Decision ‘08 » 2005

Archive for September, 2005

Wednesday, September 28th, 2005

Filibuster Showdown? I Don’t Believe It

Longtime readers who were around for the Coalition of the Chillin’ days will recall that our position - that the filibuster deal by the Gang of 14 was a huge win for the Republicans in that it gave up nothing in return for an exacting standard for filibusters - was definitely not shared by the […]

4 Comments » - Posted in SCOTUS, RINOs / Chillers by Mark

Wednesday, September 28th, 2005

Weekly Jackass Number Forty-Five: Charlie Rangel

This may be the shortest Weekly Jackass ever…some statements, after all, speak for themselves. May I present Charles Rangel:
Comparing President Bush to the Birmingham, Ala., police commissioner whose resistance to the civil rights movement became synonymous with Southern racism, Rep. Charles Rangel said yesterday of the president: “George Bush is our Bull Connor.”
Mr. Rangel’s […]

6 Comments » - Posted in Hurricane Katrina, Progressive Nonsense / Nutroots®, Weekly Jackasses by Mark

Wednesday, September 28th, 2005

The Democratic Attack Machine Gears Up

My first Instalanche ever (over 7,000 visitors when my previous high had been in the the dozens) was for a post called Homophobia Among the Progressives. My point, if it got it across correctly, is that gay rights, women’s rights, the rights of the accused, all of these things go out the window if […]

15 Comments » - Posted in Elephants by Mark

Wednesday, September 28th, 2005

Ronnie Earle: Hardly A Disinterested Figure

When I say Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle (under whose guidance a grand jury has just indicted Tom DeLay) is partisan, besides the many, many speeches he gives at Democratic fundraisers (he is, after all, an elected Democratic official), I’m mainly thinking of the almost universally derided prosecution of then-State Treasurer, now Senator, […]

5 Comments » - Posted in Elephants by Mark

Wednesday, September 28th, 2005

Able Danger and Arkin: Day Two

The second installment of William Arkin’s Able Danger overview is up, and I’m beginning to feel a little duped (again!). Arkin plays the role of the apologist pretty much through and through this installment and takes for granted conclusions that, to be charitable, are still very much unsettled matters (i.e., was Able Danger illegal, […]

5 Comments » - Posted in Radical Islam / GWOT by Mark

Wednesday, September 28th, 2005

Breaking: DeLay Indicted By Travis County Grand Jury

The rumors are true; I don’t have a link yet, but Tom DeLay has, in fact, been indicted by my hometown grand jury. I know a little bit about Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle, and believe me, he is as partisan as partisan gets, so I wouldn’t read too much into this…yet; although, […]

8 Comments » - Posted in Uncategorized by Mark

Wednesday, September 28th, 2005

Actual Conversation at Work…

…with a very nice co-worker who sometimes reads this blog, so if you see this, I’m not making fun, just reporting!:
She: Did you watch TV last night?
Me: I did.
She: Did you watch the Geena Davis president thing?
Me: No, I watched the second part of the Bob Dylan documentary.
Pause…
Me: Was it good?
She: It was…Donald Sutherland was […]

11 Comments » - Posted in Uncategorized by Mark

Wednesday, September 28th, 2005

The Meeting of the Mind

Singular, because only one of these beings is sentient: John McCain met with deranged anti-Bush zealot Cindy Sheehan, and how was he rewarded? Let’s take a look:
“He is a warmonger, and I’m not,” Sheehan said after meeting with McCain. “I believe this war is not keeping America safer.”
“She’s entitled to her opinion,” McCain said. “We […]

4 Comments » - Posted in Iraq, Progressive Nonsense / Nutroots®, John McCain by Mark

Wednesday, September 28th, 2005

Correcting the Corrections

Perhaps the NY Times could redirect the money being spent promoting TimesSelect and instead establish a Meta-Corrections Department. Two recent ‘corrections’, if I may use a term very, very loosely, illustrate the necessity of such a move.

