Jonah Goldberg on the Dems Betraying Their Base

Suddenly, it looks as if the Democrats are the Republicans on fast-forward. It’s early yet, and the Democrats did finish their mini-Contract with America — the so-called first 100 hours — with mixed success on the substance but great fanfare in the media. Yet items like upping the minimum wage and shafting oil companies, although certainly not insubstantial, were primarily symbolic.

The most important issue in the November elections was the war in Iraq. The weasel words and euphemisms — “strategic redeployment,” “course change,” whatever — couldn’t conceal the simple fact that the Democrats were elected largely to end the war. That was certainly how the party’s liberal base saw it, then and now.

But look at how the Democrats are behaving. They’ve completely failed to stop the surge, and their latest efforts to derail the war are so convoluted — timetables on top of timetables — that even House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, a co-sponsor of legislation to withdraw troops by September 2008, can’t explain them.

...
Forget the war for a minute. What’s the second most important issue for liberals today? Global warming, of course. For example, Sen. John Kerry claims that he’s not running for president in’08 so that he can dedicate himself to the issues of Iraq and climate change. John Edwards says global warming will make world war look like heaven. Hollywood donors who hate the prospect of sweating in greenhouse gases as they walk to the gangway of their private jets think that global warming is the defining issue of our age.

So now’s the time to solve global warming, right? For years, we’ve been subjected to charges that President Bush “refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol.” Well, guess what? Bush couldn’t sign Kyoto. It was already signed under the previous president, who immediately shoved it in his desk drawer. (Bush didn’t sign the Treaty of Versailles either, by the way.)

If Kyoto’s such a priority, why hasn’t Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid fought to take it up? There’s a strong legal case that once signed, a treaty is automatically in the Senate’s court. But you don’t hear Reid fighting to take up Kyoto even though it’s our best hope to combat the Most Dangerous Threat Facing Mankind.

Of course, Kyoto would never pass even a Democrat-controlled Senate because it would wreak havoc on the economy. Other Democratic betrayals in the making face similar problems. Democrats could never repeal the Defense of Marriage Act or the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. But that’s the ironic part. Republicans went soft because doing what the base wanted was too damn hard. It seems the same fate awaits Democrats.

Congressman's Office Vandalized by Radicals in Lansing

Vandalism in Landing, home of Michigan State University:

Congressman Mike Rogers' home is under police guard after his Lansing office was severely vandalized last night.
The case is being handled by the FBI and the US Capitol Police, who have requested that the Lansing Police investigate the matter.

According to the Congressman's spokesperson, the office was extensively damaged.

Two security cameras were destroyed and the building was spray painted.

The tapes from the cameras are being reviewed to see if they recorded anything before they were destroyed.

The vandals also spread red paint all over the 8th congressional district sign in front of the building, as well as on a sign that says "We Support Our Troops."

They also put a sign on one of the buildings windows that says Congressman Rogers has "blood on his hands."

Researchers Question Validity Of A 'Global Temperature'

Very Interesting:

Discussions on global warming often refer to 'global temperature.' Yet the concept is thermodynamically as well as mathematically an impossibility, says Bjarne Andresen, a professor at The Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, who has analyzed this topic in collaboration with professors Christopher Essex from University of Western Ontario and Ross McKitrick from University of Guelph, Canada.
...
He explains that while it is possible to treat temperature statistically locally, it is meaningless to talk about a a global temperature for Earth. The Globe consists of a huge number of components which one cannot just add up and average. That would correspond to calculating the average phone number in the phone book. That is meaningless. Or talking about economics, it does make sense to compare the currency exchange rate of two countries, whereas there is no point in talking about an average 'global exchange rate'.

I'm glad that there is finally a real discussion on global warming.

Hello, I'm John Doe. Sue Me!

From the people who brought you the "flying Imams."

The Coming War with Islam

Food for thought:

“The Americans, the Europeans, and even you Israelis really don’t know what it is all about, do you? During the last generation hundreds of thousands of children have been taught all over the Moslem world in Madrass schools to become martyrs for Allah in order to kill the infidels. These youngsters not only are ready to do it, but are actually in the process of doing it. Bombs are going off all over the world killing and maiming thousands of people, not only on 9/11 in the US, in London Madrid and Bali, but in Africa, India, Bengladesh, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and many other places. The first signs of the Islamic Tsunami is already here, but the West doesn’t understand, or doesn’t want to understand what is coming."

A LOOK AT "CLIMATE CHANGE HYPOCRITES,"

Hat tip Instapundit

More on Voter Fraud and US Attorneys

This is a follow-up to my previous post.

From Powerline:

Stefan Sharkansky writes:

You've been writing about the fired U.S. Attorneys, so I thought you might be interested in another side of the story on John McKay. The national media have transmitted without challenge McKay's story that he investigated allegations of vote fraud in Washington's 2004 gubernatorial race but saw "zero evidence" of fraud. Now he's being portrayed (see Friday's NYT editorial) as the victim/hero of partisan Republicans who are punishing him for refusing to launch a groundless, politically-motivated investigation.

There's much more to this than has been widely reported. A lot more credible evidence of election violations from the 2004 governor's race has been shown to McKay than he's been willing to acknowledge, let alone investigate.

It's taken me two years and some litigation to get the King County Elections office to release enough of the appropriate records, but I've compiled evidence of hundreds of illegal votes (nearly 4 times the official 129-vote "margin of victory"). These are not just random errors, but incidents of systemic mishandling of ballots by the elections office, most of which occurred just before the election was certified when the Democrat appeared to be trailing. At the very least it's official negligence that may well have changed the outcome of the governor's race. Was it all run-of-the-mill "good enough for government work" negligence? Or was it willful? Does it meet the legal standard of "fraud"? We don't know, as there's never been an investigation into any of this.

McKay has cited the election contest trial where the judge ruled: "No testimony has been placed before the Court to suggest fraud or intentional misconduct." But all of the hundreds of illegal votes that I'm referring to were not known during the trial -- largely because King County evaded their discovery obligations and because the timeline was so compressed the litigants didn't have time to pursue every lead. This stuff was uncovered only months after the trial and long after the local mainstream press moved on to other things.

A summary of the findings is here. Some of this was presented to the local FBI in December 2005 and copied to McKay. See this letter (redacted to remove personal contact information). There's no indication that the DoJ or FBI ever followed up on this report or on other similar reports.

Why would McKay ignore the legitimate suggestions of election violations and fight back so aggressively now? Western Washington is overwhelmingly Democrat, especially Seattle. The dominant voices in the political establishment and the mainstream media were only too happy to put the embarrassing, if not incriminating, 2004 election behind them. It would be politically (and socially) risky for McKay (as a Republican appointee, no less) to be the first official to start turning over the rocks in county government. Much safer to stick with the in-crowd, call it a close but clean election and keep looking the other way. And now that McKay's in a public pissing match with Bush, who is extremely unpopular in Seattle? He's the darling of the local establishment. If he aspires to a career in state politics, this is his ticket.

300: It’s All Geek to Me

Though it opened on a relatively small number of screens, “300” made money far beyond the most optimistic projections of its producers, racking up the third-best opening weekend ever for an R-rated movie.

The critics, however, were mostly hostile, and frequently venomous. Many reviews made the same points:

• “300” is not sufficiently ironic. It takes its themes (duty, loyalty, sacrifice, the preservation of Western civilization against enormous odds) too seriously to, well, be taken seriously.

• “300” is campy — meaning that many things about it can be read as sexual double entendres — yet the filmmakers don’t show sufficient awareness of this.

• All of the good guys are white people and many of the bad guys are brown. (How this could have been avoided in a film about Spartans versus Persians is never explained; the distinctly non-Greek viewers at my showing seemed to have no trouble placing themselves in the sandals of ancient Spartans.)

But such criticisms aren’t really worth arguing with, because they are not serious in the first place — and that is their whole point. Many critics dislike “300” so intensely that they refused to do it the honor of criticizing it as if it were a real movie. Critics at a festival in Berlin walked out, and accused its director of being on the Bush payroll.

Thermopylae is a wedge issue!

I have not been to a movie in years. I think I'll go see it.

Mark Steyn: Victor Victorians. A lesson in real morality

We have a mental image of 18th Century England as a land of very "proper" and morally scrupulous people who shuddered at the sight of a naked leg ... a piano leg. What a ridiculous misconception:

The 18th century Church of England preached "a tepid kind of moralism" disconnected both from any serious faith and from the great questions facing the nation. It was a sensualist culture amusing itself to death: Wilberforce goes to a performance of Don Juan, is shocked by a provocative dance, and is then further shocked to discover the rest of the audience is too blase even to be shocked. The Paris Hilton of the age, the Prince of Wales, was celebrated for having bedded 7,000 women and snipped from each a keepsake hair. Twenty-five percent of all unmarried females in London were whores; the average age of a prostitute was 16, and many brothels prided themselves on offering only girls under the age of 14.
[snip]
What we think of as "the Victorian era" was, in large part, an invention of Wilberforce that he succeeded in selling to his compatriots. We children of the 20th century mock our 19th century forebears as uptight prudes, moralists and do-gooders. If they were, it's because of Wilberforce. His legacy includes the very notion of a "social conscience": In the 1790s a good man could stroll past an 11-year-old prostitute on a London street without feeling a twinge of disgust or outrage; he accepted her as merely a feature of the landscape, like an ugly hill.

