Verbosities

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told the (funeral) gathering that the nine firefighters "demonstrated the same bravery our nation witnessed on Sept. 11."

"The tragedy of Monday reminds us that we live in a world in which danger is all around us," he said.

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Here are the results of six congressional job approval polls taken so far in June:

Newsweek (6/18-19): 25% approve; 63% disapprove
Gallup (6/11-14): 24% approve; 71% disapprove
NBC/WSJ (6/08-11): 23% approve; 64% disapprove
Quinnipiac (6/05-11): 23% approve; 66% disapprove
LA Times/Bloomberg (6/07-10): 27% approve; 65% disapprove
FOX News (6/05-6): 29% approve; 55% disapprove
ABC/Washington Post (5/29-6/1): 39% approve; 53% disapprove

[snip]

If you disapprove of what Congress is doing, is that because you think it ought to be drafting impeachment charges, running more investigations, flying troops home in private jets, passing reproductive rights legislation, or what?

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The way that Obama, Edwards, and Clinton ought to frame their stances, to avoid boxing themselves in on either side, is not by promising to keep troops in Iraq or to take all of them out. Rather (as I’ve been trying to say for two years now), we need to reinstate the Powell Doctrine, which used to be the essential contract between our government and a volunteer military. If there’s a mission that we can be essentially certain of accomplishing with minimal casualties — and clear ground rules for when that situation no longer holds — then I’m fine with some troops remaining in Iraq. If not, then every last one should come home. That’s a simple standard I think voters across the political spectrum will find easy to grasp.

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"I've never felt so offended in all my life," passenger Collin Brock of Washington state told Seattle's KING-TV. "I felt like I had been physically abused and neglected. I was forced to sit next to human excrement for seven hours."

An ex-New Orleans school board president has pleaded guilty to accepting $140,000 in bribes from a local businessman in exchange for promoting and approving a software education program for the parish schools. Who was the accused briber?

[snip]

While court documents did not name the businessman, an article in the New Orleans Times-Picayune quoted sources as saying it was Mose Jefferson, brother of indicted Congressman William Jefferson.

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Margaret Thomas-Jordan, Gonzales LA
Margaret is a working mother of two boys, age nineteen months and eleven years, and she is attending school to become a nurse. Margaret's husband was shipped to Iraq last month and he is currently serving a fifteen-month tour. Health care costs have grown especially difficult for Margaret, and she is struggling with access to health care because she does not qualify as a traditional student. She writes, "I have not always been where I am today. I encountered a lot of struggles when I was a single mother with one child on my own trying to finish college." She supports Barack in part because "he has faced some of the everyday struggles that a lot of Americans have faced. He's looking at the whole picture."


Haile Rivera, Bronx NY
Haile works as a community program specialist with the Food Bank for New York City, which includes work with food pantries, youth programs and soup kitchens. In his spare time, he founded "Hands on New York," a non-profit organization getting school-age kids involved in civics. As someone who works with poor and underprivileged people, he is chiefly concerned with unemployment and the pressing need to revitalize inner-city schools. Barack's message -- particularly his position that we need to reform No Child Left Behind -- resonates deeply with Haile. He has followed politics for a long time, but never felt that a candidate was "as fresh or as real as Obama." That's why he donated for the first time in his life to a Presidential candidate. "I believe in Barack's vision for the American people," he says.


Jennifer Lasko, Lake Worth FL
Jennifer Lasko is a firefighter and paramedic whose "political views have changed dramatically over the years." She's grown fed up with "conservatives who treat politics like a game they're trying to win, instead of worrying about whether the policies are right or wrong." Back in college, she volunteered with the College Republicans on behalf of Ronald Reagan, but now says that she "wasn't mature enough to understand the consequences of politics -- and unfortunately many others haven't grown up since then." As a Veteran, she's very concerned about the effect of the Iraq war on our military, and frustrated by a sense that some politicians defend the war "just so they don't have to admit that they were wrong." She likes Barack Obama because "he brings a non-divisive approach to politics, trying to find the right answer -- not picking an ideological answer and defending that right or wrong."


Michael Griffith, Fernley NV
Michael is a miner in western Nevada. Michael operates heavy machinery and his health care costs have tripled over recent years. This is Michael's first time participating, in politics and he feels that as his family grew, so did his concern with the direction of the country. "I used to not follow politics as much," says Michael, "but once I had a family I started to care because I realized that politics affects my children's future." Michael read Barack's latest book and was inspired by his "honesty and openness." He thinks "people who stay in Washington too long seem to get corrupted," and he wants a leader who can clean up politics and represent working people.

