Complicity

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One wonders if Malkin will call for an investigation of this leak:

Former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray is defying a gag-order and publishing torture memos on his blog relating to the coordination between the Uzbek, British, and American governments...

At the Khuderbegainov trial I met an old man from Andizhan. Two of his children had been tortured in front of him until he signed a confession on the family’s links with Bin Laden. Tears were streaming down his face. I have no doubt they had as much connection with Bin Laden as I do. This is the standard of the Uzbek intelligence services.

[Hat tip: Atrios]

New Year's resolution: Stop saying "Oh well, it can't get any worse"

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Malkin crows:

Look for the Plamegate apologists to argue that the NSA leaks were "good" leaks, justified in the name of safeguarding civil liberties and the national interest, and should therefore be exempt from criminal prosecution.

By contrast, they argue that disclosures about Valerie Plame were "bad" leaks worthy of pulling out all prosecutorial stops--though no one has been charged with leaking classified info, and even if they did, the adverse effects on national security are infinitesimal compared to the damage done by the NYT/NSA leaks.

Okay, I'll bite: The NSA leaks were "good" leaks, justified in the name of safeguarding civil liberties and the national interest, and should therefore be exempt from criminal prosecution.

Happy? The fact is, by Bush's own words, the warrantless wiretaps were illegal and unconstitutional. They are a contravention of the spirit and the letter of our system of government and are most assuredly an impeachable offense.

Secondly, there are such things as roving wiretaps. Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires -- a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so. It's important for our fellow citizens to understand, when you think Patriot Act, constitutional guarantees are in place when it comes to doing what is necessary to protect our homeland, because we value the Constitution.

As for "the adverse effects on national security" being "infinitesimal", I'm a lot more worried about loose nukes (Valerie Plame's area of operation) than I am about Bush's ability to skip the FISA court.

We cannot forget that all of the wiretaps obtained illegally would have been relative child's play to obtain legally. Not to mention that anyone who claims that the NY Times story is the first time it would have occurred to terrorists that they were being listened to is a big, fat liar.

Jane Hamsher:

We picture a cave somewhere in Pakistan. Osama picks rat meat off a stick when countless number twos rush in screaming "Good God man, no warrants! Shut it all down!"

Update: That resolution is looking pretty good about now. Apparently, the CIA secret prisons leak is being investigated, as well, although there appear to be varying reports on whether it's a full investigation or simply the Justice Department "notifying the Post." This being New Year's weekend, I may not be able to follow up that development in a timely manner, but it's safe to say this whole thing is looking worse and worse.

You can only be outed once

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Malkin would probably claim that this is posted just because it's a cute story, but it wouldn't be the first time mm.com has tried to confuse readers about the Plame/Wilson timeline.

You said it, not me

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On the Rasmussen poll:

I'm not much of a poll watcher, but the new Rasmussen numbers on Americans' views of the National Security Agency's counterterrorism programs are very notable:

December 28, 2005--Sixty-four percent (64%) of Americans believe the National Security Agency (NSA) should be allowed to intercept telephone conversations between terrorism suspects in other countries and people living in the United States. A Rasmussen Reports survey found that just 23% disagree.

Yeah, I think you need a little more practice:

Notice anything missing from the question? How about the part that the wiretapping is done without a warrant, although there is a court set up to consider the evidence and issue just such warrants. There is no doubt that the FISA Court would issue a warrant to listen to calls between "terrorism suspects in other countries and people living in the United States." All the government needs is some articulable basis for the suspicion. Apparently that is what it did not have.

If the polling question asked was "do you think that the government should be able to listen secretly to any international phone calls to the United States that it wants to on the approval of a shift supervisor at the National Security Agency without a warrant or any court or legislative supervision whatsoever," the numbers would be very different.

How about "Do you think that the president should be able to violate the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States in the name of security, when in truth there was no real reason to since the FISA court is at his beck and call, and, while we're at it, the fact that Bush found it necessary to end-run FISA in the first place raises serious questions as to whether Bush was surveilling calls between terrorism suspects or, let's say, journalists and congresspeople?"

But that might be a little bit of a leading question. Not to mention a run-on.

Gimme Shelter

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From the "What-could-possibly-go-wrong" department, Malkin supports vigilantism once again:

The execrable Fred Phelps and his "church" continue to disrupt the funerals of fallen soldiers across the country...

