Taking a Bite Outta the Criminal

AOL Sports is reporting:

You can’t buy a Michael Vick jersey anymore. You can’t buy his Nike shoes, you can’t buy Vick-related apparel from the NFL’s online shop and you can’t buy his stuff at sporting good stores.

So the Vick dog chew toy is just about the last thing you can purchase with Vick’s name on it.

Writer Michael David Smith goes on to explain that the likeness isn’t officially authorized, but…

…the NFL might not want to call any more attention to the Vick case, and Vick’s lawyers have more important things to do right now.

In other words, the alligator theory.   (When you’re up to your backside in alligators it’s a little difficult to remember that your original objective was to drain the swamp)  in this case, his lawyers are going to have loaded plates for a long time.

Michael Goldfarb at the Weekly Standard is reporting:

THE WEEKLY STANDARD has learned from a military source close to the investigation that Pvt. Scott Thomas Beauchamp–author of the much-disputed “Shock Troops” article in the New Republic’s July 23 issue as well as two previous “Baghdad Diarist” columns–signed a sworn statement admitting that all three articles he published in the New Republic were exaggerations and falsehoods–fabrications containing only “a smidgen of truth,” in the words of our source.

Separately, we received this statement from Major Steven F. Lamb, the deputy Public Affairs Officer for Multi National Division-Baghdad:

An investigation has been completed and the allegations made by PVT Beauchamp were found to be false. His platoon and company were interviewed and no one could substantiate the claims.

According to the military source, Beauchamp’s recantation was volunteered on the first day of the military’s investigation. So as Beauchamp was in Iraq signing an affidavit denying the truth of his stories, the New Republic was publishing a statement from him on its website on July 26, in which Beauchamp said, “I’m willing to stand by the entirety of my articles for the New Republic using my real name.”

I can’t help but wonder what we have here is TNR leaping to this slime ball’s defense, without bothering to check the facts, because it fits with their myopic worldview.  So much for their credibility.  Personally, I can’t wait to see what they come up with as an excuse.  I can’t imagine that it’s going to make much of a difference to their hardcore leftist readers, to whom truth doesn’t matter much anyway.

Says McQ at Q&O:

I’ll be rather interested to hear what Shakespeare’s Sister and John Cole think of this development. I can pretty well predict the reaction, but let’s just watch it develop true to form, shall we?

Yeah, well, personally I was interested to see that Scott Erb is still defending the guy. And interestingly enough, as of 2330 eastern, not one of the usual suspects from the lefty blogs have said the word one about the subject.    I guess that shouldn’t be surprising.

Others on it:

protein wisdom, Power Line, The Corner, Hot Air, The Jawa Report, Wizbang, Confederate Yankee, Flopping Aces, JunkYardBlog, Gateway Pundit and A Blog For All

WASHINGTON (AP) – Declaring a new direction in energy policy, the House on Saturday approved $16 billion in taxes on oil companies, while providing billions of dollars in tax breaks and incentives for renewable energy and conservation efforts.

Let’s see.  $16 billion.  You don’t suppose that’s going to cause any price at the pump issues, do you?

And are we really saying that the government knows what to do about oil shortages better than the investors in those companies which are being taxed so?  Forgive me if I don’t buy it.

Imagine the kind of exploration that could occur for $16 billion.  Domestic drilling, for example.

And of course, I would expect the Democrats to label this “a new direction”… but perhaps someone can explain to me how Democrats raising taxes and stifling economic growth is anything new?

John Hawkins at Right Wing News has posted the most recent blogger poll, selecting the most and least desired Republican nominee for 2008.   Unsurprisingly, Fred Thompson walks away with this particular popularity contest.

