Watching the refs screw the Cats

I'm watching Davidson play Duke on ESPN2. The Blue Devils are the number 1 team in the country and they are playing on the home court in their third game. Wildcats are playing their first game. We have maybe a 1 in 20 chance to win. The refs are making damn sure that it is 1 in 1000.

Duke player body slams a Wildcat who is driving for a layup. Then he hacks him hard enough on the arm to break it. Ball is knocked loose. No foul call.

Every time Duke jumps in front to try to draw a charge -- foul on Davidson. Every time Davidson tries to draw a charge -- foul on Davidson.

Davidson player just got a rebound. Duke player grabs on the shoulder, pulls him backward and grabs at the ball. Ball comes free -- no call.

These refs have absolutely no integrity at all. They want to be sure to get ACC assignments and they make sure that their calls make the ACC coach happy.

Sheldon Williams just charged into a Cat. No call.

Duke is well known for grabbing, shoving and playing extremely physical basketball. The refs won't call it unless they belt someone.

Just makes me sick to see the integrity of the game sacrificed so blatantly. but I really ought to be used to it by now.

Big Lizard compares Murtha and Cheney

The despicable John Murtha slandered the Vice President. Dafydd compares Murtha's background in military strategy to Cheney's.

(btw, it's a first round knockout)

Lies and the Lying Congressliars who Lie them

And what he said, too. Best part:

I am so tired of this Democratic Party. It has never been worse than it is today. I am so tired of the lies, the smears, the hysterical fear mongering, the faux tears, the ersatz outrage at imagined slights. I am so tired of Nancy Pelosi's snide asides; she literally said today that John Murtha had shown "great courage" by "speaking truth to power." I rib you not: she used those very words. She has become a walking parody of a radical San Francisco feminist.

I am tired of the rot that reaches out and touches every member of that party, no matter how sane he was before the 2000 election. The miasma of corruption that follows Democrats around, like the cloud of dust permanently hovering over Pig Pen, has reached out a tendril and struck again... and I am utterly disgusted by it, never more so than today.

Amen to what she said

Dr. Sanity responds to all the nasty, despicable, treasonous cretins sending her hate mail because she stands up for truth, justice and the American Way.

20 tons of WMD seized in Jordan

Remember this story of the foiled terror attack?

Contrast this with Rep. Murtha

Read this. Compare to Congressman Murtha. Try not to vomit at thought of Murtha.

Sign the Petition

Power Line has a post on a petition to support the President, our troops and the Iraqi people. Go sign it.

Barone on the CIA

Michael Barone has a long post on Bob Woodward, Walter Pincus, Fitzgerald and the CIA. His conclusion is noteworthy:

Bob Woodward first won his fame by exposing the lies of a White House that had attempted, unsuccessfully, to use the CIA to refute charges that its campaign committee had engaged in criminal activities. Now he comes forward, reluctantly it seems, to provide evidence that advances the case that the CIA tried to derail and delegitimize the policies that a White House was pursuing.


I recall that some years ago Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan argued that the CIA should be abolished, and I argued that that was a ridiculous and irresponsible position. As usual when Pat and I disagreed, Pat turned out to be right.

As I have written before, Barone is the most knowledgeable observer of American politics. He is extremely smart, as evidenced by his academic record at Harvard Law School and his subsequent judicial clerkships. And he is extremely fair. He began his life in politics working to with Peter hart to get Democrats elected. He remains friends with many Democrats. I've never known anyone to accuse him of being partisan in his journalism.

So when he speaks out, people should listen. This comment about the CIA is not casual. He must see an organization that is corrupt and out of control.

Solid Perspective

As always, DJ Drummond has a solid look at the perfidy of Democrats packed full of links.

Twelve Words WIN ELECTIONS

also in Hewitt's post referenced below is his simple explanation of the GOP platform -- twelve words:

Win the war.

Confirm the judges.

Cut the taxes.

Control the spending.

Which is really a total of only 8 words when you eliminate the article "the" from each point.

Win war. Confirm judges. Cut taxes. Control spending.

This will --

WIN ELECTIONS!!!!!

Does anyone think that borking Miers is related to this?

Hugh Hewitt runs through a quick review of all that ails the GOP in DC. Liberals are having a feeding frenzy over the weakness demonstrated by the GOP.