The good news is that veteran bikers of all political stripes have united to form the Patriot Guard Riders.

Our main mission is to attend the funeral services of fallen American heroes as invited guests of the family. Each mission we undertake has two basic objectives.

1. Show our sincere respect for our fallen heroes, their families, and their communities.

2. Shield the mourning family and friends from interruptions created by any protestor or group of protestors.

We accomplish the latter through strictly legal and non-violent means.

I hate Fred Phelps and his group of closeted antichrists as much as the next guy. But I know bikers. There are bikers in my extended family. They'll tell you that no matter how benevolent the intentions, getting large groups of bikers together for any kind of activity carries great risk.

I almost hesitate to mention that this risk goes even higher when the stated purpose is providing security.

Happy Boxing Day

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Rather than ruin my own family time dissecting this post of Malkin's, I'm just going to go ahead and say one word:

PLAME!!!

Friday Poetry Blogging: War On Christmas Omnibus Edition

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Merry Christmas, ya bastards!

Under the assumption that people actually do enjoy Friday poetry blogging, here's four for the price of one:

Minstrels - William Wordsworth

The minstrels played their Christmas tune
To-night beneath my cottage-eaves;
While, smitten by a lofty moon,
The encircling laurels, thick with leaves,
Gave back a rich and dazzling sheen,
That overpowered their natural green.

Through hill and valley every breeze
Had sunk to rest with folded wings:
Keen was the air, but could not freeze,
Nor check, the music of the strings;
So stout and hardy were the band
That scraped the chords with strenuous hand.

And who but listened?--till was paid
Respect to every inmate's claim,
The greeting given, the music played
In honour of each household name,
Duly pronounced with lusty call,
And "Happy Holidays" "Merry Christmas" wished to all.

And another:

Mistletoe - Walter de la Mere

Sitting under the mistletoe
(Pale-green, fairy mistletoe),
One last candle burning low,
All the sleepy dancers gone,
Just one candle burning on,
Shadows lurking everywhere:
Some one came, and kissed me there.

Tired I was; my head would go
Nodding under the mistletoe
(Pale-green, fairy mistletoe),
No footsteps came, no voice, but only,
Just as I sat there, sleepy, lonely,
Stooped in the still and shadowy air
Lips unseen - and kissed me there.

And two from Quaker poets:

A Christmas Greeting - Walt Whitman

Welcome, Brazilian brother--thy ample place is ready;
A loving hand--a smile from the north--a sunny instant hall!
(Let the future care for itself, where it reveals its troubles,
impedimentas,
Ours, ours the present throe, the democratic aim, the acceptance and
the faith;)
To thee to-day our reaching arm, our turning neck--to thee from us
the expectant eye,
Thou cluster free! thou brilliant lustrous one! thou, learning well,
The true lesson of a nation's light in the sky,
(More shining than the Cross, more than the Crown,)
The height to be superb humanity.

And the metrically challenged Quaker poet extraordinaire:

A Christmas Blessing - John Greenleaf Whittier

Somehow, not only for Christmas
But all the long year through
The joy that you give to others
Is the joy that comes back to you.
And the more you spend in blessing
The poor and lonely and sad
The more of your heart's possessing
Returns to you glad.

I would imagine she's cried enough for two lifetimes, thank you

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Malkin to Gold Star Mother Cindy Sheehan:

Oh, cry me a river.

Read these things

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NTodd:

America is not unique in the makeup of her people. We can just as easily slip into despotism as the Germans, or the Russians, or the Japanese. What makes our nation unique is the recognition by a bunch of smart folks that government can help solve problems, but it must be watched lest it become a problem. Why is it, then, that so-called conservatives don't trust the government to collect taxes to provide vital services, yet are perfectly fine with granting it the power to kill, to regulate a woman's body, to snoop in our private conversations, etc, without so much as a by-your-leave from the very people from which it derives its most basic powers?

...I hear the whole "what part of 'we're at war' don't you understand?" bullshit. Allow me to retort: what part of "We're America" don't you understand?

