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Daily Dish

Seriously? The Washington Times reports

On Tuesday, [House Minority Leader] Mrs. Pelosi and three other top Democrats called for a commission to investigate reported abuses of detainees from the war on terror. Mrs. Pelosi said it is past time that the administration established a policy on determining the fates of the detainees at U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, arguing that most are from Afghanistan and that the conflict there has ended.

"I assume that the war in Afghanistan is over, or is the contention that you have that it continues?" she said to a reporter.

A few moments later, she said: "This isn't about the duration of the war. The war in Afghanistan is over."

Meanwhile, the Washington Post and Knight Ridder bring us this story

U.S. and Afghan forces fought a fierce, 11-hour battle Tuesday against about 100 Taliban militiamen in the mountains of southern Afghanistan, killing at least 60 rebels and capturing eight in some of the most intense combat since the Taliban government was ousted in 2001, Afghan and U.S. officials said yesterday.

Five U.S. soldiers and two Afghan policemen were injured in the clash and at least five Afghan policemen were killed, according to U.S. and Afghan officials.

U.S. and British warplanes repeatedly bombarded Taliban positions in the battle area near the remote town of Sheykhan in Zabul province. It was the latest in a series of increasingly deadly clashes between pro-government and Taliban forces in the period leading up to parliamentary elections set for September.

The latest fight offered fresh evidence of the Taliban's resilience 3-½ years after the extremist Islamic militia was forced from power by a U.S.-led bombing campaign. Although Taliban forces have been unable to hold territory against U.S. forces and have repeatedly suffered heavy casualties, they have continued to move through the south and east in units of 20 or more, firing light machine guns and grenade launchers during several pitched battles.

Both stories, I might add, appeared in today's edition. And both events occurred on Tuesday.

Ms. Pelosi is the top Democrat in the House.

Mr. Durbin is the number two Democrat in the Senate.

Mr Reid, the number one Democrat in the Senate calls any criticism of the unseriousness demonstrated on his side of the isle a "the noise machine of the far right" and "a distraction by the White House."

Yet it is these people who want Americans to trust it with our national security. But how is that possible when you have the top Democrat in the House believing the war in Afghanistan is over, you have the number two Democrat Senator calling American soldiers Nazi guards and Gulag prison-masters and the number one Democrat defending him?

Especially when you have the whole range of those on the left calling "Quran" abuse torture?

So when Karl Rove points out that

liberals responded to the Sept. 11 terrorist strikes by wanting to "prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers."

He's just stating the obvious.

The worst of this is that there are things that do need to be focused on, and there are criticisms that are valid: like border security. The Republicans, and certainly the White House, has been terribly neglectful of this.

So why is it that Democrats choose to focus their attention and energy on delusion and hyperbole instead of pointing out real weaknesses and offering solutions?

Because they are not serious and can not be taken seriously.

Working on funny Germans need to loosen up. At least that's the assessment of entrepreneur-therapist Susanne Maier who has started a school to teach Germans how to be funny and spontaneous.

To ward off any collective despair-fueled illness (which some might say has already struck), Maier has opened Berlin's first school to actually teach Germans to laugh, since the jolly gene for that appears to have mutated out of the general population....

In the school in a northern district of the capital, participants do very un-German things. They run around the classroom without any purpose; they clap their hands, saying ho-ho-ho and ha-ha-ha; and they actually look each other in the eye, something few sane people would attempt on Berlin's own mean streets.

"Fake it until you make it," is Maier's motto and her students of laughter have to pretend to crack up until the real thing comes along.

Now it seems to be that this just adds to the stereotype that Germans need training in things that comes naturally to most people (well most people excluding the French). On the other hand, some stereotypes exist for a reason.

"If Germans can only learn to laugh through a kind of formal methodology, we'll go ahead and use it," she said.

There's a good chance Maier will be successful: After all, following orders -- unlike laughing -- isn't something Germans seem to have a problem with.

This is almost as odd as the idea of an entrepreneur in Germany.

We're Surrounded! Both the Left and the Right have raised my ire today. First:

Mark this day because it is not too often that you will ever find me agreeing with Democrat Representative John Conyers, but today is one of those days. In response to House Republicans passing an Amendment that makes the burning of the US flag illegal under the Constitution he said

"This amendment elevates a symbol of freedom over freedom itself."

Which is precisely the case. Making flag desecration a crime punishable by prosecution would be as bad as Muslim killing people for Quran desecration. Just as the Quran is not the religion, the flag is not America.

When I took my oath upon joining the US Air Force, I vowed to defend the Constitution, not the flag. And part of that Constitution is the guarantee the expression of political speech. And if some moron wants to burn the flag to express political speech, that person should not suffer prosecution. Scorn and derision maybe, but not prosecution.

Happily, the House does not get to change the Constitution. Congress doesn't even get to change the Constitution. We are the only ones who get to change the Constitution and it will not be changed in this fashion.

But is annoying that there was even an attempt by the party that is claims to stand for free speech and Federalism.

And speaking of the Constitution, Justice Kennedy sided with the Liberal side of the Supreme Court today in allowing the state to take away private property rights from people.

Cities may bulldoze people's homes to make way for shopping malls or other private development...

The four-member liberal bloc typically has favored greater deference to cities, which historically have used the takings power for urban renewal projects.

Great. So people work to buy a home and property and because the State decides it needs a new shopping mall, they can condemn your home and bulldoze it into the ground.

"The specter of condemnation hangs over all property," O'Connor wrote. "Nothing is to prevent the state from replacing any Motel 6 with a Ritz-Carlton, any home with a shopping mall, or any farm with a factory."

For all of you Liberals out there just remember, this is what you're voting for. More, bigger, hungrier and badder government. And it's not like this was given to a "public" works project, in essence these individuals lost their homes to other individuals.

The more Left you go on the spectrum, the fewer property rights you are voting for until finally, you get none.

And finally, while this story is about a Republican, greed has no political party. Representative Duke Cunningham is admitting he used "poor judgment" when he sold his home for almost twice what it was worth to a defense contractor who subsequently got more government contracts.

"At the time of the sale, I failed to adequately consider how this transaction might be perceived by others who don't know me," wrote Cunningham, a member of the appropriations subcommittee that controls defense contracting dollars. "I would never put the interests of a friend or a contractor above the interests of my country. I trust that the facts will bear out this truth over time."

Yeah, well, not good enough. Just like Senator Durbin's "apology" was not good enough, especially when he then went to live on a boat that very same contractor owned, rent free.

"I ask only that my constituents reserve judgment until any investigation is concluded and I have had the opportunity to defend myself against these false allegations," wrote Cunningham, a much-decorated former Navy fighter pilot in Vietnam who was first elected to Congress in 1990.

Look, I don't care whether or not all of this was legal, it simply isn't right. And if Rep Cunningham can't see that it's wrong, then he doesn't deserve to represent anyone in Congress.

