COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Saturday, September 09, 2006

Brown Shirts and Long Knives

Richard Armitage has admitted being the headwaters of the Plamegate tempest turned evil machiavellian Whitehouse scandal. The issue may now die an ignomonious death with hardly a MSM murmur of apology or even an indignant reprimand from the Whitehouse. George Bush assumed office saying that he wanted to bring a new kinder, gentler atmosphere of peace and cooperation to Washington. His one veto in six years seems to support his ecumenical, Methodist philosophy and contrary to the moonbat conspiracy theories of “a vicious smear campaign against Ambassador Wilson,” the Bush Administration has not engaged in the vigorous damage control employed by the Clinton Administration.

The same could be said for his political agenda and efforts which could be described as an anemic “Conservative Lite.” Other than going after Bin Laden in Afghanistan and Hussein in Iraq, many believe he has been too timid in confronting opponents or championing conservative causes. With majorities in both Houses of Congress, we expected a forceful Executive to roll back the travesties of a forty year liberal reign but, although a good man, President Bush has not been that Executive. Unfortunately, we may have to wait until Jan 2008 to see we that kind of President back at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Doubly unfortunate, it could well be Hillary Rodham Clinton who, as we all know, can handle a shiv about as well as anyone. She has many years of combat experience in the War Rooms of Bill Clinton and she can assemble a veteran team of propagandists, spinners and back alley assassins that Conservatives only dream about. We see the vestiges of the Democrat machine at work against ABC and the “The Path to 9/11.” As in Palestine or Iraq, a “softly, softly policy” against the Dems has left them alive and rabid for another shot at power.

For all the moonbat talk of "Republican Brownshirts," if HRC is our next President we can expect many nights of “Long knives” and we will get to see a forceful, “take no prisoners Commander-in-Chief” but not the one we wished for.

150 comments:

  1. If Hillary becomes president, I'm going into hiding. Drat that using my actual name on all these blog posts!
    :-(

    ReplyDelete
  2. You will have to get into the Blogger's protection program. Any ideas on what is happening at the Belmont Club? Have I been blocked out?

    ReplyDelete
  3. I checked several of the comments sections--all shut down. My guess is he's trying to make the point stick, he doesn't want a chat room. We have paid no attention to his many previous requests, now we're being treated like the children we've proven ourselves to be. Yes, it hurts. But, we wuz warned!

    ReplyDelete
  4. LOL--true enough, who needs an unrelieved headache?

    ReplyDelete
  5. And there was NEVER enough on Brad and Angelina.

    ReplyDelete
  6. One of the funniest things I've read in awhile was somebody describing a humanitarian trip to Africa with Ashley (Judd, of course). let me find it--you'll laff good.

    ReplyDelete
  7. After 13 million views, who needs you, buddy?
    habu's personal attacks, the anti semitism and the pure rudeness of some of the other posters may have taken their toll on wretchard.

    While some took the hint to self limit the quantity of their posts, others ignored the request. doug insisted on word counts, where wretchard wanted longer, as he said, more thoughtful remarks.
    Not my style, nor yours or doug's.
    aristide on the other hand...

    I'm with rufus, though, I looked to the comments for entertainment and illumination upon the theme.

    If the Republicans cannot pass Border Security reforms, why vote for them?
    The "War" is over, the "Peace" will be short. Regardless of who is in command.

    As I said, after listening to a bunch of old War Horses, Iraq is now just a target gallery for US troops. Worse than I had thought.
    But the folk telling the tale were just 20 year plus Army officers, disgusted one and all, each was a Spec Ops Ranger.
    All were planning on moving on to new fields of employment.

    ReplyDelete
  8. That's the truth--Belmont can stand alone--like Powerline. Wretchard can carry it.

    As to your second clause, rat, I got no idea how to argue with you. It's all a dismal and gloomy mess. Though I'm not sure there's a single alternative that would have us us in better shape than as it stands now. Balls-out war needs enemy formations to bust up.