Does anyone really want to try to argue that conservatives borking Miers hasn't contributed to all these problems?

It has damaged the war effort and damaged the GOP agenda in Congress. Perhaps it was worth it. I just wish someone had made the benefit/cost case at the time. Because some of us were predicting this could happen.

Guess what these documents are about

Dafydd summarizes an article from the Daily Standard. These are some of the documents seized from Iraq that the Pentagon hasn't translated yet:

Locations of Weapons/Ammunition Storage (with map)
Formulas and information about Iraq's Chemical Weapons Agents
Denial and Deception of WMD and Killing of POWs
Chemical Agent Purchase Orders (Dec. 2001)
Correspondence between various Iraq organizations giving instructions to hide chemicals and equipment
Cleaning chemical suits and how to hide chemicals

Enough is Enough

Donald Sensing won't stand for it anymore.

Frist vs. McCain

I can't stand McCain most of the time. His desire to suck up to the liberal media by skewering the GOP grates on me. However, he got this exactly right.

Bill Frist, on the other hand, has been someone I have supported. I voted for him for the Senate. What the hell happened to him?! The windfall oil tax idea and the Iraq resolution are about as stupid as anything I can imagine. They aren't positions that rational people can disagree over. They are just brain dead stupid liberalism gone beserk. Which apparently is what has happened to Bill.

Must read on WMDs

Here.

How soon we forget -- time for Swift Vet II

I have made the point several times in the past that the MSM is far more productive in its propaganda efforts on behalf of liberal causes in non-election years. The reason should be obvious, they don't have GOP candidates running ads and mobilizing an army of volunteers to get the truth out.

I was really, really disappointed last week when a number of commentators responded to Bush's speech (taking on the "Bush-lied!" liars) by expressing the hope that he would continue to push back. Not that he shouldn't push back. But let's face it, the MSM isn't going to make their microphone available to him very often. He and we cannot expect him to get an unfiltered message out to the voters. I'm disappointed with their failure to understand that he is going to need a lot of help from them.

Fortunately, we have a model for how to rectify the situation. That would be the 2004 political season. And now that 2005 is nearing an end, I would suggest that those interested in gettting the truth out start thinking about gearing up for 2006. ASAP.

What exactly do we need to do? SWIFT VETS II.

Just as the Swift Vets banded together in order to get the truth out to the American people when the MSM was unwilling to cover it, conservatives need to start actively working to get it out. That means more than simply expressing outrage on your blog.

Start 527s and write checks to support their ads on TV and radio.

Post the ads on the web.

E-mail your friends and family. Use the net to spread the word and links to the ads below the media radar screeen just as it was spread in 2004.

Bush cannot do it alone. We shouldn't expect him to. And may I say that those conservatives who joined in knee-capping the president over Miers have a special responsibility to open their checkbooks now. ANWR drilling, the future of tax cuts, future nominees to the bench, and, most importantly, the war effort require it.

We cannot wait until the political campaign season begins to set the record straight. That would be a monumental blunder. This should have been done long ago. In fact, I expect that 527s and informal internet information campaigns for the express purpose of responding to liberal lies in the media will be a standard tool from now on.

Form the committees. Prep the ads. Start the fundraising. Get the truth out.


(I also think it would be a good tactic for some 527 to specifically target the role of the MSM in spreading the lies. More on this tomorrow.)

Barone and Hiatt call Democrats on their tactics

Democrats are either intentionally or recklessly harming the USA and endangering freedom for millions of people around the world. So say Michael Barone nad Washington Post Editor Fred Hiatt. Barone:

The Democrats who are peddling the Big Lie of "Bush lied" are doing so either (a) deliberately to injure the cause of the United States and of freedom in the world or, as I think, (b) with reckless disregard of whether they injure the cause of the United States and of freedom in the world. What they are doing may suit their political needs, but it hurts our country.

What happened to these stories?

The Anchoress wonders what happened to Joe Wilson and all the Plamegate related stories. It seems folks started asking some really uncomfortable questions, and Joe and the story seem to have gone away. Same for the French "riots".

Five good questions

Dennis Prager has good questions I think we would all like answered. Via Hedgehog.

Tim Russert -- Democrat, Liar

Here is a blatant example of Tim Russert, former aide to Democrats, lying in effort to help his party. ViaA J Strata.

How many of you believe Andrea Mitchell?