He should resign and do it regardless of the outcome of any investigation or criminal prosecution.

And failing that, voters should fail to re-elect him.

 

Daily Dish

Not Another Vietnam Almost since the day it started, some have attempted to equate the situation in Iraq with Vietnam. But the longer the war goes on, the more evidence there is that this is not the case. First, there is the obvious fact that while the initial combat operations in Iraq were intended to go to the center of the command and control of the enemy force and destroy it and capture it's capital city. This never happened in Vietnam where the North was never invaded and the command and control of the enemy forces was never a target.

But don't take my word for it. What do Vietnam veterans think? Chief Warrant Officers DeWayne Browning and Randy Weatherhead are both Vietnam Veterans, and both are serving in Iraq.

If there are parallels between Iraq and Vietnam, these graying soldiers and the other Vietnam veterans serving here offer a unique perspective. They say they are more optimistic this time: They see a clearer mission than in Vietnam, a more supportive public back home and an Iraqi population that seems to be growing friendlier toward Americans.

"In Vietnam, I don't think the local population ever understood that we were just there to help them," says Chief Warrant Officer James Miles, 57, of Sioux Falls, S.D., who flew UH-1H Hueys in Vietnam from February 1969 to February 1970. And the Vietcong and North Vietnamese were a tougher, more tenacious enemy, he says. Instead of setting off bombs outside the base, they'd be inside.

"I knew we were going to lose Vietnam the day I walked off the plane," says Miles, who returned home this month after nearly a year in Iraq. Not this time. "There's no doubt in my mind that this was the right thing to do," he says.

In Vietnam, the Marines Small Wars Manual and the wisdom it contained was pretty much ignored. In Iraq, it seems to me that it is being utilized; almost to the sentence. One aspect of this is to turn the inevitable "insurgent" factions against each other. And we are possibly seeing the fruits of this.

Late Sunday night, American marines watching the skyline from their second-story perch in an abandoned house here saw a curious thing: in the distance, mortar and gunfire popped, but the volleys did not seem to be aimed at them.

In the dark, one spoke in hushed code words on a radio, and after a minute found the answer.

"Red on red," he said, using a military term for enemy-on-enemy fire.

Marines patrolling this desert region near the Syrian border have for months been seeing a strange new trend in the already complex Iraqi insurgency. Insurgents, they say, have been fighting each other in towns along the Euphrates from Husayba, on the border, to Qaim, farther west. The observations offer a new clue in the hidden world of the insurgency and suggest that there may have been, as American commanders suggest, a split between Islamic militants and local rebels.

We have also seen efforts by the Iraqi government to split off elements of the insurgents by attempting to include some of these in the political process.

Above all, the Small Wars Manual says,

an active and aggressive campaign against the hostile forces in the field is the most effective method of destroying their intelligence service, A guerrilla band which is constantly harassed and driven from place to place soon loses contact with its own sources of information; it becomes confused and its intelligence system breaks down. AS the occupation continues, superiority in this respect will gradually be obtained by the intervening forces.

We see this in Operation Dagger and Operation Spear occurring now.

Of course, the real similarity between Iraq and Vietnam is witnessed in those who are calling for withdrawal, claiming our soldiers are "reminiscent of Genghis Khan" or Nazi's in the most recent case, and the press for whom there is no good news. Ever.

And the constant counting of war dead which, if the truth be told, is the lowest of any war ever in history conducted by anyone. No matter.

But we here in the modern age have parsed out yet another difference; the alternative media brought about by the Internet and blogs. Here we are free to celebrate heroes.

And do

Soldier awarded Silver Star

Kris Gonzalez
Bayonet staff

As day broke, June 3, 2004, in Kufa, Iraq, so too, did the misconception that the Mahdi militiamen were ragtag and disorganized.

Staff Sgt. Robert R. McBride and the Soldiers of Iron Troop, 3rd Squadron, 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment were about to find out this band of Islamist militants was well equipped and more prepared than the coalition forces had ever expected. &

In an effort to safeguard their mortar position, the Shiite combatants used everything from small arms fire to rocket propelled grenades and mortars to attack the American forces as they moved in on their stronghold.

But by midday, McBride would help his troops annihilate the enemy, seize a cache of weapons and earn the Silver Star.

Read the whole story here.

You won't read this in China Recovering CNN Journalist Rebecca MacKinnon has confirmed that no typepad Blog can be accessed in China. They have all been blocked by the government. This following the blockade of Blogger Blogs. But that's not the worst of it.

According to Rebecca, the Chinese Government's dam in the flow of information was aided and abetted by Cisco Systems. She quotes an article by Reporters Without Borders

The architecture of the Chinese Internet was designed from the outset to allow information control. There are just five backbones or hubs through which all traffic must pass. No matter what ISP is chosen by Internet users, their e-mails and the files they download and send must pass through one of these hubs.

China then acquired state-of-the-art technology and equipment from US companies. Cisco Systems has sold China several thousand routers at more that 16,000 euros each for use in building the regime's surveillance infrastructure. This equipment was programmed with the help of Cisco engineers. It allows the authorities to read data transmitted on the Internet and to spot "subversive" key words. The police are able to identify who visits banned sites and who sends "dangerous" e-mail messages.

Dangerous emails.

The Internet is subversive.

Iran has been jailing bloggers and China jails internet users

With a total of 61 Internet users in detention at the start of May 2004, China is the world's biggest prison for cyber-dissidents.

Given all of this, you have to wonder; in the supposed Fascist America of the Bush Administration how it is that Kos manages to stay out of the hooscow?

Daily Dish

Funky USA Today has released a poll in which the American public is characterized as being in a funk. Are you in a funk? I'm not in a funk. Why does USA Today think we're in a funk? We don't know. What we do know is that they found someone to say that the results of the poll indicate that Americans are in fact in a funk. Which is not to say we're feeling funky, which would be something entirely different, yet more in line with the way I personally feel.

"On one hand, we have been lulled by the fact that there hasn't been an attack here since 2001," says Stephen Wayne, a political scientist at Georgetown University. "But on the other, we're generally in a funk about a lot of things — the economy and the war — and these numbers reflect it."

Despite this, the individuals being polled were not asked about the economy. In fact they weren't asked about "a lot of things" either. They were, however asked about the war and terrorism.

And what we learn is that

Fewer Americans fear a terrorist attack on the USA in the next several weeks than at any time since 9/11

Yes, but not significantly differently from last year.

Overall, 35% say another attack is likely soon, down from 39% in January

But up from the 34% who thought another attack was likely last August and the 30% who thought it was likely two years ago.

And I really like this next part

The public has lost confidence in the Bush administration's ability to protect the nation from terrorist attacks, the poll shows, but 61% are still confident it can.

Um, 61% of Americans are confident the Bush Administration can protect them from another terrorist attack, yet USA Today says America has lost confidence? Well, if you look at the numbers, it is true that fewer people are confident, but since most (65%) don't think it's likely to happen anyway, I guess it doesn't matter. I wonder what the response would have been if Gallup had asked if they had confidence that Democrats could protect them from future attacks. Senator Durbin. John Kerry.

