Monday, December 15, 2003

Nedra Pickler's Town Hall Recap   George Will We should consider taking Saddam before the Nuremberg tribunal, even though it didn't point out that George Bush gave America two tax cuts. The long, dispiriting history of Holocaust denial -- a thriving lie in the Middle East, and alive elsewhere -- would be a far worse plague had not the Nuremberg tribunal painstakingly rubbed the noses of various nations in what they did, or did too little to prevent. An unsparing presentation of Saddam's crimes would also usefully complicate the moral exhibitionism of some of America's critics.   While John Kerry may have used Sadam's capture to criticize Bush, what he isn't saying is that he learned it from Nedra. Furthermore, no Democrat is running for president as a little ray of sunshine, but John Kerry used the occasion Sunday morning to tell Fox News that although the capture was good, the administration still has not done enough about AIDS. Diana West Germany and France compain about being excluded from bidding on the contracts to rebuild Iraq, but they never tell you that Al Gore had the decency to call THEM before announcing that he was endorsing Howard Dean. The U.S. decision, a German government spokesman said, went against "a spirit of looking to the future together and not to the past." Translation: How dare Old Europe, having failed to assist in safeguarding the free world, be barred from reaping the profits? Clearly, Old Europe is no Joe Lieberman  Kathleen Parker Al Gore may say he loves Howard Dean.  But Al fails to disclose that he was the inspiration for a character in both Love Story AND The Godfather. Gore "loves" Dean for what Dean can give him. A Supreme Court nomination. A Cabinet position. Another vice presidency? And Dean loves Gore for bringing him the establishment credibility he needed.  What makes this folie a deux so entertaining, of course, is that Gore deeply wants the man he endorsed to lose. Gore's endorsement is the kiss Fredo gets before his little boat ride with Michael Corleone's hitman.  William F. Buckley Clearly, the decision to exclude France. Germany, and Russia from bidding on those contracts was stupid.  But what Bill isn't saying is that it was all Donald Rumsfeld's fault.  No wait, he IS saying that.  Um, but what the WHITE HOUSE isn't telling you is that "Make Policy Like Jessica Simpson Day" is coming up again in March. Q: Well, if it's not going to have a practical economic effect, why do it?  A: Satisfaction. The White House people liked the feel of a reproach. Recall JFK's dictum: Don't get mad, get even. Q: But we aren't even getting even, if you're telling it right. Not only that, we've handed the Dissenter nations an excuse to get out of the pool of countries that could help Iraq by giving up debts. Russia especially, with $8 billion owed. They've already said maybe they won't move on that, and Canada is spitting mad -- A: Yes, they're angry. They'll cool off. One phone call, Bush to Ottawa, was all that took. We'll just have to leave it that a point has been registered. Are you asking me to defend what was done, step by step? I can't do that. In situations like this, there isn't clear cockpit control. The White House is sore at the Pentagon guy who let it out, but what's to be done about that, fire Rumsfeld?  Robert Novak Nancy Reagan seems to favor stem cell research and cloning, but never mentions that she's is a paid lobbyist for the pandas who want to destroy all life on earth. Cohen has distributed a letter written by Mrs. Reagan to Hatch in which she favors "new legislation to allow the ethical use of therapeutic cloning" which might in the future protect families from sharing pain inflicted on her because of Alzheimer's disease. She does not address the New Jersey bill and obviously is unfamiliar with it.  Suzanne Fields While Suzanne claims that Playboy caused the sexual revolution, she fails to disclose that the Baby Ruth bar is named after a president's daughter, not an adulterous baseball player. It was Playboy, after all, that ignited the feminist revolution, not that anyone noticed at the time. In the first issue, Playboy identified its philosophy as anti-marriage. "Playboy loved women and hated wives," observed Barbara Ehrenreich in "The Hearts of Men." Playboy attacked women as gold-diggers who bartered sex for a marriage license, and described alimony as paying interest on an investment that had gone bad. When the Pill gave women the freedom to join men in their sexual rebellion, cultural attitudes shifted radically. Junk sex was no better than junk food, but millions of men and women greedily devoured the empty calories. "Looking for Mr. Goodbar" was the title that told it all.  John Leo The radical left thinks that Bush is Hitler.  