Read her own words here and tell me if you think she has any credibility. This kind of stuff is just embarrassing. Would she really lie to help put a man in jail?

Another fact the MSM won't tell you

Did you know that a TV camera mounted on the shoulder looks remarkably like a Soviet anti-tank missile launcher? Normal American folks have never put any stock in the silly claims of journalists that American tankers deliberately fired on the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad because they wanted to kill journalists. That is because we have faith in the character of our military. American Thinker has an article that points out facts that journalists ought to check out.

While teaching Media and Military relations at the U.S. Army’s Command and General Staff College I had occasion to show to my students two photographs – one photograph was of a television journalist aiming a camera, the other of a man aiming a shoulder-mounted anti-tank missile of Soviet manufacture. To my students, all experienced officers of many years service and representing not only the United States but a number of other nations, the photos were virtually indistinguishable. It was a sobering experience for them.

Anti-Bush, but never Anti-Clinton

Regarding our unbiased, fair and balanced news media here in the USA, Peter Freire points out that anti-capitalist, anti-free trade protests are always described as anti-Bush. When Bill Clinton was president and attending a trade summit, they were never described as anti-Clinton.

How curious.

1.7 tons of nuke material removed from Iraq

Vodkapundit points out the story at the BBC.

That's about 3500 pounds of the stuff. Expect to read this on the front page of your local paper. Yeah, right.

Update -- If metric tons, make that about 6000 pounds. A commenter on Stephen's link says that much could make 177 of the Fat man type bomb which was one of the ones dropped on Japan.

Cox and Forkum on ANWR

here

What Hurts America's Image Abroad?

CNBC just had a segment discussing the question of whether and how our foreign policy is hurting our image abroad. I thought I would formulate my own poll question:

Have the dishonest statements by Democratic politicians and the biased coverage by the MSM about the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib, the ridiculously inflated statistics of Iraqi civilian casualties, the inaccurate coverage of Katrina, the lies about why the US went to war, and the failure of the MSM to report the tremendous progress in Iraq and Afghanistan hurt the image of the US abroad?

UPDATE -- just noticed this Barone reference to Stephen Green's post about the war being all about media. Barone:

In this war, Green says, the critical factor is media. "It means, fighting a media war. It means, turning the enemy's one great strength into our own. Broadcast words, sounds, and images are the arm of decision in today's world." Here's the whole thing.

I think Green is on to something. Has the Bush administration done a good enough job getting our message out? I would say no. Have American (and European) mainstream media, with a mind-set adversarial to America, been a help or a hindrance? Hindrance.

Has the Democrats' preoccupation with pre-Iraq-war intelligence tended to delegitimize the United States' actions? Yes. What can and should be done about all this? That's a post for another day.

Bottom line -- MSM and Democrats hurt the war effort. How? Be hurting our image abroad.

Tax and Spend BS

Don Luskin makes a great point about the ridiculous arguments coming from those in Congress who are against tax cuts:

What galls me the most about these spending bills is that, at first, the "moderates" and the "centrists" said we couldn't possilbly cut taxes because we aren't cutting spending. So now they are cutting spending, and now they say they can't cut taxes because they did cut spending. Can't cut taxes "for the rich" when we cut spending "for the poor." Hey guys -- spending is always for the poor. And taxes are always for the rich. So why don't you just forget all the spending rationales and just say we can never cut taxes, and be done with it?

Journalist-- coverage should not help Right

The Anchoress has the details. Unfortunately, the honest journalist is French. She also addresses the point about cars burning because the camera is there:

I’ll grant you, it’s a very good and worthwhile thing to ask if the cars are burning because the cameras are there…that never seems to be an issue, however, when the ideological shoe is on the other foot, however. I never see these guys ask if the anti-war, or anti-capitalism, or anti-Bush demonstrations are happening because the cameras are there.

Declaring War on the War

Bruce Kesler wrote the following in the American Enterprise online:

longtime observer, Richard Pipes, comments, “I do not recall a period in modern history when United States foreign policy has been under such relentless attack from abroad and at home as in the administration of George W. Bush.”

Pipes’s next sentence, at first, struck me as too partisan: “At home, the criticism is mainly inspired by Democratic frustration over Republican electoral triumphs and the feeling that the Republicans’ aggressive foreign policy is what makes them vulnerable.”

