September 2004 Blog Archive

September 30, 2004

THE FAMU MESS:

This morning the St. Pete Times offers up a far, far too light editorial on the mess at FAMU. It’s time white people, and white newspapers, in this state start talking some cold, hard facts to FAMUans everywhere.

If you want to understand what happened at FAMU, read this from Wilbert Hobbs, pastor of St. Paul AME Church in Chaires, Florida. It’s almost as if FAMUans have to be saved from themselves. How about this choice quote:

Those of us who love FAMU and can see beyond the hubris of a few trustees - and beyond the unfounded paranoia that there are those who are plotting to merge FAMU with another institution - must begin to address what I see are the real issues at FAMU.

One is the issue of a board of trustees, which has no earthly idea of its purpose. This includes a chairman who has demonstrated that he does not know how to conduct a meeting or what rules should govern his actions. Nothing personal. Read the minutes of the last or any board meeting.

So sad, but yet so true.

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Pete DuPont speculates on two reasons (the doctrine of pre-emption, and the concept of an ownership society) why George Bush will likely go down as a great American president. Indirectly, this also shows why Bill Clinton will likely go down in history as something much less than great.

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It might be instructive for present-day Democrats to go back and read the words of a party icon, John F. Kennedy. Here’s the link to the JFK Inaugural Address; here’s two quotes that jumped out at me:

[1] Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty. – or – [2] ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.

Not only have they strayed far from that sentiment, black and white Democrats alike actually laugh at either sentiment or, worse, criticize them as unworthy or stupid ideas.

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I was inspired to read the Kennedy inaugural address by Glenn Reynolds, the Instapundit, who wrote a column for the London Guardian that seems on target to me.

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Taurean Charles is a promising football player for the Florida Gators. There’s a new flick coming out that centers on his high school football team in Miami, Northwestern.

While not quite in the class of "Hoop Dreams" (of course, what is?), "The Year of the Bull" is a terrific work. Director Todd Lubin spent a year following the 2001 Miami Northwestern High Bulls football team and its star player, Taurean Charles, in an honest, entertaining and at times troubling look at the power the sport can hold over people.

Unfortunately, Taurean got involved in some roughnecking before the season – he picked up a damn keg and flung it at some guy at the guy’s own fraternity party – and is now a bit off track. Young and dumb, to the max. I hope he can get his act together and does take advantage of the opportunity staring him in the face. Here are the next few times the flick will be shown on cable:

· Showtime

Sat., Oct. 2

7:00

AM

· Showtime

Sat., Oct. 2

3:25

PM

· Showtime

Sat., Oct. 2

5:30

AM

· Showtime

Fri., Oct. 8

8:40

AM

· Showtime

Fri., Oct. 8

2:50

AM

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September 29, 2004

America. You gotta love it.

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Today is a very depressing day as a native Floridian who is an African American. Our flagship institution of higher education, Florida A&M University, through her Board of Trustees, has just engaged in a shameful public display of rash stupidity and fired President Fred Gainous. This is a man with clear faults to be sure, but an alumnus who was hired but never given the opportunity to be President. What’s wrong with us as black people? I’ll have more on this, hopefully, in the days and weeks to come, but here is a portion of what I wrote to a friend just this morning:

I'm incredibly depressed today as a native of this state to see what FAMU just did to one of her own graduates serving as President of the school. Not only fire the man, but rush the thing through at a public meeting in a really sorry, sorry exhibition of just how dysfunctional we as a people are these days. You know, when do we become something OTHER than politically immature? When do we as a people figure out that in the State of Florida we have a Republican Governor, Republican Senate, and Republican House of Representatives? When do we figure out the most basic fact that without white people there would be no FAMU? In other words, when do we figure out that FAMU is not a private school and somehow exempt from political realities?

Sickening.

And if some of these silly ass Rattlers keep telling me I have nothing to say about this because I’m not an alumnus I’m going to smack the hell out of them. How dense. As a Floridian, I have EVERYTHING to say about this. Here are links of coverage from the local Tallahassee paper:

FAMU Needs A Miracle Worker?

Recent events have also brought a lingering issue into the spotlight. FAMU is in the throes of a transition that goes far beyond who sits in the president's chair. Unless Gov. Jeb Bush decides at some point in the future to appoint an all-black board of trustees, whites have a more hands-on role than ever before in setting the direction of the university.

A Mishmash of Loyalties

When Florida decided to govern its 11 public universities not with one big board of regents - which didn't have too much time to meddle in daily campus operations - but with a board of trustees for each, Florida A&M University was a sitting duck for change.

The university has operated with an exclusive mission and degree of privacy that no other public university in the state has ever enjoyed.