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The Democrats:

Sen. Barack Obama: $28M-$35M
-- only a very few Obama staffers have access to estimates, and they're not talking
-- almost entirely primary money
-- cash on hand should be north of $32M

Sen. Hillary Clinton: $26M-28M
-- The primary/general election ratio will be around 5 to 1).
-- Projected cash on hand should be north of $40M

Ex-Sen. John Edwards: $8.5M-11M
-- virtually all for the primary
-- cash on hand should be greater than $15M

Gov. BIll Richardson: $3-7M
Sen. Joe Biden: $3-5M
Sen. Chris Dodd: $2-M

The Republicans:

Gov. Mitt Romney: $17M-20M
-- Romney did NOT have the highest burn rate, contrary to what I wrote earlier. He spent the most money, but his burn rate was well below that of Sen. John McCain's. I'll assume the 50% rate held through the second quarter, so he's in reasonably good shape if he has more than $18M in reserves.

Ex-NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani: $14M-17M
-- cash on hand should be north of $16M assuming a burn rate of less than 50%

Sen. John McCain: $13M-15M
-- cash on hand should be north of $14M assuming a burn rate of less than 50%

Gov. Mike Huckabee: $2M-4M

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Funny how you ignore this part of the article.

"We are truly sorry for the innocent lives lost in this attack," said Army Major Chris Belcher, a coalition spokesman, in a statement. "We had surveillance on the compound all day and saw no indications there were children inside the building."

The statement said children who survived Sunday's raid said insurgents had forced pupils to stay inside the madrasa. The White House accused the Taliban of using human shields."

Of course, that may make the terrorists look bad. -- StB -- 06.18.07 - 8:59 pm

According to several officials, and contrary to previous statements, the U.S. military knew there were children at the compound but considered the target of such high value it was worth the risk of potential collateral damage.

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The Oversight Committee has learned that over the objections of the National Archives, Vice President Cheney exempted his office from the presidential order that establishes government-wide procedures for safeguarding classified national security information. The Vice President asserts that his office is not an “entity within the executive branch.”

As described in a letter from Chairman Waxman to the Vice President, the National Archives protested the Vice President's position in letters written in June 2006 and August 2006. When these letters were ignored, the National Archives wrote to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in January 2007 to seek a resolution of the impasse. The Vice President's staff responded by seeking to abolish the agency within the Archives that is responsible for implementing the President's executive order.

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In private, Bush administration sub-Cabinet officials who have been instrumental in formulating and sustaining the legal "war paradigm" acknowledge that their efforts to create a system for detainees separate from due process, criminal justice and law enforcement have failed. One of the key framers of the war paradigm (in which the president in his wartime capacity as commander in chief makes and enforces laws as he sees fit, overriding the constitutional system of checks and balances), who a year ago was arguing vehemently for pushing its boundaries, confesses that he has abandoned his belief in the whole doctrine, though he refuses to say so publicly. If he were to speak up, given his seminal role in formulating the policy and his stature among the Federalist Society cadres that run it, his rejection would have a shattering impact...

I think that when the "honest conservatives" reject Bush they're just setting up their assault on the Democratic president they expect to see elected next year. Their way of digging themselves out from under the Bush disaster (and obscuring their own massive role in that disaster) will be to swear that "Never again can an American President be allowed that kind of free hand!" This will justify their fighting the new Democratic President tooth and nail for every inch of ground.

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There was no way that Republicans would simply accept their defeat in the 2006 elections and be put out to pasture. We all knew that they were BETTER from the attack dog position that they were ever at governing. They thrive on being the persecuted minority; it's hard-wired into their worldview. And since they hate government, attacking those in power is a natural fit.

Still, I'm not sure any of us expected them to have the chutzpah* - there's really no other word for it - to attack the Democrats for the very sins they displayed throughout 12 years of rule in the Congress.

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The Detroit News reports from Dearborn on the University of Michigan's plan to spend $25,000 for the installation of footbaths on campus: "Muslims won't fund footbaths." The article reports that "Muslim leaders in metro Detroit have decided not to raise private money to pay for two footbaths" on campus. For them, it clearly seems less to be about religious observance than about the submission of public authorities to their observance. If you've followed our series on wudu you know, to paraphrase Creedence Clearwater Revival, that there's a bad dhimmitude rising.