But then, Senate Democrat Minority Leader Harry Reid pulled the U.S. Senate into secret session to demand, “a searching and comprehensive investigation about how the Bush Administration brought this country to war.”

In doing so, Reid ensured that November 1, 2005, would forever be remembered as the day that the Democrat Party officially declared war on the war in Iraq. They’re now repeating their 1972 game plan of openly coalescing around eviscerating the war policy for which they’ve lost guts.

Howard Kurtz is now reporting that the Nation is demanding that liberals support only those Democratic candidates who support an immediate, unconditional surrender in Iraq.

How much did opposition to Miers cost conservatives?

Drilling in ANWR is in trouble. It ought to be a slam-dunk. Bush can't keep the Party moderates in line. GOP candidates are now saying that they don't want Bush to campaign with them. In the midst of an incredibly strong economy, two-thirds of poll respondents say Bush is doing a bad job on the economy.

Regardless of whether you think the opposition to Miers was worth it or not, you have to at least acknowledge that it was the key development which led Democrats and the MSM to smell blood in the water. Their assault on Bush has only intensified exponentially ever since.

The split among conservatives over Miers emboldened the left as nothing else has in the last 5 years.

Update -- CNBC reports that the Senate Finance Committee has just failed to extend the Bush Tax Cuts.

Self-imposed derangement

I would imagine that everyone reading this is familiar with the incomparable Norman Podhoretz and his comprehensive take down of the pernicious lies with which Democrats have slandered Dubya. In linking to the article, Dr. Sanity has a great comment on the "self-imposed derangement" of the Bush-haters:

Like Podhoretz and many others, I have grown weary trying to refute this persistent distortion. It come's up constantly in my comment section. It is refuted by other commenters and it seems that no amount of evidence; no amount of truth can convince the Bush Haters--because they know in their heart that BUSH LIED. They feel it deeply.

It is not amenable to rational argument.

In that it is exactly like the delusions suffered by the severely ill schizophrenics--except that it is a self-imposed derangement of thinking and cognitive functioning, rather than one brought about by genetic predisposition.

Exactly like the delusions of severely ill schizophrenics, except self-imposed. Yeah, that about sums it up.

The state of our politics (funny satire)

Dr. Sanity has a funny satire of the donkeys and their search for meaning.

Exposing the fraud that is Joe Wilson (Mr. Plame)

A J Strata points out this post which lays out the extent to which Joe Wilson's fraud is on the public record.

I wonder why no enterprising reporter in the MSM hasn't written about all this.

Unfreakingbelievable --news producer blames Bush for bombs in Jordan

CNBC has been running with the story about the bombings in Jordan. A little while ago they had an NBC News producer on to talk about the significance. He said that it looks like Al Qaeda. If so, US officials will have to think seriously about whether their anti-terror policies are effective.

Did you get that?!!!!!

If terrorists are able to set off suicide bombs in Jordan, it must be George W. Bush and his policies which are at fault. Apparently, Dubya should be able to stop suicide bombers everywhere in the world.

This is the mindset of the folks who bring you the news. Oops. Scratch that. They aren't "folks" like normal human beings. They are sick humanoid type creatures who suffer from a serious brain-destablizing affliction. Certainly, not anything at all like the kind of folks that I know.

Update (Thurs 11/10 at 11:34 a.m.)

Thanks to AJ Strata, The Anchoress and Michelle. Hello to all who stop by.

Check out the latest on Wilson/Plame unraveling

A. J. Strata has a whole series of posts which just keep adding more and more good stuff to this story. Go back several days and keep going. Wilson was telling all kinds of people about his wife in the CIA. His trips for the CIA keep getting curiouser and curiouser. The Libby indictment looks more and more suspect as partisan, etc.

Joe Klein -- smear artist

RCP has the details.

good cartoon

here.

Killing humans to save animals

Here is a post with parts of a transcript of a spokesman for an animal rights group testifying at a Senate hearing. Read his moral justification for advocating the killing of people.

Amusement Parks in Baghdad

Dr. Sanity even has a picture.

Insurgents' tactics in French "riots"

Belmont Club has some really interesting commentary on the hit and run, insurgent-style tactics of the Islamic fascists. Also an interesting comment on racial profiling.

The Captain has more.

