That’s why we moved to Europe

A friend sent us this summary of things he’s seen on Fox News in the last few days. Good thing Fox isn’t part of our cable programming:

1. “public service announcements” supposedly about “civic lessons” and “the role of the president” — GWB talking about what a great job he’s doing. Also a “public service announcements” about how important it is to go out and vote.

2. O’Reilly emphatically saying he won’t say who he’s voting for, and
flashing a big logo that says “no ideology zone.”

3. O’Reilly reading a reader letter that accuses him of being biased for
liberals, and using this as an opportunity to say that he gives equal
airtime to both sides.

4. A report that high times magazine is endorsing Kerry.

5. Big text-over: “GANGSTER RAPPERS COME OUT IN FAVOR OF KERRY”…. a few seconds later, a shot of kerry speaking to NAACP

6. A “debate” about whether it should be in the media’s right to be left-biased.

7. An anti-Kerry ad (from the NRA, i think) saying that kerry “supports a
UN-style gun ban” with video showing lots of european flags

8. A “review of political advertising” that consisted of re-airing three
Bush ads, then having some talking head talk about them.

9. A local candidate’s ad describing his opponent, who used to be a
newspaper columnist, as “a card-carrying member of the liberal media” and
mentioning that the opponent “is from New York, the land of Hillary Clinton
and gay marriage.”

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Time to turn to someone who knows what he’s talking about

Bartholomew (yes, the one from Bartholomew’s Notes on Religions) elaborates on Katherine Harris’ L’Abri connections (click here or scroll down,) and adds many interesting details about Katherine and her former “school:”

So, back to Katherine Harris. According to an interview in World magazine, Harris attends a Calvary Chapel church in Tallahassee. Calvary Chapel is a Charismatic church, founded at Costa Mesa by Chuck Smith in the 1960s (and attracting the same kind of “Jesus Freaks” who also went to L’Abri during the same era). Smith is a Christian Zionist in the Hal Lindsey mode, although whether those Christian Zionist ideas are actively promoted at Harris?s particular church is another matter. But Harris is certainly connected to David Barton, with whom she shared a panel on the subject “God in Government” at Doug Giles’s April conference (the cached pdf I found on this has since disappeared).

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World O’Crap has TownHall, but we have The Rant

And The Rant has the one, the only, … Scott Gray!:

Republicans believe in traditional values. We believe in right and wrong and having a strong moral compass. From the Civil War, we have not flip-flopped on issues that are dear to us. Republicans are strong people, and we have a deep desire to protect our future generations. Homosexuality is a bad decision, and it is not something that should ever be promoted in society. When a government promotes behavior that is harmful to a majority of citizens, this problem trumps other problems. [Emphasis added; homophobia in the original.]

Have you been harmed by homosexuality? Call our professional attorneys to see if they can work for you!

Affirmative action is a negative step because it keeps America thinking on a racial scale. It is time for America to move beyond this pitiful bickering. We believe that African-Americans need to go to college to get a step up in life, but they should never be shown a preference. This denies the equality that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once stated when he dreamed of all races being able to one day sit equally together at the table of life.

The table of life — is that located next to the chair of asinine metaphors by any chance? Or is it closer to the toaster of straw men? What about the microwave of logical fallacies? The blender of desperate pleas?

We have increased education spending by 49% in four years.

Don’t forget to mention the word “federal” in there, big Scott! Which sort of matters a little:

In the 2003-04 school year, 83 cents out of every dollar spent on education came from the state and local levels (46 percent from state funds and 37 percent from local governments). The federal government’s share was 8.2 percent. [Emphasis added.]

Might wanna think that one over, Scooby.

Remember just a few seconds ago when Scott was telling us how bad affirmative action was for college admission? You know, Dr. King not liking it and stuff? Well, it turns out that sometimes it’s cool:

Other [tax] breaks have specifically been promoted toward minority business ownership.

Get to college on your own! But run your business with the help of a special tax break! It’s all part of the Republican party’s plan to level the playing field through a commitment to principles and values.

President Bush wants dangerous criminals to stay behind bars, and he has worked with Attorney General John Ashcroft to lower gun crimes, something that he calls a perfect alternative to gun control.

