It is refreshing when a leftie isn't so damn angry that he still retains a sense of humor. OLDCATMAN is one, and his newest blog is quite funny. He's retained the allcaps, but thankfully he's toned down the font size for more pleasant reading. i loved this graphic:

LOL, i'd love to see that kind of ballot in November! Thanks, OLDCATMAN.

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Trivia Question: In the name of the famous British submachine gun of WWII, what does "STEN" stand for?

Check out this very interesting and informative site for the answer.

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1 Very cool, Annie. I did not know that. (I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that my dad did know it, though . . . )

Posted by: Matt Rustler at March 21, 2004 09:53 AM (of2d1)

2 And the Bren gun--also from a Czech design--was a combination of BRno-ENfield

Posted by: hatcher at March 21, 2004 12:46 PM (6ilou)

3 It is an interesting site but I found a couple of errors. The main one that I saw was their repetition of the alleged tactical deficiency of the Garand - that when the rifle is empty the enemy knows this because of the "ping" made when the empty clip is ejected. Have you ever shot a .30-06 w/o hearing protection? Do you have any idea how hard it'd be to listen for a "ping" with massive "booms" going off all around you? If you're close enough to hear the "ping" odds are your hearing has already been damaged by muzzle blast. & even if for some reason you did hear the "ping" it'd do you know good. Let's say it takes 2 seconds to load a Garand (a Garand is much faster to load than a magazine fed rifle). You'd have to be within 14 yards to make an effecient & succesful charge of the soldiers position. Now if you got to within 14 yards of a soldier with a Garand trying to stop you then that's probably the soldier's fault & an empty or loaded garand wouldn't matter. But the idea that enemies waited to hear the "ping" & charge is a rumor with no credibility to it. Another thing was about the 1911 pistol. Now I admit I'm not a big fan of the cartridge but I'm not a big opponent of it either. That being said the 300ft-lbs of energy they make a big deal of isn't a big deal. Least not by itself. Many smaller, more ineffecient cartridges produce energy higher than 300 ft-lbs. Raw energy alone isn't that significant. & with that in mind I think they seriously erred in stating it was the "...most powerful weapon in war service." In 1911 troops were issued the 1903 Springfield which fires the .30-06 Springfield which produces something like 8 times the energy of the .45acp (if we accept their idea that raw energy alone is the final word on stopping power). But it is an interesting site. Just take some of the descriptions with a grain of salt.

Posted by: Publicola at March 21, 2004 12:58 PM (Aao25)

4 P, The apocryphal story about Garand clips pinging on the ground is something my dad heard directly from a Korea veteran when he was in the service, so I'm not entirely sure it's apocryphal. However, even if it's true, it's not much of a deficiency: The same guy told Dad that they used this so-called weakness their advantage. Take a couple of guys with full Garands, toss an empty clip on the ground, then mow down the competition when they charge the foxhole full of "empty" rifles. Suckers. You're quite right about the 1911; 300-some ft-lbs of energy isn't terribly much even for a pistol, and it's not even in the same ballpark with rifle cartridges (or at least military rifles in use for the past hundred years or so). Soldiers are the greatest proponents of myth and legend on the face of the earth, and that includes the stories they tell about their weapons, both good and bad. That's why those who rely on soldiers' anecdotes are apt to be led astray when it comes to details of guns and ammo and their performance. It's also why, when I hear soldiers today complaining about the terrible ineffectiveness of the M16 and M9, I take their complaints with a grain of salt (even though both weapons legitimately are underpowered, in my view).

Posted by: Matt Rustler at March 21, 2004 05:05 PM (of2d1)

5 M, I've heard the same story from vets as well - but I've never heard any vet who has directly experienced this. It sounds credible on its face but the reality is that if an enemy was close enough to hear the ping odds are he wouldn't be able to hear it clearly enough to figure out where to charge. & even if he did some how miraculously zero in on the ping he'd have to be pretty damn close to cover the distance before a soldier could reload a Garand. But even if it has some validity its more a testament to the ignorance of an enemy than an indictment of the Garand's shortcomings. Might as well charge a machine gun when it stops firing a burst cause that undoubtedly means they're completely out of ammo. BTW the garand does have 3 faults that I know of: firing 40+ rounds per minute for 20 minutes in a monsoon might let the grease on the op rod track wash away & cause the op rod to seize up: partial clips can be difficult to load; & the damned thing just won't float! (thought with a synthetic stock filled with foam....) But facts aside (why do I sound like a spokeperson for the VPC with that intro?)the soldier's stories abotu their weapons (good & bad) is something we should pay attention to: it gives us an idea of how much confidence they have in their arms. Confidence is something we can't neglect when it comes to the front line troops, so even if they feel their brand new federation pulse rifles aren't adequate Romulan stoppers (despite it being proven that they are) it's usually better to go ahead & let 'em have Disruptors than have them go into combat less than sure of themselves & their arms. But one day let's knock back a drink (or twelve) & discuss the merits (or lack thereof) of issuing a 10mm pistol for the troops (after we start re-issuing Garands of course).

