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July 31, 2006
Reporting the Israeli-Hezbollah war
Propaganda, plain and simple. Via Alarming News.
Posted by bill at 07:24 PM | Comments (0)
Point, counterpoint, reply
Last week I noted a WSJ op-ed that discussed the American Bar Association's "hit job" on Bush appeals court nominee Mike Wallace. Today, the ABA prez Michael Greco fires back, insisting the ABA's Standing Committee on Federal Judiciary "examines only three factors in its evaluations: professional competence, integrity and judicial temperament. It explicitly does not consider a nominee's ideology or philosophy" and that, as to Wallach specifically, the committee's "evaluation is based upon the information it received from dozens of his peers, colleagues, lawyers he worked with and judges he appeared before." That and other ABA exercises, Greco argues, are strictly non-ideological.
Something of a reply by the WSJ is published today, too and delves into one example giving the lie to Greco's claims.
Posted by bill at 10:14 AM | Comments (0)
July 30, 2006
Sunday reading
- CJ blogger (occasionally) Gene Lalor's article, "Ireland Today," was published at American Thinker.
- Mark Steyn takes down the "chicken hawk" meme, as only Mark Steyn can.
- Irrelevant but entertainingly so: Ted Kennedy isn't giving up the fight against Samuel Alito and John Roberts.
Posted by bill at 09:07 AM | Comments (0)
July 29, 2006
Meandering
I suspect that many of us who defended Mel Gibson back in 2004 today feel a bit like Bill Clinton's Cabinet members in 1998, after they'd believed Clinton "did not have sexual relations" or whatever. In a word, we were had. When I think about it, Gibson did play a helluva compelling crazy guy in the Lethal Weapons. Maybe it wasn't such an act.
Anyway, that's not the most pressing story of the day. This, arguably, is, because jihadist in our midst are really the only story that matters.
It's Saturday night, and that's about the most coherent thought I can muster.
Posted by bill at 10:58 PM | Comments (1)
July 28, 2006
Friday diversion
Steven Colbert ("KOHL-bare") at his best.
Posted by bill at 11:44 AM | Comments (1)
July 27, 2006
Hate chart
Cliff Notes for World War III, courtesy of the good folks at Slate.
Posted by bill at 09:19 PM | Comments (0)
July 26, 2006
The AP gets it wrong again
No, I'm not. Sigh.
Posted by bill at 11:28 AM | Comments (0)
ABA drive-by
To the uninitiated, the American Bar Association may seem harmless enough - an industry group like any other attending to continuing education, hosting seminars, etc. But the reality is the ABA is a political interest group and, owing mainly to the plaintiff trial bar and predominately liberal law professors, the ABA sees itself as the guardian of Earl Warren's and Thurgood Marshall's extra-Constitutional legacy on the Supreme Court and in the federal bar. To many attorneys, the ABA doesn't represent us any more than NOW represents "women" -- which is why many who dare believe in "federalism" opt instead for the Federalist Society.
Anyway, after President Bush took office he made clear he didn't regard the ABA as having veto power over his nominees -- and in the process he marginalized the ABA, much the same way he did the NAACP, until last week. Well, this didn't please the ABA, and true to form they're exacting retribution in the form of a "hit job" on the President's nominee to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Michael Wallace; the ABA's motives and tactics are exposed today by the WSJ.
Posted by bill at 10:20 AM | Comments (0)
July 25, 2006
Out of the deep, deep blue
In the Hamptons, where the Bill Clinton and Barbara Streisand are regarded as deity, it's not often - especially from June through September - that umambiguous pro-American ideas can pierce the venom of unthinking, reflexive W-o-phobia, not to mention the Zoloft-made haze. Despite this, Jerry Della Femina of The Independent, an East End Long Island staple, has written a clear-headed piece on the challenge - the war - America faces, and the cost of losing. He begins by excerpting a speech by Dr. Vernon Chong, Major General, USAF Retired: "Our country is now facing the most serious threat to its existence, as we know it, that we have faced in your lifetime and mine (which includes WWII)," he begins. "The deadly seriousness is greatly compounded by the fact that there are very few of us who think we can possibly lose this war and even fewer who realize what losing really means."
Read the whole thing (URL is for site only; column is under "Jerry's Ink").
Posted by bill at 09:33 AM | Comments (0)
July 24, 2006
Rare clarity from the Democrats
Last week, Ohio Republican George Voinovich spelled out the case for confirming UN Ambassador John Bolton for a permanent position this fall. Although Voinovich's article reads like a college reference letter ("he has demonstrated his ability, especially in recent months, to work with others and follow the president's lead by working multilaterally. In recent weeks I have watched him react to the challenges involving North Korea, Iran and now the Middle East, speaking on behalf of the United States"), his point was an important one: those purported "concerns" about Bolton's "interpersonal skills," "reputation for straying off message," and his "tendency to 'go it alone'" were, and are, nonsense. Voinovich also points out Bolton's confirmation would be "good for the country" because it would end "ambiguity" as to Bolton's standing, and his ability to speak for the U.S.
