Archive for October 2004
I’m from the Elite and I’m here to help you
Victor Davis Hanson has an insightful op-ed column up. Yet the true nature of our loud divisiveness is rarely remarked upon. In the last three decades, there has been a steady evolution from liberal to moderately conservative politics among a majority of the voters, whether gauged by the recent spate of Republican presidents or Bill Clinton's calculated shift to the center. Now the House, Senate, presidency and the majority of state governorships and legislatures are…Read More
Brace Yourself
Anyone for whom this is in any way a surprise really needs to reevaluate their skills of perception, assuming they have any. (via Hit & Run)Read More
Inconsistency
I’m certainly not the first to point this out, but those who are either elated or disgusted at the recent story regarding the disappearance of nearly 400 tons of munitions in Iraq ought to consider the following. 1. If they were there after the US troop presence or not, why are they a concern now? Iraq was not a danger, right? Not threat, right? There were no significant weapons, right? 2. If 400 tons of…Read More
Too Good to be True
I wonder if the 'Elect Kerry 2004' campaign staff at the NYTs asked themselves if the missing explosives story was just too good to be true before running with it. Apparently not.Read More
Black Like Me
Remember the groundbreaking John Howard Griffin book, published first in 1961 about a white guy who disguises himself as black and travels around the south—in 1959?!? Well not in the same league, and there was nothing in Griffin's experiences to laugh at, but Richard Rushfield has a hilarious article in Slate about pretending to be a campaign-paraphernalia garbed Kerry-Edwards supporter in Bush country, and conversely, a Bush-Cheney supporter in the blue regions. Read and laugh.…Read More
No Stupids
I read and I laugh. Listen, I'm perfectly happy if no one at all votes. As it is, nearly half of eligible voters don't vote, and I'm happy to see that number increase. But given that everyone who votes is implicitly going there in hopes of securing a majority (might makes right) to force me to do what they cannot otherwise persuade me to do (or pay for), then I certainly do hope that those…Read More
Unfair, Unbalanced, Opinionated
That's me. It's also Jonathan Wilde, who aptly describes why, and why that's better for everyone.Read More
Head in Sand
It must be realized that liberty without security is worthless. Philosopher Bill Vallicella in an interesting post that exposes how the left and left libertarians butcher the meaning of liberty by taking it completely out of context. And, contrary to Bush's declaration in debate #3, liberty is not a gift from the almighty. It's a value that's earned and guarded, often at great price. But it's no surprise. Most people on the left I've encountered…Read More
The Enemy of my Enemy is my Friend
The great conflict of the 21st century may be between the West and terrorism. But terrorism is a tactic, not a belief. The underlying battle will be between modern civilization and anti-modernist fanatics; between those who believe in the primacy of the individual and those who believe that human beings owe blind allegiance to a higher authority; between those who give priority to life in this world and those who believe that human life is…Read More
Turning Points
It goes without saying that most of the significant turning points in history came about as a consequence of decisions made by men, not women. It's simply a fact. One may second-guess all they want about where we'd be in the meta-cosmic sense had men been generally less aggressive throughout history. My own speculation, for what it's worth, tells me that the innate aggressiveness in men, turned to good, is the only force capable of…Read More
I won’t be, either
[...] I also told him: if you happen to find a roach at night in your kitchen, that means there’s at least one roach in your house. But if you find one at high noon in your living-room you can be sure your house’s roach-infested. That’s one of the meanings of 9/11. That you cannot be safe in Darfur or Beirut, in the Phillipines or Indonesia, that’s a problem. But if you can be murdered…Read More
Even Stranger Bedfellows
Back in July I illustrated how the Dems, unwittingly in most cases, are in league with the commies. Now I find that they’ve taken up alliances with the world’s terrorists. Politics over just about anything.Read More
Omnipreposterous
Keith Burgess-Jackson: The thought that there is a disembodied person, much less a disembodied person who’s omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent, and omnipresent, is omnipreposterous. Ha!Read More
Carnival of the Pacifists
The easiest thing in the world to be is a pacifist and apologist—apologizing for the “wrongs” committed by others. It makes you feel so faux-superior to others—so much faux-smarter and faux-wiser. Such is the mentality of the slave and heritage of the conquered. It will always be the minority of hawks and warriors who suffer the general adolescent caprice and cowardice of the generally stupid majority, and in their true sense of compassion, takes care…Read More
Ever been to the top of a windy mountain?
As you’ll see in the video clips below, some of us have our own way of getting down—and in this case—getting down eventually. My wife’s niece, who recently graduated Stanford University with honors, had the opportunity to take her first tandem hang glider flight with an experienced instructor. Typically, these flights are only of a 5-10 minute duration launching at 2,000 ft. over the landing zone. Tandem hang gliders are built for strength and stability,…Read More
I Command You to Walk!
I must admit that I didn't really take much stock in the Drudge headline (at least not enough to concern myself with the underlying article), which is the first place I saw reference to the event. But after reading Charles Krauthammer's contribution to the topic—wherein I only just now learned that he’s a medical doctor by training—I have to find myself in agreement. Of course, I know that all politicians will say almost anything to…Read More
Shadow War
I heard a radio interview this morning of Richard Miniter, author of a new book called Shadow War. During this morning's interview, he stated, "I am not a registered republican and I did not vote for George Bush." Some key excerpts from the book description, linked to above: Drawing on material he gathered from court records, government reports, and other authoritative documents, and during travels and interviews with top-level officials in Baghdad, Khartoum, Cairo, Manila,…Read More
Kerry’s Best Move Yet
The republicans thought they had a whopper at news of Kerry's characterization of terrorism as a "nuisance," which is how it was generally reported, and spun. But here's the quote in context, and I think that if Kerry were to play it right, it could strike a cord: We have to get back to the place we were, where terrorists are not the focus of our lives, but they're a nuisance. As a former law-enforcement…Read More
Military Times
Well, with Iraq nothing but a disaster, as portrayed by the "elite" media, and Guard & Reserve duty nothing more than a "back-door draft," according to Mr. Kerry, you certainly, certainly wouldn't expect to see this sort of overwhelming support for Bush from all levels of the US military, active and reserve. (link via my brother, Mike)Read More
Vote Or Die!
During my morning blog-browse, I ran across some reference to “Vote Or Die!” t-shits being worn by bunches of the get-out-the-vote [for the democrats] entertainers. Presumably, the implication is that if you don’t vote, Bush wins, and you die. I wondered if any of the youngsters wearing these things ever stopped to critically examine this “logic” flow, but I digress. The simple bottom line is that whoever wins this election; things are going to proceed…Read More