The New Year

Well, 2008 has ended on a decidedly sour note on both the domestic and international fronts. Here’s hoping 2009 will be better. We’ll all be watching.

Happy New Year. Be safe and take it easy. See you next year.

Christopher Hitchens to Bill Maher: You’re dumb

Awesome video of Christopher Hitchens getting snarky with Bill Maher and his audience on Politically Incorrect Real Time with Bill Maher. Heads up from IMAO. I think he makes a great point, and it’s kinda nice to see blowhard Maher taken down a notch.

Perspective on Minnesota recount shenanigans

The Wall Street Journal reminds us of past recounts and why they have tendency to stink. With all the “discovered ballots” and statistically improbable vote tally adjustments, I have zero faith that the actual will of the people is going to be exercised. The article has it right – when victorious politicians owe more thanks to vote-counters than voters, something is wrong with the system.

Senate shock as Blago makes his surprise move

(Photo credit: Chicago Sun-Times)

In a surprising move today that stunned many in the political world, indicted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich appointed Roland Burris to President-Elect Barack Obama’s open Senate seat. Burris is a former Illinois Attorney General who has, no shocker here, donated money to Blagojevich in the past. Senate Democrats have reaffirmed their vow to not seat anyone Blagojevich appoints, and Obama himself has disagreed with the disappointment.

What throws an even bigger monkey wrench into all of this mess is the playing of the race card. Blagojevich trotted out Congressman Bobby Rush, a former Black Panther who destroyed Obama in a 2000 primary for the U.S. House. Rush warned that the Senate ought not block a man who would become the nation’s only black Senator, and urged people not to “hang or lynch” the appointee on behalf of the appointer.

I agree with Senate Democrats opposing this appointment, but my fear is that the terror of appearing racist will cow them into accepting Blagojevich’s terms. In any case, they are the only ones who could stop the appointment; Illinois Sec. of State Jesse White has said he will not certify the appointment, but Blagojevich is legally still able to act as governor in this respect and others until he resigns or is removed from office. It’s an absolute royal mess, and the injection of racial politics just adds jet fuel onto a smoldering ruin of public confidence. Anybody still have faith in Illinois politics and politicians? It’s becoming harder to think anyone’s hands are clean anymore.

2008: The year man-made global warming died

A tremendous editorial in the pages of the Telegraph debunks a lot of the global warming hysteria of the past decade.

I have long thought man-made global warming to be a purely political contrivance to force economic and social change down the throats of those “threatened.” One need only consider that surface temperatures on all planets in the solar system have risen slightly, indicating whatever warming effect present is due to activity of the Sun. Add to this consideration for present-day volcanism, and considering we have had warm periods in the past without the presence of evil SUVs, and you begin to see that perhaps Al Gore might not be might the climate prophet he styles himself to be.

Make no mistake – I am a conservationist. We ought to be good stewards of this planet and of its natural resources. I am not, however, an environmentalist, and there is a difference. There seems to be a certain misanthropic quality to environmentalists, as if the human race were a plague and a scourge upon the pristine beauty of our planet. Ask them how to get rid of this scourge, and you may get some interesting answers.

In any case, I doubt this will silence the debate. But as the article notes, people are beginning to realize that there are more pressing and more concrete issues to deal with in today’s world.

Rumors of U.S. demise are greatly exaggerated

So China notes the “waning strength” of America and a Russian professor predicts the break-up of the U.S. by 2010 (Heads up from Patterico).

I think that timetable might be a tad on the alarmist side. America has tough times ahead, but the bell has not yet tolled for our great nation.

True, we must be vigilant and resilient in the face of international meltdowns that threaten the Middle East, India and Pakistan, and remain watchful of a slowly coalescing cadre of communist/socialist nations that seek to undermine our best interests. And we must guard against domestic policies that play on fears of economic hardship to wrest away freedom and self-determination.

Yes, these are grim times, but we have faced them before. A storm may be coming, but we can weather it. And as eager as some may be to write our nation’s epitaph, that day has not yet arrived. America’s people are strong and whatever is headed down the path of history, we’ll face it and succeed.

/optimism

Or maybe we really are screwed.

Conflict in Gaza

All eyes are on the Middle East as Israel strikes Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for missile attacks launched from Gaza shortly after Hamas declared an end to a truce on Dec. 19th. Let’s hope a ground campaign isn’t warranted.

Blogger Israellycool has been liveblogging the conflict (Heads up from MM). Debbie Schlussel also provides some interesting and illuminating perspective.