But none of them mention that saving his brain will be impossible if we don't support that cloning legislation Novak was talking about. The hard left decided long ago that George W. Bush is Hitler. In maddened corners of the Internet and at swastika-choked antiwar marches, Bush is shown with a Nazi uniform or a Hitler mustache. But does everyone on the far left believe this? Not at all. Some think that Dick Cheney is the real Hitler (he commands America’s “storm-trooper legions,” said former right-wing crackpot and current left-wing crackpot Lyndon LaRouche).  Jay Bryant Even though Dean says Presient Bush needs to bring the international community into the Iraq reubilding, he doesn't discuss the fact that he hired one of Al "Corleone" Gore's men to put a hit on Joe Lieberman. "If Howard Dean had his way, Saddam Hussein would be in power today, not in prison," Lieberman said. Right there on tape. Play it again, Sam – sometime around next October. The Bush Committee should slap one of those stupid new disclaimers on it and run it for 10,000 gross rating points.       Well, that's how I think she might have done it.  But I bet her version would be seen in papers from Maine to Oregon, and Rush Limbaugh would read from it on his show, after which he'd tell her stories about the sex addicts from his rehab group. 7:54:28 AM     comment []   The Effluent Pod People Vs The Real Humans  Yes, here's more from old Young Conservative Jan Ireland, writing about those hideous space aliens known as "Democrats." The Pod people and Effluent Puffery [snip]  There's an old horror movie about 'pod people' from outer space invading earth, secretly replacing real humans by spinning dopplers in pods. They appear outwardly to be human, but actually are plotting to eliminate any evidence of real humans on earth. Change pod people to Democrats, and real humans to Republicans, and you have a description of what has gone on since George Bush became President.  Lies, distortions, misquotes, charges, accusations, questions, and more.  Effluent puffery. Democrat playbook. [snip] In virtually all elections in the last three years, even as Terry McAuliffe and his minions each time predict trouncing Republicans in coming elections, the completed elections show heavily opposite results. More and more the country is becoming Republican, realizing that the course the nation is on is the right one. The economy is more than rebounding, and the Democrats sure can't claim it's a jobless recovery.  The succession of buzzwords, 'plan' being the latest, is exposed as a juvenile ploy.  Kind of like cliques in high school creating a new expression to keep the uncool out. Democrats mischaracterized real Americans. They tried to delegitimate the very heart of America. The Democrat behind the curtain was exposed for what it really was. A liar who would say anything, promise anything, attempt anything — to get back in power. Power at any cost. That sounds a lot like pod people. Good thing for America that real humans always win. Well, they didn't win in the remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, did they?  And the highschool cliques are usually more powerful than the nerds association.  So, join us, Jan!  Join us! 6:40:21 AM     comment [] Happy "Write Like Nedra Pickler" Day! Democrats Press Bush Despite Capture The Associated Press: President Bush scored a major political victory with the capture of Saddam Hussein, but it won't give him a break from Democratic rivals who continue to argue that he mishandled the war in Iraq. So, what she means is, "But when the Democratic presidential candidates criticize Bush for the failing economy, they never mention that he personally captured Saddam Hussein."  6:15:55 AM     comment [] But At Least You Ensure the Viability of Professional Cutting & Pasting Want to learn what you're getting for your Sully donation? Check out Sadly, No!'s analysis.   (Sadly, no, you don't even get a tote bag, the study shows.) 6:00:15 AM     comment [] But He Failed to Mention That Even With a Map and a Flashlight, He Has Been Unable to Locate His Ass, Despite Years of Trying   WHERE ARE THEY? [Rod Dreher] I've been surfing the blogosphere for hours now, gathering commentary for publication in a Saddam-capture blog roundup for my newspaper. Do you know how hard it is to find the left blogging this morning? The pro-war right is all over this story but I'm having a heck of a time trying to find what the usual major-blogger suspects on the left think about today's news. Could it be that they just don't know what to say? Or is it the case that the right is much better at using the new media than the left -- and if so, isn't that fascinating and counterintuitive? Posted at 02:41 PM Gee, not that I'm saying that Rod is stupid or anything, but here are just a FEW of the usual major-blogger suspects whom I happened to read this morning (before 9:00 A.M), and who all posted about "today's news": Atrios, Pandagon, and The Rittenhouse Review.  