In a recent discussion with hilzoy, the subject of Barack Obama’s recent speech about GWOT/GSAVE came up, and since I am supposed to be providing some commentary from a nominally right-leaning perspective, I thought I’d provide some analysis here. Yes, I’m late to the party, but I’ll beg certain indulgences, as occupied Narn is not always the first place news stops on its voyage around the galaxy so I’m often going to address certain topics after a delay or without necessarily having access to the latest information. I’ll put the rest below the fold, so those who are not interested can easily skip on past.
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Iraq’s Security Situation
by G’Kar In September General David Petraeus will present a report to Congress regarding the state of the war in Iraq. This report will probably be a major factor in what the United States chooses to do in Iraq in 2008 and beyond, although political factors such as the 2008 presidential elections and major surprises … Read more
Overfederalization
by G’Kar The collapse of a bridge in Minnesota counts as a tragedy to be sure. But I cannot help but wonder what point there is to President Bush addressing the nation about a relatively minor accident [See update below] (more people die in traffic accidents). What benefits does his getting on TV and saying … Read more
Either/Or
by von RAND SIMBERG, remarking on the revelation that the latest terror plot in the UK was carried out by MDs: By the way, it would also be nice if this latest development finally puts to bed the ongoing "progressive" myth that terrorism is caused by poverty and alienation, or by our foreign policy (the … Read more
I Get It!
by von VIOLATE THE LAW, get a reduced penalty? Scamnesty! How dare you disrespect teh rule of law! Blah blah blah. VIOLATE THE LAW, get a reduced penalty? Hooray! It’s not a real crime anyway! Blah blah blah. Yup, it totally makes sense for the party of small government to punish workers and praise perjurers. … Read more
File Under …. General Idiocy
by von
JACK TRUDEAU, former QB for the Indianapolis Colts, faces three years in prison for hosting a high school graduation party. The crime? Alcohol was served:
Hosting a party for Park Tudor graduates at his Zionsville residence, former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Jack Trudeau collected car keys and listed names on a clipboard — but denied that he supplied any of the alcohol that authorities found there early Saturday, according to Boone County court documents released Monday.…..Authorities filed a felony charge of obstruction of justice Monday against Trudeau, who could face up to three years in prison. Police say he failed to provide the list of the young people attending the party.….Trudeau was charged after police found students from Park Tudor, a private school on the Far Northside of Indianapolis, celebrating their graduation with alcoholic beverages in his home. According to the police report, when officers arrived, Trudeau was at the front of his home with a clipboard in his hand. He told officers that he was taking everybody’s names and keys so no one could leave the party. According to the court documents, he said that if underage drinking were going on, he didn’t supply the alcohol — but added that he wasn’t checking people’s coolers or bags as they entered the party.Authorities said Trudeau had told his guests that he didn’t want them to wind up like Jon Pavey, a star receiver on the Zionsville Community High School football team who was critically injured in a one-car accident May 25.
This is ridiculous. Granted, Trudeau may have broken the law and, granted, he might have been a bit of a prick. But is there nothing better for these officers and Boone county’s prosecutor to do than put a guy in jail for having, at worst, a misguided sense of what’s in the best interests of these kids? (I say "at worst" because it’s not at all clear to me that 18-year olds, eligible to both vote and die for this country, shouldn’t also be permitted a beer in a private residence.) There is, after all, an honest-to-God crime wave occuring in Indianapolis. Although I realize that it hasn’t affected tony Zionsville, couldn’t the Zionsville police at least make a stab at giving a damn?*
Slogans (Again)
by von GREGORY DJEREJIAN is pessimistic, and even moreso in light of the Bush Administration’s propensity to have its spouses, associates, and various henchmen and hanger-ons spout off in the most nonsensical manner possible. The money shot: For here’s the rub. When you have a region in the grips of growing chaos, you don’t spout … Read more
Steve Gilliard, 1966-2007
by von HE DIED AT age 41. I have certainly had my differences with Steve, but my thoughts this week are with his family, friends, and readers. Kos, who knew Steve quite well, has a thoughtful eulogy here.
