Friday, December 4, 2009

Uncertain Trumpet

Charles Krauthammer "Does he think that such ambivalence is not heard by the Taliban, by Afghan peasants deciding which side to choose, by Pakistani generals hedging their bets, by NATO allies already with one foot out of Afghanistan?"...."Success in war depends on three things: a brave and highly skilled soldiery, ... brilliant, battle-tested commanders such as Gens. David Petraeus and McChrystal, fresh from the success of the surge in Iraq; and the will to prevail as personified by the commander in chief."

Political Cartoons by Glenn Foden

Obama, the anti-Churchill.

Alinsky Does Afghanistan

Andrew C. McCarthy "If there is one word that captures President Obama’s much-anticipated Afghanistan speech, it is “cynical.” Yes, the speech was also internally contradictory, counter-historical, and premised on fatally flawed assumptions about Islam and the Afghan people. Cynicism, however, is the defining feature of Obama speeches. This one was no different: from its use of the United States Military Academy as a prop to its concluding assertion that “our resolve is unwavering” . . . after the president had spent the preceding 40 minutes in full waver mode. There are two things to bear in mind in considering any Obama speech, and they go double for those that touch on national security..."

Iranian Crackdown Goes Global

WSJ "Tehran's leadership faces its biggest crisis since it first came to power in 1979, as Iranians at home and abroad attack its legitimacy in the wake of June's allegedly rigged presidential vote. An opposition effort, the "Green Movement," is gaining a global following of regular Iranians who say they never previously considered themselves activists. The regime has been cracking down hard at home. And now, a Wall Street Journal investigation shows, it is extending that crackdown to Iranians abroad as well."

Media Portrayal of Men and Women

Wikipedia Anybody besides me ever notice this? Also here:

Morning Joe Guest: ClimateGate Scientists Being 'Swiftboated'

Newsbusters "What happened is not a very big deal, no. And what happened is a tiny piece of a huge, global, independent scientific enterprise which has found for decades that we have a very serious environmental crisis." Another reason I stay away from MSNBC.

Remember those Hollywood blacklists? That was then; this is now

Big Hollywood "By the way, [Matthew] Marsden himself is a big soldier supporter too, and he actually did a parachute jump with the U.S. Army’s Golden Knights (Airborne – all the way, Matt!). Uh oh, I probably just moved him up the New Blacklist about twenty spots by revealing that he doesn’t hold our fighting men and women in sufficient contempt."

Comcast Endorses ObamaCare as Congress Scrutinizes NBC Deal

Newsbusters This should illustrate another principle to go with the crap detector mentioned later in the Tunnel Wall; follow the money.

John Stossel: Who Creates Jobs?

Fox Business "They and the political class can’t imagine a decentralized world where good things happen…without them. But in the real world, that’s exactly how good things happen, and how jobs are created. When government sets simple rules that everyone understands and then gets out of the way, free people create jobs."

The art of crap detection: A case study

Powerline "[Michelle] Malkin denominated Kristof's column quite possibly the crappiest New York Times column for Obamacare ever. The title of Kristof's column was "Are we going to let John die?" In Kristof's world, John would live only if we nationalize American medicine along the lines sought by Obama and his congressional allies. Michelle mercilessly mocked Kristof's lack of journalistic effort and good faith.

Take back Al Gore's Oscar, 2 Academy members demand in light of Climategate

LA Times blog h/t to Instapundit "... two Hollywood conservatives (yes, there are some) have called upon the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to rescind the prestigious, profitable gold Oscar statuette that it gave ex-Vice President Al Gore two years ago for the environmental movie "An Inconvenient Truth."" I doubt you'll see these guys on Leno or Letterman.

They live among us: END CHRISTMAS TO SAVE THE PLANET

Boortz "Why would this dingbat right(sic) such an asinine letter? I have a theory. Fame. She hopes to get her 15 minutes of fame by penning this absurdity. Maybe she'll get invited to appear on Fox & Friends! After all, some loon sends a text message from the altar during his wedding and before you know it he, his bride and the preacher are on Fox & Friends. That was the moment I turned off the television this morning." Hmmm.

Dick Morris and the Crusade against ObamaCare

By Claude Sandroff , AT "Morris rightly sees the health care fight as the most crucial battle to wage against the Obama putsch. Without that victory, there is little chance for America to remain free, capitalistic, and dynamic. If we lose the battle against ObamaCare, America will become indistinguishable from the fatigued nations comprising socialist Europe."