Posted by: Publicola at March 21, 2004 06:25 PM (Aao25)

6 P, Much as I love the Garand, if we're going to start re-issuing a rifle, let's make it the M14. It's just a Garand on steroids, anyway. You're right that the troops' confidence in their weapons should be given weight. I didn't say to ignore anecdotes entirely; I just said to take 'em with a grain of salt. The thing is, if the pulse rifle's genuinely a better weapon, the better solution might be to edumacate the troops, rather than give 'em an inferior weapon for the sake of boosting morale. That's at best a temporary solution. Elan, esprit de corps and good morale get one only so far. Just ask the French.

Posted by: Matt Rustler at March 21, 2004 06:49 PM (of2d1)

7 Publicola, you should be proud of me, i was sorta suspicious of the Garand "ping" story (you taught me that), and the claim that the Colt 1911 was "the most powerful weapon in war service." After all, weren't Fat Man and Little Boy weapons? Matt, historically, we Americans have been known to work wonders with inferior weapons: c.f. how the "Thatch Weave" turned the Wildcat into a match for the Zero.

Posted by: annika! at March 21, 2004 09:29 PM (jyRhN)

8 M, (why am I having an "I'm really a 00 agent" flashback?) The M14 is acceptable. For a start at least. & the M14 isn't exactly a Garand on steroids - not if you go by chambering at least. I know it's simply a matter of preference but I got this thing for the '06 & the 7.62 just ain't the same. Don't get me wrong - it's great for what it is I just prefer the '06. As far as functioning goes a lot fo peeps say the M14 gas system is an improvement, but I'll argue that the Garand's gas system is more reliable. & the mag v. en bloc clip thing - both have advantages & disadvantages but I'm partial to the clip system. At the least I don't think it's a significant disadvantage over a mag system if (big if) you learn how to work it. But the M14 would be acceptable. Hell, a Lee-Enfield or '17 Enfield would be an acceptable replacement for the one we have now. & you're right that education is better than simple appeasement. But if the Disruptor is equally as good or better than the Fed Pulse Rifle then you have to consider that sometimes it's more practical to re arm than re-educate. Besides, what we're talking about (in rather amusing veiled tones) is the M16. I know if I was going into harm's way with one of those things I'd be shakier than normal. Now even if the M16 is adequate for the military's purposes I'd say it'd be better to upgrade than to try to convince a soldier that the little .224" bullet will put an enemy down - eventually! & that the gas system is fine even though it defecates where it eats & jam clearance isn't that difficult anyhow. & why'd ya wanna go & bring the French into this - we're talking about a martial issue. lol But it'd be interesting to get Q..er, I mean A's perspective on this.

Posted by: Publicola at March 21, 2004 09:34 PM (Aao25)

9 A, (sorry - this initial kick is hard to give up) I am proud of you. (morphs into his father/uncle voice - but not a father/uncle that's the same person - either a father or uncle voice) When I saw your first gun related post on that Nazi belt fed machine gun I knew you had potential. Sure, some of my friends scoffed. They didn't think a cute blonde in SF could even get close to being a gun nut - not even a cute conservative blonde in SF. Well you've showed them how wrong they were. Never mind the fact that you're in LA now, or that you live in a state where gun owners have to tie pink ribbons around their muzzles (of the guns that is - not the gun owners)to show fealty to the state. You know to be suspicious of an anecdotal story about a Garand even if it seems valid on its surface. (morphs out of father/uncle voice) But I would disagree about having inferior weapons. Ya see, it's not usually a contest of technology (although to an extent this has happened) but a contest of how to use the available technology. The Zero was very fast & very manuverable - but it was lightly armored & the fuel tanks paid off big if you could hit 'em. The Wildcat was slower & not as agile, but had more protection. So once we figured out how to use what we had it seemed like we bested their tech, but in reality we bested their technique. BTW, I've been on a SW kick lately (despite the ST references with M) & if you do some reading - especially the Rogue Squadron series - you'll see that Lucas took the concepts for the Tie & X Wing from the Zero & Corsair. The Tie was fast & maneuverable but had no shields & no hyperdrive while the X-Wing had shields & a hyperdrive. There were other similarities but I promised myself to only reveal so much "geekiness" per post.

Posted by: Publicola at March 21, 2004 09:51 PM (Aao25)

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It's funny. i first learned about the verb "to Moby" by reading Andrew Sullivan.

As i understand it, Mobying is when someone posts something on a conservative forum, pretending to be a conservative, but saying liberal things in order to confuse and promote disillusionment among conservative voters.

