It’s About Federalism, Stupid!

Federalism, Media, The Zeitgeist

“Would that Republicans fussed as much over the many fully formed human-beings dying daily in Iraq, as they do over fetuses. But they don’t. And for that, the GOP—”culture of life” and all—was hurled from both houses. With the Democrats in control, we’re likely to witness many more grand mals over stem-cell research. So, let me attempt to untangle the issue, not least of all for Rush Limbaugh.”

“The pompous talk-show host’s sneering assault on a deformed Michael J. Fox was utterly depraved. Aping Fox’s Parkinson’s-induced spasms, Limbaugh told listeners: “He is exaggerating the effects of the disease. He’s moving all around and shaking and it’s purely an act.” Rather than lampoon an-obviously afflicted human being, someone with a head and a heart would have stuck to the issue…”
So what is the issue? Get the goods in my new WorldNetDaily column, “It’s About Federalism, Stupid!” (Barely-a-Blog readers will be familiar with the theme.)

Bush 43 to 41: 'Daddy Help!'

Bush

President Bush has a lot of problems. That’s obvious. One of them is his father. It’s not that Bush 41 was so wonderful, but he was better than the man who’s distinguished himself as “the worst president in U.S. history”?

Bush junior has become quite prickly in the past, when quizzed about whether he sought his dad’s advice. As Christopher Buckley has written:

“Bob Woodward asked Bush 43 if he had consulted his father before invading Iraq. The son replied that he had consulted ‘a higher father.’ That frisson you feel going up your spine is the realization that he meant it. And apparently the higher father said, ‘Go for it!’ There are those of us who wish he had consulted his terrestrial one; or, if he couldn’t get him on the line, Brent Scowcroft. Or Jim Baker. Or Henry Kissinger. Or, for that matter, anyone who has read a book about the British experience in Iraq. (18,000 dead.)

George Bush is all about one-upmanship, which is a good thing if you can do it honestly and self-reliantly. He can’t.

So what do you make of the runt appointing Robert Michael Gates to replace Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense? Gates is daddy’s man through-and-through. He served under President George H.W. Bush as Director of Central Intelligence and is a member of the bipartisan commission headed by James A. Baker III (another of the former president’s men) to study the Iraq campaign.

I think Baker and Gates, Daddy’s Big Guns, will direct Bush, the shrub, out of Iraq.

Bush 43 to 41: ‘Daddy Help!’

Bush

President Bush has a lot of problems. That’s obvious. One of them is his father. It’s not that Bush 41 was so wonderful, but he was better than the man who’s distinguished himself as “the worst president in U.S. history”?

Bush junior has become quite prickly in the past, when quizzed about whether he sought his dad’s advice. As Christopher Buckley has written:

“Bob Woodward asked Bush 43 if he had consulted his father before invading Iraq. The son replied that he had consulted ‘a higher father.’ That frisson you feel going up your spine is the realization that he meant it. And apparently the higher father said, ‘Go for it!’ There are those of us who wish he had consulted his terrestrial one; or, if he couldn’t get him on the line, Brent Scowcroft. Or Jim Baker. Or Henry Kissinger. Or, for that matter, anyone who has read a book about the British experience in Iraq. (18,000 dead.)

George Bush is all about one-upmanship, which is a good thing if you can do it honestly and self-reliantly. He can’t.

So what do you make of the runt appointing Robert Michael Gates to replace Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense? Gates is daddy’s man through-and-through. He served under President George H.W. Bush as Director of Central Intelligence and is a member of the bipartisan commission headed by James A. Baker III (another of the former president’s men) to study the Iraq campaign.

I think Baker and Gates, Daddy’s Big Guns, will direct Bush, the shrub, out of Iraq.

The Worst has Become the 'Best'

Democrats, Human Accomplishment, Intelligence, Iraq, Neoconservatism, The Zeitgeist, War

I watched Wonkette (or is it “Wonkette Emerita”) on Joe Scarborough. Unlike Tucker and Olbermann (good for them), he seems intent on parading airheads on his show (the segment “Hollyweird” comes to mind). Chris Matthews also invited this woman on his show to roll the words off her tongue, as she does with such affectation. In any case, she called Jim Webb a pumpkin head. The dictionary says that’s “a slow or dim-witted person.” Webb is nothing of the sort. When I first began writing about Iraq on WND.com, Webb e-mailed me in approval a few times, sending his editorials along. You have to be a complete wombat (“Waste Of Money, Brains, And Time”) like Wonkette to call Webb slow. A thought I recently shared with an interlocutor popped into my mind:

When I was young, the world was more merit based. It made more sense then. I could still be the best in the class. Now, the worst has become the best. Standards have been inverted. Nothing makes sense (except that one has to stick to one’s principles and be true to the truth). The awakening came when I first got to Canada and attended some course. A woman opened up her mouth to speak, and I thought, “Shame, she’s retarded.” Later it transpired she had degrees from McGill and other Ivy-league schools. I was in for an education. The woman wasn’t Wonkette, but came close…