Friday, December 11, 2009

Are We to Be Led in War by a "Tiger" or a Kitten?

Victor Davis Hanson "And when a war leader visibly regrets the situation he has found himself in — rather than being determined to prevail in the struggle at hand — that hesitancy inevitably ripples through the ranks. Think of the British or French war effort between September 1939 and May 1940, or America in Vietnam between 1964 and 1969. Chamberlain was no Churchill, and LBJ, like it or not, was not a Nixon, at least when it came to trying to win in Vietnam."

A Black Panther sings

Washington Times "The American public is still waiting for answers to questions about why the Obama administration would cover for Black Panthers who used racial threats to intimidate voters. For example, if Mr. Shabazz could talk about the case to Fox News and to the Associated Press, why couldn't he talk to a judge? And why won't Mr. Holder or his aides offer any detailed explanations for why they let him off the hook?" h/t to Lucianne

The New Socialism

Charles Krauthammer "Forget for a moment the economic effects of severe carbon chastity. There's the matter of constitutional decency. If you want to revolutionize society -- as will drastic carbon regulation and taxation in an energy economy that is 85 percent carbon-based -- you do it through Congress reflecting popular will. Not by administrative fiat of EPA bureaucrats. "

Andrew Breitbart Announces Launch of New “Big” Sites

Mediaite "“Big Journalism will be the go-to site for solidly backed-up stories, sharp points of view, and really great writing,” he said. “We are defenders of the First Amendment and resolute enemies of political correctness. That’s the key to the site’s philosophy.”" Other "Big" links:Big Hollywood ; Big Government .

President Obama's many shticks

Harold Witkov, AT "So what is President Obama's shtick? With less than one year in office, it appears he is working on several. So far, he has the: Blame Bush shtick ; Look at this mess I inherited shtick ; Let's have a summit shtick ; Apology tour shtick ; Throw your best friends under the bus shtick ; I'm just a nice guy doing my best shtick"

Can the GOP Win Back the House?

Richard Baehr , AT "If forced to answer my own question, I would say the odds favor the Democrats retaining control of the House. But the Republicans have a shot, maybe 25-33%, of coming out on top. If they manage to accomplish that, almost all of the turnover seats will come from the list in this article. "

Was Air Tran Flight #297 a terrorist dry run?

American Thinker "It is understandable to a degree that AirTran would wish to minimize the public relations damage to their business by minimizing the seriousness of what really happened on Flight 297. But the lesson of United flight 93 is that an alert and aroused citizenry functions as a defense against airborne terror attacks. We deserve a full and honest account of what happened on Airtran 297." But take Mr. Petruna's account with some skepticism.

Is Newsweek A Brand “That Will Disappear In 2010″?

Pajamas Media "...late last year, Newsweek attempted a disastrous makeover that attempted to shift the magazine from a relatively staid newsweekly (hence the name!) to a magazine that Andrew Ferguson of the Weekly Standard brilliantly described as “a liberal opinion magazine written by liberals who don’t want to admit they’re liberals.”"

Climategate in the Classroom?

Pajamas Media Exclusive "A school told me I would not be able to return this year because of my global warming comments. When I visited the school last year, I told the students that the polar bears were not drowning and that their numbers have been increasing. I also showed them reasons to believe that nature has changed climate in the past and would likely continue to do so in the future."

The comprehensive collection of excerpts from the appalling CRU text file. A must read.

Pajamas Media "Here are the brow-raising excerpts:"

Trying KSM in NYC will delay the verdict, and reduce the chances it is the right one.

By Andrew C. McCarthy "In sum, by moving the case to civilian court this far into the process, the Obama administration sinks down the drain the years of work that went into pretrial litigation in the military court — work that cost taxpayers untold millions of dollars. That is, despite that talk about avoiding delay, the administration has gratuitously saddled the public with years of wasted effort, years of extra work, and mountains of extra expense."...."The administration has taken a case that was ripe and ready for a swift, successful conclusion — a case in which prosecutors and the public had invested enormous effort and expense — and turned it into what will be a years-long struggle."

Obama’s Wheel of Fortune//The president’s luck has changed — and he doesn’t seem to have noticed.

Victor Davis Hanson "Infatuated voters apparently bought this fantasy. Our deserts and mountain passes would be scarred with ugly panels, turbines, and access roads, as millions of newly hired government construction workers rushed out to ensure that we could obtain 5 percent of our current power needs from such green salvations."