RWN returns on Monday. Have a great week-end!

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Tongue Tied
Tony Snow: Fear Is A Waste Of Time

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From Betsy Newmark:

"Democratic senators seem conflicted on how to vote on the Roberts nomination. They could oppose him in great numbers and hope that that would intimidate Bush to name someone more moderate for the next nomination. Or they could support Roberts and then oppose the second one and say, "Oh no, we're not doctrinaire - see we voted for Roberts in great numbers. We're just against this new nominee for good and fair reasons." By not nominating someone already for the O'Connor seat, Bush has exacerbated their decision.

Their more extremist supporters in all the interest groups lined up against Roberts don't have such subtleties in mind. They don't like this guy and they won't like the next nominee. And they won't like Senators giving Roberts a pass.

You might say it's the horns of a dilemma for them, especially since the public at large approves of Roberts. I wonder what game theory would tell them to do. Any experts out there?"

From John Hawkins:

Ooooh, I'll take a crack at it.

The problem the Democrats are having with Roberts and will have with the next nominee is that their votes are meaningless. There are 55 Republican Senators and unless Bush nominates an ax murderer, it's going to be practically impossible to peel 6 of them off. Furthermore, since Lindsey Graham and John McCain have in essence said they're willing to pull the trigger on the nuclear option if there's a filibuster, that option is cut off as well for the Democrats. Moreover, the Democrats have "cried wolf" so many times in the past about "extremism" that the just public is going to matter-of-factly write off their hysterics about any nominee as pure partisanship.

What it all comes down to is that Democrats have very little leverage.

So, what they should do, if they were being smart, is vote for Roberts en masse. That allows them to portray themselves as reasonable and plus, they can always hope that display might influence Bush to pick a nominee who's more acceptable to them. Put another way, from the Democrats perspective, it would be much better to confirm a Clement, Gonzales, or a Wilkinson for that second seat on the Supreme Court with 95 votes than to confirm a Brown, Luttig, or Owen with 55.

Personally, I'd rather that the Democrats overwhelmingly vote against Roberts because it would help show the public and the Bush administration that they're not dealing with reasonable people. Fortunately, many members of the Dems' liberal base are proponents of knee jerk oppositionalism to everything Bush does and so, they are demanding that Democratic Senators vote against Roberts.

That should suit Republicans just fine.

Some of my readers have written in asking for a slightly fuller explanation of structural unemployment.

Did you ever watch Little House on the Prairie? I looooooved Little House on the Prairie. I love my parents and all, but let's be frank: I wanted the Ingalls family to adopt me. To be honest, I dreamed about it.

If you did watch the show, you may remember that every so often Charles (the father of the Ingalls family) had to go off and work as a freight hauler, or on a railroad gang, because the crops had failed.

Anyway, what struck me recently--and I have no idea why this just struck me, because it's fairly obvious--was that this used to be fairly common. A farm worker is also perfectly capable of sweeping cinders in a factory, or digging ditches at a construction site, or hauling sacks of flour from Point A to Point B.

As our economy has mechanized, of course, the relative demand for skilled labour has gone up, and the relative demand for unskilled labour has gone down. We all know that; it's why we're sitting in front of that nice shiny computer instead of walking behind a mule like Grandpa did.

Skill implies specificity. Some skills are general, like reading, but many more are very specific; knowing how to run a metal lathe doesn't teach you very much about perming hair or setting a broken bone.

What that means is that when the industrial composition of our economy changes, because machines can do some jobs better than people (word processors instead of secretaries), because other countries can do some things better than we can (Chinese-manufactured electronics), or simply because some markets got overcrowded (telecoms and web retailers), it takes a lot longer for employment to adjust than it used to, because workers' skills are very specific to their old industries or jobs. This sort of unemployment is known as "structural unemployment", as opposed to "cyclical unemployment", which happens when companies lay off workers they expect to rehire in the future as a result of temporary downturns in demand.

This has been, to my mind, the most convincing explanation offered so far as to why job creation has lagged in the current recovery. This is not quite a new phenomenon--remember the "jobless recovery" in the early Clinton years?--but as an explanation, it is resisted fiercely by those opposed to Bush, who would like to write off our nation's lacklustre job creation to the ineptness of the current administration.

But it dovetails well with something else we know, which is that the returns to skilled labour have been increasing sharply since the 1970's, while the returns to unskilled labour have fallen dramatically. Since unskilled or semiskilled labour is probably the easiest to move around (except for jobs pretty far up the professional tier--investment bankers moving into CFO jobs and so forth), the decline in demand for unskilled labour over the past thirty years or so has probably resulted in a labour market that is simply more rigid in times of change.

This content was used with permission of Asymmetrical Information

I know many of you may see a post about Cindy Sheehan and immediately think: "She's old news; don't even bother to cover her."

I gotta disagree, folks.

Although I'm sick of her, too, she's an influential and beloved figure on the left, and she obviously speaks for much of the anti-war crowd in this country. Because of that, it's fair to say that were a liberal like Hillary Clinton to be elected, many people who adore and think just like Cindy Sheehan would end up in the White House making policy decisions. Since that's the case, her views deserve attention....especially since Sheehan is calling for an end to the occupation in a new place!

In the past, Sheehan has called for the US to move out of Afghanistan and Iraq, but today she upped the ante by calling for them to move out of the United States, too...well, New Orleans at least:

One thing that truly troubled me about my visit to Louisiana was the level of the military presence there. I imagined before that if the military had to be used in a CONUS (Continental US) operations that they would be there to help the citizens: Clothe them, feed them, shelter them, and protect them. But what I saw was a city that is occupied. I saw soldiers walking around in patrols of 7 with their weapons slung on their backs. I wanted to ask one of them what it would take for one of them to shoot me. Sand bags were removed from private property to make machine gun nests.

The vast majority of people who were looting in New Orleans were doing so to feed their families or to get resources to get their families out of there. If I had a store with an inventory of insured belongings, and a tragedy happened, I would fling my doors open and tell everyone to take what they need: it is only stuff. When our fellow citizens are told to "shoot to kill" other fellow citizens because they want to stay alive, that is military and governmental fascism gone out of control.

...If George Bush truly listened to God and read the words of the Christ, Iraq and the devastation in New Orleans would have never happened. I don't care if a human being is black, brown, white, yellow or pink. I don't care if a human being is Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, or pagan. I don't care what flag a person salutes: if a human being is hungry, then it is up to another human being to feed him/her. George Bush needs to stop talking, admit the mistakes of his all around failed administration, pull our troops out of occupied New Orleans and Iraq, and excuse his self from power. The only way America will become more secure is if we have a new administration that cares about Americans even if they don't fall into the top two percent of the wealthiest."

I think the overwhelming majority of Americans, as opposed to moonbats like Cindy Sheehan, think the military came to New Orleans, and is still there, to clothe, feed, shelter, and protect people after the disaster.

But see, that's the difference between most people and anti-war wackos like Cindy Sheehan.

The average person who's still in New Orleans probably takes a great deal of comfort in having all those troops around after a disaster like Katrina. On the other hand, Cindy Sheehan and her anti-war ilk view the troops as "occupiers" who are to be feared, even when they're aiding other Americans.

That, as much as anything else Cindy Sheehan has said so far, should tell you how out of touch she is with reality.

Hat tip to the Drudge Report for the story.

When you finish up with Right Wing News today, make sure to check out my other blog, Conservative Grapevine for some of the best posts in the blogosphere today.

That's Conservative Grapevine: where bloggers go to see what's happening on the right side of the blogosphere.

In the comments section of one of the posts here at RWN, Right Wing Sparkle pointed me over to a post on her blog called cyber sexism.

RWS was apparently inspired to write on the topic because Ilyka Damen has been so scarred by her time in the blogosphere as a woman that she has decided to have a cyber-sex change and come back as a man =D:

"This was really just a long preamble to saying that I'm quitting this blog.

I'm getting a sex change. Not in real life, but in internet life. I intend to come back as a man.

I'm not worried about whether I can pull it off. I'm pretty sure I can. Perhaps it won't work and I'll wind up unmasked, exposed--a Libertarian Girl in reverse (but, dear God, I do hope with better writing, and definitely with better ideas).

I don't care. It will be nice to have a some time, however much time that works out being, to see what it's like to just not deal with the bullsh*t. To see what it's like when the worst you're ever called is a "f*cking idiot" instead of a "fat disgruntled chick" or a "self-loathing skank." To see what it's like when someone says "great post" instead of "can I be your stalker?" To see what it's like when someone visits to see what you wrote, not to see whether you've put up a picture on the "About" page yet.

