Month: March 2004

Von’s “Idiotarian” Award.

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I generally dislike the word “idiotarian.” Among other things, it’s horrible English. (What, the word “idiot” is too short and to the point for you?) A recent post on the bombing in Madrid by Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs, however, has caused me to reconsider. Accordingly, I will now honor Mr. Johnson with “Von’s First ‘Idiotarian’ Award” for the following unrepetent act of idiotarianism*:

At a Spanish demonstration protesting today’s terrorist attacks we find a perfect example of the sick hypocrisy that is poisoning Europe, as a useful idiot in knit cap and kaffiyeh proudly aligns himself with the symbol of Palestinian terrorism:

Mr. Johnson then includes a picture of a crowd of Spainaids grieving today’s killing of 170-plus people in the Madrid bombings. Members of the crowd have raised both hands in the European sign to “stop”. A young man in front — one of literally hundreds of other people — is wearing a knit cap and a kaffiyeh that suggests support for the Palestinians. Mr. Johnson continues:

I’ve always believed the signal to “stop” was a single hand held up. Holding both hands up in the air is a symbol of something else altogether.

A few, umm, minor comments: One hundred seventy-plus people have just been killed in an act of terrorism. Mr. Johnson’s response is to (1) point out that one member of a grieving crowd may, in fact, be an idiot (and, really, how likely is it that a crowd of hundreds won’t contain at least one idiot) and (2) make fun of the grieving crowd as a whole.

What cogent, emphathic analyses. What wonderful insight into the human condition. What glorious work in focusing on a single, droopy tree in the midst of a vast forest of grief. What good taste in decrying how that grief is expressed.

For shame.

Update: The death toll from the blast now stands at 190, with 1,200 injured. It’s also worth noting that the photo that Mr. Johnson displays and criticizes on his web site does not appear to have run in any major news outlet. Rather, it appears to have been part of an online AP slideshow, which featured dozens of other photographs concerning the blasts and demonstrations relating thereto. Mr. Johnson chose to focus on this particular photo.

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The Many Forms of Reform from Within

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I’ve long supported reform within Islam. An “enlightenment” that would advance the collective perception of the value of the individual would serve all Muslims well, I believe. Much has been written about grassroots efforts that pre-date 9/11 (and hence cannot be attributed to Wolfowitz’s plan), and the New York Times is running a two-part series … Read more

Terrorist attacks in Spain.

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I’m sorry to ruin all of your breakfasts, but this looked to be important: 131 People Killed in Madrid Explosions MADRID, Spain – Powerful explosions rocked three Madrid train stations Thursday just three days before Spain’s general elections, killing 131 rush-hour commuters and wounding more than 400 in what officials called the deadliest attack ever … Read more

St. Patrick’s Day. Oh, boy.

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Seeing as I’m tapped out for the night otherwise, here’s a little pre-emptive disapproval.

Top Ten Reasons Why Moe Lane can’t stand St. Patrick’s Day:

10). Actually, quite fond of the British these days, thanks. Well, just ask the inhabitants of Northern Ireland if they want to leave the UK? Oh, you did? Well, why don’t the ones that do want to leave bloody well leave, then? Some Irishmen did, you know. Some even came to America to get away from that nonsense…
9). Still working out childhood trauma engendered by sight of a drunken clown brutally singing When Irish Eyes are Smiling, with vomiting on a nun as his encore;
8). Constant subjection to Irish cooking has left a permanent allergic reaction to a mere picture of corned beef;
7). Has nothing against green. Green is a perfectly good color. A happy color, even. But feels contrarily reluctant to give in to the expectation of wearing it;
6). When younger, wrote several scathing letters to the editor condemning the IRA, and now wonders every year if this will be the one that the IRA will try to carve out a bloody revenge;
5). Can’t stand James Joyce. HAH! You hear that?!? I CAN’T STAND JAMES JOYCE! AND I WAS AN ENGLISH MAJOR IN COLLEGE, TOO! I’M FREE, FREE I TELL YOU! FREE!!!!!
4). Ain’t too fond of that damn leprechaun and his double-damned lucky charms, either;
3). No, doesn’t want a Guinness;
2). No, doesn’t care if everybody else in the bar is having one, too. The stuff tastes like roofing tar and the only way that any of these people wearing shamrocks and Kiss Me buttons would actually have any Irish blood would be if I gave them a transfusion. I mean, just look at that guy. Yes, that one wearing the bowler hat and the green suspenders, God help us all. No. NO. You will not start talking about the Pope. You will NOT start talking about the Pope. Damn you, now you’ve started talking about the Pope. No, I will not calm down and drink my roofing tar. Stop laughing at me! This is not an easy day to go through when you’re 15/16th Irish!

