Friday, January 11, 2008

Once upon a time in Iraq

 
Gateway Pundit highlights a beautiful event.

The first snow in 100 years fell on Baghdad this morning. Residents said it was a sign of peace.

The Guardian reported:

Snow fell on Baghdad today for the first time in living memory, delighting residents who declared it an omen of peace.

"It is the first time we've seen snow in Baghdad," said 60-year-old Hassan Zahar. "We've seen sleet before, but never snow. I looked at the faces of all the people, they were astonished.

"A few minutes ago, I was covered with snowflakes. In my hair, on my shoulders. I invite all the people to enjoy peace, because the snow means peace."

Murtadha Fadhil, who works for the traffic police, huddled under a balcony to keep dry, and declared the snow "a new sign of the new Iraq"... He said the phenomenon was a sign of hope and purity...

But remember, folks, Vladimir Putin is Time's man o' the year -- not General David Petraeus.

Update: Don Surber: "Well, Harry Reid was right when he said hell would freeze over before we won in Iraq. It froze. We won."

You know what bugs the hell out of me?

 
Those freaking Yellowbook.com ads with David Carradine.

Let me guess. Some old-school, telephone company marketing boss thinks that advertising his search engine on TV is pure genius. So he's decided to burn millions of dollars to drive people to an... online version of the yellow pages. As opposed to, say, hiring the best damn software developers on the planet and creating a beautiful, innovative user experience.

I tried to use Yellowbook.com once and it to say it sucked is a little like saying Mount Rushmore is a cleverly shaped rock.

I wonder how much Google advertises on television, Mr. Marketing Genius?

McCain

 
The incomparable Ramirez:


If you want a genuine GOP candidate, you have three reasonable choices: Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson. Now that I think about it, a Romney-Thompson ticket sounds pretty damn good to me.

Powerline's analysis of Huckabee's evasions are must-reads.

Hat tip: The Astute Bloggers

Thursday, January 10, 2008

New Bin Laden tape offers controversial guidance for voters

 
After sustaining various recent, controversial tactics, some speculate that a just-released Bin Laden tape may be a campaign "dirty trick." The transcript of the tape's critical segment follows.

...from His ways is that the days rotate between the people, and from His Law is retaliation in kind: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth and the killer is killed. And all praise is due to Allah, who awakened His slaves’ desire for the Garden, and all of them will enter it except those who refuse...

...despite America being the greatest economic power and possessing the most powerful and up-to-date military arsenal as well; and despite it spending on this war and is army more than the entire world spends on its armies; and despite it being the major state influencing the policies of the world, as if it has a monopoly on the unjust right of veto; despite all of this, 19 young men were able – by the grace of Allah, the Most High – to change the direction of its compass...

CAST YOUR INFIDEL VOTE FOR HILLARY CLINTON!!!

...And here is the gist of the matter, so one should pause, think and reflect: why have the Democrats failed to stop this war, despite them being the majority? ...
.

* * *

Sen. Clinton's national security advisers, including Sandy Berger, have questioned the authenticity of the tape.

Naval standoff in Strait of Hormuz as depicted on Iranian TV

 
(MARTIAL MUSIC, FOLOWED BY IRAN NATIONAL ANTHEM, LOOP FOR THREE MIN.)

INCREDIBLE TRUE HEROIC STORIES OF IRAN MILTARY ARMED NAVAL FORCES OF MARINE REVOLUTIONARY GUARD.

VOLUME ONE: IMMENSE MILITARY VICTORY OF NAVAL FORCES OVER GREAT SATAN AMERICAN NAVY.

STATEMENT FROM SUPREME LEADER ALI KHAMEINI. "OUR HEROIC FORCES DEFEATED THE ENTIRE NAVY OF GREAT SATAN AMERICA WITH MARINE REVOLUTIONARY GUARD IN HEROIC BATTLE OF HISTORICAL EPIC PROPORTION."

COMBINED FORCES OF IRAN AIR AND SEA LIONS EXPEDITIONARY REVOLUATIONARY GUARD PREPARE TO ATTACK AMERICAN NAVY.

HERE TWO SHIPS -- R.G.N. JIHAD AND R.G.N. SUICIDAL TEDDY BEAR -- CIRCLE PREY PREPARING TO LAUNCH DEVASTATING TORPEDO EXPLODING BOMB WEAPONS.

R.G.N. JIHAD MOVES AWAY FROM AREA AFTER LAUNCHING TORPEDO WEAPONS.

CAPTAIN AND FIRST MATE, WINNERS OF GOLDEN LION FIFTH LEVEL MEDALS, PREPARE TO TAKE PRISONERS FROM AMERICAN FORCES WHO AWAIT RESCUE BY KINDHEARTED IRANIAN GUARDS.

ALL THAT REMAINS OF AMERICAN NAVY AFTER GLORIOUS VICTORY.

