My Kind Of Senator

Tom Coburn of Oklahoma is riling up big spenders - Republicans and Democrats alike. Good for him.

Yo soy muy angry

I don't know if this will enrage you, but it should.

Update: Now the LA Times has picked up on it.

Update: Now KFI has fired back.

Sweet

Tech ranked second best value in the nation by The Princeton Review (see here also). It's nice to see the alma mater getting some recognition.

Hang 'im High

Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin's mentor and mentor's son started a company with $1 million from Saddam Hussein. Company listed amoung assets of Prime Minister Martin. Via instapundit.

Hotel Rwanda

Last night, I went to see Paul Rusesabagina, the hero of the movie "Hotel Rwanda", and after seeing him in person my admiration for him is even greater. When he entered the room, I was struck by his humility and diminutive appearance. His story, told in a thick Belgian/African accent, was told directly and without flourish, and yet this made it all the more compelling. What struck me most about his story was that it was an example of an ordinary human being placed in an extraordinary circumstance, with nothing but conscience guiding his actions. When asked "why did you do it?" he stated humbly, "because I could not live with myself if I had done otherwise".

No doubt the Western powers failed Rwanda, but what should be done now (or even done then) is a far stickier situation. The utter powerlessness of the UN was particularly appalling (though not surprising to most of us conservatives). I do believe that the West should do something now, however, and not just in Rwanda but in Africa and the Middle East in particular. From his comments, Africa's biggest problem (and I agree) is a lack of a rule of law - it seems even the concept that there are universal laws (in the Declaration, these are bestowed by the Creator) is foreign to these people. The solution is some sort of imposition of these concepts on these people - and quite possibly the only way is through empire, as suggested several years ago by Jonah Goldberg here and here. The neoconservative vision of a different kind of empire, an American empire that promotes truth and justice is the only real solution. We are already doing it in Iraq, primarily because of the confluence of this ideal with the interests of our self defense. As soon as we can spare the resources, however, we must turn our attention to this bleeding continent. The heartbreaking stories from Rwanda in the 90s and Darfur now demand it.

Can Higher Education Get Any Lower?

asks Michelle Malkin, linking to an article in the Daily Princetonian. I must say, I'm really not surprised. Princeton certainly has lost a lot of its luster since I've been here - an institution in which uniform thought leading to moral relativism is encouraged. The students here aren't any smarter than the students I associated with at Tech, also. It certainly fits the conservative vision of the disperse nature of knowledge among the masses.

There's still hope though...this is (supposedly) the most widely read campus publication, although I think the Princetonian is a bit more visible.

Thomas Sowell

I was watching C-SPAN (yes, I'm a dork) last Sunday and on the series Q & A, Thomas Sowell was being interviewed by Brian Lamb. Since Thomas Sowell is probably the greatest contemporary conservative intellectual (in my opinion), I encourage you to watch the program or at least read the transcript. Sowell makes very few media appearances (the only other time I've heard him was on the radio with Walter Williams filling in for Rush) so I savor these appearances when they occur.

The essence of conservatism

can be summed up in the final quote of this Jonah Goldberg column:

Civilization is a balancing act. When you lose your balance on the tightrope, you must make great swings in your stance just to get centered again. And even then, the odds are you fall off. The real trick is avoid making sudden moves in either direction.

Good words from Jonah - and words I try valiantly to convince my liberal friends of. Conservatives are not opposed to change, but change must be effected in a manner such that civilization is not endangered. The best way for Americans is through the slow and tortuous process that our Constitution outlines.

And so it begins...

Unfortunately predictably, as soon as Pope Benedict (Latin for blessing) XVI was introduced, the usual suspects came to mark their disapproval...

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, the church's leading hard-liner (AP)

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, whose strong defence of Catholic orthodoxy has earned him a variety of sobriquets — including “the enforcer”, “the panzer cardinal” and “God’s rottweiler” (London Times)

New pope a conservative who divided Germans (AP)

And so the Catholic church accelerates its turn toward authoritarianism, hostility to modernity, assertion of papal supremacy and quashing of internal debate and dissent (Andrew Sullivan)

In the Vatican, he has been the driving force behind crackdowns on liberation theology (CNN)

Those being amongst many others. As a Catholic I find the selection of Benedict XVI to be inspired and a smart choice, he is intelligent and thoughtful. I find it disturbing to read the self-righteous rants of those who wish the church to fit their own beliefs so quick to disparrage a kind and devoted man of faith who believes in and is a true man of the church.

