Yeah.

Okay. Let me instruct Begley and all the other lefty nitwits out there: This war is not about oil.

Bin Ladin has never once cited as a reason for declaring war on us that "we pay Arabs and Muslims lots of money for oil."

Actually, unburdening ourselves of so much dependency on Middle Eastern oil might cause more war. Certainly we'd have one less reason to bomb some of these countries.

Posted by: Ace at 09:00 PM | Comments (51)
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Yeah, you've probably heard it before, but now there's a cute java animation to go with it.

Thanks to Armchair in Sin.

Posted by: Ace at 08:57 PM | Comments (11)
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Quick, cover your ears, the media outrage over this is going to be deafening.

Posted by: Ace at 08:52 PM | Comments (3)
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Heh:

We all have thought Congress toys the truth at times. Now, there appears to be proof of it at Wikipedia.

The publicly edited online encyclopedia says it has instituted a one-week ban on Congress from making additions or changes to the site. The ban follows discovery that a senior staff for a Massachusetts congressman authorized changes to his Wikipedia biography that distorted facts.

According to a newspaper investigation, staff for Democratic Rep. Marty Meehan made changes to MeehanÂ’s biography that replaced negative yet accurate information with content having a more positive slant. Among the changes: removing references to MeehanÂ’s promise to serve only eight years.

And Wikipedia has found thousands of other changes originating from Congressional computers, including the addition to one entry about a Congressman, noting that he "smells like cow dung."

Wikipedia may ban Congressional computers from editing the site. Won't help, of course. All of these people have home computers that can't easily be screened out.

I've always thought this was a naive and quixotic venture. You really can't take the author out of authorship. We're witnessing a cybernetic tragedy of the commons. With no one owning information, everyone's allowed to abuse it as they wish.

Thanks to Andrew's Dad.

Posted by: Ace at 08:46 PM | Comments (12)
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I apologize for the lateness of this. Really, seriously, packing and cleaning sucks. I've had just about enough of it.

On the speech: What can I say? It was, as usual, okay.

The overarching theme was obviously his confidence of victory-- in the war on terror, in Iraq, on the economy, even on AIDS -- contrasted with retreat and defeat on all of these. (Well, except for AIDS, I guess. The Democrats aren't willing to call that war a quagmire.)

I was a little surprised that Bush was as forward-leaning in confronting the Democrats as he was. He repeatedly called them -- or some of them, by which he means most of them -- defeatist and weak on security.

He once again noted the stakes of the conflict -- defeat in Iraq would surrender "the world to the violent." I wondered why he didn't say it would surrender "the world to the vicious." He used that word later, but I think it's so much more potent than the empty word "violent." Hell, the US Marines are violent; violence, per se, isn't the problem.

I'm tired of the freedom rhetoric. I'm not tired of the idea, mind you. I just wish he would come up with a new way to describe the conflict. "Freedom" is nice rhetoric, but it feels a little threadworn at this point. I'd prefer that he was a little more concrete in providing examples and evidence along these lines. I realize these things tend to be bullet-point affairs, but one fleshed-out anecdote about, say, elections in Lebanon or Ukraine is better than just saying "freedom" fifteen times.

This is an important enough issue that he can afford not to bullet-point it quite so much.

I realize he's not a newscaster, but he is providing a public-information function. If the NSA wiretaps prevented a terrorist attack, why on earth not elaborate on the terrorist and his plan? Why just leave it as naked assertion without details that will awaken the interest and stick in the mind?

He called on Democrats for bipartisan solutions. Fat chance. It's a cute little silly nod to civility, but why not echo his father, and say something about leading, following, or getting the hell out of the way? His put-down that "hindsight is not a plan" is pithy, but I think it was probably lost on most. Economy of wording is sometimes not a virtue. Why not spell it out -- "There are those of you who wish to carp, to criticize, to castigate for partisan political advantage, but where, exactly, is your plan?"

An off-note-- Bush says we're winning but if we abandon Iraq we will leave the nascent government and its increasingly-effective security forces to be killed or jailed by Al Qaeda. That may not be a complete contradiction -- we are winning, and the Iraqi government can win, but only with our help for the moment -- but I imagine some wondered if things were going so well, why is it so desperately important that we stay?

