Sharp Knife

See No Evil

is 21-yr. CIA agent Robert Baer's book about his adventures and the demise of that agency due to political correctness, careerism & power politics.

Just when we needed it the most, it was least able to perform it's job.

"I repeatedly asked for a speaker of Dari or Pashtun...to debrief the flood of refugees...They were a goldmine of information. We could have recruited some and sent them back across the border to report on Afghanistan. I was told there were no Dari or Pashtun speakers anywhere. I was told the CIA no longer collected on Afghanistan, so those languages weren't needed. Headquarters instead offered to send out a four-person sexual-harrasment briefing team."

I hope 9-11 changed this. I hope we got the wake-up call. We need an intell capacity like never before. And not just those damned satellite photos.

I hope the CIA is back.

We need you guys.

Mona Charen

writes of her 9 year-old son's struggle with diabetes in "Gratitude"...

"When he was first diagnosed, the doctor told him that there were only two things he could not do because of this disease: become a pilot and serve in the U.S. military. Regarding the latter, she gestured toward me and said, "Your mother might not mind that."

I said nothing, but was hugely gratified when David replied, and with straightforward sincerity, "I will find other ways to serve my country."

I bet he will, too.

Did I mention I love this country?

Who are the REAL Museum Pieces?

One of the most valuable artifacts stolen from the Iraqi Museum was the Bushetta Stone, which tells the little-known story of how the Tigris-Euphratean culture was invaded by a technologically-advanced and humane country from across the sea many centuries ago.

The invaders strove mightily to minimize casualties while deposing a barbarous king, and upon victory, immediately set about feeding the local inhabitants and helping them acheive a peaceful and decent government.

Very little is known of this ancient epic struggle, because the stone-chiseling keepers-of-knowledge of that era were strangely ambivalent if not hostile to the victorious country from across the sea.

Perhaps we will be able to shed more light on this ancient narrative when the missing antiquities resurface.

For sale in France.

Lots of excellent combat reportage

by Karl Zinsmeister with the 82nd Airborne in this month's American Enterprise:

"When Colin Powell announced "the time for diplomacy has come to an end," the mess hall rippled with riotous cheers."

"Charlie Company is ordered to fall in. Painted red by firelight and ferocity, 120 men form in neat ranks. "At ease men. Gather around me," barks Captain Adam Carson. Carson has been company commander for one year and three months. He saw his first combat three days earlier. But he is prepared.

"You," he pauses for emphasis, "are all part of history. After that nasty firefight at the bridges two days ago, you have already seen more combat than any unit of the 82nd Airborne since the 1960s. Now we're going to finish that job.

"I need guys who can hit targets. I need guys who will do anything to protect their buddies. I need guys who are ready to kill.

"Unlike last time, we're going in tonight with some armor. And Apaches. And with Delta Company. I'm gonna be damn glad to have the Delta boys with us. We're gonna need them. But gun trucks stand out. They can get cornered on tight city streets. They're a juicy target for an RPG.

"If one of those trucks get hit, I want you to treat it like a damn downed helicopter. I want you to run to that vehicle and get everybody out. We're not leaving anybody behind, understand?

"And I want you to remember something. You are Americans. Americans don't shoot women and children. They don't kill soldiers who have surrendered. That what the assholes we're up against do. That's what we're fighting. We're gonna do things differently.

"But if your life is in danger, you shoot. And you shoot to kill."

A quiet burst of "hoo-ah"--the airborne cry of enthusiasm and seriousness--rises from the circle of men.

The commander ends by reading Psalm 144, with its tribute to those who battle against unrighteousness. "How's everyone feeling?"

Instantly, a roaring "HOO-AH" surges from 120 throats."

Also an interview with Miss Manners (way too much of that goin' on!), and (in Hot Flashes), the true outrage of the Age: the war has inconvenienced Tina Brown! Lots of good stuff here.

Mark Steyn

takes on his editors at the Spectator over their call for the UN to run post-war Iraq.

On the Russians: "Last month, the Russians were opposed to war on the grounds that there was no proof Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. This month, the Russians are opposed to lifting sanctions on the grounds that there’s no proof Iraq doesn’t have weapons of mass destruction."

