Thursday, June 30, 2005

Response to the Supremes

I read a little of Justice Scalia's dissenting opinion, and really liked this point:
Responding to Stevens claim that the court should "expoun[d] the meaning of constitutional provisions with one eye towards our Nation's history and the other fixed on its democratic aspirations..."
...why are those aspirations to be found in Justices' notions of what the Establishment Clause ought to mean, rather than in the democratically adopted dispositions of our current society?

He hits on the crux of the issue. There are two ways to judge constitutionality. The first is to base judgements on precedent, which as a principle has been around for longer than democracy itself. The second is to decide them democratically. The court used to base its decisions on precedent, and the nation decided constitutionality by ammending the constitution. Now the high court seems to want to do both.
Again from Scalia:
I suggest it is the instinct for self-preservation, and the recognition that the court, which 'has no influence over either the sword or the purse,' cannot go too far down the road of an enforced neutrality [between religion and nonreligion] that contradicts both historical fact and current practice without losing all that sustains it: the willingness of the people to accept its interpretation of the Constitution as definitive, in preference to the contrary interpretation of the democratically elected branches.
But actions speak louder than words:
Just days after the Supreme Court said local governments could seize people's homes for the public good, a California businessman has written a letter to the government of Weare, New Hampshire, urging it to seize the property at 34 Cilley Hill Road, so he can build a hotel there.
That address is currently the home of Supreme Court Justice David Souter — who was in the majority of last week's decision. Logan Darrow Clements, of Freestar Media, says his hotel would "serve the public interest" by boosting Weare's economic development and tax revenue. Plus, he says, the hotel — to be named "The Lost Liberty Hotel" — will feature an exhibit on the loss of freedom in America. The city board is slated to discuss the proposal at its next meeting.

POW Response to Durbin

Here's a great response to those who accuse America of torturing prisoners:
For 5 months 'I stayed in the box'
...At another camp, during the time I was being interrogated in the summer
of 1969, one man was tortured to death and several were severely beaten. In
fact, according to Headquarters Marine Corps, 20 percent of my fellow Marines
failed to survive captivity. Have 20 percent of the Islamo-fascists failed to
survive Guantanamo?

Thursday Morning Bloggy Goodness

Well, Democrats in St. Louis have been convicted of attempted murder and election fraud.

They've also resorted to using racial slurs in discussing whether residents could fly the flag.

The Mexican government issued overtly racist postage stamps while America is largely silent.
Bill Quick responds: "The open and unabashed racism and bigotry practiced by many countries and cultures in the world today goes entirely unacknowledged by the American race-baiting establishment, which is far more concerned with ferreting out imaginary offenses in what is one of the least racist nations in the world." (Believe it or not, some people think that racism is a purely American creation, that we've exported to the rest of the world. In reality, those who have lived in other nations realize that racism persists on a much stronger level in other societies-ed.)

Meanwhile, Michele Malkin argues that the left's sensitivity training is creating a nation of namby-pambies:

The left-wing Kumbaya crowd is quietly grooming a generation of pushovers in the public schools. At a time of war, when young Americans should be educated about this nation's resilience and steely resolve, educators are indoctrinating students with saccharine-sticky lessons on "non-violent conflict resolution" and "promoting constructive dialogues."
Peaceniks are covering our kids from head to toe in emotional bubble wrap. They are creating a nation of namby-pambys.


And get this, a former hostage held in Iraq has hired bounty-hunters to pick off his captors "one by one."

Wednesday, June 29, 2005

The Pelosi Award goes to . . .

Well, I know it's been awhile, but hey, Jury duty can take alot out of you. Anyways, this week's "Nancy Pelosi Award for Idiocy, Simple Mindedness and Ignorance" is awarded to the anti-war group called, the Central Committee for Concientious Objectors (CCCO). In addition to encouraging military members to file for concientious objector status to evade being sent to Iraq, the CCCO is trying to start a counter-recruitment effort at our nation's schools in order to scare people away from signing up for the military.

