Archive for February, 2006

Sunday, February 26th, 2006

Who Blew Up the Al-Askari Shrine?

Five theories, from Iraqi bloggers…personally, I go for number one, but suit yourself…

No Comments » - Posted in Iraq by Mark

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Sunday, February 26th, 2006

Cheney Shooting Update

Here’s the latest on the Dick Cheney shooting incident:
(sound of crickets chirping)
(a tumbleweed blows across your computer screen)
THERE IS NO NEWS!
This story is dead! Dead! Dead! Two weeks, and gone without a trace. No meltdown, no resignation, no trial, nothing! Nada! Zilch!
BWWWWAAAAAHHHHHAAAAAAHAAAAAA!
Sorry, Huff’n’Puffers, sorry, Jane, sorry Kos Kidz! You lose again….!
Excuse me while […]

13 Comments » - Posted in Dick Cheney, Progressive Nonsense / Nutroots®, Republican Candidates by Mark

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Sunday, February 26th, 2006

An Existence Defined by Opposition

It seems to me rather obvious that if your entire existence is based on the principle of opposition, you give all the power to the entity you are opposing. That’s one lesson today’s Democratic party cannot seem to grasp. Nowhere is the principle more definitely expressed, though, than with the Palestinian obsession with […]

2 Comments » - Posted in Radical Islam / GWOT, Foreign Affairs by Mark

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Sunday, February 26th, 2006

Possible Breakthrough in Iran-Russia Talks

Our good friend dmac has been bringing to my attention fleet movements and other signs that the U.S. is preparing a missile strike on Iran, and perhaps the Iranians are blinking; in any event, there was some movement today on talks to move Iranian uranium enrichment to Russia:
The head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization said […]

No Comments » - Posted in Radical Islam / GWOT, Foreign Affairs by Mark

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Sunday, February 26th, 2006

Sea Change On Ports Deal?

I missed the Sunday morning talking heads (well, I didn’t miss ‘em all that much), but AJ caught ‘em, and he detects a distinct change in attitude regarding the UAE port controversy.
Some, however, think it’s too little, too late:
“The damage has already been done, and there is a 50:50 chance that at least the […]

No Comments » - Posted in Domestic Affairs, Foreign Affairs by Mark

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Sunday, February 26th, 2006

Data Mining Software to Go, Please

Interesting article in the NY Times on a shopping trip taken by the NSA to Silicon Valley recently:
On the wish list, according to several venture capitalists who met with the officials, were an array of technologies that underlie the fierce debate over the Bush administration’s anti-terrorist eavesdropping program: computerized systems that reveal connections between seemingly […]

No Comments » - Posted in Domestic Affairs, SCOTUS by Mark

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Saturday, February 25th, 2006

Senator Clinton Spams Kos, Oblivious to the Power of His Wrath

I find this unaccountably amusing:
That’s it. Four fundraising emails in the last three days from the Hillary operation and that was it. I could unsubscribe, sure, but it’s easier to add her address info@hillaryclinton.com to my spam filter.
She’s got some stupid “contest” between the “Paul Begalla Team” and the “James Carville Team”. And the […]

4 Comments » - Posted in Progressive Nonsense / Nutroots®, Hillary Clinton, Democratic Candidates by Mark

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Saturday, February 25th, 2006

Ports Deal In The Works

Bill Frist thinks he’s found a way forward on the ports controversy:
Republicans in Congress are crafting a solution under which the controversial deal allowing a state-owned Arab company to run some terminals at six U.S. ports could move forward.
The agreement would first have to pass a 45-day investigation focusing on the national security implications of […]

No Comments » - Posted in Domestic Affairs, Foreign Affairs by Mark

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Saturday, February 25th, 2006

Bode Miller: Crapping Out His Way

Here’s the craptacular Bode Miller, on his 0-for-5 Olympics:
“I just did it my way. I’m not a martyr, and I’m not a do-gooder. I just want to go out and rock. And man, I rocked here,” Miller said in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press soon after he skidded off the slalom course in […]

9 Comments » - Posted in Foreign Affairs, Celebrities / Pop Culture / Sports by Mark

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Saturday, February 25th, 2006

An All-Encompassing Argument

I hope I can be forgiven if I find myself confused by Glenn Greenwald’s theory of the ‘Bush Cult’; it seems to be a theory that encompasses so much of reality that perhaps we have all underestimated its brilliance. Glenn assures us that there is no political ideology animating Bush supporters, that it is […]

