Watchers' Council

Herego:

1. The winning council post: The Barrier to Defeating Terrorism

2. The winning non-council post: Fall of the Media Empire

3. Results from the latest poll: Watcher of Weasel Winners

4. Posting of Nominees: Watcher Council Submissions

Or, as they put it:

As you may or may not already be aware, members of the Watcher's Council hold a vote every week on what they consider to be the most link-worthy pieces of writing around... per the Watcher's instructions, I am submitting one of my own posts for consideration in the upcoming nominations process.

Here is the most recent winning council post, here is the most recent winning non-council post, here is the list of results for the latest vote, and here is the initial posting of all the nominees that were voted on.

Patronizing

This whole, "Gay boy stuggles in Middle America," crap is getting old. Gay people stuggle no matter where they live. But the Washington Post found another cute, all-American, boy who is willing to talk about his sexual experiences at 16.

Did the Washington Post write articles about 16 year old women's sex life before 1919? Did any newspaper? Isn't it child pornography to discuss his sexual trist at 16???

This is nothing but pandering.

Kerry, Kill my Baby!

This picture was posted, with rightful disgust, on Kerry Haters. I stated I wasn't too turned off about a pregnant belly; in fact, it is beautiful and the life inside is something we should anticipate.

I just don't like pregnant bellies filled with life used to advocate politicians (like John Kerry) who think it's okay to stick that baby in the head with a vacuum hose and suck it's brain out--and if the abortion is botched and the baby is still alive--try to murder it again.

What do you think?

Jimmy Carter: Irrelevant

Am I the only person who believes that Jimmy Carter looks like the emporer in Return of the Jedi?



Anyway, he says F9/11 on of his fav'rite movies. Who could have guessed? He drinks the same kool-aid as Kofi Annan and the Nobel Prize committee.

Thanks, Crush Kerry.

Christmas in Safwan!

I am going to wait to see what comes out of this, but it is hilarious to read: Kerry claims he was in Safwan during the cease-fire signing ending the first Gulf War.

Banning the Bible

CNS News reports:

A Catholic group is accusing the Republican National Committee of "fear-mongering" by warning residents in two states that if the Democrats wins in November, they will ban the Bible and allow same-sex marriage. The Catholic League was referring to comments the RNC made Thursday regarding literature sent residents in Arkansas and West Virginia. "For the past week, reports have surfaced that the RNC has been behind a mass mailing warning the residents of Arkansas and West Virginia that if the 'liberals' win the election, they will ban the Bible," Catholic League President William Donohue said. "Now the RNC has admitted that it did so; this was its way of appealing to religious voters. But what it did is exploitative. Not only are the Republicans indulging in fear-mongering, they are also playing to the stereotype of Christians from rural communities," said Donohue. "The role of religion in the public square is something the Catholic League wants discussed by both Republicans and Democrats, and that is why we ran an op-ed page ad in the New York Times on September 20 called 'Censoring Religious Speech.' But what the RNC did in these two states has nothing to do with the public expression of religion. No more mailings of this sort should be approved," he concluded.

I agree that the RNC went overboard on this advertisement and it should apologize. However, I don't believe the RNC was saying that the Bible was actually going to be banned, but was speaking to the attempts of the left to wash America clean of any religion like, "in God we trust," or "under God."

Hugh Hewitt Interviews Paul Wolfowitz

Great get for Hugh Hewitt, but with his ascendency to stardom--it's not surprising. Check out the interview here.

College Entrance Discussion

Here is a discussion I am having with Jed (great guy from what I can tell) are having at Boots & Sabers:

More Racial Preference BS

From the AP:

University of California officials have raised the bar for admission to the prestigious system, despite protests the decision will hinder enrollment of disadvantaged students.

“Educate, don’t segregate!” students chanted as the Board of Regents voted 14-6 Thursday to raise the minimum grade-point average from 2.8 to 3.0, effective fall 2007.

Why not just chant “We’re f***ing ignorant, but we’re minorities, so let us in!”

Proposals to raise standards have rekindled debate over the system’s policies and the generally low admission rates for black and Hispanic students, especially at the top campuses of Berkeley and Los Angeles.