The CCCO won the Pelosi Award this week because of a completely inane, over the top poster it is encouraging its members to distribute to local schools and libraries. Is it me, or does the poster suggest the classic image of the little devil whispering in one ear, while the angel whispers in the other? I don't know who the "ad wizard" was on this one, but they failed miserably. The image is breathtakenly moronic, I really don't know what else to say. It truly speaks for itself.

Oh, and remember, the left really "supports the troops" too, and don't you dare question their pratriotism.

The Indepundit has a great counter, to these counter-recruiters.

Friday, June 24, 2005

Word of the Day

Last week's winner of the Pelosi Award, Senator Dicky Durbin (D-Al Queda) has inspired a new word.

Durbanize:

Durbinize, verb.
1. To make, either explicitly or implicitly, a moral, political, or factual equivalence between two situations which in reality have little or nothing in common. (After U. S. Senator Richard Durbin (D, ILL) who compared the alleged abusive treatment of a terrorist detainee held at Guantanamo Bay with the depraved horrors of the Nazis, Soviet gulags, and Pol Pot’s mass murders, thereby equating the U. S. personnel with these murderous despots.)


2. To apparently apologize without actually doing so by subtly placing the blame for legitimate objections to the actions of definition 1 on the objectors. This may be accomplished by expressing disappointment that the objectors have “misunderstood” the speaker’s remarks or by stating the speaker’s sorrow that feelings were hurt. In reality, the speaker is implying that the objectors are too stupid to understand plain English or are insufficiently educated or mature to accept the speaker’s remarks as truth.

For those of you interested in other blog invented words, here are two others, the verbs to fisk, and to dowdify.

Thursday, June 23, 2005

Huh?

From the AP:
"The battle was one of the deadliest since the Taliban's ouster more than three years ago and was sure to add to growing anxiety that an Iraq-style conflict is developing here."
So what makes this like Iraq?
Is it this...
"Their camps were decimated. Bodies lay everywhere. Heavy machine guns and AK-47s were scattered alongside blankets, kettles and food," he told The Associated Press. "Some of the Taliban were also killed in caves where they were hiding and U.S. helicopters came and pounded them."
...or this...
"About 390 suspected insurgents have been reported killed since rebel attacks began increasing in March, after snows melted on mountain tracks used by the rebels. In the same time, 29 U.S. troops, 38 Afghan police and soldiers and 125 civilians have been killed."

I can't see much reason for "growing anxiety" since 390 murderers are done murdering. More than two times as many insurgents have died compared to alliance and civilian deaths.

"I'm sorry if ..."

Not to pile on Senator Dicky Durbin (D-Al Queda) after his apology, but the Blogfather makes a few great points:

Glenn points out a Salon article on apologies that says:

"I'm sorry I was rude" is good.
"I'm sorry if I was rude" is not. It weasels. It implies that maybe you weren't rude. It implies that the person being apologized to has a twisted little worldview if they think "Oh, shut up, frog-lips" is rude.


An apology should give the sense that you actually feel some form of regret. "Sorry if" is a conditional apology. Conditional apologies make things worse, not better.

Now compare this to Durbin's apology:

"I'm sorry if anything that I said caused any offense or pain to those who have such bitter memories of the Holocaust, the greatest moral tragedy of our time," he said, adding, "I'm also sorry if anything I said in any way cast a negative light on our fine men and women in the military."

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Liberal Condescension

How's this for irritating!
According to Ken Schram of KOMO4 TV (Seattle), Republicans are irrational, un-intellectual, peeing puppies, who come from the "shallow end of the gene pool."
Boy, does that make me want to vote democrat!
There's a great T-shirt that complains that "99% of Democrats give the rest a bad name." Unless I hear some complaints from Seattle democrats, I'm believing the shirt.

