Notice A Pattern?

Probably the funniest evisceration of the Democrat's monumentally stupid campaign against Wal-Mart comes from George Will in the Washington Post. Since I am obviously on the record of thinking this is a really bad idea for the Dems, let's just let Will take them to the woodshed, shall we?

The median household income of Wal-Mart shoppers is under $40,000. Wal-Mart, the most prodigious job-creator in the history of the private sector in this galaxy, has almost as many employees (1.3 million) as the U.S. military has uniformed personnel. A McKinsey company study concluded that Wal-Mart accounted for 13 percent of the nation's productivity gains in the second half of the 1990s, which probably made Wal-Mart about as important as the Federal Reserve in holding down inflation. By lowering consumer prices, Wal-Mart costs about 50 retail jobs among competitors for every 100 jobs Wal-Mart creates . Wal-Mart and its effects save shoppers more than $200 billion a year, dwarfing such government programs as food stamps ($28.6 billion) and the earned-income tax credit ($34.6 billion).

People who buy their groceries from Wal-Mart — it has one-fifth of the nation's grocery business — save at least 17 percent. But because unions are strong in many grocery stores trying to compete with Wal-Mart, unions are yanking on the Democratic Party's leash, demanding laws to force Wal-Mart to pay wages and benefits higher than those that already are high enough to attract 77 times as many applicants than there were jobs at this store.

The big-hearted progressives on Chicago's City Council, evidently unconcerned that the city gets zero sales tax revenue from a half-billion dollars that Chicago residents spend in the 42 suburban Wal-Marts, have passed a bill that, by dictating wages and benefits, would keep Wal-Marts from locating in the city. Richard Daley, a bread-and-butter Democrat, used his first veto in 17 years as mayor to swat it away.

Liberals think their campaign against Wal-Mart is a way of introducing the subject of class into America's political argument, and they are more correct than they understand. Their campaign is liberalism as condescension. It is a philosophic repugnance toward markets, because consumer sovereignty results in the masses making messes. Liberals, aghast, see the choices Americans make with their dollars and their ballots and announce — yes, announce — that Americans are sorely in need of more supervision by . . . liberals.

Lord, this is a truly great piece - it really is a must read. The best of all is the revelation of the newest target the increasingly foolish Democrats want to run against.

What is this focus of evil in the modern world? North Korea? The Bush administration? Fox News Channel? No, it is Coca-Cola (number of servings to Americans of the company's products each week: 2.5 billion).

When liberals' presidential nominees consistently fail to carry Kansas, liberals do not rush to read a book titled "What's the Matter With Liberals' Nominees?" No, the book they turned into a bestseller is titled "What's the Matter With Kansas?" Notice a pattern here?

You really need to read this one.

UPDATE: The Real Ugly American liked it as well.

About Those Chickens Again

This article from the Washington Post shows why it is always problematic to count chickens too soon in politics. Chafee won the primary in Rhode Island at least partly because of a massive voter turnout program. From the Democrats the Post quotes, I think they may be a bit worried that they cannot match this.

In the past two national elections, in 2002 and 2004, Republicans outperformed Democrats in bringing their backers to the polls, but many Democrats and independent analysts have suggested that the competition may be different this year, in part because of slumping morale among GOP activists. But Chafee's performance — combined with reports of late-starting organization and internal bickering on the Democratic side — suggest that the Republican advantage on turnout may remain intact even as many other trends are favoring the opposition.

The Republican National Committee, convinced that Chafee is the party's only chance of keeping a seat in a Democratic-leaning state, spent $400,000 to ship 86 out-of-state volunteers and several paid staff members to Rhode Island. They targeted not just Republicans but also independent voters during the final days of the campaign, following a blueprint developed months ago by the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the Chafee campaign.

The effort helped Chafee survive a spirited challenge from Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey by boosting primary turnout to an all-time high. In June, GOP leaders used a similar turnout program to help lobbyist Brian Bilbray win a special California election for the House seat vacated by indicted GOP Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham.

Read the whole thing, it actually is quite fascinating. The Republicans have a lot of experience at this and I really think the Dems are a bit worried right now.

Thank You, Prime Minister Blair

Despite his own political woes, despite everything else that is happening in the world, Tony Blair remains one of the most reliable allies this country has ever had. He came out today with a message that blasts European anti-Americanism as madness.

Blair, U.S. President George W. Bush's closest ally in the so-called war on terror, said the world urgently needs the United States to help tackle the globe's most pressing problems.

