He's In

58-42. Thank you, President Bush - this is the other big reason I voted for you and you almost failed us with Harriet Miers. Good save with Alito.

Now, let's begin by reversing Kelo v. New London...

Oh, and for extra entertainment, check out the Swimmer's meltdown. Hilarious. It reminds me of that video of a campaign stop where Teddy was the epitome of a blustering red-faced politician.

Civil War NOT Present on the Ground

An excerpt from Brigadier General Daniel P. Bolger on Iraqi state of affairs. For the full article, see here.

"If we define a ‘civil war’ as Iraqis killing Iraqis, then we have that. We have had that here since before Saddam.

Saddam took killing his fellow Iraqis to a horrific level, which is a big reason why our operations in 2003 were so important to the Iraqi people. During his tyrannical rule, Saddam gassed and slaughtered Kurds, killed many Shiite Arabs, and executed plenty of Sunni Arabs as well. Naturally, many of these groups resisted. So there is a strong, living tradition of fighting the central government here. That was true under the Ottomans and under the British mandate, too.

But if we use a more conventional understanding of the term, ‘civil war,’ of a break-away or rebellious part of the country fighting the rest for political control or independence, that gives much more dignity to our enemies than they give to themselves. The vast majority of Iraqis, including the majority of Sunni Arabs, are not fighting the elected Iraqi government. Those who are fighting us call themselves ‘the resistance’ and though they claim to be against the Americans and other coalition forces: mostly they kill innocent Iraqi civilians. That's nihilistic terrorism, and not civil war."

Yep, We All Hate Blacks

You know, if I didn't know better, I'd say all the people doing this research were left-wing. If I didn't know better, I'd also say the author's brain's "reward center" was activated when he read this "research" and published this article.

What a more disingenuous way to disguise the disgust of the welfare state than to claim research has found racial bias. Haven't we heard this before???

Yep this photo says it all

Courtesy of Michelle Malkin.

Hamas Wins Palestinian Election

I guess things are so boring in the Middle East that the Palestinians decided to elect a terrorist organization to majority power. That ought to liven things up. The Palestinians should find life especially interesting in the short term since Hamas has never actually been in charge of stuff like ensuring that the faucets keep supplying drinkable water. "What's that Junior, you're dying of thirst? Well have a nice cup of Hatred of the Jews and shut up..."

Jesusland North

Here's the map of Canada following the recent Tory victory. Interestingly, the map is mostly red (the Liberal Party's color) because the Liberals carried the large northern territories (I presume they are populated by primarily Indian populations, which follow the same voting patterns as here).

Jesusland North consists of the middle swathe from western BC to southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Jesusland also seems to include a few pockets in southern Ontario and New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. So, Jesusland is a pretty contiguous land across middle North America save for those small islands. I wish I knew more about Canadian politics - I wonder what the political leanings of the Bloc Quebecois are - my initial guess is that they are socially conservative but basically socialist in outlook (like the French parts of Maine).

Personally, I'd like to welcome the Canadians into the political mainstream of the Anglosphere. At least the Canadians should be on our side now in the war on terror.

An Interesting Proposition..

Should NATO draft Israel? Is this one last shot at preventing a nuclear Iran?

Mayhap he is correct...

The Real Story

is not that a student was humiliated in Pitt for supporting the Steelers' opponent - there are enough Steelers fans around me to know that's not really news - but that a high school student was in an ethnicity class. No wonder American kids are morons - they take ethnicity classes in high school.