Durbin's Notes

I am so happy that iowahawk is back with us. He had some family problems to take care of, but he is back and as good as ever:
From the Desk of Senator Dick
An ongoing series featuring the correspondence of Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL), America's most dynamic metaphorist.
********************************
Mr. Hector Gutierrez
Gutierrez Bros. Landscaping
Arlington, VA

Dear Mr. Gutierrez:
Nothing could have prepared me for the shock that awaited as I exited the front door of my home early Wednesday morning, where I discovered that your lawn crew had cut a swath of environmental destruction across my yard so horrifying that it only can be compared to the Rape of Nanking. I can scarcely bring myself to describe the killing fields that are my North azalea beds and the brutal degradation and torture suffered by the bluegrass around the locust tree by the rear patio. I am writing to inform you that I have contacted the US Department of Interior to conduct a full independent investigation into Gutierrez Brothers' actions in this matter. Please be advised that you may be subpoenaed for records pertaining to mower height, pruning shear maintenance, and leaf blower emissions. I would also advise your crewmen to heed the lessons of the Judgement At Nurenburg: although they may be spared the justice due their superiors, "I was only following orders" is not an excuse.

Sincerely,
Senator Richard J. DurbinWashington, DC
********************************

Ms. He-Sook Park
AAA Georgetown Drycleaning
Washington, DC

Dear Ms. Park:
To paraphrase Pastor Martin Niemoeller, a witness to the Shoah:
First they frayed the hem on my wife's Valentino gown
My staff aide did not speak out
Because it was my wife's and it wasn't that noticeable

When they didn't honor the 5-for-$4.99 tie coupon
My staff aide did not speak out
Because the small print said "good Tuesday to Friday"

And when they overstarched my best Brooks Brothers shirts
there was no one left to speak out to
Because your counter attendant did not speak English

I will no longer stay silent in the face of your cruel and sickening campaign of chemical fabricide, Ms. Park. Mankind will soon learn of the horrors you are hiding behind the flimsy facade of 'One Hour Martinizing.' I expect full reparations for the suffering of my wardrobe, and may God have mercy on your soul.

Senator Richard J. DurbinWashington, DC

P.S. -- Could you hem a pair of casual trousers before Saturday? I have a DNC retreat coming up.

More Reid

A recent opinonjournal article coined the phrase 'doughnut democrats' to describe how the party is losing a moderate voice. When Reid became minority leader, I figured that he would be a good moderate choice.
mormon (conservative) + democrat (liberal) = moderate
But he has set himself as another unimaginitive Bush-hater.
After leading the dems in the senate to block voting on judicial nominees (and other appointments) through a historically misused procedural rule, he has the gal to claim that recess appointments are a "questionable constitutional measure."
I would love to get some top Mormon republicans' true opinion of Sen. Reid.

Sticks and Stones

A while back, I decided to point out times when people resorted to accusing their enemies of whatever they have been accused of (ie bin Laden calling Bush a terrorist). Well here's another.
On agendas:
From the Washington Times: (June 15)
'They stand for nothing except obstruction, and this is not leadership,' Bush said. 'It is the philosophy of the stop sign, the agenda of the road block, and the country and our children deserve better.'
From the Washington Times: (June 21)
Reid spokesman Jim Manley called the Frist letter "pathetic." "Republicans don't have an agenda, so they are trying however they can to pull attention away from the real problems facing the country,"

Harry Reid

With Dick Durban (D-Ill) finally "apologizing" for his overblown, inflamatory remarks, when can we expect to hear from Sen. Reid?
"The American people have really had it up to here with what the president is doing and not doing and what the Republican-led Congress is doing," Mr. Reid said, pointing to a copy of the New York Times in his hands that had a front-page story about the falling poll numbers of President Bush. "The statements made by Senator Durbin speak for themselves. I stand by the statement he made," he said. "We are not going to discuss this any more."
Does Harry still stand by Dick's statement?

...Also, it's really strange to me why Reid would point to these aproval ratings, seeing as how he and his fellow congressmen are still ten points behind the president.

Durbin Apologizes

Senator Dicky Durbin (D-Al Queda) issued an apology last night over his whole U.S. military=Nazis, Soviets, and Pol Pot remark. Video and transcript can be seen here and news stories seen here, here, and here.

While the apology isn't great, it is a whole lot better than his initial non-apology apology which was more of a "hey, I'm sorry you're too stupid to understand what I actually said."

It's unfortunate it had to come to this, but as Will Collier notes "The forced apology doesn't mean much. The damage is done, and al-Jazeera isn't likely to tout Dickie's retraction with much vigor."

