Archive for May, 2007

Thursday, May 31st, 2007

The King Of New York?

Alas, no…despite being “America’s Mayor”, Rudy G. cannot overcome the inhospitable climate the Empire State poses for Republican presidential candidates.  Though he is far and away the choice of New York Republicans (he’s the choice of a cool 50% of NY Republicans, even with Thompson in the race), Rudy trails Hillary in the head-to-head…badly:
Head-to-Head Match Ups
Clinton […]

10 Comments » - Posted in Rudy Giuliani, Hillary Clinton, 2008 Polls, Republican Candidates, Democratic Candidates by Mark

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Thursday, May 31st, 2007

I Know It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll…

…but I like it, like it, yes I do!
Pardon the non-political interruption, but long-time readers may remember my excitement at learning, during last October’s now-legendary (hell, it was legendary even before the sun rose the next morning) Rolling Stones show at Zilker Park here in Austin, that we had been filmed for the DVD.  Now, […]

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

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Wednesday, May 30th, 2007

Plame - Covert Status Proved At Last By Prosecutor’s Bald Assertion

Was Valerie Plame covert? (Ye gods, this again?) Well, the lefty blogosphere is abuzz with the final ‘proof’ - proof that consists of an assertion by the prosecutor in a court filing:
Newsweek has an interesting view of the law, and the usual suspects amongst the lefty bloggers are falling in line behind it - when […]

31 Comments » - Posted in PlameGate by Mark

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Wednesday, May 30th, 2007

Along Came Fred

Well, as expected, Fred Thompson is moving towards a run, and the Republican nomination race just got a lot more interesting.  Only yesterday I blogged about Rudy’s surprising strength among social conservatives, even AFTER the whole world found out he was pro-choice.  Thompson complicates things immensely, by giving SoCons unhappy with their current choices a plausible […]

9 Comments » - Posted in Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliani, 2008 News, Republican Candidates by Mark

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Tuesday, May 29th, 2007

Rudy G. - The Candidate Of SoCons?

So says a Politico analysis of recent polls:
Rudy Giuliani, whose positions on abortion and homosexuality mark him as the most socially liberal Republican presidential candidate in more than a generation, is so far winning the contest for the support of social conservatives, according to a new analysis of recent polls.
Widespread perceptions that Giuliani is the […]

11 Comments » - Posted in Rudy Giuliani, 2008 Polls, Republican Candidates by Mark

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Monday, May 28th, 2007

Remembering The Fallen

We don’t honor our heroes anymore; or rather, we do, but the wrong ones.  We idolize rock stars (yes, me, too; have you read my posts on Bono?), sports stars, celebrity heiresses, and other similar non-entities, but can you name a single hero of the Iraq War?  Peter Collier laments this state of affairs:
Once we […]

10 Comments » - Posted in In Praise Of by Mark

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Sunday, May 27th, 2007

This Memorial Day, Satisfy Your Inner Geek

If you haven’t heard, it’s the 30th anniversary of Star Wars. The original movie was an absolute wonder; I was 9 in 1977 and Star Wars was just about the coolest thing in the history of the world (though even at that young age I knew Close Encounters of the Third Kind (or CE3K, […]

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

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Saturday, May 26th, 2007

McCain’s Five Best

This Memorial Day weekend, John McCain contributes the five best books about soldiers at war in the Wall Street Journal’s Five Best series, and it is a truly excellent set of choices.  His number one choice, For Whom The Bell Tolls, is the wrong Hemingway novel, in my view; much, much better is A Farewell […]

4 Comments » - Posted in In Praise Of, John McCain by Mark

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Friday, May 25th, 2007

A Most Unwelcome Return…And A Very Welcome Departure

He’s back, unfortunately:
Moqtada al-Sadr is back. After months away from the public eye, the young firebrand participated in Friday prayers at a mosque in Kufa, Iraq.
“No, no to the unjust! No, no to America! No, no to colonialism! No, no to Israel! No, no to Satan,” he said, according to AFP.
Sadr renewed his demand […]

19 Comments » - Posted in PlameGate, Radical Islam / GWOT, Iraq, Progressive Nonsense / Nutroots®, Celebrities / Pop Culture / Sports by Mark

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Thursday, May 24th, 2007

The Little Libertarian

Ron Paul’s reading list is as pathetic as his presidential campaign - how do we know this? Because he gave us a preview as he attempted to ’school’ the public figure who was on the spot at the heart of Ground Zero on the finer points of terrorism by recommending that he read…wait for it…Chalmers […]