It will be so nice to just not deal with the laugh-out-loud hilarity of bimbo jokes. As a man, I'll be able to ignore all that. Even if I don't ignore all that, my objections will be far more likely to be met with "I disagree, but I respect your opinion" than "I can pretty much guarantee these ladies / girls / women / wymyn / people don’t want to goad me into a debate on feminism and identity politics."

Personally, I don't think angry, feminist diatribes coming from "Lance Uppercut" are going to draw any more eyeballs than angry, feminist diatribes coming from Ilyka Damen, but ya know -- whatever floats her boat.

To be fair to Ilyka, her main complaint seems to be that some men in the blogosphere say sexist things or don't take her as seriously because she's a woman -- well, at least, I think that's it. I didn't really pay that much attention because it was, ya know, chick stuff...kidding, I'm kidding ;D

Seriously, women in the blogosphere do sometimes get particularly nasty, gender related insults aimed at them. But, is there really that big of a difference between getting called a "self-loathing skank" and "self-loathing jerk?" The insults don't go away for men, they're just different. If you don't believe that, just go take a look at some of the hate mail I get here at RWN. For example:

"You dirty right wing piece of sh*t - you deserve an early death. We, the people of the world, deserve your early death."

If he had said: "You dirty right wing bimbo, you deserve an early death," would it have made that much of a difference? See, I'd say, "no." Of course, maybe that's just me.

As far as men wanting to see a picture goes, I don't know how you can make it through a day in our sex drenched culture where scantily clad honeys are used to sell everything from beer to cars if this sort of thing upsets you. If anything, the blogosphere is much less image obsessed than TV, where in most cases you have to be one of the "beautiful people" to even be considered for a job reading local news off a teleprompter.

But, I don't want to spend all my time on Ilyka's post. Back to Right Wing Sparkle:

"...big boy bloggers like John Hawkins of Right Wing News couldn't think of too many conservative women bloggers. And even bigger boy bloggers, Instapundit and Hugh Hewitt don't link us too much."

Look, this needs to be said: being female is absolutely no impediment to advancing in the blogosphere. None. Just look at Michelle Malkin if you don't believe that. Michelle started her blog in June of 2004 and she's already the third biggest right-of-center blogger.

She certainly isn't being held back by sexism in the blogosphere...and how could she be? In the blogosphere, there are no gatekeepers, there are no significant barriers to entry. As far as "who links who" goes, I haven't seen the slightest evidence that any of the bigger bloggers are deliberately choosing not to link women.

Oh, but what about Hugh Hewitt & Instapundit? Didn't RWS say they don't link women that often?

Personally? I believe it has been more than 2 months since Hugh linked RWN and I don't even remember the last time I got linked by Instapundit. So if there's supposed to be a "good old boys" club, I'm certainly not in it either.

What I think some people lose sight of is the way traffic flows in the blogosphere. There are only a handful of big blogs out there and most of them focus on pumping out content, not linking other blogs. When you combine that with the fact that there are hundreds, maybe even thousands of conservative/libertarian blogs out there competing for attention, you have to realize that it's going to be tough to get linked on these big blogs whether you're a man or a woman. Gender has nothing to do with it.

What it all comes down to is that cyber sexism isn't holding anyone back in the blogosphere.

Also see: Why There's A Dearth Of A-List Female Bloggers.

Did you ever see that episode of the Simpsons that featured the "screamapillar"? Homer built Marge a Koi Pond as a gift and this incredibly irritating howling worm called the screamapillar moved in. Because it was so loud and grating, Homer couldn't wait to kill it. But, right as he was about to squash the little monster, an EPA worker shows up, says it's endangered, and threatens him with jail time if anything happens to the screeching bug.

The whole point being that you have this annoying little insect who's making life miserable for the Simpsons by making awful noises and keeping them up all night, but because of dumb government regulations, they're not able to get rid of the worm.

Could that sort of thing happen in real life? Absolutely. In fact, it has. Meet the real life version of the screamapillar, the sea lion:

"Think of them as amphibious sumo wrestlers. A pack of rowdy sea lions has invaded Newport Harbor, sinking boats, thrashing docks and, with their nonstop barking, turning residents into sleepless zombies.

In a scene that has played out up and down the West Coast, the whiskered creatures are charming tourists but exasperating local officials, who are considering a bizarre array of methods to thwart the federally protected mammals.

Tonight, the Harbor Commission will discuss the situation, which took on added urgency after 18 sea lions piled onto a 37-foot sailboat this month and sank it.

The sheriff's harbor patrol has been fielding at least two noise complaints a day, Sgt. David Ginther said.

"A barking dog doesn't hold a candle to this. It's like 40 barking dogs — in SurroundSound," grumbled Balboa Peninsula resident Darci Schriber.

...Sea lions have also tormented Monterey, trapping people aboard boats, attacking city workers and defecating and vomiting on docks.

Elsewhere, the animals have attacked swimmers, chomped boogie boards and even yanked people off boats.

Once hunted to the brink of extinction, California sea lions now number 300,000 to 400,000 off U.S. shores, thanks largely to the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act, which made it illegal to kill, injure or harass the creatures."

If you want an example of what's wrong with the Federal government, this will do.

Maybe it made sense back in 1972 to protect sea lions since they were on the "brink of extinction." But, when you have 300,000-400,000 of the ugly, noisome beasts roaming around, it's a whole different ball game. Yet, you still have the federal government gravely inconveniencing human beings today based on conditions that existed 33 years ago.

You think FEMA should be a first responder after a hurricane? You want the Feds to take over our healthcare system? Heck, the Federal government can't even properly deal with sea lions!

Katrina Death Toll Passes 700: 474 In LA

Bush Pledges Historic Effort To Help Gulf Coast Recover. President Says U.S. Will Learn From Mistakes (Free Wapo Reg Req)

Text Of Bush's Speech

Kathleen Blanco Timeline

Floods' Pollutants Within The Norm (Free WAPO Reg Req)

G.O.P. Split Over Big Plans For Storm Spending (Free Nyt Reg Req)

Major Developments in Katrina's Aftermath (Free WAPO Reg Req)

Gonzales: We'll Fight to Keep God in Pledge

Fox Poll: Bush Approval 41%

Reuters Explains Photo Of Bush Bathroom Note

Iran Offers Nuclear Know-How To Islamic States

Security Official: Gaza Now 'Armed To The Hilt'. Palestinians Continue To Flow Across Egypt Border Unrestrained

Sarah Ferguson: 9-11 Conspiracists Invade Ground Zero

Howard Fineman: Democrats Are Struggling To Reconcile The Differences Between Party Leaders In D.C. And Independent Activists On The Net

Heather Mac Donald: The Racism Charges Won’t Wash

Debra Saunders: Those Big Spending Republicans

Brent Bozell: Liberal Smiles At Disaster Time

David Limbaugh: Kicking God Further Out The Door

Mark Steyn: There Is No Cure For The UN (Free Spectator Reg Req)

Victor Davis Hanson: Our Media Hurricane

Poll: 2.3% See Selves As Homosexual

Shaquille O'neal Helped Miami Police With An Arrest Over The Weekend By Trailing A Man Who Allegedly Assaulted A Gay Couple And Then Alerting An Arresting Officer

Gwyneth Paltrow: "I Don't Want To Live (In America)

Website Of The Day: Orbusmax

"I, too, am in favour of Kofi Annan staying on, not just till his term expires in December 2006, but for five, ten years after that, if he wishes. If I was as eager for UN ‘reform’ as its supporters claim to be, I’d toss Kofi to the sharks and get some new broom in to sweep clean. But if, as I do, you believe 90 per cent of UN ‘reforms’ are likely to be either meaningless or actively harmful, a discredited and damaged secretary-general clinging to office is as good as it’s likely to get — short of promoting Didier Bourguet, the UN staffer in Congo and the Central African Republic charged with running a paedophile ring. A UN that refuses to hold Kofi Annan to account will be harder to pass off as a UN that represents the world’s ‘moral authority’, in Clare Short’s blissfully surreal characterisation.

