Sharp Knife

SOCIOPATHS CAN DO THAT, YA' KNOW

If George Bush, Sr. had been impeached and left office selling pardons, those two facts would have preceded his name in every news story written about him forevermore.

Alas, the prestitute corps can't bring themselves to muster such scrutiny for their beloved Peyroni President. Even the Feminiminists changed their standard, from the impossibly subjective 'anything that offends the "victim"', to 'the One-Grope Rule', all for benefit of the Arkansas Grifter. Luckily for you June brides, Bill was term-limited or NOW would have re-introduced le droit de seigneur by now.

In interviews, Bill blames Ken Starr for 'betraying' Monica; presumably, labeling her a 'stalker' was an act of loyalty.

Personally, I was not upset about the affair. Sure, the perjuries, witness-tamperings, obstruction of justice, misprison of felony, briberies and various & sundry conspiracies were somewhat troubling; but I found the wholesale transfer of all our nuclear secrets to China ever-so-slightly more bothersome. But that's just me.

Some bloggers--tho' almost no one in the media--have pointed out that he contradicts his "sworn" testimony in his autobiography, "My Life: More Oval Teens, Please!".
Monica testified their trysts began while she was an intern. Bill, in order to avoid the 'intern-abuse' charge, lied that it began some months later.

Catching Bill Clinton in a lie is like catching a fish in water. It's like hunting for germs on the bathroom floor of an inter-state gas-station. It's like, well, catching Bill Clinton in his own--or someone else's--skin. But in this instance, improbable, even ground-breaking, as it may be, Bill Clinton is telling the truth. (Note to Ed.; NOT a typo.)

His book was vetted by an army of lawyers. It was no accident that this admission of perjury was left in there. It's Bill's way of saying "Look at me...I'm above the law. I don't need that law license you took from me, Your Honor; I'm a millionaire now, bitch. And none of my little whores in the press will ever call me on it. Screw you. Screw you all."

True Scum.

And the most popular Democrat in the world.

The Wall Street Journal says the detainee cases are an overall victory for the administration, although:

"This pretty much guarantees that the 600 or so Guantanamo detainees will bring 600 or so habeas corpus cases--perhaps in 600 or so different courtrooms, with 600 or so different judges demanding 600 or so different standards of what evidence constitutes a threat to the United States."

The American Spectator says 'Some Victory!'; George Neumayr's "War by Judicial Review":

"Habeas corpus for traitors and terrorists in wartime did not spring from the minds of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln but from the radicals at the ACLU. "Enemy Combatants May Challenge Captivity" is a surreal headline only possible in a war influenced by liberals utterly unserious about winning it."

Now the administration is considering bringing the Gitmo detainees to military prisons in Kansas & South Carolina, lest the 9th Circuit order them to be freed, paid reparations and given jobs at the Pentagon.

This might make those communities targets, but that's not the Court's concern. It is the Executive's, however. Which points up why this power-hungry court should not be meddling in the first place.

Our Constitution may not be perfect...

but it's better than what we've got.

In which a skeptical Scalia scaldingly scolds a skulking, skanky SCOTUS

for its..."Mr. Fix-it Mentality. The plurality seems to view it as its mission to Make Everything Come Out Right, rather than merely to decree the consequences, as far as individual rights are concerned, of the other two branches' actions and omissions. Has the Legislature failed to suspend the writ in the current dire emergency? Well, we will remedy that failure by prescribing reasonable conditions that a suspension should have included. And has the Executive failed to live up to those reasonable conditions? Well, we will ourselves make that failure good, so that this dangerous fellow (if he is dangerous) need not be set free. The problem with this approach is not only that it steps out of the courts' modest and limited role in a democratic society; but that by repeatedly doing what it thinks the political branches ought to do it encourages their lassitude and saps the vitality of government by the people."

This Court believes it is First Among Equals, exactly the wrong posture for an unelected, derivative branch.

Now it has also given porn more protection than true political speech.

Every time this Court convenes, our Constitution is further eroded.

Hit it, Thom;

..." all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."

"Let freedom ring, let the white doves sing
Let the whole world know that today is a day of
reckoning.
Let the weak be strong, let the right be wrong
Roll the stone away, let the guilty pay--
It's Independence Day."

We did it for us. And we did it for you.
You counted on us. Now we're counting on you. Lead the way.

Make the most of it, Iraq.

"KEEPING THOSE HIGH-PAYING NEWS-MANUFACTURING JOBS RIGHT HERE IN AMERICA!"

In a surprise, middle-of-the-night move, Iraq was granted its sovereignty today. It came two days early, in order to pre-empt terrorist disruptions, reported Fox News. Other media outlets had a different take, however.

CNN complained that it wasn't given sufficient time to set up access payments with the new government. CBS, ABC and NBC all said that they would have to check with headquarters in Chappaqua before reporting the story. The Associated Press could not be reached due to a hangover. Reuters was upset, as all it's personnel were in the field, blocking camera angles for totally spontaneous terrorist attacks. The New York Times was livid, as it had not given its approval beforehand. Times spokeslove-child Howell Blair said that the Times would, however, grudgingly extend diplomatic recognition to the new government. "That way, we can play up the Bush secrecy angle," said Blair.

Sen. John Kerry appeared at The Transnational House of Waffles in Peoria this morning. When asked by reporters about the transition of power in Iraq, Kerry said "Yes, but." When asked by the waitress if he wanted scrambled eggs, Kerry answered "Yes; I voted for eggs before I voted for waffles." When asked if he would also like some waffles, he said "Yes. And no." And when asked if he wanted ketchup, he said "Yes, dear."

Andrew Sullivan announced today that he was so gay, he wanted to re-name the Straits of Hormuz.

Bill Clinton's autobiography, "My Bad", has pulled ahead of Hillary's book, "Licking History", in the all-important lies-per-page (L.P.P.) category, according to Bill, who was of course, lying.

