November 3, 2004 by s.z.

More Like "Blogging Doohickeys" Michelle Malkin, in a post entitled, "'THERE IS NO "BLOGGING MACHINE,' DAN," rebukes Dan Rather for saying that "the blogging machine which the White House and the Bush-Cheney campaign has used for any number of purposes over their four years will start now, if it hasn't started already, to say, listen, Kerry-Edwards, for the good of the country, need to concede."  She says: After four months in the blogging game, one thing about the majority of bloggers on the wide-ranging right is clear to me: They (we) are a boisterous, independent-minded, unruly lot who cannot be "used" by anyone. [Oh, and Michelle, if you have to bleep out more than a couple of words from the post where you found out about the story, then it doesn't seem like it's the kind of blog that a family-oriented, puritanical blogger like yourself should be reading.] Hugh Hewitt, in a post rebuking "Tom Daschle, Tony Knowles and Betty Castor, and of course John Kerry" for not conceding their elections, says: This is not the conduct of a great party, but it is also not surprising for the party of Michael Moore. What an example for the new democracies in Afghanistan and Iraq.   So, it seems that Michelle is right -- bloggers can't be used by anyone, because Hugh thought of that, "Won't somebody PLEASE think about the baby democracies?" line all by himself.  5:06:03 AM

Who Said It? Once again, you people nailed it.  Our first mystery guest was indeed George Bush (explaining to the voters of New Mexico that democracy will fix everything in Iraq, unless it gets everybody killed first because it's so dangerous), and the second was Mel Gibson, who will probably be running for Jesus in 2008. Now, who is the syndicated pundit (her columns appear at Townhall and other venues) whose column about lizard brains from a couple of days ago included this bit: FEAR IS the operative word as election hour closes in, appropriately on the heels of Halloween. [...] Huffington explains that Americans' support for Bush constitutes an infantile dependence on authority (Daddy) to protect us from danger. To which one is compelled to respond: Damned tootin'. Hey, only those pseudo-sophisticated liberals think that there is something wrong with being an easily manipulated, stupid, scaredy-cat baby who votes for a Daddy to protect them against boogie men. Okay, now name the guy who said the following in a WorldNetDaily column which explained how his group and his book (well, he says he cowrote it, but the other guy says he just helped edit it) won the election for Bush.  Then John Kerry refused to release his military records, even when the Navy said there were some 31 pages of his file the public had never seen, even when serious questions had been raised that he had received a less-than-honorable discharge for collaborating with the enemy in time of war.  All of this the American public might well have accepted and forgiven, if only John Kerry had told the truth and asked for forgiveness. You know, like how George Bush admitted that he hadn't completed his National Guard commitment because he had been arrested for selling cocaine and needed to get out of town, and how he confessed that he had helped to procure an abortion for his pregnant girlfriend back before they were legal, and so we all forgave him and reelected him to the presidency. 4:41:43 AM

The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow I'm sleep-deprived and kind of, well, squashed-feeling, and the words just aren't coming, but here are a cheery few thoughts on the apparent Bush victory: Okay, it's not a GOOD thing, of course, but it's part of God's plan, in that now Bush has to deal with the messes he made (in Iraq and Afghanistan especially; but also the deficit, which will require that he raise taxes; and other stuff too).  That should be enough to keep him from starting any new adventures in other countries.  And maybe it's better that he get the ever-declining popularity ratings that will come in the wake of handling these already screwed up situations, rather than making a new president deal with them, because this will help to ensure a Democratic victory in 2008 (if man is still alive; if woman can survive; wooo oh). While four more years of Bush could mean that he gets a chance to appoint at least a couple of conservative Supreme Court judges, maybe privately funded stem-cell research will invent cures for whatever is wrong with the current ones, and so no new appointments will be needed.  And if not, well, remember that some of Reagan's appointments worked out okay. Some of Bush's plans (like privatizing Social Security) won't ever get off the ground, because they are just too stupid to actually work, and because there won't be any support for them, either from the House and Senate or from the voters.  (Remember that plan for the space station on the moon?)  So, again, his capacity for screwing things up is somewhat limited. He didn't get the landslide victory he and his people seemed to expect (at least, they seemed to expect it up until the last couple of weeks).  So, he will probably be reluctant to appoint a Faith Based Secretary of State, because he knows that his support isn't all that strong, and he shouldn't do stuff to alienate normal people. At least Alan Keyes didn't win, so there are some signs of intelligence out there. Wouldn't you rather have Karl Rove in Washington, where we know where he is, instead of heading a shadowy criminal organization headquartered in the Balkans?  Despite what Monte Kuligowski said, Bush really doesn't get to be the president of the culture.  We can still read books and newspapers, listen to good music, admire art that isn't about charges to keep or the morning side of the mountain, etc.  Really! Either Jenna or NotJenna is sure to marry a rock star within the next four years, and this way we can watch the wedding on TV.  (Oh, and Jenna and NotJenna are supposed to be starting their jobs working with AIDS patients and teaching at an inner city school this month -- this could be a really fun new reality TV show.) We will all still be here, doing our best to fight for truth, justice, and the American way, so we can keep the country from going down the toilet until the big Democratic victory of 2008. So, courage, friends.  Think of how much more sporting it is to make fun of wingnuts (or winghuts, to use my sleep-deprived spelling of last night) when they are in power, than when we are. 3:41:45 AM