Michael Moore video

This is how Fahrenheit 911 should have started and ended:
click here for the video (WMV)

Sleeping on the couch?

Click to play (turn up your volume):

Rich Lowry on Bill Clinton

Rich Lowry on Bill Clinton on National Review Online: "The truth is that the scandals and investigations that built toward Clinton's impeachment from Whitewater to the China fundraising scandal to Monica Lewinsky were a product of the world created by post-Watergate liberals. They created the independent-counsel statute; they celebrated an adversarial press; they wrote exacting campaign-finance rules; they instituted an anti-sexual-harassment regime in the workplace and then they supported an attempt to defy all of it when it inconvenienced Bill Clinton."

Hitchens on Air America

Unfairenheit 9/11 - The lies of Michael Moore. By Christopher Hitchens: "I exempt Al Franken's unintentionally funny Air America network, to which I gave a couple of interviews in its early days. There, one could hear the reassuring noise of collapsing scenery and tripped-over wires and be reminded once again that correct politics and smooth media presentation are not even distant cousins."

Safire blasts the commission

The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: The Zelikow Report: "'Panel Finds No Qaeda-Iraq Tie' went the Times headline. 'Al Qaeda-Hussein Link Is Dismissed' front-paged The Washington Post. The A.P. led with the thrilling words 'Bluntly contradicting the Bush Administration, the commission. . . .' This understandably caused my editorial-page colleagues to draw the conclusion that 'there was never any evidence of a link between Iraq and Al Qaeda. . . .' "

Nick Schulz on Abu Ghraib

Absolutely shocked. This graphic description is almost too much to bear... I don't think I could manage the video. And mind you... this isn't about American abuses... our abuses are inexcusible but nothing compared to the horror that Saddam inflicted.

Nick Schulz on Abu Ghraib on National Review Online: "Earlier this month, National Review Online obtained a four-minute video of Saddam-era torture at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Many of us here who discussed the matter are ourselves unable to watch the whole video. Some could not get beyond the furious, ecstatic chanting of torturers as they raised swords, celebrating their own dementia in the depths of a man-made hell. What to do with the video was a matter of debate here"

Would they have complained then?

September 2, 2001: Going back in time I arranged it so the CIA would get a hold of Osama and prick him 'til he speaks. Would anyone have a problem with this? (see NY times article)

OK. Maybe these guys would:

Rather on Clinton

Dan Rather: "'Maybe he didn't come totally, absolutely clean with himself, but he made an effort to do it,' he said, 'an effort it would be difficult to find with any former President.'"

You know if Dan Rather says "he didn't come totally, absolutely clean with himself" that we are gonna have an interesting heyday going through all of the bunk.

Curse you Wegmens!

I just got this email from Wegmens... I love the store but the email may prove my undoing!

I hate weight loss... I mean, I'm not even that overweight... just enough to bother my wife a bit and enough of an incentive to get myself ready for the summer pool season.

Tempt me not Wegmens!

I've been on the low carb thing.. but it's just not working for me. The first couple weeks I had the worst time in my life focusing on anything! (they told me that would happen).

So now I'm onto the notion of just eating less and eating better. Of course, I've been sick for the last 5 days because of the Reagan overnighter (see below). My speaking voice is shot so I've been downing some caffeine to loosen things up which then blows my diet which...

Well, you get the picture.

Bush was right to "praise" Clinton

A good deal of conservatives are up in arms about Bush's "praise" of Clinton. First, do you expect Bush to lambast Clinton at an official event that has been tradition for decades? Second, go re-read what Bush said. Was any of it untrue? Look carefully:

"Bill Clinton showed incredible energy and great personal appeal." Did he not?

"he showed a deep and far- ranging knowledge of public policy, a great compassion for people in need, and the forward-looking spirit" - Did he not?

"Bill Clinton could always see a better day ahead and Americans knew he was working hard to bring that day closer." - I'm not sure we did, but a lot of people liked him? Nothing false here.

"Bill Clinton loved the job of the presidency. He filled this house with energy and joy." - A little too much physical joy... but this is true as well

"...good-hearted boy who seemed destined for big things." - Probably true

"People in Bill Clinton's life have always expected him to succeed.And more than that, they wanted him to succeed. And meeting those expectations took more than charm and intellect." - True, very true.

"...a woman greatly admired in our country" - yes, by some circles

"She inspires respect and loyalty from those who know her..." - albeit by heavy-handed means, but this too is true

Notice Bush said nothing about their policies or their failures but cited instead their zeal, enthusiasm and ambition. IMHO this was a masterful way to get through the ceremony without giving Clinton any credit (so to speak)

Nicole Kidman gets intimate with 10-year-old boy in the bathtub!?!!

