|
"...peace is the highest aspiration of the American People. We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it, we will never surrender for it, now or ever."
- Ronald Reagan January 20, 1981 |
|
HOME RSS SITE FEED  CONTACT The Elder: rightwinger23 at hotmail.com Saint Paul: saintpaul at earthlink.net JB Doubtless: abunodisceomnes at hotmail.com Atomizer: atomizer77 at yahoo.com
|
Tuesday, June 08, 2004
The Deaf Comedy Jam
Brian Lambert interrupts his fair and unbiased entertainment column in the Pioneer Press for this promotion of a Democratic party fundraiser: Other than Jon Stewart, few satirists have had as much fun at President Bush's expense as Garrison Keillor. Just think what he'll feel free to say when he speaks July 1 at a fund-raiser for the House DFL Caucus at the College of St. Catherine. "Invitations" are being sent out next week. But if you've got political connections, hit 'em up now for a chance at tickets. I'm thinking Norm Coleman's ears are already burning. Look out folks, it's Garrison Keillor, uncensored! ("It's been a quiet f*ck*ng week in Lake Woebegone!") Not sure what's going to go down at St. Kate's but it's hard to believe Keillor can get anymore partisan than he does during his weekly cornpone rants against George Bush on MPR's A Prairie Home Companion (and all brought to you by ... your tax dollars!). One thing that is certain, it won't be funny. It will be a name calling temper tantrum, under the guise of humor. And that's close enough for a vengefully partisan audience just dying to laugh at the opposition. Lambert's reference to Norm Coleman reminds us of the last time Keillor dragged his atrophied satirical muscles into the political ring. It was just after the 2002 Minnesota Senate race, Norm Coleman vs. Walter Mondale and the ghost of Paul Wellstone. Keillor's witty contribution to the dialog, a vengeful, name-calling temper tantrum. Hold on to your funny bones for corkers like these (original text from the subscription edition of Salon and ripped off in it's entirety by this blog): St. Paul is a small town and anybody who hangs around the St. Paul Grill knows about Norm's habits. Everyone knows that his family situation is, shall we say, very interesting, but nobody bothered to ask about it, least of all the religious people in the Republican Party. It was a dreadful low moment for the Minnesota voters. To choose Coleman over Walter Mondale is one of those dumb low-rent mistakes, like going to a great steakhouse and ordering the tuna sandwich. But I don't envy someone who's sold his soul. He's condemned to a life of small arrangements. There will be no passion, no joy, no heroism, for him. He is a hollow man. The next six years are not going to be kind to Norm. Hee-haw. But, I have no doubt this will have them rolling in the aisles at St. Kate's on July 1, forced as it may be. I also notice Lambert comparing Keillor's routine to the satire of John Stewart, which is perhaps the most laughable thing in this entire story. As opposed to Keillor's comedic stylings, Stewart is a real talent, a legitimately funny guy. Despite his liberal orientation, he's probably the funniest guy on TV right now (the only competition being Conan O'Brien). One thing I've noticed over the past few years is that liberals love John Stewart. Talk to any of them about pop culture and soon their undying fealty to Stewart will be invoked. They say it with pride, like it's a line from their resume. They love John Stewart, adore him, cleave him tight to their bussoms (hell, the even based an entire talk radio show network on his image - poorly, I might add). Lambert's gratuitous reference to Stewart is his attempt to gain status by telling everyone he's hip to what the kids are doing. But jokes alone cannot be the cause of this much ardor from the Left. No, I believe it goes much, much deeper than that. My intensive observations and knowledge of the human condition tell me they love him because he represents the ideal of how they'd like to view themselves. Younger, smarter, funnier, and hipper than the uptight, establishment "suits" in the Republican party. ("Suits" a term Lambert has actually used in previous columns). The problem is, that most Democratic humor isn't John Stewart. It's shrill, obscene buffoonery coming from the likes of Garrison Keillor, Al Franken, Michael Moore, Jeanine Garafalo, and Margaret Cho. These folks are much closer to typical Democratic party rhetoric than anything you'll get from John Stewart. The reason being, Stewart's priority is the joke and not the political posturing. When he's performing, he doesn't care about influencing elections, he cares about influencing laughter. If it's funny, he'll zing Bush, he'll zing Kerry, he?ll zing anybody. And that makes all the difference. (That, plus tons of talent, of course). This past weekend C-SPAN broadcast live from BookExpo America. On Sunday morning John Stewart showed up on a panel along with Tom Wolfe and a couple of non entities hawking their latest anti-Bush tomes destined for the best seller's list. During the question-and-answer portion, some Lefty from the crowd got up and reverently asked Stewart: "If there were one person living or dead you could put on the Democratic ticket along side John Kerry who would it be?" Stewart's response (I'm paraphrasing): "You want me to consider dead people? Isn't it enough that there's one dead guy on the Democratic ticket already?" (Huge laughs) "Well, if I had to choose one dead person, maybe it would be Abraham Lincoln. Then Kerry could point to him and say 'you thought I was grotesquely lanky, get a load of this guy.'" (Huge laughs) Suffice to say, you won't hear anything like this at a Garrison Keillor performance. And I'm not just talking about the huge laughs part. Monday, June 07, 2004
Where Character Still Matters
The Warrior Princess checks in from New York City with these observations from the recently completed Fleet Week: 60 years ago, members of the Greatest Generation stormed the beaches of Normandy to fight for freedom and democracy. The courage shown by our nation and by members of the armed services during World War II has always fascinated, inspired, and humbled me. However, I had long ago resigned myself to the fact that self-sacrifice of this kind is dying with the generation that displayed it so resolutely 60 years ago; that the self glorifying unadulterated pursuit of self interest permeating our culture today has corrupted us as a nation beyond redemption. I was mistaken. Last week I took a much needed vacation to New York City. It so happened my time there coincided with "fleet week". For my friends from the south, no it was not a week devoted to enemas. During fleet week, ships from our U.S. Navy travel to New York Harbor and dock at Pier 88. For one week, members of our Navy and Marine Corps take the time to give us civilians a peek into their world. They give us tours of the ships they call home. They explain the equipment and its purposes. They show us some of the vehicles and artillery that help them protect our nation. They tell us about their jobs, their experiences, their training, all the things I've always been curious about, but never had someone to ask. The Seamen and Marines I spoke to hailed from places like Norfolk, VA, Baltimore, MD, Baton Rouge, LA , and my hometown of Sacramento, CA. Their jobs ranged from encoding and decoding messages on navy vessels to flying marine combat helicopters. The professionalism, respect, and honor they displayed gave me a newfound admiration for the uniform, and the men and women who don it at home and abroad. At one point I was standing in line, and behind me two Vietnam Vets were reminiscing about their time in the military, and their experiences coming home to anti-war protests and a nation turned against them. I hope, rather than believe, that those fighting today will be shielded from the animosity that those Veterans experienced when they came home. Especially if the nation they come home to is one that elects a President whose contempt for the military has been so consistently displayed throughout the last 30 years. Our nation was founded with principles and values. Governmental institutions like public education, and the military were originally infused with these moral values to promulgate character qualities our founders thought necessary for the success of the nation. Any consideration of character training has long since exited the public education system. I'm thankful that the character qualities the Founding Fathers believed were so essential for sustaining our nation are still taught, if not to the general population, at least to those we would choose to protect it.