“This is another hurdle,” said regent and state schools Superintendent Jack O’Connell. “It’s another roadblock to opportunity."

There is no roadblock here. The minimum standard is an objective number. You want more minorities admitted? Get them better educated.

Raising the GPA affects fewer students, about 750, but drew much more opposition. Opponents noted the changes disproportionately affected blacks and Hispanics because their numbers are much smaller.

“This is not about percentages,” Linda Salinas, a UC Berkeley student, told regents before the vote. “This is about changing the course of human lives."

Spoken like a true Berkelian - a touchy feely statement that makes no sense, and doesn’t even remotely approach the merits of the argument.

--JED

My reply:

Jed, what you fail to realize is that schools often are brands--have name recognition that can propel people further in life.

If I went to a school in Watts with no textbooks and lower standards of learning and the better grades are given to athletes I would be upset because GPA is not objective--it’s a number--but it’s not objective.

Also, I question why some of the people who go to tough secondary schools are up in arms because what’s a C at one school might be an A at another.

That’s why, frankly, minimum standards can only be used if they are 100% objective: i.e. you can’t run in the olympics unless you meet this time.

But with school...GPA, being subjective, is not always a true measure of college success.

Don’t forget that just this spring they tried to pull a black validictorian down by going back and changing two white students’ final grades to rank them higher.

GRADES ARE SUBJECTIVE.

--AARON

Jed's very decent response:

I agree that grades are subjective, and that’s why I favor standardized testing as the primary means of determining who gets admitted.

But, as long as schools are going to use GPA as a factor, minorities who have historically made lower grades need to realize that not every move toward limiting admission is targeted at them. There’s not a Klansman behind every tree here, and crying “RACISM!” everytime an admissions policy is changed is counterproductive in the long run.

--JED

My last reply:

Jed, have you ever considered the fact that some teachers give lower grades to minority students because they are minorities?

Personal experience: I was in honors english in the 10th grade taught by a Mormon woman--Ms. Warnick. She went to the registrars office during Christmas break and had every minority student (6) and the one pregnant white student removed from her class because we were not honor student material.

No, I received an A the first quarter and a B+ the second semester--which put me in the top half of the class.

My mother (white, father is black) nearly lost control of her senses and confronted this woman the second day of the second semester.

I was the only person who got back into the class--but all five other minority parents thought it was due to their performance.

So it’s not something that minorities need to “just accept” because since it was an honors class it counted as a 5 point class towards a 4 point GPA--so my A was better than other As and so if those minorities stayed in that course thier GPAs would be higher.

Also, standardized tests, like the SAT are not on their face discriminatory, but they do discriminate. Please let me explain how:

When you test that a person can reasonably pay Kaplan or whatever to coach them how to take the test--that means the test gives a greater advantage to those who can afford to pay $300 bucks to get the training.

Now I was blessed; I almost maxed out the SATs without training or coaching. But I did see all the more affluent people in my town have their parents pay all that money and their kids bumped their scores up the second time they took it by about 100 points.

People who are poor cannot do that. Therefore, tests that are coachable are in fact biased towards those that can afford the coaching.

I am no liberal! but if you look at some basic tenets of college entrance, there are systemic disadvantages to impoverished communities--that, because of past racism--are predominantly minority.

Please think about that.

What do you think? I want to hear your opinion here and I will share that with Jed. I think that some conservatives, in their fight against any type of action that considers race because they feel most people are fair, sometimes forget the reality that does need remedy.

Well Wishes to Kitty Litter

Please use this post's comment section to send your get-well wishes and PRAYERS to our lovely, class-act of a blogger, Kitty Litter.

Kerry's Premption Plan circa 1997

In the spirit of link whorage, I am going to link to the hat tip I gave to my buds at Kerry Haters. By the way, I hate the term, "hat tip." I prefer to thank people by saying, "thank you, X."

Anyway, the quip of the day found in the Washington Times today is the following:

During a 1997 debate on CNN's "Crossfire," Sen. John Kerry, now the Democratic presidential nominee, made the case for launching a pre-emptive attack against Iraq.

So reveals Rep. Peter King, New York Republican, who appeared with Mr. Kerry on the program.