Like for instance, this recent Andrew Sullivan post, where he actually suggests that John Kerry might be obliged to be strong in the War on Terror, simply because he's a Democrat. (An interesting theory, which requires one to ignore our last two Democratic presidents in order to keep from laughing uncontrollably at it.)

Says Andrew Sullivan:

Sometimes, a Democrat has to be tougher than a Republican in this area - if only to credentialize himself. I can certainly conceive of Richard Holbrooke being a tougher secretary of state than Colin Powell. I'm not yet convinced and want to hear much more from Kerry. But I'm persuadable.

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Ha Ha Ha Ha!

Bye bye Stanford, you were so overrated!

i love it. Oh baby, ain't second round upsets a bitch?!

Now that the season's over for him, maybe Josh Childress is free to go make the next House Party movie.

Woooo hoooo!

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i told you Kerry would self-destruct. The process has already begun. The polls may not show it now, or ever, but Kerry keeps making the type of blunders that will not endear him to the undecideds.

From the New York Times:

On his first full day off . . . Mr. Kerry awoke determined to hit the slopes of Mount Baldy.

. . . [A] reporter and a camera crew were allowed to follow along on skis — just in time to see Mr. Kerry taken out by one of the Secret Service men, who had inadvertently moved into his path, sending him into the snow.

When asked about the mishap a moment later, he said sharply, 'I don't fall down,' then used an expletive to describe the agent who 'knocked me over.'

The incident occurred near the summit. No one was hurt, and Mr. Kerry came careering down the mountain moments later, a look of intensity on his face, his lanky frame bent low to the ground.

If character counts, can we really count on this character? What an asshole.

Ass . . . hole.

A smart pro quarterback will always remember to lavish expensive gifts on his offensive line whenever he can. Then there are the idiot quarterbacks who blame their offensive line when things go wrong. Those QB's don't last long. The lesson is, be good to the guys who are there to save your ass. Be very good to them.

Kerry is not only an asshole, he's an idiot. You don't insult someone who's job is to take your bullet.

Moxie makes a great point:

Last summer President Bush fell off a Segway -- on a mode of transport in which it was allegedly impossible to do so. He didn't turn it on first to activate the gyroscopes, but he never blamed anyone. He also managed to leap to safety, landing on his feet.

This is a fundamental difference between John FrankenKerry [link omitted] and George W. Bush.

One takes his blunder in stride and the other points fingers, verbally disrespects someone who protects him all while displaying clear signs of schizophrenia. Some delusions of grandeur . . .

Hugh Hewitt linked to a story about asshole Kerry's shopping trip photo-op.:

The Massachusetts senator and his daughter Vanessa, 27, were escorted from their stately red brick townhouse in Beacon Hill to a nearby Borders bookstore by a seven-car motorcade — two police cars, three SUVs loaded with Secret Service agents and two minivans stuffed with reporters.

[A] gaggle of reporters tailed the senator on his round of errands, just in case he made news.

They were on hand as Kerry perused the history section at Borders, picked up his bicycle from a repair shop and even when he bought a jockstrap, among other items, at a local sporting goods shop.

At Borders, he pulled several books off the shelves - including weighty tomes such as 'The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time and the Texture of Reality' by Brian Greene and Walter Isaacson's biography of Benjamin Franklin, slinging them under his arm as he wandered around the store.

At one point, Kerry asked store manager Don Durica if he had a copy of David Cay Johnston's 'Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich - and Cheat Everybody Else.' The book was quickly procured.

As Kerry left - with seven books, including such titles as 'Middlesex,' 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' and 'Charlie Wilson's War' - Durica thanked him profusely for stopping by.

“Sir, I recommend you buy these two books. Middlesex is very popular with your young single female base and that book by the Spanish guy is always assigned in every college lit class. Plus it’s on Oprah’s club.”

“Well bring em on, then!”

Then JFK and his entourage bounced on over to the sporting goods store, where . . .

the candidate bought a pair of running shorts, some tennis balls and the athletic supporter.

Duhh. His handlers must be ridiculously clueless.

* Actually, Al Gore's favorite book, Stendahl's Le Rouge et le Noir, reminds me a lot of John Kerry. It's about a cynical, arrogant, ambitious, gold-digging, amoral French prick.

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Which Colossal Death Robot Are You?

Holy Prime Directive, you're Robocop!

Well, you're neither colossal, nor technically a robot, but your arthritic lurching and dubious morals have found their way into the hearts of futuristic rebels and children everywhere. You walk through fire, catch bullets from the air, and you never, ever smile. Combine this with an abstract, almost random concept of duty and honour, and you have a police officer one cannot fail to adore.

Thank you, Robocop.

Got this one offa Uncle Screwtape knows best.

More: This quiz is actually very thought provoking. i started wondering: what are the qualities i would look for in an ideal colossal death robot. i think they would be the following:

1. benevolence;


2. indestructibility;


3. gigantic size;


4. loyalty;


5. a silvery exterior.