Yet Senator Kerry wants to force you to be a guest family to dangerous, foreign, criminals!

Republicans do not harm civil rights, but we have always looked to promote them. We do not want to hold minorities down. We have instead spent more than ever in attempts to raise them up, not through preferences, but through society.

Head spinning, must control head spinning, oxygen, need oxygen… aaarrrrggh!

Government must see the social unrest, and it can only be rectified by encouraging moral behavior, not dissuading it with things such as same-sex marriage, encouragement of abortion, and the continuance of large and uneffective social programs. Wake up, African-Americans. Republicans have a plan, and you ARE a part of it!

Wake up you bunch of dumb asses! You don’t have to put up with the uneffective policies of the Democrats! And don’t forget to get Scott a drink and wash his car when you get a chance, ok?

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Music to our ears

Old Fashioned Patriot’s George has this delightful little nugget:

“French officials say 20 percent of the $3 billion of “French contracts” flagged in the Duelfer report in fact went to French subsidiaries of U.S. firms, notably General Electric ($445 million) and Halliburton ($127 million).”

In other words, France to Cheney: “Va te faire enculer!”

Talk dirty to us, George!

Unrelated — Triumph The Insult Comic Dog to Karl Rove: “You’re Bush’s Brain, Karl? I was expecting a much smaller man!” (14MB clip)

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Isn’t the timeline slightly problematic?

We’re just wonderin’!

101st Airborne veteran Ken Shapiro Dixon, making the rounds of various radio shows this week:

“When we walked into the bunkers that apparently nobody [else] went into, there is no way there were 380 tons of explosives in those bunkers,” […] When the 101st arrived on April 10, 2003, the Al-Qaqaa bunkers were “wide open,” he told Gill, as if somebody had already been there and broken the seals placed on the high explosives by the U.N.

According to the DOD:

Dixon, of Hinesville, Ga., was a passenger in a vehicle that rolled over March 28 during a night mission about 20 kilometers from Baghdad. At the time, his wife, Allesais, was an Army sergeant stationed in Pakistan.

“My vehicle rolled over into a ravine, upside down,” he said. “There were about six soldiers with me in the back. It was dark, visibility wasn’t that good.”

Dixon said he suffered a broken spinal cord in the accident.

Dixon suffered a broken spinal cord but kept serving with his unit so that he was at the Al-Qaqaa training camp 2 weeks later? At which point did his injury confine him to a wheelchair?

His spine snapped, resulting in a spinal cord injury and paraplegia. He underwent rehabilitation at the Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C., and later the Richmond, Virginia and Atlanta, Georgia VA Medical Centers.

Are we missing something? There may well be two Ken Dixons.

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More Get Your War On!

Here.

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So what did you study there, Katherine?

Bartholomew (from Bartholomew’s notes on religion) sends us a link to the Katherine Harris web site which helpfully details Katherine’s efforts to certify Florida’s electoral results following the 2000 presidential election:

In the aftermath of the 2000 election controversy, Congresswoman Harris’ leadership provided a driving impetus for election reform. In 2001, she testified before the U.S. House Administration Committee and proposed legislation that became the blueprint for Florida’s nationally acclaimed Election Reform Act. In 2002, as the momentum for election reform subsided in states across America, she successfully proposed and achieved passage of historic civil rights legislation in Florida that forcefully addresses the exclusion of persons with disabilities from full and equal participation in the electoral process.

There’s arguably a lot of material there, but our attention was drawn to this part of her biography:

She studied abroad at the University of Madrid and at L’Abri outside Geneva, Switzerland.

Now, we’ve heard of the University of Madrid, but not of a school called “L’Abri.” Given that the name means shelter in French it seemed like a rather odd name for an institution of higher learning. Which likely explains why it isn’t:

The L’Abri communities are study centers in Europe, Asia and America where individuals have the opportunity to seek answers to honest questions about God and the significance of human life. L’Abri believes that Christianity speaks to all aspects of life.