On the State Dept. & zee French: "There are a few striped-pants masochists in the State Department who enjoy this sort of thing and have spent the last four weeks pining for M. Chirac to walk all over them in steel-tipped stilettos one more time."

On inertia: "The wish not to have to update one’s Rolodex burns fiercely in the political breast." and "Clinging to the status quo even as it’s melting and dripping on to your shoes is one reason why the Middle East is now a problem."

On the obvious truth: "If the problem is America’s image in the Arab world, in what way does it help to confine the Stars and Stripes brand to unpleasant things like bombs, while insisting all the nice postwar reconstructive stuff be clearly labelled with the UN flag?"

And: "But if you want to turn a long shot into a surefire failure, there’s no better way than handing postwar Iraq from the Americans to the UN — the successors to the Belgian school of nation-building. At best, you’ll end up with Cambodia, where the UN has colluded in the nullification of democracy; at worst, you’ll wind up with the Balkans, where once functioning jurisdictions are reduced to the level of geopolitical tenements with the UN as slum landlord in perpetuity."

Read it alllllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sen. Santorum

believes, like millions of other Americans, including me, that homosexuality is wrong. He did not equate consenting adult homosexuality with incest ( which can also be consensual adult behavior). This is the usual hatchet job by the Left to bully and discredit Christians in public life. Sen. Santorum said he 'loved the sinner, but hated the sin'. For you liberals, think: 'I support the troops, but oppose the mission'.

I do not 'tolerate' violence or intimidation against gays. Nor should they be arrested. In fact, one really has to try to get arrested. And there are also laws (again, mostly unenforced), against unmarried heterosex. People should be treated decently. I tend to cut people a lot of slack, personally. Sexual temptation is something we all face. But if you tell me there is no such thing, well, I heroically dissent. And if you tell me you have the right to teach schoolkids about the joys of sodomy, we have a problem. I will never 'celebrate' homosexuality.

It's often said that "you have no right to force your views on me." But all laws force someone's view on someone else. Every law ever passed reflects someone's moral code. This applies to zoning laws, traffic laws, criminal law, The Law of the Seas, etc. If you doubt it, tell me the law and I will identify the moral principle, however misguided, behind it. Indeed, even if every law were repealed, the ensuing anarchy would force someone's values on many others.

The heart of the matter is this: These laws are Constitutional. I also believe they should be repealed by the few states that still have them. What Santorum fears is a Supreme Court "discovery" of an unlimited privacy right which could legalize all the things he mentioned. It could also legalize prostitution, suicide and narcotics, for example.

Take suicide; if you have an unlimited right to your 'privacy' and you 'own' your own body, why shouldn't suicide be legalized? There are many more people locked up for attempted suicide than for sodomy. And could insurance companies deny life-insurance payouts for a now-legal death-by-suicide? Is that what we want?

Every law we disagree with is not unconstitutional. The Courts have acted as a legislature for far too long. The social wreckage of the Sexual Revolution is plain, undeniable and ever-present. A Supreme Court ruling affirming a vast new privacy right would be fraught with both intended and unintended consequences...

few of them good.

Lileks celebrates Earth Day

and takes the Eco-Challenge Quiz written by the Green Weenies. Then the fangs come out:

"Planetary collapse is always right around the corner. Perhaps it is - but one of the reasons I'm innured to the nightmare scenarios is because I've heard them all my life. They're the boys who cried wolf every day, even as wolf skins were worn by the village elders, wolf-steaks served for supper, wolf-heads used to scare off other wolves, and wolf-blood used to make wonderful vaccines that prevented lycanthropy. Yes, we have made great progress. BUT A WOLF COULD KILL US ALL ANY DAY!"... Ouch!

He takes a shot at Santorum, from which I will dissent in a future post, but closes with this delight:

"That said: if anyone insists Santorum should suffer consequences for his speech, they are denying his First Amendment right to dissent! A chilling wind is blowing across America! If anyone disinvites him to an event, the black cloak of Ashcroftian Throat-Chokery has been draped across another dissenter! If you don’t buy his book, Joe McCarthy cackles from his personal pit in hell!

