I don't know about you, my friends, I don't want to live in a country where the fascist state throws a man in jail after a mere *900* alcohol-related offenses.

This injustice will not stand.

This injustice must not stand.

Free Henry Earl

Because if the State is permitted to jail a man after 900 alcohol-related violations, pretty soon they'll come after those of us with a coupla hundred or so.

Posted by: Ace at 06:50 PM | Comments (34)
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People asked if I was in a depressed mood, as they thought that Nietzche quotes were a subconscious cry for help.

Well, I wasn't depressed then. I am now, though.

I think I'm going to browse through Twillight of the Gods as I gently exsanguinate myself (okay, Megan?) in the bathtub.

"Dude," thanks for ruining my day. PS, my most beloved dog was killed by a car some years ago. Make sure you bring that up in your next comment.

Update: If you watch Deadwood, scroll down to the next post, to find Mr. Wu's defense of Tom DeLay.

Posted by: Ace at 12:30 PM | Comments (48)
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My Nietzche quote has prompted a bit of completely-unexpected criticism. He said "God is dead" and God is the "deification of nothingness" and other stuff that surely does not go over well with the faithful.

I guess I just wanted to say this: I used to be a liberal. (Hey, look, if you want to get some play with the ladies in college you either be liberal as all get out or else you start as star cornerback for the football team... being liberal seemed easier to me. I mean, I could have been a star cornerback, if I felt like it.)

And one of the things that started turning me off of liberalism cold was this stupid Boycott of the Week program they enrolled me in against my wishes. Grapes, apples, Coors, Domino's... I just could not keep up with the wide range of products or entertainments I was expected to eschew just to demonstrate how socially conscious I was.

And a lot of times the people telling you to boycott couldn't even explain why you were supposed to boycott.

"Hey man, don't eat Snickers."

"But I love Snickers."

"Nope. Boycott Snickers. Didn't you hear?"

"Hear what, exactly?"

"Uhhhhh... well, like, something? You know? Like they don't pay their migrant workers enough to thresh and harvest the Snickers trees? Or, like, five cents of every nickle from a Snickers bar goes to fund the Death Squads in, um, Portugal?"

"What Portuguese Death Squads?"

"You know... all those Death Squads in Latin America. I don't know the facts, I'm just telling you what I know. And what I know is that Snickers is filled with the Devil's Nougat."

"You're kiddin' me, right? No more Snickers? What if I really want one?"

"Well.... There's always O Henry."

"Ohhhhhh God. I suppose. There's always O Henry."

At any rate, that sort of stupidity turned me off liberalism faster than my own rapidly-diminishing sex drive.

Conservatives have been better about avoiding this Boycott of the Week deal, and usually, when we do boycott, we have some pretty damn good reasons for boycotting.

As I noted in a post: HL Mencken was a misanthrope (can't blame him on that score, actually) but worse yet an anti-semite. And yet he writes like a dream, has good and vicious sense when writing about people who aren't Jewish, and provided me with a kick-ass quote that sums up my blogging philosophy (and looks good on a t-shirt, which, did I mention?, you can still buy for a limited time only).

Should I boycott Mencken because hew was anti-Jew, too?

And what if I wanted to read TS Eliott and Ezra Pound? I confess, this is a rather remote possibility; I didn't want to read them when I was required to read them by HS and college teachers ("The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock"? Give me a break. No sale, lady. Peddle it elsewhere, 'cause I ain't buyin'.).

But suppose I had a sudden desire to be bored out of my mind by ugly poetry?

Anyway, I guess the question I have is: how seriously do you try to keep conservative-kosher? Is it even possible in a culture dominated by liberals?

Posted by: Ace at 10:46 AM | Comments (61)
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Just a bit of harmless "protected political speech," as the Ninth Fucking Circuit instructs us.

Michelle Malkin has a pic of the "Kill Bush" t-shirt, as well as other fine products available from the Homicidal Left.

And she links to Powerline, featuring an article on a pro-assassination "art" exhibit.

A caveat: I am searching for this stuff myself, to confirm that Cafe Press actually offered this crap. I have not yet been able to find it. The pop-up says the offering was pulled and is no longer available. I guess I'd like to see a cached page of it.

I'm running with it, though, not quite nailed down and solid, because I pretty much trust Malkin.

I know a lot of bloggers sell merch through Cafe Press, and I wouldn't want to depress their sales. But... if this is real, there should be a permanent boycott against Cafe Press by all people -- not just conservatives -- who believe that political differences should be solved by political processes, rather than a lunatic's rifle.

I suppose Cafe Press has a defense -- they don't check to see what's being offered on their site before it goes up, and they do seem to have pulled it. I'd like a full explanation and apology, though.

Confirmed: By commenters, who saw this yesterday. Drudge linked and Limbaugh mentioned. That's enough.

Cafe Press had better issue a grovelling apology and a promise to patrol its political material much more carefully or I swear we will drive these bastards out of business within a month.

Self-Serving Mercenary Greed Update: Why not protest Cafe Press by buying a snazzy t-shirt from a guy who takes a firm position against political violence?

Uhhh... yeah, I know, the Mencken quote. Metaphor, you retards.

Remember... the ordering period may be closed at any moment.

EDIT: I'm just linking Michelle Malkin right now for the t-shirt. I've been told that Cafe Press likes suing bloggers right off INTERNET.

