August 2004 Archives

Michael Moore came out with his opinion piece for USA Today (nice to see they've found effective ways of fighting off the old accusation that they're just a shallow, glorified comic book) - the reason he's present at the RNC. Guess what? He talked to a lot of Republicans, and found out that they weren't all "radical right wing" zealots - that the Republican Party is composed of people with a surprisingly diverse set of views, many of them rather close to his own! Now, some might take this as a teaching moment. Perhaps time to reconsider long-held misconceptions? Don't be silly, Moore's too smart for that. He concludes from this that it's they that don't understand the party they belong to, rather than being and indicator that it was time for him to re-calibrate his own view of Republicans.

I think this article may be one of the most (unintentionally) effective Republican recruiting tools I've read in some time.

To paraphrase Ron Silver: Never forget, never forgive, never excuse. In a more perfect world, scenes like these would cause the world to put the onus on the Palestinian Arabs themselves that they deserve a state - or even any respect at all.

Palestinian Hamas supporters celebrate the twin suicide bombing that killed 16 Israeli's in Beersheba, during a Hamas rally in Gaza City, August 31,2004. The Islamist militant group claimed responsibility for the new attacks as vengeance for Israel's assassination of Hamas' two top leaders in helicopter missile strikes. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah

Palestinian boys celebrate the twin suicide bombing that killed 16 Israeli's in Beersheba, during a Hamas rally in Gaza City, August 31,2004. The Islamist militant group claimed responsibility for the new attacks as vengeance for Israel's assassination of Hamas's two top leaders in helicopter missile strikes. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah

(Photos via LGF)

I haven't touched the supposed "Israeli Spy" news because it seemed to me to be pretty bizarre and something that had a lot of developing to do. Shocking and disappointing when the news came out, but the longer it goes on, the less it seems like there's any there there. Nice of CBS to be all over this little developing story with very little behind it so far, while they sat back and wouldn't touch the SwiftVet story until they could vet every last development.

Anyway, Michael Ledeen has some interesting thoughts on this in his NRO piece today (via Regnum Crucis):

Michael Ledeen: An Improbable Molehunt - Sorting it out.:

Read an entertaining report here. See the video of Peace Marchers behaving real unpeacable-like here.

Protest Warrior rocks.

Watching on C-Span...

The colors: NYC Police Color Guard marches out of step...

I missed most of the Imam's invocation...

Broadway musical numbers...boring...get on with it.

Saturday Night Live intro clever. Thumbs up on that.

Roll-call starting. Giant psychedelic blue elephant with rising sun background is completely freaky and distracting...whoa...

The little speeches by each of the delegations are interesting (probably because I've never seen this before), but getting old fast. I may go play a game for a bit and return for Ron Silver's speech...Nevada delegate stop SCREAMING into the microphone or it will be taken away from you!

They suspended the role...glad that's over. Heh...watching everyone stand still for the panoramic photograph is odd. It's like watching one of those photos at the end of The Shining being acted out live on TV.

(Shots of Bush girls in audience. The average of two Bush girls definitely beats the pants off the average of two Kerry girls...in fact I wish they wou...nm.)

The Michigan delegation is presenting a message from Jerry Ford. Last time I saw him he was on C-Span and a caller asked him a question and he started talking about the eggs he had had for breakfast...kinda sad.

Who is Dexter Freebish? (Wow! RNC camera effects! It's just like MTV...sorta...) Kinda cool to see a band holding a Support the Troops sign.

Heh...George Bush, Sr. is walking in to the sound of Van Halen. I remember when the Reagans didn't think the Beach Boys were wholesome enough. [hmmm...faulty memory? a quick Google indicates that was James Watt that messed up the Beach Boys thing]

Ron Silver: "We will never forget, we will never forgive, we will never excuse." Excellent. "This is a war we did not seek. This is a war waged against us. This is a war in which we had to respond." "History shows that we are not imperialists, but we are fighters for freedom and democracy." Silver is taking his fellow liberals to task for condemning any use of force to alleviate the injustices they so often speak out against.

"The President is doing exactly the right thing! And that is why we need this president, this time!"

Powerful. Silver speaks with the voice of the September 11th Democrat, and it is a compelling message. His focus is clear - remember 9/11, remember who's really to blame and shame on you who are unwilling to do something about it. That mindset puts many, many other political issues a distant second. [Update: The transcript of Silver's speech is here.]

Huh? Is that Michael Moore in the audience? This ain't the all you can eat buffet, pal.

Zainab Al-Suwaij, Executive Director, American Islamic Congress: "Today, I come to tell you that today, Iraq enjoys a new day." "Their noble sacrifice was not in vain" - reffering to those killed and injured in the war. "We will never forget what your sons and daughters did for us." Not a sparkling speaker, but a very important voice.

John McCain now...hmmm...I've never seen him speek at length before. He's kinda...nerdy. Very conciliatory toward his fellow Senatorial "friends." Very underspoken.

"There is no avoiding this war. We tried that, and our reluctance cost us dearly." "We can't make our [victory] on the battlefield more difficult, so that our diplomacy is easier to conduct." Excellent! "There was no status quo to be left alone."

Yup, that's Michael Moore in there...McCain is taking a shot at him! (paraphrase)"...certainly not a disingenuous filmmalker [crowd is going nuts, interrupts..."four more years, etc..." This is really the perfect venue for a bundle of masochistic self-loathing and paranoia like Moore to insert himself into.] who would have us believe that Saddam's Iraq was an oasis of peace when in fact it was..."...damn I can't type fast enough...lists the horrors of torture chambers, etc...

"Whether or not Saddam had wmd [when we went in?], he would have aquired them again..."

"As the President rightly reminds us, we are safer now than we were on September 11th, but we are still not safe..."

Not great delivery, although he gathered a little (very little) momentum as he went winding up with a strong finish. Excellent in substance, however. There will be some gems when the transcript is available. [Update: The transcript of McCain's speech is here.]

Very powerful segment next - three of the family members of 9/11 victim/heroes.

The theme/strategy of the evening is clear. Virtually nothing about the usual domestic issues - taxes, abortion (absolutely nothing on this), health-care, race issues. EVERYTHING is about appreciation of the military, the seriousness and the need to *do something* about 9/11 and the need to continue the vigorous War on Terror. Terrorism, terrorism, terrorism. Keep beating the drum.

Rudy Giuliani now. He's a damn-sight better speaker than McCain, I'll say that for sure...

Oh, this is another good one. Going to be worth going to the transcript later in a big way. No way to excerpt this as it goes. I think this is what they call an effective convention speech. Bravo. Someone write this guy's name down. He's going places. This is one of the best speeches I've seen in a long, long while. If you're not watching this now, find a feed and see it later. [Update: Transcript of Giuliani speech here.]

The ceremonies tonight certainly make the sometimes questionable (especially given all the wonderful shots of big protests the media have availed themselves of) choice of New York as a venue suddenly make sense. The constant focus on security and terrorism and the response to 9/11 are given a natural context as they take place here [and, as an aside, there was another theme tonight - boldly tieing the War in Iraq together with the big picture of the War on Terror. The Democrats will keep trying to knock that connection down. The Republicans have a chance this week to keep setting it back up.]. Anywhere else and it would have seemed forced after a time. Not here. Not now. The world created inside that hall by speakers like these leave the trudging sign carters on the street seem a petty, frivilous trifle soon forgotten.

Well, thththththat's all for tonight folks. I'm a partisan, of course, but seeing speakers like McCain and Giuliani (and Ron Silver) tonight was a treat.

I was feeling a bit bored around the house yesterday, and it being a bright, sunny, not to mention HOT day in the city of Boston, I got a little different idea to get out the house for a bit. The Red Sox had an afternoon game at 2:00, so I thought I'd take my three (almost 4) year-old and head down to Fenway to walk around and soak up a bit of the atmospere. No need to go inside, I figured we'd have a walk, but a hot dog and a t-shirt - that kind of thing.

My wife was feeling tired, so it was a good opportunity for us to go out and give here a break from kid mayhem for a couple of hours.

Ordinarily I despise city driving, having had more than my fill of it, by I've found if you leave sufficiently early for the game, you can get in and get a space on the street without paying 20 bucks for game parking, and without driving around the block 25 times waiting for a meter to open (and it being Sunday, the meters are free). This gets to be a little less of a sure thing once the BU students are back, but we're right on the cusp of when they should be returning.

So, we saddled up the Saturn, drove in meeting only relatively mild traffic, took the first right onto Bay State Road after getting off Storrow Drive and sure enough, the first thing we see is a couple of guys vacating a space right there. The parking gods were smiling this day.

Now, I'd love to take my girl in to see the game, but decent tickets are scarce, and I hate dealing with scalpers. And there are LOADS of scalpers around Fenway. They sell the tickets completely openly right in front of the cops. Meanwhile, an honest fan can't get a seat for love or money. Well, maybe money.

Anyway, the first thing we did was stop for my daughter's first vendor-purchased Fenway Frank. Well, it wasn't really a Fenway Frank, more of a foot long dog in a sausage bun. Add a Coke - 7 bucks. But that's OK, it was the only expenditure of the day (I took a pass on the $20 kid-sized "Pokey" shirt) and it was money well-spent. Aside from a couple of bites stolen by dad, she ate the whole damn thing. Here's a couple of shots I took as we stood and ate outside the radio broadcast booth:

I'm not sure she quite put together that what was going on inside was the stuff we watch on the TV at home, although she was quite interested when we passed by a corner of the ballpark where we could peak-in and see the big score board - "Look! A giant TV!" That got her attention.

I almost got sucked in and bought a ticket, but by that time we had been wandering around a couple of hours and someone wanted to go home already. Maybe next time.

Anyway, here's a gratuitous picture of the trip we took to Halibut Point State Park in Rockport last Wednesday. Tossing happless snails into a tide-pool. (I got poison ivy.)

Entertaining photoblog of the protests here. (Via Dean's World.)

The hits just keep on coming. This time, reporter Thomas Lipscomb is on the case of all the ducking and dancing done by the Kerry campaign with regard to Kerry's records. As reported at Power Line (read it all)...

