A dark and stormy night over the edge of a cliff

With Hollywood writers hitting the picket lines, forcing Leno and Letterman into reruns, it is time to put down the remote and ask: Is the strike wider than we understand?

Consider Will Bush Suck the GOP Down the Drain With Him? by Arianna Huffington:

I've written about how the lunatic fringe of the GOP has taken over the party. Well, the takeover is so complete that those looking to lead the party have come to the conclusion that the only way they can win is to compete for the 24 percent of the country that does not think we are headed over the edge of a cliff. They are all vying to be voted head wacko of the lunatic fringe. Running on a platform of heightened Bushism, they seem to think the reason three-quarters of the country has turned against the president is because he just wasn't extreme enough. So the problems of the GOP will only intensify when Bush packs his bags.

Are non-union-but-union-sympathizing writers writing poorly to show solidarity with the picketing writers? Is it even a conscious thing? Oh, how I want this strike to go away. Developing…

Union front group talking points

A group from Wake Up Wal-Mart was working the parking lot in front of the Germantown, Maryland Wal-Mart when I emerged from shopping. One of them handed me a glossy 5 ½” by 8 ½” card that read, “Nothing’s scarier than Wal-Mart and China.” It featured a jack-o-lantern and a prominent web address for Wakeupwalmart.com. The flipside had some stale quotes and suggested “Get the facts at: www.wakeupwalmart.com/china.”

I found the brightest looking of the bunch and asked, “So, is your group trying to unionize Wal-Mart?” He shook his head. “No, no. That isn’t going to happen in my lifetime or your lifetime," he explained. "We’re just trying to get the facts out about Wal-Mart and China.” Um, okay.

Wake Up Wal-Mart is a group funded by the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), a 1.3 million-member (and flling) union that has failed repeatedly to unionize Wal-Mart. The link between the groups is overt: Every page I looked at on the Wakeupwalmart.com website was copyrighted by the UFCW.

Thought for another day

"You don’t need a weatherman,” sang Dylan, “to know which way the wind blows." The New Left terror group that lifted their Weatherman moniker from those lyrics watched a public fail adequately to comprehend their senseless violence-revolution-smelly hippie trip any better than I can understand every fifth word Dylan sings.

Today, for every Weatherman there are a million global warming ninnies with Weather Channel anxiety to advance the Left’s political agenda and mistake partisan talking points for science.

With occasional warm days in cold months, turning points in Iraq, and befuddled by the earliest-ever primaries in 2008, pundits are spinning noisily like so many rusty weathervanes, pointing this way and that. Meanwhile the dollar makes new lows daily against oil, gold, and any confetti currency you can name. Votes that matter are being cast.

You don't need to wait for an election to find out which way the wind blows.

Apple to sell unlocked iPhones? Keep waiting.

Apple tries to limit iPhone sales to two per person, and the reason is simple enough.

Under Time Pressure

Mark Steyn waxes nostalgic for laconic leadership:

So what I look for in a candidate is, first, an absence of phony energy and, second, signs of real energy. I can live with a Fred Thompson "senior moment" compared to most of the alternatives. In that same debate, the more damaging answer came from Mitt Romney in response to an arcane hypothetical about whether bombing Iran required congressional approval. "You sit down with your attorneys," began the former governor. "We're going to let the lawyers sort out what we needed to do and what we didn't need to do." There was no pause. Romney just rushed in to fill the dead air with all the frantic energy of an old-school disc jockey whose traffic jingle has jammed. And, as a consequence, a war-on-terror hawk came over like a Kerryesque legalistic ass-coverer. A "senior moment" to collect his thoughts might have helped.

Hillary would have created space. Sure, it might be creepy, but the frightening laugh ploy buys her ten seconds, while the trademark admonition about hypothetical question tacks on another five. After a quarter minute of cogitation and smoke out the ears, “You sit down with your attorneys” is the 15,000th best answer, not the best.

Suppress Dissent the Soviet Way

There is positively no hackwork on the L.A. Times op-ed page, and by that I mean some gets by from time to time.

In Straitjacket Bush, columnist Rosa Brooks argues that the President and Vice President “should be treated like psychotics who need treatment.” This is edgy writing, see. She asks, “What's a constitutional democracy to do when the president and vice president lose their marbles?” Her solution is involuntary committal: “In Washington, the appropriate statutory law is already in place: If a "court or jury finds that [a] person is mentally ill and . . . is likely to injure himself or other persons if allowed to remain at liberty, the court may order his hospitalization." Yes, Comrade Stalin would get a hearty laugh out of that, would he not?

Shocked

The video Hillary does not want you to see. Watch part two as well.

Like an IRF flag, except uglier.

Life is cheap, but it's the accessories that kill you. Still, what's a souvenir without a great story?