Note -- these are not riots. They are coordinated hit and run raids on property by units of insurgents trained for the purpose.

Excuse Me?!

Polipundit has a post which appalled me. Much as I like his site, his fellow commentators and most of his posts, this one was just plain wrong. He writes:

What Voters Want


Here are the three top priorities of the big voting blocks:

Conservatives - Appointing conservative Supreme Court Justices, controlling federal spending, ending illegal immigration.

Swing Voters - Reducing casualties in Iraq, lowering gas prices, improving the economy.

Liberals - Withdrawing from Iraq, pinning Katrina on Bush, shipping Tom DeLay off to Guantanamo Bay.

Excuse me?!

My first priority as a conservative is to win the war against Islamic-fascism. In Iraq, Afghanistan and everywhere else. And I'm thrilled with our progress.

My second priority as a conservative is to keep taxes low and reduce the regulatory burden on our economy. And I'm thrilled with our progress.

My third priority is the appointment of judges to the federal judiciary who won't drink the liberal kool-aid. And George Bush has never once let me down.


I would bet large sums of cash that more conservatives agree with my list of priorities than his.

Update -- see this as well.

Lying liars, the liars who quote them and the fools who believe

Read this and this.

Anyone who gets "news" from the MSM is a fool.

Update -- I had someone e-mail these two stories to me. Michelle Malkin has more.

French stupidity and American parallels

Betsy has a long post on the problems in French society. Part of the post has this excerpt from Theodore Dalrymple:

It is the private complaint of everyone, however, that the police have become impotent to suppress and detect crime. Horror stories abound. A Parisian acquaintance told me how one recent evening he had seen two criminals attack a car in which a woman was waiting for her husband. They smashed her side window and tried to grab her purse, but she resisted. My acquaintance went to her aid and managed to pin down one of the assailants, the other running off. Fortunately, some police passed by, but to my acquaintance’s dismay let the assailant go, giving him only a warning.

My acquaintance said to the police that he would make a complaint. The senior among them advised him against wasting his time. At that time of night, there would be no one to complain to in the local commissariat. He would have to go the following day and would have to wait on line for three hours. He would have to return several times, with a long wait each time. And in the end, nothing would be done.

As for the police, he added, they did not want to make an arrest in a case like this. There would be too much paperwork. And even if the case came to court, the judge would give no proper punishment. Moreover, such an arrest would retard their careers. The local police chiefs were paid by results—by the crime rates in their areas of jurisdiction. The last thing they wanted was for policemen to go around finding and recording crime.

My first thought upon reading this was that it sounded like NY City before Rudy. Then I thought that it also sounded a lot like a typical public school system in the USA.

Read what Clinton's advisor wrote about WMDs

here

Refs screw Vandy, give game to Gators

There is a long, long history of SEC refs screwing Vandy in football when the Dores are beating a ranked SEC team. Tonight was just another example.

Maureen Dowd -- constantly setting back the cause

Howard Kurtz interviews Maureen Dowd and lets her embarass herself at great length. Maureen seems to think that men are afraid of her because she is smart. The reality of course, is that men love smart women. They stay away from her because she is nuts.

I have to say that the interview did change my attitude about her. I feel sorry for her more than I used to.

Note this quote (thanks to Betsy for pointing it out):

People who criticize me say I should have focused more on policy or numbers," Dowd says. She insists she is not a liberal columnist, has no overarching ideology and chronicles the political wars as a Shakespearean drama. "In American history," she says, "all of our great traumas -- Vietnam, Watergate, Iran-contra, Iraq, Harriet Miers -- came from presidents' personal foibles. . . .

Wow. Every one of the "traumas" she mentions is a favorite of liberals. But of course, she has no liberal ideology. I wonder how she managed to forget the impeachment of Bill Clinton when discussing presidents' personal foibles?

Barone agrees with me on Dem strategy

Yesterday I addressed John Hindraker's question of why the Dems would be so foolish as to make the WMD lie their central focus by writing that they are following their moonbat mob. Michael Barone agrees.

Verrrrryyy Interestinnggg

The Anchoress has a lot of stuff on Joe Wilson, Al Gore and some funny business. Go read.

