Here's what Daniels said:

This morning, at the Heritage Foundation, I asked Daniels if that meant the next president shouldn't push issues like stopping taxpayer funding of abortion in Obamacare or reinstating the Mexico City Policy banning federal funds to overseas groups that perform abortions. Daniels replied that we face a "genuine national emergency" regarding the budget and that "maybe these things could be set aside for a while. But this doesn't mean anybody abandons their position at all. Everybody just stands down for a little while, while we try to save the republic."

To clarify whether Daniels simply wants to de-emphasize these issues or actually not act on them, I asked if, as president, he would issue an executive order to reinstate Reagan's "Mexico City Policy" his first week in office. (Obama revoked the policy during his first week in office.) Daniels replied, "I don't know."

He's going to have to eat those last words and repudiate them.

Reaction from conservative opinion-leaders.

So, what does a "truce" mean to Mitch Daniels? I'll tell you what I think it means to him: I think he doesn't know what it means, because I think this is an inchoate thought offered on the spur of the moment without having worked out the implications of it or some kind of rigorous plan for its implementation. I read it as more of a "Wouldn't it be smart to put off some questions to focus on those of immediate criticality?" without having actually worked out what this would mean in practical terms.

I kind of do know what he means. Instapundit used to annoy me by constantly linking support of the War to his general (good-faith) desire to end (or at least begin a tactical withdrawal from) the war on drugs. He would note, say, that legislators were working on some law to reduce the use of Ecstasy, and say something like "I guess we won the war when I wasn't looking."

This annoyed me because it seemed -- to me -- that in the guise of advancing a Critical Priority, he was also attempting to advance a very low priority item (decriminalizing drug use). I mean, even if you agree with the general tenets of decriminalization (as I have come closer and closer to doing these last two or three years), you have to admit: It's not as if America's going to fall apart if we don't act on that right now.

But he made it sound as if those on the Drug Warrior side of things were using the war to their advantage, that is, they were using the pretext of a the War on Terrorism to advance their own War on Drug agenda, leveraging a serious, immediate crisis to advance a secondary one that could be gotten to later. But it seemed to me he was doing the exact same thing, just, as they say, on the other side. That is, that he was attempting, expressly, to leverage support for the War into support for a low-priority item, decriminalization.

I was annoyed by this, and if you asked me, I would have said something like Mitch Daniels did: Can't we just put aside this very secondary policy item to focus on the Big Picture? But if you followed up and asked me, "But what does 'put this aside' mean in actual practice?," I would have confessed, "Gee, I don't really know."

Because in truth, I thought the Drug Warriors were justified in continuing their efforts to fight the war on drugs. And in truth, I also felt Instapundit was justified in continuing his long fight against the Drug Warriors.

So I didn't really want either party to give up their basic beliefs, to actually abandon their beliefs for the good of the war effort. Sure, I could say that Instapundit should get with the program and stop agitating the status quo, but that would be too easy; after all, since I was more on the Drug Warrior side, it would have been very easy for me to tell someone who disagrees with me to give up his beliefs for the greater good I had in mind.

And, on his end, it was sort of easy for him to say those who believe drugs a serious scourge should give up their beliefs for the greater good, too.

So what the hell did this inchoate thought of mine mean? What did it mean, when I would get annoyed with Instapundit's agitation for a decriminalization movement, when I thought Is this really something we need to deal with right now?

I didn't know what it meant. I hadn't worked it out. An obvious answer would be that I meant "No one should attempt to alter the status quo in any direction at all until we win the war," but that seemed ridiculous to me -- certainly I wasn't opposing Bush's second round of tax cuts just because we had a war on and that was the top priority.

It was just an emotional impulse without rigorous thinking behind it.

Every politician, at some point, says something along the lines of, "We must rise above our petty differences and unite to bring about what we need to do for our children." But what the hell does that mean? Does that mean a liberal politician intends to stop agitating for extended union power to "unite" on our children's future? Does that mean a conservative intends to stop talking about tax cuts and deregulating business?

I don't think they're lying when they say this, because I don't think they've figured out what they hell they mean to a degree of specificity where it even could be a lie.

Some statements can't be lies, because they are so meaningless and vague and incoherent as to be non-falsifiable. As scientists say about a wack-a-doo theory that's so off-book it doesn't even make sense: It's not even wrong. It doesn't rise to the level where you can even categorize it as "wrong."

