Musings Archive November 2004
Tuesday, November 30, 2004 STUPID. STUPID, STUPID: The University of the United States, otherwise known as Notre Dame, has fired coach Tyrone Willingham after three seasons. Willingham went 21-15 during his tenure with my beloved Fighting Irish but a couple of embarassing losses, including a pasting at the hands of USC this past weekend, pretty well finished him off. It's the first time in school history that a football coach was fired before the end of his contract.
I wasn't surprised. Although some people, like Mike Wilbon, will try and make this a racial thing, pretty well everyone was calling for Willingham's head including the students. I think they should have gave him another season or two to see what he could have done with his recruits. He was essentially playing with Bob Davies' kids though in truth he recruited quite well. Also, you have to remember that Notre Dame had the toughest schedule of any I-A team.
Apparently Willingham won't be out in the cold long. The University of Washington is reportedly interested in him.
Posted by steve @ 04:17 PM EST [Link] [No Comments]
~ BARELY EVEN RATING A MENTION: Up here in Canada the Bush visit that begins today has the talking heads all a twitter: the protests! the issues! the formal dinner!
Apparently down there in Yankeelandia, the president's visit barely rated even an announcement to the press corps.
Canadians who might be wondering what Americans think of us should ponder no more: Generally speaking, they don't.
Even White House reporters expecting the usual "trip briefing" on Canada-U.S. issues were surprised by what they got: Zip.
"It is quite unusual not to have a briefing," said one senior White House correspondent who called yesterday, wondering if we had any idea why Bush was coming to Canada. (We had to say, sorry, can't help there.)
The best the White House press corps could make of it, she said, is "it's kind of like visiting your in-laws -- you go because it's what you do. It is sort of a perfunctory visit."
I have the same response to every person who asks me about this: We're friends of the United States but since September 11, 2001 we've pretty well told them to shove off almost every time they asked for help. Why should they care about us? We didn't have to send soldiers to Afghanistan or Iraq but we didn't have to be such asses about opposing the United States either.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 11:33 AM EST [Link] [2 comments]
~ CANADA CHOOSES GREATEST SOCIALIST: In case you're an American -- or a Canadian who decided to remain blissfully ignorant -- last night our publicly funded broadcaster, the CBC, wrapped up its quest for the greatest Canadian. Surprisingly, to me at least, it wasn't Pierre Elliot Trudeau, the man who has essentially defined what it is to be a Canadian these days. Rather, it was Tommy Douglas, the late socialist who was largely responsible for Canada's government run health care system.
To delirious cheers, Stroumboulopoulas [Douglas' chosen 'celebrity' defender] dramatically argued that if Douglas, who died in 1986, were removed from the national equation "you remove the caring, sharing legacy of everything that we value. . .you remove this, and this is our most treasured, treasured national characteristic!"
Not surprisingly the CBC declared that this wasn't an exercise in hype but a valid exercise by Canadians which encouraged public debate. ESR editor Steve Martinovich responds that pretty well every person he knew could have cared less about "the process" except for those who tried to subvert it by voting for hockey commentator Don Cherry (who placed ahead of our first prime minister Sir John A. Macdonald and some guy named Alexander Graham Bell...).
Ultimately it shows to me that Canadians really are philosophically bedmates of Europe. They are unable to see why medicare schemes are doomed to failure so they believe anyone who fights for them is inherently more noble than those who fight against them. God only knows how much suffering the health care system has inflicted upon those people who otherwise would have been healed under a private system. For that reason alone Tommy Douglas is evil.
Oh yes, because the list showcases "Unity, diversity, compassion, caring for each other," it apparently proves why we're better than Americans.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 11:19 AM EST [Link] [No Comments]
~ MONDAY NIGHT QUARTERBACK: Two good weeks in a row? After scoring 13 out of 16 last week I very nearly repeated the feat! I could have easily scored 13 correct picks but unfortunately Oakland blocked a field goal attempt by Denver Sunday night and ended that. For God sake's, Denver was an 11 point favourite going into the game. I guess Langston Walker is my new enemy for life.
Along with Denver, picking the San Francisco 49ers was my other mistake. Given that both San Francisco and Miami came into the game 1-9, I think it perfectly defensible to pick the home team. Unfortunately Miami decided that it simply needed a second victory on the year.
There's been a bit of a debate about whose streak of consecutive starts is more impressive: Brett Favre or Cal Ripken? I have to go with Favre. As Eric Neel wrote earlier this week on the records held by Favre, Ripken and the catch streak by Jerry Rice, "I'm not sure the other two streaks even belong in the same conversation with Favre's. Let somebody come running at Cal like Terry Tate tearing down the office halls, and then we'll talk about him. And as for Jerry, well, his is dependent -- it's a streak about Joe Montana and Steve Young, too. Brett's is all on Brett. And that's the key difference: The Orioles survive without Cal in the lineup, the Niners get by without Rice (remember John Taylor?) for a game or two, but the Packers live and die with and without Favre. He's not a key cog; he's the engine that makes all the wheels turn. His streak, for the hits he's taken, and for the role he plays for his squad, is the most impressive. And it isn't even close."
Well, I can't argue with this logic as I completely agree with it. The sheer fact that he's been able to prolong the streak in a year that has included the death of his father and a persistent injury to his throwing hand tells you how tough this man is.
Why am I not surprised that the unholy marriage of Jerry Jones and Bill Purcells has finally hit the rocks. Frankly, I'm surprised it didn't occur earlier. So the big debate will be whether Drew Henson will get any more starts this season. If I were a betting man I'd say Purcells has won the war this season and Vinny Testaverde will start the rest of the way for the Cowboys. Who's ultimately right? I think unless Testaverde is going to be starting next season, you might as well start Henson this season. I can understand Purcells' reasoning -- that he believes he can still make the playoffs this year and needs Testaverde to do it -- but I wonder how much of that is just to spite Jones.
I know this will hardly be controversial but the last four games that Peyton Manning has played have been the best consecutive four games that any quarterback has ever played. I never saw Johnny Unitas play but I'll defend that contention against any other modern era quarterback you care to name. 10 touchdowns in one week? I wouldn't be surprised if he ends the season with 60 touchdowns. If he isn't league MVP this year, no one is.
Yet despite all of that I don't see the Colts winning the Superbowl. Sure, the Colts apparently paid for a medical procedure that replaced Manning's arm for a cannon but that defense needs a lot of improvement. You can't expect Archie's kid to score four or five touchdowns every game.
On the other side of the Manning fence is his brother Eli. Hey Eli, remember what we were telling you about the Giants porous offensive line? Yup, it had nothing to do with Kurt Warner. Sure, Kurt liked to fumble the ball but the sacks and hurries weren't his fault. Did you think you were going to do better? You were blitzed out the side of your head by the Philadelphia Eagles this weekend and those five sacks proved it. You'll improve kid, but hopefully the November 28 version of the Philadelphia Experiment proved to you that the Giants need a lot more help up front regardless of who the quarterback is that they plan to sacrifice to the Football Gods.
I was almost tempted to hand the Cheerleader of the Week award to a New England Patriots member after the beating the team inflicted on the Baltimore Ravens. Given how many times a Patriots cheerleader has received it, I'd better hold off before I run out of women on that squad to award it to. That doesn't mean we can't congratulate the Patriots however. The best defense of that game didn't come from Baltimore that day, it came out of New England. Ravens coach Brian Billick said after the game that the team couldn't get anything going. That's a polite way of saying they were totally outplayed on both sides of the ball.
Week 1 - 8 out of 15
Week 2 - 11 out of 16
Week 3 - 9 of 15
Week 4 - 7 of 14
Week 5 - 7 of 14
Week 6 - 9 of 14
Week 7 - 6 of 14
Week 8 - 8 of 14
Week 9 - 8 of 14
Week 10 - 9 of 14
Week 11 - 13 of 16
Week 14 - 12 of 14%: 67.3
Last week I went off on a rant about the pregame show that Fox tacked on to their football coverage but this week I wish to praise another pregame show. Dollars to dimes, the best pregame program is Sunday NFL Countdown. You can't get better than Chris Berman and Tom Jackson. Sure, Berman has his share of habits which can annoy people but the two guys know what they're talking about.
I suppose I have little choice other than to hand our Cheerleader of the Week award to a Raiderette. This week's prize goes to Elizabeth, a third year member of the squad who hopes to one day go into broadcasting. The official Raiders web site calls Elizabeth a "blonde-haired, blue-eyed stunner" and I wouldn't disagree under any circumstance.
Posted by steve @ 03:02 AM EST [Link] [No Comments]
Monday, November 29, 2004 BEYOND RED AND BLUE: As someone who has divided his time between red and blue America, and spent most of his life as a right-winger behind "enemy lines" in Massachusetts, I really enjoyed William Stuntz's Tech Central Station piece on his experiences as an evangelical Harvard law professor. He says he loves both of these communities to which he belongs even though one is the bluest blue and the other the reddest red, something to which I can only say "amen."
The article also contains some comments on the nature of faith, self-doubt and the realization of imperfection that are somewhat relevant to our earlier discussion of religious belief and practice:
That gets to an aspect of evangelical culture that the mainstream press has never understood: the combination of strong faith commitments with uncertainty, the awareness that I don't know everything, that I have a lot more to learn than to teach. Belief that a good God has a plan does not imply knowledge of the plan's details. Judging from the lives and conversations of my Christian friends, faith in that God does not tend to produce a belief in one's infallibility. More the opposite: Christians believe we see "through a glass, darkly" when we see at all -- and that we're constantly tempted to imagine ourselves as better and smarter than we really are.
Read on.
Posted by antle @ 09:22 PM EST [Link] [1 Comment]
~ WHO YOU CALLING UNSERIOUS?: Radley Balko takes a break from his beat opposing the anti-obesity food police and other nanny-state scolds to eat Ryan Sager's lunch.
At least that's my take on Balko's Tech Central Station rebuttal to Sager's earlier piece arguing that libertarian doves need to get serious about foreign policy. Some of my more hawkish co-bloggers may feel differently.
Posted by antle @ 08:56 PM EST [Link] [No Comments]
~ JANE, WOMAN OF MANY E-MAIL ACCOUNTS: I have been receiving e-mails all day from Jane, who is apparently very lonely, as she is in search of new friends and would like me to view her webcam. (I have not done so.)
I am somewhat at a loss as to why Jane would have time to search for friends in this fashion, because if her e-mail addresses are to be believed, she has been sending these missives from college campuses across America. SMTP spoofing, anyone?
Posted by antle @ 08:32 PM EST [Link] [No Comments]
~ HE PAID THE PRICE: The crushing of dissent in America continues. Steve Gardner was one of the chaps who as a Vietnam veteran publicly spoke out against John Kerry. The end result? Gardner was targeted by Kerry's supporters and 'mysteriously' lost his job. Yup, it was John Ashcroft Americans had to worry about...
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 03:22 PM EST [Link] [No Comments]
~ AMERICA IS ABOUT AS RELIGIOUS AS I AM: (via Brothers Judd Blog) I love Brother Orrin over at Brothers Judd Blog but I have to question something he wrote this morning. Brother Orrin linked to an essay in the Asia Times which declares America to be a religious nation and concurs, arguing that, "It is the great peculiarity of America that John Winthrop and Jonathan Edwards would easily recognize our society as one they helped to create, still struggling with the exact same questions that troubled them. Our greatness would seem to lie in the fact of the struggle itself."
I've wondered this myself but I have to respectfully disagree. In my travels through the world of debauchery on weekend nights, I bump into people who in the cold light of day tell me they are Christians and believe in God. That loose standard makes most Canadians and Americans Christians...but are they really? I have to admit that I hold the religious to a higher standard...if you proclaim yourself an adherent then you'd damn well better adhere. If the only thing that makes you a Christian is that you go to church on Easter and Christmas, well, I'd be handing your membership back. Living makes you a Christian, not saying.
Are Americans really living in a Christian society or are Christians mistaking their faith for the beliefs of wider society?
Twenty-two per cent of Americans identified "moral issues" as the reason they voted earlier this month. It's simultaneously a large number and a small one. I wonder if the body Americana is more ESR Steve then it is Brother Orrin these days. Conservative...but not in the same way that our grandparents used to be. We believe in the same things but for different reasons.
Bah, this post made no sense...that's what I get for stream of consciousness writing.