And the number one reason why Moe Lane hates St. Patrick’s Day:

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Generic Bookblogging Title

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A random perusal of ObWi’s bloglists is starting to suggest that possibly we’re all really, really focused on politics right now: findiing less wonkish stuff isn’t as easy as I thought. However, Short Hope Unfiltered has very nicely reminded me that Book Two of Neal Stephenson’s Baroque Cycle is coming out next month. I dunno if he gets anything for having the Amazon links up, but far be it from me to interfere with it if he does; it’s only an extra clickthrough.

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Excellent…

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That last one pretty much drained my political energy banks for a while, so let’s look into some of the more neglected Categories. Starting with this: New Pill Helps With Smoking and Weight. NEW ORLEANS – Tackling two big problems at once, a new pill in development appears to double people’s success quitting smoking while … Read more

Arrgh.

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I like Glenn Reynolds. I read him every day. But on certain legal subjects near to my heart, he completely screws up the law. (Last time it was on RICO’s application to the RIAA.)

My beef with Glenn follows. Oh, and as a general rule: do not assume that I, Glenn Reynolds, Eugene Volokh, Professor Bainbridge, or any other self-professed legal professional, knows what the hell they’re talking about when they’re talkin’ law.

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Now that’s what I’m talking about

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Before the primary in New York, I endorsed Edwards, mostly on the believe that he alone (more than Kerry and more than Bush) stood the best chance of uniting the nation….something I believe should be a national priority during times of war. But perhaps there is another way… Sen. McCain Open to Being Kerry’s VP … Read more

It’s turtles all the way down.

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Jeepers! Now that “thingy where Republican staffers looked at some memos they knew they shouldn’t look at, but it was really tempting and maybe sorta also the fault of a naive sys-admin” (the “probably-a-scandal-gate”) has taken another twist:

Senate Sergeant at Arms Bill Pickle is to investigate whether a confidential report on leaked Democratic memorandums was itself improperly leaked, potentially damaging the careers of more than 20 Senate staffers.

Enraged Republicans suspect the unredacted version — intended only for senators’ eyes — was given to the press accidentally on purpose.*

From The Hill. (Drum, as usual, is on top of it.)

Frankly, these guys desperately need to have a lock-in at the Y. You know, order pizza, swim in the pool, play ping-pong — it’ll be fun!

UPDATE: Harley chides: “you buried the lede. If Graham’s defection holds, this goes to a prosecutor.”

‘Tis true. Now, don’t you have a new baby and a lovely Deanna to Read more

Tax cuts spur jobs growth (Government Jobs, that is)

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From Marshall: Lest we miss any opportunity to give the White House a hard time over Friday’s disappointing employment report, let’s not overlook this important detail. None of those 21,000 new jobs came from the private sector. They were all the result of increased government sector hiring. And then there’s this “The numbers … reinforce … Read more

WASPs and Daggers

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More evidence of just how skilled an operator George Tenet can be. (As if the fact that Tenet still has a job — despite being a Clinton holdover, the tragedy of 9-11, and faulty intelligence on Iraqi WMDs — wasn’t evidence enough.)