"INVENTING NEWS FOR HALF THE PRICE OF THE MAJOR NAME-BRAND NETWORKS!"

Times publisher Arthur 'Pinch' Loafburger said today that there was no link between al Qaeda and the recent beheadings. "To say that terrorists were involved is plainly false and misleading; we've seen the films and it's clear to us that the knives did all the cutting. Pointing up the need for knife-control. And women in Augusta."

The Times also made it official today; no longer will there be a distinction between reporting and editorials. "For too long, we've let facts get in the way of the truth. From now on, we'll be calling them 'reportitorials' and 'ediporting'."

Madonna now wishes to be called "Esther", saying "I wanted to attach myself to the energy of a different name."

67% of music-buyers polled wished that she would attach herself to the energy of a car battery with a set of jumper cables to the cones.

The Democratic National Committee announced its name-change today. "Since we no longer believe in 'nations', and therefore in national defense, we've decided to call ourselves "The Internazionale Otherhood of Electoral Workers," said party spokesweasel, Terrence McMyLife. "Catchy, huh?"

Senator John Kerry could have been reached for comment, but no one wanted to subject themselves to it.

In news that has the publishing world abuzz, author Steve H. Graham's new book, "Eat What You Want and Die like a Man: The World's Unhealthiest Cookbook", has displaced Bill Clinton's autodeposition, "My Life", on the best-seller lists.

Satisfied customer Mazola V. Crisco said "Steve is much funnier than Bill Clinton...plus, he's not a sociopathic Commie pervert!"
And if you act now, you'll also receive a 55-gallon drum of used grease pilfered from behind the Kentucky Fried Chicken in Ft. Lauderdale last Saturday night, suitable for all your cooking & recreational needs.

And that's the way it is.

Depending on the meaning of 'is'.

"Would you mind telling me whose brain I did put in?"
"And you won't be angry?"
"I will NOT be angry."
"'Albert' someone."
"Albert someone. Albert who?"



"Former Vice President Al Gore accused the Bush administration Thursday of misleading the American people by claiming a strong connection between Saddam Hussein and the terror group al Qaeda."

""Beginning very soon after the attacks of 9/11, President Bush made a decision to start mentioning Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein in the same breath in a cynical mantra designed to fuse them together as one in the public's mind," Gore said."

Al likes his personalities separate.

..."This month, the independent commission investigating the September 11, 2001, attacks said it found "no credible evidence" of an Iraq-al Qaeda connection beyond preliminary meetings that led nowhere. But neither Bush nor Cheney have wavered from their earlier statements."

It looks like CNN is staying with it's discredited meme. After years of excusing Clinton/Gore for what they did say, the network has metastisized into holding Bush & Cheney responsible for what they never said.

"They dare not admit the truth lest they look like complete fools for launching our country into a reckless, discretionary war against a nation that posed no immediate threat to us whatsoever," Gore charged."

Is that treason? Or sedition? Or just the classic, predictable symptoms associated with chronic abuse of the mildly psychotropic aphrodisiac, yohimbe bark ? Too close to call...you decide.

""The administration works closely with a network of rapid-response digital Brown Shirts who work to pressure reporters and their editors for undermining support for our troops," Gore said. The term "Brown Shirts" refers to Nazi supporters in the 1930s and '40s."

It should be noted that Al delivered this speech in his usual must-relate-to-the-humans mode, i.e.; as one would lecture reprobate children. But his last speech featured him screaming denunciations at Wolfowitz and others, sounding for all the world like, well, a fully-digitized Brown Shirt.

Personally, I'm offended; I have not yet received my rapid-response talking points from the Administration (note to self: must try harder). The good news: in addition to the admission that reporters and editors are trying to undermine support for the troops, Al admits that we are getting to them. Smell the Desperation! Advantage: bloggers!

""The Bush administration's objective of establishing U.S. domination over any potential adversary led to the hubristic, tragic miscalculation of the Iraq war, a painful adventure marked by one disaster after another based on one mistaken assumption after another.""

Translation: We. Are. Winning.

""But the people who paid the price have been the U.S. soldiers trapped over there and the Iraqis in prison," Gore said, referring to the prisoner-abuse scandal."

When Al was in the White House, he treated the military officers like human excrement. He was content to have Saddam take pot-shots at our pilots for 8 years. His team sent our troops to get Aidid, denying them armor; and then forced them to escort the warlord before cutting & running. The USS Cole was forced to dock in Yemen for reasons of political correctness. After it was attacked, what was the Clinton/Gore response? Nothing. Nothing...besides trying to have military ballots thrown out, I mean. Spare us your concern for the troops, Al.

"And Gore said administration lawyers have provided a legal rationale for what he called "sadistic activities" at the prisons -- even though the administration has said it is committed to the humane treatment of all prisoners."

People stacked on top of one another, wallowing in their own waste, denial of basic needs like water, toxic chemicals...sounds a lot like a certain trailer-park tenement in Tennessee. Except Al charges rent.

"In essence, Gore charged, the lawyers found that the president -- whenever he is acting as commander-in-chief -- is above the "rule of law.""

Is that like "no controlling legal authority"? Yeah...thought so.

Poor Al; he still thinks that he and Saddam wuz robbed of their presidencies. The interface circuitry stills scans in vain to process the unpleasant data, trying to make sense of it all. Here's a hint, Al: "I think President Clinton has been an outstanding Commander-in-Chief."

One thing is for sure; if Al were president today, Saddam would be, too.

Go home, loser. And take your multiple personalities with you.

We've got a civilization, a nation, families & neighbors to defend.

And you, sirs, are worse than useless.

HOPE FOR THE FUTURE

"It all started on Friday, May 14th with a small act of conservative pride. My socialist history teacher was on another kick about how articulate Noam Chomsky was, when I finally reached my limit."

