PJM has an interview with Joe Lieberman they'd like you to watch.
You've probably noticed that PJM's board is fascinated with the question of moderate voters who aren't affiliated with the major parties (they're holding a contest for naming such voters. You can vote for your favorite name here). These voters, who have in the past normally been called "swing voters," are always being pursued by the two major parties.
We've been talking for years, idly enough, about a Jacksonian party -- one that would capture the principles of the old Southern Democrats on defense and individual liberty, and combine them with the "individualist conservative" part of the Republican party. It would probably also appeal to libertarians, though it would naturally favor several things they don't (e.g., a strong military; tight border control).
I think such a party is highly viable. But how to create a party that breaks into the national election model? It hasn't been done since the mid-19th century.
Lieb interview
Dire Need
(tapping mic)
"I'd like to take a moment to call for the super-rich to bankroll us here at al Qaeda in Iraq. We are in dire need of tons of free money, for the noble effort of killing women and children driving off the infidels from the Holy Land of the Shi'ites we've been murdering.
"Our killing fields offer you an excellent place to place your investments, assuming the New York Times continues to take steps to prevent the West from tracking your investments and arresting you. If you desire to end the evils of capitalism that are why you're rich in the first place oppress our bold warriors, please come. And bring money. Lots of money."
Union honor vikings
...has been achieved in this post and its comments at Southern Appeal. It's got everything: honor cultures and al Qaeda, Vikings, sagas, bloodshed, the lot. Enjoy it.
More Viking Links
Daniel directs us to learn about the Viking way of exercise. He also has a post on the anniversary of the battle of Stamford Bridge.
Eiriksmal
I notice that both The Geek and Doc Russia mentioned "feasting with Odin" in their tributes to Col. Cooper.
If you wonder what such a feast might look like, consider the Eiriksmal. The einherjar are the honored dead of Valhalla, heroes who died on the field. Valkyries I assume you know.
The poem contains also the Viking answer to the question, "Why must good men sometimes die young?" Odin, who has the power to grant victory or to withhold it, is directly asked why he allowed Eirik to die.
I think the Hollander translation, excellent in many respects, is confusing here. What Odin answers is a reference to Fenrir the wolf, who will someday bring war against the gods that will lead to the end of the world. Unlike, say, the Iranian president, Odin is concerned with staving off that war as long as possible -- and so, he needs good warriors for Valhalla. Thus, human war is only to season the men. When they are ready to serve in the defense of the worlds from the forces of chaos, Odin calls them to Valhalla.
This is the meaning of his remark that 'the grey wolf watches the abode of the gods' -- or, as Hollander puts it, "No one knoweth / looks the grey wolf (grimly) / toward the gods' dwelling."
Enjoy it.
Al Qaeda Dispute
A newly released letter captured by the US military shows the friction between al Qaeda's leadership and its assets in Iraq.
It's interesting in another way, too: it shows the higly ritualized form of address required by the jihadi. This is the language of a code of honor, different from our own, and so pricklish that paragraphs of bowing and scraping are necessary before one can come to the point:
Greetings and God bless you. We pray to God that you are safe and sound, enjoying the strength you have been granted through the grace of God, the Almighty, and All-Powerful. We pray to God for your victory over the enemies, and that He will grant you patience, keep you steadfast, and extend to you His support. We pray that He brings tranquility to you and all of your brothers, and that He covers you with mercy, and that He is a support and help to you, for indeed grace is from God and God alone.'And now we can get to the root of the matter, which is that you boys down in Iraq are #$%#$ the pooch...'
Dear brother, I will be brief and rely on God Almighty. Then I will trust in your patience, your high manners, the sincerity of your love for me, and that you think well of me. I trust that you remedy shortcomings and guard against flaws and errors, and that you will overlook things if there arises something inappropriate from your brother. I shall get right to the point and skip the generalities and get into the details. The purpose of the path belongs to God, and from Him I derive aid and guidance. Any success that I may attain shall come only through God. I have put my trust in Him and on Him I rely.
My dear brother, who is content, God willing, Abu-Mus’ab the worthy, may God grant him success. God knows how highly we think of you and how much we are confident in you and in your faith and loyalty, we consider you as such and God is your Judge. You are better than us. You forged ahead and you were true and you didn’t hesitate, falter, or lay down arms. Instead, you persevered in God the Jihad and the struggle. God gave you good attributes and bestowed honorable characteristics upon you, such as sincerity of direction, fervor for the religion, empathy for the afflictions of his people and support for them, high aspirations to do what you see as right and true, even if the whole world opposes you, a strength of will and determination that many people lack, even among the people of righteousness and knowledge, and courage and truthfulness.
We think of you this way, among other good qualities and innate characteristics, along with good faith. We perceive you as such, for my thinking of you has not altered and has not changed. I have known people and their tribulations, since there is hardly any grief that goes unnoticed by a hired mourner-woman, except by God’s will. I am not any smarter than you here, for you know yourself and your flaws and faults more than anyone else, oh servant. However, I am reminding you of God’s blessing upon you and what He has granted you, which we ourselves know.
