So, what is this plan AP has gotten the scoop on?

Well, if she loses Iowa, the first contest, she hopes to win New Hampshire, the second contest.

Hm! Makes sense! Not sure why I never thought of that myself!

Thanks AP. You stay classy.

Posted by: Ace at 05:46 PM | Comments (21)
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Top Ten Stories of 2007.

The Surge?

Nope. Not on the list.

Well, sort of. "Petraeus Under Fire" -- about his hostile questioning -- clocks in at number five. But him answering those questions with results that even now John Murtha admits? Not a big story, it turns out.

Here's how they capsule the story:

"House and Senate Democrats denounced the "surge," and, as they predicted, things got worse at first: May was the deadliest month for U.S. troops since November 2004."

How ya like them apples?

Hey? Assholes? It's not fucking May anymore. It's fucking December and casualties have plummeted since then. Have you decided to freeze your coverage at the peak of casualties and embargo coverage on fresher news since then?

Thanks to someone.

Posted by: Ace at 05:30 PM | Comments (24)
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The ACLU asked the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in August to reveal documents in its possession involving the Terrorist Surveillance Program. Today, in a rare public opinion, the court rejected the motion.

Writing for the court, U.S. District Judge John D. Bates refused. Releasing the documents would reveal closely guarded secrets that enemies could used to evade detection or disrupt intelligence activities, he said. Sources could be outed, targets could be tipped off and diplomatic relations could be damaged.

"All these possible harms are real and significant and, quite frankly, beyond debate," Bates wrote.

He continued, "And you are retards for thinking otherwise." ACLU lawyers did not immediately comment on the opinion.

And now, I'm off to see "Awake" with a friend. I tried to talk him into "The Mist", but he had his heart set on Jessica Alba. Dammit. At least I've heard it's a short movie.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 05:01 PM | Comments (11)
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I just noticed that Ed at Captain's Quarters is soliciting questions for an interview with Governor Huckabee. Go over & ask him serious questions (no "Do you support limitations on the length of hobo hunting season?" questions. Save those for when they interview RuPaul). Captain's Quarters is a thoughtful blog that's solidly conservative, so please keep your profanities limited, mmmmKay? As Sam Wyche would say..."Show some class. We're not in Cleveland here!"

Here's the link.

Go, my winged monkeys. Fly! Fly!

Posted by: Russ from Winterset at 03:31 PM | Comments (10)
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Surprising? A bit. I really don't know how much pull NR has though. From my comments and emails, I gather NR is viewed very suspiciously by a large swath of the conservative electorate, which views them as meddlesome yuppie RINOs.

Meanwhile, also from Drudge, Democrats have been instructed to avoid all criticism of Huckabee, viewing him as an "easy kill" in the general election.

I agree. For once the Democrats and I are on the same page.

Democrat party officials are avoiding any and all criticism of Republican presidential contender Mike Huckabee, insiders reveal.

The Democratic National Committee has told staffers to hold all fire, until he secures the party's nomination.

The directive has come down from the highest levels within the party, according to a top source.

Within the DNC, Huckabee is known as the "glass jaw -- and they're just waiting to break it."

In the last three weeks since Huckabee's surge kicked in, the DNC hasn't released a single press release criticizing his rising candidacy.

The last DNC press release critical of Huckabee appeared back on March 2nd.

...

In fact, as the story broke over the weekend that Huckabee said he wanted to isolate AIDS patients back in 1992, the DNC ignored the opportunity to slam the candidate from the left.

"He'll easily be their McGovern, an easy kill," mocked one senior Democrat operative Tuesday morning from Washington.

So, what? We're letting the Democratic Party and the MSM and some single-issue voters yearning for only a candidate who shares their faith to decide this thing, huh?

Posted by: Ace at 01:24 PM | Comments (113)
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So frets Ross Douthat, and I think he's right.

If you look at the field, every candidate seems to have near-disqualifying weaknesses[,] which helps explain why nobody seems capable of getting above 30-35 percent in any national or state-level poll.

Except Huckabee, it turns out, who can get 40% or so in primaries and then go on to catastrophic defeat in the general election.

Maybe it's time for Rush to break his non-endorsement rule and endorse Thompson. Vigorously. Because Thompson is the only candidate that makes ideological sense for the party -- not offending any key demographics -- but seems incapable of rising as the consensus candidate on his own. He'll have to be carried to the finish line. That doesn't make me sanguine for the general election, but at least we won't have the left-wing version of Martin Sheen in The Dead Zone as our standard bearer.

Meanwhile some are dreaming of a brokered convention, which would be preferable to the Huckabee Tsunami, certainly.

Both stories plucked from the always informative Conservative Grapevine.

Posted by: Ace at 01:13 PM | Comments (28)
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Stupidity with a chaser of sedition.*

Bonus: Top Ten Inadvertently Funny Media Quotes of 2007.