You Probably Haven't Noticed But...
There's a pretty compelling Stanley Cup Finals going on between Tampa Bay and Calgary. The Cup winner will be determined tonight in Tampa in a game seven showdown. The last two contests have gone to OT, and the way the series has gone so far it wouldn't be surprising to see another sudden death finish. Go Flames.
True Believer
A number of the posts that I've read on the passing of Ronald Reagan from conservative bloggers have noted that at the time of Reagan's presidency they did not support him, but have since realized the error of their ways. In Joe Carter's look at What I Didn't Know About Reagan he explains: When Ronald Reagan took office in 1981 I was outraged. Reagan wasn't just a Republican (which would have been bad enough), he was a conservative Republican. That made him even worse than the despicable and hated Richard Nixon. When I heard the election results I was shocked. I couldn't believe so many Americans were stupid enough to choose this mean old geezer over the kind, sprightly President with whom I shared a last name. And Mitch Berg admits: When Ronald Reagan took office in 1981, I was a senior in high school. The seeds of doubt in my left-of-center upbringing were already there; Jimmy Carter's "national malaise" speech had already affected me with a deep sense of "how dare you?" But I couldn't quite see becoming a Republican. I couldn't quite see myself supporting that man, that being so reviled by so much of my family's social circle, and so many of my own in college. James Lileks was far too smart to fall for Reagan's schemes as a writer at his college newspaper: Reagan was worse than stupid - he was conspicuously indifferent to our futures. It was generally accepted that he either wanted a nuclear war or was too dim to understand the consequences. It went without saying that he didn't read Schell's "Fate of the Earth." It went without saying that he didn't read anything at all. Considering that Reagan himself underwent a political transformation, it would be a bit hypocritical to criticize those who once were lost but now are found. Let's just say that I'm glad that I never viewed Reagan in that manner. I was a Reaganite from the get go and I'm proud of it. For I never underwent the sort of political turning that numerous, especially in the blogosphere, present day conservatives have. I recounted some of this last year in a post called Right From the Start. I'm not going to rehash the whole thing here (you're welcome), but do want to make a couple of points on the influence that Reagan had in my political development. When I was young I developed an early interest in history and current affairs. I read just about every military history book I could get my hands on, especially if its subject was the Second World War. By the time I was ten I was regularly reading my parent's weekly U.S. News & World Report magazines and keeping a scrapbook on current events filled with clippings from the local newspaper and USNWR. In 1980 I was twelve years old and actively following politics. I supported Reagan in the GOP primaries because of his promises to rebuild America's defense and jump start the economy with tax cuts. The "malaise" in America that Jimmy Carter was largely responsible for was, by that time, so pervasive that it even affected my life. I can still recall excitedly watching the news that an attempt to rescue the hostages in Iran had been launched, only to be devastated shortly afterward when the inglorious failure of the operation was reported. Once again our country looked weak and impotent. The economy was racked by high interest rates, inflation, and unemployment. It was not a good time to be an American. And then Reagan was elected. The 1984 Reagan campaign commercials featuring the "It's Morning Again in America" slogan have been widely lampooned, but that's what it felt like for me after the 1980 election. It was okay to be proud of America again. We had a President who exuded strength, confidence, and hope for the future. Baby we were back. Not that everything was rosy immediately. It took a couple of years to pull the economy out of recession and there were some hairy moments in foreign affairs when it appeared that war was a distinct possibility. But Reagan weathered these storms and so did the country. I continued to be a strong supporter of President Reagan. In 1984 I protested an appearance by Geraldine Ferraro in Minneapolis, and had one of my first experiences with the open minded, tolerant leftists who clamor about how much they support "dissent". Most of the crowd was hard-core feminists and they were none too happy to see a sixteen-year-old boy decked out in Reagan-Bush regalia. I also wrote an opinion piece (scroll down to find it) in 1986 for my high school newspaper supporting Reagan's decision to strike Libya. At college, instead of having a portrait of Over the years my understanding of the philosophical underpinnings of conservatism has deepened and my knowledge of its foundations has expanded. But my core principal political beliefs have largely remained unchanged. And so has my admiration, respect, and support for Ronald Reagan, the man who defined, clarified, and championed those beliefs during my formative years. I lived, breathed, and loved the Reagan Revolution. And I doubt that I will ever experience the same level of commitment, passion, and excitement for a president again in my lifetime. A great man has passed on. I'm thankful that I was able to appreciate his greatness during his years in the White House as well as being able to look back fondly on them now.
