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ADVANTAGE: ED!
By Ed Driscoll · November 27, 2002 08:21 AM · Oh, That Liberal Media!
Back on Thursday, November 14, we wrote: All these quotes [about the vast right wing media conspiracy] have to be launched via a talking points memo issued by the DNC--it really is the left's new mantra...Between "conservative media bias" and the Barbra Streisand supported, "Republicans killed Paul Wellstone" theory, Democrats really risk becoming the new black helicopter set.Today, on National Review Online's Corner Weblog, Jonah Goldberg posts: SNFF, SNFF: I SMELL FOCUS GROUP [Jonah Goldberg]Advantage, Ed! (And I agree with Jonah--this is a mantra with legs. Even if it's absurdly silly: compare CNN, NBC, ABC,CBS, PBS, NPR, MSNBC, CNBC, and even "infotainment" channels like HBO, Bravo, Trio, Oxygen, Lifetime, etc., all on the left, with Fox News and Rush Limbaugh, on the right. GIMME SHELTER
By Ed Driscoll · November 24, 2002 11:14 PM · All You Need Is Ears · Hollywood, Interrupted · The Return of the Primitive
Everything you know about the Rolling Stones' infamous 1969 free concert at the Altamont Speedway in Northern California is wrong, according to Aaron Haspel in a provocative Blogcritics post. THE AGE OF REAGAN: My
By Ed Driscoll · November 24, 2002 10:00 PM ·
THE AGE OF REAGAN: My review of Steven F. Hayward's recent book is now online at Blogcritics. (Blogging will be light this week, incidentally. I'm on the East Coast sharing Thanksgiving week with my family.) SEE ANOTHER MOVIE: Jonathan Last
By Ed Driscoll · November 22, 2002 03:47 PM ·
SEE ANOTHER MOVIE: Jonathan Last of the Weekly Standard really, really hated Die Another Day, the latest James Bond movie. Will my wife and I go see it? Probably. But it doesn't sound like we'd be missing much if we didn't: If nothing else, "Die Another Day" will be remembered for this bit of ingenuity: The producers found a way to get product placement for three different cars. Jinx gets a Ford Thunderbird, the villain gets a Jaguar, and Bond gets his Aston Martin. The negotiations for how the duel between these machines was to proceed must have been dizzying.Ouch. UPDATE: On the other hand, Roger Ebert liked it. I like Ebert (we've exchanged a handful of emails, and he's always been gracious), but he can be--shall we say--merciful at times: I don't think my wife ever forgave him for giving the excrementally awful Buffalo 66 three stars. WILL BAGHDAD RESEMBLE STALINGRAD? Probably
By Ed Driscoll · November 22, 2002 03:23 PM ·
WILL BAGHDAD RESEMBLE STALINGRAD? Probably not, but Victor Davis Hanson has some interesting comparisons. MY KIND OF RANT: I've
By Ed Driscoll · November 22, 2002 02:36 PM ·
MY KIND OF RANT: I've always thought political bumper stickers were silly, long before I moved to the Bay Area, where every other car has a bumper sticker exclaiming their political views and issue du jour (by the way, do you really want to admit that your politics can be filtered down to a bumper sticker slogan?). "Big Arm Woman", stuck behind "a 40 year old Toyota that seemed intent on violating every emissions standard EVER. Pasted to the back of this charming vehicle was a red bumper sticker with a heart motif and white writing which read, 'Better a bleeding heart than none at all.'" has unloaded a 64oz economy size can of whoop-ass in her blog: Listen to me, you tin-headed little s**t. You are not my moral superior because you ooze emotion over every single example of unfairness on the planet. In fact, you are the opposite, because you obviously lack the judgement necessary to make the tough decisions which will result in material aid to the disadvantaged. I'm sure it makes you feel fabulous to wail, moan and gnash your teeth about environmental injustice while you drive the Pollution-mobile, but I don't see your ass biking to work every morning to spare us your greenhouse gases--the very ones that are now filling my vehicle. The fact that you have bought into the idea that empathy is an either/or enterprise doesn't fill me with optimism about your reasoning skills, either. Either a bleeding heart or none at all, eh? Ummm, no, you freaking moron. The application of logic to emotionally charged issues isn't easy, but it is necessary, and a little more effective than that glib slogan on sticky paper that appears to be holding your vehicle together. You suck.There's more--click on over to read it. Not exactly a level of invective I can work myself up into on a regular basis, but the sentiment is very much appreciated. (Link found via Joanne Jacobs.) POT CALLING KETTLE DEPARTMENT: Germans
By Ed Driscoll · November 22, 2002 02:12 PM ·
POT CALLING KETTLE DEPARTMENT: Germans call Churchill a war criminal. GEE, HERE'S A SHOCKER: "Top
By Ed Driscoll · November 22, 2002 02:06 PM ·
GEE, HERE'S A SHOCKER: "Top Kyoto Minister Admits He Has Two SUVs". Of course. And how many black Secret Service Chevy Suburbans did Al Gore employ,and how many tens of thousands of gallons of jet fuel did Air Force Two expend, whenever he gave speeches? By the way, speaking of Gore, David Frum writes that Gore's new book, Joined at the Heart, does for families what Earth in the Balance did for the environment. REPUBLICANS WHO WANT TO SAVE
By Ed Driscoll · November 22, 2002 11:55 AM ·
REPUBLICANS WHO WANT TO SAVE SOCIAL SECURITY would be wise to adopt FDR's vision, according to Duane Freese at Tech Central Station. By the way, this quote is a classic: But many in the party appear frightened by shadows, such as Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe, who dismissed the bipartisan commission's findings as "classic Chicken Little politics."Something McAuliffe and many of his party are experts at. EBAY HAS THE PERFECT STARTER
By Ed Driscoll · November 22, 2002 12:42 AM ·
EBAY HAS THE PERFECT STARTER GUITAR: Ever wanted to learn how to play? This is one is guaranteed to be easy to play, no matter what your skill level. I'd bid on it myself, but I'm just not sure where I'd keep it when it wasn't it use. NOW THIS IS A MOVIE
By Ed Driscoll · November 20, 2002 07:45 PM ·
NOW THIS IS A MOVIE REVIEW: Orrin Judd links to a staggering review of the 1983 film Ghandi by Richard Grenier, who portrays the Indian leader in a much more realistic light than Richard Attenborough's film. This is one knockout of an article: long, but hypnotic and well worth reading. TORTURE BY AIR CONDITIONING? That's
