Wish You Were Here

Hey folks, have to make it short and sweet since it's a complete hassle to blog from an itouch. I'm reporting live from Jerusalem; it's around midnight in the American colony in the north. The Teethwife and I have been touring the coast from Tel Aviv on through Galilee till here. We even went through the West Bank (Whoh). It's been a remarkable experience both in the way I look at religion and the state of Israel. Needless to say, I think everyone should visit here regardless of creed--it really makes you think about the state of western culture; which feels created in this tiny area.

A few political notes: Haven't had the chance to go over the blogs but have caught some news on CNN and some Brit channel called Sky. From what I see out here Obama is wiping the floor with Hil and concensus out here says that he won the last debate. They kept hawing on about her final comments, which they appriopiately said sounded like a concession. Course the next day she was attacking Barack's health care mailer that had been circulating for the last two weeks. If this is the only ammo in her basket then she's in trouble and the rezko trial can't come fast enough. But like I said, that's the word in Israel, maybe things are closer in the states.

Oh and I think I called the Oscars pretty well, I though Blood could have won more, but I suppose they gave them the one they most deserved, best actor to Day-Lewis.

I'll try to get in a few more posts before I leave, but if not you'll get a full report with pics when I get back. Shalom!

Why Did the Times Run the McCain Story?

Because they thought their competition might beat them to it:

"Salter blamed the New York Times' obsession with this sort of intramural scorekeeping as the paper's real motivation for going ahead with a story "they'd already spiked." "They did this because the The New Republic was going to run a story that looked back at the infighting there," Salter said, "the Judy Miller-type power struggles -- they decided that they would rather smear McCain than suffer a story that made the New York Times newsroom look bad.""

In my previous post I mentioned that we really shouldn't care whether or not McCain was having an affair with a lobbyist, and that the other info in the article was more important. Let me also back that by saying that just about all of these assertions by the Times regarding said alleged affair is speculation. As MY says:

"...the Times's effort to substitute innuendo for making a straightforward true or false assertion is seems like a pretty shameful attempt to set up a Kaus-like presumption of guilt. If they have reporting they're willing to stand behind of a McCain-Iseman affair, they should publish it. And if, as seems to be the case, they don't have the reporting, then they shouldn't write the story."

Must Read For Today:

But not without some reservations. If you haven't heard about it the NYTimes piece, For McCain, Self-Confidence on Ethics Poses its Own Risks, has stirred up a hornet's nest of unsavory info on Sen. McCain. Some of it, like McCain's role in the Keating 5 has been discussed on this blog, and I feel it's worth discussing, since McCain's obviously got some kind of love-hate thing going on between special interests. My reservation about this Times hit is the way they bring up alleged "inappropriate behavior" between McCain and a younger lobbyist. Look, I understand that sex scandals sell more than financial scandals even though the latter has historically been much more important to the American public and less obscene, but could we please grow up for a moment? I don't care much if McCain was having an affair, that's between him and his wife; and, if she's half way smart, she should know of the Senator's liking of the women-folk. (Especially since she was the woman he left his wife for) But are we still stuck in some type of Puritan mentality that says the just because a man and a woman are behind closed doors they must be bumping uglies? I mean, are we this immature?

Regardless, the bottom line on this one: It won't end McCain's run, but it sure won't help him get any new votes come the general election. He'll lose some independent votes because of the lobbyist hypocrisies, but, surprising to some, he won't lose the few religious voters he's got. For some strange reason they only seem to care about sex scandals when the perpetrator has the last name Clinton.

Going on a Trip

FYI: I'll be away from the 21st to roughly the 29th with the Teethwriting Wife. I may be doing some intermittent blogging but for your daily wisdom I recommend you to our lovely 'links section'.

Holy Omentum

Obama continues sweeping up the floor with Sen. Hillary Clinton taking the last 10 contests in a row, picking up Hawaii and Wisconsin by large margins last night.

I suppose if there were two stories last night worth mentioning it is the picking into Hillary's demographics by Obama, and the media narrative that's emerging that makes this Obama's election to lose. Though this thing won't be wrapped up until Texas, Penn, and Ohio the media seems ready to crown Obama the champion. It's hard to maintain some impartiality in the face of all the Obama love.

Election 08: Pakistan Edition

Well it appears that Musharraf has lost his bid to become President of Pakistan, along with just about everyone else in his party, which I guess must have been Republican. The big winners? The Pakistan People's Party formally led by Benazir Bhutto, which just goes to show you that politics is the same everywhere. People will undoubtedly want to be led by the guy just willing to steal rather than the guy who wants to steal, and blow you up.

At least Hilzoy was able to find some good news in the middle of the Cluster-F--:

"One interesting note: as far as I can tell, the Pakistani religious parties seem to have done very, very badly. Here are the results so far; the MMA is the union of religious parties, and it looks as though they are being demolished. Background here: apparently, the MMA was both divided and not very good at running things. Interestingly, the party that seems to have done best in the NWFP is a secular Pashtun nationalist party.

