February 15, 2006 by s.z.

We Have Always Been At War With Quailasia Here's part of the A.P. story about Dick Cheney's interview with Brit Hume. Vice President Dick Cheney on Wednesday accepted full blame for shooting a fellow hunter and defended his decision to not publicly disclose the accident until the following day. [...] Cheney said he agreed that ranch owner Katharine Armstrong should make the story public, because she was an eyewitness, because she grew up on the ranch and because she is "an acknowledged expert in all of this" as a past head of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. He also agreed with her decision to choose the local newspaper as the way to get the news out. "I thought that made good sense because you can get as accurate a story as possible from somebody who knew and understood hunting and then it would immediately go up to the wires and be posted on the Web site, which is the way it went out and I thought that was the right call," Cheney said. "What do you think now?" he was asked. "I still do," Cheney responded. "The accuracy was enormously important. I had no press person with me." Armstrong told reporters that Whittington made a mistake by not announcing himself as he returned to the hunting line after breaking off to retrieve a downed bird. But Cheney, an avid and longtime hunter, said Whittington was not to blame. Lessee, so Cheney agreed that Armstrong should make the story public because she is an expert, understands hunting, and was an eye witness.  Yes, because it was vital that the press accounts be accurate, he deputized (or allowed, or whatever) Katharine to report the story to the local paper, instead of having some dope from the VP's Office or little Scottie McClellan make an announcement to those creeps at the Washington Post .  And because it was so important that the account be accurate, it took her almost a day to get her facts straight.  Now, let's see what Accurate Armstrong actually said about who was responsible for the accident: Katharine Armstrong, whose family owns the ranch, was a member of the hunting party and witnessed the accident. She said Cheney, an experienced hunter, did not realize Whittington had rejoined the group without announcing himself, which is proper protocol among hunters. "They had no idea he was there," Armstrong said. "A bird flew up, the vice president followed it through around to his right and shot, and unfortunately, unbeknownst to anybody, Harry was there and he got peppered pretty good with a spray of 28-gauge pellets," Armstrong said in a telephone interview. She described Cheney as "an excellent, conscientious shot."    "The person who is not doing the shooting at the point is just as responsible and, should be, as the person actually shooting," Armstrong said. So, although per Vice President Cheney, the accident was his fault ("Well, ultimately, I'm the guy who pulled the trigger that fired the round that hit Harry [...] it was not Harry's fault"), Ms. Armstrong said that it was Harry's fault as much as it was Dick's -- and maybe even more Harry's fault, since Harry violated hunting protocol, while Dick is a conscientious shooter who did nothing wrong.  So much for that all-important accuracy! You know, even though I think it's nice that Dick is now accepting "full blame" for the shooting, it might have been even nicer if he hadn't let his designated spokes-expert claim it was all the victim's fault.  Maybe it's just me, but I think a stand-up guy like the one to whom Lucianne Goldberg wrote that mash note should have offered a correction about this important aspect of the incident a little bit sooner Now, back to the A.P. story: Whittington was reported doing well at a Texas hospital Wednesday, a day after doctors said that a pellet entered his heart and he had what they called "a mild heart attack." [...] The pellet that traveled to Whittington's heart was either touching or embedded in the heart muscle near the top chambers, called the atria, officials said. So, at least one of Dick's shot-gun pellets penetrated Harry's vest and clothing, and lodged deep enough in his chest that it was able to move into a position where it caused him to have a heart attack -- and it is now either touching or embedded in his heart muscle.  That sounds kind of serious!  