Author Archives: Lee

A Man Without a Season

Stéphane Dion, leader of the defeated Canadian Liberal Party, has rather ignominiously resigned his position today. Thereby he becomes the first Liberal Party leader since the 19th century to have never become Prime Minister of Canada. Given his dismal political … Continue reading

Posted in Foreign affairs, Lee's Page | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Socialism, Polls, Matt Drudge

You’ve probably heard that John McCain has denounced Barack Obama’s ‘spread the wealth’ formulation for tax policy as socialism. It’s an inflammatory but not unjustified charge, as a good definition for socialism is the equitable distribution of wealth to the … Continue reading

Posted in Domestic Politics, Election 2008 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Not Sure if You’ve Voted?

I’ve been seeing this amusing banner ad for Obama popping up all over the web. Given the behavior of some of ACORN’s representatives, it might not be an illegitimate question.

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Christopher Hitchens & Political Irresponsibility

Video of Laura Ingraham interrogating Christopher Hitchens over his rather weakly supported endorsement of Barack Obama for president. Hitch’s primary position in this chat is that Obama should be supported because he is “evolving” toward support of a more aggressive … Continue reading

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Buy Ear Protection

The collision of Mr. Obama’s ambitions with the architecture of reality is going to be a thunderous thing to hear. Be prepared.

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Joe the Plumber is Evil

I’m experiencing a little déjà vu over the invective that’s starting to pour out of the left against “Joe the Plumber.” It has a decidedly reminiscent over-reactive, hysterical feel to it of the anti-Palin crusade. Here’s a typical example of … Continue reading

Posted in Domestic Politics, Election 2008 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

A Childhood Dream of Death

Equal to the horror of this, is the futility.

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The Folly of Heroes

What a day for indignity. Just when I’d stopped shaking my head at the image of Paul Krugman accepting the Nobel Prize, I read two of my most cherished heroes offering rather embarrassing endorsements for bad things. Christopher Hitchens, always … Continue reading

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Hacks & Hackers

Sarah Palin’s personal email account gets hacked by an anonymous operative and Farhad Manjoo blames Palin for “Rovian tactics.” Indifference to irony isn’t a new thing in Palin reporting, but there’s a certain amusement about the event in liberal circles … Continue reading

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Georgia’s Tapes

Who jumped first in South Ossetia has become a bit of a information war between Georgia and Russia. Today, the Georgian government went a ways toward resolving it by releasing recordings of intercepted radio traffic preceding the Russian invasion. The … Continue reading

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Palinmania Snippets

Like so many others, Elizabeth Johnson is out for that Palin look. Sarah always has such choice footwear…and eyewear retailers are getting explicit in their advertising. In case you were curious, this is where you end up when your anti-Palin … Continue reading

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Sarah vs. Joe

Who would win in a head-to-head contest of the Veeps for the presidency? Palin, according to Rasmussen, by 47%-44%.

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Changing Themes in the GOP

Had the radio on driving to get coffee. Rush Limbaugh was denouncing sexism and patriarchal privilege. McCain ad comes on pitching expanding embryonic stem cell research. Boy, haven’t things changed in the Republican party? For the better, says me.

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Dems Turn to Outside Groups

Senior Democrats gave a conference call briefing to their top outside donors last week. Things are pretty grim according to them. Obama had once signaled that he didn’t want support from 527 type PACs, but with his support eroding rapidly … Continue reading

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Poneco Parties in Chile

There’s a teenage sexual revolution underway in Chile, that is animated by the emergence of a rebellious new generation of kids born after the 1988 referendum and democratic transition. A generation with no memory of the moral strictures of a … Continue reading

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When They Came for Kenny…

Photos of Russian kids mounting a street protest against the banning of South Park by the state. This is no small or meaningless act. As daily experience, one of the worst aspects of living under a repressive fascist regime is … Continue reading

Posted in Culture, Foreign affairs | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

