Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
Brian Linse makes a compelling case for why the FCC was wrong to vote the way they did.
Read the second link first. I still don’t know where I stand on this issue- my gut tells me that deregulation is not a problem, and I am so accustomed to hearing shrill screams from Democrats that the world is ending because of this administration- and then nothing happens.
Questions like how much is infinity are impossible to answer- likewise, many might think it is impossible to find the dumbest thing ever uttered by Atrios. I nominate this post:
The only evidence we need to know that the administration is simply in CYA mode is the fact they don’t seem very concerned about the “missing” WMD. If they really believed they existed, the hunt for them wouldn’t be motivated by a desire to justify the war, it would be motivated by the very legitimate desire to make sure the deadly weapons were not in the hands of evil-doers. Since the administration isn’t sounding the alarm along these lines, it’s obvious they’re unconcerned. They just want to find some scrap of something – a la the ridiculous mobile “labs” – to pacify the media and dupe the public.
Who is lying about Saddam Hussein’s WMD program here?
You know, Saddam Hussein has got to be delighted with what he’s hearing here today and what he’s seen in the last days, because he’s winning. His strategy is working. Make no mistake about it, his strategy is not to lift the sanctions. His strategy is to build weapons of mass destruction. And his strategy has been able to nip away at UNSCOM over the course of months so that he’s created sanctions fatigue among our allies, who also have a different set of international or national interpretation of interest here. And the fact is that our administration recognized some time ago that it had great difficulty building the coalition to support what was necessary to let *** **** and his team do what they do.
But wait a minute- I thought Bush and Blair and the CIA all lied about the WMD?
Go read BOTW, immediately (I almost wrote the same damned thing this morning when I went to my first left website and read something that nearly gave me an aneurysm):
When someone says a politician is “dishonest,” it usually means one of two things. One is that he is corrupt–that he uses his office to enrich himself or otherwise breaks the law. An example is a recent president who committed perjury in a sexual-harassment lawsuit and as a consequence was impeached. (We won’t name the pol in question, believing as we do that it’s long past time to move on.)
The other meaning has to do with policy: A politician is dishonest if he breaks his promises. The first President Bush, for example, emphatically promised “no new taxes” and then went along with tax hikes anyway. One may argue it’s harsh to characterize this as dishonest–Bush may simply have changed his mind, or bowed to political reality–but his supporters certainly viewed it as a breach of faith, and he paid for it in 1992.
By both these standards, the current President Bush would have to be judged one of the more honest politicians of our time. He’s untouched by scandal, and he keeps his promises. He said he’d cut taxes, and he did. He vowed to liberate Iraq, and he did. But now an argument is developing on the Democratic left that somehow the policies themselves are corrupt–that because Bush doesn’t agree with liberal ideas, he is a liar.
Now go read anyone in my permalinks labeled as a liberal blogger (down to the right). Kinda funny, isn’t it.
“Bush lied about WMD in IRaq.”
Umm.. But I thought everyone agreed that Hussein had WMD. The argument was whether or not we should go to war over them, have more sanctions, and tougher inspections.
“Bush lied about the tax cut- poor people aren’t getting a cut.”
Umm. The bill BUSH wanted gave them the ‘cut.’ It was Voinovich, Lincoln, and Snowe who helped to nuke that part of the cut. Besides- ALL THE DEMOCRATS WOULD HAVE VOTED AGAINST IT ANYWAY.
“Bush said the war was over in his ‘victory stunt’ on the carrier, but people are still dying in Iraq.”
Umm. Bush said that the main military operations were over (which is true- seen any shock and awe lately? Seen any tank battles? Me either- and it isn’t because all the embeds are gone). He stated that there was still much work to do reconstructing the area, that it would be dangerous. It is a victory in the sense that Hussein is no longer in power, but there is still a great deal of work to be done.
Bush lied to us about the aftermath of the War in Iraq- he said it would be easy and he did not prepare us for casualties.
He never said anything of the sort- besides, you were screaming for months that the war would be a quagmire but we would win, and that we would lose the peace and it would be a quagmire. It isn’t a quagmire, but how can you say you were unprepared- you were the one predicting dire consequences- now you aren’t prepared for your own predictions (and I don;t agree it ever has been or is now a quagmire). So which is it- did he lie to you, or did he not prepare you?
Bush said that Al Qaeda was no longer a threat, but now they are attacking all over the world.
Umm. Maureen Dowd said that. Bush said that the members of Al Qaeda who have been captured or killed are no longer a threat.
And on and on and on and on….
Taranto has the Democrat position nailed:
Anyone who disagrees with me is a liar.
Things like this just infuriate me. While the New York Times is spending 2-3 days devoting numerous precious column inches to the Department of Justice’s OWN report saying there were mistakes made with post 9/11 detainees, the knuckleheads are COMPLETELY missing this cover-up:
One of the 19 suspects in last month’s terrorist bombings in Saudi Arabia was killed Saturday in an exchange of fire in a city in central Saudi Arabia, the state-owned Saudi news agency said, quoting a senior interior ministry official.
The suspect, Yosif Salih Fahd Ala’Yeeri, was also believed to be one of al Qaeda’s leaders in Saudi Arabia.
The statement said he was killed near the city of Turba in an exchange of fire with Saudi security forces. Two security members were killed, and a man who was with Ala’Yeeri was wounded.
The statement was issued Sunday but published in the Saudi daily papers Monday.
Idiots. Harp on the folks who ADMIT they made a mistake and are working to correct it, and ignore the people who are murdering people in the streets to bury the truth. Life really does revolve around getting Bush out of office for the losers at the NY Times.
Sometimes I think public floggings are a damn good idea:
A man running late for his flight to Phoenix called in a phony bomb threat Monday in hopes that the plane would be delayed long enough for him to get on board, police said.
America West clerks at the Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport became suspicious and notified police after the man came to their desk asking about Flight 6262, which by then was on its way back to the airport because of the threat, said Medford Police Lt. Mike Moran.
What an asshole.
(Via Drudge)