The Editors:

Boy, is Judge Robertson ever going to feel stupid when he realizes that Presidential power is Constitutionally unchecked, that if Bush tried to follow the law we'd all be dead now, that the FISA statute was written using a Burroughs-esque "cut-up" technique, that the President doesn't have to follow laws, and that there's a war going on. And, basically, that rather than getting hysterical with Bush hatred, he should really be concerning himself with making sure that the people responsible for exposing this completely legal and mundane policy are found, tried, and executed.

Hopefully, judges will remember to do some research in the Wingnutosphere before they throw their career away on legal issues which - if I may be blunt - they clearly lack the background, the training, and the temperment to assess rationally. Hopefully, the President will appoint someone a bit more competent to replace him.

Oh, and Clinton did it, too.

That's right, boys and girls, and hold onto your hats - Malkin's blaming Clinton!

She's right, though. Assuming the story is as reported, President Clinton should definitely be impeached.

Hey, wait a second...

Happy Blogiversary!

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Born today:

• Benjamin Disraeli
• Josef Stalin
• Malkin(s)watch

Woo!

One year ago today, I got off my ass and started what I'd thought needed starting for a few months, since the demise of my ten-hit-a-day generablog caused me to think I needed a niche, already. I'm a big fan of Sullywatch and, obviously, am constantly annoyed by Malkin, so the choice wasn't really all that hard.

Started very slow - not recognizing Eric Muller's name despite having devoured his takedown (with Greg Robinson) of In Defense of Internment and forgetting to link stuff a lot. On the flip side, it only took me three posts to coin the now-famous "Michael Moore is fat" meme*.
Of course, I still tend to forget to link stuff, and I just yesterday coined the soon-to-be-famous "No sense of irony exhibits", so not that much has changed, I guess.

Some favorite posts from the previous year:

Honorable Mention: All of February. I dunno, I just think I was on fire that month.
Five: The open borders lobby strikes again? - It's short but sweet, but the clearest, most undeniable evidence I think I've ever presented that Malkin. Is. A. Racist. (At least until #1, below.)
Four: If you're not in combat, Iraq's a playground - The first of many instances in which the decidedly non-veteran Malkin claimed to know the innermost thoughts of veterans and/or their families, with the added bonus of "all-hispanics-are-gang-members" racist conflation. Oh, and a little "all-hispanics-are-potentially-illegal-immigrants" goodness thrown in.
Three: Professor Glen Stassen Interview - Look, ma! I'm a real journalist!
Two: Ghost Blogging (redux) - Thought this'd be #1? Well, maybe I'm just contrarian, or maybe I just still gnash my teeth that LA and I weren't able to present all the evidence we have for this because a) we're not real journalists, despite what #3 is telling you and b) we can't. Still, I'm - and he's - pretty damn proud of it.
One: Who keeps company with wolves will learn to howl - Probably my most-linked post, and, if I do say so myself, with good reason: Malkin's association with VDare has got to be argument #1 against taking Jesse and/or Michelle seriously on racial issues.

Lots of thanks owed:

• First and foremost to the Liberal Avenger, who's a good friend and a frequent partner in crime.
• Ryan Fenno, my other erstwhile (and potential) guestblogger.
• Mykeru, another early linker, and, naturally, insulter.
• Wayne from Political Site of the Day
• Eric Muller
• David Neiwert

I am most definitely forgetting someone. How could I not? So, to anyone I forgot: Thanks to you too.

And thanks for visiting. Hope you'll be coming back for another year.
------
* There's a slight chance this may not have actually been invented by me. Who can remember? Don't answer, it was rhetorical.



...By the way, I've removed the virtually profitless GoogleAds (although for the person who clicks on them religiously: Thanks! You know who you are!). But I have left the link to the Amazon Wishlist. If you like what I write, and want to throw me a bone, that'd be just sweet of you. No pressure, though.

No sense of Irony: Exhibit XXXVIII

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Malkin snarkily condemns the German government for releasing a Hezbollah terrorist twenty years after the crime for which he was incarcerated, accusing Germany of bowing to terrorist pressure:

And, what timing, a German hostage has been released in Iraq...

Reader Tony J. e-mails: "Weasel" in German is "weasel."

Meanwhile, the number of mentions of "Dr. Germ" or "Mrs. Anthrax" on michellemalkin.com:

Zero.