Read the whole thing.

The "real" federal prosecutor scandal. Dems use it to steal the next election.

There appears to be a coordinated effort on the part of Democrats and their media allies to prevent investigation of voter fraud by US attorneys.

Reasons for the firing of 8 US Attorneys have varied. Some, like Carol Lam, were ousted for failure to pursue cases against illegal immigrants. Others, like John McKay and David Inglasias were fired for failure to pursue voter fraud.

Voter fraud, unlike many other crimes, strikes at the very heart of our system of government. We do not need to be reminded of the closeness of recent elections for the very highest offices from President to Governors to Senators and Representatives.

It will not do for the Democrats in congress to make it politically impossible to bring voter fraud charges. It will not do for the partisan press (read NY Times) to dismiss charges of widespread voter fraud and voter intimidation as non-problems when it suits their ideological purposes.

From press reports it appears that most of the voter fraud was committed by operatives from the Democrat party.

It is becoming very apparent that the faux outrage among the democrats in congress and the press is designed to insure that voter fraud committed by democrats now becomes the third rail of politics. In the future, and federal prosecutor who brings charges against Democrats who commit voter fraud will now be accused of committing a political hit job under orders from the Bush administration.

That is the real outrage and it is happening right in the open.

When And Why Joseph C Wilson IV Outed Valerie Plame

Abolutely fascinating article. What is especially devastating for Joe Wilson is that he supported the belief that Saddam had WMDs AFTER he went to Niger and before the invasion!

January 28, 2003: President George W. Bush delivered his State of the Union Address.

February 6, 2003: Joe Wilson wrote an editorial for the Los Angeles Times, A ‘Big Cat’ With Nothing to Lose, in which he claimed we should not attack Saddam Hussein because he will use his weapons of mass destruction on our troops and give them to terrorists.

There is now no incentive for Hussein to comply with the inspectors or to refrain from using weapons of mass destruction to defend himself if the United States comes after him.

And he will use them; we should be under no illusion about that.

February 28, 2003: Joe Wilson was interviewed by Bill Moyers. Wilson agreed with Bush’s SOTU remarks, and reiterated his belief that Saddam had WMD and that he would use them on US troops.

Read the whole thing.

Mahatma Gandhi: Immoral Moralist

Despite (or perhaps because of) the veneration of Gandhi by many with a superficial view of history, I have always viewed this wizened little man with a degree of distaste. Perhaps it was this very show of public morality in a mere mortal. Perhaps it was the fact that he did not so much free India from British rule as that the British let India go. Perhaps it was the bloody civil and religious war that followed Indian independence. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps... I have now found some more concrete examples to list Gandhi as one of the great humbugs of all time.

From Powerline:

Gandhi's views on the European crisis were not entirely consistent. He vigorously opposed Munich, distrusting Chamberlain. "Europe has sold her soul for the sake of a seven days' earthly existence," he declared. "The peace that Europe gained at Munich is a triumph of violence." But when the Germans moved into the Bohemian heartland, he was back to urging nonviolent resistance, exhorting the Czechs to go forth, unarmed, against the Wehrmacht, perishing gloriously--collective suicide again. He had Madeleine Slade draw up two letters to President Eduard Benes of Czechoslovakia, instructing him on the proper conduct of Czechoslovak satyagrahi when facing the Nazis.

When Hitler attacked Poland, however, Gandhi suddenly endorsed the Polish army's military resistance, calling it "almost nonviolent." (If this sounds like double-talk, I can only urge readers to read Gandhi.) He seemed at this point to have a rather low opinion of Hitler, but when Germany's panzer divisions turned west, Allied armies collapsed under the ferocious onslaught, and British ships were streaming across the Straits of Dover from Dunkirk, he wrote furiously to the Viceroy of India: "This manslaughter must be stopped. You are losing; if you persist, it will only result in greater bloodshed. Hitler is not a bad man...."

Gandhi also wrote an open letter to the British people, passionately urging them to surrender and accept whatever fate Hitler had prepared for them. "Let them take possession of your beautiful island with your many beautiful buildings. You will give all these, but neither your souls, nor your minds." Since none of this had the intended effect, Gandhi, the following year, addressed an open letter to the prince of darkness himself, Adolf Hitler.

THE scene must be pictured. In late December 1941, Hitler stood at the pinnacle of his might. His armies, undefeated anywhere ruled Europe from the English Channel to the Volga. Rommel had entered Egypt. The Japanese had reached Singapore. The U.S. Pacific Fleet lay at the bottom of Pearl Harbor. At this superbly chosen moment, Mahatma Gandhi attempted to convert Adolf Hitler to the ways of nonviolence. "Dear Friend," the letter begins, and proceeds to a heartfelt appeal to the Fuhrer to embrace all mankind "irrespective of race, color, or creed." Every admirer of the film Gandhi should be compelled to read this letter. Surprisingly, it is not known to have had any deep impact on Hitler. Gandhi was no doubt disappointed. He moped about, really quite depressed, but still knew he was right. When the Japanese, having cut their way through Burma, threatened India, Gandhi's strategy was to let them occupy as much of India as they liked and then to "make them feel unwanted." His way of helping his British "friends" was, at one of the worst points of the war, to launch massive civil-disobedience campaigns against them, paralyzing some of their efforts to defend India from the Japanese.

Read the whole thing, especially the part about making the Japanese feel unwanted.

Roanoke Times Lists Names of Concealed Carry Permit Holders in Virginia

The person who posted these names is:
Christian J. Trejbal
675 School Ln.
Christianburg, VA 24073
Christian.Trejbal@roanoke.com

Some other articles about this here, here, here, here, here.

The Myth of Moral Neutrality

Gregory Koukl in a Townhall.com column does an excellent job of exploding the myth that people who criticise others for making moral judgements are being morally neutral.

All judgements are based on morals positions ... none are neutral. True neutrality equals silence.

He takes the classic expression of moral "neutrality" expressed by Faye Wattleton (see link to article), the former President of Planned Parenthood and destructs it this way:

Faye Wattleton's assessment is based on the notion of neutral ground, a place that implies no moral judgment. Wattleton is not neutral, however, as her own comments demonstrate.

In her article, Wattleton in effect argues that each of us should respect another's point of view. She then implies, however, that any point of view other than this one is immoral, un-American, and tyrannous. If you disagree with Wattleton's position that all points of view are equally valid, then your point of view is not valid. Her argument commits suicide; it self-destructs.

Read the whole thing.

The Enemy at Home

Watch how Liberals deal with the issue of free speech. Netenyahu at Concordia.

What Would Ghandi Do?

Fred Thompson on Code Pink's invocation of Gandhi.

During World War II, Gandhi penned an open letter to the British people, urging them to surrender to the Nazis. Later, when the extent of the holocaust was known, he criticized Jews who had tried to escape or fight for their lives as they did in Warsaw and Treblinka. “The Jews should have offered themselves to the butcher’s knife,” he said. “They should have thrown themselves into the sea from cliffs.” “Collective suicide,” he told his biographer, “would have been heroism.”

I suggest Code Pink take Ghandhi's advice. Sooner rather than later.

Point/Counterpoint

In which R2D2 and Chewbacca debate tax policy.

Meltdown at Justice

From Power Line with Links to good articles.

If You Are A Pot Smoking, Alcoholic Leftist Lawyer the CIA Is The Place For You!

There are many, many misconceptions people have about working for the CIA. Actually, people are surprised when they hear that the CIA has a General Counsel's Office at all! . . . Another misconception is that the CIA is extraordinarily conservative. That's totally not the case. I'd say that most people here would consider themselves very liberal. . . .
'Another big misconception has to do with who gets into the CIA. There's a totally wrong-headed picture in people's minds that if you've ever smoked a joint, you can't get into the CIA. That's not true. Maybe you'd say, "Oh, when I was a freshman in college, I'd light up a doobie, I drank a lot, but when I got to law school, I grew up, and I don't do that anymore." That's not going to remove you from consideration. . . . There are a lot of people who self-select out, thinking that because of some old, casual drug use they won't get in. That's a shame.

Newsweek Dishonors Our Troops

Thomas Sowell makes an excellent point regarding the MSM's portrayal of our troops:

The front cover of Newsweek’s March 5th issue featured a woman with amputated legs and a sweatshirt that said “ARMY” across the front. Inside, there were pages and pages of other pictures of badly wounded and disfigured military veterans, in a long article that began under the big headline: “Forgotten Heroes.”

The utter hypocrisy of all this can be seen in the word “heroes.” There have been many acts of heroism among our troops in Iraq — but those heroes didn’t make the front cover of Newsweek.

One man fell on a grenade to protect his buddies, smothering the fatal blast with his body, so that those around him might live when he died. But that never made the front cover of Newsweek. It was barely mentioned anywhere in the liberal media.

They are not interested in heroes. They are interested in depicting victims — in the military as in civilian society.