Chris Short adds: "Perhaps you should read your speeches out loud to your staff before you read them in front of America from now on Senator Durbin."

Just remeber folks, whatever you do, don't question their patriotism.

Saturday, June 18, 2005

Am Nasty International

It appears Amnesty International has hit rock bottem, and kept digging. Just when you thought calling Gitmo the "gulag of our time" was extremely moronic, the Washington Post has an article detailing an Amnesty tactic to shield the blame.

Get this, they're actually calling former prisoners of the real soviet gulag, trying to get them to support the organization's stance that Gitmo is the gulag of our time:

Several days ago I received a telephone call from an old friend who is a longtime Amnesty International staffer. He asked me whether I, as a former Soviet "prisoner of conscience" adopted by Amnesty, would support the statement by Amnesty's executive director, Irene Khan, that the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba is the "gulag of our time."

"Don't you think that there's an enormous difference?" I asked him.

"Sure," he said, "but after all, it attracts attention to the problem of Guantanamo detainees."

Anything for a publicity stunt, hey?

Friday, June 17, 2005

Don't Mess with Big Momma

Here's a great story from foxnews about a robber that got wuhped on by a bunch of beauty school students. The highlight of the story:
"Get that sucker!" yelled Mitchell, and the dozen and a half women present grabbed whatever they could get their hands on — curling irons, chairs, a table leg — and piled on.
"They just whooped the hell out of him," said school owner Sharon Blalock. Crying in pain, bleeding and having soiled his pants, the gunman tried to crawl away, but the angry women held on to his legs and kept hitting him until police arrived.

The NYTimes Twists the News

Apparently, the newly discovered legality/mainstreamness of same-sex marriages is now well enough established to call traditional marriage advocates 'challengers.' The NYTimes headline:
A New Challenge to Same-Sex Marriages
No word on how the historical norm got delegated to challenger status.
My favorite line:
Mr. Romney's endorsement of the amendment is likely to inject new vigor into the efforts of gay marriage opponents, who failed to block a court decision that allowed the marriages to begin in May 2004.
How in the world are you supposed to block a court decision, except by an ammendment?!

Ivory Tower Idiots

This guy wasn't fully into the ivory tower, but was fully an idiot. The story:
A University of Arkansas graduate student who told a university professor and others that he was leaving to fight in a Palestinian holy war was in custody Thursday.
Federal agents arrested Arwah J. Jaber of Fayetteville on a criminal complaint accusing him of knowingly attempting to provide support to a foreign terrorist organization. An initial appearance was scheduled Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Fort Smith.
In an affidavit, FBI Special Agent Richard L. Blair said Mr. Jaber, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in the West Bank, acknowledged to federal authorities Monday that he told his professor and others that he was going to Palestine to "fight for freedom, peace and justice."
"Arwah stated that he would rather die fighting for freedom against Israeli terrorists than stay another six months at UA trying to complete his Ph.D.," the agent said in the affidavit.

The Pelosi Award

I've decided to start a recurring award, recognizing the stupidity of some of the world's leaders, politicians and celebrities. Given the recurring tendency of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, to embarrass herself and her party, I've decided to name the award after her.

Without further adieu, this weeks winner of the "Nancy Pelosi Award for Idiocy, Simple Mindedness and Ignorance" is Illinois' very own Senator Dick Durbin (D- Al Queda). This week, Dicky blew past the competition, guaranteeing himself that he would be the recipient of the first Pelosi given by RWP.

Not only did Dicky desecrate the sacrifice of our armed forces by calling them Nazis, and referring to Gitmo as a "death camp" but he botched his chance of apologizing by standing by this untenable position.

On top of it all, Dicky has the audacity to make these accusations when there is prison abuse occurring in his own backyard.

In short, Dicky has gone above and beyond the call of duty, surpassing all the requirements of a Pelosi Award. This week was your week Dicky. Who'll be the proud winner next week?

Thursday, June 16, 2005

Ivory Tower Idiots, part III

I'm sure many of you heard about the comments from the former chief economist from the Dept of Labor, Morgan Reynolds. If you haven't, here's an excerpt:

Former chief economist for the Department of Labor during President George W. Bush's first term Morgan Reynolds comments that the official story about the collapse of the WTC is "bogus" and that it is more likely that a controlled demolition destroyed the Twin Towers.