Too bad they didn't ask, huh?

Anyway, I just don't get the funk remark. What is it about this poll that made this PoliSci Prof think we're in a funk (but not funky)?

It is true that the poll does reflect the new mantra that Americans are losing patience with the war in Iraq.

Thirty-nine percent of Americans, mostly Republicans, now say they favor the war in Iraq, down from a high of 72% in April 2003, the day after the statue of Saddam was pulled down in Baghdad.

But again, no one is asked about the consequences of abandoning Iraq and whether or not they think the consequences of that would be a good thing. I'd really like to see one poll that asked questions related to this. But I don't think most people are in a funk about Iraq. At least I don't know anyone who walks around feeling down because of Iraq. In fact, while it is a "thing" that's "out there", most people don't think much about it at all.

And I suspect that's a bigger problem then people being in a funk.

The biggest strategic problem America faces in the war against Terrorism is impatience. Of course without the press harping on it everyday, no one minded that we are still today in Germany. And remember when President Clinton told us we would be out of Bosnia in a year? News flash: We're still there. And strategically, the enemy knows very well that if they can just keep doing what they're doing long enough, and kill enough US Soldiers, the US will cave.

Sure, it was a whole lot easier to do when Clinton was President. But Bush will not be President forever, they know, and if they can just make it through his Presidency, who knows? Maybe they can eek out a victory after losing every battle.

Interestingly, despite everything

Fifty-eight percent say the United States should continue to operate the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and 52% approve of the way the United States is treating prisoners there.

Perhaps one reason why people feel safer with regards to a terrorist attack at home is because these folks are at Gitmo and not anywhere else. Someone tell Sen Durbin and Amnesty International. And 61% of Independents and 38% of the Democrats who responded approve of squirreling away terrorists at Gitmo.

I also found the "mostly Republican" remark interesting because according to the Gallup data, 40% of the Independents and 14% of Democrats who responded approve of the war in Iraq.

Anyway, if Americans are in fact in a funk, it;s more likely because they, and their sons and daughters, have been accused of being Nazi's and Stalinists by prominent politicians.

But more likely, they're just angry.

Sound of Silence Well it seems that the trips taken by Rep Tom DeLay, you know the ones that have Democrats in a tizzy, were approved by the House ethics committee. At least that's what's being claimed by the firm at the center of the controversy Preston Gates & Ellis (I wonder if that's Preston and Ellis Gates or if Ellis is just a name, like Madonna). And they say, they have proof.

Internal memorandums and e-mail messages from the Seattle firm, Preston Gates & Ellis, say that the firm contacted two lawyers on the House ethics committee in 1996, when it began organizing trips, and was told House rules allowed lobbyists to pay for a lawmaker's travel, as long as a client reimbursed the firm.

The memorandums and e-mail messages report that the ethics committee specifically addressed trips that the firm's chief lobbyist, Jack Abramoff, arranged for DeLay and other lawmakers to the Northern Mariana Islands, an American commonwealth in the Pacific that was among Abramoff's clients.

In 1997, a year after the firm's contact with the ethics committee, Abramoff arranged trips for DeLay to the Marianas and to Russia.

Rep DeLay, expectedly responded with "I told you so."

A while ago Republicans made concessions to Democrats that would allow Rep DeLay's situation to come before the ethics committee at the request of DeLay himself. But things did not proceed because Rep DeLay is tired of being a whipping boy and demanded that there be a broad based investigation into members who supposedly "broken" the very same rules of which Delay stands accused. Well, the mere suggestion brought things to a screeching halt.

DeLay's emerging strategy, other advisers said, is to argue that the ethics panel should not focus on him alone, but should conduct a broad investigation of members' compliance with travel rules, including the many Democrats who did not file required disclosure forms.

Democrats are hoping to gain political advantage from investigations into DeLay's activities and overseas travel and his ties to lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Yet, many Democratic lawmakers also benefited from Abramoff's political operations or took overseas trips that are now attracting media attention.

Certainly the allegations against Rep Delay are just that, while those against House Minority Leader Pelosi are more, um, substantial

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has resolved a number of allegations concerning contributions made and received by two affiliated committees, PAC to the Future and Team Majority, leadership PACs that are associated with Representative Nancy Pelosi (D ? CA). The FEC has entered into conciliation agreements with PAC to the Future and Team Majority, and & three campaigns that were recipients of excessive contributions.

I note that for the longest time you couldn't go a day without hearing the name of Tom DeLay from the mouths of various Democratic operatives. But once Republicans called the bluff and cleared the way for the hearings to convene, what do you hear?

Silence.

 

 

 

Daily Dish

Domino The elections in Lebanon are finally over, and by all accounts, the anti-Syrians won.

The victory means there will be a parliamentary majority opposed to Syrian influence in Lebanon for the first time since the 1975-1990 civil war.

"Final results show that we are ahead and show that the people have voted for change," Mr Hariri told Reuters. "It was not possible that after the martyrdom of Rafik al-Hariri [and] the withdrawal of Syria that nothing would change."

But it is not so much that Syrian influence was rejected as much as it was that the elections legitimately reflected the will of the people.

For all the shortcomings surrounding this election, the Parliament that it returns will have a good deal more legitimacy than its recent predecessors. And while there are many more steps to be taken before Lebanon can truly call itself a democracy, we have at least moved in the right direction over the last nine months.

Meanwhile in Syria, political forces opposed to the dictatorial regime there are watching.

Syrian opposition leaders are watching with a mixture of jealousy and despair as voters in other Arab countries cast ballots in elections hailed as the slow march of democracy throughout the Middle East.

Initially hopeful that reforms in Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt and the Palestinian territories would lead to an opening in Syria, opposition figures say it now appears change will again pass them by.

The Baath Party regime led by President Bashar al-Assad is adapting just enough to survive under intense international scrutiny, Syrian dissidents said in recent interviews. The change is not nearly enough to make a real difference in the lives of a population now in its fourth decade of authoritarian rule.

"The whole region is changing, and we're being left behind," lamented Bisan Bouni, a human-rights advocate whose father, a member of the Communist Party, was imprisoned for most of her life. "We were optimistic at first, but not anymore. It's clear we're just going to be even more isolated."

Syria is deemed the last rogue Arab state, the refuge of anti-American extremist groups and the recipient of mounting threats from the United States and Israel.

The last rogue Arab state: because Iranians are Persian. But Syria and Iran are linked rogue states even if one is predominantly Sunni and the other Shi'a. But make no mistake, Iran is calling the shots in this relationship, Syria's Assad is the bitch in more ways than one.

Money and weapons were transported by air from Iran to Syria and then over the border to the terrorist camps in the Bekka Valley. There is no reason to think this will end anytime soon. It will be a while before Lebanon can get aggressive in patrolling that border. And there is little doubt that Iran aids the insurgency in Iraq which is staged from Syria.

