Dry-Rot of the Elites

In his new book, "Unholy Alliance", David Horowitz names the intellectual disorder which the Elites have dared not speak: the guilt and self-loathing that paralyzes the "Soft Left" in the War on Terror, and the outright collusion by the "Hard Left" with Islamofascism:

http://www.frontpagemag.com/

It's not surprising that the Hard Left takes this stand: in their warped and dark psyche, America, or rather, AmeriKKKa, is a rapacious plutocracy, a scourge sweeping the Earth killing all in its path, and surpressing its own people. To the Hard Left, the United States must fall so that a vanguard elite can create from its ashes a Utopia for the masses. You know, Das Tausend Jahren Reich, the Dictatorship of the Proletariat, Socialism with a Human Face, that kind of Utopia. Where the great thinkers and revolutionaries build a fair society. And they get first dibs on the goodies, because their work of enlightenment requires it.

Can the Soft Left grow some spine and repudiate them? Remember the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks?

Just a 3rd-Rate Forgery...

Parallels Drawn Between CBS Memos, Texan's Postings (washingtonpost.com):

"In an Aug. 21 posting, Burkett referred to a conversation with former senator Max Cleland (D-Ga.) about the need to counteract Republican tactics: 'I asked if they wanted to counterattack or ride this to ground and outlast it, not spending any money. He said counterattack. So I gave them the information to do it with. But none of them have called me back.'

Cleland confirmed that he had a two- or three-minute conversation by cell phone with a Texan named Burkett in mid-August while he was on a car ride. He remembers Burkett saying that he had 'valuable' information about Bush, and asking what he should with it. 'I told him to contact the [Kerry] campaign,' Cleland said. 'You get this information tens of times a day, and you don't know if it is legit or not.' "

What Did Dan Rather Know, and When Did He Know It?

The documents are fake, now traced to a fax machine in an Abeliene, Texas Kinko's. The elderly secretary, who is certain that that W was given the rich-boy ride in the Guard, has also said that W was "selected not elected" in 2000.

"It's a slam-dunk!", shouts Rather at the morning editor's meeting high atop Black Rock, "trust me on this one."

The Moorean Spin of the Manchurian Candidate.

You knew this would be modern Hollywood's twist to the Frankenheimer classic.

Megan Lehmann's review of Demme's remake of the Manchurian Candidate:

"In order to retain the brand recognition of the title, yet get around the lack of communist bad guys, the filmmakers turn to today's popular stand-by villain - big business. In this case, it's a faceless but awesomely powerful private equity fund called Manchurian Global which, in a clear allusion to Halliburton and the Carlyle Group, is accused of war profiteering."

Let's check Demme for a chip in the shoulder, implanted by the 3XL conglomerate MooreOn.org...

Where Have You Gone, Joey Lieberman?

Dispelling any illusions that The War on Terror is mostly about diplomacy and criminal justice, or reforming our evil ways towards the Islamic world, Joe Lieberman said during his small slot at the Dem's convention -

Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman's Address to the Democratic National Convention:

"...we were brutally attacked by Islamist terrorists who hate us more than they love their own lives; fanatics who are as great a threat to our security and freedom as the Nazis and Communists we defeated in the last century (emphasis added). Make no mistake: This war, like those earlier conflicts, is a war of values. Our enemies reject values, our founding faith that every child on earth is endowed by our creator with the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

Joe Lieberman is the last leaf on the once-mighty oak of Liberal Hawks: Truman, JFK, and Henry "Scoop" Jackson.

Despite Unprecedented Security, Toxic Gas Envelops Fleet Center

Like a binary nerve agent, Hil & Bill's blabber made one's vision blur, teeth clench, mouth salvivate uncontrolably, and bladder and bowels promptly void.
A typical Slick speech: a deluge of wonknuggets and factoids to damn W and the GOP - and not one statement you're sure you can believe. One can suffer the bombast on domestic issues, the pothole stuff. But the attack on foreign policy - irreconcilable hostility (and by inference hostility toward our allies Britain, Australia, Italy) - it's just wrong, Slick. Did I hear you right - that W used post-911 unity to pass the tax cuts??