Sorry to be a pussy, but I don't feel like dealing with it. Michelle's got juice; she can take these guys on.

Posted by: Ace at 10:10 AM | Comments (23)
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This wasn't the Nietzche quote I was just searching for, but I find it interesting just the same.

The thousand mysteries around us would not trouble but interest us, if only we had cheerful, healthy hearts. -- Nietzche.

The one I was looking for was something along the lines of "If horrible things keep happening to you, perhaps they are not horrible at all, but simply the life you lead." Kind of like that. I'm not competely sure.

I don't do this for a living. This is all, like, new to me.

Posted by: Ace at 09:46 AM | Comments (30)
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Ramesh Ponunununununu (whatever) says the GOP now has 50 votes to change the filibuster rule, which, combined with Cheney's tie-breaking vote, gives them the necessary majority for the rather badly-named "Nuclear Option."

GOP Senators-- turn your keys! I insist, sirs, that you turn your keys!*

Meanwhile, the NYT says the GOP may "hasten" the fight over judicial fillibusters. It's about frickin' time.

Surprisingly enough, the Times article fails to note that Fortunate Son is not on Bush's iPod. But I'm sure there'll be a follow-up.

Thanks to the National Journal's Blogometer.

* WarGames trivia: anyone remember who played the two Air Force officers in the "Turn your key" scene teaser that started the film? They're both big, recognizable actors now, one from films, the other from TV.

Posted by: Ace at 09:29 AM | Comments (15)
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I've thusfar stayed out of this for several reasons.

First, I haven't followed it closely.

Second, the reason I haven't followed it closely is that I suspect, though I don't know enough to be sure, that the charges levelled against DeLay are largely manufactured or trumped-up.

Third, while the NYT (of course!) and the WSJ are surprised to find a politician flirting with ethical lines, I myself am not. As the man said, I'm a bit shocked -- shocked! -- to find gambling going on at Rick's. This is not to say I approve of sleaze; I don't. But some amount of non-criminal, non-illegal sleaziness is to be expected. Writing against political sleaze is like writing against war, which, as Kurt Vonnegut wrote, is itself like writing against glaciers. Sort of futile, he meant. It might make you feel good, but, at the end of the day, those glaciers aren't going away just because you morally disapprove of them.

Fourth, I don't really trust my motives on this. For whatever reason, while I appreciate DeLay's willingness to fight where many conservatives would choose to surrender, I don't like the guy. It's just an in-the-gut dislike. And I joined in the pack of wolves baying for Trent Lott's head based partly on the same dislike. Yes, what he said was insensitive, I suppose; and worse yet, it was just plain stupid. As the French say, it was worse than a crime, it was a mistake. Still, a big reason I joined in the anti-Lott mob was because I just didn't want the guy in charge anymore, for cynical (and personality-driven) reason.

Brit Hume -- a guy I have to say I trust an awful lot -- and Bill Kristol -- whom I also trust, although not quite as implicitly as Hume -- expressed their opinion on this week's FoxNews Sunday that much of this was old news (the stuff about his family on the payroll is a two-year old story, despite the NYT's decision to pretend it was a breaking exclusive) and is not illegal and is furthermore not even an uncommon practice among politicians. The rest of it, they thought, constituted smoke without, as of yet, any actual fire.

I suppose I should really examine the issues more thoroughly and figure out my own opinion, rather than rely on Brit Hume, but Brit Hume is my Walter Cronkite. When he says the Tom DeLay war is unwinnable, that's probably when I join the hippies in the street demanding we abandon the fight and make peace with Hanoi the mainstream media.

In the meantime, Tony Blankley provides some perspective on the contretemps, and urges Republicans to have a little backbone. Maybe, he suggests, we should resist the urge to call for someone's head until an actual crime has been suggested, let alone proven.

Posted by: Ace at 08:25 AM | Comments (38)
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New Email Address:

My Yahoo account has been acting "funny" for months, and now the thing keeps telling me "invalid password" and then signing me out every five seconds.

So I now have a new address.

Update: Thanks to the Fat Kid. Others were nice enough to offer too, but his email hit first. (PS, I'd thank each of you by email, but Yahoo won't let me reply... just keeps signing me out when I attempt to compose a letter or reply.)

Also, Fat Kid tipped me to the graphical email address generator which should help protect against spambots.

Thanks again, man!

Posted by: Ace at 08:07 AM | Comments (18)
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Worth a read in full. And maybe worth responding to.

Kerry does a good job, I think, of writing the letter in a non-objectionable way. He casts everything in terms of helping our military families, which, you know, is a position that's hard to disagree with. It's not like conservatives say, "Ehhh-- military families. Buncha whiners. T' hell w' 'em."

Still, he's obviously trolling for useful PR material, the sort of stuff he can quote the next time he's on Russert.

One of PoliPundit's readers gets the ball rolling:

Dear John,

IÂ’d like to share the story of my sonÂ’s service in Iraq. However, first, can I askÂ…wonÂ’t you share YOUR story by signing the SF-180 form to release your military records?

Posted by: Ace at 08:00 AM | Comments (13)
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One cadet uses hidden video to catch his roommate dancing.

The only thing that ruins this is that he's a good dancer. Damnit! Still-- sort of funny to see the guy busting a move.

Thanks to VonKreedon, whom no one can call "VonCretin" for 24 hours because he did a man's job here, via Iraq Now.

Posted by: Ace at 07:50 AM | Comments (9)
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