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First, the popped collars; now, wearing shorts and a suit?
Contrary to Half Sigma, I think gay men have the good taste not to wear this garbage. (The overwhelmingly straight golf players who gave us hideous plaid pants are another matter.)
Hubbard posted this at 9:41 AM CDT on Thursday, July 31st, 2008 as Excruciatingly Correct Behavior
I’ve been busy the last three months and have fallen behind on my Instapundit reading. I had no clue that Prof. Reynolds was now so close to my point of view about Obama worsening race relations rather than bettering them.
And perhaps the best reason to vote against Obama is to spare the country an administration that reflexively characterizes any criticism as racist.
Being on the same page as Reynolds always makes me feel slightly less reactionary.
Apollo posted this at 9:30 AM CDT on Thursday, July 31st, 2008 as Audacity of Hype, Race
Doing a little bit of Lincoln reading tonight, I noticed this:
Now, therefore I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in-Chief, of the Army and Navy of the United States in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and government of the United States…do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.
The Emancipation Proclamation was premised on the executive’s inherent authority as commander-in-chief. Lincoln had no other legal authority on which to premise the rampant and purposeful destruction of billions of dollars of property owned by people he insisted were American citizens. Nothing George Bush has done under the guise of inherent executive authority is in the same league in terms of violating the rights of Americans. One wonders what current “civil libertarians” and the Boumedeine court would think of such a move.
Apollo posted this at 11:49 PM CDT on Wednesday, July 30th, 2008 as Politics, The Past Is Never Dead--It Isn't Even Past
I think this response by Mark Krikorian is the appropriate reaction to Obama’s kind words for reparations. It’s worth thinking of the words of a man who couldn’t win a senate seat from Illinois:
Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said ‘the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether’.
There have been plenty of deeds, plenty of blood, plenty of wealth sunk for the sake of race relations in America. For Obama to come prancing along and say that we haven’t acknowledged the evil of slavery and repression is offensive, ignorant crap.
P.S. Along the lines of Jim Geraghty’s theme that every statement from Obama has an expiration date:
Obama now: “I consistently believe that when it comes to whether it’s Native Americans or African-American issues or reparations, the most important thing for the U.S. government to do is not just offer words, but offer deeds.”
Obama in February: “Don’t tell me words don’t matter.“
Apollo posted this at 10:43 PM CDT on Wednesday, July 30th, 2008 as Audacity of Hype, Race
For the “I wish I’d said this” files, from Allahpundit:
The bad news: It’s a huge story yet I’m utterly unqualified to comment on it. The good news: That’s never stopped me before.
Hubbard posted this at 2:48 PM CDT on Wednesday, July 30th, 2008 as Uncategorized
Good grief. Obama supports reparations? If not, then his comments were dishonest because it plainly implies that he does. These comments (“I consistently believe that when it comes to whether it’s Native Americans or African-American issues or reparations, the most important thing for the U.S. government to do is not just offer words, but offer deeds.”) need to quickly make their way into a Republican television ad.
“I personally would want to see our tragic history, or the tragic elements of our history, acknowledged,” the Democratic presidential hopeful said.
If he sincerely thinks we haven’t “acknowledged” “the tragic elements of our history,” then he’s an idiot.
Apollo posted this at 7:47 AM CDT on Wednesday, July 30th, 2008 as Audacity of Hype, Race
That movie was 30 minutes too long. I’m good for about an hour’s worth of uninterrupted tension; the movie ended with an hour and a half of it. Now I’m cranky and don’t feel like going to bed.
Apollo posted this at 12:42 AM CDT on Wednesday, July 30th, 2008 as Film Rants, Grumblin Mumblins
Ronald Dworkin celebrates Boumediene because it finally gets rid of that arbitrary line between Americans and foreigners trying to kill Americans.
I commented a few weeks ago about commentary on NPR that was giddy about the possible repercussions of Boumediene. This last week I heard their report about the end of the Hamdan trial. The reporter said that he was uncertain why no one complained that Hamdan had not been Mirandized. That is, he seemed to think that under Boumediene a terrorist captured in a foreign country by American soldiers needs to be advised of his rights to a lawyer and to remain silent.
Boumediene is rapidly approaching the top of my list of cases I’d like to see repealed by amendment. This is a long-term disaster.
Apollo posted this at 12:36 AM CDT on Wednesday, July 30th, 2008 as I, For One, Welcome Our Judicial Overlords!
