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."

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Over at Belmont Club

Wretchard has a post entitled How Not to Hunt a Tiger. In it, he observes that the MSM are thrown off script when people like Hitchens boldly confront their leftist assumptions. Here is the link to the Australian Broadcasting Corp's transcript of the interview. (ht to Wretchard who tips his hat to Tim Blair. I don't know if Blair tipped the hat to anyone.:-)

BTW - The Belmont thread is open to comments.

74 comments:

  1. O/T, but, What State do you suppose produces the most ethanol per capita in the nation?

    HINT: Gas Prices Hit $2.05 in IOWA!

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  2. Bill Crawford thinks that report that was referenced in a previous thread is political. He gives the Other Side of the Story.

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  3. Big Lizards looks at the Dem's Plan, and concludes it's a Sprint for Defeat.

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  4. Gateway Pundit, by way of Ray Robison, is all over the Saddam - Al Queda - WMD'S Connection.

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  5. Would someone go over to the Belmont Club and bring Teresita back?

    She's gotten into a theological dust-up with Charles and if this keeps up, Wretchard might shut down the comments again.

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  6. Whit,
    Co-inky dink my boy:
    W always secretly wanted to fight the wars of sexual liberation on his site.

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  7. Ledeen sees no further than Iraq, the Texas Brain Trust, trusted by Buddy the Carpetbagging Longhorn, extends all the way to...
    Plano?
    Part of the Master Plan tm you simpletons miss.
    ---
    Doug said...
    Ledeen on Hughes:
    Most of the fools and fabricators are Lefties, but there are plenty on the Right, and the Republican Party has an abundance of them. Indeed, some of them sit at the right hand of the president. Karen Hughes, one of W’s closest friends and advisers, permitted herself this bit of politically correct appeasement-speak last December 19th, apologizing to our enemies on al Jazeera:“The U.S. acknowledged [after] the events of September 11 that our policies might have created feelings of frustration and hatred, [causing those individuals] to board those airplanes, [fly them into the twin towers], and kill people. We want to change these circumstances, and this is what we are doing today…”The day they killed Barbara Olson
    Karen is close to CAIR type muzzies, you know.
    More scholarships for Saudis!
    ---
    ---
    IT'S CALLED SUCKING UP TO THE RECORD NUMBER OF NEW MOHAMMEDANS INVITED IN AS PART OF THE MASTER PLAN.
    Azatlanders and Jihadis will lead to the new GOP permanent majority.
    6 feet under.

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  8. Did you all notice This in Dubya's speech last night?

    If we do not defeat these enemies now, we will leave our children to face a Middle East overrun by terrorist states and radical dictators armed with nuclear weapons. We are in a war that will set the course for this new century -- and determine the destiny of millions across the world.

    I'll betcha the MUllahs did.

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  9. I bet the Gulf Oil Princes are paying careful attention too. It will be interesting to be if al-Qaeda can make good on its threats. Previous calls for Muslim uprising have gone largely unheeded.

    Stay tuned!

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  10. whit said:

    She's gotten into a theological dust-up with Charles and if this keeps up, Wretchard might shut down the comments again.

    I think you're right, I zapped my last post there.

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  11. Well, thank God for small wonders.
    I have to give you credit for that.

    You need to confine your diatribes :-) to the Elephant Bar.

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  12. And fools like Larsen et al need to take the
    David Charginhawk Pledge tm (even at the EB) with Ash and Teresita when they bring up Gems like her next post on Shinseki:
    Otherwise thread degenerates into niggling over not much.
    (Shinseki hint: overwhelming force doesn't work when it's not used.)

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  13. He be Charging, not chargin like men w/forked tongues.

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  14. Rat, Major General Richard Zilmer, CO of 2nd Marine Division, Al Anbar Province (formerly Camp LeJeune N.C.) says the report on Al Anbar Province was Misunderstood.

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  15. I did not post on the original report, rufus, but from that yahoo piece you link to:
    The General says "..."The classified assessment, which has been referred to in these reports, was intended to focus on the causes of the insurgency. It was not intended to address the positive effects Coalition and Iraqi forces have achieved on the security environment over the past years," he said in a statement.

