Monthly Archives: December 2006

December 27, 2006 — Scott Johnson

Lazy slackers shun misunderstood jokester

Readers Paul Milligan and Tom Pavluvcik have adjusted the photo of Jon Carry with the troops in Irak to make it clearer. Below is Pavluvcik’s version of the photo, which he tells us he created by increasing its “intensity.” Revisiting the photo gives me the opportunity to recognize Charles Johnson for providing the definitive comment on it, in the “lazy slackers” heading I have appropriated from him. V the K’s »
December 27, 2006 — John Hinderaker

Mogadishu Set to Fall?

Ethiopian and Somali government troops have apparently routed the Islamic Courts forces, and now say that they expect to take Mogadishu without a fight: Somali and Ethiopian troops drove Islamic fighters out of the last major town before Mogadishu on Wednesday, and the government predicted the capital and stronghold of the radical Islamists would fall without a fight. Government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari said no assault was planned on Mogadishu because »
December 27, 2006 — John Hinderaker

Let’s Not Get Carried Away

I don’t disagree with the warm and fuzzy tone of most of the commentary on Gerald Ford’s political career, but I can’t let the occasion pass with noting that Ford was responsible for the Whip Inflation Now campaign, one of the goofiest initiatives in our history. It’s hard to remember how pre-Friedman our politics were in the mid-70s (in addition to being generally wacky, of course). But even in the »
December 27, 2006 — Paul Mirengoff

The original “move on” moment

Last night, shortly after getting the news that former President Ford had died, I mentioned that I had agreed with his decision to pardon Richard Nixon at the time, and that this now seems to be the consensus view. In the coming days, we’ll probably find out whether the consensus really does tilt Ford’s way. Debate within the blogosphere has already begun, of course, and Jack and Charmaine Yoest, who »
December 27, 2006 — Paul Mirengoff

Gerald Ford in the summer of 1940

Just as Vice President Cheney looks back fondly on the 1976 Ford campaign, Ford liked to talk about the 1940 Wilkie campaign, recalling how he was one of the youthful demonstrators who shook up the Republican convention that year in Philadelphia. The Wilkie campaign was an insurgency, albeit a very establishment oriented one. Unlike leading contenders Robert Taft and Tom Dewey, Wilkie was a pre-Pearl Harbor internationalist who was alarmed »
December 27, 2006 — John Hinderaker

Hear Sgt. Boggs on the Hewitt Show

Army Sgt. T.F. Boggs, newly returned from Iraq, sent us an email criticizing the ISG report, which we reprinted here. That sparked the usual claims by liberals that Boggs doesn’t exist. In fact, not only does Sgt. Boggs exist, he will be in-studio on the Hugh Hewitt show tonight. Tune in and hear what he has to say about Iraq. »
December 27, 2006 — Scott Johnson

For whom the wake-up call rings

In his most recent post on Iran, the invaluable Michael Ledeen points out the December 25 New York Times story on the American seizuure of Iranians suspected of condcuting attacks on Iraqi security forces. Michael plucks this quote from the December 25 Times story: One senior administration official said, »
December 27, 2006 — Paul Mirengoff

Among Gerald Ford’s many accomplishments

is the fact that he’s the only polltician ever to defeat Ronald Reagan. He did it over the course of a thrilling battle for the Republican presidential nomination in 1976. I can’t recall a closer race since. Vice President Cheney was President Ford’s chief of staff. I was surprised to learn that he remembers 1976 (which after all ended in defeat for Ford) more fondly than any of the other »
December 27, 2006 — Scott Johnson

Jerry Ford’s Polish moment

Thinking about President Ford today, the strongest memory I have is of his premature liberation of Poland in the second debate with Jimmy Carter in 1976. Recall what he said in response to the question posed by New York Times editor Max Frankel in that debate: “There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe, and there never will be under a Ford administration.” As the CNN summary of the debate »
December 27, 2006 — Scott Johnson

Strange encounter

Yesterday Paul and John contemplated Jimmy Carter’s deep-seated antipathy to Israel. My view is that the case of Israel is special in Carter’s twisted universe. My sense is that Carter’s hatred of Israel derives from his disdain of Jewry and is additive to Carter’s unfailing tropism toward America’s most profound enemies. Carter’s virulence toward Israel seems to have a special resonance, thought his syndrome is otherwise endemic to what Ronald »
December 26, 2006 — Paul Mirengoff

Will Iran wither away?

According to an analysis by the National Academy of Sciences, Iran is experiencing a serious decline in revenue from its oil exports and, if the trend continues, income could virtually disappear by 2015. The author of the study is Roger Stern, an economic geographer at Johns Hopkins University and, as reported by the Washington Times, Stern seems a bit too eager to convince us that the U.S. doesn’t need to »
December 26, 2006 — Paul Mirengoff

Gerald Ford, R.I.P.

Former President Ford has died at age 93. The conventional wisdom is that Ford was an ideal successor to Richard Nixon because his persona was so unlike Nixon’s. In this case, I think the conventional wisdom has it right. Ford was roundly criticized for pardoning Nixon, a move some say cost him the election of 1976. As much as I disliked Nixon, I believed at the time that Ford’s decision »
December 26, 2006 — Scott Johnson

Three kings

Reader Annlee Hines points us to “Three kings.” She notes that the first “king” is a first lieutenant from Minneapolis and that he needs a hand, literally. She writes: “Valour IT is getting him a laptop, but words from home would be good.” Please check out the post. »
December 26, 2006 — Paul Mirengoff

PAID off

The Washington Post has a front-page story on how Rep. John Murtha uses a non-profit agency to funnel money into his favorite lobbying shops while its directors “have kept Murtha’s campaigns flush with cash.” The non-profit is known, appropriately enough, as PAID (Pennsylvania Association for Individuals with Disabilities). There’s nothing surprising about the story (we wrote about related machinations on Murtha’s part months ago), but I didn’t expect to see »
December 26, 2006 — Scott Johnson

A bad investment too?

McClatchy Co., the California-based owner of the Star Tribune, sold the Star Tribune today for less than half what McClatchy paid for it eight years ago. I have promoted the view that the Star Tribune is the worst newspaper in the country. Was it it a bad investment too? Star Tribune reporter John Reinan writes : Avista Capital Partners, an investment group focused on media, health care and energy companies, »
December 26, 2006 — Scott Johnson

Troops halp Jon Carry in Irak

On his visit to Iraq, Senator Kerry apparently got something like the silent treatment from the troops who are “stuck” there. WDAY’s Scott Hennen quotes a message from a friend serving in Iraq: This is a true story….Check out this photo from our mess hall at the US Embassy yesterday morning. Sen. Kerry found himself all alone while he was over here. He cancelled his press conference because no one »
December 26, 2006 — Paul Mirengoff

Coming to a “track” near you

Those of you who like wide-open, run-and-gun basketball should check out the Washington Wizards, preferably in-person. The Wizards have adopted the high-scoring style associated with teams from the NBA’s western conference, such as Dallas and Phoenix. After a slow start, they have won 10 of their last 13. In their last game, they out-gunned Phoenix 144-139 in overtime to end the Suns’ 15 game winning streak. Arenas scored 54 points, »