Month: April 2004

A very interesting and illuminating blog account of Marine tactics in Fallujah. So far, so good. Money quote:

Mortensen’s earlier story indicated the Marines were returning to positions north; since it is known that they already hold positions south it seems clear that the enemy is now squeezed from two sides and is probably contained in the northeast corner of Fallujah, an area full of meandering streets and mosques. The enemy would prefer a linear American advance, hoping as in the case of Jenin, to mine buildings and blow them up as Americans occupy them. Not wanting to oblige, the USMC is mounting relatively small probes forcing the enemy to react. The current Marine strategy is ripping up the mobile defense. The company plus unit which attacked the platoon is probably no more. However, it will not be long before the enemy must retreat into a continuous perimeter, as his manpower dwindles to the point where a mobile defense is no longer viable. The remaining enemy forces are probably in the battalion plus range. And then the ghost of the Shuri line will rear up, in which there were no other option but to go directly into the teeth of the defense. The density of the defense displayed in the recent encounter may mean that time is near.

I haven’t read anything as insightul as this in the mainstream press. I have a feeling that this battle will be studied for years. Worth starting to get a grip on it now.

As David Brooks noticed today, these two cities contain the entire future of the attempt to break the back of Islamist terror and Muslim autocracy. Right now, they’re the only stories that really matter.

KERRY AND CUBA: Another confusing, politically self-defeating mess.

QUOTE FOR THE DAY: “I’m more old-fashioned than a lot of women … I don’t view abortion as just a nothing. It is stopping the process of life.” – Teresa Heinz Kerry, in an astonishing puff-piece/Kerry campaign ad in alleged “newsmagazine,” Newsweek. You realize just how completely in Kerry’s tank the editors are when you read the small side-bar on Kerry’s former aggrieved wife, Julia Thorne. Annulment? What annulment?

MARRIAGE WATCH: A wedding dress goes on eBay. Put up there by the groom. His comments:

I found my ex-wife’s wedding dress in the attic when I moved. She took the $4000 engagement ring but left the dress. I was actually going to have a dress burning party when the divorce became final, but my sister talked me out of it. She said, “That’s such a gorgeous dress. Some lucky girl would be glad to have it. You should sell it on EBay. At least get something back for it.” So, this is what I’m doing. I’m selling it hoping to get enough money for maybe a couple of Mariners tickets and some beer. This dress cost me $1200 that my drunken sot of an ex-father-in-law swore up and down he would pay for but didn’t so I got stuck with the bill. Luckily I only got stuck with his daughter for 5 years. Thank the Lord we didn’t have kids. If they would have turned out like her or her family I would have slit my wrists. Anyway, it’s a really nice dress as you can see in the pictures. Personally, I think it looks like a $1200 shower curtain, but what do I know about this.

Actually, I think it looks fabulous. And that has nothing to do with the Vicodin I’m on.

POO-POO PLATTER: An online compendium of toilet humor. I’m trying really hard not to laugh these days (it hurts like hell). But you might feel like a break.

But I can’t blog on percaset. I just took the last one, tho. See you in a bad mood tomorrow. If I can sit down.

My pre-op take on “Plan of Attack.”

Say your piece here, if you wish. Sorry for the low blogging rate. It’s getting easier but tough to walk around and sit at a computer. Back tomorrow. Promise.

Somewhat under-estimated the recovery time from these hernia ops. Will try and blog later Monday. Meanwhile, on a far more serious note, all I can say is that I am, like countless others, heart-broken by Pat Tillman’s death. May he rest in peace.

An email worth reading:

“In reading articles marking 10 years since the end of South Africa apartheid, I was struck by the similarities between that country’s struggle since liberation and the current struggle since the liberation of Iraq. Likewise, I was struck by the relative silence of the left on the real problems South Africa has faced in the past 10 years.
In the early 1990’s, the movement against apartheid was one of the most passionate cause of the American left. The struggle for freedom is South Africa ended on April 27th 1994 when over 90% of the people of that country went to the polls to elect the first democratic government the country had ever seen. Since that time, South Africa has been one of the most, if not the most, dangerous place to live on the planet.
In 1998 for instance, South Africa led the world with a recorded 59 murders per hundred thousand citizens (source: Interpol). By comparison, the United States had 6 per hundred thousand that year; England had 1, France 4, and Russia 21. The closest to South Africa was Colombia, with 56.
Presently, although crime seems to have abated, the country is still racked with problems. An estimated 20.1% of the population has AIDS, 50% of the population is below the poverty line, and 37% of the population is unemployed. The current life expectancy is 46.56 years.
Now, very few people on any side of the political spectrum would argue that South Africa was “better off” under apartheid. Yet, those that oppose our war in Iraq often bitterly complain that the Iraqis are not better off. Both countries, when liberated, were coming from oppressive governments with people unaccustomed to the democratic process. It has taken ten years to get South Africa to the still troubled, but gradually improving, state it is currently in. Why is so much expected of Iraq so quickly? Apparently, the left’s criterion for democratic progress is a double standard.”

