Blame W

Here's a snippet from Cindy Sheehan's farewell post from Crawford: [HT: Hugh]

Well, George and I are leaving Crawford today. George is finished playing golf and telling his fables in San Diego , so he will be heading to Louisiana to see the devastation that his environmental policies and his killing policies have caused. Recovery would be easier and much quicker if almost ½ of the three states involved National Guard were not in Iraq. All of the National Guard's equipment is in Iraq also. Plus, with the 2 billion dollars a week that the private contractors are siphoning from our treasury, how are we going to pay for helping our own citizens in Louisiana , Mississippi, and Alabama? And, should I dare say "global warming?" and be branded as a "conspiracy theorist" on top of everything else the reich-wingers say about me.

So W is now to blame for Katrina. You know the song "Blame Canada" from the South Park movie? Based on the liberal penchant to blame everything on the Bush administration, I offer this rendition in its stead:

Blame W

Times have changed,
our hurricanes are getting worse
They're causing floods in 'Orleans,
it's a natural disaster curse.
Should we blame intense low pressure,
or blame water vapor, or should we blame old mother nature?
No! Blame W! Blame W!
With his beady little eyes, his flapping head so full of lies
Blame W! Blame W!
We need to form a full assault, it's W's fault!
I'd really like to splice his spleen
Cuz he won't meet with Cindy, Viggo and Martin Sheen!
Even though he met with her once
and she really liked him then,
but now Cindy really hates him, so why won't he see her again?
Well, Blame W! Blame W!
It seems that everything's gone wrong since W came along
Blame W! Blame W!
He's not even legitimately elected anyway.
My son could of been a doctor or a lawyer, it's a fact,
Instead he was killed by terrorists in Iraq!
Should we blame Bin Laden? Should we blame Zarqawi,
or the jihadist, fascist, murdering scum who killed him?
Heck no! Blame W! Blame W!
With all his neocon hullabaloo and that bitch Condi Rice too.
Blame W! Shame on W!
We must blame them and cause a fuss
They're even to blame for global warming and stuff!

Uh oh

Don't look now but Maureen Dowd is not giddy at the thought of Hillary for president.

This is a sign that Hillary's move to the center is working. Let's hope Ms. Dowd and the other far left minions of the Democrat party can yank her back into the Howard Dean, Cindy Sheehan, Hollywood nut wing of the party where she belongs. Otherwise, Hillary may be on to something.

While I really dislike Ms. Rodham Clinton for her pathology, I've never said she wasn't smart. She's not deluded into thinking that America isn't really supportive of the war on terror. She knows full well that the Maureen Dowds of the world and their "hate all things America and Bush" tripe might get her a martini glass clink at an upper East Side cocktail party but it won't get her the White House.

The C Word

As in Erwin Chemerinsky, who thinks that the Charming Champ Roberts is "too Conservative" and should be actively opposed. Thanks Erwin. You are my litmus test. You say oppose, I say confirm. How can anyone that bright be consistently wrong?

God Bless Them

The news coming out of the South is just horrible. We all pray for those poor souls in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. But this is the US of A and Humpty will be put back together again.
Funny, but I haven't yet heard reports of massive aid coming from France, Germany, Russia, and the Arab world.

Update: If you live in the L.A. area, the Red Cross has organized a fundraiser event at two locations today for the victims of Katrina -- Dodger Stadium and The Pond of Anaheim.

For no particular reason...

Here are my top five literary references to the sea -- just off the top of my head:

1) The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep
Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.

2) ... softly falling into the dark mutinous Shannon waves.

3) But now I only hear its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar

4) ...Or like Stout Cortez, when with eagle eyes
He stared at the Pacific -- and all his men
Looked at each other with a wild surmise --
Silent, upon a peak in Darien

(for the Keats geeks, yes I know it was really Balboa)

5) I must go down to the sea again, the lonely sea and sky: and all I ask is a tall ship and a star to sail her by.

Other suggestions? Comments? Criticisms? Annoyances with this post?

Robert Sheer sneers at Democracy

Robert Sheer at the LA Times is having a hissy fit. Why? Is it because islamo-fascists have blown up more children? Nope. Is it because terrorists have lopped off the head of another westerner? Nope. Is it because religious fanatics in Iraq are murdering people by the hundreds? Nope.

So...Why the hissy fit? Well..Iraq has taken a step closer to Democracy by completing it's constitutional charter, that's why.

Is it just me or does it seem like Robert Sheer is rooting for Democracy to fail in Iraq? Why else would one meet the news of the completion of an historic Democratic constitution in the heart of the Arab world with such sneering pessimism?

Could it be that he'd rather see Dubya fail than freedom prevail?

New Media v. The Extinction Bound MSM

Hugh Hewitt recently gave an interview to Tim Rutten of the LA Times, with the proviso that it would be broadcast. Per Rutten's condition, it was delayed. Radio Blogger has the transcript. A long read but well worth it. It was background for this columm by Mr. Rutten. The thrust of Rutten's article was the decline and fall of conservative talk. But the interview showed that you would want the ever sharp Hewitt to cross examine any of your accusers. Rutten comes across as simply not understanding that if the Times continues to swing far left, it will doom itself. Balance is simply good business sense.

Dateline Paris

PARIS, France

Lance Armstrong's record setting seventh Tour de France victory, along with his entire Tour de France legacy, may be tarnished by what could turn out to be one of the greatest sports scandals of all time.

Armstrong is being quizzed by French police after three banned substances were found in his southern France hotel room while on vacation after winning the 2005 Tour de France.
The three substances found were toothpaste, deodorant, and soap which have been banned by French authorities for over 75 years.

Armstrong's girlfriend, American rocker Sheryl Crowe, is quoted as saying "We use them every day in America, so we naturally thought they'd be okay throughout Europe."

Along with these three banned substances, French authorities also physically searched Armstrong and found several other interesting items that they had never seen before, including a backbone and a pair of large testicles.

Impeach Bush?

I think that the existence of Pat Buchannan is the best argument against "intelligent design".

Curse in class?

F- - - YEAH.
We now know that Team America was educated in England.

Mid-Morning Report

So Cindy finally got to meet the President, huh? Although...she already has met the real president once before but she's entitled to at least *two* meetings with him, dammit! So could he please just go down there and meet with her and Charlie...er...Martin Sheen?! Please? Sheesh.

Let's keep our thoughts and prayers with the people in the Louisiana and Mississippi areas.

So Iraq has finished the charter of its new Constitution, and this is all the media has to say about it? Gimme a break with the Sunnis. The fact that they are upset about the finished document is a testament to its merits. Let's tune in and hear what these Sunni protesters are saying and doing:

"We sacrifice our souls and blood for you, Saddam,'' chanted the demonstrators. They carried pictures of Shiite clerics Muqtada Al-Sadir and Jawad Al-Khalisi who have joined the Sunnis in opposing the constitutional draft."

Gee. I wonder why the Shiites and Kurds are blowing these guys off? I'm sure Madison, Franklin and Hamilton would have welcomed input from the guys that were carrying "Long Live King George" signs, don't you?

And finally...I'm really depressed that I had to miss the MTV Awards, dang it. Here were some of the highlights I missed:

-- Ludacris managed to turn his hedonistic "Pimpin' All Over the World" into a multicultural Mardi Gras-like extravaganza, complete with steel drummers, African dancers and, of course, around-the-way booty-shaking girls.

This is why I'm such a big proponent of "multiculturalism". If the world could only just learn to pimp together, it would be a beautiful place.

-- When it comes to booty shaking, Luke of 2 Live Crew fame is the king with his infamous dancers, and he brought a bevy of women, a dance with Diddy and R&B heartthrob Omarion.

When I've had those visions of becoming world famous and dubbed the "King of ____", oddly I've never imagined the blank to be filled by "booty shaking". I bow to you, Luke of 2 Live Crew -- ye of the Jouncing Haunches.

-- The evening's most inexplicable moment may have come from R. Kelly, who remains a chart-topper even though he's awaiting trial on child pornography charges. On a bedroom set that looked like a scene from a Tyler Perry play, Kelly deliberately lip-synced highlights of his five-part soap opera infidelity song, "Trapped In The Closet," then debuted a new chapter involving a cheating wife, a cheating husband and his boyfriend.

Nice.

-- Some of the night's more decadent moments came during the pre-show arrivals. Lil Jon came by sea, on what looked to be a three-story, pimp-my-yacht contraption. The prison-bound Lil' Kim arrived on the white carpet in a Rolls Royce Phantom, though she looked somewhat demure in her low-cut mauve dress _ no pasties or dangling appendages this year from the diminutive rapper.