By Ed Driscoll · November 20, 2002 06:01 PM ·
TORTURE BY AIR CONDITIONING? That's Peter Jennings' latest complaint, as the Media Research Center documents: Leave it to ABC’s Peter Jennings to highlight the plight of a Pakistani who survived being detained at the U.S. facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. After Jennings on Tuesday night helpfully noted how “human rights organizations have complained the U.S. is violating the prisoners’ rights and acting without regard for international law,” reporter Bob Woodruff narrated a story about the prisoner’s claims of mistreatment, including the “torture” of air conditioning.I always assume Peter Jennings will take the anti-American stance on any topic, but doesn't he have enough common sense to realize how silly this must sound to the average viewer? Couldn't he have killed this story instead of broadcasting it on TV? LUNCH, CIGARS, AND THE FINAL
By Ed Driscoll · November 20, 2002 04:20 PM ·
LUNCH, CIGARS, AND THE FINAL SOLUTION: My review of HBO's 2001 movie, Conspiracy is now online at Blogcritics. WIDOWS AND ORPHANS: Donald Luskin
By Ed Driscoll · November 20, 2002 04:11 PM ·
WIDOWS AND ORPHANS: Donald Luskin says that the financial media is just as guilty as the analysts in cranking out tainted research and bogus stock picks. WELL, I WAS BORN IN
By Ed Driscoll · November 20, 2002 02:25 PM ·
WELL, I WAS BORN IN AUGUST:
What theologian are you? A creation of Henderson (Link found on Group Captain Mandrake's Weblog.) JUMPIN' JIM JEFFORDS: The Washington
By Ed Driscoll · November 20, 2002 02:19 PM ·
JUMPIN' JIM JEFFORDS: The Washington Times reports: According to a senior Senate leadership source, the election results were barely in before Mr. Jeffords' office put out feelers to his former party's leaders. The message? That the Vermonter would be happy to caucus with the GOP — so long as he retained his committee chairmanship. Republican leaders rightly rolled their eyes.Orrin Judd has more on America's jumping, jiving, hip-hoppingist Senator. DEFINING OUR TWO WARS: Daniel
By Ed Driscoll · November 20, 2002 10:40 AM ·
DEFINING OUR TWO WARS: Daniel Pipes makes a great point. We're fighting two wars at the moment--or (depending upon how you want to look at it) were fighting one war and about to fight a second war--at the moment. But one war is sharply defined and easy to grasp, the other isn't: When the subject is Iraq, the U.S. government is proactive, articulate and specific. But when it comes to militant Islam, officialdom is reactive, awkward and vague.Read the rest of it for the answers. LOVE BOAT: THE NEXT GENERATION:
By Ed Driscoll · November 20, 2002 08:35 AM ·
LOVE BOAT: THE NEXT GENERATION: New York City is considering using cruise ships as homeless shelters. MICHAEL MEDVED DEBUNKS "the vast
By Ed Driscoll · November 20, 2002 08:16 AM ·
MICHAEL MEDVED DEBUNKS "the vast conservative media" meme that's the excuse du jour for the November elections. THE ROGER AILES-BOB WOODWARD SMACKDOWN:
By Ed Driscoll · November 19, 2002 03:33 PM ·
THE ROGER AILES-BOB WOODWARD SMACKDOWN: The Brothers Judd have details. (Be sure to check out the comments as well.) JAMES COBURN DEAD AT 74.
By Ed Driscoll · November 18, 2002 11:33 PM ·
JAMES COBURN DEAD AT 74. He died of a heart attack while listening to music with his wife in his Beverly Hills home. Coburn's career, derailed in the early 1980s by crippling arthritis, was coming back, with strong performances in recent films such as Payback. He won his only Academy Award in 1998, playing an abusive father in Affliction. GO INSIDE SADDAM HUSSEIN'S email
By Ed Driscoll · November 18, 2002 11:10 PM ·
GO INSIDE SADDAM HUSSEIN'S email account--it sounds like he even gets offers from Nigeria! THE HIGH TECH TIN-FOIL HAT:
By Ed Driscoll · November 18, 2002 06:13 PM ·
THE HIGH TECH TIN-FOIL HAT: Perfect for keeping the alpha waves from those pesky UFOs, black helicopters, and other paranormal strangeness out. COLIN POWELL SHOULD RESIGN: That's
By Ed Driscoll · November 18, 2002 11:15 AM ·
COLIN POWELL SHOULD RESIGN: That's what David Frum writes in his daily diary in National Review Online. MORE PROOF THAT THE VAST
By Ed Driscoll · November 18, 2002 10:28 AM ·
MORE PROOF THAT THE VAST CONSERVATIVE MEDIA CONSPIRACY IS WORKING: USA Today reports that "Phil Donahue most likely to exit, stage left". JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS:
By Ed Driscoll · November 18, 2002 10:07 AM ·
JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS: The Segway goes on sale on Amazon. THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGING:
By Ed Driscoll · November 17, 2002 08:25 PM ·
THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGING: Ayatollah Khomeini grandson joins protest in Iran. (Link found via NRO's The Corner.) I WAS GOING TO SAY
By Ed Driscoll · November 17, 2002 04:11 PM ·
I WAS GOING TO SAY SOMETHING ABOUT this article, but then I remembered Porphyrogenitus' comments to me. UPDATE: File Jimmy Carter's recent comments in the same folder as well. ANOTHER UPDATE: But evidently, David Limbaugh (Rush's brother, who's an attorney) hasn't gotten the message. THE MSN BUTTERFLY: Maybe I'm
By Ed Driscoll · November 17, 2002 03:09 PM ·
THE MSN BUTTERFLY: Maybe I'm sore from having to reinstall Windows 2000 on my main computer (which is where I do the lion's share of my writing, surfing, blogging, and home music recording), but it certainly takes a lot of chutzpah for Microsoft to be using a bug to sell their ISP. NOW FOR SALE ON EBAY:
By Ed Driscoll · November 17, 2002 02:48 PM ·
NOW FOR SALE ON EBAY: The very first Les Paul guitar--you can tell by its serial number. It's too rich for my blood, but some lucky fellow's going to get one nice axe... A MODEST PROPOSAL TO A
By Ed Driscoll · November 17, 2002 02:26 PM ·
A MODEST PROPOSAL TO A NON-EXISTENT PROBLEM: on Thursday, I posted about "Conservative media bias" and practically blew my server out due to InstaPundit delivered traffic. Joanne Jacobs links to a modest proposal designed to solve this non-existent problem. THEM: Liberals preach tolerance. But
By Ed Driscoll · November 17, 2002 02:22 PM ·
THEM: Liberals preach tolerance. But there's one group to whom no quarter is ever shown. Peggy Noonan has the details. EL AL GUARDS FOIL HIJACK
