They aren't all sick...

Alec Baldwin has fired off some harsh words in the past - words that, quite frankly, probably mean that I wouldn't vote for him if he were up for an election where I vote. That said, he also has class, as he recently has shown.

Arrow is ready...

Iran and Syria are running out of time. Israel has developed its missile-defense system, the Arrow, and now they are getting ready for trouble.

We're probably as ready as we can be, too. The only question is timing. Iran has 15 hostages, and their safety has to be considered.

I wish I had seen this...

The South Park episode featuring Hillary Clinton must have been a riot. I normally do not link to WorldNetDaily, but this is a worthy exception.

Gotta love Matt and Trey, the comedic geniuses on this era. I gotta introduce my nephews to the show sometime.

One would hope...

That the only consideration the British are giving the Iranian demands is in how to reject them.

Might I suggest, "Yob tvoyu maht, Mahmoud"?

The tension mounts...

Tony Blair's not about to back down.

The comparisons by the left to their conspiracy theories about the Gulf of Tonkin is amazing. Can it get worse?

WWJAD?

Tony Blair may, eventually, get annoyed with the Iranians over their act of piracy.

In the meantime, a former First Sea Lord , Alan West, stated:

The rules are very much de-escalatory, because we don't want wars starting.

This, of course, begs the question "What if the other guy really, really wants a war?"

West went on, displaying a stunning grasp of the obvious:

So we try to downplay things. Rather then roaring into action and sinking everything in sight we try to step back and that, of course, is why our chaps were effectively able to be captured and taken away . . . If we find this is going to be a standard practice we need to think very carefully about what rules of engagement we want and how we operate. One can't allow as a standard practice nations to capture a nation's servicemen. That is clearly wrong.

The answer to West's conundrum, IMNHO, can be found by answering the following question:

What Would Jack Aubrey Do?

Two highly recommended shows...

A user at Clickcaster has two sets of podcasts. The first and second series are both excellent shows.

The first episodes are at the bottom of the page. Work your way up. They can also be downloaded, but the format only reliably works with Quicktime.

That said, it is worth the frustration. These are excellent shows.

One for the DL?

Laynce Nix, whose bat has looked a lot like a pre-developed Bill Hall's, may be headed to the DL to start the season.

Surprised? Not me. These are the Brewers we are discussing.

One week to Opening Day.

OK, somebody help me out here...

OK, I'm at wit's end here.

The Democrats want the US to withdraw from Iraq.

al-Qaeda wants the US to withdraw from Iraq.

This means that either al-Qaeda is an ally of the United States, or that the Democrats are . . .

(The final clause of the above sentence is left as an exercise for the reader.)

A cancer double-whammy...

Cindy Seipp dies of lung cancer and now John Edwards has cancelled an event for a noon announcement about his wife.

The latter, quite frankly, does not sound good. My condolences and prayers go out to Cindy Seipp's family. My prayers are with Mrs. Edwards.

Putin comes through...

In what seems to be a classic case of "Good cop, bad cop", Russia has pulled out of the Iranian nuclear project.

I'm going to vent a little. On the right, there has been a streak of Putin Derangement Syndrome, in which he has been taken to task constantly. Never mind the fact that the sales to Iran really did little to make them more dangerous (China, by providing C-802 missiles, and North Korea, which sold ballistic misiles, probably have done more for Iran). A lot of them forgot that the Cold War ended in 1991, and we won.

The fact is, we have big fish to fry, to wit, the war on Islamofacism. A key ally in this is going to be Russia. They not only have better HUMINT capabilities than the United States does, we can also get their help in other areas (like cutting off spare parts to countries like Syria, Sudan, and Iran).

In this case, Putin has come through for us. He also managed to help the Russians make a fair bit of cash off this. It was played very well, and it is safe to assume that we probably got a fair bit of intelligence as well.

There's a lesson to be learned in this. Jumping to conclusions and demanding purity are good ways to lose friends. Putin might not be an angel, but he's not hostile towards us. There's no need to pick fights with him.

Cleaning up the mess...

Don Surber discusses the latest in the Gonzales non-scandal. That said, I think his post contains another important admission: He jumped the gun when he demanded that Gonzales be fired over this.

This has become typical of conservatives, and some are more guilty of this than others. When Tom DeLay became the subject of a politically-motivated indictment by a prosecutor who had a track record of such cases (including targeting a Republican senator who had won a special election), he was thrown overboard. In essence, the Democrats got a lot from this. One of the best GOP strategists was taken off the board for the foreseeable future, and they managed to reinforce the notion that the GOP was corrupt through allegations.