    ReplyDelete
  9. When I say "can" I mean, as in "able to" (upon re-read, it could've meant as in "for all I care". That's manifestly *not* what I meant).

    ReplyDelete
  10. WSJ Opinion Journal has several chewy articles every day. If you have something to say, you can usually find a related article to hang it on. The editors post a selection sometime during the day, so if you hope to get yours posted, best keep it pithy and send it early.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Har--very visual wordsmithing. Ash won't like it--you can't holler "Amerika, the new totalitarian state" in the visual without seeing yourself having to slap leather pretty soon after--

    ReplyDelete
  12. No, buddy, one does not need "Enemy Formations". What is needed is an Enemy.
    Mr Bush insists on the Religion of Peace meme.
    If the President identified an Enemy, we could defeat it, militarily. Instead we have "proven" the Military cannot handle the Mohammedan Challenge.

    That is the new meme that I've noticed being played.
    War calls for death and mayhem, we delivered little of either. It's not a War, in Iraq, but a giant police call.

    Even wretchard thinks the US has lost. If what we've done is the best we can do, better we had stayed home.
    Or so say the Army officers that do not hold Press Converences.

    LGF had some early adverisers, the calls by posters for nuclear attacks scared off the paying advertisers. Talk of "hate speech" and such. When BC had no advertisers PC held no sway, but as habu said a day or two ago, cash is king.

    ReplyDelete
  13. habu, honestly facing the problem of 300 comments with 250 of 'em being rejoinders to other commenters, I would guess that Wretchard has recieved a prodigious number of emails from folks who who'd rather read 50 or so on the topic. I myself get a kick out of the hand-to-hand combat, appreciating a well-delivered vicious slur probably more than i would had i been raised properly.

    ReplyDelete
  14. one of W's latest posts addresses that very meme, rat--as I'm sure you've noted. If we can't define a victory, we can damn sure define a loss. It's anything short of "no more of whatever it is that's happening".

    ReplyDelete
  15. If you watch the hit counter at BC the comments were not volumous enough to effect the totals. Upwards of 10,000 per day.
    Watch the counter, most likely it will not drop sufficently, not enough to scare off the advertisers.
    All the Pajama sites will, over time, average to the PC norm. Rule of advertising, don't provoke the negative. Pajamas is now part of the MSM, sure as shootin'

    ReplyDelete
  16. Robert Bartlett changed my life. From a syrupy 70s Carterite slogan-spouter to someone who at least tries to look at the results of our political leader's actions (official, and as image icons).

    Rat--you may have a point--but again you may not. You posit advertisers who would pressure content. Can't see such pressure working with Wretchard.

    ReplyDelete
  17. well, habu you certainly changed the tone of the BC, single handedly.
    Perhaps you do not realize it.

    Why say things you need to apologize for, later?
    You mentioned a sense of freedom, to rufus or ?, since you no longer were employeed and felt kissin' ass was no longer required. I can understand that, but to be constantly rude, and then offer apology...
    Not, I think, what wretchard had in mind for his Club.

    ReplyDelete
  18. habu--you have a strong presence--that's all rat is pointing out. you wouldn't have it any other way, would you?

    ReplyDelete
  19. The insults did not mean anything, nor did the apologies, to me.
    Everyone on the Inet is a dog, don't you know.
    The BC was not my site, though.

    ReplyDelete
  20. That's another slice of the conundrum. The very comments that later require apology are the most hilarious and entertaining of all. It's a bitch.

    ReplyDelete
  21. whit, when Miss Ashley says she suffers from "blaming, raging, numbing, denying and minimizing my feelings", it sounds to me like she got to the cure, and ran right through it.

    ReplyDelete
  22. habu,
    run down the left hand side of the blog, past the two ads and the archived articles.
    The current count is 12,174,845.
    He was counting prior to PJ Media's existence, so I doubt it is the counter for them, or their combined totals.

    I agree with buddy that some of the funniest comments were the insults and the comebacks. But that is not what W had oft said was his purpose in operating the Club.

