We're going to need a Michael Corleone sort of accounting at some point.

Thanks to RocketsBrain.

Posted by: Ace at 12:41 PM | Comments (18)
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That seems to be what this Arianna Huffington moonbat is saying.

As it's inconceivable that liberals could lose any election, it must be the case that the 2000, 2002, and 2004 elections were stolen. He's kind enough to give us one more chance to demonstrate we're not cheating -- by losing -- and then he wants to go Ukrainian on us.

Posted by: Ace at 11:36 AM | Comments (87)
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First quarter growth revised up to a sizzling 5.6%.

Once again, the predictable headline:

Economy Growth Boils in 1st Quarter but Has Flashed Signs of Cooling Since Then

Of course it's cooling, morons. Only developing nations are able to sustain such high growth rates for more than a quarter or two.

And how much is it cooling? Well, down a positively chilly 2.5% to 3% rate of growth, better known as "solid growth."

Fresher barometers, however, suggest the economy is slowing.

In a separate report, the Labor Department said new claims filed for unemployment benefits last week rose by 4,000 to 313,000 -- a bit more than economists were expecting.

Analysts believe economic growth in the April-to-June quarter could turn out to be half the pace of the first quarter's. They are predicting growth in the range of 2.5 percent to 3 percent. High energy prices and a more moderate housing market will play roles in the expected slowdown.

"I think the economy is moving from a boil to a simmer," said Richard Yamarone, economist at Argus Research.

Damn, the economy will merely be "simmering" in the next few months. Let's all hang ourselves in the garage.

Posted by: Ace at 11:00 AM | Comments (20)
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While the left has its talking points -- of course terrorists knew their money was being tracked, etc. -- the most immediate harm comes via our skittish allies. While foreign governments are hostile to the US, they're positively sweethearts compared to the anti-Americanism of their populations. Poland is often cited as a key US ally, and it is; but the Polish people are much less eager to assist in, say, Iraq than their government is.

When it is exposed that foreign institutions are governments are cooperating with the despised US, public pressure will be brought to bear, and may limit or end cooperation with the US.

The New York Times alerted the anti-American popuations of Europe that their banks were aiding the US and that their governments were looking the other way. Will they now continue to look the other way?

Tom Maguire notes a New York Times article suggests that maybe they won't.

A former federal prosecutor who handled major terrorism cases, Andrew C. McCarthy, said he believed that the greatest harm from news reports about such classified programs was the message that Americans could not keep secrets.

"If foreign intelligence services think anything they tell us will end up in the newspapers, they'll stop sharing so much information," said Mr. McCarthy, now a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in Washington.

Is the Times outing classified information for the purposes of keeping Americans informed, or for the purposes of keeping Europeans and Al Qaeda terrorists informed?

Posted by: Ace at 10:55 AM | Comments (13)
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Via Confederate Yankee comes this from SCOTUSblog:

Even more importantly for present purposes, the Court held that Common Article 3 of Geneva aplies as a matter of treaty obligation to the conflict against Al Qaeda. That is the HUGE part of today's ruling. The commissions are the least of it. This basically resolves the debate about interrogation techniques, because Common Article 3 provides that detained persons "shall in all circumstances be treated humanely," and that "o this end," certain specified acts "are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever"—including "cruel treatment and torture," and "outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment." This standard, not limited to the restrictions of the due process clause, is much more restrictive than even the McCain Amendment. See my further discussion here.

This almost certainly means that the CIA's interrogation regime is unlawful, and indeed, that many techniques the Administation has been using, such as waterboarding and hypothermia (and others) violate the War Crimes Act (because violations of Common Article 3 are deemed war crimes).

If I'm right about this, it's enormously significant.

Yup.

Posted by: Ace at 10:02 AM | Comments (53)
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Anthony Kennedy. What a guy.

In his own separate opinion, Justice Stephen Breyer said, "Congress has not issued the executive a 'blank check.'"

"Indeed, Congress has denied the president the legislative authority to create military commissions of the kind at issue here. Nothing prevents the president from returning to Congress to seek the authority he believes necessary," Breyer wrote.

