Screw you Forbes

Dear editors of Forbes;

Go #)*(&@##*)@&@! yourselves.

Anyway, I would like to say first to the fun folks at Forbes I didn’t register to read the article where you’ve slammed my hobby.

Now Forbes Starts off this article on how bloggers are a wild lynch mob with the following section.

Please hold your irony till later.

But it turns out that scribe Nick Tracy of London was, in fact, a former stockbroker in Oregon named Timothy Miles--and Miles himself faces SEC charges that he took part in a pump-and-dumpstock scheme in 2000. He was tried in June and awaits a verdict. No matter:Circle Group stock fell below a dollar in a year of combat with Miles and the anonymous bashers on Yahoo (and after Nestlé dropped Z-Trim). Halpern's stake is down $75 million, and he blames Miles and his acolytes; he has sued for defamation. "Some of these bloggers have just one goal, and that is to do damage. It's evil," he says.

Ok... let’s take a step back here.

Stock scam in 2000
Vs
Blog post in 2004

This does not –directly- Imply he was wrong, doesn’t imply he was lying. It mearly brings up an old charge

Hmmmm defamatory conduct and slander from a news media outlet? That would never happen.

But Forbes magazine sadly –doesn’t- stop sticking the foot in the mouth there.

Often a bashing victim can't even figure out who his attacker is.

Because these sites don’t have registration (and user profiles), nor if the domain is a vanity domain are their webmasters in public record.

Oh wait… you mean a victim can’t figure out who his attacker is without doing –work-

Oh I’m sorry.

Much like the professional media has never printed false information and stood up for it.

Some companies now use blogs as a weapon, unleashing swarms of critics on their rivals. "I'd say 50% to 60% of attacks are sponsored by competitors," says Bruce Fischman, a lawyer in Miami for targets of online abuse.

I find this dubious from a traffic standpoint.

However if you own a multi-million dollar company please give me money If I abuse your competitors.

I will set up a list of companies I will gladly post negative comments on for 5 million dollars.

Oh wait… then I’d be like NBC never reporting on G.E

;-) But I’d admit I was a shill.

Thus they serve up vitriolic "content" without bearing any legal responsibility for ensuring it is fair or accurate

Do the words “absent malice” mean anything to you?

They should you are –a journalist-

A blog is no different then anyone saying anything. It’s just a different format. But you want to restrict free speech when your brethren can post something in the news that is “fake but accurate” with impunity

No wonder companies now live in fear of blogs. "A blogger can go out and make any statement about anybody, and you can't control it. That's a difficult thing,"says Steven Down, general manager of bike lock maker Kryptonite, owned by Ingersoll-Rand and based in Canton,Mass.

No wonder companies now live in fear of newspapers. "A newspaper can go out and make any statement about anybody, and you can't control it. That's a difficult thing,"says Steven Down, general manager of bike lock maker Kryptonite, owned by Ingersoll-Rand and based in Canton,Mass.

No wonder companies now live in fear of talk-radio. "A talker can go out and make any statement about anybody, and you can't control it. That's a difficult thing,"says Steven Down, general manager of bike lock maker Kryptonite, owned by Ingersoll-Rand and based in Canton,Mass.

No wonder companies now live in fear of people. "A person can go out and make any statement about anybody, and you can't control it. That's a difficult thing,"says Steven Down, general manager of bike lock maker Kryptonite, owned by Ingersoll-Rand and based in Canton,Mass.
Tell me how any of those 4 things are different. It is only different because what people once did in homes now is online, and easily accessible all over the world.

Even mighty Microsoft, for all its billions, dares not defy the blogosphere. In April gay bloggers attacked Microsoft over its failure to support a gay-rights bill in Washington State (the company is based near Seattle). "Dear Microsoft, You messed with the wrong faggots,"wrote John Aravosis, publisher of AmericaBlog, which threatened to oppose Microsoft's plans for a big campus expansion unless the company caved in. Microsoft reversed itself two weeks later, saying it supports gay-rights legislation after all. It says pressure from its own employees, not from bloggers, caused the change of heart.

Even mighty Microsoft, for all its billions, dares not defy the activits. In April gay activists attacked Microsoft over its failure to support a gay-rights bill in Washington State (the company is based near Seattle). "Dear Microsoft, You messed with the wrong faggots,"wrote John Aravosis, leader of AmericaBlog, which threatened to oppose Microsoft's plans for a big campus expansion unless the company caved in. Microsoft reversed itself two weeks later, saying it supports gay-rights legislation after all. It says pressure from its own employees, not from bloggers, caused the change of heart.

Again how is it different? In the case of the MS policy shift –though I don’t agree with John’s tone- what he did is no different at all then any gay rights group could have done.

But it wasn’t a group. It was a blogger and his readers, and their readers, and etc.

"Campaigns understand that there are some stories that regular reporters won't print. So they'll give those stories to the blogs," says Christian Grantham, a Democratic consultant in Washington who also blogs.

Because we know false stories never make it to the NYT or to CBS with the help of campaigners.