By Ed Driscoll · November 17, 2002 02:18 PM ·
EL AL GUARDS FOIL HIJACK ATTEMPT on a flight from Tel Aviv to Istanbul. But then, they're good at that! UPDATE: National Review's Rod Dreher has more details. Start here, then scroll up to his next comment. THE TWO FINGERED SALUTE: I
By Ed Driscoll · November 17, 2002 02:13 PM ·
THE TWO FINGERED SALUTE: I had always assumed that England's two-fingered salute had the same meaning as America's middle finger gesture. But it's apparently much older, and with a far subtler meaning. Samizdata tells all, complete with WWII photos of Winston Churchill. BEING CONDOLEEZA RICE: Yesterday evening,
By Ed Driscoll · November 17, 2002 01:03 PM ·
BEING CONDOLEEZA RICE: Yesterday evening, Matt Drudge's lead story mentioned that "In his new controversial book BUSH AT WAR, Bob Woodward reveals interior monologues of key newsmakers, including a description of National security adviser Condoleezza Rice's thoughts -- as she watched television alone..." I know Matt thrives on controversy, but I'm not sure if this qualifies. If Woodward interviewed Rice, and she was willing to discuss what was going through her head during this particular moment, then it shouldn't be all that difficult for Woodward to recreate that moment as a scene. Tom Wolfe does that sort of thing all the time, and has been doing so since the early 1960s. Of course, if Condi says she never spoke to Woodward, then all bets are off, and Woodward cooked the books. ![]() LOCK AND (RE)LOAD: My main
By Ed Driscoll · November 15, 2002 04:14 PM ·
LOCK AND (RE)LOAD: My main computer has been intermittently locking up on me, so I'm going to be doing a long overdue reformatting of the hard drive, reinstallation of Windows 2000, and reinstalling my main programs. So don't expect a whole lot of posting for the rest of the day. If it doesn't work (or even it does), send help--preferably this person, who I have no doubt is an extremely highly skilled computer technician. (Link found via Group Captain Mandrake.) UPDATE: Mission accomplished--although, as usual with Windows, it took a lot longer than I anticipated. SENIOR AL QAEDA LEADER CAPTURED:
By Ed Driscoll · November 15, 2002 01:11 PM ·
SENIOR AL QAEDA LEADER CAPTURED: Fox News reports, "sources said the suspect was neither Usama bin Laden nor his number two man, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, but he is one of the 'top handful of Al Qaeda leaders.'". Link found via Charles Johnson. WHAT WOULD REAGAN DO? Newt
By Ed Driscoll · November 15, 2002 11:32 AM ·
WHAT WOULD REAGAN DO? Newt Gingrich addressed the American Enterprise Institute on Wednesday during the presentation of a new book, Reagan's War: The Epic Story of His Forty-Year Struggle and Final Triumph over Communism, by Peter Schweizer. When Reagan won the White House in 1980, he did not plan to engage the Soviet Union in detente. Instead, the new president set his sights on the higher goal of freeing Russia and Eastern European countries from the Communist yoke, Gingrich said.See also this recent article by Schweizer, for more on "What Would Reagan Do". LAST YEAR'S VILLAIN: John Podhoretz
By Ed Driscoll · November 15, 2002 11:18 AM ·
LAST YEAR'S VILLAIN: John Podhoretz says that if it's all quiet on the Eminem front after his movie opened, it's because because conservatives have bigger fish to fry: The war against smutty and sleazy culture has been a popular one, to be sure. Throughout the 1990s, politicians on all sides of the political spectrum had a field day fighting it. FINALLY, THE FRENCH ARE STARTING
By Ed Driscoll · November 14, 2002 09:28 PM ·
FINALLY, THE FRENCH ARE STARTING TO WORK WITH US, for a change. MANTRA MADNESS: Porphyrogenitus wrote to
By Ed Driscoll · November 14, 2002 07:28 PM ·
MANTRA MADNESS: Porphyrogenitus wrote to tell me "You're wrong, man. It's so big you can't see it". Wow, when you review the evidence all I can say is, I think he's right... SAY WHAT YOU WILL ABOUT
By Ed Driscoll · November 14, 2002 03:35 PM ·
SAY WHAT YOU WILL ABOUT TOM DASCHLE, BUT WHEN THE CHIPS ARE DOWN, HE REALLY DELIVERS, even over the objections of fellow Democrat Russ Feingold. NEW MANTRA UPDATE: Gore Vidal
By Ed Driscoll · November 14, 2002 01:47 PM ·
NEW MANTRA UPDATE: Gore Vidal picks up on the vast right wing media conspiracy. Michael Medved quotes him as saying: "The same people own the media that own the White House that own the Congress that own the oil fields. They all work together to give a false view of the world to the American people."Fortunately, Vidal's spirits aren't as low as this fellow: One impassioned partisan in Wasilla, Alaska...became so "despondent over Tuesday's election returns" (according to the Anchorage Daily News) that he climbed to the top of a 230,000-volt utility tower and allowed the dangerous current to course through his body – in the process interrupting electrical service to more than 30,000 homes and businesses. Suffering serious burns over most of his upper body, the unhappy idealist has been hospitalized in critical condition.Now that's bringing new meaning to the phrase, "body politic". UPDATE: Here's more mantra mania! Media Research Center rounds up more quotes claiming a conservative media bias. All these quotes have to be launched via a talking points memo issued by the DNC--it really is the left's new mantra: In their quest for an even more aggressively anti-conservative media, liberals are trying the shame game, accusing their brethren of being right-wing tools: “Some of the major broadcast media are simply biased in favor of the Republicans, while the rest tend to blur differences between the parties,” New York Times columnist Paul Krugman complained in a November 8 op-ed. “Talk radio and Fox News let the hard right get its message out to its supporters, while those who oppose the juggernaut stay home because they don’t get the sense that the Democrats offer a real alternative.” His advice: “Democrats should complain as loudly about the real conservative bias of the media as the Republicans complain about its entirely mythical liberal bias.” Has he read his own newspaper?Time's Josh Tyrangiel sort of gives away the game: “Even if Democrats pull together on some big issues, they’ll still have to overcome G.O.P. bully pulpits in the White House and Congress — and a new reality: conservative bias in the media,” insisted Time’s Josh Tyrangiel in his magazine’s November 18 edition. His only evidence? A “senior elected Democrat” said so.Between "conservative media bias" and the Barbra Streisand supported, "Republicans killed Paul Wellstone" theory, Democrats really risk becoming the new black helicopter set. But hey...the truth is out there! (Somewhere left of the grassy knoll, probably.) CATS AND DOGS DEPARTMENT: National