McCain and the Electoral College

For two weeks, as John McCain’s national polls first rose above Obama and then solidified there, Democrats protested that the popular vote was irrelevant. Look to the state polls said they, in a sensible but amusingly opportunistic argument for the … Continue reading

Posted in Domestic Politics, Election 2008 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Two Girls and a Dream

(Houston Chronicle)

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The Palin Democrats

Tim Reid travels to Mount Clemens, Macomb County Michigan, to talk to white working class female voters. Macomb County should be core Democratic blue country, but it was here that Stanley Greenberg first identified the “Reagan Democrats” of the 1980s, … Continue reading

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Mark Penn on the Press & Palin

Boy, this was an awfully interesting exchange. Democratic strategist Mark Penn, absurdly invited by Brian Goldsmith to argue the press has been soft on Sarah Palin, instead slams the media for counterproductively biased and vindictive coverage:

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The Error of Inexperience

According to a new Associated Press poll 46% of the public thinks Barack Obama is too inexperienced for the presidency, and only 36% say the same of Governor Palin. So much for that line of attack. In contrast with both, … Continue reading

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Déjà Vu Obama

Obama’s “new” tactic to regain the initiative in the election is to portray McCain as out of touch with ordinary Americans. Hmm. Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t this the old tactic? Patrician wife, seven houses, price of milk, … Continue reading

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The New Russian Diplomacy of Profanity

Russian FM Sergei Lavrov reportedly went berserk on David Miliband in phone discussions over the Georgia war. Apparently he was raving, shouting obscenities, and ridiculing Miliband’s knowledge of history. There’s something incredibly deranged about that government. They’ve taken the traditional … Continue reading

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Palinmania and the Stature Gap

Toby Harnden weighs in with his thoughts on the Palin effect. All interesting, all very astute IMO. Of particular interest is Toby’s argument that McCain commands enough public respect for his experience and expertise, that he has no concerns about … Continue reading

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Sarah Palin: FlightSim Gamer

Playing a demo for Aviation Day, at the STARBASE Alaska Military Youth Academy in Fort Richardson. Nice rig. Photo: Capt. Guy Hayes

Posted in Domestic Politics, Election 2008 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Chavez Expels the US Ambassador

In solidarity with fellow Marxist anachronism Evo Morales in Bolivia, Hugo Chavez has ordered the US Ambassador out of Venezuela for being an agent of the “imperial aggressor, the genocidal U.S. empire.” He has also recalled the Venezuelan ambassador to … Continue reading

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Democrats Need to Relax

Panic grips the Hill, with Democrats planning to distance themselves from Obama and/or abandon criticism of McCain. Geez. Snap out of it guys. You have the most compelling presidential candidate you’ve had since perhaps John F. Kennedy. Almost every conditional … Continue reading

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I Take it Back

Well, I thought it was a clever button. But it’s pretty preposterous on the House floor. Context counts.

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So Very LP

What’s this? Bob Barr wanted Ronpaul as his veep? Take your eyes off the Libertarian Party for a minute and you miss a lot of foolishness. Our old friend Steve Newton fills us in on the amusing drama that ensued … Continue reading

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On Bad Ideas

Seth Weinberger picks up Foreign Policy’s “10 Worst Policy Ideas” for Obama and McCain and adds some commentary. What’s immediately striking to me is how few objections FP offers to McCain’s foreign policy proposals. A peculiar thing, if you’re familiar … Continue reading

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John McCain and Sarah Palin: Fairfax Gallery

Ron Hilton caught some great shots at the McCain/Palin rally in Fairfax, Virginia. He was gracious enough to let us post them here for you:

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Failure of Empathy

It was early and he’s modified his views somewhat (and somewhat not), but young state senator Barack Obama couldn’t have been more mistaken about the causes and conditions of the 9/11 attacks.

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Surrogates Happen

Here’s a lovely message.