I think that's all that's going on with Mitch Daniels. I don't think this represents some well thought-out plan to sell out the social cons. I think it was an idle thought, of the kind that I have often had, without really knowing what he meant.

As Rodney King said, "Can't we all just get along?" He didn't really know what that meant, either -- but he meant it just the same.

I'm a supporter of Daniels (and Pence, and Thune, and a lot of other people, actually), and so I hope he can put this particular fire out. I'd like as many strong candidates with broad acceptability to the base as possible in 2012, so we're choosing according to who we like most rather than who we hate least (a savage process-of-elimination that resulted in our nominating the plainly unsuitable John McCain last time 'round -- I'd prefer my hand not be so forced again in 2012).

But he has made a fire here, and he does need to stamp it out before it consumes him. That particular statement where he did, in fact, get unwisely particular -- that he didn't know if he'd re-reverse the Mexico City policy (something every president who takes over for a president from the other party does in the first hour of office; it's automatic, man) -- has to be repudiated.

I don't want Daniels disqualifying himself from serious consideration so early in the process.

He will have to learn that when a reporter like John McCormack has his tape-recorder and notepad out, it's not a good time for him to indulge in idle, inchoate thought-balloons.

Posted by: Ace at 09:05 AM | Comments (317)
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And, of course, only Israel.

THE WEEKLY STANDARD has learned that senior Obama administration officials have been telling foreign governments that the administration intends to support an effort next week at the United Nations to set up an independent commission, under UN auspices, to investigate Israel's behavior in the Gaza flotilla incident. The White House has apparently shrugged off concerns from elsewhere in the U.S. government that a) this is an extraordinary singling out of Israel, since all kinds of much worse incidents happen around the world without spurring UN investigations; b) that the investigation will be one-sided, focusing entirely on Israeli behavior and not on Turkey or on Hamas; and c) that this sets a terrible precedent for outside investigations of incidents involving U.S. troops or intelligence operatives as we conduct our own war on terror.

Question Number One: Why are these damned Jews so stubborn about survival? Why can't they just get with the pogrom?

I always say, lately, "It's easier to beg forgiveness than to secure permission." I can't help but think the "International Community's" plan for Israel -- and America is now part of that hateful "community" -- is to set in motion the gears which will destroy it. Problem solved! And then, once destroyed, the "International Community" can talk about how sad they are Israel has been destroyed.

It's easier, the "International Community," finds, to work up feigned sympathy for a dead Jewish victim than a live Jewish fighter. America saw the same thing after 9/11.

How much the world mourned our dead!

How much the world loathed our living!

Oh, by the way: Achmadinejad says Israel is "doomed," which is especially threatening, as he said this in connection with his nation's ongoing nuclear weapons program.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Friday Israel was "doomed" and singled out US President Barack Obama for scorn, blaming Washington for orchestrating new nuclear sanctions against Tehran.

Speaking during a visit to the World Expo in Shanghai, Ahmadinejad denounced the UN Security Council's sanctions resolution adopted Wednesday with Chinese and Russian backing as "worthless paper".

The firebrand leader accused global nuclear powers of "monopolising" atomic technology and said the new sanctions would "have no effect" -- reserving most of his tough rhetoric for the United States, not his ally Beijing.

Swatting aside the US leader's offers of dialogue and rapprochement if Iran relents on its nuclear ambitions, Ahmadinejad said: "I think President Obama has made a big mistake... he knows the resolution will have no effect.

"Very soon he will come to understand he has not made the right choice and he has blocked the way to having friendly ties with the Iranian people."

Obama, meanwhile, works to ease a bill which would punish countries doing business with Iran. Because it would anger that "International Community" we hear so much about.

Posted by: Ace at 08:20 AM | Comments (175)
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Nothing very important here, but it is nice to see him again.

Posted by: Ace at 08:07 AM | Comments (57)
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Doin' it because they love it.

The staff of Normandy Crossing Elementary School outside Houston eagerly awaited the results of state achievement tests this spring. For the principal and assistant principal, high scores could buoy their careers at a time when success is increasingly measured by such tests. For fifth-grade math and science teachers, the rewards were more tangible: a bonus of $2,850.

But when the results came back, some seemed too good to be true. Indeed, after an investigation by the Galena Park Independent School District, the principal, assistant principal and three teachers resigned May 24 in a scandal over test tampering.