Don’t worry, Rick; Tim Robbins will be the first in line to support your right to speak your mind."

As always, Lileks says it betterer.

It rooks rike

the FBI Agent in charge of interrogating Johnny Chung was a Chinese agent.

Just like Bill.

Halliburton

The very name is supposed to connote evil, greed and eliminate the need for further discussion. Same with Bechtel.

Let me tell you a little story. Dick Cheney made 30 million dollars the year before becoming Vice-President. He paid half of it to the IRS. He gave another 10 or 12 million to charity. Compare that to Bill Clinton, who gave his used underwear to charity and wrote it off as a tax deduction. Or to the wealthy Al Gore, who gave 250 dollars to charity the year he ran for President. Or to the wealthy John Kerry, who just sent a Children's Home a few
8 x 10 glossies when asked for a contribution.
And Halliburton = greed?

Liberals oppose the profit motive, despite it's having provided us the highest standard of living in the history of the world; miracle drugs aren't miracles.

The bigger the profit, the more liberals dislike it. Something got done without Government. It's a threat to their most cherished dream.

Big business is not inherently evil, despite the liberal knee-jerk reaction. Big companies are like people; good, bad & indifferent, with strengths and flaws. The most egregious ones, to my way of thinking, are companies that compromise our national security, such as Loral. When Clinton was wedged between a willing seller (Loral) and a willing buyer (China), he took money from both. And China got ICBM/MIRV capability. I believe this is what Eisenhower meant when he warned about the military-industrial complex.

The usual suspects are complaining about political influence with Halliburton & Bechtel. Politics were involved, in this sense: out of concern for the bitching, Halliburton pulled out of consideration for the contract that Bechtel ultimately won. Career Federal employees considered a half-dozen companies and gave it to Bechtel, who has a proven track record. A good and reasonable choice.

A Halliburton subsidiary did get a contract to put out oil-well fires. Had bids gone through the usual process, the fires would still be burning. And libs would then complain about that.

The people who squawk the loudest about the lack of competitive bidding also bash the Administration for their slowness in rebuilding Iraq. Federal bidding is glacial at best. Because of it, not one new road has yet been built in Afghanistan, for example. We cannot allow this in Iraq. The same critics want the UN involved. In Kosovo, the power plants once exported power. Under years of UN control, they still operate only part of the day...and they were never bombed!

There is no pleasing these people so don't bother trying. If Bush started taking bids on Sept. 12th,'01, they would claim the war was about profits. If Bush was still taking bids, they would say he was unprepared and doesn't care about Iraqis suffering without utilities. Better to ignore them and just do the right thing.

When I was a kid (tm), Marvel Comics had a character called "The Watcher". He had a big head for his giant brain, dressed in robes and came from a distant galaxy. He would observe the human condition while never getting involved and make pronouncements. Much like the judges of the 9th Circuit. only smart.

That seems to be the model for libs & good government types.

You see it in many spheres:

Campaign Finance Reformers are shocked that businesses would actually want to have a say in massive regulatory shemes and tax policies. Why, even regular voters are trying to "unduly influence" elections!

They look at the UN and other International bodies as unbiased, impartial, disinterested & fair.

Reporters aren't even supposed to hope their own country wins a war, as if their own lives weren't ultimately at stake.

Just leave it to the experts, they say. That's why they love laws made by judges; no messy elections.

But this country was founded on balancing competing interests, not on quashing interested parties. And certainly not on rule-by-experts. Businesses need to be reined-in when they put greed above all else. But the flap over Halliburton & Bechtel is nothing more than political greed by lefties seeking to damage the national interest by selfish power-grubbing.

There's more than one way to be a greedy selfish bastard.

Little Timmy "Lassie Boy" Robbins

got permission from Susan Sarandon to appear at the National Press Club recently, where he spewed paranoia, posturing and political advice.

Timmy sounded like he had been rummaging through Hunter Thompson's medicine cabinet, claiming America was a Soviet police state, with children turning in their parents, neighbors turning in their neighbors.
His evidence...Helen Thomas had to sit in the second row! Good Morning Starshine, the Earth says Hello!