Mr. King says the U.N. Security Council had just adopted a resolution against Iraq that was watered down at the behest of the French and the Russians. Yet the candidate who now criticizes President Bush for ignoring French and Russian objections to the Iraq war blasted the two countries, claiming that they were compromised by their business dealings with Baghdad.

"We know we can't count on the French. We know we can't count on the Russians," said Mr. Kerry.

"We know that Iraq is a danger to the United States, and we reserve the right to take pre-emptive action whenever we feel it's in our national interest."

While no "Crossfire" transcripts from 1997 are available, Mr. King in recent days produced a tape of the show, sharing it with New York radio host Monica Crowley for broadcast, and this Inside the Beltway column for publication. Stay tuned.

UPDATE!!!: It appears the Washington Times needs to post a retraction and quick. The above account, from the transcript given to me in the comments section--and vetted with the folks on the Kerry Spot at NRO--seems to be the bad memory and wishful, partisan memory of Rep. King.

Coalition of the Bribed and Coerced, Again

John F. Kerry has a BRILLIANT foreign policy that will obviously bring all kinds of allies to our side in the war on terror. This is Kerry's five point plan:

1. Send my sister to Austrailia to tell Aussies that a vote for Bush will endager them.

2. Condemn all the allies we currently have.

3. Use the word retreat as often as possible.

4. Scare aspiring teenagers into fleeing with threats of a new military draft with a bill in congress by democrats.

5. Shit all over the person spearheading the Iraqi stive toward democracy.

Commander-in-Chief

Alpha Patriot discusses Bush's reaction when he visited soldiers on their way to Iraq. The Washington Post reports:

It had been a pretty glum day for Spec. Brian Parker, who along with the other members of his National Guard unit said goodbye to their families and departed on a charter flight for a long-term stint in Iraq. But then, on a refueling stop here, a familiar figure boarded the plane.

"We were down when we left our families," Parker said, giving a thumbs down. "But then we heard Air Force One was here. It's a good morale boost."

President Bush, after a campaign appearance in Bangor, held his plane on the tarmac when he heard an MD-11 carrying 292 Army reservists and National Guard members was about to refuel here. For the troops, grimly heading toward an 18-to-24-month assignment in Iraq, it was a welcome lift. For Bush, who has been accusing his Democratic presidential opponent, Sen. John F. Kerry, of demoralizing the troops in Iraq by criticizing the war effort, it was a chance to demonstrate his devotion to the troops.

"May God bless you all," the commander in chief said over the plane's public address system. "May God keep you safe." As he worked his way up and down the plane's aisles, posing for photographs, signing autographs and shaking hands, the happily surprised troops called out to him.

"That's my president, hooah!" shouted Sgt. Wanda Dabbs, 22, a member of the 230th Area Support Group, a Guard unit from Tennessee. Others seconded her cheer.

Alpha Patriot said, "It's called leadership."

I say, "AMEN."

Flag Burning Amendment

I commented on this at Kerry Haters.

I believe the argument that this involves freedom of speech is ridiculous. The flag is property of our government, and thus belongs to everyone. This is true with our money and our monuments. So I ask, should the person who wants to burn the flag be able to deface the White House? Should they be able to destroy monuments? Wouldn't that, under the assumption of burning the flag, be the same thing?

I believe the most relevant comparison is with US currency and the flag. It is a federal offense to destroy MONEY. And I have yet seen any attorney successfully argue that a person has a right to destroy money as a basis for freedom of speech. Sure, if I burn a twenty, I probably won't go to jail. But it's still illegal. And if there were rampant money burning in a time of economic crisis--then the law would be enforced.

This would be true with the flag burning amendment. If we are all at piece and some hippie at a college wants to desecrate the flag for an art project--so be it. But if a person in a time of war wants to incite riots and blowback by burning the flag to demoralize our troops and to balk at our nation, then that law should be enforced.

What do you think of that comparison? Let me know in the comments.

Memo to Kerry (Republican Operative)

TO: JOHN KERRY, Republican mole

From: Karl Rove, White House political adviser

I just wanted to let you know that the game plan is working perfectly. By all logic, the president should be packing boxes for his move back to Crawford by now. He's got a sluggish economy, Iraq is turning into such a disaster that even Republicans accuse the president of "incompetence," and Martha Stewart is going to jail while Osama bin Laden is free as a bird.

