Saturday, August 31, 2002

Went to see Danny Hoch perform his one man show tonight. Highly recommended.
50,000+ Sitemeter determined "unique visits" for September. But, if Andy Sullivan gets more hits than me the terrorists are still winning!
Bush urges September of Service.


Piss off, dickhead.
I wonder why we're so concerned about Hatfill, and not other suspected terrorists (this isn't directed solely at Glenn). Other "persons of interest" are currently under fluorescent lights 24/7 without contact with their attorney. Hatfill has had some bad press.

I keep stumbling across this site, then forgetting where it was, so I'm going to link to it. MyDD has excellent state by state political coverage, something of increasing interest as Nov. approaches.
A couple of days late, but happy birthday to Jody at Naked Writing.
With even the Moonie Times publishing Op-Eds that are pretty dubious about the whole Iraq thing, perhaps we're starting to see who is winning this debate.



For months, we've been wondering why the administration has been so reluctant to make the case for invading Iraq. Now we have the answer: Because there isn't one.



Looks like the Perle's "we have to do it because we said we'd do it" argument is about all that's left.

Frank Rich:


By keeping the names and court proceedings of his detainees under wraps, John Ashcroft could for months cover up his law enforcement minions' inability to apprehend a single terrorist connected to 9/11. The same stunt has been pulled by designating prisoners "enemy combatants" at Guantánamo. Jose Padilla, the "dirty bomber," whose arrest was trumpeted by the attorney general as the breakup of a major terrorist plot, turns out to be a nonentity who may not be charged with anything. But as long as Mr. Padilla is locked away in a legal deep freeze, that embarrassment can be kept on the q.t. In the same spirit, the F.B.I. is now investigating 17 members of the Senate Intelligence Committee for leaks to the press; revealingly, the leaks that angered Dick Cheney and prompted this investigation were not leaks about intelligence per se but leaks about how our government bungled intelligence on this administration's watch just before 9/11.
Sullywatch notes Dawson likes to make threats. What a weiner.

"I'll out who you are and where you live."

And people wonder why I'm anonymous.

Skippy on Mitt trying pull a Davis in Mass.

Friday, August 30, 2002

The ever-snarky T.Bogg reviews Hannity's new book:


As a big fan of FOX news and their ability to tackle important complex subjects and whittle them down to mindless drivel, I was very excited to see that FOX's very own Sean Hannity has finally achieved his oft stated goal of writing just one more book than he has read. Talk about a personal milestone!

I probably should have bought the book on tape though, because it just isn't the same without Sean himself shouting out his opinions in an effort to drown out all opposing ideas as well as random flashes of logic. You just can't get that kind of audio “boost” from a printed page. Oh well. I did enjoy his laudatory treatment of Ronald Reagan although it is not as canine in its devotion to the great man as any recent book written by a moistened and panting Peggy Noonan, but then that may be asking too much of Sean or any mortal man.

Unfortunately Let Freedom Ring only gets three stars because it lacks the extensive footnotes that made Ann Coulter's Slander the Where's Waldo of facts, providing hours of verification fun for the whole family. Additionally it is missing the unattributed, unsourced quotes that made Goldberg’s Bias the great mystery novel of the year. It’s a pity that Hannity’s book should come out in the same year as those two Pulitzer candidates, and so will not be given the same serious attention and plaudits. But, on the whole, it is still a truly wonderful book with many pages of short descriptive easily-sounded-out words suitable for a President of limited vocabulary skills and attention span. For Freedom and Victory, bravo Sean!
When Gray Davis pulled his little trick during the California Republican primary and helped to defeat Riordan, he did it by running ads against the presumptive front-runner that would sway the opinions of primary voters - Republicans. Jeb Bush, seemingly trying to pull the same trick, ran ads against the presumptive loser - McBride - which were designed to appeal to Republicans who for the most part wouldn't be voting in the primary.. What was he thinking? Apparently he's used his massive campaign chest to increase the name recognition of McBride.

If conventional wisdom is right, and Jeb is more worried about McBride than Reno, he may have completely blown it. Via Hesiod, who has similar thoughts.


Hey Mickey, it's "Clear Skies," not "Blue Skies," and it mandates fewer reductions than current law.
Hesiod notes that today is the day we'll discover if there's any justice left in Florida.
I was trying to lay off Norah, thinking that if we ignored her she'd just go away, but I noticed she wrote this above her begging-for-money-button.

Web real estate is expensive! If you like the site, toss me some coin to help put a virtual roof over my head!


Maybe Blogger just forgot to send me my bill...
Yet Another House Impeachment Manager... (Reg. Req.)