Power Line: Thomas Lipscomb reports

Power Line: Apocalypse Kerry Redux

Long story short: Two of the guys at Power Line Blog get an Op-Ed published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Subject: Kerry's excellent adventures in Cambodia of course. It laid out, necessarily in brief, some of the substance behind the charges of Kerry's prevarication. In response, "Strib" editorialist Jim Boyd took the path becoming increasingly de rigeur with the defenders of the faith old-line media, he lashed out with a venomous follow-up editorial short on facts but long personal innuendo and, to borrow an increasingly over-used term, "smear." For a good sum-up of the drama so far, see Hugh Hewitt's run-down here.

Since that time, the fine fellows at Power Line have been doing everything they could through the power of their blog to shame Boyd into allowing them a response within the pages of the paper, including a bit of name-calling and the posting of embarrassing pictures. Fair enough! They were wronged by an old-line attack dog who hadn't banked on the power that new technology has given the average guy to fight back. All's fair when it comes to protecting your good name and harnessing the power of the blogosphere by keeping it entertaining is part of that.

It was all for naught, anyway...until today. Read their follow-up and Boyd's newest attempt at a response at the Power Line link at the top of this post. (Boyd's piece is ably fisked here, btw.) I think you'll find that the Power Line boys continued to up the value of their stock by a reply in substance, and Boyd continued to demonstrate the shallowness of his position by failing to do so. You can almost feel the frustration and discomfort of this dinosaur of the old media feeling that he should be able to respond with fact and reason, but not quite being able to figure out why he can't. The idea that the Power Line boys may be substantially right is too foreign a thought to be considered. The Boydosaurus is genetically incapable of rendering a dietary change, even as the clouds move in to block the sun.

Although this won't help me to crack their blogroll, I do have a friendly critique for the guys. From PL's last: "Jim Boyd is perhaps the most pathetic loser, and the most vitriolic Democratic shill, in the American news media." Gents, you are respected lawyers, published columnists and respected columnists. My advice is to have respect for your readers to sort things out and leave the histrionics to shlubs like me and other hangers-on out in the blogosphere. I have no reputation to protect. You guys, on the other hand, are better than that, and believe me, your column juxtaposed to Boyd's response does speak for itself. Further, you are now carriers, in a way, of the Bush re-election and the SwiftVet causes (Disclaimer: No direct relationship is meant to be implied between the two by this statement!) You did a great job and got your reply printed, now take a page out of John O'Neill's book. O'Neill has taken every brickbat swung his way like a man in a suit of impenetrable armor - responding to every attack with poise, class, character and reason - and it's worked for him in a big way, adding to his credibility. A friendly reaction from me (you guys asked, after all) - Power Line, you guys can do the same now, tough though it may be. Mission Accomplished.

There is one factor that stands Senator Kerry's foes in stark contrast to the object of their ire - the SwiftVets have been out answering questions and facing their detractors in force and in person, while the man who wishes to be the leader of the Free World hides his head and sends his foot soldiers out where he fears to tread.

John O'Neill, leader of the SwiftVets, has been all over the talk shows, taking all the enemy can throw at him. He's been screamed at and shouted down, trashed by the Kerry surrogates in the Op-Eds - and through it all he and the others have kept their cool. They've answered the critics rationally and either face-to-face or with their own words.

In response, in spite of all the trashing, their credibility has grown. They're what you call, "stand up." The American People respect that. They naturally respond well to people who are cool under fire, stick to their guns and outlast their enemies with poise.

Contrast now with the man who would be President. He has to date avoided all the tough questions. The closest he's come to facing the press since this story broke hard was a puff-appearance on The Daily Show. Facing the American People in a Townhall-style appearance, his only response is to prevaricate further, insisting that all the men on his boat back-up what he's said. The trouble for Kerry is, they don't.

Even worse, while he's been ducking, his surrogates have been out on the warpath. His most vociferous allies in the press - from the talkies to papers - have refused to face the facts in substance, and again, it appears that the people see through this farce. Meanwhile, the questions continue to grow.

It makes it seem as though Kerry just doesn't have the ammunition to face his enemies. He doesn't have the bullets, as John O'Neill does...why? Could it be that the truth simply isn't on Kerry's side? And leaving aside the allegations of prevarication and opportunism inherent in the tales of a young John Kerry's time in Vietnam, how can he possibly back away from the truth - a truth recorded on a thousand rolls of tape and seared into a thousand living memories - of what John Kerry did and said when he returned. What he said and how that made people feel - many of them Vets with far more distinguished records than Kerry - is something that John Kerry simply cannot escape. He would have to apologize. He would have to disown that part of his life, and that's something he refuses to do. Even if he wanted to, could he really? Far too much of his core constituency supports Kerry because of what he represents in standing for universal American Guilt.

He can't cut that part of his life loose for personal ego reasons, and he can't cut it loose for constituency reasons.

Worst of all, rather than having the guts to answer the critics in person, and on the record - in other words, be a stand-up guy, himself - he does what every American should be repulsed by - he attempts to silence them through threats. No one should support the right to lie and slander. If the SwiftVets are spinning their own yarns out of whole cloth in order to do destroy the man's reputation, then by all means, prove it in court and make them pay.

But that's not what the Kerry campaign has done. They've blustered and threatened. They've tossed mud at the wall - created the impression that stations that carry the SwiftVets stuff risk legal action in the hope that they won't broadcast. They've threatened the publisher with the same. All while Kerry himself hides in the bunker. That's not what America is about.

Americans are manifestly fair. They'll listen. They'll give great leeway over events that occurred three decades past.

If they're given a chance.

But when they're not given that chance, when they see someone, someone who conducts themselves well, who speaks with their own voice, who puts their own face before the camera and says, "This is what I believe," when they see that person shouted down, smeared, threatened and attacked...it does not sit well. They want to know what it is that someone doesn't want them to hear, and in response, they begin to listen even more closely.

There is a further lesson here. That is: Is this what the American People can expect from a Kerry Presidency? Can a candidate already beset by a reputation for standing on every side of every issue cannot even stand up and tell us about himself? If he cannot stand up for and defend himself, how will he defend us?

Will he send out his attorneys to protect America? Will he use legal threats and hollow bluster to face down our enemies? Our enemies, like John Kerry's are real. They cannot be ignored or wished away. The type of battles America will face as the years roll into the 21st century will require stand-up leadership - leadership that knows what America, and perhaps just as important, they, stand for. And they need to be able to communicate that impression to us. We need such leaders now more than ever. We need men and women who can face the realities of the world, not hunker in the bunker, pretending they don't exist and dispatching their political sharps and lawyers to scare our foes into submission.

This fight is between Kerry and those who feel betrayed by him. It is a dilemma entirely of his own creation. It has nothing to do with President Bush - a President who has answered all of the questions about his past, even releasing all of his military records. Contrast with Kerry who has done neither. His response to this crisis is instructive - he has hidden and dispatched others to fight in his stead.

Ironically, like the leadership he opposed all those years ago, he has allowed his supporters to sally forth and fight a battle on his behalf that may not be based on the whole truth. He, the leader, stays out of harm's way while the people who are fighting his battles may just be digging themselves down deep enough to bury the pieces of their honor they've lost when the truth comes out. How people's positions change over a lifetime!

Perhaps sadder still that there are so many only too willing to prostitute themselves - screaming louder to stifle the growing evidence that something is rotten in their cause. A not unexpected occurrence given that many of these are from the same pool of folks who are blocking their ears and humming to avoid facing the reality of the War we're in - even over the din of falling towers and exposed terror plots.

John Kerry's inability to stand up and be counted, to allow seconds to try to stifle free speech and honest dissent on his behalf and the methods he uses to respond to threats are all indicative of the man's instincts and serve as a virtual x-ray of the candidate's core. What it says about the man of thirty years ago is a side issue.

What it shows we can expect of the man as President is far more relevant, and it does not look good.

I believe the American People are beginning to recognize this fact.

Update: Jeremy says the Senator's diplomatic skills leave something to be desired.

Update2: Interesting development at Captain's Quarters: "Former Secretary of the Navy and 9/11 Commission member John Lehman denies ever signing the modified citation Kerry's site has prominently displayed for months, and states categorically that he didn't write the additional language describing the engagement:"

Looks like there must be something of interest in the possibly 94 pages of unreleased info in John Kerry's military record. George Bush released his and had them picked over with a fine tooth comb. Time for the good Senator to do the same. Will the press treat the gaps and Kerry's reticence to release in the same way they treated Bush's? Don't bet on it. Read it all.

[via Roger L. Simon] Plot thickens after checking records

Jerusalem Post: Jewish group: French-run hospital hid terrorists

Meanwhile, back home in France:

Anti-Semitic writings found in Paris main library

What outrageous pressure to put on the kid. Hamm worked his ass off only to have his greatest moment continue to be tainted all because of the incompetence of the people who are supposed to be in charge. Sad. If the FIG knew they screwed up, they should have asked the IOC to issue a second medal and been done with it, instead they put all the responsibility for their own error on a 21 year-old kid. He won the medal. Screw-ups are part of the game - especially a game of judgement calls. Apparently the judges screwed the scoring up anyway by missing something extra the Korean did that should have resulted in a further deduction. Oh well.

In the words of Mr. Miyagi: "Leave...the boy...alone."

Or, to stretch the idiom: "Find own solution to own problem."

Reuters: U.S. Is Furious at the Pressure on Paul Hamm

OpinionJournal - We're Not GOP Shills, President Bush can't stop us from telling the truth about John Kerry.

Ghost of a Flea and BlackFive point to this new web site dedicated to a documentary being produced about the American residents of the Hanoi Hilton and the effect John Kerry had on them. Three of the interviews that will be used in the film are up for viewing on the site. It looks slick...

Stolen Honor: A documentary exposing John Kerry's record of betrayal

Yeah, I know some people are getting tired of the SwiftVet issues already, but really, this set of stories show every sign of being interesting and relevant for some time. How could I have missed this Boston Globe editorial of yesterday, in which the Editors absolutely foam at the mouth in defense of their man. I hope my wife stays half as loyal as this if I ever get into trouble. This thing is more like a drunken blog rant than a major daily editorial - which follows really, since bloggers have been doing the MSM's work for them since the story broke. It makes sense our positions are becoming reversed.

[Via Arthur Chrenkoff] Boston Globe: Bush's dirty work

See? They're even including internet links with their pieces now!

