Decision ‘08 » 2007

Archive for November, 2007

Thursday, November 29th, 2007

Been On Vacation…

…so posting was on hiatus, too. I had a couple of comped nights at Caesar’s Palace in Vegas, and Caesar’s seldom offers me free nights, so it was an offer I couldn’t refuse, all apologies to the late Don Corleone. A word of advice - if you have an opportunity to stay at Caesar’s, ask […]

1 Comment » - Posted in Navel-Gazing by Mark

Monday, November 26th, 2007

Did The President Cause The Subprime Meltdown?

If you are a person with a lick of economic sense, you realize immediately that the answer is an unequivocal no. Paul Krugman, however, has the least economic sense of any economist I’ve every had the dissatisfaction of reading:
“Americans’ Economic Pessimism Reaches Record High.” That’s the headline on a recent Gallup report, which shows a […]

51 Comments » - Posted in Domestic Affairs, POTUS, NY Times/Media Watch by Mark

Sunday, November 25th, 2007

An Improving Iraq Forcing Dems To Reevaluate

Not even the Democratic presidential nominees can ignore the progress in Iraq any longer:
As violence declines in Baghdad, the leading Democratic presidential candidates are undertaking a new and challenging balancing act on Iraq: acknowledging that success, trying to shift the focus to the lack of political progress there, and highlighting more domestic concerns like health […]

1 Comment » - Posted in Iran, Israel, Elephants, Donkeys, Iraq, Election 2008 by Mark

Thursday, November 22nd, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just a quick note to thank you all once again for your readership, and I hope you and yours have a wonderful, safe, healthy Thanksgiving. I’m in Lubbock right now, and it’s snowing (always a welcome sight for an Austinite)…winter weather at last!…
Enjoy it, folks, and don’t worry about those diets today…today is for eating, […]

1 Comment » - Posted in Navel-Gazing by Mark

Monday, November 19th, 2007

Hitchens Greets The Rising Tide In Iraq With Welcoming Skepticism

Perhaps still stinging from his fervent declarations in the war’s beginning that it was only a matter of time until the WMDs were found, Christopher Hitchens now plays the skeptic to news of a turning point in Iraq - although certainly a hopeful skeptic, at that:
A few weeks ago, in Britain’s Prospect magazine, the paper’s […]

30 Comments » - Posted in Iran, Hitchens the Great, Radical Islam / GWOT, Iraq by Mark

Sunday, November 18th, 2007

Is It Too Late For Bush?

That’s the subtext of this Peter Baker article in the Washington Post:
The war in Iraq seems to have taken a turn for the better and the opposition at home has failed in all efforts to impose its own strategy. North Korea is dismantling its nuclear program. The budget deficit is falling. A new attorney general […]

13 Comments » - Posted in POTUS, Iraq by Mark

Saturday, November 17th, 2007

I Would Be Remiss…

…if I didn’t take note of the fact that my Red Raiders, who have never beat a top 5 team, if memory serves me, are up 27-10 over #4 Oklahoma at the half. Tech is notoriously awful against the run, so it’s not over yet by a long shot…but I give us a 60% chance […]

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

Saturday, November 17th, 2007

The Race For Number Two

Rudy Giuliani has led the Republican pack wire-to-wire (at least nationally - among the early primary states, Romney seems the frontrunner), but look what’s happening in the race for second. A plunging Fred Thompson, a resurgent McCain, and Romney are within three points of each other in the RCP averages, and Mike Huckabee is surging […]

No Comments » - Posted in Mike Huckabee, Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, 2008 Polls, Republican Candidates by Mark

Friday, November 16th, 2007

Blogging Has Been On The Backburner…

…and I apologize for even less posting than normal. I didn’t get to watch the Democratic debate yesterday, but from most accounts, Hillary was able to bounce back considerably. NBC’s Chuck Todd says the debate confirmed that it’s Obama vs. Hillary, with John Edwards increasingly irrelevant. That’s okay by me. I wouldn’t vote for Hillary […]

4 Comments » - Posted in John Edwards, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, 2008 News, Democratic Candidates by Mark

Thursday, November 15th, 2007

A Little Minor Housekeeping

In this period of reduced blogging, I’ve paid precious little attention to my blog’s template, but I have added a little goodie off to your left. Thanks to the good folks at Add This!, I’ve got a couple of nifty widgets that will put Decision ‘08 automatically into just about any bookmarking system you might […]

No Comments » - Posted in Navel-Gazing by Mark

Tuesday, November 13th, 2007

Ah, Blessed Academia!

