How to lose to terrorists

Ben Stein explains.

Bottom line -- do what the liberals want and we will lose.

Our strong economy

Solid analysis from Michael Darda.

Every day I check the WSJ for P/Es on the major indexes. They keep getting better and better. And estimated forward P/Es are even better. Not only that, each earnings season keeps presenting more upside surprises than down. Which means that the estimates, as strong as they are, are not optimistic enough to match the strength of the reality.

Chinese reporter channels US liberals

Hugh Hewitt has this from an Israeli blogger:

This morning a couple of Chinese reporters interviewed me for a pre-recorded radio show at my local cafe. Our waiter, Ido, is a gentle, perpetually smiling, slightly clumsy guy in his mid-twenties who wears his wild, curly hair pulled away from his face with a headband and shuffles around in sagging jeans and Birkenstocks. At one point he told me that he'd just received an emergency call-up notice for army reserve duty; when I translated this into English for the Chinese reporters, one of them looked at Ido with an amazed, "does not compute" look and said to me, "But he looks so normal! He's going to put on a uniform and...kill?"

What it must be like to live one's life without every having a clue!

More evidence Wilson/Plame suit is a PR sham

Clarice Feldman explains. The plaintiffs' lawyers haven't even figured out how they will proceed with discovery.

Hezbollah Scams MSM

Steve Antler pointed out this find. Hezbollah soldiers stage an elaborate hoax to provide material for their allies in the MSM to use in running their propaganda.

Lying with numbers -- essential liberal tactic

The second item in this WSJ story caught my eye. (The first is a debunking of the wacky left-wing happiness study.) The very left-wing Children's Defense Fund plays games with gun stats. The left-wing media plays along.

OK for Dems, Not for Iraqis?

Baseball Crank does a nice job of summarizing Democrats who criticize the Iraqi prime minister:

So, let me get this straight: The Democrats can condone the things that elected officials who are also barking moonbats - like Maxine Waters and Pete Stark - tell their far-out constituencies. They can swallow their pride and live with Bob Casey saying he's pro-life - supposedly an "out of the mainstream" position - to get elected in Pennsylvania. But they can't understand the things al-Maliki has to say and do to get elected in Iraq?

Let's make this real simple. The US is never going to get anywhere asking friendly Arab and/or Muslim governments to side with Israel. It is more than enough for them to decline to aid Israel's enemies, and deny them safe haven within their borders. If every state in the region did that, as Iraq does, Israel's problems would be few and limited.

Oops, I've made the mistake again of treating the Democrats as if they were serious about foreign policy again. They're actually just trying to triangulate a way to be anti-Iraqi (and thus placate the left-wing anti-war anti-Israel base) while at the same time appearing pro-Israel (to mollify the Jewish liberals who remain faithful Democratic donors and voters in the face of mounting evidence of who Israel's real friends in Washington are). As usual, the raw calculation at work is obvious.

Of course, anyone who actually does treat the Dems as if they are serious about foreign policy is guilty of worse than "oops".

Barone on teachers' unions and Dems

Barone:

The teachers unions

For at least two decades one of the strongest institutional forces in the Democratic Party has been the teachers unions. Something like 20 percent of the delegates to Democratic national conventions have been members of the National Education Association, and in state politics the NEA and the American Federation of Teachers have been exceedingly powerful forces. Yet now there are signs that important leaders of the Democratic Party are souring on the teachers unions. Mickey Kaus has a good roundup on this.

I have long thought it anomalous that smart and elite-university-educated Democrats have supported the teachers unions, which have done so much to provide mediocre or worse education, especially for the poor children whom the Democrats claim to care about. The unions want high pay, minimal accountability, and light workloads; they insist on assigning teachers by seniority (rather than letting principals hire and fire teachers); they fight charter schools and school choice, even within the public school systems; they have tended to oppose mandatory testing. But they shovel lots of money to the Democratic Party money that comes from their public salaries via teachers' dues payments. It's a great system for the union leaders, for the Democratic Party for everybody except the kids.

It's a great system for the union leaders, for the Democratic Party, for everybody except the kids.

Michael, having spent part of his life working to get Democrats elected, still doesn't want to admit, in print, that they might well be corrupt. There is nothing anomalous about corrupt people taking wads of cash and free campaign workers in exchange for selling out kids. Even when they mouth words about caring for the kids.

Of course, Barone knows this, so he lets the facts speak for themselves.