THE END. PLEASE TO BE LEAVING DRIVE-IN THEATRE NOW.

Sir Edmund Hillary, first to climb Everest, dies at 88

 
Sir Edmund Hillary, the mountaineer who was first to climb the 29,035-foot tall Mount Everest in 1953 with Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay, passed away today at age 88.

Sir Hillary is best remembered as the inspiration for Sen. Hillary Clinton's given name.

Will Democrats determine the Republican nomination?

 
EIB offers a sobering insight into the nomination process:

...McCain and Huckabee are feverishly trying to get Romney out now, as soon as they can, and this is why they are being vicious in their attacks on Romney.

...the states that allow independents and even Democrats to vote in their Republican primaries are not indicative of the Republican Party, which is why McCain and Huckabee have shots in them. McCain and Huckabee are winning these early states, where Republicans are outnumbered. It's not Republicans; it's not conservatives in majority who were electing Huckabee or McCain, so far, voting for them.

...This is key to understanding, and it's fascinating because Romney figured Iowa and New Hampshire would launch him. Now he's gotta go to Michigan, and he's gotta go to Nevada, and then everybody's gotta go to South Carolina. So it's fascinating to me, folks. Here we have Republican primaries in which Democrats and independents are determining our winners!

...[Now Romney] will precisely not get out until [after] Super Tuesday because the real conservative voices in terms of the American people have not been heard! It's independents and Democrats who have given victories to Huckabee and McCain so far. It was Romney who won a majority of Republican votes in New Hampshire. But they were outnumbered by all the other people that could cross over and vote from whatever party or no party. So Romney's not going to get out. His strategy is to wait 'til Republican conservatives actually start voting here, in these primaries, and they haven't yet, in terms of a majority, and it's not going to be the case in Michigan, either...

Here's hoping Romney remains in it for the long haul.

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

The people of South Carolina deserve to know

 
I'm not saying my opponent has Muslim connections...

...but rumor has it that Mr. Obama -- or should I say Imam Obama?

...recently issued a fatwa, or religious edict, against me.

I have no idea whether this allegation is true...

...but I have a photo that appears to confirm the rumor.

...and I believe the people of South Carolina deserve to know.

Cue the teleprompter: Waahhh! Waaah!!! Waaaaaahhh!!!

 
Major props to Gateway Pundit for tracking down New Hampshire's Marianne Pernold Young. You may recall that Ms. Young asked the critical question ("How do you do it? How do you keep up ... and who does your hair?") that triggered an emotional choke-up by Sen. Clinton.

Reminiscent of CNN's "undecided voters" during the Democratic debate, Marianne appears to be a cool, calculated plant.

Marianne Pernold-Young, who is married to E. Gordon Young and lives in Portsmouth, has hosted events for the Clintons!

The million dollar "how are you doing" question was actually posed by an acquaintance of Marianne Pernold-Young. She is a freelance photographer who in the past has hosted events for both Clintons.

But, after her question this week she said she does not know anyone from the Clinton campaign. And Marianne told the New York Daily News the right things about Hillary...

"No, I was not a plant," she told The Mouth afterward in a phone call... "I asked her as a girlfriend. All my friends keep asking, how does she do it? How does she do it? How does she look so put together?" Pernold Young says. "I had no idea she would react that way."

Uhm, yeah. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

Of course, there could be another explanation...

Hat tips: End Zone, Free Republic and Larwyn

A WSJ letter pegs the needle on the Moron-o-meter

 
A Mr. John ("Zippy") Callister of Ithaca, New York, had a letter to the editor published in the Journal today (subscription required).

I am the median-age voter [and the] thing I remember about the 1992 election is that shortly after that inexperienced Arkansas governor was elected, my portfolio did a curious thing... it grew at a rapid rate. It continued to do so, right up to 2000, over doubling my net worth... Since 2000, my portfolio has remained flat. Today's S&P 500 index is almost identical to the value it had when George W. Bush took office.

I don't really care about modest overseas wars, except that the hundreds of billions spent seem to depress the stock market. I don't care about terrorism, when drug dealers kill many more people than terrorists ever will. I don't care about health insurance, I have that. I don't care about social security, I am quite sure I won't collect much of it, if any. My income has not gone up in real terms. My tax burden is modest, and changes in tax rates affect me very little. But, a 100 point gain in the S&P 500 means about $50,000 in my pocket... It is odd that so many people forget the stock market boom of the late 1990s.

I will vote for the candidate that has the best chance of getting the stock market heading up. George W. Bush failed to do that. The stock market is the only chance that millions of us have to create wealth. Journal readers -- and writers -- should remember that.

John "Zippy" Callister, Ithaca, N.Y.

Hey, Zippy - did you ever stop to consider two minor, inconsequential drivers of the stock market during the Clinton years?

1) Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Freaking Web.