They were attacking Gonzales because they got DeLay. They went after DeLay because they got away with their frivolous charges against Newt Gingrich.

And of course, people also noted how quickly DeLay was tossed overboard. They became less likely to stick their necks out for the GOP.

The only folks who gained any benefits were the Democrats. Loyalty matters, folks.

AJ Strata on immigration myths...

AJ-Strata talks Jeff Jacoby's column. It is worth reading both AJ's post and the column he has linked to.

Jacoby's got a valid point. We're in very high emplyoment. We're short of labor, and we can either choose inflation, or getting more folks to work. He's made a great point about the class warfare being waged as well.

For soem people, this is about forcing business to redistribute its money in a manner favored by the folks makign the demands. They cloak their comments in platitudes about the "rule of law", yet at the same time, they have no inclination to change the law at all.

A bad move...

The Brewers are sending Ryan Braun to the minors to start the season.

Never mind that he is the best offensive option available at third base, and led the majors in homers and RBIs in the Cactus League. Despite missing a week when his elbow was sore (mostly as a precaution).

The NL Central is a place where every win counts. The Brewers are making a bad call here.

More pinch-blogging...

I will be doing some more pinch-blogging, this time at MacsMind. Please check it out.

Cruising for an ass-kicking...

Iran seems to considering the idea of kidnapping American troops.

Not smart, but to be expected, given the comments Ahmadinejad has made.

Hank Williams, Jr., once did a song called "Don't Give Us A Reason". Methinks a version with changed lyrics would be timely.

Talking Iraq and DADT...

Austin Bay discusses both the don't ask, don't tell policy (and General Pace's comments) and Iraq. I also cover the Pace controversy at Strategypage. Some bloggers on the right need to re-take Military 101.

Why a guest-worker plan makes sense...

AJ-Strata discusses one of his experiences with getting work on his house done. It is a good anecdotal account in favor of a guest-worker program.

His thoughts are put far better than I can about the folks who cry "rule of law" in opposition to the President. In essence, when there are terrorists trying to kill us, it makes no sense to go after janitors, nannies, and landscapers.

Of course, some people might ask where I left my principles, or they will think that because they are standing on principle, they are above any criticism. I think there may be plenty to criticize on their part. Their ability to set priorities, for starters, followed closely by their sense of proportion.

Stopping the knife...

The Senate Republicans held off an attempt to stab the troops in the back.

Final vote: 50-48 in favor of the troops. Two Democrats and one independent voting for the troops. One Republican got squishy.

Checkmating the commissars, part two...

AJ-Strata has followed up on his original post.

He correctly notes that Bush has doen a lot more for conservatism than Reagan has. His thanks was to be pilloried by self-appointed commissars, and it turned a lot of moderates off while convincing enough conservatives to sit 2006 out to "teach the GOP a lesson".

As such, the candidates of choice for the commissars are way behind the pack. The three major contenders are Rudy Giuliani, arguably to the left of 95% of the GOP on social issues; John McCain, who has routinely poked the hard right in the eye; and Mitt Romney, a recent convert. Irish Pennants also talks about this apparent shift by rank-and-file Republicans.

When they piled on good people who were willing to serve their country like Colin Powell, Harriet Miers, Julie Myers, and even President Bush, and got the Congressional GOP to go along, they ticked off a lot of people. They literally banked that a focus on social conservatism could bring home 2006.

They failed, and now they must pay the price for that failure. Unlike those who failed Ernst Salvo Blofeld, they will not be dumped into a pond full of piranhas or blown away by a semiautomatic pistol. Instead, the GOP will make it very clear that their issues are no longer on the front burner.

The surge is working...

Strategypage has a recap of the initial results of the surge. So far, it is working.

At the same time, we have the Democrats trying to force a timetable for withdrawl from there. In essence, they want to throw away the victory that our troops have won on the battlefield.

While Iraq is the military campaign in the headlines, the decisive battle in the war on terror is going to be fought here in the United States. We can project our power and more than hold our own against the thugs of al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups. But the media and the politicians can throw away that hard work.

In essence, if the Demcorats are unable to make a timetable stick, the U.S. will win. If they can force a timetable, then the war on terror is in serious jeopardy.

The real reason for the scandal?

MacsMind has an interesting post on the real reason for the Democrats taking up for the fired U.S. Attorneys.