That private-school climate, with public funding, sounds pretty nice on the surface, but it allowed for a lot of unhappiness and created its own problems.

Gainous Is Fired

"America's a wonderful place," he offered then went back to his personal cell-phone calls. A few hours later, he admitted he was disappointed he never had the financial resources needed to truly transform the university.

"Florida A&M University is an outstanding place with outstanding faculty and outstanding students. It will prevail," Gainous, 57, said. He hasn't decided yet whether he will resign before January.

Selected Quotes

"You're a good man. You've done a good job."
- The Rev. R.B. Holmes Jr., trustee, to Gainous before voting to fire him.

By the way, that quote from the good Rev. tells you everything you need to know, doesn’t it?

2004 Timeline

The Dysfunctional Board of Trustees; note that the Chairman is off the Board as of January and you will begin to understand why this thing, this firing, had to be rushed through.

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Here’s why I give Christopher Hitchens credit for wrestling with the here and now, rather than falling back on what was presumed from days gone by:

He realised he was not a socialist any longer around three years ago. "Often young people ask me for political advice, and when you are talking to the young, you mustn't bullshit. It's one thing when you are sitting with old comrades to talk about reviving the left, but you can't say that to somebody who is just starting out. And what could I say to these people? I had to ask myself - is there an international socialist movement worth the name? No. No, there is not. Okay - will it revive? No, it won't. Okay then - but is there at least a critique of capitalism that has a potential for replacing it? Not that I can identify."

I’m still waiting for many to figure this out.

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This comment below, in response to a thread on Marc Cooper's blog about Christopher Hitchens and Johann Hari’s conversation published in the London Independent caught my eye:

Q: Did Hitchens have even anecdotal evidence for his claim that Democrats are "rooting" for bad news in Iraq or Afghanistan?

A: Well, when you have Terry McAuliffe-- you know, THE CHAIRMAN of the DNC-- cheerfully endorsing Michael Moore's theory that Bush took us into Afghanistan to install a pipeline for Unocal, that is more than anecdotal evidence or an anomaly. Statements like that are not only wrong, they undermine the moral cause of our troops there, publicly conveying to them a vote of no confidence in their mission. That's not only rooting for bad news-- that's actively *encouraging* it.

Beyond that, what is fairly indisputable is that most hardcore Democrats simply do not care that much about fighting the war on terrorism:

http://www.hillnews.com/york/102203.aspx

"The survey — sponsored by Democracy Corps, the group founded by Greenberg, James Carville and Robert Shrum — focused on Democrats who take part in the nominating process in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. What Democracy Corps found was that Democrats, at least those who are most active in politics, simply don’t care about terrorism... In Iowa, 1 percent of those polled — 1 percent! — said they worried about fighting terrorism. It was dead last on the list [of their priorities]. Two percent said they worried about homeland security — next to last. In New Hampshire, 2 percent worried about fighting terrorism and 2 percent worried about homeland security. In South Carolina — somewhat surprising because of its military heritage — the results were the same."

It is just not a priority to them. And in practice, this attitude is more or less functionally equivalent to rooting for bad news. If you don't care all that much about terrorism, but care a *lot* more about other things (i.e., defeating Bush), the next inevitable slippery slope is hoping how the issue you don't care much about helps you in achieving the goal you're way more interested in. That may not be the rooting for bad news, but it's certainly too close for my taste to that.

Yepper. I think that sums it up nicely.

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September 28, 2004

Oh, how I hate the Washington Redskins. Oh, how it pained me to see Steve Spurrier coaching that team. Oh, how much joy it gives me to see Steve leave the team AND see the Cowboys spank that behind yet again. Yes, come hell or high water – today will be a good day!

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Hugh Hewitt slices and dices yet another “journalist,” this time Steven Levy on a piece written for Newsweek. Beautiful.

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Christopher Hitchens saying what needs to be said as a RESPONSIBLE and ADULT liberal:

I have written before in this space that I think Bin Laden is probably dead, and I certainly think that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is a far more ruthless and dangerous jihadist, who is trying to take a much more important country into the orbit of medieval fanaticism and misery. One might argue about that: I could even maintain that it's important to oppose and defeat both gentlemen and their supporters. But unless he conclusively repudiates the obvious defeatists in his own party (and maybe even his own family), we shall be able to say that John Kerry's campaign is a distraction from the fight against al-Qaida.

Get that? The Democrats, by politicizing our modern war in the manner they have curiously chosen to do so, are a distraction in the fight against Islamic totalitarianism. Because we know, don’t we, that John Kerry will not conclusively repudiate the Michael Moore crowd, don’t we?