The Detroit News also reports that the ACLU finds nothing constitutionally objectionable in public support for the footbaths. Just in case you were wondering, Detroit ACLU director Kary Moss explains:

"We view it as an attempt to deal with a problem, not an attempt to make it easier for Muslims to pray," said Moss, who likened the plan to paying for added police during religious events with huge turnouts.

"There's no intent to promote religion."

The unholy alliance between the radical left and radical Islam continues unabated.

The University of Michigan-Dearborn's plan to spend $25,000 on the footbaths was criticized on conservative blogs and radio shows this month. Critics said using public money for the project would violate the First Amendment, which says governments can't favor or subsidize religions.

Muslims are required to wash body parts, including feet, up to five times daily before prayers.

University officials say the floor-level wash basins are needed because some students at the 8,600-student campus wash their feet in the sinks.

[snip]

Kary Moss, director of the Detroit branch of the ACLU, said its review concluded the plan is a "reasonable accommodation" to resolve "safety and cleanliness issues" that arose when Muslims used public sinks for foot cleaning before prayers, which often spilled water on bathroom floors.

"We view it as an attempt to deal with a problem, not an attempt to make it easier for Muslims to pray," said Moss, who likened the plan to paying for added police during religious events with huge turnouts.

"There's no intent to promote religion."

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Keith Ellison of Minneapolis has made a splash as the first Muslim Congressman. We have noted his ties with radical groups like the Nation of Islam, CAIR and the Muslim American Society. Yesterday, though, he gave an interview to a less controversial--I guess--news outlet: BallerStatus, an on-line hip-hop magazine.

[snip]

The interviewer asks Ellison about Louis Farrakhan's influence on him; Ellison's answer is, I think, a bit disingenuous:

BallerStatus.com: How great an influence was Minister Farrakhan on you?

Rep. Ellison: Not much.

There is a lot of talk about hip-hop, which leads to an exchange about the Don Imus affair, which leads to a general denunciation of talk radio:

BallerStatus.com: But how ironic was it for people like Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck to even bring up so called "dangerous rappers" or "snitching" when they preach racism and hate speech on the radio every day?

Rep. Ellison: Oh man, they get up there and speak that nonsense constantly. The fact of the matter is, now matter how you feel about Don Imus, there's a whole lot worse than him on the radio. He was a sacrificial lamb.

It would be interesting to know what "preaching [of] racism and hate speech" Hannity and Beck have indulged in. Needless to say, no examples were forthcoming.

Ellison is trying to make "credit justice" his signature issue as a young Congressman. As best I can understand it, "credit justice" means beating up on credit card companies and shifting costs from some cardholders to other cardholders:

BallerStatus.com:***Anyway besides the war, what are you focused on in the coming months?

Rep. Ellison: One thing I want to work on is the credit justice issue. I mean the fact is a lot of people who aren't making much money will turn to credit cards to make it. If you're late on the credit card, every credit card you own will increase your rates up to as high as 32%. That means it's expensive to be poor, because the poor pay more. It shouldn't be like that. It should be the opposite if nothing else. So I'm trying to do something about these credit cards.

A week or two ago, there was a committee hearing in Washington at which several representatives of credit card issuers appeared before a subcommittee of which Ellison is a member. Ellison took the opportunity to push for legislation he has introduced that would ban certain alleged practices of credit card issuers. One of the country's top experts in credit card marketing happens to be a friend of mine; I asked his opinion on Ellison's proposed legislation. He replied:

The thing is, nobody actually engages in the practices he want to ban...and he knows it.

He's just looking for headlines.

Even if you make your credit card payments on time, the credit card bank can raise your interest rate automatically if you're late on payments elsewhere -- such as on another credit card or on a phone, car, or house payment -- or simply because the bank feels you have taken on too much debt.

This practice is called the "universal default" clause and increasingly is becoming a standard clause in credit card agreements. According to credit card executives, the logic behind universal default is that the bank is not being unreasonable in raising rates when it has reason to believe that the risk of being repaid by the customer has increased.

So Ellison will be continuing the Democrats' tradition of economic demagoguery. The interview closed with demagoguery of a scarier kind:

BallerStatus.com: Let's allow you to get back to work. There's a certain balding man from Wyoming who needs to be indicted and put in prison.

Rep. Ellison: Let me just say that you can do anything you want if you just put you're mind to it. ***

I assume the "balding man from Wyoming" is Dick Cheney. In the world of BallerStatus, Keith Ellison passes for a moderate.

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PROVO, Utah -- A star runner at Brigham Young University was arrested after getting out of his car and striking a pedestrian with a mop, police said.

