The Star Spangled Banner 82nd Airborne Division Style
— DrewM

I usually don't like the national anthem played with too much flair. By "too much" I mean no more than an Army band would would add. In other words, not much.

This version however is an exception.

Rockets red glare? Check.

Bombs bursting in air? Yep.

Home of the brave? Hell yes.

Thanks to Rightwingsparkle for the tip in the comments.

Posted by: DrewM at 01:56 PM | Comments (14)
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AJ Strata: Yes, Obama's Birth Certificate is Real
— Ace

Charles Johnson and Allah warned me off, but the arguments about the birth certificate seemed plausible to me.

But AJ Strata pretty much demolishes them.

I erred.

Posted by: Ace at 12:08 PM | Comments (65)
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A Supreme Do-Over on Kennedy v. Louisiana?
— Gabriel Malor

Yesterday, the Washington Post called for the Supreme Court to reexamine its ban on the death penalty for child rape. This is badly needed and extremely unlikely.

But what if the Supreme Court not only blows a key fact but also bases its ruling, in part, on that error? There was quite a goof in the court's 5 to 4 decision on June 25 banning the death penalty for those who rape children. The majority determined that capital punishment for child rape was unconstitutional, in part because a national consensus had formed against it. As evidence, the court noted that "37 jurisdictions -- 36 States plus the Federal Government -- have the death penalty. [But] only six of those jurisdictions authorize the death penalty for rape of a child." Actually, only two years ago, Congress enacted a death penalty for soldiers who commit child rape, as part of an update to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). Irony of ironies: The court has cast doubt on the constitutionality of an act of Congress based on the erroneous claim that the statute did not exist.

The Kennedy case is embarrassing not only for factual errors, but for revealing just how unimpressive the justices get when they decide to apply constitutional criteria so meaningless as "evolving standards of decency" and "the Court's own judgment." These criteria could be used to either justify or ban almost any law based on nothing more than the whim of a majority of justices. As I wrote the day the decision was handed down, "The whole point of having a Constitution and precedential judgments is so that individuals and legislatures can predict with some success whether their actions will run afoul of the laws or Constitution. But when it comes to the Court's holdings on the Eighth Amendment, that goes right out the window." Even if I agreed that "evolving standards of decency" inform whether a punishment is cruel and unusual, "the Court's own judgment" is bound to change as often as its members.

Given such freedom within which to work, one would have expected the justices in the majority to at least pull together something believable to justify their conclusion. It is not too much to ask that they actually apply the loose standards which they adopted. Unfortunately, Justice Kennedy's opinion is simply a mess. As I wrote the day of the opinion, he latches onto any recent laws which limit the death penalty (as in the case of the mentally disabled) and uses it to claim a "national consensus" against the death penalty in general, despite the trend toward executing child rapists. So Justice Kennedy fudged the first criterion.

Last week it turned out that the parties, the justices, and the DoJ overlooked a recent federal law providing for the death penalty for soldiers who rape children. Kennedy's discussion of "evolving standards of decency," already weak given the trend and national feelings about capital punishment was substantially undermined. Now, everyone is talking about it. The D.C. gun ban case may have been the most anticipated decision of the term, but Kennedy has taken over the center ring.

That attention may accomplish more than the usual complaining after a contentious case. Typically, the justices can close the term, even if there is bad press and hard feelings, and pat themselves on the back for at least doing the best that they could. Nobody can say that when it comes to this case. Kennedy's name is on the opinion, which would now be a national joke if it wasn't so important. And the credibility of the Court itself is in question.

So what can they do? If Louisiana chooses, it can petition the Court to rehear the case. It would be, essentially, a do-over. Even if the justices were to come to the same conclusion (as I would expect, given "the Court's own judgment" criterion), they could write new opinions. Unfortunately, it takes five votes to rehear a case. Assuming the dissenting justices would want to, they would still need to convince at least one of the majority to join them in granting the petition. Justice Kennedy is the most obvious vote because his name is on the embarrassing opinion. But isn't it more likely that he will choose to let this slide, believing that the clamor will fade eventually?

