March 26, 2005 by s.z.

News from the Blogosphere ... and Beyond! 1.  Spencer, formerly of  Hot Wax Residue, has a new blog called The Day Shift.  It has posts about stem-cell research, Field of Dreams, and shooting down planes.  So, it's one-stop shopping, kinda like Target (only without James Lileks).  Check it out! 2.  And speaking of Lileks -- because Lucy requested it, here's the Bleat synopsis: He's cold (and old), so he's thinking of moving to Arizona.  (Don't do it, James!  Who will monitor the Target clerks for "Happy Holidays" offenses if you leave?) Oh, and Lucy, I still love Regrettable Food.  And I really liked the excerpts from Interior Desecrations that he posted at his site, so I bought a copy of it for friend whom I thought would enjoy it.  However, I had second thoughts almost immediately, because Amazon informed me that people with my book preferences also bought Hugh Hewitt books, as well as Axis of Weasels by Scott Ott.  Now I am on some list of Hugh Hewitt fans, and Amazon has lost all respect for me, I just know it! 3. Journalists Against Bush's B.S. (JABBS) has a great post about the alternate reality where George Bush pushes his social security plan.  Oh, and congrats to JABBS for being chosen to be part of a GWU graduate school poli Sci class on "Politics and the New Media."  (We were very amused at the commenter who chided JABBS for corrupting the students with the foul language in the blog's name -- we like to think that commenter was Brent Bozell, monitoring the new media for the sake of the children.) 4.  Apparently the hottest middle-aged non-conservative writer on the internets (and the thinking woman's sex symbol) is Doghouse Riley, who blogs at Bats Left Throws Right.  Recent posts cover such subjects as Jeopardy's Tournament of Champions; the WSJ/Ana Marie Cox defamation of Powerline (note to Hindrocket: when you use scare quotes when acknowledging that you were "wrong," it may give some people the idea you aren't actually backing down); and the NYT meets NASCAR.  So, read it if you dare!  But ladies, hands off Mr. Riley -- he's mine!  6:09:56 AM

Culture of Life News  From a press release issued yesterday by Randall Terry's office: In three separate press conferences throughout Florida's Eighth Senate District, Public Defender James Purdy and Republican Executive Committee member Kay Durden will publicly urge Randall Terry to become the next State Senator from District 8. [...] Mr. Terry has been a nationally known public advocate for social conservative causes for the past 20 years. Most recently, Mr. Terry served as the media coordinator and frequent spokesman for the Schindler family during the battle to save Terri Schindler Schiavo from starvation. Yes, a guy who has been arrested over 40 times, who declared bankruptcy as a way to avoid paying the judgments he owed after being sued for his harassment of women at abortion clinics, who divorced his wife of 19 years and almost immediately married his young former assistant, who got kicked out of his church for his inappropriate conduct with women, and who believes that the death penalty is appropriate for abortion providers, is planning to run for the state senate.  I'm sure he's just what the people of Florida need, and we wish him well in his efforts. Oh, and the Schindlers and the rest of their circus aren't going away either.  Here's a tidbit from a story about how Brother Paul O'Donnell, one of the Schindler family "spiritual advisers," is going on the lecture circuit to give audiences the inside scoop on Terri's dying. "I will share my perspective on what I call 'the Passion and Death of Terri Schiavo' and tell people what it was like for those two weeks when the feeding tube was removed," he said. "I'll share what Terri went through, what the family went through and what I experienced firsthand through her passion and death." It sounds like fun!  Brother O'Donnell will join Schindler family members when he speaks the National Right to Life Convention in June.  (Terri's brother and sister will be part of "Where There is Life . . . There is Hope: A Tribute to Terri Schindler Schiavo,” which will presumably discuss how having your brain replaced by spinal fluid doesn't mean that you can't recover after 30 or 40 years, if only they don't pull your feeding tube.).   And that's not even the coolest event! He has tentative plans to join members of Schiavo's family at World Youth Day in Germany this summer, where Pope Benedict is also slated to speak. It sounds like just the thing for the youth.  (I wonder if the "Girls Gone Wild" producers will be filming there.) Anyway, it's nice that everybody found ways to stay in the spotlight even though Terri isn't around anymore, because she would have wanted them to profit from her death this way. 4:33:56 AM