Hating Bush trumps winning Pulitzer

John Ham makes the argument that the MSM would rather hurt Dubya than win a Pulitxer for getting to the bottom of the CIA black op against the president. He makes a nice summary of the facts, but I think he's wrong on the Pulitzer. As Claudia Rosset has proven with the Oil for Fraud Scandal reporting, you don't win a Pulitzer if your politics are wrong.

Mark Steyn is as good as it gets

Steyn can write. I didn't see this when it was on NRO, probably because I was kinda p.o.'d at the NRO folks at the time. There are just so many great lines, so many well-made points. A definite gotta go read.

Questions for George Tenet

A former CIA official poses questions which demand answers at American Thinker. Go read it and think.

Trump on the decline of the Times

Don Luskin has this quote from Donald Trump's blog:

The fact is The New York Times is going to hell. They published a major story about me on Sunday that they knew was wrong. On Sunday morning, right after the paper came out, my lawyer got a call from a lawyer at The New York Times asking if we wanted to correct the story. He didn't even wait until Monday, probably because he figured the lawsuits would be filed by then. The paper's editors knew the story was wrong, but they wanted to try and sell newspapers.
The New York Times was once a great newspaper, but it's not worth the paper it's printed on anymore. Changes have to be made. The New York Times is now reeling from so many huge mistakes by reporters and management that people are saying it's one of the worst newspapers in America.

There really has to be a shakeup at The Times, and I hope it happens soon. Too many people rely on it for factual information.

By the way, to the lawyer who called my lawyers on Sunday morning: Don't worry, we'll get back to you.

On Global Warming

I like this paragraph from the American Spectator about Michael Crichton's latest book on the fraud that is global warming:

The message is that global warming is a hoax of Piltdown proportions brought to us by hysterical Chicken Little environmental groups, by careerist "scientists" prepared to produce the answers their patrons want in order to keep the grants and the publications coming, by gullible and scientifically illiterate journalists who wouldn't know the scientific method from the rhythm method, by limousine liberals and preposterously rich Gulfstream enviro-wackos (Hollywood branch) trying to pump meaning into their otherwise pointless lives, and by politicians desperate to find threats to appear to save their constituents from (or to at least get some good moral posing out of) in return for votes.

Folks with their eyes even halfway on the ball already know that global warming is quackery gone to town and belongs on the dumb-idea ash-heap with previous enviro-alarums -- see Alar, DDT, acid rain, asbestos, African killer bees, holes in the ozone layer, et al. -- all whooped up as threats to life as we know it and all, in due course, proven to be either totally harmless or of not much account.

I really liked the part about journalists who wouldn't know the scientific method from the rhythm method.

Annoying BP Oil Ads

The BP ads on TV have brain-dead liberals spouting off about global warming and other idiocy. Every time I see one, I renew my vow to avoid doing business with BP for the rest of my life.

Worship the Environment -- ANWR as Cathedral

Econopundit has a great post on ANWR drilling from a cost-benefit analysis. He quotes Robert Nelson:

The truly distinctive feature of ANWR is that by leaving it untouched, so much valuable oil would potentially be sacrificed. Protecting the area offers a rare opportunity to make a powerful religious statement. An analysis of the benefits and costs of ANWR oil development thus becomes in major part an assessment of a trade-off between two alternative views of the oil: (1) as fuel for a modern economy, and (2) as a symbol signifying the willingness of society to commit vast resources to preserve a multibillion-dollar cathedral, a religious edifice requiring such large sacrifice that it would stand as one of the greatest {certainly most expensive) testimonies ever made to the glory of the faith.

Leaders of the Mob

John at Power Line expresses puzzlement at Democratic strategy:

The Democrats appear to be putting all their eggs in the pre-war intelligence basket, but why? Certainly not because they actually believe it's a legitimate issue.
...
The point seems to be to drive down President Bush's approval ratings.
...
But how does this strategy, even if it works, make sense? Bush doesn't have to run again. The Dems should be focused on next year's Senate and House elections. But it's hard to believe the "pre-war intelligence" theme will be effective next November.
...
I think perhaps the Democrats in the Senate are trying to distract their activist base from the reality of their own impotence.

Dafydd at Big Lizards has a different take -- the Democrats have no plan. They are simply deranged and living in a fantasy world.

While I think that there is some truth to both explanations, I want to offer a third. Unfortunately, I can't recall the author or the context, but somewhere in the dank recesses of my mind I remember a story about a Frenchman eating at a sidewalk table at a Paris cafe. In the distance, an angry mob rushes down the street in the midst of protesting something. The Frenchman jumps up and explains to his companions that he must leave. "There goes the mob. I am their leader. I must join them."