SALT LAKE CITY - Rep. Chris Cannon contends laws that protect him from suit over comments he makes in Congress also shield him from being sued for allegedly disclosing confidential terms of a sexual-harassment settlement.
Former Cannon field worker Crelley Mackey filed suit in 1998, alleging Cannon"s comments to reporters violated terms of a settlement she reached in a sexual harassment case against the congressman"s office.
Mackey had claimed Cannon"s former chief of staff, Charles R. Warren, pressured her into an unwanted physical relationship. Cannon was named as a defendant as Warren"s employer.
Cannon claimed his post-settlement interview with The Salt Lake Tribune was an attempt to set the public record straight.
Attorneys for the Utah Republican have asked a judge to dismiss Mackey"s lawsuit based on the Constitution"s speech and debate clause, which says "speech or debate in either House shall not be questioned in any other place."
However, Mackey"s attorney, Roger Hoole, said the law meant to protect speech on the House and Senate floors "was never intended to be used in this type of a situation - simply to protect a politician or a member of Congress from making misstatements to the press
Hoole cited a 1979 U.S. Supreme Court holding that the clause did not shield a legislator who made statements to reporters that were similar to what he said on the floor of Congress.
Cannon attorneys Richard Bradford and Kim Buhler contend the clause has been expanded in recent years to grant immunity for legislative acts related to personnel actions.
The Supreme Court also has held the clause extends beyond floor speech and debate "when necessary to prevent indirect impairment of (congressional) deliberations," they wrote in their request for dismissal of the case.
Cannon believed the interview cleared his way to serve effectively as a member of the Judiciary Committee, which was then close to initiating impeachment proceedings against President Bill Clinton, the filing said.


What was with our goddamn media then.

Thursday, August 29, 2002

Charles Dodgson on Canon Law and McDonaldLand Law.
Welcome PLA to Blogistan.
Sky News, Murdoch's Other News Network, has an interesting poll up.


Sometimes I'm at a loss for snarky comments.


Judge Blamed For Sending Sex Abuser Home in Md.

By Phuong Ly
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 29, 2002; Page B01

A Montgomery County judge has angered law enforcement officials by allowing a sex offender to live with the stepdaughter he abused, despite a prosecutor's objection. His return allegedly resulted in further sexual contact that came to light after the girl, now 15, gave birth in November.

Police have been searching since May for the stepfather, Sidney R. Richardson, 51, who is charged with child abuse, a third-degree sex offense and violating probation in
the earlier case, which was resolved in March 1998 with guilty pleas.

The current charges stem from alleged sexual contact between Richardson and his stepdaughter after he was released from jail in 1999 and allowed to live with the girl under an order by Circuit Court Judge Durke G. Thompson.
[...]


Richardson was sentenced to 18 months in jail after pleading guilty to child abuse and a third-degree sex offense for having sexual contact with the girl when she was 9 and 10. In October 1999, after Richardson was released, Thompson allowed him to periodically visit with his wife and stepdaughter, over the objection of an assistant state's attorney. In January 2001, Thompson let Richardson to move back into the family home.

[...]

Two years ago, Thompson angered women's groups when he reproached the parents of an 11-year-old sexual assault victim during the sentencing hearing for the girl's
assailant. "It takes two to tango," Thompson said, referring to the girl's correspondence with men on the Internet before the assault.

Then in March, Thompson, a judge since 1994, created controversy by overturning a jury's guilty verdict in a rape case. Thompson said the victim, an illegal immigrant
from Indonesia, might have been seeking revenge against the defendant, who had been her boyfriend, because he refused to marry her.





Brian Linse takes down Crazy Davey Horowitz.

Osama Bin Laden - The Very Model of A Modern Major Manager.


"`The management needs to have both the flexibility and the ability and the will to reward change agents, both psychically and financially, and to disincentivize those who I call turf leaders and obstructionists or those
who fight for the status quo instead of for a new vision and a new place that can be accomplished."

[...]

"``Osama bin Laden used modern management techniques,'' David said, quoting from a magazine article. ``We face an adversary who is exploiting different organizational techniques and networks, so we must also
exploit those techniques.''



Washington Times on O'Reilly.


And some choice quotes from a "Concerned Women for America" radio interview.




"[To] continually refer to himself as a Christian, as an Irish
Catholic, I think that many people are offended by Bill's statement to be a Christian as well as an Irish Catholic… For a man to come right out and say that he does not believe in the Old Testament… I think that many Catholics across this nation as well as the world are offended by Bill O'Reilly claiming he's an Irish Catholic."
-- Stephen Bennet, " Ex-gay " who will be "speaking officially on behalf of CWFA in the coming months"

"The bible says that my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Bill is an exemplary example of the American Christian who does not know what God's word said, he does not know."
-- Sandy Rios, head of CWFA

"He's confused… on this issue, he can't find his voice, he kind of stumbles when he addresses it…. Then he goes and slams people like us and says, well they're fanatics."
-- Bob Knight of CWFA

"He's very confused."
-- Sandy Rios, head of CWFA

"So he doesn't believe in heaven and hell. It didn't mater that Jesus sacrificed his life on the cross. This is a very extreme statement… that the whole idea of hell is ridiculous."
- Bob Knight of CWFA


Why are so many Concerned Women for America men?



Hey, Ted, thanks for noticing!
As Matthew Yglesias reminds me, maybe it is necessary to put everything into BlogSpeak so everyone understands.