So, why did I have the impression that this was no big deal, and that Harry was laughing about the matter right after it happened? Well, here's what Dick told Brit about Whittington's condition right after the accident: THE VICE PRESIDENT: He was struck in the right side of his face, his neck and his upper torso on the right side of his body. ...He was laying there on his back, obviously bleeding. You could see where the shot had struck him. ... He was conscious -- Q What did you say? THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, I said, "Harry, I had no idea you were there." And -- Q What did he say? THE VICE PRESIDENT: He didn't respond. He was -- he was breathing, conscious at that point, but he didn't -- he was, I'm sure, stunned, obviously, still trying to figure out what had happened to him. [...] Q His eyes were open when you found him, then, right? THE VICE PRESIDENT: Yes. One eye was open. Well, it seems like Dick thought that it was kinda serious (but not serious enough to discuss with his boss, the President, but still, no joking matter). Now, just for fun, let's see what the always accurate (and expert) Katharine Armstrong  said about Harry's condition right after the accident: "This is something that happens from time to time," Armstrong said. "You know, I've been peppered pretty well myself." Armstrong said Whittington was bleeding, and Cheney was very apologetic. "It broke the skin," she said of the pellets. "It knocked him silly. But he was fine. He was talking. His eyes were open." Yes, Katharine has had her heart peppered with pieces of lead lots of times -- it's no big deal, and happens to everyone from time to time.  And anyway, Harry was fine.  He was talking, his eyes were open, and he probably urged Dick to go have his dinner with the other guests while Harry went to the walk-in clinic just to have the pellets brushed off of him. But yes, the delay in getting this story out was so that it would be entirely accurate. For, as Dick said to Brit: It was important that it be accurate. I do think what I've experienced over the years here in Washington is as the media outlets have proliferated, speed has become sort of a driving force, lots of time at the expense of accuracy. And I wanted to make sure we got it as accurate as possible, and I think Katherine was an excellent choice. I don't know who you could get better as the basic source for the story than the witness who saw the whole thing. Well, presumably it would have been good to have Dick's side of the story a little earlier, since he was there too, but I guess it's better that we sacrificed some speed for all that impressive accuracy. P.S.  Speaking of accuracy, here's a tidbit I found interesting from the Brit transcript: Q Would you describe him [Harry Whittington] as a close friend, friendly acquaintance, what -- THE VICE PRESIDENT: No, an acquaintance. Then, a little later, in the part where Dick is nobly accepting full blame for shooting Harry (you know, where he bravely discounts the implication from his friends that Harry pulled a John Kerry and shot himself), Dick says: I'm the guy who pulled the trigger and shot my friend. And I say that is something I'll never forget. I guess it doesn't sound quite so tragically noble and responsible to say, 'I'm the guy who pulled the trigger and shot an acquaintance.  You know, that old guy who was standing behind me -- I never got his name.  But anyway, shooting him was a horrible mistake that I'll remember for as long as I can."*  And yes, the line about shooting our tragic hero accidentally shooting his best friend is now the sound bite of the day. *Apologies to Julie Brown for that last line, which is basically stolen from the song "'Cause I'm a Blonde.  You probably know remember Julie  for her hit  "The VP's Got a Gun," which features these lyrics: God, the Vice President's on a shooting spree Stop it, Dick, you're embarrassing me! How could you upstage the Prez this way? Was it all those beers you drank Saturday? Everybody run, the Vice President's got a gun Everybody run, the VP has got a gun. Words to ponder. 7:06:36 PM

'An Urgent Message From David Horowitz' That was the title of an email I received a couple of days ago from NewsMax.  However, other than giggling while I imagined David singing and dancing to the Foreigner song "Urgent" (like the guy in the cell phone commercial), I regret to say that I didn't give David's plea any thought. But then I read where Michael Bérubé was getting all civil on David's hinder, so I decided that I owed it to David to at least read his email.   And then, inspired by Michael's example, I decided that as a highly influential member of the blogging community, I probably should share David's message with a larger audience, to show my commitment to free speech and stuff.  (Although David does have that sweet Scaife money that he can use to hire NewsMax to send spam on his behalf, you can't buy the kind of publicity that World o'Crap can give you.  Well, I guess you could, but nobody has to date, although I did get that free copy of Pamela Anderson's book.  But that didn't lead to the career as a shill I was hoping for, so it's back to touting books like David's as a public service.) So, here's David: An Urgent Message From the Desk of David Horowitz Dear Newsmax Reader, Because I know that you are as concerned as I am the radical left's stranglehold on our colleges and universities, I have set aside for you a copy of my new book, The Professors -- The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America. Wow, he set aside a copy just for me -- that was pretty thoughtful, I must say.  