Credit Where It's Due
We like to bash the mainstream media as much as the next guy (or gal) for their liberal bias. But so far the media coverage of Ronald Reagan's passing has been, for the most part, commendable. Last night was the first time in recent memory that I was able to watch the entire hour of "Sixty Minutes" without once getting my dander up about what I viewed as slanted reporting. I've heard some conservatives nit picking here and there about perceived slights to Reagan's legacy, but I have not come across such instances myself. Today Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) is running some Center of the American Experiment (a local conservative think tank) programs on Reagan. Mitch Pearlstein, the CAE President, will be on live at 11 a.m. And from noon until 1 p.m. they will air portions of two American Experiment Forums: Dinesh D'Souza's in 1998 and Peter Robinson's in 2003.
Have One For The Gipper
James Phillips e-mails to offer some advice on remembering Reagan: I saw your post this morning about getting back in touch with Ronald Reagan. If you haven't read it, I recommend Peter Robinson's "How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life". I thought it would be some clichéd guide for teenagers, but it is a wonderful book. I also recommend doing what I did this weekend. Took my computer outside to do some work on, poured myself a beer (Young's Double Chocolate Stout), a few cigars, and listened to Reagan's speeches from the 5 CD "Speaking My Mind." It was refreshing, funny, and at times surreal. "A Time For Choosing", his memorable 1964 speech for Goldwater, still holds up today. One D-Day speech was particularly moving, not only by its nature, but because it was from the 40th anniversary, yesterday being the 60th. And of course, the speeches on national defense and the Cold War could be given today, and should be. Listen to any one of them, think of Reagan's opposition in the 1980's, and you'll see that the Left has not changed a bit, only grown more vitriolic. Right now I am reading "Recollections of Reagan", a short book of short comments about Reagan. Two of my favorites. George H.W. Bush tells about how Reagan used to feed the squirrels outside the oval office. The Veep told him that his dogs Millie and Ranger liked to chase the squirrels, and when they caught them, they finished them (aside: no catch and release for Republican dogs!). Bush said that when he became President shortly thereafter, Reagan had made up a little sign and left it where he used to feed the squirrels: "Beware of Dogs." And Lee Edwards tells of writing a biography of Reagan, that was updated in 1981 up to, and including the assassination attempt. The book had a bright big yellow slash across the front advertising this last point (which the author said was probably in poor taste). When he presented Reagan with a copy, Reagan looked down at it and said "sorry I ruined the ending for you." Someone on NRO's The Corner this weekend said that Reagan's death should not necessarily be a time of mourning, but a time of reminiscing. An Irish Wake. That sounds about right. Robinson's book is on my Amazon Wish List along with Peter Schweizer's Reagan's War : The Epic Story of His Forty-Year Struggle and Final Triumph Over Communism. I have a feeling that this summer a lot of people are going to catching up on their reading of Reagan related works.
Bringing Clarity
The passing of Ronald Reagan has helped me prioritize my reading backlog. Right now I'm reading Shorter Summa by Saint Thomas Aquinas, but was looking to start another book in my waiting stack. It just happens that I have two works on Reagan in the pile. And so yesterday I dove into Ronald Reagan An American Life, his autobiography. After that my attentions will turn to Reagan A Life In Letters. For some time I've been wanting to go back and reaquaint myself with the man who restored America's pride and purpose. Now seems like the perfect time for it. Sunday, June 06, 2004
Why We Fight
Time once for our semi-regular Sunday cruise through the Star Tribune. Let's start off in the Arts and Entertainment section this time. In Quick Spins, a rundown of music news, we are advised to: Look for a Pearl Jam concert tour this fall, playing in 'swing states' for the presidential election. Look for me to flip the bird to Eddie Vedder if one of their tour stops happens to be Minnesota. Bono, Michael Stipe, Sting, and John Cougar Mellencamp are full of themselves and the seriousness of the various causes (almost without exception left leaning) that they promote, but they can't hold a candle to the Pearl Jam frontman, easily the most self-important, pretentious artist in the land. Do his delusions of grandeur actually lead him to imagine that he can influence the outcome of the election? "Yes Peter, it appears the factor that tipped that scales in Ohio for Kerry was that Pearl Jam concert in Cleveland last Saturday." Next stop is the Books area where we find A liberal dose of Minnesota liberals: No, the University of Minnesota Press isn't itching for another fight with Bill O'Reilly and Laura Schlessinger, both of whom were among the most vocal conservative critics of the press when it published the prize-winning book "Harmful to Minors" a couple of years ago. But yes, that was an ad for the press that recently ran on the liberal radio network Air America, taking a shot at O'Reilly and Schlessinger and asking its listeners, "Are you looking for the liberal media? Look to the University of Minnesota Press." Are you looking for an ideologically driven, publicly supported publisher to use your tax dollars (they proudly claim to receive "less than $300K" of such funding) to advertise on a left wing radio network? While admitting the spot's opener is "pretty aggressive," he said that the ads made sense for the audience. "It's always a question, of course, and in this case it's sort of taken to the extreme, but you are always to some extent matching an ad to the publication, and in this case the publication is Air America. Obviously when we're advertising in the New York Review of Books, we're not doing this sort of ad. But it represents a part of our list." The ads focus on the Shevory book as well as two books by and about Sen. Paul Wellstone, his "The Conscience of a Liberal" and photographer Terry Gydesen's "Twelve Years and Thirteen Days: Remembering Paul and Sheila Wellstone." Something tells me we won't be seeing U of M Press spots on AM-1280 The Patriot anytime soon. Speaking of tax dollar supported, liberal radio: Anyone who has heard "A Prairie Home Companion" since George W. Bush was elected, or who followed the flap after Garrison Keillor lacerated U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman following the 2002 election, will not be surprised to hear that Keillor is 1) a liberal and 2) jumping into the fray of electoral-season political books with "Homegrown Democrat," published by Viking in mid-July. "I am a Democrat, which was nothing I decided for myself but simply the way I was brought up, starting with the idea of Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, which is the basis of the simple social compact," he writes in the book's first chapter. The book celebrates liberalism as "the politics of kindness," but it has