The Newsweek hypocrisy is not unique. It has been the rule, not the exception, as much of the mainstream media has devoted itself to filtering and spinning the news out of Iraq.

Parading casualties is called “honoring our troops.” But what does it mean to honor someone? When we gather at a memorial service to honor someone in death or at a ceremony to award prizes to them while they are alive, what do we do?

We talk about the good things they have done, their endeavors and their achievements. We don’t call simply pointing out that someone is dead “honoring” them. Nor is simply pointing out that someone is dismembered or disfigured “honoring” them.

Read the rest

Al Gore's Carbon Footprint

The Great Global Warming Swindle

Click for movie.

Your Greed Disappoints Jesus

Stock Markets and the Japanese Carry Trade

So what is the “Carry Trade” about and what does it have to do with the turmoil in the global markets?

To understand this phenomenon we have to learn two terms:
1. Carry trade and …
2. Margin call.

First, the “carry trade.” This refers to the practice of borrowing money at a low rate and investing it at a higher rate. As you all learned by reading your Wall Street Journal, interest rates in Japan have been remarkably low; virtually zero. Enterprising speculators have been borrowing money in Japan and investing it in securities that paid more. These could be as low risk as US government bonds or as high risk as Chinese stocks.

If you can borrow Japanese yen at, say, 0.5% and buy US government bonds at, say, 4.5% you can make a fortune. And if you want to take more risk and invest the Japanese loan in the Chinese stock market which doubled last year, you could become very, very rich indeed.

This worked very well for some years. But there is something that can go wrong.

In fact, several somethings.

The first thing that can go wrong is that your investment is poorly chosen and its value declines.

The second thing that can go wrong is that the value of the currency you borrowed can rise. That means that your investment in those US Government bonds may not be enough to pay off the loan you made in Japanese yen.

And those two things happened at roughly the same time.

After rising like a skyrocket during 2006, the Chinese stock market declined by about 10% in a single day. That is enough to spook a speculator.

Then the Japanese yen began rising relative to other currencies; making it more expensive to pay off those Japanese loans.

And that’s where the margin calls came in. Banks that lend you money like to know that you can pay it back. They check on their collateral. And when they are dealing with speculators they check on their collateral daily, if not hourly. If the banks see that you may have trouble paying them back, they ask you to come up with extra cash.

And here comes the “spillover effect.” If you can’t sell the security that is giving you problems but are told that you have to raise cash, you sell whatever can be sold readily. And if that happens to be a portfolio of Blue Chip stocks that you own, well, that’s what you sell.

And if that causes the DJIA to drop 500 points in a single day, well, you do what you have to do.

The lesson for us all is to be aware of all the risks we’re taking, even the ones that you don’t see coming.

Two Cheers for Boycotting FOX

I see that the “Nutroots” have compelled the Democrats in Nevada to cancel a candidate forum to be moderated and carried by the FOX network. The Left is ecstatic about their effect on the Democrats. The Right is predictably disdainful and is reproaching the Democrats for bowing to the radical left.

While I would like to join the chorus of those ridiculing the Dems for boycotting FOX, I’m not going to.

The fact is, I think it’s not a bad idea. I have been wishing that Republicans and those on the Right would stop appearing on the alphabet networks as well as CNN, NPR, et al. If I had my way, calls from the NY Times, Washington Post, LA Times, Time, Newsweek and the Washington Bureau of the Wall Street Journal would not be answered.

Scooter Libby would not stand convicted if he had not spoken with Tim Russert.

At one time the only way Conservatives could communicate was via the MSM. This is no longer true. The Right has found its own voice via radio, TV and the Internet. We no longer need to send messages via the pages of the enemy press. And let there be no mistake, the ones I cited are our political enemies.

A century or two ago, there were many more newspapers aligned with various factions. They bias was up front and blatant. As the industry consolidated into the MSM, they assumed an “above the battle” air, but were very much part of the political debate. Today they only pay lip service to impartiality. Fine. Why suffer the hypocrisy and feed the revenues and appetite of those who despise you?

Let the divisions that have been papered over be uncovered. What’s wrong with an avowedly conservative FOX? On the radio Limbaugh, Hannity, Boortz, O’Reily and others are unabashedly Right,Libertarian or populist. That’s fine.

The Internet bloggers are blatantly partisan and identify their polical biases.

It’s not a problem; not nearly as much of a problem as Liberalism disguised as faux neutrality.

Belmont Club on Global Warming and Polar Bears

Here's a story guaranteed to induce manic-depression in Global Warming advocates. The Daily Telegraph reports "Polar bears thriving as the Arctic warms up".

A survey of the animals' numbers in Canada's eastern Arctic has revealed that they are thriving, not declining, because of mankind's interference in the environment. In the Davis Strait area, a 140,000-square kilometre region, the polar bear population has grown from 850 in the mid-1980s to 2,100 today. "There aren't just a few more bears. There are a hell of a lot more bears," said Mitch Taylor, a polar bear biologist who has spent 20 years studying the animals.

Read the rest.

The Joe & Valerie Show

Jonah Goldberg commiserates with Val and Joe.

Tim Russert Lies Under Oath

Charles Krauthammer has an excellent article in Townhall on the Libby case.

Here’s the reason Libby was convicted.

Everyone agrees that Fitzgerald's perjury case against Libby hung on the testimony of NBC's Tim Russert. Libby said that he heard about Plame from Russert. Russert said he had never discussed it. The jury members who have spoken said they believed Russert.

And why should they not? Russert is a perfectly honest man who would not lie. He was undoubtedly giving his best recollection.

But he is not the pope. Given that so many journalists and administration figures were shown to have extremely fallible memories, is it possible that Russert's memory could have been faulty?

I have no idea. But we do know that Russert once denied calling up a Buffalo News reporter to complain about a story. Russert later apologized for the error when he was shown the evidence of a call he had genuinely and completely forgotten.

There is a second instance of Russert innocently misremembering. He stated under oath that he did not know that one may not be accompanied by a lawyer to a grand jury hearing. This fact, in and of itself, is irrelevant to the case, except that, as former prosecutor Victoria Toensing points out, the defense had tapes showing Russert saying on television three times that lawyers are barred from grand jury proceedings.

This demonstration of Russert's fallibility was never shown to the jury. The judge did not allow it. He was upset with the defense because it would not put Libby on the stand -- his perfect Fifth Amendment right -- after hinting in the opening statement that it might. He therefore denied the defense a straightforward demonstration of the fallibility of the witness whose testimony was most decisive.

Rick Moran: Morality Police

Rick Moran at Right Wing Nuthouse has the vapors about Ann Coulter’s use of the term “faggot.” He is anxious that “his” side of the political spectrum “…deny any of you lefties an opening.”

So we must throw Ann under the bus and to prove our good intentions he encourages us to write to editors and publishers attempting to end Ann’s career.

I left a reply to his post disagreeing with his position. He evidently did not like it because he deleted it, and then came to my website with the following comment:

Before you accuse people of deleting comments they don't like on their blog, I suggest you read their comment policy.

No obscenity.
No insulting the host personally.
No insulting other commenters.

Easy. Simple. Something any masturbating monkey could do.

Obviously, you couldn't.

Now I could have been either obscene or insulting in my comment, but you’ll never know because he deleted it.

But to answer the curious: my comments are never obscene and I avoid insults.

But is there any question that his comment was both obscene and insulting?

I suggest that you read Moran’s post because in it this self proclaimed upholder of verbal propriety uses terms such as:

…shut the F**k ...

...goal is to starve the witch

.... one of those mouth breathers

I frankly don’t give a shit what you think of my arguments

You really have to try to be that stupid and shallow. I mean, it requires a herculean effort to be such an idiot

What a moron.

I don’t presume to tell you what to think of the Rick Moran who presumes to tell us what to think about Ann Coulter. But I want it known that Rick Moran does not speak for me.

Mark Steyn on Plamegate

...an anti-war deputy secretary of an anti-war department leaking to an anti-war reporter the name of an anti-war analyst who got her anti-war husband a job with an anti-war agency is supposedly an elaborate “conspiracy” by Cheney, Rove and the other warmongers. Looked at more prosaically, it’s a freak intersection of bad personnel decisions, which is one of the worst features of this presidency. So many of the Bush Administration’s wounds come from its willingness to keep the wrong people in key positions: Tenet should not have been retained at the CIA, Armitage should not have been at State.

I'm beginning to question Bush's street smarts. And there is a lesson for all Republican administrations.

Criminalizing Republicans while Democrats Skate

In the realm of Federal Investigations, ever wonder what happened to the indictment of Richard Armitage for revealing Valerie Plame's name? Never happened.

How about Ted Kennedy for killing a girl off Dike Bridge?

How about Congressman Jefferson for taking a bribe and shashing the loot in his freezer?

Of have you seen the prosecution of major Clinton contributor Jeffrey Epstein who was nabbed in Palm Beach in a massive police investigation into his hiring of local underage schoolgirls for sex?

Or Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Democrat) engaged in a complicated land swindle, buying a parcel of land for $400,000 and selling it for over $1 million a few years later. (At least it wasn't cattle futures!)

Ann Coulter's mad and names names.

