Month: March 2004

Credit where it’s due

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I’m a few days late, but let me applaud the Bush administration’s handling of the ongoing crisis in Haiti. It was right not to chose sides in a war with no good guys, right not to save Aristide, right not to deploy troops until the outcome was clear, and right to limit the mission at this time to certain clearly-identified goals. And I’m perfectly sanguine about it all, even if we “kidnapped” Aristide: He was no believer in democracy, and his departure averted a bloodbath.

Now, a personal note: a good friend’s father — an obstetrician* — is currently in Haiti doing good works and visiting his family. A brief thought or prayer on his behalf would be appreciated.

von

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Early night for me…

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…so you’ll have to do without my priceless input in assessing this USA Today article on the UN report purportedly*confirming David Kay’s conclusion that Iraq had no WMDs before its liberation last year. Have fun; it beats talking about Super Tuesday, at least. Moe *I say ‘purportedly’ only because I haven’t read the actual report … Read more

Yeah, it’s over.

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Kerry’s going to be the Democratic candidate. Sure, he lost Vermont* and will probably lose Georgia**, but other than that, it was all him. Edwards is apparently going to bow out gracefully tomorrow; when that happens, the arcane art that is Democratic delegate selection will virtually guarantee Kerry’s elevation to candidate. So, that’s the end … Read more

Hit counter and Syndication info added.

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Finally got around to adding Sitemeter; I’m keen to compare it to what the internal Typepad hitcounter is telling me. Also, upon the request of Jim Henley, here’s a XML syndication feed: http://obsidianwings.blogs.com/obsidian_wings/atom.xml It apparently works, so have fun with it. Otherwise, take this as an open blog technical thread. Opinions on whether I should … Read more

Gay rights and terrorism

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Andrew Sullivan points the way to an almost indescribably idiotic column by Dennis Prager in Town Hall Magazine.

America is engaged in two wars for the survival of its civilization. The war over same-sex marriage and the war against Islamic totalitarianism are actually two fronts in the same war — a war for the preservation of the unique American creation known as Judeo-Christian civilization.

So a radical faction of gay marriage activists have teamed up (perhaps in Vermont-style civil partnerships) to drive jet planes into skyscapers? Perhaps the right thing to do, then, is to declare gays “enemy combatants” and ship them off to Guantanamo.

Believe what you will about gay marriage: Although I generally favor allowing gay marriage, there are plenty of good folks on the other side. Even if there weren’t, though, I’d hardly think it apt to compare them to the 9-11 terrorists. Perhaps Prager has forgotten, but the 9-11 terrorists killed 3000 innocents in a day in pursuit of their cause. How many people have the proponents of gay marriage killed to block the FMA? How serious a threat is the Popular Front for the Red Brigades of al-HomoMarriagistas? Did I miss a memo?*

It is not often that idiocy is married to immorality with such aplomb. I suppose, Dennis Prager, that congratulations are in order.

von

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And three makes a trend.

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I have no idea how the average Iraqi feels about his situation, but Kevin Drum, David Adesnik, and Bird Dog at Tacitus all feel pretty darn good about our progress. Here’s a sentence I thought I’d never write: Drum, Adesnik, and Bird Dog are in agreement on Iraq. All three posted before today’s round of … Read more

The usual half-baked analysis.

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Over at dKos there’s a somewhat pessimistic thread about Democratic chances for Florida this election cycle. I’m not all that interested in discussing that, partially because it’s way too early to say that one state or another is or isn’t in play (shoot, Caesar’s latest map has Florida going blue and the election going to the Democrats), but mostly because I wanted to note something that I would have thought was obvious: to wit, that the only winning strategy is a fifty-state strategy.

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Super Tuesday. Whoop-de-doo.

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Exciting, this is not. As it stands, Edwards is apparently significantly behind just about everywhere, Dean and Clark are out, Sharpton’s a joke and Kuchinich’s… actually, Kuchinich is probably doing pretty good for himself with this Real Presidential Candidate routine, given that his voter demographic probably has the highest percentage of nubile college students. Nice … Read more

Who Are These Slackers?

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So The Pew Internet and American Life Project suggest that the majority of bloggers are somewhat casual about the whole thing. “The impression out there is that a lot of the blog activity is very feverish,” said Lee Rainie, the Pew project’s director. “That’s not the case. For most bloggers, it’s not an all-consuming, all-the-time … Read more

Another Canadian Tortured in Syria

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I’m just passing this along without comment–what is there to say, really?–except to note that the U.S. doesn’t seem to have been involved this time: Yesterday, another Canadian citizen — this one of Iraqi descent — met reporters to tell his story of torture at the hands of the Syrians. And here, too, the information … Read more

A trend?

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Matthew Stinson (righteously) reminded me in comments below that he’s blogging from China, no less. This is his latest China-related entry: he’s a good blogger and posting from a fairly complicated place, so I heartily recommend that you check him out. Err. Assuming that you don’t already. Moe PS: We’re raising the bar after this: … Read more

Tie a broom to your car, Peter…

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…because that was a clean sweep, baby. Moe PS: No tuxedo: bad suit. No haircut; wild mane of hair. No bow tie; carelessly tied real tie. Top shirt button unbuttoned. Something that looked suspiciously like a Trek insignia on one lapel. Thanked everybody from New Zealand to JRR Tolkien in the speeches. Best of all, … Read more