Ken Burns: The Dud

“There’s no such thing as a good war.”

Marine Corps aviator quoted by Ken Burns in his film “The War.” 

While there indeed may be no such thing as a good war, there is such a thing a a bad film, and Burn’s latest film, “The War” is one, a bad film.   Burns, “The Civil War”, “Baseball”, has made some great films.  Yet “The War” is not among them.  Penracker sums up Burn’s latest:

I’m afraid that the legions of History Channel watchers will be completely underwhelmed. The documentary spends a long time on things that virtually every man in American knows by heart now. 10 years or so of cable TV can give you an awfully good background on the war, and I am afraid that most American men have that by now.

It is not Hispanics which “The War” lacked but continuity.   Oh where is a Mary Chestnut when you need her?

 “My worst fears had come to pass not in Georgia, but in Washington, D.C., where I was being pursued not by bigots in white robes but by left-wing zealots draped in flowing sanctimony.”

Clarence Thomas, from Robert Barnes et al, Washington Post.

Hat tip: Paul,   Powerline.

Watch as a liberal smears Juan Williams, video.    I think that Williams understands how Thomas feels, video.

Hat tip:  Scott, Powerline.

Mike Allen is reporting Newt isn’t going to run.  The stated reason?

 Rick Tyler, Gingrich’s spokesman, said lawyers told Gingrich that dabbling in a presidential campaign could endanger the non-profit status of his group, American Solutions for Winning the Future, which is holding a workshop in Cobb County, Ga., on Saturday.

“He had to make a choice between being a citizen-activist, raising the challenges America faces and finding solution to America’s problems, or exploring a potential candidacy,” Tyler said.

What the choice boils down to was which would be more effective in bringing about change.  As it happens, I think he made the right choice.  If, in fact, that’s the choice that must be made.  What this boils down to, is McCain -Feingold, again. If we needed another reason to delete McCain Feingold from the books, we have one.

• “Progressives” are badly mislabeled.  Mostly, by themselves.  Personally, I fail to see what progress there is in buckling to Islamo-Facists, who are fighting to turn the world back to the 14th century, in the name of ‘respecting their culture’. Yet, what are ‘progressives’ demanding we do?
• Speaking of progressives …. Did anyone happen to catch that blithering idiot, Bill Maher, introducing Michael Scheuer, the even bigger idiot? I usually don’t watch the moron, myself, but a reader passed along the vid with a note saying “You gotta see this”, so I did.  The reason I don’t normally watched the show is it’s a race to the bottom, with Bill Maher leading the way.  In this particular case the tables were turned.  Even Maher, and notably, Maher’s nominally leftist audience, was stunned into silence while Scheuer screamed about how democracy abroad holds no interest for the United States and that would seemingly include Israel, which is not worth one American dollar according to this guy.  I suppose it to be a mark of how weird our politics of gotten, when Scheuer, who by the way claims to be a libertarian, comes down so far to the left of Maher, as to leave Maher in stunned silence. the concept of a CIA operative, calling himself a libertarian, strikes me as at least out of place.  How what is that one holding the views he does, and yet calling himself libertarian, can hold the position he does can get to be in a lofty position at the agency, is at least a surprise.  I suppose that a goodly number of self titled libertarians, are as mislabeled as the progressives I mentioned above.  Particularly when it’s hard to tell the difference, once they start talking. Scott Erb, for example, of late calls himself a libertarian.
• There are mountains of evidence from around the world as regards the failure of government run anything, and particularly government run health care.  Jewish World Review is running a story this week about the failures in Japan. Why do we insist on following the rest of the lemmings over the government healthcare cliff ?
• In all honesty in a boxing match between the major bloviation that is Bill OReilly, and the major lying crapweasel that is Juan Williams, the only possible good outcome would be for someone to call in an airstrike on the ring. That said, I’m encouraged to see Williams write this one. It’s one of the few times I can mostly agree with what he says, AND the reason he says it. Don’t be surprised, however, if Williams does show up on CNN any time soon.  Clearly, he’s fallen out of leftist lockstep and will need to pay the penalty for that.