And So It Goes
by von UNABLE TO GET even fifty votes to pass its anti-Iraq war bill through the Democratically-controlled Senate, the Democratically-controlled House has been holding a firesale of pork. (Mmmmm, roast pork.) Whether you are pro- or con- on the bill itself, this should rankle*: Last January, as soon as Democrats took control of Congress, the … Read more
Bulldog Front*
by von UPDATE: Reynolds links this post with an update. Although I appreciate the link, it’s clear that Reynolds isn’t really paying attention. Here is the substance of Reynolds’ criticism: UPDATE: This post at Obsidian Wings criticizes me for not providing a link to the "unhappiness" — but if you follow the link I provide, … Read more
In which we anticipate St. Patrick’s day: An Open Thread
by von ALTHOUGH I AM currently consumed by a massive court filing, I do want to say (1) I’ve always understood the phrase "black Irish" in the Megan McArdle sense; (2) calling the Scotch-Irish "black Irish" makes no sense at all given that their color-at-hand is Orange*; and (3) since my ancestors nonetheless qualify under … Read more
300
by von
LET’S GET the obligatory post on "300" out of the way, since the movie seems to be everywhere these days.
1. I haven’t seen it.
2. Yet, based on the previews alone, I am willing to endorse the thesis of Andrew Sullivan’s respondant.
3. The stand at Thermopylae was the only good thing that Sparta ever did. I’m not kidding: there’s very little to like about Spartan society, particularly when compared with Athenian democracy (the competing model); the standard Spartan army was no better than the army of any other Greek state (as clearly demonstrated in later conflicts); and the best way to explain the Spartan foreign policy of the age is that it included equal parts pride, greed and envy — sometimes with a healthy dose of stupidity as well. Moreover, only a few decades after Thermopylae, Sparta was making common cause with the Persians in Sparta’s wars against Athens. Defender of the Greeks? Only when it suited Sparta’s interest.
4. The stand of the 300, while an important rearguard action, was not the critical battle in this particular campaign. Rather, the crucial battles occured at sea, when an Athens-led navy took on a much-larger Persian fleet. The Athenian navy both (1) saved Leonidas‘ ass for days by denying the much-larger Persian fleet safe harbor to land marines directly behind him and (2) eventually destroyed the much-larger Persian fleet at the Battle of Salamis, effectively (although not immediately) ending the campaign against Greece by severing Persia’s supply lines.* (Did I mention that the Persian fleet was much larger than the Athenian one?) Themistocles, the Athenian general who commanded the naval fleet and masterminded the victory, gets no love.
5. Oh, and it wasn’t "300" anyway. It was 300 Spartans supported by about 700 Thespians — or 1000 Greeks total. The Thespians also get no love.
6. The foregoing is Exhibit 1,204,995,231 in support of the thesis that there is no justice.
*Yes, credit for final victory is usually given to the Spartans at the Battle of Plataea, but that was simply the last battle in the Persian war — it was not the turning point.
UPDATE: Best comment so far is from Togolosh: "In fact, I think it’s likely that there were *no* Spartans at Thermopylae, but rather 700 regular Thespians and 300 Master Thespians who were pretending to be Spartans. Acting!"
Also, Jesurgislac rightly notes that Spartan women had an easier go of it than Athenian women. That’s one reason I wrote "there’s very little to like about Spartan society" rather than there’s nothing to like about Spartan society, but I should do a better job pointing out that Sparta is closer to modern norms on at least this issue. Still, given that (1) Sparta’s armies really were not the shiznit of the ancient world, but, by and large, were only a notch-or-two above ordinary; (2) until Sparta bribed Athens’ best rowers over to its side at the end of the PP war, a Spartan naval victory was defined as "Sparta flees (successfully)"; and (3) Sparta tried to sell out the rest of the Greeks to the Persians about 80 years after Thermopylae, it’s pretty stunning how Sparta is regarded today.
Commendable Commending
by von LET ME COMMEND this L.A. Times article, which shows that evidence supporting the proposition that we’re a poor, crime-ridden people because of immigration is, well, mixed at best. Or maybe completely made up by an unholy syndicate of crypto-nativists and union activists. In any event, since the article fits my prejudices and preferences, … Read more
Atom Heart Mother
by von
UNABLE TO REFUTE evidence of human influence on global warming, critics go after the humans themselves — at least, that seems to be the takaway point from the recent charges of hypocrisy against Al Gore, Diane Feinstein, and others.
I’m personally agnostic about how much influence people have on current warming trends, and I’ll defer to the experts on whether those trends are significant (most say that they are). And few enjoy watching Al Gore hoisted on his own petard more than I. But, really: Is the supposed hypocrisy of the global warmers really worth a sustained campaign by InstaPundit (and others)? And to what end? Does Professor Reynolds really want to dispense with market-based carbon set-offs, and impose the kinds of sudden, draconian limits that he believes is required by Al Gore’s philosophy? Here’s, after all, what Professor Reynolds says:
But if things are as bad as he says, is carbon-neutrality enough? Shouldn’t he be paying for all that tree-planting and cutting back on his energy usage? Why be carbon-neutral, if you can be carbon-negative? (And the whole carbon-offset business is kind of iffy anyway).
