Friday, May 23, 2008
Familiar Result for Hard-Luck Brew Crew
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Déjà vu
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Guilty Pleasures Part Nineteen - WHBY Edition
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Say a prayer
For Sen. Kennedy. A brain tumor is an awful diagnosis, especially a malignant one. I fervently hope that they caught it in time to help him. The good news is that he has the services of some of the best doctors in the world. Trust me on this - it makes a big difference.
65-30 in Kentucky
More Heartbreak for the Heartbreak Brewers
Monday, May 19, 2008
Mindy Greiling, Please Pick Up the White Courtesy Phone
Representative Greiling recently called on the Star Tribune to dismiss metro columnist Katherine Kersten for a piece she wrote about about the Tarik ibn Zayad Academy TiZA), an Inver Grove Heights charter school. Kersten used her column to report on activities at the school that were explicitly religious in nature and included an eyewitness account from a substitute teacher. Rep. Greiling's response:
Kersten’s reckless journalistic standards have diminished this paper’s
credibility. Worse, they have threatened the safety of the children and staff at
the school, which has been forced to take extra security measures in the wake of
recent death threats. While I value a broad range of opinions from a variety of
perspectives, I value the facts even more. Kersten’s gross distortion of the
facts in this case should compel Star Tribune management to ask for her
resignation.
In other words, shut up, she explained.
So far, Kersten's job is safe. Meanwhile, the story continues and KSTP-TV kept digging on the story. And today it got really interesting.
First, the Department of Education ordered changes at TiZA because it was offering religious instruction, which is a no-no for charter schools. This is what Kersten's column said. So, apparently, Kersten didn't grossly distort the facts after all.
Then, something even more important happened. A KSTP crew went to the school looking for a response to the ruling from the Department of Education. And the cameraman was attacked.
You Don't Tug on Superman's Cape
You don't pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger
And you don't criticize Obama's wife
Senator Obama laid down another Line That Must Not Be Crossed today on Good Morning America. As it turns out the Tennessee GOP posted a video mocking Michelle Obama's statements in a speech she made in Madison earlier this year.
Today Obama went into high dudgeon mode:
“If they think that they’re going to try to make Michelle an issue in this campaign, they should be careful, because that I find unacceptable — the notion
that you start attacking my wife or my family,” he said.
“For them to try to distort or to play snippets of her remarks in ways
that are unflattering to her I think is just low class and I think they — most
of the American people would think that as well,” he said. “I would never think
of going after somebody’s spouse in a campaign.”
I would agree with Obama if his wife had not been out on the hustings. But she has been. Certainly Obama's opponent was the subject of plenty of scrutiny while her husband ran for president and remained so throughout his presidency. And I'm certainly old enough to remember all manner of attacks from the portside concerning the deportment and demeanor of Nancy Reagan, culminating in the infamous book that Kitty Kelley wrote about about her a full four years after she'd left Washington. It's a little late now for the Sir Walter Raleigh stuff.
Sen. Obama needs to understand that he's not going to be able to proscribe the debate. I certainly understand the impulse - it's a hell of a lot easier if you don't have to face tough questions or suffer the strafing that comes from the media, blogosphere, etc. And I certainly understand the desire to protect one's family from attack. It gets rough and if you're not willing to subject your family to scrutiny, you shouldn't run. That's why Colin Powell is a private citizen today. And Sen. Obama needs to understand one other thing - the Tennessee GOP's attacks are nothing compared to what he'll face should he actually get the office he seeks. He won't be able to whine to Robin Roberts about Kim Jong Il or Hugo Chavez or Ahmedinejad.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
75 years ago
Brewers Lose Another Heartbreaker
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Maybe this year
Nothing to add
Another smart takes on the "appeasement" issue from the best columnist in the world, Mark Steyn.
H/T: Powerline via True North
Friday, May 16, 2008
It's The End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
The Democrats aren't the ones falling apart, the Republicans are. The Democrats can see daylight ahead. For all their fractious fighting, they're
finally resolving their central drama. Hillary Clinton will leave, and Barack Obama will deliver a stirring acceptance speech. Then hand-to-hand in the
general, where they see their guy triumphing. You see it when you talk to them: They're busy being born.