What’s important to understand is that Mr Annan’s ramshackle UN of humanitarian money-launderers, peacekeeper-rapists and a human rights commission that looks like a lifetime-achievement awards ceremony for the world’s torturers is not a momentary aberration. Nor can it be corrected by bureaucratic reforms designed to ensure that the failed budget oversight committee will henceforth be policed by a budget oversight committee oversight committee. The oil-for-food fiasco is the UN, the predictable spawn of its utopian fantasies and fetid realities." -- Mark Steyn

Michael Brown, the former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has spilled his guts to the New York Times.

What did he say, you ask?

Well, the short version basically comes down to: my biggest mistake was not immediately realizing how incredibly incompetent the locals were in Louisiana, especially Blanco.

Here's the longer version, which is filled with intriguing little tidbits that paint a particularly unflattering portrait of Kathleen Blanco (my emphasis):

"By Saturday afternoon, many residents were leaving. But as the hurricane approached early on Sunday, Mr. Brown said he grew so frustrated with the failure of local authorities to make the evacuation mandatory that he asked Mr. Bush for help.

"Would you please call the mayor and tell him to ask people to evacuate?" Mr. Brown said he asked Mr. Bush in a phone call.

"Mike, you want me to call the mayor?" the president responded in surprise, Mr. Brown said. Moments later, apparently on his own, the mayor, C. Ray Nagin, held a news conference to announce a mandatory evacuation, but it was too late, Mr. Brown said. Plans said it would take at least 72 hours to get everyone out.

When he arrived in Baton Rouge on Sunday evening, Mr. Brown said, he was concerned about the lack of coordinated response from Governor Blanco and Maj. Gen. Bennett C. Landreneau, the adjutant general of the Louisiana National Guard.

"What do you need? Help me help you," Mr. Brown said he asked them. "The response was like, 'Let us find out,' and then I never received specific requests for specific things that needed doing."

The most responsive person he could find, Mr. Brown said, was Governor Blanco's husband, Raymond. "He would try to go find stuff out for me," Mr. Brown said.

Governor Blanco's communications director, Mr. Mann, said that she was frustrated that Mr. Brown and others at FEMA wanted itemized requests before acting. "It was like walking into an emergency room bleeding profusely and being expected to instruct the doctors how to treat you," he said.

On Monday night, Mr. Brown said, he reported his growing worries to Mr. Chertoff and the White House. He said he did not ask for federal active-duty troops to be deployed because he assumed his superiors in Washington were doing all they could. Instead, he said, he repeated a dozen times, "I cannot get a unified command established."

The next morning, Mr. Brown said, he and Governor Blanco decided to take a helicopter into New Orleans to see the mayor and assess the situation. But before the helicopter took off, his field coordinating officer, or F.C.O., called from the city on a satellite phone. "It is getting out of control down here; the levee has broken," the staff member told him, he said.

The crowd in the Superdome, the city's shelter of last resort, was already larger than expected. But Mr. Brown said he was relieved to see that the mayor had a detailed list of priorities, starting with help to evacuate the Superdome.

Mr. Brown passed the list on to the state emergency operations center in Baton Rouge, but when he returned that evening he was surprised to find that nothing had been done.

"I am just screaming at my F.C.O., 'Where are the helicopters?' " he recalled. " 'Where is the National Guard? Where is all the stuff that the mayor wanted?' "

FEMA, he said, had no helicopters and only a few communications trucks. The agency typically depends on state resources, a system he said worked well in the other Gulf Coast states and in Florida last year.

Meanwhile, "unbeknownst to me," Mr. Brown said, at some point on Monday or Tuesday the hotels started directing their remaining guests to the convention center - something neither FEMA nor local officials had planned.

At the same time, the Superdome was degenerating into "gunfire and anarchy," and on Tuesday the FEMA staff and medical team in New Orleans called to say they were leaving for their own safety.

That night, Mr. Brown said, he called Mr. Chertoff and the White House again in desperation. "Guys, this is bigger than what we can handle," he told them, he said. "This is bigger than what FEMA can do. I am asking for help."

"Maybe I should have screamed 12 hours earlier," Mr. Brown said in the interview. "But that is hindsight. We were still trying to make things work."

By Wednesday morning, Mr. Brown said, he learned that General Honoré was on his way. While the general did not have responsibility for the entire relief effort and the Guard, his commanding manner helped mobilize the state's efforts.

"Honoré shows up and he and I have a phone conversation," Mr. Brown said. "He gets the message, and, boom, it starts happening."

How pathetic is it that Brown is having to try to pump Blanco's husband for information about what's going on? Furthermore, it's hard to believe Blanco's communications director is complaining that FEMA wanted "itemized requests." The locals are supposed to be on the point after a disaster and instead, you have the governor's office complaining that they had to give answers more specific than "Fix it!" and "We need stuff!" when FEMA asked how they could help.

Also note that FEMA had medical staff at the Superdome, but they had to leave on Tuesday because the security situation got so out of hand. Who should have been in charge of the security? Two groups controlled by the locals: the police and the national guard.

Furthermore, is it not telling that Brown can spend days working with Blanco and Nagin, get nowhere, and then he can have a single phone conversation with Honoré, "and, boom, it starts happening?"

It's no coincidence, that's just how things work when you have someone who knows what he's doing running the show on the ground. In Alabama, Mississippi, & Florida, the local government was able to fill that role. Unfortunately, in Louisiana they had to bring in someone from outside to do it and that made all the difference in the time of response.

Of course, even after reading the same things you read in "Mike Brown Part 1," the New York Times turns things around and blames Bush:

"But Mr. Brown's account, in which he described making "a blur of calls" all week to Mr. Chertoff, Mr. Card and Mr. Hagin, suggested that Mr. Bush, or at least his top aides, were informed early and repeatedly by the top federal official at the scene that state and local authorities were overwhelmed and that the overall response was going badly.

A senior administration official said Wednesday night that White House officials recalled the conversations with Mr. Brown but did not believe they had the urgency or desperation he described in the interview.

"There's a general recollection of him saying, 'They're going to need more help,' " said the official, who insisted on anonymity because of the delicacy of internal White House discussions.

Mr. Brown's version of events raises questions about whether the White House and Mr. Chertoff acted aggressively enough in the response. New Orleans convulsed in looting and violence after the hurricane, and troops did not arrive in force to restore order until five days later."

This is a fascinating meme and I'll tell you why.

The original meme pushed by the media after things started to break down in New Orleans was that FEMA, and by extension the Bush administration, were supposed to be first responders, and therefore they were responsible for every mistake that was made.

Unfortunately, this meme was out there for almost a week because most conservatives, driven by a sense of decency, didn't want to start pointing fingers while people were still being rescued.

However, conservatives eventually started speaking up and pointed out that the locals, not FEMA, were supposed to be the first responders. Then, one screw-up after another that had absolutely nothing to do with FEMA were revealed. Nagin didn't follow the city's evacuation plan. He didn't use city buses to get people out of New Orleans. The state blocked the Red Cross from coming in to feed the people at the Superdome. Blanco was slow to call out the National Guard, etc., etc., etc.

At that point, the media had a dilemma to deal with.

They had already spent a solid week screaming to everyone who'd listen that this whole mess was Bush and FEMA's fault and yet, as the days went on, it became increasingly obvious that Blanco and Nagin were the root of the problems in New Orleans.

Which brings us to where we are today.

If the liberal MSM were to correct itself at this point, it would not only be embarrassing, it would require shifting the "finger of blame" from the hated Bush administration to two Democrats. Of course, that would never do.

So, what the MSM has done instead is shift the goalposts and blame the Bush administration for not realizing Blanco and Nagin were inept overwhelmed sooner. This is a perversely brilliant tactic, because no matter what happens, the Bush Administration is always at fault. Did FEMA screw something up that was actually their responsibility? Then FEMA gets the blame. Did Blanco or Nagin screw something up? Then FEMA gets the blame for that, too, because they should have immediately realized that Blanco and Nagin didn't know what they were doing.

That sort of, "d*mned if you do, d*mned if you don't," coverage for the Bush administration is typical of how the MSM has handled Katrina's aftermath. For example...

Bush was too slow to fly over to New Orleans? That means he's a big jerk who doesn't care! Bush flies over New Orleans? What good is a fly-over? He may as well have just watched it on TV. Bush actually goes to New Orleans and talks to people on the ground? Oh, he's just looking to get some good publicity photos!

It's as if the MSM's hurricane coverage started out with a premise of "How can we use Katrina to stick it to Bush?" and then they worked from there. You know, in retrospect, even if they didn't start out with that premise, would the mainstream media coverage have been significantly different if they had? The honest answer to that question is "no"...

