This Time I Mean It

My resolution, reasonably settled in after a year, is to start producing columns at a more regular rate. Here is the start of that effort, a column on...you guessed it...global warming.

Please note the column moniker, which is my own small tribute to Lileks.

UPDATE: Not even the EPA is convinced on global warming science:

The EPA says it does not have the authority to regulate such emissions, under federal law. Even if it did, the EPA says, it would refuse to do so because of continuing uncertainty in the science of global warming...

Ouch.

Mother Whored for Eco-Spotlight

Putting aside life experience that forces me to ponder where one might find enough "ecobabes" to fill a year-long calendar, this idea raises a few questions:

...a group of self-proclaimed "ecobabes" in Sonoma County found a unique way to bring out global warming's naughty side -- posing for a pinup calendar.

The ecobabes calendar will set you back $16 at the website, though it is entirely unclear what will become of the money. Of course, the money comes directly from whoring the earth's resources for monetary gain. Were one to include murdered trees used to provide paper, dangerous chemicals in the ink introduced into the delicate atmoshpere, CO2 generated in producing and shipping the calendar, and the environmental cost of disposal and biodegradation of potentially thousands of ecobabe calendars, there's an outside chance the calendar will do more damage to Mother than the funds raised could ever repair.

And that doesn't even include the optional shrink-wrap.

Not everyone in the reality-based community is pleased with the fully-clothed ecobabes though, but none for the obvious reasons I just mentioned:

"I felt it was objectifying women and using their bodies to make money," said Alisha Clompus, 26, an artist and anthropologist who is office manager for the Northcoast center. "It's like making money off another form of oppression."

Those crazy feminists. They won't be happy until every woman in America is wearing a burqa.

Tim Blair has more, including tittilating confessions from actual ecobabes, and this gem:

The day I invent a name so splendidly, drearily evocative as “Alisha Clompus”, I’m outta here. It simply can’t be beat.

Let's hope Tim never invents a name that splendidly, drearily evocative.

Rangel's Military Lovefest

Like John Kerry, Charlie Rangel has now gone on record with his characterization of American troops as the bottom-feeders of our society:

If a young fella has an option of having a decent career or joining the army to fight in Iraq, you can bet your life that he would not be in Iraq.

And how eerily similar the two men sound. Wrong and idiotic, but similar.

No doubt this post will give Loflyte another chance to accuse me of calling signals from Karl Rove's "playbook." However, I'm afraid that says more about his inability to see the truth in front of his face than it does about my political affiliations.

If we need a more local example, here's one: My daughter (Grave Disappointment #1) is currently in the recruiting process for the National Guard. She has wanted to join the guard since before she was politically aware and her desire to serve prompted study on Iraq. Despite problems there, she still has a strong desire to go and, as she says, help Iraqi's become self-sustaining. This revelation prompted a now ex-friend of hers to call her a "tool for George Bush" in an e-mail, before ending with this tag:

you are stupid and i guess when you die at war... well at least we didnt loose an intelligent american who could do our country some good.

Indeed. The left loves the military. How could I have been so misguided? Thank goodness the military is now guided by these truly intelligent Americans, who have such deep respect and admiration for their sacrifice.

We should also be grateful their intelligence has begun to rub off on the next generation of smart Americans.

Maybe They Are Killing Themselves

It's the Christmas season again, and you know what that means. Animals worldwide will be abused for the sake of silly traditions:

"Those animals are subject to all sorts of terrible fates in some cases," Vergerio said. "Animals have been stolen and slaughtered, they've been raped, they've escaped from the nativity scenes and have been struck by cars and killed. Just really unfathomable things have happened to them."

Not as unfathomable as becoming props for the terrorist radical Christians, I suspect.

What Year Is It?

Does anyone else find the choice of John Fogerty to perform the halftime show at not one, but two different football games yesterday strange?

It's 2006. The NFL and the entertainment industry couldn't think of anything better than 1960s protest songs? Does this mean a reuinion of Peter, Paul, and Mary for the Super Bowl?

Other than having to sit through Fortunate Son twice I had a pretty nice Thanksgiving. I hope you did too.

Larry To Get Intimate With Self

Not surprisingly, Larry is getting all lubricated in preparation of the Global Orgasm for Peace:

Sure, December 22nd is right smack in the middle of the holiday season, and some of us plan to spend time with our families, kicking over nativity scenes and whatever else we can do to protect Christmas from the Christians. But part of being a Progressive is knowing your priorities – and then ignoring them in favor of whatever feels good.

Such self-awareness must lead to mind-blowing peacegasms...for him anyway.

You Say Tomato...

