Decision ‘08 » 2005

Archive for January, 2005

Tuesday, January 25th, 2005

Ted Kennedy - Our Long National Nightmare Continues

For Ted Kennedy, Vietnam has never ended (reminds me of another Senator from Massachusetts). Today, he again railed against our Iraqi policy, saying Iraq was George Bush’s Vietnam for, what, the thousandth time? We are forced once more to ask where are the bleeding hearts of the liberals where the tyranny of Saddam is […]

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Tuesday, January 25th, 2005

Michael Moore Snubbed - Spontaneous Celebrations Throughout ‘Jesusland’

The Academy Award Nominations are out, and Michael Moore is nowhere to be found - no Best Picture, no Best Documentary, nothing, nada, zilch, zip, squat. On the opposite symbolic pole of the culture war, the Passion of the Christ got two nods: Best Original Score and Best Cinematography.
UPDATE - 01/26/05 9:14 a.m. central - […]

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Monday, January 24th, 2005

Miscellanea - What’s At Stake Edition

William Shawcross in today’s Guardian:

Tony Blair said in Baghdad in December: “On the one side you have people who desperately want to make the democratic process work, and want the same type of democratic freedoms other parts of the world enjoy, and on the other side people who are killing and intimidating and trying to […]

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Monday, January 24th, 2005

Is It Wrong to Reach for the Stars?

George W. Bush certainly seems to have touched a nerve with his second Inaugural speech. I’ve previously commented on William F. Buckley’s criticisms. Buckley is not the only conservative to take issue with Bush’s bold stance: Peggy Noonan and George Will have also put their objections on the record. On the left, unsatisfied customers include […]

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Sunday, January 23rd, 2005

Miscellanea - Championship Edition

Congratulations to the Philadelphia Eagles and the New England Patriots on making it to the big one…since my Cowboys just blew this year, I don’t really have a dog in this hunt, but Philly’s the underdog, I suppose, so go Eagles!…
If you’re waiting to hear a message of support for the success of the upcoming […]

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Sunday, January 23rd, 2005

Goodbye to a Legend

As you probably know by now, Johnny Carson has passed away. What a shame…young people who have grown up on the mediocre Tonight Show of the Jay Leno era can have no idea how influential Carson was. The entire country, it seemed, just had to stay up at least long enough to see […]

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Sunday, January 23rd, 2005

Candidate Profile Nine: Barack Obama

Barack Obama is the rising young star of the Democratic party. He is currently a senator for Illionois after a landslide victory against the laughably inept campaign of Alan Keyes. Obama’s presence was ubiquitous during the Dem’s 2004 convention; you couldn’t throw a brick without hitting a media outlet lined up to interview him. What’s […]

10 Comments » - Posted in Barack Obama, Democratic Candidates by Mark

Sunday, January 23rd, 2005

Miscellanea - Liberalism Defined Edition

Right Wingnuthouse links to a contest by the American Prospect to define liberalism in 30 words or less (one of the prizes is Robert Reich on your answering machine - wow wow wow oh wow!). My entry: Liberalism (see ‘Progressivism’) is the belief that an individual is born into victimhood, and only the government, not […]

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Saturday, January 22nd, 2005

Miscellanea - Buckley’s Bad Hair Day Edition

The normally brilliant William F. Buckley has a criticism of Bush’s speech that I find baffling. To paraphrase Barry Goldwater: immoderation in the defense of liberty is no vice (hat tip to deacon at Power Line)…
William Raspberry thinks MLK would approve of Cosby’s crusade (hat tip to Discriminations)…
Speaking of MLK, ScrappleFace reports on the […]

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Saturday, January 22nd, 2005

In Praise of: Arthur Chrenkoff

Yesterday, I wrote about the necessity of choosing sides in this critical time as the Iraqi election approaches. I sent my post to a blogger whose work I greatly admire, Arthur Chrenkoff, and he was kind enough to link to it. This is not the first time he has linked to one of my posts, […]

