NY Times Letters to the Editor:
As an African-American and a recent Harvard graduate, I have found that my day-to-day life
Archives for 2004
More Class From the ‘Civil’ Left
Really- We’re Moderates!
And, Just for Fun, Bash Bush – Literally
If you’ve ever wanted to punch out a President, here’s your chance. For a small donation, attendees can “Give George What-For in ’04” by punching an inflatable likeness of President Bush. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to take politics into your own hands. Other games and kids’ stuff include politically-themed face painting and temporary tattoos, and you’ll want to warm up your pitching arm for the “Asses of Evil” dunking booth featuring volunteers masked to resemble “W,” Dick Cheney, & Co.
‘Moderate’ Democrats
Here is ‘moderate’ Democrat Matt Yglesias referring to the President as ‘the idiot son of an asshole.’
In the post just prior to that one, Matt responds to a charge/query that perhaps Cheney is a psychopath (really- the psychobabble is starting too):
I do say, though, that I find it rather heartening to see the veneer of civility stripped away from the administration. Civility is an excellent thing, but only if the people acting civilly do so because they want to govern in a genuinely cooperative spirit. Since Dick Cheney obviously doesn’t want to do so, he may as well curse.
These jackasses can’t even get their message to scan from one post to another. In fifteen minutes, Matt goes from questioning Cheney’s civility because he told a man to fuck off- a man who had called him a war profiteer and a liar- to calling President Bush ‘the idiot son of an asshole.’
At least all the pretenses are gone. The gloves are off.
Yeah, We Won!
Yes, Matt. Yes, Pandagon. Yes, Atrios.
Glenn was right. We did win this battle:
Over the next 60 days, more than 5,000 troops from the division engaged in the most sustained urban combat operation of the now 15-month occupation. In desert cities that once welcomed American troops, they battled a Shiite uprising that threatened to upset the June 30 transition to an Iraqi interim government. Their orders were stark: Smash the uprising, and capture or kill its leader, the radical cleric Moqtada Sadr.
Silk soon found himself in a swirl of continuous combat, the kind of close fighting that the military had expected, but mostly avoided, during the 2003 invasion. Pinned down while pushing across a narrow bridge to retake the city of Kut, he watched four soldiers in his 15-man platoon fall wounded. “It was insane the amount of fire we were taking,” he said later.
By the time the uprising was over, silenced in a cease-fire June 4, the U.S. military success appeared decisive. While 19 U.S. soldiers had been killed in combat and scores wounded, military officials estimate that 1,500 insurgents were killed. Sadr’s militiamen had been driven from positions many had died defending.
But like much of the occupation, the battle for the Shiite holy cities yielded a more ambiguous political outcome. Sadr remains at large; U.S.-sponsored polls show him to be one of Iraq’s most popular figures. Hundreds of his militiamen escaped, perhaps to fight another day.
The uprising was crushed, and while Sadr on the surface appears popular, the poll results we discussed last week show how shallow his support is in the country.
I have never met a group of people so wiling to grab defeat from the jaws of victory. But then again, I have never met a group of people willing to say or do anything to win an election. Maybe the title of Matt’s post was right- liberals are idiots.
More here.
MoDo’s Deceit
Ahh, the NY Times:
First Vice chewed out The Times for accurately reporting that the 9/11 commission said there was no collaborative relationship between Saddam and Al Qaeda. Then Paul Wolfowitz called the reporters risking their lives in Iraq craven rumormongers. Then came Mr. Cheney’s F-word. (Not Fox, the other one.)
Discuss.
Poor, Underfunded Democrats
At least the Democrats can quit whining about not having enough money (a lie they have peddled for years):
John Kerry may be only a candidate for president, but he and his entourage travel like kings. A month ago, his campaign began chartering a gleaming 757, packed with first-class seats, fine food, sleeping accommodations – even a stand-up bar. They hardly shy away from fancy hotels, like the Four Seasons in Palm Beach and the St. Regis in Los Angeles.
Late last year, Mr. Kerry’s campaign was so broke that the senator had to mortgage his own home to keep the presidential effort in motion. Now its finances are soaring, the result of a surge of more than $100 million in contributions after the Super Tuesday primaries in March. That has given Mr. Kerry the distinction of being the best-financed challenger in presidential campaign history.
The swelled coffers, spurred by money raised over the Internet, has allowed Mr. Kerry to pour money into the race at a pace that rivals spending by President Bush’s campaign. In fact, he spent more than the president in both April and May.
Again, factor in the unions, the NEA, the NAACP, NOW, the advocacy groups, George Soros.
You Have to Read This To Believe It
This may be the dumbest post I have ever read. Surprisingly, it is not one of my own:
Vice President Dick Cheney shouted “go fuck yourself!” at inoffensive Senator Patrick Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, at a photo opportunity on the Senate floor earlier this week. On Friday he told Fox Cable News, “I expressed myself rather forcefully, felt better after I had done it.”
Now, it seems to me that the Senate floor is public space, paid for by the public. And in this regard, there is no difference between it and the public airwaves, which the public also owns…
Howard Stern no doubt feels better when he gets some blue language off his chest, too. So I propose that Mr. Cheney be made to pay $275,000 for fouling the air of the Senate in the way that he did. Should he feel the need to feel good again, he should be aware that the second offense in the Senate bill costs $500,000.
And, I propose that the fine go to vocational training for the disadvantaged people that Cheney has made a career of stomping all over.
“Inoffensive Pat Leahy.” Heh. Informed comment.