    "In areas where the presence of Iraqi Security Forces is combined with an effective local civil government, we have seen progress made. Not just in the area of security, but in economic development and the establishment of social order and public services," he said. ..."


    outside of Fallujah and Qaim, the province is out of control.

    The rest of the province "lacks functional governments and a respect for the rule of law,"

    That assessment though comes from the NYTimes, retelling the classified report.

    Which we are told, the report had concluded an additional division, some 16,000 troops, would be needed to back up the 30,000 in the province to prevent the situation from getting even worse.

    Otherwise "there is nothing (the Marine command) can do to influence the motivation of the Sunni to wage an insurgency," the paper quoted the report as saying.


    From my limited and second hand knowledge, though, the Marines do not have a spare Division to send.

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  16. Rome wasn't built in a day.

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  17. Meanwhile, over at Belmont, they're calling for leftists to leave the country.

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  18. rufus,

    re: Major General Richard Zilmer

    Rufus, I saw that article earlier. When general officers ask you to join them in the "Old Complexity Waltz", they usually try to blow smoke up you "chimney." Things are bad.

    But, if a'Q is the organization of choice in Anbar, that is a good thing, I would think. It allows the General to fire at will, if he will, from the assumption that any dude with a weapon is a target. I'd organize a coalition sniper’s turkey shoot. After a month of hunting, the winning team would get a week of R&R at a whorehouse of choice. Drinks are on the General.

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  19. 3:47:50 PM
    'Rat
    But the USAF has PLENTY of spare capacity.
    Too bad we are too kind/STUPID to use it.
    ...3 years late and counting.

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  20. C-4 Nails it:
    "Cedarford said...
    Teresita deliberately stirring crap up:
    "
    ---
    What else is new?
    Only Ashley, Buddy, et al needed to bring back the lock out.

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  21. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  22. It looked to me like the take-away on General Zilmer's report was "Where you had a good Iraqi civil government and Iraqi forces things were working pretty good.

    Fallujah is literally, a walk in the park. Well, maybe not , literally, but, you know what I mean.

    Maybe, as the Iraqi's take control of other parts of Iraq we can move more forces into Anbar. We're still recruiting and training more Iraqi's, also. I'm still "Optimistic."

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  23. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  24. Rufus:
    That's exactly what I took away from it.

    The other day, 16 Iraqis lined up to join the Iraqi army were car-bombed. They're been killed by the thousands and yet they still line up. Granted, they're a pretty rag tag bunch but as the Merle Haggard song goes, "If we can make it through December, everything's gonna be allright, I know..."

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  25. rufus,

    re: Anbar

    The lack of decisive action in Anbar may be more political than military. If the USMC gets serious about taking the war to the bad guys, a bunch of bad guys are going to get out of Dodge. Where will they go? Many, I believe would head for Jordan and Syria. The State Department would find the destabilization of either country unacceptable.

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  26. REMEMBER, YOU HEARD IT, HERE, FIRST!

    Ethanol Crops in Afghanistan!

    Of course, he didn't go as far as I did and say, "Use the Poppies," but hey, one step at a time, right?

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  27. Doing the math in Anbar, Strategypage.

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  28. Not much chance for connectivity in Anbar, then.

    Sounds like strategypage foretells a Civil War, if the Iraqi Shia and Kurds on the street think the Country better off Sunniless.
    Mr Rumsfeld held the lack of refugees out as a Success, now we want to chase these folk to Syria?

    Better to just kill 'em and be done with 'em, rather than fight them again, later.

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  29. I second Rat's motion, if those donkey out west don't want to get wiht the program, let the Shia and the Kurds "strike" the right balance.
    How many times do you have to lead a donkey to water?

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  30. whit said:

    How many times do you have to lead a donkey to water?

    "Mary Jo Kopechne was not available for comment." --Taranto

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  31. Teresita:
    We talkin's some serious bizness here now. You got to elevate your mind.

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  32. Here we are havin' a woah conference and you come in talking that trash. Come on now, contribute some serious strategery.