Listen, Lassie Boy: If Helen Thomas doesn't get a question at every press conference it's only because her "questions" are thinly-veiled insults. But if I were Ari Fleischer, Helen would get ALL the questions;

Ari: "Okay...Who has a question? Helen."
Helen: "Why does the President want to divide Americans?"
Ari: "8 out of 10 Americans support the President. If we keep dividing people, we think we can get those numbers up to 90 or 100%. Next question...Helen?"
Helen: "Why does the President eat Iraqi children?"
Ari: "Because they get tough and stringy by the time they become teen-agers. Next question. Helen."
Helen: "Why didn't we protect those 7000 year-old Middle-Eastern antiquities?"
Ari: "We ARE protecting you, you old museum peice. Next question. Helen..."

L'il Timmy thinks he's being censored because people are choosing not to provide him forums for his "Blame America"-fests; Why, there is even talk of people choosing not to go to his movies! O, the humanity!
Didn't you & Susan boycott Dr. Laura's TV show and get her tossed off the air? That's your right. But spare us the whining when the Birkenstock is on the other Left Foot.

(Arf!) What's that, Lassie Boy? (Arf! Arf!) You say Susan has fallen into the abandoned mineshaft of the Sixties and can't get out? Yes. We've noticed. Now go lie down.

Lemme give you a little more advice, Timmy. You're 44 years old. Your 'live-in "girl"-friend' is 56. That's a hundred years of living and learning. Okay, living. You're raising children. It's time, Timmy. Marry her. You two deserve each other. We don't, but you do. Think of it this way: "No Justice, No Peace, No Justice of the Peace".


That way, when your kids report you to the Ashcroft Thought Police, they'll be able to say proudly "Our parents are clueless Lefty ditzes....but at least they're married!" Marriage is more than a piece of paper, Tim.

Unlike a U.N. Resolution.

Franklin Foer of The New Republic

has more to say at WSJ's Opinion Journal:

"CNN's Access of Evil"

"There's another reason why Mr. Jordan doesn't deserve applause. He says nothing about the lessons of Baghdad. After all, the network still sends correspondents to such countries as Cuba, Burma and Syria, ruled by dictators who impose media "guidelines." Even if CNN ignores the moral costs of working with such regimes, it should at least pay attention to the practical costs. These governments only cooperate with CNN because it suits their short-term interests. They don't reward loyalty. It wasn't surprising, then, that the Information Ministry booted CNN from Baghdad in the war's first days. In a way CNN's absence at this pivotal moment provides a small measure of justice: The network couldn't use its own cameras to cover the fall of a regime that it had treated with such astonishing respect."

Or as Rush says: "Maybe they need to try some new slogans:

CNN, we bring you the truth later rather than sooner.
CNN, we fact check for 12 years before we report to you.
CNN, What We Report, Saddam Decides!"

They ought to rename their Havana Bureau "The Happy Island Tanning Salon".

That would be more honest.

For a change.

Stop the Brutal Occupation of Utopia!

Victor Davis Hanson swats the press with a rolled-up newspaper.

CNN especially comes in for a sound thrashing about the head and neck; the schizo-network that one day buries stories about the Ba'athists in order to maintain 'access', and the next day has it's bodyguards firing back at Ba'athists, also to maintain it's 'access'.

"There is also a final reason that explains our demand for instantaneous perfection. It is often a trademark of successful Western societies that create such freedom and affluence to fool themselves that they are a hair’s breadth away from utopia. Journalists who pad around with palm pilots, pounds of high-tech gear, dapper clothes, and expensive educations have convinced themselves that if lesser people were as caring or as sensitive as themselves then we could all live in bliss. The subtext of the daily Western media barrage has been that if we were just smarter, more moral, or better informed, then we could liberate a country the size of California in days, not weeks, lose zero soldiers, not 110, and be instantaneously greeted by happy Iraqis who would shake hands, return to work, and quietly forget thirty years of terror as they voted in a Gandhi."

"Anything less and Mssrs. Rumsfeld, Meyers, Franks, “the plan,” — somebody or something at least! — must be held accountable for the absence of utopia."

"But that is a word, they should remember, that means not a “good place” but “no place” at all."

A ticker-tape parade is in order

when our troops get home.