    ReplyDelete
  23. It's analogous to the honor system in academia, only with the rather impossible requirement that it operate with no hard definitions of breach.

    ReplyDelete
  24. habu,
    Do not feel alone. There were many who complained about me.
    Border Security was not what aristide or peterboston wanted to talk about, ever.

    The border not part of the US's global security challenge.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Well, I'm a fan of your writing, habu. but i can see how you might ruffle feathers some, on occasion.

    ReplyDelete
  26. But, hell, no one slips more shivs between more ribs than you, rat. i say in admiration to the both of ye.

    ReplyDelete
  27. I try to be polite, when shoving the shiv, buddy.
    Makes it all the better, I think.

    ReplyDelete
  28. yes, the kill is the thing, not the pain.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Yes, Rat
    The blood does not spatter all over the place, it remains in neat little pools ;)

    ReplyDelete
  30. Rufus--the 'war-fighting money' is in the "supplemental". The 30 seat GOP margin in the House will get the March '07 passed, unless there's no more GOP margin come that date. Then we are looking at what happened in an earlier time, in the early 70s, when the ARVN got simply cut-off from their ammo, by act of US Congress.

    Whit, wanna see another 'finish'?
    (-last Rose Bowl-)

    ReplyDelete
  31. For sure--that's where the next 60 day's attacks are gonna come from--besides the war, that is. Dems on spending--if ya can believe dat sh*t.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Anyone who has ever created a business comes to the realization that the creation of the entrepreneur develops it's own personality. It becomes a being in it's own right. The Belmont Club's currency in trade is strong minded independent opinionated people. You can lead and you can direct and if you do a good job they outgrow you. You have to know when to let go.

    All good design requires balance. The essence that made the BC a great blog is that Wretchard would open a subject and stand back and let things take a natural course. No one can digest one profound essay after another. There needs to be relief and context. It worked out natuarally, but IMO Wretchard did what some artists or architects do and that is over design or overpaint. He started to moderate the comments and that was a disaster. He backed off but there was a real tension in never knowing when it could be ended without debate. That was unfair because the BC is as much a product of the commentators as the poster.

    My motivation was to provide a relief valve for those that wanted more discussion. We are experienced adults who are ultra news junkies. You cannot corral such a group, and you do not want to either. I set this up as an emergency exit. It took off because it was needed. There is no reason why it could not be a BC annex. That is up to wretchard. He cannot have it all ways if he does not want it all ways. The take off of the Elephant Bar just indicated the obvious. Wretchard challenged us to set up our own blogs. The Elephant Bar is both a challenge and an opportunity for him. I think I can talk for all of us in that we want the BC to go on and become better and stronger. The Elephant Bar is no threat to the BC.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Wretchard got two big things, [1] a nose for the news item that signifies larger questions, and [2] a lot of talent in making [1] show itself.

    ReplyDelete
  34. PS, and those two things wouldn't count for much without [3] sticking in there and doing it long-term.

    ReplyDelete
  35. One additional thought. This Bar belongs to all of us. All are encouraged to produce topics and articles. I want to harness all the talent and energy from all of us here and those who have not yet arrived. By shutting down the comment section at BC, that also prevents those not knowledgable about the Elephant Bar from hearing about it. I hope that is not Wretchard's intention. If that is not intention, then I invite Wretchard to address the issue. He should post notice, that running commentary is no longer part of his plan and that those interested in running commentary should visit the Elephant Bar. We would also welcome a visit from Wretchard.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Another good David Warren article

    http://www.davidwarrenonline.com/

    ReplyDelete
  37. The count at BC, now, 12,175,447.
    600 hits in an hour and a half.

    If my B&B site got that many in a day, we'd have a party.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Well, we certainly could not live if we limited these folks unless and until we get a handle on things.
    UNwar and Globalization is what this compassionate conservative served us up.
    ---
    "In 2005, more people from Muslim countries became legal permanent United States residents — nearly 96,000 — than in any year in the previous two decades. More than 40,000 of them were admitted last year, the highest annual number since the terrorist attacks, according to data on 22 countries provided by the Department of Homeland Security."
    LINK
    Couldn't live w/o em, not even for the duration.