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Four Hours to Tbilisi

Well, well. Mr. Putin held a press conference and there’s much to condemn as usual. Not the least of which is Putin’s continued delusion that Russia was invaded by Georgia. But foremost perhaps, is an education for those who argued … Continue reading

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Obama’s Energy Plan for Sale

Not so encouraging.

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Obama’s Plan: Does This Work?

According to the Associated Press, a sequence of interviews with Democratic leaders has revealed this to be the political plan being recommended to the Obama campaign: 1. Tie the Republican to an unpopular President Bush. 2. Let no charge go … Continue reading

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Governor & Community

Credit given where due, this is a clever leftist button.

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Outer Dark

(photo: Brian Long) Dr. Andre Lalonde, executive vice president of the Canadian Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, is concerned that Sarah Palin’s decision to have Trig, may lead to a reduction of abortions in Canada through positive example. This is … Continue reading

Posted in Culture, Domestic Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Immunizing Palin Redux

StubbornFacts picks up on the political immunization effect of throwing every farcical slander you can find or invent at Sarah Palin: “I suspect that eventually, they may find something that really does hit Palin square amidships. By the time they … Continue reading

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North Korea’s Sex Agents

According to an expose in Japanese magazine Shukan Taishu, Kim Jong Il instituted a training program in sexual espionage for the DPRK’s female secret agents. They’ve been used to seduce and entrap everyone from foreign government officials to defectors.

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Obama and the Fate of Criticism

“Tattered Hope” by Nathan Rupert Jason at postpolitical and I often get into testy email arguments about Barack Obama’s alleged “arrogance.” He is quite Greek in the sense that he thinks hubris is the fatal flaw at the heart of … Continue reading

Posted in Domestic Politics, Election 2008, Lee's Page | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A Clear Blue Sky

(NASA) Today is the 11th. The unwelcome anniversary. Everyone remembers where they were when they heard. I was awoken by a phone call on the day. “The country’s under attack!” the phone said. You wake up rather fast when that’s … Continue reading

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Istanbul in Motif

This is pretty lovely.

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Moderates for Palin

Some thoughts on why Barack Obama’s effort to portray Sarah Palin as “Pat Robertson with ovaries” (as Andrew Romano inelegantly puts it), isn’t working out so well.

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New Left Tarnish

Ah, “community agitator.” I remember those. Berkeley, SDS, that sort of thing. Dissenting, QuakerDave shows the mostly good side (no Tom Hayden). All said for and against, it’s still a damned strange thing to put on your resume.

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Sarah Palin’s Google Bounce, Part II

Last week I noticed that Sarah Palin had exceeded Joe Biden slightly in Google returns. Understandably, that has now become an avalanche (Biden: 5.6 million | Palin: 22.4 million). Although it plainly doesn’t exceed John McCain or Barack Obama’s returns … Continue reading

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Diluting Obama’s Financial Advantage

Democratic consultant Doug Schoen: “Their 50-state strategy is insanity. If they don’t use their financial advantage where they need it most, and put every thing there and blow it out, they are at deep risk of losing.”

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Jason Linkins is a Crazier Guy

Jason Linkins takes exception to my reading his Huffington Post editorial about the silly ‘lipstick’ controversy as a suicide fantasy. He protests in his defense that he didn’t want to shoot himself, he wanted to shoot other people. Wonderful. How … Continue reading

Posted in Around the Web, Election 2008, MikeR's Page, Religion and theology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The End of the Anti-Bush Economy

The impending collapse of the anti-Bush merchandise market spells doom for the national economy: “We need to develop totally new products for marginally politically active liberals to throw their money away on.”

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Jason Linkins is a Crazy Guy

I would agree that the ‘lipstick on a pig’ controversy is a manufactured bit of political silliness, expressly designed to fill a news cycle. But that’s pretty much all it is in my view. Jason Linkins on the other hand … Continue reading

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