8 years of regime change policy

Today is the 8th anniversary of Bill Clinton's signing of the Iraq Liberation Act, which made removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq the official policy of the US government. It was very evil of Bush to force Congress to pass this bill and to force Clinton to sign it more than two years before he was first elected president.

Somebody's been watching too many movies

An odd quote by Lakers owner Jerry Buss:

"I think we've always tried to keep all the great players here to finish their careers," he said. "I think he has subscribed to that. But you never [can] tell. In five years, that's when there will by flying automobiles and wrist telephones and all those kinds of things."

Make mine a flying Ferrari!

Somebody needs to delete SciFi from Buss' favorite channels list.

Voter fraud

The article here notes that there is exactly as much evidence that dead New Yorkers have voted as there is that any 2000 Florida or 2004 Ohio voter/vote was disenfranchised/suppressed/intimidated - zero (the dead had more influence in Washington 2004, however). Unfortunately, he strays from this legitimate point to the canard that voter ID laws would disenfranchise people and then makes a faith-based assertion that Republicans are benefitting most from fraud currently. Which is possible, but the evidence from actual proven voter fraud in 2004 suggests the opposite, so I'd like some facts mixed in there if his argument is to be given any credibility.

But the reason I link is the high-quality discussion in the comments section. Some of the common issues in trying to make elections fair are covered, a good primer for those (like me) who have not yet read John Fund's book, which I've heard is terrific.

French TV circa 2025

It's Jihad, Charlie Brown, soon to be a beloved holiday special in Franceistan.

Spending campaign dollars wisely

John Hinderaker touches on something I have often wondered myself:

I watched a little CNN over the lunch hour today. At one point, the newscast was interrupted by an ad for a Democratic political candidate. I had to wonder: why would a Democrat advertise on CNN? After all, the network's programming is basically a 24/7 commercial for the Democratic Party. Why pay to interrupt it?

Why indeed? It seems as if the smart Democrat would advertise on the pro-Republican Fox News and the smart Republican would advertise on the pro-Democrat CNN. Isn't winning elections mostly about winning over moderate and crossover voters? Yes, turnout is important, but the kind of voters who watch much cable news are going to turn out anyway, why not get your message out to possible swing voters?

Unless your message is a blatant lie, in which case you might want to run it where nobody will see it, like maybe MSNBC.

Demagoguery gone bad

Turns out that the now famous Michael J. Fox ads smearing various candidates around the country as being anti-stem cell research (has there ever been any public figure come out against SCR?) don't always turn out as well as planned:

STEELE: I'm Michael Steele, and I approve this message.

TURNER: I'm Dr. Monica Turner.

Congressman Ben Cardin is attacking Michael Steele with deceptive, tasteless ads. He is using the victim of a terrible disease to frighten people all for his own political gain.

Mr. Cardin should be ashamed.

There's something you should know about Michael Steele. He does support stem cell research, and he cares deeply for those who suffer from disease.

How do I know? I'm Michael Steele's little sister.

I have MS, and I know he cares about me.

What I learned in school today

A genius suggestion from JunkYardBlog, capturing the folly of talking one-on-one with those wacky NoKos:

If I ever found myself teaching a bunch of college freshmen about international politics, I would definitely include the following exercise.

I. Divide the class into two halves. One half is "diplomats" representing North Korea. One half will play diplomats representing the United States. For twenty minutes they will attempt to negotiate a solution to the problem of nuclear proliferation.

II. Tell each half that they will have fifteen minutes to prepare a "negotiation strategy" with diplomats from the other team. Each team will receive comprehensive "instructions" from its home government , which will inform its strategy in the upcoming bilateral negotiation. Explain that it is important to keep these instructions secret, so as not to tip off the other side as to how far you are willing to go.

III. The United States team gets the following instructions:

You must feel out the North Korean delegation to see whether any points of commonality may be reached. Underscore the DPRK's obligations as a signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Please stress that pursuing nuclear weapons may de-stabilize the region and have unforseen consequences that could impact their country. Also make clear that the United States is willing to deal on certain measures--humanitarian aid, relaxation of U.N. sanctions, easing up on the Proliferation Security Initiative interceptions--in exchange for provable concessions on the North Korean nuclear program and missile research programs. Good luck. The free world is counting on you to stop or at least slow down the North Korean WMD program!

(signed)
SECSTATE

IV. The DPRK team receives the following instructions:

DO NOT SMILE OR LAUGH AS YOU READ THIS.

UNDER NO F*@#ING CIRCUMSTANCES WILL YOU AGREE TO ANY SORT OF CONCESSION IN OUR GLORIOUS NUCLEAR PROGRAM AND/OR MISSILE PROGRAMS. YOU ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO OFFER THEM A G%^#*&NED THING. JUST SIT THERE AND SMILE AND NOD AND EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE, DO SOMETHING COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT OR BAT$*&T CRAZY--E.G., PASS GAS AND EXCLAIM THAT "MOUNT PAEKTU HAS JUST ERUPTED!!!", OR PRETEND THAT YOU BELIEVE THE AMERICANS HAVE AGREED TO PULL ALL THEIR TROOPS OUT OF SOUTH KOREA, AND GET REALLY ANGRY WHEN THEY DENY IT, OR STORM OUT SCREAMING ABOUT IMPERIALIST RUNNING-DOG CHIGGERS INFESTING YOUR UNDERPANTS. WHEN THE YANKEE IMPERIALISTS OFFER US SOMETHING, SAY NO, OR SAY NOTHING.