fangs for Republicans, who Keillor writes "are determined to cripple" that same social compact "by cutting taxes so as to starve government and kill off public services through insolvency and reduce us to a low-wage no-services plantation economy run by an enclave class that I do not wish to be part of." Damn. He's on to us. When I head down to the X-cel Energy Center next weekend for the Republican State Convention much of our discussion will focus on our plans to implement this "plantation economy" that Keillor speaks of. I'm angling to get me a big spread up in Blaine so I can sit on my porch sipping Mint Juleps, stroking my shotgun, and keeping an eye out for any uppity prols who might cause trouble. Interesting to note that Keillor claims he does not want to be part of an "enclave class". It sounds like a fairly accurate description of a rich liberal writer who produces programs for NPR and has spent chunks of his life living in Europe and New York. Finally we conclude with this puffiest of puff pieces by Eric Black on a novice voter who backs Kerry: Ross Dybvig celebrated his 18th birthday Friday -- the day he attained voting age -- by going to hear a speech by Sen. John Kerry, who will get Dybvig's first-ever vote for president. Truth to tell, the Massachusetts Democrat is not Dybvig's first choice. That would be former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, whom Dybvig supported during the early stages of the primary season. Nor is Kerry exactly the second choice of the Burnsville High junior. After Dean dropped out, Dybvig preferred North Carolina Sen. John Edwards. An eighteen year old junior in high school? And, by way of demonstrating that he is not a Democratic partisan, Dybvig mentions in passing that he would "vote for John McCain in a minute, if I had the opportunity." That's because trust is the number one quality Dybvig looks for in a candidate, and he trusts McCain, the Arizona Republican and archetypal straight shooter. Get that? He has demonstrated that he is not a Democratic partisan by saying he likes McCain. I've never been a big fan of the Arizona senator and the more I read of support for McCain from Democrats like this kid, the more I grow to dislike him. Wait, Dybvig is not a Democratic partisan according to the article right? Dybvig came two hours early to the University of Minnesota Sports Pavilion. When Kerry appeared at noon, he wore a classic candidate's outfit of navy suit with red tie. Dybvig, by contrast, sported a Paul Wellstone memorial T-shirt ("Stand up. Keep fighting."), a Wellstone button, a Mark Dayton button, a Dean button, a Kerry button and, just to make it an even five, a generic DFL button. And yet he's not a Democratic partisan? I'm not sure what more Black would need to reach that conclusion. Would a tattoo of Hillary Clinton's face on his ass have been enough? Dybvig attended the rally on a day off from his summer job selling Cinnabons at Burnsville Center. He is a serious, stolid young man who gives the strong impression that, contrary to the stereotypes about his generation, he reads the paper, knows politics and knows his own mind. He reads the paper? THE paper? The Star Tribune no doubt? This kid reads the Star Tribune, hates Bush, and is going to vote for John Kerry. Sounds like a perfect mentoring opportunity for Eric Black. And he could probably score some free Cinnabons too. For all that, he is firm in his intention to vote for Kerry. In fact, he says he has persuaded his parents -- who typically vote Republican --to break from their usual ranks, and he is working on his more rock-ribbed Republican grandparents. If Kerry carries Minnesota narrowly, he will know whom to thank. If Kerry carries Minnesota narrowly, he will know whom to thank. But it won't be Ross Dybvig. Saturday, June 05, 2004
Song Sung Blue
As I write this, I'm looking into my back alley and I spy a certain blue Subaru pulling out of its garage into the alley. Yes it's that same Subaru I magnanimously pushed out of a snow drift last winter. The one sporting the Wellstone! bumper sticker. Due to the enduring adoration from people like my dear elderly neighbors, the sobering fact is, in St. Paul, the two term senator who never got a majority of the votes in any election (Wellstone!) will always be with us. Locally, he's a religious, cult-like figure, imbued with all the hopes and dreams of the aging, radical 60's generation and their fellow travelers in the modern era. His brand of controversial far leftism is so worshiped that the city government of the Saintly City even saw fit to name a public elementary school after him and his wife. Right in downtown St. Paul is the Paul and Sheila Wellstone Elementary School. Yes, Wellstone!, perhaps the most ideological divisive figure in the state's political history, and he's being embraced and idolized by the public education system. This confluence of extreme ideology and tax funded educational indoctrination is abhorrent to your humble correspondent, as I'm sure it is to any right thinking American, no matter their political orientation. The public school system, funded by all of us, by the dictate of the government, is giving tacit endorsement to the philosophy of a violently partisan politician. For shame, St. Paul, for shame! But I fear there's nothing I can do about at this point. The school has been up and running and indoctrinating all year long. As I mentioned on the third hour of today's Northern Alliance Radio Broadcast (12 - 3 on 1280 AM, The Patriot), since the deed is done perhaps the only thing we can do is look for a way to bring us all together again. And my suggestion for this is the mass singing of the official song of the Paul and Sheila Wellstone Elementary School. The Northern Alliance Chorus (Captain Ed, Mitch Berg, the Elder and yours truly from Fraters Libertas) let it fly on NA Radio today, with a poignant, heartfelt rendition of the song. Afterwards, Paul from Plymouth, an astute caller, commented that the lyrics sounded like some Maoist or Stalinist ditty from a gulag reeducation seminar. I'm not sure about that, but due to overwhelming popular demand, below I reprint the lyrics, so you too can raise your voice in song and get your frame of mind in sync with the government education system: The Wellstone School Song Chorus: My school is Wellstone I go to Wellstone I learn at Wellstone I grow at Wellstone My school is Wellstone I go to Wellstone And Wellstone is the school for me. There's a school called Wellstone That I'm telling you about I think that it's terrific Of that there is no doubt. You can find it in St. Paul The nicest city in the land I'd like to tell, all the world Wellstone school is grand. (Chorus) Both the teachers and the students I think are pretty great We are working hard to be The finest school in all the state. We have vision for the future You can put us to the test I think Paul and Sheila would agree We're going to do our best. (Chorus) We are confident and caring We are hard working and true The principal and all the staff Will work quite hard for you. Send your children here to Wellstone Education they'll receive We'll do our best to teach them all In that you can believe. (Chorus, two times or more) The cult of St. Paul Wellstone, it's not just for liberals any more.