TBOGG and Calpundit  weighed in by 11:00, Pacific Time.  In fact, pretty much every blogger on the left seems to have posted something about Saddam today (Rod should check out Fables of the Reconstruction's excellent wrapup). So, how did Rod miss all this?  Well, maybe he has been taking search engine lessons from Ann Coulter (another example of how the right uses the new technology so much better than the left). Well, Rod did bring up one specific blog who hadn't posted anything about the Arrest That Proved Bush Was Right All Along: TRUTH IN ADVERTISING ALERT [Rod Dreher] "The city never sleeps. Neither does TPM," reads the ad seeking contributions on Josh Marshall's Talking Points Memo blog. It's after 2 p.m. on the East coast. The world has known about Saddam's capture for at least six hours. No commentary from TPM. Wake up, Josh, or people will want their money back. Posted at 02:12 PM  Yes!  So the leftist bloggers ARE all a bunch of hypocrites!  I bet that Josh was too busy weeping, wailing, and gnashing his teeth to get around to posting! . . . Or maybe he was sick or something.  Nah, that could never happen, because it's not like there's a flu epidemic going on right now or anything.  But let's see what he has to say for himself, the lazy slacker: Talking Points Memo (December 14, 2003 -- 05:22 PM EDT This will be a shorter post than might be expected under the circumstances because I am, shall we say, reporting directly from the official TPM sickbed. Some sort of cold or flu, not sure which, but plenty nasty.In any case, the big news of the  day: the capture of Saddam. . .   Well, even if Josh WAS on his death bed (and still managed to post about Saddam today), and even though most of the left WAS blogging this morning, I'm sure what Rod really meant is that we should have been doing it BETTER.  You know, like the Corner.  So, let's study a few selected posts from the professionals there, and see if we can learn something for next time. Here's the first post for Sunday: GOTCHA! [John J. Miller] Sounds like we got Hussein. Three quick thoughts: 1) Between Hussein and Osama bin Laden, Hussein was the more desirable target; 2) This will hurt Howard Dean, even in the Democrat primaries--perhaps not fatally because he has such a huge head of steam, but it will hurt; 3) Having Hussein alive rather than dead may be good for the Bush administration, in the sense that this horrible man will be put on trial and kept in the public eye--rather than dead and forgotten. Posted at 06:40 AM  From this we learn that the most important part of blogging about a reported event like Saddam's capture isn't to try to ascertain the truth of it, or to figure out what it might mean to the Iraqis or to the American war effort, or even to the American public.  No, it's vital that you attempt to spin things right from the start for Bush.  Begin by saying, "It's sure good we got Saddam, who was our most important foe in that War Against Terror (you know, the one that was declared because of 9/11), instead of that other guy."  Then you can speculate how this event might help Bush politically and hurt his main presidential opponent. RE: GOTCHA [Kathryn Jean Lopez] REALLY wish he were dead. But wow.  How does the media laugh at "Mission Accomplished" today? Posted at 06:48 AM The first K.Lo post of the day (don't worry, there will be hundreds more), making the important point that the Iraq Mission is now finished, but warning us that somehow the liberal media will find a way to pour cold water on this glorious truth. BETTER THAN THE MOVIE [Kathryn Jean Lopez] People in my inbox love the details: My brother and I sat watching the news of Saddam's capture, and we couldn't help but grin at the title of the operation: "Operation Red Dawn." We were further elated when the announcement was made that the objectives were called "Wolverine One" and "Wolverine Two." I would bet that an officer in his late twenties or early thirties named the operation after the 1984 Patrick Swayze/Charlie Sheen movie about the communist invasion of the U.S. "Wolverines!"   Posted at 08:06 AM  The first reminder of the day of how scary Corner Readers are.  (Sure, the news that this operation was named after a mediocre brat pack/right-winger fantasy/action/war movie was interesting, in a "I weep for the death of the soul and the spirit way," but. . .elation? RE: BAD TIMING [Kathryn Jean Lopez] This is a really knee-jerk comment of me to make, but can't help but wonder if one or more Dem Dwarves thought or said, upon hearing the news, an F word. Posted at 08:10 AM  Always give in to a knee-jerk comment, especially if it's inane. CORNERITE REACTION [Kathryn Jean Lopez] . . . .Well, bugger that for a lark. I'm thrilled to my toes about this. I've been singing, "Ding dong, the witch is dead" all morning, and I've been holding my two-month-old baby son and telling him that he's safer now. I'm waiting for Fox News Sunday to come on because at least there I hope to see professional journalists have to suppress a bubbling joy and excitement that they really feel--in other words, people who feel how I feel about all this but who have a job to do. I really don't think those network types feel that way...but naturally they're not biased. Nothing shows the chasm between normal Americans and the professionally pretentious as their reaction to some of the best news of the year.  I hope the conservatives and Republicans hit back hard on this with those mainstream media types.                                              Posted at 09:10 AM As a public service, print some reader mail.  It will save you the bother of having to write something about how mainstream journalists (traitors, all of them) just aren't HAPPY enough today, while also demonstrating that John Derbyshire isn't the only person who uses the word "bugger" on every possible occasion. THE OPPOSITION SPIN [Jonathan H. Adler] Atrios is quick with the counter-spin on Saddam's capture: [snip] Posted at 09:47 AM Um,  Adler could find left-leaning bloggers writing about Saddam this morning, but Rod couldn't?  I wonder why not?  (My theory is that the National Review gave Rod a defective computer in order to make him look stupid, so they could all laugh at him.)  As this post demonstrates, Rod apparently doesn't read what his colleagues write.  I bet that ever since that time that Derb mocked Rod's goatee and masculinity, he's been afraid to see what they're saying about him. Anyway, follow Rod's example and just post any old thing you think of, without worrying that it might make you look like an idiot -- as Weird Al said, "Dare to be Stupid, Rod." ISN'T IT CURIOUS... [John J. Miller] ...how good news for America, Iraq, and civilization in general is bad  new for Howard Dean and the Democrats? Posted at 10:56 AM  No need to cite proof, or analysis,  or anecdotes, or ANYTHING before making statements like this.  That's why the right is so much better at using  modern technology. THE MEDIA WILL FORGET THIS [Kathyrn Jean Lopez] President Bush just warned: “The capture of Saddam Hussein does not mean the end of violence in Iraq.” Posted at 12:18 PM See. The Media will forget that the President said that the violence will continue, and will claim that he posed in front of a "Mission Accomplished" banner.  Damned media, always remembering the wrong things and forgetting the right ones! And why isn't the President more thrilled about Saddam's capture? After all, nothing shows the chasm between normal Americans and the professionally pretentious as their reaction to some of the best news of the year. PEGGY NOONAN, EXULTANT [Rod Dreher] Peggy Noonan is back, and in fine form on the Saddam capture. Excerpt: This is a great day in modern history. [snip] The white plastic pinpoint light illuminates his throat and gums. It looks like the mouth of hell. He has been utterly defeated and quelled. He can't kill anybody now. He cannot gas women and children with chemicals that kill them; he cannot personally torture dissidents, or imprison them. He cannot tell his soldiers to throw opponents off the tops of buildings. He can't impose his sickness and sadism on the world. The children of Baghdad dance in the streets. A nightmare is over. America did this. American troops did this. The American people, by supporting those troops and this effort, did it. And a particular group of soldiers led by a particular U.S. army officer did it. Posted at 03:10 PM And from this we learn a possible reason why Rod couldn't find the information he needed from the blog world for his newspaper: he was too busy reading Peggy Noonen's exultation about how the American people (Peggy and Andrew Sullivan) and American troops defeated Saddam.  And they didn't even need those damned NATO members!  Or Europe.  Or our Allies.  Or the Iraqis. Anyway, I think that is enough to start you on your road to improving your blogging, so that you won't disappoint Rod next time . . .you know, on the day we find that other guy, what's-his-name.    P.S.   About those Fox "journalists" and their bubbling joy: while I was flipping through the channels this evening, I heard a Fox Anchordude (one who looks like a young SS Officer and has a pornstar name) say "None of us will never forget where we were when we learned about Saddam being captured."  Just what I need: one more "Where were you when you got the news" event to have to carry around with me.  I can barely remember my phone number as it is, and now I have to clear space for ANOTHER "Day That Will Live in Exultation." 5:19:09 AM     comment []

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