No sense of irony: Exhibit XXXVII

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Malkin, cheerleader for execution, says of Stan Williams' funeral attendees:

The vultures never rest.

Forgetting something?

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Malkin notes that the birthday death wish received by a wounded soldier was from Michael Crook, the (Malkin's words) "troop-smearing, cop-bashing, white supremacist sicko" behind the Forsake our Troops semi-hoax. And just like that time, there's a major piece missing from Malkin's reporting: A retraction.

Malkin called the vile card Crooks sent a "moonbat death wish" and Crooks "unhinged", which as we all know by now is secret winger code for "liberal." It takes about an ounce of effort to discover that Crooks is anything but a liberal, but does Malkin note that the previous posts all labored under the unsurprisingly false assumption that some dirty hippie pacifist showed their true colors by sending this card?

Like hell (s)he does.

Happy Groundhog Day

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I'm a semi-late riser, so as I groggily became aware at 7:30 am that W was speaking to me from the still-on television, I turned it off and went back to sleep. I knew that anything I missed, Malkin would be there to fill in the blanks.

Actually, that's not quite true. In point of fact, I kind of could fill in the blanks of what Malkin would write: Blogger X thinks Bush did fantastically well, Blogger Y wonders why the press is always out to tarnish the glorious Bush presidency, Reader Z e-mails a funny, Powerline declares that the Democratic party may as well resign its charter because it was the kind of smackdown only the greatest leader in history could deliver, and Malkin's contribution: at least two more instances of the non-word 'reax.'

Ta-da.

Since I was snoring during most of the speech, I don't have any real thoughts on it - although I did, in my stupor, hear Bush say that he thought it was important to track down leakers who would undermine national security. Or maybe that was a dream, because generally speaking, cognitive dissonance like that only takes place during REM.

Brokeback Mountain feature/review

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Our local alt-weekly movie reviewer is very good, although he has been quite controversial over the years. Maybe that's why he's so good. In his three-page review and analysis of Brokeback Mountain, he makes a connection explicit that had only occurred to me subconsciously:

During the height of what history will hopefully acknowledge as the new era of McCarthyism—when homosexuality and terrorism walk hand-in-hand much as desegregation and communism did five decades ago—there is a queer revolution going on. This new battle of gay liberation, building on the foundations laid in the aftermath of Stonewall, seeks to do more than recoup the losses incurred in recent years. What is going here is a complex issue—clouded under the rhetoric of same-sex marriage and eternal damnation—that is, quite plainly and simply, a matter of civil rights. Few people want to call it that, as if the acknowledgement of such somehow humanizes lesbians and gays in a manner they don't deserve. But the truth is that queers—much like blacks in the early part of the 20th century—are not seen as human beings.

David Walker is an African-American man, which is only important, I think, when we consider whether he has the standing to equate the civil rights movement of the fifties and sixties with today's gay rights movement. (Especially considering the denouncement of same by some African-American leaders.)

Sidney Poitier slapped a white man...and in one of the most revolutionary acts committed to film, he was not made to pay for his sin. Looking back, it is difficult for some to understand the artistic and sociopolitical significance to be found in a single action that occurred in director Norman Jewison's 1967 film In the Heat of the Night, which came along during the height of the civil-rights movement. But when added into the cinematic mix of the film and the complexities of where America was at that place and time, Virgil Tibbs' actions in a small Mississippi town meant something very significant. It became something important—the slap heard 'round the world...

...the explosion of pent-up sexual desire and repression between Jack and Ennis, equal parts mountain brawl and synergistic lovemaking, is likely to become something very significant. For lack of a better term, it will be the fuck heard 'round the world...

...if people can see past the hyperbole and whatever controversy may surround it, they will see Brokeback Mountain for what it is: a brilliant love story that promises to be among the most revolutionary films in years.

Read the whole thing.

Can we call namechecking Betty Dawisha a non sequitur yet?

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Malkin looooves Betty Dawisha.

What I wouldn't give to see a debate between Sheehan and Betty Dawisha.

The good news is, Cindy would only have to go as far as Minnesota. Meanwhile, Grace from Scriptoids discovered something interesting:

Well, curiosity got the better of me, and I contacted Professor Adeed Dawisha via email. I (politely) asked him if he was related to the Betty Dawisha featured on FOX News.