And you also notice –bloggers- ditched the girlfriend story quickly to.

When Hinderaker published an item saying left-wing bloggers should stop assaulting a White House reporter alleged to have worked as a gay prostitute, his blog brethren went on the assault, publishing his phone number at work and prompting a deluge of harassing phone calls and e-mails. "My secretary was crying" because callers kept swearing at her, he says. "Then we started getting calls at the house. My wife wanted to hire a bodyguard."

How about the gay activists who out people who were VERY forward in the gay prostitute charge

Hey guess what the Hindrocket would have gotten those same calls if a Journalist published it. And since as a prominent blogger he could very easily get shoe-horned into being a “Public figure” and thus that conduct can be deemed legal.

You can put a prom dress on a pig, but you can’t take it out.

Now back to the company who was “wronged” by a blogger. No one addressed the substance of what this blogger I never heard of said

But lets see –how- they responded to this.

Halpern had better luck, however, when he allied with Gayle Essary, who runs the FinancialWire online news service and had tangled with Miles, too. Halpern dug up details on Miles (his photo and Oregon driver's license; his links to a litany of questionable companies; his claim to be an ordained minister; his Web site that describes a mysterious crystal that contains a message from God) and fed them to Essary. Essary did 15 articles on Miles without citing Halpern as a source, and when Halpern heard from people asking about Miles' allegations against Circle Group, he referred them to FinancialWire, saying it had "exposed this guy a long time ago."

Any of those things relevant on what they were talking about

Nope… didn’t think so.

In the entire article that talks about blogs as slanderers the most important thing in the very lead of the article

“was their slander” and “was their libel”

Was never answered, no were the allegations even presented.

But I guess since Mr. Miles is a public figure he can’t sue forbes for libel

So again I say @(_#*@(#&@*(#!& U Forbes

Here are some other voices covering this soon to be blogswarm I am sure

( thanks to the brothers in the sandcrawlers for the hat tip)

Shocking news from Al-Reuters

a 50 cent movie glorfies gang violence.

No Surely not 50

50 Cent's latest CD, "Massacre," has sold 4.7 million copies in the U.S. since its chart-topping release in March and ranks as the biggest-selling album so far this year, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

anyway there was an actual outraegous part

Antonovich said the billboard outside the school for sixth through 12th graders was particularly egregious because the community had recently mounted an anti-gang campaign.

Activists in the south-central L.A. neighborhood of Hyde Park, another community plagued by gang violence, staged a rally on Tuesday calling on Paramount to remove a billboard next to a preschool. The sign was taken down the next day.

A African-American man.

Who not only lived through Gang Violence but was an active participant.

A "man" who sold drugs to children.

He now is selling a violent movie glorifying the rise from being a gangster to children.

This is what the real story.

Lets help some Virginia health officals

They are confused by spikes in syphilius.

People working minimum-wage jobs don’t have the flexibility to take off work, especially when it just seems to be a little sore that doesn’t hurt, Mason said.

Many people don’t know they’re infected. The CDC refers to syphilis as “the great imitator” because its symptoms resemble many other diseases.

here are some good warning signs of people who might get syphilus... and who shouldn't really be surprised

Some of these men are involved in relationships with women who are unaware of their partner’s bisexuality, Mason said.

This behavior causes an increase in infections among men and puts women at greater risk for contracting the disease, he said.

Mason described the case of a man who lives in Hampton.

Officials conducted a confidential interview with him to discover where his syphilis infection originated and whether other sexual partners were at risk.

The patient was a single man in his 30s who went to clubs in Washington, D.C., where holes in walls allowed men to have anonymous intercourse.

If you use glory holes and ANY symptoms occur if you don't think "Gee maybe having random unknown sex acts caused this" you are in denial

Other things that aren't focused on by the folks in Virginia

Drugs and alcohol impair judgment.

In fact I am willing to go out on a limb and say Drugs and Alcohol may often go hand in hand with use of glory holes

also a problem

Some of these men are involved in relationships with women who are unaware of their partner’s bisexuality, Mason said.

Here is a thing. If your partner is bi and you DON'T know odds are pretty good he/she has no respect for your body or life. This also may suggest a tendancy for reckless behaviors ( I.E he doesn't care about his/her own body)

so here... maybe these facts might explain why their are spikes in syphilus infections

people choosing risky sexual behaviors while drunk/stoned.

I'll be waiting for that consulting fee now

And now we know WHY Algorism broke out in Germany

We know Schroder didn't follow the example of prior german leaders and allow their successors of the other party to represent them at EU meetings. And now we know why thanks to the Medienkritik

Gerhard Schröder used his last international appearance as the German chancellor to launch one of his strongest attacks yet on Anglo-Saxon capitalism, saying the European Union faced a straightforward choice between never-ending liberalisation or the re-tention of basic European values. (...)

He told his fellow heads of state and government: "We are confronted with a fundamental conflict. Should we elevate the market and never-ending liberalisation at the heart of our political action, or do we Europeans stick to our basic beliefs?" (...)