Some such as French President Nicolas Sarkozy have called Israel’s response “disproportionate.” I tend to side with Israel when it comes to her defense. It ought to be noted that the IDF takes great pains to hit military and terrorist targets, while the other side intentionally targets civilians in pizza parlors, dance clubs, synagogues, etc. Israelis and Palestinians must learn to coexist, but this is going to prove impossible as long as one side is committed to the absolute destruction of the other.

Ahmadinejad’s “alternative” Christmas story

 

Move over Rudolph and Ralphie, the BBC’s Channel 4 has a new face to grace the airwaves on Christmas Day: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad. It takes mammoth cluelessness to think that a Holocaust-questioning leader of a Muslim nuke-seeking nation is a good choice to deliver a Christmas message of supposed hope and humanity, even providing the channel has broadcast somewhat controversial views in the recent past as a counterpoint to the Queen’s Christmas message.

Within the canned niceties of Ahmadinejad’s “homily” is contained this little passage:

“If Christ was on Earth today undoubtedly he would stand with the people in opposition to bullying, ill-tempered and expansionist powers … If Christ was on Earth today undoubtedly he would hoist the banner of justice and love for humanity to oppose warmongers, occupiers, terrorists and bullies the world over. If Christ was on Earth today undoubtedly he would fight against the tyrannical policies of prevailing global economic and political systems, as He did in His lifetime.”

Indeed, if Christ were alive today he would probably be championing Iran’s right to have nuclear arms, right, Mahmoud? Probably would be attending the WTO protests, reading Karl Marx and holding up a “Death to America” sign, right, Mahmoud? Ahmadinejad’s presumptions of the intentions of Christ would be laughable had they not been given such a prime stage on one of Britain’s major networks.

Channel 4 has been excoriated for this move, and the channel’s head of news and current affairs, Dorothy Byrne, offered up a pathetic excuse:

“As the leader of one of the most powerful states in the Middle East, President Ahmadinejad’s views are enormously influential … As we approach a critical time in international relations, we are offering our viewers an insight into an alternative world view.”

Henry Grunwald, president of the Board of Deputies, offered a better analysis of this supposed “alternative world view”:

“The appearance on our television screens of a man whose prejudices are so well-documented and who has openly called for the eradication of another member country of the United Nations is an affront to decency. To invite him to deliver a Christmas message, even a so-called alternative one, fills me with disgust. Whatever he may say in his ‘message’, his words on other occasions and his actions towards minority groups in Iran should have disqualified him from filling this television spot.”

Ahmadinejad has no place on any Western network to be given an open mic, let alone on Christmas Day. I’m sure Channel 4 thought they were being clever and edgy in their selection of Ahmadinejad, and hoped to score some shock ratings with this stunt. All they have done, however, is give a despot an undeserved megaphone to spew more propaganda and draw more attention away from the true meaning and significance of Christmas.

Merry Christmas

I hope all of you have a blessed holiday season. Merry Christmas to you all.

(Image credit: Animation Backgrounds)

A scary (and quite funny) glimpse at our automotive future

Iowhawk has an absolutely hilarious look at the cars of our future.

Let’s hope Barney Frank doesn’t get his hands on the interior.

TCU vs. Boise St and the BCS untouchables

In a non-BCS bowl that many were looking forward to, the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs beat the Boise State Broncos 17-16 in one of the best football games this season. It ends Boise’s hopes for another undefeated season, and I must confess a soft spot for the Broncos after their improbable upset of Oklahoma. But I don’t begrudge TCU their win, as they’ve now entered the national sports vocabulary. 

And it brings me to this thought: we have Division I-A and Division I-AA (now known as FBS and FCS, respectively). Last I checked, Boise St, TCU, Utah (we’ll see how they fare against Alabama in the Sugar Bowl), Hawaii, Brigham Young University – all of these schools met the requirements to be FBS teams. Yet because of their taint of being in non-BCS conferences like the Mountain West and the WAC, they are near radioactive, and it takes close to an act of God to get them in decent postseason play.

So in reality, we truly have three divisions: FCS (former Div I-AA), FBS (former Div I-A), and what we now must call the “Untouchables,” – FBS teams that meet requirements but because of their “weak” conferences are relegated to an odd purgatory where they aren’t small enough to compete in an FCS national playoff, but they aren’t big enough to garner enough respect to the BCS committee for postseason opportunity.

