Decision ‘08 » 2004

Archive for December, 2004

Saturday, December 18th, 2004

Miscellanea - Aziz is Naming Names!

In HUGE Oil-For-Food news, former Iraqi foreign minister Tariq Aziz is spilling his guts, with the potential to blow OilyGate wide open. I quote:
U.S. officials say Aziz already has implicated the French and others, claiming payoffs were made with the understanding that recipients would support Iraq on key matters before the U.N. “He pointed to […]

No Comments » - Posted in Uncategorized by Mark

Saturday, December 18th, 2004

My Beagle with a Guest Movie Review

Once in a great while, you are privileged to see true artistry at work. Such is the case with ‘Where in the White House is Miss Beazley?’, the latest masterwork from First Dog Barney Bush. With a stellar cast that includes the President and Mrs. Bush, Andy Card, Karl Rove, and other noted thespians, Barney […]

No Comments » - Posted in Uncategorized by Mark

Saturday, December 18th, 2004

Bill Moyers, Sugar Daddy of the Radical Left

I hesitated to post again (at least, outside of awarding him a Weekly Jackass award) on Bill Moyers, who I have viewed as an inconsequential quack whose exit from TV ‘journalism’ will have precisely zero impact on our culture. I put the scare quotes around journalism because Moyers is, plain and simple, a polemicist. (I’m […]

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Friday, December 17th, 2004

Miscellanea - I Didn’t Inhale Edition

The great Christopher Hitchens joins the merely adequate Bill Clinton in claiming abstinence from Mary Jane in his review of ‘Hippie’. Best line:
There was always a slight embarrassment to be experienced when these would-be Amish [the hippies] came sidling back to town, to resume work in brokerages and banks and universities. To this day, that […]

No Comments » - Posted in Hitchens the Great, POTUS, Linky Love, NY Times/Media Watch, UN/Oil-For-Food by Mark

Friday, December 17th, 2004

Oil-For-Food, Part Six: What’s a Little Corruption Between Friends?

Michael Crowley published a piece at Slate today on Oil-For-Food and predictably equates the uproar with right-wing fanatics who want to undermine the UN’s authority (when, of course, we all know that undermining the UN’s authority is properly the job of the UN itself). While acknowledging that billions of dollars in humanitarian aid were diverted, […]

No Comments » - Posted in NY Times/Media Watch, UN/Oil-For-Food by Mark

Friday, December 17th, 2004

Fisking Michael Gorman

I know, who the hell is Michael Gorman, right? I didn’t know him either, but he’s the president-elect of the American Library Association and he has a baffling editorial in the LA Times arguing that Google hasn’t made libraries obsolete (do you know anyone who’s claimed that?). Gorman must be feeling the heat from the […]

No Comments » - Posted in Uncategorized by Mark

Thursday, December 16th, 2004

Weekly Jackass Number Three - Barbra Streisand

Whoa, I let a Wednesday go by without naming a Weekly Jackass, so to make it up to you, I give you…Barbra Streisand, America’s sweetheart. You could write a book with her idiotic quotes (here’s a recent one from Say Anything) and her ’statements’ on her web page , but here a few of […]

1 Comment » - Posted in Uncategorized by Mark

Thursday, December 16th, 2004

Miscellanea - Special kausfiles Edition

Pretty good short primer on the Social Security debate here…
Donald Luskin, in a LONG but entertaining fisking, takes on Michael Kinsley…
Political Wire has a Mary Beth Cahill quote I can actually agree with…
Mickey Kaus is on fire today. First he just demolishes the New York Times for allowing secondhand gossip about Bernard Kerik’s sex life […]

No Comments » - Posted in Uncategorized by Mark

Thursday, December 16th, 2004

Miscellanea - Nearing the Weekend Edition

Hugh Hewitt uses a Newsweek ‘hit piece on Christianity’ to praise the merits of the blogosphere in the Weekly Standard (hat tip to RealClearPolitics)…
In a similar vein, Peggy Noonan asks liberals to please stop the war on religious expression…
JustOneMinute notes another Kerry flip-flop, but at least he flipped to the right side this time (let’s […]