You are all doing a wonderful job, and we are proud and grateful.

We owe you one.

Tom Friedman

caught a lot of flak, deservedly, for his "America broke Iraq" line, in a column urging that America hurry up and restore civil society to Iraq. America failed to respond to Mr. Friedman, as she was a little busy restoring a civil society in Iraq.

But the line that was more telling was the close: "...and we'd better get all the help we can get."

Uh-oh.

That smells a lot like "UN". as in: France, Germany and Russia, etc.

Fortunately for us, Chirac, Schroeder and Putin are about to meet in St. Petersburg, and will be up all night just dreaming of ways to "help". Great.
I wonder what kind of plan the heirs of Socialists, National Socialists and International Socialists could possibly come up with.

The Times other genuis, Maureen Dowd, paints a picture of Cheney and Rumsfield with blood dripping from their fangs, like a Republican remake of "Wolfen". She quotes an "unforgettable" scene from "Lawrence of Arabia" in which Lawrence admits to having enjoyed killing an Arab.

Mo, you really should turn off the Turner Movie Classics, put the cats out and go out on a date. When I see Dick Cheney burst from his undisclosed location on a white steed, galloping down Pennsylvania Avenue in full Arab dress while shooting his rifle into the air, I'll share your concern, Mo. Or not.

Even Victor Davis Hanson makes an appearance; as a "noted historian"?; no; as Cheney's "war guru", caricaturing the thoughtful Hanson's position as "WAR GOOD!" No wonder the Times doesn't see the need to carry actual cartoons.

She ends with a soulful rendition of Patsy Cline's "I Was So Wrong, For So Long"...sorry, I was daydreaming. She ends with a warning against America turning into Sparta, waging Eternal War.

This is the elite's shot-across-the-bow. It means "We don't care if Assad hands out Hussein's bio-weapons to terrorists at high noon in Damascus Square live on CNN. We don't care if Kim Jong Il nukes Hawaii...No More War. You've filled your war quotient for the decade."

If only we could get the Mullahs of Iran to open an all-male golf club...

Watching the statue come down was great.

But what we really need is more of this.

or the fish win.

Say your prayers

Tomorrow is POW Day.

Never let them be forgotten.

Never.

For thee, not me

Via Little Green Footballs:

"There is an urgent need to end the bloodshed in Iraq. The cycle of violence must come to a stop. The international press is unanimous: the US cannot continue to use disproportionate force against the duly-elected regime of Saddam Hussein and deny the Iraqi people their legitimate rights. Occupation is intolerable. It is time for the international community to step in and dictate a road map for peace in Iraq. This is what I suggest:

* Set up a Septet to decree the contours of a solution, without substantially negotiating the matter with any of the involved parties. Announce that this "road map for peace in Iraq" is non-negotiable. Publish this grand map when the politics of the Septet most warrant it; or when Tony Blair most needs it; or when step two, below, occurs whichever comes first.

Members of the Septet might be the US, Britain, France, Russia, the UN and the Iroquoian Indians.

* Pressure Saddam to appoint a prime minister. When this prime minister is appointed from among the coterie of assistants and lackeys that always have been part of Saddam's inner group, declare victory, announce that revolutionary reform has taken place, and proclaim that the regime in Baghdad is now a responsible partner for peace.

* Urge America to show its good faith toward the new Iraqi regime by taking steps aimed at confidence-building. In particular, pressure the US to withdraw its troops from major Iraqi towns and ease up on roadblocks, work permits and visas to America for Iraqis, etc. Disregard the fact that Saddam still holds most reigns of power, holds the purse strings, and maintains direct authority over the 101 security services."

written by David M. Weinberg at the Jerusalem Post.

Enough French Bashing

Dennis Prager takes a big stick to the Germans:

"How could you have produced a Hitler and not recognize another one just one generation later? How could you know firsthand about torture chambers and children's screams and not ache to end them in another country? How could you side with amoral France against your friend America?

There is, it would seem, only one answer. Nazism taught you nothing. Instead of learning that evil must be fought, you learned that fighting is evil.

But thanks for Bach."