Posted by steve @ 12:24 PM EST [Link] [4 comments]
~ THE USUAL SUSPECTS: Who, oh who will replace retiring conservative columnist William Safire at the New York Times? Surprisingly (for the Times -- the rest of us could have filled this in five minutes) it's turning out to be quite difficult. There is, however, a short list of candidates that seem to be frontrunners. Of course, the newspaper will go with the list conservative out of all of them.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 12:09 PM EST [Link] [No Comments]
Saturday, November 27, 2004 SELF-PROMO ALERT: In the forthcoming issue of The American Conservative, I have a piece on the politics of amnesty for illegal immigrants. In particular, I take a look at the recently revived Bush guest-workers plan and the dynamics that await it in Congress.
The issue is already available to subscribers to the electronic edition and will hit the newsstands early next week. As usual, if it becomes available online I'll link to it here, and of course you can always subscribe.
Posted by antle @ 08:11 PM EST [Link] [No Comments]
~ DON'T NOCK IT TIL YOU'VE READ HIM: Back from a Thanksgiving holiday out of town. I see Franklin Foer's New Republic web article about Albert Jay Nock has generated an interesting discussion over at LewRockwell.com, including a piece by Jeffrey Tucker.
Posted by antle @ 07:57 PM EST [Link] [No Comments]
Friday, November 26, 2004 DON'T GO AGAINST THE FAMILY: (via Instapundit) The media may have lost interest in the story -- assuming they ever were interested -- but some won't let go of the Oil for Food scandal. The New York Sun reports today that Kojo Annan's involvement in the scandal keeps on growing. It seems the son of the UN secretary general was receiving money until early this year.
One of the next big chapters in the United Nations oil-for-food scandal will involve the family of the secretary-general, Kofi Annan, whose son turns out to have been receiving payments as recently as early this year from a key contractor in the oil-for-food program.
The secretary-general's son, Kojo Annan, was previously reported to have worked for a Swiss-based company called Cotecna Inspection Services SA, which from 1998-2003 held a lucrative contract with the U.N. to monitor goods arriving in Saddam Hussein's Iraq under the oil-for-food program. But investigators are now looking into new information suggesting that the younger Annan received far more money over a much longer period, even after his compensation from Cotecna had reportedly ended.
The importance of this story involves not only undisclosed conflicts of interest, but the question of the role of the secretary-general himself, at a time when talk is starting to be heard around the U.N. that it is time for him to resign, and the staff labor union is in open rebellion against "senior management."
"What other bombshells are out there being hidden from the public and U.N. member governments?" asked an investigator on Rep. Henry Hyde's International Relations Committee, which has held hearings on oil-for-food.
The Annan family reminds me of Jesse Jackson's family.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 12:54 PM EST [Link] [No Comments]
Thursday, November 25, 2004 THE IRANIANS LIED? STOP IT, I DON'T BELIEVE YOU: The IAEA reports that after promising to halt all nuclear activities, it seems the Iranians haven't done so. Yes, I am shocked as well.
Iran has exempted some centrifuges from an agreement to freeze uranium enrichment and related activities, the head of the U.N. atomic watchdog agency said Thursday, suggesting Tehran may intend to roll back its commitments.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 03:26 PM EST [Link] [No Comments]
~ HAPPY THANKSGIVING: Enjoy the turkey, your family and some football!
Posted by steve @ 02:48 PM EST [Link] [No Comments]
~ THE INCREDIBLES AS RANDIAN...CONTINUED: Well, it seems Objectivists finally have a movie to call their own and it came from a company owned by a Hollywood liberal. Who knew. David Kelley, who represents one branch of the philosophy, agrees that The Incredibles is indeed a Randian movie.
Read on. Keep scrolling down for another post about the movie right after the one I link to.
Posted by steve @ 01:39 AM EST [Link] [No Comments]
Wednesday, November 24, 2004 FUN IN THE UKRAINE: I have to admit that I'm a bit behind the curve on this whole Ukrainian election controversy. I know that a lot of fraud allegedly occurred but I don't know if Victor Yanukovych really won or it its sour grapes by Viktor Yushchenko's supporters. Obviously a Yushchenko victory would be the preferred outcome.
At any rate, there's a blog devoted to covering the whole mess and you can find it here.
Posted by steve @ 02:47 PM EST [Link]
~ SELF-PROMO ALERT: Not my best work but the Washington Times has run a piece by yours truly about the Kyoto Protocol. Thanks goes to Russia for officially signing on the dotted line last week, meaning that the treaty comes into force next February.
At any rate, I argue the U.S. was right to stay out of the protocol because it costs too much and does almost nothing. Yeah, I know, shocking considering I've been saying the same thing since the late 1990s. Next thing I'll be opposed to nationalized health care or something...
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 04:31 AM EST [Link]
~ KILLING POLITICALLY INCORRECT DIRECTORS IS OKAY: That seems to be the message from Hollywood. Have you heard any outrage from the film industry over the murder of Theo van Gogh? It was carried out, after all, because of his film work. Heck, if someone had greased that corpulent hack Michael Moore we'd see solemn marches in Hollywood decrying the obviously conservative inspired "martyrdom" of that fool.
Bridget Johnson discusses that and other film industry related news.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 04:16 AM EST [Link]
Tuesday, November 23, 2004 BRITS TO OPEN UP RADIO SPECTRUM: Apparently the Brits are to do what the Americans and Canadians would never conceive: opening up the radio spectrum to free market competition. Oh my God! Government not in control of radio! Society will crumble!
Posted by steve @ 05:57 PM EST [Link]
~ GOODBYE KENNETH: Dan Rather is going away and Scott Ott has a funny take on it.
Posted by steve @ 03:35 PM EST [Link]
~ THE PILGRIMS SHOWED UP BECAUSE OF THE NICER WEATHER: The latest attempt to banish religion from history is occuring in Maryland. Students are not allowed to state that the Pilgrims thanked God during Thanksgiving because....ummmm.....students are only being taught history, not religion. Yeah, that's it. That's the ticket.
Young students across the state read stories about the Pilgrims and Native Americans, simulate Mayflower voyages, hold mock feasts and learn about the famous meal that temporarily allied two very different groups.
But what teachers don't mention when they describe the feast is that the Pilgrims not only thanked the Native Americans for their peaceful three-day indulgence, but repeatedly thanked God.
"We teach about Thanksgiving from a purely historical perspective, not from a religious perspective," said Charles Ridgell, St. Mary's County Public Schools curriculum and instruction director.
School administrators statewide agree, saying religion never coincides with how they teach Thanksgiving to students.
Boy, thank God the Pilgrims weren't searching for religious tolerance. Just a good meal.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 04:51 AM EST [Link]
~ FREEDOM AND THE AMERICAN ELECTION: Michael Crane over at Political Junkie Handbook has crunched some numbers and determined that the freest states -- in terns of the economy -- voted in favor of George W. Bush while the least free states went to John Kerry.
A study called "US Economic Freedom Index" analyzed 143 variables and rank correlated our 50 states according to the degree of economic freedom given to their citizens. It is even more interesting to compare the Top 10 (most free) and Bottom 10 (least free) with their choice of president in the recent presidential election.
Top 10
1) Kansas (Bush)
2) Colorado (Bush
3) Virginia (Bush)
4) Idaho (Bush)
5) Utah (Bush)
6) Oklahoma (Bush)
7) New Hampshire (Kerry)
8) Delaware (Kerry)
9) Wyoming (Bush)
10) Missouri (Bush)Bottom 10
50) New York (Kerry)
49) California (Kerry)
48) Connecticut (Kerry)
47) Rhode Island (Kerry)
46) Illinois (Kerry)
45) Pennsylvania (Kerry)
44) Minnesota (Kerry)
43) Ohio (Bush)
42) New Jersey (Kerry)
41) Massachusetts (Kerry)
40) Louisiana (Bush)Posted by steve @ 01:12 AM EST [Link]
~ MONDAY NIGHT QUARTERBACK: When you bounce back, you really bounce back. Ever since week 2 I've been doing what I consider to be poorly. This weekend the dam broke and I hit 13 out of 16 games. I would have scored 14 had I decided to leave my initial pick of the New York Jets as is instead of switching to Cleveland. Remember what I always say: Go with your initial pick unless you have a good reason to switch. I thought I had a good reason: Quincy Carter is quarterbacking. Well, when you go up against a 3-6 team and you're 6-3, I may as well be throwing the ball.
So along with the Jets I missed Carolina beating Arizona and Jacksonville losing to Tennessee. I can understand the Jaguars losing to the Titans but Arizona really should have beaten Carolina.
Week 1 - 8 out of 15
Week 2 - 11 out of 16
Week 3 - 9 of 15
Week 4 - 7 of 14
Week 5 - 7 of 14
Week 6 - 9 of 14
Week 7 - 6 of 14
Week 8 - 8 of 14
Week 9 - 8 of 14
Week 10 - 9 of 14
Week 11 - 13 of 16%: 59.4 (+2.5 per cent)
A couple of weeks ago I listed three things I hate about professional football; please allow me to add a fourth: Fox Sports' pre-game broadcast. Jimmy Johnson, Howie Long, Terry Bradshaw and James Brown are all reasonably intelligent men but put them together and they become braying morons. Add to that the carnival atmosphere, Frank Caliendo's "comedy" skits, Jillian Barberie's less than useless weather report...oi, vey.
Now on to a more important subject. Our Cheerleader of the Week this week comes from the great city of Indianapolis. In honour of Peyton Manning's assault on the record book we give the nod to Christie. Not content with simply being attractive, Christie is also a chemist! Ah, to have the formula to her heart. Wow, that was cheesy.
Posted by steve @ 12:59 AM EST [Link]
Monday, November 22, 2004 GOVERNMENT CAN TRACK YOUR COLOR LASER PRINTING: Let that be a lesson to you, don't use your color laser printer to counterfeit money.
Next time you make a printout from your color laser printer, shine an LED flashlight beam on it and examine it closely with a magnifying glass. You might be able to see the small, scattered yellow dots printer there that could be used to trace the document back to you.
According to experts, several printer companies quietly encode the serial number and the manufacturing code of their color laser printers and color copiers on every document those machines produce. Governments, including the United States, already use the hidden markings to track counterfeiters.
Peter Crean, a senior research fellow at Xerox, says his company's laser printers, copiers and multifunction workstations, such as its WorkCentre Pro series, put the "serial number of each machine coded in little yellow dots" in every printout. The millimeter-sized dots appear about every inch on a page, nestled within the printed words and margins.
"It's a trail back to you, like a license plate," Crean says.
So, if you're a fan of stopping potential government intrusion into your privacy -- and you don't counterfeit -- stay away from companies like Xerox and Canon and do not register your printer with the company. Oh, and make sure to use a firewall that checks outbound connections since companies like Lexmark are installing spyware to report back on your printing.
Ain't life grand in the technological age?
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 11:14 PM EST [Link]
~ FRANKLY, I DON'T KNOW HOW TO RESPOND: (via Brothers Judd Blog) I realized that al-Guardian was probably the biggest rag in the entire "mainstream" newspaper industry a long time ago but I'm still occasionally astonished by what appears in it. The latest example is broadcaster Alex Thomson's call for embedded reporters to be placed with Iraqi insurgents.
I'd quote from it but it's so appalling that you have to read all of it in context. I particularly enjoyed how the war on terror was either "so-called" or itself placed in quotation marks while the word martyr (relating to insurgents) was left on its own.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 03:09 PM EST [Link]
~ THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S GREATEST FAILING: Every day I get emails or notes about stuff that goes on Iraq that I wonder why the Bush administration isn't shouting from the roof tops...or why the media isn't reporting. Stuff like what Rich Lowry over at The Corner received in an email from a soldier in Iraq.
He reports that hundreds of improvised explosive devices have been found in mosques, among other things.
I expect the media to do a poor job in reporting on Iraq -- it's been happening for over a decade, why would anything change now? -- but for the administration not to publicly announce what's going on is simply incompetent.
Posted by steve @ 02:53 PM EST [Link]
~ DON'T SCREW WITH DUBYA: By now I'm sure you heard about the fracas at the APEC meeting which separated George W. Bush from his security detail. The media has generally downplayed what happened but over at The Echo Chamber Stephen Gordon thinks that the event was far more serious than most people believe.
Read on.
[Update - 2:59pm] Even more here. Apparently this proved to the Chileans that Bush is a cowboy while even American journalists cheered the president.