(Via mASSBACKWARDS)

WE JUST LIVE FREELY IN IT.

The Claremont Institute has several good peices by John Meroney on Reagan in Hollywood (click on the headlines). It was his battles with Hollywood Communists that ultimately transformed Reagan from a New-Dealer to an anti-Communist conservative.

And Howard Veit was there.

I see that Hitchens has eviscerated Moore. Well, Hitch, that's what Reagan did to Marx.

Advantage Ronnie, lizard boy.

Clinton now:

"There was a story, which is factually inaccurate, that the Sudanese offered bin Laden to us. As far as I know, there is not a shred of evidence of that."

Clinton then:

"At the time, 1996, he had committed no crime against America so I did not bring him here because we had no basis on which to hold him, though we knew he wanted to commit crimes against America."

Always the Big Lie. Always.

CHAPLAIN UNGER WRITES HOME

"Dear Friends,

...First off, the investigation into the abuses at Abu Ghraib began back in January. That is why the first court martial was ready for trial in May. The senior people here knew about the investigation; the rest of us didn't. By the time the media "broke" the story, the investigation was almost done and the soldiers who had committed the abuses had already been rotated home.

Second, I (we) don't see all the news coverage that you in the states see. I do see some Fox News and CNN. Fox editorializes toward the right wing; CNN is the voice of the anti-war movement. I wonder that if CNN had been around in 1942 we might all be speaking German and Japanese. I can tell you this, everything I have heard on CNN is so biased, negative, and out-of-touch that I will never watch CNN for the rest of my life. That being said, when the rest of us found out about the abuses we were shocked and sickened. I think maybe more so than people back home because we are here; these are the people I see every day.

The people I see every day who are going out to fix: schools, hospitals, reservoirs, power plants, and sewer systems. They do these things risking sniper fire and hidden explosives. These soldiers are not a handful of bad apples like those at Abu Ghraib, these soldiers number into the thousands. Now think for a second, how much have you seen about that on the news? I believe Abu Ghraib should have been reported, but when I see the fixation of the media on the actions of a few, when the courage shown in reconstruction and the restraint shown in combat by thousands of our people is never shown, I believe this is inexcusable. For the real story of what our people are doing here, go to w.cjtf7.com/index.htm. Click on Coalition News and then Humanitarian Efforts.

...I didn't know any of them, but I wanted to see my home-state Guard here in Iraq. So I badgered my way into flying up there for two days. They are stationed in the old Iraqi army air defense school. Unlike downtowhdan Bagd, the old air defense school was turned into rubble. It is getting better, but it was like living in a junkyard. Their first month in Iraq was tough. These soldiers patrol the roughest part of Baghdad. While I was there, the Chaplain of the 39th told me this story: One of the old troopers who came was a 52 year-old Sgt. who had already done his 20+ years and had retired. But his son was in the 39th, and when the father found out they were coming over here, he re-enlisted. On their first week in country, Camp Cooke was attacked by rockets and the first rocket that landed killed the father. I was born in 1958 and came of age when the Vietnam War and the anti-war movement were both in full swing. It has taken me years to put this into words, but I believe that as bad as that war was, the legacy of the anti-war movement was worse. The anti-war movement gave rise to the moral superiority of non-involvement and non-commitment.

While that may have worked to help draft-dodgers sleep at night, it's not much of a strategy of how to go through life. Taken to its logical conclusion the message is: don't commit to your county, don't commit to your spouse, and don't commit to your kids, church, or community. Don't commit to cleaning up your own mess or any cause that demands any more from you than rhetoric. This was the mindset in which our country was firmly stuck. Until 9/11, some woke up. Kids came down and joined the service. To the dismay of some of their teachers, parents, and the media elites, they came down here and raised their hand in front of the flag. And they are still coming to the shock of the non-committers. The Marines have more enlisting than their two boot camps can handle. And we are all here together for Memorial Day 2004. Old National Guardsmen, grandfathers, and single moms, Texans and Mexicans, Surfers and Rednecks. A few weeks ago an Illinois National Guardsman, mother of three, was hit six times, saved by her body armor, but lost part of her nose. She stayed on her 50 caliber, firing on the bad guys, protecting the convoy. She said she was thinking of her kids and the guys she was with. Commitment is love acted out. It is sad that the non-committers missed that. They and their moral high-ground haven't been near a mass grave. The kids I see and eat with every day still want to help this country, in spite of getting shot at while doing it That is love acted out. You either get it, or you don't."...

Get it.

(Read it all at Curmudgeonly & Skeptical.)

Mark Steyn's tour de force; "We need you now, Ronnie".

A wide-ranging essay, featuring appearances by:

Ronald Reagan, the G8 and the UN, Mrs. Thatcher, Brian Mulroney, Reagan's mom, dragons, Britain, George Bush, Sr., the Republican party, the Canadian Conservative party, God and his critics Max Hastings and Harold Pinter, America and Europe, radical secularists, a self-worshipping pastor/impressionist, Mrs. Reagan, Al Gore, John Winthrop, Massachusetts Bay, Matthew and Isaiah, David Gelernter, speechwriters, Kate O’Beirne, the Founding Fathers, settlers, the Left, Sweden, Joan Crawford and Burgess Meredith, the Media, the Soviet Union, Maurice Bishop, Grenada, Sir Eric Gairy, flying saucers, ‘mongoose’ gangs, the British West Indies, Castro, Sir Paul Scoon, Her Majesty the Queen, Anthony Lewis the Queen, Correlli Barnett, the Royal Navy, Colombia and Sri Lanka, the Taleban, Colin Powell, ‘evildoers’ & 'moderate evildoers', Iraq, FDR, Wall Street, the Middle East, Chirac, conservatives and Dubya.

I said it was wide-ranging.

And every word rings true.

James Taranto:

""In a direct challenge to federal limits on political advocacy, the National Rifle Association plans to begin broadcasting a daily radio program on Thursday to provide news and pro-gun commentary to 400,000 listeners," the New York Times reports.