The list of Bloggers:

Aaron’s CC, The Absurd Report, The American Princess, The Anchoress, Argghhhh!, AtlanticBlog, Atlas Shrugs, The Baseball Crank, Betsy’s Page, Bit’s Blog, BizzyBlog, Black Velvet Bruce Li, Blogs of War, Blonde Sagacity, Boi From Troy, Conservative Grapevine, dcthornton.com, Dr. Melissa Clouthier, Eckernet, Euphoric Reality, Cassy Fiano, Freeman Hunt, Jeff Gannon – A Voice of the New Media, Ghost of a Flea, GOPUSA Northeast (Hank), GOP Vixen, GraniteGrok, Guardian Watchblog, The Hedgehog Report, Hugh Hewitt, IMAO, Inoperable Terran, Inside Larry’s Head, Iowa Voice, Keith Burgess-Jackson, The Jawa Report, Kung Fu Quip, Rachel Lucas, mountaineer musings, Musclehead Revolution, My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, Newmark’s Door, Newsbeat1, The Nose On Your Face (Potfry), The Nose On Your Face (Buckley), Pal2pal, Damian Penny, The Pink Flamingo Bar & Grill, PoliPundit (Michael Illions), PoliPundit (Polipundit), Professor Bainbridge, Right Thinking From The Left Coast, Don Singleton, Sister Toldjah, Slobokan’s Site Of Schtuff, Solomonia, Don Surber, Viking Pundit, WILLisms

Kathryn Jean Lopez, Natonal Review, posts: 

Bill Bennett asked this at the top of his show this morning: If Jeri Thompson’s old boyfriend is front-page news, will we get prominent treatment of Hillary Clinton’s husband’s extracurricular activities? Investigative work on some of the more disturbing allegations?

I’d prefer none of it. But if the Washington Post wants to be Us Weekly, they ought to be fair and balanced about it. [link added]

This is an area where Mrs. Clinton can not afford to allow to become fair game for media inquiry.   Even if the lame stream media is only interested in love interests of republican spouses, the new media will not play by the old media’s rules.

The Volunteer Opinion Journal:

Did global warming impact the YearlyKos?

It’s as good an excuse as any, I suppose.  The article goes on to quote The American Prospect, which I’ll nest, here:

As the Military and Progressives panel came to an end, a young man in uniform stood up to argue that the surge was working, and cutting down on Iraqi casualties. The moderator largely freaked out. When other members of the panel tried to answer his question, he demanded they “stand down.” He demanded the questioner give his name, the name of his commander, and the name of his unit. And then he closed the panel, no answer offered or allowed, and stalked off the stage,

Wes Clark took the mic and tried to explain what had just occurred: The argument appears to be that you’re not allowed to participate in politics while wearing a uniform, or at least that you shouldn’t, and that the questioner was engaging in a sort of moral blackmail, not to mention a violation of the rules, by doing so. Knowing fairly little about the army, I can’t speak to any of that. But it was an uncomfortable few moments, and seemed fairly contrary to the spirit of the panel to roar down the member of the military who tried to speak with a contrary voice.

It’s amazing how Kos’ opinion changed on the wearing of the military uniform at such an event, after a post last month in favor of it.  I guess the wind had changed directions again and they needed to go the other way on the issue, to suit their immediate situation.

Yes, well, about that; when have they ever not done precisely that?  We’re not dealing with principled people here.  We are dealing with opportunistic people.

And speaking of opportunities, and opportunities lost, I note with a certain amount of normalcy, that the mainstream media has avoided the situation altogether.  Apparently, they recognize that seeing a soldier in uniform being shouted down by a group of people who idolize the democratic party frontrunners will not go over very large with the American people.

But since the media won’t do its job on reporting such matters, the bloggers apparently must do the job for them.  With a tip of the ballcap to the Volunteer Journal here a link to a good vid of the event at Pajamas Media

I’ve already taken Ezra Klein to the woodshed over this one. What I didn’t mention in that article, is that the person in uniform was there because he ostensibly agrees with the Kossacks.

I’ve been thinking about this aspect for several days, now, and I’ve come to a conclusion.

I think what we have here is an instinctive reaction to someone in uniform generating even the slightest question to the far leftist dogma.  That seems to me to reveal something very deep within the makeup of the average Kossack, and particularly of the louder mouths within that circle.

So, the big draw on the blogs this morning, is the Defeatist wing of the Democratic party, and their blogging mouthpieces complaining about the passage of the updated FISA law.

