The Black Republican

News Flash- Ted Kaczynski in lead to win political office.

That is, of course, not true. I use it to make a point about the likely winner of the Palestinian election. Some guy named Ted running for office may not alarm you. You may - knowing how entertainers like to get involved in politics - mistake the name for a former Saturday Night Live cast member. However, if you recognize the full name as the real name of the domestic terrorist called the UnaBomber, that would concern you. The same scenario is true for Mahmoud Abbas, who went by the name Abu Mazen when he was a terrorist. In Palestine he runs for office as Abbas, in Israel they remember him as Abu Mazen. I think I'll use that name when refering to him from now on too.

Captain Ed notes that Abu Mazen is once again making threats to Israel while on the campaign trail.

Captain Ed also has some words for the Associated Press with regard to their coverage. (You will immediately note that my above explanation is a complete rip off of the Captain's insight and that I should only be credited with providing a different example supporting his observation.)

One last note: the AP sets a new low for bias in its reporting. Take a read of this passage, emphasis mine:

"The Palestinian people have accepted the election laws and will therefore accept its results, even if Abu Mazen gets only a small majority in the polls," said analyst Ali Jerbawi, referring to Abbas by his nickname.
It's a nickname in the same sense that Night Stalker was Richard Ramirez' nickname. Abu Mazen is Mahmoud Abbas' nom de guerre, the identity he used when directing terrorist attacks against Israeli citizens. For the AP to glibly overlook this and pass of(f) the use of Abbas' terrorist handle -- a use which calls his status as negotiating partner into question -- shows a contempt for AP's readership and a desire to cover up the less savory aspects of Abbas' past.

You tell 'em Cap'n!

{At this point I divert from the serious.}

I have to wonder if it really is an AP story. The following quote makes me wonder if it isn't actually an audition transcript for a wannabe Saturday Night Live writer.

Though polls show Abbas is far ahead of his only serious challenger, Mustafa Barghouti, Abbas does not command the respect of Arafat, the legendary leader who died Nov. 11.

I strongly suggest this piece by Jonah Goldberg as "Recommended Reading".

In recent weeks, James Taranto has been becoming bolder and bolder (for a mainstream journalist at least) in - shall we say - "calling a spade a spade." When soon-to-be Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid denounced the intellect of Justice Clarence Thomas, Taranto first hinted at, then flatly called the Senator racist, along with other segments of the Democratic establishment.

Taranto continues to promote our case on the matter, and continues to say it in ever bolder terms. After quoting Democratic operative Donna Brazile on abortion when she said, "Even I have trouble explaining to my family that we are not about killing babies," Taranto goes on to explain how the Democrats may decide not to fight a batte to replace one anti-Roe justice with another. He ends with this:

Since it looks as though President Bush is going to get a free pass on his first Supreme Court pick, how can he make the most of the political opportunity? First, by elevating Clarence Thomas to chief justice. Thomas vexes many Democrats because they are racially prejudiced, and it's quite possible they would not be able to resist the urge to mount a (futile) campaign against him. Then Donna Brazile can explain to her family that Democrats are about keeping black people down as well as killing babies. (my emphasis)

UPDATE: I should have noted something else. Any math whiz can tell you what 90% of 13 million is. The Roe Effect is apparent no where more blatantly than within the black community. If just a fraction of the millions of black children aborted since the early 1970's had been able to vote in the 2000 or 2004 presidential races, the grotesque margins voting for Democrats surely would have tipped the balance over any (supposedly) aborted Republican votes.

Great, some dude at the United Nations calls America stingy, then allows that we have been very generous afterall. (At this writing reports have us promising an ititial $35 million, with more to come.

Here we are, fighting a war on terror, and this guy wants to help Bin Laden portray us as the great Satan. Blame America first is the true face of the UN. We really, really, should kick the lot of them out of the country. They should not be heartened that we had a Presidential candidate endorse the idea of letting the UN run the country. Hey, buddy, John Kerry and his No-Balls Global Test lost! We don't trust the UN. And if you need some dough for relief, (as if you would really use it for that purpose), ask Kofi's kid for a few bucks. Or, take it out of the Oil For Food scandal take. Call Chirac for a slice of his cut. We can spend our own money, and decide what taxes to pay, thank you very much!

We can also recognize that those who blame America first, help OBL.

"I'm going into rehab because I use too much wine and Vicodin,"

Vicodin, same drug that hooked Rush Limbaugh.

Now they have two things in common, the same drug, and both have been accused of authoring this chain letter.