25 Years Old, and Still Huffing

Carps' email this morning left me a little bemused, wondering if the country could really "turn left" under the MSM onslaught after 25 years of high conservative tide. Then I read Peggy's opine today and her prose once again gives me a calm feeling I don't get in many OpEds. Here's an excerpt:

"We are in a time when the very diminution of the importance of network news leaves some old news hands to drop their guard and announce what they are: liberal Democrats. Nothing wrong with that, but they might have told us when they were in power. The very existence of conservative media--of Rush Limbaugh, of Fox, of the Internet sites--has become an excuse by previously "I call 'em as I see 'em/I try to be impartial" journalists to advance their biases. Actually, it's more Fox than anything. The existence of a respected cable network that is nonliberal and non-Democratic (or that is conservative, or Republican, or neoconservative--people on the right have polite disagreements about this) is more and more freeing news outlets, encouraging them actually, as a potential business model, to be more and more what they are. Is this good? Well, it's clearer."

Following the body of her column, I agree that most folks in middle America today dismiss a Kronkite, Rather, or a Clooney with a brush of their hand. However, I suppose if Carps writes another email, then I'll again face a mental juxtaposition. Oh well. Time for a nap...

World Ends, Minorities Hit Hardest

Literally. You can't make this crap up.

Relatively, Blacks are environmental Good Samaritans. Per capita, we emit approximately 20 percent less carbon dioxide than Whites – well below 2020 targets set by the U.S. Climate Stewardship Act.

Is this why they're so much better at basketball? Because they require less oxygen to perform the same task?

Hillary Now Officially Right-Wing...

Did you go, Timdido?


Update: Ironically, some EUites finding praise for Bush's renewed efforts to "bring harmony" back to US foreign relations... I find myself trying not to swallow my middle finger.

Update 1/20: Once again, internet trumps MSM: Hillary accepted contributions from pro-Iranian organizations.

Culture of Corruption

Indeed.

Can't Let This Go...

I know it's not very interesting to tunnel into the midst of election or lobbying scandals, but since the MSM is hell bent on inculcating America with the idea that the "corruption" applies to Red and only Red, I find it necessary to keep the pressure on both sides, with an emphasis on the Blue, to help balance the coverage.

While I believe both sides deserve what they get, and am glad to see Delay and others voluntarily step down from their respective positions, the need is there to expose what's well known among insider circles about the elitist left, starting with Mr. Soros.

The AIM does a great job staying on the Soros point. What this guy has done in terms of pure capitalism is pretty amazing, but of course ridden with, well, really a steady hand of greed - enough to influence entire economic systems. As a result, millions of folks in England and other developing countries have suffered economically, while he has become one of the elite mega-rich, only to then become a "global socialist" and decry the actions of capitalists everywhere.
This article from frontpage mag is a decent historical outline.

In summary, here's a link to the complaint filed by the NLPC to the FEC regarding the unrecorded financial contributions to the Kerry campaign.

Defeat the Spanish!

Your cellphone bill helps defeat the Spanish. That good old Federal Excise Tax and the Spanish-American War. More evidence that we should enact my plan to roll all laws back to the founding of the Union.

Racial Demagoguery At Its Finest

Courtesy of Senator Hillary Clinton. She's coming to the Uni to give a little speech tomorrow; I have a ticket. Seein' how I just made it through generals, I don't know if I need any more stomach-clenching moments, so I may not go. But I should, and I probably will.

Will the Lefties Mock this Religious Nut?

Mayor Nagin says "God is mad at America". Sounds a bit like Pat Robertson to me.
Update: Holy crap, I did not realize just how loopy and ridiculous this speech was until I heard it in its entirety on Glenn Beck this morning. Here's video. He actually says that God is smiting us for being in Iraq, and he smote the black folks of New Orleans for having so many one-parent families. He also says something that I think would be called racist were a person of any other color to say it: that God wants New Orleans to be a majority black city. How can a mayor of a major American completely lose control of rationality like this?

Does Anybody Else...

find the recent leftward shift in Latin America troubling? I'm hoping our the recent signing of CAFTA helps central America become (or remain, if it already is) right leaning and our allies. NAFTA certainly has helped out a lot - I can't begin to tell you how cool it is to see so many things "Hecho en Mexico" - and Vicente Fox is a Bush ally, or at least seems to be a leftist enemy.
Update: Now, this is even more frightening: a Venezuela-Iran alliance? Yikes. I think it's almost time for a 'regime change' in Tehran, get the bombers ready...