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I’m pretty confident that all of the polls are under-representing just how big of a lead President Bush has. A Republican presidential nominee can’t make Oregon competitive and only have a five or six point overall lead in this country. Power Line has an interesting take on the two most recent major polls, including this:

Reader Will Franklin links to the Post's site and notes that "It has a neat feature where you can crosstab the polls to age and other factors." I'll take his word for it, since I can't make it work. Will says that young people are "flocking to Bush:"

Younger voters, 18-30, have lower levels of unfavorable ratings than all other age groups toward Bush (33%, compared to 52% favorable). They support Bush over Kerry by the widest margin of any age cohort (53-41).

For people 18-30 (regarding Bush): Approve somewhat+approve strongly= 54. Disapprove somewhat+disapprove strongly=39.

John Kerry's lowest favorable rating comes from 18-30 year olds (33%).

Young people are the most satisfied (58-41) with the way things are going of any age group (overall, it is 49-49).

Young people trust Bush over Kerry by the widest margins of any age group (60-33).

Same with terrorism (59-35).

Same with "Strong leader" (65-25).

Same with "make the country more safe and secure" (60-31).

Same with "qualified to be commander in chief" (60-37).

Interesting. In some ways, the President whom Bush most resembles is Ronald Reagan. Young people were always Reagan's strongest demographic. In this election, it may be that young people, who tend to be optimistic and confident by nature, are turned off by John Kerry's defeatism. It may be, too, that young people have less solid connections to either party than older voters, and so view Kerry (and Bush too) more objectively.

Whatever the reasons, if the Democrats should lose the youth vote by anything like these margins, it could spell trouble for years to come.

True dat.

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Finally, wouldn’t it be incredibly sweet for W to win the youth and early adult vote of those 18 to 30 years of age? In this year of Michael Moore and Rock the Vote? Well, study this timeline and see how even the Kerry Campaign is working to make this a reality.

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September 27, 2004

Hurricane Fatigue

We’re still dealing with some on and off power here in Tallahassee but the storm passed quickly. The universities are open as is State and Local government; the public schools are closed. My cable is out (a fallen branch snapped the line) but internet access is good to go.

Polk County, not Orlando and Orange County, is the heart of Central Florida. During this once in a century event of four hurricanes hitting the state, that county has been significantly hit by three of them within the span of six weeks. The St. Pete Times does a brief story providing a quick snapshot of feelings in the county.

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Ann Althouse has a fantastic overview on the failed candidacy of John Kerry from the perspective of someone willing to give him a chance to win her over. It’s a good study of why the Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party are losers, losers, losers. Althouse, during the first week in September, was still open to voting for Kerry. She said:

I could still have accepted Kerry at this point. But Kerry decided to go for the hard Howard Dean-style criticism of "the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time." In these last few weeks, he has battered us with negativity about the war, but still without offering any realistic positive solutions that are different from Bush's, and raising worries that he will simply give up on Iraq. And then he disrespected Prime Minister Allawi when the man was in the country and speaking to Congress. Yesterday, I wrote of Kerry's treatment of Allawi as his final, fatal mistake. I meant only to say that he had sealed his fate with voters for that, but, realistically, thinking about it today, I have to say he sealed his fate with me personally. Rereading this post, I see that the hope about Kerry I expressed on May 1st is completely lost.

Nuff said.

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September 26, 2004

Did anyone say “hurricane fatigue”? Still, there were good wins this weekend for the Rattlers, Gators, Noles, and Canes.

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I will always love Arthur Chrenkoff for this quote, discussing a typically negative liberal dissing progress in Iraq:

Face it, you and your merry company are just a pimple on the ass of an asterisk in a footnote of the history of progress from tyranny to freedom.

Ssssssssssssssmoking!

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John Kerry Is A Small and Graceless Man

A Black Viet Nam Vet Has Well-founded Doubts About Kerry

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Ra^therGate Report

Unethical Conduct at CBS

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White Boy Extraordinaire James Lileks with a piece on a long lost era. I, too, like martial music and agree that this Where Eagles Dare sample sounds great, as does this one.

Lileks then has some clips of music from a Star Trek episode, The Doomsday Machine:

I’m just a minor Trekkie but I thought that was some good, nostalgic stuff.

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September 22, 2004

College Football roundup. And yes, I’m still mad about the Gators getting ROBBED up at Tennessee. But I was happy with what I saw from the team and fully expect Tennessee to lose two conference games, maybe three. They have to play Carolina, Georgia, Alabama AND Auburn. They are going down, no question about it. We just have to take care of our own business. The team looks good, defense still needs a little bit of work.

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Thanks to Power Line for this reminder:

Why We Can Never Forget

Heroes

This is no time for Punk Ass Surrender Monkeys.

