the first one, with POW's pointing out John Kerry's lies about what went on in Vietnam.

The first ad was effective, I think, because it exposed Kerry as a weasel and a liar. But it suffered because it is possible to do a "He said/she said" on it. Clearly, how exactly events transpired in 1968 in Vietnam can be obfuscated and debated. In my examination of it, it appears to me that Kerry was a wimp and a weasel about his wounds, claiming purple hearts for scratches (literally) and claiming to have done things that he clearly didn't do. But the Kerry campaign can obfuscate all of that, and attack the motives of the Swifties and nibble around the edges by finding inconsistencies in the book.

But they can't obfuscate men who were POW's in North Vietnam expressing their views on Kerry's own words in front of the Senate after he returned from Vietnam. Kerry most assuredly said those words, and the one gentleman is correct: Kerry gave the Vietcong for free what the POW's were tortured for not giving. I bet only a very small percentage of Americans even know what Kerry said in those hearings.

Kerry is a weasel, a traitor, and he's not a patriot. That he might actually become President is very, very depressing. I mean Clinton was bad, but at least he never betrayed his country in any real, substantive way. Well, at least not as far as we know.

I don't have any spare cash, but if you do, send the Swifties a few bucks. These guys are real patriots.


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Wednesday, August 18, 2004

The Last Bastion of Masculinity?
In German, the phrase for someone who sits and urinates, a "Sitzpinkler", is equivalent to "wimp".


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Tuesday, August 17, 2004

More On The Economy
The more I read the Pioneer Press article (byline: BY LEIGH STROPE, Associated Press) I mentioned below, the more steamed I get. Look at the first sentence,
Over two decades, the income gap has steadily increased between the richest Americans, who own homes and stocks and got big tax breaks, and those at the middle and bottom of the pay scale, whose paychecks buy less.
Now for some facts from the President's website:
  • Real after-tax incomes are up by 11 percent since December 2000. This increase is mostly due to the President's tax relief and is substantially better than those following the last recession.
  • Homeownership rates are at record levels - nearly seven out of ten American families own their own home today.
  • Household wealth is near a record high.
  • Consumer confidence is up from the levels seen at this time last year and is in the upper third of its historical range.
  • Inflation remains low by historical standards, as do mortgage rates.
(The Kerry Spot on NRO has a nice rundown of the latest economic numbers. (see 08/17 11:14 AM post)) Of course, facts are unnecessary when you have a quote like this from an economist: "For those working in the bottom half of the pay scale, they're under an enormous amount of pressure" (said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Economy.com). Okay, thank you Mark. You go sit over there. The only hard numbers in the article are last month's jobs report (only 32,000 new jobs), total jobs lost and gained during the Bush administration, and average temp wages.

Now, if you really want to win your argument, provide some personal anecdotes. Preferably someone from middle America, whose job was outsourced, and whose new job pays less, has two kids in college and a husband who can no longer work because of an injury. Ya think there were people like that in Clinton's economy, too? Not a chance.

Finally, wrap it up by raising the envy level out there. How are Porsche sales? Up 17%. Sales at Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue? Strong. Sales at Wal-Mart, Sears and Payless Shoes? Lackluster. And the cherry on top,
Real estate agent Lance Anderson, 38, of Overland Park, Kan., expects a record sales year, as homeowners upgrade to more expensive homes and commercial clients expand. He recently took his family to Disney World for a two-week Florida vacation.

"My clientele, it seems as a whole, has seen positive growth," he said. So his family, including three children, now eat out more often and spend more on clothes. They recently bought two new cars and anticipate buying a larger house in the next few years.
*/^$#*! I want to vomit! This is what passes for reporting at the AP?


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Income v. Tax Burden
First, this story appeared in today's St. Paul Pioneer Press: "Income gap jumps in past 20 years: Top 20% earns half of U.S. wages"

Contrast that with this analysis in NRO's Kerry Spot (posted 08/13 11:41 AM):
While many characterize the CBO report as evidence that the tax cuts shifted the burden of taxation to the middle class, CBO data show precisely the opposite effect. The tax cuts actually made the tax system more progressive. The highest 20 percent of earners now pay a larger share of federal income taxes than they would have without the tax cuts, while the share of income taxes paid by all other income groups fell.