IMPEACH THOMAS WHITE




Check out Dr. Limerick's redacted version of chapter 2 of Ann Coulter's book.
You haven't lived until you've read all 38 amazon reviews by the man who has this to say about Ann Coulter's book:


Even I, who prided myself on a rather vast vocabulary, believing as one of our past Presidents, that one should learn and use a new word every day, could not readily keep up with her. I found that I had to place a dictionary and thesaurus next to me while reading to keep from skipping an unfamiliar word. An act I swore I would never do as a child.

If nothing else Ann has made many of us aware of our incompetent lack of mastery of the English language.


Make sure you catch his bio blurb, too.

Things sure are getting weird. Jude Wanniski is starting to sound like Jeff Koopersmith.


Roger, I’m beginning to think that if we check your DNA we would find a fit with the exhumed corpse of William Randolph Hearst. You are absolutely not going to let any other network out-jingo FoxNews. After this week’s rendition of FoxNewsSunday with Tony Snow, I’ve decided to simply label FoxNews the “War Network.” Tony himself somehow manages to stay above the fray, but the rest of the line-up cannot wait to start bombing Iraq, or anyone or anything else that gets in its way. Juan Williams has become the token dove on the show, which means he wants to get rid of Saddam Hussein, but maybe not this week, and with a smart bomb that spares innocent civilians.

Brit Hume, your Washington editor? Forget it, Roger. He has started foaming at the mouth, so eager to send several hundred thousand American troops into a Baghdad cakewalk. When Tony took a vacation day yesterday, Brit had the brass to devote an entire segment to criticisms of the New York Times for running a front-page piece last week about Republican critics of the war. No criticism of a war with Iraq is permitted, he said, except on the editorial page! Heck, Brit is all editorial page. He has not done any reporting for you guys in years, but is spoon fed by the GOP War Party. And who did he arrange to be the chief witness for the prosecution? Paul Gigot, the fledgling editorial-page editor of The Wall Street Journal, who has turned that illustrious space into a bulletin board for Richard Perle, the egomaniac who runs the War Party and has Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld dancing on his string. It’s not enough that Gigot gets a regular fee for being a guest commentator on FoxNews, Brit had to invite him to speak as a principle! And all Gigot had to say was, yes Brit, you are right, the NYTimes should not have mentioned on its front page the opinion of Brent Scowcroft that we should not bomb Iraq unless we see it is a genuine threat to someone, somewhere, not maybe several years from now, but now!

You can’t fool me, Roger, as you know I was once part of Perle’s act, when we had a genuine Cold War. I know how he operates. And I know you are only concerned with FoxNews’ ratings and your conviction that people only tune in to FoxNews bigtime when there are bombs falling somewhere. Rupert Murdoch only gives bonuses for big wars! That plays right into Perle’s hands, as he is only too willing to provide big war, in Israel, in Iraq or if (alas) peace breaks out in the Middle East, in China. If the truth be known, Richard was part of the scheme (conspiracy) to unravel the Soviet Union after Mikhail Gorbachev came out with his hands up, and was also a player in busting up the Yugoslav Federation, with enormous human cost. Collateral damage as far as he is concerned, Roger. His miscalculation gave us 9-11, I hope you know, but it was good for FoxNews’ ratings. Peace is boring.



And another from Patricia W. And another from Jude.


Perhaps someone more well-versed in the taxonomy of the right can explain it all to me...

Looks like Arkansas is in the bag. Woo-hoo!
Bertram Online smacks Daniel Pipes upside the head.
Norah joins Mike, Doris and Stephen in the plagiarism club.
This article makes it sound as if Iraqis would perceive America as conquerors, not liberators. Right or wrong.
very light blogging today.

Wednesday, August 28, 2002

He was done long ago, but Army Secretary White needs to go.
David E. gets to the heart of Epstein's Snobbery

"Jews and homosexuals have always felt themselves the potential -- and often real -- victims of snobbery, and of course much worse than snobbery," Epstein observes in a chapter charmingly titled "Fags and Yids." The "of course" is a nice touch, though this vigorously reactionary belletrist is scarcely prepared to say, "Of course fags and yids perished together at Auschwitz." For, as anyone familiar with the arc of his career knows, Joseph Epstein once went so far as to invoke what some have likened to a "final solution" to the "homosexual problem."

"If I had the power to do so, I would wish homosexuality off the face of this earth," he declared in "Homo/Hetero: The Struggle for Sexual Identity," a September 1970 cover story for Harper's magazine that inspired an unprecedented protest demonstration in the publication's offices -- a protest in which I participated, and aftershocks of which continue to this very day.




Scoobie raises an excellent point .

One of the powers of the Blogosphere, as anyone with a Blog knows, is that if you comment regularly on the events of the day you can pretty easily get yourself up at the top of Google searches. This means that net searchers looking for the latest on, say, Coulter's new book, will often be directed to Blogs. And, this isn't limited to the "man on the street," but media professionals who may be hunting around desperately for source material for their next column.

Scoobie has made a minor call to arms - critiquing the next right wing crap book to come down the road, Pee-Wee Hannity's latest.** I admit to not having the patience to parse this bugger, but anyone - bloggers or non-bloggers - who wishes to spend the time critiquing the thing, please send them my way.


