Heh. Looks like they just figured it out, after all.

HANOVER, N.H. - The leading Democratic White House hopefuls conceded Wednesday night they cannot guarantee to pull all U.S. combat troops from Iraq by the end of the next presidential term in 2013.

This makes me giggle, for some reason.

Again, it's about conservatives

Once Again, it's all About the Conservatives:

You'd not have thought so, given that the story is really about Columbia; I thought we were more or less agreed that the Ivy Leagues were the last bastion of liberals. But no, those blasted conservatives are screwing up the world again.

UPDATE: Of course, as Dr. Helen reminds us, psychologists agree that conservatism is a kind of disease. That would be more convincing if psychology was an actual science, rather than a form of sympathetic magic with seminars and papers; but for what it's worth, there it is.

What's with this?

It's like that old Steve Martin routine about Las Vegas. "Wow, Look at the tits!"

That said, it looks like Andrew Sullivan is irritated that some people are assuming that Hillary Clinton will be the next President, and that she might, just might, not pull out of Iraq after all.

I'm afraid I'm going to remember that picture though, long after I forget about the article.

I have to go find some eye-bleach now.

Snipers

Against Snipers:

Doubtless you saw the most recent attack on American tactics by the US press.

The Army on Monday declined to confirm such a program exists.

"To prevent the enemy from learning about our tactics, techniques and training procedures, we don't discuss specific methods targeting enemy combatants," said Paul Boyce, an Army spokesman.

Boyce also said there are no classified programs that authorize the murder of Iraqi civilians or the use of "drop weapons" to make killings appeared to be legally justified, which is what Vela and the two other snipers are accused of doing.

The transcript of a court hearing for two of the three accused snipers makes several references to the existence of a classified "baiting" program but provides few details of how it works.... The Post said that although it doesn't appear that the three alleged shootings were specifically part of the classified program, defense attorneys argue that the program may have encouraged them by blurring the legal lines in a complex war zone.

So, to recap: the Army "declined to confirm" the existence of a program that doesn't appear to be connected to the matter at hand, but since the unconnected program that might exist is classified, we thought it was news. (Our editor notices that the Army actually denied that it had a program anything like the one we're reporting exists -- "there are no classified programs that authorize the murder of Iraqi civilians or the use of "drop weapons" to make killings appeared to be legally justified." However, we'll just fold that into "declined to confirm," rather than lead with the denial. That way, we're being objective!)

Meanwhile, Marine father Herschel Smith argues that we should just close sniper schools. "The rules of engagement prevent targeting the enemy in Iraq or Afghanistan if they do not fall within the precise stipulations (e.g., self defense, engaged in hostile acts, etc.). Within the current framework, we may as well end the sniper schools and rely on standard service rifle training of infantry. The number of sniping kills due to defensive operations doesn’t justify the expense of the schools."

The Truth, can you handle it?

More.

And more.

I thought this was going to turn out worse than it did. As many, I didn't think that the President of Columbia University would say the things that he did. Curious indeed.

(via American Digest)

Bandit

This is a shame. I was in Phoenix that weekend and I'm glad (sort of glad- miss the family) to be back to see how this plays out.



Sgt. Thomas Lovejoy, a Chandler police K-9 handler, has an arraignment hearing in justice court in Chandler at 9 a.m.

Lovejoy was arrested Sept. 5 by Maricopa County Sheriff's Office deputies after he left Bandit, a 5-year-old Belgian Malinois dog, in his patrol car on Aug. 11 for more than 12 hours, deputies said.

STEK Toothpick

Buffalo Toothpick:

STEK knives, which I've mentioned from time to time, have a particularly nice piece up for sale right now. If any of you are in the market, and it seems right for your arm, you might want to consider it.

Laughter is...

Laughter is...

...the best medicine:

Asked about executions of homosexuals in Iran, Ahmadinejad said the judiciary system executed violent criminals and high-level drug dealers, comparing them to microbes eliminated through medical treatment. Pressed specifically about punishment of homosexuals, he said: "In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country."

With the audience laughing derisively, he continued: "In Iran we do not have this phenomenon. I don't know who's told you that we have this."

The spectacle of autocrats held up to public laughter is just what America is all about. I know we've all had reason to question Columbia's judgment here, but let's give them their due.