De Unmitigated Gaulle

French President Jacques Chirac said on Tuesday the United Nations alone should take charge of the economic and political reconstruction of Iraq after the U.S.-led war there.

"We are no longer in an era where one or two countries can control the fate of another country," Chirac told a news conference..."

Just so, Mr. President. The 'one or two countries' are France & Germany. The 'another' country is America.

Chirac spoke after a meeting with U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers.

The embezzlo-crat Chirac can't even run France's military cemetaries, and the only thing Joschka Fisher ever ran were safe-houses for the Red Brigade. And tell Luud Rubbers to shut down those two terrorist training facilities he lovingly calls "refugee camps".

Some of my ancestors were French & German.

But these lederhosened mimes can kiss my American ass.

Le' Joke.

Dept. of 'Most Muslims aren't terrorists, but most terrorists are Muslims'...

"A former state worker with Democratic ties at a Joliet treatment center for the state's most dangerous sex offenders registered more than 125 of them to vote last fall."

"Voting patterns show the child molesters, rapists and other sexual deviants overwhelmingly supported Democrats." Perhaps even exclusively.

" Al Gore also won the precinct over George W. Bush in the 2000 presidential race."

Alfred Kinsey tied Michael Jackson for second and third place, Roman Polanski in fourth, with Scott Ritter taking the fifth.

Watched Casablanca

again last night. It was sad to think that in today's world, Capitaine Louis Renault would have swallowed the Vichy Water and had Bogie arrested.

I thought I'd post a piece on the Resistance to shame our French 'friends' back into their manhood, so I googled 'French Resistance stories'. The first thing I found was a short story of a Frenchwoman resisting sexual advances; like I said, a short story. Most of the others were about French resistance...to the war in Iraq!

But I did find this NRO piece along the same lines. Kay Daly speaks of her father, then OSS agent Walter Ryon:

"Dad never told me how, but at some point, he met up with a woman from the French Resistance. Her name is buried in the pages and pages of notes I've taken over the years of Dad's OSS exploits. It was this Frenchwoman who got the fake paperwork and identification necessary and plotted the course of his escape from behind enemy lines.

My father said little about this woman except to tell us how much she'd risked to get him out. In fact, he never had much good to say about the French in any of our conversations — except for those, like this woman, who were in the Resistance.

The French Resistance spent most of World War II assisting downed Allied pilots, medically and otherwise. They cooperated with intelligence services from across the globe, usually at great personal risk. They were not always successful, but they were determined, and without them, many Allied personnel — like my father — might not have survived their ordeal. Thanks to the bravery and determination of a young Frenchwoman, my father passed away peacefully in his sleep at the ripe age of 81 last October, rather than at the hands of the Nazis in World War II.

One wonders what happened to those brave folks of the French Resistance, and to their descendants, particularly in light of France's cowardly and nonsensical behavior in facing down another ruthless dictator. It's almost as if the De Gaulle strain of the French gene pool had taken over the entire nation, as a state of almost hysterical appeasement has gripped France's government and citizenry alike.

In was De Gaulle, actually, who — quite late in the war — demanded that our president recognize all that the French Resistance had done during World War II. He dragged their feet getting in and then wanted all the credit when the shooting stopped. I expect we will see that dynamic at work again in the near future."

Mrs. Daly speaks disparigingly of De Gaulle, but at least he opposed the Nazis. As to what happened to the Resistance, many went on to work for De Gaulle, often deeply involved in far-right or far-left politics. One of them won the Lenin Prize, for instance.

Chuck Yeager has a fascinating account of being shot down over France, and the brave French citizens who helped him get in touch with Robert, a lawyer and Maquis leader from Eauze. He travels with them and then escapes to Portugal. Eisenhower himself has to clear him to fly over Europe again, given his knowledge of the Underground.

The real question is not 'What happened to the Resistance?' but what happened to their grand-children?

They used to be men and women with hearts.

Does Lafayette yet live...or only Laval?

I need some relief from the Humanitarians

I'm a little tired of people who keep squawking about a "humanitarian disaster" in Iraq after 2 weeks of fighting. I'm glad they want to help, but many of them don't support the war, barely conceal their contempt for the US and fail to acknowledge the massive relief effort underway by the military.