** Having not read the book, it could well be an opinionated but factually untouchable book for all I know. But, this is Sean Hannity -- who once lied to a Congressman who was on his show claiming that he was reading from an official government publication when in fact it was something written by a lobbyist. And then, him and his pathetic sidekick Colmes joked about it the next day.


UPDATE: Barney Gumble over at Media Whores Online Watch Watch Watch Watch questions Hannity's Bestseller status. It is true the NYT lists come out quite far in advance of their actual publication dates, but we shall see...
"Ex-Gay" Stephen Bennet, who runs Stephen Bennett Ministries, freaks out on O'Reilly.



Bill O'Reilly has long been lifted up as the conservative's champion and spokesperson. However, in his quest of popularity, on this issue of homosexuality, O'Reilly has shocked and disappointed many viewers and supporters who put him where he is today. He has been elevated to a position by conservative America that was never intended, and viewers may have put 'too much trust' into this man. According to an O'Reilly insider who asked not to be named, 'The Factor' is not what people think it is… "Bill O'Reilly and The Factor is about two things… ratings and entertainment." And as stated by another unnamed source, "…the real guy you're all looking for here is Sean Hannity. This guy is genuine -- and legit." After the commentary below, see the link for Bill O'Reilly's upcoming interview in the September issue of the national gay Magazine 'The Advocate' - sharing all of his pro-gay views, and mocking comments towards Bible believing Christians - the 'fanatical' religious right who should just be '…ignored' - sadly, you won't believe what he says.)

[...]

Make no mistake about it. America is being seduced and deceived by the homosexual agenda. Our children are being indoctrinated and many are being infected with HIV. Read Kirk and Madsen's book for yourself. Better yet, listen to report 'America: Sodom and Gomorrah Resurrected.' If nothing else will open your eyes, I guarantee that will.



There is a calculated agenda out there. They are after you, but more importantly, they are after your children. Television, radio, newspapers, magazines and the internet - the media is the means. Kirk and Madsen have succeeded.



Beware of the media - the 'Gay Spin Zone.' You are not being told the 'straight' story.




In response to this story.


Watch the Freepers discuss which Clinton policies they would get rid of if they were in charge. The funny thing is, I'm not sure they've named any actual Clinton policies, or at least ones initiated by him. It's a hoot.

Of course, it wouldn't be a freeper thread about Clinton without the obligatory wish for his death:


To: Liz

1. Tell Hinckley that the Clintons have been forcing Jodie Foster to do disgusting and unnatural things.

2. Release Hinckley from St. Elizabeths Hospital.




Simon, Simon, Simon....

(chuckle)



Bill Simon, who signed a pledge during the gubernatorial primary stating that "domestic partnership" benefits belonged exclusively to marriage, told a gay Republican group he supports domestic partnership laws if they're not based on sexual orientation.

The GOP candidate's responses to a Log Cabin Republicans questionnaire prompted a prominent conservative backer to angrily withdraw his support Wednesday.

Rev. Louis P. Sheldon, chairman of the Traditional Values Coalition, said he felt "misled and conned" by Simon and his campaign.

"I spent months with Bill Simon touring Anglo and Hispanic churches where he vowed support for traditional values," Sheldon said in a statement. "His responses on this questionnaire tells me otherwise."


Now his base won't even bother to vote for him. On the bright side, he still has Matt Welch's vote.

I have this image of him saying "I am the worst politician EVER!"

SullyWatch is back and is making me wonder why Paglia/Sullivan didn't get a hearty Fisking.


SAS did the amazing work of reading the Paglia answer to a reader question on the Middle East.


And now we wonder if Sully even did.


For, we learn that Paglia ...


1. doesn’t think that Arab states bear any responsibility for alleviating the deplorable conditions in which Palestinian refugees live.


2. cannot understand the basis of Zionism since she is not a religious believer (and, by extension, the founding ideology of the state of Israel).


3. and believes Jewish control of the media has not been discussed much but is real enough that it has led to a news blackout surrounding Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam.



UPDATE: Henry Hanks points out she got it a little bit.

Gene Lyons on Ann.


Eva Braun was Hitler's mistress. So when Coulter calls Couric, in effect, a Nazi slut, it's what Kayan calls "tongue-in-cheek agitprop." Where's everybody's sense of humor? The occasion of the Journal apologia was Coulter's telling the New York Observer whose interviewer informed readers that he had a "friend" who would enjoy vigorous copulation with the bony pundit that "my only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times Building."

Some of these boys, incidentally, sound like they're wearing their bowties too tight. I still recall my amazement at learning that Tory men thought Margaret Thatcher a hottie. "The eyes of Caligula and the lips of Marilyn Monroe," was how the late English novelist Anthony Powell described her to me. Evidently, the Iron Lady conjured steamy memories of prep school spankings.

On TV, Coulter conveys all the feminine warmth of a water mocassin, if you can imagine a pit viper with silicone implants. Kayan though, feverishly pictures her walking a metaphorical tightrope "her long-limbed signature silhouette poised precariously aloft, riverine blonde locks riffled by the breeze and legs coltishly pirouetting."