All this talk of the "good of the country" must've roiled Democrats; Yesterday Christopher Dodd promised a can of Senatorial whoop-ass in the event Bolton is nominated to a permanent spot. "This is going to be a bruising fight," he said, channeling Ted Kennedy. "The problems still persist. Many ambassadors at the U.N. feel he hasn't done a good job there."
For a moment let's look past the Dems' obstructionism because, honestly, what's left to say? The more significant point is one Dodd may not have intended to make: Democrats believe even the conduct of the US Ambassador is accountable to international approval. That is to say, as Bolton himself did last April, that the US is the only member of the UN that is expected to do anything other than advocate on its own behalf.
To borrow from Tony Snow: "Thanks, Senator Dodd, for articlulating the Syrian view."
(H/T: Gadsden Flag.)
Posted by bill at 09:53 AM | Comments (0)
July 22, 2006
"World Trade Center"
The reviews are in for Oliver Stone's World Trade Center (trailer here), and to our pleasant surprise, says blogger Jack Yoest:
"It was not a conspiracy movie.
It did not bash Bush.
It was not sappy.
It was not about stupid, church-going nuts.
It did not mock marriage.
It did not blame America.
It did not support radical Islam.
It did not mock Marines.
It did not mock Jesus.
It did not mock cops.
It did not mock family, faith or freedom..."
Michelle Malkin links to several conservative pundits' praise for the film and wonders "Is Hell freezing over?" Indeed most of the reviews are positive; the notable exceptions are John Podhoretz (NY Post) ("because "World Trade Center" tells a story of joyous survival rather than a story of death, it is a fundamental falsification of the meaning of 9/11") and Ryan Sager (NY Sun), who takes that point a step further ("....perhaps the door is now open to something deeper. While it would be too much to expect from Hollywood to see any movies dealing forthrightly with Islamic terrorism and the clash of civilizations in which we are now engaged, we might at least begin to see more movies about what it means to live with the grief of that day, as opposed to simply tracing our fingers over our scars."
Nonetheless, the reviews are mainly very positive, because Oliver Stone, it seems, recognized the sanctity of the human lives lost that day and resisted whatever urge he may have had to transform the depiction of the attacks into anti-America propaganda. Kudos.
Posted by bill at 10:45 AM | Comments (0)
July 21, 2006
Newt '08?
Posted by bill at 04:12 PM | Comments (0)
Just like a rainbow, just without regular colors
Tolerant, as long as you're just like them: In the uber-gay summer resort town of Provincetown, Mass., on the tippety-tip of Cape Cod, Reuters breaks the stunning news that gays aren't the paradigm of tolerance they want the rest of us to be. In "P-Town," insults like "baby-maker" and "breeder" are being flung at straight, mini-van type tourists so much that even Reuters can report: "this time it's straight people who say they are being ridiculed." No way! 35 year-old Steve Bowersock, whom Reuters notes "was once married to a woman" (details not forthcoming) "admits he discriminates against straights he finds offensive" and offers these insights: "If there's a straight couple and I hear them in the background going 'oh fags', I'm like 'hello, where the hell do you think you are?' So in turn I get mad. If I see someone nervous like a big butch guy, and you can just tell he's a redneck, I'll grab my partner and I'll kiss him. It's not being mean, but 'hello you're in our town'."
Hello, more breaking news: Reuters is reporting rampant anti-whitey sentiment in Harlem. Hello, I'm being, like, ironic.
H/T: Gadsden F(l)ag.
Posted by bill at 09:31 AM | Comments (0)
July 20, 2006
Quote of the day
...goes to Bryan at Hot Air, responding to news that Israel may be planning a full-scale invasion of Lebanon:
As for this notion of proportionality, it is idiotic, and guarantees that no side will win, which guarantees more war, suffering and death. One side has to win, or wars become endless. Hezbollah won’t respond to criticism and doesn’t fear dying for its mad, racist cause. You can’t talk to them or convince them to make nice. The only thing you can do is destroy them.
Posted by bill at 02:23 PM | Comments (0)
July 19, 2006
Civics 101
Attention voters: If you takes a lottery ticket, concerts, cigarettes, etc. to be convinced to exercise your right to vote, you should not be voting anyway.