The Republicans? Busy dying. The brightest of them see no immediate light.
They're frozen, not like a deer in the headlights but a deer in the darkness,
his ears stiff at the sound. Crunch. Twig. Hunting party.
Meanwhile, Noonan's colleague Kim Strassel also is like the horse that walks into the bar:
This anger is the best way to describe today's political landscape. Ever
since Republicans were routed in 2006, and more recently with their loss of
three special elections, the party has been in a debate about what changed in
the country and what to do in response. In the primaries, as Mike Huckabee
pitched to evangelicals, Rudy Giuliani pitched to fiscal conservatives, and Mitt
Romney pitched to anything that moved, some went so far as to declare the
"death" of the Reagan coalition.
Encouraging this panicked discussion has been a new theory that the
nation is experiencing a seismic political shift. A few short years ago, we were
supposed to be on the verge of a lasting conservative majority. Scrap that.
Do you think this is a little bit over the top? I sure do. It's quite possible that 2008 will be a big year for the Democrats. I'm going to do what I can to prevent it from happening. But I'm not convinced yet that it has to be. In fact, I think there's reason for optimism. Why? Plenty of reasons. Here are just a few:
- The Democrats aren't really any smarter than before. While Republicans have a well-deserved reputation for not learning from their mistakes, especially at the national level, there's no evidence that Democrats have learned anything, either. Tactically, they have done some smart things in terms of framing debates, but a lot of the candidates who are winning elections are running as moderates or even conservatives. Once these candidates get to Washington, they won't be able to pretend to be something they aren't, especially when they start taking marching orders from the Pelosis, Reids and Murthas of the world. When these solons return to their districts and their constituents, they will, like Lucy, have a lot of 'splainin to do.
- The headlining Democratic candidates aren't going to look as impressive in the fall as they might now. Barack Obama may be able to bluff his way through November, but he's shown real trouble dealing with anything approaching actual scrutiny. Here in Minnesota, the likely Senate nominee is Al Franken, who will bring to his campaign a very unflattering paper trail and lots of video antics that will flood YouTube and anyplace else that Republican operatives can place them. One well-connected blogger, Michael Brodkorb, has staggered the Franken campaign several times already. Norm Coleman, for all his faults, will be smart enough to bring in the operatives he needs to finish what Brodkorb has started. And Jesse Ventura won't change the equation this time. (Side note: you may have heard about Jesse's appearance the other day at the Mall of America, where he was signing copies of his book. Ol' Jesse was barking about how he wanted to take on Norm again. The MOA and Jesse had elaborate crowd control procedures in place, including issuing wristbands in advance to control an expected throng. From what I heard, they didn't need wristbands to control this throng.)
- What happens at the local level will be just as important as what happens at the national level and there are good candidates to support. I've been writing a lot about the race here in 50B and we have an excellent chance to elect Lori Grivna this fall. Incumbent Kate Knuth is no longer the fresh young face; instead, she's part of the DFL team that has already jammed the largest tax increase in Minnesota history down the throats of her constituents. And she wants to do a lot more of the same. And Lori is quite prepared to explain precisely what more of the same would mean.
- Even if the worst-case scenario takes place, there will be opportunities in the ashes. Suppose the most dire predictions come true - Obama wins and wins easily and brings 5-6 new Democratic senators (including, egad, Franken) and 20-30 new Congresscritters. What would happen? Well, you can assume that the emboldened Democrats will try to ram through their entire agenda - taking over healthcare, global warming, whatever the hell the teachers' unions want this time, etc., etc., etc. They might even get some of it passed. People will notice that, though. And people will notice that a lot of unsavory people will be wielding a lot of power; they'll notice that by giving the keys to Barack Obama, they've also unleashed the Murthas and Pelosis of the world. We can try to explain that to people all we want in this cycle, but most likely the message won't get through. Sometimes you have to experience something to learn from it. A very large percentage of the electorate doesn't remember what life was like in the 1970s. An Obama administration with large Democratic majorities in both houses would set up a replay of that time. Who thinks it will turn out better this time?