Quislings

American Thinker:

In 1970 the late French political philosopher Jean-Francois Revel said this:

Democratic civilization is the first in history to blame itself because another is trying to destroy it.

This is an apt articulation of a startling truth, but it still fails to capture the whole reality. With the New York Times leaking national secrets, liberals granting constitutional protections to terrorists, and some of our western ‘allies’ buttressing our enemies, an updated version of the statement should read:

Democratic civilization is the first in history to actively assist those who try to destroy it.

Lamont - only 5 grand to charity (of 2.8 mil)

Left-wing darling, Ned Lamont contibuted only $5385 to charity from his more than $2.8 million income last year. Can't you tell how much he cares? You can just feel it.

This ranks up there with Bill Clinton's write-offs for used underwear and Algore's incredibly miserly ways.

Bredesen Corruption

Bill Hobbs has a post on the Tennessee Highway Patrol officers who bought promotions and pay raises by donating to Bredesen's election campaigns. Now that they have been demoted, they want their money back.

Are they stupid or just lying?

Steve Antler gives us another example from the MSM. And be sure to notice the knee-jerk liberal idiocy he quotes in the 2d point about the cause of war and terrorism.

MSM and the law of averages

Cori Dauber points out that the MSM only seems to find space for stories from troops in Iraq with low morale. Those of us who talk to actual military people who have been there or their family members know that morale is actually very high. Perhaps it is just a weird sampling anomaly that every time reporters ask, they get the ones that are unhappy. Or perhaps they only write up stories when they get unhappy responses.

Cori's use of "law of averages" for her post reminds me of the way that the Clinton administration used the IRS to audit and intimidate conservative groups. There were dozens and dozens of conservative groups audited, but not a single liberal one. And the conservative groups seemed to be the ones that were speaking out about abuses by the Clintons. Just a weird sampling anomaly of a totally impartial random audit process, I guess. Just one of those 1 in a trillion longshots.

Like Hillary's cattle futures payoff.

The Incompetence of the CIA

AJ has a great post pulling threads together to explain the CIA's role in screwing up before 9/11 and how the agency may be leaking like crazy now out of spite for having lost influence in the government intelligence system.

Strategy for Surrender

Paul Mirengoff gives a good summary of Democrats' defense strategy:

Let's look at where liberal Democrats stand on national security. They oppose military action against hostile nations like North Korea when they are in the process of developing nuclear weapons; they oppose systems that might defend us from nuclear weapons after these hostile nation develop them; they oppose any serious effort to secure our border from terrorist infiltration and would condition even a relatively unserious effort on the granting amnesty for millions of illegals; they oppose obtaining information from terrorists through interrogation techniques that stop short of inflicting physical pain; and they even have reservations about surveillance techniques that enable us to listen-in on terrorists.

If one didn't appreciate the knee-jerk nature of their opposition to defense and national security measures, one could easily conclude that liberal Democrats have a unified strategy for not defending the country.

Will Joe Wilson get caught in Jefferson corruption probe?

Clarice Feldman looks at some interesting evidence.

The absence of a liberal core

Julie Ponzi makes an interesting couple of points in this post.

In order to engage in a truly serious discussion you must have a strong point of agreement. The best debates are always between people who, basically, agree. That’s why the intramural sparring among conservatives can be so interesting. Granted, it is sometimes maddening and self-defeating, but it is always interesting and usually important. But the fighting between liberals almost always seems unhinged. They are always searching for their "core." When you have to look for it, you don’t have one. When everything goes it seems nothing makes any sense. It doesn’t seem serious, focused, or relevant.

First, I never thought before about her claim that a point of agreement is necessary to have a good discussion. Of course, she is right. How can we argue about what is the best course of action or policy, if we can't even agree on how to define what is best or whether good, better or best are even relevant concepts.

Second, is her observation about the absence of a liberal core. And I think she is right. If everything is relative and there is no "truth", everything is good. And so is nothing. Whatever.

Next time you read about Pelosi and company trying once again to come up with some kind of message and agenda for the fall elections, remember Ponzi's point.

Happiest Places on Earth

I caught this at No Left Turns. A left-wing outfit with the name New Economics Foundation syas that Vanutu is the happiest place on earth with countries such as Cuba, Columbia, and Vietnam close behind.

Now everyone is entitled to decide what makes a person happy. Note however, that the people who are part of this outfit are not likely to be moving to any of these places any time soon.

Most importantly, all those who are pretty sure that they would not be happy living in Cuba or Vietnam should likely disregard the pronouncements of these left-wing economists on other issues, as well. There is a good likelihood that their positions on other issues are intended to make the USA more like Cuba and Vietnam.