It's worth noting that these investigations were going on. Perhaps Gonzales was getting close to some REAL leakers who had doen REAL damage.

Checkmating conservative commissars...

AJ-Strata is someone I link to a lot. I had the honor of pinch-blogging for him last week. His post on Giuliani is well worth reading.

In essence, I am one of those deemed "impure" by a bunch of self-appointed commissars, which included Laura Ingraham, as well as some folks online. I have stopped posting/participating outside occasional lurking at two major forums, largely because I have gotten sick of demands for conformity.

The commissars are about to get checkmated by the Republican party. They will try to make things nasty, but the Democrats have their fringes, too. And while the GOP is busy checkmating their fringe elements, the Democrats defer to them (see the Nevada forum fuss).

The right had its chance to be the senior partner in the center-right coalition. They blew it by showing a piss-poor sense of priorities and atrocious judgement. Now, the center will be the senior partner.

It's back...

Hillary is claiming the vast right-wing conspiracy is back.

Back when she first made that crack, it was worth a chuckle. But now she's asking the American people to elect her to the highest office in the land. And so we need to look at whether or not she is the right person for the job.

Comments like "vast right-wing conspiracy" make me very worried. She may decide that this conspiracy needs to be dealt with. In one sense, she is going to make the GOP's job easier in 2008. In another, it could become very ugly.

Two things at Strategypage...

I discuss both lawfare's move to Western Europe and CAGW's badly misplaced priorities at Strategypage.

As the surge succeeds...

AJ-Strata, back from his vacation, talks about how the surge is succeeding.

The contrast cannot be clearer at this point. Petraeus is succeeding, meanwhile, the Democrats want to pull the rug out from under him.

This will not go over well. Maybe they could get away with it when there were just the big three networks. But there are a lot of other players... and they can get stuff out.

Circular firing squad on the left...

It seems the Democrats have problems of their own. If they try to please their base, they will get hammered through the loss of centrist and "Blue Dog" members. If they do not, their base either goes Green Party, or runs primaries that cost them the moderate/"Blue Dog" districts.

It gets even more likely, because thay have stripped the Iran provisions from the bill.

This could be fun to watch.

Trying to take down Rudy...

The latest attempt to take down Rudy Giuliani is going to fall flat. The reasons are simple:


1. The social conservative wing of the GOP pretty much called the shots from 2005-2006, and the GOP lost Congress. Ernst Stavro Blofeld said in You Only Live Twice, "This organization does not tolerate failure." What is more intolerable is when those who led them to failure demand that they do the same thing as the last time, only taking a harder line.


2. People already have an idea about this, or they have decided that his positions on social issues are far less important than his ability to fight and win the war on terror. In essence, the hard-core Giuliani-haters are making the wrong argument.

3. The method being used by some of the hard-core Giuliani critics is going to turn people off. By labeling Giuliani's supporter's sell-outs, and implying a lack of principle, they're only going to cause Giuliani's supporters to close ranks. Mitt Romney's approach of stating his own views will work much better.

But can Romney overcome Giuliani's huge lead? It is possible. He does have the kind of organization that can help him win Iowa and make a very good showing in New Hampshire. He also has proven he can raise money, and a lot of Jeb Bush's people are with him, giving him an edge in Florida.

The race is really between Romney and Giuliani. Either way it turns out, the GOP will have nominated a good candidate.

300's triumph...

The movie 300 set a box-office record for March. The producers got a good film together based on a damn good story. I'm going to go see it this coming weekend (the opening-day crowds tend to be a bit much).

The critics who panned it have got to be eating some crow.

Sounds of spring...

As the last of the snow melts away in the DC area, the sounds of spring continue to get louder in Arizona.

Check out Strata-Sphere...

I have been pinch-blogging at Strata-Sphere all week (linked on my blogroll). It's been great, although I do miss AJ's take on things.

It has been a great experience, and I want to thank AJ for the opportunity.

Kicking a habit...

Geoff Jenkins used to use a leg lift. His offense declined. Now he's stopped, and the offense has returned.

Who'd have thunk it?

Brewers update...

Vinny Rottino's apparently about to get a break. He did pretty well... hopefully we'll see him on Milwaukee's bench, where he will be valuable. Now, if Ryan Braun can just get back out on the field.

Long list of suspects...

It seems that the reporter who committed suicide was looking into arms sales to Iran and Syria (and thus, a possible pipeline to Hezbollah and Hamas). This means that Iran and Syria could be considered suspects in this case - if it is a homicide and not the suicide.