When the voters of *HIS OWN COUNTRY* by a decent hunk put a party that was in the lead ( only slightly) of his party that advocated a more "Anglo-Saxon" styled germany he goes on -with no mandate- to attack the will of his voters.

When countrys following the "Anglo-Saxon" model are growing and parties in other nations which are advocating the "european" are declining we see now very clearly why the elites running the EU figured they would make the voters keep voting for the constitution until they voted the right way.

Market reformers are making traction in the more "european" nations and the traditionalists are running for cover.

Is it any wonder then only lame ducks come foward to speak for the European model?

-IF- the NYT is right.....

I call shennanigins on the First day of Fitzmas

In Mr. Libby's case, Mr. Fitzgerald has focused on his statements about how he first learned of Ms. Wilson's identity. Early in the investigation, Mr. Libby turned over notes of a meeting with Mr. Cheney in June 2003 that indicated the vice president had told him about Ms. Wilson, the lawyers said.

But Mr. Libby told the grand jury that he learned of Ms. Wilson from reporters, lawyers involved in the case said. Reporters who are known to have talked to Mr. Libby have said that they did not provide him the name, could not recall what had been said or had discussed unrelated subjects.

If they are trying to make that a crime i find it under my new world view a disgusting over reach of prosecutorial power. Not a political over reach just a typical one for prosecutors.

I'd also think they would need some substantial basis to file charges off of something that could be regarded as a "what the definition of is is"

IF this is indeed it

Mr. Sulu is gay

Errr ok that's surprising. The actor who played Sulu came out.

This is more news worthy I think then the female ball player coming out

Ann Althouse: John Kerry is senile

I think looking at the WashPost Article I have to agree with Ann

So the Iraqis have approved their constitution and are moving toward elections at the end of the year, and Kerry wants an international group to intervene and start hammering out some other arrangement? Isn't the constitution the political solution? I genuinely can't understand what he's talking about.

Ann it gets better. As their are ethnic turks and the turkish invasion of northern Iraq to arrest Kurdish militants their involvement in a peace deal in Iraq would be simply stupid. Not only does John Kerry's proposal show a senility that suggests the realities on the ground when he was... well running for president... it suggest a almost criminal ignorance about Iraq

Picking a fight with Wil Wheaton

I am going to do a little hating on a Blogger who is famous (and I was never a fan of).

So disclosure time:
What is even weirder is that Wil Wheaton has done an online radio show for some friends of mine.
I was also part of the hordes of many back’in’the day who hated on Wesley Crusher.
I liked some of the movies Wil starred in, and after reading Wil’s blog I’ve gained some more respect for him vs. the Star Trek producers. I also am a huge comic book geek and nerd, who plays poker whenever I have cash.


Ok now that we have our disclosure Wil like a lot of anti-war folks has decided to make the 2000 KIA mark some significant part of their motivation, I’ve not seen Wil be a ghoul about it so I can let most of that go. However Wil in exercising his whole Yellow Elephant ideology single handedly shows the Hypocrisy of his belief system

but has he listened to what he's saying? Daniel Schuberth, who should probably earn some sort of award from Operation Yellow Elephant, has the fucking nerve to criticize a brave soldier who is following orders, even though he doesn't believe in the war, when he won't enlist himself.

First of all the “Yellow Elephant” Philosophy says if you believe in a war, you need to go fight. The ideology is flawed because we actually cannot economically support a military big enough to include everyone who is willing to fight in war X, Y, or Z. But beyond that Yellow Elephantism says “You must be a soldier to make military descisions.”

So if you subscribe to that Philosophy you are saying:
Women can’t ever support a war.
Homosexuals (who are openly so) can’t ever support a war.
People who have committed a crime that disqualifies themselves from any military service.
People who never graduated High school can’t support a war.
People who are physically unable to serve can’t support a war.
People who are to old to serve can’t support a war ( more on that later).
People who have (at some time) been diagnosed with a mental illness can’t support a war…

I could spend the time to talk about fundamentally how Un-American that is. But Yellow Elephantism goes deeper.

If you support a war and have kids, in a way straight out of Leviticus your sins must be visited upon your children. Forget that your children have a choice ( and may not agree with your choice) to those who believe in Yellow Elephantism say you must sacrifice your life for the sins of your father and mother.

We could also go into the harsh reality that people who are in upper income brackets and also people who are more religious tend to be more likely to enlist to serve (proportionally) then folks who come from poorer communities and communities with less religion. Because to the Yellow Elephanters the big lie is needed that poor and underprivileged minorities must be dying for those evil bigoted Republicans thirst for war.

The realities are of course a White Southerner is (statistically) more likely to be in a front line combat unit then some one from the Upper East Side in New York. A Hispanic 2nd generation American is more likely to be on the front lines in combat then a man possibly even a neighbor of African American descent.
Also unknown to the Yellow Elephanters that if you take the top 1000 people in our federal government and compare them to a representative sample of the public at large you will find –more- people with sons, daughters, or family members under the age of 30 in the service right now.