"Pimp-my-yacht contraption"...I love the way the word "pimp" can be used to make anything cool in the hip-hop culture. Maybe I'll try it. Yo, man -- what do you think of these pimped-out Dockers?

"The prison-bound Lil' Kim"...Are we really gonna miss Ella Fitzgerald when we have this type of talent among us?

Good v. Evil

If you doubt evil's existence, how do YOU explain the three game sweep of the ANGELS by the DEVIL Rays???

Or am I confused, since they are only the Devil Rays and not the Satan Rays?

Campus PC

The LA Times editorial page suprisingly has a discussion on Campus PC.
Somehow I missed (or forgot) the story of Jared Sakren, a Shakespeare Professor at Arizona State. The university had to settle with him in a battle over curriculum. From what I read, some feminist whack job was running the show like her private fiefdom. Damned Sexist Euro American Male. . trying to teach Shakespaere in the traditional way. Lots of good commentaries to be found on this all over the net.

Read this excellent article about Campus PC in California.

Another movie recommendation

Yesterday, after a game of golf, my buddy popped in Kung Fu Hustle. I rolled my eyes and braced myself for a long two hours of Naked Gun type parody of Kung Fu films -- of which type I thought this movie was.

Was I ever wrong.

Wow. What an impressive film. I was caught completely unaware. Not only was this not a silly slapstick slugfest but it was a beautiful film in many ways.

How to describe it? I would say it's a cross between Crouching Tiger and Moulin Rouge. It's a very intriguing and original film with great special effects, hypnotic action/music sequences, a thoughtful script, some humor, strong violence, and some sweet romance. I recommend it highly.

Movie For Dirtbiker

Saw Eight Legged Freaks on HBO. Good sense of horror humor, dirtbikers, and giant spiders. There's your romance, Kate Marie.

St. Sindee Speaks (Again)

The Huff and Puffington blog yesterday posted this lovely ditty from Our Lady Of Crawford. I wonder which of her PR handlers actually wrote it. Take a minute and scan through the comments. I find some of them very good (OK you guessed it, the ones who oppose her). But it is fun to see that anyone who writes anyting negative about here is a "hate-mongerer", or (god forbid) "A Republican" who is a "hater" making "dumb right wing posts".

The Cindy Brand Name

Marketing, promotion, professional handlers. . . read all about it.

And. . if you ever needed a reason to switch to Hagen Daaz:

Organizers are set up in a house trailer. Their meetings closed to reporters.
Leading the group is Fenton Communications employee, Michele Mulkey, based in San Francisco. Fenton specializes in public relations for liberal non-profits.
Their bills are being paid for by True Majority, a non-profit set up by Ben Cohen -- of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream fame.

Matt Leinart

I admired the USC quarterback and his decision to return to College to graduate, rather than turn pro. But this revelation makes me rethink. The fifth year player is taking one course to graduate . . . .ballroom dancing.

And for a bit of an escape

Check out Jeff's wonderful post at Quid as he waxes poetic about a slight hint of fall in the air and a morning of possibilities.

The strange bedfellows of the anti-war movement

VDH takes a look at the anti-war venom (and anti-Semitism) of Cindy Sheehan:

"Bush is the world's biggest terrorist."

"Yes, he (her son) was killed for lies and for a PNAC Neo-Con agenda to benefit Israel. My son joined the Army to protect America, not Israel."

And the support she has received from the likes of David Duke:

"Courageously she has gone to Texas near the ranch of President Bush and braved the elements and a hostile Jewish supremacist media."

He further explores the bizarre rhetoric and paranoia from the extreme Left/Right by setting forth and responding to the anti-war arguments made by socialists, anarchists, racialists, and paleocons alike.

Read the whole thing.

Question of the day

As heard this morning from Dennis Prager:

To those who oppose the war in Iraq, do you at least acknowledge that we're fighting truly evil people there?

I like the question because the answer will indicate either the honesty or moral compass (or both) of the person you're dealing with. If the person acknowledges that we are, indeed, fighting evil, then at least you have an honest person and can have an honest discussion. If the person does not acknowledge such evil, then you're dealing with someone who isn't even in the same moral arena and any further discussion is pretty much moot.

Crankshaft

The comic Crankshaft is particularly poignant today. Ed and his pals, WWII Army vets of Europe all, are in DC to visit the WWII Memorial. The tour guide notices some children frolicking in the water of the fountain and comments, "I'd better go tell those kids to stop playing in the fountain." Crankshaft replies, "Lem 'em go. That's why we did it. . so those kids could play in that fountain."

Impressive Blog from Iraq

Michael Yon. Thanks to Hugh Hewitt.

See "The Great Raid"

So says Hugh Hewiit. I plan to take his advice.

The Iraq constitution

David Brooks consults Peter Galbraith and Reuel Marc Gerecht about the Iraq consitution. They're both impressed.

Democrats singing the siren song of extremism?

George Will comments on the small faction of extremists who seem increasingly to be setting an intemporate political tone for the Democrats.

A glimpse at Cindy Sheehan's priorities

The AP reporter who wrote this story would have you believe differently. It begins:

"Even when she was in California taking care of her mother..."

But it's not just my own incredulity for things Cindy Sheehan that would lead me to believe she doesn't really care all that much about her mother. I'll let Cindy Sheehan speak for herself:

"This is where I belong, until Aug. 31, like I told the president."

No. Ms. Sheehan was not speaking of belonging at her mother's bedside where she could give her aid and comfort as she begins "physical therapy for paralysis on her right side" for a stroke she has just suffered. She was speaking of Crawford, Texas -- where she has just returned (after a brief visit to the bedside of her mother) to hang out with the likes of Vigo Mortensen and a gaggle of misguided Cindy worshipers.

Question for AP reporter: How is Cindy Sheehan "taking care of her mother" when she is in Crawford, Texas just as physical therapy is set to begin to help her mother recover? And don't get me wrong. I understand how difficult it is to care for a parent in such a state of failing health because the demands of every day life often will not allow for the time we would need to give them such care. But in Cindy's case...she's...got time to hang out in the desert...and stuff.

Here's how Cindy's arrival back at the vigil went:

When Sheehan arrived at the campsite, she saw a large banner depicting her son's face. She sobbed and said she felt ill. Supporters brought her water and cold towels, and she recovered about 20 minutes later.

I bet her mother could use some water and cold towels...

Update: Tim Blair has more on Mother Sheehan. It's not quite a grilled cheese sandwich, but hey, a saint has to start somewhere ...

WWJA

Hat tip to political cartoonist Michael Ramirez for today's entry. .. . .a car with a Robertson vanity plate and a "Who would Jesus Assasinate?" bumper sticker.

Movies

I noticed that Kate Marie's post about films got a lot of responses. It seems to be the most popular subject among the throngs of loyal readers of this blog.
I read the Lileks link on one of Kate's entries, that took me to the film Silent Running. That in turn inspired me to a new film topic. Are there any films that you saw as a younger person that you really, REALLY, loved, only to see again at a later date when you were off the 'Buckin' Bronco' and exclaim "What the HELL was I thinking?"
I will confess that I actually loved the following films that now cause me to squirm:

Silent Running
Billy Jack
Early Stephen Segal fims.
Easy Rider

Anybody else? Come on. . confess and the truth will set you free.

Sorry France...

You're going to have to do better than this. A six year old urine sample with an anonymous number?

I think the bias of this publication against Armstrong is evidenced by this tidbit from the article:

L'Equipe is owned by the Amaury Group whose subsidiary, Amaury Sport Organization, organizes the Tour de France and other sporting events. The paper often questioned Armstrong's clean record and frequently took jabs at him - portraying him as too arrogant, too corporate and too good to be real.

"Never to such an extent, probably, has the departure of a champion been welcomed with such widespread relief," the paper griped the day after Armstrong won his seventh straight Tour win and retired from cycling.

The bottom line is that Armstrong never failed a drug test in his entire career, including a surprise test administered to him the day before this year's Tour. Give it up Frenchies. He kicked your ass for seven years and he will most likely be the greatest cyclist the sport has ever seen no matter how much you try to smear him after the fact.

August 24, 2005

Only 4 more months till Christmas Eve. Not too soon to be thinking about Tracking Santa, seeing a Christmas Play, working on some new recipes, studying up on the origins, getting those cards, or getting Stewdog's present.
You'll curse me today for bringing this up, but mark my words, in a few months you will wish you had listened to me.

UPDATE: It is now the 25th. . only 4 months until the big day. You have all wasted one precious shopping day already.