To be clear: Arizona's lotto-ballot proposal is likely to result in a higher number of uninformed, disinterested voters. And as a result of this, they'll probably vote Democrat - Mr. Osterloh isn't pursuing this stupidity to generate Republican votes. This is precisely the same reason the federal "Motor Voter" law, seeped though it was in apparent good intentions, was a bad idea.
Posted by bill at 09:49 PM | Comments (0)
My house in the Hamptons / "I always wanted to be an architect"
Today, in keeping with previously announced Editorial Policy, and because the recent outbreak of World War III can be a drag, we pay homage to the two chicks who, it seems, convinced Christie Brinkley's husband, architect Peter Cook, that Christie Brinkley isn't quite, er, sufficient. First there's Diana Bianchi; Harvey Levin parahrases her story: "I was so young. I was just working in this toy store and, like, he just asked me to work in his architectural firm. And like, I was making all this money and then, like, he was just coming on to me. And of course, like, I never thought I was hurting Christie cause I was just well, like 18 or 19." Rrrrrrrrrrriiiiight. 
On behalf of men everywhere, Levin's skewers the sheep-lost-in-the-woods meme (although I won't concede he's qualified to do so). Then there's Samanta Cole, who tells the NY Post Cook proposed to her, too, in 1996 and just before asking Brinkley to marry him. Unlike Bianchi, though, Cole "scoffed at the idea that Bianchi was too "naive" to know what she was doing when she got involved with Cook." She, too, was 19 when Cook proposed, or didn't propose, or whatever.
Posted by bill at 09:18 AM | Comments (0)
July 18, 2006
Why we like Tony Snow
Tony Snow bitch slapped Helen Hasan Al Thomas, again. Watch the video here ("Thank you for the Hezbollah view, Helen"). Oh yes, he did.
Posted by bill at 10:09 PM | Comments (2)
July 17, 2006
Presidential candor
By now you know MSM is atwitter over President Bush's frustrated cussin' at the G-8 Summit in Russia. On a day that brought with it a deluge of significant and news developments from around the globe, W's comments somehow found themselves in the spotlight: "See the irony is that what they [the United Nations] need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this s[hit] and it's over," he told Tony Blair.
And that's it. That's the story - the President said "shit." Which got me thinking about Bill Clinton's somewhat famous, and also very revealing moment: shedding some ridiculous crocodile tears while leaving Ron Brown's funeral in April 1996, just after yucking it up with an aide.
I'll take W and his "cowboy diplomacy" any day.
Posted by bill at 08:59 PM | Comments (0)
The valley of darkness
I don't know about you, but if it happens that I am standing at the gates of heaven and God's voice sounds anything likeSamuel Jackson's, I'll be thinking I am in the wrong place. And then I'll turn and run.
Posted by bill at 09:59 AM | Comments (1)
"It all boils down to Iran"
Jeff Jacoby makes the case.
Posted by bill at 09:37 AM | Comments (0)
July 16, 2006
Where to look
Updates on the Isreali-Hezbollah war are at Pajamas Media, Truth Laid Bear (a blog aggregator) and Hot Air. Between these three sources, you'll find breaking news, media analysis, opinion, etc. -- from what I've seen since last week, if you want to know what's really happening, you'll have to contend with the disparate voices of the blogosphere, read a bunch of sites, then make up your own mind about what's happening and why, and its significance. Sorting through the stories can be time-consuming, but as we've seen, the end result is a far better picture, and more perspective, than the mainstrem media is offering.
Newt Gingrich says it's World War III; our enemies believe it's a worldwide conflict - why wouldn't we?
Posted by bill at 09:02 PM | Comments (1)
July 13, 2006
Not that there's anything wrong with it
Posted by bill at 02:07 PM | Comments (1)
What he said, what I said, we all said what we said
Robert Kagan's column at the Washington Post suggests President Bush's approach to Iran, and his willingness to endure the plain futility of pursuing diplomatic resolution, may be part of a larger strategy to let Iran turn the world against it. Where have I heard this before?
Posted by bill at 12:22 PM | Comments (0)
Holy heck
Hot Air has been updating news from the Middle East. Commenter "Mike O" nails it:
Is this how World War III ends up? A Muslim caliphate? Palestine, Syria, Iran, North Korea Vs. United States, Israel, Great Britain, Australia, Japan? Plus all sorts of side plots (Lebanon, Yemen, Pakistan, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Northeast Africa as sympathizers on one side: Poland, India, and a few others in Europe on our side? Russia possibly playing both sides, China sitting on the sidelines, cheering for both to lose? Battlegrounds all over the Middle East and in the largest cities of the Allies? Profiling and restriction of Muslims throughout the Allied world, not quite matching the Japanese-American internments, but coming close? Will nukes get used? (Probably, if the Islamofascist side gets some.) Most importantly, does Western culture have the collective resolve to win one more time?