I finaly bit the bullet, as they say, as put out the bucks to get a cable internet connection. My choice of title, paraphrased from the King Crimson song 21st Century Schizoid Man, is meant to reflect how dificult it is to get me to spend money. However, upon reading the definition of schizoid, that term may yet apply; because I have purchased a self-installation kit which I just might manage to mess up.

However, if I never appear here again, it doesn't mean that I went Unabomber, no, not another highly-intelligent but socially withdrawn young man here; it simply means that I fried my computer (Jones is my name, bad coding is my game)and I am still waiting for my Tech Support guy (the bio without a photo) to come over and fix things.

I strongly suggest this piece by David Horowitz as "Recommended Reading".

It has just this minute been announced on ESPN, former All-Pro NFL defensive end Reggie White has died of a massive coronary.

This is clearly a very beloved man, as witnessed by the emotional reaction of the ESPN staff. And his death comes as a shock.

Andrea Kremer is now reporting that she recently spoke with Rev. White and he had explained how he turned away from his Christianity,had not been to a church for four years, and had begun studying Judaism; as she related, he was a spiritual man who was exploring another religion in an effort to get it right.

In March 1998 Mr. White created a controversy with this comment:

In comparing the gay rights movement to the civil rights movement, he said, "Homosexuality is a decision. It’s not a race."

Reggie says that despite the problems he’s faced since that speech in Wisconsin, he will continue to speak out. "The greatest lesson I’ve learned is that too many of us don’t want to suffer, and we let people back us down from what we believe in," he says. "The Bible constantly says that we should rejoice in suffering that comes against us.

"I understand that if I’m not stirring the pot up, if people are not mad at me because of the way I live and the things I say, that means I’m doing something wrong."

Update: Jerry Brewer has a curious take on the above comments.

Certainly, we should be wise and know that, regardless of our religious beliefs, there is nothing holy about condemnation of others.

FTR: Now comes news that the original word on cause of death was wrong, his death is now attributed to respiratory problems.

Reduce the clutter is my goal of the afternoon. I have a couple of hours before it is time for Christmas dinner so I am going to clean out my computer, starting with the info I have accumulated to present here which never made it to print. The following list will be wide ranging; the description of each reference brief.

• Jane Galt on deaffirming affirmative action.
• I was planning an elaboration on how Armistice Day, which marked the end of the War to end all wars, became Veteran’s Day. This was going to be a part of it.
• A primer for all of those leftists who now want to leave the USA.
• An attempt to resurrect classic liberalism, with an eye toward:

  The principles guiding the reforms we seek are in line with the classical liberal, humanist Christian tradition.

• A blogger quits, and the focus of his criticism urges him to return.
• There is a purported link between environmental laws and the failure of the Shuttle Columbia.
• Remember Sandy Berger when you count the ways the liberal media plays favorites.
• Media plays favorites on Bush’s minority entrepreneurship initiative.
• Bush’s record stem cell research record. And how, in China, they are using fetal tissue as cure without supporting evidence that the treatment works. Also, a pioneering scientist passes.

Well, that is it for this installment. I have more cleaning to do, so I'll post another list later.

On today's version on Fox News Sunday Chris Wallace asked the panel to reflect on the year and answer with their nominee for certain categories.

Brit Hume answered that the "Smartest Move" of the year was by the Republicans, for holding their convention so late. In analyzing why that was a smart move one understands that the late date allowed the Republican message to remain fresh in the voter's minds when they voted. But also inherent in why that affirmative strategy worked is the recognition that it did not give the Democrats enough time to consolidate their negative response. Inherent in that last sentence is that the Democrats can only respond negatively, they do not have a feasible positive message to deliver. If they had a real agenda for America that could stand on its on merits, responding to the Republican message would not have been necessary. They didn't, the Republicans did, and the rest is history.

The area of the globe known as Palestine has been inhabited by a wide range of peoples over the course of recorded history. That one group of people has decreed themselves to Palestinians, to the exclusion of all others, is ridiculous. That these, self-styled, Palestinians have devolved into violent narcissists is not to be tolerated. Though I absolutely do not expect them to change anytime soon.

Especially when they continue to elect this sort of leadership, as they are poised to do again in January.

Abbas will not be any better to deal with than was Arafat, as is witnessed by his own words:

"Israel must pull out of all Palestinian lands occupied in 1967. We must end the occupation," Abbas told hundreds of supporters. "We cannot compromise on Jerusalem."

"We are choosing the path of peace and negotiation," Abbas added. "If there is no peace here, there will be no peace in the Middle East or the rest of the world."