More feedback from the smartest readers on the web here.

QUOTE FOR THE DAY I: “In Iraq our national security interests and our national values converge. Iraq is truly the test of a generation, for America and for our role in the world. Faced with similar challenges, previous generations of Americans have passed such tests with honor. It is now our turn to demonstrate that our power, ennobled by our principles, is the greatest force for good on earth today. Iraq’s transformation into a secure democracy and a force for freedom in the greater Middle East is the calling of our age. We can succeed. We must succeed.” – Senator John McCain, getting it right, again.

QUOTE FOR THE DAY II: “I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute; where no Catholic prelate would tell the president – should he be Catholic – how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote.” – John F. Kennedy, the nemesis of theocons everywhere.

… to the mischaracterizations of Stanley Kurtz can be read here. Meanwhile, an email from a Norwegian who knows what he’s talking about, points out more inaccuracy:

Let me just say that some of Kurtz’ assertions, i.e. “Nord-Troendelag is like Massachusetts – a socially liberal state influenced by left-leaning institutions of higher learning”, are simply not true.
Nord-Troendelag does not distinguish itself as more “socially liberal” than any other part of Norway, and if the NTNU is having any influence at all, it’s in the conservative/realist direction — after all, it’s a school primarily of Science and Technology, not Sociology and Film Theory, or what have you.
Also, the differences between the geographical entities within Norway aren’t anywhere near big enough to warrant comparisons with states in the US. Nord-Troendelag and neighbouring Soer-Troendelag are absolutely indistinguishable, and most people just lump them together as “Troendelag” (calling their inhabitants “Troenders”) for simplicity.

On another note, I’d say that yes, more than half of my friends were probably born “out of wedlock”, and more than half of my friends’ parents are certainly divorced or separated at this point. The question is: who cares? As you say, there aren’t really any significant practical benefits (i.e. from the government) of getting married in the first place, and couples are very serious on raising their children in a decent manner no matter what their civil status. It’s not like we’re a country of “crack babies” and abandoned orphans, we probably have some of the best statistics in the entire world despite low marriage rates!
I myself was born by unmarried parents. They married a year or two after I was born (civil marriage, not in a church), and divorced when I was 16. Now (six years later), they’re back living together, but still haven’t gotten “re-married” officially — and why should they, as long as they’re happy living together? Also, I’m happy to say I turned out okay despite all this which for Americans probably seems a bit stormy.

But the truth, of course, will not inflame the religious right sufficiently.

THREE NEW POSTS: On Iraq, the Washington Post’s privacy issues, and – yes – the case for a gas tax. All now posted on the left, so to speak.

TIME OUT: I’m going to have minor surgery today (hernia fix) so if you read anything on the blog this weekend, it will be either because a) I’m really bored or b) I’m really addicted to this blogging thing. But the odds are I’ll be on painkillers. Hey, it worked for Rush … (Oh, and no Inside Dish this weekend either.)

The editor of the Sioux Falls Argus Leader cannot take any criticism from the outside about the blatant bias displayed by one of his key political reporters. Money quote:

The internet is both a good and a bad thing. The bad is that it has allowed people who hate to distribute their vitriol anonymously, um, using gang emails, using blogs, what have you, with barely a shred of proof, manipulating facts, to perpetuate an ideology. And it’s a truly sad thing. And I guess that I would suggest that I’m not going to dignify that kind of crap with an answer.

Using blogs to criticize newspapers? How sad. How awful. How terrifying. I think we’ve hit a nerve here, haven’t we? When you stumble onto the truth, it sometimes hurts.

A Catholic and Republican initiative in Michigan will allow doctors to refuse treatment to any person of whom they morally disapprove. I can see why some doctors should be allowed to refuse to perform abortions on moral grounds (except I doubt that any doctors are routinely put in that position). But the sweeping nature of this bill is clearly aimed at allowing doctors to refuse care to homosexuals (there is an exception barring refusal of care on racial grounds). Now take a look at what is going on in Virginia, where the Republican-dominated state-legislature has not only banned marriages and civil unions for gays, but even legal contracts designed to secure some basic rights, like hospital visitation. A few of you have written to argue that my citation of a New Mexico Republican suggesting “assassination” for a county clerk who issued marriage licenses to gay couples should not be regarded as the norm for the Republican party. But I have yet to read a conservative denunciation of this. Just as I have yet to see this president do anything to distance himself from the hatred coming from some parts of his own party. Why should it always be up to gay people to point this out? Are there no straight people prepared to stand up against this kind of thing in the G.O.P.?