Iraq has been a 'humanitarian disaster' for 30 years. We're the ones doing something about it.

You're welcome.

Stephen Ambrose

speaks to our radicalized academics in his last book, "To America":

"I thank God that I was where I was. I was anti-war to such a degree that without the balance of Eisenhower and his associates (Gen. Goodpaster, Gen. Bradley, historian Alfred D. Chandler,etc.) I might well have slipped into the pit that many doves fell into - blaming the U.S. for everything that went wrong, here and abroad. But it was impossible to be with Eisenhower...without learning to respect & honor our country. These men & others made me aware of what great men America had, how much of themselves they gave to the nation, what they did to make their nation what it is."

"Without the(ir) calm steadying influence...I don't like to think what might have happened to me during the Vietnam War."

Creepy Gore Vibes

Gore calls on Pres. Bush to "take his time" in bringing home the troops.

"What's the big rush? I wouldn't have started this war, but now that we have, I think the troops should stay until...oh, mid-November of 2004. They can always vote absentee," said the fully animatronic Gore.

Hmmmmmmm.

The Nutty Professor

has scaled back his call for 18 million American deaths. Now he wants 'another Viet Nam'. That would be 58,000 American deaths. How very reasonable.

Like the New Mexican professor who said "Anyone who bombs the Pentagon has my vote.", knowing that terrorists don't allow voting, the incoherence of these allegedly educated people is staggering.

Professor De Genova made it a point that "Americans" means Central and South Americans (& Canadians), not just US citizens. Was he was wishing that some Argentinians, Guatemalens & Inuit share in the death toll?

He missed his Latino Studies Class (aka "Blame Gringo" 101) yesterday, citing death threats. I don't like death threats, but he has little moral claim to sympathy after issuing his own fatwah.

Why should we care about these clowns?

Because there is a war of ideas, as well as the battlefield in Iraq. That the professor hasn't been fired already is a testament to the degradation of the university in American life.

Stop the Tenure...Stop the Hate.

I wrote

Michael Kelly a letter last year. Just a fan letter, really, praising him for yet another brilliant column.

Someone called him a "caustic conservative" today, probably as a diss. But then, ""there is a certain meanness in the argument of conservatism, joined with a certain superiority of fact". I prefer to think of it as compassionate caustic conservatism.

from "Mike's First Annual 'Nice' Column":

"My fellow Americans, I have repeatedly suggested that when the poet said that nature pleased in all her prospects and only man was vile, he was talking about you. I have criticized your habits, appearances, manners and tastes. Let me recant. You are lovely in every way. You are paragons of style and grace. Your popular culture daily reaches new heights in refinement, and I don't just mean cable, but the networks too. And there is nothing more aesthetically gratifying than a 17-year-old skinny boy with multiple tattoos and piercings and no shirt and his pants around mid-bottom, except for a 50-year-old fat man with a three-day-beard and a ponytail and no shirt and his pants around mid-bottom.

John Walker Lindh, your father says that you are "a really good kid," who "loves America." Right-o, all is forgiven; sorry. John Henry Williams, don't listen to the critics. There is nothing shabby about freezing your dad and selling off his DNA.

Simple filial piety, in my opinion.

Mr. Disgraced and Impeached Former President -- there I go again; I mean, simply and respectfully, Mr. President -- I got a fundraising letter from you last week in which you said that you were proud of what you had done for the country. Let me second that. Proud is exactly the word that comes to mind when I think of you. Also, honest, sincere, selfless, modest, mature and classy. Especially classy.

Finally, Jack, you were quite right to dump the 10 gallons of bird seed on the driveway and to say, "That's okay, Daddy, you can clean it up." Tom, on reflection, I agree that you should stay up as late as you want every single night. Both of you are entirely correct in your theory that ice cream sandwiches are the ideal breakfast food, and so it shall be from now on.

By G-d, I feel good!"