I am setting this out as an introduction to what I am going to say to you in the way of opinion, advice, and instruction, for my discourse will be primarily about the negatives and cautioning against things that are perilous and ruinous. I won’t be touching on the positives and good things, since they are the true nature, praise and credit be to God, and they are the overwhelming majority, by the grace of God. So, don’t trouble yourself about that, because the topic is one of correction and instruction, not a topic of appreciation, praise, and interpretation. If God wanted, and He were to present us to you, then you would find us to be your loved ones and your brothers, the most just of people towards you, the most sincere of them, the most sympathetic towards you, the most protective of your right, and the most forgiving of them, God willing.
After all, you are truly the mujahidin against the enemies of God, standing on the edifices of truth and allegiance with God, making the religion manifest while being endorsers of it. You are the ones who have spited America, the greatest unbelieving crusader power in history; and you are the ones who have spited it, and you have broken its prestige and thrown it to the ground. May God will for you a good reward with which you would continue the path at a critical time for the vast good work of awakening the generation and resurrecting the Muslim nation. May God bring you to it through His grace and blessing. Just some of this would be enough for renown in this world for someone who would want that, and for loftiness in the hereafter for someone who has earned it. We ask God that He guide us and you and that He grant us understanding in religion. He is Magnanimous, Generous, Kind, Benevolent, and Merciful.
So, my brother and my dear one, may God bless you and may He strengthen you and protect you. Listen to these words from me. Put them before your eyes and commit them to memory. Know that if something within them disagrees with you somewhat, they are actually good, by God; and perhaps you would not hear them from anyone except someone who loves you, and perhaps you have needed someone to say them to you, and you won’t find someone in your present position, except if God wills.
Well no, even now we can't. It's still necessary to walk circles around it, and defray blame so that no one gets offended.
An American military officer who wished to dissent from his chain of command could have said the whole thing in fifty words.
We often focus on the relative advantages the enemy has in terms of its ideology. Well, there are disadvantages as well.
Death of Col Cooper
Via the Geek, I see that Colonel Jeff Cooper has died. He was the author of Cooper's Commentaries, as well as a work on the subject of the American spirit, called To Ride, Shoot Straight, and Speak the Truth.
His political opinions, and his ideas about the best gunfighting technology, were frequently and hotly debated. That said, if anyone has better captured the American spirit than he did in the title of that book, I've yet to see it.
GHMC
OK, no response on Rio Bravo. I'm not sure if that means I posted it too late for people to get to it, or if you folks are tired of Westerns. Me, I've gotten to like Westerns, but we have done several of them running.
So, a poll: If we aim for next Monday instead, would you rather watch Rio Bravo after all, or another movie -- say, Ladyhawke? That's a fine movie, one that examines how sinners can come together to work for good and against evil. It's another favorite of mine, and it's certainly not a Western, being based on an Medieval tale.
Culture or Genetics
In the debate over which is more important, here are two new pieces (both via Arts & Letters Daily, which I suggest you do read daily). Each one is demonstrative and well-informed, but they suggest opposite conclusions -- both of which cannot be true.
"Myths of British Ancestry" claims to demonstrate that the whole of British history has altered the genetic makeup of the folk in England not more than 25% -- that 75% of the genetic makeup remains an unknown pre-historic people, most similar to the Basques.
Yet the history of England is engraved with clear periods in art, language, literature, architecture -- in a word, culture. "Anglo-Saxons" may not have changed the genetic makeup more than five percent, yet they totally dominated the way of life of the people. So too the Vikings, in their time, and especially the Normans.
This is suggestive that culture is predominant, with genetics playing a role so deep in the background as to be almost imperceptible.
Taking the alternative, John Derbyshire argues in "Race and Conservatism" some fairly compelling ideas. I'm not sure how to argue against his main thrust, except by pointing out that it is not compatible with the geneticist's evidence from the above.
Yet consider the argument he puts forward, and tell me where the flaw is. Would he say that the change between Basque and Viking is not enough to trigger the differences he notes? If so, both could be true -- genes are defining, but the difference between various northern European genetic lines is so small that it can host any of several cultures without disability.
We are only really beginning to get a notion of what the evidence holds, so it is too early to make certain decisions. It is not too early, though, to begin thinking about what the possibilities are -- if only so, as we advance in our knowledge, we will know how to winnow down the no-longer likely options.
Mobs
I sometimes wonder why this doesn't always happen:
About a dozen residents of a Dallas neighborhood beat a man after reports that he had been showing pornographic pictures to children on a playground, police said.Actually, he was caught in the act.
When one of the mothers saw him and asked Burke what he was doing, he tried to run and the woman started screaming, said Elizabeth Williams, the mother of another child. According to a police report, Burke said about 15 men "jumped him and hit him repeatedly on the face with their fists."Seems kind of natural to me. Of course, the police showed up eventually.
Burke was arrested on suspicion of harmful display to a minor.One assumes he will also be civilly liable for any injury to local citizens, as he endangered their fists by showing porn to children in a civilized neighborhood.
Noel Explains All
The week's events are put into perspective by our old friend Noel.