But what is worse about Yellow Elephantism, is their hate is not just to those people who cheer for the war in words and deeds, but also for people who have the ribbons on their cars. Most of those magnets are charitable in nature and go to funds to help wounded soldiers, or the children of fallen soldiers, or the families of soldiers whose primary income earner is over seas fighting. On Filibuster Cartoons we see a comic about a similar mind set. You say you support the troops ok fine, tell me how? I am one of those people who cannot due to the physical standards of the service go into uniform but I have supported the troops. I have contributed as much as I have been able on multiple occasions to funds to help support families of our soldiers, and soldiers who are injured. I support The Shriner’s Hospitals through my dues which provides to our service men and women access to some of the top notch prosthetic medicine money can buy. So am I a Yellow Elephant because short of major surgery (and even then probably not) I am unable to serve in a war I support? Do you know ho many people are turned away? Am I a fake patriot because I, like most people who buy Livestrong-styled arm bands or a magnet with support our troops on it that went to funds that actually –contribute- to the well being of our troops and our families?

But the Yellow Elephantism of Wil Wheaton grows even more dishonest. If I oppose the war I have the right to be a soldier, or not to be a soldier. And I cannot have my patriotism questioned if I am in or out of uniform. But if I support the war I do not have the right to be a civilian. Contributing to charities that actually help soldiers and their families isn’t good enough for Wil Wheaton and other folks who cry out Yellow Elephant.

I could cast aspersions on their motivations for being anti-war. I could talk about the intellectual bankruptcy of the anti-war position. But then I’d be behaving just like Wil and some of the worst of the anti-war lot.

I’ll take satisfaction in the fact that I will expose their ideas as the odious thoughts they are. Anyone who can vote has a right to an opinion on any government policy. Anyone who has a child who is going overseas has a right to their opinion. And even people who are apathetic and jingoistic who care more about American Idol then they do what is going on in the rest of the world have the right to their opinion.

And I think it is Orwellian that the very people who scream the loudest “You cannot question our patriotism” are the ones who always question the patriotism of those they disagree with.

Schoolboard stupidity in the HBC

Ok the Worldnetdaily article doesn't tell you the WHOLE story.

Here is what they didn't tell you. Hillsbrough county just "happened" to plan professional days/teacher workdays on or around religous holiday observances. The schools idea was that it is easier to do it this way then to have a problem with massive absenteeism. Now we are getting a large number of muslim students in the area so they applied to get one of their holidays factored into the mix.

I have no problem with this.

Instead they decide to smite all religious holidays thus making it harder for parents to take their kids out of school if they are religously observant

I have a huge problem with this.

They say this won't effect the policy of protecting Kid's religous rights.... but this is Tampa

I guarentee you it will

I am loathe normally to talk about Paris Hilton

I mean, lets face it... the woman is the avatar of Skank. We've known that for some time. But it seems Paris has outdone even herself... and that takes some work

Paris Hilton had sex with her new boyfriend in a portable toilet, it has been claimed. The hotel heiress is alleged to have got hot and steamy with new lover Greek shipping tycoon Stavros Niarchos in the unlikely love den at an exclusive Hollywood party.

uuuuuuhhhhhh

I'm at a loss of words on this one

It's begining to look a lot like Fitzmas

Ok once again there is no news on the Plame-Game investigation. This lack of any news is so Important that News websites are posting "No news yet"

After reading "Constitutional Chaos" the opinions I would have had on the issue have matured a great deal. I admit I was one of those people who was pro-impeachment at the time. I now however am less happy about some of the incidents that occured during the impeachment ( and incidentally the only thing Bill did during that whole process that he was later convicted of -perjury- was never a focus of the impeachment....)

Hear is my new opinion about Fitzmas

#1) If some one clearly broke a law ( which does not seem to be the case based on all the Information avalible in the public)in releasing the name they should be prosecuted.
#2) If Lying to investigators is brought up as a charge then it should be cast out. After reading Constitutional Chaos I have lost any and all respect for that charge. Investigators can -and often do- lie to you to get you to incriminate yourself. I don
't think that should be a crime unless the lie leads to a clear loss of life ( example you lie to an investigator and instead of their finding a bomb they find nothing and the bomb kills people). Not an esoteric pseudo threat but a real concreat one.
#3) If "Criminal Conspiracy" is brought up as a charge without a actual -criminal act- attached to it ( such as leaking, or a series of perjuries that were planned out) then we should chuck what Fitz has done
#4) Perjury: Perjury is bad. Perjury is something I can accept out of the Fitzmas mess... so long as it is actual perjury not a "what the definition of IS is"

So.... if we have actual Perjury or an actual CRIME I can be happy with all this.

Prosecutors in this country some times tend to go after people when they have a blank check. I'm not going to support something like that from this point on anymore.

For those who may cry political foul I will be posting my review of Constitutional Chaos a bit later today or tommorrow. Once you see how the book has made my thoughts expand you'll see this isn't politics but a refining of my traditional loathing of government.