Ah, we understand now:

Fourth, the reality of the fall is taken seriously. Until Christ returns we and the world we live in will be affected by the disfigurement of sin. Although the place of the mind is emphasized, L’Abri is not a place for “intellectuals only”.

Well if there’s one person you need in any discussion of disfigurement, it’s Katherine. (Disclaimer: You’ll never get those 2MB of bandwidth back.) But people who go there are students, right?

Each branch is staffed by one or more L’Abri families and single people, called “workers”, who look after those who come and stay - “students”.

Oh, you’re that kind of “school.” Katherine did manage to pick up some useful skills there:

The other half of the day is spent in sharing the community work load. This involves your doing some practical work each day, which consists of helping with the cooking, cleaning, gardening, maintenance, etc.. We have numerous chalets to keep up, many meals to serve, and lots of grounds to care for. Your work is a help to us in running a place of this size and it will hopefully bring a healthy balance to your lives. Thursday is a day off for students who are given a packed lunch, allowing them to go off and sight see, ski, hike, etc.

What if I don’t like to do maintenance work?

If either of these two aspects of being here are problematic you should carefully and prayerfully consider whether a time here with us is the right thing for you.

Aye captain! We wouldn’t mind being able to meet a lot of single women while we’re there. You mean that can be arranged? Not only that, but these guys will be our competition? And we can kiss the dog from Frasier? Yet we always have to get back to work, don’t we? Let us pray!

Must be hard to get in we bet:

There are no prerequisites for attending L’Abri.

Well, nothing more than 45 Swiss francs per night in any case. That works out to US$37/night. Isn’t that pretty much what Harvard charges these days?

Bonus: In related news, someone had a go at Katherine. (It’s not what you think.) (Via Political Physics.)

In unrelated news, our favorite insult comic dog (Triumph) stopped by Spin Alley after the third presidential debate. Wanna see Ralph Reed get called a bitch? The answer is not sadly, no! (Also via Political Physics.) [We’ll mirror the Triumph clip tomorrow, if anyone cares.]

Tomorrow came early: 6-minute, 14MB clip of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog taking on spin alley. (Thanks to Rooftop Report.)

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Where did you come up with that one, Pete?

Pete “Of The” Du Pont, on Opinion Journal:

Mr. Kerry is against free trade because he believes America must “establish core labor rights around the world.” He would repeal Nafta and other trade agreements[.]

From the John Kerry web site (which, unlike other presidential candidates’ sites, is accessible to international visitors:)

I strongly believe that America must engage in the global economy, and I voted for trade opening from Nafta to the WTO. (link)

The United States and Mexico made commitments with the signing of NAFTA. Both countries must abide by those commitments. (link)

From The Miami Herald:

His 19 years on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have given him experience in national security and foreign affairs, including Latin America, where a frayed relationship needs attention. He supports NAFTA and FTAA and considers Miami the region’s key financial center.

From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s 20 Questions with John Kerry & George Bush:

“President Clinton was trying to move us in the right direction on job creation and on including labor and environmental standards in trade agreements. I supported him and I made the right decision. We created jobs and opened markets, but since then we have learned that we need to go even further on labor and environment standards. John Edwards and I will fight so strong and enforceable labor and environmental standards are included in the core of future trade agreements, like they were in the Jordan Free Trade Agreement.” –John Kerry

So Pete, what, exactly, is the source for your claim?

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David Brooks doesn’t get paid a salary, right?

Seriously. This is the best (?) part of his latest column:

It is only now that the dinner party lion emerges to stake his claim to greatness. While others quiver with pre-election anxiety, their mood rising and collapsing with the merest flicker of the polls, he alone radiates certainty. He alone can read the internals, cross-tabs and trends, can parse Gallup and Zogby and emerge with clear answers. He alone can captivate a gathering, while men hang eagerly on his words and women undress him with their eyes.

The astounding thing is that this comes near the end of Brooks’ column:

Then, having filled the air with 45 minutes of bogus pontification and pretentious gibberish, he should sagely declare that this election is just too close to call and that it would be irresponsible to make a prediction.