The overwhelming majority of federal income taxes are paid by the very highest income earners. The top 1 percent of income earners pays 31.6 percent of all income taxes, the top 5 percent pays 51.4 percent, the top 10 percent pays 63.5%, and the top 20 percent of income earners pays 78.4 percent of all federal income taxes. The bottom four-fifths of income earners pay just over one-fifth of all federal income taxes.
So, just to be clear, the top 20% earn 50% of the wages and pay 78% of the taxes. And this is fair? I'm sorry, I can't get too miffed about the income gap when the top income earners are carrying this country on their backs.


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Watching the Olympics
Here's some advice for watching.


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Alan Keyes and Slave Reparations
Michelle Malkin doesn't much like Alan Keyes idea of providing slave reparations to blacks via tax breaks. Since I am in favor of any tax break for anybody for any reason at any time, I guess I can't complain.

And for the record, I am in favor of slave reparations. I firmly believe that all people who actually were slaves should be paid $1,000,000,000 each by the federal government, raised by a tax on all people who actually were slave-holders. Clearly anyone who actually was a slave should be justly compensated.


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Monday, August 16, 2004

Barbecue!
How do you want your burger?

I love this story about Palestinian hunger strikers in Israeli prisons.
Israel declared psychological war on hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners today, saying it would barbecue meat outside their cells to try to break their spirit.
Why'd they have to ruin it by making it sound so serious? The first sentence should have read:
Israelis plan to make Palestinians' hunger strike as miserable as possible, saying it would hold a block party outside the prisoners' windows.
Man, I'm getting hungry. Isn't it about time for supper? Let's EAT!


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Movie: Gods and Generals
Watched Gods and Generals last night. I watched it and watched it and watched, and then watched it some more thinking that it couldn't possibly go on much longer, but it did. It finally did come to an end, though anyone watching it might believe that such a blessed event might never occur.

Now don't get me wrong -- the book was terrific, and I stand second to none in my admiration for the brave men on both sides who fought bravely (in such an unbelievably silly manner) for their respective sides. And certainly Stonewall Jackson was as fine a man and as fine a warrior as you'd ever want on your side. But this movie is just terrible. Set aside the fact that you have to sit through cameos by Ted Turner and Senator Byrd -- the dialog sounds like a cheap Victorian romance, and the melodrama is so thick that you can cut it with a battle sabre. The battle scenes are pretty cool, but the whole time I was watching those I kept wanting to shout "Lie down! Take cover! Stop standing there like an idiot! On your belly!" Sadly, it took another 50 years before the military figured out it's not really a good idea to line up and march at each other. Man, I could have won the war in a month for either side if they would have just let me change their silly battle tactics.

Anyway, I wouldn't recommend the film. Unless you have FOUR HOURS to kill and have absolutely nothing else you can possibly think of doing.



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Bumper Sticker of the Week
This week's Bumper Sticker, spotted on a car parked in my neighborhood:

Mission Nothing Accomplished

The "Nothing" is in red and a different font, clearly mocking President Bush's statement "Mission Acccomplished" when the mission of kicking the murdering tyrant Saddam Hussein out of power was, well, accomplished.

So you read that, and think, "huh?". I mean, what kind of an an heartless moron do you have to be to think that nothing has been accomplished in Iraq? Disagree if you will with the mission, but can't you at least acknowledge that an uncivilized, barbaric regime has been removed from power? People's tongues aren't being cut out, teenage girls aren't being raped, and the Iraqi Olympic Team isn't being beaten for losing. That's something, isn't it? Can't they at least see that and rejoice? Or would they rather that Hussein be left in power, his torture chambers still murdering people, his rape rooms in full swing? It seems that way. It seems to me that the "Mission Nothing Accomplished" crowd actually wishes that Hussein still ruled Iraq. I can only shake my head.