Scroll down, while you're there, to read his post on 9/11 conspiracists.
GHMc: Rio Bravo
I keep forgetting to do this. :) Since I mentioned it a few posts ago, how about Rio Bravo for this weekend? John Wayne, Dean Martin, Walter Brennan, and some of the best character writing in any movie ("Hey Stumpy, got a light?").
If you can manage to see it this weekend, we'll talk about it on Monday.
Still...
Now that we can ensure votes are cast by citizens.
Well, maybe. But that's just a state court. For now.
Muslimtaxi
Southern Appeal commenter advises, "fiddle, son, fiddle."
I just want to know what the anti-DUI crowd will say. "Take a Taxi." Er, well, what if the taxi won't take you? But, as Verity points out, we've got that separation of church and state wall built high in the right places: Muslim taxi drivers may not have to drive drunks, but Catholic pharmacists better not try to send anyone elsewhere to buy birth control pills.
Music
Rock 'N Roll was once said to be the Devil's Music. And so it is.
No, not Bush.
I mean The Devil Himself.
Thai Coup
Now, here's something I wasn't expecting -- at least, not in this form.
Thailand has had some serious political disruptions in the last year, but the military has heretofore been quite disciplined in staying out of the politics. General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, in particular, has regularly voiced his intent to stay out -- and up to the moment he changed his mind, gave little sign that he might do otherwise. Some in the military have been in favor of a coup, but I had not thought Sonthi was among them.
General Sonthi is Thailand's first Muslim army chief, but he is an ethnic Thai Muslim, not related to the Malay Muslims in the South who have been carrying on the terrorist war there. His appointment, indeed, was meant to help quell the Muslim insurgents by showing that Thailand didn't discriminate against Muslims -- a move which accomplished little, since the real complaint in the South of Thailand is that the government discriminates against Malays.
I wouldn't have been terribly surprised to see a coup that split the military, with some of the hard-core loyalists to the King moving against the elected government, and other elements serving in defense of the Prime Minister. And, given the political chaos of last spring, a coup against the government in Thailand is not entirely unexpected.
I wouldn't have expected to find General Sonthi on this side of it, though. I would have thought he was an obstacle that would have to be pushed aside before a coup could take place. Apparently, when push came to shove, he decided otherwise.
UPDATE: Breitbart puts the 3rd and 5th Armies at the head of the coup. FWIW, it's the 4th Army that has handled the most of the fighting with the insurgents in the South.
UPDATE: I recall in the Spring, Prime Minister Thaksin had a sudden meeting over lunch with several top military leaders. He later told the press that he'd called them to thank them for their discipline in staying out of the political difficulties. At the time, I speculated that the military had really called the meeting -- to let Thaksin know that they wouldn't back him if the chaos pushed to the point of rebellion in the streets of Bangkok. Thaksin took a softer line afterwards, to the point of almost-resigning in a "leave of absence" for much of the spring. He returned after it became clear that no one else available was able to run the government as currently constituted.
More than ever, I wish we had a transcript of what was said at that lunch meeting.
Abi on CNN
Here via Central Command is the transcript of Abizaid's recent appearance on CNN's "The Situation Room." As always, the comments and thoughts of the CDRUSCENTCOM on the subject of Iraq are of interest.
Cassandra Never Learns
Another meme from the villainous woman. Apparently, my responses to her previous tags have not had the intended effect.
This time, she (following Fuzzy) wants me to "List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now."
Regular readers know I don't have good moods, and therefore don't "really enjoy" anything at all. Just regular old enjoyment is the best I can normally manage. Still, here are a few songs I sing once in a while.
1) "The Old Dun Cow," which is pronounced "coo" according to the Gaelic. (Chorus: "...and we all got stone-blind, paralytic drunk when the Old Dun Coo caught fire.")
2) "My Rifle, My Pony, and Me," which Dean Martin sings in Rio Bravo. It's a good tune, and the boy likes to hear it.
3) "The Battlecry of Freedom," which has both a Union and a Dixie version. In an earlier version of the same spirit shown by the new SpouseBuzz website, the Dixie version remembers "our noble women [who have aided the soldiers] at home." Surprisingly few war songs do.
4) The "Beat the Wife" song. This is one I wrote myself. It serves in the place of actually having to beat her, which is too much trouble. (It has a close variant, which is the "Get the Boy" song. The effect of singing either is to make the mentioned party squeal and run away, thus leaving me with blessed peace and quiet for a while.)
5) "Kelly, the Boy from Killaine." Written in memorial to the 1798 uprising in Ireland, if you learn everything there is to know about the tune, you will know everything you need to know about Irish history. The United Irishmen, a classical liberal group in the mold of our own American Revolutionaries, were the best hope Ireland ever had. Unfortunately, they relied upon the French, and...
6) "A Boy Named Sue," which needs no introduction.
7) "The Preacher and the Bear," which I know from the Jerry Reed version. Any song that has a preacher with a shotgun and a straight razor fighting a grizzly bear is a song worth knowing.
I'm supposed to tag seven people. Why don't you folks just drop your answers in the comments? First seven qualify, if that many of you care to do it.