Damn straight on that!

Via Big Lizards, we see this post on why the world needs to let the beating continue until the bad guys admit they were wrong and give up. Otherwise, we encourage more bad guys to do more bad stuff.

Twice Champion

At the big annual city meet to end the summer swim season, Madison had two great days of swimming. Swimmers are limited to four events. At the prelims on Friday, he joined with 3 teammates to shatter the old record for the Mixed 11-12 free relay, qualified with the best time in the 50 free (26.84) and second best in the 50 fly with personal bests, and led the boys free relay to the second best time. Sunday, in four championship finals, they won the mixed relay, he was the meet winner in the 50 free, finished 2d in the 50 fly (30.30) with another personal best, and brought the boys relay to a 2d place finish.

Outstanding swimming for anyone and especially for someone who doesn't swim year-round. We're all proud of him.

And tonight is his first practice in pads for football season.

What caused political parity

I think that Bruce Bartlett's review of the history and changes is spot on. Not necessarily an answer to Barone's question, but certainly a great explanation for GOP control of the house and senate.

Clinton decimated the Army

.. and Bush hasn't done enough to build it back. Douglas Hanson takes everyone to task for not doing enough to reverse the Clinton devastation. He's hard on Bush for not fighting the Clintonites who remain in the defense bureaucracy and handcuff our army even now.

The hypocrisy of the elitist NY Times

Lifson nails them.

A profitable company is to shutter a factory it built in 1992 as part of a much-hailed visionary strategy to take advantage of technology. But now it is just a cost to be cut. Eight hundred jobs, many of them well-paying blue collar positions (supposedly an endangered species) will disappear, while managerial and professional jobs are being protected.

Normally, this would be a juicy target for series of articles on the front and business pages of the New York Times. You know the drill: a parade of blue collar people victimized by the Bush administration, and now facing a bleak future. Meanwhile the insiders make out fine. There’s even a fat cat CEO whose compensation package has done a whole lot better than its profits or stock. If Howell Raines still were editor, he’d get at least 40 stories out of it.

But today, the company in question is the New York Times Company. So don’t expect the same rules to apply.

Nothing personal – it’s just business.

Fantasy created by liberal liars

Interesting book review that exposes all the BS in movies like "Pocahontas". Does there exist even a single area of study that the left has thoroughly contaminated with its overwhelming campaign of lies?

Vicious slander of Jesse Jackson

Jackson quotes the Bible to support his vicious slandering of Republicans.

Iraq's WMDs

Ed has this Iraqi memo explaining what to do with the WMDs to foil the inspectors.

I wonder why the Iraqis would have gone to all that trouble to hide stuff that "never existed". I guess I just don't get it. Because the NY Times and Wash Post could never be wrong. So we KNOW WMDs never existed in Iraq. After all, these journalists are the self-appointed protectors of our nation's security. It isn't possible for them to be wrong. They are too wise.

Never forget

The leading organizer of anti-war demonstrations, at which many Democratic politicians spoke, shared the stage and joined in solidarity with the extreme radical speakers, is ANSWER. This group consists of avowed communists who look to Josef Stalin for an example of the kind of government they would like to bring to the USA. Via RCP, this column summarizes the results of Lenin-Stalinism for the Russian people.

Just a reminder of what kind of people the Democrats turned to for leadership in opposing President Bush's foreign policy.

Elections matter.

[note- I am not tarring all Dems because of some of the people who support them. It is inappropriate to blame politicians for the ideas of every person or group who supports them. It is, however, totally appropriate to hold politicans responsible for the decisions they make in who they choose to follow, to embrace, to praise and to join.]

Sounds like a fine young man

The local paper had a nice story about a young man from our neighborhood high school who decided to help teach children with Down Syndrome to swim. At first she couldn't float, but Hunter Thomson taught Emma Bennet so well that she can now swim freestyle, backstroke, and breast stroke in competitive swim meets.

Apparently, Hunter coaches as well as he swam. He swam a record-setting 50 free last summer. (Must have been a heck of a race.)

Way to go, Madison!

My son, Madison, swam in the Smoky Mountain Invitational Swim Meet this weekend. He's 12. Competing against swimmers from 29 East Tennessee teams in the boys 11-12 division, he was first in the 50 free, 2d in the 100 IM, 2d in the 50 back and 3d in the 50 fly. He recorded personal bests in three of the four races. Just a great effort on a long, long hot day.