Just in case you’ve forgotten about Democrat William Jefferson, he of the new definition of “cold cash ” , his corruption case continues.

Before searching Rep. William J. Jefferson‘s New Orleans home in August 2005, FBI agents confronted him with a video that showed him accepting $100,000 from a government informant, according to a prosecution document filed yesterday in federal court in Alexandria.

Afterward, the Louisiana Democrat sank back into a couch in his living room and “with total dejection remarked ‘what a waste,’ ” according to the government account, which did not elaborate on his comment.

Jefferson then “questioned how his reputation could survive” and expressed concern whether the search warrant affidavit could be permanently sealed to keep the information from being made public, according to the document.

Meanwhile, on the same day, FBI agents found $90,000 of the $100,000 in marked bills in Jefferson’s freezer at his Capitol Hill home. The government alleged that Jefferson took the money from a Virginia businesswoman who was working as an informant, to bribe a Nigerian official in a business deal.

There is much more to the article, of course, but it strikes me that his concern about his reputation, is akin to a drowning man looking for something that will float.  Anything that will float.

It also strikes me that while this Blog was quite vocal in its wish to see Larry Craig resigning, a position which we still hold, many of those who were wishing along with us for Craig’s resignation maintain stony silence on the subject of Democrat William Jefferson.  I suppose the discussion of why that would be, would fill many disk drives.

The lovely Michelle notes the same story with a wonderful graphic, and notes Jefferson’s quest to keep his crimes out of the public eye:

 Yep. On top of everything else, the corruptocrat tried to solicit the feds’ advice on how to suppress the facts from the tax-paying public.

And agreeing with my wondering about the Democrat silence on Jefferson being removed:

 And the demands from Democrats for this crapweasel to step down are…where?

This isn’t even a case of great minds thinking alike, this is a case of honest minds thinking alike.

POLAR BEARS DISCOVER 9-11 PROPAGANDA IN IRAQI HOME

Posted: 28 Sep 2007 11:17 AM CDT

POLAR BEARS DISCOVER 9-11 PROPAGANDA IN IRAQI HOME

U.S. AIR FORCE F-16 AIR STRIKE KILLS 3 TERRORIST LEADERS

Posted: 28 Sep 2007 11:06 AM CDT

U.S. AIR FORCE F-16 AIR STRIKE KILLS 3 TERRORIST LEADERS

THREE BAGHDAD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT STAFF DETAINED

Posted: 27 Sep 2007 02:34 PM CDT

THREE BAGHDAD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT STAFF DETAINED

DOUBLE SUICIDE ATTACK AVERTED BY ANSF

Posted: 27 Sep 2007 10:43 AM CDT

DOUBLE SUICIDE ATTACK AVERTED BY ANSF

CITIZENS LEAD 3RD ID SOLDIERS TO WEAPONS CACHE

Posted: 27 Sep 2007 10:21 AM CDT

CITIZENS LEAD 3RD ID SOLDIERS TO WEAPONS CACHE

BRIG. GEN. DORKO VISITS GRS

Posted: 27 Sep 2007 10:15 AM CDT

BRIG. GEN. DORKO VISITS GRS

NINE LOCAL NATIONALS KILLED, INVESTIGATION UNDERWAY

Posted: 27 Sep 2007 10:09 AM CDT

NINE LOCAL NATIONALS KILLED, INVESTIGATION UNDERWAY

Wanna spend a few minutes being personally insulted by that unsuccessful abortion,  Kim Jung Il?

Yeah, I didn’t either, but it was funny.

BBCT: Michael Rubin 

Henke makes mention of the Passing of John Berthoud.

Of course, nobody can seem to get his age correct.  Reason Magazine lists him as 47.  The Washington Times says he was 45.

To get a better idea who he was, perhaps reading these articles from Human Events will help.

Unlike MoveOn.org I provide links.  Just how racist is John Edwards?  You view the video, and tell me.  James Taranto, Opinion Journal, has the transcript:

We start with the president of the United States saying to America, “We cannot build enough prisons to solve this problem.” And the idea that we’re just going to keep incarcerating, keep incarcerating–pretty soon, we’re not going to have a young African-American male population in America. They’re all going to be in prison–or dead, one of the two.

