Sunday, August 29, 2004
Did Kerry Go to Mass Today?
Here's a line from today's Gospel reading: "... for the one who exalts himself shall be humbled, and the one who humbles himself shall be exalted." (Luke 14:11)
Is it just me, or could this be a timely comment about something that's been a topic of much debate lately?
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Is it just me, or could this be a timely comment about something that's been a topic of much debate lately?
Saturday, August 28, 2004
Lehman: "It's a total mystery to me."
John Lehman, former Secretary of the Navy, says he has "no idea" how his signature came to appear on the most recent of the three citations for John Kerry's Silver Star, according to this Chicago Sun-Times item.
I cease to be surprised by anything that relates to Kerry's character.
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I cease to be surprised by anything that relates to Kerry's character.
Thursday, August 26, 2004
One Blogger Who's Fed Up With Kerry
This farewell blog entry strikes me as funny, but I'm not entirely sure it was intended to be. (Credit: Instapundit.)
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Wednesday, August 25, 2004
Letter to John Kerry
Max Baucus wasn't permitted to deliver the letter from a bunch of Dem senators to Pres. Bush today. It's reported that he declined to deliver this letter to Sen. Kerry. (Credit: Hugh Hewitt)
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Tuesday, August 24, 2004
Update to Kerry Was A Naval Officer
Re: Kerry Was A Naval Officer Until 1978.
Emperor Misha clarifies the UCMJ treatment of Kerry's meeting with the North Vietnamese in Paris. Excerpt (emphasis is Misha's):
That aside, Emperor Misha gives a righteous rant on Kerry and his Vietnam er, heroics. Read the whole thing.
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Emperor Misha clarifies the UCMJ treatment of Kerry's meeting with the North Vietnamese in Paris. Excerpt (emphasis is Misha's):
ART. 104. AIDING THE ENEMYI'm still not sure whether the UCMJ would apply to a member of the inactive reserve who is not actively engaged in military duties, though. (Intuitively, it should, as a reservist is still bound by his oath, and is subject to activation at any time.)
Any person who--
(1) aids, or attempts to aid, the enemy with arms, ammunition, supplies, money, or other things; or
(2) without proper authority, knowingly harbors or protects or gives intelligence to or communicates or corresponds with or holds any intercourse with the enemy, either directly or indirectly;
shall suffer death or such other punishment as a court-martial or military commission may direct.
That aside, Emperor Misha gives a righteous rant on Kerry and his Vietnam er, heroics. Read the whole thing.
War Crimes Evidence
Fox News just had an item about Najaf, in which they showed a Predator drone photo of the Ali Mosque, including a mortar position inside the mosque compound. The blowup of the mortar position was grainy, but the tube, baseplate and at least one of the bipod legs of the mortar were clearly visible.
The use of a religious and cultural shrine for military purposes is a war crime under the Geneva Convention, but of course Mookie al Sadr is not a subscriberto the Convention. If this were a normal war, the presence of the mortar emplacement would justify an attack on the mosque, although it is my understanding that any such attack would be required under the Convention to be designed to the extent practicable to avoid collateral damage to the shrine.
I understand the political restraints that we are operating under, but I have long held that in a fight between one party who follows the rules and another party who "don't need no stinking rules," the bad guy will have a distinct advantage. (Cf. "Dirty Harry" -- the scene in the stadium where the bad guy demands his rights.) Sigh. In some ways, it's a pity that we have chosen the moral high road -- not that I would advocate commission of war crimes. But to the extent that we could do so within the rules we have chosen to abide by, it would be advantageous to let the al Sadrs of the world know that we can be both brutal and unpredictable. Note the Den Beste quote to the left.
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The use of a religious and cultural shrine for military purposes is a war crime under the Geneva Convention, but of course Mookie al Sadr is not a subscriberto the Convention. If this were a normal war, the presence of the mortar emplacement would justify an attack on the mosque, although it is my understanding that any such attack would be required under the Convention to be designed to the extent practicable to avoid collateral damage to the shrine.
I understand the political restraints that we are operating under, but I have long held that in a fight between one party who follows the rules and another party who "don't need no stinking rules," the bad guy will have a distinct advantage. (Cf. "Dirty Harry" -- the scene in the stadium where the bad guy demands his rights.) Sigh. In some ways, it's a pity that we have chosen the moral high road -- not that I would advocate commission of war crimes. But to the extent that we could do so within the rules we have chosen to abide by, it would be advantageous to let the al Sadrs of the world know that we can be both brutal and unpredictable. Note the Den Beste quote to the left.
Kerry's Silver Star: Three Citations for One Award!
