I forgot about the Democratic Debate last night (got sucked in by a marathon of The Office), but Hube at Colossus of Rhodey has a great post about the hilarity and hypocracy that abounded.

He writes:


The Democrat presidential candidates "debated" again last night, this time at the historically black Howard University. You know what that means: Time to declare that "there's still much to do" in the country with regards to race, that "racism" still exists and is still to blame for many ills in society, and that the GOP really doesn't care about black people (with apologies to Kanye West). And you know MSNBC.com's coverage is guaranteed to offer to softball coverage, too!  


Really comprehensive post. Click away!

 All I have to say is:


The Hill has the breaking story:

The comprehensive immigration reform bill that has dodged attacks from the left and right for weeks, survived “poison pill” amendments, and was once pulled from the Senate schedule failed its most important test Thursday. Passage of the legislation now appears unlikely.

(cross-posted from Jokers to the Right)

Reading a story on Politico about Mike Huckabee's health commitment  brought this gem of a line to my eye:

It's one thing to take a stand, give a speech or write a policy paper on an issue. Huckabee staked the ultimate claim by dropping a best-selling book on obesity and a healthy lifestyle, "Quit Digging Your Grave With a Knife and Fork." He backed it up by personally shedding the equivalent of nearly one whole Dennis Kucinich. (Emphasis mine)

We could all lose Kucinich.

Once again, Mark Steyn hits the nail on the head:

There's something creepy about a political class so determined to impose a vast transformative bill cooked up backstage in metaphorically smoke-filled rooms on a nation that doesn't want it. It's an affront to republican government and quasi-European in its disdain for the citizenry. It's hard to imagine Senator Trenthorn Lotthorn as an EU Commissioner but his position on this immigration bill is basically the same as that of Jean-Claude Juncker, Prime Minister of Luxembourg and European "president", on the EU constitution. When asked what difference the referendum result in France would make, "President" Juncker replied:

If it’s a Yes, we will say ‘on we go’, and if it’s a No we will say ‘we continue’.

Same with the immigration bill. I think I say somewhere in my book that the first line of the European constitution is: "We the people agree to leave it to you the people who know better than the people." That suits the US Senate, too. They'll teach this one as a textbook definition of "bipartisanship": both parties gang up on the electorate.

As I heard Stan Evans (of early National Review) say recently, a GOP Senate staffer once said that  when the Democrats (Evil Party) and the Republicans (Stupid Party) get together and do something that is both Stupid and Evil, that's called bipartisanship.

I've been there too many times. Sigh.
 
 
From xkcd.

Sorry Eddie Cochran, but my problem is the United Nations. Today is the 62nd Anniversary of the signing of the UN Charter (you know, the one that lists Japan and Germany as enemy states...well 62 years later!).

What I really think about the UN here.

So said Justice Scalia recently in Canada. The Globe and Mail:

Senior judges from North America and Europe were in the midst of a panel discussion about torture and terrorism law, when a Canadian judge's passing remark - "Thankfully, security agencies in all our countries do not subscribe to the mantra 'What would Jack Bauer do?' " - got the legal bulldog in Judge Scalia barking.

The conservative jurist stuck up for Agent Bauer, arguing that fictional or not, federal agents require latitude in times of great crisis. "Jack Bauer saved Los Angeles. ... He saved hundreds of thousands of lives," Judge Scalia said. Then, recalling Season 2, where the agent's rough interrogation tactics saved California from a terrorist nuke, the Supreme Court judge etched a line in the sand.

"Are you going to convict Jack Bauer?" Judge Scalia challenged his fellow judges. "Say that criminal law is against him? 'You have the right to a jury trial?' Is any jury going to convict Jack Bauer? I don't think so.

"So the question is really whether we believe in these absolutes. And ought we believe in these absolutes."

Yet another reason why Scalia is my favorite SCOTUS member. Check out my post on his visit to my university here.

The BBC reports that "New Orleans 'still a flood risk.'"  Really? Last time I checked, it was still below sea level!

Now, obviously they are talking about the rebuilding post-Katrina, but still, you'd think they'd be able to come up with a better headline. They're professionals, right?

It seems that a town in New England is using it's own currency:

"I just love the feel of using a local currency," said Trice Atchison, 43, a teacher who used BerkShares to buy a snack at a cafe in Great Barrington, a town of about 7,400 people. "It keeps the profit within the community."

There are about 844,000 BerkShares in circulation, worth $759,600 at the fixed exchange rate of 1 BerkShare to 90 U.S. cents, according to program organizers. The paper scrip is available in denominations of one, five, 10, 20 and 50.