George J. Tenet, the director of central intelligence, told a Senate committee on Tuesday that he had privately intervened on several occasions to correct what he regarded as public misstatements on intelligence by Vice President Dick Cheney and others, and that he would do so again.

. . . .

[Tenet said:] “You have the confidence to know that when I believed that somebody was misconstruing intelligence, I said something about it. I don’t stand up in public and do it. I do my job the way I did it in two administrations.

“And policy makers — you know, this is a tough road. Policy makers take data. They interpret threat. They assess risk. They put urgency behind it, and sometimes it doesn’t uniquely comport with every word of an intelligence estimate.”

Behold the WASP dagger, skillfully employed. The soft takedown of Cheney is masterful, of course, but that’s not what grabbed me. Taking down Cheney is almost too easy: Cheney repeatedly puts himself so far in front of the Administration that he’s not so much scouting the road ahead as exploring the undiscovered country. (Undoubtably, Cheney intends to draw some flack from Bush by presenting himself as an easier target.)

No, what got me was Tenet’s statement that the “policy makers” — not him, not the CIA — determine the “ugency” of a particular threat. I provide data, he says. Others interpret it. They weigh it against other priorities. Whether one priority is more “urgent” than another is not my call. It is a pure question of policy.

The main intelligence failing, of course, was in assessing the urgency of the Iraqi WMD threat. But Tenet takes himself completely out of “urgency analysis”. The central intelligence failing on WMD is not even “intelligence” matter, according to Tenet. I didn’t fail.

* * * * *

There’s going to be a high profile scapegoat for the Iraqi WMD debacle. (The Bush Administration may not want one, but vengance and politics demand it.) It’s not going to be Cheney, for this would be a virtual admission of error. Cheney’s controversiality also makes him useful as a contrast to Bush.

After yesterday’s performance, I’m now convinced that the scapegoat will not be Tenet either. You cannot engage in a he-said-she-said with the scapegoat for the scapegoating to be effective. It looks petty. It looks political. It looks wrong. Tenet’s testimony provided the “he said.” That’s why it’s so masterful.

There are probably two more candidates for the scapegoat: Rice and Wolfowitz. I’m betting that it will be Wolfowitz — in contrast to Rice, he’s a relative outsider to Bush’s Texas team. But I don’t think he deserves it. Despite my disagreements with Wolfowitz on several foreign policy matters,* the man’s good at his job.

I’m frankly not so sure about Rice.

Let the betting commence.

von

Update: Minor changes to improve flow.

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Designated Link Refugee Point

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Wow. I mean, the new layout for Matthew Yglesias’ site looks great and everything, but the way he hacked the blogroll down… yikes. I was almost expecting faint splashes of red everywhere. Well, OK, maybe not red, but the color of whatever bloglinks use for blood. Well, if they were, like, alive and stuff. (pause) … Read more

‘Cuz I think Harley gets twitchy without a Plame thread…

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Testimony from Karl Rove, which included a flat denial that he was the anonymous leaker in the Plame case… has been anonymously leaked to The American Prospect. Somebody in TalkLeft’s comment section claims that this is perfectly legal, as the attorneys were only requested to keep things quiet, but… I’m sorry, folks, I tried, but … Read more

At least there aren’t any literal knives.

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Opus 163 over at the Department of Louise seems kind of depressed at the low tone of political discourse going on these days – and who can blame her? She pegs it as getting bad with Clinton and much worse, since. Prior to 2000, I would have disagreed: some of the things that were said … Read more

While we’re on the subject…

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…this is some really freaky sh*t, man. (Via Tacitus’ Bird Dog, curse him. And curse my vampiric eyes*.) Moe *Sluggy Freelance reference. Don’t worry about it.

Fear Her Wrath…

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For she will be able to run for President in 2040, and she will remember all those who dared to oppose her.

baby.jpg

Meet Tess Avery Peyton, daughter of longtime Reader Harley (of both here and Tacitus.org). The tired extraordinarily well rested and alert (and happy) father has not yet declared a political affiliation for her, so start your indoctrination programs while you can. Or maybe update your minion resumes.