Posted by steve @ 04:56 AM EST [Link]
Sunday, November 21, 2004 IT'S FUNNY BECAUSE IT'S TRUE: Got this in the mail from ESR contributor and actor extraordinaire Michael Moriarty this weekend:
One day early in the spring of 2005, an old man approached the White House from across Pennsylvania Avenue, where he'd been sitting on a park bench. He spoke to a Marine standing guard and said, "I would like to go in and meet with President Kerry."
The Marine replied, "Sir, Mr. Kerry is not President and doesn't reside here."
The old man said, "Okay," and walked away.
The following day, the same man approached the White House and said to the same Marine, "I would like to go in and meet with President Kerry."
The Marine again told the man, "Sir, as I said yesterday, Mr. Kerry is not President and doesn't reside here." The man thanked him and again walked away.
The third day, the same man approached the White House and spoke to the very same Marine, saying "I would like to go in and meet with President Kerry."
The Marine, understandably agitated at this point, looked at the man and said, "Sir, this is the third day in a row you have been here asking to speak to Mr. Kerry. I've told you already that Mr. Kerry is not the President and doesn't reside here. Don't you understand?"
The old man answered, "Oh, I understand. I just love hearing it."
The Marine snapped to attention, saluted, and said, "See you tomorrow, Sir."
Posted by steve @ 08:43 PM EST [Link]
~ BUT SERIOUSLY, LIBERTARIANS: Ryan Sager, writing at Tech Central Station, takes libertarians -such as those at Reason and the Cato Institute- to task for what he sees as their lack of seriousness with regard to foreign policy. Radley Balko responds by taking a look at some of his Cato colleagues' prewar predictions and contrasting them with administration officials' statements, asking which set of forecasts were more serious. Justin Raimondo offers some thoughts on antiwar libertarianism in his latest column over at Antiwar.com.
War may be the health of the state, but it doesn't do much for harmony among the libertarian commentariat.
Posted by antle @ 05:50 PM EST [Link]
~ BILL CLINTON, ACCIDENTALLY LIKE A MARTYR: I've said it before, but everytime I begin to feel some sympathy for Bill Clinton - as I did during the opening ceremony for his presidential library - he goes and ruins it by reminding me what I always found so grotesque about him in the first place.
You don't want to go here, Peter Jennings. Oh no he didn't.
Posted by antle @ 05:13 PM EST [Link]
~ PROMOTING OTHERS, PROMOTING MYSELF: Jude Blanchette has done a couple of nice pieces recently on libertarianism and conservatism, one for LewRockwell.com and the other for Mises.org. He kindly cites some of my writings on this subject for ESR, The American Conservative and elsewhere.
Posted by antle @ 04:39 PM EST [Link]
~ WE MAY BE TARDY THIS WEEK: If I were a betting man I'd give good odds that ESR may be a few hours late this week. I have a family religious function which takes place all day tomorrow so no football and no work on the magazine.
Posted by steve @ 01:43 AM EST [Link]
Friday, November 19, 2004 TOLERANCE, INCLUSION, MULTICULTURALISM, MURDER
The extremely tolerant Netherlanders have found out, in gruesome, vicious fashion, where their tolerance has led their society. Their inclusive, multicultural attitude, their "live and let live" attitude has been repaid by the savage murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh. van Gogh was shot, then had his throat slit before the murderer brutally attached an extremist note to van Gogh's body with the knife.
As my friend Mona Charen writes at Townhall.com, the Netherlands is responding to the wake-up call. The question left unanswered is whether or not the remaining Liberal-Tolerant societies in Europe (and Canada) will wake up and recognize the threat.
cb
Posted by clbloomer @ 09:38 AM EST [Link]
~ RACIST WAR ON CONSERVATIVE AFRICAN-AMERICANS CONTINUES: It's amazing the amount of racist language that comes out of the left today. Don't worry, because they support the civil rights movement, their racist insults aren't really racist. The latest example? A nobody radio host in Madison, Wisconsin called Condi Rice an "Aunt Jemima."
John Sylvester, the program director and morning personality on WTDY-AM in Madison, said in a phone interview Thursday that he used the term on Wednesday's show to describe Rice and other blacks as having only a subservient role in the Bush administration.
Rice has served as President Bush's national security adviser and was named this week to replace the departing Colin Powell as secretary of state.
Sylvester, who is white, also referred to Powell as an "Uncle Tom" — a contemptuous term for a black whose behavior toward whites is regarded as fawning or servile.
Remember, there is no such thing as racism from the left. Repeat as necessary.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 04:59 AM EST [Link]
~ BIG MOTHER? MEET BIG BROTHER!: California's new DMV director is certainly ambitious. She wants to marry privacy destroying technology in a quest to charge drivers for the miles they drive.
Joan Borucki has said she favors placing tracking devices on vehicles and then taxing drivers for the miles they drive. She says that as more drivers buy cars that get better gas mileage, the state is taking in less money from its gas tax. Even though Californians are driving more than ever, revenues are down nearly 10 percent.
And people wonder why conservatives and libertarians hate government.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 04:32 AM EST [Link]
Thursday, November 18, 2004 WHAT DID HE SAY THAT WAS SO WRONG: I'm republican to the core but I admit that there is a small streak of monarchism in my soul, thanks in part to a nearly dead tradition of Toryism in this country. I am still a man who refers to the country he lives in as the Dominion of Canada. At any rate, Prince Charles is in a bit of hot water after a memo he wrote was read at an employment tribunal yesterday.
In his memo Prince Charles declared that, "People think they can all be pop stars, high court judges, brilliant TV personalities or infinitely more competent heads of state without ever putting in the necessary work or having natural ability."
"What is wrong with everyone nowadays?'' the prince wrote. "Why do they all seem to think they are qualified to do things far beyond their technical capabilities?"
Prince Charles was critical of the British education system in his handwritten note.
"This is to do with the learning culture in schools as a consequence of a child-centred system which admits no failure,'' he wrote.
"This is the result of social utopianism which believes humanity can be genetically and socially engineered to contradict the lessons of history.''
Naturally people are jumping all over him, declaring his views as classist and Edwardian. Perhaps, but he's also right in my opinion. Everyone thinks they can do everything without the hard work necessary to get them to that position. I happen to disagree with the prince's preference for an agrarian society and anti-modernist views when it comes to architecture but I can't see why his remarks in the memo are controversial.
I don't think the message was that people shouldn't try to rise above their station in life, but rather that not everyone can be everything. It takes a lot of hard work to become something and many people aren't putting in the required work. How many times has someone told you what they'd do if they were ever elected leader of your nation but didn't know what the hell they were talking about?
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 03:40 PM EST [Link]
~ CONSERVATIVES ALLEGE FORMER CABINET MINISTER IS MOBBED UP: Boy, we have to be careful about this one. In the House of Commons today Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper asked the government about a report in New York Daily News that named former Liberal cabinet minister and current ambassador to Denmark Alfonso Gagliano as a member of a New York mafia family.
Alfonso Gagliano has held titles in Canada that include labor minister, deputy House leader, ambassador to Denmark and minister of public works.
In New York he held a different kind of title, according to secret FBI documents obtained by the Daily News: "made" member of the Bonanno crime family.
Gagliano was identified as a longtime soldier in the Bonanno crime family by Frank Lino, a former Mafia capo-turned-informer.
Lino is now cooperating with the FBI and federal prosecutors as they slowly take apart the mob family to which he once swore allegiance.
No quips this time. I don't feel like being sued today.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 02:57 PM EST [Link]
~ MORE GOOD NEWS: The CRTC today approved Fox News' application to begin broadcasting into Canada. Of course, CTV describes Fox News as a "right-wing" news operation without ever describing the bias of all the other networks.
The Canadian Cable Telecommunications Association applied to the CRTC in April for permission to carry Fox News to Canadians with digital cable, satellite or wireless television service.
The CCTA said Thursday they were pleased with the decision, saying Fox "provides Canadians with a different perspective on world events," and "is an excellent complement to the current Canadian digital line-up."
We'll still have to put up with al-Jazeera but at least we have Fox News. Other good news? The NFL Network was also approved!
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 02:45 PM EST [Link]
~ LIBERAL GOVERNMENT DOES SOMETHING ESR AGREES WITH: It had to happen sooner or later. Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin today expelled Liberal MP Carolyn Parrish from the Liberal caucus today.
If her name sounds familiar to Americans it's because Parrish once told reporters she hated Americans, referred to them as "bastards" and recently taped a spot for a Canadian comedy show where she stepped on a George W. Bush doll. What did Parrish in, however, were comments this week where she publicly stated she didn't care if the Liberal government fell or if Paul Martin had to resign if that happened.
"Every time he gets up and reprimands me, be it ever so gentle, it just feeds it and he looks like he can't control me, which he can't," she said.
Parrish said she had "absolutely no loyalty to this team. None."
She added of Martin: "If he loses the next election and he has to resign, I wouldn't shed a tear over it."
Parrish has long been an embarrassment to both Liberals and Canada. It's a pity that Martin didn't do this sooner.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 02:40 PM EST [Link]
~ MAN, THEY SHOULD CALL IT A LIEBRARY: The new Clinton presidential library contains an exhibit describing the Lewinsky scandal as a "fight for power."
"We had to show this was a systematic attempt by Republican leaders to de-legitimize Bill Clinton and the administration," said former Clinton adviser Bruce Lindsey, who worked with the ex-president through much of the exhibit-design process.
The nation's second presidential impeachment is dealt with alongside other scandals in an 8-by-6-foot alcove titled "The Fight for Power."
Thank God this man is (depending on what is means) out of office. Read on.
Posted by steve @ 04:46 AM EST [Link]
~ SELF-PROMO ALERT: I have a piece on the first anniversary of the Massachusetts supremes' decision to redefine marriage running today in the American Spectator.
Posted by antle @ 12:04 AM EST [Link]
Wednesday, November 17, 2004 THE QUESTION ISN'T WHETHER LIBERAL MPS WILL MOCK HIM, BUT HOW MANY OF THEM: Normally the visit of a U.S. president is welcomed by the government in power but this time the federal Liberals are nervous. George W. Bush will make his first official visit to Canada on November 30 and people are concerned that he'll face protests by members of the government.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 03:45 PM EST [Link]
~ IT COULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED TO A NICER HACK: What is it with people in the mainstream journalism industry -- or as close as Kitty Kelley gets to that -- that makes them hate blogs but then steal from them?
A freelance writer in Alabama, who early this year reported on George W. Bush's activities in Alabama in 1972, contends that Kitty Kelley plagiarized material from his article in her recent best-selling book about the Bush family.
The writer, Glynn Wilson of Birmingham, Ala., filed suit last month in Federal District Court there against Ms. Kelley and Random House Inc., accusing them of copyright infringement and asking for a judgment of $5 million.
Katherine J. Trager, a senior vice president and general counsel for Random House, the corporate parent of Doubleday, the book's publisher, called the lawsuit "meritless" and said the company was "confident that we will obtain its dismissal."
The dispute centers on several passages in Ms. Kelley's book, "The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty," that describe Mr. Bush's work in Alabama in 1972 on the campaign of Winton Blount for United States Senate. Mr. Bush's activities that year were a source of debate during the recent presidential campaign because of questions over whether Mr. Bush fulfilled his duties with the National Guard while in Alabama.
Seven paragraphs of material in the book, totaling about 400 words, repeat verbatim or closely track sections of Mr. Wilson's article, titled "George W. Bush's Lost Year in 1972 Alabama." The article, which can be found at www.southerner.net/blog/awolbush, was published on Feb. 2 on Mr. Wilson's Web site, Southerner Daily News. Ms. Kelley's book was released on Sept. 14.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 03:30 PM EST [Link]
~ HELP THE LIBERALS LEAVE
There must be some liberals who are seriously thinking of leaving the US, now that Bush has been re-elected and the right-wing gun-toting evangelical racist sexist homophobic angry white red staters are in charge of the country. The number of contacts to Canadian and French embassies, with requests for immigration procedures, have skyrocketed. While there my be a lot of inquiries, I seriously doubt may will actually follow through with their threats to leave.
Stephen Moore has a great column at National Review Online in which he proposes a way to help the depressed libs fulfill their dreams.
I would also propose that we make a deal with Canada. For every lib that emigrates to Canada, we will accept a Canadian who wants to live in America. A one-for-one swap. The swap would be permanent, with Canadians who move here given immediate US citizenship. It would be a win-win for both our countries. US gains freedom-loving citizens, Canada gains liberals eager to send their money to the nanny-state that will coddle them and solve all their problems.