Mr. Abbas, you, and your brethren, are the problem. Not until you folks recognize the equal rights all Palestinians, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, et al, to coexist in that ancient land will there be peace in the Middle East.

My idea of multi-tasking at home consists of trying to watch the television while I read. I was just now on the internet when it occurred to me that there might be a ballgame playing. As I waited for a page to load, I turned to ESPN and found the NBA game between Detroit and Indianapolis, the last game between these two is now famous for the brawl that ensued. The page I had called up is titled, Tales from the past prove sports don't have to be ugly, coinicidence?

Among the stories C. Ray Hill tells is the one about how one human did a decent thing, he treated another man humanely. An act that should not be so rare, and would not have been so noteworthy were it not for the indecent standards of that time.

In the sixth inning Reese calmly walked over to Robinson and put his hand on his teammate's shoulder. He spoke a few words. The crowd grew quiet. Perhaps the fans were trying to hear. Perhaps they were shamed into silence by such a simple act of decency.

As I am reading the stories, all worth knowing, I am aware that the game is being played cleanly, no fights, just good effort. In their way these men are writing another tale which Mr. Hill may wish to consider adding to future stories; they are doing an ordinary thing, playing fair and acting decent, made extraordinary by the contrast to how these teams played in their last meeting. Heroism has many faces, depending on the circumstances.

I strongly suggest this piece by Katherine Kersten as "Recommended Reading".

Since I've been pretty much asleep at the wheel since the end of the election season (sorry Washingtonians, I know you're all still enduring it, 2000-style), I seem to have missed the return on December 1st of Chris Muir and one of my Internet favorites, Day by Day. I'm delighted to be able to put Chris and his crew back where they belong at the top of our site. Welcome back, Chris!

On this upcoming Christmas day, though all the commercialism makes it so tempting, try not to look with gratitude just upon the gifts that you will be receiving from friends and family, but to those gifts that you have already been blessed to receive - those same friends and family. Think also of the great good fortune you have to be living in the greatest nation on Earth, and on a world so full of beauty and wonder. And whether you are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Agnostic or Atheist please know that I, as a Christian, hope and pray that all the blessing of my God might be upon you this Christmas, whatever your beliefs may be. For it is at this time that we celebrate the birth of a Savior - a Gift from God not just to Christian, but to the world.

Merry Christmas, and may God bless us all with peace on Earth and good will toward our fellow man.

And there were in the same country shepherds, abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them! And they were sore afraid ... And the angel said unto them, "Fear not! For, behold, I bring you tidings o great joy, which shall be to all my people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ, the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." And suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the Heavenly Host praising God, and saying, "Glory to God in the Highest, and on Earth peace, and good will toward men."

That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown. - Linus Van Pelt

I've been getting a little bored from the lack of comment traffic, and frankly I miss what little banter we'd seen from the occasional reader. So, I went out looking and found a present to put under the tree for you all.

I've opened the comments section back up to unregistered posters, though for now your entries will be moderated. (If you're willing to register, you won't be burdened with that hassle.) I'm doing this with the assistance of a new plugin that automatically closes the comment option for posts older than 14 days - which still pretty much closes the door to comment spam, since for some reason they don't like to hit fairly recent posts. I might be persuaded to extend the window out to 28 days, or to open the comments back up to unmoderated posts, but I'm hesitant to try these at the start; I want to see if we get any trouble from even the more restrictive limits first.

This is, of course, a trial period. I reserve the option to lock us back down again at the slightest sign of the spammers.

Have fun, and Merry Christmas to all.

UPDATE: I also switched us to dynamic page generation, a nifty option that should make the site itself (as well as the back-end for our contributors) a little faster. If you appreciate the efforts, I know something you can do to make my Christmas a little brighter. Then again, there's always cash.

No.... the other fat dude.

From the ever-jovial Cox & Forkum, of course.

I strongly suggest this piece by Greg Mitchell as "Recommended Reading".

I need to state right now how much I dislike Google News. Aside from the fact that half the time you get bizarre American murder stories reported on from the likes of China Daily, you also end up wasting inordinate amounts of time reading really interesting news that you probably didn't need to read (and probably would have never seen elsewhere) and that not-so-coincidentally reduces your dwindling supply of duct tape.*

Today's case in point comes from the pages of the The Australian which reports on a a new book that makes the outrageous claim that yet another Great Person of History was homosexual.