A Great Moves On
The man who symbolized America and conservatism during my formative years has passed this vale of tears. Ronald Wilson Reagan, R.I.P.
Rats Leaving the Sinking Ship?
Fraters reader Jim Styczinski has an advanced degree in Nick Coleman studies (and the chronic migraines and blurred vision to prove it). He forwards this observation from Nick's latest piece: Hanging out with World War II veterans for the last week or so seems to be having an effect on Nick Coleman. In yesterday's column, he includes a passage that could be taken as a swipe at John Kerry: "In the thick of fighting, it was two days before he could stop and examine the wound, which was covered in dried blood. When he was told he'd get a Purple Heart, he rejected the idea. 'Give it to somebody who got hurt,' he growled." I predict that he will be back to normal in a column or two. Jim is probably right. Or maybe Nick has gotten fed up with Kerry's recent pro-American defense rhetoric and support for military veterans. Could this be the beginning of a Nick Coleman led splinter group - Vietnam War Protester Veterans Against Kerry? We shall see. Friday, June 04, 2004
The Sweet Smell of Success
Last night's trivia victory at Keegan's was a little extra special since the pub's manager and trivia night master of ceremonies, Marty had promised an extra round of free drinks to any team that could dethrone us as champions. Of course when we once again crushed all opposition and successfully defended our title, Marty was forced to buy us drinks. Unfortunately, we had to accept his drink of choice which turned out be a shot of Jagermeister set up in a glass of Red Bull depth charge style. I can't recall what Marty called the concoction last night, but some quick Googling revealed that it goes by many names including "Jager Bomb", "Up All Night", and "Blaster". After consuming my regular Thursday night allotment of beer it wasn't exactly what I had in mind to cap off the evening. Shots are not my preferred method for imbibing. If I wish to drink liquor I like to savor the taste, not pound it into my gullet. And shots have a tendency to catch up to you in a hurry and lead to poor buzz management decision making (some time I will chronicle the tale of my friend's quest for the "perfect buzz"). But in this case there really was no choice. The shots were a visible symbol of our triumph that had to be consumed. Marty had made the offer in good faith and had carried through on his end of the bargain. We had to complete the ritual transaction or risk dishonoring Marty and losing face ourselves. And so we threw 'em back. And they were actually pretty good. Not my first drink of choice by any means. The spoils of victory cannot always be chosen. Yet they must always be enjoyed. And so I loved the smell of Jagermeister and Red Bull at Keegan's last night. It smelled like victory.
Psst...I Think He's Talking To You
Matt Rosenberg's piece at NRO on Bill Cosby's remarks and the blogosphere includes this observation: Enter the humble blogger. True, the percentage of Internet users who report they view blogs regularly is still low. But even then, we're talking some 31 million regular blog viewers. Admittedly, some blogs are about knitting, snow-boarding, or origami. Others are authored by navel-gazing college students, polyamorists, vegan anarchists, or self-declared alcoholics detailing each wretched night's debauch. But watch out for many of the rest. Their reach grows. I believe that some of the blogs I frequent resemble those remarks: Your home for diets, cooking, roasting your own coffee beans, and knitting. This dude is gnarly on the half pipe. Origami is a breeze for this Renaissance man. The college boy intently focused on his navel. I don't know if polymorist is entirely accurate, but he has had an awful lot of dates in the last few years. The vegan anarchist is fairly easy to identify. But by far the most obvious is the self-declared alcoholics detailing each wretched night's debauch. Are you guys ever going to grow up and get serious about life?
Slowly Connecting The Dots
At lunch today I heard a caller to Dennis Prager's radio show express her disapproval at the provocative clothes that teenage girls are allowed to wear to church. Which reminded me of this e-mail that I received from Abigail regarding my post decrying the way that the girls were dressed at my newphew's high school graduation ceremony and wondering how their fathers could allow it: To quote your graduation themed entry: "Finally a question for the fathers of teenage girls out there. What are you thinking when you let your daughter out of the house in an outfit like that?" Thank you. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm shocked at what girls wear in public. Yes at school functions but also...at church and youth groups. Now, it's been less than 10 years since I graduated HS, so I'm not a stodgy old woman or anything, but I understand how men think, as you implied in your posting...and to answer your question, I would guess that the fathers are somewhat oblivious and just don't get it. I think the girls are sometimes oblivious as well. I've seen young teenage girls show up at youth group in tight tank tops and not think twice about the effect it has on the young men in the group. This is made worse when one of said girls is the daughter of the youth director/church elder. I think part of the problem is that when parents dress younger girls in certain clothes they have a hard time changing the clothing patterns later on. Example: Another elder in my church has a daughter who's about twelve. She's sort and (admittedly) not skinny or even curvy...she's just quite chunky. I still think she's adorable and sweet, but she wears tight short skirts (well above the knee) and tight shirts. Now, that may be fine and not excessively attractive *now* but five years from now when she's a foot taller and she's lost all her baby fat, how are her parents going to say "well, NOW you can't wear tight clothes and short skirts because it's too enticing." They wouldn't really be able to do it, and worse yet, I don't know that they would think to do so. You're exactly right. Fathers need to get a clue. Maybe in Honor of Father's Day we should stay a special prayer that God will open their eyes and tighten their clothing requirements. Which reminded me of a post that Captain's Ed had on Wednesday covering the subject of young girls who are bucking the trend of wearing immodest clothing: Ella Gunderson and her peers, who have made their displeasure known at the streetwalker-style outfits that abound these days, somehow have thus far avoided being brainwashed into believing that women become more free and more respected in direct relation to the amount of skin they show. Of course, Ella and her friends still have to negotiate the rocky shoals of adolescence, but hopefully her values will remain unchanged. It would be good news indeed if we can raise a generation of young women who refuse to sell themselves short. At the least, pressuring retailers, designers, and magazines to give them a broader range of options demonstrates their savvy at standing up for themselves -- and that's a great start. The news that the some young sisters are doing it for themselves and not succumbing to the pressure of "skin to win" is indeed a great start. A little encouragement (or censure if necessary) from the parents, especially the dads, would go a long way to reversing this trend towards the sexual objectification of increasingly younger girls.