    ReplyDelete
  39. The duration of What?, doug.

    The Wahabbists attacked US 5 years ago. We counter attacked a secular Iraq. Today the drums beat to attack Shia Iran, leaving the ME to the Wahabbists.

    Meanwhile the Wahabbists that left Afghanistan have returned, from their training bases in Warizistan, Pakistan.

    ReplyDelete
  40. "LGF had some early adverisers, the calls by posters for nuclear attacks scared off the paying advertisers. Talk of "hate speech" and such. When BC had no advertisers PC held no sway, but as habu said a day or two ago, cash is king. "
    ---
    I betcha that's the reason:
    Makes perfect sense.
    We lost our local forum sponsored by the local conservative radio station when we took on a Feminazi Native College professor and her racist hate speech.
    We being the UN PC one's, we lost.
    Racism Antiamericanism, anti-male is fine, free speech verbotten.

    ReplyDelete
  41. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Another perfect example proving 'Rat's point is Google and Savage.
    Google does business w/the Chicoms, but WON'T run ads on Savage's Site:
    Whatever else they say is Baloney:
    Bottom line is Bucks, any way you slice it.

    ReplyDelete
  43. it's a sound mirror. Real life, you sound what you look like. Virtual life, you look what you sound like.

    ReplyDelete
  44. Bud,
    If Hillary is elected, I suggest we all CHANGE our names.
    If they can intimidate ABC when "out of power," just wait!

    ReplyDelete
  45. using Google is like burning gasoline. You gotta do it, tho you know you're helping your enemy.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Maybe with Google, "enemy" is too strong a word (leaves no word for what to call shooters & bombers). "Opponent" is better.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Yep, doug, time for you to start making sacrifices to Pele. Me, i have these limestone hills to hide out in.
    ;)

    ReplyDelete
  48. whit,

    Great job on the essay.

    The administration keeps talking about changing hearts and minds. Tragically, it has, but in a manner it did not expect.

    An inability understand the requirement to treat ruthlessly its domestic enemies within the CIA and State, as well as such external enemy opportunists as al Sadr, has conveyed the message that the administration is weak and can be had. This has emboldened the adversaries of the US, the President, and his party.

    Every embarrassment and loss of face has reinforced what is obviously more than a mere perception.

    More than anything else, Bill and Hillary remind me of Augustus and his thoroughly savage spouse Livia.

    ReplyDelete
  49. bluebellies, as grampaw called 'em.

    ReplyDelete
  50. "Great job on the essay."
    ---
    WHAT Essay?
    I'm just here for the comments!
    ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  51. "This has emboldened the adversaries of the US, the President, and his party"
    ---
    Weakness is Provocative.
    Sure as nite follows day.

    ReplyDelete
  52. (how will I keep my mind from wonderin about the future?)

    ReplyDelete
  53. Another variety of Nude Air.

    ReplyDelete
  54. I wonder how Sonia's ad revenue/page count is doing?

    ReplyDelete
  55. I know what a nude pic of ME would do for a page-view count. Can you see a counter run in reverse til it starts smoking and finally explodes?

    ReplyDelete
  56. Sort of a Black Hole of Counters.

    ReplyDelete
  57. A Curious Mind is a terrible thing.

    ReplyDelete
  58. A waste is a terrible thing not to mind.

    ReplyDelete
  59. I think the wife has waste on her mind.
    Later (if I can wrench myself sincerely)

    ReplyDelete
  60. You do realize that the attack on Shakespeare, as being really Francis Bacon, or really after Francis's bacon, is an artifact of the USSR campaign against the achievements & accomplishments of the west?

    ReplyDelete
  61. at one time or another, the commies claimed every single one of Edison's inventions.

    ReplyDelete
  62. Gad, that Gateway site is good. Kudos aplenty to whomever. The unity gov't has been quietly making urgent requests to drop the violence--Fox mentions it in the ribbon. True form would be to pull back from the brink once you get there and look down into the abyss.