Bottom line? We have work to do. The key for those who believe in conservative ideals is to campaign forthrightly and with vigor in this cycle. We have good candidates to support and many reasonable arguments to make. It may not go our way. But if we make honest arguments and still lose because people aren't accepting the message, we'll have laid down a marker. And we'll have established something for the next campaign. As the wise man said, the price of liberty is eternal vigilance. And if, like Peggy Noonan, you're worried about the hunting party, don't forget that some hunting parties are led by Elmer Fudd.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Please read
What the Lady Logician has to say about the latest controversy surrounding Star Tribune columnist Katherine Kersten. We need to talk about the actions of Komissar Mindy Greiling (DFL-Smolensk, I mean Roseville), but I haven't gotten to it yet. LL is on the case, as always.
At a minimum, Greiling should be ashamed. More anon.
Touchy
Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We
have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in
1939, an American senator declared: 'Lord, if only I could have talked to
Hitler, all of this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this
what it is –- the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly
discredited by history.
We don't know specifically the identity of "some," of course. Based on what I can tell, the some could apply to hundreds of American politicians, thousands of European politicians and millions of people around the world.
For some reason , Barack Obama thought that George W. Bush meant him, and responded this way:
It is sad that President Bush would use a speech to the Knesset on the 60th anniversary of Israel's independence to launch a false political attack. It is
time to turn the page on eight years of policies that have strengthened Iran and
failed to secure America or our ally Israel. Instead of tough talk and no
action, we need to do what Kennedy, Nixon and Reagan did and use all elements of
American power -- including tough, principled, and direct diplomacy - to
pressure countries like Iran and Syria. George Bush knows that I have never
supported engagement with terrorists, and the President's extraordinary
politicization of foreign policy and the politics of fear do nothing to secure
the American people or our stalwart ally Israel.
Just a couple of things:
Obama is wrong, of course. Reagan never negotiated directly with countries like Libya or North Korea. Neither Kennedy, Nixon nor Reagan ever directly negotiated with Cuba. Nor have any of their successors. If Obama believes that we should directly negotiate with all nations, regardless of how heinous the governments of those nations are, he can certainly pursue that should he get elected president. But he'll be the first president in a long time to do so. Maybe the only president.
Second, Obama has one definite credibility issue on the matter of talking with Hamas. One of his advisers, Robert Malley, was in regular contact with Hamas. Once word of that got out, Obama fired him. Apparently Obama was shocked, shocked that this sort of activity was going on in his establishment.
Brewers Fall Just Short Against White Sox
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Guilty Pleasures Part Eighteen - Republican Despair Edition
UPDATE: Our friend Leo has also added a few other tunes in the comments section if the choices here don't float your boat. Thanks, good sir!
So the Republicans lost a special election down in Mississippi last night, which has led to a lot of sackcloth and ashes on the starboard side and glee on the port side. It would appear that there's no reason to even have an election and we should simply concede power to the mighty Democrats and our next president Barack Obama, who conclusively demonstrated his inevitability yesterday in West Virginia.
Well, Mr. Dilettante is always ready to be the on-deck deejay for the Titanic dance party. So in honor of our inevitable, impending doom, here's a selection of happy songs to brighten the mood of Republicans everywhere. Pick your favorite from among the following:
First, the pride of Rockford, Illinois gives Republicans some good advice. From Budokan, it's Cheap Trick, with:
Surrender
Next, it's native son Robert Zimmerman explaining it all to the despairing masses, with:
It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
Next, resplendent in a sequined red velvet dinner jacket designed to assuage despairing red state partisans, Marvin Gaye gently suggests a potential strategy for Republicans in the fall, with:
Got to Give It Up
Finally, daring young modern Beck provides the anthem that will lead the GOP to victory in '08, including extensive footage of the recommended Republican transportation option, with:
Loser
Vote early and vote often - it works for the Democrats!
Good Heavens, I've Been Memed Again!
Dan S. (a great guy with highly questionable taste in sports teams) has tagged me with a meme. To wit:
The "Message to the World" meme states: You have 150 characters to send a message to the world. Punctuation doesn't count. Well, all righty then. Ahem....
The golden rule works. Love your family. Tell the truth, especially to yourself. Learn something from mistakes. God is there for you. Laugh. Rock on.
Brought it in under 150.
And so we pass it on. That means you, Stinger and Heidi.













