...and calls the negative tenor of the hearings an "outrage" and a "disgrace." (With video. Content Warning: Video depicts a former Klansman.)

Hmmm... remember when he was the left's avenging hero? The "Conscience of the Senate"?

Posted by: Ace at 06:48 AM | Comments (14)
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Good article over at NRO, arguing "worse is better."

HamasÂ’s favored outcome was not victory, but a strong showing that would leave Hamas with the best of both worlds: It would remain in opposition (or would be invited to join a coalition as a junior partner) but would impose severe limitations on the Fatah-led government on how to manage its relations with Israel. Hamas could thus claim to reject Oslo, decline to recognize the Palestinian Authority and its commitments under the Oslo accords and the roadmap, and continue to use its rising political clout and its military strength to sabotage any effort to revive the moribund peace process.

What victory does to Hamas is to put the movement into an impossible position. ...

They will have to show their true face now: No more masks, no more veils, no more double-speak. If the cooptation theory — favored by the International Crisis Group and by the former British MI-6 turned talking head, Alistair Crooke — were true, this is the time for Hamas to show what hides behind its veil.

As the government of the Palestinian Authority, now they will have to say whether they accept the roadmap.

They will have to take control over security and decide whether they use it to uphold the roadmap or to wage war.

There will be no excuses or ambiguities when Hamas fires rockets on Israel and launches suicide attacks against civilian targets. Until Tuesday, the PA could hide behind the excuse that they were not directly responsible and they could not rein in the "militants." Now the "militants" are the militia of the ruling party. They are one and the same with the Palestinian Authority. If they bomb Israel from Gaza — not under occupation anymore, and is therefore, technically, part of the Palestinian state the PLO proclaimed in Algiers in 1988, but never bothered to take responsibility for — that is an act of war, which can be responded to in kind, under the full cover of the internationally recognized right of self-defense. No more excuses that the Palestinians live under occupation, that the PA is too weak to disarm Hamas, that violence is not the policy of the PA. Hamas and the PA will be the same: What Hamas does is what the PA will stand for.

A clarifying moment. "War" means "war" and "peace" means "peace." The previous arrangement allowed the Palestinians to wage war under the lie of "peace." No longer.

More... Mother who raised her children to be suicide bombers now an elected member of the Palestinian Parliament.

Posted by: Ace at 06:37 AM | Comments (14)
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Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Ace of Spades.

Loose Shit Alert: Apparently there are TWO Aces of note in the blogosphere. Oh, the horror. The question is, what badass is our Ace then? Comment away.

Posted by: Harry Callahan at 06:03 AM | Comments (22)
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Vile:

Hamas's triumph in Wednesday's Palestinian elections is the best news from the Middle East for a long time. The poll was a more impressive display of democracy than any other in the region, outstripping last year's votes in Lebanon and Iraq both in turnout and the range of views that candidates represented.

Whereas in Iraq parties that opposed the occupation had to downplay or even obscure their views, Palestinian supporters of armed resistance to Israel's expansionist strategies were able to run openly. It is true that Hamas candidates did not make relations with Israel the centrepiece of their campaign. They focused on reform in the Palestinian Authority. But few voters were unaware of Hamas's uncompromising hostility to occupation and its record in fighting it.

Wednesday's election was remarkable also in owing nothing to Washington's (selective) efforts to promote democracy in the Arab world. Instead, it was further proof that civil society in Palestine is more vibrant than anywhere else in the region and that Palestinian politics has its own dynamics, dictated not by outside pressure but the social and economic demands of ordinary people in appalling conditions. Providing a forum to freely express hopes and fears, debate policy and seek agreed solutions is, after all, what democracy is about.

...

Above all, Europe should not get hung up on the wrong issues, like armed resistance and the "war on terror". Murdering a Palestinian politician by a long-range attack that is bound also to kill innocent civilians is morally and legally no better than a suicide bomb on a bus. Hamas's refusal to give formal recognition of Israel's right to exist should also not be seen by Europe as an urgent problem. History and international politics do not march in tidy simultaneous steps. For decades Israel refused even to recognise the existence of the Palestinian people, just as Turkey did not recognise the Kurds. Until 15 years ago Palestinians had to be smuggled to international summits as part of Jordan's delegation. It is less than that since the Israeli government accepted the goal of a Palestinian state.

Hamas may eventually disarm itself and recognise Israel. That will be the end of the process of establishing a just modus vivendi for Israelis and Palestinians in the Middle East. It cannot be the first step. Today's priority is to accept that Palestinians have spoken freely. They deserve respect and support.

I delayed posting this, wondering what I could possibly say about it, but I can't think of anything. Not a damn thing. His words pretty much speak for themselves, don't they?

