Decision ‘08 » 2006

Archive for May, 2006

Monday, May 29th, 2006

The Words Of The Great Emancipator

This and every Memorial Day, it’s fitting to remember the words of the greatest president as delivered at Gettysburg:
We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do […]

No Comments » - Posted in In Praise Of by Mark

Monday, May 29th, 2006

Memorial Day - In Remembrance of Heroes

Well, it’s Memorial Day, and I hope most of you are enjoying a day off of work. I know I am. California Conservative is running an open trackback post for bloggers who are sharing memories and stories; Doug Mataconis at Below the Beltway has a nice post with some photos from Arlington National […]

No Comments » - Posted in Hitchens the Great, In Praise Of by Mark

Sunday, May 28th, 2006

My Johnny Carson-esque Message To The People Who Design DVD Security Packaging

May a diseased camel fall in love with your hairpiece…

6 Comments » - Posted in Celebrities / Pop Culture / Sports by Mark

Sunday, May 28th, 2006

Why Realpolitik Should Stay In Its Grave

The Bush Doctrine may have stumbled badly in Iraq - though the ultimate outcome of that intervention has yet to be determined - but it least it’s based on idealism rather than cynicism. Some see that as a flaw - but those who would return to the realpolitik that dominated the Cold War era […]

3 Comments » - Posted in Iran, Radical Islam / GWOT, Iraq, Foreign Affairs by Mark

Sunday, May 28th, 2006

When Partisanship Overcomes Decency

DarkSyde, one of the anonymous simpletons who blogs on the front page of Daily Kos, thinks of a perfect way of honoring our nation’s veterans on Memorial Day: by putting together a list of Republican ‘chicken-hawks’ who didn’t serve (or, in the case of George W. Bush, who did serve, but just not in a […]

28 Comments » - Posted in Progressive Nonsense / Nutroots® by Mark

Sunday, May 28th, 2006

George Will Looks To Me For Inspiration

On May 20th of this year, I composed a groundbreaking post entitled Irony, Thy Name Is McCain that has proven so influential that George Will has expanded on the concepts therein for his latest piece, For McCain, A Surplus Of Irony.
Everything I have written above is true, with the following caveats:
(1) My piece was not […]

No Comments » - Posted in Election 2006, Domestic Affairs, John McCain, Republican Candidates by Mark

Sunday, May 28th, 2006

Is There Anything Homer Simpson Can’t Do?

What an age we live in…

No Comments » - Posted in Celebrities / Pop Culture / Sports by Mark

Sunday, May 28th, 2006

Three Great Books I’ve Never Read

Apropos of nothing…
War and Peace
Absalom, Absalom!
Ulysses
Admit it, you’ve always suspected I was an ill-read hick…there’s your proof!…
Ah, time won’t leave me as I am…

2 Comments » - Posted in Navel-Gazing by Mark

Saturday, May 27th, 2006

Happy 4th Blogiversary…

…to the folks at Power Line:
Power Line is four years old this weekend. I originally set the site up on Blogger; I was stumped for a name, and “Power Line” was suggested by a thirteen-year-old friend of my oldest daughter. On the Tuesday after Memorial Day, I asked Scott, my long-time writing partner, to join […]

No Comments » - Posted in Linky Love by Mark

Saturday, May 27th, 2006

firedoglake: Where Hate Speech Will Always Have A Home

There comes a time when you have to call things by their proper name, and the proper name for Jane Hamsher and her cohorts at firedoglake is ‘hate speech proponent’. The wealthy movie producer turned abortion-rights extremist routinely throws heaps of steaming dung on her opponents, and seldom gets called for it; instead, she’s lauded […]

5 Comments » - Posted in Joe Lieberman, Progressive Nonsense / Nutroots®, Democratic Candidates by Mark

Saturday, May 27th, 2006

A Reason To Resist Ahmadinejad

Iran has been making some good PR moves lately, and their efforts are paying off, as more and more people are pushing for Bush to open a dialogue. Perhaps this isn’t such a good idea in light of this reporting from Michael Slackman of the NY Times:
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is trying to consolidate power […]