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Jonah Goldberg nails it. Wes Clark was my last, best hope for the Democrats. I didn’t realize it at the time but once it was clear the Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party had co-opted him too, end of story for me and (I suspect) many 9/11 Republicans.

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September 20, 2004

Ra^therGate Report

To me, the only way the Democratic National Convention makes any sense (their focus on Kerry's Viet Nam months) is if the party knew damn well they had this Fortunate Son thing coming.

To me, at the very least Mapes was aware of this future campaign.

To me, until they (CBS) credibly document the UNIMPEACHABLE source the greater scandal is still hidden.

To me, there is unquestionably a personal injury trial lawyer angle to this (these tactics); and they are major backers of Kerry-Edwards and certainly know how to fight dirty.

But most of all, to me there is an EXTREMELY CURIOUS Michael Moore - USA Today angle to all of this. It was a very curious decision to have him at the RNC as a journalist, was it not? And they did get the doucments, too, did they not? And they certainly haven't led the charge investigating this forgery, have they?

Get after it, bloggers and mainstream media. There's definitely a story hovering around USA Today and this unimpeachable source Dan Rather relied upon.

That said, today could be the day that the story finally begins its official denouement. Review these sites for further updates:

Roger Simon, Power Line, Hugh Hewitt, Captain's Quarters, KerrySpot, Corante,

Advice from Mark Steyn:

Hey CBS, give up the ghost!

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Jason Van Steenwyk:

Left Wing Condescension re Army National Guard

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Fouad Ajami:

Facing Up to Unholy Terror

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Unfit for Command:

Admiral Hoffman on John Kerry

For the best overview on John Effin Kerry:

John Kerry Is In Fact Unpatriotic

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September 18, 2004

Ra^therGate Report

Anatomy of Hurricane Dan

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Dotcom Democrats

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Myth of the "Stolen" 2000 Election

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September 17, 2004

Ra^therGate Report

Political Pornography

Org Chart for the Texas Democrats

likely to be found to have been

involved in the scandal

Possible Anatomy of a Scandal

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Iraq Report

Wretchard on the War in Iraq right now

We’ve attempted to do what we’ve been told is the impossible in Iraq. Is it too much to ask that the job be given more than 12-18 months to establish order? Remember, we’ve been told this is an IMPOSSIBLE task. Context, please.

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Wretchard responding to Andrew Sullivan

I keep wondering to myself, “Who is pimping Andrew Sullivan?” Stupid points made in a stupid response to Wretchard

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Informative discussion on Winning Ugly in Iraq. Why people aren’t willing to let the military conduct this war, and give them the benefit of the doubt – I don’t know.

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Chrenkoff Syndrome? Damn, kill the guy for bringing to light the overlooked and honoring the supposedly mundane. This rant is further proof that he needs to keep on keeping on.

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And here’s a good point from one response included in the Wretchard on the War in Iraq right now post cited above:

Even the expression FUBAR - originating in WWII - owes more to the hyperbolic language used by American troops than to actual reality. If the situation for American troops was FUBAR in WWII, and US troops were dying at the rate of 300 a day, what would they call the situation for German troops, who died at the rate of 4000 a day and for Soviet troops, who died at the rate of 8000 a day, and had to clear mine-fields by walking across them? If GI's having their families back home living in safety relative luxury - for wartime - constituted a situation that FUBAR, how would they describe the situation of Germans back home who were subjected to massive air raids and died by the millions, and of Soviet citizens in Leningrad, Stalingrad and Moscow, who were used as cannon fodder and starved to death in the millions? The point is here is that rhetorical excess is no substitute for the facts on the ground.

Exactly. Few people in the media of today, whether possessing military experience or not, seem to comprehend this simple fact.

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September 16, 2004

Ra^therGate Report

You can't be serious!

Bloom County

with the essential truth on Dan Rather.

First, I have to say that yesterday was an earth-shattering day for me. I posted nothing, waiting for CBS to do the right thing and then I would post information. Surprise, surprise, surprise! To see Dan Rather on TV standing by a story based on obvious forgeries – unthinkable. As I posted below, I thought he simply had "Andrew Gilligan Disease" but it’s far more serious than that. He’s involved in an act of commission, a journalistic crime. Every major newspaper in this nation should have an editorial today blasting CBS for their transgression. I doubt if there will be many such editorials, however. Amazing. Maureen Dowd of the New York Times, of course, has a response which is typical, I think. Bush Haters simply can’t take responsibility for this action. No, there’s precious little they will EVER take credit for – just like a spoiled six-year-old. Pathetic.

The first RatherGate Scandal

RatherBiased.com

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Kerry? Insufferable! And people are seriously going to vote for this guy as Commander-in-Chief?

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Boy, One Florida sure has devastated (not) minority enrollment at our public universities!