Of course, there are those who seem all too willing to blame Vladimir Putin for anything not to their liking - or any journalist who gets hurt or killed. It is not on par with Bush Derangement Syndrome, but when there are real bad guys out there, nagging Putin just doesn't make sense.

Pit bull attacked...

And not just any pit-bull mix, it was Rachael Ray's pit-bull mix. Ms. Ray went to the defense of her dog. Thankfully, both she and her dog are apparently okay.

Moose bags chopper...

Over in Alaska, a moose being tranquilized charged the chopper. It created a messy situation, to say the least.

The moose found out the hard way that choppers are not good things to charge. Hopefully, the chopper pilot learned to climb out of the moose's effective range.

More deliberations...

The Libby jury is still deliberating.

There are two things about this whole trial that really are bad for the country.

1. The way that Patrick Fitzgerald went rogue. There was no crime. The identity of the leaker was known before he even was named as special prosecutor.

2. The fact that people are looking at this and ruling out a career in public service. Why get involved when this sort of thing will happen? There is far less hassle and far more pay in the private sector.

LCS overruns... again.

Strategypage discusses the cost overruns on the Littoral Combat Ship.

The decline of American shipbuilding is a serious matter. We're not talking about pizza pans or some consumer product to make life easier. Here, we are talking about the ships that makes the seas safe for the merchant vessels that carry out trade, some American, some from other countries.

That said, we do need to ask some hard questions of the Clinton Administration. Why did they set things on a path so that there was no choice but to retire dozens of Perry-class frigates, Spruance-class destroyers, and even some Los Angeles-class attack submarines? Why were some of the upgrades to the F-14 Tomcat never made? Why were so many production lines allowed to stop and vanish forever into history?

One of Rumsfeld's biggest mistakes was letting some of this continue. In some cases, it got worse with such things as down-grading the armament on those Perry-class frigates we were keeping. Quite frankly, given thehole he was in, he probably deserves credit for accomplishing all he did.

One thing should be clear in all of this: Elect a Democrat as President, and you get a hollow military that will take time to rebuild. Time that you may not have, as we leanred on September 11, 2001.

McCain's weaseling... again...

McCain's victory in the South Carolina straw poll is somewhat tainted by the stench of some low blows his people pulled. Article VI Blog recapped some of the shots fired by his supporters, and last week discussed comments by McCain and Giuliani about whether Romney's religion should be an issue.

Giuliani fielded the question himself, and gave a good answer. McCain sent out a flunky to do his talking. That sort of thing speaks volumes to me. Giuliani, for whatever else you can say about him, seems to be a stand-up guy who doesn't mince words. McCain, on the other hand, has had some great moments, and served this country in a heroic fashion, but he also seems to have an ego, an inability to get off his high horse, and a tendency to hold double standards.

That's why 2008 will boil downto Romney-vs.-Giuliani, and why McCain will be an also-ran again.

McCain's not loved...

Hedgehog Central discusses why John McCain is not loved.

A lot of what is said is on target, some of it isn't. In some cases the Republican "base" was wrong, particularly on immigration. They also grossly mishandled the entire Terri Schiavo situation at best, and their treatment of Harriet Miers was disgusting. On the Miers matter and the immigration issue, McCain was on the right side. But that won't make up for McCain-Feingold and his 2000 comments.

FYI... lighter blogging...

I will be pinch-blogging at Strata-Sphere this week. Posting may be a little lighter this week.

Will no one rid conservatism of this meddlesome pundit?

Ann Coulter, the gift that keeps on giving. Bryan over at Hot Air sums it up as follows:

Last year it was “raghead.” This year it’s calling John Edwards a “faggot.” Two years in a row, Coulter has finished up an otherwise sharp CPAC routine with an obnoxious slur that liberals will fling at conservatives for years to come.

Thanks, Ann.

For some reason, Ann Coulter cannot exercise a minimal amount of civility. She jokes about assassinating Senators. She thinks that throwing grenades at Congressmen is funny. She thinks that the "Jersey Girls" are enjoying (her word) the deaths of their husbands. She has "joked" about assassinating a Supreme Court Justice. When asked whether she regretted a "joke" about how Timothy McVeigh should've bombed the New York Times building, she said:

Of course I regret it. I should have added, "after everyone had left the building except the editors and reporters."

Ann, you want more attention, eat a couple of cheeseburgers, get yourself some bigger boobs, and go pose for Playboy. You'll up your perceived intelligence. The late Anna Nicole Smith looked like a freakin' GENIUS next to you.