I played a lot of ball in a lot of sports for a lot of years, but I don't think I ever got as worked up as I do watching my kids compete.

Great idea!

Don Lusikin writes about a great point made by a George Mason professor. Let's set a minimum price for used cars of $15,000 in order to help the poor. They will make much more on their trade-ins and increase their wealth.

Here's a fantastic idea that will make everybody richer. Let's pass a law setting a minimum price on used cars. How about, say, $15 thousand?

If you've got an old beater you want to sell, and you were worried that you'd only get a couple thousand bucks for it, then this law is for you! Now you'll get $15 thousand for it!

This law would help the least fortunate Americans most of all. Those with the lowest incomes tend to own the oldest cars in the worst condition. With this law, they'll be assured of getting a terrific price.

There's just one problem. There are lots of used cars that no one wants to buy for $15 thousand. If you want to sell one of those, under this new law chances are that you wouldn't be able to sell it at all. The $15 thousand minimum prices you right out of the market.

And the poor people whom this law was supposed to help? They'd actually get hurt two ways by it. Not only would they not be able to sell their used cars. At the same time, they wouldn't be able to buy a used car either -- since now they'd have to pay $15 thousand for it, which they can't afford (and which it probably isn't worth, anyway).

So who would support a law this stupid? Well… actually, you might -- without even realizing it.

If you support minimum wage laws, then you're supporting the very same logic underlying this crazy idea of a minimum price for used cars. (Thanks to Don Boudreaux, an economist at George Mason University, for the colorful metaphor.)

If a law forces employers to pay no less than, say, $10 an hour -- then employers will simply not hire anyone for jobs that are really worth less than that. And they'll fire anyone who was doing those jobs at a lower wage, before the law was passed.

Which leaves the low-wage earner with a rather stark choice. Would he rather be employed at $9 an hour, or unemployed at $10 an hour?

Plame lawsuit's bizarre pleading

Captain Ed caught something interesting while reading the complaint. Plaintiffs use summaries of newspaper columns which they wrote (or were the source) rather than simply make factual allegations. This is really bizarre. The reason they do it, is to avoid making outright false statements in their pleading. From Ed:

We can start on page 6 of the PDF file, where the plaintiffs lay out the facts of the case. Paragraph 18b starts us off down the primrose path (emphases mine):

On May 6, 2003, the New York Times published a column by Nicholas Kristof which disputed the accuracy of the "sixteen words" in the State of the Union address. The column reported that, following a request from the Vice President's office for an investigation of allegations that Iraq sought to buy uranium from Niger, an unnamed former ambassador [now known to be Plaintiff Joseph C. Wilson IV] was sent on a trip to Niger in 2002 to investigate the allegations. According to the column, the ambassador reported back to the CIA and State Department in early 2002 that the allegations were unequivocally wrong and based on forged documents.

Note the qualifying phrase, According to the column. The complaint never mentions two salient facts: (1) Joe Wilson was Kristof's source, and (2) Wilson reported nothing of the kind. According to Wilson's own testimony to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the Prime Minister of Niger told him the exact opposite

"According to the column" is a weird way to allege a fact about which the plaintiffs have complete knowledge. Wilson knows what he reported back and his sworn testimony is available about that report (which completely contradicts what was reported in the papers).

Read it all for more revelations of this type.

Hockey Stick is a hoax

A Congressional committee releases a report debunking the statistical methods used to produce the famous hockey stick so beloved by Algore types.

Rove runs NY Times

Great stuff.

Publicity Hounds Sue for Invasion of Privacy

I loved this post at NRO's Media Blog.

Why gold prices matter less every day

Jerry Bowyer explains.

Evidence against Efficient Market Theory

Seems to me that this demonstrates that the fundamental assumption upon which the theory rests is flawed. See Luskin here.

Fevered Rant

I know we should be used to all this by now, but the capacity of the left for unbelievable stupidity just has no limit. If the author of this can get a Yale doctorate, Yale must be in much worse shape than I thought.

Great News

CNBC is reporting that Wilson and Plame have thrown Cheney, Rove and Libby into the briar patch.

I predict that the plaintiffs will regret this even more than the NY Times regrets demanding that a special prosecutor investigate.

Never trust the MSM to get it right

The account of the deranged Arizona professor whose posted comments on Protein Wisdom were so ugly and threatening that she was fired by the University of Arizona has been mentioned by Glenn and various blogs the last few days. The local paper has an account which is closer to fiction than fact. Jeff Goldstein felt the need to leave an extended comment on the online article.