    ReplyDelete
  63. Gad, that Gateway site is good -
    Does ONE guy do all that?

    ReplyDelete
  64. I don't need to read it:
    The test must be sexist.

    ReplyDelete
  65. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  66. "And if there is another attack of the caliber of 9/11, Western moral restraint on massive retribution against sponsor states will vanish.

    Israel may well have been confused by mobile Katyushas and underground Hezbollah bunkers; but should Syria or Hezbollah send a missile laden with WMD at Tel Aviv, the jihadists and their patrons will quickly learn that there is no defense against an Israeli Western-style response. "
    -Hanson
    ---
    I have more faith the second would follow than the first.

    ReplyDelete
  67. FYI, This was the last comment we had from Wretchard regarding the comments:

    "2164th said...
    Wretchard,

As you know there has been some question about your policy on the two post guideline. I have expressed my opinion on several occasions. There was the recent "lock-out" and on a whim, I opened the 2164th's Elephant Bar, which is wide open for the "chattier" members of the Belmont Club. The purpose of the Elephant Bar was to focus on those who wish to post without someone counting, with a more casual and free wheeling format. It quickly received a fair amount of posts indicating to me a pent up demand. 

Do you want to clarify your posting rules and guidelines? If you wish to retain the "two post or thereabouts" rule, do you welcome a chatting lounge for the Belmont Club audience?
    9/07/2006 12:35:34 AM



    2164th
    said...
    Doug said...:

I realize the bean counters can now flail away at my for posts, and when I point out that it's fewer words than Fiddler, out come the raspberries from the intelligentsia.
Tough shit.:

9/07/2006 01:12:30 AM


I think some of the ardor for rigid control has waned. I dont think you will be getting so much sanctimonius finger wagging from the starched farts.
    9/07/2006 01:45:07 AM

    wretchard
    said...
    2164,

I've already violated the 2 post guideline in letter, but the spirit is none of us should hog the road. After all, the blogosphere is so be there's no need for it. Keep to the spirit and the letter will take care of itself.
    9/07/2006 02:19:47 AM"

    ReplyDelete
  68. The whole piece by VDH, is considerably optimistic, within the frame of the clear & present danger.

    ReplyDelete
  69. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  70. Lawrence Wright's "The Terror Web" from the August 2, 2004 New Yorker may be the single best piece of reporting on al Qaeda and allied terror networks in print.

    I picked up Wright's new book, The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11, at the Dallas airport this morning, and could not put it down for the three hour flight home, and will certainly keep reading at the same pace.
    It is riveting, and its first quarter provides the history of the roots of al Qaeda that should be required reading for every member of the government and the chattering class. I am certain that the balance of the book will be equally as valuable, and I suspect it will achieve what the 9/11 Commission report could not --widespread readership and agreement about the crucial events that led to 9/11.

    Along with Robert Kaplan's Imperial Grunts, The Looming Tower is immediately entered on that small shelf of books instantly understood to be necessary for any analyst of the war to have read.

    ReplyDelete
  71. Yeah, that's funny:
    I pasted it in naming Hewitt the first time, but the hyperlinks were screwed up.
    Then I left out poor Hugh.
    Well, bring on Aristotle and the boys!

    ReplyDelete
  72. The lockout continues at the Club, but wretchard illuminates and asks questions of his readers.
    Does not allow a place to voice the answer, though.
    Regardless, the hits keep coming
    12,176,660 as of the last I looked.

    ReplyDelete
  73. They just keep desperately coming back, hoping for a new 'Rat analysis, or joke from the rabble.
    I feel their pain.

    ReplyDelete
  74. I just gave him 5 hits making sure the last threads didn't contain a really bad example of my comments!

    ReplyDelete
  75. I want to be very clear, that all from the Belmont Club are welcome. That includes occum and Peterboston and anyone else. I am irrelevant to the attendance list. Anyone who wants to be a contributor need only let me or Whit know.