All right then, go back to Congress, ask for the power.

Posted by: Ace at 09:20 AM | Comments (31)
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Very interesting article about how persistent political losses cause mutations in one's thinking, until one becomes messianic, paranoiac, and, well, basically batshit crazy.

It happened to the John Birchers in the 1950's. It's happening to the left now.

[The typical aging Kos reader has] been on the political and cultural losing side all his adult life. He’s tired of it. And he’s found a website which, at last, makes him feel empowered. He is, in short, the typical member of the so-called netroots: the left-wing movement, organized around blogs, that seeks to “take back” this country from its usurpers. The netroots is a movement born of desperation and a sense of embattlement at being on the losing side of historical forces. It sees itself as the inheritor and the guarantor of true American tradition and identity, and it seeks to restore those things to their rightful primacy in national life. Critically, it choose to not merely fight its foes, but emulate them. It sees the prime virtue of its enemies as their ability to win, and if they can just crack the code — if it can grasp the very methodology of victory — then they will turn the tables, and victory will be theirs.

Sound familiar? It is — to us. To the left, it’s all very exciting, and all very new. And so we see the self-proclaimed netroots go through a trajectory very much like what the Birchers went through, albeit in highly compressed time. The elements are all there: the resentment, the conspiracy-mindedness, and especially the leaders with stupefyingly poor judgment married to Napoleon complexes. I’ve noted before that they are “frank proponents of outright mimicry of the mechanisms of GOP ascendacy.” Add to this the horrifying, alienating statements ranging from the mockery of dead Americans at war to the derision of political opponents’ personal sorrows. Add to this the demonization of the very people who should, in a sane world, be their friends — The New Republic chief among them — and the formula is complete. Messianism and paranoia marry to make this.

Posted by: Ace at 06:22 PM | Comments (60)
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On the plus side, it can't have been terribly effective if the Palestinians need to tell people they fired it.

The group had recently claimed to possess about 20 biological warheads for the makeshift rockets commonly fired from Gaza at Israeli towns. This was the first time the group had claimed firing such a rocket.

“The al-Aqsa Brigades have fired one rocket with a chemical warhead” at southern Israel, Abu Qusai, a spokesman for the group, said in Gaza.

No comment yet from Israeli officials. Scientists, I'm sure, will determine if a chem warhead was indeed fired.

In a way, I hope it's true. Because I don't think that Jews living in a state created after the Holocaust are going to appreciate attempts to mass-murder civilians with poison gas.

There needs to be some clarity. For too long the Palestinians have been protected from the natural consequences of their own brutality and bloody-mindedness, allowed by the Western world to make war while pretending at peace. This has only infantilized them, shielding them from the rightful consequences of their actions, encouraging them to become more vicious.

At some point there has to be a war to resolve this, a real war, with the other side fighting back. And one side needs to be decimated and humilated. That's how peace is made. Only when people truly feel the horrors of war are they willing to give it up.

Posted by: Ace at 05:21 PM | Comments (45)
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On FoxNews.

No word on whether Israel will use the captured terrorists as bargaining chips.

I say: Do it. I'm sick and tired of hearing we can't use their tactics against them. Or that we'll "become them" if we do.

Do we become snakes when we decapitate them with hoes? I don't think so.

Posted by: Ace at 03:38 PM | Comments (77)
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Paul Bettany has been approached to play the Crown Prince of Crime for the Batman sequel.

Meanwhile, Robin Williams is all but wearing a Catwoman-suit to lobby for the part, and raves about graphic novels to demonstrate his comics-cred.

And he worked with director Chris Nolan before, of course.

It's nice that Robin Williams can discuss the comic Arkham Asylum, but really, look at the two pictures. Is it even close?

Sorry, hate to be a dick, but the Joker's thin. Bettany even looks like the Joker, without makeup.

And Joker doesn't say "Nan-noo nan-noo" when he kills people.

Posted by: Ace at 02:48 PM | Comments (47)
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