"X" is for "Xylem" and Other Ways to Warp Children

I heard about this on Garage Logic the other day on the way home from work. Daughter #1 and I laughed our collective asses off.

Pictured is "The Alternative Alphabet Poster For Little And Big People," brought to you by the caring, diverse, and thoughtful people at Syracuse Cultural Workers. Thanks to them, "A" is no longer for "apple," it is for "Africa." "C" now stands for "compost," not "cat." "R" is for "reduce, reuse, recycle," and "E" is for...ready for this..."echinacea."

Daughter #2 seems pretty sure that "E" used to stand for elephant, which is a large gray mammal with a long trunk which has long fascinated children. Echinacea is apparently a plant used in herbal remedies few 5-year-olds have ever heard of. Thus it is easily identifiable to children, and after all, isn't that the point?

Why do we need the alternative alphabet?

The alphabet poster is a time-honored part of our children's early learning. Unfortunately, these posters are often neither multicultural nor inspirational. However, the eye-catching Alternative Alphabet Poster is both, and thought-provoking too.

Ummm...ya. Alphabet posters aren't supposed to be multicultural or inspirational. THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO TEACH CHILDREN THE ALPHABET! How exactly are we supposed to do that when "K" stands for Martin Luther King and "J" stands for Mother Jones?

Somehow I get the impression that this group of freethinkers has missed a very important point in all of this. Than again, it might just be that teaching children the alphabet is not real high on SCW's list of priorities.

Our mission is to help sustain a culture that honors diversity and celebrates community; that inspires and nurtures justice, equality and freedom; that respects our fragile Earth and all its beings; that encourages and supports all forms of creative expression.

The reason this came up the other day was because a caller saw a copy of it at his kid's elementary school. And they say public education is in trouble. Pish posh.

Other creative and positive messages from SCW include "Defy Corporate Domination" and the ever present "Che Geuvara" to my personal favorites "Things You Can Do To Eradicate Gender Or Multiply It Exponentially, " and "You Can't Be All You Can Be If You're DEAD." SCW's "terrorism" section mentions only the U.S.

At least SCW got one thing right. They know, as do most hard-core leftists, that change begins with the brainwashing of children to a particular worldview in which the U.S. is a terrorist and Che Geuvara is a hero, and it begins as early as possible.

Now if only kindergartners could vote, SCW and their ilk would have it made.

I Love This

Once again Harry Reid is in the ethics crossfire. While actively involved in pushing legislation that would directly impact one of his home state's primary sources of income, he accepted free boxing tickets.

Naturally, when it comes to this "appearance of corruption" leftoids are less than impressed.

Kos says:

At a time when "corruption" literally means the buying of congressmen and legislation with cash, boats, houses, and hookers, we're supposed to get upset because Reid (a former boxer and boxing commissioner in Nevada) got free tickets to a boxing match?

Muckracker says:

I have to say that Reid seems remarkably incorruptible.

Of course, one has to except the premise that the boxing industry itself is not corrupt to go the extra mile that these two apologists have. Ya right.

When you add in recent revelations about William Jefferson, Robert Toricelli, Alan Mollohan, Cynthia McKinney, Patrick Kennedy, and other allegations against Reid himself, the "culture of corruption" begins to look more and more like a Washington thing than a Republican thing.

Of course, that is what most of us have been saying all along. The problem for Democrats is that the more they scream about corruption on the other side, the more they can expect their own to become front and center. That's how it works, despite the Left's refusal to see (again and again) how they fall into their own traps.

Speaking of which, if there could be absolutely no appearance of corruption in Reid's accepting the tickets, why did not one but two Republicans either refuse the tickets or recuse themselves from the issue?

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) insisted on paying $1,400 for the tickets he shared with Reid for a 2004 championship fight. Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) accepted free tickets to another fight with Reid but already had recused himself from Reid's federal boxing legislation because his father was an executive for a Las Vegas hotel that hosts fights.

As someone pimping his anger at the culture of corruption, one might think Reid would be smart enough to distance himself from the appearance of his own. But I guess not.

Of course, Reid could just blame Ambien and the press will likely forget this ever happened.

Salvaging the UN's "Reputation" is Key...So Hire Bill

Captain Ed has much more on a weird editorial in the LA Times imploring Hillary Clinton to give up a bid for the presidency so Bill can take the reigns of the UN ( Ed. - presumably to start getting some of the that international tail) after Kofi Annan retires.

Personally I found this line humorous:

The U.N.'s reputation has been tattered by peacekeeper sex scandals, the Iraq oil-for-food fiasco and other leadership failures.

