Matt Stinson discusses the left’s never-ending attempt to define Bush as a radical conservative. No really, he is a radical conservative- stop giggling.
Also, this Howard Kurtz piece on Bush Hating is a must read.
Archives for 2003
More on the Loans
It appears that we finally have some dissent in the blogosphere regarding the $20 billion reconstruction loan vs. grant issue, and Spoons, Dean Esmay, and the Discountblogger all seem to be either on the fence or in favor of the loans.
First, I will briefly address Spoons and Dean, because both of them seem to be waffling. I am not sure what kind of argument I can create that will push them over the edge in favor of grants only at this point in time. I could redirect them to yesterday’s post, where Max Sawicky and Matt Stinton wrote rather clearly why loans were a hideous idea. I could point to this Morton Kondracke article, or to this piece in the NY Times by David Brooks:
For the roster of the Pelosi Democrats, look at those who voted against the Bremer plan. Some names are obvious: Dennis Kucinich, Ted Kennedy and Barbara Boxer. But there are some names you wouldn’t expect to see on that list: John Kerry and John Edwards. France, Russia and Syria don’t oppose the Bremer plan, but the Pelosi Democrats are to the left of Bashar al-Assad.
Next we come to the Evan Bayh Democrats, named after the Indiana senator. These Democrats can see past their dislike of the president. They would appropriate some money for Iraqi reconstruction. But siding with the anti-foreign-aid Republicans, they’d turn the rest of the aid into loans. The Iraqi people have been raped, tortured and left bloodied on the floor. The Bayh Democrats say to them: Here’s a credit card. Go buy yourself some treatment, and you can pay us back later.
The Bayh Democrats are centrist but not visionary, and they seem to worry more about adding an extra $10 billion to the deficit than about the future of the Middle East. They may have read memos from the Democratic pollsters on the unpopularity of the $87 billion plan, but they don’t seem to have read about the Versailles Treaty and what happens when strong nations impose punitive burdens on proud ones.
Finally we come to the Cantwell Democrats. This group could be named after Joe Biden, Joe Lieberman or Dick Gephardt, but Maria Cantwell, the Washington senator, sits at Scoop Jackson’s old desk on the Senate floor. The Cantwell Democrats are dismayed with how the Bush administration has handled the postwar period. They’d like to see the rich pay a bigger share of the reconstruction cost. But they knew yesterday’s vote wasn’t about George Bush. It was about doing what’s right for the Iraqi people and what’s right, over the long term, for the American people. These Democrats supported the aid package, and were willing to pay a price to give the Iraqis their best shot at a decent future. This week, Gephardt, who has to win over Iowa liberals to have any shot at the White House, is the bravest man in Washington.
Those are the three Democratic visions
Cheap Thrills
Mark Kleiman posts the following picture of Bush shaking hands with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad:
Kleiman captions this picture as “Leader of the Free World smiles at noted Jew-baiter Mahathir Mohammed.”
Most rational people, particularly those who have paid attention to Bush’s policies in the Middle East, would fail to see George Bush as an anti-semite or one who enables anti-semites. Most reasonable people would consider this to be a cheapshot, as Conrad of the Gweilo Diaries did. Rather than heap scorn on Mark, Conrad instead chose to show Mark visually why this was such a cheap and unfair accusation:
Leader of the Free World gazes soulfully at noted Jew-killer Yasser Arafat
Conrad has several others that are just as amusing, and just as instructive to Mark why his outburst was a cheap shot and a low blow. Granted, Conrad is blogging from Hong Kong (suspiciously near Asia), and not the lofty moral enclave that is the School of Public Policy and Social Research at UCLA, so he probably lacks the perspective to understand that while Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad is a scumbag, he is also the leading voice of all of Asia’s developing countries.
At any rate, Kleiman later responds, channeling Greg Easterbrook:
This seems to have struck a nerve, judging from the angry emails. But none of my correspondents specified which word in the phrase “noted Jew-baiter Mahathir Mohammed” needed to be more carefully explained. The Prime Minister’s career has relied from its beginning on whipping up hatred of Jews (despite the fact that Malaysia has no Jews). Nor did anyone explain why it was wrong to blame George W. Bush for giving such a warm greeting to such a thoroughgoing scoundrel.
First, Matt Stinson (my blogging better half), has some excellent background on Mahathir Mohammed and his importance in the region, as well as some remarks on the ‘reckless unilateralism’ of French Prime Minister Chirac, who was instrumental in blocking the UN censure of Dr. Mahathir. Dr. Kleiman must have missed that, and I would recommend that you all read both of Matt’s posts to get the full scoop (his permalinks are down, so just go to his website and search for “Holy Guilt-by-Association, Batman!” and “Sins of Omission”).
Second, since it is clear that Mark intends to be willfully obtuse, I will lay it out here in plain English:
Sometimes when you are the President of the United States and the leader of the free world, you have to deal with scummy people.
In fact, Mark, that is precisely what Conrad tried to illustrate and you either ignored or pretended to not understand. His point was that President Bill Clinton also had to deal with thoroughgoing scoundrels at times. In fact, these pictures will probably shock you:
President Bill Clinton Enjoys a Laugh With Racist Son of the South
President Bill Clinton Passes Notes to Leader of the Impeachment Coup, Speaker Newt Gingrich
Understand now, Mark? Sometimes you just have to deal with people you don’t like when you are President. Now go apologize, because you are better than that childish cheap shot you took at Bush. At least you used to be, according to all the great work you have done regarding drug policy.
Idiocy in Iraq
This is just stupid, stupid, stupid. Way to win hearts and minds, folks.
A Report From Iraq
Misha links to this report justifying the invasion of Iraq written by, get this, an Iraqi! Here is a sample:
“Yes, the occupation is a blessed and promising liberation for Iraq, even if the U.N., Europe, Russia, India, and all the Arabs say otherwise. The logic of international law could be of interest to the French, the Germans, the Russians and the Arabs, who are enamored with it
Is Jacques Chirac a Busch Man?
Angry Left has an interesting find that will amuse you.
Hallelujah
Sebastian Holsclaw, one of my favorite frequent commenters on a number of sites, finally has broken down and created his own weblog. We are all much better off today than we were a couple of days ago. Check him out, and add him to your links list right away. His first real entry is an indication of why I like reading his remarks.