Hillary Speculation

DRUDGE is reporting that the signs are all pointing to Hillary as Kerry's running mate. An insider says all problems are behind her and Bill now, because they're covered in their respective books. I'm not so sure, but Hillary would strengthen the Democratic base. Only if the base is pretty far left. It is demonstrable that Hillary is an extreme leftist, probably further left than Kerry, and she might actually hurt the ticket. Drudge may have something, he may not, but Hillary is likely to send a lot of people running. Even some Democrats.

Who's your mama?

The Clintons' arrogance shows through again. This time, according to SFGate.com, it's Hillary, in front of a San Francisco audience:

Headlining an appearance with other Democratic women senators on behalf of Sen. Barbara Boxer, who is up for re-election this year, Hillary Clinton told several hundred supporters -- some of whom had ponied up as much as $10,000 to attend -- to expect to lose some of the tax cuts passed by President Bush if Democrats win the White House and control of Congress.

'Many of you are well enough off that ... the tax cuts may have helped you,' Sen. Clinton said. 'We're saying that for America to get back on track, we're probably going to cut that short and not give it to you. We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good.' (Emphasis mine.)

If this is the agenda Hillary will admit to in front of a presumably left-friendly SF group, what is she saying in the strategy room? This woman is extremely bad news. Thanks to Andrew Sullivan.

Feelgood Dept.

Smiling Bush quietly shares Iraq handover glee with Blair

Does this perhaps prove to the left that we really weren't in it for the oil?

More on Moore

Andrew Sullivan saw the film:

I was expecting to be outraged, offended, maddened, etc etc. No one told me I'd be bored. The devices were so tired, the analysis worthy of something by an intern in the Nation online, the sad attempts to blame everything on Bush so strained and over-wrought even the most credulous of conspiracists would have a hard time giving them the time of day. This won the top Cannes prize? Only hatred of America can explain that.

Damned If You Do Dept.

In The Weekly Standard, Bill Kristol takes the New York Times to task over its misleading coverage of the 9/11 Commission report. Kristol poses this important question to those doubting our course of action:

Could the president of the United States have simply left Saddam in power, with sanctions coming off, reconstituting his weapons programs, confident that Saddam and al Qaeda would not work together again in the future? Would this have been a reasonable course of action?

The answer, of course, is no. And had we taken this course, the criticism over the long haul might have been worse than for what we did, which was to free a country and take down a dangerous dictator. Bush was going to be a target of the left whichever action he'd taken.

Yes, the site looks different. The blog is currently hosted by Blogger, not an all-bad situation. You can see some of the stuff in the original site from the links at right.

The level of name-calling is inversely proportional to the level of rational thinking.

Consider Godwin's Law [The Jargon Dictionary] when next you hear a rant form Michael Moore, Sydney Blumenthal or, for that matter, Al Gore:

Godwin's Law prov. [Usenet] 'As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.'

Hitchens on Moore. Hitchens on more.Me on Moore. Me on more than that.

Christopher Hitchens, one of the smartest guys on the left, skewers Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, as well as Moore himself, in Slate.

Although I hate to support Moore's politics, I'm quite interested in seeing Fahrenheit 9/11 from the standpoint of technique. Leni Reifenstahl was a master filmmaker who, at least artistically, got behind a really bad political point of view, but her films are still valuable as examples of propaganda. (Please -- I'm not comparing anybody to a Nazi, least of all Michael Moore.) Moore's film may be less documentary than political diatribe, but I'm still interested in seeing how he does it. Roger and Me was actually pretty good, although it foreshadowed a pretty strong anti-capitalism/anti-business streak in Moore's psyche. But I liked it.

The Hill, among other sources, is reporting on a move to prevent Moore from advertising his film after July 30, on the grounds that since the GOP convention starts August 30, it essentially counts as a kind of "primary election," and so no ads mentioning the candidates can appear less than 30 days prior. This will be a problem promoting Moore's film as well as other politically-oriented documentaries coming up. One blog indicated political documentaries may constitute a kind of "end-run" around McCain-Feingold.

Well, guess what? McCain-Feingold is a piece of bad -- no STUPID -- legislation that BEGS for end-runs. (Why else would Kerry float the idea of not actually accepting the nomination at his party's convention?) Campaign finance reform has a long tradition of unintended consequences, and this is why it shouldn't have been passed at all. It is a direct attack on free-speech, and when free-speech is challenged, it's going to figure out a way to be heard anyway. (Think of this: McCain Feingold COULD be interpreted to prevent any and all bloggers from mentioning politics in their online publications.)

"But wait a minute, Dave" I hear some of you saying, "But don't you WANT Fahrenheit 9/11 ads off the airwaves, since they'll be critical of Bush?"

Nope. I don't want ANY ads legislated off the airwaves. I want politicians and whiney crybabies to stop talking pompously about how there's "too much money" in politics. Well, no kidding. Money makes the engine run. Anyone should be allowed to give money, run ads, make speeches in whatever quantity, volume and gross rating point increment they choose. Unencumbered. Without some political-hack second-guessers trying to determine how much is "too much." It's all this silly legal leak-plugging that's wasteful of our time and constricts freedom. Did ANYone really think this version of "reform" would do the job? No matter what, people will find a way around it. And here's the kicker: they SHOULD.

Michael Moore, in my opinion, is a wrong-headed guy. I completely disagree with his politics, opinions and attitude about our country. But dammit, he should have the right to put out his film and try to convince people of his point of view. If we tolerate quashing any expression of Michael Moore's, then when Rush Limbaugh or some other person on the right wants to make a film, we have to expect the same kind of treatment. No intelligent person should support or applaud any ruling against freedom of expression.

Words mean things

Rush has said it for years. I've been saying more or less the same thing for longer than he has. Bret Stephens of the Jerusalem Post, writing in OpinionJournal brings the point up to date.

Saturday in the car with the kids

Paige and Demarée on the joys of being 19 and 21, respectively, and Dylan talking about playing drums.

The new drum set. Dylan is in heaven lately.

Randy Zonker, me, Leslie Torok and John Shoup at the Bristol Opera House last night. 

On "forcing" democracy in Iraq

From IRAQ THE MODEL, one of my new favorite blogs.

So Long, Mr. President

I can't say it much better than Peggy Noonan does. She was there.

Kerry Campaign Tries to Throw Cold Water on Job Recovery Numbers

This dumb lie continues:

"Any step forward in the job market is good news for workers but America is still in the worst job recovery since the Great Depression," said Allison Dobson, spokesperson for Kerry, in a statement issued Friday.

Don't they realize there are people alive today who remember the Great Depression and know better? This is the same goofy story Clinton got away with in 1992 ("Worst economy since Herbert Hoover"). I guess if your education system keeps people in the dark about history, you can count on people swallowing anything you tell them. Especially if you tell them about anything that happened more than, say, five minutes ago.

Bumbum is 21

All grown up, but still my baby. I love you honey.

"Insignificant" news from Iraq

Another indication that maybe we did the right thing:

On the shores of the Tigris River sits 40 acres of prime real estate which recently was home to a compound used by Saddam Hussein's secret police. Now, a retired U.S. Navy commander is leading the charge to turn the remnants of the police camp into a first-class camp and training facility for Boy Scouts in Iraq, and have Scouting flourish once again in the region.

If the Boy Scouts can get a foothold in this country, can things be quite as bad as the left/anti-war crowd keeps trying to convince us?

Omar's blog, Iraq The Model, is one of the better ones coming from Iraq giving us a view from the Iraqi perspective, as opposed to that presented by most media and editorializers in this country.