Quoted at the Weekly Standard's blog:

For many who supported going to war in Iraq, the nature of the regime was important, even paramount. It is disappointing that this no longer gets mentioned. I suppose the handwriting was on the wall when Michael Moore failed to mention Hussein's crimes at all in his movie "Fahrenheit 9/11." Years from now, someone coming across the film could conclude that the United States picked on the Middle Eastern version of Switzerland. Now, all the weight is on one side of the moral scale.

But what would have happened if the war had actually ended back when George Bush stood under that "Mission Accomplished" banner? The U.S. combat death toll then was 139. (It's now approaching 2,500.) Would it have been worth 139 American lives to put an end to a regime that had murdered many thousands of its own people and had been responsible for two major wars? After all, aren't some of the people who want Washington to do something in Darfur the same people who so rigorously opposed the Iraq war on moral grounds? What if we could pacify Darfur -- immense, arid and without population centers -- at the cost of 139 American lives? What is the morality of that? Two hundred thousand have already died there. Should we intervene?

Pardon me for raising the question without answering it. I do so only to discomfort, if I can, some of the people who are so certain of their moral righteousness when it comes to the Iraq war. I want to know why the crimes of Saddam Hussein never figure into their thinking and why it was morally wrong -- not merely unwise -- to topple him....

Cohen provides a good recap of Saddam's crimes, but says the trial is obscuring his barbarity, not illuminating it. This is unfortunate but unavoidable. We know Saddam ordered more murders than we can prove he did. Being a trial, we have to focus on what we can prove, not what we know. Hence, the trial focuses on lesser outrages perpetrated by Saddam because there is strong evidence of direct orders from Saddam himself.

The post also quotes a National Geographic dispatch from "Camp Slayer," where forensics scientists work to document the the murder-factory that was the Saddam regime:

"As you work with the victims, especially the children -- their clothing, the baby bottle, the little shoes, just like the ones we bought for our daughters years ago, the little hands, so expressive in death -- you have to try not to get into the heads of the monsters who did this, or it becomes overwhelming. You look at a perfectly knitted baby bonnet with two bullet holes in it, and you think, these could be your own kids," [said an American forensic scientist]. "The women often had children with them and received, perhaps, the blessing of being shot once at close range. All of this is based on clear evidence, not speculation."

It is strange, but here's how liberals think:

If there is a strategic advantage to America taking military action against a corrupt and murderous regime, we must not do so. The mission may be justifiable on moral grounds, but the possibility that America herself will gain from taking the action taints it too much to even comtemplate.

Meanwhile, if there is absolutely no possible selfish national-security benefit to be gained for America, the left is pretty comfortable with putting our soldiers in harm's way. Haiti, Bosnia, Dafur. Each of these presents a strong case for intervention on moral grounds alone-- without any appreciable strategic benefit to America. As there is no chance that America may benefit from such interventions, the left supports risking our soldiers' lives and limbs to intervene.

They're so fearful of Enemy America that they would rather innocents suffer than so much as risk America gaining in some way from a use of force.

Thanks to Jack Straw.

Posted by: Ace at 10:18 AM | Comments (36)
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You too can leg-press 2000 pounds, one pound for every year since Christ's birth.

There has to be a top ten in here somewhere, but damned if I can find it.

Posted by: Ace at 09:59 AM | Comments (21)
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And bookstores, too.

Bookstores?

No wonder the wrestling section is always packed to capacity.

Former Gov. James E. McGreevey once resorted to anonymous homosexual trysts at highway rest stops, according to recently released excerpts from his memoir being released later this year.

McGreevey - who proclaimed himself "a gay American" in 2004 while announcing his impending resignation as governor - describes his long struggle with his homosexuality in the book "The Confession."

According to the excerpts published Sunday in The Star-Ledger of Newark, McGreevey engaged in the secret encounters because he feared having a relationship with a man would ruin his chances of success as a politician.

"So, instead, I settled for the detached anonymity of bookstores and rest stops - a compromise, but one that was wholly unfulfilling and morally unsatisfactory," McGreevey wrote.

The excerpts do not mention whether the activities extended into his time as governor.

...

"A lot will resonate with readers," he said.

Well, it's resonating with me-- in my pants.

This is odd:

The excerpts do not detail his two marriages, or even the scandal, which became public knowledge during an August 2004 televised news conference in which McGreevey acknowledged a gay affair and said he would resign in coming months.

The excerpts also do not mention the former aide whom sources close to McGreevey have identified as the man he had an extramarital affair with.

He tells about anonymous sex in reststops but won't discuss the affair we all know damn well he had?

He also says he became, as cover, as "avid a womanizer" as anyone else.

All very sad.

Thanks to Craig.

Posted by: Ace at 09:18 AM | Comments (34)
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Get ready to see red. Michigan schools ban use of word "American" to refer to, you know, "Americans," and prefer to speak of "America" as consisting of the entire Western Hemisphere.

You're not going to believe this. In fact, I'm still not sure it's not a hoax. It seems too incredible to be true.

Even though the word "America" appears in the department's own civics and government benchmarks, the department's style protocol for the Michigan Education Assessment Program requires that "America" and "Americans" be expunged from our testing and grade level expectations. Last week, the department ordered that our hard-working teachers not utter the words.