Evidently, Edwards believes either that all black males are criminals, or that the criminal justices system, whch is to say the People of the United States, are intent on putting every black male in jail.

I’ve said it before, and I say it again.  Mrs. Clinton is simply not smart enough to be president.  Devlin Barrett, reports on Mrs. Clinton’s latest brain malfunction:

WASHINGTON – Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday that every child born in the United States should get a $5,000 “baby bond” from the government to help pay for future costs of college or buying a home

Clinton, her party’s front-runner in the 2008 race, made the suggestion during a forum hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus.

For tbe benefit of Mrs. Cinton’s mathematically challenged campaign, Philip Klein does the math for her:

UPDATE: I did some quick math. There were 4,115,590 births in 2004, according to the most recent data I could find from the National Center for Health Statistics. If Hillary were to give each of those babies $5,000, it would represent $20.6 billion in new annual spending. To put that in perspective, that is nearly equivelent to to the budget of the entire Department of Justice, which was $23.4 billion in 2006.

To rub salt into Mrs. Clinton’ s wound, Jim Geraghty does the politics:

And therein, I realized why this program will never become a reality – it has to have a starting date. And then everyone will insist, “what about my child, who was born before the start date? It’s not fair!” And eventually the program will turn into providing $5,000 to every American.

[…]

Not gonna happen. If there was any responsible fiscal conservative in the Democratic field, he would point that out to her.

Is Mrs. Clinton intent on bankrupting our nation?  Does Mrs. Clinton propose to give five thousand dollars to every baby to which an illegal alien gives birth:?  Talk about a border security problem.

If you want further proof of the linkage between the Jihadist Muslim wackos, and the wackos on the Democrat left, one need look no further than this recent WND article:

Muslim jihadist leaders interviewed for a new book were ecstatic about statements from television talk host Rosie O’Donnell about the war in Iraq and the global war on terror, agreeing with her outspoken views.

Some even invited her on a “fact finding mission” to the Middle East.

“I agree with what this O’Donnell says. …We welcome Rosie O’Donnell to stay among us and to get to know the truth from being here, like many American peace activists are doing,” said Ala Senakreh, West Bank chief of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terrorist organization.

Picture it with me…ODonnell in a Burka. Do they even MAKE them that big?  Quick… dial up Omar the tent maker… there’s a project waiting for him.

And given the usual reaction of Jihadists to homosexuals, will the world benefit from this proposal for her to travel there, I wonder?

Hmmmm…. 

 The Iranian government directly ordered an act of terrorism in the Americas after being frustrated in its secret nuclear ambitions, a former chief of Argentine intelligence tells FOX News in an exclusive interview.

Miguel Angel Toma, the former head of the Argentina’s intelligence service, tells FOX News’ Dan Senor that the Iranian government directly ordered a terror bombing on a Buenos Aires Jewish community center in 1994. The interview will air on Saturday at 9 p.m. ET on FOX News Channel.

This would be fairly consistent with what we know of other aspects of Iran’s government.  I don’t know about you, but the report doesn’t surprise me at all.

Oncus.net suggests in a piece called “Silence and Syria, Panic in Iran” that there is exactly that… panic, in those places.

The mullahs are freaking out in fear. Why? Because of the silence in Syria. On September 6, Israeli Air Force F-15 and F-16s conducted a devastating attack on targets deep inside Syria near the city of Dayr az-Zawr. Israel’s military censors have muzzled the Israeli media, enforcing an extraordinary silence about the identity of the targets. Massive speculation in the world press has followed, such as Brett Stephens’ Osirak II? in yesterday’s (9/18) Wall St. Journal. Stephens and most everyone else have missed the real story. It is not Israel’s silence that ‘speaks volumes’ as he claims, but Syria’s.
…
Why would the Syrian government be so tight-lipped about an act of war perpetrated on their soil?
…
They thought they were protected – at enormous expense – only to discover they are defenseless. As in naked. Thus the Great Iranian Freak-Out – for this means Iran is just as nakedly defenseless as Syria.