And NE Republican finds Kerry in another lie. Shallow responses, overblown editorials and stunts are all he has so far.

That's the title of this Opinion Journal piece on the Abu Ghraib investigation results.

OpinionJournal - A Rumsfeld Vindication, Abu Ghraib reports blow apart allegation of a "culture of permissiveness."

A little perspective:

Another important international body becoming dangerously politicized, the ICRC:

Conclusion:

Remember Richard Clark, the pompus-seeming former Intelligence Tzar with a book to sell who helped further the politicization of the 9/11 hearings? A couple of tid-bits from American Soldier:

Pages 209-211:

Pages 226-227:

One of the PA's unmet obligations under the "Roadmap" was to stop all incitement. One may suppose that preaching slanderous history that makes the Arabs fear that Israel intends to destroy their holy places would fall under the heading of "things not to do." Ironic, as it is in fact the Palestinian Arabs who have proven unwilling to protect Jewish sites, such as the buring of Joseph's Tomb, or the desecration of the Western Wall prior to the liberation of Jerusalem in 1967.

Palestinian Media Watch has the latest bit of created history meant to make the home crowd angry - and keep their minds off the crooks running things at home...the guys who are really responsible.

Max Cleland really needs to move on. The man is bitter, and he's helping to create the impression that Democrats are so insulated from the idea that they may not be universally loved ("How is it that we don't win it all? We're so well intended!") that they couldn't possibly lose an election except by dirty tricks. (For the real story of Cleland's election defeat, see this NRO piece from last month - Max Cleland, Liberal Victim: Election mythology. Cleland chose unions over security - amongst other issues - his opponent called him on it, and the voters agreed. End of story.)

Hey Senator Kerry, next time, use Fed Ex.

CN: Swift boat showdown in Crawford

They sure do. I wonder when Senator Kerry is going to apologize for what he said about HIS fellow veterans back in 1971?

Here is the text of the Patterson letter:

Kerry's had surrogate after surrogate making his attacks for him throughout this campaign, and I haven't seen him demanding they stop. I've seen him disagree (as when Howard Dean was running around spreading doubt about the terror alerts), but never demand they stop. This incident with Cleland is just the latest. This is a legitimate fight, and Kerry ought to stop hiding on light-weight programs like the Daily Show and answer some real questions. Instead he's hiding while his supporters run interference for him.

He's gonna have to come out eventually. And when he does, I predict this issue will still be waiting for him...

Update: Soxblog - "Americans don’t want leaders who whine."

It's exactly the story-line you'd expect to play out as the thugocracy of the PA slips further and further into an old-fashioned Maffia-style turf-war.

Haaretz - Gunmen open fire on deputy PA intelligence chief in Gaza

OK, so the Ancient Greeks didn't compete at this one, but in 2004, as the Olympic committee continues to refuse any special recognition of the Israeli athletes slaughtered over 30 years ago, HaTikva plays at the Olympic Games.

Haaretz - Windsurfer Fridman wins Israel's first ever Olympic gold

Donald Sensing has an interesting report.

One Hand Clapping: Medal of Honor recipient on John Kerry:

Jeff at Beautiful Atrocities has a round-up of blogger likes and dislikes. (Very good way to attract links, Jeff. Very, very good.)

Jeff claims there's no one he can't stand - something I find hard to believe. How can he write? I do some of my best work when slightly aggravated.

Wonkette seems to be something of a polarizing figure...

CNN.com - Russia: One jet down, one missing

Is Amazon intentionally shorting Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry? I ordered mine and got a delay notice. Now I notice this: "Availability: Usually ships within 5 to 7 weeks"

5 to 7 weeks? What the hell is that? Anybody out there hear anything about this? I can't imagine it would even take that long to print more copies.

Update: Well, reading the Swiftvets.com forum, it sounds like Regnery is, indeed, getting hammered on orders, and the ship date may be Amazon's conservative shipping estimate.

A rather negatively-slanted article on the expected up-coming announcement of a limited deployment of the strategic missile shield. As with all such new initiatives, the critics insist the system isn't ready, so it shouldn't be implemented. Of course, the system can't truly be tested, improved and made ready without being implemented, so it's something of a Catch-22 - something that I suspect suits the critics just fine. I really doubt that The Union of Concerned Scientists, quoted as a critic in the article, supports the implementation of such programs at all.

With North Korea threatening the west coast of the United States, among other threats, whatever system that can be put in place - whether it works now or later - can't be put in place too soon.

Scientific American: Test Drive - Will a planned defense shield defeat real missiles?

This one from Drudge. (Much more stuff in the extended entry.)

DRUDGE REPORT: KERRY PHONES SWIFT BOAT FOES

And the Washington Post on Kerry's Cambodian Adventures:

Kerry's Cambodia Whopper

[Via Roger L. Simon] NewsMax.com: Dole Defends Swiftees in Call From Kerry

If you're a blogger that links this blog - either just adding it or have had it on the blogroll for awhile - please feel free to drop me a line (contact at left) and let me know why (this goes for regular readers, as well). Consider it my mini-marketing research. It's always interesting to know what brings people to the blog. Was it some particular subject matter? Like the links or the essays? The personal stuff? The reports or the pics? Just like the colors or hoping I'd add you in return? No essays necessary. Anything appreciated.

On the other hand, are you dropping the blog? Not stopping by as much as you did? Let me know that, too. Your blogroll is your business, so it's fine whatever, but I'm curious. Too derivitive? Too much linking, not enough thinking? Not enough focus on your favorite topic (I do tend to skip around)? Prefer expert opinion and found out I wasn't one?

I'm not saying I'm going to adjust the blogging in direct response - in the end I have to do what's fun and interesting or I won't keep doing it - but it would be satisfying to my curiosity!

Jerusalem Post: PA arrests six suspected collaborators

Here's the latest big round-up of links on the bright-side:

Chrenkoff: Good news from Afghanistan, Part 3

The Ostrich Skier

The Globe's Thomas Oliphant continues to peddle the fantasy that the Mainstream Media are the guardians of the public good with regard to the SwiftVets movement - and that's how it strikes me, as a movement. These guys are driven.

Oliphant has no problem going into full attack mode on some veterans, veterans who also served, who were also wounded and decorated (and with the latest salvo, spent years in Vietnamese prisons) while defending his own man. I'm not sure how you just blow off as a smear the fact that the friends who support Kerry are outnumbered by those who oppose him by a factor of over 20 to 1.

And that's what it's about. Take note Bush supporters, particularly non-veterans and even more particularly non-Vietnam-Era veterans: This challenge to Kerry is about respect for the Vets themselves. WE weren't there. Most of us have never seen the angry end of a rifle under any circumstances, let alone in a combat zone, even if only for four months. This is about the feelings of a couple hundred guys (and more besides) who have some very serious feelings they appear to have a damn solid right to posses. Let them make the points with us to amplify and get their backs. We need to give them the megaphone and keep them from being dishonored and written off as nothing more than profit and publicity mongers. Factual basis of events aside (and despite the press spin, those still favor the SwiftVets), what Kerry did to these guys when he got home is just monstrous and I can understand why they feel the way they feel. The latest ad is devastating.

Some on the Left will never understand why. The narrative of American troops as war criminals and Vietnam villains is far too deeply ingrained. As I said previously:

The press and the Left (loosely defined) just can't understand how SO MANY guys can't just accept the dominant war-criminal paradigm. They need to have it drummed into them. It can't be left acceptable for someone to peddle it without consequence. You come home, trash your buddies, trash your country and throw your medals over the fence (Oh, OK, it was someone else's medals) - that's fine. But you don't then get to spend the next 30+ years dining out on your war record. You left over that fence with the medals. It's emblematic of Kerry wanting to have everything in his record both ways. I don't believe the American People are going to go for it.

Oliphant wants us to believe that the MSM, guardians of truth that they are, simply hasn't reported on something the evidence was too thin to support. Is he kidding? The MSM conducted their Bush AWOL fishing expedition piece by piece and step by step (a subject they weren't concerned with during Bush's first time around - I wonder why) on the front pages of papers around the country - demanding that every last week in The President's record be accounted for and drawing leading headlines at every opportunity. Yet, what Oliphant calls "reputable organs of the national press," have remained largely silent on this new subject, until they were good and ready to find some way to wring out exculpatory headlines on behalf of their chosen candidate. Who does Oliphant think he's kidding?

Now the press is searching for any handful of witnesses they can stand behind who'll give them any handhold possible no matter how tenuous, so they can appear shedding rivers of crocodile tears in the heroic pose as protectors of the honor of vets - never mind the 250+ others they and Oliphant have had no concern over trashing. And where was the press in demanding that Kerry and Edwards repudiate some of the egregious things their supporters said - in their presence while fund raising for them, or for that matter making an issue of the fact that Michael Moore and his cargo of half-truths was an honored guest at the DNC? Over 85% of all 527 money goes to Democrat causes, but now the press is getting worked up?

Mr. Oliphant, we notice the differences.

I agree with Oliphant on one thing - the truth will out.

Boston Globe Op-ed: Smear by veterans may hurt Bush:

So where's that attention been? This reminds me of the chubby kid who starts making fat jokes himself in order to head off and blunt the inevitable, or the nerdy kids who wear the label as a badge of honor to dull the pain. "Loser Salute!" to Tom Oliphant.

People who fear attention don't write books - particularly knowing the firestorm of unfriendly press attention they're going to stir up. A press who likes a story runs it on the front page as the information becomes available.

To quote what's becoming a hackneyed phrase: Bring it on.

[As an aside, has anyone else had trouble receiving their copy of Unfit for Command from Amazon? I ordered it last weekend with three other books, and while I received those right away, the SwiftVets book is still delayed. Sold out are they?]

Update: NE Republican has been watching the way the MSM has been handling the story now that it's broken.

So I'm browsing at the local Cambridge SoundWorks, checking out the big-screen TV's. I finish up, thank the salesman and head for the door - no dice, it's a deluge out there, and the parking lot is a river. Funny, cause yesterday there was a big, rogue storm that plowed through here. I was in my office two towns over and never lost sight of the sun, but when I got home I noticed the streets were wet and my wife told me it had been the biggest electrical storm she had ever been in. A couple of stores a few blocks away even got struck by lightning and burned down.