    ReplyDelete
  76. Guess we got this thing opened in the knick of time.

    ReplyDelete
  77. Should we shorten the name to "The Elephant Bar"?

    ReplyDelete
  78. Might be easier for folks to type:
    Leave this one here with a link to the new site so we don't lose anybody.

    ReplyDelete
  79. I do not want to orphan us. Where are we linked?

    ReplyDelete
  80. my 30 minutes of fame are over. Link ok?

    ReplyDelete
  81. The link stays the same as far as I can see. It is better for business. I did piss some people off over at BC.

    ReplyDelete
  82. sometimes I used to piss myself off.

    ReplyDelete
  83. Oh, I get it.
    Same address, different name.
    OK by me

    ReplyDelete
  84. I just changed the title to The Elephant Bar. I need assistance on chnaging the blog address. Remember I blew the first night screwing around and lost all the comments.

    ReplyDelete
  85. I will put that into the hands of a professional. I use mac's anyway fo I do not get into the arcana of the techies.

    ReplyDelete
  86. Just buy me one o them new macs w/the 30 inch screen, and I'll switch!

    ReplyDelete
  87. "... My frustration and disgust over the policy and politics of the people in the top layers at State led me to defame those people at the lower levels who are just doing their job.

    I retract the slur, and pass it on to Armitage and maybe even to Dr. Rice herself, if she approved this farrago. ..."


    The Baron, will he be upset when he discovers it was Mr Bush that approved the visit, regardless of what Ms Rice and Mr Armitage desired.

    Again, why vote for the Republicans? The lesser of two evils is not enough. The Republicans have misled me for years, it seems.
    Smaller government, lower spending and security, the Republicans have had more time than needed to prove they have failed in fulfilling their promises.

    ReplyDelete
  88. Here's one reason: the economy is nearly a third larger than it was in 2000 [despite everything], and electing GOP is the *only* way to prevent the donkeys from ruining it--?

    ReplyDelete
  89. The lesser of two evils is not enough

    Then nothing is, since damn near every choice is such.

    ReplyDelete
  90. Pelosi? Reid? Streisand? Michael Moore?

    ReplyDelete
  91. Just listening to Bennet:
    2 Months after OIF, Wilson started the war against the President.
    ...with a pack of lies.
    Whata guy.

    ReplyDelete
  92. Actually, it was Horowitz, his guest.

    ReplyDelete
  93. There is always that, buddy, but I doubt JFKerry will be running in '08.

    The others, as long as Mr Bush is President make little difference.
    He may have to utilize his veto power. Be good for him and the country, I think.
    So the Dems can shut down the Federal Government, it backfired on Newt, but perhaps Mr Clinton was better at governess and media than Mr Bush.

    The economy fired on all eight when the Dems had the White House and Newt held the House. Less Federal debt and fewer illegal aliens crossing the border each day.
    Fewer entitlement programs for the well to do. I'm happy that Grandma does not have to pay for her scrips, but she certainly can afford them, without Federal assistance.
    Mr Bush and the Republicans passed the greatest unfunded economic entitlement of all time.
    To bad he did not make it part of a "comprehensive" entitlement reform package, like Border Security.

    Why is piecemeal "reform" of entitlements okay, but not of Border Security?

    ReplyDelete
  94. In lesser nations, Wilson would've gone to the wall, for such a plot.

    ReplyDelete
  95. Had not even read your UK link when I wrote of entitlements, buddy.

    ReplyDelete
  96. I'm no match for him tonight, rufus. My Longhorns have just been creamed by the Buckeyes and I'm demoralized. Bluto gets the run of the poopdeck. Maybe somebody will shoot him.

    ReplyDelete
  97. Shoot him *down*. rhetoric, rhetoric. sorry rat.
    ;)

    ReplyDelete
  98. but think "means test" as part of a comprehensive entitlement reform that includes the PDB, and that your split-government theory will just shoot off into outer space to be heard no more.