I wonder in what circles the UN's "reputation" is in tatters. It has been my experience that the leftoids would rather pluck out their own tongues before saying an ill word about the UN. Noting its inadequacies is more likely to get you branded an isolationist, right-wing, lapdog than it is to reach any consensus on the UN's lack of effectiveness.

Of course, the LA Times does note that, despite the UN's "reputation," it will still be called upon to save the world, so...

You Smell Like a Monkey, and You Look Like One Too...

Happy birthday to Power Line, which is celebrating its fourth year this weekend. Hinderaker remembers Scott Johnson's response to being invited to write for his online journal:

It looks like fun, and I think it will be worth doing even if no one ever reads the stuff I write except you. But I have to tell you, I think the idea that we could ever have any readers for this thing is a pathetic fantasy.

According to Power Line's Site Meter account, the blog has received over 50 million hits in its four years of existence. Currently, the site enjoys an average of well over 61,000 hits a day and as of this writing had received about 18,000 hits already today.

I believe that makes Johnson's statement about future readership about as wrong as he as ever been in the four year history of Power Line.

The depth of their knowledge, dedication to research, and tenacity borne of conviction, coupled with an ability to boil down complicated issues for a mass audience, are all keys to their success. That Power Line is credited with a large role in the rise of the political blogosphere and the impact they have had, especially in the last presidential election, is a point of personal pride for this fellow Minnesotan.

Here's to hoping the next four years make the last four look like peanuts.

Cindystock: Melbourne

Via Tim Blair, Doublethink has extensive coverage of Cindystock: the Australian tour, including these three posts on the subject.

Two of the more incredible assertions that have been made in Melbourne is that America banned John Lennon's Imagine after 9/11, (Ed.- Tom D. had the greatest line about that song when he noted that Lennon "imagined" no possessions from one of his many mansions), and this fine gem from Mother Sheehan herself:

Bobby Kennedy was assassinated by the war machine in my country, because they were talking about peace.

But even those pale in comparison to this one:

In America, they care more about who is the next American Idol than the war. In America, we care more about a horse that broke its ankles than about our children...

Indeed. I was glued to the Preakness while one of my children was caught in a piece of farming equipment. Last I heard the child was clinging to life, but I'm not sure, it's been a while since I asked for an update. I am ecstatic to report, though, that Barbaro will soon be able to mount mares at will. What a relief.

MacBeth guest-blogs at Iowahawk

By now, most in the blogosphere are aware of new "darling of the anti-war left" Jesse MacBeth. MacBeth is a true American hero, returning from Iraq to give the truth about American soldiers and their horrific atrocities. Except, of course, he isn't, and he didn't.

He is, in fact, the worst kind of liar. One who, in lying, denegrates some of our most important citizens, our volunteer military. Naturally, in haste to hear anything that makes ther military look bad, MacBeth was embraced by the unhinged before anyone bothered to perform simple fact checking.

For all the background and a hilarious example of photoshoppery see Malkin.

MacBeth now joins an increasingly prestigious list of guest bloggers at Iowahawk, where he tells his story and sets the record straight. It turns out MacBeth was quite an athlete in high school:

My story starts in 2001. I was a sophomore at Mayfield High, a star athlete who was captain of the basketball, football, and track teams, and had singlehandly scored 200 home runs in one memorable wrestling meet against the Riverdale Archies.

Impossible you say? Not for Jesse Macbeth, who is renowned in his own mind for being in two places at once. As well, he has "bagged" some pretty serious tail, like Condi Rice:

As I waded through the muck, I heard her voice ring out - "him... him... oooo, definitely him." I looked up and saw Rice pointing at me, her eyes hungrily caressing my camos. She had personally selected me for Advanced SpecOps Ranger Superkiller training at King's Island Ohio, and a number of other 'duties' which you can read about in next month's Penthouse Forum.

Read the whole thing and get insight into the extraordinary life of Jesse MacBeth. A true American zero.

It's Going To Be a Fun Summer

Ain't she sweet?

Iraq Achieves Yet Another Milestone, Media Yawns

Not that it is important in any way, but this happened over the weekend:

IRAQ'S Parliament finally approved a new national unity government on Saturday, ending months of deadlock...

Of course, this is another one of those non-milestones that isn't really of interest to the American people except as, perhaps, a back-page story to fill space not bought up by advertisers. Hardly worth mentioning at all really, unless, as this report shows, it just serves as a vehicle to remind us all how none of these milestones matter:

...as bomb attacks that killed 24 people served a grim reminder of the security challenges it will face.