So anyway, I hang at the store for a few minutes, finally figure the worst is over and off I go in my '98 Saturn SL2 sedan. 103K miles and counting. Man, it sits low.

Coming out of the strip-mall parking lot, I stop at the lights just in front of one of those giant "where's the bottom" puddles. Uh oh. A pickup truck goes zooming through and kicks up a tsunami and speed-boat wake. "When the light turns green, this is gonna get interesting." No backing out, there's traffic behind me.

Green light.

Ease on the accellerator. I move forward and into the lake...start plowing forward through the water...front of car continues to aim down...

Moving forward. Water level getting very high now! At grill level for sure!

Water is now washing over the hood at a few inches depth and breaking off the windshield!

Emerging now...hissing sound can be heard. Car still moving forward!

Yes! Engine running...I'm in the clear and only two blocks from home.

Adrenaline hits. Pat dashboard.

Thank you, Saturn.

Pffft...we don't need no stinking SUV.

An almost sympathetic look in today's Boston Globe on three men indicted by the Justice Department for fundraising for Hamas. The article strains to give the impression that the alleged activities are all in the past, and that the only reason the indictment can happen now is because of an over-zealous Ashcroft (who the article takes pains to inform us is one of the "controversial" Patriot Act's prime supporters) seemingly over-stepping in applying both Patriot and RICO.

Boston.com / News / World / US indicts 3 as past Hamas fund-raisers

At the very end, we get some indication that these gentlemens' misdeeds may not all be a decade old (Is there ever a statute of limitations on complicity to murder? If your loved-ones were blown up in a terrorist attack, I doubt ten years would seem like a very long time.)

Oliver Kamm with a lengthy and erudite examination of the subject. Fascism and the Left Excellent, as always with Kamm. I was struck by the concluding quotation by Stephen Hook:

I worry that for a large number of people, we have reached that point - where we have lost sight of the common enemy in fear of each other. I have watched political parties shift their stance and contradict themselves - even week-to-week - in the interest of electoral pandering over the interests of truth and good policy and it worries me. I have had arguments with people - long-time Democrats - who really, truly do think that George Bush is responsible for all evil and that, in spite of the facts, the world is on the verge of falling off the precipice on every issue from the economy to civil rights. The SwiftVets? Clearly they've been paid by Republicans to lie. They've not given it a moment's thought (And not just regular folks, either. It's clear that wide swathes of the Mainstream Media from the New York Times to Chris Matthews have completely abrogated their responsibility to inform in favor of indulging their pre-determined conclusions and political tastes.)

Am I just observing this election-cycle up close, and thus more worried over what I'm seeing by its proximity, having lost a bit of perspective on the past? It doesn't feel like it. We have a new kind of threat out there now - I'd say on the horizon but it's really here already - and so many people are stuck, unable to re-examine long held and treasured hatreds. I know one thing - those prejudices are now standing in the way of clear thinking on both domestic politics and policy, and it's troublesome.

Saddam's head made an appearance at the Kentucky State Fair, and some people think it's in bad taste.

CNN.com - Saddam a bust at Kentucky fair

America goes to the State Fair. It's all about control. Museums are for the elite, where other elites control the manner of the viewing. They decide what we see and how we're supposed to see it. All control is off at the fair. Elites hate that. Instead, thousands will file by, eating hotdogs, snapping pictures, viewing and taking it in in their own way.

That statue will be seen by one hell of a lot more people at the State Fair than in some museum - where it can easily be placed when the fair is over. I had thought that one of the things people had against the war was the way in which the poor and the underclasses (supposedly) paid an inordinate price. Where better to place this object to be seen and appreciated (in whatever way they choose) by the people who paid for it in blood and taxes than out where the public - the regular folks - are gathering? Certainly better than being locked away in some city museum behind admission fees, parking fees and long drives.

No. "The Folks" bought it, "The Folks" deserve to appreciate it.

Blog addicts already know, but for those who have missed it, the most-excellent guys at Iraq the Model have started their own Iraqi political party. They will be putting it even further on the line to make good things happen.

Their political site is here: Iraqi Pro-Democracy Party

Imagine if they become big-wigs in the new Iraq? I can say, "I linked to them when..."

Not much detail with this (via Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi and Free-Iran):

Update: More info here, with translation by "Korshid":

Michelle Malkin discovered what a hyperactive cheap-shot artist Chris Matthews is (and Keith Olbermann, too?), and how much the SwiftVets issue is getting under some people's skin. It's also an interesting behind the scenes glimpse of how things go on cable TV.

Michelle Malkin: AMBUSH JOURNALISM...OR MY EVENING WITH CAVEMAN CHRIS MATTHEWS

Courtesy of the Religious Affairs Department of the Saudi armed forces - you know, those guys we sell F-15's and AWACS to - we find some of the most remarkably hateful crap seen since...well, I'll be honest, I'm not sure the Nazis were this bold-faced. Apparently almost EVERY war in history has been a product of the Jews.

Folks, this is not some fringe, radical group like some pack of idiot Nazis living out in the hills of Apalachia waiting on the coming race-war that is distributing this. This is published in a place that distributes billions world-wide for "religious" education and indoctrination, and that has a central role in the politics of the War on Terror and Middle East Peace - and they ain't under occupation. If you want to understand why there still is an 'occupation,' start with stuff like this.

MEMRI: Saudi Armed Forces Journal on the Jews: 'The Fabricated Torah, Talmud, and Protocols of the Elders of Zion Command Destruction of All Non-Jews for World Domination'

It goes on and on like that. Thanks to MEMRI, helping us see the world as it is.

Israpundit's Joseph Alexander Norland points (his previous posts are here and here) to something called The Israel Referendum Campaign. Here's a description from their site:

Here is the language on the ballot:

Finally, Joseph:

It's an interesting effort, and I encourage readers to take a look and decide for themselves whether they wish to sign on. In the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit that I, personally, will not be signing.

Why? I am certainly a strong supporter of Israel. A couple of reasons: Keeping a long story short, I think a Palestinian Arab State is an inevitability, and my philosophy tends more toward giving support and backing for what the Israelis decide to do, rather than dictating what their conclusions should be - they're the ones who will pay in blood for any decisions - whether of the hawk or dove genus.

I can understand how a million Americans telling the President that they don't want a PLO State could, at the very least, be an effective political statement that sends a major signal to the Palestinians that they have work to do themselves to prove their worthy of a state, and gives the President the kind of moral backing he may need to support the Israelis in whatever they should decide. The trouble is, I just can't feel behind the idea of opposing a Palestinian Arab State full-stop. (Unlike, say, Chomsky, who signs the Israel Boycott but admits he considers such things immoral - only signing his support as a tactic).

As you can tell, my feelings are mixed, and I could be wrong, so again, I commend the effort to the reader to check out for themselves. In his latest post, Joseph addresses some of the potential concerns. This one, I think, is a particularly interesting point:

Uh oh, am I talking myself into it?

Take a look: The Israel Referendum Campaign

I had been meaning to post this.

By the Dissident Frogman.

Jeff introduces us to his Congresswoman...Barbara Lee.

Beautiful Atrocities: MEET BARBARA LEE:

She's a real pip.

Since we moved into this house two years ago, I've always known there was some sort of mouse problem in the attic. The evidence in obvious, with a large number of mouse droppings around where the central chimney (that vents out from the oil-burner) passes through on the upper floor. There is also evidence of the previous owners' attempts to get rid of the little beasts through the use of D-Con poison and old fashion neck-breaker traps. I myself have laid out the D-Con and seen it consumed, and also noticed the piles of droppings dwindle slightly in size, so I've assumed I've had some effect in control the rodent population.

I hadn't been up to the attic in awhile, so a couple of nights ago I opened it up to look around and noticed that the D-Con was all consumed, and there was a LARGE amount of droppings. I've always assumed the mice come up from the basement somehow through the gap in the floors that lets the chimney through. There HAVE been mice in the house in the past, as we have found a few droppings in the kitchen before, but I've never understood why there would be so much up in the attic, and all in that one spot clustered around the chimney.

Anyway, I set out some new poison, and pondered returning at some future date to vacuum up the piles of droppings.

Last night I happened to wander out to my backyard before dusk. Every evening there is at least one to as many as three bats swooping around our backyard once twilight comes. They never bother me. I figure they chow on the mosquitos. It was a little early, still bright, but at that time just before the sun had started to recede. I saw maybe four or five bats fly over and thought, "Huh...a little early for them..."

Then I saw a few more. "Interesting...they must just be coming out for the evening...wonder why...they're coming around here, though..."

Then I noticed they seemed to be coming from the vicinity of my roof...then I noticed that they appeared to be emerging from some sort of gap in the shingles at the base of my chimney! And not one or two, I mean I saw four or five at a shot pour out of there.

Oh boy.

Check attic that evening...nothing. Mental note: Check attic when you come home tomorrow while it is still light.

So, this afternoon, when I came home from work, I changed my clothes, grabbed a flashlight and headed on up.

One bat:

2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7...AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!

I am now in strategy plotting phase.

Anyone know if there's a market for bat guano these days?

Michael Kranish is back in the Boston Globe today, and covering the Kerry in Cambodia story. Credit where credit is due - while not exhaustive, what there is of it covers the issue straight. The SwiftVets are not smeared. Their position is simply reported, as is the Kerry team's response (note: not Kerry himself).

[Update: Roger L. Simon is much harder on Kranish. His point is (I think) that Kranish is clearly interested in helping Kerry, and this article is the best he can do, and it's pretty lame. I agree, and that's why I think that the pro-Kerry press hasn't known what the hell to do with this story, and that is a good indicator of how serious the issue is, as I pointed out in my fisking of Joan Vennochi's piece, here.]

Boston.com: Kerry disputes allegations on Cambodia

Most of us have hailed as long-overdue good news the announcement of large troop reductions in Germany and South Korea. It's clear to most that new global realities no longer necessitate large standing ground forces in either nation. The New Mobility calls for widely flung bases ready to accept rapid redeployment as the trouble, or potential trouble presents. The Great Threat of Soviet invasion from the east cast off this mortal coil some years ago, and makes American soldiers sitting in bases in Central Europe look a bit dated. A few thousand American soldiers along the DMZ in Korea have served as little more than human shields for an increasingly ungrateful South Korean public and would be far better used redeployed for a counter-attack should the invasion ever come. And let's not be silly - an American first-strike invasion of the North isn't in the cards.