[Mr. Taranto replies:] In a direct challenge to federal limits on political advocacy, the New York Times Co. plans to continue publishing a daily newspaper to provide news and antigun commentary to 1.1 million readers."

...'federal limits on political advocacy'. Think about that. Ugh.

Here's more from Times Watch.

And from the Consent of the Governed archives:

CFR...
IT'S NOT JUST FOR ELECTIONS ANYMORE!

Sen. John McCain announced a new round of Reform proposals today.

"Christmas has become institutionally corrupt," said the Senator. "I woke up the day after Christmas feeling like a 2-baht Saigon hooker on a Tet Love Holiday. And it's not just me; we just can't stop ourselves."

"That's why I'm proposing Christmas Finance Reform," he explained. "Families are too close to children, just like Parties are too close to candidates; and we don't want children to feel indebted to fat-cat donor-parents. So from now on, all private gift-giving will be a crime and we'll have public financing of all presents."

"Did you promise little Susie a new doll-house next year? Tough!" said McCain, his eye beginning to twitch. "The Federal Gift-Selection Commision has decided she's getting a toy dump-truck. The Government wants more female truck-drivers anyway. Sure; little Susie will cry, but just tell her we here in Washington know what's best."

Another provision of the Act would ban all Christmas caroling 60 days before the holiday. "That's my favorite part...I've always hated that "We Three Keatings" song! Nobody said Reform would be pretty...but I think she's pretty..." McCain shouted, and then whispered, in the now-familiar, unhinged sing-song voice long known to criminologists and FBI profilers.

While endorsed by many serial Congressmen, a majority of Congress recognize that this Act would violate their oaths to the Constitution.

Pres. Bush also said he was firmly against it, and it is widely expected that the Supreme Court would strike down such an outrageous assault on our liberties.

Therefore, it will be passed by Congress, signed by the President and approved by the Court in time for next Christmas.

Justice O'Conner could not be reached for comment, as she was busy researching Saudi court rulings regarding the celebration of Christmas in Mecca.

When asked what was next on the Reform agenda, Squinter McCain, now in full 'Bruce-Dern-on-a-meth-bender' mode, said: "Ya' know...the 4th of July has always kinda' bugged me."

WHATEVER HE'LL SAY, HE'LL SAY
IT MAKES NO SENSE ANYWAY,
KERRY SERA, SERA.

Bill Kristol:

"PERHAPS JOHN KERRY simply made the mistake of believing what he read in the New York Times. There it was, the lead headline on Thursday, June 17: "Panel Finds No Qaeda-Iraq Tie." Or perhaps he read the Los Angeles Times headline: "No Signs of Iraq-Al Qaeda Ties Found." Or the Washington Post: "Al Qaeda-Hussein Link Is Dismissed." Or maybe he was watching CBS News the night before, as John Roberts explained that "one of President Bush's last surviving justifications for war in Iraq" took "a devastating hit" as the 9/11 Commission "put the nail in that connection" between Saddam and al Qaeda."

"So Kerry pounced. No matter that this coverage ranged from tendentious to false. The Bush administration, he claimed, "misled America." "The administration took its eye off al Qaeda, took its eye off of the real war on terror in Afghanistan and northwest Pakistan and transferred it for reasons of its own to Iraq." And "the United States of America should never go to war because it wants to; we should only go to war because we have to.""

The Botox mask has slipped and now he's in full Howahd Dean-mode. Sounds like the French Woman's Lieutenant is trying to secure his bouilla-base.

And then there is this from the Washington Times:

"Just across the street, a couple of Republicans had wheeled massive stage speakers out into their tidy front lawn and blasted toward Mr. Kerry the theme song to the 1960s family TV show "Flipper," presumably a criticism of Mr. Kerry's taking more than one side of issues."

"They call him Flipper, Flipper, faster than lightning / No one, you see, is smarter than he," screamed the music set to its happy jingle."

All your guerilla street theater are belong to us!

"Talking about education yesterday, Mr. Kerry also told the largely black crowd at the day care center that there are more blacks in prison than in college."

Kerry's numbers are all wrong, but that never stopped him before.

""That's unacceptable," he said. "But it's not their fault.""

Pay attention, boys & girls; this is Liberal Paternalism 101. Let's see where it leads...

It implies that wealth = morality. Worse, it robs black people of their humanity; 'They're just helpless victims, not independent moral actors like you and me'. The crowd should have started throwing things; they were just told that they don't know right from wrong--but another government program will fix them.

According to Kerry, if a dark-skinned criminal commits a car-jacking and kills 3 people, the fault lies not with the criminal, but with American society.

Begging the question: Whose fault is it, then, when a half-dozen dark-skinned criminals hijack an airplane and kill 3000?

Clayton Cramer has his 2nd Amendment work cited by the Rhode Island Supreme Court. Unfortunately, in a dissent. The majority cited the constitutions of other states, prefering them to Rhode Island's, which strikes me as similar to the Supremes' citing of Euro-law.

This is funny; The New Kerry Class Aircraft Carrier.

Leave Alex Alone: More on 'Reagan and Hamilton' by Matthew Continetti.

You can learn a lot from a mountain lion--if not from those who worship them.

Deb the Insomnomaniac examines Kerrynomics. Remember how we were told that when he was between heiresses, the poor guy was sleeping on couches, barely making it on his 6-figure, perk-laden Senate salary? Yet he would call anyone similarly situated 'greedy malefactors of wealth' who must, of course, be punished.

Much has been said about what Reagan would or would not do today. I don't think you can argue with this one, via DANEgerus.

Things I've heard on NPR recently:

*An author go on & on & on about how he was cured of his obsessive/compulsiveness.