This isn't the first time Coulter herself has fantasized killing liberals. Speaking at a recent conservative gathering, she opined that "We need to execute people like John Walker [Lindh] in order to physically intimidate liberals, by making them realize that they can be killed too. Otherwise they will turn out to be outright traitors."


Conason says that one of the Righteousness Brothers could be in trouble.

reliable Little Rock informant says that the incumbent senator suffered a defeat, if not a knockout, in last night's debate with Democrat Mark Pryor, the state attorney general. The low point came after Pryor accused Hutchinson of voting too slavishly with his own party, when the senator was reduced to defending himself by noting how many times he has voted with Ted Kennedy. That may further disillusion devout churchgoing voters, who are already troubled by this "family values" politician's abrupt divorce and remarriage to a younger aide. (A county GOP leader in Arkansas explained that "we all have things that occur in our lives that are unfortunate.") I also hear that a newspaper poll will appear shortly showing Pryor ahead by 10 points.


Praise Jeebus.



He also notes that "Republican Walter Jones has introduced a bill in Congress that would allow houses of worship to endorse and finance political candidates" and opines "[T]he Jones bill would be fine -- if it also cancelled the tax exemptions enjoyed by the politicized clergy." Actually, unless I'm mistaken, the Jones bill wouldn't be necessary for that. The only issue is the tax exempt status. Without it, religious groups are allowed to do whatever they want. By presenting the argument this way Conason falls for the spin by supporters of the bill, that churches shouldn't be subject to such regulations.



One reason I was glad to get out of Southern California was that I thought I'd never again be subjected to Good Day L.A. , the morning "news" show on the Fox affiliate. When the hell did they start syndicating this thing?
Horowitz is always good for a few giggles.

I like Horowitz. Unlike some of the rest of his fellow travelers, nobody takes his rantings seriously. What a fool. Oh sure, I'm sure they call him up to get his advice on how to get out the racist vote on election day, but otherwise..
O'Reilly pro-gay, anti-fanatic.


According to Michael Giltz, a freelance reporter (and personal friend of mine) who conducted the interview live in O'Reilly's Manhattan office, O'Reilly not only reiterates his previous support for gay adoption, but he goes on to call the US military "homophobic" (though he still thinks the gay ban is necessary), says that gays should have the right to visit their same-sex spouses in the hospital (in many locales they cannot), thinks every state should have laws protecting gays and lesbians from discrimination in the workplace (only 12 states currently do), and opposes the repeal of a gay rights ordinance in Florida's Miami-Dade County (the hotly-contested repeal measure is on the ballot September 10).

That's enough right there to make the religious right grab for a Maalox. But there's more.

On gay marriage, one of the hot-button religious-right issues, O'Reilly starts by telling Giltz that he opposes it, then when pushed by the reporter, finally concedes: "Look, I couldn’t care less, to tell you the truth... You want to get married? Knock yourself out. Go to Vegas; have a good time... If you can get that changed, I’m not going to jump up and down and say I think it’s wrong, because I don’t."

Who You Calling a Fanatic?

Then things get really interesting. O'Reilly calls people who quote the Old Testament to label gays an abomination "holy rollers" (a term often perceived to be pejorative). Then he refers to vocal anti-gay advocates as "fanatics." ("90% percent of Americans don’t care what you do; 10% are fanatics," O'Reilly tells Giltz. "They think you’re going to hell, and they want you to go to hell. All right? Ignore them.") When asked to clarify exactly who he means by "fanatics," O'Reilly responds: "I mean, people who think you are going to hell and are going to quote from Revelation that you’re going there. I think that’s a little ridiculous, don’t you? Those are the people."


there's more. Make sure you hit part 2.
Palestinian comic told he can't go on at club .


Associated Press
Posted on August 28, 2002
A Chicago comedian scheduled to open for comic Jackie Mason was told hours before the show he couldn't perform because he is of Palestinian descent, Mason's manager said.

Ray Hanania, a 49-year-old fledgling comic, was supposed to open for Mason's Tuesday night show at Zanie's comedy club in Chicago. Instead, the club phoned him a few hours before to tell him his act was canceled.

"It's not exactly like he's just an Arab-American. This guy's a Palestinian. We were not told about it ahead of time," said Jyll Rosenfeld, Mason's manager. "Jackie does not feel comfortable having a Palestinian open for him. Right now it's a very sensitive thing, it's just not a good idea."

Hanania writes a column for the Daily Herald.

I'd like a few more details about this, but on its face....The headline itself is quite crappy. Poor guy doesn't even get a hyphen.




Homeobox fact-checks the Mickster.

Apparently not killing a Clinton plan is the same as having your own plan.

Wow, I didn't know we had living breathing proponents of eugenics in Blogistan.

(via WarbloggerWatch.)

It's just good science, dontcha know...

Though I don't exactly trust science by anyone who considers The Bell Curve good science.


God, I could waste my entire life swatting flies off this site.. It seems to be proof that a little knowledge (very little ) is a very dangerous thing indeed. Consider this statement.


If poverty predicted crime, then we would expect the share of the violent crime rate to be the same as the share of the poor population (approximately).


Well, actually, no. Not really. In fact - not at all. Not even close.







Tuesday, August 27, 2002

Howler on the fake NEA flap.