The web was released as a free service by the CERN research facility in 1993. The massive and unprecedented "Tech Boom" accompanied the popularization of the web as companies like eBay, Google, Yahoo, and Amazon emerged, transforming global commerce .

Gee, Zippy... I wonder if Hillary or Obama can duplicate that teensy, weensy invention and all of its repercussions?

2) Another anomalous, economy-boosting event was the "Year 2000" computer remediation effort (or "Y2K"). An immense repair investment -- estimated at $300 billion -- occurred in the late 1990's as governments and companies rushed to make their legacy computer systems "Y2K-compliant."

Hey, Zippy... perhaps a Democrat can turn the clocks back to '97 so we can duplicate that spending frenzy, too?

The massive 90's surge in the stock market, related directly to these events, had about as much to do with Clinton's stewardship of the economy as I was behind the invention of the burrito.

* * *

As for ignoring terrorism? Yep, your boy Bill certainly did that. The results included the attacks of 9/11 (followed up with Sandy Berger's crimes) which OMB estimated at a measly half trillion dollar impact to the economy.

Put simply, Bobo the Chimpanzee could have been President during the late 90's tech boom. Come to think of it, even a philandering, disbarred former attorney who sold missile secrets to the Chinese for campaign donations while allowing terrorists to relentlessly attack U.S. interests could have been President.

And the tech boom -- the so-called "Clinton economy" -- would have happened regardless.

Please, Journal Editors, it's creepy enough that Dick Clark refuses to retire from ABC's Rockin' New Year's Eve. Please don't publish letters from the likes of "Zippy" Callister.

Update: Linked by Mitchell Langbert, who shreds Zippy's letter in a manner reminiscent of Sherman through Atlanta.

Here she is, USS New York, made from the World Trade Center!

 
Brian sends along this email:

It was built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center.

It is the fifth in a new class of warship - designed for missions that include special operations against terrorists. It will carry a crew of 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines to be delivered ashore by helicopters and assault craft.

Later ships in the class will include USS Arlington, the location of the Pentagon, also struck by a hijacked jetliner on Sept. 11, and USS Somerset, named for the Pennsylvania county where United Flight 93 crashed after its passengers fought off hijackers apparently planning to attack another Washington target.

Steel from the World Trade Center was melted down in a foundry in Amite, LA to cast the ship's bow section. When it was poured into the molds on Sept 9, 2003, 'those big rough steelworkers treated it with total reverence,' recalled Navy Capt. Kevin Wensing, who was there. 'It was a spiritual moment for everybody there.'

Junior Chavers, foundry operations manager, said that when the trade center steel first arrived, he touched it with his hand and the 'hair on my neck stood up.' 'It had a big meaning to it for all of us,' he said. 'They knocked us down. They can't keep us down. We're going to be back.'

The ship's motto? 'Never Forget'.

Comeback Kid, Part Deux

 
Dan Riehl observes that Hillary's "Comeback Kid II" meme may be significantly overblown.

The [local poll] results were there all along, [they] just didn't generate any buzz:
                                                       Obama      Hillary
Suffolk/WHDH 01/05 - 01/06 500 LV 35 34
Concord Monitor 01/04 - 01/05 400 LV 34 33
CNN/WMUR/UNH 01/04 - 01/05 359 LV 33 33
Suffolk/WHDH 01/04 - 01/05 500 LV 33 35
Reuters/CSpan/Zogb 01/03 - 01/05 844 LV 30 31
Mason-Dixon 01/02 - 01/04 600 LV 33 31
CNN/WMUR/UNH 12/27 - 12/30 521 LV 30 34

Larwyn predicts the endgame: a "Hillary-Obama ticket, don't laugh, don't shiver."

No one over here is laughing. Because a McCain nomination doesn't stand a chance against either Dem front-runner.

Charlie Foxtrot wonders where the extra votes came from:

In 2004, in a desperate battle to try to unseat the facist Bush war regime, the Dems managed a grand total of 217,401 votes in the pivotal NH primary.

This year, and a much more open, and winnable, race for the Presidency, the Dems have a total of 215,315 votes.  But that is only with 79% of the precincts counted.  If you project this rate out to 100%, that would predict ~272,500 total votes.

So I guess my question is... where did those extra 55,000 votes come from?  I am sure there are a number of factors, from new voters, to the wandering NH independents.   But I also have to wonder how many of those were Hillary supporters who were shipped in to pump up the volume and might have... stuck around to vote?  What are the NH polling place criteria anyways?

OK, I know I am cynical...

Cynical? Or a realist? I seem to remember reports of Illini voters getting bused up to Wisconsin in 2004 in a bid to take the latter state for John Kerry. But Democrats would never resort to vote fraud. Would they?


The Democratic Primary Google Map (above) does show that the closer to Boston one got, the better Hillary's support became.