My proposal would also have the advantage to us Americans of giving us Steve Martinovich. (Yes, yes, that was a bit of pandering.)
cb
Posted by clbloomer @ 10:38 AM EST [Link]
~ A MASS. EXODUS: I was surprised to read in Bernadette Malone's column (via Brothers Judd)that Massachusetts transplants were actually the New Hampshire voters most likely to cast their ballots for Bush. It had long been suspected that Bay State tax refugees wanted to continue the level of government services they were accustomed to and were therefore held responsible for recent Democratic gains in the Granite State.
Orrin Judd certainly makes a good point as to why we should have always taken this conventional wisdom with a grain of salt: "No one climbed over the Wall because they supported Erich Honecker."
Posted by antle @ 12:36 AM EST [Link]
~ CONDI RECONSIDERED: Now that Condoleezza Rice has been nominated to succeed Colin Powell as secretary of state, there seems something funny and almost quaint - if this wasn't the case already following the Iraq war - about my 2002 ESR piece on the possibility of her joining the GOP ticket in 2004 or sometime later. After all, it focused almost entirely on her potential impact on abortion politics, rather than the issues of war and peace where is likely to leave quite a bit more of a mark. Also, as bright as she is it in retrospect seems a bit of an overstatement to describe her tenure as national security advisor as "stellar." Perhaps "solid but less influential than a number of other members of the Bush foreign policy team" would be somewhat more accurate.
Posted by antle @ 12:12 AM EST [Link]
Tuesday, November 16, 2004 SO CLOSE...YET SO FAR: Today I got about as close to British food writer Nigella Lawson as I will likely ever be. Lawson appeared on CityTV's Cityline today, a set which is about four or five hours away by car. Had I known I would have went to Toronto to have her autograph my cookbooks...and sworn undying devotion to her.
You can read reviews of two of Nigella's cookbooks here and here. She has a new cookbook out called Feast: Food to Celebrate Life that the publisher failed to tell me about.
Nigella, and Giada De Laurentiis who hosts Everyday Italian, are my secret TV girlfriends. Don't tell anyone.
Posted by steve @ 08:54 PM EST [Link]
~ I GUESS THIS PROVES HOW RACIST THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION REALLY IS: George W. Bush announced today that he is in fact nominating Condi Rice to the secretary of state position vacated by Colin Powell.
"I am pleased to announce my nomination of Dr. Condoleezza Rice to the American Secretary of State," Bush told reporters Tuesday as Rice stood beside him, her eyes welling with tears.
"Over the last four years, I have relied on her counsel, benefited from her great experience, and appreciated her sound and steady judgment."
"The secretary of state is America's face to the world, and in Dr. Rice, the world will see the strength, grace and decency of our country," Bush added.
We here at ESR have a serious case of the "in love" for Dr. Rice so we're happy for her though I wonder how she'll deal with the career bureaucrats at State.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 02:26 PM EST [Link]
~ SELF-PROMO ALERT: It was a good day today! On page A15 of the National Post you'll find an oped by me entitled "Dalton McGuinty's priorities are misplaced" arguing against the Ontario government's decision to give Ford of Canada $100 million towards a new $1 billion plant in Oakville. You'll have to buy the paper if you want to read it.
Posted by steve @ 02:12 PM EST [Link]
~ SELF-PROMO ALERT: I have a review of Seamus Heaney's new translation of Antigone in today's Christian Science Monitor.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 02:07 PM EST [Link]
~ SHOCKING NEWS: U.N. PROGRAM EVEN MORE CORRUPT THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT: Yeah, we're just as surprised as you are to learn that the Oil-for-Food scandal is even bigger than thought.
Saddam Hussein's regime made more than $21.3 billion in illegal revenue by subverting the U.N. Oil-for-Food program and other sanctions — more than double previous estimates, according to congressional investigators.
"This is like an onion — we just keep uncovering more layers and more layers," said Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., whose Senate Committee on Government Affairs received the new information at a hearing on Monday.
Wow, I can't wait for the mainstream media to ignore this as well!
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 01:53 AM EST [Link]
~ MONDAY NIGHT QUARTERBACK: A short edition this week because my eyes are practically bleeding from fatigue. Today has been a long day.
I've always had bad luck with either New York football team but this is the first time in recent memory that both teams have gone against my pick during the same weekend. In retrospect picking the Jets with Quincy Carter helming the offense was a mistake. That's what you get for quickly making some picks and not doing proper research. Other teams tripping me up were Tennessee, Kansas City and Washington. Someone really has to explain to me why I keep picking Washington as well. That said, nine right this week, my best total since week six.
Week 1 - 8 out of 15
Week 2 - 11 out of 16
Week 3 - 9 of 15
Week 4 - 7 of 14
Week 5 - 7 of 14
Week 6 - 9 of 14
Week 7 - 6 of 14
Week 8 - 8 of 14
Week 9 - 8 of 14
Week 10 - 9 of 14%: 56.9 (+0.8 per cent)
Everyone is still all agog over the Pittsburgh Steelers and their winning ways -- and deservedly so -- but how about them Hotlanta Falcons? No one seems to have noticed that they lead the NFC South with a 7-2 record. And how about that game against Tampa Bay this weekend? The Falcons defense brought everything out but an Apache attack helicopter and demolished the Buccaneers. Heck, in the second half the Falcons got seven sacks. Well, we here at Fort Sinatra believe in awarding teams that perform so our Cheerleader of the Week is Leslie of the Atlanta Falcons. A second year member of the squad, Leslie has a Bachelor of Science in Child and Family Development and a Master of Science in Professional Counseling. Intelligent, attractive and single...just how we like them here at ESR.
Posted by steve @ 01:39 AM EST [Link]
Monday, November 15, 2004 AMERICA'S BOYS IN ACTION: Murdoc has a link to some amazing raw footage shot in Fallujah over the past couple of days that you absolutely have to watch.
Check it out here.
Posted by steve @ 06:19 PM EST [Link]
~ I'M SURPRISED SHE WOULD WANT IT: ABC News reports that Condoleezza Rice will in fact be nominated to be the next secretary of state.
Sure as heck surprises me considering that Rice is reportedly pretty hostile to the State Department's kind of atmosphere. Then again, if she wants to advance there aren't that many options.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 06:04 PM EST [Link]
~ I HEAR VIETNAM IS NICE THIS TIME OF THE YEAR: Did someone you know swear they would move out of the United States if Dubya was re-elected? Help Them Move will assist them in their travel arrangements.
Posted by steve @ 02:59 PM EST [Link]
~ AT THIS RATE I'LL BE IN THE CABINET: Four more Bush cabinet ministers have resigned including Colin Powell. Do I smell a promotion for Condi Rice? Actually, I'd be surprised if she wanted State.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 02:33 PM EST [Link]
~ BOOM: American forces yesterday dropped a pair of 2,000 pound bombs on a suspected insurgents bunker complex and made a big boom.
The bombs shook the ground of the former insurgent stronghold and set off secondary explosions that went on for 45 minutes but could not be seen above ground, persuading officers of the Army's First Infantry Division that there were large stockpiles of weapons underground.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 12:20 PM EST [Link]
Saturday, November 13, 2004 LEARN SOME HISTORY: I'm at the ESPN web site where I read a story that a Serbian basketball player wasn't allowed into Croatia because he had a tattoo of Draza Mihajlovic on his arm. Mihajlovic led the monarchist forces during World War II against both the Germans and the partisan communists. What irked me was this line in the story:
The tattoo is of Draza Mihajlovic, whose troops during World War II were allied with fascists in Croatia and are blamed for slaying hundreds of Croats. Mihajlovic was executed by the Communists. Serb nationalists had declared Mihajlovic their hero, naming their paramilitary units after his guerrilla fighters.
What a sad day. Mihajlovic and his forces saved hundreds of American and British pilots after they were shot down over what later became Yugoslavia and ferried them back to Allied control. In response, because of their alliance with the Soviet Union, they refused to acknowledge Mihajlovic's efforts and continued their support of Tito's communist forces. The U.S. Congress, however, was outraged by the Roosevelt and Truman administration's insult and officially declared Mihajlovic a hero, both just after the war and again in 1987.
My grandfather would have been astounded to learn that his commanding officer, Draza Mihajlovic, was allied with the fascists. Five minutes in a history book would have told you that the fascists were members of the Ustache, the Croation front for Nazis in that country during the war.
Mihajlovic headed the Chetniks, a monarchist force that was opposed to both the fascists (Ustache) and the communists (the Partisans, headed by Josip Tito). When my grandfather was captured by the Germans -- you remember them, they were the fascists! -- he was sent to a German P.O.W. camp where he faced immediate execution if he were discovered to be a Chetnik, that group that was supposedly allied with Croation fascists.
What's even more insulting about this story is that over well over 500,000 Serbs were executed after Croatian and German forces -- remember them, they're the fascists that Serbs were supposedly allied with! -- rounded them up and sent them to the death camps.
The make up of the groups were: fascists: mostly Croation; communists: mix of Serb and Croation; monarchists, mostly Serbian.
AP should get their facts straight next time they decide turn a sports story into a history lesson.
Posted by steve @ 08:14 PM EST [Link]
~ FUN WITH FLAT TAXES: John Hawkins over at Right Wing News has a good post about the problems with enacting a flat tax. I was a fervent booster of the flat tax throughout the 1990s, but I am more skeptical of the idea now.
Hawkins posits that, despite the promises of flat-tax supporters, many poor and middle-class Americans would end up paying more in taxes under a single uniform tax rate. Maybe, but not necessarily. Most of the major flat-tax proposals - such as the one Steve Forbes campaigned on in 1996 and 2000 or Dick Armey's Freedom and Fairness Restoration Act - get around this problem by offering generous personal exemptions, allowing tens of thousands of dollars to be earned tax-free before the the flat-tax rate kicks in. This would have the effect of dropping many poor and lower middle-class families off the income tax rolls entirely.
This raises problems of its own, which is why I now question the sustainability of the flat tax: It accelerates the trend toward an income tax system where a small minority of people easily cariactured as rich shoulder the costs of government programs. Large numbers of Americans would be able to agitate for big government and higher tax rates at no personal cost to them.
In any event, it's worth noting that Massachusetts has a flat tax and voters have repeatedly rejected ballot initiatives that would replace it with a graduated income tax.
Posted by antle @ 05:25 PM EST [Link]
~ BUSH BEATS KERRY IN VOTE TOTALS AND IQ: Steve Sailer has a nice round-up of his Bush-Kerry IQ scoop in the forthcoming issue of TAC. The numbers he crunched found that John Kerry, that paragon of blue-state enlightenment, likely has a lower IQ than President Bush. He originally broke the story here and then did a follow-up on the question of whether IQ matters in a president.
Posted by antle @ 04:53 PM EST [Link]
~ SELF-PROMO ALERT: I have a piece in the December 6 issue of The American Conservative about people leaving the information technology field as IT jobs go overseas. I've written about my personal experiences as an IT guy during the tech boom here.
I'll link to the piece here if it is posted online. Otherwise, the issue hits the newsstands next week and will be available to electronic subscribers shortly.
Posted by antle @ 04:35 PM EST [Link]
~ WHATCHA GONNA DO?: Mike over at Cold Fury imagines what it would be like if the political left's fantasies about the right were really true.
Posted by steve @ 04:09 AM EST [Link]
Friday, November 12, 2004 IT'S THE NEW YORK TIMES, WHAT DO YOU EXPECT?: Charles over at Little Green Footballs is hip-hoppity mad at the New York Times over a hit piece on blogs that ran today. He argues that the newspaper confuses what a blog is and doesn't acknowledge that it's the left-wing blogs that have been spreading conspiracy theories and poor fact-checking.
Instapundit also has some thoughts about it.
Me? I'm glad you asked. It's another gasp of an institution that is rapidly losing its importance to the wider culture. The NYT is no different from any animal, backed into a corner it swings at anything it sees as a threat. The problem for the newspaper isn't that blogs are a danger, the real danger is that the newspaper is its own worst enemy. It doesn't recognize that its business as usual approach to distorting the news is no longer tenable. There are 300 million experts in North America and you can't fool all of them all the time anymore. Rather than healing itself, the Times is focusing its attention on attacking those that are doing its job for it.
Posted by steve @ 02:56 PM EST [Link]
~ I'M IMPRESSED: (via Instapundit) Pandemonium and gun fire apparently forced authorities to bury Yasser Arafat earlier than they had "planned."