I swear, if peace were to break out all over Iraq tomorrow, the antique media would find some way to paint it as a negative development. Regardless, the formation of a unity government is yet another in an endless string of goals accomplished that the left said would never come to fruition.

Thank goodness the Iraqi's don't pay much attention to the American media. It is the only place left that al Qaeda is winning the war. One need only refer to their own correspondence to determine that to be true.

Al Qaida in Iraq attacks Mosques and other public places to draw media attention...

One can only hope that America's Negative Nancy's will also take the time to read "The Real Iraq," to get a picture of the war that our media simply refuses to show.

Mise à Jour Médicale

For those interested I thought I would update on Daughter #1's knee injury. The MRI came back Friday negative for tears to both the ligament and the cartilage. So, while we still don't know what is wrong with the knee, we do know it isn't the worst case scenario.

Of course that is of small consolation to her sister, who is solely responsible for mowing the lawn until her sister is once again a biped.

Non-Racist Republican has Racist Idea

Harry Reid thinks an amendment to make English the official language of America is racist. He doesn't think Senator James Inhofe, who brought the proposal forward, is a racist, just his proposal.

"Even though I feel this amendment is unfair, I don't in any way suggest that Jim Inhofe is a racist," Mr. Reid said. "I don't believe that at all. I just believe that this amendment has, to some people, that connotation -- not that he's a racist, but that the amendment is."

Note the obvious backtracking from earlier remarks as Ried stumbles through the above clarification after his "racist" tag goes over like a lead balloon. He goes from saying the proposal is racist to suggesting that "some people" think it's racist. But don't confuse those people with Harry Reid, who is simply concerned that Republicans might be unfairly judged as racist.

According to the article in the Washington Times, People Other Than Harry Reid might also think the American people are overwhelmingly racist.

A poll by Zogby International earlier this year found that 84 percent of Americans say English should be the official language of government operations. The same poll found that 77 percent of Hispanics agree. And it's a bipartisan issue, according to the poll, which found that 92 percent of Republicans and 82 percent of Democrats approve making English the country's official language.

That a large portion of Americans are racists is certainly common knowledge, but what about those Hispanics? I had no idea there were so many racists from south of the border. And against themselves! Amazing.

The article also summarizes remarks by Reid from 1993 on illegal immigration that might sound a bit racist...

"Our federal wallet is stretched to the limit by illegal aliens getting welfare, food stamps, medical care and other benefits without paying taxes," he said in 1993. "These programs were not meant to entice freeloaders and scam artists from around the world."

...but clearly are not because, while Reid might use the dreaded "illegal alien" insult and refer to irregular migrants as "freeloaders" and "scam artists," there is no indication that he expected them to speak English.

Roll on Roli

Cinderella emerged this evening as the Edmonton Oilers (peace be upon them). They just won the Western Conference semi-final.

Here's the series of events that led to tonight:

The Oilers backed into the playoffs after the Vancouver Canucks lost the 81st game of the regular season. The winning that team that night was the San Jose Sharks. As a result, the Oilers claimed the 8th and last seed in the west. After defeating the 1st seed Detroit Red Wings, the Oilers found themselves down two games to nil in the best-of-seven semi-final.

About a half an hour ago the Oilers won their fourth game in a row to win the series 4-2 and advance to the final.

The team they beat?

You guessed it, the San Jose Sharks.

I wonder what the Sharks would give to go back to game 81 and lose to the Canucks, thus eliminating the Oilers from the post season and altering the hockey universe in their favor.

If Edmonton's poise and tenacity weren't enough to get behind the feisty puppets of Big Oil, there is always Dwayne Roloson, who was just recently traded by the Wild to the Oilers at age 36. Roli the Goalie has been sensational, especially in a game 3 double-overtime breakaway save against Jonathon Cheechoo that, let in, would have given the Sharks a 3 games to nil lead. The Oilers never looked back. (Ed. - Remarkably, I was able to find the great photo above depicting both players. It is the outstanding work of the AP's Paul Sakuma. Note the stick in the throat.)

The Oilers now face the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, which will be an uphill battle. Should be great.

In other hockey news, the best sports columnist around, Steve Rushin, pays homage to the playoff beard in his latest offering for SI (subscription only). Here's a couple of tastes:

The Islanders dynasty of the early '80s established beards as a lucky playoff talisman. Soon, even Montreal's Adams Division was a Grizzly Adams Division, and ever since, almost everyone who has raised the Stanley Cup has looked like Karl Marx.