"The danger is if they decide to pull up the drawbridge and disengage. We need them involved," Blair said, spelling out his political vision in a pamphlet published by The Foreign Policy Center think-tank.

"The strain of, frankly, anti-American feeling in parts of European politics is madness when set against the long-term interests of the world we believe in," he said.

Blair, accused by critics of being Bush's poodle who slavishly follows Washington's line, sought to stifle a revolt in his ruling Labour Party last week by promising to quit within a year after almost 10 years in office.

His popularity has tumbled in opinion polls after government scandals over sleaze and mismanagement were compounded by controversy over the wars in Iraq and Lebanon.

As he did during the Iraq War, he sided squarely with Washington over the conflict between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas, angering Arab nations and European allies by refusing to call for an immediate ceasefire.

Responding to those who have criticized the White House, Blair said in his pamphlet: "The danger with America today is not that they are too much involved."

"We want them engaged. The reality is that none of the problems that press in on us can be resolved or even contemplated without them," he added.

Laying out his vision for countering extremists, he said: "We need to construct an alliance of moderation that paints a future in which Muslim, Jew and Christian, Arab and Western, wealthy and developing nations can make progress in peace and harmony with each other."

Poodle? No, Chirac is a poodle. All show and no go. No, Blair is a pit bull defending Western civilization. Not America; Western civilization. It would be long past time for the rest of Europe to understand that. Thank you, Prime Minister Blair for standing fast.

UPDATE: Bruce Kesler also notes Blair's pamphlet and sees it as the one bright spot in an otherwise deteriorating situation in the world as the forces of disarray emerge everywhere.

The Man Who Loves Dictators….

…Endorses Ned Lamont. Isn't that special? Jimmy Carter, who never passes up a chance to cozy up to a dictator and endorse him, has come out four-square for Ned Lamont.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Democrat Ned Lamont said Wednesday the U.S. is weaker because of the war in Iraq backed by rival Sen. Joe Lieberman, and he called for shifting forces to Afghanistan and elsewhere.

"We have sacrificed our daughters and sons and our treasure in a war we didn't have to fight," Lamont said. "We have ignored the real threats and security needs in the war we should be fighting, the one against the terrorists. … Senator Lieberman believes that President Bush has it right in Iraq. I believe that he's dangerously wrong."

The Democrat, who upset the three-term Lieberman last month in Connecticut's Democratic primary, spoke at Yale Law School — Lieberman's alma mater. Lamont received a degree from Yale School of Management. After the defeat, Lieberman embarked on an independent bid in hopes of holding onto his seat.

Lamont's campaign got a boost Wednesday from former President Carter, who offered a blistering critique of Lieberman's support for the Iraq war. "He was one of the originators of public statements that misled the American people into believing that the Iraqi war was justified," the former Democratic president said on CNN's "Larry King Live."

"He's joined in with the Republican spokespersons by saying that Democrats who disagree are really supporting terrorism," Carter said. "So for all these reasons, I've lost my confidence in Joe Lieberman and don't wish to see him re-elected."

So, a precipitous pullout from Iraq, leaving the terrorists a free hand to commit genocide. There's a great legacy for the US. And the endorsement of a man who started the whole ball rolling for the rise of Islamism to boot! Hell, this all makes sense!

There's a catchy new slogan for the Lamont folks in here somewhere.

Stupid+Irresponsible=Murtha

This is not a partisan attack. This is not based on any political beliefs whatsoever. This is based on the welfare of the troops. I would write this exact same thing regardless of what political parties were involved in what roles. When I read something like this, I become furious.

The report attributed the slide to critical shortfalls in equipment, which have made it more difficult for units back home to train with the tanks, armored vehicles and other weapons it will fight with.

"Army military readiness rates have declined to levels not seen since the end of the Vietnam War," said the report.

Representative John Murtha, who released the report at a press conference here, said he will present a resolution calling for the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld "not only for his past mistakes but for the future of the military."

About half of all army units received the lowest readiness rating that any fully formed unit can receive, according to the report.

Although units deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan are at peak readiness, non-deployed units "are critically short of equipment and personnel, causing the vast majority of them to be rated at the lowest readiness levels," it said.

….

The report also said that the low readiness levels of non-deployed units means the army has no combat-ready reserves to fall back on if it needs to respond to a crisis elsewhere in the world.

"These are the units that would be called on to go to war in North Korea, Iran, or elsewhere," the report said. "The degradation of army readiness here at home has effectively eliminated the United States ground force strategic reserve."