Given all this, the Democrats had every reason to think they not only could defeat George W. Bush - again! - but actually put their guy in the White House. Unfortunately for them, they made the mistake of nominating our guy, who is merely pretending to be their guy. And now they can't figure out why the campaign is going badly. Their naivete is almost touchingly childlike. You'd think they'd never heard of Richard Nixon or dirty tricks.

But in all seriousness, let's review some of the tactics we've implemented. They fall into the following categories:

# Making Michael Dukakis look good. People thought he looked like a doofus riding in a tank wearing that goofy helmet. But you outdid him when you put on an anticontamination suit to tour the space shuttle orbiter. You looked like one of those sausages that race around the field at the Milwaukee Brewers' home games.

Those windsurfing suits are almost as bad, so put them on any chance you get. I'll keep you posted on our plan to have you visit a fire station and put on a firefighter's helmet - backward!

# Impersonating Thurston Howell III. One of the ways rich politicians show their kinship with Joe Sixpack is speaking the universal language of sports. But you've cleverly "bungled" every opportunity to show your sports savvy. You went to Michigan and said, "There is nothing better than Buckeye football." You said your favorite Red Sox player of all time was Eddie Yost, who never played for Boston. Maybe I'm overoptimistic, but that last one might even put Massachusetts in play this year.

Those remarks were scripted by our crack staff, of course, but they didn't equal your brilliant ad lib when you showed up in Green Bay and made a reference to the Packers' "Lambert Field" - when everyone this side of Paris knows it's "Lambeau." The only thing that could have hurt the Democratic ticket more in the Dairy State is to confess that you're lactose-intolerant.

# Creating your own woman problem. Bill Clinton had Gennifer and Monica, but you've got Teresa. It was shrewd to equip you with a fabulously wealthy wife who speaks with a foreign accent, but Mrs. Kerry has expanded the role far beyond my fondest hopes. That speech she gave at the Democratic convention - well, I haven't witnessed such a prolonged display of self-absorption since Alanis Morissette's last CD.

One of our biggest challenges this year is finding a way to help President Bush among black voters who would rather eat dirt than vote Republican. But for a rich white lady to proclaim herself "African-American" might cause them to reconsider.

Marie Antoinette has nothing on your main squeeze. I loved that remark about the hurricane victims in the Caribbean needing food and electricity more than clothing: "Let them go naked for a while, at least the kids." My only worry is that it might pull in a lot of the pedophile vote.

# Making yourself look hopelessly confused on Iraq. Honestly, who could have imagined one U.S. senator could come up with a different position for every day of the week? At this point, I doubt God himself could figure out what you really think about Iraq. But here's what you can do to seal the deal: I'll plant a question at your next town hall meeting, asking what colors you'd like to see in a new Iraqi flag. Your answer: "Plaid."

Maybe we should scratch that idea. If you do too good a job of botching this campaign, people may start to figure out that you're actually working for us. For that matter, I wonder if we've gone too far already.

So I'll tell you what. For the time being, do your best to look like a competent politician who wants to win the election. I know it's a stretch, but try. Really.

Steve Chapman is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune, a Tribune Publishing newspaper. His column appears Tuesdays and Fridays in The Sun.

Mug Shot Contest!

Since my hoodie was resoundly stated as "spooky" or "creepy" by our readers I want your feedback ASAP. For Owen at Boots & Sabers, I will take a new picture for my blog. Tell me what you wanna see (background, clothing, pose, and if I hold a sign, what it should say).

Owen get's three points for his recommendation; Jared gets two. Everyone else gets one point. After one week I will take that picture and it will be posted.

Disclaimer--no cock shots! For those, you have to email me at my private address: largerthanlife@breakherinhalf.com.

Fill up the comments!

Do We Learn from History?

"[He is] decided only to be undecided, resolved to be irresolute, adamant for drift, solid for fluidity, all powerful to be impotent." Does anyone come to mind? Those were actually Winston Churchill's words describing the Hitler appeasers leading the British government prior to World War II. But it is an uncannily evocative description of John F. Kerry on the matter of Iraq in 2004.