Thanks to Allah.

Posted by: Ace at 06:00 PM | Comments (56)
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Good news, but here's the puzzling part:

If diplomacy fails, 59 percent support using "whatever military force is necessary," to keep Iran from getting nuclear weapons; however, when presented with specific military options support drops. Some 51 percent support using only air strikes, and 46 percent support using air strikes and ground troops.

59% support using "whatever military force is necessary," but only 51% support air strikes alone? What exactly are those 8% thinking?

What definition of "whatever military force is necessary" do they have in mind? I suppose they might be imagining a naval/air blockade, but I think it's more likely they just like to talk tough and then, confronted with the words "air strikes," retreat away from such action.

Still, a lot of people get how much of a threat this maniac state is, and Bush hasn't really even begun making the case against Iran yet.

Posted by: Ace at 04:32 PM | Comments (121)
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Well, one thing is for sure. GIs don't get their balls amputated after they have been beaten to a pulp!

Military prosecutors and top officers on Thursday pledged a thorough inquiry into one of the most brutal hazing incidents in the Russian military in years — an 18-year-old soldier whose legs and genitals had to be amputated because of beatings and torture by fellow servicemen.

In all my years in the Army, I never even heard of hazing. Even at the service academies, verbal abuse is about the worst that ever happens.

According to official statistics, 16 soldiers died of hazing last year, but experts say the actual number of deaths is much higher, with many conscripts driven to suicide by abuse and other bullying deaths passed off as resulting from illnesses.

The Defense Ministry said 276 servicemen killed themselves in 2005, but didn't offer any details.

Posted by: Tanker at 03:40 PM | Comments (20)
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Military action must always be the last option, but he warns: "There is only one scenario worse than military action in Iran and that is a nuclear-armed Iran."

He also says we have to deal with global warming, though.

I think the GOP base has to begin reconsidering if McCain is an acceptable candidate. I've despised him for so long I have trouble remembering exactly why. I know I didn't like his joining of the Gang of 14, but let's be honest, that hasn't worked out so badly for the GOP at all. In fact, in that it seems to have allowed most of Bush's nominees to be confirmed without some huge standoff and media firestorm, it may have been a wise deal.

Campaign Finance Reform is an unconstitutional joke, of course.

But... the man can win. He's stalwart on spending and the war. His temperament is... questionable.

The media loves him, and he does play to that. But is it his fault the media loves him? And why wouldn't a presidential aspirant play to his base?

Guiliani is still my man, but... I don't think I'd hang myself if McCain took the nomination.

Posted by: Ace at 03:39 PM | Comments (41)
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Video: Tucker Carlson says no. (Most of the good parts have been fuzzed out.)

Bowtie. Named "Tucker." Doesn't want chicks with kickin' dumpers in America.

The evidence is sort of piling up, isn't it?

Thanks to S J.

Posted by: Ace at 12:56 PM | Comments (33)
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Sure. Right. Uh-huh.

Russia is planning to mine a rare fuel on the moon by 2020 with a permanent base and a heavy-cargo transport link...

But of course you are, darlings.

"We are planning to build a permanent base on the moon by 2015 and by 2020 we can begin the industrial-scale delivery... of the rare isotope Helium-3," said Nikolai Sevastyanov, head of the Energia space corporation.

I have every confidence this will occur precisely on schedule.

In related news, I am planning to teleport to Mars, just like John Carter, using only my mind, and then bang a bunch of blue-skinned barely-clad busty princesses while riding on the back of a two-headed Martian pteradactyl I will call "Herbert." I also plan on carrying around a sword and, as a back-up weapon, a laser-fusion disintegrator pistol.

I may or may not seize the Barsoomian throne. I haven't planned that far ahead yet.

Posted by: Ace at 12:48 PM | Comments (37)
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In fairness... it worked:

A Colombian man accidentally shot his nephew to death while trying to cure his hiccups by pointing a revolver at him to scare him, police in the Caribbean port city of Barranquilla said on Tuesday.

After shooting 21-year-old university student David Galvan in the neck, his uncle, Rafael Vargas, 35, was so distraught he turned the gun on himself and committed suicide, police said.

The incident took place on Sunday night while the two were having drinks with neighbors.

Alcohol was involved? I find that surprising.

One time Dick Cheney tried to cure a man of hiccups by scaring him. That man? President John F. Kennedy. Hasn't had a hiccup since.

From Michelle, who also has fun with Google-censorship photoshops (Dean Esmay's kicks ass) and video of the "Right Wing Propaganda Minister" Katie Couric unfairly challenging Howard Dean.

Posted by: Ace at 12:33 PM | Comments (11)
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