Omar Shahin, the spokesperson for six imams thrown off of a US Air flight at Minneapolis International on Monday, is now calling for imams the world over to boycott the airline. In part, it is because US Air apparently refused to sell them new tickets this morning. Why they might have done that is still unclear, but a MAC spokeman sheds light on why passengers may have responded poorly on the plane yesterday, in paragraph 14 of the Trib story:

Pat Hogan, spokesman for the Metropolitan Airports Commission, said that witnesses to Monday's events told police that before the flight that besides praying, the imams were spouting anti-American rhetoric, talking about the war in Iraq and Saddam Hussein.

One of the imams was heard saying that he would do whatever is necessary to fulfill his commitment to the Qur'an, witnesses told police, Hogan said. Other witnesses said some of the imams were repeating "Allah, Allah," he said.

And a couple of the imams asked for seat-belt extensions, even though it did not appear they needed them, Hogan said.

All of this made passengers, the attendants and the pilot uncomfortable, Hogan said.

It would make me uncomfortable too, especially after seeing Shahin's former relationships to so-called charities.

The Trib story begs another question:

...the meeting drew about 150 imams from all over the country...

If this incident is just a case of afraid Americans overreacting with prejudice, why did it not occur on other flights as well? Apparantly we had imams flying all over the country yesterday. As far as I know, this is the only case in which they were removed from a plane.

On a more personal level, I just want to express my support for Shahin's proposed imam boycott. Who are we kidding? I can't tell the difference between a muslim terrorist and a muslim who refuses to speak out against terrorism any more than you can.

Let's Make Everything a Protest

And why not:

The Global Orgasm for Peace was conceived by Donna Sheehan, 76, and Paul Reffell, 55, whose immodest goal is for everyone in the world to have an orgasm Dec. 22 while focusing on world peace.

"The orgasm gives out an incredible feeling of peace during it and after it," Reffell said Sunday. "Your mind is like a blank. It's like a meditative state. And mass meditations have been shown to make a change."

The left is sneaky, always inserting ways to protest into every day things. This seems to me just one idea removed from adding an agenda to bodily acts beyond our control. How about Global Take a Dump for Peace day? It could coincide with Light a Match for Global Warming day.

Why Don't They D-Do It In the Road

Now that we have government out of the bedroom, it's time to get it all set up in the living room:

In a Nov. 7 ruling, Jefferson County District Judge Lily Oeffler ruled the association can keep the couple from smoking in their own home.

Oeffler stated "smoke and/or smoke smell" is not contained to one area and that smoke smell "constitutes a nuisance." She noted that under condo declarations, nuisances are not allowed.

The couple now has to light up on the street in front of their condominium building...

...until the city bans smoking on public property, that is. Then the outlanders will be forced to take their filthy habit underground...to the sewers...where it belongs. The surface will be left to the desireables, like the residents of Heritage Hills, where a bold new society will be born on the philosophy:

...the rights of a community trump the rights of individual residents.

Work on the wall and guard towers is scheduled to begin when the community tires of forcing smokers to play chicken with traffic.

Quick, Look Over There

Jack Murtha employs fear-mongering to deflect attention from his ethical problems:

"It is total crap that we have to deal with an issue like this when we’ve got a war going on and we got all these other issues."

Next thing you know, he'll be invoking 9/11. Do these Democrats have no shame?

Way To Go Nancy!

Never mind that Her Man Murtha got creamed in favor of the moderate, or that she publicly put personal issues in front of party and policy, or even that the power of her position couldn't produce 90 votes. It's V-N day over at Huffington Post:

...don't shed any tears for Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi. Even though her guy lost, this was still a big win for her. A victory for taking a stand -- and for her leadership. Because that's what real leaders do, they take stands.

Amazing what a (D) next to your name buys you.

If she were a Republican it would have been a "humiliating defeat" for a "stubborn" "cowboy," demonstrating the "ignorance" and "unpopularity" of "radical" policies and affiliations her own party won't support.

Since she is not, I guess...congratulations are in order?

Cannibals

Chad the Elder has all the details of a conservative blog skirmish taking place in the wake of the 2006 elections:

As is almost always the case in such conflicts, the ones who suffer the most are the innocent bystanders.

Vicious stuff.

From Dumb to Discerning

Like many progressives, Liberal Larry is gloating over Democratic gains this election, and applauding the transformation of the American voter from "dumb" to "discerning" in just two short years:

Whether it was Cindy Sheehan’s wailing, Al Gore’s bloviating, Hillary Clinton’s screeching, or Barbara Streisand spewing obscenities at her audience, Americans have finally opened their minds to the brilliant light of progressive reason. No longer brainwashed by superstitious beliefs in biblical bugaboos and non-taxable income, they sent the Bush regime a clear message that they want to take America in a New Direction. Exactly which direction isn’t really important, as long as it is a different direction than we are going now. With their newly acquired brains, Americans have finally realized they wasted six long years fighting a hopeless war against terrorists and democrats, and are ready to surrender to both.

