The Playbook
Published by BG on Thursday, July 26, 2007 at 4:33 PM.Instapundit.com -
"SCOTT THOMAS" REVEALED, and the spin is as predicted. Plus, as Bruce Carroll notes: "The New Republic has still not corroborated anything Private Beauchamp wrote."
They're hoping you won't notice that.
UPDATE: More here.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Mark Steyn notes that the most unflattering portrait in "Thomas's" writing was that of the author.
Still more at Blackfive. It's telling that most of the pushback on this has come from veterans.
And a journalist reader emails: "Why did TNR have to protect the identity of a blogger who was already public?"
Wait, I swear to god I've seen this before... Where was it? Oh, hang on...
"SCOTT THOMAS" REVEALED, and the spin is as predicted.
(It looks like that treasonous article by Joe Wilson about Niger was politically motivated after all.)
Plus, as Bruce Carroll notes: "The New Republic has still not corroborated anything Private Beauchamp wrote."
(His wife sent him there, and Bob Novak broke the story. "Liberals" are carping that she was a "secret agent," but haven't corroborated any serious claims to back that up.)
They're hoping you won't notice that.
(We're hoping you buy our bullshit.)
UPDATE: More here.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Mark Steyn notes that the most unflattering portrait in "Thomas's" writing was that of the author.
(They're just attention whores anyway. Did you see that issue of Vanity Fair?)
Still more at Blackfive. It's telling that most of the pushback on this has come from veterans.
(And why, if she was truly "covert," has no one from the CIA said that out loud where I can hear it? No fair counting the letter to Waxman either, he probably made that up.)
And a journalist reader emails: "Why did TNR have to protect the identity of a blogger who was already public?"
(And conservative bloggers are left to wonder, why are we pretending that Valerie Plame had a covert identity when she was already public?)
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The Political Stranglehold
Published by Pokerwolf on at 8:27 AM.
Connecting the Dot: Election Commissioners Are Way Too Politically Entwined - TennesseeTicket.com
There's a lot to mull over in this article. Read the whole thing. It's worth it.
One way in which the Tennessee Democratic Party has managed to retain majority status* in the General Assembly for eons surely has to be through control of some 95 county election commissions. Tennessee law provides that the majority party holds three of five seats on the State Election Commission; in turn, this body officially chooses the members of each county election commission, but in reality that is done with much input from that county's legislative delegation. Therefore, the Legislature directly and indirectly chooses every election commissioner in the state, and the majority party stacks each one in favor of itself.
The fact that our state's code is thoroughly woven with references to two specific political parties is evidence that the parties themselves act like a single, two-pronged special interest group, one that is more powerful than any labor union or trade association could hope to be. And furthermore, when one party is able to establish dominance for a period quite a bit longer than a lifespan, the probability factor for un-democratic malfeasance nears 1 (as in 100%).
(*Yes, the GOP briefly held a majority in the state Senate, and Ron Ramsey is Speaker and Lieutenant Governor; however, Sen. Micheal Williams' departure from the GOP puts the upper house at 16-16-1, which, in light of history, is hardly a firm hold; and Sen. Rosalind Kurita, a Democrat, holds the Speaker Pro Tem spot. In essence, the Democrats continue to control the General Assembly.)
There's a lot to mull over in this article. Read the whole thing. It's worth it.
But wait...
Published by StB on Tuesday, July 24, 2007 at 6:16 PM.
...I thought all the detainees at Guantanamo Bay were innocent people, caught up in unfortunate circumstances. They aren't terrorists. We must shut it down immediately!
Oops.
Former Guantanamo Detainee Blows Himself Up> Telegraph
Of course, some will say he did this because of his detention but that is bunk. He was detained for a reason. Knowing scum like this is kept at Gitmo makes me rest easier at night.
Perhaps the administration knows what they are doing?
Oops.
Former Guantanamo Detainee Blows Himself Up> Telegraph
A former Guantanamo Bay prisoner who took up arms alongside the Taliban after he was released from detention has blown himself up to avoid capture, Pakistani security forces said today.