That is "F" as in French

Just another reason to despise the inhabitants of that fair country.
They just can't leave Lance alone.
And my favorite part of this entire story, requiring 4 page coverage in France:

"The laboratory, a specialist anti-doping unit outside Paris in Chatenay-Malabry, said the samples it tested did not have names attached and it could not confirm if any of the samples were Armstrong's."

UPDATE: Lance Fights Back. Would sure love to see some wealthy American finance his lawsuit against these buttheads.

The Decline of Western Civilization, Part 347

God help us all. Her dogs' freakin' nuptials?

The one thing that comforts me is that I have only a vague idea who these people are.

(Hat tip: James Lileks, who has a shiny new screed here.)

Presidential Straw Poll

Patrick Ruffini has another straw poll going at his blog. Giuliani is in the lead, and Condoleeza Rice leads the "fantasy candidates." Very interesting ...

The Full Scoop from Pat

Queried about his recent recommendation to assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Pat Robertson explained that he had been misinterpreted. In fact, that was only one of a long list of actions he had intended to recommend against various world leaders, including-

Fidel Castro should also be assassinated, but first he should be forced to dress in a Wonder Woman costume and sing "Swanee" to a Boy Scout jamboree in Texas.

Tony Blair should be left unharmed, but his ears should be taped back so they don't stick out so far from his head.

Hu Jintao should have his left kidney replaced by a "Chia Pet"

Vladimir Putin should be made the subject of the following knock-knock joke:

A: Knock-knock
B: Who's there?
A: Putin
B: Putin who?
A: Putin off renouncing sin is no joke!

Queen Elizabeth II should have her hair dyed bright pink. Then she should be assassinated.

Sigh

I can't think of anything to say about this anymore.

San Francisco Supervisors reject WWII battleship museum

Eugene Volokh has the links.

Just say No

Moma don't let your babies grow up to be . . babies having babies!

FWIW

Who is your Harry Potter alter ego?

You scored as Hermione Granger.

You're one intelligent witch, but you have a hard time believing it and require constant reassurance. You are a very supportive friend who would do anything and everything to help her friends out.

Hermione Granger 85%
Albus Dumbledore 75%
Sirius Black 75%
Severus Snape 70%
Remus Lupin 70%
Harry Potter 65%
Ginny Weasley 65%
Draco Malfoy 60%
Ron Weasley 60%
Lord Voldemort 30%

Update: I think if I'd answered the questions more honestly, I would have ended up as Severus Snape.

Women, Men, Movies, and Romance

My husband and I saw Wedding Crashers this weekend. I was in the mood for a comedy, and I knew ahead of time that this one was going to be raunchy. While too much designed-for-the-male-sensibility raunch generally puts me off, I decided that I'd give this movie a try, and that if it was funny enough, I wouldn't care about the raunch. Well, my friends, it was definitely funny enough. It's not a great film, and the last half hour is rather slow (though it's enlivened by an inspired cameo), but it is an hilarious movie. Vince Vaughn's performance alone is worth the price of admisison.

But this post isn't really about Wedding Crashers. It's about the differences between what men and women find romantic, and, yes, that subject is already a cliche, made quite explicit in the scene in Sleepless in Seattle (an utterly unromantic comedy) where the woman tears up describing An Affair to Remember and Tom Hanks and his brother-in-law have a mock sob-fest over The Dirty Dozen. My husband prompted this line of thinking when he remarked that he was surprised that the crudeness of the humor in Wedding Crashers hadn't turned me against the movie, and that led to a discussion of what women actually find appealing or romantic in films (as opposed to the uninspired, pedestrian fare offered up by most contemporary "romantic" comedies), and then -- since my husband was hard-pressed to come up with a single movie scene he considered "romantic" -- to a question about whether men find anything romantic about movies or whether "romance" was an aspect of the cimematic experience that didn't much apply to men's assessment of the merits of any particular film.

Here's a brief, and by no means exhaustive, list of some of the film scenes that I consider romantic:

* The kiss on the Tuscan hillside in A Room with a View.

* Cary Grant taking Ingrid Bergman in his arms and carrying her down that long staircase at the end of Notorious.

* Harrison Ford dancing with the Amish woman to the accompaniment of the car radio in Witness.

* The look that Bill Pullman gives Sandra Bullock at the very end of While You Were Sleeping.

* The final scene of Breakfast at Tiffany's, accompanied by that lush Hollywood instrumental version of Moon River (which is probably the only theme song in movie history to substantially and all on its own improve the quality of the film in which it appeared).

* Heathcliff (Laurence Olivier) taking Cathy (Merle Oberon) in his arms and guiding her to an open window so that she can see the moors a final time, in Wuthering Heights.

* Bette Davis looking at Paul Henreid as he greets his transformed daughter in Now, Voyager.

Do men have lists like this (that aren't of the Dirty Dozen kind)? Men, feel free to chime in and prove me wrong (or right). Women, feel free to add to my very truncated list with your own suggestions.

Update: I forgot the following:

* Colonel Brandon (Alan Rickman) carrying the sick and heartbroken Marianne Dashwood (Kate Winslett) to safety in Sense and Sensibility. It's interesting, by the way, that this scene doesn't occur in Jane Austen's book -- I find that film adaptations of Austen often render the stories more conventionally romantic than the novels themselves.

* Any time Mr. Darcy (Colin Firth) looks at Elizabeth Bennett (Jennifer Ehle) in the A&E version of Pride and Prejudice.

Biking with 43

Nice article about a SI reporter's mountain bike ride with the Prez.

The Public Square

I took my time getting to work today and took a nice bike ride along the new path that has been constructed adjacent to the busway that will transverse the San Fernando Valley. Coming back, I coasted through the Civic Center at the Van Nuys Courthouse. I am always fascinated by the mass of humanity hustling in to do business before the courts.
There is a nut who is a regular there. In the past, he has had a sign that combines religious philosopy and politics in a manner suggestive of someone who is "off his meds". That sign has evolved into a gauntlet of about 30 posters, most of which are constructed in a cut and paste ransom note motif. The common themes can be summed up as follows: "Bush is a fascist and free our Palestinian brothers". Hmm. . I was understanding of his right to free speech and decided to exercise mine. As I coasted by, I looked him in the eye, gave a raised fist, and said "Long Live Israel". To which he provided a Steve Martinesque reply, "I don't think soooooooo."

"Of Minds and Metrics"

Here's a good article by Michael Barone on changing minds in the Muslim world. As Barone points out, perhaps what's important is not getting people in Arab and Muslim countries to like America, but getting them to hate terrorism in the name of Islam.

Bang for your buck

For 23 grand a year, you too can be taught by a "bonified member of the MLA."

I never realized this before

"Being Christian should lead one to be Like Christ and be liberal"

Father Joe

I've just finished reading Tony Hendra's Father Joe. I wasn't quite as ecstatic about the book as some have been, but I liked its reconsideration of history and tradition, especially from someone who had been all too willing to throw those concepts on the garbage heap to make way for the new, or what comes next -- which is always, however amorphous and ill-defined, assumed to be better than what came before.

Here's Hendra on the reforms of Vatican II:

The mighty chain of events and people stretching back over almost two thousand years, which even a pimply teenager like me had once thrilled to, had been not just shattered but thrown on the garbage heap. As if only certain links in it matttered -- the Church's official lapses and sins -- not the hundreds of millions of other links: kind and generous people, clergy and laity, hard-striving souls full of faith and good works and humor -- and of failure and frustration and sin and tribulation. These had been the Church also -- for two thousand years. But they appeared to be without merit for our doughty reformers, nothing but a millenium-long death dance of superstition and gullibility.

As far as I could tell, the reformers who had taken charge after Vatican II -- mostly my contemporaries or slightly older -- had indulged enthusiastically in one of our generation's most deadly flaws, nurtured, no doubt, by growing up in the rubble of World War II -- a willful lack of any sense of history.

I'd been doing no reforming, but I was not without blame. Like my contemporaries, I'd bought into an attitude that went well beyond Henry Ford's reprehensible "history is bunk." In our version, history was far worse than bunk: it was suspect, the enemy, invariably evil, a repository of constant failure and deadly delusions and appalling role models. History was when all the mistakes were made, all the atrocities committed, that time before we knew better. History was before we were born again into the One True Faith: only change, with its benison of the new and the now, can lead to salvation.

Funny how some of the biggest advocates of public schooling wouldn't think of sending their own kids to one

Cathy Seipp writes about public schools and private pretensions in L.A.

America is a nicer place today because. . .

Sean Penn isn't here.

But unfortunately, Joan Baez IS!!

National Punctuation Day

Yes! Today; is? National Punctuation Day, I hope (?] that everyone; checks out : this sight . too bee sure that ' all there puckatution is cereckt;
We"ll take up spellin nexst holyday.