    ReplyDelete
  99. Bob, re BoBo philosophy:

    "I suddenly realized that the oppression of western technology extended to my own life," he explained. "That's when I got rid of my computer, threw away my Brooks Brothers suits, changed my name to Grok and moved into a cave."

    ReplyDelete
  100. Doug said...
    Pork Rinds for Allah!

    6:49:40 PM

    Doug said...
    Pork rhymes w "dork."

    6:50:01 PM

    Buddy Larsen said...
    A bacon in the fog--




    what did I do?

    ReplyDelete
  101. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  102. The age of horrorism (part one)

    On the eve of the fifth anniversary of 9/11, one of Britain's most celebrated and original writers analyses - and abhors - the rise of extreme Islamism. In a penetrating and wide-ranging essay he offers a trenchant critique of the grotesque creed and questions the West's faltering response to this eruption of evil.

    Martin Amis
    Sunday September 10, 2006
    The Observer

    It was mid-October 2001, and night was closing in on the border city of Peshawar, in Pakistan, as my friend - a reporter and political man of letters - approached a market stall and began to haggle over a batch of T-shirts bearing the likeness of Osama bin Laden. It is forbidden, in Sunni Islam, to depict the human form, lest it lead to idolatry; but here was Osama's lordly visage, on display and on sale right outside the mosque. The mosque now emptied, after evening prayers, and my friend was very suddenly and very thoroughly surrounded by a shoving, jabbing, jeering brotherhood: the young men of Peshawar.
    At this time of day, their equivalents, in the great conurbations of Europe and America, could expect to ease their not very sharp frustrations by downing a lot of alcohol, by eating large meals with no dietary restrictions, by racing around to one another's apartments in powerful and expensive machines, by downing a lot more alcohol as well as additional stimulants and relaxants, by jumping up and down for several hours on strobe-lashed dancefloors, and (in a fair number of cases) by having galvanic sex with near-perfect strangers. These diversions were not available to the young men of Peshawar.
    .
    http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/
    0,,1868732,00.html

    ReplyDelete
  103. Occupation:
    Nothing Poysonal, mere child's play:

    6:42:42 PM - Buddy Starts it.

    6:46:48 PM - Doug Responds.

    6:48:51 PM - Whit Chimes in.

    6:49:40 PM - Whit sparks Doug's memory of name from the past.

    ... the rest is history.

    ReplyDelete
  104. Al Qaeda Finds Its Center of Gravity

    Pakistan's “truce” with militants in the lawless region bordering Afghanistan has set off concern among American analysts.
    Video: A Rising Threat
    Map: Untamed Frontier
    ---
    Gee: Molasses for Brains?
    I was "concerned" over a year ago when abc had video of their increasing activity and organization.

    ReplyDelete
  105. bob smith wrote:

    What we know is that 1.2B Muslims live in or near a culture that is not compatible with modernism or change;

    This in itself is not alarming, it goes with the general package of "religion". 1.2B Catholics live in a culture so resistant to modernism or change that medieval theories of male seed containing little mini-fetuses still inform their ban on contraception, to the point of negatively influencing policies that would save millions of lives in AIDS-wracked Africa.

    A culture that cannot provide for itself

    Yet a culture so awash in petrodollars that it doesn't need to. Fortunately for the technological West where high commodity prices always lead to alternative enterprise, in about fifty years oil will only be used to make plastic and pave roads, and our declining reserves will be quite sufficient for that. The Middle East and places like Russia and Venezuela will sink into well-deserved irrelevance forever.

    ReplyDelete
  106. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  107. Ms Bob Smith,
    Appreciate your mention of the dark blog ages:
    Returns me to my question posed at BC about the unreadability of some bloggers vs traditional columnists.
    Fiddler was kind enough to respond, and I agree with much of what he said, but I too will hereby confess that it was to a large degree a rhetorical question of a sort.
    It is said that the French are smitten by ideas, whereas Americans prefer facts.
    This to me applies to the difficult blogs in question:
    An infatuation with ideas.
    Columnists I prefer tend toward fact plus opinion.
    Aristides makes a perfect example, imo: Long, very long on ideas, his record of predicting future events has been less than pristine, and the more plain spoken 'Rat has waxed him on that score to this point.
    I love ideas, love reading and writing about them, but when serious business such as war is the subject, I'll take the facts, mam.