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1 Hey, I'm Robocop, too!

Posted by: Matt Rustler at March 20, 2004 03:24 PM (of2d1)

2 Um, OK, so Bender from Futurama is more of a robot than Robocop, but has far less going for him in the "collosal" and "death" departments. But, in fairness, Iguess I can accept that it probably fits. I'm not quite still hungover from last night, but I'm not exactly feeling great either...

Posted by: Dave J at March 20, 2004 03:39 PM (+MjkF)

3 Colossal Death Robots would make excellent high school mascots! Ain't no mortal Lion or Eagle gonna take down a Colossal Death Robot! The superpowers would be inspirational, and would work well in cheerleader chants and posters. There would be no danger of offending any human groups, such as "Guatemalans." There could be trouble from wimp-ass "Anti-Violence" people-- but the positives outweigh the negatives-- and I feel this could be overcome. Unless another school adopts a mascot that can target our official Robot weakness-- our Kryptonite, as it were-- we are home free in the mascot fight, as we will kill any regular mascot in poster combat! Robot superpowers rule!

Posted by: gcotharn in Texas at March 20, 2004 09:15 PM (rZmE1)

4 I am soooo Optimus Prime.

Posted by: Kin at March 21, 2004 12:38 AM (ZQldT)

5 Um, OK, so Bender from Futurama is more of a robot than Robocop, but has far less going for him in the "collosal" and "death" departments. But what if he was 500 ft. tall? "I came here with a simple dream. A dream of killing all humans. And this is how it must end? Who's the real 7 billion ton robot monster here? Not I, not I..."

Posted by: D at March 21, 2004 01:36 AM (n3IaT)

6 As always, your insightful commentary is what keeps me coming back to your site....

Posted by: Susie at March 21, 2004 08:04 AM (foeQj)

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Sorry, that's how i feel about lying sack of shit "professor" Kerri Dunn of Claremont McKenna College. CMC is a local, highly rated university, which now has a bit of a credibility issue, thanks to "professor" Dunn.

Dunn claimed that her car had been vandalized while she was speaking at an on campus event about hate crimes.

The windows were broken, the tires were slashed, and the body of the vehicle was spray painted with various racial and homophobic epithets.

Then it was revealed that lying sack of shit professor vandalized her own car and made a fraudulent police report about the incident. This Powerline essay contains the best blog coverage of this outrage, with pictures of the loser. Infinite Monkeys' commentary is also a must read. Ben's money quote is this:

Understand . . . that there really is a war of ideas being waged in the United States and around the world today. The self-styled forces of 'progress' believe that justice is on their side. And they'll lie and cheat to make damned certain of it.

Legitimate hate crimes do occur. Now this bitch just singlehandedly cast a shadow of doubt on all such future incidents, legit or otherwise. i wonder if the KKK and various neo-nazi groups will be sending her a thank you note. They should, she's done them quite a favor.

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i've been silent this week because i'm helping Linda out on a trial. This basically means that i either sit in the audience and run errands for her, or do research and write little motions back at the office. Which is why i'm here tonight and not out drinking on St. Patrick's Day.

The trial is quite interesting. Hard to predict how it's going so far. Both sides are scoring points and the jury is hard to read.

The plaintiffs' case includes a claim for loss of consortium. In case you don't know, this is a claim that can be made when one spouse is injured and the other non-injured spouse says they lost out on sex, affection, love, help around the house and other stuff like that. We represent the defendants.

What i want to know, just out of curiosity, is what you folks think about that type of a lawsuit. In Linda's case, one plaintiff received some minor injuries: sore back, sore neck, etc., which went away with some physical therapy after two or three months. During those two or three months, the husband complained that they weren't able to have sex their usual two times per week, and the wife couldn't help around the house as much. They're both in their late thirties and they've been married 14 years.

Assuming that the defendants were negligent for causing the wife's minor injuries, what would you do about the husband's claim if you were on the jury?

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Spanish troops did not fight alongside the US in the recent war. They only helped us afterwards. Their contribution of 1300 soldiers to the post war occupation is much less than the contributions of Italy (3000), Poland (2500), and Great Britain (8220). Roughly equal to Spain's were the contributions of The Netherlands (1300) and the Ukraine (1650) to the occupation forces.

So why Spain? Why were they chosen for the first big hit? (After Bali, of course, who sent no troops.)

You might say it's because the attack was timed to coincide with the election. i don't believe it. Not with the numerological significance of 911 days after 9/11, on 3/11. i think people are giving the bastards too much credit by assuming they planned to affect the political process.

These terrorist assholes are superstitious, backward and politically unsophisticated. But numbers and dates of historical significance are very important to these pigs. They think they're students of history. They think they understand history. We all know they have long memories. 9/11 apparently has some centuries old significance to them.