I enjoy this one by Boy Genius David Gregory:

“Now switching gears to a lighter note, it’s a murder, rather, actually, not quite a lighter note, still a difficult topic.”

In his off-time he splits atoms... with his mind.

*Link fixed.

Posted by: Ace at 01:00 PM | Comments (14)
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Among the moves: Governor Corzine, a proud liberal, will commute two death penalty sentences to life without parole.

Remember when the Republican Party used to be tough on crime and we fought stuff like this?

Good times, good times. Now lost to the past, like my old Tubes t-shirt.

Posted by: Ace at 12:56 PM | Comments (25)
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Everything I Ever Needed To Know About Foreign Policy I Learned In Sunday School:

Huckabee did give a long speech on foreign policy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in September. It combined a superficial rendering of conventional foreign-policy wisdom — which of course included many unfair criticisms of President Bush — with Huckabee’s inimitable folksy delivery. The former governor’s bottom line was that we should be nicer to other countries.

...

On Iran, Huckabee is at his most troubling. He accuses the administration of “proceeding down only one track with Iran: armed confrontation.” This is false, and the kind of rhetoric you’d expect from DailyKos bloggers, not a Republican presidential candidate. Huckabee thinks it has been a lack of diplomatic engagement that has soured our relations with Iran: “We haven’t had diplomatic relations with Iran in almost 30 years, my whole adult life and a lot of good it’s done. Putting this in human terms, all of us know that when we stop talking to a parent or a sibling or a friend, it’s impossible to accomplish anything, impossible to resolve differences and move the relationship forward. The same is true for countries.”

This is the kernel of Huckabee’s foreign policy. He wants to anthropomorphize international relations and bring a Christian commitment to the Golden Rule to our affairs with other nations. As he told the Des Moines Register the other day, “You treat others the way you’d like to be treated. That’s to me the fundamental issue that has to be re-established in our dealings with other countries.”

This is deeply naïve. Countries aren’t people, and the world is more dangerous than a Sunday church social. Threats, deception, and — as a last resort — violence must play a role in international relations. Differences cannot always be worked out through sweet persuasion. A U.S. president who doesn’t realize this will repeat the experience of President Jimmy Carter at his most ineffectual.

Not that what one blogger thinks matters that much, but if Huckabee gets the nomination, I'm voting Democratic. It's not just an idle threat; I just won't vote for him and in fact won't even vote third party or stay home. I'll vote for the Democratic candidate, even Hillary. I won't be a party to selling out everything the party is supposed to stand for to a liberal ideology. If we're going to have eight years of liberal rule, I'd rather the Democratic Party be governing, so at least they can take the blame.

And, quite frankly, Hillary is to the right of Huckabee on most issues, if only because she's politically afraid to do the kind of crap Huckabee does and dream of doing at night. She couldn't afford to be as soft as Iran as Huckabee would.

And I don't think I'm alone on this.

And... I do not want Huckabee setting the agenda for the GOP as de facto head of the party. I'd rather there be a (different) liberal in the White House, with the GOP Congress and Senate free to pursue genuine conservative policies, rather than having to support Huckabee's liberal impulses.

Not That It Matters Much... because Huckabee will lose in an electoral drubbing not seen since the last Carteresque liberal to run for president, Walter Mondale. The down-ticket damage will be enormous, and we may just lose our 40 Senate seats and thus open up the floodgates for whatever archliberal policies -- and judges -- Hillary or Obama decide upon.

I guess that will be my only rooting interest this coming cycle -- trying to reduce the brutal damage we're going to suffer in the Congress should the liberal Huckabee be our nominee and hopelessly split the party.

Dan Riehl came to the same conclusion last night.

I came to the conclusion earlier, but didn't think I needed to say it. Now with the Stupid Party about to commit its most Stupid Party Decision since, I don't know, Herbert Hoover's money-tightening during a serious depression, I think it's panic time.

Not only can't the GOP win with Huckabee, but it shouldn't. I can't even console myself by saying "Well, we've nominated an unelectable candidate, but at least we're staying true to conservative principles and perhaps, in time, this tactically-disastrous choice will yield strategic benefits."

Nope. The party seems determined now to nominate a candidate further to the left on most issues than Hillary (who at least triangulates to the right) and Obama (who doesn't say a frickin' thing, so who knows where he is).

But yaaaayyyy. We'll have a nominee supporting the Human Life Amendment and Federal Marriage Amendment which will never pass.

Posted by: Ace at 11:15 AM | Comments (153)
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Eric sends this. The sets look pretty good, but I'm not sure why people are singing Hoseanas over some nice set-dressing.

How's this for stunt casting?

I love the fact that Jackie Earle Haley (Kelly from Bad News Bears) is Rorschach.

Heh. Good to see Kelly Leak getting some work.

Posted by: Ace at 10:42 AM | Comments (19)
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