*Robert Reich calling for Wal-Mart to be charged under anti-trust laws. What is it with these people and Wal-Mart? John Kerry surveys the world...and decides that America is the problem. Rogue prosecutor Eliot Spitzer decides that out of all the criminals in New York, he needs to crack down...on adoption centers. Now Robert Reich and Wal-Mart. These people are bizarre freaks and not to be trusted with power.

*A long piece on how the Chavez regime in Venezuela is using the list of voters who signed the recall petition as an enemies list. Although they didn't mention the worst abuses, this is progress for NPR, I suppose. Though they still couldn't bring themselves to utter the relevant word. (hint: starts with 'C' and ends with 'ommunist').

Dinesh D’Souza:

..."In a Eureka College speech during the mid-1980s, Reagan confronted the allegation that he had graduated from a third-rate school with a C average. Reagan mused: "Even now I wonder what I might have accomplished had I studied harder."...

"The economist Arthur Laffer recalls that shortly after the US invasion of Grenada in 1983, he met Reagan at a conference. He told Reagan that the newspapers had reported that the administration had gone back and forth on whether to go with the invasion."

"Laffer asked: "What made you finally decide to do it?" Reagan said, "Well, Art, finally I asked myself, what would John Wayne have done?""

"Somewhere deep down, Reagan knew that John Wayne was a better guide on this occasion that the collective wisdom of the Washington establishment."

Mark Steyn:

""We are a nation that has a government--not the other way around." Of all the marvellous Ronald Reagan lines retailed over the weekend, that's my favourite. ...Today, it's easy to apply Reagan's line around the world. Grenada is a nation that has a government; Mugabe's Zimbabwe is a government that has a nation. Those are the easy ones. But Reagan's distinction also cuts to the heart of the European question. When the 13 colonies came together to form the United States, they already shared so much in common that they didn't need to express their sense of nationhood in an overbearing central government."

More Steyn:

"What is an "intelligent" person? As defined by the media, it seems to mean someone who takes the media seriously. Someone wonkish on the nuts and bolts of particular topics of interest to media types, and able to sit around yakking about them till 3 in the morning. Ronald Reagan had a much rarer intelligence -- a strategic intelligence. In 1977, he told Richard Allen, "My theory of the Cold War is that we win and they lose.""

"Cute. So few politicians talked like that a quarter-century ago that I'd have been content if it was just a neat line. But Reagan figured out a way to make it come true. Within 10 years. That's strategic thinking."

Charles Krauthammer:

..."How to remember a man they anathematized for eight years but who enjoys both the overwhelming affection of the American people and decisive vindication by history?"

"They found their way to do it. They dwell endlessly on the man's smile, his sunny personality, his good manners. Above all, his optimism."

""Optimism" is the perfect way to trivialize everything that Reagan was or did. Pangloss was an optimist. Harold Stassen was an optimist. Ralph Kramden was an optimist. Optimism is nice, but it gets you nowhere unless you also possess ideological vision, policy and prescriptions to make it real, and, finally, the political courage to act on your convictions."

"Optimism? Every other person on the No. 6 bus is an optimist. What distinguished Reagan was what he did and said. Reagan was optimistic about America amid the cynicism and general retreat of the post-Vietnam era because he believed unfashionably that America was both great and good -- and had been needlessly diminished by restrictive economic policies and timid foreign policies. Change the policies and America would be restored, both at home and abroad."

"He was right."


"He was right" may well replace "Wilson" as his middle name.

My political hero and my musical hero all in the space of one week...it's too much.

Ray was an American music machine, if a machine can be said to have a soul. Gospel, Pop, R&B, Country, Big-Band--he owned it all.

"I was born with music inside me. That's the only explanation I know of. Music was one of my parts...like my blood. It was a force already with me when I arrived on the scene. It was a necessity for me, like food or water."

After beating his drug problem, he said "I did it to myself. It wasn't society...it wasn't a pusher, it wasn't being blind or being black or being poor. It was all my doing." I always admired him for that.

I could be persuaded to support changing the National Anthem to 'America, the Beautiful'...provided Mr. Charles' version was the only one allowed.

Rest on that down-beat In Peace, Brother Ray.

"If we forget what we did, we won't know who we are."

Poignant words from Ronald Reagan, who, due to his medical condition in his twilight years, did indeed forget what he did and who he was. But it's more than gratifying to see millions of Americans who cannot, do not--and will not--forget this great man.

Personal circumstance aside, Reagan was right; he was calling us to national memory in that speech, his Farewell Address. "So, we've got to teach history based not on what's in fashion but what's important--why the Pilgrims came here, who Jimmy Doolittle was, and what those 30 seconds over Tokyo meant," he said. I'll take that as an order...

Jimmy Doolittle was an Air Force officer. His men would have followed him into Hell. And they did. In the dark days after Pearl Harbor, Japan was moving unchecked through the Pacific. A plan was made to take the battle to the enemy.

Doolittle and his men practiced flying souped-up bombers off a truncated runway, the length of a carrier deck--a feat thought to be impossible. They boarded carriers and headed towards Japan. When spotted, they took off early, even though this meant they would run out of gas short of Chinese airfields. They bombed Tokyo, notifying the Japanese that they were not invincible. Most of the pilots bailed out over China, and the Japanese raped, bayoneted & slaughtered thousands upon thousands of Chinese in a search for the pilots. But it's okay, 'cos they apologized.

Militarily, the raids were a flea-bite. But psychologically, they were a huge morale-booster for the Allies...and a huge loss-of-face for the Japanese, who doubtless viewed the pilots as terrorists. And strategically, the raids were a giant success as they caused the Japanese to abandon their planned invasion of Australia.

This shows that a small, targeted effort can yield a large result. By the way, I think of the prisoner-abuse scandal as a Doolittle Raid in reverse; the press hopes to media-bomb us, bludgeoning the Administration repeatedly, until no politician will ever dare to confront our enemies again. It has become a journalism-abuse scandal because it is so purposefully out of all proportion to the offense.