Good Hillary Ad

See the sheeple.

About the "Wonderful" British National Health Service

We’ve just learnt that some hospitals are removing every third light bulb to save money, and that nurses are being paid half the minimum wage — or being asked to work for nothing — at others.

That’s how bad the financial crisis has become. Meanwhile, the National Health Service is employing shaman fairy enthusiasts as psychological counsellors, enthusiastically providing treatments invented by “an ordained minister and a personal performance coach” who thinks tapping your body can cure diabetes, promoting dowsers and crystal healers and spending vast amounts on therapies that can’t be scientifically supported.

Am I the only one who sees a problem here?

Stein on Conrad Black

On becoming a billionaire ruining a business.

Ann Coulter on Faggots

The NY Times rounds up the usual suspects called on to denounce Ann Coulter's joke about John Edwards.

On another site a someone commented that being a “faggot” is not an insult because “…there’s nothing wrong with that.” For those who condemn Ann, why is being called a homosexual bad? Are homosexuals evil? Why do you think so?

I’ll defend Ann’s speech because she is MY bomb thrower. What I find interesting is reaction of many on the Right’s knee-jerk desire to disavow its bomb throwers like Ann. There is little of this reaction on the Left to its much more numerous and much higher profile bomb throwers. Is it to the kind of gentility that maiden ladies once exhibited? Are our pundits really that desirous of being told that they are good little boys and girls? If we disapprove, perhaps we can simply avert our gaze. It’s really not necessary to be shown to take a kick. Let’s leave that to the jackals and the sideline snipers.


UPDATE:
One of the problems that many political nerds have is that they don't understand the context of Ann's joke. You have be be current with the news. To understand the joke you have to know THIS:

Isaiah Washington [Grey's Anatomy star] reportedly agreed to undergo a psychological assessment following discussions with ABC executives about his denial at the Golden Globe awards that he had called co-star T.R. Knight a "faggot,"

Say, "faggot" and you have to go into counselling. Get it now?

Of course the perennially aggrieved won't let their lack of a funny bone stop them from their favorite diversion: denunciation as moral cleansing. I have not read so much moral grandstanding since reading "The Scarlet Letter."

By the way, one first out of the box, Right Wing Nuthouse edits its posts and deletes comments it does not like.

By the way, for the punning impaired, the headline is a pun.

UPDATE:

Flopping Aces chimes in. Sounds as if he gets the joke.
Six Meat Buffet does also.
Someone posting as Blackredneck comments:

I am ssoooo tired of the Coulter bashing. As always, I’m amazed at how quickly Republicans are to throw one of their own under the bus. And it does seem to be those who are most effective at what they do. My first reaction was “gosh, what a bunch of prissy saps.”

Exactly.

But I believe some elements of the blogosphere are becoming (or trying to become) “respectable.” They have developed large (by internet standard) readerships and they now care – very much – about what they believe “respectable opinion” thinks of them.

It’s a common phenomenon in Washington, DC. A man gets elected as a Conservative and after a while the arbiters of DC society talk about how Representative X has “grown;” which means that he has abandoned his conservative ideals and is now an ineffective drone, part of the Washington hive; mouthing conventional platitudes and endorsing “approved” ideas.

It seems to be happening in the blogosphere. The almost hysterical desire to distance oneself from Ann Coulter can only be understood in this way. But I’m persuaded that most don’t realize the power of convention. I imagine that we’ll see much more of this in the years ahead as blogging goes mainstream.

And from Six Meat Buffet, we get this spoof of an Edwards ad:

How Gore's massive energy consumption saves the world: Mark Steyn

Stop me if you've heard this before, but the other day the Rev. Al Gore declared that "climate change" was "the most important moral, ethical, spiritual and political issue humankind has ever faced.'' Ever. I believe that was the same day it was revealed that George W. Bush's ranch in Texas is more environmentally friendly than the Gore mansion in Tennessee. According to the Nashville Electric Service, the Eco-Messiah's house uses 20 times more electricity than the average American home. The average household consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours. In 2006, the Gores wolfed down nearly 221,000 kilowatt-hours.

Two hundred twenty-one thousand kilowatt-hours? What's he doing in there? Clamping Tipper to the electrodes and zapping her across the rec room every night? No, no, don't worry. Al's massive energy consumption is due entirely to his concern about the way we're depleting the Earth's resources. When I say "we," I don't mean Al, of course. I mean you -- yes, you, Earl Schlub, in the basement apartment at 29 Elm St. You're irresponsibly depleting the Earth's resources by using that electric washer when you could be down by the river with the native women beating your loin cloth dry on the rock while singing traditional village work chants all morning long. But up at the Gore mansion -- the Nashville Electric Service's own personal gold mine, the shining Cathedral of St. Al, Tennessee's very own Palace of Versal -- the Reverend Al is being far more environmentally responsible. As his spokesperson attempted to argue, his high energy usage derives from his brave calls for low energy usage. He's burning up all that electricity by sending out faxes every couple of minutes urging you to use less electricity.

Read the rest.

Good Thoughts by Vanderleun

Embrace the Murtha and Stick a Fork in McCain. He's Done.

Killing fields then and now

Because the MSM was complicit in the genocide that took place after America was defeated in Viet Nam, it has never acknowledged its responsibility for the deaths of millions. This is a grim reminder that there are some whose consciences are not totally callused by ideology.

... the barbaric nature of the Communist Khmer Rouge was painted over in soothing tones by much of the American press. The New York Times was the most flagrant offender. In one dispatch, its correspondent Sydney Schanberg described a ranking Khmer Rouge leader as a "French-educated intellectual" who wanted nothing more than "to fight against feudal privileges and social inequities." A bloodbath was unlikely, Schanberg reported: "since all are Cambodians, an accommodation will be found." As the last Americans were withdrawn, another upbeat article by Schanberg appeared under the headline, "Indochina Without Americans: For Most, a Better Life." In short order, the Khmer Rouge proceeded to march nearly two million of their fellow Cambodians to their deaths in the killing fields. Also in short order, Schanberg went on to greater glory and a Pulitzer prize.

Why so much medical research is rot

PEOPLE born under the astrological sign of Leo are 15% more likely to be admitted to hospital with gastric bleeding than those born under the other 11 signs. Sagittarians are 38% more likely than others to land up there because of a broken arm.

Read the rest.

A Unified Climate Theory

Connecting the dots is important for seeing the truth.

There is scientific evidence that Mars is warming. An inconvenient truth.

There is scientific evidence that the Earth is warming.

And we have a former Canadian defense minister, Paul Hellyer, demanding governments worldwide disclose and use secret alien technologies obtained in alleged UFO crashes to stem climate change.

If you are foolish or ignorant enough to dispute these authorities you are obviously a climate denier, LGM denier, and possibly a Holocaust Denier.

Now, if you can’t connect these dots, you are just not paying attention.

It is obvious that Mars actually is inhabited by little green men (LGM). They are obviously green because they have seen what their destructive habits have had on the Martian environment. They have caused catastrophic warming, just as we are doing to our planet. As a result they have become ardent environmentalist. That is obviously the insight of Mr. Hellyer who knows that the LGM have developed “clean” fuels. They are little because Mars is little (duh).

So they (the LGM) have come to earth to escape the environmental destruction that they have wreaked on their own planet. But, as any pilot knows, the most dangerous part of any flight is landing. And the LGM have not perfected that part of their interplanetary flight and so they have crashed, mostly into Roswell, New Mexico.

We also know that the Federal Government owns or controls huge parts of New Mexico, including Area 57 (which is actually in Nevada) where it is hiding the crashed spaceships piloted by unlucky LGM. We also know that the oil companies have bribed the government to keep the technologies developed by the LGM out of the hands of the American people so that the EEEEVIL OIL COMPANIES can continue to exploit Gaia’s limited natural resources for their nefarious purposes.

So, tying it all together: LGM have destroyed the Martian environment, melting its polar ice caps. They became ardent environmentalists, developed clean-burning spaceflight and crash-landed in New Mexico. Mankind is in the process of destroying the planet using SUVs as its primary weapon. The federal government is keeping the secret to clean fuels away from the American public at the bidding of Big Oil. If this is allowed to continue we will all die by drowning as the ice caps melt and water covers all the earth.

The end.

Mars Melt Hints at Solar, Not Human, Cause for Warming, Scientist Says

If both the Earth and Mars are warming it it just a coincidence?

Obama vs. Romney. Whose Ancestors are Worse?

This is fascinating. In a previous post I referred, with a measure of disdain, to an article written by AP writers Jennifer Dobner and Glen Johnson reporting breathlessly that

Republican presidential candidate's great-grandfather had five wives and at least one of his great-great grandfathers had 12.

I question whether this has any bearing on Mr. Romney's qualifications for the Presidency. It does serve to remind us that he is a Mormon. And the media are ever anxious to stoke the fires of sectarian strife they imagine inhabit the breasts of Conservatives. In their world view, Liberals are open minded people who never let a wicked thought about “those others” enter their virgin minds where visions of love and peace hold court (except that part of the Liberal mind that sorrows over the fact that Dick Cheney was not killed by a suicide bomber).