Of course, some will say he did this because of his detention but that is bunk. He was detained for a reason. Knowing scum like this is kept at Gitmo makes me rest easier at night.
Perhaps the administration knows what they are doing?
Questions
Published by Pokerwolf on at 1:53 PM.
1. Do you believe that the United States made a mistake when it invaded Iraq?
2. Do you believe that the United States is responsible for the current conditions in Iraq?
3. Is invading another country and then leaving it to fend for itself without providing any assistance to said country a diplomatic/foreign affairs disaster?
4. If you answered "yes" to the above questions, why is it a good idea for the United States to remove its troops from Iraq?
2. Do you believe that the United States is responsible for the current conditions in Iraq?
3. Is invading another country and then leaving it to fend for itself without providing any assistance to said country a diplomatic/foreign affairs disaster?
4. If you answered "yes" to the above questions, why is it a good idea for the United States to remove its troops from Iraq?
To Live Up To His Public Image...
Published by BG on Monday, July 23, 2007 at 6:30 PM.Hugh Hewitt
From the Times of London:
TO LIVE up to his public image of a rugged, ex-SAS adventurer, it must have seemed essential for Bear Grylls to appear at ease sleeping rough and catching his own food in his television survival series.
But it has emerged that Grylls, 33, was enjoying a far more conventional form of comfort, retreating some nights from filming in mountains and on desert islands to nearby lodges and hotels.
Boy, that's a curious thing for Hewitt to point out about someone. If he's so concerned about marketing versus reality, I wonder why we haven't seen him write things like...
To live up to his public image of an independent, grounded non-Beltway denizen, it must have seemed essential for Fred Thompson to appear at ease driving a pickup truck to campaign rallies and reaching out to social conservatives.
But it has emerged that Thompson, 109, was enjoying a far more conventional form of comfort, renting the truck for image purposes, and using his inexplicable charm to philander his way through the Greater Beltway middle-aged social elite before deciding on a trophy wife who Joe Scarborough thinks can probably "work the pole."
DISCLAIMER: Naturally, for those who choose to ignore reading comprehension in favor of jumping to conclusions, I am, in fact, saying that only Republicans could possibly be image-conscious hypocrites. Liberals are all angelic, honest populists for whom there cannot be an assumption or projection of human failings or the trappings of power and celebrity.
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Why Nothing Is Getting Done In Congress
Published by BG on at 7:44 AM.
Newt's Got The Slogan Right, But The Sales Pitch Is All Wrong
Published by BG on Sunday, July 22, 2007 at 1:19 PM.Newt Gingrich: U.S. Fighting 'Phony War Since 9/11'
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich charges that the United States has been waging a weak and "phony war since 9/11" and continues to lose ground to radical Islam.
Wow, I can't believe I'm agreeing with Newt Gingrich! Oh wait...
In a speech to the annual conference of Christians United for Israel, Gingrich charged that instead of fighting to win, President Bush is now pursuing appeasement through a proposed Mideast peace conference.
Comparing that to the attempted appeasement of Nazi Germany at Munich before World War Two, Gingrich said, "We don't have a peace process. We have a surrender process."
Gingrich said the United States and Western civilization are in a global conflict with radical Islam, and must choose between victory and surrender.
So diplomacy is the great Neville Chamberlain sin, because we're going to turn Poland over to Ahmadinejad? And what about the "we have a surrender process" line? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Who, exactly, would we be "surrendering" to by ceasing to fight this "phony war?" I don't think we have a "surrender process," I think we have a "noodling around in difficult geopolitical territory without foresight process."
I'm lost here, but I think this is how you say, "Bomb Iran" without actually saying, "Bomb Iran."
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If I'm Not Mistaken...
Published by BG on at 8:12 AM.Paul at Power Line (Will the "empire" strike back) is advocating that we go to war with Syria for two reasons. One, they'll be easier to beat than Iran, and two, the world needs to see us beat someone soundly so they think we're tough guys again.
Sounds like nuanced and reasoned policy to me.
Sounds like nuanced and reasoned policy to me.
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