This is why i think Spain was chosen for this first big time European attack. It really had little to do with Iraq, despite what the pigs said in their video, and despite what the majority of Spanish voters seemed to think. Spain was at the top of the bastards' list because of the Crusades, and Andalusia, and Ferdinand and Isabella. Long before we went into Iraq, Osama was making repeated references to the loss of Spain by the Moors. They're obsessed with Andalusia, because it was the height of their once great civilization, and a symbol of how far they've fallen.

If the 3/11 attack was solely a retaliation for cooperation in Iraq, why not hit London first? Why not hit Italy or Poland first. It wouldn't have been that hard to hit the Dutch or the Ukranians before Spain. Why go after the country that's number six on the coalition list when there's other easy targets with more "culpability" in the war?

Because the terrorists are pissed off at Spain for a lot more than just having been our friends. They hate Spain for the Reconquista. They will always hate Spain, until it's theirs again.

So if the Spanish socialists and those who voted for them think they can escape future attacks by pulling out of Iraq . . . i'm not so sure. The only way they (or any of us, really) can be safe is to convert now and become an islamic dictatorship under sharia law. That's not my opinion, it's what the terrorists themselves have been saying they want.

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Yah, another quiz. Find out where you live in Politopia.

North-You are a Northerner-a free marketeer-which means that you advocate a diminished role for the government in the economic realm. You are more or less pleased with the government's role in the personal realm.

Got it offa doubleplusgood.

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My head hurts a bit this morning form a few too many bottles of Pacifico last night. i'm reading stuff on the internet instead of getting to work. There seems to be a lack of good analysis on the Spain thing, which i can understand; i myself can't seem to put together a coherent post on it. The lefties are having no problems though. Guys like fisk are positively gleeful. On the right, NRO is more subdued.

Lesson: terrorism can work. Prediction: therefore expect more of it. Expect more terrorism aimed at the United Kingdom, against Australia, against Poland, and – ultimately – against the United States. For the terrorists must now wonder: If murder can influence elections in Spain – why not in the United States?

In the United States, the terrorists have to make a very fine calculation: Which would hurt President Bush, their supereme enemy, more – to attack or not to attack?

Update: Thank God for the Australians, though.

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Very depressed today. Looking at lefty blogs will do that to me. Also trying to figure out what the Spain election means.

Everything i try to type about the Spanish election ends up looking trite, so i backspace it out. i guess i'm just not in the mood. In lieu of my own thoughts, here's what i found at Iberian Notes:

What happened? It's clear: the people of Spain are not willing to risk standing up to domestic or international terrorism and would prefer to appease the terrorists in hopes that they will be left alone in the future. . . . A victory for appeasement. A victory for cowardice. The Spanish people demonstrated today that they have no courage.

Too many innocent people died Thursday, but the most Spain will do to right that wrong is maybe throw a handful of conspirators in jail. And hope the terrorists don't blow something else up in retaliation for their friends' incarceration. Meanwhile, we have one less ally as we do the hard, hard work of bringing fundamental change to the region that produces such murderers, so things like this will stop happening.

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Remember my recent post on Swedish uranium? Here's another tentative Swedish connection. i'm not quite sure what to make of it.

According to the Czech Republic news agency, CTK, Czech police seized "hundreds of tons of imported, military-grade plastic explosives and detained two men on weapon-trafficking charges on March 10." The police, no doubt sensitive to protocol, failed to identify the country from which the shipments originated but a Czech newspaper spilled the beans: The country is Sweden and the shipment was 328 tons of explosives. 328 tons! Might have blown up all of Madrid for all I know.

Link via Little Green Footballs.

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This fucking bitch wouldn't be smiling if i ever got hold of her.

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I was saddened and outraged by the news of the terrible attacks in Madrid this morning. I am horrified at the large number of dead and injured.
--German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder

In these horrifying circumstances, I extend in my name and in the name of the French people, my most sincere condolences.
--French President Jacques Chirac

An end must be put to this. As never before, it is vital to unite forces of the entire world community against terror.
--Russian President Vladimir Putin

The Holy Father reiterates his firm and absolute disapproval of such actions that offend God, violate the fundamental right to life and undermine peaceful coexistence.
--Vatican on behalf of Pope John Paul II

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Betty and i were in Spain two years ago. i fell in love with the country and the people. Betty's family on her mother's side is Spanish. Ever since then we've been saving to go back. This was supposed to be the year. We were a little worried about terrorism back in 2002, but our worries turned out to be unfounded. Oh there were a few car bombings in Seville for the WTA meeting a few weeks before we arrived, but nothing on the scale of this morning's train bombings.