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  33. Posted at Belmont.
    Discuss:
    ---
    Doug said,
    (Makes me) Ralph Peters just now on Medved Show:
    No American Muslim has strapped on a vest and walked into a Wal-Mart.
    Right:
    Seattle Jewish Center was NOT Walmart.
    DC attacks were NOT at Walmarts.
    San Fran attacks were NOT at Walmarts.
    LAX attack was NOT at Walmart.
    ---
    Ralph Peters has put himslf in Andy Sullivan's league.
    To be ridiculed.

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  34. Maybe Peter's went nativist. Maybe he's now employed by the Gulf Sheikdoms to promote harmony and understanding.

    Don't laugh, it could be true.

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  35. Is he an attorney by any chance?

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  36. rufus,

    re: Strategypage

    Good read! Thanks

    Hey, let the Iraqia have a sniper turkey shoot. A reward of whores or goats is optional.

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  37. That weapons-inspector Scott Ritter turned out to be on the payroll of the Baath-gang. Via an "investment" in his "book".

    And did i just note far above, the word "carpetbagger" bandied about by a pineapple-stealing, coconut-slinging, Okie-from-Kahanamoki?

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  38. Allen, I was going to make a comment regarding the ratio of goats vs whores we would need; but, in the spirtit of transnational polity I decided not to pursue it.

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  39. rufus,

    re: international polity

    BS! ;-D

    I will return shortly, after drying my keyboard.

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  40. rufus and all ohter EB sensitive souls,

    Goats and casual wear

    While returning my computer to full function, it occurred to me that we here at the EB are missing a marvelous business opportunity as well as outreach, aiding Mrs. Hughes in her efforts to present a kinder, gentler, ugly American.

    Goats. To us of the West, these critters are respected producers of fine wool, milk, and extremely stinky cheese. However, our Muslim brothers have a soft place in the hearts and a hard spot in their pants for four legged nannies. That being the case, the great Shi’a Master Sistani recommends that goats be modestly clothed, lest the brothers are constantly enticed to lustfully dip the wick into crusty nether parts of the sensuous, doe-eyed ungulates.

    This now brings me to the topic of this post, casual wear for goats; of a modest nature, to be sure. Formal wear or bridal wear needn’t concern us just yet because the honorable Sistani remains opposed to inter-species dating or marriage. Also, and this is a real plus bound to cause resent among Muslim feminists, veils are voluntary.

    If we work a business plan and act quickly, Walmart Asia will be found playing catch-up in what will prove to be a vast unrecognized niche. Think of the number of goats in Muslim lands and the millions of Muslim lusty lads.

    Forget oil futures. This idea so neo and so 21st C that we just have to go for it! I feel so blessed.

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  41. Sistani say, "Cover that Fannie."

    Nanny Fannie Wear.

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  42. rufus,

    re: Nanny Fannie

    Nanny Fannie will need mascots. How does “Ali’s Dollies”, sound? I thought we should reach out to the holy city of Najaf and the Imam Ali. That may be too PC, but business is business.

    Of course, Nanny Fannie needs a spokeswoman, and it really should be the face of a woman. Although, it could be anyone behind that one inch slit in the burka. Well, we can always voice over; who’s to know?

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  43. "The Nanny Teddy."

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  44. The "Crotchless Nanny Teddy" should be a winner.

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  45. For BC lurkers who might complain that at the EB it is easy to be cruel, let me just say this about that, “Damned straight.”

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  46. We don't wanna be crool; we just wanna help them Iraqi boys "get straight."

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  47. You Slam, I Slam, We All Slam, for Is Slam!

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  48. "Velvet Tethers?"

    For, you know, the inexperienced, ... uh, ... shy ones?

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  49. Inshallah BOOM de-ay,

    We screwed my goat today,

    He screwed us yesterday,

    Now we can ALL eat hay!

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  50. Habu1 said...
    Allen,
    I believe you've received a revelation born of yard work.
    Your ID conducted a raid on your superego and ego.

    The id ("das Es", cf. Latin id, English it, German es) is the psychical system "which behaves as though it were the Unconscious", or the "dynamically unconscious repressed", in effect, the reservoir of need-gratification impulses such as the primitive instinctual drives of sexuality and aggression. Freud believed that the id is inborn, operating on the dynamics of the primary process mode of thinking.