I received an amazingly fast reply:

Yes, she is. Betty is the wife of my uncle. And my children and I have ben [sic] teasing her a lot about her comments!!

So that's that.

Adeed Dawisha is a Middle East expert of, apparently, moderate to conservative bent who seems to have made numerous appearances on...

...Fox News.

Psst

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Koufax nominations are open.

Nominate someone. It doesn't even have to be me.

I'll give you something to cry about

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Shorter Malkin:

The federal government would never, ever abuse any kind of surveillance program, so quit your whining. Also, the New York Times Editorial Board has been infiltrated by agents of al-Qaeda. Andrew Rosenthal, I'm looking at you.

Update: Norbizness points out how weird this is, considering "the secret wiretap court always seems to approve these wiretaps." He also calls Malkin, by association, "fascist scum and an apologist for anti-Constitutional activity." Preach it:

There's only one way to scare the craven apologists [like Powerline, Hugh Hewitt, and Malkin]: remind them of the very real possibility of a Hillary Clinton presidency in 2008 with unlimited powers against perceived terrorists, foreign and domestic. You mean you believed that all of those executive orders magically expire when your anointed security sock-puppet exits the White House as the worst executive ever?

That might work, but let's not forget: a) they floated the idea of cancelling the elections once, they can do it again, and b) Maybe they're just that certain they're going to win again in 2008.

Update 2: Heh. Malkin, in an update:

Arlen Specter says the Judiciary Committee will investigate (the Bush administration, not the leakers)...

Yes, that's right. They're going to investigate a possible major breach of the Constitution, not the people who told us about it. I know that's hard to understand.

I guess Bush wasn't kidding.

Shorter Malkin redux:

Stop throwing the Constitution in my face. It’s just a goddamned piece of paper!

Update 3:Another part of the update I didn't notice:

Some on the Left aren't happy with the Times, either...

This, my friends, is what is often called "Manufacturing Consent." Sounds like liberals think the NY Times acted irresponsibly too, right? Well, yeah:

...Will Bunch, the award-winning Philadelphia Daily News reporter who writes the "Attytood" blog there. He charges that the Times likely had this shocking information before the November 2004 election, and if it had come out with it then it would have sunk Bush’s chances for re-election. He also mentions that this comes on top of Times’ reporter Judith Miller not coming forward in the Plame case last year, which allegedly also helped Bush win...

"Simply put, the Bush White House gamed the media in 2004….Voters could have gone to the polls on Election Day, Nov. 4, 2004, knowing that Bush was spying on Americans, that a key White House aide was charged with felonies, and that the initial rationales for Iraq were bogus."

Update 4: By the way, you think the Malkins are pissed now, just wait until they weigh in on this.

Update 5: And in what has to win the award for "most perverse intentional misreading of a news item" - in a career full of them:

Some information that administration officials argued could be useful to terrorists has been omitted.

"Some," but not all.

No. Nice try, though. Read it again. Repeatedly, until you get it.

All better?

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For someone so unimpressed with touchy-feely liberalism, Malkin seems to think that a simple, warm handshake is all that's needed to heal the damage - to families, to infrastructure, to security - caused by the Iraq war.

Look, it's a very touching photograph, and just like in anything, personal, face-to-face contact is the surest way to build bridges. Unfortunately, we destroyed them a lot faster than we're building them back up, and we essentially created an entire movement dedicated to continuing to burn them.

Update: Which, I suppose, makes me a "Defeatocrat" for not celebrating the Iraqi elections. Yes - it's great that they're having elections! But it would take a particular ignorance of history not to know that the kind of conditions on the ground in Iraq today are exactly the kind of conditions which lead to the eventual election of strongmen. Leaders like...Saddam Hussein.

Better Bloggers Than I

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Snarky quick-hit posts are much easier to fit into a busy-ass life (especially the last two weeks - don't even ask) than the substantive stuff. The flip side is, of course, that it's the substantive stuff that really matters.

Thank God, as I so often do, for David Neiwert:

Michelle Malkin wonders if Sydney is "the next Paris".

In other words, when Middle Easterners riot in Paris, they are the problem.

But when whites go on a riot attacking Middle Easterners in Sydney, it is, once again, the Middle Easterners who are the problem.

I think Michelle Malkin has a problem...