The facts of Kerry's service in Vietnam and in particular his awards are getting curiouser and curiouser. This article in Front Page (pointed to by Michelle Malkin) tells an unusual tale of three different versions of Kerry's Silver Star citation, and has some questions for Kerry.
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Who's Coordinating With Whom?
Captain's Quarters is once again leading the pack in this item that cites specific instances of coordination between the DNC and MoveOn.org, a so-called "527 organization" that has spent tens of millions of George Soros' money in an attempt to oust President Bush. In the face of facts like these (and others that I'm sure will surface) the Kerry campaign's FEC complaint against Swift Boat Veterans for Truth just screams hypocrisy.
Newsmax.com has more here.
You can read a summary of spending by left-oriented 527s and SBVT here.
Bush came out yesterday and said he thinks all the attack ads by 527s are "bad for the system." I don't think he meant to suggest that anyone's voice should be muzzled. Rather, I think he was suggesting that campaign surrogate loose cannons that aren't accountable to the actual campaign organizations are diverting the attention of the voters from what should be a reasoned debate on the real issues facing the country.
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Newsmax.com has more here.
You can read a summary of spending by left-oriented 527s and SBVT here.
Bush came out yesterday and said he thinks all the attack ads by 527s are "bad for the system." I don't think he meant to suggest that anyone's voice should be muzzled. Rather, I think he was suggesting that campaign surrogate loose cannons that aren't accountable to the actual campaign organizations are diverting the attention of the voters from what should be a reasoned debate on the real issues facing the country.
Saturday, August 21, 2004
Kerry Was a Naval Officer until 1978
As Instapundit points out, Kerry remained a commissioned officer in the Navy Reserve until 1978.
This means he was still in the Navy when he testified before the Senate about US war crimes alleged in the Winter Soldier "investigation", when he met with the North Vietnamese delegation in Paris (a meeting which violated Federal Law, as I understand it) and during his VVAW activity, in particular the November 1971 meeting (which Kerry might or might not have attended) at which assassination of pro-war politicians was allegedly discussed. (To Kerry's credit, even those who say he attended the meeting state that he voted against any such action and then resigned from the group -- but he never reported the assassination discussion to any authorities.)
I am not an expert on the UCMJ, but I strongly suspect that Kerry's activities in Paris and with the VVAW would have been punishable had he been on active duty. I don't know whether the UCMJ would apply to his activities while he was in the Reserves. But one thing I am sure of -- Kerry's activities violated the oath he took when he was commissioned.
In light of the above and the kerfuffle about Christmas in Cambodia, the "magic hat" and the Swifties' allegations, the most charitable thing I can say about Kerry is that he's an unmitigated phony, down to the marrow.
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This means he was still in the Navy when he testified before the Senate about US war crimes alleged in the Winter Soldier "investigation", when he met with the North Vietnamese delegation in Paris (a meeting which violated Federal Law, as I understand it) and during his VVAW activity, in particular the November 1971 meeting (which Kerry might or might not have attended) at which assassination of pro-war politicians was allegedly discussed. (To Kerry's credit, even those who say he attended the meeting state that he voted against any such action and then resigned from the group -- but he never reported the assassination discussion to any authorities.)
I am not an expert on the UCMJ, but I strongly suspect that Kerry's activities in Paris and with the VVAW would have been punishable had he been on active duty. I don't know whether the UCMJ would apply to his activities while he was in the Reserves. But one thing I am sure of -- Kerry's activities violated the oath he took when he was commissioned.
In light of the above and the kerfuffle about Christmas in Cambodia, the "magic hat" and the Swifties' allegations, the most charitable thing I can say about Kerry is that he's an unmitigated phony, down to the marrow.
Friday, August 20, 2004
Future History
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The Mainstream Media's Self-Disestablishment?
Glenn Reynolds has an interesting post about the one-sided election coverage by the mainstream media, and its effect on how the media are trusted. Excerpt:
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But this story seems to me to be absolutely fascinating in that it reveals just how in the tank for the Democrats the mainstream media are, and how little the vaunted Cronkitean claims of objectivity and research and factual accuracy really mean when the chips are down. What's more, lots of people are noticing.The Professor goes on to imply (or maybe I'm inferring too much) that the squandering of the public trust by the MSM could augur a sea change in how things get done in American society.
To me, that's a bigger deal than the underlying issue or even, in some ways, the election itself.
Friday, August 13, 2004
Could Kerry Be Right About "Near Cambodia?"
Citizen Smash researched Swift Boat operations in late 1968 and came up with the following:
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However, it’s quite possible that Kerry’s boat conducted patrols along the Giang Thanh River, also known as “Bernique’s Creek,” which runs parallel to the Cambodian border from the coastal town of Hai Tien to the Vihn Te Canal (both banks are technically Vietnamese territory). Indeed, these patrols began in earnest in November 1968, and Kerry assumed command of PCF 44 the following month.