Now I've heard about conspiracy theories, but this one tops it all. For this to work, not only would the administration have to cordinate plane hijackings to slam into the towers, but they would have to plant massive explosives on the towers themselves. Then, after the planes hit, they would then detonate the explosives to make it look like the planes' impact caused the
damage. All this, of course, to begin some orwellian, perpetual war against a fabricated enemy to ensure the collection of as much power as possible in the executive.

Reynolds it an emiritus professor at Texas A&M University, and the school, like an rational person, is trying to distance themselves entireley from him. The University President even said:

"The American people know what they saw with their own eyes on September 11, 2001. To suggest any kind of government conspiracy in the events of that day goes beyond the pale.”

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Better Late Than Never

I'm on vacation this week, which explains why posts have been light. Here's a great compliation from the Free Rebublic noting how the MSM loved the Abu Ghraib story so much, they had front page articles on the story for 34 consecutive days. Wow, I mean, I know it was an important story, but 34 days, every single day. I get the feeling it was something the press loved doing.

Sorry, I'm using a mac and for some reason, can't figure out how to link to the story.

Monday, June 13, 2005

Ivory Tower Idiots

And check out this guy. "Revisionist history" doesn't even come close to describing his world views.

Ivory Tower Idiots

From the Seattle Times, news of a noble professor in his quest for peace.

A University of Washington professor has done what U.S. political leaders have failed to do for more than a year: hold talks in North Korea aimed at averting a nuclear crisis.
While official negotiations have been stalled since last June, veteran East Asia professor Donald Hellmann visited North Korea for three days last week to conduct what he called the first international academic conference ever held there.

...Thursday through yesterday, he and more than 20 scholars from the United States, China, Japan, Russia and South Korea met in a North Korean mountain resort not far from the South Korean border.

What, no North Korean scholars were able to host the event?!

No U.S. government representatives or North Koreans took part, but the North Koreans listened in on the proceedings.

Maybe spying now qualifies as participation.

Friday, June 10, 2005

Friday Morning Feel Good Stories

Here's a great article retelling the chance encounter of two vietnam vets in a grocery store.

Here's another great story , one that the MSM failed to cover at all. Denzel Washington visiting an Army Medical center, making a large donation to build more facilities, and agreeing to sit on the foundation's board. I guess if your not an arrogant, ill-informed celebrity spouting off inane anti-war comments, your good deeds aren't worth even a mention.

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

George Soros Hijacks the World Trade Center Memorial

Debra Burlingham, sister of one of the pilots whose plane was slammed into one of the World Trade Center towers writes a powerful article, alerting us that the World Trade Center Memorial, run by a group of left wing human rights groups, has been stolen out from underneath us. She writes:

The World Trade Center Memorial will break ground this year. When those Marines return in 2010, the year it is scheduled to open, no doubt they will expect to see the artifacts that bring those memories to life. ...They will want the memorial to take them back to who they were on that brutal September morning.

Instead, they will get a memorial that stubbornly refuses to acknowledge the yearning to return to that day. Rather than a respectful tribute to our individual and collective loss, they will get a slanted history lesson, a didactic lecture on the meaning of liberty in a post-9/11 world. They will be served up a heaping foreign policy discussion over the greater meaning of Abu Ghraib and what it portends for the country and the rest of the world.

The World Trade Center Memorial Cultural Complex will be an imposing edifice wedged in the place where the Twin Towers once stood. It will serve as the primary "gateway" to the underground area where the names of the lost are chiseled into concrete. The organizers of its principal tenant, the International Freedom Center (IFC), have stated that they intend to take us on "a journey through the history of freedom" -- but do not be fooled into thinking that their idea of freedom is the same as that of those Marines. To the IFC's organizers, it is not only history's triumphs that illuminate, but also its failures. The public will have come to see 9/11 but will be given a high-tech, multimedia tutorial about man's inhumanity to man, from Native American genocide to the lynchings and cross-burnings of the Jim Crow South, from the Third Reich's Final Solution to the Soviet gulags and beyond. This is a history all should know and learn, but dispensing it over the ashes of Ground Zero is like creating a Museum of Tolerance over the sunken graves of the USS Arizona.