Just for the fun of it, I decided to put together a list of my favorite right-of-center writers. Keep in mind that this isn't about content, it's about skill at putting together the written word in an interesting fashion.

In fact, I came up with this list by trying to think of who would write the most entertaining three page essay about what he/she did on his/her last day off. Here are the best of the best in my opinion...

10) Scott Ott from Scrappleface
9) Liberal Larry from BlameBush!
8) Frank J. from IMAO
7) Ace from Ace of Spades HQ
6) Jonah Goldberg
5) Tim Blair
4) P.J. O'Rourke
3) James Lileks
2) Ann Coulter
1) Mark Steyn

Allah & Rachel Lucas would have had a good shot at making the list if they were still active bloggers.

We'll see.

It should be noted that the families -- yes, the families -- previously expressed concern about the crescent design, specifically about calling it "the Crescent of Embrace." The idiots in charge, and the architecht, refused even a name change to "Arc of Embrace" and the like. They wanted that crescent in the title.

So I'm having trouble believing he'll be very willing to change the crescent shape itself.

I've been fuming about the bigger issue for a while-- why must our public monuments be these dreary abstract bits of ugly avant-gardism which appeal only to a tiny clique of elites? Why cannot public art please the, you know, public?

Everything's either these outsized geometric spectacles that provoke only the question, "Jeepers, I wonder who got the idea to put up 6000 pounds of steel into the shape of a featureless cube?" Or else-- nihilistic po-mo whimsy.

Like those godd*mned cows we had all over New York six or eight years ago. Don't ask. Oh wait, you didn't, but I'll tell you anyway. See, they were cows. They were painted all sorts of crazy ways by idiot artists. They were supposed to be whimsical and charming, like Alice in Wonderland. They were instead ugly and stupid like The Turner Diaries.

Again, the only question "provoked" was along the lines of "What kind of Einstein-level con artist got the grant for these noxious pieces of shit, and can I possibly hire him to do my taxes?"

And, quite frankly, I bet 75% of the tastemaking cultural elites don't like this crap either; they're just not confident enough in their own true sense of aesthetics to argue against group opinion).

The elites don't like statuary of people. It's passe, they say; we have enough statues of men on horseback. Do we? I rather like equestrian statues. Call me a philistine, but yes, I do admire looking at a piece of art and thinking that it looks like something else to be found in the natural world or the world of man.

The elites have a stronger religious stricture against public display of graven human images than the most wild-eyed Wahhabists do. It's a set of mistaken beliefs of "good taste" that has hardened into something approaching religious dogma.

I am tired of always being "provoked" and "challenged" by art. I'm not saying that such art is valueless; there's a lot of good such art. Not everything can be Velvet Elvis, after all. But I am speaking about art in public venues. For the love of everything holy, in public, as I walk to the store or to work, need I be intellectually challenged by a giant pyramid copulating with a pink torus? As big a fan of H.P. Lovecraft as I might be, does every "public" work of art need to feature strange geometries undream'd of even on planet Yuggoth?

Need I always be provoked in public? Can I never be simply reassured in my daily public travels, and have something pleasant to look at?

Apparently not.

James Lileks says all this better than I ever could. I'll quote here and there, but there's not a single word of it not worth reading.

The [Crescent of Embrace] monument goes along with other sins of commission -- the tortured, everybody's-a-sinner museum proposed for the Ground Zero site, the tentative, Euro-styled Trade Center replacement that avoids any notes of bravado or American style, the palpable relief at the major networks that four years had passed and they didn't have to waste valuable advertising time on Sunday night with some bummer recollections of, you know, that.
It's not a red state-blue state issue. There are plenty of liberals who have no time for weepy self-criticism sessions and heal-the-planet memorials.

It is, to use a tiresome sobriquet, a matter of elites vs. the rest of the country -- specifically, the artistic sentiment of the elites, which has become so disconnected from the rest of the populace they cannot imagine what else to do but slather the land with abstractions and wind chimes. A statue? Of the people who died? Why, you might as well put a NASCAR track on the site.

Not a bad idea. The endless track represents futility and inability to think of new global conflict-avoidance paradigms. The air will be thick with the exhaust -- of shame.

You want a grant for that? Apply to the Heinz Foundation. They helped fund the Crescent, after all.

As Lileks notes, no, we don't need a big statute of the Flight 93 passengers ramming a dinner-cart through a door. We don't need to be quite that literal.

But can the heroism of a group of strangers -- of Americans -- coming together to save the lives of their fellow human beings dare be expressed in something less symbolic, and perhaps more vigorous, than red trees and lilting windchimes?

And on that-- why is always our assumptions which need to be provoked?

Can we have a monument to the brave dead of Flight 93 which shows them in cool reflection as they decide to make their attack? Huddled together as they collectively decide to give their lives to spare others? And just before they mount the first battle in the war on terrorism?

And yes, engraved at the base of the statue, the rallying cry: "Let's roll."

Ahhhh... but such a tribute would "provoke" and "challenge" the wrong people-- the tastemaking elites who presume to rule us. Their beliefs and assumptions are never to be provoked or challenged, always to be reassured and reinforced by their preferred sorts of meaningless symbolic nothingnesses. It is we who need to be shaped and scolded like schoolchildren; it is they who wield the rulers.

If provoking and challenging are so very important to human growth-- hey, Paul Murdoch, maybe you should let us provide the same service to you for once.

Parting Shot: Art turned bad when the emphasis turned from craft to "concept."

This content was used with the permission of Ace of Spades HQ.

California Judge Declares Pledge Unconstitutional

Mass. Legislature Rejects Proposed Amendment Banning Gay Marriage

Architect Offers To Alter Flight 93 Memorial To Appease Critics

White House to Fortify U.S.-Mexico Border

NBC / WSJ Poll: Bush's Approval 40%

The New York Times To Start Charging To Read Its Columnists Next Week

There Will Be No Welcome Mat In Georgia Next Year For Illegal Immigrants If Republicans In The Georgia Senate Have Their Way. A Bill They Are Backing As A Top Priority Would Block Taxpayer-Funded Benefits For Individuals Who Are Not Citizens

Ex-FEMA Chief Mike Brown Tells Of Frustration And Chaos (Free NYT Reg Req)

Over 50 Katrina Evacuees Have Died In Texas

Amid Katrina Chaos, Congressman William Jefferson, D-La, Used National Guard To Visit Home

A Generous Response Begins To Slow (Free WAPO Reg Req)

At Least 160 Die in Iraq al-Qaida Bombings

A Ban In England And Wales On Marriages Between Parents-In-Law And Their Children-In-Law Is In Breach Of Human Rights, The European Court Said Yesterday (The Next Step After Gay Marriage?)

Israel: Massive Arms Smuggling Into Gaza In Past 3 Days

U.S. Military Denies Bin Laden Report. Newspaper Quoted Colonel Saying Al-Qaida Leader Was Seeking Medical Help

Afghan Official Claims Commanders Deliberately Let Osama Escape In 2001

Mark Steyn: Flight 93: Re-Hijacked

Ann Coulter: Actually, 'Judicial Activism' Means 'E=mc2'

Thomas Sowell: Whose Constitution Is It?

Dahlia Lithwick: Humble John Roberts & The Crashing Bores

An Interview With John Tierney

Bush Seeking Bathroom Break At UN Summit?

German Inventor's "Cat Fuel" Angers Animal Lovers

Claim: The Beauty Products Made From The Skin Of Executed Chinese Prisoners

Website Of The Day: Reaganites Unite

Holy mother of God! How can any Republican, especially Tom DeLay, be so out of touch that he could possibly say or believe this:

"House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said yesterday that Republicans have done so well in cutting spending that he declared an "ongoing victory," and said there is simply no fat left to cut in the federal budget. Mr. DeLay was defending Republicans' choice to borrow money and add to this year's expected $331 billion deficit to pay for Hurricane Katrina relief. Some Republicans have said Congress should make cuts in other areas, but Mr. DeLay said that doesn't seem possible. "My answer to those that want to offset the spending is sure, bring me the offsets, I'll be glad to do it. But nobody has been able to come up with any yet," the Texas Republican told reporters at his weekly briefing. Asked if that meant the government was running at peak efficiency, Mr. DeLay said, "Yes, after 11 years of Republican majority we've pared it down pretty good."