Hollywood News > Nicole Kidman gets intimate with 10-year-old boy in the bathtub!:

"'Cold Mountain' beauty Nicole Kidman's latest film 'Birth' in which she gets intimate with a 10-year-old kid has given rise to controversy.

According to The Sun, 'Birth' will feature a nude Nicole getting passionate with a little boy who she believes is the reincarnation of her dead husband."

Are you kiddin' me! Can you imagine the outrage if the sexes were reversed, a 40-year old man making out in a tub with a ten-year old girl?!!

Is this real?!

Favorite Fictional Characters

Right Wing News conducted a survey over the last few days to determing what everyone's favorite fictional charaters are (from movies, TV, books, etc...)

Just for the record here were my picks:

Charles Kinbote from the book "Pale Fire" by V. Nabakov

Han Solo from "Star Wars"

Basie from the movie "Empire of the Sun" (played by John Malkovich)

Daniel Miller from "Defending Your Life" (played by Albert Brooks)

Igor from "Young Frankenstein" (played by Marty Feldman)

Sweeny Todd from the Musical "Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"

Lord Jim from "Lord Jim"

Pudd'nhead Wilson from "Pudd'nhead Wilson" by Mark Twain

Commemorative card

My scanner isn't working but here is a picture of the commemorative card that you receive after you go through the viewing. The text reads as follows:

The Honorable Ronald Wilson Reagan February 6, 1911 - June 5 2004 Fortieth President of the United States of America The Final Tribute from a Grateful Nation The Lying in State of President Reagan The Rotunda, United States Capitol Washington, D.C. June 9, 10, 11, 2004

Pictures from the late night in line

All of these pictures are taken via my camera cell phone (not the highest quality)


Dawn finally arrives for the weary walkers. We estimated that the line wound nearly 7 miles before you got to the Capitol


Finally, the Capitol is in site. This was taken about 5:45 AM (still an hour to go!)


This was on a stump of lumber as I left the Rotunda.


Here is the end of the line (those are water bottles you see on the ground).
 
 

6:49 AM :: Final thoughts

Justin is at the Capitol providing hourly audio blogs. Tune in all night.

5:11 AM :: Sun is rising (almost there)

Justin is at the Capitol providing hourly audio blogs. Tune in all night.

4:04 AM :: Excerpt from Reagan's letters...

Justin is at the Capitol providing hourly audio blogs. Tune in all night.

3:07 AM :: Time to sacrifice

Justin is at the Capitol providing hourly audio blogs. Tune in all night.

2:32 AM :: "Sam! Where are you!"

Justin is at the Capitol providing hourly audio blogs. Tune in all night.

2:15 AM :: Interview with Jesse (in back of me)

Justin is at the Capitol providing hourly audio blogs. Tune in all night.

1:06 AM :: Thousands and thousands...

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12:00 AM: Starting the line (just like Disneyland?!)

Justin is at the Capitol providing hourly audio blogs. Tune in all night.

11:30 PM :: Ugh! I am late... but excited

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The Journey Begins (VA suburbs)

Justin is at the Capitol providing hourly audio blogs. Tune in all night.

Audio blogging from the Capitol (All night Thursday, and into Friday)

It's about 9:00 on Thursday in Virginia. The kids are almost all in bed and I am heading to the Capitol to pay my respects to Ronald Reagan. I'm brining along my cell phone and I've set up an audio blog to give periodic reports from the line.

You're welcome to stay up with me :)

powered by Audioblog.com

In Memory of Ronald Reagan

Reagan's Mark

The University of Texas at Austin has a great set of photos from President's Reagan's tenure in office. Here are some of the choice excerpts:


Photograph by: Wally McNamee, 1983
President Reagan stands on his mark—with a soldier nearby—in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) during a trip to South Korea. Under the conditions of the Korean War armistice, the U.S. has maintained a military force in South Korea since 1953.

Photograph by: David Hume Kennerly, 1982 President Reagan waves farewell after campaigning for a congressman in Billings, Montana. During his time in office, Reagan worked skillfully with Congress to pass legislation to control inflation, stimulate economic growth, create jobs and strengthen defense.

Photograph by: Diana Walker, 1986
President and Nancy Reagan are surrounded by the families of the lost astronauts at the Challenger memorial service at Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Photograph by: David Hume Kennerly, 1986 President Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Gorbachev leave their second summit meeting, which ended on a sour note in Reykjavik, Iceland. The talks reached an impasse when Reagan refused to give in to Gorbachev's demands that the U.S. restrict development of its Strategic Defense Initiative program.