Our coinage is part of our national memory as well. It has been proposed that Reagan's likeness be placed on the dime or the $10. bill.

Reagan urged us to learn our history. He often quoted the Founders. I doubt he'd want to displace Hamilton on the $10.. After all, Hamilton advocated for independence while a student, formed & led his own artillery company as a teen-ager, became Washington's invaluable military aide, wrote most of The Federalist Papers securing our Constitution, set us on course for centuries of prosperity as Sec. of Treasury, founded the Coast Guard and helped found the Navy.

Hamilton advocated a strong national government when it was needed most.

Reagan advocated for the individual in the Age of Totalitarianism. He advocated for the proper prerogatives of states when the Federal Government had spiraled out of control. Not even Hamilton would recognize this oozing behemoth with runaway judiciaries that we have today--except perhaps as a new monarchy. And Reagan stood for the United States of America, in a time when the trans-national Left wishes to subsume this nation into becoming an administrative district of the United Nations.

Nor would Reagan want to displace his boyhood hero, FDR from the dime. Indeed, Ronnie spent much of his adult life cleaning up Mr. Roosevelt's messes.

Instead, we should mint a Ronald Reagan silver dollar--a REAL silver dollar, not the glorified quarters or arcade tokens of recent vintage.

As children, when we received a silver dollar, we knew they were special. They had weight, substance and they had an intrinsic value, value in and of themselves. They bespoke a confident America.

And who better embodied these traits than Ronald Reagan?

No one; that's who.

I'll bet you a shiny new dollar on that.

OUR FOOD EDITOR AND FAUX-JAMAICAN PSYCHIC (BUT I REPEAT MYSELF), MR. CLEO:

I foresee a blatant attempt to pre-empt the pending release of Bill Clinton's indigestible autobiography, "My Life--Your Wife".

Yes... blogger Steve H. has published his long-awaited (3 hrs. at 350 degrees) cookbook;

"Eat What You Want and Die Like a Man: The World's Unhealthiest Cookbook" by Steve H. Graham.

Which, I'll admit, is a better title than my suggestion: "Eat What You Want and Die Like a Man: The Mama Cass Story".

Steve has chosen to write under the pseudonym "Steve H. Graham" because, as a member of the Florida Bar, he in no way wishes to bring disrepute to the fine, upstanding lawyers and judges who uphold justice, or to in any way imply that the Legal Community is largely a collection of power-mad, vapid, bottom-feeding scum who should, upon sight, be horse-whipped, then scourged, flayed & flogged, then...where was I? Oh, yes; I don't think I'm betraying a confidence when I tell you Steve H.'s real name: Janet Reno. Kidding. Actually, it's: Martha H. Graham.

My point is, the man can dance. And he can really cook. And above all, he can really, really write. Here's an excerpt from the book:

"No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the publisher."

Okay; so it starts out a little slow. But it gets funnier. Quickly.

I remember when I discovered Steve. He was a quirky, yet talented loner, cranking out psychic advice columns for the now-defunct 'Liberty City Voo-Doo & Intelligencer'. Steve left the paper--something about not wanting to be paid in severed goat's heads and arcade tokens from Madame Tussaud's--and today, after being fully cleared of the arson charges, Steve is now a quirky, talented loner with a website.

And a book to sell.

Truly, this is a great country.

Seriously, this book is chock full of mouth-watering recipes and the most delicious writing you'll find anywhere.

So have a great meal and some great laughs; live a little.

Because someday, each of us must look in the mirror and ask ourself this question:

"What in the hell is an 'Intelligencer', anyway?"

Bon Appetit!

Say; what the hell is an 'Appetit', anyway?

FROM THE ARCHIVES

(from 12/22/02:)

Grenada Daydreamin'

While discussing the Eating Disorder Party's irresistible hunger for the taste of Fidel's musky nether-regions, a comment from an Aussie student-troll over at Misha's sprang to mind. It was just a little throw-away line in a catalogue of American "crimes": "And you overthrew a popular government in Grenada."

This is what I mean when I say "college-educated ignorant". That's the kind of tripe one can only imbibe at the knee of a Marxist literature professor.

Don't you mean Political Science professor, Noel? No; If they're Marxists, that's all they teach, regardless of what the class is called.

The only place that "government" was popular was in Moscow, Pyongyang, Hanoi, Havana...and Harvard. It was not popular with the people of Grenada; otherwise; they could have reinstalled it during the Clinton years and Clinton would have zealously protected it. Regardless, they failed to get the most important vote of all...

Ronald Reagan's.

Reagan understood that the Cubans were building an airstrip to accommodate Soviet bombers...and he forbade it.

A Democrat gone good.

Reagan speaks to the VFW in 1984; some excerpts:

"Four years ago, right here in Chicago, I stood before your convention, and when you think back to 1980, it's hard to forget the mess America was in, hard to forget the foolish talk of a malaise, the unfairness of runaway price increases, 21 & 1/2-percent interest rates, weakened defenses, Americans held hostage, and the loss of respect for our nation abroad. It seemed that we woke up every morning wondering what new humiliation our country had suffered....

We knew we couldn't continue on that road. We knew we had to change course and get America back on her feet. And we knew that peace and freedom could not be protected without cost and commitment, without perseverance and courage.

One cannot sit in the Oval Office without realizing the awesome responsibility of protecting peace and freedom and preserving human life. The responsibility cannot be met with halfway wishes. It can be met only by a determined effort to pursue and protect peace with all the strength that we can bring to bear.

Well, I think we've come a long way together. In fact, I believe we've closed the books on that dismal chapter of failed policies and self-doubt. May it never return.

Gone are the days when we abandoned principle and common sense. Gone are the days when we meekly tolerated obvious threats to our peace and security.

To all of you who have served your country with such courage and distinction, and to all the young men and women who look to their future, I can tell you today from my heart: The United States of America is prepared for peace.