12 Comments » - Posted in POTUS, Iraq, Progressive Nonsense / Nutroots® by Mark

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Saturday, February 25th, 2006

The Top Liberals and Conservatives In Congress

Richard Cohen (not the Washington Post columnist) takes a look, at National Journal, at the voting ratings of the Senate and House when seen through the prism of ideology. Pete Starks is the most liberal House member for 2005, and Ted Kennedy (gasp!) for the Senate (John Kerry is slipping - he doesn’t even […]

1 Comment » - Posted in Elephants, Donkeys by Mark

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Saturday, February 25th, 2006

Kristol’s Call To Arms

William Kristol has an answer, of sorts, to William F. Buckley’s pessimism: no retreat, baby, no surrender.
Kristol acknowledges that radical Islam has taken the offensive, and the West is on it heels. He questions whether we are up to the challenge, and defines the mindset of many of us who continue to support Bush […]

1 Comment » - Posted in Radical Islam / GWOT, Iraq, Foreign Affairs by Mark

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Saturday, February 25th, 2006

Mixed Messages From Iraq

Those hoping to divine the flow of events in Iraq have both hopeful and depressing news to contend with. Violence surged again today, as dozens more were killed, despite the ongoing curfew. However, the Interior Minister says the violence has been somewhat exaggerated, and the U.S. Ambassador is working hard to bring the […]

7 Comments » - Posted in Iraq by Mark

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Friday, February 24th, 2006

Will the South Dakota Law Trigger A Review of Roe?

Pete Williams of NBC thinks not:
If South Dakota’s governor signs the bill passed by the legislature this week, outlawing abortion except when needed to save the life of the mother, it will generate a fight in federal court, which is just what the sponsors intend. They hope their vote will prod the U.S. Supreme Court […]

5 Comments » - Posted in SCOTUS by Mark

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Friday, February 24th, 2006

The Hitchens Danish Solidary Thingie

Wish I could have been there, but an illustrious group of bloggers and media types, and a bunch of just good ol’ ordinary folk, made it out and had a grand time, from all accounts. Instapundit has the roundup, and there’s lots more at Memeorandum…

No Comments » - Posted in Hitchens the Great, Foreign Affairs by Mark

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Friday, February 24th, 2006

Buckley Throws In The Towel

For William F. Buckley, Iraq is now to be counted as a defeat, though he doesn’t necessarily lay it at the feet of the Bush administration:
Our mission has failed because Iraqi animosities have proved uncontainable by an invading army of 130,000 Americans. The great human reserves that call for civil life haven’t proved strong enough. […]

7 Comments » - Posted in Iraq by Mark

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Friday, February 24th, 2006

The Ugliest Post I’ve Seen In Quite Some Time

I’ve been riding Jane Hamsher pretty hard lately, as she is the poster girl for that brand of hardcore lefty who thinks that anyone who disagrees with her principles is a slug. Case in point, this piece of vitriolic bile:
South Dakota has now passed a law banning abortion with no exception for rape or […]

13 Comments » - Posted in Domestic Affairs, Progressive Nonsense / Nutroots® by Mark

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Friday, February 24th, 2006

More On - What Else? - Ports

The Washington Post examines one argument against the UAE port deal (that the President was negligent because he found out about the deal from the press) and finds it quite unconvincing:
Among many other things, the president’s job description requires him to keep abreast of economic and political developments around the world; respond to disasters such […]

2 Comments » - Posted in Domestic Affairs, Foreign Affairs by Mark

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Friday, February 24th, 2006

Maguire Parts the Curtain

For those of us (there must be at least two or three people out there) that can’t live life without their dose of NY Times punditry, Tom Maguire parts the TimesSelect curtain to reveal their sentiments towards the port controversy. A sample (MoDo, of course):
Maureen Dowd, as is her wont, favors hysterical shrieking (Shrieks […]

13 Comments » - Posted in Domestic Affairs, Foreign Affairs, NY Times/Media Watch by Mark

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Friday, February 24th, 2006

I’m Very Happy To Say…

…that, by all accounts, the mandatory curfew measures appear to have greatly calmed the situation in Iraq:
There were a few signs that the storm could pass.
Shihab al-Badri, a member of the Muslim Scholars Association, an influential group of Sunni clerics, said that they had been approached by Shiite leaders in Diyala province. They had asked […]

1 Comment » - Posted in Iraq by Mark

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