But Syria must tread lightly lest what happened in Lebanon happens to them

Syrian Authorities have arrested 60 Kurds during a demonstration in northern Syria protesting the death of a prominent Kurdish cleric, and some of the detainees were tortured, two Kurdish parties claimed. The protest was held June 5 in the mainly Kurdish city of Qamishli, four days after the body of Kurdish Islamic scholar Mohammad Mashouk al-Khaznawi was found in a hospital morgue.

The demonstrators denounced the death and protested what they call the government's persecution of Syria's Kurds, the Yekiti Kurdish Party and the Azadi Kurdish Party said in a statement.

You never know what will spark a popular revolt...

Not that that would be a bad thing.

To the extent that successful democracies, with successful growing economies, arise in the region is ultimately the yardstick by which history will judge President Bush's policy in Iraq.

In the now immortal words of former anti-American, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt

"It's strange for me to say it, but this process of change has started because of the American invasion of Iraq," explains Jumblatt. "I was cynical about Iraq. But when I saw the Iraqi people voting three weeks ago, 8 million of them, it was the start of a new Arab world." Jumblatt says this spark of democratic revolt is spreading. "The Syrian people, the Egyptian people, all say that something is changing. The Berlin Wall has fallen. We can see it."

If Bush Mideast gambit succeeds, and the dominoes fall, he will have changed the world.

"Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly," John F. Kennedy was once quoted as saying.

Democrats used to believe in words like that. And the fact that they do so no longer explains the neo-Con phenomena more than anything else.

Subversion The headline repeated in the major news outlets is Under Fire, Bush Defends Policies in Iraq and the jist of the assault goes like this

With more than 1,700 U.S. troops dead in Iraq, voters in the U.S. have grown uneasy with Bush's policies, according to public polls. Some in Congress are pushing for a date certain when troops would begin withdrawing.

This story written by the AP is everywhere replete with caricatures like

Overseas, the U.S. image has been tarnished by allegations of prisoner abuse in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where suspected terrorists are being detained. Bush challenged critics, even invited journalists to the detention facilities.

But the fact of the matter is this, no amount of political pressure will force Bush to withdraw before the job in Iraq is done. It's as simple as that. He does not stand for re-election in 2008 and as far as he is concerned, the voters told him in November to see it through.

The Nation has a piece entitled Is The End In Sight? which says in part

Every day brings news of more Democrats coming forward, standing up and introducing "exit strategy" resolutions. (Though, as of yet, leadership isn't coming from the leadership.) Lynn Woolsey forced a Congressional vote on bipartisan legislation that would have asked Bush to submit a plan to Congress explaining the outlines of an exit strategy from Iraq. Senator Russell Feingold has introduced a nonbinding resolution calling on the Bush Administration to set specific goals for leaving Iraq.

But the fact is, this is all posturing. Why are they asking for the President to submit an "exit strategy"? If they really think it's a bad thing to stay in Iraq, then Congress has the power to force an exit strategy upon the White House.

Congress gave the President the authority to go to Iraq and they can take that authority away. The fact that none of the Democrats have suggested that is because every thinking individual knows that such a thing would doom the situation to failure.

And Democrats do not want to be the ones responsible for another post-Vietnam malaise.

But they wouldn't mind if Bush and the Republicans were.

Make no mistake, while there are some who are truly opposed to the war, perhaps any war, but certainly an idealistic expeditionary war with uncertain outcomes, there are many who are simply trying to subvert the President's foreign policy. And this includes members in foreign countries.

They may even know that succeeding in Iraq would be a huge accomplishment that would benefit everyone all over the world. And they may even know that there is a much greater chance for success if we as a nation spoke with a single, optimistic voice.

Yet still they subvert.

Because to some of these people, a success for the opposition is failure for them.

And if that's not petty and small, then I don't know what is.

Fake but true...Again? Michael Isikoff, writing for Newsweek again uses unnamed sources to lob an attack against Bush and his Administration.

Two senior British government officials today acknowledged as authentic a series of 2002 pre-Iraq war memos stating that Saddam Hussein's nuclear weapons program was "effectively frozen" and that there was "no recent evidence" of Iraqi ties to international terrorism—private conclusions that contradicted two key pillars of the Bush administration's  public case for the invasion in March 2003.

Of course he is referring to the new cause celebre among Democrats; the Downing Street Memos. But it turns out, that like the CBS document purporting to show that the President was AWOL for his National Guard service, there are no originals. They have been destroyed. All that remains are copies. And they are not even exact copies, they are "copies" that were retyped by the reporter.

With Times of London reporter Michael Smith admitting the memos he used in his stories are not originals, but copies he retyped, the controversy seems to be reaching a fever pitch.

"Until tonight ... no one questioned the authenticity of the documents provided by the Times of London," said CaptainsQuartersBlog, one of the sites behind the Rather scandal. "That has now changed, as Times reporter Michael Smith admitted that the memos he used are not originals, but retyped copies.

(Ed original post is here.)

So the reporter had the originals which would prove the documents authentic, but instead he retyped them then destroyed them. Huh. Why?

Smith told the Associated Press he protected the identity of the source he had obtained the documents from by typing copies of them on plain paper and destroying the originals. The AP showed the documents to an unnamed senior British official who said they "appeared authentic."

Oh. Of course. Perfectly natural.

Unfortunately we only have his word for this.

Oh, and Mr Isikoff's two (count 'em; two!) unnamed sources who claim they're true.

If all of this sounds familiar, well, that would be because it is familiar. All that need to happen to complete the trifecta is for someone to claim that the documents may be false, but the story is true.

Sure.

Strangely, the Memos aren't all that damning to begin with. So why would the reporter go through all the trouble of retyping them on an old manual typewriter and then using further methods to make them appear older than they were?

Got me. But I do know that even though there is little damning in the memos, they have gotten the Left in a tizzy. Perhaps they figure no one will read them and they can frame the story any way they like. Fake follows fake, I suppose.

Or maybe.....

It was Karl Rove....

That devil.

Daily Dish

Vote Shmote Iranian Foreign Minister wants Bush to apologize for calling the Iranian elections a sham.

Kamal Kharrazi said the high voter turnout discredited Mr Bush's allegations that the election was undemocratic.

Mr Kharrazi points to the fact that 62% of the electorate cast a vote for the President.

Let's forget for a moment that there are accusations of voting fraud, because even if 100% of the people voted it wouldn't matter. The President and the Legislature have little power in Iran.

The person - the man - who is the commander-in-chief of the military including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, head of the intelligence and security services, and the only man capable of declaring war is not the President. No these powers are bestowed upon the Supreme Leader of Iran who is unelected and appointed for life.

The Supreme Leader also appoints every member of the judiciary as well as half the members of the Guardian Council.