And more:

See, at first glance, [Glenn] Reynolds' post seems not to make any sense: How could the white riots that broke out Sunday in Sydney somehow resemble the riots in France, which involved young men of Middle Eastern descent who have not been allowed to assimilate into French society? Surely Reynolds doesn't think that angry white Aussie skinheads are analogous to angry French Muslims?

[Reynolds', Hewitt's, Lucianne's] positions seem to be like Michelle Malkin's: If whites riot against Middle Easterners, and some Middle Eastern neighborhood respond violently, then the fault obviously lies with the Middle Easterners. All the racial friction, it's clear, is a product of those evil Muslims.

At least, that seems to be what they're saying, but it's hard to say for sure, because they're all incredibly incoherent.

And thanks, too, for Scout Prime [emphasis Scout's]:

Michelle Malkin is making a big deal that the majority of deaths in Katrina were not African American. They base this upon preliminary identifications of victims at the St Gabriel Morgue. And that is a problem. Of a total of 883 at St. Gabriels, demographics for 562 was given. The race was determined for only 514. At this point 48% were African American, 41% Caucasion. However 321 more bodies have yet to be included and the the race of 48 bodies of the 562 was stated as unknown. To make any pronouncements based upon 58% of the victims at this point is just wrong...

Malkin concludes by leveling blame at African American leaders for not speaking out on her pre-mature and dishonest conclusions. I believe all would be better served to follow Turner's recommendation....show some understanding of how people's perspectives developed and deal with social justice issues now as regards the poor, both black and white. But that certainly wouldn't fit in with Malkin's slash and burn divisive politics now would it.

Or as hat-tipee Thersites says:

...even though a majority of the dead Katrina victims in the St. Gabriel morgue were black, a majority of dead Katrina victims were, uh, somehow not black, when you adjust for population. And this proves how the only real racism in the country is the race-hatred of President Bush.

Yeah, it's that retarded...

What's really nauseating about this is Malkin's bizarre triumphalism and fake outrage. There are 6644 missing Katrina victims: THAT'S an outrage.

The Newsmax crap and Malkin's post are wildly dishonest. And they go far to show that if you really want to see someone get petulant, call a racist a racist.

Fear the Awesome Power of the Malkin

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Look out Tehran:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is at it again...

Contact the Interests Section of the Islamic Republic of Iran...to voice your opposition.

Oooh...a letter-writing campaign. I can hear the Iranians folding up their nuclear program as we speak.

I'm willing to bet that Iran hasn't seen such intense political pressure since the days of this:


Marge: Can we get rid of this Ayatollah T-shirt? Khomeini died years ago.
Homer: But, Marge! It works on *any* Ayatollah: Ayatollah Nakhbadeh, Ayatollah Zahedi...even as we speak, Ayatollah Razmada and his cadre of fanatics are consolidating their power.

Anecdotally Speaking

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I've probably been reading Malkin for too long, because I've picked up an unhealthy cynicism. The same Malkins who wrote this about Giuliana Sgrena is now completely trusting of video out of Iraq:

Blunt words from Iraqi voter Betty Dawisha for the Cindy Sheehan Left...
"Anybody who doesn't appreciate what America has done, and President Bush, let them go to hell!"

Assuming this whole thing is on the up and up, I'm gonna go ahead and weigh Ms. Dawisha's words against this kind of thing.

(h/t Fenno)

Update: Aha. Curiously absent from Malkin's post is the fact that Ms. Dawisha is, in fact, an Iraqi expat living in the United States. I'm gonna go ahead and suggest that this is crucial information. Can't imagine why it was left out.

Update 2: Because I like to be a completist, I'll mention that Ms. Dawisha is quite probably a 1987 graduate of the Center for Humanistic Studies. Relevant information? Probably not.

Bobby Mac? Lyndon? Dickie? Anyone?

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Malkin:

Read this Paul Greenberg column that deftly puts Howard the Coward Dean in his place. It's good. Really good.

Yeah, it's great, mainly because Greenberg doesn't write anything. It's simply a series of rah-rah quotes about war and victory, culminating in Dean's supposedly defeatist rhetoric.

Conspicuous in its absence is a single quote dated between 1961 and 1981.

Protesting too much?