There are constructive ways to handle concerns of this type even if these are true and not exaggerated. There are bi-partisan ways to approach these issues. And then there are irresponsible and stupid partisan hacks who would endanger the troops in the field by trying to use this kind of issue for cheap, sleazy political gain

Like John Murtha.

You are a disgrace to this country and the office that you hold, Murtha. That you feel the need to risk our soldier's lives for you sleazoid political goals tells the world what you are. You care not one whit for the damage you cause or the troops that may well suffer for your irresponsible actions. You do not care the danger you put our entire country in by broadcasting information that encourages those who would kill us.

John Murtha, your picture should be in the dictionary next to the words 'Stupid' and 'Irresponsible'. Shame on you, you hack.

UPDATE: Many thanks to Guy who found a statement from the US Army that calls (in very diplomatic terms) John Murtha exactly what he is: A partisan hack who distorts the truth. One should also keep in mind, of course, that Murtha's arm of the government controls the purse. If there are money issues - it s HIS fault. Period.

A Huge Opportunity Missed Completely

The Russian parliament has missed a golden opportunity of, quite literally, astronomical proportions. After introducing a measure into the Duma, the motion failed to carry, 42-252. Alexei Mitrofanov had brought the measure to a vote, asking the legislative body to send Madonna into space.

Alexei Mitrofanov, a member of the Duma (the lower house of parliament) for the ultra-nationalist LDPR party, had said the trip would be "a great event to organise in the same year as elections in the United States and Russia."

He said the star, who gave a concert in Moscow on Tuesday, had "expressed a desire to go into space and board the ISS."

Mitrofanov put the idea before a plenary session of parliament on Wednesday, asking it to vote on whether Russia's space agency should look into the feasibility of a Madonna space flight.

Forty two legislators backed the idea but 252 voted against, so the motion was not passed.

Now this is simply unconscionable. This shows a complete disregard for culture and music! Here they had a perfect opportunity to …. oh wait, never mind.

They were planning to bring her back, too. My bad.

Art Declared Legally Dead In France

A French judge has ruled that art is officially dead in France. The ruling allows an eyesore that the village of Saint-Romain au Mont d'Or wanted razed to remain. Because the "Abode of Chaos" is, the judge says, art.

Since 2001, businessman Thierry Ehrmann and a group of artists have been turning a 17th-century post office in Saint-Romain au Mont d'Or, on the outskirts of the southeastern city of Lyon, into a open-sky art gallery and a dark meditation on terrorism and warfare.

Ehrmann says he was inspired by the constant use of the word "chaos" in the media, in the wake of the September 11 attacks in 2001 and the US-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, to turn his home into a war theatre.

Scorched black or daubed blood-red, the building's outer walls are plastered with esoteric signs. Inside, there are media stills of Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, references to arms proliferation and terrorism.

Amid a tangle of twisted metal, burnt-out cars, bunkers, camouflage gear and artificial meterorites, stands a sculpture representing the burning twin towers in New York, one of many visual references to the September 11 attacks.

A precious artwork for some — the culture ministry is considering making the "Demeure du Chaos", or "Abode of Chaos" a listed monument — others see it as an unwelcome eyesore. The mayor of Saint-Romain took legal action in 2004 to have it ripped down for violating local planning rules.

On Wednesday, however, an appeal court in Lyon ruled that the building in its current form was a work of art and could remain standing — though it fined Ehrmann 200,000 euros (255,000 dollars) for breach of planning regulations.

Long time readers know I am not a fan of modern art in general, but this is, I think, worse than usual. That is, of course, my opinion, you can go form your own over here. Or take a shortcut to the photo slide show here. Ann Althouse discussed the pending legal case before the latest ruling here. (Found that one when I Googled the place.)

Shooting Rampage In Canada

A gunman walked into a crowded cafeteria at Dawson College in Montreal and opened fire. An unknown number of people were wounded before the shooter took his own life. Details are extremely sketchy at the moment with a lot of conflicting information.

MONTREAL - At least one gunman in a black trench coat opened fire Wednesday in the cafeteria of a Montreal college and wounded an unknown number of people before shooting himself, witnesses and police said. Scores of students at Dawson College near downtown fled into the surrounding streets after the shooting broke out in the school of about 10,000. Some of them had bloody clothes.

CBC-TV showed police with guns drawn standing behind a police cruiser.

Martine Millette of the Montreal police said authorities did not know how many people had been shot. There also was uncertainty if there was more than one gunman.