In 2002, we rode the AVE high speed train from Seville to Madrid. It was one of the most pleasant train rides i've ever had, and we met some really cool people. i remember disembarking at the Atocha Station, which was one of the targets hit this morning. i feel so sad for the people of Madrid. During our visit, we were both impressed by how friendly, not to mention attractive, everybody was. This attack makes me sick.

i could be wrong, but i personally believe this was done by muslim terrorists, if not Al Qaeda itself. The Spanish government initially said that the explosives were the same type used by ETA. But that doesn't convince me. Naturally, Al Qaeda would use the same type, they probably obtained the explosives from the same black market source. And they've been itching to get back at Spain ever since Boabdil got kicked out of Granada back in 1492.

Although the UN was quick to blame ETA, this AJC.com article leads me to believe that the m.o. of this attack is not at all consistent with ETA's style. For instance:

[I]f ETA did conduct such a large and wholesale attack in its quest for independence of the Basque region in Spain and France, it would represent a major shift in its tactics.

'It does not compare with anything they have done . . . This kind of indiscriminate killing is totally unlike them so far,' said Joseba Zulaika, a professor and director of the Center for Basque Studies at the University of Nevada at Reno.

. . .

Zulaika said the group's attacks have usually been marked by advance warning and that the separatists were critical of police in 1987 for what they said was failure to warn the public of a bomb ETA had planted in Barcelona.

(Madrid blogger John still holds that ETA was responsible. His excellent blog, Iberian Notes, is the place to go for news on this tragedy.)

There have already been large anti-ETA demonstrations across Spain, just as there were a few years ago after one of the last ETA attacks.

The Spanish Government has been a solid ally of this country, while it's people have been somewhat more critical of us. If it turns out that this was an islamic terrorist bombing, perhaps they will realize that being anti-US is no protection from these subhuman bastards who simply enjoy killing.

Update: John makes a strong case for ETA as the culprit. The comment thread here is quite interesting.

Update 2: Spanish Prime Minister Aznar still thinks it was ETA. But remember, Aznar was very tough on ETA, and in fact survived an assassination attempt by them. There's an election this weekend and if the bombers were ETA, Aznar's party would benefit. However, if the attackers were Al Qaeda, Aznar's party might not benefit, since he has been severely criticized for his support of the US in the Iraq war.

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Because he puts it much better than i could, here is Lileks' take on the question of which side is taking the high road and which side the low road in this election.

People say all sorts of things in elections. The underlings and infantry fire the cheap shots, and let the big dogs lope along the high road. But when the top officials of the party start slinging the slander, weÂ’ve entered a different era. And no one seems to notice, because the story becomes the charge, not the nature of the accusation.

Accusing oneÂ’s opponent of treason is a personal attack. Al Gore accused Bush of 'betraying this country.' Reasonable people could say he misled the country, or misruled the country, and make the argument to support the assertion, but 'betrayed' is a word that has a special quality when talking about the President of the United States. IÂ’ve heard General Wesley Clark question the PresidentÂ’s patriotism, and insist that his religious beliefs were misguided, because the Democratic Party is the party that truly hews to Christian doctrines. . . . And of course we heard Governor Dean insert the 'Bush was warned' meme into the body politic.

There’s nothing comparable on the other side. Nothing. I mean, the Bush team runs an ad that has a second of 9/11 footage, and his opponents pitch a carefully staged fit – because that’s all they have.

Posted by: annika at 10:58 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Doh!

This one contained an ad for some car dealer, and the following strange message:

I am a single serving friend. My job was to apply the formula. How embarrassing. There were many examples of animals all around.

(I'm loving the way you walk with me so quietly, contentedly.) I can never describe the walk back to my truck. The continuation of our species matters more than you can imagine. It is the single most important thing we can do. That could well be the answer.

My job was to apply the formula. I wished so deeply for the change to come about. I wished so deeply for the change to come about. I'll tell you what happened next.

Love, and hate, are powerful emotions. Don't do that, the cat pointed out. But under the circumstances, I'd do it again. I'm cold, you said, staring at the continuation we had to feel through yesterday. A house full of condiments and no food.

Posted by: annika at 12:09 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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i'm so disgusted by John Kerry. Four years ago i never would have believed that the Democrats could produce a candidate with less character than Al Gore. But John Kerry makes Gore Look like George Washington. i truly believe Kerry is more dishonorable than Bill or even Hillery Clinton. He's a disgrace.

Just as it happened with Al Gore, at some point the media will not be able to cover for him anymore. His deficiencies will reach a critical mass and he will self destruct. i think it's sad. Edwards would have been so much better for the Democratic Party, but they've made their bed now. They're so consumed with their irrational Bush hatred, that they had to choose a hater, rather than Edwards, who actually had a positive message.

Captain's Quarters is all over Kerry's latest gaffe:

Senator John Kerry revealed an ugly and poorly controlled side of himself when he thought he was off-mike this afternoon while speaking with AFL-CIO union workers in Chicago:

'. . . "Keep smiling," one man said to him.

Kerry responded, "Oh yeah, don't worry man. We're going to keep pounding, let me tell you -- we're just beginning to fight here. These guys are the most crooked, you know, lying group of people I've ever seen."'