So it's with some incredulity I read this Op-Ed in today's Washington Post by Ronald D. Asmus which strikes me as a tad overwrought and just downright wrong-headed. Asmus couldn't be more put-out by the announced realignments, and parrots all the old lines about unilateralism and abandoning our allies - in their time of need?

Bear in mind that Mr. Asmus is identified as a senior transatlantic fellow at something called "the German Marshall Fund of the United States." According to their web site:

Something to keep in mind as the author's perspective while reading what otherwise may seem like a bit of an odd article. Let's have a look at a few of the key points.

Bush's Withdrawal From the World

In Harry Truman's day, the troops in Europe and Asia were the expression of a muscular, recently bloody, foreign policy intended to enforce and inflict our will on unwilling populations. Truman certainly wouldn't have been keeping the boys in Europe as a glorified form of welfare for largely ungrateful populations. Not one second after the necessity was gone.

Unless one fantasizes that our current alliances are enforced through the emplacement of boots on the ground, this is by no means obvious. One could imagine that our bases and the effect that our troops have on the local economies buy us some clout in the places they are located, and indeed, that has been a long time argument in their favor. The fact is that events have shown that our presence in these places has bought us little friendship in the places they exist - in fact, it can be quite convincingly argued that the exact opposite has occurred. These troops, and the friction they cause among the local populations has caused more diplomatic trouble than they are worth. Further, they encourage local governments to show that they are not influenced by the American troop presence and so it could be argued that they strain alliances by influencing the locals to pursue what appears as an "independent course" so as to please the home audience.

That's because in Europe we beat that adversary, so the need for the troops is somewhat obviated. In Asia, other factors - mere realignment and repositioning as well as the reality of new types of weapons systems - make the move an obvious one.

Imagine that. An elected official who owes his job and his duty to The People doing something popular. Will the outrages never cease. Of course, this decision has the benefit of being both popular and correct. The best of both worlds.

A decision that makes absolute sense. The troops in Iraq are engaged in real fighting that serves a purpose. All the more reason to take notice of and do something about the troops that are, by comparison only, sitting on their hands.

Now we get to the meat of it, and why the criticism of the plan falls apart as we watch. Read the substance of why the author thinks the redeployment is a bad idea. Let's go through it piece by piece:

Check. Mission Accomplished. Does anyone seriously believe that full-time boots on the ground serve any purpose in keeping the Europeans off each other's throats?

Check. Mission Accomplished. Again, what possible use do full-time boots on the ground in Germany serve to facilitate the eastward march of democracy? That hasn't been the case for some years.

Well, now that's been a bit problematic, hasn't it? They really haven't been much willing to do that, have they? Try selling that to the American public - "Our troops will protect German soil to free up German troops to do work abroad." Not only is that questionable on multiple levels as a strategy in the abstract, but it clearly hasn't occurred in reality. Instead, Germany has aligned itself in opposition to American foreign policy having nothing to do with its need for troops at home. If anything, the American troop presence has allowed countries like Germany an unrealistic "Peace Dividend" that they have simply pocketed. Enough is enough. Off the teat.

Not.

I would argue that getting those troops realigned will be one of the best things to happen to "the alliance" in many a year.

I would agree with all of that, but how a few thousand human shields on the DMZ help any of that the author is silent on. Here's a hint: They don't.

"Hara-kiri." Strong rhetoric that makes the piece difficult to take seriously.

[snip redundant paragraph that recycles all the old unilateral/multilateral puff that caricatures the Bush diplomatic efforts.]

An odd paragraph from a person who's base of argument come straight out of a time as old as Harry S. Truman. And need I state that it's not up to The President to justify himself, it's up to an ungrateful Europe to show that they are deserving of American largess - something American troops should never be representative of, but apparently some think they should be used to distribute.

It wouldn't surprise me to find out that a Massachusetts Liberal like John Kerry would be willing to use our military as a pork-barrel plan for unmeritorious Europeans - particularly after repeatedly crowing in his campaign about never risking American lives on unnecessary missions.

Speaking of which, look at this story at CNN. What a coincidence that it and this op-ed which makes many of the same points should appear on the same day!

Kerry to challenge Bush troop plan

Israpundit's Joseph Alexander Norland takes the event of Gandhi's grandson's visit to Ramallah as an opportunity to take a look at some of the imperfections in his exalted grandfather's history. The words "nobody's perfect" come out as strikingly appropriate.

Israpundit: Skunks in sacred-cows' clothing

Give it a read if you're not already familiar with the history, or even if you are and would like a refresher.

I did an entry on Gandhi with regard to the usurpation of his name and reputation by groups like the International Solidarity Movement a ways back, here: A Few Quick Thoughts on non-Violence and Trite Gandhi References

One year and going strong with the best news and commentary coverage of Central Asia & The Caucasus. Congrats to Nathan & Co.

Very cool. Virginia Class Fast Attack Submarines. Check out the poster cross-section. (Via Ghost of a Flea, who has lots of cool stuff.)

Welcome to 1derland

Christmas in Cambodia hits the MSM in today's Boston Globe, but not as a news item, instead it comes in the form of an Op-Ed from Kerry partisan, Joan Vennochi, who urges the Senator to speak out for himself. The trouble is, Vennochi demonstrates why this is such a radioactive subject for Kerry - it's almost impossible for Kerry to sound good, because it's becoming increasingly clear that there is no good explanation for Kerry's prevarications. Even this piece that purports to defend Kerry's record doesn't come out helping him much in substance.

Boston Globe: Speak for yourself, John Kerry:

Actually, it's John Kerry's past that created those men, the SwiftVets. George Bush hasn't had to lift a finger. They're not fabricated surrogates. They are real flesh and blood veterans - over 250 of Kerry's former peers - who don't like him much, and would rather oppose him than see one of their own become President.

Now you're talkin'! Own it.

You know, I have to say I think that's one of the few things Kerry has been consistent on - remember, Kerry never really meant that we should actually invade Iraq (Well, he did, but this is his story now.), he only meant the vote as a threat, but George Bush 'effed' it up and went and actually attacked! Who could know?

They're not only for Bush...scratch that...they're not so much for Bush, as they are AGAINST (all caps) Kerry. And they know whether Kerry is telling the truth or not. They were there.

There would be if that were true, but of course it isn't The President making these accusations - something no amount of hand waving should distract the reader from - and need I mention that The President's integrity remains intact, thank you very much.

Vennochi is lying here. George Bush said no such thing. In fact, he said the opposite. More distracting hand waiving...

It doesn't? You mean it doesn't matter whether he made his decisions in good conscience based on the best and widely available and accepted information, processed under decision-making conditions that resulted in conclusions many accepted as a worthy course of action - as opposed to simple outright manipulation, prevarication and flip-flop...something a Kerry Presidency is looking more and more likely to guarantee? I believe it does matter, and I believe it is going to matter to the voters - most of whom will come to the correct conclusions.

A feeling lying, hand-waiving journalists are only too willing to feed into and foster. With pundits like this helping us make sense of things, no wonder we barely have enough sense to get in out of the rain - or heed the terror warnings of the people who we employ to protect us.

Thank you, thank you, for bringing these issues into the pages of the Boston Globe. Now maybe people will become curious. Where's that little Starship Troopers hyperlink, "Want to Learn More?"

One of the things that made the Willie Horton ads infamous, BTW, was their apparent play on racial fears. There's quite a bit more substance to the SwiftVet accusations - a whole book's worth.

True, but it's not unlikely that voters who would have given Kerry credit for his service, and looked the other way on what he did when he came home, will find his tall-tales a bit more than can be overlooked and excused.

Do they ever! Because it's an issue of substance being put forward by people with the credibility to make the issue stick. Writing them off as "Bush supporters" (is that really expected to work?) and otherwise cheap attempts to wave shiny objects in front of voters, just won't work.

Thank you, thank you, again, for bringing this issue into the pages of the Boston Globe. There's a growing problem for Kerry. He can't speak out in defense of himself on this issue, it increasingly appears, because...well...he has nothing to say, and even his supporters - or 'surrogates,' to borrow a term - risk making things worse by bringing this issue - an issue of undeniable substance - to an increasing number of people.

Update: Patterico makes short work of today's LA Times' Kerry advocacy handling of the issue, and Beldar has a lengthy fisking.

And they say that Ariel Sharon and George Bush are the causes of hatred toward Jews and the US. Sorry, but these wounds are entirely self-inflicted.

Another Egyptian religious paper (need I remind you that there is no free press in Egypt) peddling the Blood Libel...and worse. Thanks to MEMRI.

MEMRI: Egyptian Government Weekly Magazine on 'The Jews Slaughtering Non-Jews, Draining their Blood, and Using it for Talmudic Religious Rituals':

Well, I haven't done this before here, but if I can't use this site to at least try to help a friend out, what good is it?

My friend Marty was "downsized" over a year ago from his job as a Portfolio Analyst in the slumping Investment Industry. His time since has been spent in a frustrating effort to find renewed employment. He has done every bit of networking possible - friends, alumni associations, headhunters, phone calls - you name it. Oh, and now blog posts. It's all ended up in frustration. He's either been overqualified, underqualified, just beaten out by someone or the victim of some ridiculous Human Resources SNAFU. Fortunately, his favorable severance package and the fact he moved back home have kept his head above water, but it's time to change that.

Marty is a great guy and someone anyone would want to have on a team. He's a damn hard worker, getting his CFA and an MBA with Honors from Boston University while working full time. He currently resides in Lowell, MA, but is perfectly willing to relocate for the right offer and recently had an interview in the D.C. area. If you need to know anything more, just ask!

His resume in Word format is here. I've just clipped off his phone number, address and last name, but please email him if interested, or forward the resume on to anyone you think may be.

Thank you for your kind consideration!

Oh, I should also mention he welcomes any constructive criticism on his resume format.

Update: Marty has found employment! Thank you for your interest.

From Bernard Goldberg's, Arrogance:

Goldberg includes this passage to illustrate the media's 'ingrained culture of denial,' but it could as easily be used to illustrate another media trait encapsulated by a later chapter title: "Mauling the Messenger."