By Ed Driscoll · November 14, 2002 12:14 PM ·
CATS AND DOGS DEPARTMENT: National Review's Rod Dreher has some good words about Nancy Pelosi winning the position of House Minority Leader. BRINGS NEW MEANING TO "INTERNET
By Ed Driscoll · November 14, 2002 11:17 AM ·
BRINGS NEW MEANING TO "INTERNET TROJAN": Bill Gates was welcomed to India with a huge condom. GRAY DAYS AHEAD: Good essay
By Ed Driscoll · November 14, 2002 10:36 AM ·
GRAY DAYS AHEAD: Good essay on California politics at the The Claremont Institute. Here's an excerpt: What is lost is the principle that the only free government is limited government, and that a sound constitution is the only way to keep government limited. Early in his campaign for governor, Bill Simon tried to engage Californians in a principled discussion about their government. Simon understood the crises facing California — a massive budget deficit, rolling power blackouts, embarrassing public schools, skyrocketing housing prices — as symptoms of a deep alienation from the principles of constitutional government and free society. But the media and the public paid little attention. He got noticed only once he began campaigning as a liberal "reformer," slinging mud at Gray Davis for his heavy-handed fundraising tactics. In the end, however, it served only to distract from something much more important, the principles of free government.If you're interested in California's politics (and believe me, I can understand if you're not--the temptation to ignore California is great, and will only grow over the next four years) be sure to read the whole thing. THE NEW MANTRA? It's certainly
By Ed Driscoll · November 14, 2002 09:47 AM ·
THE NEW MANTRA? It's certainly been making the rounds lately: The Democrats lost last week because of a "conservative bias in the media”. FROM THE HOME OFFICE IN
By Ed Driscoll · November 14, 2002 09:45 AM ·
FROM THE HOME OFFICE IN WAHOO, NEBRASKA: David Letterman's 10. Recently he seems less "bloodthirsty" and more "murderous"Them gazelles are good eatin', by the way. INTERACTIVE TV FOR THE
By Ed Driscoll · November 13, 2002 09:10 PM ·
![]() INTERACTIVE TV FOR THE 21st CENTURY: That's the cover story on the Winter/Spring issue of Smart TV & Sound. I think it's pretty good...but then I wrote it. My article is available online--but don't let that stop you from buying enough copies of the magazine to fill the warehouse at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark! THE DOG DAYS OF THE
By Ed Driscoll · November 13, 2002 07:08 PM ·
THE DOG DAYS OF THE STOCK MARKET: Frank the Pug from the Men in Black movies will be ringing the closing bell of the New York Stock Exchange tomorrow. No, you didn't misread that. Here's what the Internet Movie Database has to say: Perhaps unintentionally calling undue attention to the dog days of the stock market, Frank the Pug from Men in Black II will help ring the closing bell of the NYSE on Thursday at 4:00 p.m. as part of a publicity campaign celebrating the release of MiBII on DVD and video cassette, Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment announced Tuesday. The canine star is expected to be accompanied by the film's director, Barry Sonnenfeld, and NYSE President Benjamin Feingold.No word on if he'll be protected by agents K, J and Z. JUST SAY YES: Saddam has
By Ed Driscoll · November 13, 2002 12:18 PM ·
JUST SAY YES: Saddam has agreed to the UN resolution, which exposes himself to all sorts of conditions, each of which, if violated, will bring lots of F-15s, F-117s and B-52s on top of him. Right Wing News has the details. DAS KOUCH: The Onion discovers
By Ed Driscoll · November 13, 2002 11:34 AM ·
DAS KOUCH: The Onion discovers a college Marxists' apartment that's a microcosm of why Marxism doesn't work. FOUND IN MY REFERRER LOG:
By Ed Driscoll · November 13, 2002 02:29 AM ·
FOUND IN MY REFERRER LOG: New Hampshire Governor-elect Craig Benson's Transition Site. I'm not sure what brought you here--but thanks for stopping by Governor-Elect! And hi to everybody who dropped in from Right Wing News. Make yourselves comfortable, folks--there's plenty of food in the fridge, plenty of posts in the blog and lots of articles, and essays to check out. Stick around y'all! IT'S THE PERFECT CHANNEL FOR
By Ed Driscoll · November 13, 2002 01:18 AM ·
IT'S THE PERFECT CHANNEL FOR HIM: MSNBC is courting Jesse Ventura. BUT WHAT ABOUT BICYCLE REPAIR
By Ed Driscoll · November 13, 2002 12:59 AM ·
BUT WHAT ABOUT BICYCLE REPAIR MAN? Group Captain Lionel Mandrake says that John Cleese is poised to write a Superman comic book. Great Python's ghost! Mandrake's got the link to prove it and everything! (But will Superman fly on the left-hand side of the Van Allen Belt? Will Lex Luther drop lumps of Kryptonite into his afternoon tea? Will Clark Kent buy his suits at Marks and Spenser? The possibilities are endless...and extremely silly.) WE'VE GOT TO PROTECT OUR
By Ed Driscoll · November 13, 2002 12:08 AM ·
WE'VE GOT TO PROTECT OUR PHONEY-BALONEY JOBS! Michelle Malkin, who's done yeoman work on the "Snipergate" story, writes: Border Patrol agent Keith Olson, the arresting officer in Bellingham, Wash., who was responsible for obtaining the fingerprints of illegal alien sniper suspect Lee Malvo last December, has been the subject of two internal investigations during the past three weeks. Instead of pinning a medal on his chest and giving Olson a raise for taking the prints of Malvo that eventually led to his arrest in the Washington, D.C., area killing spree, federal officials are conducting a probe of his conduct.Malkins quotes an swarmy and belligerent email sent on October 30th by the assistant regional director in the INS Western Regional Office in Laguna Niguel, CA to Schermerhorn, which was copied to nearly 50 other INS employees: "Nobody, not even a person of your monumental intelligence, could have predicted what path the young Mr. Malvo would take.Your agenda, whatever it may be, is counterproductive to the thousands of [detention and removal] personnel who are doing their best in spite of the limitations placed upon them by Congress, uncooperative foreign consulates, [non-governmental organizations], pro bono attorneys, special interest groups, ect. [sic] Have you ever detained a non-criminal mother and her 16 year old child for a lengthy period of time? Have you had to face the wrath of the above mentioned groups?"How very 1990s of INS. They just don't get it. We're used to Federal agencies being slack, expensive and wasteful during peace. But we expect results during war. As Malkin writes, "will a $37 billion Homeland Security Department prevent another Malvogate? As long as federal immigration authorities remain more committed to stifling whistleblowers instead of protecting them: Fat chance." RELIGION OF PEACE UPDATE: Insight