(Clarence) Tripp, an influential gay writer who died two weeks after completing his manuscript [Ed: How convenient! He'll never be questioned on Hannity & Colmes....], claims Lincoln reached puberty at nine and became a sexual "outsider", which supposedly influenced his decision to fight for the emancipation of slaves....

By his late teens, according to Tripp, Lincoln was having a passionate affair with Joshua Speed, a neighbour with whom he shared a bed for four years. His warm letters to Speed were signed "yours forever", an endearment he did not use with his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, who bore him four children.

Lincoln was a lawyer in an age when lawyering meant being part travelling salesman, taking long trips by horse and buggy from county to county to appear at the bar in different jurisdictions. And did these lawyers stay at Motel 6 when they got to the next town? As Carl Sandburg put it, "Some taverns had big rooms where a dozen or more lawyers slept of a night." You can imagine that occasionally there might have been more lawyers than beds - as would happen when the state legislature would meet. (Don't you suppose that's the origin of the expression "Politics makes strange bedfellows"?) As for Lincoln and Speed, Sandburg records their first meeting, that pretty much says it all:

Lincoln pulled in his horse at the general store of Joshua Speed. He asked the price of bedclothes for a single bedstead, which Speed figured at $17. "Cheap as it is, I have not the money to pay," he told Speed. "But if you will credit me until Christmas, and my experiment here as a lawyer is a success, I will pay you then. If I fail at that I will probably never pay you at all." Speed said afterward, "The tone of his voice was so melancholy that I felt for him.... I thought I never saw so gloomy and melancholy a face in my life." Speed offered to share his own big double bed upstairs over the store. Lincoln took his saddlebags upstairs, came down with his face lit up and said, "Well, Speed, I'm moved." A friendship, to last long, began, as with William Butler, clerk of the Sangamon Circuit Court, who told Lincoln he could take his meals at the Butler home and there would be no mention of board bills.

I strongly suggest this piece by Anthony Browne as "Recommended Reading".

Perhaps I was mistaken the other day when I implied that Senator Harry Reid's comments claiming that Justice Clarence Thomas' opinions were poorly written constituted a subtle form of racism. Perhaps he was willing to risk such charges - lose the battle, as it were, in order to win the war. If that's the case, I may have violated the cardinal rule of military (and political) strategy - never underestimate your opponent.

I am beginning to believe that Senator Reid was willing to do whatever necessary to discredit Justice Thomas, even taking the risk of being labeled a racist. While I still believe that having the President elevate Justice Thomas to Chief Justice would be a blow from the racial aspect, I also believe that Senator Reid and his ilk are more concerned with another threat, one that could lead to the death of modern liberalism.

What is this threat to liberalism that has the Senate Minority leader willing to risk a politically devastating label such as 'racist'? Well, it has to do with Justice Thomas daring to invoke the other 'n' word - 'Natural Law'. As Tom Krannawitter of the Claremont Institute has so deftly pointed out, Senator Reid is willing to accept the strict constructionism of Justice Antonin Scalia over the natural law jurisprudence of Justice Thomas because it seems inevitable that one of the two will be elevated - and the Senate Minority leader and his cohorts have decided that it's better to lose an election or two and live to fight another day than to lose liberalism itself.

Mr Krannawitter's last line says it all:

Conservatives should unite behind Justice Thomas and defend his natural-law jurisprudence because nothing less will resuscitate the Constitution they hope to save.

I found this ergonomically styled pen on sale today, about a dozen of them actually, and considered buying the lot as stocking stuffers. Then it occured to me; what would be the reaction if I started giving people the "Bird"?

I bought one to try it out, left the others behind. I could still get them. Do you suppose that it would be unkind if I gave them only to Kerry voters?

I'd like to take this opportunity to respond to Rick's post from earlier today, and use it as a segue into an important reminder.

First off, as they say in the vernacular: "Steve should talk." ;-)

The editor-in-chief of this establishment has never expected a certain level of posting from anyone, nor an explanation should anyone's posting not rise to that non-existant rate. Heck, I don't even require anyone to code properly (Rick) or spell correctly (*cough*Steve*cough*).

The only person I require any level of devotion for this blog whatsoever is myself, and what I require from me is just enough of an attention span to keep the site running today - just in case I need to post tomorrow. As I've said countless times before, The Black Republican was founded for nothing so much as therapy. I do it to get things out of my system, and with the hope that I can make someone's day a little smarter, or wiser, or at least happier. Changing hearts and minds is pure gravy.

Unlike the esteemed Allahpundit, I really do run this site to relieve my stress level. I remember what it was like when I had nowhere to vent my frustrations when they appeared, and it is not a pretty memory...