We're all 'North Americans'

The Department of Education asserts that "Americans" includes Mexicans, Canadians and others in the Western Hemisphere, so referring to U.S. residents as Americans is inappropriate. In the department's view, "America" happens to include South, Central and North America. Accordingly, when referring to the colonial period, the state bureaucracy requires teachers to refer to "the colonies of North America" or "North Americans." After the American Revolution, the nation is called the United States (not of America).

The state's edict would be laughable if it were not so disgraceful. Instead of focusing on better teaching methods and educational resources to help our hard-working teachers and parents, the Department of Education spends its energy on confusing, misleading, historically inaccurate and counterproductive wordplay.

I have a suggestion for some more wordplay. Rather than referring to them as "Michigan Department of Education officials," let's start referring to them as "former Michigan Department of Education officials," as quickly as legally possible.

Via Instapundit.

Posted by: Ace at 09:07 AM | Comments (48)
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A majority of people in Washington State disapprove of Bush (and overwhelmingly don't consider him a conservative in the mold of Ronald Reagan), they favor Republican Dino Rossi over the current Democratic governor in a hypothetical 2008 match-up, and a Republican challenger trails Senator Cantwell by only five points.

On the other hand, they seem to love Patty Murray.

But if "Bush fatigue" isn't appreciably helping the Democrats in Washington state, then we might be okay in November.

Posted by: Ace at 09:01 AM | Comments (46)
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Boring paintings of statesmen, religious figures, and mistresses-- who needs 'em?

Much better with the subjects replaced by monsters like Jason and King Kong, or really important historical figures like Jean Luc Picard.

Isabel de Predator,
by Francisco de Goya

Thanks to steve_in_hb.

Posted by: Ace at 08:39 AM | Comments (2)
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I'm pretty sure this guy is some kind of a superhero.

Police said Tuesday 41-year-old Vidmantas Sungaila registered 7.27 grams per liter of alcohol in his blood repeatedly on different devices after he was pulled over Saturday for driving his truck down the center of a two-lane highway 60 miles from the capital, Vilnius.

Lithuania's legal limit is 0.4 grams per liter.

"This guy should have been lying dead, but he was still driving. It must be an unofficial national record," Saulius Skvernelis, director of the national police traffic control service, told the AP. "He was of high spirits and grinning the whole time he was questioned."

Thanks to skinbad, whose wife pole-vaults into bed each evening.

Posted by: LauraW. at 07:35 AM | Comments (33)
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The unvarnished truth, straight from the horse's ass.

Posted by: LauraW. at 06:25 AM | Comments (16)
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It doesn't even rise to the level of pathetic. Some are so impotent and defeated that their "defiance" comes on the battlefields of Borders Books:

Admit it. When you a are bookstore, what books to you "180"?

By that, I mean flip them around so that they are no longer displayed frontwards.

Childish, yes, I realize.

But it is my small, non-violent, and totally inconsequential way of protesting idiots.

Among my favorites to "180"...

Bill O'Rielly
Rush
John Stossel
Anne Coulter
Cal Thomas

And now: Mary Cheney

I know I'm not the only one who does this.

One poster is happy to report he goes one better: he puts other books in front of those books.

The guy writing this admits it's childish and inconsequential, and yet he can't seem to help himself from doing it. What is wrong with these people?

Mustn't let dangerous ideas get into the hands of the wrong people, I guess.

In fairness, some other DU posters note:

Sometimes do the easy thing (flipping books around) because its quick and simple and makes THEM feel good. People need to stop and think who they are truly affecting, and it isn't Ann Coulter or Mary Cheney...its people like Turkamerica. Write a letter to the editor, volunteer for a candidate or a Democratic or Left-Leaning Group. Write your own damn book.

I can't say that it isn't tempting, but think about what kind of impact you are really making.

...

"Hide books"..."fill a cart and abandon it at WalMart"...

They're all incredibly ineffectual ideas dreamed up by activist wannabes without two brain cells to rub together. The only people getting hurt are the employees...and, most of the time, the employees are the very type of people these actions are purporting to support (the working poor who barely make enough to get by, but too much to qualify for any help from the government).

This guy starts out okay, but check out his finish:

I worked for WaldenBooks for years. You sure make extra work for us!

People are going to seek out what they want. Don't waste your time or booksellers. Just try to teach in other ways.

Teach? Again, the conceit that they're political missionaries bringing the Progressive Bible to the heathen hordes.

It really is just sad. The impeachment, the election of 2000... all of this was a long time ago. It's time to get over it and MoveOn (TM).

It's pathetic and sad to nurse grudges forever, or to engage in such petty provocations. It's middle-school. Please, join the rest of us in the tenth grade and just friggin' let it go already.

Thanks to steve_in_hb.

Posted by: Ace at 04:13 PM | Comments (75)
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I can't believe I blew the "who is not a mutant" question. I knew that. I just got confused.

A lot of the questions don't have much to do with the X-Men, really, but still, a good waste of five minutes.

Thanks to dawnsblood.

Posted by: Ace at 03:06 PM | Comments (30)
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