Beinart did indeed look silly, but it was hardly the NEA’s doing. Beinart—self-identifying as a “liberal,” and representing the left on the CNN panel—recited the talking points of the right, smearing the NEA once again. And just how benighted was the pundit? Incredibly, Beinart said that if the NEA’s foolishness didn’t exist, conservatives would have to invent it. But that, of course, is just what had happened in the Washington Times that week. The Times did invent a ludicrous story; cable’s screamer took it from there. And six days later, Beinart—representing liberals—still didn’t have the first clue on earth. It didn’t seem to have entered his mind that he was reciting the right’s latest slander.



Note to Beinart - do your goddamn homework before you get on TV and represent "The Left."


Envelope with white powder opened at Al Gore's Tenn. headquarters. All I know...

Freepers express sympathy, concern, for innocent workers.

Signorile's Who is Promoting Violence?


But the comments are relevant in light of some recent blather from Slate pundit Mickey Kaus, who went on a tear last month about what he termed a "danger of political violence coming from the angry anti-Bush left." A onetime thoughtful essayist and editor for The New Republic, Kaus is now a "weblogger" who writes mostly nasty one-liners about people, as well as occasional longer screeds that are rarely of any particular merit these days, but are always full of exclamation points. And, as seems to be a prerequisite for anyone online who wants high traffic from loyal right-winger readers, Kaus engages in lots of New York Times-bashing, attacking the paper and its writers for all kinds of alleged misdeeds, major and minor, seemingly almost every day.




I just noticed that Charles Pierce, who recently wrote this great article in Salon and is a frequent letter writer to Medianews and Eric Alterman, has a web site. I had wondered if the guy on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me was that guy...

UggaBugga on the Mickster's latest.
Oh man, Ted Barlow just noticed that the WSJ column defending Ann Coulter sounds just like Digby's satire.


I guess satire truly is dead.
"The advantage of not acting against the moon would be that no one could say that you acted. They would say "isn't that good," you didn't do anything against the moon. The other side of the coin of not acting against the moon in the event that the moon posed a serious threat would be that you could suffer a serious loss." Don 'Moonbeam' Rumsfeld.

Listen here, at about 3:30.
Blah3 says this too stupid to be real. Apparently it is.


Baseball's all-time hits leader is not eligible for the Hall of Fame but the man who traded away Sammy Sosa is.

That's right. While Pete Rose remains on baseball's permanently ineligible list, President George W. Bush is among 60 non-players being considered this month by a screening committee for inclusion on the Hall of Fame veterans' ballot. I'm one of the Committee members who must pick exactly 15 people (no more, no less) from those 60 by the end of the week. The 15 we choose will have their names placed on the ballot presented to the Hall of Fame veterans' committee. That committee is made up largely of the living members of the Hall of Fame and they will decide this winter which, if any, of the 15 join them in Cooperstown.

[...]
Bush simply doesn't have the most remote qualifications for Cooperstown. His only official association with the game was as a partial owner of the Rangers from 1989-98, when, as he likes to admit, Texas traded Sosa. He also helped arrange taxpayer financing for a new stadium that helped him parlay an approximate $600,000 investment into a $13 million profit when he and his partners sold the team. That's not a qualification for Cooperstown, it's a scandal.


The Hauser Report is back.
Shall we rehash the delightful pardons of Bush I? Who, when, why, and under what procedures?


Nah, too easy.

UPDATE: well, how about just a little. Digby helps out:


My favorite thing about the Christmas Eve pardons was the fact that C. Boyden Gray went to the recipients and ASKED them if they'd like to be pardoned??? They didn't even have to apply. Talk about going outside the process!!!

And even more funny, considering what came later, was Poppy's public statement in which he showed such compassion for victims of the special prosecutor laws.

"the five have already paid the price — in depleted savings, lost careers, anguished families — grossly disproportionate to any misdeeds or errors of judgment they may have committed."

But, then they weren't suspected of felonious fellatio, either, so you can't hold them to the same standard as the Lothario in chief. His anguished family had to read a delightful Barbara Cartland style account of his furtive sexual exploits on the Internet, thanks to Kenny Boy Starr.

No, the Christmas eve pardons didn't just "short circuit" the pardon process, they avoided it altogether. And their main purpose was to "short circuit" the criminal justice process. Poppy was about to be nailed for perjury.

Shhhh. Don't tell anybody.





Rittenhouse Review unearths the Axis of Envy.

Monday, August 26, 2002

Washington Post Rewrites Constitution

The Constitution says:


[The President] shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.



The Washington Post says:


Clinton repeatedly short-circuited the pardon process, which requires applications to the U.S. pardon attorney at the Justice Department; investigation by the FBI; consultation with interested parties, from the sentencing judge to the victim; and a report and recommendation by the pardon attorney to the president, after a review by the deputy attorney general.


This really is pretty outrageous.

UPDATE: MWO has more.


I assume the Mickster will comment on this during his regular media bias watch.


Check out Vanity Site for some Coulteresque humor and the never-miss Kelly Watch. Zizka reads that idiot so we don't have to!
Tim Francis-Wright, of Bear Left writes over at Rittenhouse Review, regarding Katherine Harris writing that Gore had unleashed the "dogs of war."