As Professor Glenn stated, "If the Palestinian 'authorities' can't even organize a funeral, how are they going to run a country? The answer, judging from past experience, is 'miserably, violently and with massive corruption.'"
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 02:45 PM EST [Link]
~ ARAFAT UPDATE: HE'S STILL DEAD: The funeral is today in the West Bank.
Meanwhile Lileks has a good take:
Our paper had this headline: "Enduring Symbol of Palestine Dies." Personally, I'm old school. I'd go with something, oh, factual, like "ARAFAT DEAD." Hard to argue. Hard to find bias. I don’t know what would be satisfying, really. "Goaty Old Fiend Expires, Loses Power, Fortune, Bowel Control; Fills Room with Odor of Offal and Urine" would put people off their breakfast, I suppose. I am content to know he is not in Hell. Nope. Arafat did not go to Hell. He boards the ferry, yes; he makes it halfway across the River Styx, yes. Then the ferry blows up. Ten times a day for eternity. For a start.
Posted by steve @ 03:40 AM EST [Link]
~ I'D STILL RATHER BE PAID IN AMERICAN DOLLARS: Good post over at The Shotgun by my stablemate Kevin Libin about the "rising" Canadian dollar versus the American dollar.
It always baffles me how difficult the average journalist finds the concept of currency valuations. Yes, Paul, the Canadian dollar is rising, but it isn't because the world's currency traders have suddenly decided they heartily approve of our punitive payroll taxes and our regional bailout programs. Rather, it's because the U.S. dollar is at a record low due to it's massive current account deficit. We might as well be standing still. as the U.S. currency falls toward us. In fact, that's exactly what's happening. We're not getting better, they're getting worse.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 01:21 AM EST [Link]
Thursday, November 11, 2004 SAY HELLO TO YASSER FOR US!: (via Brothers Judd Blog) The U.S. Army killed 70 terrorists in a single precision artillery strike in Fallujah on Tuesday. The jihadists apparently thought that Molotov cocktails would hold off their foes. I guess they missed that war-thing last year and how that turned out.
The strike took place on Tuesday afternoon, less than 24 hours after the invasion of the rebel-held Sunni bastion began, after an Abrams tank commander from Phantom troop, part of the US Army's Task Force 2-2, observed large numbers of men converging on a building next to a mosque. "Guys with short brown hair, dark pants and carrying AK-47s were moving in groups of between two and five across the road to a yellow building," said Lt Neil Prakash, the tank commander.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 07:52 PM EST [Link]
~ WILL THIS ONE HAVE FOUR DOZEN MAJOR ERRORS OF FACT AS WELL?: You have to hand it to Michael Moore. In a queer sort of way his dogged determination to yell from the rooftops is inspiring. That is, after all, what America is all about: the ability to say what you want, to fight for what you believe in.
Despite the fact that a majority of Americans rejected his arguments at the polls on November 2, Moore will continue to plow ahead with his anti-Bush agenda with Fahrenheit 9/11 1/2.
"Fifty-one percent of the American people lacked information (in this election) and we want to educate and enlighten them," Moore was quoted in Thursday's edition of Variety. "They weren't told the truth. We're communicators and it's up to us to start doing it now."
Start doing it now? Mr. Moore is also a very tiresome individual. Oh well, at least he'll get the chance to make more money off the backs of the far left. That multimillion dollar brownstone in New York didn't come cheap.
Read on.
[Update - 7:44pm] Looks like I'm not the only one taking shots at Moore today. The Register slaps Moore for pimping himself to the RIAA.
Posted by steve @ 03:44 PM EST [Link]
~ WELL, A GOOD REASON FOR JAPAN TO FLEX ITS MUSCLE: Earlier today I linked to a report detailing Japan's slowly growing comfort with flexing its military muscle and today there is a good reason.
Japan's military on Thursday shadowed an unidentified submarine that entered its territorial waters the day before, but officials said they had not yet figured out which country the intruder was from.
Tokyo put its navy on alert Wednesday after spotting the submarine off the southern island of Okinawa and sent a reconnaissance plane and destroyer to follow its movements.
The submarine, which spent two hours in Japanese waters before leaving, was heading north Thursday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said the government was trying to confirm the vessel's identify, but he added that sometimes it helped to be vague.
"There are security issues involved. Sometimes it is better to not say things very clearly," Koizumi said.
Asked if Japan's navy was having trouble identifying the vessel, Koizumi said: "No. It's good to have advanced abilities, but sometimes it's better not to know how advanced those abilities are."
He added Japan would take "appropriate action" when it confirmed the mystery sub's identity.
Read on.
[Update - Nov. 12, 4:38pm] Japan has identified the sub as Chinese.
Posted by steve @ 03:23 PM EST [Link]
~ GRASPING AT STRAWS (OR CHADS)
Some losers just can't admit they lost. It amazes me that there are liberals out there who have let their anger and hate totally drown out any semblance of common sense or recognition of truth, despite overwhelming evidence that Bush definitely won re-election. These nutcases believe more conspiracy theories than were ever produced by the JFK assassination and the Area 51 landings combined.
Their latest favorite conspiracy is that the exit polls were right, and Bush stole the election. They believe that without having a shred of evidence -- they just "FEEL" that way. And to these whackos, if they feel it, it must be true.
Read about it at CNSNews.
cb
Posted by clbloomer @ 11:37 AM EST [Link]
~ NEVER FORGET: Today is Remembrance Day in Canada and Veterans Day in the United States. It took a lot of blood to earn those days so take some time today and remember the sacrifices made on your behalf.
Last week a group of Canadian soldiers were honoured at Casa Berardi, a site in Italy that saw a savage battle between the Royal 22e Régiment and German soldiers.
In the early morning hours of 14 December 1943, two companies of the Royal 22e Régiment, supported by a tank squadron from the Ontario Regiment, were ordered to attack a ridgeline dominated by the old manor house of the Berardi family, Casa Berardi. "Because it was a road-bound army," noted Dr. Harris, securing the hamlet was a crucial first step in reaching the main junction on the other side. Both the property and the gully in front of it had been turned into strong points defended by German infantry and tanks. The advance had just started when it came under heavy machine gun and mortar fire. Almost all the company officers and 50 percent of the men were killed or wounded.
Read on.
Visit the U.S. Department of Defence's Veterans Day web site here. Read about the incredible story of Col. Mitchell Paige here.
Posted by steve @ 04:51 AM EST [Link]
~ JAPAN FLEXES ITS MUSCLE: (Via CNN) An interesting report has been released by the Lowy Institute for International Policy about the increasing military role that Japan has been taking across the world. We all know that Japan is constitutionally proscribed from deploying its soldiers overseas since after World War II but in recent years the nation has been involved in peacekeeping missions and recently sending soldiers to Afghanistan and Iraq.
Dr Alan Dupont, argues that Japan is moving away from its pacifist past towards a more hardheaded and outward looking security posture characterised by a greater willingness to use the Self Defense Force in support of its foreign policy and defence interests.
This shift is evolutionary, not revolutionary, but it is gaining momentum and represents a defining watershed in Japan's postwar security policy which will require some new thinking in Canberra as well as Tokyo.
Down the report here. (388K, PDF format)
Posted by steve @ 04:18 AM EST [Link]
~
IS EVERYONE THERE DEAD?/YEAH, IN THE SENSE THAT THEY ALL SORT OF, UH, FELL DOWN, AND THEN GOT UP, AND STARTED EATING EACH OTHER: It can't all be about work so it was movie night at Fort Sinatra tonight. The feature was remake of Dawn of the Dead which was out in theatres earlier this year. I raved about it when it was in theatres earlier this year, not surprising my well known love for zombie movies.
Doubtless you heard that there is extended footage but don't get your hopes up. Zack Snyder's director's cut does not significantly expand the story, rather it fleshes out some characters -- one of them is gay! -- and adds more flesh...of the exploding zombie kind.
A lot of debate among zombie fans about this one because of the fast moving zombies. 28 Days Later (which they subtly referenced a few times in the movie and the DVD bonuses) kicked off the modern zombie -- though technically those weren't zombies -- and Dawn of the Dead picked up the ball and ran with it. Many people believe it's sacrilege to remake a George Romero movie, particularly one that had a specific socio-political argument, and turn it into an action-esque movie but I didn't mind.
The bigger debate, however, is which is scarier: Fast or slow zombies? Although the old school zombies moved slow, there often seemed an inevitability of their catching you. You might be able to outrun them, even shoot down a bunch of them, but sooner or later their sheer mass of numbers would overwhelm you. Fast zombies? You can run but sooner or later you'll get tired...they don't. And there are lot of them.
I'm comfortable with both styles of zombies and movies. The old zombie movies still stand up well against their new counterparts and their strength is that Romero wasn't just making horror movies, he was also commenting on society. If you want to see what hell is like, the new movies do it. I think Snyder (in his directorial debut at that) did a good job with the remake -- even Canada's reigning socialist actress Sarah Polley didn't annoy me -- and I look forward to the rumoured sequel. We have to find out what happened on the island, right?
The rest of the DVD has the standard bonuses -- make up, a little feature on Andy the gun store owner, commentary, deleted scenes, "news coverage" of the spreading infection and some other material. All in all, it gets eight thumbs up.
Kenneth: Is everyone there dead?
Steve: Well, dead-ish.
Kenneth: Is everyone there dead?
Steve: Yeah, in the sense that they all sort of, uh, fell down, and then got up, and started eating each other.Posted by steve @ 01:34 AM EST [Link]
~ AFTER ARAFAT: Yasser Arafat has died. Let us hope that a new, responsible Palestinian leadership can achieve peace, for the good of the Israeli and Palestinian peoples.
Posted by antle @ 01:14 AM EST [Link]
~ DING DONG! THE WITCH IS DEAD!: Oh my, that's what you get for going offline for a few hours. I missed the news that Yasser Arafat is dead. Say hello to Uday and Qusay Hussein when you get to your final destination Mr. Arafat. Remember that line out of the Quran (you remember that book right? It's the one you paid lip service to)? In case you forgot it it's from al-kahf 18:28-30, when Satan stated, "For the wrongdoers We have prepared a fire which will encompass them like the walls of a pavilion. When they cry out for help they shall be showered with water as hot as molten brass, which will scald their faces. Evil shall be their drink, dismal their resting-place."
Enjoy it for eternity!
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 01:06 AM EST [Link]
~ HOW DID LECTURING THE PRESIDENT ON JUDICIAL NOMINEES WORK OUT FOR YOU ARLEN?: Arlen Specter was never the most popular Republican among his peers given his pronounced liberal streak but lecturing George W. Bush just after last week's election probably just put another nail in his coffin for those on the right. How do you know you've arrived? When a web site devoted to you starts up.
Posted by steve @ 12:56 AM EST [Link]
Wednesday, November 10, 2004 SEMPER FI: Before I forget: Happy birthday to the U.S. Marine Corps. You're 229 years old today. Congratulations and keep up the great work!
Posted by steve @ 06:58 PM EST [Link]
~ DO WE NEED ANOTHER CHATTING CLASS?: Tim Cavanaugh seems to be tired of the ones we have already so he's stumping for their replacement by a whole new class.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 06:18 PM EST [Link]
~ NOT A SURPRISE: Though I thought that Dubya was going to save him for bigger stuff -- i.e. a direct career path to the U.S. Supreme Court -- I'm not surprised that he's apparently going to name Alberto Gonzalez his new Attorney General.
I can't wait for the Hispanic community to, rather than be pleased one of their own is among the most powerful in the country, to declare him an "Uncle Tom" Hispanic because he's not a Democrat.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 04:33 PM EST [Link]
~ ENJOY HELL: It's been reported that Yasser Arafat is all but dead. An Islamic cleric has been called to his bed after his coma deepened.
Palestinian envoy to France Leila Shahid sid Arafat was now "in the final phase of his life."
Although the 75-year-old Arafat has been comatose for a week, hooked up to a respirator and feeding tubes, his top lieutenants ruled out any suggestion of euthanasia.
"He will live or die depending on his body's ability to resist and on the will of God," said Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath, one of several officials who met with Arafat's doctors, his wife and French President Jacques Chirac.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 06:06 AM EST [Link]
~ THE INEVITABLE REPRISALS: The murder of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh has predictably spawn a series of reprisals against the Muslim community in that country and prompted many to wonder about their open asylum policies.
Posted by steve @ 05:47 AM EST [Link]
Tuesday, November 9, 2004 WAIT UNTIL THE INFAMOUS IVORY COAST WINTER SETS IN: France, never one to let an opportunity slip to lecture people how to do things the right way, is continuing to have problems in Ivory Coast.