Bush of course called for "earmark reform." And for the line-item veto. Again, no elaboration. Does the general public know what he's talking about? Why not put a number on the amount of pork-barrel spending and inform the public how many of their dollars are going to low-priority projects that local citizens don't feel are important enough to pay for with their own tax dollars?

Do people get what the line-item veto is? Why not follow up with, "... so I can strike out costly and ineffective pork barrel spending items one boondoggle at a time"?

I enjoyed how the Democrats all cheered that they had stymied any reform of Social Security, as if that's a feather in their cap. But it left the Republicans with an awkward part to applaud themselves-- they loudly applauded when Bush noted the Social Security problem continues to get worse and worse.

I tuned out for the rest of the domestic-policy bullet-points. I heard stuff about AIDS and alternative fuels made from "whipgrass" or something.

One question: On FoxNews, after Bush mentioned that it was time for all of us to come together and stand behind the troops, an unhappy and very large woman in bright red reluctantly clapped (but did not stand) and mouthed out the words, pretty clearly I thought, "I think that's bullshit." Was this Barbara Mikulsky? I don't know what the woman looks like, but this fat broad looked like a "Barbara Mikulsky."

Another workmanlike if uninspired speech, overly epigrammatic, and too repepitive of the same ten bullet-points and key phrases from previous speeches. I'd jokingly give it a B+, but I think a B- is more like it.

Posted by: Ace at 08:34 PM | Comments (163)
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In case there's any news in the next hour and ten minutes or so.

CNN says... Cindy Sheehan, invited to sit in the gallery, was already arrested for trying to smuggle in a banner.

Text of the SOTU, in case you're still at work.

Posted by: Ace at 02:55 PM | Comments (403)
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She wants to be Leia. I had her figured for Jabba.

She's black. While she wants someone to play Chewie, she doesn't mention Lando. What gives?

Thanks to compos mentis, who once pooped his pants as an adult.

Posted by: Ace at 11:04 AM | Comments (54)
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Not sure how it's going to work when Karol and I are in different cities.

Click on the pic at 4PM Eastern Time.

Our show's very first guest may be our last guest. Kind of a bookend sort of deal.

Michelle Malkin will discuss her latest book, Unhinged: Exposing Liberals Gone Wild. It's a funny book, but frequently infuriating. I guarantee you that if Republican operatives had slashed the tires of twenty rented vans for a Democratic get-out-the-vote operation, it would have resulted in criminal charges and a Congressional investigation. Of course, when Democrats do this to Republicans, it barely registers.

We're the party of hate, after all.

And as if that's not enough show, we'll then have on Jim Geraghty of TKS on NRO, who, for reasons unfathomable to me, moved to Turkey, and is doing us a great favor in staying up 'till 12 to talk to us. (National Review types are all in bed by 10 pm sharp, usually, judging by Corner entries.)

Posted by: Ace at 10:36 AM | Comments (116)
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This from the Daily Kos, the new leader of the progressive movement.

while watching the fight over Alito ensue I was struck by the lack of conviction displayed by some members of the Democratic party and then it hit me.....the DLC doesnt want us to retake either congressional house this year....they want things to continue on a downward turn until its obvious to everyone in our country that control of government has to be taken away from republicans.

your comment 'things have to get a whole lot worse..." is exactly how i think the DLC see's the upcoming election and the chance for a BLUE revolution.

I think there is a faction in our own party that is secretly hoping for another mid term defeat for us JUST so they have an easier time of it in the 08 elections.

It's worked before. Rocky Balboa let Clubber Lang pummel him for three rounds. "He's not getting beat," Paulie observed. "He's getting angry!"

And we all know how that turned out.

So, you know, it's a perfectly viable theory. If you're on, say, Thorazine and/or crack.

Thanks to LauraW.

Posted by: Ace at 10:22 AM | Comments (75)
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Classy and understated. I like the faux black velvet look. It'll look good with my Yosemite Sam tire-flaps and my Playboy-dice rearview mirror ornament.

It's a cool shirt, no doubt, I'm holding out for a t-shirt depicting a Chinese Dragon fighting an aircraft carrier. That would be a real conversation-starter. I imagine most conversations would begin, "Are you retarded?" And then, after that, the witty banter would ensue.

Thanks to taba.

Posted by: Ace at 10:06 AM | Comments (25)
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