Simply appalling. . . . you can see a Kerry aide hurriedly trying to disconnect the microphone, to no avail, which leads me to wonder what else John Kerry says when he thinks the mikes are off.

Kerry obviously meant the president, the vice president, Karl Rove and the president's re-election campaign. . . .

Now the media needs to call him on it. What's the evidence for 'crooked,' for 'lying?' What's he mean, and in detail. You don't get to walk away from such outrageous charges with a laugh and a wave. Kerry was a defender of Clinton, recall, a president demonstrated to be a liar and crooked. . . . But Bush-Cheney are worse than Clinton in Kerry's world. The president let slip once in 2000 what he thought of New York Times' reporter Adam Clymer, and the world collapsed on him. Kerry's charge is so much more serious that it defies comparison.

When Bush made his Adam Clymer comment, at least he was saying it to an aide, not a member of the public. Kerry was walking along a receiving line, shaking hands with the public, when he slandered the president.

You've seen these events on CSPAN. A candidate spends maybe a half hour shaking hands with total strangers, trying to be friendly and trying to make everyone think that he really cares who's hand heÂ’s shaking. ItÂ’s repetitive business, so they always have their standard canned comments, which they repeat at every receiving line.

Usually the canned comments are along the lines of "Nice to see you . . ." "How you doing . . ." or "It's great to be here . . ." When Kerry says "We're going to keep pounding . . . we're just beginning to fight here," i imagine those are phrases he's said hundreds of times at hundreds of different events.

Which leads me to question whether Kerry also repeats, soto voce, that "These guys are the most crooked . . . lying group of people I've ever seen" every time he shakes hands at an event.

What's even more disgraceful is that the guy is a coward. Since he's not fooling anybody when his lackeys at Reuters and AP try to cover for him, why not admit the truth and say: "Yes, IÂ’m talking about this administration!" That would certainly appeal to his base, proving his right to take over Dean's spot as chief hate-monger. Instead, by backing down from the obvious intent of his remark, he makes himself look weak on the single most important issue to his base: Bush hatred.

Kerry wants it both ways. He wants to energize his live crowds by letting them know he's just as irrationally mean and hate-filled as they are. At the same time, he wants to appear civilized and centrist when he's on camera, to appeal to the swing voters who don't normally attend political rallies.

Here's more proof of Kerry's two-faced approach:

The East Bay for Kerry / MoveOn House party on December 7th combined the forces of two grass-roots organizations based in San Francisco East Bay Area. . . .

When Teresa Heinz-Kerry arrived, she handed me a pin that read in the center: 'Asses of Evil' with 'Bush', 'Cheney', 'Rumsfeld' and 'Ashcroft' surrounding it.

The candidate's wife is perfectly comfortable calling the President of the United States "evil" and an "ass," along with the Vice President, the Secretary of Defense and the Attorney General. Then the candidate himself expects us to ignore our own ears and believe that he wasn't calling the President of the United States "crooked" and a "liar."

(It reminds me of the Simpsons episode when Side Show Bob was up for parole and the parole board asked him why he was wearing a t-shirt that said "Die Bart Die" on it and he said, "Oh, it's not what you think, that's German for 'The Bart, the.'")

Al Gore had his problems, personality-wise, but he was never this bad. When Kerry loses in November, without a Florida or a Nader as excuses, will the Democrats be honest enought to realize that they have only themselves to blame? i doubt it.

Posted by: annika at 06:22 PM | Comments (17) | Add Comment
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1 I have to say, I find the "asses of evil" thing terribly funny. I haven't got much of an opinion on the rest of it. I certainly don't think that the "Anyone but Bush" attitude is a very intelligent one, but on the other hand I really do not want him re-elected, and the democrats made their choice. Argh. I am just not up for thinking at the moment. But really - Asses of Evil? Funny.

Posted by: other Annika at March 10, 2004 10:17 PM (/cd58)

2 Hey, I'm an older guy who thinks these thoughts, Annika. When you articulate them, it does my heart good. "If you are are twenty and not a liberal, you have no heart; if you are thirty and not a conservative, you have no brain" von Bismarck Annika, whatever age, you are right on on this one. By the way, eight months out, polls mean little; the incumbancy and the funds to send the message are daunting to Kerry, and he is now facing the doldrums (look it up guys). Watch the polls change in the next few months. Kerry is a dead man walking. I don't care if he gets Hillary, Billary or Dock to be his running mate.

Posted by: Shelly S. at March 10, 2004 10:45 PM (rZmE1)

3 Annika, he gets to me too. I said the other day that my hatred for Kerry is reaching bushian proportions lately, and I mean it more and more every day. He keeps doing these things that make me absolutely loathe him.