No blood for oil!
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 07:47 PM EST [Link]
~ YES, BUT WHAT WILL CONDI DO?: So John Ashcroft and Don Evans resigned this afternoon. Not a surprise when it comes to Ashcroft since it's been rumoured for a while though Evans wasn't the next name on my pool sheet when it came to resignations.
I have to admit that I'm very interested in what Donald Rumsfeld and Condi Rice are going to do.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 07:20 PM EST [Link]
~ TOCQUEVILLE IS STILL RIGHT: AMERICA IS A CHRISTIAN NATION: (via Relapsed Catholic) I may be an athiest but I don't have the reflexive hatred for religion that my peers and those on the rabid left seem to have for it. The election results last week have confirmed for many on the left that religion is the biggest danger they (and America) face. Terry Mattingly has a good post over at Get Religion quoting Rod Dreher and Alexander Cockburn on the subject.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 07:12 PM EST [Link]
~ HAPPY ANNIVERSARY: If you aren't old enough to remember the Soviet Union, The Day After, that SALT isn't what you put on your food and anti-war protests that another Republican president had to face, today likely doesn't mean too much to you. Fifteen years ago today the Berlin Wall was taken down. It was one of the most important events in the last century.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 06:06 PM EST [Link]
~ DO THEY KNOW IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME?: Old Blighty, what's going with you? The owners of a shopping mall in Birmingham have banned Santa Claus for fear of offending...I don't know...people who don't like Santa Claus.
A spokeswoman said: "We wish to be sensitive to people of other religions over the festive period. There are a lot of people in the region who are not Christians and do not celebrate Christmas."
Yes, I would I would imagine a majority of the people in the region are Christians and do celebrate Christmas.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 05:59 PM EST [Link]
~ IT ISN'T ALL COOKIES AND ICE CREAM ON THE RIGHT: John Hawkins has some advice for Republicans in Washington, D.C. that they'd better heed.
Posted by steve @ 05:54 PM EST [Link]
~ THE THOUGHT OF IT TERRIFIES ME AS WELL: Hillary Clinton a two-term president? Dave Kopel has an all too real look of how it could happen.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 04:37 PM EST [Link]
~ MONDAY NIGHT QUARTERBACK: A lot of people are eating very big portions of crow this week when it comes to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Knocking off the New England Patriots would have been a feather in the cap of any team but to also do in the Philadelphia Eagles just one week later? I think we can all agree that the Steelers are the best team in football at this moment.
Not only have they overcome some big odds to get to 7-1, but they could potentially finish the season with just one loss. The Steelers face Cleveland, Cincinnati, Washington, Jacksonville, N.Y. Jets, N.Y. Giants, Baltimore and Buffalo. I know what you're saying. By the time the Jets visit Pittsburgh on December 12 Chad Pennington will be back. To that I respond simply that having Tom Brady and Donovan McNabb didn't help the Patriots and Eagles, did it?
Of course, if I was so darn smart, I would have picked Pittsburgh to win this past weekend. I went with Philadelphia. Unfortunately that wasn't the only mistake I made. I also picked Kansas City, Dallas, Carolina and the New York Giants to win. As happy as I was about my beloved Chicago Bears defeating the Giants, it didn't help my season percentage. Although I picked Indianapolis to win Monday night, I had them by six points so it goes down as an incorrect pick. It seemed like they would have covered my spread at least four times but just kept letting a Randy Moss-less Minnesota back in the game.
It's hard to believe but if you laid down money that Drew Brees wouldn't quarterback the San Diego Super Chargers! next season you'd probably correct. You could make the argument that he's the second best quarterback in the league -- at least for this season -- but ownership just wants him out the door at season's end. He's the only quarterback in San Diego who actually wants to be there and he'll be gone before the start of next season. Explain that one to me.
Week 1 - 8 out of 15
Week 2 - 11 out of 16
Week 3 - 9 of 15
Week 4 - 7 of 14
Week 5 - 7 of 14
Week 6 - 9 of 14
Week 7 - 6 of 14
Week 8 - 8 of 14
Week 9 - 8 of 14%: 56.1 (+0.1 per cent)
Are cheerleaders for "weenie" football teams? So argues Amy Ridenour of the National Center for Public Policy. Amy reacted to my list of things I hate about football -- one of them being teams without cheerleaders -- by declaring real teams don't need cheerleaders. Coincidently enough, Ms. Ridenour's Pittsburgh Steelers don't have cheerleaders. I don't want to call the vengence of the Football Gods on the Steelers because I like the team but sins like that only offend They Who Must Be Appeased. As Gregg Easterbrook has often pointed out, teams with tough cheerleaders -- i.e. not wearing heavy coats when it's cold -- often win those cold weather football games. The example of these fine women serves as an inspiration to their players.
Speaking of things I hate...I actually had more things I hate that I was going to share this week but I forgot them. Yeah, I'm a moron. Feel free to use the comments to tell us what you hate about football. Also feel free to tell us that you like cheerleaders.
Speaking of cheerleaders and earlier of San Diego, I can't help out Drew Brees but I can congratulate the surprising Super Chargers! by picking one of the Charger Girls as ESR's Cheerleader of the Week. Honours go to Kaylin, a third year member of the squad who is pursuing a degree in telecommunications. She lists her favourite food as guacamole, something I have never eaten. At any rate, beautiful and smart, just the way we like them here at Fort Sinatra.
Posted by steve @ 01:54 AM EST [Link]
~ THE INCREDIBLES...AN OBJECTIVIST MOVIE?: I've been seeing a lot of articles around the Interweb the past few days that have been arguing that Pixar's latest movie, The Incredibles, has some very Ayn Randian elements to it. This isn't the first time that a movie by Brad Bird has had that said about it. His 1999 animation effort, The Iron Giant, also had libertarians and Objectivists pleased.
Over at LFB, David Brown collects some reviews of The Incredibles which mention its Randian undercurrent. Who says everything out of Hollywood is junk.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 01:19 AM EST [Link]
Monday, November 8, 2004 FOR THE RECORD: Even though I urge conservatives to take the initiative and demand progress on their issues from the newly elected Republican majorities, I fully recognize:
1. That this race was still fairly close.
2. That we should observe basic civility toward our opponents.
3. That we should be politically prudent, and therefore be firm yet not overreach.
4. That we are the Stupid Party and therefore likely to foul something up very soon.
Posted by antle @ 08:52 PM EST [Link]
~ HISPANDERING RECONSIDERED: Republicans should think twice before reading the 2004 election results as an invitation to jettison immigration control. For one, don't automatically assume an improved share of the Hispanic vote resulted from illegal-alien-friendly policies as opposed to, say, social issues like gay marriage. Secondly, you might want to take a more careful look at the data to determine how much the GOP Hispanic vote actually improved.
Characteristically, Steve Sailer is working on the latter.
Posted by antle @ 08:33 PM EST [Link]
~ SORRY: For the lack of blogging today but you do have a new edition of ESR to keep you busy. I've got some projects I have to finish up today so I won't able to blog for most of the day.
Good luck to the Iraqi and American forces in Fallujah today.
Posted by steve @ 02:55 PM EST [Link]
~ BEAUTIFUL: The most amazing example of the northern lights occurred over northern Ontario a few minutes ago. I even managed to capture a picture of it with my pathetic digital camera though the blue lights came out looking like an astronomical version of the first green tinted Paris Hilton porn video.
Posted by steve @ 12:28 AM EST [Link]
Sunday, November 7, 2004 THE ARCHITECT REBUILDS CONVENTIONAL WISDOM: Karl Rove argues that the 2004 election result has disproven many of the predictions of the chattering class. For starters, he told Bloomberg News that the GOP is now the nation's majority party. Then in an interview with FOX News, he rattled off a lengthy list of things that were supposed to happen but didn't.
Think about all the conventional wisdom that lost. The bigger the turnout, the better Democrats will do -- big turnout, huge turnout, Bush wins. Late deciders are going to break against the incumbent and vote for the challenger -- didn't happen. They went for this president two-to-one. Undecided voters are going to break against this president, the incumbent, and go for the challenger -- didn't happen. Younger voters are going to turn out in record numbers and are going to oppose this president -- they turned out (in the) same percentage in the electorate that they were four years ago and this president barely lost them. And then, Democrats are going to enjoy a huge advantage among women voters this year -- that advantage shrunk down to ... less than four percent.
A few of these facts differ from the exit polling data I've seen - the numbers I'm familiar with do show late deciders breaking for John Kerry, but by a less overwhelming margin than he needed, for example - but I guess one of the more obvious lessons from last Tuesday was that Karl Rove is a better barometer than some of these exit polls.
Read on.
Posted by antle @ 09:25 PM EST [Link]
~ SNARLIN' ARLEN, JUDICIAL KING-MAKER: Hugh Hewitt dissents from the conservative campaign to deny freshly reelected moderate Republican Sen. Arlen Specter the chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He points out that Specter has voted for every one of President Bush's judicial nominees and argues that increasing the number of GOP committee seats, adding reliable conservative members and reforming Senate rules to ensure that nominees with majority support in full Senate get a floor vote are all higher priorities.
Specter, who is likely in his final term, has publicly signaled to President Bush that he will resist confirming judges who are overly conservative, especially if they believe Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided. Given the importance of sound judges to conservatives - and the centrality of the imperial judiciary to the implementation of vast parts of the liberal agenda - it is crucial that the right takes judicial fights as seriously as the left does. (I offer some examples of why I believe conservatives don't take the judiciary as seriously as liberals do here and here.) Failure to do so constitutes surrender on many important issues and a betrayal of the conservatives responsible for the Republican majorities in the 2004 election.
Arlen Specter, given his ideology, judicial philosophy, record of unreliability and recent public statements that suggest his tenure over the next six years will be more of the same, is simply an inappropriate Senate point man for President Bush's judicial appointments. Republicans should consequently choose someone else - John Kyl, who is next in line behind Specter, would be a perfectly fine alternative - for this vital position.
Finally, Hewitt's argument that this would somehow be "strong-arm tactics," a "putsch," or even somehow comparable to the Roman Revolution is absurd. The majority on the committee has the right under the existing rules to elect the chairman, and the seniority preference is merely a professional courtesy and tradition, not a requirement. Bypassing a more senior member of a committee for a chairmanship is hardly unprecedented, and doing so because that member opposes a majority in his party on the questions the committee would be deciding is more important than other reasons this has been done in the past.
Posted by antle @ 06:06 PM EST [Link]
~ LOOKING FOR SOME NEW DEMOCRATS: If you want some good analysis of the challenges the Democrats are facing and some ways they can confront them, you are not likely to do better than this over at Brothers Judd.
Posted by antle @ 12:48 AM EST [Link]
Friday, November 5, 2004 IT DESERVES TO WIN: A book I reviewed earlier this year, Washington's Crossing by David Hackett Fischer, which detailed the weeks before and after George Washington's famous crossing of the Delaware River, has been nominated as a finalist for the 2004 National Book Awards in the Non-Fiction category.
The book chronicles six months after the Declaration of Independence, when many Americans felt the Revolution was lost. Fischer shows, the campaign saw the evolution of a new style of military leadership, as well as a new, American ethic of warfare, that helped to turn the tide of public opinion in America and around the world. A great book and worth reading if you're looking for something interesting to pass the chilly evenings.
The winner will be announced on November 17.
Posted by steve @ 06:01 PM EST [Link]
~ A NEW MANDATE...A NEW SONG: Dr. B.L.T. has a new song you can download celebrating George W. Bush's victory which you can download here. Download it...it's full of Republican goodness!
Posted by steve @ 05:55 PM EST [Link]
~ BACK TO WORK: Karl Zinsmeister has an interesting article in the December issue of The American Enterprise arguing that now the election is over George W. Bush should devote himself to fighting the war in Iraq and against terrorism.
Posted by steve @ 05:42 PM EST [Link]
~ BUSH GETS "CLYMER-ED": I'm sure you've seen this already but here it is in case you haven't. Over at CNN someone decided to send a message that the mainstream media is indeed biased against George W. Bush. The evidence? A picture of George W. Bush accompanying a news story was saved with the vulgar name of a body part that New York Times reporter Adam Clymer was called by Dick Cheney some years back.
Read on. Warning: Bad language alert
Posted by steve @ 05:37 PM EST [Link]
~ MORE ELECTION NUMBERS: Courtesy of ESR contributor Sharon Hughes are more numbers related to this week's presidential election.