Millette said the man later shot himself. Constable Philippe Gouin said "in all probability, the suspect has committed suicide."

Student Devansh Smri Vastava said he saw a man in military fatigues with "a big rifle" storm the school's cafeteria.

"He just started shooting at people," Vastava said, adding that he heard about 20 shots fired. He also said teachers ran through the halls telling students to get out.

Other witnesses spoke of a gunman wearing a black trench coat.

Will update as more becomes available.

UPDATE: Story is changing almost minute to minute now as things are sorted out. It appears to have been a lone gunman, but he also appears to have been killed by police. At least 20 are wounded and another report says at least six of those are in critical condition.

Sorry, Guys. This Is A DUMB Rule

If reports are true, an opportunity to hit a large group of Taliban was not taken. The reason? They were gathered in a cemetery for a funeral. The Rules of Engagement (ROE) forbid firing into a cemetery.

WASHINGTON - Taliban terror leaders who had gathered for a funeral - and were secretly being watched by an eye-in-the-sky American drone - dodged assassination because U.S. rules of engagement bar attacks in cemeteries, according to a shocking report.

U.S. intelligence officers in Afghanistan are still fuming about the recent lost opportunity for an easy kill of Taliban honchos packed in tight formation for the burial, NBC News reported.

The unmanned airplane, circling undetected high overhead, fed a continuous satellite feed of the juicy target to officers on the ground.

"We were so excited. I came rushing in with the picture," one U.S. Army officer told NBC.

But that excitement quickly turned to gut-wrenching frustration because the rules of engagement on the ground in Afghanistan blocked the U.S. from mounting a missile or bomb strike in a cemetery, according to the report.

Pentagon officials declined comment and referred The Post to Central Command officers in Afghanistan, who did not respond to a request for comment or explanation.

Ok, that's all respectful and all, but it is also massively stupid. There really is no good reason to not hit these people when you have the chance.

Reaching Out

Jules Crittenden from the Boston Herald has an open letter to the folks on the left. Maybe he can reach a few people.

You ask if I really think we have enemies who want to kill us. I judge them by their words and their deeds.
 
You deride fear-mongering. We may disagree on what constitutes fear-mongering, but we agree on this: Fear is something to be avoided or overcome, because we should not let the evil intentions of others intimidate us. Failure to recognize their malicious intent is foolish, however.Re war, regrettably we are sometimes left with little recourse.The sad truth is that there are times when we are compelled to act. You know that I have advocated a very harsh and merciless stance in our defense and interest. You find that alarming.
 
Some people think these things can be negotiated away.That would be nice, but I highly doubt that.To believe that would require me to believe the other side is operating on something other than cynicism, deceit and malicious intent, and I’ve seen no evidence of that. They are buying time and playing for advantage. That’s all. Once armed with nuclear weapons, they will begin throwing their weight around in ways that will make us look back wistfully on their past interference in around the region and the low intensity terrorism they have supported for years. This is why we must be clear with them on the consequences of miscalculation.

Read the whole thing.

Thin Air

Reports are that Air America will declare bankruptcy. They have already begun laying off staffers (with no severance pay, thank you very much - so much for being strong supporters of workers everywhere). Best line in the linked story:

The right wing is sure to seize on Air America’s financial woes as a sign that progressive talk radio is unpopular. In fact, Air America succeeded at creating something that didn’t exist: the progressive talk radio format. That format is now established and strong and will continue with or without Air America.

Uh, sure. The reason "right wing" people will point out progressive talk radio is unpopular is because of the complete lack of ratings it has judging by the extremely poor performance of Air America. Honest "left wing" people would also admit the format is not working out real well. But do, please, carry on. It is amusing to watch the tachometer reading climb. Past the stops.

UPDATE: Others: Wizbang, The Radio Equalizer, STACLU, A Blog For All, Mac's Mind,

Stop The Lies!

The authorities in New Zealand continue to spread misinformation and untruths about the object that streaked through the sky and rattled houses in Christchurch on Tuesday. They continue to say it was just a meteor. The elaborate subterfuge they are building up cannot withstand the inquiries of those of us on the side of TRUTH™ and Justice!

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A sonic boom rattled southern New Zealand on Tuesday, and hundreds of callers swamped emergency services about the noise, which scientists said was probably caused by a small meteor plunging toward earth.

Residents in the southern city of Christchurch, 190 miles south of the capital Wellington, told police and fire services that the boom shook the ground and their houses.