No Comments » - Posted in Uncategorized by Mark

Thursday, December 16th, 2004

Terrorism Remains the Defining Issue of Our Time

In case you missed it, ultra-left millionaire slob Michael Moore famously compared the terrorist insurgents in Iraq to the Minutemen of the American Revolution. Moore also claimed that the terrorist threat in this country was nonexistent because an individual had slim odds of dying in a terrorist attack (an analysis sure to provide much comfort […]

No Comments » - Posted in Uncategorized by Mark

Wednesday, December 15th, 2004

Oil-For-Food Part Five: Marc Rich

Clinton’s pardon buddy Marc Rich has popped up on the OilyGate radar again. The New York Post reports that Rich is facing a subpeona should he return to America regarding allegations he brokered illegal deals for Iraqi oil. Mr. Rich, number six on the Justice Department’s outstanding fugitives list at the time of his 2001 […]

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Wednesday, December 15th, 2004

Miscellanea - It’s Only WEDNESDAY???? Edition

Scott Lehigh to Hollywood: Don’t let the door hit you on the way out (hat tip to RealClearPolitics)…
I’m not the only one wondering why OilyGate isn’t dominating the headlines. VodkaPundit’s choice for Man of the Year wonders why the MSM is giving Annan a pass (hat tip to Commonwealth Conservative)…
Roger Simon has more on Juan […]

No Comments » - Posted in Uncategorized by Mark

Wednesday, December 15th, 2004

It’s Wictory Wednesday

If you’re a regular reader, you know I take part in PoliPundit’s Wictory Wednesday, dedicated to keeping the ball rolling the Republicans’ way. You can see the other participants in the blogroll to the right.
The Washington state GOP is spotlighted again today; you help them prepare for the recount by donating at http://www.wsrp.org/donate.htm or volunteering […]

No Comments » - Posted in Uncategorized by Mark

Tuesday, December 14th, 2004

Miscellanea - Moyers, We Hardly Knew Ye

Confessions of a Political Junkie shares my deep, deep sadness at the departure of Bill Moyers…
Alexandra McClure at Polipundit says this is the stupidest article she has ever read, but I’m not so sure - Timothy Noah has written a lot of contenders for that honor…
Tim Blair’s new site is up…I suggest you check it […]

No Comments » - Posted in Uncategorized by Mark

Tuesday, December 14th, 2004

My Beagle Has a Message for the World

Inspired by Jim Treacher…

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Tuesday, December 14th, 2004

Miscellanea - A Vast Right-Wing Iraqi Conspiracy Edition

For EVEN MORE proof that the ‘Progressives’ are actively opposed to America’s best interests, check out Michael Totten’s fisking of Juan Cole, ultra-left professor and blogger (don’t sue him, though!). Cole is not happy with some Iraqi bloggers because they aren’t in the ‘mainstream’ of Iraqi public opinion (i.e., they actually like democracy and freedom […]

No Comments » - Posted in Uncategorized by Mark

Tuesday, December 14th, 2004

The Ukraine, Democracy, and the Left

The events of the last few weeks in the Ukraine have been inspirational for those who fight for the cause of freedom and democracy. On December 3, Ukraine’s supreme court overturned an election that most observers agreed was a fraud. In an unwelcome reminder of the Cold War, the pro-Yushchenko forces in Kiev and the […]

No Comments » - Posted in Uncategorized by Mark

Monday, December 13th, 2004

Miscellanea - I Haven’t Even Read It Yet Edition

Well, thanks a lot, Ed Driscoll and Professor Bainbridge! I haven’t even got around to reading my copy of Hitler’s Pope yet and now you tell me it’s a waste of time (Driscoll wonders if CBS is paying attention)…
Don’t miss James Glassman’s 10 ways for the Democrats to Save Their Party (I think it’s […]

No Comments » - Posted in Uncategorized by Mark

Monday, December 13th, 2004

Economic Affirmative Action Revisited

I posted a few days ago on a better alternative to race-based Affirmative Action. I was very pleased to find the issue mentioned today on the WSJ’s OpinionJournal web site. The list of schools to embrace the economic model include Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Carnegie Mellon, Northwestern, Williams, Indiana University, and the state […]