Hypocrisy

Not that any of us think Kennedy could actually care less what clubs Alito was is, but this is fun.

Gotta check this week's...

Coulter post. God she's good...

Lame

New Jersey: Come See For Yourself. I like how in the dispatch they include a picture of smokestacks and power lines off the turnpike.

Kyoto No-No

Mark Steyn's latest. The man is hilarious.

Biden: Scrap Hearings and Go Straight to Floor for Vote

As reported by ABC News. Here's his reason:

"Just go to the Senate floor and debate the nominee's statements," the Delaware senator said, "instead of this game."

Translation:

These jurists that I'm supposed to vilify in order to please the far-left groups that elect me are too damn smart and just make me look like an ass. It's easier for me to distort their statements and assassinate their character when they can't defend themselves.

I've been picking on Biden a lot lately, but he deserves it.

Update: At least he admits it. Peggy Noonan actually finds his meandering train of thought endearing. Well, he's certainly amusing.

Hmm, Something New

I really didn't know this until I heard it on Rush just now: Ted Kennedy was expelled from Harvard for cheating. I really cannot comprehend the idiocy of the Massachusetts voter - they continually vote for this man. The MA GOP can't come up with somebody to get rid of him?

Although, I don't mind TOO much having him in the Senate. He's a good liberal pinata - poke him and all sorts of moronic statements useful for conservative propaganda pop out.

Joe Biden: Sexist and Homophobe

If he were a Republican, he would surely be called that based on the audio I heard on Hugh Hewitt's show today. To paraphrase:

The chick showing us around was hot, and my son was interested. If he weren't I'd be worried because he might be a flaming fairy.

I think Mark Levin is right in calling him the stupidest senator.

Those rascally Iranians

Despite opposition by the cruel global establishment, Iran has struck a blow for freedom. By removing the seals on it's nuclear facilities, Iran has empowered itself to continue peaceful research on generating electricity by nuclear means.

Affirmative Action

From BOTW, got this story about a black Australian bodyguard who is suing because he contends he was "overpromoted" due to his skin color, and as a result made mistakes due to his lack of training that led to reassignment.
Affirmative action just leads to resentment (for those who get passed up because of their skin color) and guilt (for those who get something because of their skin color). Get rid of it now, please.

This is how the DU will interpret this

Alito's wife was interviewed for more insight into the man:

-He attended a ska festival! He's a racist, as we all know ska is tied to Nazi white supremacists.

-He can shoot double clays! He's a gun nut! Not much interpretation needed there.

-He's a gourmet cook! He's secretly gay, like John Roberts! I expect this will draw the most attention. DUers love to say conservatives are secretly gay. It's their second favorite pejorative after calling conservatives racist.

He likes Springsteen. Hard to be from Jersey without liking Brooooooooce. I don't know if a leftie commenter will be able to say anything bad about this because then they would be criticizing Brooooce, who himself is a big critic of George Bush.

Anyway, let the games begin! Who's your number one contender for Bloviation Champion during the hearings? I pick either Kennedy or Biden.

NAGs

want JoePa's head. Just leave the old man alone!

Ouch

Via this link from Michelle Malkin, check out the video of a recently returned veteran telling off Congressmen Moran and Murtha. Awesome.

The Attempted Borking of Scalito

Drudge has an ***Exclusive*** up on how the Dems are going to try to hang Alito by attaching his name to a sentence written by an old dude named Frederick Foote in CAP's (Concerned Alumni for Princeton) magazine that stated:

The facts show that, for whatever reasons, whites today are more intelligent than blacks.