WE HAVE ALREADY WON A GREAT VICTORY OF LEGITIMACY JUST BY ENTERING INTO DIRECT NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE USA. YOUR JOB NOW IS TO STALL THEM WHILE WE PERFECT OUR FLAWED WEAPONS DESIGN. IF YOU DON'T SAY NO, NO, AND NO AGAIN, UPON YOUR RETURN TO GLORIOUS DPRK, YOU WILL BE BRUTALLY KILLED AND FED TO YOUR OWN FAMILY, ALL OF WHOM WILL IN TURN BE KILLED AND FED TO SOME OTHER STARVING FAMILY.

YOURS IN JUCHE,
DEAR LEADER KIM JONG-IL

IV. After fifteen minutes of preparation, sit the American and DPRK delegations down at a table and tell them that they have twenty minutes to negotiate a solution to the problem of North Korean proliferation. Let them go at it for twenty minutes and watch the fun.

V. When the time is up, initiate a discussion on the likelihood of reaching a diplomatic solution under these conditions. Ask the American team whether they thought more negotiations could have solved things. If they had utilized a different strategy, do they think it would have been more effective? Ask whether they thought the North Koreans were serious about reaching a compromise. Then have each side read its instructions, with the Americans going first.

VI. For the slow and/or terminally idealistic students who still believe diplomacy could have worked, offer them an extra credit assignment: have them go to the nearest GM dealership and enter a negotiation with the sales staff there. Explain that their objective is to walk out of the dealership with the keys and title to a 2007 model Corvette, and that they must do so in a lawful exchange for a purchase price of no more than one hundred dollars, total. Students who succeed in securing a new Corvette from a dealership in exchange for one hundred dollars will receive an A in the course and also a fast-track position within the United States Department of State.

VII. Debriefing and discussion: Why did these negotiations "fail"? Discuss whether every problem has a possible diplomatic solution. Assign this entry from Ace of Spades as a "reflection reading".

Time for a career change

Augmented Breasts Will Require Additional Inspection at Airports

The TSA’s changes to the complete liquid ban may require persons with augmented breasts (or other body parts) to comply with further inspections at security checkpoints.

I have no problem with this; they obviously have to check for booby traps. But I do worry about Boobal Profiling. Shouldn't the bearer of A-cup saggers be subject to the same scrutiny?

Yogi Zumaya

We've been needing a ballplayer to throw out some interesting fodder, the series themselves have certainly been too boring to keep the attention of anything but the hardest core of fans (tonight's NLCS Game 5 finally brings some intrigue to this postseason for the first time). Enter Tigers flamethrower Joel Zumaya:

A colorful character, Zumaya does yoga, but has been more Yogi in this series. He referred to his wrist as "inflammated," topped only by the next exchange. Asked about his bloodshot right eye, he said: "It's allergies." So what are you allergic to, Joel? "I am not allergic to anything."

Well, they do have absolute moral authority

Or at least that's what Maureen Dowd would say about the authors of American Mourning. But what's interesting is the reaction of the people to the two approaches, anger vs honor:

Most compellingly, "American Mourning" offers a potrayal of another American family that lost a child in the war on terrorism - Joe & Jan Johnson of Rome, Georgia. Their son, Justin, dies one week after Cindy Sheehan's son, Casey, died. And to make things more amazing - Justin and Casey were best buddies in the U.S. Army.

But unlike Cindy Sheehan, Joe & Jan Johnson honored their son and his sacrifice for his country. In fact, Justin's father, Joe, re-enlists in the Army at the age of 43 and goes off to Iraq to fight the Islamic militants who had killed his son.

Is it any wonder then, why Sheehan's "Peace Mom" is getting clobbered in the sales charts by Morgan & Moy's inspirational "American Mourning?" Check out the sales ranks for yourself - it's not even close. And for the past few weeks, even though their book had yet to be released, Morgan & Moy were still outselling Sheehan's "Peace Mom."

Cindy Sheehan's book, "Peace Mom" (ranked # 155,717 as of 7:00 PM Sunday 10/15/2006)

Melanie Morgan's & Catherine Moy's "American Mourning" (ranked # 836 as of 7:00 PM Sunday 10/15/2006)

Shouldn't there be an entrance exam?

Long time no blog, such is life during football season and the extra work it brings.

I was amazed to read that a 9/11 conspiracy theorist is running for Congress in Florida District 15. The interview reads like a parody of the loony left, but it seems to be on the level. There's some boilerplate wackery about the government's complicity in 9/11, Halliburton, blaming the CIA for millions of deaths, the claim that Mumia Abu Jamal is a political prisoner (!), the Bush "fascist regime," and the inevitable "We would not be the target of terrorists if we didn't have a foreign policy which uses military power to subdue third world countries so our multinational corporations can steal their resources." And a new one to me, the claim that video games being used to decondition recruits from a reluctance to kill.

It's not surprising to hear this kind of hate speech on the far left (or far right, for that matter) blogs, but how does a guy who has lost all ability to think rationally get one of the major parties' nominations for a US House race? Looking past how disturbing it is that he could win a primary and what it says about a segment of FL-15 voters, shouldn't there be some kind of basic competency test for a guy to even get into the primary in the first place? Potential UTexas football players have to at least fill out their name and get an SAT question or two right to play, would it be too much to ask the same of potential congressmen? If I'm a Florida Democrat, I'd like to have some assurance that the party at least plans to run sane candidates.

Just when you thought politics in 2006 had run out of ways to shock...and that Mark Foley was the most disturbing guy in Florida politics.