Video Blogging

From the Conan O'Brien Show, "Meet the Press For Idiots":

London Blogging

Yesterday was sunny and bright. Of course, I didn't have my camera with me. Today is more typical of February in the UK...cloudy but mild. So the pictures aren't that great but I thought I would post a few anyway.

Here's the obligatory shot of Big Ben:



At the opposite end of Parliament from Big Ben is the "Sovereign's Entrance." It is far beyond human scale and obviously intended to impart the divinity the the Queen/King. Completely disgusting notion, if you ask me:

More Maggie

D'Souza the Looza

Over at NRO, Stanley Kurtz has written a rather stunning review of Dinesh D'Souza's ignorant rant, "The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and its Responsibility for 9/11." It is stunning because it is the first I've seen that didn't dismiss D'Souza's book as the Ann-Coulter-esque stunt it so obviously is. I only read Kurtz because Andrew Sullivan linked to it as a "fascinating, nuanced, and largely persuasive critique." Note to Andrew: Your meds are wearing off.

D'Souza, evidently more interested in being famous than in being right, blames everything on those damn liberals. Kurtz explains D'Souza's argument as "[a]bsent these provocations by the cultural left...9/11 would not have happened.” D'Souza goes so far as to suggest a potential alliance between "traditionalist" Christians and Muslims once both sides recognize (with D'Souza's screed as a road map) the "true" enemy: liberalism. After some niggling criticism, Kurtz endorses D'Souza's thesis.

Kurtz's critique is crippled by his failure even to mention the formation of the state of Israel as maybe, just maybe, having something to do with the generational fury of "traditionalist" Muslims. America's involvement in propping up both Israel and corrupt Arab regimes is fuel on the fire of radical hatred.

There's no need to blame "Hollywood" or the "cultural Left" for suicide bombers. Those who do reveal more about themselves than they do about the terrorists. One thing should be obvious: We will never win the "war on terror" (hell, we'll be lucky to survive it) if our leaders believe crap like this about the source of the conflict.

Distiller-in-Chief

According to the eponymous Washington Post, the nation's first president, George Washington, was also the nation's largest distiller of rye whiskey. Of course, our current president, Dubya The Decider, is a semi-reformed alcoholic and drug addict. Not sure what these two things have in common but I wanted to remind everyone that the man with his finger on the nuclear, or "nucular," button is looking a bit twitchy these days. Get that man a drink....

Hillary -- The Uniter

The Hillary Haters are back. On every blog and every "talking head" show, they are in a heated competition to be the most anti-Hillary.

No, we're not talking about Republicants. As things are shaping up, the real ammunition for Hillary Haters is coming from left-wing bloggers and mainstream media pundidiots, uh, pundits. If this were the usual crowd of drooling neanderthals there would be no story. Yet there is remarkable agreement between left and right: they all oppose Hillary. Obviously, Hillary Clinton is a uniter, not a divider.

What is less obvious is why this should be so. Among the complaints from the left:

1. "Hillary is too polarizing. She will invigorate the far-right crazies and, thus, doom her own candidacy." Given that, outside of those named Clinton, the Democrats have nominated a twerp (Dukakis), a stiff (Gore) and a twerpy stiff (Kerry) maybe it is time for the Ds to try someone who actually has a pulse?

2. "Hillary is too conservative." OK, this one has some truth to it but it seems to negate complaint #1. America is still the most conservative democracy in the world. We like our liberalism in small, easy-to-swallow bites. Could it be that Hillary has accepted reality and plans to run accordingly?

3. "Hillary is too calculating and ambitious." This one is a wee bit calculating, in itself. Are there any politicians who lack ambition? Don't we want political leaders who think before they act? At its heart, this "argument" is a slap against women -- even though it is often made by women. All male politicians are assumed to be ambitious, calculating bastards so it is hard to condemn one's opponent without simultaneously criticizing one's hero. Yet Hillary is considered fair game because she has been able to beat equally ambitious, etc., men at their own game. Maybe she goes too far, or maybe it's just residual sexism.

4. "She has cooties." Seriously -- that's the "argument" from Andrew Sullivan. Admittedly, he's not exactly a leftie, but he often plays one on TV. This argument is (intentionally?) juvenile and echoes the anti-gay rhetoric of the right. Yuck.

Of course, these complaints are far better than most right-wingnuts can come up with. They are still frothing over Whitewater, Vince Foster's "alleged" suicide and Bill Clinton's dick. Perhaps the best thing about a second Clinton presidency is how busy it will keep the crazies. Idle hands are the devil's workshop, don't you know.

Happy Valentine's Day