Alito joined the organization, he states, to protest the Princeton policy that disallowed ROTC from operating on the campus.
Gimme a break. They can't possibly be that stupid. Tigerhawk points out that by the same standard, the Democrats who have associated with Robert "KKK" Byrd or joined the party while George Wallace was running as a segregationist are guilty of the same "racism". He also has a lot of background on how the controversial piece was written and why, and it certainly takes the edge off of the statement.
This is just more proof of the unhingedness of the Democrats. They feel their last stronghold of power - the unelected power of the Supreme Court - dwindling away and they have to pull out all the stops to defend it. If I were a Democrat, I'd spend less time smearing honorable justices and a little more time focusing on 1) defining an agenda for '06 and '08 and 2) demonstrating that they are more fit to govern than scandal-ridden Republicans.

More Global Warming

Record snowfall in Japan.

Israel

As if things weren't hairy enough in the middle east. Ariel Sharon suffered a massive stroke Wednesday. He's still alive but it looks like his days of active politics are over. I'm pretty uneducated on the matter, but in the short term I think we'll see Sharon's plans continue with Israel pulling out of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. I say short term because some Arabian country (cough... Iran, cough...) will no doubt try again to push Israel into the sea (Intel probably wouldn't be too happy with that). After which who knows. Of immediate domestic interest, oil prices rise further due to increased insecurity in the Middle East (and West Africa).

The Only Thing Worse Than a RINO

is a big squishy RINO with a thick Austrian accent. "Don't be economic girlie-men." He should follow his own advice.

Un-Frickin'-Believable

A Mack Brown team wins the big one!

Even though I'm a huge Texas football fan, I was even drinking the Reggie Bush kool-aid and privately thought that USC would steamroll the 'Horns. They just had sooo many offensive tools at their disposal. Indeed, it still looked that way until the last six minutes of the game. However, Vince Young carried UT to the win with a jaw-dropping performance (how does a quarterback gain 200 yards rushing? how?). The hard-hitting UT defense also looked very good, although I think they started tiring in the 3rd quarter when USC began nickel-and-diming them to death. But Vince Young impressed me with a combination of poise, athleticism and humility that I don't see a lot of in sports today.

The Heisman voters screwed up this one. Vince Young not only is a superior athlete to Bush, he is also an incredible team leader - and a far smarter player, after seeing Bush turn a really great run into a fumble because of a bonehead lateral. I must say, I hope an NFL team I like picks this kid up because he is awesome.

Non-Default Headline

Finally got around to reading State of Fear on the honeymoon. The idea that we don't know if mankind's actions have a major effect on global climate is probably not new to most here. Note that not knowing is different from knowing that we're not. We should continue to take steps toward not screwing up the planet, we just don't need to shoot ourselves in the foot while doing so. Some realities of climate change are nicely expressed in the book, as are a couple other examples of man's generally unremarked upon ineptitude.
The best thing about the book is that it points out the folly of man's pride. Even with the best of intentions we often screw things up because we act before we know what we should be doing. Pride keeps us from seeing our lack of knowledge. Take forest fires. We wanted to preserve wilderness so we put out forest fires to keep ithe wilderness from burning down. Turns out that forest fires were a critical part of what naturally preserved the wilderness. So we think we've figured it out and start letting fires happen. Turns out that we've now let so much underbrush grow that the fire burns so hot that in some places it sterilizes the ground. I'm sure it will turn out that we replantted with the wrong mix of seeds and screwed things up further.
On top of all that, there's the whole idea that we are somehow doing something noble for the planet with this preservation. I'm all for preservation of the wilderness, but let's admit that it's a selfish act as far as mankind is conserned. We're preserving nature for our children and their children and so on. Nature doesn't care about "untouched" american forests. Nature was touching the heck out of american forests 10,000 years ago while they were crushed under glaciers. Only in our pride do we imagine that our lifetime is the measure of the world. "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall."

Letterman=Worthless

This confirms what I've felt about Letterman for a while now. Too bad, sometimes he can be funny.
O'Reilly schooled him though. I think O'Reilly is a buffoon, but compared to Letterman he's a noble statesman.