Step By Slow Painful Step

Not more than twenty-five years ago, Ralphie craved a BB-Gun. Now, the Brits can't do Lego anymore. Fake toy gun-ish catapults for the kids? Only, sadly, in America.

Looks like I can add Rick Moran to the list of those who are of the opinion that Congressional Oversight has proven to be a woefully significant policy failure.

Ed Lasky picks out what Charles Johnson might all a "Fiskie." In this case, PDDNI Donald Kerr has decided to re-impliment and strengthen a Diversity program through the DSIW program. This, of course, after the scandal that was the Nada Prouty incident. The day that the bureaucratic knot on the State Dep't and CIA loosen will be the day that will redeem the world.

What Clarice Feldman could not say in so many words is exactly, precisely what I've been communicating - that esteemed members of the fourth estate rely on ideological dividends for their personal satisfaction. Feldman's also got a busload of revelation spilling all over the Clinton campaign, with thanks and a hat tip to Steve Gilbert. And now, of course, another satisfyingly juicy story on Miss Clinton, former first lady and current Terminator, though with less term and more terminate. Hence the numbers speak.

Thomas Lifson will end our night with a silent prayer of thanks for justice:

"The so-called scandal that drove Paul Wolfowitz from his post as president of the World Bank has ended, not with a bang but a whimper."

Goodnight, My Fellow Americans. And So Long, 2007...

The Underdog: Theory, And Application.

Earlier this month, the volk over at The American Thinker featured Michael Scroccaro, who wrote a brief overview of a subject he will cover in an eventual book. I highlight here a passage of his piece on underdogma:

We begin life tiny and helpless, at the mercy of those who are bigger and more powerful than us; parents and guardians who tell us what to eat, what to wear, how to behave -- even when to sleep and wake up. Then we encounter schoolteachers and professors who work us, test us and assign grades to us that could shape the future directions of our lives. After school, we emerge into the workforce where we face new Goliaths; bosses and supervisors who interview us, hire us, set our incomes and hold the power to promote or fire us.
The reason why everyone loves an underdog is because everyone knows what it feels like to be an underdog, to be a David in a world full of Goliaths.

About a week later, Science Daily highlighted a study conducted by USF researchers and issued by Sage Publications in the current issue of Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin concerning the same phenomenon.

James Lewis places historical significance on the date of December 13, 2007. On that day, the Lisbon Treaty was signed, and all that the U.S. worked for over at least the last half century vanished with the signing of a few pens and the mass subversion of the views of 450 million individuals on that useless massive heap of a peninsula called Europe.

A Blast From The Right About Now!

It wasn't official before, I'm sure the news'll be supressed now, but still, FNC's been vindicated as the most 'fair and balanced' cable news service.

Bryan Preston has a grievance about the Intel situation and notes McCain's unfortunate involvement (his counterpart Allahpundit meanwhile using every remaining opportunity to negate Romney). Or, as Ed Morrissey says:

"People wondered on 9/12 why our intel operatives were so risk-adverse. In 2007, the question answers itself."

Schoenfeld of Commentary rebukes the long-term role of Congress in this mayhem.

Speaking of Congress, we are shown how non-lame duck Bush actually is. His maneuvering kept the GOP in charge of both Houses in '02 and '04, only to suffer in some swing districts in '06. But Bush and the GOP in Congress have decided they won't bow to rule by plurality. The Dems are understandably yet undeniably shaken. Perhaps Morrissey is right to call that Lame Duck "Mr. Relevant."

In case you missed it, a history of photoshopping.

Even some of my Dem friends have a problem with Reid. He must go.

Ed Lasky has a scathing review of the times, while Morrissey and Preston rip the AJC to shreds over proper journalism.

Phil Plait's a cool guy. That's why I recommend y'all check out the Top 10 Astro Picks of '07.

Hmm - in case anyone missed out, Jim Hoft does a back-to-back on what should and shouldn't count as a hate crime.

Scott Johnson at Powerline eyes the ICRC and BBC - the British-version NYT - with a penetrating suspicion.

The al-Dura case keeps resurfacing. Ace pouts that the courts oughtn't be ok with "missing" raw footage that threw oil in the fire of the then-infantile Second Intifada. I'm in full agreement.