LGF has more ghoulish images.

Here he posts a Link to a lizoid who had photographed the necrophiliac protests. He also posts to this response.

Mother Sheehan and Michael Moore making boat-loads of money on their deaths. ( Michael Moore making it on both ends of their deaths. These people can't deal with the intellectual aspects of their position ( The tortures, the rape factors, the oppression, the murders in silence)

I feel the pictures speak for themselves. I've seen abortion protestors marching and you could see on their face the sense that they were marching to stop the deaths of unborn children. I've seen people protesting the death penalty and you could see the somber attitude they hold about death.

These people.... they look like they are having a nice dinner party.

These are the same people I am sure who march against capitalism, and whom would march to force their ideas on others.

This isn't about disent.... you can disent.... and I can find your logic and your behavior repugnant

MiersMess is over

Now that the Miers mess is over it is time to assign a good guy and a bad guy.

I thought the nomination was horrific politically, and as the days went by we saw the nomination was an abject failure on a material standard as well.

Good Guy(Girl):

Harriet Miers is the good guy in this story. Harriet took control of this situation finally that was going off a cliff. Now if she did so just because she had her back Krauthamered to the wall or not I don't know but it was very clear to her -as it was to so many of us out here in the trenches- that her nomination was bad for this president, and would be bad for the court. She finally stepped in and became the Adult in this process.

Bad Guy(s):
The White House Staff was far less kind to Harriet then she was to them. A team of Lawyers and staffers should have been working over her Senate committee questionare. They should have refined it like a laser beam to make Harriet Miers wow the critics.

They didn't

The White House Staff should have known about her many speeches which were clearly pro-life, clearly socially liberal, and clearly against the way the President sold her that very first day. Because these things attacked several of the ways the President sold her it began to make the opposition snowball.

The White House Staff should have gotten a feel from the conservative groups out there. They should have sent a trial balloon out there.

They didn't.

They White House should have within 48 hours of the first cracks forming in the Miers nomination been patching the cracks.

Miers 1.0 gave way to 2.0 and even to 3.0.... just trying to move the product.

The White House set new standards of incompetency on how they put forward this nomination. The failure lies at the feet of the staffers on this one. Pure and simple.

Now the family squabbling will go away and we'll come back togther on important issues.

I predict the White House will probably nominate a slam dunk on our side that will do very well on the dems side.

Roberts did well because he didn't present any weakness... we need to go with that example.

College Rant: I hate Crypto-marxist teachers

Class today in my religion class was really a horrific thing.

Never before have I walked out of a class in anger about what a professor is doing.

This time I got to my car, and I had my ignition turned on. I decided against it however.

Class was an annoyance before the walk out because the teacher's aid was talking about everything -BUT- Islam. When had the Teacher give a very rough introduction to Islam which was political correct new history at its finest. Then we had two problems come up. 1) We talked about the research project for the class ( and I needed the help so I accept that) and 2) we had a hurricane.

We had one day left to devote to Islam and he barely touched on it in a way that I would classify as "teaching". He then however made the comparisson that got me mad. He said that the thinking behind the terrorists of today was started by the US in WWII with the droping of the atomic bombs.

Lets set aside for a moment "Was droping the atomic bombs bad"
Lets set aside for a moment "Was droping the atomic bombs needed"

Lets review some history... In World War II their were earlier episodes of civilian reprisals on both sides of the war. Some of which (Dresden, and Tokyo) were far more lethal and far more destructive then the droping of the atomic bombs.

Ok so already the Justification is not just the US and it was not just the atomic bombs.

But lets step back

I can pick incidents going back as far as Alexander the Great ( Indeed the T.A picked incidents going back as far as the biblical israelittes) of all sorts of nations committing reprisals against civilians to change the course of the war.

What changed between those events and the droping of the Atomic bombs? The technology got more efficent at killing people.

When you have to put value to a group by negating another in my "World Perspectives" class we talked about it as the politics of "The Other" in Nationalism.

In this case he was using that Nationalist technique in a very socialist way to make the group he was speaking to, into a other.

Well this is good

Your personality type is SCUEI

You are social, moderately calm, unstructured, moderately egocentric, and intellectual, and may prefer a city which matches those traits.

The largest representation of your personality type can be found in the these U.S. cities: Washington D.C., St. Louis, Albuquerque/Santa Fe, Salt Lake City, W. Palm Beach, Tampa/St. Petersburg, Raleigh/Durham, Denver, Seattle/Tacoma, Minneapolis and these international countries/regions Slovenia, Israel, Czech Republic, Russia, Netherlands, Denmark, Argentina, Argentina, Ukraine, Romania, Norway, Croatia, Hungary, Turkey, Sweden

What Places In The World Match Your Personality?
City Reviews at CityCulture.org

The Hewitt Queries

Does George W. Bush deserve any loyalty from his party? From pundits identified with his party? If so, how much and why not more?