The anti-sticker? Obvious:

Mission Accomplished -- Iraq is Free


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Friday, August 13, 2004

Marine Denied Bus Ride
According to this report from Greenville, North Carolina, a US Marine was suspiciously denied a seat on a Greyhound bus.
"So Jay went on around and he went to board the bus and when he did, the driver put his arm across the doorway and said I don't have a seat for you," explains Carol [his mother].
What the ... ? I can imagine a mixup with tickets, but to put your arm across the doorway and say what he said - to a Marine! - is mind-boggling to me. I guess there are people like that out there but it stretches the limits of credulity.


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Thursday, August 12, 2004

Thomas Sowell
The MAN, Thomas Sowell, checks in with more random thoughts. Here's my fav:
If there is anything easier than being a Monday morning quarterback, it is promising to do great things in the future. Yet these two themes constitute most of Senator Kerry's campaign.


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Wednesday, August 11, 2004

How to Oppose Liberal Intolerance
This is a great article from FrontPage magazine.com. Here's the key paragraph:
The basic reason for the 'liberal' double standard has already been alluded to. It is that today's 'liberals' are really leftists who have rejected the older liberal belief in a shared equality of citizens before the law and have embraced the socialist vision of 'equality as a fact and equality as a result,' as Lyndon Johnson famously put it. Since people are unequal in their ability to accumulate property, as Hayek argued in the Mirage of Social Justice, equality of results can only be pursued by treating people unequally. This is the origin of the double standard.
Makes a lot of sense. Read the whole thing, it's quite good.


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Bin Laden hints major assassination
This Washington Times report is a bit unnerving. It describes Al Qaeda plans in the works for the future. They would be triggered by a high-profile assassination ("the killing could be carried out against a U.S. or foreign leader either in the United States or abroad"). Potential targets, "in addition to the financial institutions in New York, Washington and Newark, N.J., that have been the subject of public warnings, include such economic-related targets as oil and gas facilities with a view toward disrupting the November election." According to one US official:
The goal of the next attack is twofold: to damage the U.S. economy and to undermine the U.S. election. The view of al Qaeda is 'anybody but Bush.
This is good news for the President. He must be having some effect on their organization.


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Monday, August 09, 2004

Talking Down the Economy
The American Enterprise Institute publishes a James Glassman article defending the current economy against the Dem attacks. Here are some highlights:
  • Friday's report also showed that a survey of jobs taken by sampling households rather than businesses registered a gain of 629,000 in July. Hourly earnings and hours worked were up. The economy has now gained 1.2 million jobs since the start of the year, winning back two-thirds of those lost in the recession Bush inherited from Clinton.
  • Second-quarter profits for the 900 companies tracked by Business Week rose an incredible 32 percent. Business investment is soaring, up 14 percent for the year. The Institute for Supply Management's measure of manufacturing activity, which includes orders, inventories and employment, is at lofty levels not seen since the 1980s.
  • Over the past 12 months, David Malpass of Bear Stearns points out, the U.S. economy--measured by our GDP--has grown at a rate of 4.8 percent. That's faster than in any 12-month period during the Clinton administration and three times as fast as Germany and France are growing.
Despite the constant drumbeat from the left (including all of the major media outlets), I think the American public will see the economy is strong and President Bush is responsible. And, Lord willing, a Bush victory in November will be the result.


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Re: Bumper Sticker of the Week
Nick, I think I can guess the attitude with which that bumper sticker ("Draft SVU Drivers First") was stuck. The driver of the stickered car wishes ill for SUV drivers, hopes SUV drivers go and get themselves killed in a war.

Well, I agree with the sticker, but not the attitude. If there has to be draft, I want the SUV drivers to be fighting for me. Because the SUV driver most likely is:
  • smart enough to drive a safer vehicle
  • successful enough to afford an SUV
  • isn't filled with self-loathing - is confident, self-sure
  • can handle big machinery
Go, get 'em boys!

The driver of the stickered car, and people like him/her, would just be cannon fodder.