Let’s ignore for the moment that Al Gore did not plunge the country into civil war. Regardless, when Harris paraphrases Shakespeare, she links Gore with Marc Antony and implicitly links herself with the conspirators against Caesar, namely Marcus Brutus & Co.

Now, why she would want to do that?




Stick around at Rittenhouse Review. There are some other interesting things up, including a link to Smarter Andrew Sullivan on another amusing bit of post- 9-11-analysis by Mickey Kaus's good friend Andrew Sullivan.


Advantage Blogosphere!

and kudos to Scoobie.
....and Slannder too!
Alexander Cockburn is truly an idiot.
Daily Kos on Ryan's karmic comeuppance.
While we're on dumb post 9-11 predictions.


THE ANTHRAX SCARE: This is actually probably good news. Let me explain. First, it appears to have been sent in the mail, an idiotic method for spreading anthrax, suggesting that they didn't have a better one. Second, it appears that it was probably sent by the now-dead 19. That suggests that Al-Qaeda doesn't have a lot of resources in the States. Combining operations like that is dangerous, and ordinarily you wouldn't do it if you didn't have to -- had anyone caught on to the anthrax ploy, which was a sideshow, the whole operation could have been blown. So there are only two reasons why you might combine these operations: (1) you're stupid; and (2) you don't have enough resources to do it any other way. I'm betting on (2), because while these guys are stupid in the larger sense -- I guarantee, the end result of this won't be anything the Ladenites like -- they aren't stupid in the tactical or operational sense.



Hey, we all make mistakes.**


** I'm doing this to parody Kaus, not actually to take a swipe at the Instaman, although the latter is always fun too.


It's amusing for Mickey Kaus to be picking on anybody's post-9/11 predictions, when he himself stated:


I suspect the story will be off the evening news by Thanksgiving -- a denial, in a warped way, of the attackers' disruptive goal.


In this case Kaus is picking on a Times reporter's use of the word "quagmire" in association with Afghanistan. Of course, a quick search reveals that similar sentiments were expressed in news and analysis pieces in The Columbus Dispatch, The Washington Post, USA Today, the Baltimore Sun, etc...

Until the capture of Mazar-e-Sharif, this view of Afghanistan was quite prevalent, if not universal, and it's ridiculous to somehow link it back to the NYT. That capture was the watershed moment for changes in perceptions of progress in the conflict. Doubts about the ease of doing this were also expressed throughout most of the media.

Clinton's cock needed to be replaced, and the Krugman/Times/Raines axis of evil is its replacement.
Star Trek for Democrats.


Tim Hagan, a Democrat running for governor against a Republican incumbent with the Taft family political lineage and 20 times as much money, isn't shy about using his Hollywood connection.

Hagan's wife is actress Kate Mulgrew, who commands a loyal following from her days as Capt. Kathryn Janeway on "Star Trek: Voyager."

And on Saturday, a fund-raiser for Hagan's campaign featured Mulgrew along with several of her fellow cast members, including Tim Russ (Vulcan security chief Tuvok) and Garrett Wang (Ensign Harry Kim).

The crew of Voyager was joined by William Shatner, Capt. James T. Kirk of the Enterprise on the original "Star Trek."
WSJ defends Annie.

Apparently she was just kidding, or she speaks to true Americans, or liberals are anti-free speech, or something...




Charles Dodgson has a nice rundown of Enron and the ever expanding fantasies of its defenders.

Dodgson describes my own feelings on Robert Musil perfectly:



To sum up, we have selective quotation, misleading attribution, and outrageous conclusions, all wrapped up in badly written English --- exactly what you'd expect from a Sokalesque test of the credulity of the blogsphere. Which is clearly not what Musil's up to, or he would have declared victory and withdrawn long ago. But his blog has been performing that test since its inception whether he means to or not --- and it's amazing how many people who ought to know better have flunked.




UPDATE: Including Mickey Kaus, as pointed out in my comments by Jason McCullough.
Jeanne D'Arc on Broder Nyhan.
Ranting on the internet, or reading those who do, is a noble way to spend one's time to be sure. However, there are other things one can do. For those whose jobs haven't yet been Bushed and who have a few extra bucks sitting around, and after you have of course made the all-important contribution to the Eschaton Leisure Fund, I highly recommend sending them to the following candidates.

First, Paul Wellstone. He's the most progressive Senator there is. I actually don't agree with Wellstone sometimes -- I'm not as "Lefty" as some might think -- but I do think that there is a tremendous lack of political balance, particularly in the Senate. A group of mostly centrist Democrats compromising with a bunch of mostly right wing Republics shifts the inevitably compromise somewhere to the right of Jack Kemp. With the Broders of the world endlessly approving of compromise as an end in itself, we need a few more progressive voices to help shift the political center back where it should belong. Wellstone's facing a tough fight which isn't being helped by McGaa, the Green Party's latest temper tantrum. So, head over to his site and throw him some change if you've got it.