Which really should read: “Then, having filled the page with 800 words of bogus pontification and pretentious gibberish…” It would be funny if Brooks weren’t such a hopeless and untalented hack. Sadly, he is, and as a result, sadly, it isn’t.

(Inspired by the shorter version of the column posted at busy, busy, busy.)

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Ah, the old selective excerpt trick!

It’s not InstaPundit, it’s InstaAmber:

HOW TO CAMPAIGN IN WISCONSIN — EXPLOIT SCHOOLKIDS? […] This morning I heard a story on Wisconsin Public Radio about how schoolkids in Milwaukee have been assigned get-out-the-vote work. (The story isn’t up on the WPR website yet, but it will at some point be here.) The Milwaukee State Journal is also covering the story. […] I firmly believe that once the state compels young people to attend school, deprives them of their freedom, it owes the highest duty to them to use their time only in ways that benefit them. To see them as a source of free labor or to exploit them for any purpose that is not itself a good reason for depriving the young of their freedom is a great wrong. [Emphasis added.]

Boy that libertarian shtick never gets young, does it? Is it some sort of InstaPundit requirement that Republican voters post some libertarian dribble to give the illusion of independence? (The expert on the “faux liberal / real conservative” act is alicublog.)

In any case, we’d add that the Milwaukee State Journal article continues thusly:

Marx vehemently denies that the project is designed to encourage more Democrats than Republicans to vote. He notes that the children do not wear any partisan buttons or clothing. Nor do they use partisan rhetoric or encourage people to vote one way or another. Participation is voluntary and parents are required to give their approval.

Republicans are outraged because a get out the vote drive is targeting areas with low voter turnout. Have Democrats no shame? No shame at all?

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So fucked up, it has to be true!

(And as far as we can tell, it is.)

Bush site bars overseas visitors

Surfers outside the US have been unable to visit the official re-election site of President George W Bush.

The blocking of browsers sited outside the US began in the early hours of Monday morning.

Since then people living outside the US trying to look at the site simply got a message saying “access denied”.

The blocking does not appear to be due to an attack by vandals or malicious hackers, but as a result of a policy decision by the Bush camp.

The international exclusion zone around georgewbush.com was spotted by net monitoring firm Netcraft which keeps an eye on traffic patterns across many different sites.

Thanks to Blair for the link.

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All star wankerdom

It’s a good thing we don’t read InstaPundit too often:

but this time I’ve got an all-star team of guestbloggers coming in: Ann Althouse, Megan McArdle, and Michael Totten

The woman who fancies herself Amber Frey, the one who fancies herself an intellectual, and the man who fancies himself a liberal. (He also has the world’s worst -and dumbest- suggestion: “Link to Michael J. Totten with the logo button.” Uh, Sadly, No!]

It’s an all-something cast, we’ll grant you that. IP has been able to use his free time to write such wonderful insights as:

. That will expand [blogs’] impact considerably. On the other hand, they’ll grow less significant, in a way, because they’ll grow more ordinary. Like other communications media, from newspapers to email, they’ll just become part of the background, and their particular thread of impact will be less noticeable.

By that logic, according to our calculations newspapers stopped being significant in 1957.

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Isn’t that Allawi dude on our side?

Hmm, someone isn’t being a team player:

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq’s interim prime minister blamed U.S.-led coalition forces Tuesday for “great negligence” in the ambush that killed about 50 American-trained soldiers, and a U.S. airstrike in Fallujah killed an aide to Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the military said. […]

“It was a heinous crime where a group of National Guards were targeted,” Allawi said. “There was great negligence on the part of some coalition forces. It seems there was sort of determination on doing Iraq and Iraqi people harm.” [Emphasis added, shrillness in the original.]

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Only one week to go…

Time to set our keyboard on shrill.

We’ve just about recovered from last night (although Pete M. is still missing,) and fortunately for us there is much right wing nuttiness around. Indeed, there are some brand new talents out there (does the name Randall Fuller sound familiar?) so you better get ready. For something.

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Happy birthday to us!

Faced with the difficult choice of celebrating our birthday by either blogging or getting totally shit faced, we’ve opted to do the latter.

See you tomorrow, and stop by James Wolcott’s blog when you have time.

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