The Legislature, or Majles, is elected. However, any legislation they propose must be approved by the Guardian Council which is unelected. Oh, and all candidates for President and the Legislature must be pre-approved by the Guardian Council.

Now, if President Bush was appointed for life and was capable of appointing every Supreme Court Justice and every judge at will at any time, and the Republican leadership could discard any legislative effort at will and could pre-approve every candidate than ran for Congress would you consider that Democracy?

Would you?

Regrets As predicted, Sen Durbin is trying backtrack on his remarks that the US is the modern day equivalent of Nazi Germany or Stalinist USSR.

What's more, members of his own party are running away from him as the many rank and file Democrats wonder "what the hell am I a part of?".

"That kind of rhetoric concerns me. There's no way you can make that parallel," said Richard Stallings, the Idaho Democratic Party chairman and former congressman. "There are real issues we should be discussing, and here we are making comparisons to Hitler and the gulag. Those statements are detracting from what the party and the nation ought to be talking about."

The problem is, of course, the Democrats aren't talking about anything. Starting with DNC chairman Dean, through Senate Minority Leader Reid, right down through Durbin, all they say is "Nyet", um, I mean "No!".

The other problem is that a significant number of the supporters of the Democratic Party support the sentiments expressed by Howard Dean, Harry Reid, and Sen Durbin. And they want to see more of it.

Jewish voters, long time supporters of the Democratic Party are pissed. The fact that Democrats have been losing this constituency slowly but significantly over the years is very likely a concern. It doesn't help matters when supporters of the Democratic Party passed out anti-Israel literature at Rep Conyers "Bush lied, People died" rally held at the Capitol building earlier this week, forcing Howard Dean to condemn fellow Democrats as anti-Semitic.

After pointing this out, Dean went on to declare the sky blue and water wet.

Still to come though is Dean calling fellow Democrats racists, but that might strike too close to home.

Democrats continue to alienate their traditional constituency in their blind hatred for the President, and have yet to understand that this is so. Preferring to believe that in the last election Republicans made gains because of the "values" vote, they neglect to recognize that Americans want solutions, not ankle biting.

That Americans believe they are good and just people who punish wrong doers.

Americans also believe they are the world leaders in Democracy and that while mistakes have been made, these mistakes are recognized, corrected  and we move on.

To the extent that Democrats try to convince people otherwise is precisely the extent they lose constituency because it flies in the face of their experience.

Meanness is not a value American voters respect.

More later...

Daily Dish

Who's Abusing Whom? In a letter to the American Medical Association, Dr. William Winkenwerder, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, wrote (Subscription Only)

“To the best of our knowledge, no investigation has produced credible evidence of any military physician participation in detainee abuse”

While in the Iraq of old

Pictures of dead Iraqis, with their necks slashed, their eyes gouged out and their genitals blackened, fill a bookshelf. Jail cells, with dried blood on the floor and rusted shackles bolted to the walls, line the corridors. And the screams of what could be imprisoned men in an underground detention center echo through air shafts and sewer pipes.

And in Nazi Germany

The doors of each cattle car were violently thrown open by Nazi SS soldiers carrying machine guns. "Raus, raus!" ("Out, out!") they screamed at the frightened and bewildered Jews, who hurried out the doors under a rain of cudgel blows and past the snapping, barking jaws of the camp’s German Shepherds. The air was thick with the deafening and confusing sound of orders being screamed, dogs barking, and the stench of burning flesh and hair that spewed from the &smokestacks of the camp’s 5 crematoria 24 hours a day. Families were separated immediately, with the males forming one line and the females forming another. Most victims were unaware that this was the last time that they would see their loved ones alive, unaware of their lost opportunity to say last good-byes.

But I suspect that Sen Durbin knows all of this. Neither the Nazi's, Saddam, Stalin, nor Pol Pot were in the buisness of restricting their detaining of prisioners to those found on the battlefield, rising in arms against the country they were protecting.

They took whole families and executed them or put them in forced labor camps where hardship, exposure and lack of nutrition would kill them.

And they killed by the millions.

Meanwhile, at Guantanimo Bay, no people have died. They were not civilians. There are not numbered in the millions. And they live in air conditioning.

Someone ask a survivor of a Nazi death camp if they had air conditioning, or even a blanket in winter. Ask if they were issued Bibles.

Sen Durbin's accusations are absurd and I suspect he knows it.

I'd be looking for him to be issuing "clarifications" of his statements soon.

But the clarifications are much less sensational than the accusations and will not get the same coverage nor create the same buzz.

And while Sen Durbin may have felt that he needed more buzz then, say, fellow Illinois Senator Barack Obama who goes about his business with quiet dignity, ultimately Sen Durbin is contributing to the destruction of his party. Along with Howard Deam, Edward Kennedy, Al Gore, John Kerry and Barbara Boxer to name but a few.

And Senator Durbin will never be the man Senator Obama is.

No matter what he does.

Update: Democrats for the most part are remaining silent when interrogated about Sen Durbin's remarks. However, Sen. Jay Rockefeller did offer a cautious rebuke

"I don't think, however, that I would go quite as far as he would because, for example, I don't think we need to close down Guantanamo Bay"

I wonder if the distancing from Durbin will get more prevelent as the furor grows, especially by potential candidates in 2008 and those seeking election in 2006.

We'll see.

More later (maybe... it being a Friday and all)

        

Daily Dish

Freed by Force When Vice President Dick Cheney commented about the news media's approach to reporting on the War On Terrorism, he was gracious

"I don't know that it's purposeful, I just think there's a drive to report the sensational," Cheney said. "And it's news if you can say that somebody flushed a Koran down a toilet at Guantanamo, because it does inflame opinion."

And there is more truth to this than not. Yes, there is an editorial story than many media outlets attempt to tell and that which is not consistent with that story often gets short shrift. But a story of a hostage rescue is news and not many can deny that.

A raid conducted by Iraqi troops with US support, in one of the most dangerous areas of Baghdad, wound up delivering Australian Douglas Woods from captivity.

Nick Warner, an Australian diplomat heading a special team dealing with the kidnapping, said the morning raid on the house in the Ghazaliya area of western Baghdad had been part of a citywide security sweep, Operation Lightning, but there had also been a tip about the house's occupants.

Yes most news outlets can not deny the sensational nature of such a rescue given that

"It hasn't happened very often that somebody has been rescued in this fashion."

But while many of those reporting this story posted an article which solely covered the event, the New York Times' story does not. It takes its time getting to it. The first paragraph of the story would be too much to ask

A man wearing a belt packed with explosives blew himself up inside a restaurant at an Iraqi national guard base north of Baghdad today, killing at least 23 Iraqi soldiers and wounding 28 others, officials said.

But how 'bout the second paragraph?

In the capital, a car bomb exploded next to three police cars in the southern neighborhood of Zafaraniya, killing three civilians and a policeman. Twelve civilians and five policemen were wounded, a local police officer said. The attacks come a day after a suicide bomber killed 22 people and wounded 80 at a bank in the northern city of Kirkuk.

