Open Threads

One of my favorite pics (even though it is blurry):

And a late night walk with the backup leash:

I love the fact that there is no dignity when we are together. Just a straight up love affair, and to hell with the rest of you. And with that, I am going back to bed. With my dog and cat, of course.

Dignity Is A Four Letter WordPost + Comments (119)

By request. A picture of Lily and Tunch:

Not all inter-species snorgling attempts end well…

This is your real open thread.

Wednesday Night Open Thread- There Will Be Blood EditionPost + Comments (236)

Aww, shucks:

Palin’s bookers are said to be asking for $100,000 per speech, but an industry expert tells Page Six: “The big lecture buyers in the US are paralyzed with fear about booking her, basically because they think she is a blithering idiot.”

Maybe she, Carrie Prejean, and Joe the Plumber can go as a panel? Dan Quayle can emcee.

Tough Times on the Wingnut Welfare CircuitPost + Comments (74)

Maybe I’m way off base on this, but in my opinion, the Conor Friedersdorfs and Nicole Wallaces of the right aren’t so different from coupmeister John L. Perry. The idea of David Petraeus sweeping in and becoming president in 2012 isn’t unethical or unconstitutional, but I can’t help but think that Friedersdorf and Wallace simply want an institution they see as Republican — the military — to depose a Democratic president they dislike. (Friedersorf’s other preferred candidate is Colin Powell.)

The desire to depose Obama runs much deeper on the right — even the so-called moderate right — than anyone is willing to admit. The Perry piece wasn’t any kind of outlier.

Update. To those who say Friedersdorf and Wallace are just rooting for a Republican to win, I quote commenter neil:

But David Petraeus is not, in fact, a politician, nor a candidate, nor even a Republican. So this isn’t just somebody rooting for his side.

Wanting Mitt Romney, a Republican and all-but-declared candidate, to win the election as a Republican in 2012 is nothing like wanting David Petraeus, who is not known to be a Republican and has not expressed interest in being a candidate, to come in and out of nowhere and become the new Republican president. It isn’t the same at all.

Supporting an actual candidate is very different from hoping that your favorite general will become the new president as a member of your party.

A kinder, gentler coupPost + Comments (151)

Bret Stephens of the WSJ says neoconservatism is making come back…even though he can’t say what neoconservatism is:

None of this is to say that neoconservatism represents some kind of infallible doctrine—or that it’s even a doctrine. Neocons have erred in overestimating the U.S. public’s willingness to engage in long struggles on behalf of other people. They have erred also in overestimating the willingness of other people to fight for themselves, or for their freedom.

But as the pendulum has swung to a U.S. foreign policy based on little more than the personal attractions of the president, it’s little wonder that the world is casting about for an alternative.

I can tell you what neoconservatism is: it’s John Birchism with an intellectual veneer. It owes it’s political sense to the undeniable power of shouting “appeasement”, “Hitler”, “freedom”, “Munich” in Murdoch media while shouting “Burke”, “Thucydides”, “Mars” in the pages of the New York Times.

In some ways, this is understandable. When you read a serious piece about foreign policy, such as this one, there’s a lot to take in. It’s natural that some will take refuge in the simplistic pretension of neoconservatism.

Don’t call it a comebackPost + Comments (59)