Apparently, it was during this time frame when several PCFs made a transit from the base at An Thoi in the Gulf of Thailand, up Bernique’s Creek and the Vihn Te Canal to the Bassac and Mekong rivers, and finally downriver to the base at Sa Dec.
Now, this doesn't prove that Kerry was ever "in Cambodia" nor does it prove where he was on Christmas Eve, 1968. It does, however, raise the possibility that he might have been "near Cambodia" at the time in question. Obviously, there are many inconsistencies and, er, "embellishments" in Kerry's accounts over the years, but in all fairness, Smash's research should be considered in evaluating Kerry's truthfulness about what he has made the centerpiece of his campaign.
Kerry's Budget Proposals: $2.2 Trillion Deficit Increase
This article (Credit: Instapundit) looks at Kerry's campaign promises to date and, using third-party estimates or the Kedwards campaign's own estimates, projects a resulting increase in the Federal deficit of at least $2.2 trillion over 10 years. I am in no position to argue either for or against the veracity of this study, but it corroborates my gut-level opinion of what a Kerry presidency would lead to on the economic front.
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Thursday, August 12, 2004
This article about conservative black American bloggers is a breath of fresh air. (Credit: Instapundit).
I have long thought that black Americans do themselves a disservice by dependably voting as a bloc for the Democrats. As a result of that behavior, the Dems take them for granted, paying occasional lip service to their concerns while not doing anything meaningful -- such as real education reform -- to help them, and the Republicans as a rule write them off, figuring that no matter what they do, blacks will vote overwhelmingly for the opposition. In my view the best thing black Americans can do for themselves politically is to make it known that their votes are in play, and that they'll vote for the people who actually do something for them, and vote against pols who are, as the kids used to say, NATO (No Action -- Talk Only). Then, of course, they have to follow up and actually do what they say they'll do.
I have always thought it mythology that the Republican Party is anti-black -- it was the Republicans in Congress who were most responsible for passing the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The Democratic Partyhas done a masterful job over the years of convincing black Americans that their nanny state solutions are best. But the real power of America is opportunity, and it takes individual effort to make the most of opportunity. Any policy that tends to suppress individual effort on the part of blacks (or anyone else) is, at the foundational level, against their interests.
Anyway, it's good to see that there are black Americans out there who don't fit the stereotype, and who may finally be able to make their voices heard over the shouting of the Jesses and Als of the world.
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I have long thought that black Americans do themselves a disservice by dependably voting as a bloc for the Democrats. As a result of that behavior, the Dems take them for granted, paying occasional lip service to their concerns while not doing anything meaningful -- such as real education reform -- to help them, and the Republicans as a rule write them off, figuring that no matter what they do, blacks will vote overwhelmingly for the opposition. In my view the best thing black Americans can do for themselves politically is to make it known that their votes are in play, and that they'll vote for the people who actually do something for them, and vote against pols who are, as the kids used to say, NATO (No Action -- Talk Only). Then, of course, they have to follow up and actually do what they say they'll do.
I have always thought it mythology that the Republican Party is anti-black -- it was the Republicans in Congress who were most responsible for passing the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The Democratic Partyhas done a masterful job over the years of convincing black Americans that their nanny state solutions are best. But the real power of America is opportunity, and it takes individual effort to make the most of opportunity. Any policy that tends to suppress individual effort on the part of blacks (or anyone else) is, at the foundational level, against their interests.
Anyway, it's good to see that there are black Americans out there who don't fit the stereotype, and who may finally be able to make their voices heard over the shouting of the Jesses and Als of the world.
Sunday, August 08, 2004
Kerry's Foreign Relations Expertise
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Ouch!
(Please support Chris Muir's Day by Day.)
Saturday, August 07, 2004
Kerry's Plan for Iraq: Cut and Run
Tacitus at Redstate.org finds evidence in a Kerry/Edwards interview that supports my earlier comment that Kerry will cut and run if elected. Excerpt:
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John Kerry, by contrast, is planning to abandon that nation and its people. He is planning to allow, if he must, the enemies who massacred Americans in the clear fall skies of three years past to win in Iraq. He is planning to negate and nullify and heroic sacrifices of our Marines and our allies as they crush Islamism in Najaf. He is planning to blame it on events beyond his control: the international community; the current President; the will of the Iraqi people; the realities of resources, of finances, of logistics. Why, after all, close firehouses in Brooklyn yet open them in Baghdad? Callow rhetoric to prepare for callow defeat. The conclusion is that inescapable. And it's that simple.
He's going to withdraw anyway. And the price will be paid in blood.
Friday, August 06, 2004
"Ostriching" in the United States
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