For me, it was Cindy Sheehan's relentless campaign for Mercedes. German cars are the wave of the future. Why fight it?

Somebody Call a Summit

Hamas issues a press release:

“America is offering political, financial and logistical cover for the Zionist occupation crimes, and it is responsible for the Beit Hanoun massacre. Therefore, the people and the nation all over the globe are required to teach the American enemy tough lessons,” a Hamas spokesman said in a statement sent to The Associated Press.

While critical of the US, Hamas has always focused retaliatory strategies against Israel, but are not ruling out attacking Israelis either. Hamas is identifying with global Islamic extremist movements, such as al-Qaeda to attack Americans.

Three days removed from the election and it looks as though we are already soft, weak, America again, ripe for the attack.

Boy, that didn't take long.

Already Addicted

Always loved Powerline but was frustrated you couldn't add you two cents? Try the new Power Line forum. It's super.

And be sure to check out the "To impeach or not to impeach..." thread, started by Yours Truly.

Finally. Now the world will see how brilliant I am. Muwahahaha.

They Set the Bar...

Along with showing McCain and Frist the door this morning, Hugh Hewitt pins down a sentiment that has been rattling around in my own head since last night:

For two years we have had to defend the Congressional gang that couldn't shoot straight. Now we get to play offense.

In some ways it is a relief. I look forward to turning the tables on Democrats. Nothing serious or anything. I just intend to hold them to the same impossible standard they set forth over the last two years.

This Should Be Interesting

I'm sitting at work waiting for the last few local precincts to come in so we can put the paper to bed. Right now it looks like Governor Pawlenty is going to hang on but it is razor thin at 46.77 to 45.46 for Hatch with 86.78 precincts reporting. It could still go either way.

The result is clear on the national scene and it looks like the Senate might be gone along with the House. Surprisingly, I am pretty okay with that. I guess we won't be hearing any more about Diebold and election rigging since the desired result was finally accomplished.

The Republicans can't win forever and as moments in history to lose go, this one ain't bad. We still have the veto, and Democrats had better prepared to actually lead instead of whine if they intend to parlay this success into anything long term. I am hoping now that we will get to know how "change in direction" is defined.

An undercurrent to the election is the moderate nature of their winners. It is certainly not a referendum on liberal values and, in fact, it looks as though the Dems took conservatives advice and moved to the middle. We shall see if that is real or just campaign b.s.

Marriage amendments appear to be winning all over the country and the GOP has two years to right the ship before 2008.

Tomorrow that work begins.

Vote. Or Rove Will Know.

The Plank is nervous about late polls showing a Republican surge, but they think they might have found the answer:

...there are any number of reasons why polling through Saturday could affect your results. Maybe it just took an extra day for the full weight of Kerry's gaffe to sink in. (Though I doubt it. I'd guess that the effect would have subsided while you were off at your kid's soccer game, or whatever.) But, to my mind, the most plausible explanation is that more conservative people tend to stay home on Saturday nights, while more liberal people tend to go out, which would give the poll a slight conservative bias.

Speaking personally, I was on about my third Lienenkugel's over at the Dalles House listening to cheesy heavy metal Saturday night, but that's just me. I'm sure the rest of the stereotypical conservatives were home, diligently shining their shoes for church the next morning.

On the subject of the election, it's starting to look like a pretty unremarkable mid-term shift. If the Democrats take the House, which seems likely, it certainly won't be by enough to claim anything other than the usual mid-term jitters. The Senate looks out of reach, but I could be wrong.

I'll be voting, that's all I really know for sure. And, just in time, I received the list of acceptable candidates telepathically from Karl Rove moments ago. With any luck we, through actual participation, can prevent Bush from declaring martial law to preserve his power, which is what it is all about really. That...and oil.

Hatch Finally Shows Up

By now, Mike Hatch's distate for seeing females criticized and fondness for name-calling is well documented.

At first Hatch insisted he did not call a reporter a "Republican whore," but by a Friday morning debate was backpeddling fast:

"I'm not going to dispute it with the reporter"

Instead, Hatch is blaming his gaffe on a broadcasting company:

Hatch said he was also angry about the discovery that an independent group of business contributors, including a prominent broadcaster, Stanley Hubbard, could put as much as "three-quarters of a million dollars" into a late effort to defeat him.

Yes. How dare people contribute to political campaigns.