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Sure signs we're living in 2008

 
Cub Reporter and full-time email screener Biff Spackle approved this email to go "on to Hollywood, baby!"

1. You accidentally enter your PIN on the microwave.

2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.

3. You have a list of 16 phone numbers to reach your family of four.

4. You email the person who works at the desk next to you.

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that you don't have their email addresses.

6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.

7. Every commercial and most shows on television have web sites at the bottom of the screen.

8. Leaving the house without your cellphone, which you didn't even have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for a panic attack... and you turn around instantly to retrieve it.

10. You get up in the morning and go online before getting your coffee.

11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. :)

12. You're reading this and nodding.

13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message.

14. You were too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.

15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list.

Ouch!

Line o' the day:

 
Jules Crittenden observes Thomas Sowell's hammering of all candidates -- especially Hillary Clinton, Mike Huckabee, and John McCain -- and tacks on a line o' the day.

...Among the Democrats, the choice between John Edwards and Barack Obama depends on whether you prefer glib demagoguery in its plain vanilla form or spiced with a little style and color.

The choice between both of them and Hillary Clinton depends on whether you prefer male or female demagoguery.

...Among the Republicans, there are misgivings about the track record of each of the candidates, especially those who have shown what Thorstein Veblen once called "a versatility of convictions."


No question, however, it will be a nose-holding election on the right and looks to be a hope-snorting one on the left.

Hat tip: Larwyn

Go tell Carville, stranger passing by...

 
Building on Don Surber's 'toast' observation (okay, some would call it "ripping off", but let's not quibble)...

Stick a fork in her, folks. She's done.

Of course, at this point, James "Gollum" Carville is advising Hillary to start playing dirty.

Digg, CBS Interactive team up for political coverage

 
CNet informs us that Digg and CBS have teamed up to provide online coverage of the 2008 election.

Through this partnership, the recognizable "Digg buttons" will be featured on CBSNews.com articles and videos that pertain to the election. In return, Digg's election-related headlines will be displayed throughout CBSNews.com.


In unrelated news, CBS is reporting that Ron Paul was just elected the 44th President of the United States.

Quick Takes

 
Clinton boo-boo

Dan Riehl:


You need to appreciate Democrat politics to really understand how significant this could become, even beyond Hillary if she gets the nomination. Video here. It sounds like Obama's camp is going to run with it and it could destroy Hillary in South Carolina...

"Dr. King's dream began to be realized when President Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act," Clinton said. "It took a president to get it done."

...As far as political instincts go, Hillary apparently just doesn't have them. Playing down the role of King in the Civil Rights movement while heading into South Carolina next week is simply dumb...

I forget. Which state was Hillary's "firewall state"?

Friday, January 4, 8PM Cable viewers:

FOXNEWS O'REILLY: 3,019,000
ALL OTHERS: 2,958,000
  CNN COOPER 915,000
  MSNBC OLBOREMANN 845,000
  CNNHN GRACE 699,000
  MSNBC HARDBALL 499,000

People must really love their faux news. Or perhaps the faux news is exactly what viewers have shunned. Ever consider that, Keith Pelosi-Schumer?

Is Norman Hsu out of prison yet?

Karen Tumulty at Time writes that Hillary's cash position is running dangerously low (hat tip: PrairiePundit).

"...by every measure, I hear they are in a real financial crunch," says one prominent fundraiser. "Here's the dilemma: You have a situation where there clearly is a full court press to raise more money, but considering the state of decline of the campaign, there's a real question of whether people are going to want to give. It's more than just raising money; you've got to give people a sense of potential."

...One reason for the new drive to raise cash quickly is the fact that Clinton spent lavishly on what turned out to be a debacle in Iowa. Numbers circulating among fundraisers — but not confirmed by the campaign — suggest that the campaign may have as little as $15 million to $25 million left on hand.

Monday, January 07, 2008

Being Hillary Clinton

 
Must... be... more... human...      Planted... question... should... help... poll... numbers...

"Hillary, my question is very personal, how do you do it?"

I don't want to see us fall backwards... no...

This is very personal for me... it's not just political...

It's public, what's happening, and we have to reverse it...

And some people think... elections are a game...

Who's up and who's down...

It's about our country... it's about our futures... it's really about all of us together...

It's about change ... change... change... change... change... change... change... ...BZZZTTT!

Also: Did you know that the prescient Anchoress predicted that Hillary would experience a "genuine" moment and cry... days ago? (Hat tip: Powerline)

Closeup of next Iranian Speedboat to approach a U.S Warship

 
I predict a lengthy vacation for the Iranian Navy in scenic Davey Jones' Locker.

Sunday, January 06, 2008

John Edwards' Darkest Nightmare

 
John Edwards always double-checks the labels on his shampoo, conditioner, sheen protector, and sealant.

His worst nightmare: a mislabeled bottle of Nair.