So it was with some interest that I noted that that good looking, clean Barack Obama has ancestors that (gasp) owned slaves and whose father (not his great, great grandfather) was a polygamist. A polygamist father and slave owning ancestors. The article appeared in the Chicago Tribune. I wonder if this will generate an article by Dobner and Johnson?

I really don’t care who or what any candidate’s ancestors were or what they did. What is fascinating about this is that the news media should report on it. This is certainly not the media that failed to inform the public that Roosevelt was a polio victim confined to a wheel chair by only taking pictures of him that excluded that chair.

As I said, fascinating, and more than a little creepy.

UPDATE: Hold the presses:

Reitwiesner's research identifies two other presidential candidates, Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former Democratic Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, as descendants of slave owners. Three of McCain's great-great-grandfathers in Mississippi owned slaves, including one who owned 52 in 1860. Two ancestors of Edwards owned one slave each in Georgia in 1860.

Ronald Reagan at CPAC 1981

Excerpt (read the whole thing):

Our goals complement each other. We’re not cutting the budget simply for the sake of sounder financial management. This is only a first step toward returning power to the States and communities, only a first step toward reordering the relationship between citizen and government. We can make government again responsive to people not only by cutting its size and scope and thereby ensuring that its legitimate functions are performed efficiently and justly.

[snip]
I also believe that we conservatives, if we mean to continue governing, must realize that it will not always be so easy to place the blame on the past for our national difficulties. You know, one day the great baseball manager Frankie Frisch sent a rookie out to play center field. The rookie promptly dropped the first fly ball that was hit to him. On the next play he let a grounder go between his feet and then threw the ball to the wrong base. Frankie stormed out of the dugout, took his glove away from him and said, “I’ll show you how to play this position.” And the next batter slammed a line drive right over second base. Frankie came in on it, missed it completely, fell down when he tried to chase it, threw down his glove, and yelled at the rookie, “You’ve got center field so screwed up nobody can play it.” [Laughter]

[snip]
This is the real task before us: to reassert our commitment as a nation to a law higher than our own, to renew our spiritual strength. Only by building a wall of such spiritual resolve can we, as a free people, hope to protect our own heritage and make it someday the birthright of all men.

There is, in America, a greatness and a tremendous heritage of idealism which is a reservoir of strength and goodness. It is ours if we will but tap it. And, because of this—because that greatness is there—there is need in America today for a reaffirmation of that goodness and a reformation of our greatness.

[snip]
It is this heritage that evokes the images of a much-loved land, a land of struggling settlers and lonely immigrants, of giant cities and great frontiers, images of all that our country is and all that we want her to be. That’s the America entrusted to us, to stand by, to protect, and yes, to lead her wisely.

Fellow citizens, fellow conservatives, our time is now. Our moment has arrived. We stand together shoulder to shoulder in the thickest of the fight. If we carry the day and turn the tide, we can hope that as long as men speak of freedom and those who have protected it, they will remember us, and they will say, “Here were the brave and here their place of honor.”

Environmentalist without a Support Structure

Imagine for a moment that you are an environmentalist. Imagine that you could do away with that horrible pollutant: plastic. Then image what your beachfront Malibu mansion would look like. Actually, that mansion would fall apart … in fact could not have been built.

Ann Coulter is a verbal bomb thrower, but she does get her point across:

They think they can live in a world of only Malibu and East Hampton — with no Trentons or Detroits. It does not occur to them that someone has to manufacture the tiles and steel and glass and solar panels that go into those "eco-friendly" mansions, and someone has to truck it all to their beachfront properties, and someone else has to transport all the workers there to build it. (And then someone has to drive the fleets of trucks delivering the pachysandra and bottled water every day.)

The Al Gore Controversy Has Been Good for the Country

Up until very recently, the Global Warming (anthropomorphic version) has been a one-way blast from the global warming alarmists to the rest of us. Thanks to the discovery, in deepest, darkest, wildest Nashville, of the Gore Mansion and its octopus like reach into virtually all energy pockets we are getting some healthy debate.

For example, if you pay your bills to “Green Energy Company A” but have your electricity delivered in the usual way from, say, the TVA (which produces power from the most polluting coal it can find and even adds a dollop of soot to its stacks just so you know the furnaces are on) do you get to claim you are “carbon neutral?”

And if you are the founder and chairman of a company that sends out “carbon credit” certificates and then fly your fat ass around the country on private jets producing tons of the dreaded CO2, can you claim to be “carbon neutral?” These are all good questions and need debate.

And now we have an issue raised by a former Canadian cabinet minister who demands that world governments disclose UFO technology and use it to stop global warming: Well, why not? Jules Crittenden may say that an IMAGINARY THREAT REQUIRES A PARANOID RESPONSE, but who knows, those space aliens may be good for something. Let’s ask “Inconvenient Al.”

Video: View’s Behar calls Bush admin “liars” and “murderers”, says she is not “fringe liberal”

Lest we forget what a Liberal is.

Environmental Leaders and the Rest of Us

But if you’re going to wag the finger and declare yourself the champion of a “moral not political” issue (albeit one to which green presidents with R’s after their names are not allowed to be recognised) then you’d better be the greenest sumbitch that ever flew a private jet across two continents and then planted a tree, or it will all come back to kick you in the ass.

Earn Eco-Salvation the Quick and Easy Iowahawk Way

Iowahawk shows how eco-sinner can repent. I plan to set up a tip-jar so that you too can buy carbon credits from The Virginian!

Are you concerned that your profligate personal lifestyle is harming the environment? Losing sleep over the long-term ecological damage resulting from those greenhouse gases constantly emitted by your family, your cars, your pets, and your shrubbery? Do you want to become carbon-neutral, but just don't know how?

Well rejoice, sinner! Carbon atonement is no longer the exclusive preserve of the Malibu set -- with the Iowahawk EcoPals Network! This unique new system lets you, the average Joe planet rapist, cleanse your tortured psyche of the stain of enviro-guilt for as little as $9.95 per year! If enough of you follow this simple three step program, we can save the world for our children -- who will soon be frolicking with healthy polar bears atop Earth's reforested glaciers. Act now before it's too late!

Read the rest...

Rudy Giuliani for President!?

Steven Malanga makes the case for Giuliani the Conservative in the Opinion Journal.

Al Gore and Carbon Offsets

Just a day after Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” won an Oscar and Gore himself was feted by the Hollywood millionaires and billionaires, another inconvenient truth emerged. It turns out that Mr. and Mrs. Gore live in a 20 room Nashville mansion with a separate pool house that consumes about 20 times the energy of the typical American home. The Gores gas and electric bill for their Nashville mansion was $30,000 in 2006. It has exposed Mr. Gore to the charge of hypocrisy since he is the country’s most visible exponent of energy conservation as part of his much publicized effort to save the planet from environmental doom via anthropomorphic (man made) global warming.

Mr. Gore’s spokesmen and defenders have rushed to his defense by claiming, among other things, that he uses fluorescent light bulbs, is installing solar panels, and is paying for electricity from the Green Power Switch Program. Opponents point out that irrespective of his Green Power bills, he is getting his electricity and gas from the nearest power plants, which are definitely not “green.” Meanwhile George Bush's Crawford ranch appears to be a model of environmetal efficiency.

Finally, Gore’s statement says that:

Gore has had a consistent position of purchasing carbon offsets to offset the family’s carbon footprint — a concept the right-wing fails to understand.

Ed Morrissey, who blogs at Captain’s Quarters makes this trenchant observation:

…purchasing offsets only means that Gore doesn't want to make the same kind of sacrifices that he's asking other families to make. He's using a modern form of indulgences in order to avoid doing the penance that global-warming activism demands of others. It means that the very rich can continue to suck up energy and raise the price and the demand for electricity and natural gas, while families struggle with their energy costs and face increasing government regulation and taxation.

Some have called the purchase of carbon offsets the moral equivalent of buying ”indulgences” from the medieval Catholic church. Others have compared it to the men who paid substitutes to fight for them in the Civil War.

There is some truth in both comparisons. I would like to enter a third comparison: the sumptuary laws. Sumptuary laws were much in vogue during the medieval times as well as periods of time in colonial America.

Sumptuary laws (from Latin sumtuariae leges) were laws that regulated and reinforced social hierarchies and morals through restrictions on clothing, food, and luxury expenditures. They were an easy way to identify social rank and privilege, and were usually used for social discrimination. This frequently meant preventing commoners from imitating the appearance of aristocrats, and sometimes also to stigmatize disfavored groups. In the Late Middle Ages sumptuary laws were instated as a way for the nobility to cap the conspicuous consumption of the up-and-coming bourgeoisie of medieval cities.

Note that the people who are at the forefront of the environmental movement, men like Al Gore and the Hollywood glitterati who gave him a standing ovation for this environmental stands were not even momentarily inconvenienced by the rules they have tried to have the rest of the planet adopt. The arrived by private plane and stretch limousine, to over-lighted and air-conditioned auditoriums, to see and be seen by millions of Americans via carbon destroying video systems without even a thought to the impact of their wretched excess on the planet.