Consider me to be stunned speechless...No, wait, I've changed my mind, I do have something to say: Tom DeLay needs to be examined by qualified medical personnel to make sure that he has not been replaced by a robot, an evil twin, or alien-controlled pod person. That's because no rational human being, particularly a Republican congressman, could possiby look at the budget and believe that we've "pared it down pretty good."

Furthermore, if Tom DeLay is looking for waste or good places to start cutting, here's a great list to start working on from Brian Riedl of the Heritage Foundation via Ramesh Ponnuru at The Corner:

• The federal government cannot account for $24.5 billion spent in 2003.
• A White House review of just a sample of the federal budget identified $90 billion spent on programs deemed that were either ineffective, marginally adequate, or operating under a flawed purpose or design.
• The Congressional Budget Office published a “Budget Options” book identifying $140 billion in potential spending cuts.
• The federal government spends $23 billion annually on special interest pork projects such as grants to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, or funds to combat teenage “goth” culture in Blue Springs, Missouri.
• Washington spends tens of billions of dollars on failed and outdated programs such as the Rural Utilities Service, U.S. Geological Survey and Economic Development Association.
• The federal government made $20 billion in overpayments in 2001.
• The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s $3.3 billion in overpayments in 2001 accounted for over 10 percent of the department’s total budget.
• Over one recent 18-month period, Air Force and Navy personnel used government-funded credit cards to charge at least $102,400 for admission to entertainment events, $48,250 for gambling, $69,300 for cruises, and $73,950 for exotic dance clubs and prostitutes.
• Examples of wasteful duplication include: 342 economic development programs; 130 programs serving the disabled; 130 programs serving at-risk youth; 90 early childhood development programs; 75 programs funding international education, cultural, and training exchange activities; and 72 federal programs dedicated to assuring safe water.
• The Advanced Technology Program spends $150 million annually subsidizing private businesses, and 40% of this goes to Fortune 500 companies.
• The Defense Department wasted $100 million on unused flight tickets, and never bothered to collect refunds even though the tickets were reimbursable.
• The Conservation Reserve program pays farmers $2 billion annually to not farm their land.
• Washington spends $60 billion annually on corporate welfare, versus $43 billion on homeland security.

Of course, maybe we shouldn't be surprised that DeLay sounds like a cross between Lyndon Johnson, FDR, & Ted Kennedy. If you look at his homepage, 3 out of the 5 headlines brag about DeLay "bringing home the bacon" to his state:

Congressman Tom DeLay (R-Sugar Land) today announced a record grant of homeland security funds for the Houston-Galveston area, with more than $54 mill...

DeLay’s Efforts to Secure FEMA Funding Pay Off

The Port of Houston, which just received record funding thanks in part to Congressman Tom DeLay

Gee, remember when Republicans used to brag about how much money they were saving the taxpayers by cutting wasteful spending? Those really were the good old days and it's about time the GOP in Washington started realizing it.

*** Update #1 ***: In an effort to defend DeLay, Rush tried to make a case that this was all a big joke.

I don't buy that.

First off, it isn't even remotely funny. Number two, everybody seems to be taking this story seriously and DeLay hasn't come out and said, "Oh I was joking". Number three, in a part of the article that hasn't been quoted very often, DeLay goes on to say he doesn't want to cut anything out of the Highway bill and he again makes reference to the "great job" he seems to think the House has been doing of cutting down spending:

"CAGW and the Heritage Foundation also suggest rescinding the 6,000-plus earmarked projects in the recently passed highway bill. But Mr. DeLay said those projects are "important infrastructure" and eliminating them could undermine the economy as Congress tries to offer hurricane relief. "It is right to borrow to pay for it," he said. "But it is not right to attack the very economy that will pay for it." Mr. Schatz, though, said the highway bill included projects such as flowers for the Ronald Reagan freeway in California, which he said aren't essential spending. Mr. DeLay said the budget this year was pared down and 100 programs or offices were eliminated in this year's spending bills. "We have been doing that for 11 years," he said. He said it's an "ongoing process" that will be more complete after this year's budget process, which calls for cuts to Medicaid and other entitlement programs."

We're not seeing a politician who's joking, we're seeing a completely and utterly out of touch with reality and what his biggest political supporters think.

Conservatives have been bitterly carping for years about the lousy, let me repeat that, LOUSY, job Bush and the Congress have done have controlling spending. In fact, that has probably been the #1 biggest complaint conservatives have had since Bush got into office.

After all that, we have Tom DeLay -- who like every other political leader in Congress on both sides of the aisle, deserves a grade of "F" for his role in keeping in spending under control -- bragging about the super job Congress is doing of keeping spending under control.

That's just insulting to our intelligence...

Today was a first in that I was actually woken up by the wind blowing outside my window. Taking the dog out to poop was a real adventure too. There were big tree limbs down in the yard and these huge trees were swaying and bending waaaaaay too much for my taste....oh, and those are just from the gusts. We're not getting the full 80 MPH winds yet. Interestingly enough, the dog seemed relatively nonplussed about pooping in a wind storm. I guess beggars can't be choosers.

Anyway, the power has already gone out once (and come immediately back up) and there are already thousands of people in the county I live in without power. So, at this point, I'd be stunned if I make it another 2-3 hours before the wind knocks the power out.

So, I'm getting ready to unplug the computer, taking a quick shower (while I can), and then I'm just going to wait it out, which should take a few hours. How much RWN will be effected tonight and tomorrow is hard to say at this point, since I have no idea if and when the computer will be working tonight.

I'll update when I can. But, for the moment, I'm signing off to take advantage of the joys of electric power while I can.

*** Update #1 ***: 10:47 AM Power's still on, so I figured I'd do an update.

After my last update, Patton was looking a little nervous and I thought the storm was starting to get to him. But then, I realized the real problem: he didn't pee when he went outside the first time. So, I ask him if he wants to go outside and jump's around and does the whole "Whee, I get to go take a whiz in the hurricane!"

Yeah, "whee".

So, I try to cheat. You know, I stand on the front porch and hope he'll just go in the bushes. But, no such luck, he demands that I take him in out into the storm. Eventually, when we're both soaking wet, he finds a nice dry spot to wee wee. Go figure.

Anyway, this storm is a little weird. We're getting flooding in my county (although I'm not in danger), I'm looking at areas all around here on TV that are getting torn up by the wind, but it doesn't seem to that we're getting the sort of sustained winds they're saying we're being hammered with on TV. On the other hand, maybe that's just because I'm inside.

I will tell you that I wish had a digital camcorder right now. How cool would it be for me to drive around and give you a live feed of flooded areas or storm damage? But, given that I don't have a generator, who'd figure I'd have power to get the footage out?

This storm is supposed to be around for another few hours but if nothing falls on the roof and the power stays on, color me thrilled.

*** Update #2 ***: 3:38 PM After taking a nice, refreshing nap, I woke up and was amazed that I still had power. At that point, I had to decide what to do: work on the page? Read? Clean the house?

No! I am a blogger, I'm a journalist! I have a responsibility to report the news! Of course, maybe I should have thought about that before I took a 2 hour nap, but that's water under the bridge at this point.

It was time for me to take action, so I asked myself the question every blogger should ask themselves when they're in the middle of a disaster: what would Geraldo do?

Immediately I grabbed my digital camera, got Patton the storm chasing dog, and hit the road looking for downed trees, flooded areas, and old ladies who needed to be rescued.

But after hitting the road, I found that the damage wasn't that bad. There was no flooding in any of the low lying areas in my immediate vicinity. There were lots of limbs down, but that just doesn't have the same visual impact as a whole tree laying in the road. I did see a porta-potty blown over in a ditch, but how bad is that unless you're in it when it goes over?

So fortunately, it looks like my area -- at least so far -- is going to come out of the storm pretty well. In fact, there were even a few businesses that have already opened back up.

Walgreens? That made sense. But, there was a movie rental place open. Who rents movies in the middle of a hurricane? You know what would have been funny? If I had stopped in, gotten a membership, and then rented a copy of "Twister" and left.

You get it? That's a movie about a natural disaster, we're in a natural disaster, so....ah, forget it.

Let's just put it this way: so far, so good...

*** Update #3 ***: The rain and wind outside look minimal and it looks as if I have dodged the bullet. Therefore, I now pronounce hurricane Ophelia to be somebody else's problem. Now, where's my $2000 FEMA debit card?

Folks, if you're for a single news story that is so jam packed with irony that it could actually inspire Alanis Morissette to write a song called "Ironic Part 2," then today is your lucky day. That's because Stacy Willis at the Las Vegas Weekly has written one of the most irony packed columns that I've read in a dog's age.