Compassion Equals Compensation
John Kerry is in town today, calling together his band of brothers in an attempt to convince the American populace that veterans and members of the military just love a guy who calls them war criminals, throws his service decorations to the ground, and leads the movement to undermine the will of the American people to support a foreign war. According to his press release: Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry Friday rallied fellow veterans in Minneapolis to kick off a nationwide effort to organize 1 million veterans behind his campaign for the White House. With state Veterans for Kerry coordinators now in place in all 50 states, todayâ??s rally marked the beginning of a grassroots push by veterans across the country to elect John Kerry President. One million veterans organized for Kerry? Seems implausible. I've not talked to a single veteran yet that has anything but disdain for John Kerry and his record toward the military. But I'm sure he's able to draw some support from your yellow dog Democrat types among the veteran ranks. And I'm sure Kerry's rhetoric today won't address his anti-war activities which account for most of his political prominence and stature in the Democrat party (face it, without these radical bona fides, he never would have been nominated in the first place). Instead, we'll get lots of general rhetoric about keeping America strong and allied with the rest of the world (no matter what stance they take). And we'll also get to Kerry's real strong point, doling out money in exchange for political power. Because when it comes to veteran's issues, the only strength of the Democrats is promising to pay more in benefits than Republicans. No matter how much they're promised, there's always room for more - that's the Democratic way, when votes are at stake. This from the Kerry's press release: As President, Kerry will keep America's promise to our veterans. His plan includes mandatory funding for VA healthcare to properly care for over 500,000 veterans who are currently excluded from the system and revoking the Disabled Veterans Tax, which deducts disability pay from military retirement pay. "The first definition of patriotism is to keep faith with those who have worn the uniform of the United States" Kerry said. "And the first duty of a commander in chief is to make America strong and keep Americans safe. It's time do what it takes to build an America that is respected in the world once more." Because no self-respecting 3rd World tyrant respects a country that deducts disability pay from military retirement pay. Hopefully once the radical Islamists around the world hear of Kerry's tax plan, they'll fold like a tent. Far be it for me to begrudge anyone a tax cut. And when it comes to veterans, I support it even more. Cut, cut, cut. But the blurb about "mandatory funding" for "proper medical care" makes my wallet start to twitch and I suspect that's where Kerry's real priorities are. Spending increases in any programs possible, above and beyond any already scheduled spending increases. Basing one's pro-military, strong defense platform on increased social spending seems a little disingenuous, yet entirely consistent with Kerry's character and political pedigree. For proof, look no further than today's Pioneer Press, which included the tale of another ardent Kerry supporter, and how she got that way: Thousands are expected in for his rally. Among them was Linda Wilkinson of Inver Grove Heights, who feels a very personal connection to Kerry. Last year she was on a conference call with Kerry and told him her story: Her husband, a Vietnam veteran, died of cancer in 1998. She believes it was connected to his exposure to Agent Orange during the war. While she and her four children received some money to help with expenses, she didn't have the funds to continue her quest for a college degree. Kerry told her he would help her find the money to pay for her education, even if he had to pay for it himself. "That day changed my life," she said. After that conversation, she said, all her tuition has been paid. She also became a political activist and will be a delegate to the Democratic National Convention and is an ardent Kerry supporter. "I saw the compassionate side of John Kerry that a lot of people don't see," Wilkinson said. That's Democratic party compassion defined: ostentatiously giving away thousands of dollars of someone else's money (in this case, Kerry's 2nd wife's dead husband) for political gain. Ms. Wilkinson is correct on one account, I haven't personally seen that compassionate side of Kerry. Truth be told, he lays 20 grand on me, he's got my vote too. Let the bidding war begin.
Kennedy Gets Moored
In today's Star Tribune we read that Rep. Kennedy pans Moore film editing: Rep. Mark Kennedy has unhappy memories of his filmed encounter with leftist moviemaker Michael Moore, an encounter featured Thursday in a trailer for the upcoming U.S. release of the film 'Fahrenheit 9/11.' 'I was walking back to my office after casting a vote, and all of a sudden some oversized guy puts a mike in my face and a camera in my face,' said the Minnesota Republican. 'He starts asking if I can help him recruit more people from families of members of Congress to participate in the war on terror.' Kennedy said he told Moore that he has two nephews in the military, one who has just been deployed in the Army National Guard. But to Kennedy's annoyance, his response to Moore was cut from the trailer (and from the film, according to a spokeswoman for the movie). 'The interesting thing is that they used my image, but not my words,' Kennedy said. 'It's representative of the fact that Michael Moore doesn't always give the whole story, and he's a master of the misleading.'" Two things stand out in this story. 1. Moore is properly identified as a leftist moviemaker. While the Strib is usually quite zealous about applying labels such as "rightwing" or "conservative", they have avoided using the equivalent labels for people on the other side of the political spectrum. Progress? 2. Mark Kennedy's description of Moore as "some oversized guy" has to be the understatement of the year. Thursday, June 03, 2004
Keeping It Real…And Not TOO Bloody
A few weeks ago, I regaled you all with the tale of my move to the sprawling but quite sub-Capuan suburban estate called Balsawood. Since that time, I have been growing accustomed to, and have become very wary of, some of the responsibilities that are attached to home ownership. One of these has to do with lawn maintenance. Until last week, I hadn’t mowed a lawn since I lived in my parents’ house (no, Hugh, that wasn’t just last year). It had to have been going on twenty years since I last pulled that rip cord and set myself upon the task of violently tearing the tops off thousands of precious blades of Mother Earth’s own outdoor carpeting. I have to say that it felt good. Nevertheless, as I was walking behind my brand new mower (complete with the innovative Personal Pace system, variable speed rear wheel drive and the patented Recycler cutting system…with an Atomic blade, mind you) on the slightly damp hill in my new backyard, I had a horrifying vision. I saw myself losing my footing on the hill and falling to the ground while watching several of my newly detached toes sail out of the mower’s side discharge chute. Just for the time being, I think I’m going to let the grass on that hill grow…because I’m all about the preservation of Mother Earth’s fragile forest floor and all that, of course.