Well, we beat back the AQ enemy at Musa Qala, and of course...nobody knows. That is, moreover, rather, that the fourth estate is a fifth column that'd rather see us lose this war for ideological dividends than see the war through with our uniformed men and women.

For all those who care Ron Silver, has a long piece on fear over at Pajamas Media.

Daveed Gartenstein-Ross over at CTB comments on the Fort Dix Six. His main focus is on the propensity of the prison system, but he's mising IMHO the crucial factor that is conversion to Islam. Reynolds has a few words to that effect; Hoft and Morrissey crack that eggshell. The latter has a bone to pick in that region anyway.

A lot of folk have decried "Golden Compass" for its seemingly blatant anti-Catholicism. Which is true. But Penraker reads between the lines and points to an even more disturbing facet of the film - Satanism. Brendan Miniter at Opinion Journal, meanwhile, shows us what Hollywood doesn't have the guts to peruse.

Whether you choose to call it "Huck Zen" or "Playground Diplomacy," the Foreign Affairs piece is getting real traction in Tehran. Not sure if that was Huck's intended plan.

Turns out Washburn, not contrary to expectations, did have a plainly obvious bias, and we can add the Saudis to Hillary's laundry list.

Speaking of which, Novak's got his own must-read laundry list of grievances. Pat Buchanan's got just one: Diversity.

James Taranto highlighted some newsy items a few weeks back. The first article (on liberal compassion) is worth a look.

Kopel at the Rocky Mtn. News seems to think the media might at least in part be responsible for many grisly homicides. Gee, ya think?!

In the midst of his usual frothy Hillary-bashing, Hoft bombshells readers that Clintonite-In-Chief Billy Jeff was a big eavesdropper during his Reichly Reign (ahem: "administration").

Gosh good grief gee whiz - EU/UN Brit officials taking time off from duty to chat with the Taliban. The Afghan gov't gave 'em the boot.

Finally, Jim and Scott do some politially-motivated metaphorical archaelogical digging and come up with the gems you'll get in the links.


As you can tell, most of this's been a review of the past month. But oh I'm not done yet, only halfway through. I'll get the rest down in no time - stay tuned!

Through the Grinder

First, they came for me at Thanksgiving. Now they come for me at Christmastime:

"The US Senate is holding special one man sessions throughout Christmas and the New Year to prevent President George W. Bush from making appointments without the approval of the Democratic majority.
With the bang of a gavel, Democratic Senator Jim Webb declared the first session open on Sunday morning before closing it seconds later, without any of his colleagues present in the hall.
The brief ceremony will be repeated every two to three days until January 18, when lawmakers resume their work after the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.
The Democratic majority is staging the move to avoid any formal recess for Congress extending over several days. A recess would allow Bush to appoint ambassadors, judges and other top posts without seeking a Senate confirmation for his nominations."

(h/t Michelle Malkin)

Als courtesy Michelle, I'm sure most of us still have the cupcake's-ban story fresh in our minds. And speaking of fresh, here's fresher - or as some call it, the removal of one's tin foil hat.

The War of Words puts the War on Terror at stake. Let us stay strong, and resolute.

In my previous post, I talked about the dilemma inherent in the practice of atheism. Rand Simberg notes:

"One of the dangerous (and false) assumptions underlying the "progressive" project is the notion that there is no human nature, and that human beings are almost infinitely malleable and mutable. All that is needed is to pass the proper laws, and to punish those who refuse to bend to the dictates of the superior morality. Such notions lie at the heart of most of the human catastrophes of the last couple centuries, from Robespierre, to Lenin and Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot. And of course, it is at the heart of the war in which we're now engaged, with the new totalitarians who would, if they could, bend us to their extreme Islamic will."

And to finish off, Claudia Rosett on the UN:

America vs the UN Mob

Just in case anyone thinks the folks at the UN don’t work long hours, check out the news on the UN General Assembly budget vote, held at 5:55 A.M. — on Saturday morning, no less — following “marathon talks that lasted through the night.” The result was the adoption of a record-busting $4.17 billion core budget for 2008-2009, passed by a vote of 142 to 1.
And who was that lone dissenting member state? You guessed it: as Mark Steyn has called it, America Alone.
Is that because 142 member states (including Belarus, China, Cuba, North Korea, Iran, Laos, Libya, Burma, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Venezuela, Vietnam and Zimbabwe) are right? and America is wrong?
Or is it because the UN system is structured to encourage the mob of member states to treat American money as an all-you-can-eat buffet?
American taxpayers bankroll 22%, or $917 million of this whopping biennial core budget — by far the biggest contribution of any one member state — with just a handful of other countries, including Japan and a few from the European Union, accounting for the bulk of the remainder.
This is just the core budget, of course. The UN system-wide budget is about ten times the size (and for that, the U.S. foots an even bigger portion of the bill, or about 25%), thus likely to total well over $40 billion for the same two-year stretch. Though due to a UN system growing like kudzu, and just as impenetrable, the exact numbers are almost impossible to keep up with.
And does all this money go to make a better world? In a statement to the General Assembly, the U.S. ambassador for management reform, Mark Wallace, noted that this budget contains funding for a conference dubbed Durban II, “an event noxious to my country and a disgrace in the International Community.” That funding was approved 141 to one (yep, America alone) by the UN budget committee at 1:05 AM Saturday, just a few hours before the pre-dawn General Assembly vote. Details of that remarkable scene on Inner-City Press. (And then there is the usual roster of high-ticket UN endeavors entwined with the usual UN money and sex scandals, legitimization of tyrants, routine demonization of Israel and the U.S., and failure to stop the genocide of the hour).
Finally, there is the interesting spin in the UN press release headline about this budget vote, which offers no hint that the U.S. had good reasons for its dissent. Instead (also linked at the top of this post), from the UN we get “General Assemby approves nearly $4.2 billion UN budget despite US Opposition,” and from the New York Times (can anyone spot the difference?), we get “Despite U.S. Opposition, United Nations Budget is Approved.”

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By Numbers, By Jove!

First off, when I mentioned Mitt Romney in the context of the American Thinker, I was referring to this - and now it looks like Romney's got a near-endorsement not just from those guys, but also the ever-esteemed Power Line.

The good man at Penraker brings news: a meagre 52 scientists served at the political whim of 115 diplomats in order to compile that masterful IPCC Report of pure unadulterated bunk, with which over 400 real scientists have a bit of a problem.

In other news, a Chaffey College math professor's review of D'Suza's new book What's So Great About Christianity prompted a realization on my part. Alan Roebuck's review maintains that:

"Indeed, although most liberals and many leftists do believe in some sort of god, the doctrines of the left are definitely based on the nonexistence of the God of the Bible, in which case man alone decides what is true, good and beautiful. And with no supernatural Authority to restrain him, the leftist finds his way clear to remake society in any way he sees fit. This, along with the fact that Christianity has been responsible for much of the formation of Western Civilization, is why the defense of Christianity is the defense of the West."

I took this thought process to the next step. One inevitably comes to the conclusion along this line of reasoning that absent a deity we are led to belive that we are masters of this planet and can affect this planet through our actions - hence the anthropogenic global warming movement. But Judaism and its monotheistic offshoots - that is, Islam and Christianity - maintain that people are but mere stewards and servants of the earth, just as the position of POTUS is created to serve Americans and the American interests. One can therefore see the dangerous lack of humility that atheism can - not will, but can - pose.

Merry Christmas

It recently came to my attention that we're not doing all that bad in the War Against Terrorism. Even though Pakistan's spending it's money about as uselessly as the PA - on anti-India operations - Musharaff still knows when ass-kicking is necessary. And with Rudd's continued support of the Afghan skirmishes, NATO's pulled off some stunningly important victories. India's also still doing its part (although is anyone else bothered that the BBC Int'l news map's featurin' a half-swastika?).

Also, one of the original smoking gun excuses for the recent hike in pork-barrel earmarking has finally - in the financial sense - matured. This of course from the state previously administered by Romney, who's on Allahpundit's shitlist although "Dave in Texas" is going the AT route and being a little nicer to the candidate than was Ace.

But Huck's not having a swell time as are the rest of us. He'd been going at it with Coulter, Rush and Rice, and wouldn't you know it got pwned by an elementary scholar:

“Who is your favorite author?” Aleya Deatsch, 7, of West Des Moines asked Mr. Huckabee in one of those posing-like-a-shopping-mall-Santa moments.
Mr. Huckabee paused, then said his favorite author was Dr. Seuss.

In an interview afterward with the news media, Aleya said she was somewhat surprised. She thought the candidate would be reading at a higher level.

“My favorite author is C. S. Lewis,” she said.