Do I want to "become a f**king journalist"? Actually, one day when I was a lad of 26, during the first dawning hours of the Internet, I got the idea that someone should use this wonderful new tool to replace the leftist media with a conservative one. In a fit of anger, casting down the pages of my hometown News-Press, I swore to my father that someday I was going to show all the world how to run a proper newspaper, and in that newspaper I was going to tell the truth.

I was still a youth, and the boast was brash. All my scheming over the next few months went for naught as I realized I had no idea how to run a newspaper or even how to use the Internet to the extent that I could make a start at it. Knowing now what I would have had to have known then, it was a good thing I never pursued it further, or I could have ended up suicidal, and even poorer than I am now.

But to all things there is a season. And so two years and exactly 1100 posts ago this very day, I started what passes in the 21st century for a small-town broadsheet in Cybertown, USA. (Incidentally, last year's blogiversary was forgotten as it was eclipsed by other news.)

It may not bleed newspaper ink, but I've got my soapbox, and I'm telling the truth as God gives me the light to see it. I only hope my dear father has seen our work here and smiled upon his son done good on his promise. To you, Dad, I dedicate our third season.

The other day Steve asked me why I haven't been blogging lately. At the time one of my posts was the most recent post showing on the site; and had been for several days. But, he was right, I have played a diminished role lately. I would track it back to the election, and it is not a choice I made, it has just worked out that way. Before I post I need to be inspiried to write, I must feel confident about the position I present, and I need to have the energy to fight with my computer and my internet connection. So, when all of those stars align, I'll be here.

I mention all of this as an explanation of my silence, and as an introduction to the explanation that one of my favorite bloggers, Allahpundit, has offered for his retirement from the blogosphere.

You will find his explanation in the comments section of this interesting article about the future of the blogosphere.

Hattip to TigerHawk .

Also, it is rumored that Allah had more to say on his retirement at Protein Wisdom on 12/7, I did not search the archives for his words.

I strongly suggest this piece by Brendan Miniter as "Recommended Reading".

I strongly suggest this piece by John Fund as "Recommended Reading".

Prompted by a special work-related advertising promotion that offered me a free copy of a new online game, I've been poking around the EverQuest2 site. As a result, I've stumbled across a description of the game that's oddly... creepy, and that some of you may find startlingly familiar.

First, Julian Bond uses a speech before the audience at the NAACP national convention (supposedly a not-for-profit organization prohibited from such activities, BTW!) to essentially campaign against President Bush, and when we complain the media calls us racists for daring to say anything critical of that organization.

Then Thomas Oliphant, Jeff Danziger, Garry Trudeau (et al) make cartoon depictions of Condoleezza Rice that exaggerate the size of her lips, compare her to a Gone With The Wind slave, or has the President referring to her as Brown Sugar, and when we complain the media says we are thin-skined. When we continue to voice our anger, they then vilify us for attempting to infringe upon the First Amendment rights of editorial cartoonists.

Now, the newly ascended Senate Minority leader Harry Reid slams the only black Justice on the Supreme Court as "an embarrassment to the Supreme Court" and claims that "...his opinions are poorly written."

Why?

Had Senator Reid claimed that Justice Thomas was not sufficiently probative regarding his questioning (or lack of) in arguments before the bench, I would have no real problem - because that is, as I see it, the only real complaint that one could have about Justice Thomas as a jurist, and is one that many in legal circles have already made. In the absence of another reason for his comments, and without examples of exactly how Justice Thomas' opinions are poorly written or evidence of what exactly he has done to make himself an embarrassment to the Court, we must conclude that there is some other reason for these comments.

So, except for his silence during arguments before the Court, how is Justice Thomas different from the other Justices? Well, two of the Justices are female, but since the remaining six share his gender, that can't be it. Hmm... the other Justices are all older - but Senator Reid didn't say that Thomas was naive or inexperienced - the complaint was about his writing ability and that he was an embarrassment. I don't know. In what other way is Clarence Thomas different from the other Justices?

Ohhhhhh! How could I have not noticed it before! He's black! (I know why I didn't notice it before now, because I haven't had the MSM screaming in my ear for ten years about his race, because to them he's not really black!)