***

In hockey, as in Biblical times, the length of a man's beard is a bar graph of his greatness.

Rushin really is worth the price of admission, as are the Oilers.

Oh what fun this is...

Canada to Become Wild West Killing Ground

Aside from the gift of hockey (peace be upon the Edmonton Oilers), Canada has historically given us in the U.S. little reason to look north. Over the past year though, that has begun to change.

Liberal Party corruption led to its demise in the last national election. At the time it was very unclear if the nation had begun to embrace conservative government or if they were simply sending a message about corruption. The latest news out of Canada though, begins to make one wonder if our neighbor to the north has turned a corner.

Canada's gun registry, the epitome of liberal governance, is on the endangered species list.

A new Ipsos Reid survey for CanWest/Global News reports that most Canadians (54%) feel the “gun registry is badly organized, isn’t working properly, and should be scrapped”

It seems that common sense begins to prevail up north. Even better, the rank and file are not blind to the lack of organizational skills among liberals.

* 56% say they would most blame “the former Liberal Government and elected politicians who built the gun registry and oversaw it”, while

* 37% say they would most blame “the government workers who were put in charge of administering the gun registry on a day-to-day basis”.

At this rate, the liberals will have to start moving back to the U.S. pretty soon.

Spying for Fund-raising Okay, Says ACLU

Stop the ACLU has the latest press release from the ACLU on the subject of NSA data-mining. Not surprisingly, the ACLU takes the opportunity to once again note its outrage at the current administration and its fascist tactics:

The government is clearly tracking the calls and communications of millions of ordinary Americans and that’s just plain wrong. This news serves only as further proof of how far we have slid into an abuse of power that undercuts the values Americans hold dear.

It is possible though, that the ACLU's main objection to the program is that is doesn't go far enough. That is, if the ACLU's own spying program is any indication:

The American Civil Liberties Union is using sophisticated technology to collect a wide variety of information about its members and donors in a fund-raising effort that has ignited a bitter debate over its leaders’ commitment to privacy rights.

One brave soul, one Michael Meyers, objected to the policy only to see it changed before his very eyes:

...the next day, the privacy policy on the group’s Web site was changed. “They took out all the language that would show that they were violating their own policy,” Meyers said. “In doing so, they sanctified their procedure while still keeping it secret.”

Scary to think the lengths the ACLU would go to if national security were at stake, rather than just simple fund-raising. Incidentally, see "ACLU" for any future definitions of "flaming hypocricy."

Anecdotally, where were the privacy advocates at Daughter #1's doctor appointment last week? The same people aghast that the NSA is collecting phone numbers were nowhere to be found when nurses were spying on my daughter's life. Two of the far more intrusive questions than "What is your phone number?" included: "Do you come into contact with smokers in your daily life?" and "Do you feel safe in your own home?"

Not only do "privacy advocates" have no objection to those questions, they are likely the same crowd who thought of the questions, designed to "protect our most vulnerable."

Of course, possible al Qaeda operations in America pale in importance to the danger people face from second hand smoke...or their parents.

Another Bomb Thrower Misses the Point

Robert Kuttner has some advice for Hillary Clinton. "Stop hanging around with 'far right' destroyers of deeply honest and principled liberalism." It's quite a diatribe really. Kuttner really doesn't like Fox News.

No far-right media enterprise has been more relentlessly dishonest in its efforts to destroy American liberalism in general and the Clintons in particular. Fox was prime cheerleader for the bogus Whitewater investigation and the impeachment campaign against Bill Clinton. Fox exists to oppose every liberal principle that Senator Clinton is accused, perhaps falsely, of standing for.

That's quite a paragraph isn't it? Of course there is no examples of the "dishonesty" of Fox News. Personally, I can't remember the last time they had to run a correction. At the very least, they know there is no military medal called the "Purple Star."

On another note: Does anyone really belive Kuttner would call Whitewater "bogus" were it a Republican accused?

Here's another frothy gem:

You can't imagine the opposite kind of deal happening in American politics, because a left-wing Murdoch doesn't exist.

No, it's just that "far left" filthy rich individuals on the left don't have the stones to do things in the light of day. George Soros funds dishonest leftist enterprises like MoveOn.org all the while staying out of the light of day. Innumerable liberal publications operate under the false premise of "objectivity" as well. For instance, Kuttner's own newspaper, along with 100's of others.