Nope. Third? Nope, they give more details on the first paragraph. Fourth? Nope. Skip down to the ninth paragraph and we find, "oh, by the way..."

Also today, an Australian held hostage by insurgents for six weeks was freed by Iraqi forces, the United States military said. The Australian prime minister, John Howard, told Parliament in Sydney, "I am delighted to inform the House that the Australian hostage in Iraq, Mr. Douglas Wood, is safe."

Note "the United States Military said" part as if it could not be independently verified. And (wink) we all know how much we can trust the United States Military. Of course there were reporters to verify the car bombing. In fact, every bombing. But that's it. Then its back to describing death, destruction and carnage.

Women and children were among the dead and wounded in Tuesday's attack in Kirkuk....

Blah, blah, blah.

If it bleeds it leads. Dramatic rescues of hostages, which are extremely rare, by a high performing Iraqi military unit, which is getting less rare, gets buried by the Newspaper of Record amid the blood and gore the reporting of which is indistinguishable from that of a cheap dime-store pulp fiction novel (whatever that is).

But I'm sure that VP Cheney is right.

The death and destruction is just, you know, more sensational.

Even though it happens almost daily in places where, strangely, reporters happen to be.

The Great Unwashed Masses The architect of the European Constitution has decided that the problem is not with the document, it's with the voters. And not just any voters, French voters

One crucial mistake was to send out the entire three-part, 448-article document to every French voter, said Mr Giscard.

Mr Giscard is no Thomas Jefferson.

Over the phone he had warned Mr Chirac already in March: "I said, 'Don't do it, don't do it'". "It is not possible for anyone to understand the full text".

That's for sure. The EU Constitution contains 448 articles and is a few hundred pages long. Maybe even 300. Compare this with the US Constitution which is has 7 articles and could be printed on a few pages.

The Constitution spends pages and pages enumerating the rights of its citizens and personally, I was hoping it would pass just so I could see how much of a mess these would create. For instance, every citizen in the EU has a right to life, according to Article II-62 1. After being ratified, I know for a fact some 102 year old French person, lying on their death bed would demand that their life be extended indefinitely.

And then I really wanted to see how the declaration that Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person (Article II-66) would conflict with prison.

Of course the three pages enumerating the rights of an EU member is only exceeded by the list of caveats in Title VII

Article II-112 Scope and interpretation of rights and principles

1. Any limitation on the exercise of the rights and freedoms recognised by this Charter must be provided for by law and respect the essence of those rights and freedoms. Subject to the principle of proportionality, limitations may be made only if they are necessary and genuinely meet objectives of general interest recognised by the Union or the need to protect the rights and freedoms of others.

And it goes on and on like that. So yeah, I'm not surprised that he believes that most people won't understand the document.

Unfortunately, I doubt the politicians understand it any better then the dreaded unwashed masses.

And given the statement that it's not possible for anyone to completely understand it, that would include Mr Giscard.

Burned about Bernie Local Vermont political commentator Peter Freyne got indignant when he learned that the Candidate of Choice for the Left leaning folks in Vermont, "Independent" Representative Bernie Sanders, was dubbed an extremist by the RNSC.

The evidence provided was the charge that Sanders has introduced 155 bills since arriving in Congress back in 1991 and only one has become law!

Mr Freyne then says he called up the RNSC to ask about this supposed extremism and what results is confusing.

We expressed our surprise that the RNSC was labeling Vermont's seven-term congressman an "extremist." Does that mean the 68 percent of Vermont voters who backed Bernie are extremists, too?

We asked Mr. Nick for an example to prove his "extremist" point.

The RNSC spokesman cited juvenile justice legislation from 1999 that he said Bernie did not support. It was actually a 1999 amendment that would have "limited the exposure of pornographic material to minors." Unlike Sanders, he said, "most members did not support exposing minors to sexually explicit music or videos."

We looked it up.

Oopsie!

The amendment in question was offered by Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Illinois), a legendary conservative. It would have required store owners to listen to and, when necessary, censor the lyrics on the music CDs and videos they stocked.

Unfortunately, I can't check up on Mr Freyne because he provided no bill numbers for reference. So I have no idea to which bill Mr Nick was referring, nor do I know to which bill Mr Freyne is referring. And I certainly don't know that they are the same bills.

But I'll give Frayne the benefit of the doubt and say only that it is quite obvious that if what Mr Freyne recounts is accurate, Mr Nick should be replaced. Because if this was the best he could come up with when asked why it was the RNSC refers to Rep Sanders as "extreme", then I'm afraid he is doing his employer a disservice.

It's obvious that even Rep Sanders thinks he's extreme. How else can you account for the fact that a man who used to run as a member of the Socialist Party, now runs as an "Independent", yet still adheres to Socialist values?  He has never renounced his Socialist roots.

The reason is quite simple, Socialism is recognized as an extreme left position in this country. How many Socialists hold office in this country? None that I can tell.

Political Parties that have no Constituency are extremist by definition.

Socialism, as envisioned by Karl Marx, is a stage between capitalism and communism. It is

the theory or system of the ownership and operation of the means of production and distribution by society rather than by private individuals, with all members of the community coerced to share in the work and the products. In Marxism, the transition phase between capitalism and communism, defined as "abolition of private property."

No private property and all of the means of production is owned by "society"; i.e. The Government.

Socialism is an extreme political position in America. (It has no effective political constituency.)

Bernie is a Socialist.

Bernie represents an extremist political position.

quod erat demonstratum

Daily Dish

Vast Left Wing Conspiracy Given the prevalence of tin-foil hats in our culture, conspiracies abound. But it is a rare occasion indeed when we see the Marxist Left criticize their own. But in a satisfying display of self-immolation we see just that.

Last February United for Peace and Justice, the largest representative coalition within the American "anti-war movement", emerged from their second annual Assembly with a 2005 "action plan" that effectively caged the "anti-war" debate exclusively within the Iraq conflict to achieve partisan ends on behalf of the pro-war Democratic Party and their Neoliberal corporate benefactors. Their "action plan" refused to address any of the core issues of US Foreign and Defense policy, which are the root causes of a pervading culture of war and militarism that has taken over the nation in the years since WWII.

These decisions are part of a larger pattern of "regulated resistance", a system by which dissent is carefully managed and constrained by self, overt, or covert censorship; denial-based-psychology; fear of personal or professional criticism and reprisal; and pressure from powers above including elected officials and those establishment foundations which flood millions into the not-for-profit activist sector.

I love it. "Regulated Resistance". And what's more, it appears that according to these folks, those at the top of the Left's food chain belong to none other that the CIA as show below (click for a larger image)

Given the details of the Plame affair and various other information that proved embarrassing to the Bush Administration (like the whole WMD thing), I have no problem believing that some in the CIA are in fact sympathetic to the Left's objectives (but why the State Department was left out is a mystery to me).