That's exactly what comes to mind watching the MSM (Mainstream Media) twist and turn and play their "Hear no Cambodia, See no Cambodia" act on behalf of the Kerry candidacy. The stunning silence by the big media on what should be a major story - the fact that over 250 of Kerry's fellow Swift Boat veterans believe he is unfit to be Commander in Chief, and that he has apparently outright lied about his own record. I don't care what line of work you're in, when that many of the people who worked with you step forward to say you can't be trusted, SOMEONE ought to be taking notice, instead, what little attention the MSM has given the Vets could best be described as a "mauling" - a mass of personal attacks that seek to draw attention away from the meat of their very real accusations.

These guys are angry, and they have a right to be.

The media doesn't even need to take the SwiftVet's words for it. They can look up Kerry's own recorded statements and find out how often Kerry is on the record lying about his. Captain's Quarters Blog has been all over that story, as has Hugh Hewitt and BeldarBlog who clocked in with a very good sum-up here.

Unlike the Bush AWOL smear, which papers like the NY Times, Washington Post and especially the Boston Globe, couldn't get enough of - digging and digging into every possibility, never failing to flog any unaccounted five minutes in the President's military record (a record Bush has released in full, BTW - something Kerry has refused to do) - the MSM has been literally silent on the disturbing truths coming to light about Senator Kerry's record.

You don't have to be for or against Kerry or Bush to expect that the media would be willing to address the facts of the case. You have to be downright carrying water for the Kerry campaign to ignore it completely, or worse, pretend you didn't write what you're on the record as having written, as in the case of the Washington Post's Laura Blumenfeld, who claimed to Hugh Hewitt's producer that she didn't write anything about Kerry's lucky hat, when in fact the article is there in plain sight for all to see.

As always with agenda-driven media coverage, it's the news consumer who loses. Readers of the Times, Post, Globe and others will be completely blind to the controversy, completely deaf to the reality of why it is a growing number of people stand against John Kerry and believe him to be unworthy of trust.

But back to that Goldberg quote I started this with. What coverage the press has given the SwiftVets and the Cambodia lies has been to completely ignore the substance of the allegations, and instead do their darnedest to smear the Vets themselves, as best encapsulated by so-called journalist Chris Matthews' shouting down of Unfit for Command's co-author, John O'Neill (you can still listen to the clip as it was played on Hugh Hewitt's radio show, still on loop through the weekend here. Matthew's was nearly apoplectic in shouting over O'Neill and preventing him from making his points. Why have him on at all then? Because at least he can say he did, after all.

The fact is that the press killed the Dean candidacy and created Kerry's. They have far too much of themselves invested to simply let it go at this point, or worse, contribute to their own choice's downfall - and in the case of the Boston Globe, for one, almost literally lessening the value of their own stock. It goes against human nature. John Kerry is far too perfect a candidate for many on the Left to let go - the veteran who turned against his own, the perfect encapsulation of a generation's self-loathing, the man who can speak as a soldier while so many of their own can't while at the same time legitimizing their own anti-military-America-can-do-no-right impulses. Will they ever understand why so many of Kerry's own peers loathe this man? It's not likely. For many, it is utterly unfathomable that a man that trumpeted the uncritically accepted narrative of America-as-evildoer in Vietnam may be viewed as anything other than a hero. Such a viewpoint is an understood truism of a certain class of Northeastern Liberal Elite entrenched firmly in the dominant media culture. So one may understand how, even with over 250 of Kerry's peers on the record viewing the Senator as not a hero, but a backstabber, there is some major league denial going on in editorial boards across the nation.

Take a coronated candidate under fire, add in some extra personal investment and a healthy dose of self-delusion, and you have a very clear formula for a press corps that is going to need to be dragged kicking and screaming to the story they should be covering by the consumers they're supposed to be serving. And that's us.

Update: NE Republican has an excellent post pointing up the press's hypocrisy by demonstrating the tenacity with which they pursued the Bush AWOL story and comparing it to their silence on this issue.

Update2: Don't miss Paterico's analysis of the LA Times coverage of the Bush AWOL piffle.

Ah Jeff Jacoby, where would the Boston Globe, and by extension us, be without you.

Jacoby on how the PLO controls the news you receive - and we're not talking about Chomskyite conspiracies to silence dissent here. You know, the kind where secret elites decide what stories to run, or unflattering portrayals of certain politicians might not get you that choice interview you were hoping for. We're talking about the, "Report it the way we want it or we will kill you" kind of crushing of dissent - a flaw, have no fear, common in the "news" you get reported from dictatorships world-wide.

Boston.com: How PLO suppresses the news:

Would-be dictator, Castro-friend and anti-American but not anti-dollar-bill Hugo Chavez is up for a recall referendum in Venezuela today. Reading the stories on the subject, it's hard to garner what the issues really are. Apparently, Mr. Chavez is spending a lot of money to help the poor, and this is, for some unfathomable reason, opposed by people!

Yahoo! News - Venezuelans Vote Early in Referendum on Chavez Rule

Not to worry, though. Fellow Castro-friend and Marxist bedfellow, actor Danny Glover is here in the person of a Boston Globe Op-Ed to help us understand - it's all Bush's fault.

Venezuelan reform's foes try to oust popular leader:

"The debate" isn't intractable, but at least we do have one, unlike the regimes Glover & Co. support. This is typical. Don't worry about politics - he's buying us stuff. Never mind that every Marxist experiment has promised to spread the wealth, but in the end merely wound up doling out the misery.

Invoke MLK's name to support a dictatorship? Check.

When the oil wealth is used up, Venezuelans will still be impoverished. Only then they'll be impoverished, angry, armed, and posessed of a wicked case of entitlement. I'd honestly like to know what Chavez has to recommend him aside from his purchased popularity. What is he doing to build lasting wealth? Leave aside his politics and anti-Americanism. It's hard to find out in this boiled-down class-warfare view.

I understand that politcal rights aren't doing well generally, so I doubt that people are feeling very well "empowered" generally. Of course, what people like Glover mean by "empowerment" only refers to emowering the right people. As long as "people of color" are taken care of, a little rot on the body politic generally is worth the price.

Now this is interesting (and also typical). Glover and his co-author, Bill Flecher [sic], Jr. are against the United States interfering in the internal affairs of Venezuela. But a quick search on Fle[t]cher shows he's not so concerned about interfering where it suits him. For instance, he was in favor of leaving Saddam Hussein in power, disarming Israel and handcuffing their right to self-defense.

Goodness. What would we do without actors, "progressives" and the Boston Globe?

Members of the Iraqi delegation pose with members of the United States' delegation during the Opening Ceremony of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Friday, Aug. 13, 2004. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

(via normblog and Barcepundit)

In Tunisia, that is. According to Michael J. Totten. (via Weekend Pundit) TCS: Tech Central Station - An American in Tunisia

About time: CNN: U.S. to pull 70,000 troops out of Europe:

Several very important items in this Honest Reporting update. Read the update, and be sure to check out IDF Dave's photo log of his time at the Kaladia Checkpoint. You need to see these photos to inform your understanding of the realities of the checkpoints.

Also, Phyllis Chesler has two of Pierre Rehov's films available for viewing online. The page says the films will be available until September 12. This is an excellent opportunity and I strongly recommend watching these films. I saw The Silent Exodus reported on it here (and also here). This film is a documentary on the hundreds of thousands of Jews who fled or were expelled from Arab countries starting in the late 40's. Powerful, important and interesting on a chapter of history that needs more airing. The second film, The Road to Jenin, I've not seen, but I'm looking forward to finding the time to watch it and I've heard good things about it. It seeks to set the record straight on the "Jenin Massacre" canard.

And aren't you lucky? You get to look at the pictures of my little get away! Actually, I didn't take that many photos (lucky!). At times I concentrated on video tape, and at others it was raining too hard to pull a camera out. Yes, it was a good drizel for much of the three days, although the heaviest downpours did hold off until evening. Sadly, the spectacular views of the New Hampshire mountains that we should have been treated to were covered up by heavy clouds during our entire stay. What we did see, my daughter thought looked like dinosaurs. I can understand.

I must say, Story Land wound up being much better than I thought it would be. Their web site is pretty amateurish and unreliable and that gave me a sort of negative impression, but that was wrong. I give the place high marks for those with small children. It was well kept-up and much larger than I expected. It was about a three-hour drive on the first day (Wednesday), and straight to the park for five hours of walking around and going on the rides. There was still more to see when the park closed, but we had had enough. My daughter (almost 4) finally got her wish. She'd been walking around with the brochure and looking at the pictures and saying, "I want to ride that one, too, Daddy." Constantly. Especially after she found out we were actually going. Even on the car ride she was staring at the brochure the entire trip. It was great to see her reaction when we arrived and she saw the place, eyes wide - "That's Story Land, Daddy!"

There's a picture of a little kid eating a hotdog in the brochure, and she's been telling me, "I want to eat a hot dog, too, Daddy."

Finally:

Note to self: Remember to close the sunroof when you lock up the car. It was mostly a decent day, but there was a downpour that had us running for cover, and I discovered that I had forgotten to close the sunroof in the new CR-V when we got back to the car. Ooops. I was paying for that with a damp butt for the next two days. No real damage, though.

There was an incredible thunderstorm that evening that put out the power in the inn and the surrounding town, so that made our dinner late. A long day for parents and especially child.

Thursday we hit the road. We headed for the Flume Gorge, which we walked. We also stopped at various rest stops and sites of interest along the way. There are lots.

Streams like this come straight off the mountain. Tastes great if you have a canteen:

Yup, it's a rock:

Very scary:

Yes, even little girls like trains:

Finally, yesterday we took a six or seven mile canoe ride on the Saco River. No pictures or video of that as it was drizeling through the entire trip. Not too bad, but bad enough that I didn't want to take the cameras out of the their plastic baggies.

Well, there it is! Back to the blog!

Update:

Apparently, Story Land made quite an impression. On my return home from the office, I was introduced to this rendering of Story Land in wood:

That's Cinderella's Castle on the right.

Light blogging the rest of the day, no blogging the rest of the week as I will be taking the Solomonia family north to Story Land in New Hampshire. I haven't been there but it looks like a sort of retarded Disneyland. My almost four-year-old is totally psyched. She's been walking around the house studying the brochure. She definitely understands that's where she's going. Sadly, it looks like there are supposed to be thunderstorms both Thursday and Friday which is an extreme bummer. I really, really hope this isn't a wasted trip.