The dog ate the Fox News invitation?
 
C-SPAN televised the Umteenth Preconvention Gathering of the TV News Anchorcritters at the JFK School for Gummint (a tip of the hat to Walt Kelly!). In attendance were Dan, Tom, Peter, Jim (People's Broadcasting System), and Judy (CNN). But wait - where was Fox's Brit Hume? OK, I guess it was restricted to over-the-air broadcasters...uh no, wait... Judy's there. Well, Brit wouldn't have attended anyway, right? Too busy plotting with the Vast Right Wing Cabal to whip up war fever against Iran...And what about our favorite skunk under the picnic table, Bernie Goldberg? No where in sight. I guess Dan Rather laid down the law.

Given the event is across the river from Beantown, the room was overrun by Dems. No familiar personel from the Psychotic Right, like Mort Kondracke. Hard hitting questions such as: 1. Peter, do you think the media is biased? ("Why no, of course not! Were fair and balanced!"), 2. Why weren't you tougher on the Administration on the follow-up to the Iraq War? 3. Don't you think Right-Wing Conglomerates are taking over the media? 4. Why aren't the networks providing continuous coverage of our week-long infomercial?

Al Franken was in attendance, collecting autographs. Why is it he could just recite the current barometric pressure and this crowd would howl with laughter?

The Left sees the "black helicopters", too:
 
So I went to see F911. I went to the art film house near the Michigan campus, since I didn't want to encourage a real capitalist theatre franchise to continue to show it. I figured the State Street Theatre will gobble up this kind of stuff anyway and besides they need the money to replace the seating which I swear was made for the hindquarters of the jockey Eddie Shoemaker.

Richard Cohen, columnist for the Post and no friend o' W, began his recent column about F911, "Baloney, Moore or Less":

"I brought a notebook with me when I went to see Michael Moore's 'Fahrenheit 9/11' and in the dark made notes before I gave up, defeated by the utter stupidity of the movie..."

It really is that bad. It reminded me of the infamous Vince Foster murder video that was put out by the lunatic fringe of the right during the Clintonschena (age of Clinton). I am totally flabbergasted at how such a piece of conspiracy dreck can can get such attention from otherwise serious people.

I felt sorry for the woman featured in the "film" who lost her son in Iraq - you certainly could sympathize with her. She was angry for losing her son, and she reacted how many mothers would in this circumstance. But I also felt that Mikey was exploiting her. There is a curious scene where she travels to the White House to find some venue for her anger and frustration. It's clearly arranged with Moore to be filmed - fine - that is between Moore and his subject. But there also appears in the clip a girl filming the filmmaker - had Moore brought his camp followers of publicists? Wait, I better stop before I start seeing visions of Freemasons and Bilderbergs dancing in my sleep...

A Treasure Chest of Conservative Thought, Politcs, Art, and Faith
If you find yourself with some distemper after watching the Crossfire-Hannity&Combes-Hardball flak screamcasts, recall that not so long ago there was a program on television that provided true sustenance for mind and soul:
Hoover Institution Library and Archives: Firing Line broadcast archives

Could a program like Firing Line be sustained these days?

Sic Transit Gloria Moorae

My entry for the Michael Moore's Final Hour contest:

Mikey will travel to Fallujah, to film his crockumentary, "The Minutemen of the Sunni Triangle". He will win another "Palm d'Whore", whereupon he will journey back to Fallujah to celebrate with his lionized colleagues. Then, in tribute and appreciation to Mr. Moore, his proteges will behead him.

Divide and Conquer

BostonHerald: Vets fume over Quincy smoke ban plan

Impressive strategery here: first get it banned in public spaces, such as bars and restaurants, then use the defeated as soldiers to attack private clubs. It reminds me of schoolyard bullies using their newly-vanquished toadies to torment the remaining victims.

Smoking bans, in both public and private places, are a bad idea. They're based on dubious statistics, and threaten basic liberties like freedom of association and control of private property. And when you scratch away the patina of the public health arguement, the real force behind the anti-smoking crusade is "aesthetic bigotry" - that fashionable, sophisticated people are entitled to a live in a world that caters exclusively to their tastes and prejudices.