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 10:50 AM | Comments (20)
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RNC Releases 1st Pro-McCain Ad
— DrewM

It's called "Balance" and it will run in 4 battleground states. Apparently titling it "Some Of The Things Drew M. Can't Stand About McCain" wasn't considered but it would have been accurate.

Two lines from the spot really stuck out to me, "A Climate In Crisis" and "He's pushing his own party to face climate change". I know this ad is targeting moderates and independents but shouldn't the RNC be spending its money reaching out to you know, Republicans?

I'd like to thank the RNC for making it easier for me to not feel bad about laughing when I throw their solicitation letters in the trash.

Posted by: DrewM at 10:44 AM | Comments (26)
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Can You Keep A Secret? It Looks Like We're About To Win In Iraq
— DrewM

This seems like the kind of thing the US media might be interested in. Alas, not so much. Fortunately at least one British reporter is paying attention.

After being forced from its strongholds in the west and centre of Iraq in the past two years, Al-Qaeda’s dwindling band of fighters has made a defiant “last stand” in the northern city of Mosul.

A huge operation to crush the 1,200 fighters who remained from a terrorist force once estimated at more than 12,000 began on May 10.

Operation LionÂ’s Roar, in which the Iraqi army combined forces with the AmericansÂ’ 3rd Armoured Cavalry Regiment, has already resulted in the death of Abu Khalaf, the Al-Qaeda leader, and the capture of more than 1,000 suspects.

...Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq’s prime minister, who has also led a crackdown on the Shi’ite Mahdi Army in Basra and Baghdad in recent months, claimed yesterday that his government had “defeated” terrorism.

Obviously everything in Iraq is subject to reversal but isn't Obama's call for withdrawing troops looking less and less like a brave stand for change and more and more like the Boston Celtics announcing after their NBA Finals victory they won't be playing any more games this season?

h/t The Corner

Posted by: DrewM at 10:09 AM | Comments (26)
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Secret U.S. Mission Hauls Uranium From Iraq (genghis)
— Open Blog

Correction/Update: Apparently it's not clear to everyone that the first paragraph below was meant to be somewhat satirical. I apologize for having misled everyone into believing that the Niger yellowcake referenced in the paragraph below is somehow related to the yellowcake that the actual article is about. They're two completely different subjects. Furthermore, I apologize for offending any of our beloved Canadian neighbors to the north, for posting the photo of the piece of yellow cake (to the hungry amongst you) and for possibly leaving out an apostrophe in the second sentence below (or for it appearing like a little square).

Now just wait one damn minute here! We know that this can’t be possible. Bush lied, of course, and the Niger yellowcake documents were forgeries. Saddam had no intention of building nuclear weapons. It was all a bluff to deter the American war machine and placate his unruly generals who wished to usurp his peaceful and benevolent rule. But now a right-wing “news” agency via another fascist “news” network is trying to spin a different story.

”The last major remnant of Saddam Hussein's nuclear program — a huge stockpile of concentrated natural uranium — reached a Canadian port Saturday to complete a secret U.S. operation that included a two-week airlift from Baghdad and a ship voyage crossing two oceans.”

“The removal of 550 metric tons of "yellowcake" — the seed material for higher-grade nuclear enrichment — was a significant step toward closing the books on Saddam's nuclear legacy. It also brought relief to U.S. and Iraqi authorities who had worried the cache would reach insurgents or smugglers crossing to Iran to aid its nuclear ambitions.”

Note: 550 metric tons is approximately equal to 1.7 U.S. LauraW humps, for comparison.

”…in a symbolic way, the mission linked the current attempts to stabilize Iraq with some of the high-profile claims about Saddam's weapons capabilities in the buildup to the 2003 invasion.
Accusations that Saddam had tried to purchase more yellowcake from the African nation of Niger — and an article by a former U.S. ambassador refuting the claims — led to a wide-ranging probe into Washington leaks that reached high into the Bush administration.”