Kyle Perry's vehicle apparently got too close to the man, who was pushing a bucket with mops across a street June 14, witnesses told police.

"Angry words were exchanged," Provo police Capt. Cliff Argyle said.

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Rudy Reax [Jonah Goldberg]

This is a common, though hardly unanimous, reaction to the Rudy-ISG story. From a reader:

Hey Jonah,

So Rudy quit a panel that, in the end, advocated a complete surrender in Iraq and for us to get on our knees to Iran?

This is bad why? His mistake was not to quit. His mistake was not to fail to attend meetings. His mistake was to ever have his name attached to this joke of a commission in the first place.

I love your writing and you really seem to know what is going on around that town so I have a question that no one I know can answer….

Who the f**k died and made Lee Hamilton King Solomon? You can’t get two people in that town together to talk about what flavor ice cream to serve in a school cafeteria without Lee Hamilton chairing the ice cream committee. I mean seriously. Are Hamilton, Baker and Gergen the 3 Wise Men all of a sudden?
Anyway, thanks for the great work.

Me: Whatever their shortcomings, I think Hamilton and Baker are different creatures than Gergen. They're respected hard-headed types within their respective parties. Yeah, they like cutting deals and all that, but I think they're pretty serious guys, warts and all. Gergen — David Broder without the smoldering sexuality — honestly believes that if Democrats say 10 and Republicans say 0 then, according to some immutable law of the universe, the right and wise answer must be 5.

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From Newsday ...

Rudolph Giuliani's membership on an elite Iraq study panel came to an abrupt end last spring after he failed to show up for a single official meeting of the group, causing the panel's top Republican to give him a stark choice: either attend the meetings or quit, several sources said.

Giuliani left the Iraq Study Group last May after just two months, walking away from a chance to make up for his lack of foreign policy credentials on the top issue in the 2008 race, the Iraq war.

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Yes, I am willing to believe what the Major says. I believe those who serve in the military are of the utmost honor. I know that if they are not, the military deals with them. We have learned that from Abu Graib and Haditha.

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TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran will not rule out using oil as a weapon if the United States resorts to military action against the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program, an Iranian oil official said in remarks published on Tuesday.

"When the Americans say that military action in regard to the nuclear issue has not been put aside, Iran can also say that it will not put aside oil as a tool," Iran's OPEC governor, Hossein Kazempour Ardebili, told Iran's Sharq newspaper.

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The Pentagon has set $2,500 as the highest individual sum that can be paid. Most death payments remain at that level, with a rough sliding scale of $1,000 for serious injury and $500 for property damage.

KABUL (Reuters) - At least seven children were killed in a U.S.-led coalition air strike on a religious school in Afghanistan, the coalition said on Monday, amid rising anger over civilian deaths from foreign military operations.

The Pentagon will announce this week that Geoff Morrell, previously a White House correspondent for ABC News, has been hired as the Defense Department’s on-camera briefer, a senior administration official told The Politico. Morrell, 38, will become a familiar face of the administration on television and the Web. The official said that a working journalist was chosen by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates in an effort to improve press relations at a time when the administration is under pressure to show progress in Iraq.

Eurosceptics have been branded "terrorists" just days before Tony Blair prepares to fly to Brussels to smuggle in the new EU constitution by the back door. Critics of the EU’s secret plans to bring back the failed European constitution by stealth at this week’s summit were blasted by the Italian President, Giorgio Napolitano. The Italian head of state told a news conference in Siena last week that "those who are anti EU are terrorists". And he attacked eurosceptics who warn that the promised new EU treaty will go too far in eroding the powers of member states, saying: "It is psychological terrorism to suggest the spectre of a European superstate."[Emphasis added]

On the June 18 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Neal Boortz advocated building a "double fence along the Mexican border, and stop the damn invasion." Boortz continued: "I don't care if Mexicans pile up against that fence like tumbleweeds in the Santa Ana winds in Southern California. Let 'em. You know, then just run a couple of taco trucks up and down the line, and somebody's gonna be a millionaire out of that."

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During important business meetings, your pen can say as much about you as your suit or car. The Lamy 2000 Fountain Pen ($150) will represent you well with a simple, modern, elegant design, fiberglass-reinforced Makrolon body, and a great patina that will develop over time.

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June 18 is International Panic Day, a day “for everyone to be worried and concerned,” according to HolidayInsights.com.

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New UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon zeros in on the reason for the massacres in Darfur: Climate change behind Darfur killing: UN’s Ban.

How could we not have seen it before? It’s so obvious.

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