Hat tip: Vodkapundit

Official Secrets Act Needed

Whether a leak or a dump, it does not matter: A Classified report is a classified report. Journalists are not able to understand what sources and methods they compromise when they publish one. A simple rule: If it is classified, do not publish it. Is this complicated?

WASHINGTON — Security screeners at two of the nation's busiest airports failed to find fake bombs hidden on undercover agents posing as passengers in more than 60% of tests last year, according to a classified report obtained by USA TODAY.

Screeners at Los Angeles International Airport missed about 75% of simulated explosives and bomb parts that Transportation Security Administration testers hid under their clothes or in carry-on bags at checkpoints, the TSA report shows.

At Chicago O'Hare International Airport, screeners missed about 60% of hidden bomb materials that were packed in everyday carry-ons — including toiletry kits, briefcases and CD players. San Francisco International Airport screeners, who work for a private company instead of the TSA, missed about 20% of the bombs, the report shows. The TSA ran about 70 tests at Los Angeles, 75 at Chicago and 145 at San Francisco.

We get mad at the Mexican government for printing guides on how to hop our border, but it's somehow okay to tell terrorists which airports to use?!?! Am I missing something here?

Franken? Franken? Franken?

The increasingly populist Ben Stein throws $2,000 to old friend Al Franken.

NewsMax reports:

Stein, a former speechwriter for President Nixon, has contributed thousands of dollars to Republican candidates and to GOP committees, such as the National Republican Senatorial Committee _ charged with helping Republicans take over the Senate. Doesn't the donation to Franken undercut those efforts?

"Well, it does to a very slight extent," Stein said. "There is some contradiction there. But not all senators are as good as Al Franken."

I weep for the future.

"Give me my book back!"

In A 'Bergler' Steals Clinton's Credibility, Kathryn Jean Lopez is amazed at the hubristic Clinton Camp hiring document-grabber Samuel R. “Sandy” Berger:

When Bill and Hillary Clinton did their online "Sopranos" spoof after the HBO show's finale, they may have been trying to tell us something more than we realized. The Clintons, sans the New Jersey accent, subtly yet unmistakably were announcing: "We and our posse are back. Burglars and all."

Maybe they should do new spoof showcasing their document-grabber. How about, say, the opening scene of Reservoir Dogs -- the one where Messrs. Pink, Blue, Brown, Orange, Blond, White (as well as Nice Guy Eddie and his dad) gather for breakfast before the big heist. Berger, of course, would be Mr. White, who grabs Joe Cabot’s address book and refuses to give it back after Joe keeps reading from it.

Anyway, K-Lo thinks the hire it is a huge judgment issue:

That the Hillary Clinton campaign would even take Mr. Berger’s phone calls, never mind hold him close as an adviser, is an outrage. Moreover, it is a bright-red, screeching siren signaling a huge judgment problem on Mrs. Clinton’s part.

The Berger hire is indeed a wailing Klaxon, except in the way of an office fire alarm people ignore as they keep working. Until voters start paying attention, the Clinton campaign figures they can keep tapping that bad judgment switch like frenzied lab rats getting happy jolts.

With a perfect plan, what could possibly go wrong?

Top 10 Things going through a Liberal’s Mind When it Rains on his Washed Car

In her latest piece at Human Events Online, the great Ann Coulter writes:

If it rains after a liberal washes his car, they say it's a right-wing dirty trick.

This is undeniably true, and it got me thinking.

Top 10 Things going through a Liberal’s Mind After it Rains on his Washed Car

1. What kind of hell is this without taxis?
2. If the squeegee men were not all in for-profit jails or drafted to fight endless wars for Cheney and Haliburton, my windows would be spotless by now.
3. I must keep those windows clean to observe jack-booted thugs planting nooses or shoving liberal talk show hosts to the curb to silence them.
4. What if the people cannot read my edgy Re-Defeat Bush bumper sticker?
5. The chief cause of this possibly-carcinogenic particulate matter on my Prius is the Republicans’ obstinate refusal to ratify Kyoto.
6. Said particulate matter doubtless belched from SUVs and coal-fired plants keeping all those plasma screens in flyover country aglow with Fox News.
7. Each acid rain droplet is another nail in the coffin of those global warming denialists. What more proof could those criminals require that Mother Earth is dying?
8. Is it warm out here for this time of year?
9. There should be more undocumented laborers to do this for me so I could rebut that Chomsky smear.
10. Hey...hey! Why didn't my domestic partner help me wash the car, anyway?

Belling the Cat: A Necklace of Earmarks

Kevin Hassett of AEI argues that the voter disgust over spending that swept Democrats to power in Congress could again prove decisive in 2008. Republican candidates, he points out, have been transparent, while the Democrats -- ex Obama -- have ducked and dodged the issue. Nobody, however, has more exposure here than Clinton, he says, noting she has stuffed $2.2 billion of pet projects into various spending bills 2002-06. “If Dennis Hastert was the king of earmarks,” he writes, “Hillary Clinton was his queen.”