Murdoch at least has the courage to put his politics on the big screen for the scrutiny of all. Points are debated, varying points of views expressed. As Tom D. likes to say, Fox News is the only place people get to view reasoned debate from smart liberals like Mara Liasson, Susan Estrich, Bob Beckel, Juan Williams, and others.

On the other hand, MoveOn never subjects itself to honest scrutiny. It just makes it's little commercials depicting Bush as Hitler or children as sweat shop workers and runs and hides. The NYT injects its liberal point of view in news stories every day. They are so bent on it they are facing indictment.

Kuttner is as dishonest as he would like to believe Fox News is. His column aims at nothing more than smearing Fox News without offering a single example of their "dishonesty" or a shred of evidence for its "agenda." Meanwhile, Fox continues to lead all other cable news channels as they have essentially since 9/11. Fewer people than ever, on the other hand, are reading Kuttner's newspaper.

No one illustrates why that is better than Kuttner. I submit that if Kuttner wants to know why his readership is down an astounding 8.5%, he need look no further than his own attack piece today.

Anybody Know a Good Surgeon?

Can't really work up the energy to make fun of hysterical leftists who aren't aware that the NSA has been data-mining for over 30 years. Or, that President Clinton authorized Eschelon and most of them likely voted for it. The truth of the matter is the more the freaks whine the better it is for Bush, who has the American people behind him on this issue.

The reason I don't have the energy is the increasingly disturbing medical news regarding daughter #1, who appears to have suffered a torn LCL in her left knee during the first soccer game of the season.

MRI on Wednesday.

Fuck.

A New "Big" On the Block

Credit to the Caifornia legislature. It is only their flirtation with all things cutting edge that makes this sentence possible:

California lawmakers are considering legislation to reduce emissions from indoor air purifiers.

Oh it's true. If you own an air purifier, you might consider one of these. No data yet on the effects of second hand ozone, but do we really need any? Come on! Duh!

Sorry all you purity addicts. I don't have to put up with your filthy air anymore. You can just take that ionic breezy disgusting thing outside. And while we're at it, exactly what is Big Clean Air up to anyway? They collect their sweaty fear money and poison our children for our troubles. We could sue on principle, and demand as much money as will make it hurt.

If taking the profits for ourselves is the only way they will listen, that is a sacrifice we'll have to make.

Of course, Chimpler McStankypoll will do next to nothing. And, with his poll numbers in the low thirties, no one will be buying his "unplug the unit from the wall" non-solution that will not get us one step closer to making sure this never happens again.

Wish in One Hand...

Greg Pollowitz at Sixers has interesting analysis of Bush's approval ratings and the lack of affect they are having on fundraising.

Yes, conservatives are mad at the president. But we're not mad at, for the most part, the platform he ran on in 2000 and 2004. We're mad because things in 2006 aren't going the way they were supposed to go when we voted in 2000 and 2004. 31% doesn't mean, as some on the left might hope, that we're mad at the idea of conservatism. In fact, this shows that we are more in favor of conservative principles than ever before. And I think this is why the money continues to flow to Republican candidates.

This is a good point. The left reads the poll numbers as proof that America is turning to the left. But as I have noted on occasion, being dissatisfied with...say...the war in Iraq does not necessarily translate to opposing the war. Most of my frustrations are borne of a desire to be tougher, not spineless.

What if Bush's approval ratings reflect the nations angst that the president isn't governing enough as a conservative?

I have no idea if that is true, but there is likely a grain or two in there somewhere. Just a thought for all the sycophants out there who immediately translate Bush's poor approval rating to a future boon for the left. The remedy for such simplistic thought may be a gander at congressional approval ratings.

What the Enemy is All About

UPDATE: The Jawa Report is breaking the news that the video discussed here is a hoax. It is actually the violent and brutal death of some other person.

***

Mudville Gazette has the details on the brutal slaying of Iraqi journalist Atwar Bahjat. A sickening and disgusting crime, it puts into sharp focus the nature of "the religion of peace."

Her executioner suddenly stands up, his job only half done. A second man in a dark T-shirt and camouflage trousers places his right khaki boot on her abdomen and pushes down hard eight times, forcing a rush of blood from her wounds as she moves her head from right to left.

The events described above happened only after she was tortured and humiliated extensively.

Any questions?

Light Weekend Reading

It's a great week to be Iowahawk. Recent events have only served to play to his genius.