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September 14, 2004

Now that the Dallas Morning News has published the information about the Texas Air National Guard secretary admitting the documents are fakes but affirming that they reflect the spirit of the office, we now know what Ra^therGate is all about and what it exhibits. As explained in Britain’s Hutton Report, it is what I call "Andrew Gilligan Disease" – for verification, please review this discussion from Australia’s The Media Report

Sally Begbie: The Hutton Inquiry and the Butler Report have both found that Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, did not deliberately lie to his people over the reasons for going to war. Andrew Gilligan maintains that he got the spirit of his story right. His story was not that there was a problem between the intelligence services and the Prime Minister, his story was that the Prime Minister lied and deliberately did so over the reasons why he took his country to war. There’s a real slippage between what’s become general public knowledge and acceptance about what the Gilligan story was, and what it actually was.

Mick O’Regan: And in your analysis, a professional body monitoring the standards within the industry would prevent that slippage?

Sally Begbie: I’m saying that the public has a right to a professional body which will protect the facts that journalists produce for the public. What the Gilligan story is an example of is that because I’ve got the spirit of the story right, then the story is right. The fact that Gilligan used the words ‘sexed up’ is a word like ‘fabrication’, the Hindmarsh Island story in Australia years ago. ‘Sexed up’ and ‘fabrication’ became symbols, if you like, of lying, they became symbols of the spirit, the spirit of a story being correct, when in fact the spirit was not correct and was used to create a truth, which stood in the face of the facts.

And I’m saying that journalism is about the facts [ ], and that journalists have to be held accountable for the facts that they produce and circulate in the public domain, that the public actually receives. It’s all very well to talk about the spirit of a story, but you might as well be reporting gossip. Journalists are not gossip-makers, they are supposed to be reporters who are accurate and impartial.

This is clearly the sin Dan Rather has committed, is it not? Does he expect us to have sympathy for the “spirit” or “greater good” or “higher truth” his forgeries represent? Fire this man. Fire him now.

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South Africa will get the largest share of U.S. Agency for International Development money this fiscal year. Here is the agency’s Overview of USAID's Strategy in South Africa.

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The big game this week is Florida vs Tennessee: Go Gators!

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At normblog, Norm Geras does an interesting job analyzing the future likelihood or viability of Marxist utopia models

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Jonah Goldberg with a good point about CBS’ reluctance to admit to the forgery AND THEN name the source of the documents. As someone who has always been fascinated by the media and very much wanted to be involved (it is my first and most dominant passion) I must admit that I have been transfixed by this evolving story. I feel as though I am in the middle of a revolution that the country as a whole is oblivious to and African Americans are COMPLETELY missing. That said, don’t miss Jonah's take on what Ra^therGate means.

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The definitive technical essay on Ra^therGate.

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A British overview of Ra^therGate; if you select that link and read all the way through the overview, keep reading the next entry on supposed racism in the British educational system. Very curious stuff.

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September 13, 2004

David Warren on the third anniversary of 9/11:

To me, the attack was not entirely surprising; I'd been waiting for it since the Jihadis' first attempt to knock down the World Trade Centre in 1993. But to most others, it was something that made no sense at all. That, in a line, is why I've felt an obligation to write, continuously, on this subject. Not because I know a great deal, but because I am aware that others know even less. I have tried to explain, in something like half a million words, the nature of an assault on the West, that was gathering while we slept, and is still imperfectly apprehended.

The Western world, in its post-Christian decadence, still does not comprehend the fire that burns in the souls of our adversaries. In the savage but not entirely unfair estimate of an Iranian correspondent, whose own life is in constant peril: "You were scared. But now you have eaten, and you have copulated, and you want to go back to sleep."

I agree, that tendency is out there. But resolute Americans are not going to allow that to happen. As an indication of that spirit, check out this fantastic, and Godfather-inspired, imaginary movie script “Today I Settle All Family Business” featuring world figures of today. Very funny

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Here’s a funny Eye Test from normblog:

Eye test

A Polish immigrant goes to apply for a driver's license. He has to take an eye sight test.

The optician shows him a card with the letters

'C Z W I X N O S T A C Z'.

'Can you read this?' the optician asks.

'Read it?' he replies, 'I know the guy.'

(Hat tip: Noam Pines.)

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O.K., I’ve gorged myself on football, football, football this weekend and here are my thoughts. My Gators win and looked good. Ciatrick Fason is the real deal. O.J. Small is super steady, Chad Jackson staked his claim, and Dallas Baker may never be as good as I hoped he would be. He clearly is not the equal of Fred Gibson at Georgia. After watching quarterbacks all weekend it is more and more clear to me that Chris Leak is PHENOMENAL! As for the Defense, I loved what I saw – dropped interceptions and all. Kudos to the Eastern Michigan coaching staff. They clearly did a good job planning to throw the Gators a curve ball. But then our defensive staff made adjustments and that was all she wrote.