It may also serve as a good break to get my blogging chops back into gear.

Update: Moved post to top.

Remarks by the President at "ask President Bush" Event

Emphasis mine. Just thought I'd point that out.

Gotta start shouting it out at Kerry events! Since the mainstream media is doing its level best to pretend there isn't mounting evidence that John Kerry is Mitty-like serial fantasist, it may be time to take drastic measures.

John Kerry's "lucky hat" from his trip(s?) to Cambodia

Remember that scene in Blazing Saddles, where the new black Sheriff, played by Cleavon Little, finds himself about to be lynched, so, thinking quickly, he points his own gun at his own head and says, "Alright, nobody moves or the n----- get's it!" and he starts backing his way off the street and into safety...?

Shouts of horror from the crowd! "Stay back folks, I think he means it!"

That's the image I get reading this article about Iran's latest shenanigans in the nuclear run-around.

That or Darth Vader holding out his hand and saying, "Join ME!"

Telegraph: Hand over nuclear weapons and know-how, Iran tells Britain:

If Iran doesn't cease these demands, and they go and develop nuclear weapons, why, the British shall be most put out!

Let's face it, they'll continue to do nothing. The Brits, God bless 'em, have blown their tough-guy wad on Iraq. Even if Blair wanted to, he's got no where to go on this. None of the Europeans do - and don't think for a second that there aren't a whole bunch of people on those diplomatic teams that aren't sympathetic to those demands.

Lots of first-hand info from the ground in Baghdad. Are we along with they finally, finally getting seriously serious with Sadr? Sounds like. Read Iraq the Model here and here.

Please take a moment to visit the following link and consider sending a letter along to the troops. The blogger is an active duty serviceman who has a friend deploying to Iraq soon. Notes will be printed out an brought along with. Let them hear from us.

SlagleRock's Slaughterhouse: Keep The Letters Coming

MEMRI: Egyptian Government Papers: The American Intervention in Darfur is a Plot to Control the Sudanese Oil

Last week, Robert Spencer had an item detailing some question marks in the background of the Imam who gave benediction at the conclusion of one of the sessions of the Democratic National Convention. Today, the Imam thoughtfully responds to Spencer. The gentleman is, as far as can be seen, well-meaning, but I'm going to highlight a portion of his response that I think is illustrative of the questions regarding the "small minority of extremists," and the uphill battle any administration has to face regarding the winning of hearts and minds in the Islamic and Arab worlds.

Dhimmi Watch: Imam Yahya Hendi tells his side of the story

Emphasis mine.

At least the UN is actually issuing honest reports. Seriously, I guess that's something. Of course, the Arab League is helping to delay, delay, delay while the killing continues.

Yahoo! News - U.N. Blames Sudan for Civilian Atrocities:

My adrenaline gets flowing just reading this. Check out Citizen Smash's Protest Warrior adventures against the Code Pink Menace. You won't read anything like this in your morning paper. (via Dean's World)

Citizen Smash - The Indepundit: Operation PINK OUT

This certainly is a strange story. How the mighty have fallen. Why would a guy like Chalabi, who until fairly recently was on Uncle Sam's teat, and certainly must have enough connections not to need to want for money - why would he stoop to counterfeiting dinars? Stranger things have happened, I suppose.

CNN.com - Judge: Warrants issued for Chalabi and nephew

A lengthy legal document released by the Swift Boat Vets backing up everything they've put in their advertisements at Captain's Quarters Blog. Captain's Quarters: The Swifties Fire Back

We coudln't possibly stop committing genocide - y'know...cause...the Jews!

Sudan: Israel supporting Darfur rebels

Just got back a short time ago from the New Hampshire digs of the Weekend Pundit crew where was hosted the (first annual?) New England blogger bash. Cookout and beer by the lake - good company and even a boat ride! Can't beat that.

Met folks from: On the Third Hand, Accidental Verbosity, New England Republican, Alphecca, Dog Snot Diaries, Bogieblog, Insomnomaniac...I'm going to update this as soon as I remember who I forgot. I know Jeff from Alphecca was taking photos and writing down names.

I have to make a few blogroll additions!

Thanks again to our fine hosts!

...at length.

You can learn a lot just reading her responses.

Michelle Malkin: BOOK NOTES

MY WAR - Fear And Loathing In Iraq

Probably old news to some of you, but I just discovered it. Very interesting. The guy is writing some really interesting stuff through the eyes of an Army guy in Iraq.

Rudy's zinger:

(Via LGF) New York Post: Rudy - John is Moore's Stooge

Why does Kerry do that? He's been doing this petty, silly-sounding "I woulda done it THIS way..." crap since early in the campaign. Does it sound good to anyone? I've never thought people bragging about how they woulda done it better ever sound good. It's so damn childish. Here's the truth: You have NO IDEA what you would have done, Senator. None at all. That's the truth. The truth is also that this man just can't put up a consistent face and policy, so everything he does is a sort of petty reaction to the man in charge. He can't or won't tell us what he'd do right now. He can't convince us to trust what he says about what he'll do in the future - even if he were to actually offer us something - he's been so inconsistent, how could we take it seriously? All he can do is cast himself in somebody else's past - just as he cast himself in those Vietnam stories all those years ago. At least in the case of Vietnam, he was actually there. All he can do in the case of the Presidency is visualize himself in someone else's shoes and try to convince us all that he'd do better than the original. Sorry. I'm not buying.

(This is reposted from my comment below.)

Mike (and sites all over the web) are talking about this Boston Globe story reporting that one of the gentlemen in the Swift Boat Veterans has recanted his criticism of Kerry, and then, just as quickly was released this statement from the Vets saying that, well, no he didn't recant.

The Boston Globe is desperate to get Kerry elected. They're carrying the guy's water. Kranish (author of the Globe piece) is paid by the Kerry campaign - not that that seems to bother the Globe.

I don't care about anyone's Vietnam history (within broad reason), but Kerry has made his military background a central part of his campaign. HE POLITICIZED IT. He just can't shut up about it, and I'm not sure that was such a great idea considering his history, but he's done it. Well now all those guys who are pissed about what he did when he got back and are pissed about the low standard he achieved to receive his medals and his trip home when plenty of other guys did much, much more and never got medals, and maybe never made it back - now those guys are speaking out. I don't blame them.

They've earned the right. They were there. They have a right to speak out, too. What can I tell ya? *I* wouldn't have said what they're saying, and questioned Kerry as they are, even if I felt pretty damn sure Kerry and his history were a load of crap - hardly anyone can...except these guys. And the fact that there are so many of them is very, very compelling.

Maybe this won't work out well for Bush. Maybe he should take the lead and denounce these guys, or at least what they're doing. He could probably do a pretty good job of indicating how silly and irrelevant arguments over Vietnam are when we have a real terrorist threat going on today. It could make him look good. But that's just a tactic. I'll leave that to Bush and his advisers. I say these Vets have a right to speak out against Kerry should they feel it necessary - and they obviously do.

Conclusion (for the moment) of the car saga.

Well, we did settle on the Honda, although I was disappointed with the amount they offered us for the trade: $1500. I said I had to think about it. Went over to a used car place just to chat with the guy for some advice. He looked at the car and thought it was the type of thing I could probably get around $2500 for from some kid who might be looking for in that price range. He offered to take my name and number to send someone my way should they come along - for a little consideration. For what he'd have to put into it, he wasn't interested in purchasing it.

I went back to my office, talked to my wife..in the end we just decided to go for it. We just don't want to deal with selling the car on our own and agonizing over the last dollar.

So, long story short, we called the dealership and said we'd be going for it. And yes, we signed up for a few extras like the extended warranty and LoJack. So they made a few bucks off us. We're anxious to get the car, but it'll take until Saturday morning for them to have the thing prepared.

Looking forward to then...

So says one of the lineup of swift boat veterans in this nuclear advertisement at Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Wow. Very, very effective. These are the only guys who have the clout to take these shots at Kerry, and their shots are effective. The site is being hammered at the moment (just saw a snip of the ad on Hannity & Colmes), so be patient. It's worth it.

"John Kerry lied to get his Bronze Star. I know. I was there. I saw what happened."

Update: And don't miss this 12 minute assembly of all of John Kerry's flip-flop waffling on his Iraq War position(s). They should do this with a lot of people's records.

Beth is looking for a car. Coincidentally, the wife and I also spent today car-shopping. This will primarily be my wife's car so the choice was her's. Considerations were cargo space, safety, handling in bad weather, reliability and PRICE. Based on these considerations and what she's seen people driving she had the choices narrowed to the Subaru Forester and the Honda CR-V. Either will be the 2004 versions so as to get the best deal possible, and we're shooting for a minimum of goo-gaws other than an auto-transmission - again, trying to keep costs down.

We'll also be trading in a '94 Jetta with only 40K miles on it (never have liked that car - lotta problems).

I got a quote from the local Honda dealer through cars.com for $21420 and we went down and saw him and took a test drive. We liked the car. Peppy with a light feel on the wheel (very different from the ponderous feeling of the Jetta). Good turning radius. Small-size SUV, but still higher off the ground than a regular car - I felt like my ass was dragging on the ground when I got back into my Saturn. Good cargo space, and the feel of the space inside was good. The suspension is tight, so you do feel every rut in the road, which is a slight minus. I liked the straightforward manner of the salesman, that is his "here's the price" manner which was in contrast to the Subaru dealer which I'll get to. I dread negotiating situations, and in fact I drive a Saturn now because I liked their "no negotiating" policy. I knew I didn't need to worry about any of that crap and the cars are good (103,000 miles and counting). The sales guy wasn't all that great at explaining some things - like how the AWD works, and he couldn't really respond to what the Subaru guy had said (we briefly talked with a Subaru dealer a few days previous) about the safety issues including roll-over risk with the CR-V.

On the whole, our hearts like this car. I'll be taking the Jetta by tomorrow morning to see what they'll give us on trade.

After Honda we went over to the Subaru dealer. This guy hadn't given me a straightforward quote - maybe because I screwed up my phone number when filling out the form - but that's OK. We went over to take a drive.