Photograph by: Dirck Halstead, 1989 On the final morning of his presidency, Ronald Reagan looks back into the oval office one last time. Later, in their final moments as First Couple, Ronald and Nancy Reagan wait alone on the State Floor of the White House for the arrival of president-elect George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara. Reagan served two full terms as president, which had not been accomplished since Eisenhower's administration.

Robin Hood, Luskin, Krugman and getting the story straight...

Don Luskin does a brilliant job blasting Krugman on NRO today. But here's one more for the fire. The main thrust of Krugman's article is here:

Bush's tax cuts will require large cuts in popular government programs. And for the vast majority of Americans, the losses from these cuts will outweigh any gains from lower taxes … The end result of current policies will be a large-scale transfer of income from the middle class to the very affluent.

He claims this is Robin Hood in reverse. We should ask Mr. K. if he has ever read Robin Hood (even the Disney film would suffice). Somewheree in our social mythology we've defined Robin Hood as stealing from the Rich and giving to the poor. While that's generally true, the real notion of Robin Hood is stealing from an over-taxing government and giving back to the people. Let's get our analogies straight here.

(by the way, I've linked the picture to the only decent film adaptation of Robin Hood)

One last look...

Sobbing, shaking and knowing death was imminent, she [Nancy] held her husband's hand about 1 p.m. Saturday as he inhaled deeply and opened his eyes for the first time in five days.

"At the last moment when his breathing told us this was it, he opened his eyes and looked straight at my mother. Eyes that had not opened for days did, and they weren't chalky or vague," Davis recalls. "They were clear and blue and full of life. If a death can be lovely, his was."

Davis and her brother Ron were standing next to their father's bed when the astonishing interchange between their parents took place.

"In his last moment he taught me that there is nothing stronger than love between two people, two souls," Davis writes. "It was the last thing he could do to show my mother how entwined their souls are and it was everything."

source

Reagan plays Bill Gates: but with purposeful buggy software...

Freedom's Team:

This from the WSJ:

"A new book by former Air Force secretary Thomas Reed reveals that the Reagan administration allowed a Soviet agent to steal gas-pipeline software that had been secretly designed to go haywire on a catastrophic scale. The ruse led to a June 1982 explosion in the Siberian wilderness that Mr. Reed says was 'the most monumental non-nuclear explosion and fire ever seen from space.' It crippled the Soviet's secret techno-piracy operation because they could longer be sure if what they were buying or stealing was similarly booby-trapped. They had reason to worry: Contrived computer chips found their way into Soviet military equipment, flawed turbines were installed on a gas pipeline, and defective plans disrupted chemical plants and tractor factories. "

Hitchen's warns colleagues: Don't be dumb as a stump

In his strange nit-picking way, Christopher Hitchens goes wild on Reagan, lambasting the former President for being occasionally wrong. He begins his rant: "Some of us on the left had also been very glad indeed to see the end of the Russian empire and the Cold War. But nothing could make me forget what the Reagan years had actually been like. "

He accuses the former president of be wrong on Russian linguistics, being falsely annoyed about the term "Star Wars", alarming his Soviet counterparts, alarm constituents by stating his religious beliefs, historically wrong on South Africa, not inviting any uppities to dinner, his friends were not friends but cronies... He goes on with the usual litany (some more defendable than others) and then Hitchens concludes: "He was as dumb as a stump." (with a wink):

I have been wondering ever since not just about the stupidity of American politics, but about the need of so many American intellectuals to prove themselves clever by showing that they are smarter than the latest idiot in power, or the latest Republican at any rate.

Too funny. The lesson here: never underestimate a "stupid Republican."

Ronald Reagan Around the Blog World

ASV says some left-leaning bloggers are implying "Reagan caused 9/11."

Balloon Juice makes some excellent points about leftists mourning and not mourning Reagan

Brad DeLong goes on a rant about Reagan saying he was a lightweight and messed things up

Cold Fury has a short and sweet tribute to Reagan along with good comments from his readers

Is it me or did CrookedTimber not post anything on Reagan?

Daily Kos tries to make the point that Reagan wasn't popular from the standpoint of their popularity polls during their presidencies... of course, DK fails to appreciate hindsite in their post.