I think the Democrats in D.C. are demonstrating all the leadership qualities of that Frenchman. The left-wing mob is rushing off in full protest mode and they are desperately trying to keep in step in order to maintain the pretense of leadership. They aren't trying to distract the liberal faithful from recognizing their impotence in affecting policy so much as they are desperately trying to fool themselves into thinking that they still have a leadership role with liberal voters.

Lying with Polls

The standard "incompetent or corrupt?" question seems to apply to all the pollsters in the latest round of polls. The New Editor has the details.

Investigate Wilson and Plame

Clarice Feldman explains all the unanswered questions and the need to have Congress use its subpoena power to get the answers.

Thomas Lifson says that the demand for an investigation is gathering momentum despite the MSM's effort to stonewall.

Why the trade deficit is not a problem

Forbes has a great column on the account deficit:

The simple truth is that the current account and the capital account sum to zero in countries with floating exchange rates.

While economists can declare before God that the U.S. current account and capital account (adjusted for statistical discrepancies) must sum to zero, it is another matter to make pronouncements about the direction of causation between these two accounts. It can go either way. During the first half of 2005 the U.S. current account deficit was a breathtaking 6.4% of GDP. The dollar and bond bears (and most of the financial press) repeatedly cited the deficit number to support their gloomy prognostications. For them, changes in the capital account respond passively to changes in the current account.

The bears were proved wrong, suggesting that the direction of causation was running from the capital account to the current account. This explains why we could run a huge trade deficit without any collapse in the foreign exchange value of the dollar.

Hat tip to Don Luskin.

The Incredible Growing Economy

Econopundit points out that liberal Yale Economist Ray Fair's econometric model is predicting extraordinary economic growth at the end of this year.

Let's all say it together -- we are in the midst of a record-setting economy. Growth has never been this good before.

Bankruptcy of the Left

Dr. Sanity has a long post on the topic. She writes: "I have just about had it with the lies, distortions, denial, paranoia, delusion and vitriol that emanate from the Left these days. When events in the 20th century flung their ideology into the dustbin of history, the Left became just another toxic and imminent threat to humanity."

Following the Alger Hiss example

R. Emmett Tyrrell compares today's Democrats to Alger Hiss. Alger Hiss was and is a great hero for liberals. At one time in America, belief in the innocence of Hiss was one of the defining beliefs of being a good liberal. Tyrrell:

Hiss fashioned what has become a reliable liberal tactic, to wit, lie, lie despite all the evidence against you, lie brazenly, lie heroically.

And:

The longstanding Hiss controversy was utterly unnecessary save for the fact that liberals are easily duped and often very good liars.

I believe today's Democratic leadership contains some very good liars.

Tyrrell makes a lot of sense. The use of and belief in the Big Lie is an essential part of the Democrats' playbook today.

CBS News -- incompetent or corrupt?

Real Clear Politics has the make-up of the latest CBS News poll. They have the GOP at 23% of the sample. Note -- this is the number they adjusted the raw total DOWN to. That is, CBS has decided that Republicans make up only 23% of the population.

Is the decision due to incompetence? Or due to a conscious desire to lie to the American people?

Inquiring minds want to know. Wouldn't it be great if an enterprising journalist were to actually interview the pollsters at CBS and ask them which it is?

Why is Paris burning?

At Big Lizards, they demonstrate how hard it is to learn the facts when the MSM purposefully hides them. The riots continue, but you can be damn sure that the MSM outlets refuse to tell us who, where, why or how. All we know is that some vaguely described immigrants are rioting somewhere near Paris.

Those who claim to be dedicated to upholding our right to know have just decided that we don't need to know anything.

All those WMDs we found in Iraq

Big Lizards reminds us of how baldly the MSM has been lying to us about WMDs. This egregious falsity goes beyond ordinary propaganda. This is the Big Lie on a scale that Goebbels would have appreciated.

Tell Frist and GOP to stop bashing profits

The windfall profits tax noise coming out of DC is especially troublesome when it comes from the GOP. This has to be one of the all time stupid ideas. It ranks right up there with the stupid luxury tax as a destructive pulic policy that hurt everyone and helped no one (not even the federal treasury).