I heard his political journey was similar to my own. A path I believe many more will follow, and soon.
And in no small measure, because of writing like this:

"At some point soon after Sept. 11, listening to Yale students and professors offer rationalizations for the mass murders (poverty in the Middle East, U.S. foreign policy, etc.) Hornstein had an epiphany. Some things were just wrong. "Just as we should pass absolute moral judgment in the case of rape, we should recognize that some actions are objectively bad, despite differences in cultural standards and values. To me, hijacking planes and killing thousands of civilians falls into this category."

Hurrah! A breakthrough! A moral judgment! Yes, Ms. Hornstein, murdering thousands of people in fact is bad. But wait. A lifetime of instruction is not sloughed off quite so easily as all that; Hornstein's bold moral judgment is not quite so bold as all that. Look at her conclusion again: "To me," it begins. To me. Hijacking planes and killing thousands is not objectively bad after all. It is objectively bad only in Hornstein's opinion. Indeed, she rushes to reassure on this point: "Others may disagree." Others may disagree. And she adds: "It is less important to me where people choose to draw the line than it is that they are willing to draw it at all." Oh, dear.

It is astonishing, really. Here you have an obviously smart, obviously moral person trying nobly and painfully to think her way out of the intellectual and moral cul-de-sac in which the addled miseducation of her life has placed her -- and she cannot, in the end, bear to do it. She cannot judge.

Ms. Hornstein, push on. Go the last mile. Go out on the limb of judgment. Mass murder is indeed objectively bad -- and not just in your opinion. Others may disagree -- but they are wrong. Indeed, they are (shut the door for this part, lest the hall monitors catch us) morally wrong. Ms. Hornstein, it is not less important where people choose to draw the line as long as they will draw it somewhere; that puts you right back with your silly professors.

Draw the line, Ms. Hornstein. Draw it where you know it belongs. Dare to judge."

I judge that to be superior writing. For a fact.

Michael Kelly; one of the good guys.

Several hi-jackings

have taken place in Cuba recently. The hi-jackers have been arrested.

But the murderer who hi-jacked the entire island of Cuba is still at-large.

His day will come.

Not like Viet Nam?

There has been a lot of talk how this war is nothing like Viet Nam.

That's because we have a President who is not "sending messages". The goal is clear: Victory.

I remember many who said " I've got nothing against the Vietnamese, but I would fight if this country were ever attacked." Many lied.

But in at least one sense, the two wars are identical:

There were thousands of brave Americans who answered their country's call. They fought bravely and some paid the ultimate price. They have a place of honor in our hearts and memories.

In that sense, this war is JUST LIKE Viet Nam.

Thanks, 'Nam vets.

"Garry Owen!"

We achieved tactical surprise

by sending in troops instead of bombing for days, as the Iraqis had expected. A brilliant plan...unless you read the Times.

One of the funniest things about this serious war is watching Ted Kennedy arguing for confronting North Korea, Charlie Rangel urging a reinstatement of the draft and Maureen Dowd proposing a really massive invasion force.

Modo knows combat. She once set a bowl of leftover pate de foie gras on the kitchen floor, and her 2 tabby cats, "Mr. Duranty" & "I. F. Stone", fought over it like they had just come from a non-existant Soviet famine.

At least Paul Krugman has apologized for defending Sami al Arayan, after painting the professor-who-bombs-students as the next Lincoln. Paul admits that he was stupid, malevolent and just plain wrong. Oh...wait; he's talking about Dick Cheney. nevermind.

That leaves the smartest man in the world, Ambassador at Large Tom Friedman. Amb. Friedman can write 9 brilliant things in a column, and finish in the tenth paragraph by calling for the Mossad & Hamas to join together to fight Global Warming.

He thinks this war illegitimate unilateralism because we couldn't convince the countries who profit off the dead bodies of Hussein's victims to support us. Unilateral? Tom, you're still the only one who has ever seen that Saudi Peace Plan. Including the Saudis.

The Times continues it's defeat-by-a-thousand-cuts coverage.

The Times..."Where the Time is always Sept. 10, 2001".

update: btw, speaking of judgement in military/geo-political affairs, the Times lobbied for the policy that has put North Korea on the brink of going nuclear and put female soldiers in harm's way. Strangely, they refuse to take "credit" for those policies. They recently published an editorial about women in the military and failed to mention their outspoken lobbying for the policy that made female POW's a reality. Cowards.