But at least this time, we don't need to go to THREATCON Ernie or Elmo:

Calling Bullshit on the MSM

I discuss the Ramadi misreporting at Strategypage today.

The MSM is getting the war on terror wrong so often that it's time to ask the hard questions.

Braun's bat...

Ryan Braun's bat propelled the Brewers to a 14-8 win to start off their Cactus League season.

His at-bats:
Single
Double
Three-run homer
Grand slam
Nearly beat out an infield single

The Brewers ought to name him the starting third baseman now. Forget this Graffanino/Counsell platoon nonsense.

Gore: Media too balanced...

It seems that Al Gore believes that the biggest problem in the media coverage of climate change is that the coverage is too balanced. No that is not a malpropism of the English language. Gore's quote is below:

"I believe that is one of the principal reasons why political leaders around the world have not yet taken action," Gore said. "There are many reasons, but one of the principal reasons in my view is more than half of the mainstream media have rejected the scientific consensus implicitly — and I say 'rejected,' perhaps it's the wrong word. They have failed to report that it is the consensus and instead have chosen … balance as bias."

My inclination/response is to quote Michael Crichton's essay at the end of State of Fear, a superb book.

Now we are engaged in a great new theory that once again has drawn the support of politicians, scientists, and celebrities around the world. Once again, the theory is promoted by major foundations. Once again, the research is carried out at prestigious universities. Once again, legislation is passed and social programs are urged in its name. Once again, critics are few and harshly dealt with.

Once again, the measures being urged have little basis in fact or science. Once again, groups with other agendas are hiding behind a movement that appears high-minded. Once again, claims of moral superiority are used to justify extreme actions. Once again, the fact that some people are hurt is shrugged off because an abstract cause is said to be greater than any human consequences. Once again, vague terms like sustainability and generational justice --- terms that have no agreed definition --- are employed in the service of a new crisis.

I am not arguing that global warming is the same as eugenics. But the similarities are not superficial. And I do claim that open and frank discussion of the data, and of the issues, is being suppressed. Leading scientific journals have taken strong editorial positions of the side of global warming, which, I argue, they have no business doing.

Judge for yourself. Is Al Gore trying to advance the debate about climate change, or is he trying to suppress debate?

Talk about loony...

Paul Hellyer falls into that category. Not just for the belief in UFOs, which is reasonable, but for thinking they stop climate change.

Man, this is gonna be fodder for the late-night comedians.

Cactus League starts today...

Today the Cactus League starts. Brewers face the A's.

32 Days until Opening Day, when the Brewers defend their home turf from the Dodgers.

Calling BS...

MNF-I has called BS on the media. Flopping Aces has the details of the latest such incident.

This pattern has become quite common since 2004. First it was the Koran-flushing incident. Then there were the claims of torture at Gitmo made by Senator Durbin - those didn't have any basis in fact, either. Then, there were the doctored photos bought by Reuters, and the discovery that Hezbollah was staging photos. Then Jemil Hussein, and an air strike that did not happen.

Can you see the pattern? And it gets worse. Editors of one magazine edited a story about the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment's efforts in Anbar because it made the American troops look "too heroic". No, that was not a misquote.

The media seems to have taken sides, and has deemed the military personnel fighting for the United States as the bad guys.

Immigration bill problems...

It seems some Republicans are upset about the fact that Ted Kennedy cut them out of the immigration bill he was writing.

They had their chance to pass a good immigration bill in 2006. Instead, the Republicans in the House decided to take their ball and go home, acting like petulant children rather than do the adult thing and compromise with a Senate that rejected an enforcement-only bill. Those who backed the Senate bill were labeled, among other things, as supporting treachery.

Conservatives played a slash-and-burn game on immigration, and the Republicans lost the 2006 midterms. They made their bed. Now, refusing to even acknowledge that their "all or nothing" approach led to a defeat, they demand the GOP stop the bill. Already, the RNC had told the College Republicans to stop their "catch an illegal" games.

Sometimes a "base" can be wrong. When that is the case, a responsible leader steps up to the plate. Mel Martinez, George W. Bush, and others are doing that with the GOP. They deserve to be commended for their courage. It takes a lot to tell your friends that they are on the wrong track.

Talk about a good investment...

Dodgers pitcher Matt White bought some land from an aunt who needed funds for medical care. Now, he has discovered it may be worth $2 billion.

Not bad. You can do well for yourself by doing good. Matt White will recoup his initial investment with just the first 100 tons from that quarry on his land.