LGF has some good coverage on Reagan in the comments

Marginal Revolution likes Reagan as a Libertarian

Pejmanesque has a good round up on the blogs

Heritage.org has a great site for Reagan

NationalReview has unparalleled coverage and see The Corner

Even Oliver W. gives him the nod

David Adesnik on Oxblog

PowerLine has a great photo of Reagan

Reagan and Flaubert

Sgt Stryker bids goodbye to the last President that was "worth a damn"

Slate does the expected thing

Spoons points to Reagan's farewell letter

And my contribution...

"... they will be living in the world we helped to shape"

One of the things I most admired about Reagan was his courage to include Biblical allusions throughout his writings and speeches. We frequently refer to Reagan's black and white view of the world: the "Evil Empire", "them or us"... but he also included many literal references pulled straight out of the Good Book.

I'm looking over a speech Reagan gave in 1975:

... 40 yrs. ago it was Nazi Germany that loomed as the storm cloud on the horizon. And of course that storm cloud did eventuall fill the sky & raining rain fire & brimestone on all the world.

The strikeouts indicate changes Reagan made to the original script. In this venure, perhaps he thought the brimstone reference was too obvious or strong, but the reference is unmistakable in the context.

Another letter:

This one from 1976 where Reagan wonders about what the world will be like 100 years from now. He's been asked to write a letter to be included in a LA time capsule to be opened in the year 2076:

I found myself wondering if it [L.A.] would look the same 100 yrs. from now. Will there still be a coast highway? Will people still be travelling in automobiles, or will they be looking down at the mountains from aircraft or moving so fast the beauty of all this would be lost?

Suddenly the simple drafting of a letter became a rather complex chore... What do you put in a letter that's going to e read 100 yrs. from now--in the year 2076?... In short they will be living in the world we helped to shape.

Will they read the letter with gratitude in their hearts for what we did or will they be bitter because the heritage we left them was one of human misery?

...The choice we face between contunuing the policies of the last 40 yrs that have led to bigger & bigger govt, less & less liberty... On the international scene two great superpowers face each other with nuclea missles at the ready...

Those who read my letter will know whether those missles were fired or not.

Thanks to Ronald Reagan, my children do not face these threats. They face very real and very different threats today... but someone else has a consistent vision to make this threat benign.

Headlines around the Internet

Front pages from around the Internet:

 

 

... and of course: Slate...

God Bless Ronald Reagan, RIP

"Because activists need love too..."

First a big nod to Wonkette for linking up my Tenet Flash piece last night.

That being said I have to bust a gut over an ad running on Wonkette yesterday. Clicking through the "progressive personals" I came to the website ActForLove.org whose tagline seems to be: "Because activists need love too..."

The first thing to catch my eye is the "Catch of the Day." You can see her to the right here. Now that's a catch!. The triple-lip piercing is something else, wouldn't you say! What's more, the book choice (whose subtitle is "Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies") is priceless.

Next, I click through the first ever "Singles Against Bush" Mixer (which took place last night). I was half tempted to attend just to get some pictures... but the wife would probably be a little perturbed at notion.

Caryn Schenewerk, founder and president of Running in Heels says "For the first time ever, DC-area singles who want to 'take action' will be able to 'get action' at the same time." Now that's priceless. Other groups involved in the event include: Run Against Bush, ProjectNEXT, YDems Can, ReDefeat Bush, and TheNaderFactor.com.

They were also giving out the SHAGG awards: "Spectacularly Helpful ActForLove.org Grassroots Grant" (and they think we're obsessed with sex?!

The outing promises sexy prizes and flirty games. You can buy a pair of "Rise Up Against Bush" boxers. The event page goes on:

Name tags complete with hearts designating "Single," "Taken" or "Persuadable" will allow participants to easily identify potential paramours.

And more choice quotes:

Fun, fashionable, fed-up women whose bras are too attractive to burn. Prefer brunching to brow-beating, but willing to throw their cocktails in the face of oppression, sexism and the lies that make up "compassionate conservatism."

Apparently, Newsweek is quoted as saying: "Finally, someone is being honest about the link between political activism and gettin' some action." I also found this ad on the site:

John Derbyshire is Mr. June

NRO's John Derbyshire posts this on The Corner on Thursday night:

MR. JUNE [John Derbyshire]
Kathryn: Did National Review ever consider a centerfold? I'm up for it...

You asked for it John:



Welcome, readers of The Corner. Here is some best of RSR:

Special Flash tribute to George Tenet

Priceless Michael Moore Video (finally facing someone his own size)

Goat farmer heavy metal fan driven to Islamic Facism by Christian Talk Radio?

First draft of Gore's speech revealed! Sources tell all!