Of course the spin of this article is not that the CIA and the Carlyle Group are working with the Left but looking to control them.

But generally speaking I am not unhappy to see the seeds of suspicion worm their way into the anti-American Taliban of the Marxist Left.

Or that they appear to be eating their own.

Ditch the Euro, it's good for sales

ROME (Reuters) - An Italian supermarket chain that still accepts the old lira currency has seen a jump in business since the Northern League launched its campaign to ditch the euro and bring back the lira, the store said on Tuesday.

Whatever happened to all the talk about countries dumping the dollar?

But they really like him In December of 2004, columnist Robert Novak lamented

The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution has rendered Bush a lame duck.

But if Democrats get their way, this might not be the case. Representative Steny H. Hoyer (MD) submitted a bill to the House of Representatives that proposes the elimination of the 22nd Amendment. Joining him are Democrats Martin Sabo and Frank Pallone, Jr.

I guess Democrats like Bush more than they're willing to say....

The New Earth Astronomers are getting better at detecting "small" planets. Well considering that up until recently, they could only find planets the size of Jupiter, the fact that they have found a planet that is only twice the size of earth is news.

Oh, and then there is the fact that this planet is actually like Earth.

"This is the smallest extrasolar planet yet detected and the first of a new class of rocky terrestrial planets," said team member Paul Butler of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. "It's like Earth's bigger cousin."

Only 15 light years away in the constellation Aquarius...

"The planet's mass could easily hold onto an atmosphere," said Gregory Laughlin from UC Santa Cruz. "It would still be considered a rocky planet, probably with an iron core and a silicon mantle. It could even have a dense steamy water layer.”

Keep that in mind. You never know when we may need some place to run to...

 

Daily Dish

Voting is Dangerous Sean Penn has switched careers: He is now a journalist. And his first assignment (we can consider his visit to Iraq more of a warm up to his current assignment) is to cover the elections in Iran which will take place on Friday. But covering elections in a country that only has show elections is dangerous. While covering a protest by women who claim to have lost political power after the downfall of the Shah at Tehran University Penn was briefly detained.

Chants and taunts grew louder and police surrounded the demonstrators and pushed people who were trying to join the group. In addition, authorities cut off cell phone service in the area and challenged reporters observing the protest.

Authorities briefly seized the video camera of Penn, reported Editor & Publisher.

For it's part, Iran is vowing to show the US that it's government is legitimate by promising a large turnout. However, pro-Democracy groups in Iran are vowing not to give Iran this kind of political victory: they are planning to boycott the election.

As the [women's] protest ended, another began on the other side of the street calling for a boycott of the election, to be contested by eight candidates who were approved by a clerical watchdog.

The problem they see is that those elected have no power compared to the unelected Supreme Council.

Ruling clerics are trying to consolidate their power following the departure of reformist President Mohammad Khatami, who is barred from seeking another term. Khatami came to power in a popular landslide in 1997, but hardline clerics led by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have succeeded in stifling his program for political and social reform.

Still, some believe they have no choice and that to have any influence on the government they must participate. But according to the Student Movement Coordination Committee for Democracy in Iraq, lesser known Resistance leaders are being "suicided"

The body of a young man who was hanged from a tree has been found in the rebellious City of Eslamshahr which is one of the poor suburbs of the Iranian Capital.

Authorities are declaring the cause of death as "suicide" which is one of the most common labels used by the Islamic regime in order to justify the murders of its non-famous opponents.

The name of this new victim has been announced as "Esmaeel".

Eslamshahr has become a bastion of resistance against the Islamic regime and scene of violent clashes with its security forces.

Two SMCCDI members named "Akram Hassan-Zadeh" in 2002 and "Amir-Hooman Joorak" in 2003 were also murdered by the regime but declared as having "committed suicide".

Even so, the Iranian Government may be attempting to hedge their bets when it comes to promising turnouts. A series of bombs exploded in Tehran today killing 9 and wounding more than 70. The government, tellingly, is blaming

Sunday's attacks on exiled opposition groups, such as the People's Mujahideen Organization, and foreign agents seeking to deter Iranians from voting.

Perhaps an excuse if the boycotts succeed? The fact is, until now, no pro-Democracy groups have used such tactics and while protests have been violent at times, it has often been the Iranian police and "militias" that have perpetrated the violence. And it may very well be that pro-Democracy groups are not responsible for these bombs.

Meanwhile, Mr Penn is being lead by the nose interviewing those whom the government wants him to interview

Penn, 44, on assignment for the San Franciso Chronicle ahead of presidential elections on Friday, had already caused a stir by turning up to listen to worshippers chant "death to America" at Friday prayers in Tehran last week.

On Sunday he tackled Shi'a Muslim cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president who leads opinion polls, about United States criticism of the election after hundreds of hopefuls were barred from running by a panel of religious hardliners....

"If the number of candidates is a proof of democracy, we are better than the Americans in this regard," newspapers quoted Rafsanjani as telling Penn.

and blocking his reporting when it is unauthorized

Later on Sunday, security men briefly confiscated Penn's camera as he tried to observe a protest rally about gender inequalities in the Islamic state by 300 women.

Authorities had sought to ban the protest and scores of police formed a tight ring around the demonstrators.

What will be his final impression of the elections? Who knows. But if his report is critical of Iran's government, I would advise him to wait until he is out of the country before he reveals his position.

Because like the Canadian photographer who died of "natural causes" in an Iranian prison, Sean may find that he can't appeal to the American Embassy to help him if he's dead.

If Wishes Were Horses... It's been a long haul, but the media may be finally gaining ground. In a new Gallup poll conducted for USAToday, 56% of Americans now think going to Iraq was a mistake. After looking at the poll, the questions and the data, it is clear that the media has been able to make inroads regarding the "Bush lied" meme and the "hey, there's lots of Americans being killed over there" meme, both of which have hammered the headlines whenever possible.

A year ago, only 17% of the opponents of the war believed Bush lied about WMDs, now 24% do. A year ago 15% of the war opponents believed we should get out because we were taking too many casualties, now 24% do.

Seeing as how these are precisely the two subjects news organizations like the New York Times et al have focused on, I have a strong suspicion of causality.

The Media appears to be succeeding in undermining support for the war.

Interestingly, questions that were not asked were these:

1) Should America abandon the people of Iraq to terrorist?

2) Do you think that leaving Iraq now would increase or decrease the security of the United States with regards to the terrorist threat?

But again I am impressed by the wisdom of the American people in re-electing Bush. There is little doubt in my mind that these numbers would have pressured Kerry to withdraw. Bush will not withdraw. And even though the poll shows that 56% of the people would be upset if Bush put more troops in Iraq (though I'm not sure if this means overall troop strength or replacing current forces in rotation) Bush will do what he thinks is necessary not what people necessarily want.

He is not a rule by poll President as we got used to with President Clinton.