This excerpt should give the gist of the story:

The shade from the Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market sign is minimal around noon; still, six picketers squeeze their thermoses and Dasani bottles onto the dirt below, trying to keep their water cool. They're walking five-hour shifts on this corner at Stephanie Street and American Pacific Drive in Henderson—anti-Wal-Mart signs propped lazily on their shoulders, deep suntans on their faces and arms—with two 15-minute breaks to run across the street and use the washroom at a gas station.

...They're not union members; they're temp workers employed through Allied Forces/Labor Express by the union—United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). They're making $6 an hour, with no benefits; it's 104 F, and they're protesting the working conditions inside the new Wal-Mart grocery store.

...The union accuses Wal-Mart of dragging down wages and working conditions for other grocery-store workers across the nation. "Whether you work or shop at Wal-Mart, the giant retailer's employment practices affect your wages. Wal-Mart leads the race to the bottom in wages and health-care," says the UFCW's website. "As the largest corporation in the world, Wal-Mart has a responsibility to the people who built it. Wal-Mart jobs offer low pay, inadequate and unaffordable healthcare, and off the clock work."

But standing with a union-supplied sign on his shoulder that reads, Don't Shop WalMart: Below Area Standards, picketer and former Wal-Mart employee Sal Rivera says about the notorious working conditions of his former big-box employer: "I can't complain. It wasn't bad. They started paying me at $6.75, and after three months I was already getting $7, then I got Employee of the Month, and by the time I left (in less than one year), I was making $8.63 an hour." Rivera worked in maintenance and quit four years ago for personal reasons, he says. He would consider reapplying.

...The group has no transportation to go elsewhere—they are dropped off by a union van and picked up later. On weekends, they have to find their own transportation, Greer said.

Inside, the store manager at the Stephanie Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market says he's perfectly happy with his job, and that his insurance is fine.

"The average rate of pay for Nevada Wal-Mart workers is $10.17 an hour. We have a good insurance program, and every associate—even part-timers—are eligible for the 401k," says Mark Dyson. "There's actually different levels of insurance, dental and medical—I have a $500 deductible, but there's no cap on it. Some other companies' plans have a $1 million cap, but here there's no cap. For example, not long ago we had an associate whose husband needed a liver transplant, and that alone was $600,000; but they didn't have to worry about a cap."

For the least comprehensive medical coverage, Wal-Mart workers pay from $17.50 for individual coverage and $70.50 for family coverage biweekly, according to the company website.

...In Dyson's market, the air-conditioning is cool, business on this day seems brisk, and the employees seem not so miserable; two checkers chat it up as they ring up customers.

This is not lost on the picketers outside.

Rivera removes his watch to show the dark tan his arm has gotten working in the sun; he talks about how he takes three buses to get to this work site on weekends; it takes two hours to get there and two hours to get home—a nine-hour day including that transportation for a gross pay of $35.

"I asked him (union organizer Hornbrook), I said, 'How come we're working here for $6 an hour? I need you to help us find a better job. I want information on the union,'" Rivera said.

He was told, he says, to secure his own job with a grocery store, and then the union would help him to be sure the store paid him appropriate wages."

Here we have a union picketing Wal-Mart. Yet, the union isn't using union labor for their picketing, because it's too expensive. Moreover, the union accuses Wal-Mart of having poor working conditions & pay. Yet, it's obvious that the conditions & pay at the Wal-Mart are far better than what the union is providing for the temps. The union complains about health care, but the workers at Wal-Mart can purchase health care at a fairly reasonable price, while the temps hired by the union have no benefits whatsoever. So, it's obvious that these people would actually be better off if they were working for Wal-Mart instead of protesting.

So, the United Food and Commercial Workers union wants to pay the least amount of money they can to get a job done. But then, when Wal-Mart does exactly the same thing, the UFCW cries foul. Why? Because the unions and the democrats want a slice of that pie.

How would that work?

Wal-Mart charges YOU more to buy things. Then they take that extra money they get from YOU to pay their unionized workers more. The workers then pay their unions. Then the unions contribute huge sums of money and manpower to Democrats who in turn favor laws that put more money in the pockets of the unions.

That's what these assaults on Wal-Mart we've seen of late are really all about.

Hat tip to Alarming News for the story.

Since Katrina hit, there have been a lot of people who've managed to end up with a foot in their mouth. But, there has been one man, one anti-semitic, loony man who has stood out above all others: Louis Farrakhan.

Yes, Mr. million man march's mouth has been a regular fountain of stupidity that has spewed idiocy both near and far across the land.

First, there was this:

"New Orleans is the first of the cities going to tumble down... unless America changes its course. It is the wickedness of the people of America and the government of America that is bringing the wrath of God down."

Granted, that's a dumb quote, but it's by no means unique. Unfortunately, there have been people claiming that God nailed New Orleans in retribution for everything from the Gaza withdrawl to abortion, so that quotation in and of itself isn't as remarkable as it would seem at first.

But from there, Farrakhan took it up to the next level:

"FEMA is too white to represent us and so is the Red Cross, so we're going to demand our place at the table."

So now, FEMA and the Red Cross are just "too white" to give aid to black people? Great, then maybe they can go home and the Nation of Islam can take it from here. I'm sure that in about 15 years, at a cost of 350 billion dollars or so, Calypso Louis would have about half of the city of New Orleans Farrakhanastan pumped dry.

What a moron.

In any case, had Farrakhan stopped there, he would have still had a decent shot of winning of taking the foot-in-mouth crown. But Farrakhan -- being Farrakhan -- just couldn't settle down. No, he had to clinch it by repeating this nutso conspiracy theory:

"I heard from a very reliable source who saw a 25 foot deep crater under the levee breach. It may have been blown up to destroy the black part of town and keep the white part dry."

You may think that theory sounds crazy, but that's exactly what the white devil wants you think -- no, wait, it is crazy -- and it also sealed the deal for Louis Farrakhan, winner of the Post-Katrina "Foot-In-Mouth-Award"!

As a blogger, I can tell you that there's nothing quite like getting acerbic, barely coherent, hate mail from semi-literate cretins. But, don't take my word for it! Now you too can experience the same thrill as you read some of these very real emails that I've received of late. Enjoy!

From: (BOBBYBEE100@**********)
Subject: i do have a problem with this nation Bush Bush and you

"You narrow-minded fools. So in america its allright to be a man of god and f*ck little alter boys in the ass. If you are dying of cancer. We got to get thouse evil pot smoking grateful dead music lovers There evil. Hey by the way when's bush going to smoke out ol-bin lauden.

I got some good hash he might like. Hey wasn't hiltler a Christian? Get those n*ggers, f*gs. weed smokers. Let shove them all in jail. Oh but if you have enough money you can murder your x-wife and f*ck little boys and girls in the *ss. But thouse evil hippies kill them to. Sounds like your god justs like white up-tight white folk who can't handle dope probably a closest f*ggot himself who earily on in life relized he wasn't going to amount in life so he had to be a uptight d*ckhead. Telling on people being a narc- that why over half of America's police force, dea, all of america's alpahbet soup. Are made up of uptight f*gs (real f*gs, not cool ones). Oh poor baby has no talent., can't get laid, can't play a gutair. What come around goes around. I'am sure i'll see you soon in ww3333333333

Since your beloved leader has manage to p*ss off the whole world with his f*cking lies and deciet. I'am sure when your beloved christ returns. You will be surprise who will be be in the lake forever. While the meek, the talent, the people who truely obey christ and help the down in out will f*ck fine girls forever and ever, free from you evil racist, rapist molesters. Discliamer, not all cops, dea, right wingers are this way. There are alot of solid people and you know who you are. Hey? who whould Jesus bomb? Your dumb *ss sh*t kicking *ss hopefully!!!!!!See You on tour this fall!!!!! Bobby Brown"

From: Nancy Chupp (NANCYCHUPP@********)
Subject: Dear Mr. Hawkins

"Dear Mr.Hawkins;

I want to emplore you to make a statement to the news media stating that President Bush does not hate Black people and that the statement is absurd. You are a fine men. Bush is a fine man. None of America may like all his policies, but he does not hate Black people. It is a shame to let the "Way Out There Leftists" fulment unrest and hatred of Mr. Bush. Frankly it is scary. You as a Black Leader should get on TV, along with other respected Black Leaders, and stop this wild deviating from the truth. Mr. Bush does not hate Black people or Poor People.