Good Read

I am currently reading The Forgotten Soldier.
There is a debate as to whether it is truth or fiction.
Hats off to CIV for getting that much reading done on vacation.
On my week off, I got through 100 pages or so.
The role of books in my life is to trigger naps.

Captain Dale Dye

This guy is great. He is forever just under the radar, but constantly shows up in great movies and TV shows and is often hired by Hollywood as a military technical adviser.
Recetly seen in Entourage (the best 1/2 hour on television) and Great Raid.
Oh. . and he is from Missouri. 'Nuff said.

Outside The Tent

Hat's off to the LA Times (that sticks in my craw) for allowing some criticism of itself.
I enjoyed this clear take on the Saint Cindy Sheehan affair.

Mallard

Mallard Fillmore is great today. The two characters are playing chess. Mallard exclaims "Hey, you can't move your rook 7 spaces diagonally". The balding bow-tied professor type says "You're right, that you didn't used to be able to. . but. . I'm a progressive. . I view the rules of chess as a 'living document'!"

A little History of the strip is in order:

"Tinsley created Mallard for what he saw as the conservative underdog. The strip is for "the average person out there: the forgotten American taxpayer who's sick of the liberal media and cultural establishments that act like he or she doesn't exist," he says.
"Mallard" almost did not see the light of day. When asked to come up with a mascot for The Daily Progress entertainment section, artist Tinsley showed editors three ideas: a blue hippopotamus; a big nose in tuxedo and cane; and a duck.
Tinsley says the hippo went unused for fear of offending overweight people, and the nose was axed because it would "offend people of Jewish and Mediterranean descent, not to mention Arabs and anyone else with a big nose." Tinsley says he thought his editors were kidding, but they were not.
Once Mallard Fillmore was off and running, his editors requested Tinsley tone down its conservative bias. When he refused, he was fired.
The strip caught the attention of The Washington Times, which used Tinsley's wise-quacking journalist in the commentary section before moving the strip to the comics pages. The rest, as they say, is history."

Attention, Angels fans ...

Matt Welch has some choice words for Steve Finley: "Sayonara, grandpa." There's more.

I second the nomination

Bob Costas for anchor of all three networks.

Hitchens

on Cindy Sheehan again.

Standing athwart history ...

In the Summer issue of the Claremont Review of Books, Michael Uhlmann writes about William F. Buckley and the rise of the conservative movement. He notes that where one stood on the Hiss case became a crucial question in the early days of National Review:

As to the cause itself, National Review provided its readers with a continuing stream of evidence, not otherwise easily available, on the aggressive motives and tactics of Soviet foreign policy. Readers also learned that the Cold War could not be properly understood without addressing its moral dimension. The indispensable guide on that point, the Ur-text as it were, was Witness, the compelling testament of Whittaker Chambers, whom Buckley induced for a time to serve as a contributing editor. By attending carefully to that great book and the controversy that caused it to be written, one could discover the fatal fault lines of the contemporary liberal establishment. Even more, perhaps, than Chambers himself, Buckley drew the lesson in stark relief: An establishment that could not bring itself to acknowledge the moral fault and legal guilt of Alger Hiss was an establishment that could not be counted on to stand up against Soviet imperialism when the crunch came. The permutations of that proposition, which worked themselves out in a hundred implicit and explicit ways in National Review's editorial policy, became the magazine's raison d'être. If membership in the conservative cause had been determined by an entrance exam, the leading question would have been where one stood on the Hiss case. On this, as on many other matters, philosophical understanding preceded and defined the order of battle.

How come no one knows who Alger Hiss and Whittaker Chambers were anymore? Well, maybe the students of the guy who holds the Alger Hiss Chair of Social Studies at Bard College have heard of him, but they probably think he's someone who was important in "social studies"' -- and so he was, come to think of it, but not in the way they think. And, yes, probably most professors of history (or at least of American history) have some acquaintance with the Hiss/Chambers affair, but why do I have the feeling (unprovable in the absence of public opinion polling on the matter) that the average "man on the street" would have no idea who Alger Hiss was, that the average college-educated "man on the street" would think maybe he's that guy who wrote those inspirational rags-to-riches stories, and that the average gradate student in literature "man on the street" would think maybe he's that poet who, according to Stephen Dedalus, called the sea "our mighty mother" (but come to think of it, rather less of them would know who Stephen Dedalus is than one might think). And how come librarians don't know Stalin's first name? And how come my twenty-three-year-old cousin gave me a blank stare when I mentioned the historical significance of the date 1939? And how come if you ask the average college graduate what was the trial of the twentieth century in America, they'll say "O.J." and if you ask the average high school student what was the trial of the twentieth century, they'll say "Jacko"? And how come everybody knows who the Backstreet Boys are (or were) and nobody knows who the Scotsboro Boys were? Don't get me wrong -- there are embarrassing lacunae in my own historical knowledge, but I'm neither proud of them nor unconcerned about them.

My little incoherent rant has now run far afield of the original quotation. Let me bring it back to National Review by suggesting that their new motto should be "Standing athwart history, shouting 'Pay attention, for God's sake!'"

Birthday Greetings

It's Bill Clinton's birthday today and I thought it would be a nice gesture to wish the former President (boy, I can't believe he was our President) a happy birthday. So here it is.

Happy Birthday.

Wooo. That's done.

Now, I've included a couple of links below depending on which side of the isle you sit on.


Liberals click here

Conservatives click here.

Hmmmm ...

I tend to think of the sciences as less prone to ideological bullying than the humanities, but this raises some concerns.

Update: I neglected to mention that I found this item via Kathryn Jean Lopez at The Corner. John Derbyshire, Andrew Stuttaford, Jonah Goldberg, and Wesley J. Smith have since weighed in on the issue (Derbyshire and Stuttaford with serious reservations about the crux of Smith's post). Scroll down for their comments.

Blog discoveries

Via Cathy Seipp, I've discovered a blog called Odysseus, written by an Army officer in Iraq.

Here's his take on the absolute moral authority of Cindy Sheehan:

"... the moral authority of parents who bury children killed in Iraq is absolute." --Maureen Dowd

I would say that Maureen Dowd has the IQ of a houseplant, but I'm afraid that it would get back to our ferns and I'd have to apologize.

In this case, though, I'll concede her point and raise it.

She states that the moral authority of parents that have buried children in Iraq is absolute, but she stops at Cindy Sheehan.

She's missed a few.

Well, more than a few.

There are hundreds of thousands of parents who have buried their children after they were killed in Iraq. They include the parents of children killed by suicide bombers, children murdered in Saddam's prisons and buried in mass graves, children gassed in the Kurdish enclaves, children raped and murdered as a lesson to their families, children fed into plastic-shredding machines and children who were brutalized in every way that the sickest of the Ba'athists and Jihadis could imagine.

Is the moral authority of the parents of those children absolute? Because if it is, then it changes the anti-war calculus.

They want us to stay.

[I think we'll be adding Odysseus and Cathy's World to our blog roll.]

Singling out Israel

James Lileks has the goods on the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

Continuing the work of Ramesses

"Let my people go."

"The biggest terrorist in the world ...

is George W. Bush." So says Cindy Sheehan.

Just a quick question for Ms. Sheehan. Who would you rather meet in a dark alley, Dubya, Rummy and Condi or al Zarqawi and a couple of his pals?

Out and about in the blogosphere

*Via Rose Nunez, I've found this excellent review of Theodore Dalrymple's collection of essays, Our Culture, What's Left of It: The Mandarins and the Masses.

*Here's a rave review of The 40-Year-Old Virgin at The American Scene.

*At Outer Life: "Why do I dread vacations?"

*This post is rather old (as time is measured in the blogosphere), but it's a lovely reflection on Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, and on tragedy and time as "the fire in which we all burn."

*Jeff at Quid Nomen Illius on writer's block and "stalks of green."

Ending sentences with a preposition, y'all . . .

Rumpus correspondent Top Dog (a.k.a. "Queen of the East") sends in this joke:

A Southern lady sees a vacationing society lady from the Northeast. The Southern lady is gregarious: "Where y'all from?" Society lady is put off: "I'm from a place where they don't end sentences with a preposition." Southern lady smiles, nods her head: "Beg your pardon. Where y'all from, bitch?"

Disabled Intelligence

"Able Danger."

Remember those words. It could very well be that they are the two words the Clinton Administration never wanted the American public to hear. They were heard by the highly political 9/11 commission and dismissed as not "historically significant" and therefore never mentioned in their final report. But their historical significance is yet to be decided and by the looks of things, their significance is gaining momentum every day.