"I hope this means that we won't hear any more hyperventilating about the possibility that jihadis could sweep to power in Pakistan at any minute if we don't keep supporting dictators. The religious parties have never been very popular in Pakistan. They seem to be even less popular now."

So is the Iraq war in the US, but we surge on.

The End of an Era

Fidel Castro finally resigns:

"MEXICO CITY — Fidel Castro stepped down Tuesday morning as the president of Cuba after a long illness, ending one of the longest tenures as an all-powerful, communist head of state in the world, according to Granma, the official publication of the Cuban Communist Party.

"In late July 2006, Mr. Castro, who is 81, handed over power temporarily to his brother, Raúl Castro, 76, and a few younger cabinet ministers, after an acute infection in his colon forced him to undergo emergency surgery. Despite numerous surgeries, he has never fully recovered but has remained active in running government affairs from behind the scenes."

Revising History: Sports Edition

This is sorta funny, and nice, and weird:

"MANAGUA, Nicaragua -- The New England Patriots won the Super Bowl and ended the season with a perfect 19-0 record -- at least it looks that way in Nicaragua.

"The NFL donated 290 Patriots hats and an equal number of team jerseys trumpeting the slogans "Super Bowl Champions, 19-0" to impoverished children from two small communities in southern Nicaragua."

In more recent news NE Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady bought a town in Nicaragua renaming it 19-0. Bill Belichick was voted in as mayor the the slim margin of one field goal.

Impressive

Ross Douthat's writing that is. I've been meaning to post up some of his stuff for a while, but since it's a Saturday and I'm lazy I'll just make links here, here and here. It's worth a read, and it's a nice reminder that conservatives can be reasonable, intellegent and sane.

By the way, take a real good look at Ross' Iraq post (the first link). I've often said that if McCain's got a shot of winning he's got to sell the surge big time, but Douthat shows how hard that's going to be. Hint: If a tree surges in the forest and Brian Williams doesn't report it, does it really surge?

OH YEAH!

Feel free to wet yourself:




Hat Tip: MY

An Inportant Point That Bears Repeating

From Sully:

"Here's Victor Davis Hanson:

"Under pressure to produce some facts and specifics, the Obama team is beginning to release a little on the economy, taxes, and new entitlements."

"Now the reason I balk at this is that I actually sat through a long Obama speech on taxes last year in Washington. I couldn't get through the details there were so many. It bored the pants off me. The notion that Obama has not released details and specifics on economic policy is a fantasy. It's a product of pundit laziness. The cocoon right seems to believe that because they haven't done their homework, Obama hasn't."

It's all laid out right here. And just to be fair here's Hillary and McCain. Yeah, I know sorting through the numbers is boring, but um, isn't that what pundits are supposed to do?

Getting Old Alert

Remember this?

Well the baby's grown up:

Thanks to the '5' for making me feel old. Sigh...

The Straight Talk Express Takes Another Turn

You know, the one thing I used to really admire about John McCain was his opposition to torture. It was principled, and no one in government knows as much about it as he does. He was adamant that under his administration the US' pro-torture policy would be abolished.

So, if that's the case, why did he vote for it?

McCain: Panders Like Mitt Romney, but doesn't have nice hair.

Have the Democrats Found a Spine?

Sorry I've been off for the last couple of days, but I've actually been doing work, believe it or not. Anyway, I was meaning to post up a surprising developing story about the House passing contempt charges against Josh Bolten and Harriet Miers, both of whom had ignored Congressional subpoenas to testify before them about White House abuses of power. The resolution passed 233-32 after the Congressional Republicans staged a walk out, complaining that the Democrats were "grandstanding". This of course was said in front of a camera crew on the steps of congress.

House Judiciary Committee Chair John Conyers also included in the resolution a recommendation for his committee to sue the White House should AG Mukasey refuse to prosecute the the contempt charges.

But wait--there's more.

The House also looks poised to let the Protect America Act lapse, should they not pass the Senate Immunity bill (which includes Telecom immunity) by midnight. While pragmatically this may not mean much,

"It might have something to do with the fact that the lapsing of the Protect America Act (PAA) won't substantially affect things at all. The old FISA law will kick back into effect. And authorizations granted under the PAA in the last six months to wiretap entire terrorist groups will stick for an entire year. In the words of House intelligence committee Chair Silvestre Reyes (D-TX), "Things will be fine.""

It would be a symbolic loss to Bush, who for the last couple of days has been putting the full court press on Congress to pass it, most recently stating that House Democrats were, "jeopardizing "the lives of countless Americans...at this moment, somewhere in the world, terrorists are planning new attacks on our country."

This type of fear-mongering has worked in the past, but it looks like the Dems, so far, look confident enough to fight back. We'll be following this situation closely...

Your Daily Load of Crap

So you've tortured someone, and it comes out that your tortured them, and thus your evidence is questionable. So what do you do? You interrogate them again:

"The Washington Post leads the paper today with a story about how a "clean team" from the FBI and the military re-interrogated the 9/11 suspects who will be put on trial on capital murder charges, collecting the same information the CIA obtained from five of the six under far harsher conditions at secret prisons.:

"To ensure that the data would not be tainted by allegations of torture or illegal coercion, the FBI and military team won the suspects' trust over the past 16 months by using time-tested rapport-building techniques, the officials said."