Did he even really need any more than 1.7 humploads? AllÂ’s well that ends well, though:

”The Iraqi government sold the yellowcake to a Canadian uranium producer, Cameco Corp., in a transaction the official described as worth "tens of millions of dollars." A Cameco spokesman, Lyle Krahn, declined to discuss the price, but said the yellowcake will be processed at facilities in Ontario for use in energy-producing reactors.
"We are pleased ... that we have taken (the yellowcake) from a volatile region into a stable area to produce clean electricity," he said.”

Wait a second…now Canuckistan has yellow-cake? This can’t be good news, what with them a mere 0 miles from our borders. The barbarian hordes from the frozen North “say” they’re going to use the uranium for peaceful “electrical” purposes, but ever since they began their massive naval build-up a few years back, I think we need to keep a sharp eye on these Neo-Scandis.

Example of unprocessed yellow cake

Correction: 550 metric tons is roughly equal to 1.7 megahumps. Me not good with conversion tables.

Background/Archive on the subject from the Neo-Fascist Annenberg "Political Fact Check," circa 8/04, in case anyone needs to get caught up, is here.

Posted by: Open Blog at 09:01 PM | Comments (63)
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Your Last Girlfriend's IMDB Entry
— Ace

Funny stuff from Cracked.

Posted by: Ace at 08:32 PM | Comments (7)
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Obama Does a Backflip on Mental Health Abortions
— Gabriel Malor

I'm getting a little woozy over here; the guy's flipping like flapjacks this week. Obama has clarified his earlier statement on abortion to a Christian magazine. When he said:

"Now, I don't think that 'mental distress' qualifies as the health of the mother. I think it has to be a serious physical issue that arises in pregnancy, where there are real, significant problems to the mother carrying that child to term."

he actually meant:

"My only point is that in an area like partial-birth abortion having a mental, having a health exception can be defined rigorously. It can be defined through physical health, It can be defined by serious clinical mental-health diseases."

Clear?

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 04:50 PM | Comments (33)
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Finally! Penis Reduction Pills [dri]
— Open Blog

I know I speak for most AoSHQrs when I say. Thank god for penis reduction pills. These beauties save oneself from the embarrassing stigma of a johnson that is just too damn big. Please take a moment to consider your mate's needs and use these life changing pills. Ladies...you're welcome!

In my situation, my exceedingly large member was causing me no end of problems. Being so large, I was always filled with confidence and a can-do attitude, so much so that on the way home from work I'd be forced to run into any burning building I came across to save whomever I could find just because I was so sure that nothing bad could come to me. Everyone at work hated me because I was so incredibly successful and good looking, and funny, all of which I attributed to the fact that my wang was two sizes too large.

Posted by: Open Blog at 02:28 PM | Comments (53)
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Obama "Puzzled" Over Flip-Flop Observations
— Gabriel Malor

Obama just can't believe that after flipping on FISA and public financing and flopping on guns and abortion people would think him apt to flip-flop on Iraq too. He continues to claim that his statements on Wednesday are perfectly consistent with what he said last year.

"I was a little puzzled by the frenzy that I set off with what I thought was a pretty innocuous statement," he said on a flight from Montana to St. Louis. "I am absolutely committed to ending the war. I will call my joint chiefs of staff in and give them a new assignment and that is to end the war."

[...]

Obama said he did not make a mistake on Wednesday with his choice of words in describing his Iraq position -- even though he called a second news conference a few hours after his initial comments to clarify his stance.

He laid the blame with reporters.

Yeah, don't those reporters know which side they're supposed to be on? How dare they report on the exact words that are coming out of Obama's mouth? The Reuters reporter, at least, doesn't seem to appreciate the charge and pokes a little fun at Obama:

"I'm surprised at how finely calibrated every single word was measured. I wasn't saying anything I hadn't said before, that I didn't say a year ago or when I was a United States senator," said Obama, who is still a senator from Illinois.

Such arrogance.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 02:27 PM | Comments (46)
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