A few questions that need to be asked for starters:

1) Who were these Defense Department lawyers who canceled these meetings with the FBI?
2) Did these lawyers make this decision on their own or did they have to report to Defense Secretary William Cohen? ( I would be shocked if Cohen was unaware of this)
3) If Cohen was aware of it, who else in the Clinton Administration was aware of it? (wouldn't this be something the Defense Secretary would report to the president?)
4) Was the upcoming 2000 election a factor in keeping this information under wraps for fear the American electorate would react negatively to a breach of national security?
5) When Sandy Berger, Clinton's National Security Adviser, raided the National Archives and walked off with classified terrorism reports in his socks (a crime for which he has pled guilty), could it potentially have had something to do with this?

Twenty Five. . ain't no jive

Today marks the passing of 25 years since the Stewdog wagged his tail to say I do to the Missus Stewdog. Two puppies later, a couple of pounds heavier, a tad greyer, but still keeping the flame alive.

Is the parent-child relationship purely "affectional"? Should it be?

Philosopher David Velleman at Left2Right has an interesting take on the same-sex marriage debate.

An Open Letter to the NCAA

Here it is, from University of North Dakota President Charles Kupchella.

(Hat tip: Hugh Hewitt, who has posted the transcript of his interview with Kupchella here.]

The LA Times is intentionally hiding their bias from the new media

I had wanted to mention this earlier today but simply got too busy.

I've been noticing a trend in the reporting of the LA Times. I've been tracking this for a while and it seems that the actual, physical distribution paper that is delivered to homes often contains pictures and articles of a more biased nature which do not appear on their website.

Case in point:

The headline picture above the fold in today's Los Angeles Times dealt with the forced Gaza pullout. And what image, pray tell, did they use to depict this event? A frightened, crying child perhaps? A terrified elderly woman confronted by uniformed eviction notice totting men? Nope. The image was of a disheveled, pot-bellied man in boxers, a woman in leopard skin undergarments with a cigarette dangling from her fingers, and a baby sitting nearby inhaling the toxic smoke -- all sitting in chairs on their tiled patio like some kind of suburban trash straight out of "Raising Arizona" -- sneering vulgarly at two uniformed men standing by unmenacingly.

This picture is not included in their online pictorial of the pullout (which includes pictures more sympathetic to the Jewish citizens). Is it possible they're intentionally including such images in their distribution paper but leaving it off their website to avoid the wrath of the blogosphere?

Just a thought.

What hath Cindy wrought?

More stories like this one will probably be showing up now. To anyone who wants to criticize the Mahers, I say . . . HOW DARE YOU?!!!

How dare you, Jonah?

Jonah Goldberg takes on the "how dare you" brigade.

Art, Science, Theory

Over at 2Blowhards, Michael Blowhard comments astutely on the arts, "theory," science (biology, especially), and the blogosphere. He notes the way that the internet has allowed the "unanointed" to storm the stronghold of the marinated-in-theory academic literary community, and he points to some interesting work that's being done in biology which might have some refreshing applications to the study of the arts. Mosey on over and read the post if you've got a few minutes.

30 silver coins still go a long way

"I know the bishop and dean argue it is fiction - and it might even be brilliant fiction - but it is against the very essence of what we believe."

So says Sister Mary Michael, a nun who is protesting the filming of "The Da Vinci Code" in England's Lincoln Cathedral. The dean of the Cathedral, however, objected less to its use in the film when its producers coughed up the dough.

I tend to agree with the good Sister. If you want to make a film which (intentionally or not) undermines the person of Jesus and the Christian faith, don't do it in an edifice built for worshiping Him and exercising that faith. I've said fairly recently that convictions tend to bow to the almighty dollar and it seems to be the case here as well. Shame on the dean.

Hollywood has made open war on Christianity. I don't care how much money they were offering, I wouldn't allow them to enter into a Christian church just so they can defecate on the altar. And I don't think Jesus would either.

And, as for the argument that it's just "fiction" or just a "movie", I agree. So go take your money and build a "fictional" church to play your pretend games.

The Great Raid

Maybe this will be the one non-family-film I get out to see this summer.

Bush Lied and People. . .

Got Divorced. So Saint Cindy Sheehan will soon be an eligible bachelorette. I smell a reality show.

Grief, Inc.

This article by Bruce Thornton at Victor Davis Hanson's site nicely encapsulates what I've found especially annoying about the canonization of "Mother Sheehan" -- the contemporary Oprah-esque notion that one's grief, one's status as victim, imparts some special insight or "moral authority." Thornton suggests it's a symptom of pampered Western self-absorption, and I agree. [And, yes, I suppose I'm perpetuating the self-absorption in my own tiny way with this post.]

I pray that the poor woman (along with all the grieving mothers of the world) can be comforted in her grief. But the media frenzy surrounding her vigil strikes me as unseemly in its implication that it's only the suffering of people like us that matters.

"Human nature is what we were put into this world to rise above ..."

But, as John Derbyshire points out, in times of "total war," we humans routinely doff the sheep's clothing of civilization and morality. That's not nice, says Derbyshire; it's just the way it is, and -- unfortunately -- the way it will always be.

Much as conservatives like Paul Wolfowitz, Charles Krauthammer, and Victor Davis Hanson appeal to my heart (and my head), Derbyshire gets me in the gut. That's not nice, and it's not elegant; it's just the way it is.

Dick Durbin's a liar

Jonathan Turley says so. [And he's a liberal]

And here's some analysis of it at Betsy's Page and Powerline. [HT: Michelle Malkin]

If she won't pay tribute, I will

So now Cindy Sheehan is calling for Bush's impeachment and for Israel to get out of Palestine. She's also refusing to pay her 2004 taxes, saying, "you killed my son, George Bush, and I don't owe you a penny...you give my son back and I'll pay my taxes. Come after me (for back taxes) and we'll put this war on trial."

If it wasn't obvious before that this woman had an agenda beyond grief for her son, is there any doubt now? Yes she lost her son but when she makes statements like this she's abdicated any right to deference through grief that she may have originally claimed.

Ms. Sheehan, your son died fighting monsters who would kill you on sight. He defended you, me, your remaining son, my children and all the people of this nation. The one thing I thank you for is for making his name known to me so that I may personally thank him in my prayers, as I tuck my children good night, for his bravery and sacrifice for our sake.

You are to be pitied if you really believe that he was killed by our president and the jews. And, by the way, are you really going to protest president Bush by depriving those less fortunate than yourself of your tax dollars?

I feel sorry for you. Your son is a hero and you haven't the eyes to see it.

God bless Casey Sheehan and all those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for freedom.

The Many Splendors of Peekaboo

My 8 1/2-month-old daughter, Poopypuppy, is among the most avid players of Peekaboo I have ever encountered. Recently I inserted a universal translation fish into my ear so that I might understand her unique dialect of Poopinese and query her about her love of the sport. The following is a faithful transcript of the interview:

Madman: So, Peekaboo. What do love about it?

Poopypuppy: What don't I love about it? The rush of expectation, the thrill of discovery. I've enjoyed Peekaboo for as long as I can remember, and this is a game that has it all. I can play it for hours.

MM: I'd noticed. But what really lies at the heart of the game?

PP: It's a common misconception that Peekaboo is a game of luck. Sure, chance comes into play, but when your opponent covers his or her face odds are you're going to see it again. The hard thing to control is your expression, whether you are on the peek or the boo end of the transaction. Developing a good "Peekaboo face" takes skill and practice.

So there you go. I see potential here for spectator events and reality TV. World Series of Peekaboo. Celebrity Peekaboo (I'm sure Janeane Garafolo and Christine Lahti are available). Maybe a Peekaboo-themed romantic comedy or dramatic series (NY Peeka- Blue?). Anyone out there who wants to run with this idea, be my guest.

Wow!

Since it came out, I have been wanting to see the movie Downfall, which is about the last days of Hitler and the fall of the Third Reich. Finally rented it last night. It was a tremendous film, which was nominated for best foreign film in 2005. Not for the little ones, but a necessary additon to the body of knowledge of any WWII buff. Brilliantly acted and produced.

"God bless his free soul and God bless the souls of his comrades who are fighting evil"

Mohammed at Iraq the Model offers a poignant message to Cindy Sheehan.

Here's his conclusion:

We did not choose war for the sake of war itself and we didn't sacrifice a million lives for fun! We could've accepted our jailor and kept living in our chains for the rest of our lives but it's freedom ma'am.Freedom is not an American thing and it's not an Iraqi thing, it's what unites us as human beings. We refuse all kinds of restrictions and that's why we fought and still fighting everyday in spite of the swords in the hands of the cavemen who want us dead or slaves for their evil masters.