Party: More Republicans went to the polls this year
Democrats 37%, Republicans 37% (In 2000 Democrats out-numbered Republicans 39% - 35%)89% of Democrats voted for Kerry, 10% for Bush
93% of Republicans voted for Bush, 7% for Kerry
Independent: 47% for Bush, 50% for KerryGender:
Men: Bush 54%, Kerry 45%
Women: Bush 45%, Kerry 52%Age:Young adult numbers remain the same
18-29 yrs: Bush 45%, Kerry 54% (Both in 2000 & 2004 this age group equaled 17% of those who voted)
30-44: Bush 51%, Kerry 47%
45-59: Bush 50%, Kerry 49%
60+: Bush 53%, Kerry 46%Race/Ethnicity:
White: Bush 57%, Kerry 42%
Black: Bush 11%, Kerry 89%
Hispanic: Bush 42%, Kerry 55%
Asian: Bush 41%, Kerry 59%Other Groups: Not All overseas and Provisional votes counted yet
White/Evangelical: Bush 77%, Kerry 22%
Union Member: Bush 38%, Kerry 61%
Military/Families: Bush 55%, Kerry 43%
Gay/Lesbian/Bi-Sexual: Bush 23%, Kerry 77%
Gun Owner: Bush 61%, Kerry 37%Marital Status
Maried: Bush 56% Kerry 43%
Married Men: Bush 59% Kerry 40%
Married Women: Bush 54% Kerry 45%
Unmarried: Bush 37% Kerry 59%
Unmarried Men: Bush 44% Kerry 53%
Unmarried Women: Bush 36% Kerry 63%When voted:
Early: Bush 50% Kerry 49%
Election Day: Bush 50% Kerry 48% (16% of voters voted early)
First Time Voters: Bush 45%, Kerry 54% (9% of 2000 11% of 2004 voters were first time voters)
2000 Voted for Gore: 2004 Bush 10%, Kerry 90%
2000 Voted for Bush: 2004 Bush 90%, Kerry 9%
2000 Did not vote: 2004 Bush 44%, Kerry 54%Most important issue/Voted for: Everyone is still scratching their heads on #1 choice
(22%) Moral values: Bush 80%, Kerry 18%
(20%) Economy/Jobs: Bush 18%, Kerry 80%
(19%) Terrorism: Bush 86%, Kerry 14%
(15%) Iraq: Bush 25%, Kerry 74%
(8%) Healthcare: Bush, 22% Kerry 78%
(5%) Taxes: Bush 56%, Kerry 44%
(4%) Education: Bush 25%, Kerry 75%Most Important Qualities/Voted for:
(25%) Will bring needed change: Bush 7%, Kerry 95%
(17%) Has clear stand on the issues: Bush 78%, Kerry 21%
(17%) Strong leader: Bush 86%, Kerry 13%
(11%) Honest, trustworthy: Bush 70%, Kerry 29%
(8%) Religious faith: Bush 91%, Kerry 8%
(7%) Intelligent: Bush 8% Kerry 91%VOTED FOR BUSH: Ideology
Liberal: Bush 13%
Moderate: Bush 45%
Conservative: Bush 84%Church Attendance
More than once a week: Bush 64%
Weekly: Bush 58%
Monthly: Bush 50%
A few times a year: 45%
Never: 36%
Protestant 59%
Catholic 52%
Jewish 25%
Other 23%
None 31%Education:
No high school 49%
High school graduate 52%
Some college 54%
College graduate 52%
Postgraduate study 44%Some Comparisons...Voter Turnout
Of Registered Voters: President Bush gained 9 million votes; probably over 2 million of Nader's 2000 votes went to Kerry this election2000 51.3%
Bush 50,465.169
Gore 50,996,062
Nader 2,529,8712004 59.1%
Bush 59,117.523
Kerry 55,557,584
Nader 395,969Highest voter turnout since1968
1960 J.F. Kennedy - 63%
1964 L.B. Johnson - 61.9%
1968 & 72 Richard Nixon - 60.8% & 55.2%
1976 Jimmy Carter - 53.5%
1980 & 84 Ronald Reagan - 52.5% & 53.1%
1988 George H.W. Bush - 50.1%
1992 & 96 Bill Clinton - 55% & 49%
2000 & 2004 George W. Bush - 51.3% & 59.1%Posted by steve @ 05:33 PM EST [Link]
Thursday, November 4, 2004 THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS: Elizabeth Edwards, wife of former Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards, was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this week. She carried herself with dignity and aplomb through the campaign and we here at ESR wish her a full and speedy recovery.
Posted by steve @ 06:57 PM EST [Link]
~ SO WHAT ABOUT THE EXIT POLLS?: Dick Morris says he believes something hinky was going on. All the exist polls showed a big Kerry win. Reality stated otherwise.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 01:50 PM EST [Link]
~ THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF 2004: Our friends over at The Political Junkie Handbook have churned the numbers and have come up with demographic figures for the 2004 election. Good news? George W. Bush increased his numbers in many different categories including among Jews, gun owners and union members. He only saw slight declines among gays, the young and Protestants.
Bush 2000/Bush 2004
African-Americans: 8%/11%
Whites: 54%/58%
Hispanic: 41%/44%
Married: 53%/56%
Not Married: 38%/40%
Union Members: 37%/40%
Gays: 25%/23%
Gun Owners: 61%/67%
Protestants: 63%/59%
Jewish: 19%/25%
Catholics: 45%/52%
Republicans: 91%/93%
Democrats: 10%/11%
Men: 51%/55%
Women: 43%/48%
18-29 year olds: 46%/45%
30-44 year olds: 49%/53%
45-59 year olds: 49%/51%
60+: 47%/54%I did this in a nice chart but Greymatter seems to hate table code. Bah. At any rate, it proves again the contention that the same people voted for Bush as did in 2000, except that slight gains in groups and a larger turnout of conservatives and Christians on Tuesday gave him a big margin of victory.
Posted by steve @ 01:43 PM EST [Link]
~ NOT THAT MUCH CHANGED: If you look at two maps by USA Today, those areas that voted Democrat or Republican in 2000 pretty well voted the same in 2004.
Here's 2000:
And here's 2004:
Not all that different.
Posted by steve @ 02:42 AM EST [Link]
Wednesday, November 3, 2004 CANADA-US RELATIONS TO STAY THE SAME: Bleats a Canadian Press headline. Well, of course. Why would relations change? Canadian attitudes towards the United States haven't changed any. Despite the election of a new prime minister earlier this year, Canada hasn't changed any. When we were given the chance to reevaluate how we viewed the world, we chose to stick with our Trudeau-inspired anti-Americanism. We didn't want to send soldiers in response to 9/11, we wanted to send aid to Africa, to hopefully buy-off future threats. When given the opportunity to realize that the world isn't the simple little place where we're worshipped simply for being Canadian, we stuck to our fantasy that all we need to do is sew a Canadian flag on our backpacks and the world would remain safe to us. We are, as Mark Steyn would say, living in a September 10, 2001 world.
We, in short, voted to remain children this past June. Americans voted yesterday to remain adults.
Just look at some of the opinions voiced by our political leaders. People who in another age would have been disqualified by their own parties from running simply because they couldn't be taken seriously.
NDP Leader Jack Layton said Bush's re-election means Canada must come out against the U.S. missile defence program.
"One of the most important issues is to stop a new arms race from creating one of the most dangerous worlds that we could ever imagine," Layton said.
"This means that Canadians have to speak up against the missile defence system and say no to participation."
He said Canada must not let another country's values override its own.
"We use medicare, we use our role for peace in the world as touchstones of that value system. And what's going to be important is for Canada not to follow the value system of another country, but to build our policies based on our values."
Liberal MP Carolyn Parrish, infamous for her American "bastards" comment, said she was "dumbfounded" by Bush's re-election.
But she suggested there's a silver lining to the victory - it actually makes it easier for Canada to say no should the president ask for Canadian troops for Iraq.
"I heard this circulating in the halls here and believe that if Kerry had won, we might have been in a very difficult position if he had come to us and said 'Look, we need peacekeeping forces there to put this thing to bed,' how could we have said no?"
That's the big issues of the day on the Canadian left: opposing missile defense and ducking peacekeeping duty. Can you imagine at any point in the last three decades a Liberal MP announcing they were opposed to a peacekeeping mission? We can, because George W. Bush won last night. How can you take Canada seriously?
I'll make this prediction: Canada's role and prominence in the world will continue to decline in stature over the next four years. As we slip further along the path of being a third rate power with first rate income taxes our voice in the world will continue to diminish. The only time anyone will hear us is when we shrilly denounce the only ally that would shed its own blood to protect us. Already they pay us no heed.
Do you really think that Bush will ask Canada for soldiers? Do you really think that when an important decision that affects the world has to be made, that Bush will phone Paul Martin? You think our voice matters to Bush?
If the answer to those questions was "No", why do you think that is? If you answer, well, the United States has changed, you're right. We're still the same little country with delusions of grandeur. The North American version of France. Not quite able to comprehend that other people don't share our view that we're special and that our opinion matters, not because it's backed by the ability to make it heard, but simply because we're speaking.
Posted by steve @ 08:10 PM EST [Link]
~ THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME: Last year I blogged about a Roman temple that was being excavated in London, a dig where they discovered 2000 year old cosmetics.
Scientists have now reported that the cream they found isn't all that different from what you can buy today.
Chemist Richard Evershed of the University of Bristol and his colleagues determined the cream contained refined animal fat, starch and tin oxide.
Based on the analysis, the team then synthesized their own version of the white cream.
"This cream had a pleasant texture when rubbed into the skin," the researchers wrote in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.
"Although it felt greasy initially, owing to the fat melting as a result of body heat, this was quickly overtaken by the smooth powdery texture created by the starch; remarkably, starch is still used for this purpose in modern cosmetics."
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 07:49 PM EST [Link]
~ IT'S OVER: Michelle at A Small Victory has a message to both the right and left now that Election 2004 is history.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 07:42 PM EST [Link]
~ "LAURA IS THE LOVE OF MY LIFE"
Of all the things President Bush said in his victory speech, that line was the best. I think Laura Bush is the President's greatest asset. She is always gracious, always supportive, always beside W without overshadowing him. I believe that underneath that librarian exterior is a woman of great strength and exceptional intelligence. Laura Bush provides W with direction and guidance -- not necessarily in politics but, more importantly, in his life, keeping him focused on character, virtue, and morality.
In addition, she has become an American Sweetheart. Other than Teresa Heinz's mistake, I have never heard anyone say anything negative about Laura Bush. There are people who voted for W that were really voting for Laura.
Laura Bush is not only an asset for W, but an asset for America.
cb
Posted by clbloomer @ 03:34 PM EST [Link]
~ KERRY'S SPEECH: Am I the only one who noticed that John Kerry didn't actually congratulate George W. Bush during his concession speech? For someone who talked about the dangers of division, not actually congratulating your opponent sends a message.
Memo to John Edwards: You made a speech today that practically announced a presidential run in 2008. You forgot to ask Sen. Hillary Clinton for permission.
Posted by steve @ 02:42 PM EST [Link]
~ THE HOUSE: Steve Sailor reports on the vote total in the House races.
Posted by steve @ 02:35 PM EST [Link]
~ BUSH TO SPEAK: At 3:00pm.
Posted by steve @ 02:31 PM EST [Link]
~ VANISHING ACT
Amazing how quickly Kerry - Edwards bumper stickers can disappear. Over the past 3 weeks or so, on my commute to work each day, I have seen 30 or 40 Kerry stickers on cars on the I-95/395 corridor. This morning I saw 2.
Were these bumper stickers designed to self-destruct? Were the Kerry supporters out at the crack of dawn this morning scraping? Or all the Kerry supporters too depressed to work today? We knew last evening that Bush carried Virginia, despite the 2 ultra-liberal counties bordering of DC. The Democrats here must be heartbroken.
cb
Posted by clbloomer @ 12:16 PM EST [Link]
~ KERRY CONCEDES
Fox News is reporting that Kerry has called the President and conceded. Kerry will announce publicly at 1pm est, followed shortly after by President Bush.
cb
Posted by clbloomer @ 11:51 AM EST [Link]
~ BUSH WINS: To hell with this. I'm going to sleep and I am hereby declaring George W. Bush the winner. His lead in Ohio is big and as another blogger pointed out not long ago, the media seems to be playing games with declaring Ohio. John Kerry's lead in Michigan with fewer precents reporting (83 per cent I think it was) earlier this evening was the same as Bush's lead in Ohio (with 98 per cent reporting) -- 51 to 49 -- yet they declared Michigan and refuse to declare Ohio.