Congrats, Harley. Now get some more sleep Now keep on doing whatever it was that you were doing, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and supportive of your wonderful and lovely wife about whom you regale us with tales, tales that feature her many, nay, nigh-infinite, stellar qualities*. 🙂

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So, is this a flip-flop?

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President Bush will answer all the questions of a federal commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks, the White House spokesman said today, suggesting that the president will be more flexible in his approach to the commission. Commission members said late last month that President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney had placed strict limits on … Read more

The NASCAR mileage

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The White House has changed its mind (must be “Kerry’s flip-flop” influence…at least I’m sure it’s not Bush’s fault) and decided that the 9/11 panel won’t be limited to hour with Bush. McClellan’s comments suggested the administration had undergone a second change of heart about the commission. Bush originally had opposed the panel’s request for … Read more

Same here.

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…you’ll understand the title once you click through. It’s another referral log special, so I dunno if it’s for real or not. And now, to sleep. No, I won’t wax poetical this time. Moe

Oof.

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To excerpt would not do it justice. All I can say is, thank goodness for referral logs. Via Crossing the Rubicon2. Moe

Nice shot.

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In support of von’s implicit call for comity, I shall discard the post I had planned and instead note that the lovely and talented Respectful of Otters has elegantly demolished a meme that I didn’t even know was up and running. Some big, bad VRWC Death Beast I am; this is the blogging equivalent of … Read more

Are you lookin’ for a soft place to lie down??!! Or do you want to play??!!

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. . . . Is what a certain hyperventilating football coach* used to say to his charges, way back in the way back (when I used to play).

Perhaps it’s just the weekend and Monday that I’ve had, but, yes, Coach, I am. Some soft grass in the sun. A dirty Sycamore for a little shade. Down by the river, in the hollow. Maybe you could get me a pillow?

The truth is that we’re all just looking for a soft place to lie down. People want food, they want shelter, they want family near, and they want good friends and cheer. If you give them the option to have half of it, they will take it — ninety-nine times out of a hundred. And that’s true (to paraphrase Slim Pickens in Dr. Strangelove) “regardless of race, color, or creed.”

Remember that the next time you hear hyperventilating about “Moslem this, terrorist that.” It is undoubtably true that many people — regardless of race, color, or creed — are evil. (We all sin in our hearts at least, as the naive peanut-farmin’ former president will confirm.) The rough nut of active evil, though, is not more than a glorified legume. Most people just want that soft place in the sun.

You’ll never know it, if all you’ll spare is an LGF minute. My discussion of the war on terror will wait another day. Consider this an open thread.

von

UPDATE: I promise to bring this back to theme.

Apparently, Spalding Gray is dead. By whose hand — his own or another — we’ll soon find out (undoubtably). This, though, rings painfully true:

“Everyone that looks like him from behind, I go up and check to make sure it’s not him,” Russo said in a phone interview with The Associated Press about a week ago. “If someone calls and hangs up, I always do star-69. You’re always thinking, ‘maybe.”‘

It’s thoughts like these that pulled me back; when I needed to pull back. And don’t lie — not here, not in anonymous cyberspace** — and say you never needed to pull back too. That soft patch of grass in the half-shade of the dirty Sycamore is worth more. It’s worth more to all of us.

In my teens and twenties, I had more than enough conversations with post-punks and artists and singers and writers and crazies and earnest football players-turned-hopeful-Kerouacs (such as myself, who never could write that crappy (or well)***). Every conversation was about the worthlessness of it all.

But life is worthy. It’s that perfect moment on a seventy-two degree October day. The moment you find heaven in a glass of mid-day gin and a GPC cigarette. It’s worth it. And sleep only refreshes when you wake up.

Sorry for the melodrama. News triggers thoughts, which triggers memories and musings, you know, which makes one forget one’s carefully-studied cynacisms. You may now return to your open thead.