We also liked the car quite a bit. It's a little lower than the CR-V - more of a tall station wagon than an SUV. Cargo and cab space isn't quite as good as the CR-V, although it has a lot of interesting touches (even an umbrella pocket!). It feels heavier than the Honda, has a heavier wheel, seems to handle better around turns, smooths out the bumps better - overall it has a far more solid feeling. Not as peppy as the Honda. The salesman was more knowledgeable, but he has a good product, focusing on the safety features like how it handles a crash and the low risk of roll-over due to the height and especially the unusual engine piston design the Subarus have (rather than being on top of the engine, the cylinders face each other at the sides of the engine).

While out hearts were with the Honda, the feeling we had was that the Subaru was the winner for safety and bad-weather handling. At least that's my perception given what I felt and how I understand the drive-systems to function. It may even win for overall quality as well.

Still, our hearts were with the Honda. It just seems a more fun car, but my head is telling me, "Subaru."

Gas mileage us about equal, BTW.

The trouble with the Subaru is that when we got back in, the salesman found out that the only 2004 base model they had in silver (the only color my wife will accept - and I agree, the others are ugly) was sold. They have a silver, but it's got some more optional doo-dads like heated seats, side windows, wipers (!) and a better sound system. Nice options, but they add to the cost and we don't need them.

Here's where the annoying part comes in. These guys just wouldn't give us a straight quote on the thing. "What is the price?" always got some nonsense answer like, "Oh, it's almost the same!" How much more are the 2005's? Oh, they're almost the same - just mumble3000moremumble. They were the types that wanted to know what we were looking for as a payment and then they were going to base everything off that. BS. We're putting down $15K, so the payment isn't going to be much anyway. That doesn't mean I'm going to flush $2000 dollars down the shitter, either. When we asked him to run the numbers on the fancier model the sales guy had to bring the finance guy over. They said something about "pretty much" giving us the fancier car at the base model price, and he was even willing to start throwing numbers at me for the trade sight-unseen. They did not want to let us get out the door, but we thanked them, said we had to think about it and off we went.

Bottom line is that they want to move those 2004's. It's a nice car. The price will be similar to the Honda, but I'm afraid to go back there to find out for sure what the final deal is by showing them the Jetta because I'll never get out of there. I get it, anyway. Money isn't going to be the final deciding factor at this level. It'll come down to the car we really want to drive.

In the afternoon we took the Jetta to the self-serve car wash and gave it the business inside and out. Whoo. Filthy, but it cleaned up pretty good. I'm thinking we should get at least $2500 for it with the low mileage, but I'm not gonna be too picky. I don't want to deal with selling it on our own. (Anyone looking?)

So that was today's saga. We'll be making the choice soon. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if I grabbed something tomorrow. Either way I know we'll be wondering if we shoulda got the other one. OTOH, eventually we'll be getting something else as I'll need to trade my Saturn for something more practical for work, so there will be another new car experience before long no matter what.

A couple of encouraging pointers from Arthur Chrenkoff - a report of remarks by Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and a Haaretz interview with Abdurrahman Wahid, the former President of Indonesia.

Read the entry if you feel the need for some signs that things may not be uniformly bleak:

Chrenkoff: "I am for Islam. But I am against an Islamic state"

...than actually doing the helping - helping to stop murder, rape, starvation and dispossession on a mass scale - then your priorities need to be seriously UNSCREWED. It's funny, some say the West is racist, but for the most part, I see exactly the opposite. I see an Arab and Muslim world rife with paranoia, hatred and xenophobia, ready to cut its own throat rather than imagine anything but the worst from The Other.

SudanTribune: Arab fears of another western intervention in Sudan

Michelle Malkin has a new book coming out, re-examining the internment of Japanese Americans during the Second World War, In Defense of Internment: The Case for Racial Profiling in World War II and the War on Terror. It sounds like a fascinating subject. I'm always interested in well-researched historical revision (in the good sense of the word). I hope the book receives good reviews from reviewers who address its research and conclusions in substance. I certainly won't be qualified to examine all the sources or know the history well enough to understand for sure whether the conclusions and narrative are solid. Few things are so dangerous and damaging as bad history. Bad history on controversial subjects not only damages our view of history and of ourselves, but it damages our ability to understand today's choices and could tar the causes of those who write it. If Malkin's book winds up being a bad one, it will make her, as well as a number of the causes she is seen to 'represent' - rational immigration policy and other 'conservative' causes - look bad. Real bad. I just hope the book's research is rock-solid. Having read Michelle's writing for some time now, I'm confident it will be. She seems like a serious person with a reputation to defend. I plan on reading the book.

Like an old tree who's growth is stagnant and immune systems flagging, fungus and lichen (otherwise known as McDonald's and Starbuck's) are taking hold and rotting out the old corpse along the Champs Elysees.

On the front page of today's Boston Globe, the French are facing the signs of their decline. Worry not, France, you may have little to offer the world of today, but opposing America will substitute for a purpose until you're swallowed by the rot.

Boston.com: France gives critical look at its falling influence

Check out the round-up at Ghost of a Flea.

Sad. The most excellent charity, Operation Give, is still being screwed by their shipping company to the tune of $30,000. Read all about it here: Chief Wiggles: Operation Give DESPERATELY needs your help!

(Updated with 2nd pic)

Listened to John Kerry's response to President Bush's announcement concerning intelligence reforms. As usual, Kerry's substance was non-existent. You could easily ask for specifics after every sentence he uttered. He offered none. Kerry's utterances always amount to the most childish "I woulda done better" carping one can imagine - like a Trivial Pursuit player who says, "I knew that" after every other player's question. Kerry claimed over and over that he would have moved faster - based on what, I'd like to know. The 9/11 Commission just issued their report. And that voice...uggg...that imperious, affected tone. Difficult to listen to. And he disingenuously brought up Rumsfeld's leaked memo from last October claiming it bolstered his argument that the Administration doesn't know what it's doing, when in fact that memo shows exactly the opposite - that the Administration, or at least parts of it, is staying on the balls of its feet with regard to this new War - not that Kerry really believes we're at war right now anyway.

The more I see Kerry, the more sure I am that the electorate is sure to see him for the empty suit he is, but then again, I thought Al Gore destroyed George Bush in all the debates, and we know how that turned out.

Looks like the Afghan people themselves have more faith in their futures than certain international aid organizations. Wow.

Yahoo! News - 90 Percent of Afghans Registered to Vote (via LGF):

David Kaspar writes about the simplistic manner in which the German media portrays the American Presidential race, focussing on a STERN profile of Kerry, but it may as well be subtitled, "How media bias cheats us all."

Davids Medienkritik: STERN Online: "Kerry Too Smart for America?"

This article could be about a thousand other news outlets in dozens of countries on both the left and the right, including here in the US. I was watching TV Japan with my wife this morning and they were doing a sort of "news for kids" in which they were explaining in rather simple terms (obviously) who John Kerry is - life story and all. Very heroic! Trouble is, the rest of the "big people" news isn't a whole lot better. Kerry good. Bush scary.

And some people wonder why some of us are somewhat less than concerned about what some in Europe, the Middle East and elsewhere think of us? Because in today's age, we can not only find out what they think of us, but of how they came to hold those opinions. We can read German media, British media...al Jazeera - you name it. Sure, it still matters what they think, but in so far as we can see that much of it is based on some of the most biased portrayals 'they' like to kid themselves that the diverse American media is characterized by, how seriously should we take it. Why guide ourselves by people who have their own created reality based on half truths, when we know the whole - or at least a better percentage of it. And we're the one's with a stake in the results. And on the way, it's the bias peddler's consumers who get ripped off when they wonder how it is that the American economy and achievements keep clicking along, we haven't become a police state and George Bush is elected for a second term.

He has no plan he's willing to share. The only "plan" he's willing to share is some sort of business of ingratiating ourselves with our "allies." Translation: Screw Iraq. There is no other explanation. It's a favorite sport for countries who can't or won't hack it. Toss the average Arab to the lions, then run home and pronounce what humanitarians you are. Give the most vicious elements exactly what they want and then pretend you're doing the right thing by allying with some sort of somnambulant international order blind to the horrific realities it allows to happen all around it without lifting a finger. What possible good such a move could do at this point in history is a mystery. There must be some sort of liberal pathology born of a disrespected and damaged generation that subconsciously seeks to screw our generation as well.

Yahoo! News - Kerry Envisions No More U.S. Troops for Iraq

How about telling us that you're focussed on accomplishing the mission, Mr. Kerry? Instead of defining "mission accomplished" by how many troops you can withdraw, why don't you tell us what conditions on the ground you'd hope to see created to feel your policy was successful, and that would allow you to draw down troops. Defining success by retreat is a LOSER's policy. I truly hope the American people will not elect a loser.

Sorry about the pic, I just couldn't resist. Someday I'll probably need to do that. Anyway, it's simultaneously comforting and disturbing to see that it's not just American diplomats that seem to lose a screw (or maybe some of their scruples?) while doing foreign service. At least the Israeli variety doesn't go on the Saudi payroll when they retire, of course. I've seen Pinkas any number of times on American TV, several times facing off against Palestinian spokesman al-Rahman (I believe that was his name). While I know it's an incredibly difficult job, unlike Peres who calls him the "best and most talented public relations man in the world," I would actually say he could have used a few lessons in getting a concise and effective TV message out - especially in view of the fact that he was facing off against the same predictable Palestinian responses time and again. You'd think you'd have your rap pretty tight, but Pinkas never quite did.

Haaretz - Israel News

Talk continues tough as pressure continues between Arafat and his supporters. First, a group of "gunmen" burst into a meeting of Palestinian legislators and Fatah officials, firing into the air, apparently believing that the meeting was part of an anti-Arafat conspiracy. "Reform" must be tough under these conditions, but then it's not surprising considering all the time Arafat and his sycophants have squandered preaching hate and death rather than working to create a functioning civil society.

The bizarre part? After the shooting is done, the legislators go ask the gunmen, "Can we have our meeting now?"

Haaretz - Israel News

And the other interesting part of this article is that Dahlan is actually showing a little fire. This criticism of Arafat is remarkable. The old lion is getting weak and the pack is closing in. This is what happens when your rule is based on corruption and violence. A pirate captain who can't bring his men the riches they're used to (and the EU has finally been talking about accountability) had best have his grog tasted by the cabin boy before imbibing.