By Ed Driscoll · November 12, 2002 11:12 PM ·
RELIGION OF PEACE UPDATE: Insight magazine has an eye-popping interview with a top Egyptian cleric who justifies suicide terrorism: When Palestinians first began blowing themselves up to murder innocent Israeli civilians in April 1994, consternation gripped many official spokesmen of Islam. Moderate Islamic scholars emphasized that Islam long has considered suicide to be a sin. Several clerics in Saudi Arabia even joined the chorus, condemning the attacks. But then something happened. It became political, and Arab leaders realized they had a new way of controlling the masses and directing their anger away from their own leadership. The rest, as they say, is history — a history of innocent victims and state-sponsored murder — all in the name of political opposition to Israel.Read the whole thing--Al-Tayyeb's mindset is staggering. But not uncommon, of course. In Nigeria, a Amina Lawal, a 31 year old mother of a ten month old baby is scheduled to be buried up to her neck and stoned until she dies. "Unless her second appeal succeeds, she will be executed as soon as Wasila is weaned or by 2004, whichever is sooner.": One day, after accepting a lift on a motorcycle, she was raped by a man she thought was a friend. When it became obvious that she was pregnant the fundamentalist vigilantes, known as Hisbah, turned her over to the Sharia court.The amputation machine. So when do they move up to sealed carbon monoxide vans and then gas chambers? THE OBLIGATORY LILEKS LINK: Having
By Ed Driscoll · November 12, 2002 10:17 PM ·
THE OBLIGATORY LILEKS LINK: Having hooked up three DirecTV receivers to four different TV sets in the house (one feeds two TVs), I can feel for Lileks' lament: When I went outside to get the mail I tripped over a large box on the stoop: the new receiver from DirecTV. Ah! Now the Battle Bridge would have a signal again. It was a reconditioned $25 RCA unit, nearly identical to the dead slab of crap I had before. Hooked it up, called DirecTV, went through the procedure to activate it - and here we enter mumbojumbo land. I chanted the magic numbers into the phone; the shaman on the other end moved his fingers, and the birds in the sky and the snakes on the land woke as one, and yea: the picture appeared on the wall, and seemed to move; the words appeared as if writ by an invisible hand, and I fell on my knees and said I will order the NFL Total Access Game Package, O my liege. I will! I am not worthy of this package but I shall accept it nonetheless. Blessed be unto you.Actually not quite, as you'll see if you read the rest of the piece. IT'S HAMMERTIME? No! Marvin Olasky
By Ed Driscoll · November 12, 2002 09:20 PM ·
IT'S HAMMERTIME? No! Marvin Olasky writes that it's "Karl Rove time". PREACHING TO THE CHOIR: Stephen
By Ed Driscoll · November 12, 2002 04:00 PM ·
PREACHING TO THE CHOIR: Stephen F. Hayes writes that "It wouldn't be a Republican victory without a dyspeptic attack from Bill Moyers. Paid for, in part, by you." PROBABLY NOT TOO FAR FROM
By Ed Driscoll · November 12, 2002 03:51 PM ·
PROBABLY NOT TOO FAR FROM THE TRUTH: ScrappleFace uncovers a leaked MASSIVE HACKING SPREE HALTED, British
By Ed Driscoll · November 12, 2002 02:42 PM ·
MASSIVE HACKING SPREE HALTED, British citizen indicted on eight counts of computer fraud related to hacking incidents that allegedly damaged 105 U.S. government, military and corporate networks. Computerworld has the details. APROPOS OF NOTHING DEPARTMENT: I
By Ed Driscoll · November 12, 2002 02:00 PM ·
APROPOS OF NOTHING DEPARTMENT: I just read in The Age of Reagan that Henry Kissinger was a fan of Oswald Spengler's pioneering doom-and-gloomer, The Decline of the West, and tried his damndest to get Nixon to read it. Why is that that book's most influential fans often go out of their way to make it a reality? IN THE LAND OF THE
By Ed Driscoll · November 12, 2002 01:18 PM ·
IN THE LAND OF THE ROCOCO MARXIST: Daniel Pipes looks at professors who hate America. JUMPIN' JIM JEFFORDS: Jay Nordlinger
By Ed Driscoll · November 12, 2002 01:09 PM ·
JUMPIN' JIM JEFFORDS: Jay Nordlinger checks in with everyone's favorite milkman: Our friend Mr. Jeffords is acting awfully funny about now. Asked whether he expected “retribution,” he said, “The Senate’s a pretty collegial group. You learn it’s best to get along.” SIRHAN SIRHAN JR. JR.: Charles
By Ed Driscoll · November 12, 2002 12:30 PM ·
SIRHAN SIRHAN JR. JR.: Charles Johnson links to an article which says that the Palestinian terrorist who murdered five people in an Israeli kibbutz last weekend is named Sirhan Sirhan. OVER 1 BILLION SERVED: Matt
By Ed Driscoll · November 12, 2002 12:02 PM ·