2 from AL D

A Couple from Arts & Letters Daily:

While I've been gone, Arts & Letters Daily has been carrying on as usual with collecting fine and interesting articles. Here is one against legalizing drugs, at least always and in general. I cite it for two reasons: because it runs down one of our favorite writers, Theodore Dalrymple, and because it does so in part through citation of Aristotle:

To accept the addict’s account at face value does not require a bleeding heart. The problem of moral weakness was frankly recognized and brilliantly analyzed by the tough-minded Aristotle who put great emphasis in both his ethical and political theories on a psychological phenomenon he called akrasia. This Greek term literally means “without power,” and it refers to a lack of mastery over the self—a state of helplessness in respect to one’s appetites, passions, and impulses. It is defined in contrast to the concept of enkrateia, which represents the exact opposite kind of character—the person who has obtained mastery over himself, and who can control and regulate his passions and impulses. The dieter, for example, who follows his self-imposed regimen strictly and faithfully, is displaying enkrateia, while the dieter who goes off his diet because he cannot resist the lure of a strawberry milkshake is an example of akrasia....

Aristotle’s analysis is helpful in seeing where Dalrymple’s treatment of the addict falls short, since the concept of akrasia allows us to recognize that there will inevitably be large groups of human beings who will be unable to control their own lives—a group that will naturally exhibit all the signs of the impetuous personality.... In Aristotle’s political theory, such human beings are classified as “natural slaves” who must be governed by others because they are completely unable to govern themselves. Today we find Aristotle’s theory objectionable, despite the fact that in even the most advanced societies many people are “enslaved” to drugs, to alcohol, to gambling, and to sex. Indeed, Aristotle could rightly point out that no society has ever existed that achieved the complete elimination of the weak-willed and the impetuous, if only because each rising generation will consist of children who, by nature, lack the self-mastery that can only be achieved by the right upbringing—if even then.

In modern America, due to our own cultural baggage, Aristotle's concept of "natural slaves" is one that is normally not well explained or thoughtfully considered. This is one occasion when it is well done. The writer has a good point, as well: it is America's business to set men free. That is what America is for.

There are occasions when men are almost free, but for one addiction that drives them -- we have all known men like this. They are not "natural slaves" but to alcohol, say. Insofar as the state helps them achieve the discipline they require, it is making free men out of slaves; that is to say, it is doing the one thing that is the highest purpose of the state.

Yet to avoid trampling the freedom of others, or even that one man's freedom, it must be done carefully and thoughtfully. If you are to free him, you must help him to achieve self-mastery, not throw him in prison. If that cannot be done, and there are many addicts who are not ready to move out of their addiction -- here is where Dalrymple is right to say that their chief problem is that they do not want to do so -- then the state is not helping him achieve a greater freedom. It is just locking him up.

The reasons to do that are not legitimately "to help him." The notion that imprisonment is or can be rehabilitative is one of the worst errors of our society; it is a historic error of thought that has been disproven by experience. Our whole prison system is built around the error, which leads to massive failures and needless expense, and worse, to having a huge subset of "free" Americans who are employed in guarding other Americans. We have not found a workable alternative to our prison system, but I remain convinced that we need one. I would rather return to the days of hanging people for everything from grand theft up, than continue as we are; or to consider another form of dealing with crime that we have not yet tried.

On a much lighter note, a report from a lecture series on Mencken. Well, sort of:

Hamilton’s lecture was just the first of three in the Mencken celebration. Saturday afternoon, Anthony Lewis gave the keynote address. Lewis was for a columnist for the New York Times for more than 30 years, and is unabashedly liberal. He began his lecture, “Beyond Scorn,” by acknowledging that he was very fond of scornful Mencken, but knew less about the man than most in the room. Lewis instead railed against the Bush Administration, against CIA “black sites” in Europe, against alleged torture of war prisoners, against the denial of habeas corpus to Guantanamo Bay detainees. “Scorn is not adequate for the profundity of today’s disasters,” he said.

Lewis did bring the lecture around to Mencken. He doubted that the tools of the writer who skewered William Jennings Bryan and Warren G. Harding, describing the latter as “of the intellectual grade of an aging cockroach,” would suffice in this moment in history. “Mencken’s work is unequal to the scale of today’s disasters,” he said.