(His Picture Is) Still In Saigon
My uncle (A Vietnam vet who spent six years as a POW in North Vietnam) sent me an e-mail with a link to this story at WinterSoldier.com detailing how John Kerry is honored by the Vietnamese Communists: In the Vietnamese Communist War Remnants Museum (formerly known as the "War Crimes Museum") in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), a photograph of John Kerry hangs in a room dedicated to the anti-war activists who helped the Vietnamese Communists win the Vietnam War. The photograph shows Senator Kerry being greeted by the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Comrade Do Muoi. Jeffrey M. Epstein of Vietnam Vets for the Truth acquired the photograph over the Memorial Day weekend as America was commemorating its military heroes. Jeff Epstein explains the importance of the photograph: "This photograph's unquestionable significance lies in its placement in the American protestors' section of the War Crimes Museum in Saigon. The Vietnamese communists clearly recognize John Kerry's contributions to their victory. This find can be compared to the discovery of a painting of Neville Chamberlain hanging in a place of honor in Hitler's Eagle's Nest in 1945."
The Most Interesting Theory That I've Heard So Far...
Tim e-mails to offer an explanation for John Kerry's interview yesterday on a local all sports radio station: Not that I would ever stoop to name calling, but I wonder if Mr. Kerry's appearance on KFAN was because he is, as I have begun to suspect, a jock-sniffer. Again, I don't want to resort to name calling; I'm trying to stay above the fray. I am just wondering. Tim is correct to urge restraint from engaging in idle speculation that John Kerry is a jock-sniffer. While it has been established that he is a jock-buyer, at this point the jury is still out on whether Kerry is also a jock-sniffer, and it would be improper for us to leap to the conclusion that he is a jock-sniffer based on the evidence currently before us. So please, when you hear reports that John Kerry is a jock-sniffer take them with a grain of salt, and don't allow the rumors of Kerry's jock-sniffing to prejudice your views of the man's character. While it certainly is possible that John Kerry is indeed a jock-sniffer, it is also possible that he is not. A jock-sniffer that is.
Baby, He's Back!
Tan, rested, ready, and apparently with a lot on his mind Hugh Hewitt returns to the trenches with a mustard gas (as in blistering) attack on the media. Welcome back Commish. The airwaves just weren't the same without you, although Duane did a commendable job in his turn at the helm. Thanks to the fine folks at Spitbull, you should soon by receiving a bevy of gifts from Amazon to show how much we all missed you. I'm still torn between getting you the Levi's Dockers Adjustable Waistband Pants and the "Be A Friend To Trees" book. Decisions, decisions.
The Soft Underbelly?
Iraq may well be the central front in the war against Islamist terror as the President claims, but neighboring Saudi Arabia could be the theater where the most critical battles are being and will be fought. And yes, it is all about oil as this article in the Economist on the possible impact of terrorist attacks on Saudi oil facilities demonstrates: Oil traders report that fears of terrorist attacks that might disrupt Middle-Eastern oil exports may account for as much as $8 of the current per-barrel price. That may be because what was once unthinkable now seems possible, perhaps even inevitable: a major terrorist attack, or series of attacks, on oil facilities within Saudi Arabia. While the Saudis don't command as large a share of the worldwide oil market as they once did, they still are the top dog. And it's not so much what they do today, but what they could do that makes their oil supplies so critical: The Saudis not only export more oil than anyone else, but they also have more reserves than anyone else--by a long shot. Fully one-quarter of the world's proven reserves lie in Saudi Arabia. Four neighbours--Iran, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait--each have about one-tenth. Russia, Nigeria and Alaska put together do not match Saudi reserves. Even more important is Saudi Arabia's role as swing producer. Unlike other countries, the Saudis keep several million barrels per day (bpd) of idle capacity on hand for emergencies. Today Saudi Arabia is the only country with much spare capacity available (see chart 1), though the precise amount is a matter of intense debate. Nansen Saleri, an official at Saudi Aramco, the country's state-owned oil company, will say only that Saudi output will rise in June to about 9m bpd, and that the country can raise its output above 10m bpd "rapidly". Right now the Saudis are the only one with the ability to impact the price of world oil. They could step in and help ease the pain if oil exports from other OPEC countries were limited by political instability or conflict. But if something happened to the flow of Saudi oil, no one else could pick up the slack: Amy Jaffe of the Baker Institute, at America's Rice University in Texas, observes that in 1985 OPEC maintained about 15m bpd of spare capacity--about one-quarter of world demand at that time. In 1990, when Iraq invaded Kuwait, OPEC still had about 5.5m bpd of spare capacity (about 8% of world demand). That, argues Ms Jaffe, meant that the cartel could easily and quickly expand output to absorb several disruptions at once. That is simply no longer true. Today's fast-shrinking spare capacity of about 2m bpd is less than 3% of demand--and it is entirely in Saudi hands. So how safe are the oil facilities in Saudi Arabia? Some are confident that they are relatively safe from serious attack: Nawaf Obaid, an adviser to the Saudi royal family, argues in the latest issue of Jane's Intelligence Review that the risk of a successful attack on oil facilities remains "very low". He explains: "At any one time, there are up to 30,000 guards protecting the Kingdom's oil infrastructure, while high-technology surveillance and aircraft patrols are common at the most important facilities and anti-aircraft installations defend key locations." Mr Obaid claims that the Saudi government has added $750m over the past two years to its security budget (which totalled $5.5 billion last