You are free to go and leave us alone but what am I going to tell your million sisters in Iraq? Should I ask them to leave Iraq too? Should I leave too? And what about the eight millions who walked through bombs to practice their freedom and vote? Should they leave this land too?Is it a cursed land that no one should live in? Why is it that we were chosen to live in all this pain, why me, why my people, why you?

But I am not leaving this land because the bad guys are not going to leave us or you to live in peace. They are the same ones who flew the planes to kill your people in New York.I ask you in the name of God or whatever you believe in; do not waste your son's blood.We here have decided to avenge humanity, you and all the women who lost their loved ones.Take a look at our enemy Cindy, look closely at the hooded man holding the sword and if you think he's right then I will back off and support your call.

We live in pain and grief everyday, every hour, every minute; all the horrors of the powers of darkness have been directed at us and I don't know exactly when am I going to feel safe again, maybe in a year, maybe two or even ten; I frankly don't know but I don't want to lose hope and faith.

We are in need for every hand that can offer some help. Please pray for us, I know that God listens to mothers' prayers and I call all the women on earth to pray with you for peace in this world.

Your son sacrificed his life for a very noble cause…No, he sacrificed himself for the most precious value in this existence; that is freedom.

His blood didn't go in vain; your son and our brethren are drawing a great example of selflessness.God bless his free soul and God bless the souls of his comrades who are fighting evil.God bless the souls of Iraqis who suffered and died for the sake of freedom.God bless all the freedom lovers on earth.

Read the whole thing.

Just a thought on people who hold up signs and chant things

I belive it was on the Laura Ingraham radio show that I recently heard the audio clip of this chant from a group that was protesting the presence of military recruiters on their campus:

"U.S. military go away!
Racist!
Sexist!
Anti-gay!"

(repeat)

I'm just wondering how many of these same protesters are holding up signs today in support of Cindy Sheehan and chanting:

"Support our troops! Bring them home!"

I'm sure there's at least one guy who didn't get the memo who arrived at the protest chanting, "U.S. military go away!...oops my bad...Bring our troops home!"

...so we can spit on them.

The Heck with Chief Brody

Give 'em Quint:

Japanese submarine slammed two torpedoes into her side, Chief. We was comin' back from the island of Tinian to Leyte. We'd just delivered the bomb. The Hiroshima bomb. Eleven hundred men went into the water. Vessel went down in 12 minutes. Didn't see the first shark for about a half-hour. Tiger. 13-footer. You know how you know that in the water, Chief? You can tell by lookin' from the dorsal to the tail. What we didn't know, was that our bomb mission was so secret, no distress signal had been sent. They didn't even list us overdue for a week. Very first light, Chief, sharks come cruisin' by, so we formed ourselves into tight groups. It was sorta like you see in the calendars, you know the infantry squares in the old calendars like the Battle of Waterloo and the idea was the shark come to the nearest man, that man he starts poundin' and hollerin' and sometimes that shark he go away... but sometimes he wouldn't go away. Sometimes that shark looks right at ya. Right into your eyes. And the thing about a shark is he's got lifeless eyes. Black eyes. Like a doll's eyes. When he comes at ya, he doesn't even seem to be livin'... 'til he bites ya, and those black eyes roll over white and then... ah then you hear that terrible high-pitched screamin'. The ocean turns red, and despite all your poundin' and your hollerin' those sharks come in and... they rip you to pieces. You know by the end of that first dawn, lost a hundred men. I don't know how many sharks there were, maybe a thousand. I do know how many men, they averaged six an hour. Thursday mornin', Chief, I bumped into a friend of mine, Herbie Robinson from Cleveland. Baseball player. Boson's mate. I thought he was asleep. I reached over to wake him up. He bobbed up, down in the water, he was like a kinda top. Upended. Well, he'd been bitten in half below the waist. At noon on the fifth day, a Lockheed Ventura swung in low and he spotted us, a young pilot, lot younger than Mr. Hooper here, anyway he spotted us and a few hours later a big ol' fat PBY come down and started to pick us up. You know that was the time I was most frightened. Waitin' for my turn. I'll never put on a lifejacket again. So, eleven hundred men went into the water. 316 men come out, the sharks took the rest, June the 29th, 1945. Anyway, we delivered the bomb.

Greg Gutfeld on Cindy Sheehan and the "Chief Brody slap"

Greg Gutfeld reacts to the new "all-Cindy, all-the-time" policy at HuffPo.

Cindy Sheehan's family speaks out

Via Drudge:

"The Sheehan Family lost our beloved Casey in the Iraq War and we have been silently, respectfully grieving. We do not agree with the political motivations and publicity tactics of Cindy Sheehan. She now appears to be promoting her own personal agenda and notoriety at the the expense of her son's good name and reputation. The rest of the Sheehan Family supports the troops, our country, and our President, silently, with prayer and respect.

Sincerely,

Casey Sheehan's grandparents, aunts, uncles and numerous cousins."

Big Boys DO Cry

I just got back from the grocery store. As I went down the pet aisle to purchase bird seed for our outdoor friends, I noticed some vey large bags of "Old Yeller" dog food, with a picture of the big golden guy on the bag. I wondered. . when the bag is empty, does it make you cry?

Ode to Kate Marie

I had the audacity, temerity and sheer gall to write a blog critical of Saint Cindy Sheehan.
I noted that some of the comments were removed, probably for reasons of profanity, but one anon comment remained. I was all set to respond, but I saw that the inimitible Kate Marie beat me to the punch. Easily reminded me of a Dylan song, made famous by the Band, Up On Cripple Creek, the chorus of which is as follows:

Up on cripple creek
she sends me
If I spring a leak
she mends me
I don’t have to speak
she defends me
A drunkard’s dream
if I ever did see one.

I will only say this to anon. You talk about "people like (me)". Well, as Kate Marie and Wonderdog can attest, there ARE NO PEOPLE LIKE ME.

This Steams me II

Dear Cindy Sheehan,
I am very sorry that your son Casey was killed in Iraq. Now. . please go home and leave President Bush alone. You think that you have a right to camp out, become a media darling, and demand to see the president. This is America, so I guess that is true. But apparently some of your own family members are offended by this charade. When I was two I threatened to hold my breath until I got what I wanted. Guess what? I eventually had to take a breath and the reason of authority won out. You say that you want to talk to the president and have him tell you why we are in the war. You had one audience with him already, and some reports suggest that you were singing a different tune about it last year. I also hear that the president recently sent two top level advisers to meet with you, but that isn't enough for you.
You don't want to hear an explanation from him as to why he started the war, your comments show that you have an agenda. You want him to say that it was for oil and to enrich his buddies. You know that isn't going to happen, so you continue your charade, advancing your agenda, and playing pawn for the peace pimps.
You stain the honor or the rest of the war dead and their families who handle the inevitable deaths with dignity and grace. You say you want to know why your son died. Hell, I can answer that for you. This isn't Vietnam. There is no draft. You son VOLUNTEERED for the service and reinlisted. That's part one. Part two? He died because some scum insurgent killed him. So please. We are all sorry for your loss. It is a hole that can't be fully filled in, but please invest your grief somewhere else, somewhere where it might do some good.

More on the mascot ban

Kenneth Woodward takes on the latter-day puritans who are pushing the ridiculous mascot ban.

This Steams Me

I'm sure you have all caught the story that 2 of the Michael Jackson Jurors now regret their vote to acquit. Eleanor Cook was quoted as saying about the other jurors: "They can be as angry as they want to. They ought to be ashamed. They're the ones that let a pedophile go".
No lady, YOU let a pedophile go if you feel that he was guilty. And you and your fellow juror are simply cowards if you didn't stand up for yourselves and vote your convictions at the time you could. You voted to acquit something like 12 times. Don't tell us now that you were somehow coerced into it.
Funny what a book deal can do to a person.

Jagger back-peddles on "Neo-con"

Mick Jagger is already back-peddling on the soon to be released "My Sweet Neo-Con" single. It seems he's denying that it's about president Bush. Here's Jagger as quoted by the Washington Post:

"It is not really aimed at anyone. It's not aimed, personally aimed, at President Bush. It wouldn't be called 'Sweet Neo Con' if it was."

There's also this interesting statement from the same Post article:

A representative for the Stones said the group had no further comment about the song.

Hmm...Do you think they might be a little concerned about American backlash that might have a detrimental impact on their tour of the United States that's set to begin this month?

What a bunch of little weasels. Ah, but I guess everything bows to the almighty dollar huh? -- even convictions that pretend to despise the pursuit of that dollar (i.e. the "Halliburton" mantra makes its way into this song).