But hypocrisy is really not the danger here. We are all hypocrites, each of us pretending to be better than we are. The danger is that the use of “carbon offsets” will create two things that re morally monstrous: a de-facto sumptuary law and the impoverishments of the poor and powerless of this planet.

The creation of an aristocratic elite that differentiates itself from the hoi polloi by its ability to buy “carbon offsets” while the rest of the planet is forced by environmental laws into a smaller and smaller carbon straightjacket is not so far fetched. What is government run by the environmentalists of Gore’s stripe to do if the people won’t give up their wasteful SUVs?

“There ought to be a law” will be the battle cry from the Federal agencies, the green groups, the obscenely rich and the publishers of the leading MSM voices (whose owners are summering on their Hampton estates). And who will have the resources to buy out of the environmental sumptuary laws? Why the likes of Al Gore, the Hollywood mega-millionaires and those who inherit media empires. They are, after all, busy making the planet safe for “the children” and need the room, the comfort, the private jets and limos as they toil in the vineyards of public policy for the good of the rest of us.

But as carbon offsets become mainstream, who is to provide those offsets? A momentary thought reveals that allowing Al Gore and his ilk to expend prodigious amounts of greenhouse gases while the rest of the planet stands still will not do anything to reduce the dreaded CO2 problem. What will be needed will be the sacrifice of others. The carbon footprint of the bushmen of the Kalahari is small indeed when compared to that of “Inconvenient Al.” When carbon offsets by planting trees is found to be insufficient or even counterproductive (some complain that a tree gives off more CO2 during decomposition that it absorbs while it is alive) the real gains to be made in carbon offsets is in the great masses of people. Imagine the reduction in carbon emissions if our betters reduce the human population to the Homo sapiens version of the chicken farm. Pile us into small apartment coops, take away our frivolous cars and replace them with “public transportation.” How about a law requiring us to work from home to makes us that much more energy efficient. I am sure that there will be studies to point out how little place it actually takes for an average family to live...but not he Gore family.

Carbon offsets have been embraced by a certain element of the Libertarian and Conservative movement as a free-market answer to the problem of pollution. But that’s because the secondary effects of such a concept have not been considered. Carbon offsets can have the effect of keeping poor people in perpetual poverty and reducing those who are trying to climb out of poverty bake into destitution.

Far fetched? Read this:

East Africa
A Norwegian firm called Tree Farms (or Fjordgløtt, as it was then called) started operations in Uganda and Tanzania (and later in Malawi). In Uganda, it obtained a very cheap 50-year lease on 5,160 hectares east of the town Jinja in the Bukaleba Forest Reserve on Lake Victoria. Tree Farms planned to plant the land mainly with eucalyptus and fast-growing pines. The project has been criticised for forcing people in five communities off their lands and paying too low rent for the land

Imagine the revenue from carbon offsets one of the African kleptocracies can generate by impoverishing its miserable population even farther to provide carbon offsets to Al Gore and those who wish to erase their carbon footprint by any means necessary.

Nashville cabbie: "Hitler was right"

When enough "isolated incidents" happen they are not isolted any more.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Two college students involved in an alleged attack by an angry cab driver last month testified Monday that his rage came seemingly out of the blue.
Video: Crash Victim Says Cab Driver's Rage Unexpected

They said they weren't arguing or discussing religion, but that the cab driver went on a rant saying, "Hitler was right" and that "white people should be eradicated from the earth.”
Click here to find out more!

The students said they paid their fare, but that the cab driver accelerated and ran over Jeremy Inbus.

The cabby's name: Ibrahim Ahmed.

Bruce Crandall Receives the Medal of Honor

The President's speech honoring Bruce Crandall is on line.


Major Crandall flew into the "Valley of Death" 14 times in one day delivering supplies and evacuating the wounded. The fire was so fierce that three helicopter he piloted were destroyed.

A far cry from the kind of person who leaves the field of battle after three months and three very questionable "paper cuts" and then calls those who he left behind a ravaging horde reminiscent of "Genghis Khan."

Republican Support for Bush is High

From USA Today:

The Washington punditocracy has proclaimed far and wide that Republicans, disenchanted with the war in Iraq, are abandoning President Bush in droves, leaving him the lamest of lame ducks. However, the latest USA TODAY/Gallup Poll suggests Bush might not be as wounded as he appears — at least not among his party faithful.

The Feb. 9-11 poll puts Bush's job approval at 37%, but among people who identify themselves as Republican or leaning Republican, his approval rating is 76%.

Gore the Energy Pig

Via DRUDGE:POWER:

GORE MANSION USES 20X AVERAGE HOUSEHOLD; CONSUMPTION INCREASE AFTER 'TRUTH'
Mon Feb 26 2007 17:16:14 ET

The Tennessee Center for Policy Research, an independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan research organization committed to achieving a freer, more prosperous Tennessee through free market policy solutions, issued a press release late Monday:



Last night, Al Gore’s global-warming documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, collected an Oscar for best documentary feature, but the Tennessee Center for Policy Research has found that Gore deserves a gold statue for hypocrisy.

Gore’s mansion, [20-room, eight-bathroom] located in the posh Belle Meade area of Nashville, consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year, according to the Nashville Electric Service (NES).

In his documentary, the former Vice President calls on Americans to conserve energy by reducing electricity consumption at home.

The average household in America consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, according to the Department of Energy. In 2006, Gore devoured nearly 221,000 kWh—more than 20 times the national average.

Last August alone, Gore burned through 22,619 kWh—guzzling more than twice the electricity in one month than an average American family uses in an entire year. As a result of his energy consumption, Gore’s average monthly electric bill topped $1,359.

Since the release of An Inconvenient Truth, Gore’s energy consumption has increased from an average of 16,200 kWh per month in 2005, to 18,400 kWh per month in 2006.

Gore’s extravagant energy use does not stop at his electric bill. Natural gas bills for Gore’s mansion and guest house averaged $1,080 per month last year.

“As the spokesman of choice for the global warming movement, Al Gore has to be willing to walk to walk, not just talk the talk, when it comes to home energy use,” said Tennessee Center for Policy Research President Drew Johnson.

In total, Gore paid nearly $30,000 in combined electricity and natural gas bills for his Nashville estate in 2006.

For Further Information, Contact:
Nicole Williams, (615) 383-6431
editor@tennesseepolicy.org

News Flash: Romney's Great Grandfather Had Multiple Wives!

Republican presidential candidate's great-grandfather had five wives and at least one of his great-great grandfathers had 12.

Please tell AP writers JENNIFER DOBNER and GLEN JOHNSON what you think of them.

To contact the AP:

Headquarters
450 W. 33rd St.
New York, NY 10001

Main Number
+1-212-621-1500

Finding the Truth About Climate Change

It's almost inevitable that every action causes a reaction. And the Global
Warming hysterics have gone too far too fast in trying to gull a public that has lots of questions about the "science" that is intended to prove that global warming is a fact and that it is cause by humans.

Just as Hollywood stars are now seen as political weirdos that are not to be taken seriously, the political movement headed by Al Gore is inviting something that serious movements can't survive: ridicule.

It also invited people who are experts in their own fields like the gentleman who has created "Climatepolice.com". From Newsbusters:

Joseph Conklin, a meteorologist with expertise in the analysis of surface weather observations, has launched a website to help promote alternative scientific views on climate change. He believes these views have been overshadowed and even wrongly criticized by sensationalist news stories.

"The goal of the website is to show the public that other research on climate change exists and the debate is not over. In science, alternate views should always be welcomed, not silenced," Conklin states.

From the website:

Climatepolice.com is dedicated to promoting an open exchange and dialog on climate change. To achieve that goal, research and articles with alternate views on climate change will be the primary sources of news and information on this site. We will not include any news or information with sensationalist claims; only sources with sound scientific evidence or research will be used.

Day By Day

Robert Spencer on the AP's Curious Reluctance to Name Names When It Comes To Islam

Hot Air Video by Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch

George Polk's Real World War 2 Record: The fictional career of a famous newsman.

If you think that "making it up" is something new in the history of the media, this article is a wonderful corrective.

What is funny as hell is that an award to honor fearless reporting is named for a reporter who invented a completely bogus WW II history for himself as an ace fighter pilot.

Polk cut a dashing figure as a newsman, but he also cut out the real story of his World War II service as a naval officer and replaced it with a huge fraud. He deserves to join the growing roster of American journalists whose dishonesty has gravely injured their profession.

Dan Rather was not the first newsman to fake military records, and won't be the last.

Read the whole thing.

Where are the Christians?

Most Christians are no longer white European/Americans.

The upward trajectory in the number of Christians in the Third World has met the descending trend line of First World congregations and has inexorably shifted the center of Christianity away from Europe to Asia, Latin America and Africa. In a very short while, nearly 70% of Christians will be in the non-European world.

In the part of the world that has not surrendered to the spirit of the age and modern "ethics," Christianity thrives and comes back to teach lessons to the "Church of What's Happening now."

This time, rape case gets muted reaction

From the News & Observer. We learn that when black girls get raped it illustrates a universal truth, bang on pots and pans and demand the accused be castrated. When white girls get raped we go on with our lives. The viewpoint of the Duke faculty in all its high priced glory.