Yeah...won their trust. Sure they did. Sorta reminds me of how slave owing whites pre-civil war looked at their slaves:

"They look so happy, smiling and singing as they picking that cotton--they just love their master!"

Yeah, love to break a foot off in their ass.

Then Tumulty states the obvious:

"But this revelation that the government felt the need for an interrogation do-over actually hurts the Bush Administration's case in the court of international public opinion. It also jeopardizes the legitimacy of any verdict that comes out of these trials. First, it seems to acknowledge that the CIA was on shaky legal ground with what are euphemistically known as coercive interrogation techniques. Second, it raises the question: If this information was obtainable through "time-tested rapport-building techniques," why didn't they use them in the first place? (Indeed, FBI Director Robert Mueller--whose agency deals with its share of tough characters, including Saddam Hussein--told the Senate Intelligence Committee last week that his agency never uses "coercive techniques of any sort" and has found the ones it does use "sufficient and appropriate.")"

Regardless of the ruling, this case can't help but be mired in doubt. Thanks for the torture fellas!

It's Not Over Till It's Over

MY reminds us all that Hillary is far from defeated:

"Thus far, it looks like Obama really will pull off the sweep, which is good for him. But the most recent poll of Ohio shows Clinton with a big lead, and considering the convincing nature of Clinton's wins in states like Arizona, Oklahoma, and California I think you need to assume she'll win there until we see some kind of poll offering clear evidence to the contrary. Obama's put together a string of impressive wins, but it's still the case that in the Democratic Party women outnumber men, whites outnumber blacks, working class people outnumber college educated professionals, and senior citizens outnumber under-thirties. Under the circumstances, Clinton continues to be in a strong position."

Right. While I'm all about momentum, which may possibly be VERY important come convention time, the race remains close. This is still Hil's game to lose, and any thought Obama supporters might have of thinking that he's in the driver's seat are only setting them up for a big fall. Things are looking good, but the battle's only just begun.

PS: By the way, if Hillary does win, can be be civil and unbiased enough to say that she ran a hell of a race that showed grit and stamina? I know it had tons of faults, mostly springing from her overconfidence, but if she does pull it off I'll admit that she showed courage under fire. Then I'll cry.

Barack the Beagle

Uno makes history by become the first Beagle to win the Westminster Dog Show.

In his acceptance speech he thanked all the Beagles that came before him, especially Snoopy, who taught him to always believe in his dreams, particularly the ones that have you shooting down the Red Baron. Then he endorsed Barack Obama before getting in a stretch Hummer with a pack of bitches.

Hat Tip: Sully (yes, I did steal his pic)

More Problems in Hillaryland

Now her deputy manager quits.

Not saying whether it's Hillary's fault or not, I mean when you're losing you're losing, but this really looks bad when you're trying to convince people that you're the best candidate to manage a nation.

It's Alright to Laugh

Jailer tosses quadriplegic from wheelchair. He didn't believe the guy was paralyzed:




Mistakes get made sometimes--I mean remember when Ricky Bobby thought he was paralyzed?



Yes, I do have a sick sense of humor.

Sweeps Week

Well, as forecasted, it looks like Obama's swept the primaries this week, finishing up with the Potomac primary last night where he crushed Clinton, and extended his delegate lead. At his acceptance speech Obama looked ahead, past the primaries and on to the general election, bringing the pain to the McCain camp:

"When I am the nominee, I will offer a clear choice. John McCain won’t be able to say that I ever supported this war in Iraq, because I opposed it from the beginning. Senator McCain said the other day that we might be mired for a hundred years in Iraq, which is reason enough to not give him four years in the White House.

"If we had chosen a different path, the right path, we could have finished the job in Afghanistan, and put more resources into the fight against bin Laden; and instead of spending hundreds of billions of dollars in Baghdad, we could have put that money into our schools and hospitals, our road and bridges – and that’s what the American people need us to do right now.

"And I admired Senator McCain when he stood up and said that it offended his “conscience” to support the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy in a time of war; that he couldn’t support a tax cut where “so many of the benefits go to the most fortunate.” But somewhere along the road to the Republican nomination, the Straight Talk Express lost its wheels, because now he’s all for them.

"Well I’m not. We can’t keep spending money that we don’t have in a war that we shouldn’t have fought. We can’t keep mortgaging our children’s future on a mountain of debt. We can’t keep driving a wider and wider gap between the few who are rich and the rest who struggle to keep pace. It’s time to turn the page."

McCain's reply? Feeble:

"To encourage a country with only rhetoric rather than sound and proven ideas that trust in the strength and courage of free people is not a promise of hope. It is a platitude."

And what are these "sound and proven ideas" that you have Sen. McCain? I'll let Pat Buchanan paraphrase:

"The jobs are never coming back, the illegals are never going home, but we're going to have a lot more wars."

Now that's straight talk you can cry about.