E-mail your senators and House rep. Tell them not to get stuck on stupid.

The Case of the tell-tale buzzword

Watching CNBC while preparing for meetings with clients today. They were interviewing Greg Mankiw, former Bush advisor and now econ prof at Harvard. In a little banter after the interview one of the CNBC guys made a crack about WMDs.

It immediately hit me -- he's a liberal. In today's political climate they only people who could ever mention WMDs in casual converstation are liberals (and left-wingers at that).

The guy might as well have put a large red L on his forehead.

Black man with an asterisk

Newsmax notes a Milwaukee editorial which denigrates Clarence Thomas.

MSM gears up for major propaganda effort

Hedgehog points out an obviously slanted story on CNN about Alito. Get ready for a steady diet of this for the rest of the year.

LA Times alters quote on Alito

Patterico has details.

The Long War

Wretchard at Belmont Club has a long post on Newt Gingrich's theory of the war with Islamic fascism. In the end, the war may be fought hardest in the hearts of the citizens of the West.

Just Wondering

Dr. Sanity wonders why a number of facts seem unknown to readers of the MSM. She concludes:

Why do you suppose that none of this information is widely known--not even to those in the news media who are tasked with the responsibility of digging up the facts and keeping the public aware of what is going on?

Do the words "agenda driven", "incompetent", "clueless", "tunnel-visioned", "Bush hating", "completely blind and deaf to the truth" and "in complete denial" suggest any possible motivations to you?

She also has a good response to those concerned that a Gitmo detainee might attempt suicide here. It's well-written and persuasive.

A good question

Herbert E. Meyer wishes someone would ask all these Democrats who use the term "right-wing extremist" every other minute to please define it.

An Odd Journalistic Habit

Stuart Buck quotes the Post on Alito:

They say he inherited a commitment to unbiased professionalism from his father, who served as the New Jersey legislature's nonpartisan research director for a quarter century. They don't know anyone who isn't a journalist who actually calls him "Scalito."

Then Stuart notes: "And yet journalists always attribute the term to other people. Very odd."

Or perhaps just dishonest.

Jonathon Turley is clueless

USA Today has a column on the Plame story. He writes about Wilson and Plame and never mentions that they lied and lied and lied.

I guess it just slipped his mind.

DNC sleazeballs caught sliming Alito

The Captain explains how the DNC prepped the document and distributed it without admitting responsibility.

CNBC Gratuitous Bush-bashing

CNBC did a story a little while ago on the President's speech and policy initiative on the bird flu. At the end of the story, they included an instant assessment of the plan from a tiny financial research boutique that no one has ever heard of. The assessment was incredibly negative and basically just slammed Bush.

This wasn't criticism from a health expert, a government official, or even a Democratic politician. This was just CNBC slamming Bush and going to extraordinary lengths to try to pretend that they were just reporting news.

Crichton's favorite books on the environment

Don Luskin has this list:

Michael Crichton, our leader truth-teller about the cult of environmentalism -- the crazed creed of the Religious Left -- lists his five favorite books for fellow skeptics:

Playing God in Yellowstone by Alston Chase (Atlantic Monthly Press, 1986)

The Culture Cult by Roger Sandall (Westview, 2001)

Man and the Natural World by Keith Thomas (Oxford, 1984)

The Skeptical Environmentalist by Bjørn Lomborg (Cambridge University Press, 2002)

The Logic of Failure by Dietrich Dörner (Perseus, 1998)

Big Ben?

I have written before that Tom Brady is the most over-rated athlete in the history of professional sports. I may have to revisit that. The pundits are pushing Ben Roethlisberger hard for the top spot.

Is it asking too much for a QB to be able to learn the plays and learn how to read coverages before he is annointed a great QB? When I watch the Steelers, it is quickly apparent that Big Ben is the weakest link on an otherwise stellar team (see e.g. Tom Brady and NE Patriots over the last 4 years). The fact that Pittsburgh is able to overcome Ben's shortcomings to win games doesn't make him a great QB.

Brady, on the other hand, finally has been given permission this year to change plays at the line (just like a real, grown-up, NFL QB). And he is learning for the first time to deal with an offensive line that can only provide mediocre pass protection and a defense which isn't the best in the league anymore. Of course, the Pats have already lost 3 games.