But it seems that the press has managed to put America in the same spot as other leaders who are doing what is necessary rather than what is popular.

And we won't be closing Gitmo either.

All of which is likely really pissing off the editors at the New York Times and the LA Times.

Tough shit.

Daily Dish

Recruiting In December of 1775, the newly appointed leader of the Continental Army, General George Washington was in a quandary. All Winter he had been working to bottle up British General Howe in Boston by building field-works and defensive positions around the city. He was hoping that when General Knox arrived from Fort Ticonderoga with field artillery pieces he would be able to force Howe and the British from Boston altogether.

But he had a problem recruiting for his all-volunteer army. In the short months after the Battle at Bunker Hill and with only days left in most of the soldiers enlistments most were planning to leave the Army. According to David McCullough's terrific new book "1776" it was reported that

Of eleven regiments, or roughly 10,000 men, fewer than 1,000 had agreed to stay. Some stimulus besides love of country must be found to make men want to serve, Washington advised Congress. Paying the troops a few months in advance might help, he wrote, but again he had no money at hand.

Showing a different relationship with the press than the military often enjoys today, the New England Chronicle printed a piece signed by "A Freeman" which argued for a renewed devotion to the cause of liberty

Your extertions in the cause of freedom, guided by wisdom and animated by zeal and courage, have gained you the love and confidence of your grateful countrymen; and they look to you, who are experienced veterans, and trust that you will still be the guardians of America. As I have the honor to be an American, and one among the free millions, who are defended by your valor, I would pay the tribute of thanks, and express my gratitude, while I solicit you to continue in your present, honorable and important station...

Two things happened to change the situation on the ground in that Winter of 1775-6: one was news of King George's address to Parliament (which had taken place in October), and Howe's burning of Falmouth Mass. Both inspired rage and indignation among the troops.

Of course, there was also Congress's promise of more money for the troops.

A year later, a similar situation arose, this time at an even more crucial point:building on the success at the Battle of Trenton.

The enlistment period of most of his army was due to expire on January 1st, 1777. The extremely successful attack on Trenton, defeating the much vaunted Hessians had given a boost to his army. It also pissed off Howe who sent a team to counter-attack. Washington decided to press his advantage and outflank the arriving troops by attacking their supply lines at Princeton. But many of his veterans were planning on heading home. According to David McCullough

At Trenton, Washington drew up his forces on the low ridge along the south side of the Assunpink Creek, with the Delaware on their left flank, a patch of woods to their right. It was December 30th. The following day, the last day of 1776, he made a dramatic appeal to the veteran troops of the Continental Army to stay with him.

Having no authority to do so, he offered a bounty of ten dollars for all who would stay another six months after their enlistments expired that day-a considerable sum for men whose pay was six dollars a month....

Washington got his army to stay together for another six months and went on that month to deal another blow to the British at Princeton.

Some have called enlistment incentives and reenlistment bonuses being offered by the military as bribery. I don't. People have to live and pay the bills. People want a better life for themselves. What worked on a peacetime army does not always work in an army on a war footing because in peacetime, many will take what the government offers without expectation of having to risk their lives. A wartime military is such that when you enlist, you do so with a reasonable expectation of having to be a war-fighter. The enlisted ranks (especially) get less pay than they deserve to begin with and this is especially true when a war is on.

No one wants a return to the draft. But it is also true that the incentives to risk your life for the liberal ideals of freedom and democracy take more than idealism, especially when the "idealists" of the Left tend to run for cover when the first shot is fired.

But it also takes more than money.

When the money he offered his troops did not immediately bring the desired, and necessary effect, General Washington addressed the troops there on that ridge above the Assunpink Creek and said

My brave fellows, you have done all I asked you to do, and more than could be reasonably expected, but your country is at stake, your wives, your houses, and all that you hold dear. You have worn yourselves out with fatigues and hardships, but we know not how to spare you. If you will consent to stay one month longer, you will render that service to the cause of liberty, and to your country, which you can probably never do under any other circumstance.

The money and the ideal caused his troops to commit.

"God Almighty," wrote Nathanial Greene, "inclined their hearts to listen to the proposal and they engaged anew."

To this day I believe that the cause of liberalism, the cause of freedom and democracy, is on the right side of history.

Just as it was in 1776.

With friends like this... Vermont blogger Cathy Resmer points to a story regarding the efforts of US House Representative Pete Sessions to introduce a bill disingenuously titled "Preserving Innovation in Telecom Act of 2005" which proposes to

"prohibit municipal governments from offering telecommunications, information, or cable services except to remedy market failures by private enterprise to provide such services."

I take it that Rep Sessions is no small government Federalist. First, what the hell is this doing being proposed at the Federal level? Perhaps because it failed at the state level? In Texas?>

Generally speaking I have no more of a stomach for Left leaning folks who rail against government while proposing Big Government than I have for "conservatives" who are willing to trade Federalism for corporate profits.

Hey! Sessions! Keep your hands off my Wi-Fi. It's not like I won't be paying for it in taxes fer cris'sakes.

The New Feminism Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a Somali born Dutch legislator who is supposed to be in hiding. Why?

On television the slim, pantsuit-clad, Somali-born legislator demanded that the Dutch intelligence service investigate the honor killings of Muslim girls. In the pages of newspapers she harangued the health authorities to examine schoolgirls for evidence of genital mutilation. At prize ceremonies she warned European governments that women in their Muslim communities remain under threat.

Uh oh. That's the kinda stuff that got filmaker Theo Van Gogh killed.

Her critics say

In a series of "Letters to Hirsi Ali" published this spring in the newspaper De Volkskrant, several well-known, mostly male writers charged her with poisoning the political atmosphere with her strident attacks on Islam and the Prophet Mohammed. They argued that by pandering to Dutch prejudices and putting Muslims on the defensive, she contributes to the very Islamic radicalization she claims to want to stop. In a book rushed into print in February, the popular historian Geert Mak went so far as to compare [Theo Van Gogh's film] Submission to Joseph Goebbels's infamous Nazi propaganda film The Eternal Jew.

Of course, these people have nothing at stake. At least nothing similar to what's at stake for Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Seven months ago, Hirsi Ali's implacable campaign against what she views as Islam's oppression of women prompted a Muslim fanatic to ritually slaughter Theo van Gogh, her Dutch collaborator on the film Submission. The murderer used his knife to affix a five-page letter to the corpse promising the same treatment for Hirsi Ali and another Dutch politician who has criticized Islam. The murder sent Dutch society into paroxysms of rage and fear, sparking dozens of attacks on mosques and schools. But it didn't seem to faze Hirsi Ali. In a series of defiant interviews, the former refugee refused to be intimidated. When a group of Muslims tried to block her from making a sequel to Submission, she fought back in court and won. Like a dark avenging angel, she seemed to loom over Holland's wintry Dutch, her ubiquitous media presence a virtual guarantee of further conflict.

It seems some are willing to fight.

Sissy Willis has more