Florida State to appeal mascot ban

Florida State is appealing the NCAA's ban of their school nickname -- "The Seminoles." Their argument is that the mascot is not "hostile and abusive", which is the criteria that must be met before the NCAA can instigate the ban. The school disagrees that the nickname meets the criteria since the Seminole Tribe of Florida openly supports the nickname and the representation of their tribe. Additionally, it would appear that the Ute tribe also supports the use of their name at the University of Utah.

Since some of these tribes are coming out against the NCAA ban, I'm wondering if perhaps they stand to lose money if the schools can no longer use their name. Is it possible that some of these tribes have made deals with the schools for use of their name? And, if so, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that. If the schools are willing and the tribes can profit from it, I have no problem with that. What I would have a problem with, however, is the hypocrisy that would be involved were these tribes selling out the "victims of genocide" so cheaply. And if that's really the case, doesn't it indicate how disingenuous this whole issue really is?

Update: More on this issue and its potential legal remedies/ramifications at Volokh Cospiracy.

Harry and the black tyrants

Didn't get the chance yesterday to comment on these remarks by Harry Belafonte. Let's break it down a little.

"Hitler had a lot of Jews high up in the hierarchy of the Third Reich. Color does not necessarily denote quality, content or value."

As for the "Jews" remark, maybe Mr. Belafonte should direct his remarks to his fellow speaker at this rally, Mr. Dick Gregory. Here's what he once had to say about Jews:

"Every Jew in America over 30 years old knows another Jew that hates Negroes...and if we hate Jews, that's just even, baby".

And as for color "not necessarily" denoting quality, content or value? Is he saying that color alone sometimes does denote these characteristics? I don't think Martin Luther King Jr. would agree with that.

"[If] a black is a tyrant, he is first and foremost a tyrant, then he incidentally is black. Bush is a tyrant and if he gathers around him black tyrants, they all have to be treated as they are being treated."

There's a disheveled madman outside the Hollywood Bowl who spews things through a bullhorn who is more coherent than this. Black tyrants are tyrants first and blacks second? So why call them "black tyrants"? If they're black second then shouldn't they be "tyrannical blacks"? I'm confused.

And who are these black tyrants in the Bush Administration? That question was asked of Mr. Belafonte by the CNN reporter covering the story. Belafonte's response? "You".

When the reporter reminded him rhetorically that he was white, Belafonte abruptly ended the interview.

I guess daylight come and he wanna go home.

Why Men Can't Listen

It's not our fault. . REALLY !!!!

Speaking of song lyrics...

...I'm sure most of you have already heard about the Rolling Stones new song soon to be released about the Bush Administration:

"You call yourself a Christian, I call you a hypocrite/ You call yourself a patriot. Well, I think you are full of sh*t!... How come you're so wrong, my sweet neo-con."

Brilliant. 70-year-olds in tight pants singing lyrics that could have been brought to you by your local 15 year old mall rat.

Duelling Song Lyrics

In response to Stewdog's recent "toast and Jethro Tull" post, I offer what I consider to be the greatest song lyrics ever written (and it has nothing to do with toast, but broccoli plays a small role):

[Reno]
At words poetic, I'm so pathetic
That I always have found it best,
Instead of getting 'em off my chest,
To let 'em rest unexpressed,
I hate parading my serenading
As I'll probably miss a bar,
But if this ditty is not so pretty
At least it'll tell you
How great you are.

You're the top!
You're the Colosseum.
You're the top!
You're the Louvre Museum.
You're a melody from a symphony by Strauss
You're a Bendel bonnet,
A Shakespeare sonnet,
You're Mickey Mouse.

You're the Nile,
You're the Tower of Pisa,
You're the smile on the Mona Lisa
I'm a worthless check, a total wreck, a flop,
But if, baby, I'm the bottom you're the top!

[BILLY]
Your words poetic are not pathetic.
On the other hand, babe, you shine,
And I can feel after every line
A thrill divine Down my spine.
ow gifted humans like Vincent Youmans
Might think that your song is bad,
But I got a notion I'll second the motion
And this is what I'm going to add;

You're the top! You're Mahatma Gandhi.
You're the top! You're Napoleon Brandy.
You're the purple light Of a summer night in Spain,
You're the National Gallery
You're Garbo's salary,
You're cellophane.

You're sublime,
You're a turkey dinner,
You're the time of a Derby winner
I'm a toy balloon that is fated soon to pop
But if, baby, I'm the bottom,
You're the top!

[RENO]
You're the top!
You're an arrow collar
You're the top!
You're a Coolidge dollar,
You're the nimble tread
Of the feet of Fred Astaire,
You're an O'Neill drama,

[BILLY]
You're Whistler's mama,

[RENO]
You're camembert.

[BILLY]
You're a rose,
You're Inferno's Dante,

[RENO]
You're the nose
On the great Durante.
I'm just in a way, As the French would say, "de trop".
But if, baby, I'm the bottom,
You're the top!

[BILLY]
You're the top!
You're a dance in Bali.
You're the top!
You're a hot tamale.
You're an angel, you, Simply too, too, too diveen,
You're a Boticcelli,

[RENO]
You're Keats,

[BILLY]
You're Shelly,

[RENO]
You're Ovaltine.

[BILLY]
You're a boom,
You're the dam at Boulder,
You're the moon,
Over Mae West's shoulder,
I'm the nominee of the G.O.P.

[RENO]
Or GOP!

[BILLY]
But if, baby, I'm the bottom, You're the top!

[RENO]
You're the top!
You're a Waldorf salad.
You're the top!
You're a Berlin ballad.
You're the boats that glide
On the sleepy Zuider Zee,
You're an old Dutch master,

[BILLY]
You're Lady Astor,

[RENO]
You're broccoli.

[BILLY]
You're romance,
You're the steppes of Russia,
You're the pants on a Roxy usher,
I'm a broken doll, a fol-de-rol, a flop,

[BOTH]
But if, baby, I'm the bottom, You're the top!

Lyric of the Day

I read that post cited by KM. All that talk of toast reminded me of a Jethro Tull Song from Aqualung:

Wond'ring Aloud
Wond'ring aloud --how we feel today.
Last night sipped the sunset --
my hands in her hair.
We are our own saviours
as we start both our hearts beating life
into each other.
Wond'ring aloud --
will the years treat us well.
As she floats in the kitchen,
I'm tasting the smell
of toast as the butter runs.
Then she comes, spilling crumbs on the bed
and I shake my head.
And it's only the giving
that makes you what you are.

What a guy ...

Gypsy Scholar toasts his wife and waxes philological at the same time. A rare and wondrous feat.

(Hat tip: Jeff at Quid Nomen Illius)

Professor "A"-Cole

Juan Cole is an insufferable braying ass, who routinely implies that his great knowledge of Middle Eastern culture renders his positions sacrosanct and who habitually implies that his challengers' relative "ignorance" of the Middle East is -- in and of itself -- reason to dismiss their arguments. Now he's picking on a dead guy, one whose "ignorance," according to Cole, got him killed.

(Via Michael Totten, guest-blogging at Instapundit)

Oy Vey!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rosie O'Donnell will be joining Harvey Fierstein as Mr. and Mrs. Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway. If it . . . .

keeps her from
blogging 4 us

It will be welcome news.
There is no truth to the rumor that the daughters will be played by Ellen, Barry Manilow, and the cast of Queer Eye For The Straight Guy.

One Toke Over the Line

Might the venerable New York Times have crossed the line by investigating whether their were any "irregularities" in the adoptions of the children of Judge Roberts? Is there nothing sacred to these people?

Controversial?

The Los Angeles Daily Journal is a local legal newspaper. Their lead article today discusses how the Reagan Library will be the site of a review of documents written by or concerning the newest Supreme Court nominee.
It describes Judge Roberts' nomination as "controversial". Huh? Maybe Bork was controversial, but just because a bunch of left wing political action groups predictably go knee jerk negative on him, does that merit such a description? I don't think so.

Failing to learn the lessons of the "Auden generation"?

Nick Cohen recounts his excommunication from "the left" and decries some of the failings of the contemporary progressive movement:

Auden noticed a retreat from universal principles in the 1930s - communism was fine in 'semi-barbaric' Russia but would have been a screaming outrage in a civilised country. He should have been alive today. With no socialism to provide international solidarity, good motives of tolerance and respect for other cultures have had the unintended consequence of leading a large part of post-modern liberal opinion into the position of 19th-century imperialists. It is presumptuous and oppressive to suggest that other cultures want the liberties we take for granted, their argument runs. So it may be, but believe that and the upshot is that democracy, feminism and human rights become good for whites but not for browns and brown-skinned people who contradict you are the tools of the neo-conservatives.