OVER 1 BILLION SERVED: Matt Drudge has reason to gloat on his Drudge Report site--it's about to go over one billion Web views: The WALL STREET JOURNAL declared "Matt Drudge a born loser" [10/24/00, Shafer], the NEW YORK TIMES last week in a Page One story claimed people have been "reduced to logging onto the Web site of the gossip columnist Matt Drudge" [11/06/02, Stanley], but in every state and nearly every civilized nation in the developed world, readers know where to go for action and reaction of news -- at least one day ahead. Sometime this afternoon, the DRUDGEREPORT will pass one billion views of the site's main page: in the past year! Free from any corporate concerns, there are simply too many to thank since the site's inception in 1994. This new attempt at the old American experiment of full freedom in reporting is ever exciting. Those in power have everything to lose by individuals who march to their own rules.As I wrote in my SpinTech article about Weblogs, Drudge, in my mind, is where personal news reporting began on the Internet (although there are probably others who would say they're the Altair of reporting--Drudge is merely the TRS-80 or Apple). For some background at how Drudge got started, here's another SpinTech article, from 1999--which is about a decade ago in Internet years. I don't think Matt's success is really repeatable, in that a lot of random elements had to come together in a unique fashion for it to had occurred--being an early Internet adopter, having a wide range of links to reporters on both sides of the aisle, breaking the Lewinsky story, being sued by Sid Blumenthal, riding the crest of the Internet boom, etc. But it is fascinating to watch and learn from. VLADIMIR PUTIN, HOSS: Well, at
By Ed Driscoll · November 12, 2002 10:58 AM ·
VLADIMIR PUTIN, HOSS: Well, at least when he talks like this. GUESS WHICH STATE SENATOR IS
By Ed Driscoll · November 12, 2002 10:56 AM ·
GUESS WHICH STATE SENATOR IS DROPPING INTO BAHRAIN for a friendly little chat. Which of course, should be quite well attended. THE WOUNDED BEAR: Thomas Sowell
By Ed Driscoll · November 12, 2002 02:33 AM ·
THE WOUNDED BEAR: Thomas Sowell writes that "The Democrats are down, but not out. They are more like a wounded bear -- the most dangerous kind of bear." Democrats know that one of the reasons for their disappointing showing in this year's elections is that they failed to get out the black vote in the numbers needed, especially in the South. Since Democrats have nothing to offer blacks, now that they do not control any branch of the federal government, their only way to get out the black vote in 2004 is by arousing fears and resentments.Of course. Just ask Bill Moyers, or Garrison Keillor, or Eric Alterman, or Helen Thomas, or lots of other members of the media. AT&T SUED BY EXCITE@HOME SHAREHOLDERS
By Ed Driscoll · November 12, 2002 02:02 AM ·
AT&T SUED BY EXCITE@HOME SHAREHOLDERS OVER ASSETS: I'm not at all surprised--the switchover from @Home to AT&T, which happened in early December of last year, was incredibly chaotic and frenzied. @Home called AT&T's bluff, leaving thousands of subscribers in the lurch for periods of up to two or three weeks. I counted up the hours I spent that week, either on hold or talking to AT&T's tech support to get hooked up again, and it was at least 30 hours. We finally get reconnected, but no thanks to AT&T--I found a solution via DSLReports.com, which was a godsend during that insane week. LONG OVERDUE: "Nigeria To Pass
By Ed Driscoll · November 11, 2002 05:04 PM ·
LONG OVERDUE: "Nigeria To Pass Law Clamping Down On Notorious Scams" A NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN FOR THE
By Ed Driscoll · November 11, 2002 03:20 PM ·
A NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN FOR THE 21st CENTURY: The original Chamberlain at least wasn't trying to outdo Jesse Jackson and Louis Farrakhan in a PR battle. Note that there's an umbrella in the shot as well for perfect symmetry. MORE ON EUROPE: Charles Johnson
By Ed Driscoll · November 11, 2002 03:15 PM ·
MORE ON EUROPE: Charles Johnson writes that "European Foreign Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten is flatly refusing to investigate the Palestinian Authority’s blatant misuse of EU aid money." and wonders why. FREEDOM OF SPEECH: As Steven
By Ed Driscoll · November 11, 2002 02:56 PM ·
FREEDOM OF SPEECH: As Steven Den Beste writes, "We believe in it. Europe doesn't. The Council of Europe just outlawed it." I'd love to jump through Star Trek's Guardian of Forever time machine (snagging Joan Collins circa-1966 along the way!) and see where this all plays out in 25 years. I was watching HBO's Conspiracy last night, about the Wannsee conference of 1942. And while another final solution seems absurd, is there another set of Nuremburg Laws in Europe's future? I know, I'm sounding like an alarmist--and I hope to God I am. But then so did anybody who thought that the Versailles Treaty would set in motion a chain of events leading to a homicidal madman controlling all of Europe 25 years later. SPAM OF THE DAY: The
By Ed Driscoll · November 11, 2002 02:36 PM ·
SPAM OF THE DAY: The subject body reads, "Supplying Translation Servic". No thanks--I read typo just fine! ARMISTICE DAY: That's what today
By Ed Driscoll · November 11, 2002 01:34 PM ·
ARMISTICE DAY: That's what today used to be called in America, from 1938, when it was first declared a national holiday, until 1954, when its name was officially changed to Veteran's Day. James S. Robbins looks back at the impact of World War I: November 11, 1918 was an end, but only the end of the beginning. The Great War initiated the 30-year suicide of Europe, a tragedy whose causes are still difficult to understand. The European powers were the common inheritors of a culture millennia in the making. They were the leaders in science, culture, and economics. They had assembled the greatest military forces in the history of mankind. They were at the cutting edge of history, and they threw it away. And why? From the other end of the century looking backwards it is hard to understand what drove their animosity. The distinctions between Georgian England and Wilhelmine Germany may have seen great at the time, but are hardly comparable to Anglo-German differences 20 years later. The tsarist autocracy set the standard for brutality in its day, but the tsar was a minor leaguer compared the Lenin and Stalin. World War I introduced new magnitudes of death, both on and off the battlefield. Before 1914, the "Terror" during the French Revolution, in which between 15,000 and 40,000 people were killed, was generally regarded as the bloodiest, most savage act of state policy in European history. The killing of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians during the Great War dramatically changed the scale of what was conceivable — and the 20th-century totalitarian states would engage in even more massive systematic slaughter of innocents.Read the whole thing. THANKS GUYS! We've been linked
By Ed Driscoll · November 11, 2002 12:13 PM ·