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Congrats are in order…

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…to Kevin Drum, who is apparently going to be one of those nigh-mythical blogger demigods who will be able to actually make a living from this hobby. He’ll be blogging for the Washington Monthly, which will hopefully be a good fit for both him and the magazine. Good luck and good trackbacks, Kevin.

Yeah, stick a fork in him.

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Drudge is definitely started up on the downward arc of his trajectory. I’m sure that some of you folks are muttering either ‘it’s about time’ or ‘Whaddya mean, started?’, but let that pass; this profanity-in-Kerry’s-website ‘exclusive’ is lame-o. So lame-o, in fact, that it doesn’t deserve the teeny-tiny traffic that a link from me would send it. If you really want to see, go read QandO* and/or Wonkette, both of whom were not precisely kind in their commentary (although the latter was just a tad more foul-mouthed about it).

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Duh…they HAD to lie to you, ’cause you’re stupid!

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Hans Blix has a book coming out in which he claims it’s probable that Bush and Blair “were conscious that they were exaggerating the risks they saw in order to get the political support they would not otherwise have had.”

Choice quote:

It is understood and accepted that governments must simplify complex international matters in explaining them to the public in democratic states.

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What do Randall Robinson and the KKK have in common?

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Why, they both call people race traitors!

Well, OK, in Robinson’s case he called Colin Powell ‘an immoral traitor to his race’, but we all know what that means*. I mention this because he’s involved in this Aristide conspiracy theory, and I just felt like reminding everyone of the essential moonbattiness of the fellow. Blessedly for him (and us, of course), he’s now permanently on the island of St. Kitts, where the sun is warm and the Caucasians rare, and it is my fond hope that we continue to have a society where he feels deeply unwelcome. You know, one where a Texas Republican President can make a former head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Secretary of State and casually note that he and his National Security Advisor were able to avoid detection on their way to Iraq because they looked like a normal couple.

Can I freshen that drink for ya, Randall? No, no need to chug it: you’ve got all the time in the world.

Moe

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NEA’s New Mission

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William Safire’s op-ed piece today notes how the times are changing. How the right is now embracing the NEA in its nearly 40-year-old mission of “bringing the arts to all Americans, and providing leadership in arts education.” From Safire: Remember the hoo-ha a while back about the funding of edgy art, offensive to some taxpayers, … Read more

Definitions of “War”

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There are several definitions for “war” in my dictionary. The one that seems most appropriate with regard to the “War on Terror” is A concerted effort or campaign to combat or put an end to something considered injurious: e.g., the war against acid rain. One definition that does not seem appropriate, but is actually a … Read more

True enough, alas.

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I wish that I could disagree with the last sentence of this Instapundit post: At any rate, the sad truth is that bloggers, despite their growing influence, probably aren’t worth bribing. Not that I particularly want to be bribed, but it’d be nice to say that I wouldn’t take one and have it actually be … Read more

What am I doing in another world…

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A Moe Lane’s Impressed point for anybody who can recognize the title and author of the referenced song, btw. At any rate, thanks to Amygdala I’ve been made aware of this Prospect Magazine article (which, fair warning and all that, comes from a New Republic editor) that postulates that the result of a Gore Presidency … Read more

Can’t imagine. Nope. Not a clue.

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Somehow, I think that a headline like this – Head of UCLA Cadaver Program Is Arrested – makes opening paragraphs like this: LOS ANGELES – The man who oversees the cadaver program at the University of California, Los Angeles, was arrested Saturday on suspicion of grand theft, but authorities would not say what he is … Read more

A Long-Expected Prequel.

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To everyone wondering why there’s no real buzz about a Hobbit movie, the answer’s simple: yup, you guessed it, there’s a battle going on over who has the rights: NEW YORK (AP) – Peter Jackson won’t be returning to the Shire any time soon. The Oscar-winning director is planning to film “The Hobbit,” the prequel … Read more