Daily Posting

I'm sure many people have finished their morning news round-up today and exclaimed: "don't let the door hit you on the way out."

Jane Galt makes a great point that no one ever gets fired in government anymore

Blackfive brings out some really shocking news about CACI possibly being barred from future contracts. That would put a lot a people out of work frankly.

C & F has another great bit. This comic making fun of the obesity scare:



I like Daimnation's take on "When Liberals Attack"

DD has a good post on outsouring and points to great spoof on outsourcing in The Onion:



Thanks to Instapundit for blogging me yesterday (record numbers)

John & Belle point to scarry picture.

More later...

Mike Wallace: The Anti-Bush

Mike Wallace appeared at a conference recalling journalism efforts during WWII. But he couldn't help changing the subject:

"I look at where we are today and I say to myself, I wouldn't want to - this is not, in my estimation, a good war. ... George Washington was commander in chief and president of the United States. Franklin Roosevelt was commander in chief and president of the United States. I don't have to persuade anybody of the validity of those two guys."

Marion Barry, NY Times on Teen Sex, Chalabi and more...

Daily Round-up


First good news on the economy. Maestro Kudlow says:

According to just-released data from the Institute of Supply Management, which tracks the manufacturing sector, new orders, production, order backlogs, export orders, and employment were very strong in May. The industrial sector is so strong that the speed of supplier deliveries has hit its highest level since April 1979. This means that firms cannot produce fast enough to meet rising demand, which is why commodity prices continue to climb. As a result, capacity use keeps growing and inventories are still too low in relation to skyrocketing sales.

Byron York gets into the fray of campaign battles with detailed analysis.

ASV points to a great graphic that just nicely summarizes the strange intrusive agenda of some groups:



Right Wing News has a great poll given to see the influence of blogs

C&F have their latest (very nice)... much better than the strange musings of Steve Benson



Kerry's comrades in arms are a little upset

Marion Barry wants a piece of D.C. Daimnation is a bit upset (as am I)

John & Bell talk about the NY Times article that makes your stomach roll... (and I've gotta raise kids for this!)

Happy Birthday to "On the Third Hand"

OxBlog and others wonder about the whole Chalabi mess. I have to admit I'm a bit confused myself.

400,000 for Bush (that's nearly 800,000 Wheels on the road!)

I didn't see tons of coverage over the weekend... but I think the highlight of Memorial day was Rolling Thunder! One estimate has it at 400,000 that came riding into town. Those of you who know the D.C. area know this is no mean feat. Here are some highlights

Bush was stoked about the Rolling Thunder
The Vile has some excellent pictures.

The pictures say it all.

CNN even covered it!

Awesome Yahoo slide show


Here is some video provided by the Bush campaign (press play below):

Preview of new Kerry Ad (sounds a lot like...)

I just got a sneak preview of the new Kerry commercial.

click here to view it

The approach is very good... he's finally talking about what he will do... it's definately a more positive message. The funny thing is... if you take the word John Kerry out and replace it with Bush, it would sound totally legit. When it comes down to things in November... there is very little that John Kerry "sounds" different on.

For example, by cutting one phrase "...instead of overseas..." and adding a littler editing, here's what you get:

click here

(original)

Libertarian is a synonym for...

Christopher Pellerito @ Samizdat has and excellent post about the Libertarian National Convention. Needless to say it was a joke.

One delegate tried to put a good face on the effort:

"I don't think anyone expected the audience reaction to Badnarik's comments, myself included. If we could have the intellect of Badnarik, the polish of Nolan and the fire of Russo, we'd have the perfect candidate."

You can view the C-span coverage via Real Player here.

Let me summarize a few of their arguments:

Bring our soldiers back home right now

Quell the leaking jobs that are going overseas

We had no reason to invade Iraq

Stop the government from regulating Television

America has no place in Israel

George Bush must go

George Bush is a fiend

George Bush is our main enemy

Sound familiar?

Democrats Abandoning Ship

Base yet to unify behind Kerry

The Washington Times is reporting today that many Deaniacs have moved their vote behind Nadar because of the Kerry view on Iraq.

Democrats say they are more unified than ever in their determination to beat President Bush, but there have been desertions in the party's ranks by antiwar activists who back independent candidate Ralph Nader and grumblings from blacks and Hispanics who say Sen. John Kerry has taken them for granted.

Hmmm... interesting aside, are there any concrete numbers to this:

The Democrats' troubles with an often-contentious political base do not end there. Most polls show that at least 12 percent of all registered Democratic voters say they will vote for Mr. Bush, twice the number of Republicans who intend to vote for Mr. Kerry.