Reading his comment and the original article offers a good example of "news" reporting.

The extent of the harm

A new lead every day is how Levey explained the benefit of the SWIFT program. As Lucianne noted, the Democrats' use of the argument that the terrorists already knew makes absolutely no sense. If it wasn't a secret, why was it a huge front page story using the term secret about a dozen times?

And if it wasn't a secret, why did it produce leads all the time?

Liars

Jed Babbin points out that everything the MSM is reporting on the DOD memo is false.

I find it harder and harder to understand why some people (fewer every day) choose to get their news from MSM outlets. Why would anyone deliberately choose to be kept stupid and ignorant? Another good reason to check out Don Luskin every few days. Which is where I saw the link to this post on the incompetence of the Times in a new blog.

The old saw needs revision:

Those who can -- do.
Those who can't -- teach.
Those without a clue what the hell is going on -- work for the MSM.

The Party of Death

RCP blog has this. Regardless of what one thinks the legal outcome of the case should have been, there is no denying that using him as a fundraiser taps into the sick extremism that has become typical of the party's base.

The one rational lefty

There is one rational lefty in the world. Opinion Journal discusses his efforts to get policy makers to establish priorities based on cost/benefit analysis.

Algore's attracted to falsehood like a magnet

A Canadian runs through some of Algore's latest whoppers.

"The election in Canada was partly about the tarsands projects in Alberta," Gore told a crowd at the Sundance film festival in Utah. "The financial interests behind the tarsands poured a lot of money and support behind an ultra-conservative leader in order to win the election ... and to protect their interests."

Apparently Gore was unaware that Canadian election law caps company donations at $1,000 a year, or that natural resources are controlled by provincial governments and not the feds. But why let facts get in the way of a good smear?

This week he was at it again, using an interview with Rolling Stone magazine to suggest development of the oilsands is "truly nuts" - equivalent to a junkie looking for a fix. "They have to tear up four tonnes of landscape, all for one barrel of oil," moaned Gore. "It seems reasonable, to them, because they've lost sight of their lives."

...
Gore also has a Michael Moore-style movie out -- An Inconvenient Truth - that tries to dramatize the eye-glazing greenhouse gas slide-show presentation that the former Veep has been boring audiences with for two decades (I have had the misfortune to sit through it twice).

Among Gore's more outrageous nose-stretchers in the film is the claim that scientists agree global warming could produce a 20-foot rise in sea level. A 2005 joint statement by the science academies of the Western nations, including the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, actually estimates a worst-case scenario of 35 inches.

But, again, why bother with facts when you're on a crusade?
...

Gore ignores the reality that the countries that signed Kyoto, including Canada, have thus far committed a gargantuan $150 billion to hypothetically reduce the average global temperature by 0.0015 degrees Celsius. At that rate it would take around 665 years and $100 trillion to reduce it by one full degree Celsius. (Numbers courtesy of JunkScience.com, and official government data.)

How can this be?

The two most important batting stats are on-base percentage and slugging percentage. Travis Hafner has ranked among the best in baseball in each of these stats for the last 3 years. As of now, he ranks first in the majors in OBP and first in the American League in slugging this season.

The best hitter in the league this season and he's been doing it consistently for several years, but he's not an all-star!

Liberal = stupid

A Georgia Judge rules in favor of Democrats who claim that a picture ID to vote is unconstitutional because it is too burdensome for poor people. I believe that Michael Barone noted recently that Mexico requires a photo ID to vote.

Too bad that Georgia's residents can't handle the details of a free photo ID as well as the poorest citizens in Mexico.

Note- here is what Barone said:

In 1990, the government set up an independent election monitoring agency, IFE, which seems to be well above partisan politics and to be competently run. For 1994 and 2000, the government put into effect systems designed to produce clean elections. Every voter has a high-tech voter ID card, with picture, fingerprint, and hologram, and is required to show it at the polls. (In contrast, some Democrats in the United States make the preposterous claim that it is a violation of civil rights to require a voter to show a picture ID to vote.) Then a fingerprint is taken, and the finger is stained with indelible ink (you can see it on the fingers of the news media people on television on election night). Only very limited absentee voting is allowed, for the first-time year; IFE workers examine each absentee ballot with ultraviolet light and scan bar codes to verify their authenticity. Mexican elections today seem to have much less vote fraud than elections in the United States.

Vote fraud is a critical element of Democrats' election strategy.

Never a birdie, but 2 aces in one round

Unbelievable.