Hubbard responded by echoing the concerns of many Minnesotans:

Hubbard said that "we're seeing the true Hatch ... The man is unstable, I think."

Nah. He was just angry. Angry that people would dare criticize the little woman, angry that people are allowed to contribute money to political campaigns in a free society, and angry that the media is pretty much forced to cover major gaffes by politicians.

It's not that he's unstable, he's just running for office in the wrong country.

Living in a Nuclear Material World

Tim Blair has the relevent paragraph from a NYT story today that confirms the existence of a WMD program in Iraq:

Among the dozens of documents in English were Iraqi reports written in the 1990’s and in 2002 for United Nations inspectors in charge of making sure Iraq abandoned its unconventional arms programs after the Persian Gulf war. Experts say that at the time, Mr. Hussein’s scientists were on the verge of building an atom bomb, as little as a year away.

Apparently it is now okay to admit that there were indeed WNDs in Iraq, as long as the context is blaming Bush.

In other news, in a season of endorsements, the Democrats get one every American should consider carefully before voting:

The terrorists told WorldNetDaily an electoral win for the Democrats would prove to them Americans are "tired."

"Of course Americans should vote Democrat," Jihad Jaara, a senior member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group and the infamous leader of the 2002 siege of Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, told WND.

A vote for a Democrat is a vote for jihadist victory. At least, that's the way jihadists feel about it.

More on Mass Delusion

John Nichols' column in The Nation has to be read to be believed:

...media coverage of this campaign, at least in its final days, is going according to Karl Rove's script -- thanks in no small measure to the inability of most political reporters to chart their own course on the eve of an election.

Rove needs the focus to be on Kerry.

Kerry was a absolute non-issue before he opened his yap, displayed his superior intelligence, and followed up by blaming everyone but himself. But somehow, Nichols has convinced himself that it is all part of a Rovian manipulation the likes of which we have never seen. John Kerry was just standing at a podium minding his own business when the Karl Rove script went into affect.

The outrage felt by Nichols and the rest of the mouthpieces is that the Republicans are now using Kerry's display of superior intelligence to highlight the Democrats' tacky theme of distaste for the military. "It's not fair." "It's dirty politics." "It's..It's...Rovian!"

Boo-hoo.

For the last month I have watched Democrats use the Mark Foley sex-with-no-sex scandal used to paint Republicans on the ballot as complicit in the cover-up and protection of gay child predators. I watched them make two weeks of headlines out of the use of the word "macaca."

Somehow, Nichols is able to block all of that out, and more, long enough to let us know how dirty the GOP plays the game, because it is apparently taking political advantage of Kerry's display of superior intelligence to highlight what is actually true.

Don't take my word for it. Let Sy Hersh, liberal extroardinaire, explain how many on the left feel about the military:

There has never been an American army as violent and murderous as the one in Iraq.

Nichols, like Olbermann, is living in denial. They should both seek professional help.

Keith Olbermann Gone Wild

As it happens I was one of about 10 people last night to witness Keith Olbermann's absolute meltdown on television last night. For starters, he compared the Republicans (not Democrats, and not the troops) reaction to John Kerry's self-imposed hell to the Sumner caning in 1956, and added:

In point of fact, it might have been the moment, not when Brooks broke his cane over the prostrate body of Senator Sumner, but when voters in Brooks‘ district started sending him new canes.

Tonight, we almost wonder to whom President Bush will send the next new cane.

If you read the whole unhinged diatribe (scroll down to "special comment") it becomes clear that Olbermann thinks the troops are stupid too. You see, they would not have felt insulted by Kerry's words except for Bush's "minions" (not including the chorus of Democrats of course):

You are merely a politician whose entire legacy will have been a willingness to make anything political; to have, in this case, refused to acknowledge that the insult wasn‘t about the troops, and that the insult was not even truly about you either, that the insult, in fact, is you.

Olbermann adds this little gem:

A brief reminder, Mr. Bush: You are not the United States of America.

What a coincidence. Mr Olbermann is not a credible journalist either.

He's a disgrace and an embarrassment to the profession.

UPDATE: Hugh Hewitt has a message for Olbermann:

Keep it up Keith. We love you.

John Kerry Apologizes For the Troops

At long last, John Kerry has issued an apology:

I sincerely regret that my words were misinterpreted to wrongly imply anything negative about those in uniform, and I personally apologize to any service member, family member, or American who was offended.

Of course, he isn't apologizing for his cruel characterization of American troops in harm's way. Rather, he is apologizing for how his words were interpreted. Of course, much of that interpretation wcame from American troops in the first place. Then, he apologizes to any "service member, family member, or American," who was offended by the interpretation.

You hear that troops? John Kerry just apologized for you, not to you.