However, I think some kind of mistake has been made, since I'm not nearly as concerned as David is about the left's stranglehold on colleges and universities.  I'm also not as concerned as David is about the dangers we face from Marxists, pies of mass destruction, and Michael Bérubés.  So, maybe he should let somebody else buy my copy of his book. The title speaks for itself. This book, a product of the research we are able to do thanks to the generous financial support of the Center for the Study of Popular Culture's (CSPC)National Campaign for Academic Freedom, exposes the tip of the iceberg. These are the worst "hate America" voices in academia today. What we've exposed will astound and anger you: At Cal State-Long Beach: Ron Karenga is a Professor and Chairman of the Black Studies Department. He's also a convicted torturer and inventor of Kwanzaa. Cal State gave a teaching job to the guy who invented Kwanzaa?!?  The bastards!  Next they'll be hiring the inventor of Arbor Day and the women who thought up Mother's Day.  I weep for what this country has become! At the University of Texas-Arlington: Jose Angel Gutierrez is a Political Science Professor. He's also the founder of La Raza Unida, a racist Hispanic organization that calls on Hispanics and Mexican immigrants to seize U.S. land. Among his more notable racists rants is his repeated pronouncement that calls for the elimination of "the gringo, and what I mean by that is if the worst comes to the worst, we have to kill him." Since David has provided a hyperlink here, you might think it leads you the full text and context of the Gutierrez quote.  But you would be wrong -- the link actually takes you to a page where you can make a tax-deductible donation to David's Center for the Study of Popular Culture 'n Unpopular Professors.  (If you donate $100, you get a free copy of David's book, complete with a personal inscription.) There are more of course Well, three more, per David:  MIT professor Noam Chomsky, who has made himself rich calling for the destruction of his country; Columbia University's Nicholas De Genova, who led an anti-war demonstration by wishing for deaths of thousands of American troops; and, Texas Journalism Professor Robert Jensen, who rabidly hates the United States, and recently told his students, "The United States has lost the war in Iraq and that's a good thing." Once again, the hyperlink takes you to a page asking for donations, not to the source of the quotes cited by David.  See, David is the nation's premiere advocate of academic freedom, and as such, isn't bound by the same scholarly conventions that you were required to use on those papers you wrote for English 101. These are just a few of the most notorious radicals indoctrinating our young people today. Sadly, they're not the exception at our schools -- they're the mainstream! Right.  You just can't set foot in any college class these days without having a professor urging the genocide of the white race, swearing affiliation with al Qaeda, or inventing bogus holidays.  This kind of thing is so common these days that nobody gives it a second thought, which is why you don't hear about it from anybody except Crazy Davey. Imagine just for a moment being a conservative student and having to sit in a class taught by any one of the professors I've mentioned. Difficult? Stressful? All of that and more, and that's simply not what a college education is about. Yes, imagine those poor, oppressed conservative students who are being dragooned and forced, against their will, to take courses in Gay Feminist Black Studies or Anti-Americanism for Music Majors.  Difficult?  Stressful?  Criminal?  All of that and more!  Besides, having to hear viewpoints you don't agree with is simply not what a college education is all about. Yet the 101 professors highlighted in my book are representative of thousands of radical leftists who spew a violent anti-Americanism, preach anti-Semitism, and cheer on the killing of American soldiers and civilians! And they're living off taxpayer dollars and tuition fees as they indoctrinate our future leaders. Our job -- yours and mine -- is to spread the word far and wide. Um, Mr. Horowitz, I don't mean to complain, but that isn't actually listed in my job description. We must expose the men and women like Jose Angel Gutierrez, Ron Karenga, and Bernadine Dorhn to the American people. And I believe part of my mission is to ensure that you are fully aware of the types of individuals we're up against. And it's part of your mission to subsidize David's crack work in the field of Professor Exposing.  