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Frenchmen attack Israelis at Auschwitz
This is enough to turn your stomach.


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Bumper Sticker of the Week
This week's winner goes to:

Draft SVU Drivers First

Wow, this is so good on so many levels. Thoughts:


  • Yeah, like you even support the draft
  • As far as I know, there is no gasoline shortage
  • SUV drivers pay for all the gas they use
  • If the war in Iraq as about "blood for oil", why didn't we get any of the oil? All of Iraq's oil now belongs to the Iraqi government and people.
  • How'd they get it? Oh, yeah, we gave it to them after the war.


And the alternate bumper sticker:

Draft Welfare Recipients First

It's not like they don't owe us.


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Saturday, August 07, 2004

Can't Win for Losin'
Let me get this straight: They complain when we don't nominate blacks, and they complain when we do nominate blacks.


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Friday, August 06, 2004

Bush Renames War?
Hindrocket breaks the news - President Bush has renamed the "war on terror". It is now
the struggle against ideological extremists who do not believe in free societies who happen to use terror as a weapon to try to shake the conscience of the free world.
That's much better.


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40 Minutes of Nothin
This is the kind of stuff that I just love -- getting hoist on your own petard.

This week, Kerry has been working the "I wouldn't have kept reading to those school children when they told me about the Twin Towers. I'm a man of action!" angle. But then, of course, it turns out that by his own admission, he sat and did nothing for forty minutes, even admitting to being unable to think.

Let's see. President Bush maintained his composure, remained calm, finish the book to the school children and then left. Kerry sat around like a stunned moron. Tough choice trying to figure out who has better leadership qualities.


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New Favorite Word
By the way, I have a new addition to my "Favorite Word List" to go along with "unguent", "unctuous", and "ointment".

That word is: "undertaker".

I just like the way it rolls off the tongue.


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The Sensitive Side of War
Jonah rocks as always in shredding Kerry up like a tree in a woodchipper for wanting to fight a "sensitive" war. I laughed out loud when I read that Kerry had said that. The very notion -- a "sensitive war on terror" is comical.

Hello there, Mr. Terrorist, we've come to try to converse with you about the possibility of you, well, not killing all those people at the Mall of America. What can we do to change your mind about that? We certainly don't want to force anything upon you, but we thought that a little encounter session with a neutral mediator might help resolve the issues we have that separate us. Afterwards, maybe we can all join hands and sing Kumbaya.

Here's the money quote from Jonah:

Listening to these folks, one gets the sense that America's greatest foreign-policy triumph was to get sucker-punched on 9/11 because it resulted in sympathetic newspaper headlines in Paris and Berlin.


Reminds me of good old Warren Christopher. Back when he was working the Middle East desk in the Carter Administration, he was in on the briefing for the failed (and humiliating) Desert One hostage rescue. The grizzled Special Forces commander said that when they got to the embassy they were going to "shoot any hostage-takers they found right between the eyes". Christopher apparently thought this was a bit much, and raised his hand to ask "Do you have to kill them? Couldn't you just shoot them in the arm or the leg and wound them?"

That guy ended up as our Secretary of State. At least I think he did. He's pretty easy to miss.


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Thursday, August 05, 2004

Gallimaufry
gallimaufry: A jumble; a hodgepodge.

This is, I believe, a new word for me. Very exciting! Heather MacDonald (of City Journal magazine) writes today in OpinionJournal about the rampant foolishness in our homeland security policies. It seems that "Capps II" has been 86'ed due to pressure from civil libertarians. She concludes:
It is difficult to know where we go from here. There is no way to keep a terrorist from flying without first trying to determine who he is. Yet the most innocuous identity verification system prior to a flight is now seen as tantamount to illegal surveillance. With the rights advocates back in the saddle of national security, al Qaeda can blithely get on with its business.
Michelle Malkin also takes a look.