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While Troy University in Alabama and Florida Atlantic University in Palm Beach County have recently demonstrated to FAMU how a sports-related move to Division I-A can be successfully accomplished, add Florida International University to the list. Meanwhile, FAMU continues to flounder.

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Canes-Noles Classic; Chris Rix is doomed. These people up here hate him. I thought State had the better team and I absolutely loved Cromartie on defense – wow! It seemed to me that the Canes neutralized the destructive power of Ernie Sims at linebacker. Antrel Rolle and Frank Gore were superb, Brock Berlin was not. Seems like this Miami team has the same strengths and weaknesses as they did last year.

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Yes, the Jaguars win a thriller! But Del Rio, take the clamps off of Leftwich would you please?

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I am so glad Steve the Magnificent is no longer coaching the team I love to hate and am disappointed the Bucs lost to those damn Skins. But, the Bucs D represented well and the Skins showed some serious holes so I can deal with that.

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I refuse to comment or link to anything about the Miami Dolphins at present.

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September 10, 2004

Hugh Hewitt has some timely thoughts on the eve of 9/11 and Thomas P.M. Barnett of the Naval War College has a good overview of how we are likely to move forward in our prosecution of preemptive warfare in the 21^st Century.

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What a strange beginning to the High Holy Days of college football season in the Sunshine State. One Gator game has been postponed, and the Noles/Canes matchup takes place tonight with everyone STILL fixated on real Hurricanes. Oh well, here’s to a great game tonight and an impressive Gator victory tomorrow.

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September 9, 2004

The Diplomad, a collection of unconventional folks in the State Department, has some required reading with respect to the War on Terror, and provocatively asks what apparently must be asked – whether the Constitution will be allowed to be reduced to a suicide pact:

What do we do when faced with organizations that don't believe in any of this? What do we do with organizations motivated by hatred precisely for those freedoms and the practice of tolerance? During the Cold War we faced such a foe, Soviet Communism; we adopted common sense measures at home to limit the ability of Communists to undermine our nation and way of life. Communists, for example, could not hold certain jobs in government or academia; they were denied security clearances; the CPUSA was treated as the agent of a hostile foreign power and was subject to penetration and surveillance by the FBI. Foreign Communists were ineligible for visas to the US or for citizenship. An infringement on the freedom of Communists? Yes. But given what we now all should know about the extent of Soviet espionage against the USA and the role that the CPUSA played in efforts to undermine America, those measures seem eminently reasonable. We have had similar restrictions on Fascists, Nazis, and KKK members. All justifiable.

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Via Logic and Sanity comes word that:

Uri Baluevski (Russian minister of defense?) has stated that Russia reserves the right to conduct pre emptive strikes on terrorists camps in any part of the world. Nuclear weapons will not be used, he said.

FSB will pay out 300 million roubles (slightly over $10 million) for accurate infortmation regarding the where abouts of Shamil Basayev and Aslan Maskhadov.

Russian Children to Israel for medical care

So, Russia is about to mimic the United States approach to the Global War on Terror AND is about to openly work with, accept assistance from, the Israelis. Yet the Left Wing in this country continues to, as Christopher Hitchens says, “metastasize” into reactionary puppets:

Another small but interesting development has occurred among my former comrades at The Nation magazine. In its "GOP Convention Issue" dated Sept. 13, the editors decided to run a piece by Naomi Klein titled "Bring Najaf to New York." If you think this sounds suspiciously like an endorsement of Muqtada Sadr and his black-masked clerical bandits, you are not mistaken. The article, indeed, went somewhat further, and lower, than the headline did. Ms. Klein is known as a salient figure in the so-called antiglobalization movement, and for a book proclaiming her hostility to logos and other forms of oppression: She's not marginal to what remains of the left. Her nasty, stupid article has evoked two excellent blog responses from two pillars of the Nation family: Marc Cooper in Los Angeles and Doug Ireland in New York. What gives, they want to know, with a supposed socialist-feminist offering swooning support to theocratic fascists? It's a good question, and I understand that it's ignited quite a debate among the magazine's staff and periphery.

At long last, has the necessary internal shaming within Left Wing circles begun? I’m not betting on it.

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September 8, 2004

Now that President Bush has committed to the development of an Ownership Society – yes, I am patting myself on the back for my two earlier columns on “ownership.” First up, on June 9, 2004 was “Claiming Ownership” and next, on June 16, 2004 was “Owning Your Citizenship.” For African Americans, before we can really participate in the President’s Ownership Society, we must first come to terms with claiming ownership in, and of, this country. And that isn’t something white people control.