Here’s one for the ages:
“A RACIST: A racist is one who is both privileged and socialized on the basis of race by a white supremacist (racist) system. ‘The term applies to all white people (i.e., people of European descent) living in the United States, regardless of class, gender, religion, culture, or sexuality. By this definition, […]

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

Monday, November 12th, 2007

George Will On ‘Progressive’ Economic Foolishness

My friends, on both the right and the left, I ask you a question, in all earnestness: how can you vote Democratic if you understand the slightest thing about economics? If for no other reason (and there are plenty of other reasons, but we’ll let that slide for the moment), I could never support a party that […]

29 Comments » - Posted in Domestic Affairs, John Edwards, Donkeys, Foreign Affairs, Progressive Nonsense / Nutroots®, Democratic Candidates by Mark

Monday, November 12th, 2007

Hillary Showing Signs Of Weakness

I’ve pushed the idea of Hillary as a near shoe-in as hard as anyone (she’s got the money, organization, star power, name, and perhaps most importantly, institutional backing to go the distance), but there’s no question she has hurt herself lately with the trioka of a poor debate performance that contained a lot of waffling, […]

1 Comment » - Posted in Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Democratic Candidates by Mark

Sunday, November 11th, 2007

A Sentiment I’m Sure We Can All Agree With

You’ve probably already seen this, but in case you haven’t:
The king of Spain told Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to “shut up” Saturday during a heated exchange at a summit of leaders from Latin America, Spain and Portugal.
Chavez, who called President Bush the “devil” on the floor of the United Nations last year, triggered the […]

2 Comments » - Posted in Foreign Affairs by Mark

Saturday, November 10th, 2007

Death Of A Giant

Say what you will about Norman Mailer (his recent work has been spotty at best, as he let his long-time tendency to obsess about, not just sex, but very odd and implausible sexual fetishes overcome his never-strong restraint - see The Castle in the Forest and Harlot’s Ghost), he will forever be remembered, justly, as […]

No Comments » - Posted in In Praise Of by Mark

Thursday, November 8th, 2007

Don’t Let The Door Hit You On The Way Out

Al-Qaeda in Iraq is a thing of the past, in Baghdad, at least, according to the U.S. military:
American forces have routed Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the Iraqi militant network, from every neighborhood of Baghdad, a top American general said today, allowing American troops involved in the “surge” to depart as planned.
Maj. Gen. Joseph F. […]

8 Comments » - Posted in Iraq by Mark

Tuesday, November 6th, 2007

Seldom In The History Of Human Affairs…

…has so much been spent for so little: Ron Paul raises over $4 million in one day.
Unbelievable…in more ways than one. I’m tempted to say that Paul’s fundraising prowess means he has to be taken more seriously as a candidate, but the truth is, he has no chance, no matter how much he raises. There […]

13 Comments » - Posted in 2008 News, Republican Candidates by Mark

Monday, November 5th, 2007

Frontrunners Then, Frontrunners Now, Frontrunners In The Future

The most remarkable thing about Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani is not that they are the undisputed frontrunners for their parties’ respective nominations, though clearly they are; no, the remarkable thing is how clearly and consistently they have stayed on top, despite assaults from candidates that both parties’ bases clearly prefer. Obama and Thompson have been […]

2 Comments » - Posted in Barack Obama, Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliani, Hillary Clinton, 2008 Polls, Democratic Candidates by Mark

Saturday, November 3rd, 2007

Crisis In Pakistan

It’s been quite clear for quite some time that Musharraf is not the type to go quietly into that good night. The administration has reacted to today’s declaration of a state of emergency:
The Bush administration said Saturday it was deeply disturbed by the state of emergency in Pakistan and urged a swift return to a […]

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

Friday, November 2nd, 2007

Went And Saw American Gangster Tonight…

…and what do you think happened? Before the opening scene even got underway, the movie stopped. Technical problems, slight delay, no problem…only when the movie started back, they didn’t start from the beginning!
Well, I’m a bit of a movie snob, and I can’t stand stuff like that (particularly after paying $9.75 for the ticket and […]