The MinuteMan notes the first, a correction of a story that purports to draw attention to the political […]

2 Comments » - Posted in NY Times/Media Watch by Mark

Wednesday, September 28th, 2005

Checking In On Ruffini

As of this morning, 34 votes in Ruffini’s September Straw Poll have come from D’08ers. Rudy remains comfortably in the lead with a commanding 55.9%, and McCain and Huckabee are in second and third, respectively, though in the fantasy poll it’s Rice, Cheny, and Giuliani, in that order.
In the overall standings, Rudy G. has […]

1 Comment » - Posted in 2008 Polls, Republican Candidates by Mark

Tuesday, September 27th, 2005

Bob Dylan and the Danger of Complacency, Part 2

Having just watched part 2 of Martin Scorsese’s fine Dylan documentary No Direction Home, I’m struck once again by the true artistry of Dylan, and how prescient he was to see the trap laid out for him by the folkies. When watching a windbag like Pete Seeger or Peter Yarrow, with their earnest lefty […]

3 Comments » - Posted in In Praise Of by Mark

Tuesday, September 27th, 2005

Evening Ruffini Update

Well, we’ve stalled out at 22 D’08ers for now…rah, rah, rah, come on folks, let’s win one for the Gipper, and all that jazz. In other words, vote here if you haven’t already…
As of now, Rudy G. has the overall lead with 33.7% of all votes cast, with Allen second, and Rice jumping into […]

5 Comments » - Posted in 2008 Polls, Republican Candidates by Mark

Tuesday, September 27th, 2005

Able Danger: Barking Up The Wrong Tree?

Sometimes you can be right for the wrong reasons, and wrong for the right ones, and as regards Able Danger, I’m unsure which is which…William Arkin, writing in the Washington Post, has one of the more lucid MSM pieces on the often bewildering spy project I’ve yet to see. Certainly the regular followers of […]

9 Comments » - Posted in Radical Islam / GWOT by Mark

Tuesday, September 27th, 2005

Jim Lampley on a Death in the Ring

I blogged recently on my decision to withhold my dollars and viewing time from the sport of boxing (at least professional - my readers persuaded me there was value yet in amateur boxing). Jim Lampley, who knows a thing or two about this issue, writes a longish piece on the subject at Huff’n’Puff. […]

2 Comments » - Posted in Uncategorized by Mark

Tuesday, September 27th, 2005

Midday Ruffini Update

With 14 votes from D’08ers, Rudy G. has 14.8% 64.8% of the vote…vote here if you haven’t yet. In the overall poll, Rudy G. now has 33+%, but interestingly, he trails Condi in the fantasy bracket (and utron, I share your frustration with Ruffini’s distinction between ‘fantasy’ and ‘real’ candidates)…
Also of note on the […]

1 Comment » - Posted in Hillary Clinton, 2008 Polls, Republican Candidates, Democratic Candidates by Mark

Tuesday, September 27th, 2005

Will on Feinstein’s Bleeding Heart

Previously we have noted how incredibly wishy-washy Dianne Feinstein’s objection to John Roberts was, but George Will, unsurprisingly, does it better:
Dianne Feinstein’s thoughts on the nomination of John Roberts as chief justice of the United States should be read with a soulful violin solo playing, or perhaps accompanied by the theme song of “The Oprah […]

1 Comment » - Posted in SCOTUS by Mark

Tuesday, September 27th, 2005

Mort Kondracke on Mike Huckabee

A profile of Mike Huckabee by Morton Kondracke hits all the notes we’ve come to expect: long-shot dark horse, health care a priority, another man from Hope; it’s far from a puff piece, though, as Kondracke challenges Huckabee’s assertion that he won 49% of the African-American vote in his 2002 campaign. Indeed, Kondracke’s profile […]

2 Comments » - Posted in Mike Huckabee, Republican Candidates by Mark

Tuesday, September 27th, 2005

It’s Time To Vote Again!

That’s right, it’s the September edition of Patrick Ruffini’s straw poll. Be sure and vote, and do so from this link; that way, we’ll know how the Decision ‘08 community is voting. Thank Rudy G. is overrated? Longing to hear one of the second-tier candidates get his due? Are you a one-issue […]

4 Comments » - Posted in 2008 Polls by Mark

Monday, September 26th, 2005

Bob Dylan and The Danger of Complacency

In my younger years, I considered myself quite the historian of rock music, and I’ve always been a fan, not just of Martin Scorsese, but of the way that he so unerringly picks just the right song for the right scene in all of his movies, so it should come as no surprise that I […]

1 Comment » - Posted in In Praise Of by Mark

Monday, September 26th, 2005

Hitchens on the Roots of the Protesters

Christopher Hitchens looks at those who portray themselves as ‘anti-war’ and unmasks them for what they are: anti-Semites who have no problem whatsoever with war if it is waged against Israel and its protectors England and the United States. I reached a similar conclusion myself some time ago. Here’s Hitchens:
The two preferred metaphors […]