The Great Unraveler: The Duke Rape Case & K.C. Johnson

KC Johnson's blog "Durham in Wonderland" has been very influential in uncovering the incredible miscarriage of justice in the Duke rape case. What surprised me was the fact that Johnson got involved because of the actions of the Duke faculty.

Raceless Female Raped by Raceless Male at a Party Hosted By a Raceless Fraternity in the Same City Where Rich White Boys Raped A Poor Black Stripper

Heh!

From more details click HERE

Elections and likeability

Jonah Goldberg muses on likeability and electability:

...the GOP front-runners (save perhaps Newt Gingrich) all have the advantage over Hillary. She may have star power, but you get the sense that most Americans would like to have their picture taken with her and then drink alone. With the exception of Sen. Christopher Dodd, I’d guess all of the Democratic wannabes are more likable than Clinton, too. Sexism probably is part of the equation, but not as much as Clinton’s defenders will claim. There’s room for perceptions to change as we get to know the candidates (though we already know Hillary pretty well).

Ann Coulter on John Murtha

Money quote:

...Murtha was willing to trade favors in return for investment in his district — and suggested he might take cash down the line. In other words, Murtha wasn't calling for an immediate surrender of his scruples and principles, but rather a phased withdrawal of them....

Fine, Murtha was never convicted. Neither was Nixon. Venal hack John Murtha was willing to sell his country's interests to Arab sheiks. This is the man Democrats have put up to lead the anti-war charge today, demanding that the commander in chief stop deploying troops against his Arab friends.

Read the rest.

Which is Better: Killing the Leaders of Evil Regimes or Killing a Lot of Bystanders?

Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit has an uncharacteristically long post.

The limits of defeatism

It seems that a majority of American want to win in Iraq, believe that losing would be very bad and that Iraq represents a key battlefield in the War on Terror.

Who would have guessed?

Berger Case Still Roils Archives, Justice Dept.

The permanent bureaucracy protects its own.

I find it rather interesting that during a Republican administration, most of the criminal investigation is focused on Republicans whereas Sandy Burger gets off virtually scott fee.

The Press in Casablanca

I was watching “Casablanca” again last night. I love that movie, perhaps the best movie of all time. Outstanding actors and great script with some of the most memorable movie lines of all time.

It occurred to me that Captain Louis Renault (played by Claude Rains) is a virtual metaphor for the American news media: licentious, amoral, venal, and utterly corrupt.

Harvard’s Faustian Bargain

From the City Journal, we find out who takes over the helm of Harvard now that Larry Summers has been defenestrated:

The feminist takeover of Harvard is imminent. The Harvard Crimson reported yesterday that the university is about to name as its new president Drew Gilpin Faust, dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Harvard’s Corporation, which is likely to recommend Faust to the university’s Board of Overseers for confirmation, could not have more clearly repudiated Lawrence Summers’s all-too-brief reign of meritocracy and academic honesty, or more openly signaled that Harvard will now be the leader in politically correct victimology.

Read the rest...

The Climate Change Controversy: A Perspective

Our friend Dennis Gartman, publisher of The Gartman Letter, a daily commentary on the global capital markets, has brought to our attention the June 24th issue of Time magazine. The article begins:

In Africa, drought continues for the sixth consecutive year, adding terribly to the toll of famine victims. During 1972 record rains in parts of the U.S., Pakistan and Japan caused some of the worst flooding in centuries. In Canada's wheat belt, a particularly chilly and rainy spring has delayed planting and may well bring a disappointingly small harvest. Rainy Britain, on the other hand, has suffered from uncharacteristic dry spells the past few springs. A series of unusually cold winters has gripped the American Far West, while New England and northern Europe have recently experienced the mildest winters within anyone's recollection.

As they review the bizarre and unpredictable weather pattern of the past several years, a growing number of scientists are beginning to suspect that many seemingly contradictory meteorological fluctuations are actually part of a global climatic upheaval.

Sounds like the beginning of an ad for Al Gore’s movie “An Inconvenient Truth” in which the former Vice President predicts the end of the world as we know it unless global warming is stopped.

But wait … the article is actually warning us of:

However widely the weather varies from place to place and time to time, when meteorologists take an average of temperatures around the globe they find that the atmosphere has been growing gradually cooler for the past three decades. The trend shows no indication of reversing. Climatological Cassandras are becoming increasingly apprehensive, for the weather aberrations they are studying may be the harbinger of another ice age.

The proof is everywhere for scientist to see:

Telltale signs are everywhere —from the unexpected persistence and thickness of pack ice in the waters around Iceland to the southward migration of a warmth-loving creature like the armadillo from the Midwest. Since the 1940s the mean global temperature has dropped about 2.7° F. Although that figure is at best an estimate, it is supported by other convincing data. When Climatologist George J. Kukla of Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory and his wife Helena analyzed satellite weather data for the Northern Hemisphere, they found that the area of the ice and snow cover had suddenly increased by 12% in 1971 and the increase has persisted ever since. Areas of Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic, for example, were once totally free of any snow in summer; now they are covered year round.

This warning was sounded in Time’s June 24th 1974 edition.

Since that time, government regulations and industrial efforts have been aimed at cleaning up the environment, reducing harmful emissions and industrial by-products.

Surely our power plants and automobiles are a lot cleaner and more fuel efficient than their counterparts in 1974.

So has there been a clear reversal of the global cooling that was supposed to be the harbinger of the coming ice age? Or are we been had ... again?

And if we are being misled, as seems logical to me from the hysterical predictions coming out of the global warming advocates, what is the motive behind the push to “do something” about the so-called anthropomorphic (or man-made) global warming? What are the recommended “cures” and who benefits from their implementation? Surely that is a fair question.

Stories from France that didn't make the MSM

A Gang Beating on Paris Streets. A Funeral for a Jew Tortured to Death in Paris Suburbs. A Meeting with No Meaning. A Plane Hijacking That Did Not, In the End, End Somewhere in Paris.

What the CIA Leak Case Is About

Byron York in the Washington Post points out what is truly bizarre about the prosecution of Scooter Libby. The judge has ruled that the core of the case cannot be discussed or even mentioned.

After the testimony of star prosecution witness Tim Russert, Walton scanned the jurors' queries and announced, "There is going to be one question I'm not going to ask. I've concluded that that question is not appropriate and therefore you should not speculate as to what the response would have been."

What was he talking about? A moment later, Walton told the jurors: "What Mrs. Wilson's status was at the CIA, whether it was covert or not covert, is not something that you're going to hear any evidence presented to you on in this trial."

"Whether she was, or whether she was not, covert is not relevant to the issues you have to decide in this case," he said.

It is The Thing That Cannot Be Spoken at the Libby trial.

Who or What is CAIR?

Mark Steyn shares some interesting facts that I did not know:

Over at Commentary, Lisa Schiffren raises an interesting question: At what point does a particular minority group become large enough to be a significant domestic political constituency? She notes that the oft-cited figure of "eight million Muslims in the US" may, in fact, be only three million and then adds:

Moreover, of these, only a minuscule 4,761 are dues-paying members of CAIR, which presents itself as the community’s authoritative voice.

And yet everybody (including some of my wobblier editors around the map) jumps when CAIR complains about this or that. 4,761 members of the Ladies’ Aid Society can’t command that kind of instant deference. So why do 4,761 members of CAIR have a prominence out of all proportion to their numbers?

For the answer, read the rest...

"I support the troops" The New Code

The New Code [John Podhoretz]


Nobody who actually supports the troops says "I support the troops" any longer. The words "I support the troops" are now solely for those who oppose what the troops are doing.

Hugh Hewitt on the CIA, the DOD and Intelligence prior to 9/11

A long post, but very important, begins this way:

The key question: In the late '90s and early years of this decade, did the CIA do a good job in predicting 9/11 or assessing Saddam's WMD? Those two numbers and three letters provide the context for the sham "controversy" surrounding former Undersecretary Douglas Feith. Did the CIA see 9/11 coming? Did the agency produce any reports asserting boldly that Saddam did not have the WMD that everyone thought he did?

Was the CIA, in 2002, an agency to be trusted to get the big ones right?

Of course not. The professionals of the agency tried, but they failed. After 9/11 the professionals at the DoD decided to look hard at the intelligence product coming out of the CIA concerning al Qaeda and Saddam. Now partisans are attempting to argue that DoD shouldn't do such a thing --a conclusion that would be hilarious if it wasn't so dangerous.

Jan Greenburg on "Judicial Independence"

Excerpt:

...I’m skeptical about how mere criticism of judges and their rulings somehow undermines independence, and I suggest it’s somewhat disingenuous to even mention the two concepts in the same phrase or sentence. The murder of the Chicago federal judge’s mother and husband by a disturbed man who’d been before her in a medical malpractice case is horrific and chilling. But that tragedy argues for greater security for judges, not less speech from those criticizing their opinions in controversial cases. Verbal attacks on federal judges -- by congressmen or commentators or bloggers or dissenting colleagues -- is something entirely different than murderous attacks by disturbed litigants.

Judges write opinions. Judges get criticized. Judges continue writing opinions, some for the rest of their lives (i.e., life tenure). It’s called democracy.