The district said the educators had distributed a detailed study guide after stealing a look at the state science test by “tubing” it — squeezing a test booklet, without breaking its paper seal, to form an open tube so that questions inside could be seen and used in the guide. The district invalidated students’ scores.

It's a national phenomenon -- investigations in a bunch of states point to this sort of cheating by teachers.

Fair Point! Dagny writes:

Of course they are cheating. They are being offered money if their students get the right answers? And nobody thought they would cheat? I'm super ethical but even I would have trouble not trying to see the questions and cover them in class. Duh.

It's like a store owner who makes absolutely no effort to detect or deter theft. He's practically telling people, "It's okay if you steal from me."

A lot of times our stupid government just doesn't take basic human failings into account, and drafts laws and implements policies on the theory that we are a nation of angels.

We're not.

In this case, as Obama would say, the school bureaucracy "acted stupidly" by circulating the tests prior to their administration. They should have been delivered the night before the test, like the SATs.

At some point, such glaring encouragement of cheating -- of doing just what the teachers did here -- looks less like teacher malfeasance and more like a winking conspiracy by the bureaucracy.

Posted by: Ace at 07:27 AM | Comments (165)
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(*) In the new post-Ascension lexicon, increase = decline. ex. Chocolate rations have been increased to 10oz up from 12oz.

Retail sales plunged in May by the largest amount in eight months as consumers slashed spending on everything from cars to clothing. The big drop raises new worries about the durability of the economic recovery...

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 06:03 AM | Comments (220)
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*burp*

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 04:57 AM | Comments (179)
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I'm a guy, so I'm comfortable talking about breasts, looking at breasts, thinking about breasts and even building enormous breasts in the yard when we get the first big snowfall of the winter. Still, even with my hard-wired affinity for breasts, I don't really see the connection between Sarah Palin's endorsements in this week's primary elections and left-wing speculation that she's had "some enhancement". (Actually, to be perfectly honest, I fully expect many on the so-called "social conservative" fringe to pick this story up as well, because the only thing that Sarah Palin could do to convince these people of her sincerity would be to change her name.......to Mike Huckabee.)

My one line takeaway? The left is focused on the two boobs under Sarah Palin's blouse, while the right is focused on the two boobs sitting in the Oval Office and in whatever broom closet they've converted to an office for Sheriff Joe Biden. Which strategy do you think will pay dividends in November?

Posted by: Russ from Winterset at 04:23 AM | Comments (123)
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A combination of lies, malfeasance, subterfuge, confusion, incompetence, dirty dealing, fraud, abuse, thievery, thuggery, smarm, front running, shenanigans, droit de seigneur, and good old fashioned market manipulation drove the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a gain of nearly three percent yesterday. There might have been a teeny tiny little amount of good news in the mix. It's hard to tell.

The most urgent menace facing America today? Canadians. I only post this story as a service to the commonweal, not out of any personal animus towards these shameless, lying, thieving bastards! May you be tortured for eternity in some bland Canadian hell where people say, "Hey, is that the Canadian devil? What's up with that? He's only kind of evil, you know? The American devil is much eviller. And cooler-looking, and has a better car." (I take it back, Canada. I'm only lashing out from hurt. I still love you guys.)

That smell tainting the air is not, as I first thought, a burning tire-dump. It is, rather, the heady scent of reform!

The US Money Supply. Does not include subway tokens, lint-covered Jolly Ranchers, lead slugs, or photocopies of your ass with "$$$One Butthole$$$" written on it with a black Sharpie.

Liquidity seizure - a malady that Kaopectate won't help one little bit.

Bank Of Italy Says Interest Payments On Debt Subject To Great Uncertainty. Spokesmen for the bank later said that they were misquoted, and meant to say that they had no interest in paying their debts.

Rome (the big one in Italy, not the small one in New York state or the other small one in Georgia or the other other small one in Indiana) plans to implement a hotel tax. Bedbugs, cockroaches, and snotty front-desk clerks are still included in the base price, though. The various lesser Romes plan to adopt a wait-and-see attitude before implementing similar measures.

George Soros on Europe's Woes. "I totally deplore this situation that I was instrumental in creating," Soros said. "My own past actions now fill me with repugnance, and I plan to give away my billions and live the rest of my life in a small treehouse, eating only store-brand saltines and drinking only hose-water."

It's your own damned fault!

Don't buy gold. It will give you ass-cancer.