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Malkin is hopping mad. Emphasis mine:

CANDIDATE FOR DUMBEST NYTIMES PIECE EVER

...Based on a single "expert" source--"liberal activist Matt Stoller"--Crowley makes
sweeping assertions about the content, nature, effectiveness, and media penetration of partisan blogs. Liberal blogs criticize Democrats more, while conservatives march in lockstep with the GOP leadership to "to provide maximum benefit for their issues and candidates," the piece asserts...

Anyone who swallows the idea that conservative bloggers are an organized arm of the Republican machine who are easily mobilized at the command of Karl Rove does not read conservative blogs--and should not be paid by the NYTimes or anyone else to write about them.

Rove may have no sway over the ever-so-independent-minded right blogosphere, but an alert reader (whose name rhymes with Chivaral Kaschmenger) points out the ending to this particular complaint:

TrackBack <23>

Conservative bloggers easily mobilized? It is to laugh.

A clemency even the Malkins can get behind

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Read the story of Corey Maye. Now read more.

Now get pissed off. It will be interesting to hear what the Malkins have to say about this one, seeing as how it covers so many of their hot-button issues.

Moonbat's Rallying Cry: "FORGET PEARL HARBOR!"

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Not really, of course, but that's what Malkin would have us believe.

Exhibit A? Those selfish hurricane victims:

Why have so many chosen to forget? The Mobile Register reports that observances of the Pearl Harbor attack are down, in part because of Hurricane Katrina:

While today marks the 64th anniversary of the Japanese attack on U.S. forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, which plunged the nation into World War II, local officials report a scarcity of area observances of the event.

No observance of the Dec. 7, 1941, attack will take place at Battleship Memorial Park on the Causeway this year because the park has remained closed since Aug. 29 when Hurricane Katrina inflicted some $4 million in damage on it.

Nothing says "choosing to forget" like allowing a 64th anniversary to go by while sitting in the broken shell of your house or refusing to rebuild the Battleship Memorial Park as the very top priority.

Please Make the Righties Stop Talking Now

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The Howard Dean winger swarm, summarized here by Malkin, illuminates two, and only two, theories of personality regarding Malkin and her co-ideologues.

But back to that in a minute. A commenter on Liberal Avenger hits Dean from from one side:

...he proposed that the troops be removed (”redeployed”) from Iraq . . . within two years!

Now, if he thinks it’s a plainly lost cause, why does he want to take two years to get out?

while Malkin comes from the other:

Scott Ott pens the defeatist DNC chair's Christmas theme song: "We'll Retreat 'fore Christmas."

Guess they forgot to nail down their talking points before deploying.

And from the "there's-a-first-time-for-everything" files, Malkin links to a blogger quoting Tom Paine, of all people. Emphasis mine to point out what Sensing and Malkin are missing.

‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.

Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered … The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind. We have it in our power to begin the world over again. Give to every other human being every right that you claim for yourself – that is my doctrine. He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself...

That's right, Malkin, who frequently puts quotation marks around "torture" and "abuse" when referring to Gitmo and Abu Ghraib, wants to claim Tom Paine.

Sensing, at least, has said "there is no 'but'" when it comes to torture being wrong, but I would still recommend he take a look at where the tyranny and oppression are truly coming from these days. Saddam is gone. Who are we fighting against? And why?

As for the theories of personality alluded to above: Malkin's reaction to Dean's comments - "Howard the Coward" - means that (s)he believes one of two things about Iraq: 1) We can win; 2) We can't win, but don't tell anybody.

If it's the former, I'd like to ask Malkin & the righties what exactly victory will look like. Because I don't think they know. And if they say they know, I'm sure it will involve an ending of the insurgency, a collapse of popular support for violence, the forming of a friendly government to the United States, the avoidance of the 'domino effect' of worldwide Communism Islamic extremism - all of the goals expressed during Vietnam. Which brings up the old "Insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results" canard, with extra bloodletting.

If it's the latter then the right is just suicidal - "We get that it's not working, but it's treasonous to bring that up. Damn the consequences - stay the course!"

Crazy or suicidal. Either way, let me off here.

A New Low...

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...in a career full of them, Malkin celebrates actual treason:

DON'T LET THE DOOR HIT YOU...

Valerie Plame is on the way out at the CIA, reports the LA Times.