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Go Get 'Em Peggy!
Peggy Noonan in today's OpinionJournal:
I am going to take three months' unpaid leave from The Wall Street Journal and attempt to support the Republican Party in the coming and crucial election. (Every four years everyone says "this is the most important election of my lifetime," but this year I believe it is true.) I'm going to give whatever advice and encouragement I have in terms of strategy, approach, message--I hate that word--and issues. No one has asked me to do this, and I do it as a volunteer, not for a salary but simply to give my time to help what I think is the more helpful side. This will take a bite out of my finances but I can do it. Actually most of us, when we die, wind up with a few thousand dollars in the bank. We should have spent it! I am going to spend mine now.


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More Olympic basketball
It seems that there's a general pessimism out there about Team USA's chances in the Olympics. Who knows, maybe they'll rise to the occasion. Either way, I like Ric Bucher's suggestion - form a national team.


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Wednesday, August 04, 2004

Oops
I guess I linked to the same article you did.


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The Sports Guy
Bill Simmons, the Sports Guy, says this Dream Team is doomed. He doesn't think the USA basketball team has what it takes.


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My Olympic Basketball Prediction
No medal.


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Tuesday, August 03, 2004

What will the neighbors think?
World Magazine Blog cites a story from Australia: "An Australian abortion clinic operator has objected to the opening of a nearby child care center because the sight of children might upset patients."


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Team USA loses to Italy
I don't get good vibes from this result in pre-Olympic exhibition basketball - Italy defeats USA, 95-78.


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Byron York on John Kerry on Terrorism
I'm sure this Byron York piece is in response to stories like this one in the NY Times, or this from the Washington Post, or this from the LA Times. These 'news'papers want to make the case that the terror alert is based on 3-4 year old data. The obvious inference being the Bush administration's warnings are politically motivated - as Howard Dean has charged.

But reading Byron York's mock Kerry speech rattles one's senses. Shame on those who would try to make political hay from this situation.


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Thomas Sowell interview
The American Enterprise has a wonderful interview with Thomas Sowell. Here's the first 'question' of the interview, "You started as a Marxist." That I never knew. Read the rest - it's an enjoyable look into a great mind. (Hat tip: Michelle Malkin)


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Can't Even Understand the Enemy
Boy, does Rod Dreher ever make a good point here.

He's right -- we have marginalized religion so much that we don't even understand the thinking of the enemy. Or at least the Left has. Gives an insight into why they don't even realize who the real enemy is or even that we are in a war.


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Prosecutor wants evidence hidden?
"If in fact you were to rule that all of the rape-shield
evidence were going to come in this case, I'm thinking the
prosecution is going to sit down and re-evaluate the quality of its
case and its chances of a successful prosecution," Prosecutor
Ingrid Bakke told the judge."


So said Kobe Bryant's prosecutor, Ingrid Bakke.

Let me get this straight: Ms. Bakke is arguing against evidence being introduced because doing so would tend to exonerate Bryant? Huh? Shouldn't she be interested in evidence that would tend to reveal the truth? I can't say whether Kobe is guilty or not, but certainly the prosecutor doesn't want to prosecute an innocent man, right? Certainly a prosecutor wants all evidence to be available to jurors, right?


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Could Kerry slum it in the White House?
I'd give up an unimportant body part to be able to write have as wittily as Mark Steyn. In his latest, he rips Kerry and Edwards a new one for being the hypocritical elitists that they are. They go the Wendy's to show what "men of the people" that they are, but of course they have a gourmet meal waiting on the bus later. Here's a fun quote that sums up the event:

More telling was Teresa Heinz Kerry. She pointed to the picture of the bowl of chilli above the clerk's head: "What's that?" she asked. He explained that it was something called "chilli" and she said she'd like to try a bowl. The Senator also ordered a Frosty, a chocolate dessert. They toyed with them after a fashion, and then got back on the bus.


"Something called 'chili'". I love that.


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Monday, August 02, 2004

St. Paul mayor endorses Bush
Our mayor, Randy Kelly, is one of the few Democrats who gets it. While most Dems don't admit or understand that we are at war, Mayor Kelly, Sen. Zell Miller, and Former New York Mayor Ed Koch are some who do.


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