This seems really wrong to me, and I can't place why. There's just something about "THIS NOTE IS LEGAL TENDER FOR ALL DEBTS, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE" that just gets me every time. Now maybe I'd have a different opinion were they using the Schrutebuck. Stanley Nickels would be illegal, according to the article.

Also, remember to check out my other blog, Jokers to the Right, for longer posts, including today's about the problem with Bush's War.

From the Onion:

After 5 Years In U.S., Terrorist Cell Too Complacent To Carry Out Attack

SAN CLEMENTE, CA—Five years after settling in southern California and trying to blend into American society, a six-man terrorist cell connected to the militant Islamist organization Army of Martyrs has reportedly grown too complacent to conduct its suicide mission, an attack on the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.

According to cell leader and boat owner Jameel al-Sharif, the potentially devastating operation, which involves breaching the station's reactor core and triggering a meltdown that could rival the Chernobyl disaster, "can wait."

"We remain wholly committed to the destruction of America, the Great Satan," al-Sharif said. "But now is not a good time for us. The season finale of Lost was such a cliff- hanger that we have to at least catch the first episode of the new season. After that, though, death to the infidels."

"Probably," added al-Sharif, who noted that his nearly $6,000 in credit-card debt from recent purchases of a 52-inch HDTV and a backyard gas grill prevents him from buying needed materials for the attack.

Though the members of the cell said that they "live only to spill the blood of crusaders who oppress Muslims," they cited additional reasons for the delay, including an unexpired free Netflix trial and nagging lower-back pain.

"I think I'm entitled to a little time to fully enjoy the in-dash MP3 adapter and heads-up display that Allah, in His infinite wisdom, has seen fit to provide me with," munitions expert Mohammed Akram said of the 2006 Mercury Mariner that is intended to be used as a car bomb during the attack. "Also, I have nine months left on the lease. But after that, I am more than willing to load it with explosives and go to my glory in its all-leather interior and heated seats."

Read the whole thing. Hilarious.

Today's Dilbert exposes the secret agenda of the environmentalists who don't care about the economy:

...it just may come true.

Senate Majority leader Harry Reid and House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi challenged the president over Iraq by sending him a letter, ahead of a White House meeting later on Wednesday.

"As many had forseen, the escalation has failed to produce the intended results," the two leaders wrote.

"The increase in US forces has had little impact in curbing the violence or fostering political reconciliation. "It has not enhanced Americas national security. The unsettling reality is that instances of violence against Iraqis remain high and attacks on US forces have increased.

 Now I don't know whether or not the surge is working, as I've heard both good things and bad things. But I know that I am suspending judgement until General Petraeus gives his full report in September.
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I just don't understand why it seems that the Democrats want Iraq to fail.

WaPo:

There may be an unlimited supply of explosives in Iraq, but there is not an unlimited supply of people who know how to wire the detonators. In 2004, CIA operatives in Iraq believed that they had identified the signatures of 11 bomb makers. They proposed a diabolical -- but potentially effective -- sabotage program that would have flooded Iraq with booby-trapped detonators designed to explode in the bomb makers' hands. But the CIA general counsel's office said no. The lawyers claimed that the agency lacked authority for such an operation, one source recalled.

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So you're telling me that we could have taken out most of the bomb makers in Iraq, but the lawyers objected. Isn't this kind of stuff we have the CIA for? To do things that shouldn't be done in the open, in the light of day?

This is why Bond was always cooler than Felix Leiter.

Really. This is an essay of sorts by Chuck Norris on what he would do as President of the United States.

This is one of those things where afterward I go, "Did I just read that?"

So, in case you've been living in a cave, or only turning on your TV long enough to pop in DVDs of The Sopranos and Lost, the final Harry Potter book hits shelves in July. However, some book retailers are upset, because there is a price war going on. The MSRP is $34.99, and Amazon.com, for example, is selling it for $17.99, 49% off, and well over a month before the release.

Reuters:

"They are literally not going to make one penny out of the book. It is stupid -- just throwing money away ... The world has gone mad."

Isn't that how the market is supposed to work? Prices dropping for consumer benefit? So this low-income intern to see if predictions he made about the series ending are true?

The only losers in this scenario are the small booksellers, who say buying it from Amazon might end up being cheaper then buying it from the publisher.

Just a note that this week's Hero/Hack, as well as the 5th Edition of 2008 Watch: The Early Field (a rundown of everyone running for President) is up over at my main blog, Jokers to the Right.

Click through and enjoy!