The resident superintendent of the Mt. John Observatory, Allan Gilmore, told National Radio the sonic boom indicated the meteor was traveling "very low" and was probably between the size of a baseball and a basketball.

Witnesses said they saw a streak of light in the sky above the sparsely populated region, which then appeared to burn out.

Sonic booms are created when an object moves through the air faster than the speed of sound, about 700 miles per hour.

Christchurch police spokeswoman Maggie Leask said an unusual rock object found on a farm near where the object had streaked through the sky would be handed to the National Radiation Laboratory Wednesday for analysis.

A farmer who found the object, which measures 4 x 2 inches, in a field of his farm south of Christchurch, described it as like nothing he had ever seen before, she said.

As if a little teeny rock could do all that. We know for a fact that jet fuel doesn't burn hot enough to melt rock! Besides, where is the wreckage? We here at Blue Crab Boulevard have obtained photographic evidence of what really transited the Christchurch sky from our loyal employees at Magic 8-Ball Photography and Fishing Charter Service, Inc. This is no less than the mother ship that fills all the saucers! Try and deny this you BushCheneyRoveCo scientists, you. Demand an investigation, Kiwis!

New Game Show

Jim over at bRight and Early is soliciting questions and answers for his new game show project he's developing for one of the major television networks. Please remember, your response must be in the form of a question.

(Not politically correct - that should send folks over in droves).

Flogging A Dead Zombie

Baron Samedi has got to be rolling around on the floor, laughing so hard that he can't stand up. The Plame/Wilson Full Employment For Lawyers Program® has now decided to add Richard Armitage to the lawsuit they already filed against Cheney, Libbey and Rove.

WASHINGTON - Lawyers for former Ambassador Joe Wilson and his wife, Valerie Plame, tell NBC they plan to file court papers Wednesday in their civil suit to include former State Department top official Richard Armitage as an additional defendant.

It took three years for Armitage to publicly admit, last week, that he was the first to leak the identity of Valerie Plame Wilson to reporters.

Melanie Sloan, an attorney for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, who are representing the Wilson's, tells NBC that is was not okay for Armitage to leak Plame's name to Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward and columnist Bob Novak.

Flogging a dead zombie is so redundant.

UPDATE: Meanwhile, Robert Novak tosses in another smoke grenade, just to keep things interesting. Tom Maguire, who has been the source for all things Plame says there may still be more sources wandering about out there. It's like a bad remake of Night of the Living Dead. Oh wait, that's been done.

On Chickens Counted Too Soon

As a long time observer of politics in this country, one of the things I always find interesting is how quickly things can turn around. It can be something as simple as a mistake in how something is phrased to bombshell news rearing up from some event in the past. Which is one reason I caution against counting chickens and celebrating too soon. So it really doesn't surprise me to hear that New Jersey, a supposedly safe Democratic state, suddenly has a highly competitive Senate race. It also does not surprise me that the situation is eerily familiar.

A powerful clue that U.S. Senator Robert Menendez might ultimately be forced to withdraw from his bid for a full term in New Jersey emerged last Friday, when he addressed the question head-on just hours after the world learned that he is the subject of a federal criminal investigation.

“The answer is no,” he said.

That may sound a touch familiar to New Jerseyans. It was, after all, around this time four Septembers ago that Senator Robert Torricelli’s re-election campaign—besieged by similar speculation—spent a weekend attaching a simple, defiant message to Torricelli lawn signs around the state: “Nobody fights harder.”

The very next week, of course, Mr. Torricelli quit the race. In tears.

And the rest was history—and the subject, no doubt, of recurring nightmares for many Republicans: Former Senator Frank Lautenberg was recruited to replace Mr. Torricelli at the last minute, and the Democrats ended up with a double-digit win.

For now, Mr. Menendez’s fellow Democrats—from Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chairman, to Jon Corzine, the governor who handed Mr. Menendez his Senate seat in January—are pledging their support. The same way they once stood by Mr. Torricelli.

Indeed, what is unnerving for Democrats in New Jersey and Washington—and for Republicans too, for that matter—is just how deep the similarities between the Torricelli and Menendez dramas run. 

In 2002, you’ll recall, Mr. Torricelli, dogged by a variety of ethics questions, consistently underperformed in the polls, running even for much of the summer with a drab Republican candidate who’d begin his speeches as follows: “My name is Doug Forrester, and I’m the guy running against Bob Torricelli.” By mid-September, Forrester’s lead hit double digits—and this in a state that hadn’t (and still hasn’t) elected a Republican to the Senate since M*A*S*H was a first-season show.