Personally, my take is that can only be a good thing. The pressure is about to force Iran and Syria, their stooge, to implode. As the article suggests, a sure sign of panic on the part of the Iranians particularly was the threat by Tehran to launch “600 shihab missles” at Israel. The threat, of course, is toothless. First of all, if they’d had 600 missiles to launch,they’d doubtless have done so quite a while ago. Secondly, even assuming they were able to shoot the wad like that, their inability to follow up with something more substantial, leaves them defenseless.

There is nothing like a toothless threat, in its ability to indicate panic on the part of the one issuing the threat.

Another interesting point speaks to something that I have long suspected ; that long line of trucks leaving Iraq toward Syria was Saddam’s chemical weapons stockpile…

So – what was attacked near Dayr az-Zawr? It’s possible it was North Korean ‘nuclear material’ recently shipped to Syria, i.e., stuff to make radioactively ‘dirty’ warheads, but nothing to make a real nuke with as the Norks don’t have real nukes (see Why North Korea’s Nuke Test Is Such Good News, October 2006). Another possibility is it was to take out a stockpile of long-range Zilzal surface-to-surface missiles recently shipped from Iran for an attack on Israel. A third is it was a hit on the stockpile of Saddam’s chemical/bio weapons snuck out of Iraq and into Syria for safekeeping before the US invasion of April 2003.

Actually, I think it likely that this is a combination of two elements. Why, after all, would they create a second secure area, one for nukes , and one for chem weapons? Doesn’t make sense. Further, given the hurry in which they were transporting stuff of Iraq, the likelihood is they transported those weapons to an already secure facility. .. one that already housed such weapons.

In true Washington Post style, Bitsblog has been banned in Burma.   Michelle Malkin has the story.

As I noted the other day, Burmese bloggers have been crucial whistleblowers and eyewitnesses to history-supplying the world with round-the-clock coverage and photos of their oppressive regime’s crackdown. Now, just as the Western press is lauding their role, the military junta has reportedly cut off Internet access:

Oh by the say, as Michelle notes, they also cut accesss to the entire rest of the Internet as well.

Aside to Bit, do we have any readers in Burma?

Addendum I: (Bit)

You know, I now have a brand new HP 19in monitor with coffee sprayed all over it.

(Smirk)

As to readership there, we have had some hits from there, in the past, though not in the recent past….  perhaps a year ago, or so… though come to think of it, now, I don’t recall EVER seeing any hits from there in the Blogspot days.  I wonder if it had already been banned on the basis of it being on the Blogspot domain?

In watching this stuff going on, I’m curious as to the response of Burma’s neighbors, India and China, will be, if anything. China would certainly like a more socialist government there, and I can’t imagine that they wouldn’t be involved in all of this somehow. India, meanwhile, will be watching this from a purely defensive standpoint, and from that of someone who is going to be dealing witha great number of refugees.  They likely won’t be taking any overtly provacative actions, given China’s proximity, and interest in the region.

All that said, I can’t help but wonder how much of this unrest is being encouraged by Islamic extremists. And no, it’s not much a stretch, given the recent attacks in Thailand, as well as recent history in Burma itself.  The DPA last August, reported that several extremists have been arrested in the northwestern border town of Manipur, India.

Also, Burma has had a handful of Burmese nationals suspected to have ties to Muslim terrorist organizations in the past. In 2003, the Myanmar Times reported of a Burmese national arrested in Pakistan, suspected of being tied to al-Qaeda. In 2004, another Burmese man was arrested in Lahore, Pakistan, according to the Myanmar Times, for possessing “vital documents” linked to al-Qaeda operatives.

Such indications, to my mind shed new light on the reaction of the government there, which by the way has always been rather heavy handed, Burma has always been a  rather tightly controled society. So the enforcement we’re seeig now, while undeniably brutal, are not that far out of line with SOP.

I’m not sure which story I believe, yet, but it’ll be interesting as to how this plays out.

Addedum II:  (David L)   Retitled, a bee bit.

I’ve removed the “Related Links” plugin which put links it thought were related to the posts at the bottom of posts in individual mode. I’ve removed it because the worth of the links it coughed up was questionable at least.