Gideon Rachman deliberately works a cliche into every sentence of his column today. It takes a very good writer to write so badly. A sample:
In the matter of clichés, we are all sinners. And with that appropriately hackneyed thought, let me begin:
The Beijing Olympics is one of those iconic moments that tell us we have reached a tipping point. Our kids are going to inherit a very different world.
As a confident China strides on to the Olympic stage, the US is mired in a credit crunch and a war on terror – it is the perfect storm.
It was Napoleon who said: “Let China sleep, for when China wakes she will shake the world.” The turbo-charged Chinese dragon woke up in the go-go 1980s. Whisper it softly, but there will be no respite. This is not even the beginning of the end, although it may be the end of the beginning.
Read, enjoy, ponder. I might need to re-examine everything I type before writing again.
Hubbard posted this at 1:55 PM CDT on Tuesday, July 29th, 2008 as Commie Recrudescence, Politics and the English Language, The Right Words
A printing snafu put Larry Craig on a button instead of Larry LaRocco, giving us:
(H/T)
Hubbard posted this at 11:04 AM CDT on Tuesday, July 29th, 2008 as Audacity of Hype, Humor, Lord, What Fools These Mortals Be!
It’s impossible to read this NYT report from Sadr City without being moved; after all these years — and coming so close to losing it all two years ago — Iraq appears to be taking its first baby steps toward normalcy.
It is a remarkable change from years past, when the militia, led by the anti-American cleric Moktada al-Sadr, controlled a broad swath of Baghdad, including local governments and police forces. But its use of extortion and violence began alienating much of the Shiite population to the point that many quietly supported American military sweeps against the group.
Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki struck another blow this spring, when he led a military operation against it in Baghdad and in several southern cities.
The shift, if it holds, would solidify a transfer of power from Mr. Sadr, who had lorded his once broad political support over the government, to Mr. Maliki, who is increasingly seen as a true national leader.
…
The change is showing up in the lives of ordinary people. The price of cooking gas is less than a fifth of what it was when the militia controlled local gas stations, and kerosene for heating has also become much less expensive. In interviews, 17 Iraqis, including municipal officials, gas station workers and residents, described a pattern in which the militia’s control over the local economy and public services had ebbed. Merchants say they no longer have to pay protection money to militiamen. In some cases, employees with allegiances to the militia have been fired or transferred. Despite the militia’s weakened state, none of the Iraqis interviewed agreed to have their full names published for fear of retribution.
In a further sign of weakness, Shiite tribes in several neighborhoods are asking for compensation from militia members’ families for past wrongs.
About eight months ago, I was visiting Apollo & Dorothy we got into a rather heated debate about progress in Iraq; the Morgans insisted that we were now (then) winning; considering how often hopes had been dashed earlier, I was extremely uncomfortable with that word.
I’m in the verge of being able to use it. There are major, major problems in Iraq (including this chilling report from Kurdistan), but the changes of the past year are profoundly heartening. As Jonah Goldberg wrote, these successes — which John McCain bears a great deal of responsibility for — may well pave the way for an Obama victory in November.
If we pull this off — I insist on the conditional, but with optimism — David Patreaus deserves to have a statue in every city square in Iraq, and many, many here as well. At least with regard to Iraq, I’m starting to look forward to the future.
Tom posted this at 1:24 PM CDT on Monday, July 28th, 2008 as Uncategorized
We only have 100 days left. Patience has never been my strong suit, but I’m sure I speak for much of humanity when I say that this campaign has been going on for about 17 years too long.
Hubbard posted this at 11:18 AM CDT on Monday, July 28th, 2008 as Audacity of Hype
There’s an extensive website devoted to people asking and anwering the question, “what’s the name of that song on that commercial?”
If you’re a fan of the Mitsubishi Outlander commercial, it’s “Je ne te connais pas,” by Prototypes. A Japanese car company selling cars in America with a French song is my kind of multiculturalism.
Apollo posted this at 9:38 PM CDT on Thursday, July 24th, 2008 as Random Bloggish Things
From Florence King:
Animal rights activists gives disillusioned feminists an excuse to go back to being women protecting wee creatures without compromising their radical credentials.
(H/T)
Hubbard posted this at 6:46 PM CDT on Thursday, July 24th, 2008 as Animal Kingdom Strikes Back, The Right Words