THANKS GUYS! We've been linked to by Samizdata, the great English libertarian blog--twice! We've been added to the text links on their homepage, and they used our swanky EdDriscoll.com Blog button on their links and pictures page. Speaking of pictures on Samizdata, while we don't advocate graffiti and vandalism in any form, we did get a knowing chuckle over this creative artist's work. By the way, if you'd like to use our deluxe EdDriscoll.com blog button to liven up the decor at your Blog, just click here to get your own copy. (Free photo of a Ginsu Knife included if you download in the next 30 minutes!) QUOTE OF THE DAY: Right
By Ed Driscoll · November 11, 2002 12:20 AM ·
QUOTE OF THE DAY: Right Wing News features an excellent interview with Victor Davis Hanson, who has Europe pegged: Radically, as we revert to the pre-1945 world of bilateralism with all its dangers. The cold war was an aberration. Note how quickly the Europeans turned on America once 400 hostile divisions were no longer on their borders. They make up a big continent with a big population that deserves pride and power commensurate with their economy and population; so it is time for both of us to recognize that, bring the troops home or redeploy them in more friendly eastern European countries, and as friends let them develop their own military identity. Keeping 200,000 troops abroad to protect a rich continent is unhealthy for all parties involved. We are a different people, and to preserve our common heritage and friendship, we must recognize those divergences and thus it would be safer in the long run to let them defend themselves and not seek such shrillness in lieu of power and independence. We are in a very Orwellian world now where al Qaeda could hit the Louvre or Vatican and do so with impunity -- if not for the overseas reach of the US military -- and yet the Europeans seem to resent their protectors by reason of their very dependency. Add our frontier experience, our original charter that was antithetical to Europe, our strength in mixed races and religions, our greater allegiances to liberty than enforced equality and it is no surprise that after the Soviets are gone we are rediscovering our differences. This is not fatal and yet cannot be laughed off either by careerists and the self-interested. If France had the ability to act resolutely to stop its ships being attacked off Yemen, then it would be less insecure and less vocal. Instead, we have NATO countries bristling over the invasion by Morocco of a barren rock.Read the rest of the interview. (Link via VodkaPundit.) STOCKHOLM SYNDROME
By Ed Driscoll · November 10, 2002 11:12 PM · Democracy In America
Bruce Bartlett, who worked as an assistant to Senator Roger Jepsen of Iowa in 1979 and 1980, and prior to that, to Congressman Jack Kemp, talks about what it's like to go from the minority to the majority when you don't think your victory will last: As Republicans and Democrats absorb the significance of last week's election results, a few things are starting to become clear. For one thing, Republicans are finally starting to settle into the idea that they are the majority party in this country. They have not thought so since 1932.Bartlett has some excellent advice for the incoming class of 2003, to avoid those same mistakes. SEA CHANGE: Jen Taliaferro proclaims
By Ed Driscoll · November 10, 2002 10:36 PM ·
SEA CHANGE: Jen Taliaferro proclaims "Advantage: Blogosphere", after last week's elections: Almost all of us Conservo-bloggers perceived and even predicted the Dimocrat loss on Tuesday and we knew precisely why it was coming.I can certainly understand that. As I wrote for SpinTech in January: When the Web log concept first debuted, it was largely used for on-line personal diaries. Lots of “day in the life” stuff; lots of updates of family information; lots of photographs of nature and birthday parties; lots of nice pretty, stopping and smelling the flowers commentary by assorted emotional exhibitionists. And this is still a common use for Web logs.Like me--I launched this Weblog in between writing that article and when it went online in early March. I think Taliaferro's basic assumption is probably reasonable. Having hung around a variety of computer forums (forae?) for the past seven or eight years, it's obvious that the amount of lurkers far surpasses the amount of active members in any forum--and the same has to got hold true for Blogs as well. Not everybody who reads this blog has a blog of his own. (I hope!) At a minimum--the online newsreporting/commenting that Matt Drudge pioneered in the mid-1990s is still in its infancy--and the influence of blogs, and/or other types of "me-zines" will only increase going forward. NUDGE NUDGE, WINK WINK: There's
By Ed Driscoll · November 10, 2002 08:23 PM ·
NUDGE NUDGE, WINK WINK: There's a great scene in All the President's Men where Redford and Hoffman as Woodward and Bernstein interview Donald Segretti, played by Robert Walden (who would later portray a reporter himself in TV's Lou Grant). Segretti tells "Woodstein" that he'll probably go to jail for all the dirty tricks he pulled on the Democrat's presidential candidates during the '72 presidential campaign, as part of Nixon's "dirty tricks" team, to help get him re-elected. He tells the reporters something like "I'll probably go to jail...and for what??!!" The subtext is obvious: the Democrats are good guys who would never do anything like that. Flash-forward thirty years to the 2002 midterms, where Jason L. Riley of the Wall Street Journal travels along with Rep. Julia Carson, a Democrat running for reelection in Indiana. Carson's election team winked and nodded right in front of Riley, as they pulled all sorts of shady tricks to get Carson elected. Carson won the battle, but Bush won the midterms. The weight of Bill Clinton's shenanigans, the 2000 Florida election scandal, the Jeffords defection, and finally the Wellstone funeral/pep rally are finally beginning to stick to the Democrats. Jimmy Carter, in retrospect, wasn't exactly squeaky clean. But the Democrats would be wise to find someone with that image, who can win honestly, then to keep relying on their own Donald Segrettis to win elections. END GAME: Condi Rice spells
By Ed Driscoll · November 10, 2002 12:04 PM ·