Popage

Pope Benedict XVI: Cardinal Ratzinger elected pope. He's a smarmin Jarmin. Seriously, though, he seems a good candidate. All my classmates said "oh, he's the evil conservative one who doesn't want women to be priests. I guess the church won't modernize", which means he's a good candidate. We'll just have to wait and see how things turn out - what he focuses on, how he does it, etc.

Now he needs to meet with GWB so we can say: Fofe n' Frez, together again.

So Timdido...

Did you and the misses go?

The expert

Of course it's always the FAKE Republican that is hailed as the expert the second they go against the party.

A key Republican ... suggested Sunday that he might oppose John R. Bolton as U.N. ambassador ... Sen. Chuck Hagel said he remained concerned

As a member of the party I most certainly understand that there are differences of opinion and the usage of the term above to describe Hagel can be construed as harsh but a glance at his public statements is enough to me for justification. The extra point I bring up is the tendency of the Republican hating media to hype the Hagels of the world, never understanding that Hagel, John McCain, Lincoln Chaffee, etc. ARE NOT the most credible of Republican sources. So far as I'm concerned any Republican considered credible by the mainstream media is fake.

Towards more sanitary public restrooms

First came the autoflushing urinal, now comes the next logical step:

Ouch

NASCAR is atempting to clean up it's image by discouraging what it considers poor behaviour. Driver "(Shane) Hmiel was fined $10,000 and docked 25 points yesterday for flipping the bird to opposing driver Dale Jarrett".

You know, I don't know if I agree with the following statement: "(The fine was) levied because Hmiel's actions constituted "actions detrimental to stock-car racing"". Really? $10k for flipping off another driver? And that's detrimental to stock car racing?

Gay Soldier

Of course, this story is only getting publicity because the dude's gay. Kudos to the dude for serving honorably - but I'm still unconvinced that having openly gay soldiers will be a good thing. Somehow stories that demonstrate why it is not good to have gay soldiers in the army wouldn't get the airplay this one's going to get.

What I found most disturbing about this story, however, was that UCSB has a Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military. That's almost as ridiculous as China having a Minister for Extreme Sports. I'm sure the taxpayers of California are happy that their money is being used for useful research.

It's ok, I'm a dem

Yesterday I got a call from a friend who had decided to leave the Republican party. For some reason they thought that I would try to convince them otherwise. Of course, to me one's political desires are their own and I explained that I respected their decision. The reason why this friend was leaving was because they felt that former president Jimmy Carter was being slighted in regards to the accommodations for the Pope's funeral. Now, I was not aware of this story so I simply listened and reiterated my position in regards to leaving, staying and whatever.

Today, I found an interesting story. Apparently my friend's story of malfeasance originated from Timdido's part of the country, the always annoying John Corzine;

New Jersey Democrat Jon Corzine's office put out a statement today saying the Senator was "livid" that President Bush "refused to allow" Jimmy Carter to join the official U.S. delegation to the Vatican.

Well, I thought to myself, there's the story and if it's true it does seem unfortunate. I've lived long enough though to learn that to trust a democrat politician on their word is something to laugh at, so I read further and learned that:

Corzine now admits to FOX News that he hasn't spoken with President Carter on the issue and has no evidence to suggest that Carter was snubbed by the White House.

And, furthermore;

Carter says he was invited to join the delegation and declined, saying that because of the limited number of invitations, he would defer to others who wanted to attend.

Hmmm, all of a sudden it's clear isn't it? Carter wanted to defer, he's a nice guy and a bit up in age, completely understandable. Will Corzine get pummeled in the press for the fact that he LIED? Doubtful, because as the maha Rushie says (loosely) "In the democrat party, the more you screw up, the more prominent you are", meaning that this episode will likely help Corzine in his purported bid to be governor of Jersey. Typical.

The end of the world?

Try not to think maybe, reading this headline:

Boy Band Singer Runs for Cincinnati Mayor

Really...

The indicated crime of "removing sensitive, classified documents from the National Archives" is a misdemeanor? Ugh. The author of this column describes the result of this kind of silliness quite aptly; "(that) national security document classification and other security laws are much ado about nothing and that if you're important enough, you can violate national security laws with virtual impunity".

Something to fear...

What does Michael Crichton have to fear? His latest book, "State of Fear" takes on the quasi religion of global warming. What a country, where someone can be attacked by those who claim to be "understanding" and "diverse" for different views.