At least things were better in the Q&A session.

A man in the back of the room raised his hand, and Lewis called on him. He was not the typical Mencken fan. Typical Mencken fans are old; this guy was young. Typical Mencken fans dress in suits on Saturdays; this guy wore a neon pink hat, sunglasses, and a fanny pack. Typical Mencken fans ask silly questions meant to be jabs at Bush; this guy asked, “Can you give some examples of the sexual torture that you talked about?”

It is true what they say. There is nothing like the pursuit of knowledge.

Oh, son...

Oh, Son...

I see that Gwa.45 has been shopping in my absence...

Talks of cowboy assault rifles enter the gun discussion, and somewhere, in the chat, both Toxic Brain and I have crossed over a line.

I love a lever action. The "Green Marlin" is something to see.

Back Home

Back Home:

I've returned from a fun and relaxing vacation. Fall has apparently arrived while I was gone -- I mowed for what will probably be the last time before I left, but now it's already time to start raking.

I can see you've had some interesting discussions while I've been gone. That's good to know.

Give me a day or so to settle back in, and I'll see if I can't find something useful to talk about.

"Embarrassing Gaffe" Alert

Obviously the Princess quit blogging too soon.

While we are all waiting for Grim to get back, does anyone happen to remember what the Princess was doing last Friday?

It's been a busy week. The blog princess had an interesting experience today. She got to sit in on a conference call with incoming press secretary Dana Perino at the White House. Ms. Perino, as she has been the few times we've managed to catch her on the television, was both articulate and informative...

...The President talked with 250 Marines at Quantico today. One of them asked him, "Where are all the Nelson Mandelas of Iraq?"

He said, "Saddam killed them all." The President reminded the Marines that anyone who espoused or defended freedom was killed off under Saddam. So the Iraqis are not starting from the same place as many other countries. And our own march to democracy was not a smooth one. Condoleeza Rice's own ancestors lived in slavery for 100 years before they tasted freedom. And yet all Americans enjoy the fruits of freedom today.

What if we had given up?

Flash forward to this week. Via Glenn Reynolds, apparently Reuters thinks it caught the President in yet another "embarrassing gaffe":

WHEN GEORGE BUSH'S METAPHORS ARE TOO COMPLEX FOR YOU TO UNDERSTAND, a career in journalism may be beyond your capacities. But not beyond your reach!

The media are falling into a tiresome pattern of making absolute asses of themselves where the President is concerned.

How long ago was it that Piers Morgan gleefully informed us "only an idiot" could fall off a Segway? That ended well...

Now Reuters, in its ever present haste to attack the administration, neglected to check the transcripts freely available right on the White House website. Because, you know, quoting what the President actually said (as opposed to reframing it to enhance the public's understanding of difficult subjects) would be allowing the White House to get its message out unfiltered. And, as we all know, during war time the last thing we need to hear is enemy propaganda.

I don't know. With Congress' approval rating at 11% and the press making serial blunders like this, it all starts to make choking on a pretzel look downright Machievellian.

That was then...

I stare out into the darkness from my post, and I watch the city burn to the ground. I smell the familiar smells, I walk through the familiar rubble, and I look at the frightened faces that watch me pass down the streets of their neighborhoods. My nerves hardly rest; my hands are steady on a device that has been given to me from my government for the purpose of taking the lives of others.

I sweat, and I am tired. My back aches from the loads I carry. Young American boys look to me to direct them in a manner that will someday allow them to see their families again...and yet, I too, am just a boy....my age not but a few years more than that of the ones I lead. I am stressed, I am scared, and I am paranoid...because death is everywhere. It waits for me, it calls to me from around street corners and windows, and it is always there.

There are the demons that follow me, and tempt me into thoughts and actions that are not my own...but that are necessary for survival. I've made compromises with my humanity. And I am not alone in this. Miles from me are my brethren in this world, who walk in the same streets...who feel the same things, whether they admit to it or not.

This is now:

“You know what I like most about this place?” he said.

“What’s that?” I said.

“We don’t need to wear body armor or helmets,” he said.

I was poleaxed. Without even realizing it, I had taken off my body armor and helmet. I took my gear off as casually as I do when I take it off after returning to the safety of the base after patrolling. We were not in the safety of the base and the wire. We were safe because we were in Ramadi.