Iowahawk has miraculously unearthed Juan Cole's original response to Christopher Hitchens. See what can happen when you dig through a dumpster behind the University of Michigan College of Liberal Arts? A tiny taste:

I belong to a private email discussion group called The MySpace Center for Global Strategic IM Chat Leadership. It has academics, journalists and many of the top popular policy makers on it. We abide by a strict guideline: “the first rule of Chat Club is, there is no Chat Club.”

Cole is way more pissed then he was in that, like, other column. Trust me.

Then there is Patrick Kennedy. I almost feel sorry for the guy. I pill addiction can be a hard thing to deal with. After what Rush Limbaugh went through, the hateful references to him as a cokehead, pill popper, etc., for months on end, endless calls for his head on a platter, and a politically motivated DA looking to score points for the home team, Kennedy's future looks dim indeed.

What's that you say?

Kennedy is a what?

A Democrat?

Oh. (Please disregard my opening paragraph)

Ahem. Anyway, in honor of Patrick Kennedy's entirely human mistake and subsequent harmless fibs, Iowahawk also revisits a classic Ted Kennedy guest blog. Kennedy masterfully gets the "quagmire" message across using the ingenius analogy of an Oldsmobile sinking in a river, thus eliminating any chance that he could be accused of cowardice or anti-Americanism. It is a watershed moment in the history of political subtlety. The obligatory taste:

That is why I believe we have reached the point where we must take a deep breath and immediately depart the Oldsmobile. We must seek through the watery darkness and release the belt latch of madness that has kept us here, and reach out for a sane and honorable window crank.

Obviously there will be passengers in the Oldsmobile who do not want us to leave, and will likely try to grasp and grab at our feet as we depart. While we wish them success, it is critical that these passengers quickly learn independence and self-determination. The most effective way to teach them is through example, and with a vigorous kick-off. Let us hope they will cherish our shoes as a lasting legacy of our commitment to liberty.

"Cherish our shoes." I think Ted Kennedy just figured a way to get the Democratic position on Iraq onto a bumper sticker.

Truth to Coward

Captain's Quarters links an excellent column by liberal Richard Cohen today on the infantile and dismal performance of Stephen Colbert at the WHCAD. Cohen calls Colbert a bully, and Ed adds uninspiring for all Colbert's "truth to power" fans:

Standing in front of a tank in Tianenman Square is speaking truth to power. Lech Walesa forming a workers party in Communist Poland to demonstrate the plight of the oppressed is speaking truth to power. The bravery of West Berliners in the opening days of the Cold War is speaking truth to power. Humiliating Joe McCarthy on national TV by scolding him for his indeceny is speaking truth to power. Equating these actions to Colbert's performance should embarrass those who make the argument.

If only the people making such arguments had the capacity for embarassment.

I Can Feel It Like the Damp in My Bones

Interestingly enough, I have already posted on Mark Steyn's excellent column yesterday. Today I do so for an entirely different reason.

This morning, as I was making my way into the government center through the endless drizzle currently putting all of central Minnesota to sleep, something happened that warrants focus on the other half of Steyn's general points.

"Thomas Jeffefakery" is all the rage these days. Steyn notes the number of leftoids, aside from John Kerry, who are confused about the source of their favorite quote.

...former Georgia state Rep. Mike Snow uses it, and Miranda Yaver of Berkeley wore it on a button to the big anti-war demo in Washington last year, and Ted Kennedy deployed it as the stirring finale to his anti-Bush speech:

"It is not unpatriotic to tell the truth to the American people about the war in Iraq. In this grave moment of our country, to use the words of Thomas Jefferson, 'Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.' "

My favorite usage is the Berkshire Eagle's Mitch Albom.

"We need to stop slicing this country in half, and saying those who support this act or this politician are 'good' Americans, and the rest are not. Sometimes 'dissent is the highest form of patriotism.' I didn't make that up. Thomas Jefferson did."

There's something about the overly righteous attribution; the freindly reminder that although he could have, Albom didn't think of this one, that makes his usage especially sweet in retrospect.

Steyn credits Tim Blair for exposing the Jeffefakery, which Blair did by quoting a real source, the Jefferson Library:

There are a number of quotes that we do not find in Thomas Jefferson’s correspondence or other writings; in such cases, Jefferson should not be cited as the source. Among the most common of these spurious Jefferson quotes [is]:

* "Dissent is the highest form of patriotism."

So anyway, I walked past a car this morning and there it was, mounted left side rear bumper.

"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism"

Sure enough, in the fine print underneath the sentiment was the attribution "-Thomas Jefferson."

Something tells me that somewhere beyond the gray mist of early May, the "fake but true" defense is lurking once again.