Dealing with North Korea

Cox and Forkum have a cartoon worth a 1000 words on the effectiveness of the UN.

AJ Strata on liberal contortions

AJ has a long post on the illogical gyrations Times' apologists have made trying to defend the indefensible.

Internet saving US from defeat?

Dr. Sanity uses a point made by Wretchard to examine the impact the internet has had on our ability to wage war.

The purpose of terror is to win a propaganda victory. That requires assistance from our MSM. Without it, the terrorists cannot win. She writes:

Early on in this conflict, the terrorists successfully and rather easily converted the MSM to their cause; primarily because the ideologies that motivate the two are so compatible; and it is only through the freedom of the internet that at least a portion of the American public can begin to see the terrorists for the murderous thugs they are; and understand that America--as always, no matter what her flaws may be--remains on the side of truth, justice, and freedom.

The press in this country have always been free; but lately, their freedom has become like that of a drunk driver--so intoxicated by his own power and moral righteousness; and so convinced of his own invulnerabilty; so grandiose and lacking of insight and judgment; that he is unable to appreciate the suicidal and homicidal danger he now represents.

If not for the internet and for all the independent sources of news; if not for milbloggers like Tim Boggs who report directly from the frontlines without the guile or deceit; if not for the dissemination of the truth to counter the continuous propaganda of the enemy, printed and trumpeted daily in our own news media--the terrorists would have already achieved a final victory.

I don't think that is entirely true. I think that our current president would never cut and run. But the MSM could very well have succeeded in 2004 (and may yet succeed in 2008) in their relentless efforts to elect a Democrat eager to surrender.

A clueless Andrew Sullivan

Big Lizard has a lot of fun with Andrew Sullivan and his inconsistencies with logic. The topic is global warming, but it could have been any one of a number.

I love his summation: "I'm not sure where Sullivan thought he was going with this; but wherever it was, he didn't arrive."

A clueless Andrew Sullivan

Big Lizard has a lot of fun with Andrew Sullivan and his inconsistencies with logic. The topic is global warming, but it could have been any one of a number.

I love his summation: "I'm not sure where Sullivan thought he was going with this; but wherever it was, he didn't arrive."

More dishonesty from the NY Times

Ed tells us all the facts that the Times ignores. If the Times told the truth, they couldn't blame Bush. So given a choice between telling the truth and Bush-bashing, they made the choice they always do.

By the way, don't you think the fact that the North Korean dictator is flooding the world with massive quantities of counterfeit US currency is news?

I wanted to blog on this when it ran in the dead tree version of the WSJ some days back. I've been checking to see when they would run it on the web site, and it ran on the 2d.

Bottom line -- pretty much everything that Al Gore says is true is not.

Of course, the author is only a chaired professor of atmospheric science at MIT. It's not like he is knows as much about global warming as Algore or anything. After all, Algore flunked out of divinity school and dropped out of law school. He's obviously a brilliant scholar.

MIT climate prof: Al Gore all wrong

I wanted to blog on this when it ran in the dead tree version of the WSJ some days back. I've been checking to see when they would run it on the web site, and it ran on the 2d.

Bottom line -- pretty much everything that Al Gore says is true is not.

Of course, the author is only a chaired professor of atmospheric science at MIT. It's not like he is knows as much about global warming as Algore or anything. After all, Algore flunked out of divinity school and dropped out of law school. He's obviously brilliant.

Times knew damage it was doing

American Spectator says that the paper was told of 3 different ongoing investigations that would be compromised by disclosure. Paper then tried to learn enough to expose them too.

Stupid is as stupid does

Steyn explains why Justice Stevens (which has become an oxymoron) is completely clueless.

al-Qaida never need to sign the Conventions now, do they? As the ultimate beneficiaries of the progressive mindset, they get all the benefits with none of the obligations. We're bound, they're not. If you're captured with the severed head of a U.S. soldier in your knapsack, you're covered by Geneva -- and, as your victim learned a mile back up the road, it's too late for him to call his lawyer.

In the broader scheme, Justice Stevens and co, in torturing the language to explain why the international jihad is not "international," have paradoxically conferred quasi-sovereignty on al-Qaida and its affiliates. The obvious question then is: doesn't that also apply to every other "non-state actor" out there? When Hezbollah blew up that Jewish community center and killed 100 people in Buenos Aires in 1994, surely that too was (as Justice Stevens would see it) an "armed conflict not of an international character occurring in the territory of one of the High Contracting States." In fact, under this definition, what isn't?