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Michael Novak, like many Democrats, is wondering what the hell happened to his party and thanking almighty God that Zell Miller gave voice to the voiceless who either once did or still do love that party – but can’t stand their surrender monkey mentality.

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David Warren on the true meaning of Labor Day.

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Ginny, at the ChicagoBoyz website, has some great discussion on evolutionary psychology, literature, narrative and storytelling in the modern world.

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For news from around the African Continent:

Continental News

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September 5, 2004

Florida Emergency Operations Center – Hurricane Frances report page:

Florida EOC --Hurricane Frances

The damn thing is going to get out into the gulf and come quite close to all of us here in Tallahassee. With all of our big Pine Trees . . .

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Another sign of progress in the universe; Republicans in the State Department fight back in one of the few avenues available to them. This parody of the 9/11 Commission Report is searing, searing, I tell you.

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If you aren’t reading Wretchard the Cat at Belmont Club you’re missing one of the most consistently good and relevant bloggers online.

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September 4, 2004

David Adesnik of OxBlog is clueless when it comes to Zell Miller. Absolutely, positively clueless. In a very European kind of way. Come to think of it, Robert Tagorda missed the boat, too. That IvyLeague/Oxbridge thing, I guess. To have missed the fact that this is not a time where Americans are overly concerned about being “sensitive” says that both lack a fundamental understanding of America. Zell Miller wasn’t simply adequate or good. And he wasn’t over the top. He was fantastic, resolute, and American in the fashion that most Americans appreciate.

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Norm Geras mourns the dead children of Beslan with the poems posted below. And he comments here on the Enemies of All Mankind.

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Children of Beslan

I post, today, two poems by Nelly Sachs.

A Dead Child Speaks

My mother held me by my hand.
Then someone raised the knife of parting:
So that it should not strike me,
My mother loosed her hand from mine.
But she lightly touched my thighs once more
And her hand was bleeding -

After that the knife of parting
Cut in two each bite I swallowed -
It rose before me with the sun at dawn
And began to sharpen itself in my eyes -
Wind and water ground in my ear
And every voice of comfort pierced my heart -

As I was led to death
I still felt in the last moment
The unsheathing of the great knife of parting.

From O The Night of the Weeping Children

O the night of the weeping children!
O the night of the children branded for death!
Sleep may not enter here.
Terrible nursemaids
Have usurped the place of mothers,
Have tautened their tendons with the false death,
Sow it on to the walls and into the beams -
Everywhere it is hatched in the nests of horror.
Instead of mother's milk, panic suckles those little ones.

These people have to be defeated. Completely.

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September 3, 2004

I think I agree with Dick Morris; we’ve just witnessed history. President Bush surely isn’t the most gifted orator. But he has a clear understanding of the challenge, the mission in meeting that challenge, and the way forward.

He combined dignity and simplicity. His style reminded one of FDR's Fireside Chats, explaining policies in a philosophical context. He pulled his litany of programs together, labeling them an "ownership society." He explained his education agenda with a wisdom and insight that experts in the field and parents alike must find compelling. And he explained to each of us what the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are about.

Misunderestimated once again. And while you’re considering that, check out the Opinion page of the New York Post – interesting reading, much of it centered on the conclusion of the Republican convention.

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I think this discussion from Red State, Shaming the Democrats, hints at a great subtle dig that Bush got in but misses the full extent of the subtlety:

Bush distinguished himself from John Kerry. During the Democratic National Convention, the opposing ticket danced around the concept of a democratic Iraq. It failed to make a clear commitment to long-term democratization. It stopped short of presenting a grand strategy.

By contrast, Bush held himself to a high standard. He sought to carry out not only his national-security agenda but also the spirit of Truman. Implicitly, he presented a damning message: since Kerry rejected the Democratic tradition of spreading American values, he will bear the torch

But think about ole Harry Truman – wasn’t he another American President often-times misunderestimated, too?

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President Bush has blown away all expectations and opened up a 52-41 lead among likely voters. Blowout City is just ahead on the horizon.

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September 2, 2004

Zell Miller's speech was so good the Democrats can do nothing but bitch about it being too hot and over the top. Oh yeah, it was hot. So hot it smoked the hell out of John Kerry. Michelle Malkin highlighted this part of the speech and I agree, it’s fantastic:

What has happened to the party I've spent my life working in?

I can remember when Democrats believed that it was the duty of America to fight for freedom over tyranny.

It was Democratic President Harry Truman who pushed the Red Army out of Iran, who came to the aid of Greece when Communists threatened to overthrow it, who stared down the Soviet blockade of West Berlin by flying in supplies and saving the city.