END GAME: Condi Rice spells out the timetable for Iraq. It's fairly amusing to listen to the foreign ministries from other countries describe all the concessions they won from the U.S. and then to hear Ms Rice tell them what they really just agreed to.Yupper! QB QUANDARY: Does Jerry Jones
By Ed Driscoll · November 10, 2002 11:17 AM ·
QB QUANDARY: Does Jerry Jones think that Chad Hutchinson is the QB of the future for Dallas? Compare and contrast these two headlines: Going to Dallas would be a fresh start for Kordell Stewart--and he'll certainly fill seats at Texas Stadium. I don't know if it will happen, but it'll be a fun rumor to watch. DOES THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Ed Driscoll · November 09, 2002 08:22 PM ·
DOES THE NEW YORK TIMES HURT ANYONE IN THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION with their article on Bush's war plans? Steven Den Beste says "yes". Ironically, it's the one man on the Bush team the Gray Lady likes. RELIGION OF PEACE UPDATE: Reason's
By Ed Driscoll · November 09, 2002 01:10 PM ·
RELIGION OF PEACE UPDATE: Reason's Daily Brickbat reports: The Ayatollah Mohsen Mujtahed Shabestari, who is supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's personal representative to Iran's Azerbaijan province, is upset with three U.S. religious figures: Jerry Falwell, who has called the prophet Mohammed "a terrorist"; Pat Robertson, who claims Islam is a religion of violence seeking to "dominate and destroy"; and Franklin Graham, the son of televangelist Billy Graham, who says Islam is "a very evil and wicked religion." Shabestari is seeking to disprove these false notions by calling for the three to be killed. "CLOUDCUCKOOLAND": Victor Davis Hanson looks
By Ed Driscoll · November 09, 2002 11:14 AM ·
"CLOUDCUCKOOLAND": Victor Davis Hanson looks at the ongoing implosion of anti-Americanism. Hanson writes: The dream of 1960s radicals was supposedly that someday the United States might use its vast cultural influence and military power to be on the "right side of history." That meant — instead of Pavlovian opposition to idealistic socialists and occasional Communists in preference for odious figures like Pinochet, Somoza, or Franco — we would try to topple just those regimes and implant democracies in their place. Few then lectured that the Nicaraguans should be left to handle their own dictators or that we had no right to tell the Spanish what to do with Franco. Instead, support for revolutionary movements was voiced and action demanded.I can't help but think that simple knee-jerk hatred of the right is driving the left to many of these extreme positions that have no internal "logic" otherwise. It would be a fascinating "what if" scenerio to ponder what their response would have been if Clinton had pursued Islamic terrorism with the same vigor that President Bush has, when presented with several opportunities to do just that. ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THE LEFTIST
By Ed Driscoll · November 09, 2002 10:29 AM ·
ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THE LEFTIST BIGOTRY that Andrew Sullivan wrote about recently, spotted by Joanne Jacobs. A TWO-FISTED FISKING? The New
By Ed Driscoll · November 09, 2002 10:00 AM ·
A TWO-FISTED FISKING? The New York Post's "Page Six" column reports that "Maverick director Larry Clark beat up the distributor for his movie "Ken Park" after the jerk declared that America deserved to get attacked on 9/11." COMPARE AND CONTRAST Garrison
By Ed Driscoll · November 09, 2002 02:28 AM ·
COMPARE AND CONTRAST Garrison Keillor in 2002 on Norm Coleman and in 1998 on Bill Clinton. THE SILVER BULLET: JunkYard Blog
By Ed Driscoll · November 09, 2002 02:14 AM ·
THE SILVER BULLET: JunkYard Blog has the skinny on the seldom discussed Paragraph Five of our resolution regarding Iraq--and it's a doozy. "WITHIN WEEKS": That's how long
By Ed Driscoll · November 08, 2002 11:57 PM ·
"WITHIN WEEKS": That's how long military officials are saying it would take the US to be prepared to strike Iraq if Saddam Hussein violates the terms of a new U.N. resolution that was approved on Friday. HIGH TECH SMELLS SUCCESS, in
By Ed Driscoll · November 08, 2002 05:18 PM ·
HIGH TECH SMELLS SUCCESS, in Republican Congress. THE BUSH-GROUCHO CONNECTION
By Ed Driscoll · November 08, 2002 04:49 PM · Oh, That Liberal Media!
THE BUSH-GROUCHO CONNECTION, as discovered by John Podhoretz. Nice to see Bush and Ari Fleischer not taking Helen Thomas very seriously, by the way. UPDATE (5/27/05): If you're tripping over this post via a search engine today, this may be what you're actually looking for. But look around for a while. Many other items may catch your eye! WISHFUL THINKING: "Pelosi Favored to
By Ed Driscoll · November 08, 2002 03:59 PM ·
WISHFUL THINKING: "Pelosi Favored to Lead House" reads this AP headline. No--Denny Hastert leads the House. Remember--the evil Republicans in charge--you know the drill, right? Pelosi is the Democrats' minority leader. I normally don't think of AP as waving their bias in the reader's face, and they haven't been anywhere near as bad as Reuters, post Sept. 11th. But the person who wrote this article clearly is having trouble accepting which party has been charge of Congress since January of 1995. WHEN DOES "NO" MEAN "MAYBE"?
By Ed Driscoll · November 08, 2002 11:46 AM ·
WHEN DOES "NO" MEAN "MAYBE"? When it's Saudi Arabia, who are starting to waffle on their previous decision not to allow the US to use their bases to attack Iraq. IF ALL THE HYPE REGARDING
By Ed Driscoll · November 08, 2002 11:42 AM ·
IF ALL THE HYPE REGARDING THE MICROSOFT TABLET PC is making you dizzy, you might want to check out the spiffy new Apple alternative. They really do know how to make the complex simple. Very simple! 15 TO 0: (No, I'm
By Ed Driscoll · November 08, 2002 11:38 AM ·
15 TO 0: (No, I'm not predicting the score of the Seahawks/Cardinals game this Sunday.) "By a 15-0 vote Friday morning, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution authorizing U.N. arms inspectors to resume their search for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction -- without conditions or limitations." Stephen Green has some brief, initial thoughts. I LOVE THE SMELL OF
By Ed Driscoll · November 08, 2002 11:21 AM ·
I LOVE THE SMELL OF NAPALM IN THE MORNING! (Sorry about going all Robert Duvall on you, but I had to work one of my favorite |