The Ann Coulterization of America Okay, we don't really feel up to discussing how Ann's influence on the public discourse is a symptom of the End Times (although that would make a good topic for a doctoral thesis ).  But here's a new quiz for you: identify which quote is from Ann Coulter; which is from nice Catholic lady (and former presidential speech writer) Peggy Noonan; which is from third-tier pundit Debbie Schlussel; and which is from laughing-stock of the internets Kaye Grogan: 1.  This quote is from a column which denounces the Traitorous Seven for being stuck on themselves; it also knocks police chiefs for "lauding law-enforcement personnel" whenever a serial killer gets caught instead of apologizing for not having caught the guy sooner.  [Police Squad! interlude -- Lt Drebin to new widow: "We're sorry to bother you at a time like this, Mrs. Twice.  We would have come earlier, but your husband wasn't dead yet."]   But my favorite was Lindsey Graham, who said, "I know there will be folks 'back home' who will be angry, but that's only because they're not as sophisticated and high-minded as I am. Actually they're rather stupid, which is why they're not in the Senate and I am. But I have 3 1/2 years to charm them out of their narrow-minded resentments, and watch me, baby." Oh, excuse me, that's not what he said. That's only what he meant. It was the invisible scroll as he spoke. The CNN identifier that popped up beneath his head as he chattered, however, did say, "Conceited Nitwit Who Affects 'Back Home' Accent to Confuse the Boobs." [...] Public figures use the press to laud themselves with no embarrassment, no sense of what is important, and no sense of modesty. If Jack Webb were here he would deck these guys. Broderick Crawford would bark "10-4" and hit them on the head with his Highway Patrol walkie-talkie. The point of the column appears to be that only humble, self-effacing politicans should be allowed to appear on CNN (and then, only if they have caught a serial killer).  Anybody violating this rule should be hit on the head with a walkie-talkie. 2.  From a column about Bill Moyers, and about how today's high oil prices prove that oil had nothing to do with the invasion of Iraq. In his lengthy diatribe against Rice, Moyers said she had cried wolf, intentionally misleading "America and the world about the case for invading Iraq." Apparently Rice had said Iraq was "a part of the war on terror" on the grounds that Saddam was: (1) supporting terrorists, (2) a weapons of mass destruction threat and (3) "a tremendous barrier to change in the Middle East." But as regular viewers of PBS know, in fact, we invaded Iraq for oil. Yes, precisely. That's why U.S. forces seized Iraq's oil fields right after Baghdad fell, confiscated their vast oil reserves, and now we can buy all the gasoline we want here at home for just pennies a gallon any time we want. Sorry, we what? Folks, my switchboard is completely lit up and this isn't even a radio show. [...] Moyers also noted that his critics were the ones behind the bin Laden-like attack on Iraq in order "to make sure Ahmed Chalabi winds up controlling Iraq's oil." (And that's why gasoline is so cheap!) The point of the column seems to be that oil isn't cheap, and it's all Bill Moyers' fault. Oh, and that Condi Rice never misled anyone when she said that Iraq tried to buy thousands of high-strength aluminum tubes that are "only really suited for nuclear weapons programs, centrifuge programs," and so we had better invade Iraq and depose Saddam because "We don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud." 3.  From a column which claims that the Newsweek Koran item was against American interests, and therefore "treasonable." Now I know that President Bush is usually to blame for everything including the stumping of someone's big toe, but it is really beyond absurd to blame the Bush Administration for the now infamous Koran story in Newsweek. Sorry, but " political correctness" is not going to suffice for something so detrimental to the well-being of Americans this time. You'll have to go and bark up another tree. I didn't actually see the report of Abu Gharib prisoner abuse reported by Dan Rather, because I stopped watching the news and one-way slanted stories on 60 Minutes on CBS years ago. But I bet Rather was salivating at the mouth like a lot of other left-wingers who thought they had President Bush hogtied waiting to drag him out of the White House, kicking and screaming after the 2004 presidential election I am still at a loss trying to figure out how terrorists who are being detained in prisons for the horrific role they played in the 9/11 "senseless" brutal attack, have so many rights here in America. How the leaders and judges in the United States have gotten so far off of course in interpreting the US Constitution is incongruous and pathetic. In case anyone has forgotten: convicted criminals and war prisoners don't have any rights beyond being provided the following essentials: food, water, and a place to sleep. The point of the column seems to be that the detainees abused at Abu Ghraib got what they deserved for crashing airplanes into our cities, and that only liberal traitors see the need for a Bill of Rights. 4.  From a column about how Opray Winfrey aids terrorists by encouraging her fans to read books that try to explain what causes terrorism. Oprah is the affable Joseph Goebbels of daytime talk . . . of chick magazines . . . of Oprah seminars—and every other medium in which the self-anointed high priestess of the religion of Oprah has her hands. Through all of these, Oprah preaches “how to be your best self” and “live your best life.”  Unfortunately, a predilection for radical Islam and excusing terrorists is a prominent element of Oprah’s “best self.” Cheating husbands don’t get off as easy as Islamic terrorists, murderers, and torturers in Winfrey’s world. The point of the column seems to be that this woman is really jealous of Oprah. Could you tell the real Ann from the ersatz?  If not, then tell my why Ann gets paid several million dollars for her books, while Kaye Grogan writes for free? 3:32:35 AM