Time after time in our history, in the face of great danger, Democrats and Republicans worked together to ensure that freedom would not falter. But not today.

Motivated more by partisan politics than by national security, today's Democratic leaders see America as an occupier, not a liberator.

And nothing makes this Marine madder than someone calling American troops occupiers rather than liberators.

Tell that to the one-half of Europe that was freed because Franklin Roosevelt led an army of liberators, not occupiers.

Tell that to the lower half of the Korean Peninsula that is free because Dwight Eisenhower commanded an army of liberators, not occupiers.

Tell that to the half a billion men, women and children who are free today from the Baltics to the Crimea, from Poland to Siberia, because Ronald Reagan (news - web sites) rebuilt a military of liberators, not occupiers.

Never in the history of the world has any soldier sacrificed more for the freedom and liberty of total strangers than the American soldier. And, our soldiers don't just give freedom abroad, they preserve it for us here at home.

For it has been said so truthfully that it is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the soldier, not the agitator, who has given us the freedom to protest.

It is the soldier who salutes the flag, serves beneath the flag, whose coffin is draped by the flag, who gives that protester the freedom to abuse and burn that flag.

No one should dare to even think about being the Commander in Chief of this country if he doesn't believe with all his heart that our soldiers are liberators abroad and defenders of freedom at home...

Did you say bring it on, John Kerry? Zell Miller brought it, and then some!

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Michael Barone gets it right:

As he said in Madison Square Garden, “Motivated more by partisan politics than by national security, today's Democratic leaders see America as an occupier, not a liberator. And nothing makes this Marine madder than someone calling American troops occupiers rather than liberators.” No better friend, no worse enemy.

From there he launched into a harsh attack on today’s Democrats—an attack so harsh that the partisan anti-Republican press would have denounced had it been made by a Republican. “In their warped way of thinking,” he said, “America is not the solution, but the problem”—an echo of former Democrat Jeane Kirkpatrick’s riff in San Francisco 20 years ago that Democrats “always blame America first.” “They claimed Carter’s pacifism would lead to peace. They were wrong. They claimed that Reagan’s defense buildup would lead to war. They were wrong.” Points well taken by the Republican audience. Points that would have come naturally to Andrew Jackson, the founder of the Democratic party.

Miller then followed with a listing of “all the weapons systems that Senator Kerry tried his best to shut down”—and the way that those weapons systems were used in Afghanistan and Iraq—the B-1 bomber, the B-2 bomber, the F-14A Tomcat, the modernized F-14D, the Apache helicopter, the F-15 Eagle, the Patriot missile, the Aegis air defense cruiser, the Strategic Defense Initiative, the Trident missile—“against, against, against.” “This is the man who wants to be Commander in Chief of our U.S. Armed Forces?” Miller continued. “U.S. Armed Forces armed with what? Spitballs?”

Damn right.

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Check out Steve Sailer, quoting James Fallows:

There is no evidence that the President and those closest to him ever talked systematically about the "opportunity costs" and tradeoffs in their decision to invade Iraq. No one has pointed to a meeting, a memo, a full set of discussions, about what America would gain and lose....

You know, here’s the foreign policy problem for the Democrats: they are a group that would completely ignore the near-certainty that Russia, France, and Germany nearly pulled off a coup via the U.N. Oil-for-Food program that would have introduced, via Saddam Hussein, incredible World instability far beyond that which has occurred through our War in Iraq.

Look no further than the Russia-Chechnya issue. Russia has clearly underestimated its enemy. Do these idiots in the Democratic Party not comprehend what is happening when European nihilism intersects with Islamic fundamentalism -- barbarians holding children hostage? Without blinking an eye?. Is Fallows stupid enough to believe that such activities would not have happened had America not invaded Iraq? Does he not see how close they were to taking over Pakistan? Is he so racist that he still can't see how comprehensive the Islamo-fascist strategy is? How well thought out?

People in America need to start asking this counterfactual question -- what would have happened if Al Gore was President when 9/11 occurred? And whatever action he would have preferred, based on what we've now seen from the European triumvirate (France, Russia, Germany) that would be a Kings Court, wouldn't that have played directly into the hands of the Islamic fundamentalists? And made their plan all the more brilliant?

Unfortunately, the Democratic Party and people like James Fallows are willingly blind and I pay less and less attention to them.

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State Roundup on the Elections and Frances, etc.

St. Pete Times

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September 1, 2004

Florida Roundup after the elections:

St. Pete Times

Please take note of this story

Touch Screens Work

Like I said, the touch screen story was bogus all along. As for the November election, Mel Martinez versus Betty Castor will be the focus here – I think Betty Castor is toast.

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