Michigan's state senate is now considering a bill (S-186) to ban smoking in bars and restaurants. May it die a swift death.

The Mansions of the Lord

During the Gipper's funeral at the National Cathedral, there
was a moment - punctuated by this music by Nick Glennie-Smith - at which I really broke down and wept:

NPR : Reagan Services's 'Mansions of the Lord'

With the lyrics by Randall Wallace:

To fallen soldiers let us sing
Where no rockets fly nor bullets wing
Our broken brothers let us bring
To the Mansions of the Lord

No more bleeding, no more fight
No prayers pleading through the night
Just divine embrace, eternal light
To the Mansions of the Lord.

Where no mothers cry and no children weep
We will stand and guard though the angels sleep
Through the ages safely keep
The Mansions of the Lord.

I miss Ronald Reagan very, very much.

A Wave of Flag Desecration?

Desecrated Flag slated to be burned; vandals strike again

We'll keep an eye on this over the next few weeks...

Hillary tells SF fans that those that have benefitted in excess from the tax cuts will have this benefit taken away for the "common good":

Yahoo! News - San Francisco Gives Clintons Warm Welcome

This is the Left's view of wealth: that the rich just hoard it, counting and recounting it like Scrooge McDuck. To paraphrase scripture, if we could show that just one righteous man used his tax cut to expand his business and give someone a job, would they spare all from their fire and brimstone?

I've got a better idea: how about a program where people could volunteer to increase their tax bracket to seventy or ninety percent? So, Hil, if you feel that passionate about it...

Why a Francocentric world is good thing to avoid:

WSJ OpinionJournal - Sudan: The alternative to U.S. "unilateralism" and "hegemony" is catastrophe

To say nothing of the European neglect of Rwanda and Yugoslavia. What level of cataclysm does it take for the world to appreciate the cyncism of the old continental powers?

The "Yellowcake Story" turns out to a little more complicated than just a scam on the US intelligence services:

The New York Times > Intelligence backs claim Iraq tried to buy uranium

Combined with the little-publicized conclusion of the Kay report, namely that WMD programs were in place and active, the case against Iraq on WMD is stronger than the common folklore suggests.

Both Yemen and Jordan have indicated that they would
send troops to Iraq
(Washington Post article).

This is a big deal, but seems to be nearly invisible in the news. This is Jordan and Yemen saying that they (i) acknowledge the legitimacy of Iraq's interim government, and that (ii) its security and stability is their interest (and in the interest of the Arab world). They are now unambiguously telling the rest the Arabs as much. So much for the claim of puppetry in Baghdad.

Christopher Hitchens is an interesting guy. In "Book Notes", by Brian Lamb, he is shown writing on his laptop in a Washington DC watering hole, martini at DefCon 3 near his hand. He used to write for the Nation and appeared to be irreconcilably hard-left. Then came 9/11. Hitchens understood the nature of the enemy and what the stakes were: the survival of democratic civilization. He took his leave from the Nation:

Taking Sides, By Christopher Hitchens

Enter Michael Moore and his crockumentary, F911 (I will not call it by its stolen name out of respect to Ray Bradbury). Here's Hitchens' take, probably the most-linked excoriation of this dreck spewer:

Unfairenheit 9/11 - The lies of Michael Moore, By Christopher Hitchens

Chris, we still disagree about the Gipper, KIssinger and Mother Theresa, but I count you as an ally in good standing in World War III.

Cos' reality check:

CNN.com - Bill Cosby has more harsh words for black community - Jul 1, 2004

So let's make this real clear: Cos has identified an extemely important obstacle to true equal
rights. This behavior is the fuel-of-choice for racist fear mongering. A related issue is the "slobification" of all popular culture, but a conversation in the black community about its particular manifestation of this may have tremendous leverage for society-wide discussion.

By the way CNN, the term "tirade" indicates a protracted speech marked by intemperate, vituperative, or harshly censorious language...really? How about "frank comments"? A little less pejorative. Perhaps a little more fair and balanced (gasp!)?

So where is the liberal outrage of the agony of Dafur?

Next in Darfur (washingtonpost.com)

NAACP, SCLC, Jesse, please call your offices...