He deserves Loyalty and we've given it to him for 5 years. But you can't keep going to the well ... if you do then your just behaving like the Democrats. Bush has asked us to swallow many bitter pills. What we as Americans can't stand is something that looks incompetent... and the Miers nomination looks like that.

Do Harriett Miers' many accomplishments count for nothing?

In her life-yes- In being the best canidate for the SCOTUS seat -NO-

Does Harriett Miers strike the commentator as a dedicated public servant?

No

Why not wait for the hearings to at least begin?

Because the hearings are not the begining of the process. And to many serious issues have come out for this nomination to go any further. The longer this death of a thousand cuts happens the harder it will be for her to salvage it in the hearings.

How important is it that Roe v. Wade/Casey be reversed?

The Reversal isn't as important as -WHY- you reverse it. If you reverse it for anything but a philisophical reasoning of why the Roe precedent was wrong ( not why Abortion was/is wrong) then you'll just be more of the same.

Which five precedents does the commentator think are in most pressing need of reversal?
Raich, Kelo, the one in Nevada ( where they made the guy turn over ID), Lawrence V Texas, and I need to think of #5

Does the commentator agree with George Will's assertion of Justice Lewis Powell as the "embodiment of mainstream conservative jurisprudence?"

I think Renquist is now the mainstream of Constitutionalist Jurisprudence. I think the use of conservative on the court -is- wrong.


Is a neo-Borking underway which will discredit the conservative cause's defense of its future nominees against similar, future attacks from the left?

No, If we allow a canidate with these kind of problems to get nominated it attacks our ability to defend legitimate canidates.

What are the political consequences of a defeat of Miers at the hands of a GOP controlled Senate?

It depends on how the defeat goes down. And it depends on who is seen as most at fault. I don't think it will impact the 06 election ( the democrats are 4th and long going into the 06 election and are setting the bar high with incompetence). I think it will be the last nail in the Bill Frist campaign for 08. I think to this can be a war for evangelicals to make their bones unless Miers finds a way to bring them back ( and sorry Hugh most evangelicals aren't happy with her either)

If you have blogged about the Franken stunt....

tell me... OTHER then Stuart Smaley, when has Al Franken ever done anything in a non written format that was funny....

Some of his books are funny, and Stuart Smaley was funny more because of the ludicrousness of it ( and the fact I had at least two Stuart Smaley guidance counselors)

Ok I need to figure out how to edit my adsense

Anyone know how to do that?

pass along some technical advice if you do.

More Hildabeast agnosticism

Again Why she won't win located here

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton accused the Bush administration of squandering the balanced budgets and fiscal responsibility that she said her husband created as president.

negative point for illegal use of Bush Derangment syndrome
negative point for making herself part of the Clinton policy team when she was at the time overseas ( and against the policies that lead to said balances)

"We need a much stronger commitment to the underlying values of America," Clinton said, adding that the U.S. needs to follow the rule of law in setting its foreign policy.

-5 points for using meaningless message politics and not articulating a vision

her husband, former President Bill Clinton, was able to balance the budget while at the same time creating 22 million jobs. But

she said that fiscal responsibility

has been lost of late.

-1 point Hillary has never voted to restrain spending
-5 point for new mythology of clinton job creation
-1 point for ignoring clinton job losses in 2000

"Please tell us one thing you disagree with the president on," Clinton said to loud applause from the crowd.

-2 points for additional Bush Derangment syndrome

Al Gore Syndrome

After seeing it in John "I was in Vietnam" Kerry the disease is breaking out in Germany

Schroeder's insistence that he still represents Germany - the E.U.'s biggest member - means already low expectations for the meeting can be scaled back further.

In the end this has become an issue of ego. But the problem is when you run a parlimentary state breakdown of egos lead to break down of governments.

but here he gives another moment of chutzpah

Gearing up for the meeting, Schroeder fired a broadside at what he warned was the growing influence of both the European Commission - the bloc's executive - and the European Court.

"Nothing enrages citizens more than the suspicion of a creeping loss of sovereignty," said Schroeder in an essay published in the newspaper Die Zeit.

Like being represented by the guy they didn't re-elect

Kosovo Nuttiness

Wait wait wait.... The UN is now cutting up countries

Thats so sexy and unilateral.

The old Serbian government were really bad men. the US and UN stoked the fires of Serbian democrats to kick them out.

Now as a reward the country gets divided and they don't even get asked... no vote gets taken... no chance to re-evaluate soverignty and powersharing in the state.

We see here again the UN like many far-left Pink-Green-Red allies only care about their own opinion, and not that of their own "standards"

Which way is the Bar

Ulysses S. Grant You scored 75 Wisdom, 50 Tactics, 63 Guts, and 43 Ruthlessness!