And because we're stronger than before, we can be confident that we're in a position to secure a future of peace, not peace at any price, but a true, meaningful, lasting peace supported by freedom and human dignity.""...

(from 12/24/02:)

A Star in the West

""The difference between Republicans and Democrats is that we think every day is the Fourth of July, and
they think every day is April 15th." - Ronald Reagan

But this is not the evening for all that.

But it IS the evening for this:

Christmas December 24, 1983
My fellow Americans:

"Christmas is a time for children, and rightly so. We celebrate the birthday of the Prince of Peace who came as a babe in a manger. Some celebrate Christmas as the birthday of a great teacher and philosopher. But to other millions of us, Jesus is much more. He is divine, living assurance that God so loved the world He gave us His only begotten Son so that by believing in Him and learning to love each other we could one day be together in paradise."

"It's been said that all the kings who ever reigned, that all the parliaments that ever sat have not done as much to advance the cause of peace on Earth and good will to men as the man from Galilee, Jesus of Nazareth."

"Christmas is also a time to remember the treasures of our own history. We remember one Christmas in particular, 1776, our first year as a nation. The Revolutionary War had been going badly. But George Washington's faith, courage, and leadership would turn the tide of history our way. On Christmas night he led a band of ragged soldiers across the Delaware River through driving snow to a victory that saved the cause of independence. It's said that their route of march was stained by bloody footprints, but their spirit never faltered and their will could not be crushed."

"The image of George Washington kneeling in prayer in the snow is one of the most famous in American history. He personified a people who knew it was not enough to depend on their own courage and goodness; they must also seek help from God, their Father and Preserver."

"In a few hours, families and friends across America will join together in caroling parties and Christmas Eve services. Together, we'll renew that spirit of faith, peace, and giving which has always marked the character of our people. In our moments of quiet reflection I know we will remember our fellow citizens who may be lonely and in need tonight."

"``Is the Christmas spirit still alive?'' some ask. Well, you bet it is."

"Let us remember the families who maintain a watch for their missing in action. And, yes, let us remember all those who are persecuted -- not because they commit a crime, but because they love God in their hearts and want the freedom to celebrate Hanukkah or worship the Christ Child."

"And because faith for us is not an empty word, we invoke the power of prayer to spread the spirit of peace. We ask protection for our soldiers who are guarding peace tonight..."

"With patience and firmness we can help bring peace to that strife-torn region and make our own lives more secure. The Christmas spirit of peace, hope, and love is the spirit Americans carry with them all year round, everywhere we go. As long as we do, we need never be afraid, because trusting in God is the one sure answer to all the problems we face."

"Till next week, thanks for listening, God bless you, and Merry Christmas." - Ronald Reagan

...and Happy 4th of July!"

(from 02/06/03:)

92 years ago, Dutch Reagan was born in Tampico, Illinois. "He looks like a fat little Dutchman. But, who knows, he might grow up to be President someday," said his father.

"My mother...told me ...everything in life happened for a purpose. She said all things were part of God's Plan...My mother, as usual, was right." As was his father.

Ronnie went on to live his American Life, and we are all the better for that life.

He left the party of his youth, sensing it's anti-American, anti-freedom direction while many of us were yet children.

One of my favorite Reagan anecdotes:

A student protester arrogantly told Ronnie that Reagan's generation couldn't possibly understand the complexities of modern life with its jet travel & nuclear power. When the student paused for breath, President Reagan replied, "You're right. We didn't have those things when we were young...We invented them." (*rim shot*!)

What this President knew:

"We have every right to dream heroic dreams. Those who say that we're in a time when there are no heroes, they just don't know where to look."

"...peace is the highest aspiration of the American People. We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it, we will never surrender for it, now or ever."

"The house we hope to build is not for my generation but for yours. It is your future that matters. And I hope that when you are my age, you will be able to say as I have been able to say: We lived in freedom. We lived lives that were a statement, not an apology."

Ronnie, we're glad we knew ye.

Happy Birthday, Dutch."

And now he has his New Birth of Freedom.

RONALD WILSON REAGAN, AMERICAN.

(from 8/15/03.)

"George Will, the editors at National Review, Gray Davis & the Donks all say the California recall is bad governance and too messy.

They're all wrong.

Someone who was once a target of the recall process praised it. In 1990, he said that the recall (and referenda) provisions were democracy at it's finest, something only dreamed of by oppressed peoples of the world.

That someone was Ronald Reagan.

For those in need of campaign advice, try this:

California and the Problem of Government Growth
January 5, 1967

"...what is taking place here is almost commonplace routine. We are participating in the orderly transfer of administrative authority by direction of the people. And this is the simple magic which makes a commonplace routine a near miracle to many of the world's inhabitants: the continuing fact that the people, by democratic process, can delegate this power, yet retain custody of it."

"Perhaps you and I have lived with this miracle too long to be properly appreciative. Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom and then lost it have never known it again. Knowing this, it is hard to explain those who even today would question the people's capacity for self-rule. Will they answer this: if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else? Using the temporary authority granted by the people, an increasing number lately have sought to control the means of production, as if this could be done without eventually controlling those who produce. Always this is explained as necessary to the people's welfare. But, "The deterioration of every government begins with the decay of the principle upon which it was founded" [Montesquieu]. This is as true today as it was when it was written in 1748."

"Government is the people's business, and every man, woman and child becomes a shareholder with the first penny of tax paid. With all the profound wording of the Constitution, probably the most meaningful words are the first three: "We, the People." Those of us here today who have been elected to constitutional office or legislative position are in that three-word phrase. We are of the people, chosen by them to see that no permanent structure of government ever encroaches on freedom or assumes a power beyond that freely granted by the people. We stand between the taxpayer and the taxspender."