The public will be confused at first, and then feel hoodwinked and betrayed. Where, they will ask, do we go to see the September 11 Memorial? The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation will have erected a building whose only connection to September 11 is a strained, intellectual one. While the IFC is getting 300,000 square feet of space to teach us how to think about liberty, the actual Memorial Center on the opposite corner of the site will get a meager 50,000 square feet to exhibit its 9/11 artifacts, all out of sight and underground. Most of the cherished objects which were salvaged from Ground Zero in those first traumatic months will never return to the site. There is simply no room. But the International Freedom Center will have ample space to present us with exhibits about Chinese dissidents and Chilean refugees. These are important subjects, but for somewhere -- anywhere -- else, not the site of the worst attack on American soil in the history of the republic.

The names and groups of people having input on what exhibits are shown in the memorial reads like a who's who from the Guantanamo loving human rights groups.

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Bush Intellectually Superior to Kerry?

Throughout the campaign last year, Bush detractors were constantly portraying Bush as a bumbling idiot. I recognize that his frequent verbal snaffus made him an easy target, but besides this weakness, the dems had nothing else to go on. The Boston Globe has just released portions of Kerry's record which reveals that he had a lower GPA at Yale than the President.

I know this really is irrelevant, but it shows why Kerry refused to release his full record during the campaign. The one strength Kerry allegedly had over Bush was that he was intellectually superior. With the publication of Kerry's academic record, that argument falls by the wayside.

Howell Raines is eating his own words right now when he said: "Does anyone in America doubt that Kerry has a higher IQ than Bush? I'm sure the candidates' SATs and college transcripts would put Kerry far ahead."

We at RWP noticed months ago how Tom Brokaw even mentioned to Kerry that Bush's military aptitude test scores were higher than his.

It is noteworthy that Kerry received his highest grades in French, and Political Science Courses.

Even if you don't have time to read the article, click on the Globe link because the pictures are hilarious. (Herman Munster?)

Monday, June 06, 2005

Amnesty International, Clueless

Despite the fact that Amnesty International made reckless charges calling Guantanamo a gulag and referring to Rumsfield as an "architect of torture," they now say that they ‘Don’t know for sure’ about Guantanamo: Amnesty USA.

Hey, that's responsible. Compare a U.S. facility to to one of the most devastatingly evil places in the world, and then say, well we "don't know for sure" if it is like a gulag.

Instapundit writes "I wonder what would happen if Donald Rumsfeld should charge Amnesty with being in the pay of Al Qaeda, and then later say that 'It would be fascinating to find out. I have no idea.'"

The entire transcript of the interview can be found here on the Fox News website. Here are
a few tidbits Amnesty's backpeddling.

WALLACE: Mr. Schulz, do you have any evidence whatsoever that he ever approved beating of prisoners, ever approved starving of prisoners, the kinds of things we normally think of as torture?

SCHULZ: It would be fascinating to find out. I have no idea...[Ed. wait a minute, you call him an architect of torture, and then admit you have no friggin idea. What is "fascinating" is wondering who actually takes you folks seriously.]

WALLACE: Wait, Mr. Schulz, excuse me, you're switching subjects. I asked you whether the ICRC has been allowed access to every place from Abu Ghraib to Guantanamo Bay. And the answer is yes, correct?

SCHULZ: Oh, Chris, I have no idea whether the Red Cross has been given access to the secret detention facilities that the U.S. is maintaining. Have they been given access to the Syrian prisons and the prisons where the United States is rendering prisoners? I have absolutely no idea and I suggest you don't either. I think we don't know. [...]
SCHULZ: Chris, we don't know what the Red Cross has said about torture.

Friday, June 03, 2005

Romney Watch 2008

The Weekly Standard has a great article on Mitt Romney entitled "Will it be Mormon in America?" It is generally a positive article and does a great job detailing Mitt's successes. It is long but really is a must read.