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

Saturday, May 27th, 2006

X-Men: The Last Stand Poised For Monster Weekend

Whoa…the critics may not have been overjoyed with the movie, but the third installment of the X-Men series opened big. I mean BIG. As in $44 million on Friday alone. As in the second biggest opening ever.
I didn’t see that coming…this was supposedly the last in the series, but after that beginning, I suspect we haven’t […]

No Comments » - Posted in Celebrities / Pop Culture / Sports by Mark

Saturday, May 27th, 2006

Hamas Rejects Deadline To Confirm Israel’s Right To Exist

That’s what this amounts to:
The Hamas-led Palestinian government has rejected the 10-day deadline set by President Mahmoud Abbas to accept a plan for a Palestinian state to exist alongside Israel, according to the prime minister’s office.
A representative for Palestinian Prime Minister’s Ismail Haniya’s office said Hamas, however, is open to a dialogue to reach a […]

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

Saturday, May 27th, 2006

Gore Puts Energy Policy In Play

Laurie David can rest a little easier tonight - her sugar momma backing of Al Gore’s current star turn is having its intended effect. Gore’s movie hasn’t even been released in most places, and the chattering classes are abuzz. The result? Energy policy is heavily in play.
To be sure, it’s not all Gore - a […]

No Comments » - Posted in Al Gore, Domestic Affairs, John McCain, Hillary Clinton, Republican Candidates, 2008 News, Democratic Candidates by Mark

Friday, May 26th, 2006

The U.S. And Iran: Seizing The Day Or Getting Fooled Again?

It was dueling Op-Eds in the WaPo today, as David Ignatius said “It’s Time To Engage With Iran” and Charles Krauthammer retorted “Say No To Tehran’s Gambit“. If Steven Weisman of the New York Times has it right, it’s advantage Ignatius:
The Bush administration is beginning to debate whether to set aside a longstanding […]

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

Friday, May 26th, 2006

Senate Democrats Embrace Architect of NSA Eavesdropping Program

That’s the spin Glenn Greenwald had hoped (in vain) to avoid:
I found the Democrats’ embrace of Gen. Hayden’s nomination as CIA Director to be indefensible and strategically inept. The reason isn’t because there was a real chance to block the nomination; the Republican majority made confirmation all but inevitable. The reason for Democrats not to […]

3 Comments » - Posted in Domestic Affairs, POTUS, Donkeys by Mark

Friday, May 26th, 2006

Too Good For Just One Link

Sometimes, a blogger gets on a roll, and you don’t know where to begin in terms of recommendations - so visit Tom Maguire and just keep on scrolling…

No Comments » - Posted in Linky Love by Mark

Friday, May 26th, 2006

The Decision ‘08 Review: The Messiah Of Morris Avenue

Tony Hendra’s The Messiah Of Morris Avenue is a book that suffers from an identity crisis. Hendra’s novel, the story of the Second Coming in the not-too-distant future, can’t decide whether it is a parable, a satire, a utopian fantasy, or a straight-ahead narrative. Ultimately this schizophrenic approach sinks the book, but the […]

5 Comments » - Posted in The Decision '08 Review, Celebrities / Pop Culture / Sports by Mark

Friday, May 26th, 2006

A Nice Gesture

Well, it used to be a bigger deal than it is now, but it has been said that you know you made it if your obituary was carried in the New York Times (that assumes an afterlife, I suppose). Clifford Antone has that distinction (though I prefer my own remembrance)…

No Comments » - Posted in In Praise Of, Celebrities / Pop Culture / Sports by Mark

Friday, May 26th, 2006

The Most Anticlimactic News Of The Day

Hayden confirmed, big:
After hearing assurances he will be independent of the Pentagon, the Senate on Friday easily confirmed Gen. Michael Hayden, a career Air Force man, to head the CIA.
Hayden, a four-star general, currently is the top deputy to National Intelligence Director John Negroponte.
Hayden, 61, would be the first active-duty or retired military officer to […]