As a side note to this whole debate, I'd like to make an appeal to both sides to moderate the tone taken when debating your fellow conservatives/libertarians.

I'm disheartened to see how we've been treating each other over the past 24 hours or so. On the one side, we've got people calling Bush childish names like El Presidente and Dear Leader, kicking their feet and generally behaving like the 2 year olds over at Daily Kos.

On the other hand, we've got some party-fisters engaging in ad hominem attacks rather than seeking to persuade the fence sitters. In many cases, these individuals are engaging in the same behavior that they accuse the other side of - putting immediate self-gratification before pragmatism.

It is important to realize that we are all generally on the same side pf things despite our differences on this one issue. And some of us, believe it or not, are open to persuasion on the matter. Even though I've expressed frustration with Bush's position, I know that I am open to different viewpoints. Keep this in mind when you engage fellow posters. You aren't dealing with a bunch of deranged lefties who can't be reasoned with. Insults only alienate the very people you should be seeking to convince.

Just last night I reviewed Senator DeWine's voting record during his last term. I've never liked the guy and was considering punishing him this coming November. Well, after calmly considering the facts, I was forced to admit that he has supported the overwhelming majority of the positions that I also support.

We need to knock off the angry rhetoric and consider some solutions here. My personal opinion is that the GOP must hear our dissatisfaction and feel pressured to pass an immigration reform bill that has some teeth. How we go about this is, of course, a matter of debate. But there's no reason we can't be civil in doing so.

BTW, how many of you guys who have spent time berating others on the internet actually taken the time to contact your congressmen? A few phone calls and letters is infinitely more productive than arguing in the comment section of a blog. Make yourselves heard.

I'm not sure if the threads got very uncivil here -- at least when I was skimming, things seemed heated but not impolite; nothing at all like what happened at Polipundit -- but its always good to be mindful of tone.

Mostly I'm quoting this for the last paragraph. The Internet is useful as a safety valve for annoyance or anger, letting people blow off steam, but it has no real effect other than the therapeutic.

Alas, a pointed comment directed at spongeworthy is unlikely to change the trajectory of American politics.

Congressmen definitely do heed letters, emails, and phone calls. They don't actually read them, of course, but they do take notice of the basic oppose/support on an issue-- particularly, of course, if you're from their district (or are capable of pretending you are). They're cowards, and that means they can be bullied around.

Posted by: Ace at 09:07 AM | Comments (23)
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They were supposed to release it at 1... so far I've just seen stills.

Hot Air will host the video as soon as it's available.

Allah's got links, including the predictable "I question the timing" crap from DU.

And more "question the timing"bait -- the opening of the Nazis' death archives to historians.

The US should finally release the film it took as it liberated the camps, too. Embargoing information like this, even for what are taken to be "good reasons," always leads to bad consequences.

Posted by: Ace at 08:57 AM | Comments (5)
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Jim Geraghty has a good piece on alternatives to simply sitting out 2006.

I'm not planning to sit out 2006. And I don't think it's a good idea. The trouble is that one doesn't really have to plan to be unenthusiastic and dispirited about the GOP. One doesn't have to make a firm declaration of splitting from the party to not want to donate, volunteer, etc., on behalf of the party.

Geraghty notes some things you can do to get the GOP back on track, besides simply not voting or getting very annoyed. He notes it really doesn't make sense, for example, to vote Santorum out in order to express displeasure at Spector.

I'd note another one. A lot of the "let's not vote" feeling comes from anger. Anger sometimes needs to be satisfied. So, perhaps it should be satisfied.

Sometimes one needs payback, just to not feel like a chump.

Again: the Enemies List. I don't know who exactly I'm going to want to put on it -- although Trent Lott is nominee one -- but this blog is going to supporting all challengers to anyone on the Enemies List. Primary challengers, and yes, Democratic opponents. I'm going to advertise free for anyone running against someone on the Enemeies List, linking to their donor page, etc.

Lashing out indiscriminately is counterproductive; but lashing out discriminately isn't as bad. It's better for the GOP to lose a few bad Congressmen than a whole swath of good Congressmen. And maybe the feeling that I'm hurting someone politically who richly deserves it will make me less crazy.

Anyway, that's one idea.

The trouble is, of course, everyone has their own Enemies List. If everyone does something like this, we still might end up with big losses. But that's a risk they've forced us to take.

Posted by: Ace at 08:35 AM | Comments (77)
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All this serious talk is depressing.

I'm going back to high school.

Muy caliente, as El Presidente Jorge Arbusto would say. Muy, muy caliente.

Posted by: Harry Callahan at 08:08 PM | Comments (25)
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I have frequently surfed over to Polipundit for political discussions, but right now I'm beginning to wonder what's in the water over there. There should always be room for civil discourse within the Right, even on the superheated issue that immigration has become of late, where people are quite plain in their harsh pronouncements.

