Open Threads

I see that Ken Layne has re-emerged after spending a year going all Buddy Holly on us, and has started blogging again. Before you get confused, Welch is the one with the goofy glasses- Layne looks like a younger Steve Earle. Which reminds me- Welch is blogging up a storm, too.

I suppose I should be all pissy for Layne leaving me in the lurch for a year, especially after his first real return post is this stream of conciousness screed against all bloggers telling us how we have let him and the medium. I am not- welcome back.

Well What Do You KnowPost + Comments

I am back- I had thought about just taking the whole week off and letting the Donks have their week in the sun, but last night was just too preposterous for that to happen. I have to comment. At any rate, the other day I wrote this about the self-serving lying twerp and document thief Sandy Berger:

I really want this liar to go down- too many of the Clinton era swine managed to weasel their way out of everything. Now we have one dead to rights.

To which, in the comments section, Gary Farber wrote:

Which makes clear that John has no interest in justice. No interest in dealing justice to those who violate the secrecy of documents, or commit far worse crimes against national security and our nation. No interest in dispassionately seeing that former NSAs who violate our trust don’t work in government again.

No, it’s about getting “Clinton era swine.”

All I can really say about this is that it takes a special type of Clintonian compartmentalization to make such an assertiion. Berger broke the law and he should be punished. I want to make sure that this member of the privileged class, the Clinton Cabinet, members of which are notorious for evading due process, receives the punishment he deserves. How, exactly, are these mutually exclusive desires?

I Am BackPost + Comments (8)

I am with the Instapundit– Heinz ketchup rules. Whenever I see a knock-off or generic ketchup, I think- “Is that really the place to cut the budget?”

As far as mayo, Hellman’s. People who think Miracle Whip is mayo need to be sent to gulags and re-educated.

As far as yellow mustard goes- what beat Plochman’s?

*** Update ***

Woah- I love all types of mustardn ad actually use brown mustards and horseradish mustards FAR more than I use straight up yellow. I was just listing generic yellow mustard because thatis what most people eat.

Again, I love Plochman’s- I also love Stadium mustard, but that is hard to come by around here.

My absolute favorite mustards are tubes of German senf- but you cant find that anywhere (except maybe Germany).

Ketchup GatePost + Comments (23)

A reader suggests that the only thing Edwards brings to the Kerry campaign is big money trial lawyer connections, and thus wonders if the Kerry/Edwards ticket should be called the “Cash and Kerry” ticket.

Henry Hanks thinks this ticket should be called the “September 10th ticket.”

I prefer to call the “Tax and Sue in 2004.

Please list your entries below.

Campaign Nicknames?Post + Comments (17)

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.

Yeah, We Won!Post + Comments (9)

I have a real problem with the way the media is reporting the beheading of Nick Berg and the most recent victim, Kim Sun-il.

According to this AP report:

An Iraqi militant group has beheaded its South Korean hostage, Al-Jazeera television reported Tuesday.

The pan-Arab station said it had received a videotape showing that Kim Sun-il had been executed.

The Beeb reports it as such (looks like a slightly modified AP filing):

Islamic militants in Iraq have beheaded a South Korean man they were holding hostage, al-Jazeera television reports.
The Arabic satellite channel said it had received a video tape saying Kim Sun-il, 33, had been executed.

Kim Sun-il was not executed. He was murdered. This is not a stupid nitpicking like the ‘suicide-bombing’ v. ‘homicide bombing’ nonsense. When the term execute is used, it brings with it the implication that the sentence waslawful.

This was not- this was cold-blooded murder by a bunch of cretinous thugs. Hell- this wasn’t even in accordance to any version of Islamic law.

So stop using the term executed in these cases. They were murdered, and they are victims.

*** Update ***

BTW- The Back Country Conservative reminds us that these savages may have ten other captives.

The Media and The Words They UsePost + Comments (12)

It’s my birthday- so probably not much more blogging from me.

You might like to check out these lovely gift items.

BirthdayPost + Comments (16)