Hassett is absolutely, convincingly right. Read the article here.

Home Builder, Nation Builder

In Gore’s Nine Lives, Andrew Walden recognizes Jimmy Carter as “co-creator of the modern Islamic Republic of Iran.”

Long-lost relative line two, not collect

Lynne Cheney’s research reveals that Obama and her husband are eighth cousins. Call it random, but half the countries we buy oil from can't claim anyone is more than a third cousin of anyone else.

Hitting That High C

Google has Luciano Pavarotti on their austere home page. The deceased tenor is the “l” in "Google" and he is singing. I’m quite sure that has nothing – nothing – to do with Gore’s Nobel Peace Prize. Gosh, look at the time.

UPDATE
Um, it is in fact his birthday. My bad.

Gore Predictions

In the aftergow of Gore's Nobel Peace Prize (co-)victory, an excited James Carville lofted up a Hail Mary of predictions: A 25 percent chance the Man of Peace will enter the race, according to the Yeas and Nays blog. He adds, "I don't think it's too late." Please. Any suggestion Gore wants to dive into the thick of looming state registrations, no organization, and a cashed-up Clinton, is arrant blather. You can't blame the guy for willing a little suspense into a snoozer race, though.

I predict that in the next 48 hours there is a 39.5 percent chance Mr. Carbon Footprint will hear there is no earthly way to convert a Gulfstream V to run on vegetable oil. He will then decide to fly commercial-only to global warming cocktail parties (86 percent chance), where there is a 99 percent chance he will air kiss thousands of champagne socialists out of a few billion (over/under: 5) in the next year as he gets a free pass on science questions because he is “raising awareness.”

Oh, and speaking of the Peace Prize, I predict the indignant backlash against the politicization of the Nobel Peace Prize will shame those clowns to into actually sticking to donor intent for a year or two (Just kidding -- 10 percent chance of that). Hey, comrade, if we’re all toast, what's debasing a medal?

Prize for Vocal Critics of Republicans

If the Nobel Committee keeps cheerleading for Vocal Critics of Republicans (VCRs), would it be a shocker if the folks who gave Mahatma Gandhi thumbs down fell over each other to redefine peace for a propaganda filmmaker?

One person who should be thrilled at the prospect of Al Gore accepting a Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of Mother Earth is the 2002 winner, Jimmy Carter. On a desperate quest to be have someone – anyone – be remembered as the worst President ever, Carter would seem to benefit from another voice trashing the Bush presidency.

It is odd then that Carter launched an embarrassing (even for him) rant against a sitting President just as Gore ducks out of a fundraising commitment for some double-secret climate-saving meeting. By popping up to rant about Cheney, Obama, Bush, Hillary Clinton, and all the Republican candidates (apologies if I left anyone out), Carter reminds the Nobel folks the prize has enough political baggage already.

I think Carter is playing a long game and understands one thing the Nobel geniuses do not: One too many blood-caked terrorists or partisan hacks and the Nobel Peace Prize stops being the punch line to a joke, and becomes a joke itself. And when Vegas starts offering odds on future Nobel Peace Prize Nominees such as Nancy Pelosi, Dick Durbin, and that guy with the cash in his freezer, how much will Carter’s prize count toward his legacy?

Blah blah blah

Ahmadinejad gets a platform to work his “plain folks” propaganda shtick, but gets uptight after Columbia President Bollinger hits him with, “Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator…” Fine, the counterpunching is peachy, but until free speech extends to military recruiters and Minutemen at Columbia, I’m not buying it.

Ill-Mannered Children

The History News Network remembers the days when people used finger bowls and Columbia presidents hosted real Nazis:

Seventy years before this week’s invitation to Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Columbia rolled out the red carpet for a senior official of Adolf Hitler’s regime. The invitation to Iran’s leader may seem less surprising, but no less disturbing, when one recalls that in 1933, Columbia president Nicholas Murray Butler invited Nazi Germany’s ambassador to the United States, Hans Luther, to speak on campus, and also hosted a reception for him. Luther represented "the government of a friendly people," Butler insisted. He was "entitled to be received ... with the greatest courtesy and respect." Ambassador Luther's speech focused on what he characterized as Hitler's peaceful intentions. Students who criticized the Luther invitation were derided as “ill-mannered children” by the director of Columbia’s Institute of Arts and Sciences.

In fairness to Butler, Luther’s “greatest courtesy and respect” trip to Columbia was 1933, but Ahmadinejad’s is every bit 1938.

Horrible Language

Linus Torvalds:

C++ is a horrible language. It’s made more horrible by the fact that a lot of substandard programmers use it, to the point where it’s much much easier to generate total and utter crap with it. Quite frankly, even if the choice of C were to do *nothing* but keep the C++ programmers out, that in itself would be a huge reason to use C.