    ReplyDelete
  108. Wrt the "anti-gay" chatter, I'll let the trogs among us here at the bar speak for themselves, my issues are not with gays, nor their sexual practices, but with promiscuity, insistence on "rights" to public displays, in your face brashness, dishonesty (we won't proselytize your kids/your society) and etc.
    I would vote for Tammy Bruce in a heartbeat, based on her strong stands on REAL rights like the second amendment, and willingness to put some of her gay concerns to the side for the greater good for the duration.
    Disagree with her strong support for women in virtually all combat roles.

    ReplyDelete
  109. Gay Activists, cont.
    Left out their wildly disproportionate influence on govt/public policy/discourse/education/law/arts and etc, and their abuse of same.

    ReplyDelete
  110. Tammy Bruce? you're kidding, right? Shoot, i wanna be a lesbian too.

    ReplyDelete
  111. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  112. An old cowboy sat down at the bar and ordered a drink. As he sat sipping his drink, a young woman sat down next to him. She turned to the cowboy and asked, "Are you a real cowboy?"

    He replied, "Well, I've spent my whole life, breaking colts, working cows, going to rodeos, fixing fences, pulling calves, bailing hay, doctoring calves, cleaning my barn, fixing flats, working on tractors, and feeding my dogs, so I guess I am a cowboy."

    She said, "I'm a lesbian. I spend my whole day thinking about women. As soon as I get up in the morning, I think about women. When I shower, I think about women. When I watch TV, I think about women. I even think about women when I eat. It seems that everything makes me think of women."

    The two sat sipping in silence.

    A little while later, a man sat down on the other side of the old cowboy and asked, "Are you a real cowboy?"

    He replied, "I always thought I was, but I just found out I'm a lesbian."

    ReplyDelete
  113. So what's the deal?
    EVERYBODY Thinks about women?
    ...guess that's why there's gay guys.

    ReplyDelete
  114. Oh, there's *lots* of women who think about men. It just gets less obvious as we get older, balder, fatter, and uglier.
    :-(

    ReplyDelete
  115. The exceptional proves the rule.
    ---
    Hot, for those that want to put a move on w/him, though.

    ReplyDelete
  116. doug,

    re: Uncle Albert

    Don't do that again without warning!

    ReplyDelete
  117. rufus, it's nothing to be ashamed of, being a lesbian. I've been one for several hours now, ever since i heard about tammy bruce, who is a lush gorgeous brainy doll. I may not be any closer to her now, but I "feel" closer.

    ReplyDelete
  118. Looks like Algore's a lesbian, too. In that link o doug's, he's advancing "at the ready", almost as if he wuz a *guy* or something.

    ReplyDelete
  119. "C'mon, baby, let your Vice President at them thangs!"

    ReplyDelete
  120. 2164th,

    Thanks for the Amis article!

    ReplyDelete
  121. I'm anti-seminal, so I prob won't take the time to read it.
    More later.
    Where's Tater?

    ReplyDelete
  122. good posts, bob/bobbie. I can you too marveled at the Amis command of language.

    ReplyDelete
  123. insert dropped "see" in clunky spot

    ReplyDelete
  124. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  125. My wife observed me getting all agitated when we saw puffs of smoke rising beyond the ridge from a brush fire.
    What's wrong, honey, having flashbacks again?""
    She reads me like a book:
    Anti-Seminole.

    ReplyDelete
  126. Holy Frijole, Tonto:
    It's the Tee Pee
    Hee He Man, Atlas Mugs.

    ReplyDelete
  127. Holy Seminole! Tee Pee Hee He Man,
    The Anti Seminals Swiped the Frijoles!

    ReplyDelete