If Kerry had an ounce of class he'd remember how divided the nation was after 2000 and concede to avoid a repeat of that fiasco. Of course, the Democrats will "fight for every vote" as John Edwards petulantly stated earlier tonight.
Posted by steve @ 05:34 AM EST [Link]
~ A NEW RECORD: Matt Drudge is reporting that George W. Bush has broken the record set by Ronald Reagan for winning vote total. He's also the first president -- if memory serves -- since George H.W. Bush to score over 50 per cent of the vote.
Posted by steve @ 05:23 AM EST [Link]
~ THE OTHER PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: Hamid Karzai will be formally announced the winner of the recent Afghan election later today. Let's hope the American election is resolved quicker.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 04:48 AM EST [Link]
~ NO MARGIN: Fox is reporting that Bush remains stalled at 269 while Kerry is up to 242. That totals 511 with just 17 electoral votes remaining.
I'd be surprised if there wasn't a legal challenge or two so I was hoping that Bush would get up to 290 to avoid any problems. Looks like that won't happen.
Posted by steve @ 03:47 AM EST [Link]
~ $25 MILLION BUYS YOU A SENATE SEAT FROM SOUTH DAKOTA: That's reportedly how much was spent in the battle between Tom Daschle and John Thune. Looks like Mr. Daschle will have to find out what he can do in life with a political science degree.
Follow it in detail here.
Posted by steve @ 03:32 AM EST [Link]
~ BUSH SUPPORTERS: Aren't you glad you didn't pay attention to the exit polls leaked earlier today?
Posted by antle @ 02:16 AM EST [Link]
~ ONE POINT: Fox News says that George W. Bush has 269 electoral votes. He has won Florida and Ohio.
CNN says Bush 249/Kerry 196.
Posted by steve @ 01:09 AM EST [Link]
~ DADDY, WHERE WERE YOU THE NIGHT AMERICA VOTED ON ITS FUTURE?: I was reading an article about ordering bespoke suits from Saville Row tailors. Seriously.
Look, it's 12:35am and we still don't know who won. Don't blame me because you spent all night watching TV and not learning much more than when you started.
That said, Dubya has 246 electoral votes, Kerry 206 and it could still go either way.
Posted by steve @ 12:36 AM EST [Link]
Tuesday, November 2, 2004 EXIT POLL MANIA: I'm seeing a lot of cheers and jeers throughout the blogosphere about the early exit poll numbers. My recommendation, for those of you inclined to listen to such things, is to show up at the polls, vote and relax for a while. We are still a bit away from seeing reliable numbers and the swing states look like they are shaping up to be really close.
It may be a long night, no matter who you are voting for. Stay tuned.
Posted by antle @ 05:35 PM EST [Link]
~ SELF-PROMO ALERT II: I have a piece running today in National Review Online on a socially conservative Republican's prospects in my congressional district in Massachusetts.
UPDATE: Well, it's safe to say that Ron Crews did not run unexpectedly well on same-sex marriage or any other issue, since he was trounced 71 percent to 29 percent. Some Republican candidates who were considered token opposition actually ran better than he did. I think it will hurt marital traditionalists' efforts in the state, but overall it seems likely to be more of a reflection of a candidate with little money who was easily portrayed as out-of-step with the district.
Posted by antle @ 04:59 PM EST [Link]
~ GOSH, I WONDER WHO KILLED HIM: A filmmaker who made a movie criticizing the treatment of women under Islam was killed today.
A witness who lives in the neighbourhood heard six shots and saw the man concealing a gun. She said he walked away slowly, spoke with someone at the edge of the park and then ran.
"He was walking slowly, like he was trying to be cool," she said, describing him as wearing a long beard and Islamic garb.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 02:29 PM EST [Link]
~ WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD: I guess I'd be remiss if I didn't announce my prediction of who will win tomorrow: George W. Bush will win a narrow but clear victory. How about that for economy of words?
If you're an American: vote. If you're a Republican: You damned well better get out and vote. Every vote will count this year.
Posted by steve @ 12:29 AM EST [Link]
~ MONDAY NIGHT QUARTERBACK: Well, the Pittsburgh Steelers learned the secret to beating the New England Patriots: score more points then them. I knew something was up the instant that Plaxico Burress scored his first touchdown in the first quarter. The Steelers (pronounced "Stillers" if you live in eastern Pennsylvania) just looked like they were going to win from the beginning. Blitzburgh pretty well beat New England in almost every single category and looked good doing it. Okay, a few weeks ago I announced that Bill Purcells was wrong when he declared Ben Roethlisberger the real deal. I humbly admit my error. Roethlisberger looks good. Real good.
Speaking of Roethlisberger, it's been reported that his name has naturally been attached to several sandwiches in Pittsburgh. One of them features steak, sausage and scrambled eggs shoehorned into a submarine style bun for $7 (natch). A combo like that will kill you but it's healthier than what the average Bears fan living in the South Side of Chicago (a la Da Bears sketches from the 1980s) is probably eating.
I picked the Minnesota Vikings but my heart is always with Kurt Warner so I was only slightly disappointed that the New York Giants absolutely whipped the Vikings. It didn't hurt that Randy Moss' injury made him ineffective until he was pulled from the game at half-time or the other injuries that the Vikings are suffering with. Although it was a largely lopsided game, I rather enjoyed watching it.
What a great weekend for those who decide to pick against the grain. What a horrible weekend for people like me who try and pick games with solid research and analysis. Morning games killed me and the afternoon set sealed the coffin. I went 8 of 14 by being wrong on Detroit, Jacksonville, Indianapolis, Minnesota, Denver and New England. Better than last week but not terribly impressive. I had the Jets winning by 10 points over the Dolphins which in retrospect was pretty conservative. Given how awful Miami has been playing and how well New York has been doing I should have went for 20 points. Final spread? 34 points. You couldn't expect less when two Jets run for over 100 yards.
Week 1 - 8 out of 15
Week 2 - 11 out of 16
Week 3 - 9 of 15
Week 4 - 7 of 14
Week 5 - 7 of 14
Week 6 - 9 of 14
Week 7 - 6 of 14
Week 8 - 8 of 14%: 56 (+0.2 per cent)
Don't worry about the fact that Washington losing being a predictor of George W. Bush losing on Tuesday. As others before me have stated, Washington scored a touchdown that was called back on what was a disputed call. Had the score stood, Green Bay would have lost and the Redskins would have predicted a Bush victory at the polls. I heard a rumour the referee was from Massachusetts.
Three things I hate about football
1. Sideline reporters
I don't want to get all Andy Rooney here but I completely buy his theory that sideline reporters were introduced by the networks to give female sports journalists screen time. Lately we're seeing more guys doing sideline reporting but it's still female dominated. Frankly, I don't care who is doing the sideline reporting, male or female, all I know is that it's the most useless aspect of football coverage. All the information reported could just as easily be communicated by the main crew and I don't need any hurried half-time interviews with a coach explaining about how the team is going to have to come out and give 110 per cent in order to get back into the game.
2. Paul Maguire and Dan Dierdorf
Paul Maguire, who does ESPN Sunday Night Football, and Dan Dierdorf, part of CBS' The NFL on CBS crew, are two of the most insufferable asses working in sports today. You can see it in the way they work. Maguire seems to treat Joe Theismann with little more than contempt while Dierdorf has been accused of undermining his co-workers (notably Boomer Esiason while Dierdorf was at ABC's Monday Night Football) for fear that they might actually appear more knowledgeable than he. Both guys are bright but I would hate working with either of them.
3. Teams without cheerleaders
Green Bay, Pittsburgh, et. al., I'm looking at you.
Bonus pet peeve: Lack of airtime for cheerleaders. These are professional women working hard to entertain fans and cheer on their teams. They deserve the recognition that has been denied to them for decades.
Speaking of cheerleaders, it's time for ESR's Cheerleader of the Week. If you know the way my mind works you know I'd love to honour the Steelers for their victory but unforunately the last time a pom-pom was shaken in the Steel City was 1970. Instead, it goes to a representative from the Philadelphia Eagles, the last team with a perfect record. Rookie cheerleader Shawnta gets the nod this week. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Media Arts and Masters in Public Administration, making her one of the brainiest CotW's we've ever had. She also likes writing and sports though I have to confess I don't know what "turtle pie" is. Either way, Shawnta represents the best in cheerleading and we're proud to have her our CotW.
Posted by steve @ 12:22 AM EST [Link]
~ SELF-PROMO ALERT: Yesterday I had the cover story on the American Spectator website discussing the pros and cons of divided government and why it may not be a nirvana for libertarians and small-government conservatives.
Posted by antle @ 12:12 AM EST [Link]
Monday, November 1, 2004 WHOEVER WINS, AMERICA LOSES: So believes Brian Tiemann. Whoever wins is likely to do so by a narrow margin, meaning that he can't claim a consensus on the issues.
The reality will be that we're now a nation perpetually undecided. We can't make a decision anymore, even with the clearest of threats before us and the most well-defined courses of action demanding only our signature. Once upon a time the numerical difference between the people on one side of an argument and the people on the other other would direct our policy with a voice as strong as every head counted above parity; but now, half of us cancel out the other half, leaving only whispers of decisiveness one way or the other.
I'm disappointed by this... dreadfully disappointed. Whether Bush wins or loses tomorrow, the outcome as far as the people are concerned is meaningless— the very fact that after all we've been through we're still divided down the middle means we've resigned ourselves to making politics itself our primary battlefield, rather than a tool through which we choose how to fight the real war.
I hope he's wrong.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 06:27 PM EST [Link]
~ NEXT THEY'LL TELL US THAT ENVIRONMENTALISTS DON'T LIKE BUSH: The Center for Media and Public Affairs conducted a study and found that the media is biased in favor of John Kerry. Say it ain't so!
In October alone, Mr. Kerry had a "record-breaking 77 percent positive press evaluations," compared with 34 percent positive for Mr. Bush, the study states.
Unprecedented, untrammeled accolades for Mr. Kerry were more than debate-related bounce, however. Since Labor Day, he also had a total of 58 percent positive stories, with just 36 percent for Mr. Bush.
I'm still waiting for the study that proves cats and dogs don't like each other.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 03:55 PM EST [Link]
~ OKAY, I'M WARMING UP TO THE BOSOX: Last week I announced that as a New York Mets fan I hated the Boston Red Sox on principle but I may have to re-think that. Curt Schilling, who've I've always liked because he's a bit of a geek with his wargaming, today came out and stumped for George W. Bush.
The ace pitcher said Bush was a commander in chief who will ensure troops "have everything they need to get the job done, a leader who believes in their mission and honors their service, a leader who has the courage and the character to stay on the offense against terrorism until the war is won."
I think Schilling is now my favourite pitcher.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 03:47 PM EST [Link]
~ A LIBERTARIAN FOR BUSH: Well that bumps up the total of prominent libertarians for Bush to two. Virginia Postrel has come out for Dubya. She describes it as a "cold calculation" which is the only way to vote for politicians.
Posted by steve @ 02:38 PM EST [Link]
~ A GREAT CONSPIRACY THEORY!
Walter Cronkite is either senile or he needs a new tin-foil hat. He used to be called the "most trusted man in America" because he could read well. But now he has sunk to a ridiculus low expounding on the theory that the Bush campaign is conspiring with Osama bin Laden. Get a load of this --
"So now the question is basically right now, how will this affect the election? And I have a feeling that it could tilt the election a bit. In fact, I'm a little inclined to think that Karl Rove, the political manager at the White House, who is a very clever man, he probably set up bin Laden to this thing. The advantage to the Republican side is to get rid of, as a principal subject of the campaigns right now, get rid of the whole problem of the al Qaqaa explosive dump. Right now, that, the last couple of days, has, I think, upset the Republican campaign."
Cronkite made that remark to Larry King. World Net Daily has a report here.
cb
Posted by clbloomer @ 12:56 PM EST [Link]
~ 50 REASONS TO VOTE BUSH: Vanderleun offers a pictorial essay why someone should vote for George W. Bush.
Posted by steve @ 02:03 AM EST [Link]
~ ONE MORE COMMENT ON THE ELECTION: Mark Steyn offers his last thoughts on the U.S. presidential election in The Spectator.
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