Just: Gah.

How is this defensible? And this while attacking Howard Dean, also for telling the truth...more on that later.

I've been doing this nearly a year, and I thought I was past my capacity for surprise. But gloating over the end of a CIA agent's career...just crazy.

If the shoe fits...

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...I mean, what else can you call it? (to mm.com)

My policy is this: Anything the troops do - especially those things they are ordered to do - is on behalf of their superiors and the administration. So, again, I can't figure out what John Kerry should have said (emphasis mine based on Malkin's point):

But I think what we need to do is recognize what we all agree on, which is you've got to begin to set benchmarks for accomplishment. You've got to begin to transfer authority to the Iraqis. And there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the--of--the historical customs, religious customs. Whether you like it or not...

Listen, Malkin (and Captain Ed), you may not like the word "terrorizing" because of its connotations, but it's very, very apt.

And it's being done under orders. So don't piss on my leg and tell me Kerry's calling Pfc Average American a terrorist.

True Story

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I went to the grocery store tonight (Vitamin Water, 10 for $10 - true story!) and observed an early skirmish in the war on Christmas.

I was standing in line, and at the head of it was a lady (wearing a "Bah Humbug!" sweatshirt - true story!) who wanted to buy some stamps.

The cashier gave her a packet, and she looked at them. I couldn't quite see them, but she handed them back and said, "Do you have any others?" The checker said no and she took them again, obviously annoyed.

I got to the counter and asked the cashier about the stamps that she had objected to. He demurred, claiming (pretending?) not to know exactly what was depicted. As he gave me my change, he begrudgingly pulled out a packet and showed them to me.

And what kind of stamps were they?

Madonna and child.

True story.

Friday Poetry Blogging: Post-BAR day edition

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All is quiet at michellemalkin.com, which is handy, because I'm still reeling from my choke-artistry yesterday. But besides Lauren and me, BAR day was a huge success - one which will hopefully continue as we go forth from here.

Enjoy the poem.

Dinner Guest: Me by Langston Hughes

I know I am
The Negro Problem
Being wined and dined,
Answering the usual questions
That come to white mind
Which seeks demurely
To Probe in polite way
The why and wherewithal
Of darkness U.S.A.--
Wondering how things got this way
In current democratic night,
Murmuring gently

Over fraises du bois,
"I'm so ashamed of being white."

The lobster is delicious,
The wine divine,
And center of attention
At the damask table, mine.
To be a Problem on
Park Avenue at eight
Is not so bad.
Solutions to the Problem,
Of course, wait.

Update: And this isn't poetry, but it might as well be. From the front lines of the War on Christmas (and reprinted without permission from Sadly, No!) Jillian reports:

The "War on Christmas" meme invaded my workplace the other day, with hysterical results....

I work at a bank, and we've decorated our branch with pretty blinky lights and a sparkly tree with presents underneath it, and we pump Christmas music through the speaker system. We all think it looks gorgeous - me the atheist, my Muslim boss, and all of my Muslim and Hindu coworkers. Even the minority of my coworkers who are Christian like how pretty it is.

The other day, a customer came in who needed to speak to the manager about something. She walked into my poor boss' office and immediately started in on how pretty our branch looks, and how it was nice to "see some people who weren't afraid to stand up to the PC forces that run this country".

I knew this was going to be good, so I hovered around outside the office door to listen. This customer went off on a complete tirade about how this country was being taken over by Muslims with no respect for America or its traditions, and blah, blah, blah.... My boss (who is a peach of a woman) listened to this crap for about ten minutes, before interjecting with "Ma'am? I'm a Muslim, and I decorated this branch myself."

Man, I wish you could all have been here to witness this....it was a truly priceless moment. The old biddy knew she had just made a fool of herself, and failed utterly in her attempt to get out of the situation with any degree of grace.

My Christmas wish for each and every one of you is that you get to see one of these idiot War on Christmas windbags taken down the way I did.

Blog Against Racism day - Writer's Block Edition

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I wrote at least 1000 words on the subject of "dehumanization of the enemy" last night before I realized that I was still on the background - I hadn't even gotten to the racism aspect.

I'm officially blocked, and I'm punting until later in the day, at least. Until then, please, go here and explore people who actually got on the ball and delivered.