Monthly Archives: March 2008

March 29, 2008 — Paul Mirengoff

It’s now or never

Tomorrow’s Mersyside Derby at Liverpool’s ground will tell us whether Everton will be able to sustain its challenge to the Shite for a place in top flight European football next season. Right now, we’re two points behind Liverpool for fourth place and, thus, the final English place in the Champions League. A win tomorrow would catapult Everton into fourth place with six matches remaining. A draw would keep our hopes »
March 29, 2008 — Scott Johnson

Friends in high places

Debbie Schlussel points out that the entire United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan has recused itself from the prosecution of indicted Iraqi spy Muthanna Al- Hanooti. The Detroit News does not disclose the reason for the recusal; it states that officials would not provide it. In an email message alerting us to her post, Schlussel is not so shy: “They’re buds.” She attributes it to the »
March 29, 2008 — John Hinderaker

Rip Van Obama

Michael Ramirez on Barack Obama and Jeremiah Wright; click to enlarge: »
March 29, 2008 — Scott Johnson

Twenty-four hours in Tuzla

In his column on Ms. Hillary’s fabulations, Mark Steyn rewrites one of the old Hal David/Burt Bacharach songs that Gene Pitney turned into a hit: Oh, I was only Twenty-Four Hours In Tuzla Only one day pinned down under fire The jet exploded in flame But danger’s my middle name I’m glad I came »
March 29, 2008 — Scott Johnson

Rice on race

Earlier this week Secretary of State Rice commented on the subject of race in her meeting with the Washington Times editorial board. Her comments came in the context of a longer discussion of current issues within her bailiwick. The Times has posted a video excerpt of its meeting with Secretary Rice that unfortunately does not include her comments on race or the question that prompted them. Secretary Rice talked about »
March 29, 2008 — Scott Johnson

Rene Sanchez responds

On Thursday I wrote about the Star Tribune column libeling Pete Hegseth and the Vets for Freedom in “Nick Coleman defames a hometown hero.” I included the message I had written to Star Tribune managing editor Rene Sanchez: I’d be grateful for your response to my question whether Coleman should have asked Pete Hegseth…for comment before running the column. I believe that Coleman’s allegation that VFF is a Republican front »
March 29, 2008 — Scott Johnson

Fitna lives

Death threats by proponents of the religion of peace have led to the removal of the Geert Wilders film “Fitna” from LiveLeak’s servers that we linked to yesterday. In a kind of “I am Spartacus” response, numerous sites have reposted the video. Victor Trombettas, for example, has posted it here on his blog’s YouTube account; Pat Dollard has posted it here on his site with the vow that he “will »
March 28, 2008 — John Hinderaker

It’s A Hit!

Well, sort of. Mark Steyn says that Geert Wilders’ film Fitna has been viewed online by 1.5 million people in English, and 2.5 million in Dutch. Popularity isn’t enough, though, when people are threatening to cut your head off. LiveLeak, which apparently was the main source of the film online, has taken it down in response to threats of violence: So, let’s see: Fitna says that a propensity to violence »
March 28, 2008 — John Hinderaker

“The Worm I’ the Bud”

There has been a lot of discussion about what Barack Obama knew about Jeremiah Wright’s anti-American, racist beliefs, and when he knew it. It turns out, though, that there is no mystery at all: Obama’s own autobiography, Dreams of My Father, answers the question. In Dreams of My Father, Obama describes the very first time he attended Trinity and heard Wright preach. What was Wright’s theme? A racist attack on »
March 28, 2008 — John Hinderaker

Michael Yon Reports From Iraq

Glenn Reynolds hooked up a little while ago with Michael Yon for a report, via satellite telephone, on the fighting going on against Shia militias in Basra and Baghdad. It’s not exactly an eyewitness account, since Yon is in Mosul, where he’s been following the devastation we’ve wreaked on al Qaeda–a battle that, Yon says, is about over. Still, his on-the-ground analysis of the conflict with the Shia militias is »
March 28, 2008 — John Hinderaker

Even the Associated Press Is On To Obama

Earlier today, Paul noted the hollowness of Barack Obama’s defense of his failure to do anything–for twenty years!–to distance himself from Jeremiah Wright’s hate speech: Had the reverend not retired, and had he not acknowledged that what he had said had deeply offended people and were inappropriate and mischaracterized what I believe is the greatness of this country, for all its flaws, then I wouldn’t have felt comfortable staying at »
March 28, 2008 — Paul Mirengoff

A Democrat unnerved

John McCain’s latest ad does an excellent job not only of presenting the man but, at least as I view it, of drawing an implicit contrast with his probable opponent: What must a president believe about us? About America? That she is worth protecting? That liberty is priceless? Our people, honorable? Our future, prosperous, remarkable and free? And, what must we believe about that president? What does he think? Where »
March 28, 2008 — Paul Mirengoff

Obama lowers the bar again

Barack Obama is still apologizing for Reverend Wright, viewing him as “a brilliant man caught in a time warp” (at what point in Wright’s lifetime would it have been “brilliant” to conclude that the U.S. developed the HIV virus for the purpose of exterminating its African-American citizens?) Appearing on NBC’s The View, Obama said of Wright: “What you’ve been seeing is a snippet of a man. . .What if somebody »
March 28, 2008 — Paul Mirengoff

Duke lowers the bar again

Many of you probably know that 38 members of the 2006 Duke lacrosse team have filed a civil suit against Duke University, its president Richard Brodhead (yes, he’s still Duke’s president), the city of Durham, and others associated with the outrageous behavior directed at team members in connection with the bogus rape allegations. The plaintiffs have established a web site that presents information about the case. It posts pleadings in »
March 28, 2008 — Scott Johnson

Al-Hanooti’s scrapbook

At the Investigative Project on Terrorism, Steve Emerson has compiled an impressive scrapbook of photographs of indicted Iraqi spy Murthanna Al-Hanooti. The photographs depict Al-Hanooti with dignitaries ranging from First Lady Hillary Clinton in 1996 to Vice President Al Gore to significant members of Congress. In today’s New York Sun, Ira Stoll has more on Al-Hanooti’s 1996 visit with Ms. Hillary, noting that her White House schedule shows that she »
March 28, 2008 — Scott Johnson

Fitna to be tied

Geert Wilders’s controversial film “Fitna” has now been posted online. Though the footage is familiar, the film is disturbing. In the film Wilders attributes the murder and violence committed by Muslims in the name of Islam to Islam and the Koran. The film therefore does not distinguish between Islam and Islamism, asserting that the distinction is false. Taking issue with the film, and seeking to head off a wave of »
March 28, 2008 — Scott Johnson

Steyn can really hang you up the most

Mark Steyn has designated “Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most” his song of the week. Bringing his acquaintance with the song’s lyricist to bear, Mark’s take on the song is part memoir, part tribute, part music criticism, and altogether brilliant. Highly recommended. »