Ann Coulter on Obama

Excerpt:

Most weirdly, he said: "I recognize there is a certain presumptuousness in this — a certain audacity — to this announcement."

What is so audacious about announcing that you're running for president? Any idiot can run for president. Dennis Kucinich is running for president. Until he was imprisoned, Lyndon LaRouche used to run for president constantly. John Kerry ran for president. Today, all you have to do is suggest a date by which U.S. forces in Iraq should surrender, and you're officially a Democratic candidate for president.

Obama made his announcement surrounded by hundreds of adoring Democratic voters. And those were just the reporters. There were about 400 more reporters at Obama's announcement than Mitt Romney's, who, by the way, is more likely to be sworn in as our next president than B. Hussein Obama.

[snip]

This guy's like the ANWR of trite political aphorisms. There's no telling exactly how many he's sitting on, but it could be in the billions.

[snip]

I can't wait for Obama's inaugural address when he reveals that he loves long walks in the rain, sunsets, and fresh-baked cookies shaped like puppies.

[snip]

Maybe liberals aren't secret racists expunging vast stores of white guilt by hyperventilating over B. Hussein Obama. Maybe they're just running out of greeting card inscriptions.

More Confirmation On Mahdi Flight

From Captain's Quarters. It appears that the Mahdi Army's leadership skipped town.

The Media is doubtful; or unimpressed; or "it doesn't mean anything."

The Vision That Dare Not Speak Its Name

Vanderleun discusses the movement that seeks the defeat of the US:

Now that my "not-so-great" generation has its hands on the wheels of commerce and power in the United States, it is time that this vision that dare not speak its name, compiled from those rotted roots, seeks to act out the dreams of its youth as the policies of a generation entering its dotage. For a generation that so fervently believes in evolution, it is surprising that its youthful political goals have, in the intervening decades, evolved so little.

The first order of business now, as it was then, is to "Smash the State" by expanding the State's control over those that are not among the One Worlders. Of course, the real goal was never to "Smash THE State" as a ruling concept, but only to Smash the American State and replace it with something more soothingly socialist in which "all animals were equal but some more equal than others;" a state in which one party, controlling the culture and the media and the tax system, would rule out of benevolent concern for all over the one, Earth First uber alles. With free health care thrown just to make sure you could live longer in a perfect world.

Leading the charge to "Smash the State by Making a Bigger State" at present will be the Way-New Democratic Party and its outriders, the cosmopolitans. Or perhaps "outriders" doesn't quite capture it since, among the leadership in media, politics, business, and government, the overlap is almost total.

For these people, "the path to success" currently passes through Iraq and winds directly into "failure." They are in love with the idea of "American failure" because, in many ways, it validates their entire lives and empowers their politics. At the core of "the vision that dare not speak its name" is a perverted desire to see their country lose, to see it humbled on the world stage, and to give over the present benign American hegemony to other coarser and more draconian states. And why wouldn't they since their primary life allegiance is One World and not one country.

Should their abiding vision for failure in Iraq become a reality and Iraq descends into a genocidal nightmare, as it will, that's fine with them. That blood will wash more quickly off their hands than the blood of the thousands of Americans killed on 9/11 through the ineptitude of a foreign policy that, over decades, enabled the attacks. Attacks that, as we see now, did not raise any real alarms among the cosmopolitans that their One World dreams might face real world dangers, but merely troubled their sleep for a brief moment.

Should the ascent of Iran threaten the survival of Israel, the economy of the United States and the developed world, well, we and they deserve it. After all, we need to "get off" oil and why shouldn't we have a global depression teach us a lesson?

If an American city becomes a firestorm, well, that certainly isn't the opposition's fault. That was never a part of their vision. It will be, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever will be, the fault of Bush. They will never have to deny a vision that they did not articulate; that they did not name.

Read the whole thing...

Reports for Iraq

Bill from INDC via Patterico

Iowahawk on Amanda Marcotte -Post Resignation

Seeking challenging, fast-paced thought leadership position in major Western industrial phallocracy. I have experience in a number of positions, including chapters 1-6 of the Kama Sutra, and an established record of speaking angry truth to theocratic power through edgy PostModern Riot Grrrrl punk feminism, which I am happy to disavow at your request.

Read the rest...

UPDATE:

Iowahawk has two more Amanda posts that I find very funny (warning, strong language):

My Fair Blogger and The Pandagon Papers.

"Need Some Quote From Supporter", The Sequel

Worth a read.

It recalls the obituary in the NY Times on the death of Pope John Paul II. Here's how it appeared originally:

Even as his own voice faded away, his views on the sanctity of all human life echoed unambiguously among Catholics and Christian evangelicals in the United States on issues from abortion to the end of life.

need some quote from supporter

John Paul II's admirers were as passionate as his detractors, for whom his long illness served as a symbol for what they said was a decrepit, tradition-bound papacy in need of rejuvenation and a bolder connection with modern life.

Makr Steyn made this great point:

The pontiff's many "detractors" were all lined up and ready to go, but despite over a billion Catholics in the world and millions of evangelical Protestants throughout America who also admire him, the paper somehow failed to notice until the last minute that they'd overlooked something--"NEED SOME QUOTE FROM SUPPORTER".

Airstrike Targeting Taliban Leader Kills Him, 10 Others in Southern Afghanistan

It's actually rather startling to find a news story by the MSM that features our side accomplishing anything in the war other than as the targets of bombings or shootings.

From ABC news:

A NATO airstrike early Wednesday destroyed a compound housing a Taliban leader blamed for a wave of violence across southern Afghanistan, killing him and at least 10 others, NATO said.

NATO said the slain Taliban chief was linked to an uprising in the nearby town of Musa Qala, which the Taliban overran Feb. 1, and an attack Tuesday against a dam in nearby Kajaki.

"We have removed yet another Taliban enemy leader who will no longer threaten the peace and security of the Afghan people and their future," said Lt. Col. Angela Billings, a spokeswoman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force.

The airstrike, which hit a compound in a small village outside Musa Qala, killed 11 Taliban fighters, NATO said.

Contradictions Come to Define Libby Trial

How many people have contradicted each other in the Libby trial? Why is he the only one on trial for perjury?

The Movie About the Environment

Mine Your Own Business - and the environmental protesters.

Global Cooling Costs Too Much

Good article by Jonah Goldberg.

View of "global warming" last week:

Views at night, day and evening

Night


Evening

Winter wonderland

Grand Haven pier.

My recent vacation

"I'm off the see the blizzard" and had a great time. Temperatures in the single digits, snow every day and the most fantiastic wind sculptures along the Lake Michigan waterfront.

More pictures to follow.

John Edwards Blogmistresses

Since returning from a brief vacation I am intrigued by the controversy surrounding the Edwards campaign decision to hire two foul mouthed anti-Christian bigots as their contacts to the blogosphere.

As the Political Pit Bull says, I have no dog in this fight because I had no intention of voting for John Edwards in any election, but it’s an indication of the strength of the far-Left blogosphere that the two women should have retained their jobs after the content of their websites were made public. The language used as well as the sentiments expressed are obscene … literally.

For a sample, click (warning, vile language) here.

That having been said, it's at least worth mentioning that this man wants to be President of the United States; if he can't stand up to a couple doofuses on a computer, how the hell is he going to stand up to our enemies?

But Edwards, like very other candidate for the Democrat nomination for President is now firmly enmeshed in the coils of the Leftist “netroots” and cannot escape alive. From the leftist perspective, it’s empowering and heady. From the citizen’s perspective its frightening. We are seeing a slow motion revolution in the US, foreshadowed perhaps by the Chavez revolution in Venezuela, where that country’s President has morphed into a dictator in fact and in law.

Pray for the country.

Lord, bless us and forgive the sins we have committed.

UPDATE: Click HERE for John Edwards' diary. And HERE for "The Pendagon Papers."

Catholic League Won't Let John Edwards Forget

Global Warming?

Try this test, true or false:

1) Global temps are rising.

2) Oceans are warming.

3) The Arctic is warmer today than it’s been in at least a century.

You guessed it: They’re all false. False “facts” that the average American assumes are true.

From the Boston Herald:

The headlines all send the same chilling message:

Bitter Cold Grips Northern States...

Below-Zero Temps Close Schools...

Chilly cold spell sweeping Hawaii...

They can only mean one thing: Global warming!

Yes, 42 below zero in Minnesota this week is proof of global warming. So was last summer’s European heat wave. No major hurricanes hit the US in 2006? Global warming. Katrina? Same thing.

Bad weather, good weather, your car won’t start, your kid flunks a math test, erectile dysfunction, whatever. Such is the miraculous power of climate change kookery. Everything that happens proves you're right, especially the stuff that proves you're wrong.

Thanks to an unquestioning media, the American people have been conditioned to see iceberg conditions in Indianapolis and blame global warming (or, if they’re Patriots fans, a vengeful God). We don’t think, we just assume. In fact, we’ve all but stopped thinking about the issue of global climate change at all.

Read the whole thing...

Mark Steyn on Sheep

...at what point will a woman's right to choose intersect with a farmer's right to ewes?

A must read!