Reaction from the New York Times and the Washington Post and the usual suspects is unsurprising, and of these, the Post is emblematic :

THE DEMOCRATIC-led Congress, more concerned with protecting its political backside than with safeguarding the privacy of American citizens, left town early yesterday after caving in to administration demands that it allow warrantless surveillance of the phone calls and e-mails of American citizens, with scant judicial supervision and no reporting to Congress about how many communications are being intercepted.

Of course, all of this ignores that the American people have identified the reality that the democrats cannot be trusted with our security.  The Democrats in Congress, unlike the Kossacks, understand that the strong anti Iraq war stand of the Democrats, is very unpopular with the American people.  The American people are angry at the Democrats in Congress for being more concerned about the rights of criminals to their privacy than they are about stopping terrorism, and reacted accordingly as regards this bill.

Perhaps the democrats in Congress are looking at the most recent Zogby poll, which suggests that the Democrats run Congress has a 3% approval rating , whereas the president’s approval rating is much, much higher.

All that aside, what can be said about a group of people that complains about Congress finally responding to the will of the people?

The Palestinian Authority’s security organizations are unable to assume security control of cities in the West Bank, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayad told senior Israeli officials during recent meetings. Fayad told Israeli officials that the PA’s security forces are unable “to impose law and order in the West Bank at this time.”

This report from Harretz, is astonishing.  Not because what Fayed says is something we didn’t already know… indeed, this is exactly why Israel went in there in the first place… but because he’s actually admitting it.

Frankly, I find myself being suspicious, this morning.   When somebody does something like this that is so far out of character, it raises eyebrows. Clearly Fayed thinks he has something to gain by Israel staying in place. Personally, I would guess he’s feeling threatened by his own people.  And that of itself is not surprising, the Palestinians have as a rule rejected any authority over them.  Hamas has been particularly troublesome, even in defeat, and particularly so on the west bank.

It is my guess that Fayed is finding that control of the situation with Hamas and other groups beyond his grasp, alone.

that does not bode well for future peace in the region.  It’s also, as I say, unsurprising.  I’d take his admitting this problem to the Israelis, as indication of just how far out of his reach control of the situation is.

It is hard to find precedent for a supposed major presidential canidate as inept as Barack Obama, who is causing such international embarrassment.  Consider this Assocxated Press item:

Pakistani tribal protesters gather to condemn the U.S. presidential hopeful candidate Barack Obama’s remarks, Friday, Aug. 3, 2007, in Miran Shah, capital of Pakistan’s tribal area of north Waziristan along the Afghanistan border.

And this:

Pakistani protesters burn a U.S. flag to condemn U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama’s remarks, Friday, Aug. 3, 2007, in Karachi, Pakistan. Pakistan criticized Obama for saying that, if elected, he might order unilateral military

It is time to the nutcases like Obama, Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich to go home and shut-up.  Please.

More, Michelle Malkin.

According to several sources, today, Hosting Matters has been having problems, today. I noted problems hitting a few sites, including Captain’s Quarters. It seems resolved at the moment, but I gotta tell ya…  I’m starting to wonder at the frequency of these failures. Or is it hackers trying to bomb a site they don’t like?
Hmmm. Ya know with all the bigtime targets that live over there, I’m often glad I went with a somewhat smaller hosting concern.

“He’s gone from Jane Fonda to Dr. Strangelove in one week,”

Mitt Romney on Barack Obama (video).  

Hat tip:  Allah Pundit, Hot Air

I agree with Allah, that Mitt’s remark was scripted.  However, Obama did leave himself wide open for it..

?

JPOD says: 

“In short, I am white, privileged, middle-aged and boring,” Stephen Metcalf in his rather startlingly vicious review of the Why I Turned Right anthology Stanley has been blogging about. “But one thing I am not, and never will be, is a conservative.”

This is a very revealing remark, especially from someone who says the book he’s reviewing should be subtitled “The Experience That Closed My Mind Forever.” Never will be a conservative? Part of the hallmark of having any sort of critical intelligence is being able to see how a set of ideological prescriptions you do not support could appeal to you at a different time in your life. On the other hand, given the ad-hominem philistinism of Metcalf’s piece, maybe the term “critical intelligence” should be deployed at some remove from his name.