Absent any defined reason, isn't it just as safe to assume as any other that what Senator Reid is complaining about is based on the only obvious difference between Thomas and his colleagues? Or, as James Taranto puts it "that the new Senate Democratic leader is simply stereotyping Thomas as unintelligent because he is black." Isn't that what would be said if it were a Republican Senator making the same sort of claim about... oh, I don't know, say... Jessie Jackson? And what of the deafening silence from the MSM? As Zev Chafets put's it, maybe they (the elite media) "simply regards it as self-evident that Thomas is a wrong-thinking Negro, incapable of writing decent English".

As for myself, his comments, combined with the editorial cartoons mentioned earlier, seem almost antebellum. Noam Scheiber of the New Republic agrees with me. after a fashion, but seems to be willing to cut him some slack. I'm not, and neither is Ann Coulter (like anyone would have expected her to!). Reid and his ilk seem to be saying that some people, like Clarence Thomas, Condoleezza Rice, Ward Connerly, Larry Elder, Thomas Sowell, or (insert the name of any black conservative), just need to know their place! And in this case, their place is marching dutifully along behind their liberal Democratic (and predominantly white) leadership. In other words, they don't want you to stray off Uncle Sam's Plantation!

Chris and I were discussing Reid's comments at lunch the other day, and he was amazed at the fact that Reid was doing everything he could to discredit Thomas (as a preemptive strike at any plans the President may have about elevating him to Chief Justice) but seemed OK with the overtly conservative and constitutionally constructionist Antonin Scalia. Why would the Senate Minority leader, the titular head of the Democratic party, be willing to accept the promotion of a person who is the antithesis of his party's ideological beliefs, over someone more ideologically centrist?

It's obviously not because he's a conservative, but because he's a black conservative!

If the congressional Democrats allow George W. Bush to appoint the first black Supreme Court Chief Justice, a man who could reasonably serve 25 more years, then he and the Republicans will be seen for a generation or more, by all Americans, as exactly what they are - better friends to the black race then the Democrats - and the Democrats will do everything they can to keep that from happening. After all, GW has already appointed the first black Secretary of State, followed by the first black woman appointee for the same job. Add to that the first black Supreme Court Chief Justice (and possible the first black woman Justice - Janice Rogers Brown) and the Democrats will have only one big minority prize left unclaimed - The Presidency! The problem is, the party has already been instructed as to who their next Presidential candidate will be, and she's definitely not black, hispanic, asian, or native American. Hell, she's not even a native New Yorker! She is a woman (heh!), but last I checked so is Condoleezza Rice which, if she were to run, would kinda make that minority status moot.

Reid and his fellow liberals are scared, and with good reason. What would happen if George W. Bush, sometime in the last two years of his Presidency, makes it obvious that his heir-apparent is Condoleezza Rice? I'll tell you what would happen, the Democrats would go nuclear trying not to lose 30% of their voting block. I'm not sure the stoutest heart among them could withstand that shock.

Perhaps having Clarence Thomas as Chief Justice and Condoleezza Rice running for President is just wishful thinking, just a pipe dream, but four years ago I could not have had a nightmare worse than 9/11, nor asked for a response much better than what George W. Bush has given. Nor could I have dared to dream that (small l) liberalism would begin to implode the way it has. It's not just a dream, but a firm belief of mine that we are entering a new age of Classical Liberalism, or Progressivism, or whatever new term you want to call it - a return to the ideals of Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan.

We do live in interesting times!


Hat tip: A special thanks to Michael King of Ramblings' Journal for saving the image! Seems Jeff Daziger has edited the original! (The next and previous cartoons seem to display fine! Hmmm!)

In the WSJ's Capital Journal, Gerald Seib approaches something between understanding and offering insight into the new progressivism.

But like it or not, there needs to be some rethinking of the way this president is viewed. He surely is a conservative in the way that term is used in today's political vernacular, meaning he loves lowering taxes and adheres to traditional values on social and religious questions. But his record suggests he isn't really a small-c conservative in the classic meaning of that term. No pure conservative would look to government to provide a drug benefit as large as the one Mr. Bush championed, or countenance budget deficits as big as today's. He surely doesn't like big government, but he doesn't mind activist government.

I'm not so lucky. Though I have a strong libertarian streak reflective of the Gipper some times, the fact remains I'm much more of a traditionalist than a libertarian. And the American tradition of activist government, from Hamilton to Lincoln to TR, is a strong wind at my back. It doesn't mean I have to like it.

I strongly suggest this piece by The Wall Street Journal as "Recommended Reading".

Brendan Miniter has some important information about who caved in to whom in the intelligence reform compromise.

Do I need to say it's not like the MSM is telling us?

I strongly suggest this piece by WSJ: Review & Outlook as "Recommended Reading".