Like you, Grant went about the distasteful business of war realistically and grimly. His courage as a commander of forces and his powers of organization and administration made him the outstanding Northern general. Grant, though, had no problem throwing away lives on huge seiges of heavily defended positions. At times, Union casualties under Grant were over double that of the Confederacy. However, Grant was notably wise in supporting good commanders, especially Sheridan , William T. Sherman , and George H. Thomas. Made a full general in 1866, he was the first U.S. citizen to hold that rank.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 91% on Unorthodox You scored higher than 9% on Tactics You scored higher than 80% on Guts You scored higher than 33% on Ruthlessness

Link: The Which Historic General Are You Test written by dasnyds on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Kofi Covers for Bashir and more Assadinity

I've let much of the byproduct hit the fan blades before I posted about the Hariri Probe.

The Sanitized UN version makes clear some very painfully truths for the UN
Dictatorships tend to kill people who disagree with them in an organized manner. But a little White out from Kofi Helps that out.

In the Arab World no one is buying what Bashir is selling

Prominent Arab commentators have ridiculed the Syrian media campaign that has tried to discredit the report, written by chief U.N. investigator Detlev Mehlis, as politicized, unfair and unprofessional.

Others have told Syria it will end up like Libya or Iraq -- countries that have been hurt by international sanctions -- if it doesn't cooperate with the international community.

"Clever politics are not run by editorials in the (Syrian) newspapers Tishrin and Al-Baath, but should be managed by minds that understand the world and realize that the world around Syria has changed a lot," said Ahmed al-Rubei, a former Kuwaiti legislator, in a column in the London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.

I've heard various commentators speak of how Saddam spent money to influence editorial boards across the Middle East to be Pro-Saddam if not apathetic towards Saddam. He even duped CNN into helping present the image he wanted. It was very dictatorial the information control.

If this Hariri issue is the start of something in Lebanon, we may be seeing the begining of a more independent Arab media. I wonder if I was a broadcaster or reporter for Al-Jazeera seeing the mass graves Saddam buried under my silence... I would have to wonder how I could make it right with god, was I responsible for that evil.

I wonder if this isn't what is at play with Syria.

and who is trying to cover for Syria why other authoritarian regimes with seats on the security council.

China, Russia and Algeria are balking at the U.S. plan for a tough, immediate response, he said.

When dictatorships and strong foriegn buisness partners can block an issue in the security council, or raise a bogus issue in the General Assembly you see the failure of the UN system. As the Leauge of Nations failed for not having powerful states have a reason to stay, and not giving weaker states power in the process we now see that powerful states are voting their pocket book -not world security- and weaker states are protecting their own from the cause of justice.

We see Syria throwing out another staged protest and we see some of the worst elements of the international system, and some trends suggesting it may be over.

I think the Assads are culpible here. I think to that the UN wouldn't stand up against them because of the problems it would cause internally.

I think though the Arab world, and perhaps the Syrian people may follow the examples of Iraq and Lebanon and put the cause of liberty to removing this evil.

Cheney and Bush on torture.

When a amendment gets more votes then a "We love puppies" resolution in the Senate and gets a White House threat of a veto I call B-S.

Well in due time the B-S comes out to smell.

Cheney's proposal is drafted in such a way that the exemption from the rule barring ill treatment could require a presidential finding that "such operations are vital to the protection of the United States or its citizens from terrorist attack." But the precise applicability of this section is not clear, and none of those involved in last week's discussions would discuss it openly yesterday.

Ok. Here we have a problem which is so typical of the Bush administration

More executive power =better

ummmm NO guys.

Arlen Specter had it right on the money when the Gonzalez hearings came up.

Ticking time bomb, a terrorist attack is going to happen ( not a chatter is picking up situation a terrorist attack IS going to happen). A guy in custody keeping silent knows where the bomb is that will kill tens of thousands of people. You have less then 24 hours to find the bomb or people will die.

Or as Mr. Furious says on the Ballon Juice post about this (edited)

Stop being such a p#$$^, John.

Do you really want to tie Jack Bauer’s hands?

In a Jack Bauer situation and under the strict supervision of a Judge I'd have less issues with allowing the government that kind of liberty.

Yes we do lose a major propeganda point, but we've already been dumping people to torture friendly regimes that are friendly to us... So I'm not sure we'd be any worse off. If we had the process strictly monitored legally we'd be better off.

and If we clearly limit it with a connection of saving American lives from a serious strike we would at least return to some degree of honestly... the CIA has privately done this for many years in the past. And I'd not be surprised if they started up the old operations in 01

We need a Jack Bauer clause, but not a open liscense

Hugh Hewitt: $h!lling more on anti-anti-miers

Hugh has had HUGE Blog street cred. It really has saddened so many of us that Hugh a man who was a intellectual bright light in our world really hasn't been in the whole Miers debate.

Worse Hugh takes a turn by saying he is Anti-Anti-Miers. When I see that from Hugh it makes me think of something Dick Morris said. It talks about how Reagan, Bush , and Hillary all see the world in black and white terms. Dick however spelled out the difference; To Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush the enemey was never other Americans.

Hugh in embracing this very tired method to defend his indefensible position has done what Morris accused Hillary of doing making others the enemey.

