Although Mark Warner campaign strategist Jerome Armstrong claims he gave up his (impliedly) brief dalliance with star-sign-prognostication in 2001, Dan Riehl thinks he kept it up through 2005 under the nom de etoiles "Vis Numar."

So, Mark Warner is paying for political consulting about the GOP's obsession "with 'gonad politics' which manifestated the plutonic sexual tensions that exist in the Republican Party."

Or:

The Republican Party does well when it deals with Neptunian issues ... but when it comes to issues surrounding Pluto, the sexual and the bodily emerge from shadows, and they go toward excess.

Ah, yes. The parties diverge on freedom from want versus freedom of opportunity, security versus civil liberties, and, of course, Neptunian versus Plutonian issues.

Pluto is sexual?

To some, I guess.

Posted by: Ace at 06:21 PM | Comments (37)
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The notorious discussion in which Mike Wallace declared that a true reporter could not warn a group of troops he was embedded with of a coming attack on them that they would otherwise be surprised (and killed) by.

Because there is not only no higher status than "reporter," but not even other obligations that compete with it (such as patriotism or even mere respect for human life).

As Football Fans For Truth concludes in disgust:

They actually believe this shit. Life is just another episode of Lou Grant.

Posted by: Ace at 06:09 PM | Comments (36)
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Only garnered 66 votes, rather than required 67.

Posted by: Ace at 01:47 PM | Comments (143)
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More interestingly to me-- Palestinian militants are said to be "massing" in northern Gaza.

I don't want to be a little New York Times fink, so I'll write the following in secret invisible ink. Llorcs-revo ot daer.

Got news for you: It's not smart for terrorists, who typically hide amidst civilian populations, to "mass" anywhere when the Israelis have F-16's in the air.

A Possible Third Bridge... mentioned on Fox.

Posted by: Ace at 01:34 PM | Comments (51)
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Good. Let's get started with this already.

As I Was Saying... Belgium probing legality of SWIFT subpoenas.

Thanks, NYT! Thanks so much for serving as a hostile intelligence service providing damaging information to our enemies as well as our very-reluctant allies.

Pat Roberts, writer of the letter cited above, says that the next attack on the US may very well be laid at the feet of the NYT.

Peter King wants to throw the reporters in jail until they reveal their sources to a grand jury.

Some Congressmen calling for a tightening, toughening of espionage laws.

These updates from Brit Hume's show, on now.

Bump the Jail-O-Meter to...

They're making all the right moves to gain the political support they need to throw these sonofabitches in jail for a year or five.

A Treasonous Bridge Too Far... Patterico dreams the impossible dream and ponders if the NYT and LAT realize they committed treason that the American public will not forgive.

The "treason" part they didn't mind, of course. They always understood that.

But it is possible it's dawning on them that this is all very, very close to publishing submarine positions as they're about to attack a target, and that the public may have had just about enough of their arrogance and hostility to American security.

The American public has a reflexive instict against prosecuting journalists. But that's all it is at this point-- reflexive. The more the public considers precisely what the NYT has done, the more they'll realize their reflexive support for press freedom should not apply in such a disgraceful case.

Posted by: Ace at 01:02 PM | Comments (33)
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So far it seems like they've just blown up a bridge, to prevent easy transport of the kidnapped Israeli soldier.

Seems like vigorous saber rattling. Blowing up a bridge gets someone's attention but it's not quite a full-fledged attack.

Yet.

Thanks to shawn.

Posted by: Ace at 12:58 PM | Comments (9)
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Gas is back up; the Dow keeps falling.

I think the following is a pretty good anti-cowbell picture. You should know in advance you're not going to like it. more...

Posted by: Ace at 12:52 PM | Comments (17)
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...is demonstrated by their choice of what letters to publish. Powerline Blog notes they found the following letter -- written as a parody -- was well-received by the NYT:

Dear Mr. Keller:

I want to thank you personally for breaking the story on the government illegally using the SWIFT system to track money.

This administration is always breaking the law. They all belong behind bars. Just remember, it's your duty to make sure they're kicked out of office, in the most humiliating way possible. Republicans are killers of poor people all around the world. Crimes against humanity should not go unpunished.

Keep up the good work.

Henry David

Click on the link to read the Times' gratitude in receiving such plaudits.

Posted by: Ace at 12:43 PM | Comments (6)
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By the blogger Real Ugly American.

Mort is a disaffected liberal; he's not a rightie by any means, but he's annoyed enough by liberals that he's pretty fair and moderate. In fact, I have to say Mort Kondracke is more or less the exact political middle of this country. Like an ideological Missouri.

Which doesn't mean I agree with him on every point. I just mean only that-- he's right in the actual middle. The liberals in the MSM would be wise to look to him to determine what true centrism is.

Anyway, his reason for breaking with liberals is interesting:

... it was actually the Vietnam War the end of the Vietnam War that made me stop being a liberal most of all. I was covering the Ford White House when the North Vietnamese began their final offensive against South Vietnam, and I remember President Ford asking congress for 600 million dollars to help the South Vietnamese to fight their way, to save themselves, and congress refused and the minute congress refused the South Vietnamese army through down their weapons and ran. And that was the end. And I was just so disgusted with the Democrats at that point that I said you know what do Democrats do but spend money you know and to save an ally they werenÂ’t even willing to commit money so thatÂ’s when I bailed. And even before then I thought the Soviet Union was a menace and that it had to be resisted so I have been a foreign policy hawk for a long time.

He talks a lot about media bias and Bush derangement.

Thanks to Dan from Riehl World View.

Posted by: Ace at 12:16 PM | Comments (9)
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It's good to be the king:

Does kos have influence over other bloggers? Of course! He may not have direct financial influence over them, at best those claims are tendentious—but some other bloggers feel intimidated, as Mike Stark indicated in a Townhouse message

I might be digging my grave here, but before I put my credibility on the line ofr anyone, I want to know IÂ’m standing on solid ground.

Why would he think he was digging his grave by being contrary to kos if there wasnÂ’t some air of intimidation, real or perceived?

Goldstein notes the characteristic leftist urge for enforced conformity.

Meanwhile, the left has a new conspiracy theory (they average 2.5 per day): Kos is being "swiftboated."

Actually, I don't know that this one is wrong. Hey, politics is hardball. Kos doesn't like Hillary, and Hillary doesn't like Kos. It's quite possible Hillary and Peter Daou have something to do with the embarrassing leaks about Kos.

Remember, it was Al Gore who first used the Willie Horton issue against Michael Dukakis. (Although the left always points out Al Gore didn't actually speak the name "Willie Horton.")

Posted by: Ace at 11:17 AM | Comments (14)
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