1 Comment » - Posted in Uncategorized by Mark

Friday, January 21st, 2005

Miscellanea - I Reveal My Coordinates Edition

Since I know you’re just dying to know, the bearings on my political compass are:Economic Left / Right : 3.25Social Libertarian / Authoritarian : -2.26Find out where you’re at here (hat tip to Try On the Glasses)…bebere has a great post on why one smart Massachusetts gal is sticking with Bush, and the inability of […]

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Friday, January 21st, 2005

The Time Has Come To Choose Sides

Alright, Juan Cole, listen up. You, too, Markos Moulitsas Z�niga. And yeah, Josh Marshall, I’m talking to you, too.
The Kuwait News Agency has reported a beheading of an Iraqi policeman in broad daylight in front of stunned onlookers. It’s time to stop the moral equivalency game. Abu Ghraib was a disgrace, but […]

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Friday, January 21st, 2005

Miscellanea - A Glimmer of Hope Edition

While some would no doubt accuse me of being hopelessly naive, I still think Abbas is someone who can possibly get past the inflammatory rhetoric and actually negotiate in good faith with the Israelis. Even baby steps are better than standing still…
Patrick Ruffini has changed the look of his site, but it’s still the […]

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Thursday, January 20th, 2005

Miscellanea - Yeah, I’m Talking to You Edition

The best bit from Bush’s speech today:
We will persistently clarify the choice before every ruler and every nation — the moral choice between oppression, which is always wrong, and freedom, which is eternally right. America will not pretend that jailed dissidents prefer their chains, or that women welcome humiliation and servitude or that any human […]

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Thursday, January 20th, 2005

Eric Alterman Has Lost His Mind

Eric (shudder!) Alterman, who inexplicably has a space on msnbc.com, has been steering very near the edge of the precipice for quite some time. Today, he finally drove right over it, full throttle. A fisking is definitely in order (for those who are new to the concept, Eric’s in bold, I’m in italics):
To the […]

1 Comment » - Posted in Uncategorized by Mark

Thursday, January 20th, 2005

Some Inauguration Day Musings

As George W. Bush prepares to be sworn in for his second term, the blue-state/red-state divide looms as large as ever. Consider:
Rolling Stone magazine has always been ‘progressive’, but it used to be a good read. Now, it belongs to the group of formerly great magazines that have been ruined by an increasingly strident editorial […]

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Wednesday, January 19th, 2005

Miscellanea - Herding Cats at CBS Edition

JustOneMinute on life at CBS News these days: ‘like herding cats’. Personally, I hope the three employees asked to resign don’t - I’ve mentioned before that the only way Rather and Heyward will go is if the rank-and-file demands it…
Power and Control gets an Instalanche for pointing to an inane observation by the Kos […]

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Wednesday, January 19th, 2005

Weekly Jackass Number Seven - Jim Hightower

Jim Hightower, who describes himself as Americas #1 Populist, has made a career out of rabid opposition to capitalism, knee-jerk support of labor, and quasi-Marxist rhetoric. No for-profit entity can be up to any good in Hightower’s world, except, of course, his book publisher. I want to ease Hightower’s conscience about making money in the […]

1 Comment » - Posted in Uncategorized by Mark

Wednesday, January 19th, 2005

Wictory Wednesday Rolls Around

Today, PoliPundit is spotlighting the dogfight Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania is facing in his 2006 bid to hold on to his seat. Take a moment to read the post, consider contributing time or money, and why not check out a couple of new blogs from the Wictory Wednesday blogroll near the bottom right? […]

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Tuesday, January 18th, 2005

Are Liberals Stupid?

Of course not. Broad generalizations of that nature are a sign of intellectual laziness, a way to avoid facing the arguments of your opponents. Why, then, do so many on the Left assume that education and ‘progressivism’ go hand in hand?
If you’re a conservative and vocal about it, you know what I mean. A very […]