43 Comments » - Posted in Iraq, Radical Islam / GWOT, Progressive Nonsense / Nutroots®, Rudy Giuliani, Republican Candidates, Election 2008 by Mark

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Wednesday, May 23rd, 2007

If It’s Unfair To Call The Democrats Weak On Defense…

…and it is, because it’s a broad generalization that borders on a smear, it’s not at all unfair to take individual Democrats to account for such weakness.  I present to you one John Edwards:
The U.S.-led war on terrorism is “a bumper sticker, not a plan” that has weakened Washington’s global standing, Democratic presidential candidate John […]

33 Comments » - Posted in John Edwards, Radical Islam / GWOT, 2008 News, Democratic Candidates by Mark

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Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007

How Out Of Touch Was I On Vacation?

So out of touch that I didn’t realize Wolfowitz had resigned until yesterday.  Writing in yesterday’s New York Times, Christopher Burnham says the resignation leaves the World Bank in a precarious position:
THE resignation of Paul D. Wolfowitz last week as president of the World Bank may have solved one problem, but it’s possible that […]

2 Comments » - Posted in Foreign Affairs by Mark

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Monday, May 21st, 2007

Just For Fun…

…as my vacation enters the home stretch, given that I still know absolutely nothing about the outside world, here’s Matthew Iglesias from his new perch at the Atlantic Online with the ultimate 90’s alt-rock playlist.  A little trip down memory lane for at least some of you.  Hope your Monday isn’t too bad!…

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

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Sunday, May 20th, 2007

Apologies For The Several-Day Posting Gap…

…but I’ve been on vacation in Lake Tahoe (and now a couple of days in the far less scenic Reno) for my parent’s 50th wedding anniversary.  Lake Tahoe is a true thing of beauty, of that you can be assured.  I’ve had absolutely no contact with the outside world, and wouldn’t know what to blog […]

10 Comments » - Posted in Navel-Gazing, Evan Bayh by Mark

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Thursday, May 17th, 2007

Party Over, Oops, Out Of Time

The cold hard facts appear to be these: absent a U.S. or Israeli military strike, Iran will have the bomb.  Soon…very soon.  Here’s the Chicago Tribune:
Iran appears to have solved most of its technological problems and is beginning to enrich uranium on a far larger scale than before. Tehran may well have passed the critical […]

10 Comments » - Posted in Iran, Radical Islam / GWOT, UN/Oil-For-Food by Mark

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Wednesday, May 16th, 2007

It’s All Over But The Face-Saving

Wolfowitz is all but out the door:
The World Bank’s executive board is negotiating the resignation of embattled President Paul D. Wolfowitz, senior bank officials said this afternoon.
The sources said that under the terms being discussed, Wolfowitz would step down, ending the ethics controversy that has consumed the bank for weeks, while the board would credit […]

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

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Tuesday, May 15th, 2007

The GOP Debates, Round Two: General Observations

Well, first of all, let’s skip the grading this time, in favor of some comments:
Rudy won this one.  He was clear and honest on abortion, he didn’t hesitate; he was (rightfully) indignant when Ron Paul endorsed the Ward Churchill theory of 9/11; he stood up for his innate conservatism in the face of personal attacks […]

27 Comments » - Posted in Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Sam Brownback, Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Republican Candidates, 2008 News, Uncategorized by Mark

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Tuesday, May 15th, 2007

Another Debate Already?

Hard to believe, but true.  The GOP squares off again in about half an hour.  More thoughts afterwards, but some things to look for…
Will Rudy be hammered on abortion?
Will Romney flip on a position in mid-sentence?
Will McCain bring his fist down on the podium and talk tough on Iran?
Will Paul mention the abolition of the IRS?
What candidate […]

3 Comments » - Posted in Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, John McCain, 2008 News, Republican Candidates, Uncategorized by Mark

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Monday, May 14th, 2007

America’s Mayor - Michael Bloomberg??!!??

All the chatter today on the Republican side of the aisle regarded Michael Bloomberg.  First, TIME puts forth one of the old chestnuts, the “will he run” piece designed to smoke out public opinion by anonymous supporters:
“Did Mike Bloomberg become a multi-billionaire by lowering his sights? I don’t think so,” says a friend of the […]

6 Comments » - Posted in Rudy Giuliani, 2008 Polls, Republican Candidates, Election 2008 by Mark

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Sunday, May 13th, 2007

The Truest Of Friends

I have not had an opportunity yet to blog about the impending departure of Tony Blair, but I look at his approaching retirement from office as a giant blow to our interests worldwide.  America and Britain have always had a ’special’ relationship (explained at great length and with the typical Hitchens erudition here), but Blair […]

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

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