So, according to Professor Reynolds, if you buy that global warming is man-made, you can’t favor carbon offsets because they don’t address the problems. Something else needs to be done — and, one hopes, totally radical and eXtreme!
One senses an attempt to rope-a-dope by Reynolds — to try to make the implications of Gore’s views so extreme that Gore is forced to repudiate himself. But before Reynolds tries to rope-a-dope, the question he needs to ask himself is, "am I Ali?" Because the rope-a-dope strategy has some pretty famous disasters associated with it, not least of which was the disaster that befell the Athenian empire on Sicily. Nicias, an Athenian general, strongly opposed an invasion of Sicily by Athens. Thinking he could outsmart his opponents, he insisted on an invasion force so large that he was sure the Athenian democracy would reject it out of hand. He was thus quite surprised when he got his requested invasion force, plus some, and was named as one of the leaders of the expedition.
It’s true that carbon offsets aren’t perfect, as Captain Ed explains. But Professor Reynolds really should read what Captain Ed writes rather than just mindlessly linking it, because Captain Ed is also right that Reynolds’ current obsession with Gore’s heating bills has an excellent potential to bite Reynolds right back in the ass:
Okay, before we start really throwing the hypocrisy label at The Goracle of Global Warming, we should take care not to hit ourselves with it first. Most CQ readers are free-market thinkers. There’s nothing wrong with Gore using that kind of energy if he’s willing to pay for it. A mansion would use a lot more energy than a normal single-family dwelling; I’m sure that Bill Gates’ electrical bills dwarf what Gore’s paying for his Tennessee juice. My objection to his level of consumption would only be that he’s driving prices up with his large demand.
(There’s more.)
Wow
by von
I KNOW IT’S OUT OF TURN, but can I just sit back and marvel at Sen. Barack Obama’s unearthly political instincts? Two times Team Clinton has attacked him. Two times Team Obama has turned it around. Obama must have a black-belt in aikido, because I haven’t seen a political ninja the likes of him since … well … ever.
(More, including the The Von-voter Guide, is below the fold.)
Yugo-a-go-go
by von TWO THOUGHTS on this column by Max Boot, which warns that Iraq could turn into the Yugo of Arabia. (H/T InstaPundit.) First, the fear that Iraq would turn into Yugoslavia-on-the-Tigris is one reason why I — and others, like former Army Sec. Thomas White and Gen. Eric Shinseki — warned that more troops … Read more
Incidentally …
by von The A.V. Club (at The Onion) has an interesting interview with Ian MacKaye, formerly of Minor Threat and (more famously) Fugazi. I never got the whole straight edge vibe — your basic no-drinking, Xs-on-your-hands nanny punk lifestyle. It’s easy to dismiss these insufferable twerps between sips of your sweet, sweet ‘Makers. What gets … Read more
Stop Repeating Yourself, Dammit
by von With a second blast today and some pretty serious fighting going on in Baghdad, I’m a bit reminded of the Tet Offensive. I’ll let WikiPedia do the writing: The Tet Offensive (January 30, 1968 – June 8, 1968) was a series of operational offensives by the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army … Read more
Pretty Party
by von InstaPundit: This has been obvious for a long time anyway, and I don’t understand why the Bush Administration has been so slow to respond. Nor do I think that high-profile diplomacy, or an invasion, is an appropriate response. We should be responding quietly, killing radical mullahs and iranian atomic scientists, supporting the simmering … Read more
The Long View
by von Hilzoy, below, responds to my post criticizing Publius’s litmus test for Iraq: Any Democrat who supports military action against Iran gets a primary challenger. Any presidential candidate who supports military action against Iran loses primary support. Period. No exceptions. I called this litmus test "profoundly unwise." Hilzoy partially disagrees. In hopes of finding … Read more
Profoundly Unwise
by von Publius makes the following comment regarding possible military action against Iran: I could go on, but that’s not the point today. Instead, I’d like to see the netsroots — and then the bigger Democratic interest groups (particularly unions) — lay down the following challenge to wobbly-kneed elected Democrats: Any Democrat who supports military … Read more
Or Maybe ….
by von Cliff May: Until a few days ago, Charles "Cully" Stimson, a former JAG officer and prosecutor, served as assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs. I met him recently when I visited the detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where the most dangerous of America’s enemy combatants are held. Many of those who … Read more
The Surge
by von
Richard Lugar, writing in the Washington Post, makes the most reasonable case that I’ve seen so far in favor of giving the Bush Administration’s on last chance:
Some commentators have compared the Bush plan to a "Hail Mary" pass in football — a desperate heave deep down the field by a losing team at the end of the game. Actually, a far better analogy for the Bush plan is a draw play on third down with 20 yards to go in the first quarter. The play does have a chance of working if everything goes perfectly, but it is more likely to gain a few yards and set up a punt on the next down, after which the game can be continued under more favorable circumstances.