Devastating

I thought the Swift Vets should have left the medals alone and simply went after what Kerry did after he came home. Well, now they are there and it is devastating. There is nothing in the piece that is not factual.

Beware: No more timing your check-writing with your direct deposit!

One of the biggest complaints about the new plan is the fact that with Check 21, the length of time between when a check is written and when the amount is debited from the account – the "float" – will lessen. Consumers, then, will likely bounce more checks as the processing gets quicker.

The nonprofit group Consumers Union predicts that under the new system 7 million more checks per month will bounce than do now. Supporters of Check 21 dispute that number, however.

"Don't write a check unless the funds are already in your account," advises Consumers Union. "The checks you write will clear faster, but banks aren't required to speed up the time when they make funds available from the checks that you deposit."

Worse than You Think

I won't comment on about how Janet Jackson blames the president for the public's reaction to seeing her tit during the half-time show at the Super Bowl. But regarding the half-million dollar fine the FCC levied, listen to CBS' reaction and see if you can see the group-think at work at CBS:

The breast-baring song generated a record number of complaints to the FCC - more than 500,000.

CBS said it was extremely disappointed with the decision.

"While we regret that the incident occurred and have apologized to our viewers, we continue to believe that nothing in the Super Bowl broadcast violated indecency laws," the network said in a statement. "Furthermore, our investigation proved that no one in our company had any advance knowledge about the incident."

The World According to Ann Coulter

Her new book comes out in two weeks! I cannot wait; until then:

There is one reason CBS couldn't wait until just before the election to put these forgeries on the air: It would be too late. Kerry was crashing and burning – because of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. (Funny that the Swift Boat veterans haven't been able to get on Kerry PR agency CBS News.)

Despite a total blackout on the Swift Boat Veterans in the mainstream media, the Swifties had driven Kerry's poll numbers into the dirt long before the Republican National Convention – proving once again that it's almost impossible for liberals to brainwash people who can read.

Even the New York Times had to stop ignoring the No. 1 book on its own best-seller list, "Unfit for Command," in order to run front-page articles attacking the Swift Boat Veterans.

The "Today" show has given Kitty Kelley a chair next to Katie Couric until Election Day. (It's now Day Seven of Kelley's refusal to produce records concerning charges that she is in the final stages of syphilitic dementia.) At least they're more likely to get the truth in Kitty Kelley's book than in Doug Brinkley's "Tour of Duty." But Katie hasn't had time to interview the Swift Boat veterans.

CBS showcased laughable forgeries obtained from a man literally foaming at the mouth in order to accuse the president of malfeasance. But CBS would never put a single one of the 264 Vietnam veterans on the air to say what they knew about Kerry.

The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth show the role of the individual in history. It wasn't Republican strategists who finished Kerry off two months before the election; it was the American people. The Swift Boat veterans came along and kicked Kerry in the shins and no matter how much heat they took, they were brave and wouldn't give up. The veterans who served with Kerry told the truth and the American people listened (as soon as they managed to locate a copy of "Unfit for Command" hidden on one of the back shelves at their local bookstores).

CBS was forced to run a fake story so early in the campaign that it was exposed as a fraud – only because of the Swift Boat vets. These brave men, many of them decorated war heroes, have now not only won the election for Bush, they have ended Dan Rather's career.

Coalition of the Bribed and Coerced

John Kerry says he would bring NATO allies in to train more Iraqi troops. Meanwhile, the Bush administration is already doing so:

NATO allies agreed Wednesday to send hundreds of instructors to run a training center for Iraq's armed forces after addressing French concerns that had delayed a deal for a week.

France, Belgium, Germany and Spain have indicated they will not send instructors to Iraq and wanted to ensure that the bulk of the costs would be covered by participating nations.

Under the agreement, NATO will coordinate training of Iraqi officers outside the country, in addition to deploying about 300 allied instructors to Iraq to operate the academy outside Baghdad.

"We are very pleased that this step has now been taken," said NATO spokesman James Appathurai. "This assistance should be oriented to help Iraq build the capability of its government to address the security needs of the Iraqi people," Appathurai told reporters.

This is a 300% increase in NATO support; this significant breakthrough is just a footnote in WaPo today.