Only then did I notice that Lieutenant Colonel Crane was no longer wearing his helmet. Neither were most of the others.

I saw no violence in Baghdad, but I would never have taken off my body armor and helmet outside the wire. I certainly wouldn’t have done it casually without noticing it. If I had I would have been sternly upbraided for reckless behavior by every Soldier anywhere near me.

But in Ramadi the Marines are seriously considering dropping the helmet and body armor requirements because the low level of danger makes the gear no longer worth it.

Because of men like Sergeant Eddie Jeffers, hope has come to Ramadi. Eddie was killed on Wednesday.

He wrote those words just last February. Seven months ago:

We are the hope of the Iraqi people. They want what everyone else wants in life: safety, security, somewhere to call home. They want a country that is safe to raise their children in. Not a place where their children will be abducted raped and murdered if they do not comply with the terrorists demands. They want to live on, rebuild and prosper. And America has given them the opportunity, but only if we stay true to the cause and see it to its end. But the country must unite in this endeavor...we cannot place the burden on our military alone. We must all stand up and fight, whether in uniform or not. And supporting us is more than sticking yellow ribbon stickers on your cars. It's supporting our President, our troops and our cause.

Right now, the burden is all on the American soldiers. Right now, hope rides alone. But it can change, it must change. Because there is only failure and darkness ahead for us as a country, as a people, if it doesn't.

Let's stop all the political nonsense, let's stop all the bickering, let's stop all the bad news and let's stand and fight!

Isn't that what America is about anyway?

It is still a good question. It deserves an answer.

"So are they all, all honorable men"

This is sort of thing that will turn you into a bolshevik. My contempt knows no bounds at this point.

(via Instapundit)

Anbar Awakens Part II: Hell is Over

Mike Totten should get the Pulitzer.

"Every couple of days now people come home,” Captain Messer, referring to the small part of the city he’s responsible for. “They swing by the station and tell us they’re moving back and ask if it’s okay if they return to their houses. Of course it’s okay. They don’t have to ask that. But they don’t know. We tell them welcome home, welcome back to the neighborhood. And they always invite us over for dinner.”

Things are looking up.

Crab boil, Russian style.

I like the bucket of beer.

By the Numbers.

Good job, Soldier. Have a safe trip home.

Go ahead and stammer, you old, fat, turdbag.

It was supposed to be a joke.

Craiglist is a sort of combination of want ads, employment ads, personal ads and so forth, started by this guy named Craig, and has ballooned into a thing covering a whole lot of cities across the planet.

Gerard Vanderleun, over at American Digest, observed a particularly striking personal ad, and decided to parody it. It seems many people in Seattle don't get the joke.

As he says:

"The French have a saying -- Les chiens n'obtiennent pas des plaisanteries.-- which translates to "Dogs don't get jokes." Neither, it would seem, do lonely hearts. I think I'll just print my "ad" out and file it in the back pages of my copy of "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again."

Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Come Out From Under The Covers

Why do I get the impression this guy fell asleep watching a John Basedow video? You have to admit, it's pretty catchy. Anti-Terrorism, Made Simple:

Nebraska Democratic State Senator Ernie Chambers has decided to go straight to the top in an effort to stop natural disasters from befalling the world.

Chambers filed a lawsuit against God in Douglas County Court Friday afternoon, KPTM Fox 42 reported.

The suit asks for a "permanent injunction ordering Defendant to cease certain harmful activities and the making of terroristic threats."

The lawsuit identifies the plaintiff as, "the duly elected and serving State Senator from the 11th Legislative District in Omaha, Nebraska."

Chambers also cites that the, "defendant directly and proximately has caused, inter alia, fearsome floods, egregious earthquakes, horrendous hurricanes, terrifying tornados, pestilential plagues..."

"The Constitution requires that the courthouse doors be open, so you cannot prohibit the filing of suits," Chambers says. "Anyone can sue anyone they choose, even God."

Chambers bases his ability to sue God, as, "that defendant, being omnipresent, is personally present in Douglas County."

Well there you have it. Kerry must be feeling vindicated about now. And the Jersey Grrrls will certainly be glad to see someone finally listening to the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission.

Pile On was unavailable for comment.