year, according to him) specifically to fortify the oil sector. Kevin Rosser of Control Risks Group, a business-risk consultancy, agrees. He observes that there is plenty of redundancy built into the Saudi network--through multiple ports, pipelines and excess capacity--that should ease the blow from any attack. Besides, he insists, to do any real damage terrorists would have to hit bottlenecks, not just blow up random bits of pipeline. Others are worried: James Woolsey, a former head of America's Central Intelligence Agency, is unimpressed by talk of improved security: "Guards and fences are easy to put up, but they don't defend against the real threats." Trucks have to come in and out of facilities, he observes, and Aramco employees and security guards have to move about. He thinks that several attacks, if co-ordinated by terrorists who have infiltrated Aramco, could cripple the Saudi system. How, exactly? Robert Baer, an intelligence expert, offers some suggestions in his disturbing recent book, "Sleeping with the Devil". He reckons that Ras Tanura, a port on the Gulf, is a vulnerable terrorist target. With an output of perhaps 4.5m bpd, this is the biggest oil-exporting port in the world. Mr Baer thinks a small submarine or a boat laden with explosives (as happened in October 2000 with the attack on the USS Cole off the coast of Yemen) could knock out much of Ras Tanura's output for weeks, or even longer. An even scarier possibility raised by Mr Baer is the crashing of a hijacked aeroplane into Abqaiq, the world's largest oil-processing complex. If done with the help of insiders, he speculates that the facility's throughput (nearly 7m bpd, on his estimate) would be choked off to as little as 1m bpd for two months?and might remain as low as 3m bpd for seven months. You have to figure that the Al Qaeda folks are well aware of these possibilities. The problem is that in the near term future there isn't much we can except try to protect the Saudi facilities, spoil planned Al Qaeda attacks by disrupting their network in Saudi Arabia, and hope to hell that they are not able to succeed in interrupting the flow of oil: A witch's brew of soaring oil demand, private-sector destocking and lack of investment in new production capacity by OPEC has left the world with an extraordinarily tight oil market today. There is less spare capacity than at almost any point in the past 30 years. As Edward Morse, an energy expert at HETCO, an oil-trading firm, puts it: "The world has been living off surplus capacity built a generation ago, and thought it could get by. It turns out not to be the case." Building a new surplus will inevitably take a long time. Until then, the potential instability of Saudi Arabia's oil supply will remain a strategic weakness for the world economy. There has been speculation that Al Qaeda would try to follow up their apparent success in influencing the outcome of the Spanish election through the train bombings in Madrid with an attack in the United States designed to achieve similar results. The conventional wisdom is that such an attack would probably help President Bush more than hurt him, with the American people rallying around their president. A far more prudent way for Al Qaeda to influence the outcome of the election would be to seriously disrupt Saudi oil production. Sharp increases in oil prices would put a brake on the economic recovery, cause sticker shock at the pump for consumers (can you imagine the whining if gas were to top $3 a gallon?), and lead even more Americans to question the wisdom of the war in Iraq. The media would be screaming that if we hadn't attacked Iraq, the Saudi oil facilities wouldn't have been attacked, and gas would still be cheap. Can you say President Kerry? Wednesday, June 02, 2004
But What Does He Think About The Wolves Zone Defense?
While driving home from work today I was listening to a replay of Hugh Hewitt plowing through the highlights of Western Civilization in six hours with Professor Larry P. Arnn from Hillsdale College. During a commercial break I just about drove off the road when I realized who it was. John Kerry. Yes, presumptive Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kerry appeared on a local sports talk station today. Granted, Kerry is visiting Minneapolis later this week and obviously wanted to get some advance pub. And without appearing on MPR, he could not have picked a less threatening venue on the local airwaves. But still, The Dan Barreiro Show hardly seems like an appropriate place to hear a man who might well be the next President of the United States. "Coming up in the third hour, an interview with John Kerry followed by our weekly update from Wolves mascot Crunch."
Roll Out The Red Carpet For Kerry
If you live in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area and would like to help "welcome" John Kerry to town this Friday, Laura would love to have you: Please join Veterans for Bush Co-Chair, Lt. Colonel Joe Repya (U.S. Army Ret.) as he speaks out against John Kerry's visit to Minnesota for his National Veterans Coalition Roll Out. When: Friday, June 4th at 9:45am Where: Coffman Memorial Union (Front Steps) at the University of Minnesota Minneapolis Campus. Parking is available at East River Road Ramp , exit from Washington AVE onto East River Road just south of Coffman Union, please see link to map: TC: Coffman Memorial Union Details: We will cheer and chant until 11am or our voices give so please come when you can. Wear your Bush Gear. To purchase Bush-Cheney hats, t-shirts, buttons, jackets, etc. go to The George W. Bush Online Store There will be a large media contingency there and we do not want Senator Kerry to have it all. We need as many people as possible to come show support for the President. If you plan on attending please take a moment to RSVP to Abby Bacak at abacak@georgewbush.com. Banners, posters and flip-flops will be provided.
A Voice In The Crowd
John Hawkins at Right Wing News asked one hundred prominent conservatives if they read blogs, and if so, which blogs they read. Many familiar names were mentioned, along with a few surprises. Thanks Vox.
|
|
![[Powered by Blogger]](http://library.vu.edu.pk/cgi-bin/nph-proxy.cgi/000100A/http/web.archive.org/web/20040608063748im_/http:/=2fbuttons.blogger.com/bloggerbutton1.gif){kind=small}