Do it, or be branded a traitor to the cause! With the CSPC's generous support I've spent the past two-plus years fighting an entrenched radical left that has virtually taken over our nation's colleges and universities. What you and I want is an academic environment in America that is once again "dedicated to the disinterested pursuit of knowledge," as our universities once defined their roles. Well, what I actually want is some generous support from the CSPC while I investigate some of those stories that Dr. Professor Mike Adams keeps recounting.  (Did feminists really give him E.D by chanting "vagina, vagina" at him?  What is the truth behind the tear gas allegations? Why doesn't he go hunting with Doug Giles anymore?  Some generous funding from the CSPC will allow me to research all these matters, and more!)  I think The Professors is going to really open your friends and neighbors' eyes to the reality of what is being taught on our college campuses today... and who is teaching it! Thank you and may God bless you and our great nation. Sincerely, David Horowitz President & Founder Well, my friends and neighbors' don't know who David is, and have no interest in his "reality", no matter how lurid it might be -- so I can't see them ever reading his book.  But I would like to thank him for interceding with God for me. Oh, and in case you're interested, here are some of the lyrics to "Urgent" -- for fun, imagine David singing them to, say, Ann Coulter: You're not warm or sentimental You’re so extreme, you can be so temperamental But I’m not looking for a love that will last I know what I need and I need it fast Yeah, there’s one thing in common that we both share That’s a need for each other anytime, anywhere You say it’s urgent Make it fast, make it urgent Do it quick, do it urgent Gotta rush, make it urgent Want it quick Urgent, urgent, emergency 4:24:55 PM

Choose Ye This Day Whom Ye Will Serve There's a new news/blogger consortium in town.  Here's part of the press release: PRINCETON, N.J.--OpinionJournal.com, a free web site from The Wall Street Journal's Editorial Page, announces the launch of the OpinionJournal Federation of top political Web sites and blogs, which will offer daily content to its readers. OpinionJournal.com editors will select at least one article each week from a Federation member site for publication on OpinionJournal.com, which will also feature overviews and links to all Federation members. Charter members of the OpinionJournal.com Federation include RealClearPolitics.com, the American Council on Science and Health, The American Spectator magazine, City Journal from the Manhattan Institute, the Claremont Institute, Commentary magazine, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Federalist Society, First Things magazine, the Heritage Foundation, Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball, The New Criterion magazine, the Pacific Research Institute, the Property and Environment Research Center, and the Reason Foundation. Political blogs also will participate, including Dynamist.com, Eduwonk.com, Instapundit.com, Overlawyered.com and Volokh.com. "The OpinionJournal.com Federation will be the premiere gateway to political commentary on the Web," says Tony Lee, publisher, OpinonJournal.com. "This Federation will offer viewpoints and commentary that will enhance the observations of our editors and columnists." "Wait a minute," I hear you say, "Weren't Instapundit and Volokh Conspiracy part of the Pajamas Media dream team?!?  Are they jumping ship already?" The answer is: I don't know, since I never get invited to those secret "make big money growing blogs in your basement" meetings. But I can tell you that both Instapundit and Volohk are still listed as Pajamas Media bloggers at the PM site, and they both still feature those cute little illustrations of pajamas at their own sites; I guess we'll have to wait and see if that state of affair continues. However, I know I will be eagerly awaiting the announcements from Glenn and Eugene about their exciting new venture, and I am looking forward to their statements about how abandoning a sinking ship isn't just for rats any more. P.S.  Here's some info from OpinionJournal - Federation about their star political bloggers: InstaPundit is the blog of law professor Glenn Reynolds, author of "An Army of Davids," and revolves around politics, the war, technology, and music, with occasional forays into other things that interest him. Besides firsthand reports from Iraq and Afghanistan, handson gadget reviews, and references to interesting books and films, the site also features pointers to a wide variety of other blogs, and regular podcast interviews with all sorts of guests. And lots and lots of "indeeds" and "hehs."  Read the whole thing! The Volokh Conspiracy -- A center-right weblog on law, public policy, current events, and more, cowritten by several legal academics. You can always count on legal academics to put a smile on your face and to add sunshine to even the dreariest day.  But that "center-right" descriptor brings up an interesting question: Why doesn't the "premiere gateway to political commentary on the Web" contain any token center-left web sites and blogs?  Did David Corn swear his undying loyalty to PM, or what?  2:51:07 AM