Even so, I have to gaze in astonishment at two competing posts on display over there. Has it really come to this? Either Bush (or as some wags say, El Presidente Jorge Arbusto) is LYING with every word of his speech (thank you, Polipundit), or, if you aren't wildly applauding the speech and unreservedly supporting Bush's plan, and claim to be a Republican and a conservative, then "you are not a Republican. You are not a conservative. You are a LIAR. A LIAR." (Thank you, Mr. McClure) Oh, and don't disagree with Mr. McClure's definition of 'amnesty', or you might have to decide whether you are "a moron, or a liar."

I have sympathies for both sides of this debate. I'm not happy with how President Bush is handling a number of issues, this being a big one, but I'm also more interested in seeing that something positive and constructive takes place.

Frankly, sirs, a pox on both your houses. Get a grip and try again. Please.

Update: As noted in the comments, it appears that Polipundit is imploding and Lorie Byrd is leaving. I wish Polipundit well, but this is not why I have been reading his site, and so I will look elsewhere for daily reading.

Posted by: Harry Callahan at 06:22 PM | Comments (139)
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Another re-worked trailer, with Moses as Julia Stiles.

Posted by: Ace at 06:09 PM | Comments (13)
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Comment if you like.

"The Divider:" Confederate Yankee congratulates Bush on spliting the Republican base and virtually guaranteeing Democratic wins in 2006 and, God save us all, 2008.

He has links to the text of the speech and the video.

Posted by: Ace at 03:09 PM | Comments (170)
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Although the article I linked earlier hinted the condition might be completely psychiatric in nature -- a simple case of delusion -- it seemed to give credence to the idea of a genuine Morgellons Disease. I should have underscored the fact that this seems to be a delusion.

Here's a blog is dedicated to debunking the idea of a real physical malady.

This page is set up by what seems to be a Morgellons disease sufferer, and strives to prove her skin is bursting with tiny mulicolored fibers.

She has pictures. Of fibers. Fibers that could be deposited on the skin by a parasitic creature called a "sweater" (or "jumper," if you're from the UK).

It's strange. She reports these as pictures of her "delusions," but seems to think they depict something real (i.e., real "burrows" in her skin from parasites, real fibers growing out of her skin). I don't know if she means the word "delusions" to be meant sarcastically.

Which is a big schizophrenic-type thing. The frustration at constantly being told what you believe is just a hallucination results in this sarcastic way of talking and writing in which everything is in "quotes" (actual or implied) to show "doubts" about "everything."

It hardly needs to be noted that the fact that many people report the same sort of malady is hardly evidence it's real. Schizophrenics' delusions tend to mimic each other's with uncanny accuracy. Maybe it's the same observations being interpreted the same way, or maybe they just hear things from each other.

And this just seems to be a minor variation of the "bugs, bugs, bugs! crawling over my skin!" hallucination.

I really think it's odd that someone would bother taking high-magnification pictures of her own skin, unless she was a schizophrenic or at least hypochndriac. Why go looking if you're not determined to find something?

And if you do go looking at your skin under a microscope-- well, you know, how do you know if what you see isn't normal? What's skin supposed to look like at 20x, anyway?

Weird stuff.

Thanks to madneo and apoethesis.

Posted by: Ace at 12:40 PM | Comments (45)
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First, she was kicked out of her Netherlands apartment; then the party of which she is an elected member began investigating her for lying on her asylum application.

So, she's coming to the USA.

Their loss is our gain. She can be more effective in her fight here.

Plus, she won't have to worry about ever being deported for any illegalities in her entry into the US, thanks to the wise and brave President Open Borders. Bonus!

Posted by: Ace at 11:50 AM | Comments (9)
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Finally, some good news. I just wish the American and Iraqi forces hadn't martyred all these people.

After all, that's giving them just what they want. Couldn't they have captured them and kept them in a supermax prison, which, I'm reliably informed, is "worse than death"?

Unfortunately, one helicopter was downed and two US soldiers were killed.

American forces killed more than 40 insurgents, and a known al-Qaida operative, in five raids south of Baghdad.

Militants downed a US helicopter during the fighting, killing the two soldiers aboard, the US command said today.

...

Four of the US military raids occurred on Saturday and Sunday around Latifiyah, 20 miles south of Baghdad, the US command said.

American soldiers and helicopters killed 16 suspected al Qaida rebels, including one militant who allegedly had led an April 1 militant attack that downed an AH-64 U.S. Apache helicopter and killed the two soldiers aboard in the Youssifiyah area, about 12 miles south of Baghdad.

Posted by: Ace at 11:39 AM | Comments (12)
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