Thank
you,
Nancy Chupp"

(*** Hawkins note: Ehr....I'm not black ***)

From: peter ryerson (BIGSKYBIO@******)
Subject: (no subject)

"Sir,

You are an ignoramous and Ann Coulter is a sleazy c*nt. Seriously. Just thought you might like to know.

Yours,

A conservative with a mind of my own who realizes that the Republican party is taking us to hell in a handbasket, what with the deficit and this trumped-up war in Iraq, assuring our cherished children an unending and unpayable debt to communist China. You sad f*ck, you.

What say you, sir? Are you, or Lady Ann, up to the challenge of refuting what I suggest? I don't expect to hear back from you. That's alright. I understand. Invertebrates generally shun the light of day."

From: (LIAMSUE@******)
Subject: (no subject)

"i think that all u horrible smelly p*kis should just f*ck off and leave us brits and americans alone.you are all smelly horrible f*cks!!!!!without out us you wouldnt even b able to make a wed site now f*ck off u scrounging smelly p*ki f*cks!!!!!"

(*** Hawkins Note: I have no clue where that came from ***)

New Orleans Death Toll Climbs To 423

La. Nursing Home Owners Charged With 34 Cases Of Negligient Homicide

Nagin May Allow Uptown, French Quarter And Algiers Residents Back Monday

Ray Nagin Buys House In Dallas

New Orleans Airport Reopens After 2 Weeks

Bush, Talabani Say No Timetable For Withdrawal. Iraqi President Appears To Back Away From Earlier Remarks (Free WAPO Reg Req)

U.S. May Start Pulling Out of Afghanistan Next Spring (Free NYT Reg Req)

Brussels Has Been Given The Power To Compel British Courts To Fine Or Imprison People For Breaking EU Laws, Even If The Government And Parliament Are Opposed

Sharon To Tell UN: Israel's Responsibility For Gaza Has Ended

Bush to Address Nation Thursday From La.

Roberts Rebuffs Democrats' Questions

Tancredo: Crescent 9/11 Memorial Honors Terrorists

Northwest and Delta Airlines Are Said to Be Preparing for Bankruptcy (Free NYT Reg Req)

David Aaronovitch: Hiroshima, Abu Ghraib, Dresden: But Which Is Highest On The Cruelty Scale

John Podhoretz: Behind The Failure

Steve Chapman: Should We Rebuild New Orleans?

Matt LaBash: The Struggle To Survive The Disaster In New Orleans (This Is Must Read)

Brendan Miniter: Long Before Katrina, The Welfare State Failed New Orleans's Poor

Ralph Peters: Count On The Calvary In Iraq

Fertility Scientists Will Be Pricking Up Their Ears At The News That A Woman Who Had Been Barren For Several Years Has Conceived Thanks To A Ride On A Particularly Fierce Rollercoaster

Real Shaolin Monks To Start Making Martial Arts Movies

Ohio: Neighbors Say Kids Found in Cages Polite

Website Of The Day: Varifrank

Ophelia has been upgraded to a category 1 hurricane and it's moving like it has drawn a bead on my location. They've even done mandatory evacuations of some of the nearby areas that are on the beach front.

Also, this isn't exactly encouraging news:

"North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley said coastal residents should be prepared to go without power from two to three days."

2-3 days? If my power is out for 2-3 days, I blame FEMA, Chimpy McBushHitler, and Haliburton! Furthermore, for every hour that my power is out, I demand that a new FEMA employee be fired or else I'll be forced to start looting TVs, stereos, and other essentials to survive!

In any case, again, if it turns out that there are no updates for a couple of days, it's not because I've gotten lazy, it's because of Ophelia. But, who knows? Maybe, Karl Rove will read this, use the VRWC's weather machine and guide the storm out to sea =D

Don't get too up, too down, or too excited in general about the Roberts hearing because it's unlikely anything really crucial is going to happen.

Instead, here's how you can expect it to go if there are no big surprises: grandstanding Democratic Senators and a few RINOS will unleash stemwinders about whatever issue they want to appear to care about. Then, after blathering on for a while, they'll ask Roberts a question or two.

Roberts will respond by two stepping around the questions and saying little of substance. This is not only because he'll be following precedent, but because he's not going to prejudge a case that he might have to rule on when he gets to the Supreme Court.

So, even though people on the left and right will pour through the tea leaves trying to find hints of how he's going to rule on particular issues or things to attack him with, it's going to be all for naught.

Then after a period of time there will be a vote, and Roberts will be confirmed easily. Then the Republican Senators will congratulate themselves for getting him through and the Democrats will try to assure their base they did all they could to stop him and mutter darkly about how John Roberts will take the country backwards to the "bad old days" somehow or another.

After that, the same basic thing will happen whomever W. picks next, except there will likely be more controversy, because that judge will probably have a longer conservative track record.

If a filibuster comes up, a woman accuses Roberts of sexually harassing her, or Roberts decides to tell people how he's going to vote on Roe v. Wade "just for the fun of it," I'll make sure and cover it, but those are all unlikely events. Until then, don't look for a lot of posts about the hearings, because despite all the pomp and circumstance, there isn't all that much actually happening.

*** Update #1 ***: By the way, don't freak out because Roberts is saying that Roe v. Wade "is settled as the precedent of the court."

All he's doing there is agreeing that the Supreme Court has clearly upheld Roe v. Wade. What he said has no bearing whatsoever on how he would personally vote if he were on the Supreme Court and he had an opportunity to overturn Roe v. Wade.

"You 60 million losers who voted for this loser open YOUR wallets. This president declared war on the poor long ago, and while some of us cared enough to vote for someone who gave a d@mn, you buried your heads in the sand, babbled about abortion and family values, and voted for the doofus.

And now you want to act all high and mighty and come asking me for a buck or two to help these poor people? Sorry, Charlie. Take an extra buck or two out of the fund you set aside to buy seventeen Support Our Troops magnets to stick all over your car to show how patriotic you are.

You want disaster relief? Impeach George W. Bush." -- Blunderford at Blogcritics

"This accusation that the levees were blown for political reasons fits with an overall pattern consistantly persued by this administration. Indeed, it fits with the objectives outlined by many in the neo-con camp, with the past support of the Bush family of eugenics, and with the recent callous remarks..." -- Daily Kos Diarist Brenda speculates that the levees in New Orleans were deliberately blown to flood the city

"And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this — this is working very well for them." -- Barbara Bush on the people sleeping in the Astrodome

"You literally cannot continue to exist unless we blue-staters give you money. The situation is that simple. You have been leeching off of us for years, and now you depend on our charity for your very lives. So if you Jesusmaniac simpletons really want that cash, you will just sit there and SHUT UP and not say ONE D@MN WORD in your defense. BUSH CAUSED THIS DISASTER. YOU CAUSED THIS DISASTER BY VOTING FOR BUSH. You don't like that message? Then don't take our money! If I read ONE MORE article in which a science-hating red state pundit attacks progressives, I'm going to take the money I was going to donate to disaster relief and spend it on a nice Thai meal. And I'm going to suggest that all other progressives do likewise. I'm going to say "DROWN AND DIE, YOU ARROGANT HILLBILLY SOUTHERN-FRIED LEECHES!!" -- Joseph Cannon from Cannonfire explains his views on disaster relief

"I'm still waiting on the floating corpses. To that end, I have sent away for five pounds of Chocolate Babies to act as 'floaters' in the new drink I'll be inventing this week: The Floating Corpse. ... I'm thinking Creme de Cacao, Kahlua, some rum, maybe a little cream and a floating Chocolate Baby.