When Reagan says "Those who have known freedom and then lost it have never known it again," even he was wrong; he returned freedom to Eastern Europe, finishing FDR's, Truman's & Churchill's jobs for them.

In his Farewell Address, he offers more advice:

"Finally, there is a great tradition of warnings in Presidential farewells, and I've got one that's been on my mind for some time. But oddly enough it starts with one of the things I'm proudest of in the past 8 years: the resurgence of national pride that I called the new patriotism. This national feeling is good, but it won't count for much, and it won't last unless it's grounded in thoughtfulness and knowledge."

"An informed patriotism is what we want. And are we doing a good enough job teaching our children what America is and what she represents in the long history of the world? Those of us who are over 35 or so years of age grew up in a different America. We were taught, very directly, what it means to be an American. And we absorbed, almost in the air, a love of country and an appreciation of its institutions. If you didn't get these things from your family you got them from the neighborhood, from the father down the street who fought in Korea or the family who lost someone at Anzio. Or you could get a sense of patriotism from school. And if all else failed you could get a sense of patriotism from the popular culture. The movies celebrated democratic values and implicitly reinforced the idea that America was special. TV was like that, too, through the mid-sixties."

"But now, we're about to enter the nineties, and some things have changed. Younger parents aren't sure that an unambivalent appreciation of America is the right thing to teach modern children. And as for those who create the popular culture, well-grounded patriotism is no longer the style. Our spirit is back, but we haven't reinstitutionalized it. We've got to do a better job of getting across that America is freedom--freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of enterprise. And freedom is special and rare. It's fragile; it needs protection."

"So, we've got to teach history based not on what's in fashion but what's important--why the Pilgrims came here, who Jimmy Doolittle was, and what those 30 seconds over Tokyo meant. You know, 4 years ago on the 40th anniversary of D-day, I read a letter from a young woman writing to her late father, who'd fought on Omaha Beach. Her name was Lisa Zanatta Henn, and she said, `we will always remember, we will never forget what the boys of Normandy did.' Well, let's help her keep her word. If we forget what we did, we won't know who we are. I'm warning of an eradication of the American memory that could result, ultimately, in an erosion of the American spirit. Let's start with some basics: more attention to American history and a greater emphasis on civic ritual."

"And let me offer lesson number one about America: All great change in America begins at the dinner table. So, tomorrow night in the kitchen I hope the talking begins. And children, if your parents haven't been teaching you what it means to be an American, let 'em know and nail 'em on it. That would be a very American thing to do."

Yes it would.

In that same speech, he tells a story that sums up how I remember Ronnie:

"...the sailor was hard at work on the carrier Midway, which was patrolling the South China Sea. The sailor, like most American servicemen, was young, smart, and fiercely observant. The crew spied on the horizon a leaky little boat. And crammed inside were refugees from Indochina hoping to get to America. The Midway sent a small launch to bring them to the ship and safety. As the refugees made their way through the choppy seas, one spied the sailor on deck, and stood up, and called out to him. He yelled, `Hello, American sailor. Hello, freedom man.' "

Would to God that you were running again, Ronnie.

But now it's up to us. Somebody stand up and say it with me;

"Hello, freedom man!""


Godspeed, Freedom Man.

WE'RE WINNING.

"Yesterday, in defiance of all pessimists, Iraq resumed its life as a sovereign country, in a manner no one outside Iraq has the right to gainsay. We have a secular Shia prime minister (Iyad Alawi), and a ceremonial Sunni President (Ghazi al-Yawar). Both are acceptable to all reasonable parties, including the United States. We have a ministry of all the talents, such as they are: with every available regional, ethnic, and religious affiliation."

"The formal transfer of power from Paul Bremer's occupation authority to the new Iraqi government waits till the end of the month, but with the self-dissolution of the interim Iraqi Governing Council, we have witnessed an effective transfer."

..."No one else will say this, so I will. The Bush administration has handled the transfer of power in Iraq more cleverly than anyone expected, including me."--David Warren.

Not anyone, David.

And here is the new Prime Minister Alawi from about the same time Saddam was captured in December: "We are uncovering evidence all the time of Saddam's involvement with al-Qaeda," he said. "But this is the most compelling piece of evidence that we have found so far. It shows that not only did Saddam have contacts with al-Qaeda, he had contact with those responsible for the September 11 attacks."

(p.s.: Still winning.)

Shocking new prisoner abuse photos were shown on Capitol Hill today.

The photos showed the systematic killing of insurgents, all of them quite young, by American personnel. Some of the dead were killed by chemical weapons, others by decapitation, and some by stabbings. There were even rumors that body parts were removed from the corpses.

"This is a war crime! Not even terrorists deserve to be treated like that!" howled one Democrat. A vote was scheduled for the immediate impeachment of the President.

Until it was explained the imprisoned young insurgents pictured in the photographs were, in fact, 'fetuses', and the systematic killings were what are euphemistically known as 'abortions'.

"Oops...nevermind. Our bad," said Congressman Mollock S. Mymassa (D., Caliyuga).

In other gnus, Her Water Buffaloness U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton ruled that sticking a pitchfork into a screaming baby was "pretty darn cool" and "lotsa' fun".

"More than 600,000 Americans died in the Civil War -- or about 1.8 percent of the population. Today, if 1.8 percent of the population were killed in war, there would be 5.4 million graves to decorate on Decoration Day."

"But that's the difference between then and now: the loss of proportion. They had victims galore back in 1863, but they weren't a victim culture. They had a lot of crummy decisions and bureaucratic screwups worth re-examining, but they weren't a nation that prioritized retroactive pseudo-legalistic self-flagellating vaudeville over all else."

Who else but Steyn?

Which reminds me of a song:

SuperciliousLegalisticHand-WringingVaudevillians,
Every little sound they make's anything but Churchillian.
Not one cent for our Defense; for Tribute, they've got millions,
SuperciliousLegalisticHand-WringingVaudevillians!