If we keep the current system, we need to recognize the bowls for what they are – fun matchups of popular teams that provide great entertainment but in no way decide a final pecking order. If some sort of ultimate championship is desired, the system must be retooled. As for me, I’ll be rooting for the Utes to upset the Tide Jan. 2nd (and for my Buckeyes to upset the Longhorns Jan. 5th).

No resolution in Franken/Coleman contest till ‘09

The Minnesota Canvassing Board has scheduled meetings through Jan. 5th, and they have signaled their work could spill over to Jan. 6th, the covening day for the Congress to which the unchosen Senator will be sent. According to a preliminary report, Al Franken has whittled away Norm Coleman’s initial 725 vote lead to now have a 47 vote lead in his favor. The entire recount process seems somewhat questionable, and there have been some glaring and troubling inconsistencies.  (Ann Coulter has some interesting perspective on past recount shenanigans.)

If the current projection holds, Al Franken will become Minnesota’s new Senator to serve out a 6-year term crafting the direction of our nation. That sentence should give you pause. Despite the decline of the so-called Republican brand, it still seems inconceivable to me that voters would knowingly choose a bitterly sarcastic, sometimes bordering on hateful, failed radio host to represent the interests of the state. Sure, this is the same state that elected Jesse Ventura governor, but he at least served as mayor for five years. Franken has no such record of public service, and no, the Stuart Smalley SNL skits do not qualify.

Everything I have seen, read, and heard about Franken – including his short temper, and including his high-school-level attempts at parody – convince me he has neither the temperament nor the gravitas to serve in the nation’s upper legislative body. This is a case where the letter trumps everything else – if Franken had an “R” following his name, would all of his past rhetoric and potty humor be shrugged away? No matter how bad Norm Coleman is perceived, it will still be a joke and embarassment if a D-list celebrity somehow finds enough votes to win.

If he indeed wins, I have absolutely no doubt that at some point Al Franken would launch into some lame venomous schtick masquerading as a poor attempt at hip humor on the floor of the United States Senate. In fact, I think he’ll try to utilize as much of his clunky humor and supposed satirical wit as he can. If he indeed wins, I strongly believe he’ll become an embarassment to the Democratic party. Right now, the Democrats want any Senator they can get to pad their legislative margins. I would advise them to be careful what they wish for.

Get ready for four years of Obama-ogling

On a very fundamental level, none of the to-do about how great the POTUS-Elect’s bod is important or relevant. I suppose that’s why it’s so annoying to me that so much seems to be made out of it.

Maybe you remember the video of press members swooning over Obama’s jeans. I know during the campaign there were a few breathless photos of Obama vacationing on the beach with no shirt. Now we have more OMG-inducing pics, distributed by a photography agency more used to pimping celebrity shots.

Perhaps it’s the continued American Idolization of our culture that depresses and frustrates me with all the cooing praise over Obama’s “chiseled” physique. We have sadly become a nation obsessed with the superficiality of celebrity, and this fascination has finally merged into the political world after an election that seemed to be more about “People” covers than actual ideas.

Wanna drool over the C-inC’s toned abs? I have no problem with that, although I personally may need some Eye Bleach, as Michelle Malkin suggests. I have a feeling that you’ll get plenty of opportunity over the next four years to gaze at the presidential paparazzi shots packing the supermarket tabloids. In the meantime, I’ll simply be waiting for Obama to put forth an effective approach to the problems facing our country. Just call me old-fashioned, I guess.

(Update 12/29): Michelle Malkin and the Anchoress remind us of the difference between the media’s slobbering over Obama and Bush’s “creepy obession” with fitness.

Well, I’m back

I’ve returned from a relaxing few days at the cabin in Hocking Hills with my family. It was a lot of fun, and as always, it ended too soon. I’m glad to be back, though.

Of Presidential Pardons

Apparently the parents of “American Taliban” John Walker Lindh are asking President Bush to commute their son’s sentence. I don’t think it’ll happen, and I hope no serious consideration is being given to it.

It will be interesting to see what last-minute pardons Pres. Bush issues before he leaves office. Bill Clinton managed to sneak through the controversial pardons of Mark Rich and the FALN terrorists (both of which Obama Attorney General Eric Holder played a part in).

There are two pardons that President Bush must absolutely issue if he is to retain any shred of credibility among conservatives: Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Campeon. Their stories have already been widely circulated, and if anyone deserves a pardon, it is these two men, who were  convicted by testimony of a drug smuggler who brought a fresh shipment of narcotics to this country on his way to testify. If Ramos and Campeon are still in jail on January 21st, any vestige of respect conservatives might still have for Bush will quickly fade away.