Posted by: Sarah at March 11, 2004 06:49 AM (efcHv)

4 Do you know where I could hear a clip of Kerry saying this? I can't find one anywhere, and living overseas, we don't get to hear that kind of stuff. (It was a week before I heard Dean's scream.)

Posted by: Sarah at March 11, 2004 07:06 AM (efcHv)

5 Yes, Kerry is looking more and more like a nastier and more odious Gore each day. Inconsistent, contrived and totally transparent. He's also following Dean's path perfectly. Nothing but nasty, no-class venom. He'll have a short lived boost from the moonbats but soon mostly everyone will tire of his shtick and send him to a dismal defeat. A few years from now he'll be an obscure Trivial Pursuit question (next to Paree' Hilton).

Posted by: Radical Redneck at March 11, 2004 07:37 AM (tyrEY)

6 As a 36 year-old whose liberalism should have passed its expiration date half a decade ago, let me jump in with both feet. Annika, leaving aside Kerry's merits (don't blame me, you know full well I voted for and sent money to Dennis Kucinich), it's not as if this kind of invective is new in American politics. By 19th century standards (with the famous low point of the 1884 election between Cleveland, and I think, James G. Blaine), "crooked liars" is tame stuff indeed. Nixon's Watergate tapes revealed a stunningly foul mouth. And I don't think angry words are hate-mongering. Why, some of my best friends are Republicans. I regularly call them "heartless capitalist bastards"; they regularly call me an "effete limousine liberal out of touch with the regular world". Then we all have a good laugh and go grab a latte. Chill, folks. By the way, Kerry loses Florida but takes Ohio and West Virginia. All other states stay the same as in 2000; Dems take the White House. Hugo's personal prediction.

Posted by: Hugo at March 11, 2004 07:41 AM (828RD)

7 Hugo, To paraphrase another Nixon moment, I wear a proper Republican cloth coat and drink proper Republican black coffee....If your GOP friends drink lattes, they should be admonished. At a bar near the MA state house, I notice that Democrats also tend to order single malt scotch with ice...which is like pouring CA Chardonnay into a Bordeaux Cabernet...i.e., insanity. Annika, I share your disdain for Kerry, I live in Boston and know people who have been on the Cape/Islands witnessing Kerry pull his famous, petulant DYKWIA moments, these give deep insight into the man's character. The problem is if you thought the infamous 2000 James Byrd NAACP ad was the worst it could possibly get from the Dems, you ain't seen nuthin' yet. By Memorial day this campaign will be vicious beyond any precedent...and still with 60 days before the convention!!!

Posted by: Jason O. at March 11, 2004 08:37 AM (QyDeG)

8 "you know full well I voted for and sent money to Dennis Kucinich...Then we all have a good laugh and go grab a latte..." Who is this eunuch?

Posted by: Radical Redneck at March 11, 2004 08:56 AM (tyrEY)

9 "Ma, ma, where's my pa? Gone to the White House ha, ha, ha!" No, Hugo, i know "crooked liar" is sorta tame by James Callender standards, but it's the sort of thing that should be spoken by surrogates, not the major candidate himself.

Posted by: annika! at March 11, 2004 09:13 AM (zAOEU)

10 Just to refresh your memories on Republican vulgarity: "We kicked a little ass last night" George H.W. Bush after debating Geraldine Ferraro, 1984... And my dear Mr. Redneck, you are invited out with me and my pals any time for lattes and stimulating, good natured political dialogue. Go Bears.

Posted by: Hugo at March 11, 2004 10:59 AM (828RD)

11 I know Kerry must be loathsome because Annika doesn't even bother to misspell his name. John Kerry's our man! flips-flops in the wind just like Bill Clinton's scrotum Kevin

Posted by: Kevin Kim at March 11, 2004 12:54 PM (amj7F)

12 Hey Kevin, what's your character for John Kerry look like? i think you should transmogriphy the Howard Dean cock into a Kerry lookalike?

Posted by: annie at March 11, 2004 12:58 PM (zAOEU)

13 Ooops, i just checked Kevin's site. Keep the sheep-fucker motif, it works!

Posted by: annie again at March 11, 2004 01:02 PM (zAOEU)

14 Who's Carey? He sounds French.

Posted by: d-rod at March 11, 2004 01:39 PM (CSRmO)

15 Qui c'est, ce "Carey"? une carie = a (dental) cavity Kevin

Posted by: Kevin Kim at March 11, 2004 02:17 PM (amj7F)

16 "Four years ago i never would have believed that the Democrats could produce a candidate with less character than Al Gore. But John Kerry makes Gore Look like George Washington." Classic!

Posted by: Mark at March 11, 2004 08:47 PM (q1/F4)

17 "Go Bears" No. Raidahs!

Posted by: Radical Redneck at March 12, 2004 08:02 AM (tyrEY)

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The whole point of announcing my Blog-versary was to get nice comments and posts like this one.

Did i mention my birthday's coming up?

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