Compelling imagery this is not. Nor is it an endorsement of George Bush as Commander in Chief to think that the most we can risk now is a riskless play — for anything fancier would, in these hands, more likely than not lead to disaster. Better hand if off for a draw, kick the (almost) inevitable punt, and leave Iraq to the next Administration to fix.
The Senior Senator from Indiana, however, has given me pause in my opposition to the surge. In a choice between bad and worse — the choice Lugar recognizes is before us — we should prefer bad. If you don’t trust your QB to throw, it’s better to run on third and at least set up the punt.
But it is only been pause. Although I respect Senator Lugar as much as any man — and have gladly voted for him in the past — I’m not convinced that even his lukewarm support for the surge is correct. Here are three reasons for my continued skepticism (below the fold):
Not Better By Comparison
by von Moe Lane, who deserves (and will always have) my respect as the founder of this Blog and an all-around good guy, serves up a softball on RedHot: …I link to this Captain Ed article on Sen. Kerry and Davos. Only nostalga, though. Fortunately for everyone, Kerry was not elected in 2004; and he … Read more
Bring Back Fat Apollo!
by von If you want politics, go here (Andrew on the Fairness Doctrine) or here (Hilzoy on Hillary). If you want to bs about today’s games, go here. If you want to gamble on the Cornerites, Publius is your man. By popular demand, however, this is your Battlestar Galactica Open Thread. Use it wisely. Because … Read more
Dreams Go To Die
by von 5:34 left in the 4th, and it looks like New Orleans is about to fall to the Chicago Bears (currently it’s 32-14, with Chicago driving at the NO 20). I never bought NO as a legitimate contender, and, having lived in Chicago for a number of years, I still have some residual love … Read more
Regrets ….
by von APOLOGIES. I will all-but-disappear for the next several months: a four-week trial starting in mid-September and possible business trips to London, Mexico, Hong Kong, and both coasts will take their inevitable toll. (And, trust me: the doing of the foregoing is substantially less exciting that the sounding of the foregoing.) See you in … Read more
Cashout
by von WELL, WELL, WELL, WELL: TALKING TO SYRIA….There are still plenty of nay-sayers, but the chorus calling for Syrian involvement in crafting a Lebanon ceasefire solution now includes Richard Armitage, Warren Christopher, and Mr. Flat World himself, Tom Friedman. Let me be the first to say that any drunk fool coulda seen this one … Read more
We Get Mail
by von How do you know that you’ve arrived? You get mail like this: Thank you for your perceptive comment! I accept on behalf of the entire ObWi crew: each and every one of us "fags, fag sympathizers, and/or feminazis" thanks you for your contribution. Indeed, the care that you put into your short note, … Read more
Bad Mouth
by von I give J-Pod The Word on Mel’s breakdown: Listen, I understand that you found The Passion of the Christ stirring and meaningful. But there’s really no way around this one. The guy got drunk and began abusing a Malibu cop — a job category that vies with Shiite sheikh for perhaps the least … Read more
Ex-Spectator
by von HISTORY WILL JUDGE, I suspect, that Colin Powell got it right: The Powell Doctrine simply asserts that when a nation is engaging in war, every resource and tool should be used to achieve overwhelming force against the enemy. This may oppose the principle of proportionality, but there are grounds to suppose that principles … Read more
No Exit
by von THE WORDS OF Kofi Annan, Wednesday: In a statement, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said he was "shocked and deeply distressed by the apparently deliberate targeting" of the "clearly marked U.N. post at Khiyam." Annan said Olmert had given him "personal assurances" that U.N. posts would not be targeted, adding that the UNIFIL … Read more
Slogans
by von GLENN REYNOLDS, BLOGFATHER: "DIPLOMACY is the art of saying ‘nice doggie’ while reaching for a stick." Condi is saying ‘nice doggie.’ Israel is the stick. One may disapprove of this strategy, but complaints that Condi isn’t accomplishing anything merely indicate that the complainer doesn’t know what’s going on. I don’t mean to beat … Read more
Not Yet
by von Hilzoy writes (below) that "this has to stop" in Lebanon — that, whatever justifications Israel may have had going into Lebanon, they’re outweighed by the damage now being done to the nascent Lebanese democracy and to Lebanese civilians. However, the fact the Hezbollah is wrong does not mean that Israel is right; nor … Read more