I am reminded of the line we heard so often from the late sixties; “never trust anyone over 30”.  Both that phrase and Metcalf’s article seems to me to be both exercises in cell justification and self promotion.

Then again, what would you expect from the OP Ed pages of the New York Times?

Charles Johnson on the topic of Kos:

Imagine, if you will, the reaction among LGF’s admirers on the left if I started deleting topics and comments wholesale.

And that, in my view, cuts to the heart of the matter .

First, we had Beuachamp, and now Soltz. Thrice, now, the left has tried to use the military to boost its own credibility, and failed, because the people involved were totally without credibility.  In the case of the latter, the utter hatred for the uniform of our country, is plain to see. The third person in uniform would be Wesley Clark.  Who, of course, is retired.  Granted, that he is technically no longer in uniform.  But is there anybody who watched those events who is unaware that Clark was a general?  Is there anybody who is unaware that he is being a general is supposed to add credibility to his leftist arguments?  That’s why they keep the man around.  On that basis, the charge from the Kossacks of moral blackmail seems disingenuous at best.
Make arguments about the legitimacy of someone in uniform showing up to a place like that, I don’t have a whole bunch of disagreements with you.   The point I’m making here is the massive double standards involved, with regards to the uniform.  Apparently, the uniforms’ only legitimate to the Kossacks, if the wearer is in leftie lockstep.

Put another way, what Charles has revealed here, is a breathtaking level of hypocrisy on the part of the left.  And they are in damage control mode.  With postings being deleted over at Kos on an almost daily basis, now, they are clearly concerned about letting the left speak freely, for fear of their true nature’s becoming common knowledge.

The message I’m sending here, is that it’s a little late for that.

And keep in mind, my friends, of the number of supposedly mainstream Democrats that showed up to this little soiree of theirs…. thus giving Kos and his mindless gaggle, legitimacy.

GOOSE CREEK (WCBD) – The FBI and the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department are investigating what they think are explosives found in a car in Goose Creek.

Police say part of Highway 176 in Berkeley County is closed, and traffic is limited to local residents around Mount Holly Road.

WIS News 10’s sister station in Charleston, WCBD, reports authorities pulled over a suspicious car at around 6:00pm Saturday. Officers asked to search the vehicles, and discovered what investigators say are “possible explosives” located in the trunk.

If I remember correctly, there’s a Naval weapons station there, and a Nuclear Power Training command center... as well as a prison where Islamic radicals have been held in the past… though frankly I don’t know if they’re being held there now.

CNN was mentioning that the occupants of the car were of middle eastern origin, though for reasons known only to them, they’ve dropped the reference.  I assume this is of the same type of non-thinking that leads them to not label Islamic terrorists as such.

The story, as they say, is developing.

Update: (Bit) As I go through my morning routine, I see that Michelle Malkin is on the case.

Update ][:  WIS-TV now has the names of the perps.

WIS News 10 spoke with officials at the Berkeley County Detention Center who said 24-year-old Ahmed Mohamed and 21-year-old Yousef Megahed, the occupants of the car, are still in police custody.

Well, you’ll forgive me if I don’t act like I’m in deep shock, here. Neither is Jawa Report, apparently:

Move along. These are not the middle eastern men with bombs and names similar to Megadeath we’re looking for.

Joyner:

How’s this for a confluence of events: Barry Bonds ties Hank Aaron atop the career home run list; Alex Rodriguez hits his 500th home run, by 330 days the youngest to do so in Major League Baseball’s long history; and Michael Irvin is inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame along with five other all-time greats.

I dunno, James… but when you can point to such events happening without benefit of steriods, you might have something. As it is, these accomplishments as you list will always have a shadow over them.  Forgive me; I just don’t find accomplishments by way of shortcuts, all that impressive.
As an example, of doing it the right way, I note Thurman Thomas was also at Canton, yesterday.