Happy Post Valentines Day To get you into the proper anti-romance spirit, here are some really icky pairings to contemplate, all courtesy of the NRO feature "Men We Love." 1.  Janice "Mad at My Mop" Crouse and Phill "All Your Planned Parenthood Medical Files Belong to Us" Kline. Here's part of why Janice loves Phill: I find nothing more attractive in a person than a clear-eyed passion for what is true and good. I first saw Phill Kline, attorney general for Kansas, a couple of years ago when we each gave testimony about an anti-sex-trafficking bill before the Kansas legislature. It took no special insight to recognize that here was a man from the heartland of America who speaks with the passion of William Jennings Bryan about wrongs that must be righted. [...] He is a firebrand, a warrior, yet he is human to his core.[ ...] Hearing Phill Kline talk about the evil of what he is convinced is the covering up of the rape of pre-teen girls by Planned Parenthood clinics to protect their abortion franchise is to understand the power of integrity, words, and passion in conveying the essential principles of decent people. Here's a reason which Janice forgot to mention, courtesy of today's WorldNetDaily Last spring, Krishna Rajanna's abortion clinic in Kansas City was raided ... At least one employee claimed to have witnessed Rajanna microwaving a fetus and mixing it into his own lunch. Though Rajanna vehemently denied the charge, saying he was a vegetarian, his clinic was closed and his medical license revoked. [...] The accusation Rajanna ate fetuses was reiterated by Kansas Attorney General Phil Kline in a legislative hearing on regulating abortion clinics. Kline's quest to shut down Planned Parenthood because it fails to notify the police about every girl under the age of consent who used their services was reportedly fueled by allegations made by a unhinged anti-abortion group called Life Dynamics.  Life Dynamics is the outfit that spread the story that abortion providers dissect living fetuses and then make big money selling baby parts to a secret research industry. The guy who made these claims to congress later told "20/20" that Life Dynamics had paid him $10,000 to work undercover in one of the clinics. He admitted to the NY Times that his claims were fabricated. But hey, a willingness to believe these kinds of wild stories just makes Phill more loveable (and a better attorney general).   And, as you may recall, Janice has told a tall tale or two herself (her latest involves the claim that sex trafficking is linked to liberal feminism).  So, we hope their love affair works out for them, since these kids really deserve each other.  2.  Lucianne Goldberg and Dick Cheney Just imagine the two of them in bed together.  Naked.  Doing the nasty. Maybe some photos will help you to create that mental picture:                        Okay, I'm sorry about that.  If it makes you feel any better, imagine them going hunting together.  Anyway, here's Lucianne, talking about Big Dick. Dick Cheney, the Uber Daddy: Maybe it's the sly, knowing smile that hides a teamster's vocabulary that makes this man so macho. To me he is the essence of cool. I cannot imagine him raising his voice, getting flustered, angry, or non-plussed (even when someone runs in front of his shotgun). He is the kind of man you call if you are picked up for speeding and need bail. If you are sick as a dog or can't get home or find yourself alone in the last grinding pangs of labor you call a Cheney kind of guy. When every other authority figure tells you "no," Dick Cheney, because you are a woman and he seems to like them, would tell you "yes." I always liked him, but two incidents sealed the deal. I was first introduced to him at a reception and, even though he didn't know me, he leaned over and kissed me. Right then I was hooked. But, when it was suggested to him that a certain arrogant New York Timesreporter was, in so many words, a fool, and he responded, "Big time!" I was cooked. I really can't add anything to this. 3.  Kathryn Jean Lopez and "El Rushbo" I really can't add anything to this either. Anyway, there are other interesting couples, such as Jessica Gavora (wife of Jonah Goldberg) and George Clooney.  Several women wrote about their love for various priests.  One women brought up that stud muffin Ed Meese.  But I still haven't recovered from that Lucianne/Dick thing, so you'll have to go on without me. 1:11:54 AM