Tipping Point Dead Ahead

Rejected by the networks, a pair of big-deal television producers have inked a deal with MySpace.com to host 36 episodes of their 8-minute show. Eisner had the first series last year, but this is the first with “television production values.” Hey, even if it proves unwatchable, this is where the networks are headed.

Pew

George Will compares the launch of the Thompson brand to that of New Coke and wonders how the now-candidate can “fill some supposed piety void in the Republican field” if he is by his own admission AWOL on Sunday mornings:

Is there, however, a huge cash value in the role for which he is auditioning - darling of religious conservatives? Perhaps. But their aspiring darling recently said in South Carolina, "I attend church when I'm in Tennessee. I'm in McLean right now. I don't attend regularly when I'm up there."

Yikes, guys. Yes, democrats can skate through with their show Bibles and pandering accents, but don't kid yourselves: Republicans must actually go to church.

Keep up the good work

Dean Barnett got a letter from a MoveOn.org member who “contributed to that highly effective NYT ad.” Barnett observes, “Here we have fresh evidence that the people at Moveon.org have created the world’s most soundproof echo chamber.” Read the whole letter and marvel at how these people think.

Hillary’s Base

A new Zogby International poll conducted for 911truth.org finds that 31 percent of Americans do not accept that "19 Arab fundamentalists executed a surprise attack which caught U.S. intelligence and military forces off guard" on September 11, 2001. It gets worse. Nearly 5 percent think U.S. officials "actively planned or assisted some aspects of the attack."

Another Bad Dye on the Job

Sporting what appears to be shoe polish in his hair, Dennis Kucinich goes on Syrian television to praise Syria and “His Excellency” Bashar Assad. He trots out “Halliburton dishonest cheating” for the folks back home and suggests paying reparations to the people of Iraq.

Appeasy Way Out

Mark Finkelstein: “If you're the Boston Globe, there's no day like 9-11 to suggest negotiating with terrorists.”

What The

Click...click...another abandoned blog, and...whoa, hey, wait a minute. That’s not an abandoned blog. That’s my blog. Note to self: Update blog.

What Price Energy Security?

The good people at NewsMax have seen fit to run my latest article, a piece on Iran and China. You can read it here.

Next Gas 500 Miles

China, always looking for reliable energy suppliers, is investing billions in new Venezuelan oil deals. Reuters is covering this as Venezuela wants to “to lessen its dependence on its arch-foe the United States.” Well it might, but not as much as Chavez wants to shift oil away from the U.S. for ideological points. Even with the free tankers, shipping costs will net Venezuelans a dollar or two less per barrel than they could get from the U.S.

Forget claims about a million barrels a day to China by 2012. It will almost certainly be more than that as Venezuela swaps dependence on one power for even greater dependence on another. Diversification is just a temporary feature.

If you’re tempted to shrug and say “Big deal, we’ll get oil elsewhere,” you should focus less on our percentage of imported oil and more on MPB – miles per barrel, from field to Ford.

A Good Rule in Life

It is a good rule in life never to apologize. The right sort of people do not want apologies, and the wrong sort take a mean advantage of them. - P.G. Wodehouse, The Man Upstairs

C ** All done

The inventor of FORTRAN has died:

Mr. Backus and his youthful team, then all in their 20s and 30s, devised a programming language that resembled a combination of English shorthand and algebra. Fortran, short for Formula Translator, was very similar to the algebraic formulas that scientists and engineers used in their daily work. With some training, they were no longer dependent on a programming priesthood to translate their science and engineering problems into a language a computer would understand.

My computer is not taking the news well. It keeps flashing this old Data General FORTRAN error code: “Error 155 – You can’t do that.”

Human Shields for Trustafarians

Jack Langer has a piece on Human Events describing his experience with anarchist protestors from an International A.N.S.W.E.R. rally. This is priceless:

The police announced through a bullhorn that they’d use teargas if the protestors didn’t return to the parking lot. In response, a female-looking anarchist in dreadlocks yelled out to me and some other reporters nearby, asking if we’d help get the word out that the police, without cause, had gassed peaceful protestors. “No!” I instinctively yelled back, eliciting some shocked stares from the anarchists. Another anarchist approached us and asked if we’d stand between them and the police to prevent the cops from “attacking” them. He pointed to one elderly female reporter: “You ma’am, if you get in the middle, there’s no way the police will knock you over.” The request caught me off guard -- I was unaware that old women are used as human shields anywhere outside of the Middle East.

The group sat down in front of the police to decide what to do. Some people passed out food, at which point most of the anarchists removed their masks and bandanas to eat, then put them back on when they had finished. My respect for this bunch was rapidly declining.

I just wonder if they left their juice boxes behind when nap time rolled around.