For the most part, the article closely examines all the positives and negatives of Romney's faith in a potential presidential run. Most interestingly, it examines the issue of what the current Bush Evangelical Republicans think. A topic I took up a few weeks ago.

State Dep't: working hard to ensure no country views us as aggressive imperialists

Mona Charen writes a great hit piece on the State Department's "bridge building" magazine called "Hi." The magazine is published in English and Arabic and is published "with the hope of building bridges of greater understanding among our cultures." That sounds all fine and dandy, but when there is an article that goes like this, I have some questions:

Real men moisturize. In fact, some of them, like Michael Gustman, a 25-year-old public relations account executive from Boca Raton, Fla., even have separate moisturizers for the face and body. Facial pores can clog with too heavy a salve, it seems.

He gets manicures. He gets pedicures. He gets facials. He gets his hair done every two weeks. He accessorizes. He puts effort into getting ready for a date. He loves cooking complex dishes. He's a refined, evolved, sensitive guy.
In a word, he's a metrosexual.


Are you kidding me? Describing the current aesthetic practices of a narcassistic metrosexual is going to build bridges?

Mona puts it best when she writes "is this the way to 'build bridges' between the Arab world and ourselves? Does the State Department believe that Arab males . . . are going to be impressed with a vision of America in which males are feminized "exfoliated," smooth-skinned eunuchs?"

Seriouly folks, of all they ways we want the Arab world to view us, this is the image the State Departments wishes to present?

Common, you might as well characterize the entire male population of the U.S. as limp-haired blond Carsons, from the show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Wouldn't that be faaaabulouuss?

Howard Dean thinks so.

Thursday, June 02, 2005

Reparations. Slowly coming?

It may only be a matter of time before the practice of reparations (forcing companies that benefited from slavery to pay reparations to decendents of slaves) is allowed. While, all cases trying to claim damages based on reparations have been struck down, it is only a matter of time before enterprising, activist judges determine that such actions should be allowed.

Right now, local city councils of some of this nation's largest cities have or are creating ordinances that are indirectly laying the foundation to enable such actions. These ordinances require all companies that had ties to slavery to disclose them. This often means that companies perform an exhaustive records search, going back hundreds of years, trying to determine if any companies they have acquired or merged into over the past had ties to slavery.

Wachovia Bank is now in the headlines for complying with a Chicago ordinance requiring disclosure. Wachovia published a 111 page document outlining its connection while apologizing for its past connections.

It seems odd that a city would require companies to disclose their ties to slavery. Clearly, the cities want something more than an apology. Inevitably, the cities will soon ask for more.

Amnesty International Round-Up

For those of you who haven't heard, human rights group, Amnesty International came out with its annual report on human rights abusers. In this report, they actually called the detetention center at Guantanamo a "gulag." On top of that, their officials suggested that foreign governments could charge top American officials with war crimes.

Now comparing Guantanamo to a the soviet Gulag does an extreme diservice to Amnesty's cause. First of all, Guantanamo is nothing like the Gulag. As Roger Simon points out, in order for Guantanamo to be like the Gulag, we would have to kill all the prisoners, and then wipe out the entire population of Cuba. Then and only then would be Guantanomo be close to the Stalin run gulags that killed millions.

By making such a simplistic and flawed comparison, Amnesty actually empowers the real human rights abusers. Instapundit notes that due to the simple principle of opportunity cost, whatever pressure you're exherting on the U.S. is pressure you're NOT exherting on regimes that need the pressure. Indeed, Amnesty has cheapened the the meaning of suffering.

Not suprisingly, Amnesty officials made their contributions to the Kerry camp.

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

WHAAAAAAAA!!!!!

Well, for those of you who remembered Senator George Voinovich embarrassing himself while sniveling on the senate floor, there's a way to lend a helping hand. A group calling itself Console George is asking people to send tissues to Sen. Voinovich so that he can wipe his tears. Michelle Malkin notes that "the site is going to post photos of the tissues you send to Voinovich--sort of like Sorry Everybody, except intentionally funny."

Photos of sent tissues are here.

Here's a hilarious photoshop.