Strategery

The marks of a smart campaign:

President Bush’s political team is orchestrating a vastly larger advertising campaign than thought possible under federal law, taking control of millions in Republican Party funds simply by inserting the phrase “our leaders in Congress” in selected commercials.

The GOP strategy had gone unnoticed for weeks by Sen. John Kerry and the Democrats, who now may abandon their own less-cost-efficient approach to advertising.

For those not privy to presidential humor, when asked for one word to describe his presidency, Will Farrell (playing president Bush on SNL) answers, "Strategery."

Decisive Leadership!

In selecting the new Director of Intelligence, we have this:

In the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday, four of the eight Democratic members voted against the nomination of Goss, the same who opposed his floor vote. All nine Republicans approved, and North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, did not vote.

On the most important vote since the 9/11 Commission report was completed, John Edwards is absent.

Request for Blog Ettiquite Addition

Many of us (government employees) like to read blogs at work since they link to many news articles and important information relevant to our position. I think maybe we should start a new idea where people identify if their posts have links that are "not safe for work." This goes beyond the normal "explicit" line if you linke to a nude photograph or something violent/grotesque...but something you might read in say Maxim magazine or FHM and just link to it and then all of a sudden at work you have some movie star in their underwear.

Just a thought.

(No, this hasn't happened to me yet).

Wacky Conspiracy Theory

Here's one for everyone: what if the DNC actually planted the documents hoping the scandal would spin so poorly for John Kerry they will try to pull the Torricelli option for October?

What do you all think? Is that more crazy than thinking Karl Rove planted the docs?

It looks like Kerry is already misunderestimating Bush for the debates. Check out this great observation from Dave J at Left Coast Conservative:

John Kerry Super dork"The big hang-up was George Bush wanted to get life lines, you know, so he could call somebody," the Democratic candidate for president quipped Tuesday while appearing on "Live With Regis and Kelly."

Looks like "Bush is a great debater" line just blew up. Now we are back to Bush is a dolt.

Jimmy Swaggart: Biggot, Bastard

Instapundit points us to this quote by Swaggart:

I'm trying to find the correct name for it . . . this utter absolute, asinine, idiotic stupidity of men marrying men. . . . I've never seen a man in my life I wanted to marry. And I'm gonna be blunt and plain; if one ever looks at me like that, I'm gonna kill him and tell God he died.

I have always hated this tactic by pastors to pander to the congregation by talking about everyone elses soul and sins instead of teaching his sheep how to improve their own lives. If you have a congregation of all single people, why talk about adultery all the time? Its sole purpose is to let people go home on Sunday "feeling holy" and it is the worst type of sin...the sin of arrogance. Remember, that is the first angelic sin and the first human sin: I shall be like the most high God (Satan); eat this and you will know everything God knows.

There is a better, doctrinal write up on this assinine statement of Swaggart at Evangelical Outpost.

Top 10 Signs Kerry Has already Lost the Election

From the great mind of da man over at GOP & the City:

10. Hillary sends email asking for donation to Hillary-2008
9. Gore keeps calling and giving concession speech advice
8. Edwards goes back to work in the Senate
7. Dan Rather calls to ask what he can do
6. Michael Moore calls him "a lousy candidate"
5. Mike Dukakis sends a "Welcome To The Club" FTD basket
4. No more Letterman, has to settle with a spot on Tony Danza's show
3. Is told to "shove it" by Teresa
2. Awarded 4th purple heart by Federal Election Committee

And the #1 sign it is over for John Kerry...
1. Even the hamster will not look him in the eye

Buried in the Sand: the Deception of America

Look for this coming out tomorrow.

Host: Mark Taylor
Audio: Dolby Stereo
Video: Full Frame 1.33:1
Studio: CYHL Pictures
Features: Factoids, Trailer
Length: 72 Minutes
Release Date: September 21, 2004

My Photo

Okay, Owen at Boots and Sabers (which should be one of your daily reads) plugged this site and I thank him for that; but in the same breath said my picture creeps him out.

So, I blew my picture up a little bit and want to hear from you. What are the creepier parts of the photo?

To give some background:

1. I am sitting at my kitchen table.
2. Those are white wooden blinds behind me.
3. I am wearing a beige hat underneath...
4. A dark blue Nautica hoodie.

Let's hear from you!