Hugh is in Bold, people Hugh quotes are in Italics

Question: Well into his second term, mired in scandal and obvious unending lies and deepening crisis, did any senior Democrat turn on Bill Clinton? One year into his second term, and days after a huge and historically significant election in Iraq and a month after yet another unfair savaging at the hands of the MSM over Katrina, George Bush surveys his allegedly supportive pundits and the GOP Senate majority that he made, and he finds what?"

Lets first break down some elements. Here is Hugh's first question.

did any senior Democrat turn on Bill Clinton?
No they didn't Hugh. and there is a very easy reason to explain why. The Democrats knew that being pro-impeachment would be bad with their voters back home. Thats the simple part which defeats your entire argument. But If that isn't good enough I'll do you one better.

By 1996 the Democrats had just lost for the second time they were bitter. Much as the democrats were biter in 72. When the democrats were bitter in 72 they went after Nixon. Nixon handled the situation poorly which lead to good cause to try and impeach him. But the most important issue in the Watergate scandal was "get Nixon". in 96 on as the Clinton Scandals got deeper the major motivator for the Democrats was "Get Republicans." remember Larry Flynt pulling out all the stops?

So the impeachment wasn't popular, and they wanted to get republicans so they had to stand with Clinton.

With strong grassroots efforts against Miers and against uncontroled spending and other issues going on in the Bush White House the Senators then, just as the Senators in Clinton's time are responding to the will of the voter.

Hugh's second question I find far worse. When people accuse the pro-miers side of being members of a cult of presidential personality they mean thinking just like this

and the GOP Senate majority that he made, and he finds what?

Bush didn't make that GOP Majority. People worked through the late 60s,70s,80s, and 90s to build the farm team. People worked hard to change the issues from the liberal Johnson-Rockefeller school to a positivist rock ribbed individualst school.

Bush didn't make the Senate majority, Bush just picked the fruit off the tree. Which is why Bush should have put feelers out to the folks who helped to grow that tree. Had he just took a second to listen this very situation wouldn't have happened.

Being thoughtful, being reflective, and being humble.

Jim responded this morning:
Is the Democratic Party's steadfast refusal to hold Clinton accountable for anything really the role model that the GOP wants to emulate?...

Democrats stood shoulder-to-shoulder to defend perjury, suborning perjury, and reckless, obsessive behavior that should have made Al Gore president in 1998. (To think, he probably would have won in 2000 had he run as a sitting president out from Clinton's shadow, instead of as a vice president trying to prove his alpha-maleness and leadership.)

We're not those guys. And I don't think we ought to be swayed by arguments calling for us to be more like them.

Again by his two questions saying no one defected from Clinton, and Bush made that Senate Majority Hewitt was proposing the same group-think politics that the Democratic party has lived on as its bread and butter for ages.

Jim was dead on, and Hugh again betrays his own logical system here.

I did not call for the GOP to steadfastly defend the president and his nominee against obviously meritous charges of perjury, etc. I argued that the Democratic Party's example of absurd and wrong headed loyalty of a scandal-plagued Clinton contrasted sharply with many among the GOP's immediate turn on Bush/Miers even before the hearings, Thewhen Bush deserves political support from the very people he has aided, at a minimum until the hearings begin. GOP and allied pundits cold move a long way towards party loyalty and the sort of political maturity that enduring majority coalitions need without ever coming close to the line the Democrats crossed with Clinton, and that move would serve the party and their goals in the long run.

Now lets go to the meat of what Hewitt said here.

GOP and allied pundits cold move a long way towards party loyalty and the sort of political maturity that enduring majority coalitions need without ever coming close to the line the Democrats crossed with Clinton, and that move would serve the party and their goals in the long run

In short "My party right or wrong."

Hugh in this process the committee hearing isn't the start of the machinery it is the ending of the machinery. Various groups feed to the committee what they should look into and what they shouldn't look into.

Following Hugh's position we would not advocate the best canidate possible, and in stead be forced on -just- the White House's committee sales pitch.

We'd not be talking about the legitimate ethical issues
Crooked Land sale issues in texas.
The Texas Lottery Commission mess.
Her endorsement of Racial set asides as an executive of a government agency (the Bar Assosication -is- in Texas part of the government)
The Improper use of religion
etc.

If we followed the Hewitt example none of these issues would have come out, or worse the other party would have brought them out to attack us. We then would be like them, promoting in stealth a corrupt canidate to advance our ideology.

At its core Hugh is saying nothing less then we should become the Democrats of the 1990s.

Republicans are a party of ideas. And that means we fight, we fight for our ideas because we believe those ideas make this country better.

Since the 70s the ideas have left the Democratic party and as they lost their currency of ideas they became more "my party right or wrong" and more importantly began the trend of losing elections building up to the banner elections of 1994.

The Hewitt recipie is against the grain of Reagan and against the grain Bush sold himself on.
Against being a party of ideas and principle
Against being a party of a positive agenda of freedom for the individual

It just simply isn't conservative and it isn't Republican