On the other hand when confronted with a movement of contemporary imperialism - Islamism wants an empire from the Philippines to Gibraltar - and which is tyrannical, homophobic, misogynist, racist and homicidal to boot, they feel it is valid because it is against Western culture. It expresses its feelings in a regrettably brutal manner perhaps, but that can't hide its authenticity.

The result of this inversion of principles has been that liberals can't form alliances with the victims of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan or Iraq any more than the Auden generation could form alliances with the victims of Stalinism.

(Via Real Clear Politics)

Everyone's favorite revolutionary ...

blogging from beyond the grave.

Checking in . . .

I just spent three days with the girls at the crappiest, ... er, um, I mean, "happiest place on earth." And if I never see the place again, it'll be soon enough.

I'm easing my way back into normal life now, but I wanted to say be sure to check out Rose Nunez's post about "Jihad" George Galloway and the paradoxes of our open society.

Political Correctness

I see that the NCAAHoles have spoken on Indian (er. . excuse me.. . Native American) Mascots. Seems you can still name your team certain things, but if you are in postseason, certain names have to be covered up. 'Seminoles' is "hostile and abusive" but 'Warriors' is not.
The NCAA plans to ban schools using Indian nicknames from hosting postseason events.
They also encourage schools not to schedule games with the offending institutions.
I'm so glad that they are focused like lazer beams on such important issues of the day.

UPDATE: True to form the LA Times Bill Plaschke wrote a front page Sunday Sports editorial about what a wonderful decision it was. As an added bonus, when I went on the LA Times website to find this article, they had 3 obnoxious pop up ads, including one for the ACLU featuring naked people.

Noxious Novak

So, Robert Novak got in trouble because he said Bu**s**t on CNN and had to apologize (I wonder if Kevin Kline held him by his ankles outside of a multistory building saying "Apologize!"?????).
Well, I've seen nothing but Bu**s**t on CNN for many years, so frankly the word doesn't bother me one bit.

It's Friday...

...and that means it's time for Homer Simpson's rendition of "Very Good Year".

When I was seventeen
I drank some very good beer.
I drank some very good beer
I purchased with a fake ID.
My name was Brian McGee.
I stayed up listening to Queen.
When I was seventeen.

Economy rolling along

Do you think if John Kerry were president, that this news would be getting more coverage? Nah.

Get them while they're young

"Laura and Kyle live with their two moms, Joyce and Emily, and a poodle named Daisy. It takes all four of them to give Daisy her bath."

Another illustrated page says:

"Robin's family is made up of her dad, Clifford, her dad's partner, Henry, and Robin's cat, Sassy. Clifford and Henry take turns making dinner for their family."

These are excerpts from a kindergarten book given to 5 year olds in the Lexington, Mass. school district.

No, I'm not a homophobe. I know and have known many gay people whom I respect and like. But any parent who claims that they would not be disturbed by this book should their child bring it home from school is either lying (and perhaps insecure about their own homophobia) or is only a parent in the technical sense (i.e. they have a kid that they occasionally give their time to, much like the salesperson at the clothing store -- "May I help you? -- Let me know if you need anything").

In the spirit of liberalism, I give you this mantra -- Stay out of my child's libido! Please tell me just what else do Clifford and Henry take turns doing? And just how far are we away from that?

Here was the brilliant defense of the contents of this book by a "backer" of the Lexington School District:

"A 5-year-old who is coming to the classroom with two moms deserves to be in a classroom that includes books that show his family."

I see. And what about the child coming to the classroom with a Grand Wizard for a father and a breeder for the Klan as a mother? Shouldn't they be represented too? And if not, where do we draw the line on representations of "diversity"?

What if the kid just happened to be raised by wolves?

"Billy's mom and dad Alfa and Beta take turns mauling the bunny and shaking it until its neck breaks."

And, by the way, just how many kids are coming to the classroom accompanied by two moms? Maybe one kid in the entire school district if even that? Is that sufficient enough for representation in the book? What about the kid accompanied to school by mom and dad who are Episcopalian priests and preach the word of Jesus? Doesn't that kid deserve to have his mom and dad represented by illustrating them in the book wearing priestly garb?

Or better yet, suppose the second coming of Jesus just happens to attend school as a kid in the Lexington school district. Hmmm. Would he be entitled to have his father depicted in the book?

Revenge of the smelly boy

This is pretty hilarious. [Via Vodkapundit]

Race hustlers and the only color they care about -- green

Air America is stealing from underprivileged minority children and Michelle Malkin wonders where Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are. (Hint: Show me the money!)

Thoughts and prayers

Let's keep the brave men and women fighting to preserve our freedoms and their families in our thoughts and prayers.

Executive Mansion, Washington, Nov. 21, 1864

Dear Madam,

I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts, that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.

I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.

I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours, to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of Freedom. Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,

Abraham Lincoln

"Cue the sun"

First things first. I don't like Ed Harris. However, I don't think he's that bad of an actor. I particularly liked his portrayal of John Glenn in "The Right Stuff". That said, I managed to catch about a half hour of "The Truman Show" tonight and his portrayal of that guy who wears the beret and directs the show from some celestial orb has to rank as one of the most pretentious bits of acting in movie history. What's scary is I think he may have been nominated for an Oscar for this performance.

I hadn't seen this movie since it was out in theaters and I'd forgotten what an unintentially comedic performance that was. It's the kind of character that's so ripe for someone to exasperatingly say to him, "Oh, cut the crap", to which all within ear-shot of that comment would immediately laugh uncontrollably in an emporer's new clothes kind of realization.

The dregs of the night . . .

and I've just begun reading Russell Kirk's The Conservative Mind. In his 1986 Foreword, Kirk reminds us that " . . . the noun 'conservative' signifies guardian or defender, the conservator." And rather plaintively -- and even, perhaps, rather prematurely and pessimistically, for a world that was poised on the brink of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union-- Kirk asks, "When the Kingdom of Man is harvested and found to be a yield of tares, fit only for burning -- why, will nothing of our civilization be spared?"

I call Kirk's cry of the heart pessimistic, but at this hour of the night, without the voices of my children as a counter-balance to the gloom, and sans the recording of Dido's Lament with which my husband has lately been punctuating our precious few moments of leisure, with only a Whartonian sense of having built our nest on the edge of a precipice, I am wholly attuned to Kirk's warning. I think of all the things we denizens of the Kingdom of Man seem to have decided we could do without: decency, civility, honor, modesty, shame, formality, custom, even history. I hear the "melancholy, long, withdrawing roar" of many of those quaint notions in our modern age, and I myself have all too eagerly chucked some of those ideas into the retreating tide.

We keep throwing things overboard. How soon before we regret their loss, before we decide they were things we really needed after all?

A travesty of a mockery of a "sham of anti-racism?"

Mulling over the recent brouhaha in the left half of the blogosphere over Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel, Steve Burton of Right Reason wonders if it's ever possible to be PC enough.

(Hat tip: 2 Blowhards)

Heh

Catherine Seipp offers this anecdote as a conclusion to her piece on "screamers" in Hollywood:

Many years ago, I read a story about how Roger Moore (a nonscreamer) took a younger actor aside and suggested he stop attacking everyone on the set. “I'm not in this business to win a popularity contest,” the screamer fumed. “I just want to be a good actor.”

“Well, you've failed at being a good actor,” Moore replied reasonably. “Why not try for the popularity contest?”

Another tribute to a hero

One of our Rumpus correspondents, Queen of the East, sent along this nice tribute to Marine Corps Captain Brian Chontosh, recent recipient of the Navy Cross.

"What is the marginal product of war?"

Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution critiques some anti-war positions.

Hitchens doesn't like Catholics ...

I've known this about Hitchens since at least the time of Mother Teresa's funeral, and I certainly don't like the Catholic-bashing, especially when it's so stupid, but I can't help liking Hitchens. I feel about Hitchens the way Patton -- the George C. Scott version -- feels in surveying the aftermath of a brutal and bloody battle: "Look at this. I love it. God help me, I do love it so!"

Anyway, Ross Douthat at The American Scene gives Christopher Hitchens a well-deserved fisking.

"Why do they despise us?"

The inimitable Mark Steyn on terrorism in London:

Yet the bombers are, so to speak, able to hide in plain sight - pests in a street full of pests, in a Britain where clerics freely incite violence; and where the Guardian hires a trainee reporter knowing he's a member of a radical Islamist group banned in other European countries; and where the BBC cannot bring itself to drop its preferred euphemism of "militants", even as suicide bombers advance from the Zionist Entity to the corporation's own Tube station at Shepherd's Bush. "Why do they hate us?" was never the right question. "Why do they despise us?" is a better one.