"Revalue the Renminbi or we'll release the hounds!" Um...dude...it's only a useful as a bluff if the other guy doesn't know you're bluffing.

Captain Obvious, posting from his secret fortress near Pine Knot, Kentucky, noted that the government bailout of AIG was a really bad idea. "But the government acted in our best interest!", Captain Obvious asserted. "It takes a great deal of moral character to buck the tide of popular opinion!"

His evil nemesis, Baron von Bringdown, responded mockingly from his secret tropical-island hideout. "Your puny financial system is still rotten with counterparty risk! You actions were for nought! Ah-hah-hah-hah-hah!" Mr. von Bringdown then announced that the construction on his massive planet-destroying laser had been halted due to "unexpectedly weak performance in the capital markets". This news sent the stock of Henchmen, Inc. (HNCH) plummeting as Mr. von Bringdown's minions found themselves out of work.

A short history sidebar - King Croesus and the first coining of money.

(Via Reason magazine). Food inflation? As long as I can afford Cap'n Crunch and milk, I'll be okay.

Who ya gonna believe, me or your lying eyes?

Home foreclosures reached a record in May, sort of putting a damper on that whole "the worst is past" line the Obama Administration has been pushing.

The Obama Administration is considering canceling the mortgage interest deduction. In related news, outraged homeowners are considering lifting a high-stepping kick right into President Obama's balls.

Commercial real-estate is starting to give off a pretty ripe stink. It's kind of like when you step in dogshit and don't realize it until you come in the house and walk around for a little while and then realize that you've just tracked poop all over your floor and have perfumed the house with L'air Du Turd.

Is California still boned? You know they are!

This program brought to you by the Magic 8-Ball of Doom.

Posted by: Monty at 03:03 AM | Comments (107)
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Only one Democrat withheld a "yes" vote -- Dianna Feinstein abstained.

The Republicans all voted no.

He's a swell guy all around. When he says he believes Sexual Sadism should count as a mitigating factor which either reduces one's sentence or absolves one completely from criminal guilt, he isn't kidding around.

And he's not just a serial-killer jocksniffer, you know, one of those guys who treats serial killers as celebrities deserving of special treatment. I mean, he is that, too, but he is willing to apply his sexual-sadism-gets-you-reduced-sentencing theory more broadly:

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the nomination of Judge Robert Chatigny to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Thursday on a largely party-line vote despite stiff GOP opposition over his handling of child pornography and rape cases as a district court judge. With Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.) abstaining on the vote, the committee’s other 11 Democrats approved the nomination Thursday morning, while the committee’s entire seven-member contingent of Republicans voted ‘no.’ In a series of cases involving defendants found guilty of child pornography, rape and sexual assault cases, Chatigny used the process of downward departure to reduce their sentences.

Question that should be asked until we get a straight answer: Why did Diane Feinstein abstain?

Was it because she didn't think she could retain her feminism cred while supporting a judge who thinks rape is something dangerously close to a male right? Or, at least, something that mustn't be counted against us too much?

Of course that's the reason -- so if she has that kind of reservations about this bastard, what the hell is she merely abstaining for, and what are her bastard Democratic colleagues doing promoting him?

Note... That in most codes, "sexual torture" and such like is counted as an aggravating factor in murder that can qualify you for the noose.

This judge insists that not only isn't an aggravating factor, it's a mitigating factor, and, indeed, can be an exonerating factor.

He questions whether most serial killers should be on death row at all, or even in prison at all.

PS: If you're going to kill someone in New York, you should really consider doing it in t sexual-sadist style, binding you victim and cutting her slowly to death. Throw in a rape while you're there.

It just might get you a shorter sentence. Hell, it just might save your life.

Posted by: Ace at 06:55 PM | Comments (84)
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It is approximately the train wreck you imagine it would be. But you know what, if I ever got interviewed by Olbermann I would do my darndest to stick to "yes" and "no". Just to see how long he'd put up with it.

Yesterday South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Carol Fowler called for Greene to step down (see his one-word answer in the video), and today House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC) is calling for an investigation, claiming he's a plant, and somebody gave him the $10k filing fee. Others have suggested he's actually a Republican plant, to which DrewM responds, "For those who think Greene is a (Republican) plant...have you watched the SC GOP lately? You think that gang can pull off that kind of stunt?"

Good point.

I have to say I really wasn't expecting South Carolina politics to have been this interesting over the past several weeks.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 06:35 PM | Comments (141)
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