Posted by bill at 10:13 AM | Comments (0)
July 12, 2006
Paging Joe Queenan
With this forray into music video, you get the feeling David Hasselhoff has gone over the cliff, and KITT won't be around to bail him out. Yes, David, we're "hooked on a feeling," too - the feeling that you're in the express lane to Erik Estrada-ville. Isn't there a dicey land development venture somewhere in Florida that wants some has-been minor celebrity gravitas?
Speaking of pop culture horror, reader Jules alerts us to this preview of Rocky VI. Now, a few months back when I heard this sequel would happen, I tried to give Sylvester Stallone the benefit of the doubt - surely he'd realize the cackles a 60 year-old Rocky, boxing, would bring with it. Surely Sly can still develop something worth watching. Rocky! Near 60 years of age, an aging athlete, struggling with this and that aspect of being and old Rocky Balboa. And such. Imagine the potential for moderately entertaining drama!
But if you were hoping for anything along these lines, forget it. Judging by the preview, you'll have to rent About Schmidt.
Posted by bill at 04:34 PM | Comments (0)
Crime Emergency!
The old joke about Washington, D.C. was that if people were serious about removing the violent connotations, etc. from the Washington Bullets' name, they ought to drop the "Washington" and call the team simply, the "Bullets." Yuck, yuck. Anyway, now that D.C. finds itself knee-deep in violent crime, they can't very well blame the Wizards (poxes are at an all-time low), and one gets the sense pols will be fretting about gun violence, etc. and push toward the Michael Bloomberg model for crime-reduction: harassing legal gun owners and disarming tomorrow's crime victims with yet more layers of gun control. It won't work, of course, but they can say they tried. Ben Shapiro exposes the folly.
Posted by bill at 01:39 PM | Comments (1)
July 11, 2006
Where have you gone, Don Mattingly?
Via Drudge, the NY Daily News is reporting that Mr. Fathead Asterisk Douchebag Barry Bonds seems "likely" to be indicted within the next couple of weeks.
Sources within Major League Baseball said they have no inside information, but expect that the troubled slugger will be indicted. On one of the next few Thursdays, the grand jury will meet in the Philip Burton Federal Building in San Francisco and may be asked to weigh the evidence. If at least 12 of the 23 members agree that there is "probable cause" that a crime has been committed and Bonds is the one who committed it, they will return a "true bill," otherwise known as an indictment. The grand jury could also return a "not true" bill, meaning it will not indict. The U.S. attorney could also decide not to seek an indictment at that point, or request an extension for the grand jury from the judge.
What isn't "likely," it seems, is any extension. When I mentioned this story to a friend of mine, he wondered whether indicting Bonds would make him a martyr. I doubt it. Most everyone I've talked to believes Bonds deserves whatever punishment the criminal justice system hands down, the asterisks, etc. Short of being sentenced to the electric chair, Bonds is virtually un-martyr-able.
Posted by bill at 03:05 PM | Comments (1)
What do we want? When do we want it?
Something stinks at the New York Slimes, and the New York Young Republicans organized a protest yesterday outside the window of the purported paper of record. Here's some video:
More at Hot Air (via Suitably Flip).
Posted by bill at 09:47 AM | Comments (0)
July 10, 2006
Slavery reparations: from suck to blow?
Via Hot Air, the AP writes a cheerleading piece ("you can do it!") for the slavery reparations crowd, reporting (?) that the movement is "gaining momentum" etc.
Having never owned a slave, and because my family never did, either, and because my ancestors in America worked as virtual slaves, after (for some) having been subjugated by Great Britain, I am assuming my wife and I will be awarded a reparations credit when it comes time for that great racial T-account to be settled by the feds. And when I think of it, a former colleague of mine is from Guyana and is often assumed, mistakenly and to her amusement, to be "black," "African American," etc. I assume the federal government will sort all of this out.
Another thought in this disjointed meandering: when welfare was under reform in the 1990's, many black leaders lectured us that to wish for an end to welfare meant we didn't like black people enough. This concedes, of course, that blacks have always taken a disproportionate share of welfare benefits out of the pockets of non-blacks. Which is to say: We've already transferred money from white people to black people, for Chrissakes.
How about this? I'll just leave the keys to the front door under the welcome mat. Make yourself at home, black America.
Posted by bill at 09:45 PM | Comments (0)
Did I miss anything?
Yawn. Nothing spells the end of vacation like a 700 or so mile drive from Louisville, KY to the New York City suburbs. I'll post some more stuff later today but for those who've been to the site since last Friday, my apologies for the absence of posts.
Posted by bill at 09:27 AM | Comments (0)