"Of course, I'll fine tune that and come up with a 'secret ingredient' or two, but that's the general cocktail framework that I'm thinking of presently. Sort of a Mudslide, without the mud. More of a Muddy Waters." -- Chicago radio host, Steve Dahl

You know, some people are stealing and they're making a big deal out of it. Oh, they're stealing 20 pair of jeans or they're stealing television sets. Who cares? They're not going to go too far with it. Maybe those people are so poor, some of the people who do that they're so poor they've never touched anything in their lives. Let them touch those things for once." -- Celine Dion

"New Orleans is the first of the cities going to tumble down... unless America changes its course. It is the wickedness of the people of America and the government of America that is bringing the wrath of God down." -- Louis Farrakhan explains what happened in New Orleans was divine punishment for America

"If it was a bunch on white people on roofs in the Hamptons, I don’t have any f[bleep]ing doubt there would have been every single helicopter, every plane, every single means that the government has to help these people." -- Colin Farrell

"What I am going to say now is that there are thousands who are dying and dead. They will be scandal and rioting and rightly so in my opinion as the "Negroes" of New Orleans and tourists were left to drown. And that's what happened to a lot of people but the news media and the public is slow to announce and realize the obvious. I am not going to apologize for being perceptive and reading between the lines. If you can't see that the poor people were herded into the unsafe Superdome because no one cares about them then that is not a problem I can address." -- From a column called "Put the N*ggers in the Superdome: Part II," by Daily Kos diarist Flip Floss

"If the majority of the hardest hit victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans were white people, they would not have gone for days without food and water, forcing many to steal for mere survival. Their bodies would not have been left to float in putrid water." -- Nancy Giles on CBS’s Sunday Morning

"Today, as the President comes to Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi for his ceremonial trip to look at the victims of the devastation, he would do well to have a plan more significant than a ceremonial tour. His whole response is unacceptable. How can blacks be locked out of the leadership, and trapped in the suffering?" -- Jesse Jackson calls for Affirmative Action in the hurricane rescue efforts

"As Hurricane Katrina dismantles Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, it’s worth recalling the central role that Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour played in derailing the Kyoto Protocol and kiboshing President Bush’s iron-clad campaign promise to regulate CO2.

In March of 2001, just two days after EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman’s strong statement affirming Bush’s CO2 promise former RNC Chief Barbour responded with an urgent memo to the White House.

...Now we are all learning what it’s like to reap the whirlwind of fossil fuel dependence which Barbour and his cronies have encouraged. Our destructive addiction has given us a catastrophic war in the Middle East and--now--Katrina is giving our nation a glimpse of the climate chaos we are bequeathing our children.

In 1998, Republican icon Pat Robertson warned that hurricanes were likely to hit communities that offended God. Perhaps it was Barbour’s memo that caused Katrina, at the last moment, to spare New Orleans and save its worst flailings for the Mississippi coast." -- Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

"If one person criticizes [our sheriffs], or says one more thing, including the president of the United States, he will hear from me - one more word about it after this show airs and I - I might likely have to punch him - literally." -- Sen. Mary Landrieu

"Mayor Nagin and most mayors in this country have a hard time getting their people to work on a sunny day, let alone getting them out of the city in front of a hurricane." -- Part of Sen. Mary Landrieu's explanation for why New Orleans didn't use city buses to evacuate

"As I saw the African Americans, mostly African American families ripped apart, I could only think about slavery, families ripped apart, herded into what looked like concentration camps." -- Cynthia McKinney on the rescue efforts

"This President is never gonna do the right thing. I think somewhere deep down inside him he takes a lot of joy about losing people, if he thinks they vote Democrat or if he thinks they're poor, or if he thinks they're in a blue state, whatever his reasons are not to rescue those people..." -- Air America's Randi Rhodes

"Out of this tragedy, the focus of America is going to be on these [hurricane] victims, and inflamed rhetoric in the United States Senate is just not going to play well now. This is a time of healing and compassion and reaching out to people....Judge Roberts can, maybe, you know, be thankful that a tragedy has brought him some good." -- Pat Robertson

"It is reported that black hurricane victims in New Orleans have begun eating corpses to survive. Four days after the storm, thousands of blacks in New Orleans are dying like dogs. No-one has come to help them." -- Randall Robinson at the Huffington Post

"In contrast to New Orleans, there was only minimal looting after the horrendous 1995 earthquake in Kobe, Japan—because, when you get down to it, Japanese aren't blacks." -- Steve Sailer

"George Bush doesn't care about black people...They're giving the Army permission to go down and shoot us." -- Kayne West

*** Update #1 ***: Here's a bonus quote from Calypso Louis:

"FEMA is too white to represent us and so is the Red Cross, so we're going to demand our place at the table." -- Louis Farrakhan

If I run across any other really sterling quotes tonight, I'll add them in here.

"Judges and justices are servants of the law, not the other way around. Judges are like umpires. Umpires don't make the rules; they apply them. The role of an umpire and a judge is critical. They make sure everybody plays by the rules. But it is a limited role. Nobody ever went to a ball game to see the umpire." -- John Roberts, September 12, 2005

"Federal judges are in essence referees. Their job is not to write legislation or to find new "rights" in the Constitution that have somehow passed unnoticed for over 200 years, it's to interpret and enforce the rules laid down in the Constitution and by legislators. If federal judges actually did this, there would be as little controversy over them today as there is over referees in the NFL." -- John Hawkins, April 20, 2005

Wow, we sound so much alike it's almost as if we were reading off of the same talking points -- bwahahahahaha!

Over at the Huffington Post, pollster John Zogby has been left scratching his head by the results of one of his own polls.

It seems that in the latest Zogby Poll, he asked likely voters to choose between George Bush and every President from Jimmy Carter on + John Kerry. Here are the results:

Bush (42%) loses to Carter (50%)
Bush (20%) loses to Reagan (59%)
Bush (34%) loses to his father (41%)
Bush (44%) loses to Clinton (46%)
Bush (48%) beats Kerry (47%)

After looking at this, Zogby says: "...every president since Carter defeats Bush. But Kerry still loses to Bush by one point. What am I missing here?"

No worries, Zogby, because I'm here to help.

What you're seeing at work here -- except in the case of Reagan, who was a titan among men -- is nothing more than the fact that most voters have very short memories.

Let's take Jimmy Carter, for example. Here's a man who was one of the most hapless incompetents to ever sit in the Oval Office. Under his watch, the economy and the military crumbled, the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, he horribly botched the Iranian hostage crisis, and he even gave away the Panama Canal. In many ways, the Carter Presidency was one of the low points of the century and were it not for the bungling of Lyndon Johnson, Carter could probably be fairly called the worst President of the 20th century.

But, you know what the extent of the average person's knowledge about Carter is today?

Well, he's a nice Christian man who won a Nobel Peace Prize and builds houses for poor people. That's pretty much it...and that's no big surprise. As we get further and further out from a President's time in office, only the big events stick in people's minds.

The difference between Senator flip-flop and the other candidates is that the election was just last year and so the American people can still remember how unimpressive Kerry was -- and for that matter, still is.

You know what would have been a lot more fun?

To run Bush against more current politicians. How about Rudy, Jeb, Condi, or McCain vs. Bush? Would people rather have him or Hillary in charge? Would the American people prefer Bush or a Ted Kennedy, a politician who had some experience with people trapped in the water? Bush or Pelosi? Bush or Durbin? Bush or Blanco? Bush or Byrd? Heck, how about Bush vs. former Presidential candidate Al Sharpton?

Come on, you pollsters, somebody should run with this concept...

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani Said In An Interview Yesterday That The United States Could Withdraw As Many As 50,000 Troops By The End Of The Year (Free WAPO Reg Req)

Iraq Mounts New Raid On Guerrillas, US Warns Syria

Gaza Synagogues Face Likely Desecration. PA Leader Admits Palestinians Can't Be Trusted With Israel's Holy Sites

Palestinians Loot Gaza After Israelis Leave

La. Death Toll Now 279

45 Bodies Found At New Orleans Hospital

Doctors: Hurricane Katrina Forced Us To Kill Patients

Amtrak, Nagin Argue Over Rescue Train

Iraqi Soldiers Donate To Katrina Victims

Firefighter To Replace Brown As FEMA Chief

'Judges Are Not Politicians,' Roberts Says As Hearings Begin, Democrats Call For Fuller Answers On Civil Rights Views (Free WAPO Reg Req)

Text Of John Roberts Opening Statement

Gallup Poll: Bush Approval 46%

CNN Producers Told On-Air Guests: Get Angry

Radio Station Can't Sell Any Ads For Air America

John Fund: FDR And Truman Made Cuts When Crises Demanded It. Why Won't Bush?

Robert Novak: Priscilla Owen Is The Leading Candidate To Replace Sandra Day O'Connor

Tony Blankley: 'An Islamist Threat Like The Nazis'

Ben Stein: More On Katrina

Mark Steyn: Bush Kept His Head And The Danger's Passed

More Than 80 Per Cent Of The People Using The British Capital's Soup Kitchens, Which Also Hand Out Food Such As Sandwiches, Are In Fact Not Homeless

A Prostitute Who Torched A Civic Leader's Home Because She Was Angry That Newcomers To The Neighborhood Were Hurting Her Business Was Sentenced To 30 Years In Prison