"I was pretty surprised to be asked a question like that. It made no sense to me."

H/T: Daily Dish

Dear Southerners,

If you want people to stop thinking of you as a bunch of unintelligent xenophobic hillbillies...


stop believing ridiculous nonsense.

You're welcome,

EVERYBODY ELSE

PS: Republicans, if you don't want to be thought of as a party that caters only to said Southern yahoos...oh, wait. Nevermind.

Quote of the Day, Double Dish Edition

A Quote of the Day Two-Fer:

None of the leading Democrats really believes that our civil rights are being trampled on; including president Obama, who has still achieved nothing substantive whatsoever for gay Americans.

Oh, I forgot the cocktail party. Always great to throw a cocktail party for the gays. That's what they really want, isn't it? Just give them some cocktails, ask for more money and they'll forget about their civil rights.

Andrew Sullivan, 7/27/09

If you're a Republican, a lot of things are logical: the entire debt began the moment Obama took office; Bush and Cheney never tortured anyone, but Obama is about to; the WMDs really are in Iraq; the president has the constitutional power to send tanks into the streets to arrest any American without charges; deficits don't matter; Obama is a Kenyan Muslim impostor; and Sarah Palin was qualified to be president of the United States at a moment's notice.

Andrew Sullivan, 7/28/09

There are more than a couple issues I disagree with Sullivan on, but I think he, Greenwald, and Maddow are really sticking it to both parties, and rightfully so.

And I didn't realize until I typed the three names, but is it just a coincidence that three of the most thoughtful critics of Obama are openly gay journalists? (Also worth noting, the most forgiving of the three is the self-proclaimed conservative, Sullivan.) I think this probably has a lot to do with their open support of Obama's platform, and--like many of us less Left-inclined--their profound disappointment with the lack of "Change" on so many important, non-DNC issues. The rest of the Left refuses to come to terms with this, and that is to the detriment of all of us.

What Conservatism Really Means

Sullivan nails it:

For conservatism to copy liberalism by always seeking "solutions" to problems and convincing "the right coalitions" of people to look to government for the satisfaction of their needs would be a mistake in my view. It may not be a mistake for Republicanism, an amorphous political entity that does what it wants in the pursuit of power. Maybe aiming for a "Sams Club" coalition or a Jewish-evangelical alliance or "durable majority" on Rove's lines makes sense for a political party or movement trying out new policies for new clients. But conservatism as a pragmatic, minimalist sensibility toward governance, conservatism as a reflexive preference for freedom, conservatism as a school of thought defined by the view that solutions are often worse than the problems: not so much.

The Evils of P.C.

Hearing-impaired. Verbally-challenged. Vision-depleted. This is the state of our nation regarding the practices of torture by the administration -- deaf, dumb, and blind:

News coverage of the torture issue began in proper terms after the publication of the Abu Ghraib photographs. There were a handful of reports that predated this, such as notice of the first two deaths in Bagram Air Base. At the time the Abu Ghraib photographs appeared, I had completed a major study by the NYC Bar Association looking into legal standards governing interrogation practices. This study had been directly inspired by information the Bar had received from its JAG members to the effect that unlawful torture techniques were being used. Specifically, the following techniques were the focus of our concern: waterboarding, long-time standing, hypothermia, sleep deprivation in excess of two days, the use of psychotropic drugs and the sensory deprivation/sensory overload techniques first developed for the CIA at McGill University. Each of these techniques has a long history. Each had historically been condemned as “torture” by the United States when used by other nations. Each was clearly prohibited under the prior U.S. Army Field Manual. And each was now being used.

I discovered that when I gave interviews to major media on this subject, any time I used the word “torture” with reference to these techniques, the interview passage would not be used. At one point I was informed by a cable news network that “we put this on international, because we can’t use that word on the domestic feed.” “That word” was torture. I was coached or told that the words “coercive interrogation technique” were fine, but “torture” was a red light. Why? The Administration objected vehemently to the use of this word. After all, President Bush has gone before the cameras and stated more than three dozen times “We do not torture.” By using the T-word, I was told, I was challenging the honesty of the president. You just couldn’t do that. [emphasis added]

For all the supposed left-wing media bias, the media seems to be doing a perfectly good job of rolling over for this administration.

Simply put, if you put a person in a position where he legitimately thinks he's going to die (water-boarding) ; where he loses all presence of mind (sleep deprivation); or is put in a condition where his health is threatened (hypothermia) -- it is not a "coercive interrogation technique" -- it's TORTURE.

Thus, if the U.S. doesn't torture, those tactics should be banned yesterday.

Via Daily Dish.

Why I Miss Bill Clinton...

Oh, don't be alarmed. The statement in my headline is purely a self-serving one.

I first became interested in journalism in high school when Bill Clinton was president. In a very (and I do not say this proudly) Limbaugh-ean way, I spent my first years in print taking him to task for Haiti, Yugoslavia, Somalia and other foreign policy debacles (Monica happened in my college years). It was so easy and I never ran out of material.

Now Bill is thrusting himself back into the spotlight to save Clinton '08, which is looking like the H.M.S. Titanic of political campaigns.

A couple weeks ago, as if channeling John Kerry -- a politician not half the talent or intellect of our former molester-in-chief -- he said he was against the Iraq war from the outset...which was apparently after he supported the president publicly.

But I'll forgive him that. I think a large number of people today can look back at the events after 9/11 with at least of tinge of regret on what we said/did/supported - myself included.

That said, this fatuous absurdity takes the cake as the most ridiculous thing Bill Clinton has ever -- and I mean ever -- said:

Just a few days ago, in Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, the former president said, "I have been blessed in my life to know some of the greatest figures of the last hundred years. Because of what you did. You, you gave me the chance to be president. You voted for me twice here, and I'm very grateful.

"I go to Nelson Mandela's birthday party every year and we're still very close. I believe if Yitzhak Rabin had not been murdered in 1995 we would have peace in the Middle East. I loved him as much as anyone I've ever known.

"But if you said to me today, 'I'm gonna give you one last job for your country -- go and do this -- but it's hazardous and you may not get out with life and limb intact and you have to do it alone except I'll let you take one other person,' and I had to pick one person whom I knew who would never blink, who would never turn back, who would make great decisions under pressure and would never forget what the purpose of being there was, I would pick Hillary of the people I've known and I would never even think about it. It would be an easy choice."

On behalf of all anti-left journalists everywhere, may I say welcome back to the fore, Bill. We've missed you.

Via Daily Dish.

Putting Torture In Context

Over at the Daily Dish, Sullivan points out the history of torture in America. Like so many recently, he looks to the GOP to reconcile itself to its past...but I reiterate, its not just the GOP or even the South that needs to come to terms with the gruesome history of racism in America.

Caveat Mentula

You HAVE to see this over at Daily Dish!

I think its great, provided she doesn't get drunk and forget to take it out one night...

::whimper::