    You have fused grass and ass. Your ID relaized that if you had a goat, the goat could trim the lawn, thus saving your energies for domestic pleasure of the flesh.
    The ID, expanding as it does in particularly bright people went deep,very deep into helping solve international problems with Freudian methodology, thus the goat panties fantasy.
    Allen remember to stay hydrated and always wear a hat when doing yardwork.
    best regards for a smooth recovery,Habu & Semper Fi

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  51. We shoulda got Allen in Toro Mower-o.

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  52. Allen,
    The apparel line should also include (as any farm boy knows) a stout set of boots in which to place the goats back legs.
    Since the A-rabs wear sandals we could develop shin shields that incorporate velcro staps to hold the legs of "Nan" in the correct attitude. "Don't be a ninny,wear our shinny's"...

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  53. A goat is just a cheap A-rab knockoff of a good sheep.

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  54. "Forget oil futures. This idea so neo and so 21st C that we just have to go for it! I feel so blessed. "
    ---
    Allen and Rufus:
    You may not be aware, but the EB is blessed with a lush repository of goatherding knowledge,semen, and etc.
    Tne Nanny Fanny from N'Orlean's hisself, lately residing in Austin.
    ---
    JDAM's for ISLAM!

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  55. This is an amazing place - nothing high class, just high voltage. Yeah, while BCers are minutely debating theoretical Islam and theoretical responses, we here at the EB are just having some good natured fun with mundane real Islam, like goat f***ing.

    What?! You may say. Well, consider my philosophical friend: as spiritual leader to millions of Shi'a Muslims, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has no problem with pederasty, sodomy, molestation, and animal "husband"-ry. And who says Islam is not cutting edge, positively Hollywood?

    As they used to say: just the facts, only the facts.

    Hearts and minds? Yeah.

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  56. well i know if i wuz in a culture where all the slits were horizontal wit eyes and no verticle wit hair i'd be shoot'n off an ak-47 to heaven too.

    Allen has given the world a chance. We need to feed the memeplexes of ht everticle not the horizintal

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  57. We've gotta train our troops in "Goatherding." I mean, a rifle squad with a couple of dozen goats could probably clean out half of Ramadi before breakfast. Great way to train Iraqi Snipers, too. We run the goats down the street and the Snipers pick'em off when they come out to check out the nanny-nookie.

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  58. verticle not horizontal

    or verzucal nut horubtonto



    whatever

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  59. y'all ain't as far into lampoonery as life is, itself--

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  60. we have turned a corner in psyops. it's that one eyed cyclops
    it's amuck with an f and no m.

    are we gonna get detention for this or get a Iraqi Gov't contract to help out at Abu G?

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  61. OMG..i just thought..what are OUR troops doing for fun in burkaland?...just the hand or goatland?

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  62. Habu, for shame. You think our good Wyoming, and Montana boys, raised on shetland ponies would stoop to schlepping a sheep? er, goat?

    Sick!

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  63. As Mohammedan told his favorite...
    "There will never be another ewe"

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  64. Stampede Drowns 42 in
    Semen

    At least 42 people have been reported killed and more than 80 injured in a stampede at a political rally in Semen.

    President Ali Abdullah Saleh was holding a pre-erection rally at a stadium in the southern province of Ibb.

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  65. If Mohammad can't come to the mountin'

    let the mountin' come to Mohammad

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  66. Buddy...hey I read the blue..
    best line...

    Previous elections have been marred by shootings between members of rival parties in Yemen, where many people carry arms, but stampedes are unusual.

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  67. buddy larsen; 11:58:01 PM

    Thanks, buddy, for a lesson in cultural humility. Just when I was ready to surrender to feelings of Western superiority on the goat butt front, the picture you posted set me back on my heels. With an innocent young man's nose placed squarely into the blatantly satanic display of T&A shown in the photo, well, who can blame a guy for occasionally succumbing to libidinous tendencies.

    And to think I thought Sharon Hager hot stuff. Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder, and who am I to judge the plan of Allah? I am humbled. Let the good times roll!

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  68. best of all, no need to get all decked out in fresh overalls before the big date!

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