There are worse Republicans than Susan Collins, but there's no reason to settle for that. Chellie Pingree isn't yet a household name, but with a little luck and a little help she just might manage to unseat Collins. Winning tough incumbent races isn't enough -- this 50-1-49 split in the Senate gives the Democrats far less control of committees than the Republics had before the Jeffords switch. Combined with their tendency to play nice and not pull a Helms regularly, Dems need more solid control. Any battle against an incumbent Senator is difficult, and while Collins isn't the worst Republican, Democrats are unlikely to unseat most of those. Check out her site and if you like what you see throw her a nickle or two.


And, if money ain't your bag baby, call your local candidate's campaign headquarters and ask to volunteer. Don't get upset if they don't draft you right away, or forget to call you back -- new candidates who are going against incumbents in particular often don't have any kind of organization in place. They may be running for office while still working their day job and one shouldn't take it as a personal slight if the flunky running the phones when you call isn't as on the ball as he/she should be. Call back. Show up at the headquarters. Whatever it takes. They probably need help -- they may just not have enough help to organize it.






Future Suspect Lists Being compiled. (reg. req.)


WILMINGTON, Del. (August 25, 2002 9:52 p.m. EDT) - Police in Delaware are trying to get a head-start on cracking crimes before they happen by setting up a database that contains a list of people who officers believe are likely to break the law.

Defense attorneys and the American Civil Liberties Union oppose the database, which lists names, addresses and photographs of the potential suspects - many of whom have clean slates.

The precise grounds for putting a person on the list aren't clear. But since the system was introduced in Wilmington in June, most of the 200 people included in the file have been minorities from poor, high-crime neighborhoods.

Sunday, August 25, 2002

Safliar on Good Kurds and Bad Kurds.. It's late, I've had a couple of drinks, someone explain this one to me.
Damn, I pick on Norah and Pandagon notices that she's being reasonable, almost.
Liz Smith on Timothy McVeigh fan Ann Coulter:



ENDQUOTE to end all!! Ann Coulter boasts the No. 1 best-selling book in American non-fiction, "Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right." Many read it with slack-jawed wonder, thinking if one simply switched "liberal" to "conservative" throughout, it would make more sense.

The vivacious Ann gave an interview to George Gurley in the New York Observer this week. She actually says, "My only regret with Timothy McVeigh (the Oklahoma City bomber) is he did not go to the New York Times building."



Cooper on the latest Strawman -- the Heinleinesque Left.
Glenn raises two very scary issues. One is that Norah Vincent has a blog. Two is that Iraq might be third in line behind Saudi Arabia AND Pakistan.
Hesiod on chickenhawk defenders.
Digby on Coulter, and Chomsky, and Bloggers, Oh My!


Chomsky is a pointy headed intellectual who can best be described as inciting leftists to have a second cup of coffee. Coulter is actually entertaining the Republican establishment by promoting the killing American liberals and getting paid handsomely to do it.

And she isn't alone There are also Horowitz, Derbyshire, that nut-case Paul Craig Roberts (and a whole slough of puerile polemicists at Town Hall) not to mention Rush and his little clones all around the country. These people demonize liberals on a daily basis, portraying their fellow Americans as if they are sub-humans, worthy of total disdain and subject to violence solely for their political views.

There is nothing like this on the left, and certainly there's nobody with national exposure who is turning a profit at it. (Oh sorry, I forgot that anonymous guy who posted a remark on a message board over a year ago that mentioned violence. He's quite a threat, to be sure.)

I really could not care less whether certain bloggers repudiate this immature babbling, but I don't want to hear another word from right wing moralists about how our culture is being polluted by sex and violence. If they think that routine, everyday demonization of liberals is just good clean fun then they can shut the fuck up about the breakdown in moral values in this country. Their glass house is lying in shards at their feet.

Homeobox weighs in on the terrorist podiatrist.
Talk Left points me to this WaPo Op-Ed.


This is an extraordinary moment. If, in response to the challenge of terrorism, we transform ourselves into a society that eliminates the rule of law and concentrates in the president unchecked power to detain people without charges or judicial review, we will have become our antithesis. The irony would be profound."



HELLO?!?! IS ANYBODY OUT THERE??? HAS ANYONE READ THIS FUCKING STORY??


Authorities stumbled upon an astonishing array of weapons inside the town home of podiatrist Robert Goldstein, 37, Thursday evening after receiving a complaint that he was arguing with his wife, Kristi, 28.

After coaxing Goldstein out of the home, Pinellas County deputies discovered about 20 homemade bombs, a pair of rocket launchers, dozens of high- power rifles and an antipersonnel mine.

They also retrieved a three- page battle plan that laid out in intricate detail a mission to blow up what appears to be a local Islamic educational center. The writing includes at least the first names of two other people.

At Saturday's news conference, prayer leader Bilal Muhammad of Fort Myers said local Muslims had been in close contact with federal authorities and had been told that one accomplice had been detained.





Some Egyptian guy shoots up an El-Al counter and there's a 3 week Blogistan debate over whether it is or isn't terrorism. This plot is uncovered and chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp.

There are days when I feel lonelier than poor Jonah Goldberg over at the Corner the day the NY Post had the "BUSH KNEW" headline.