A very encouraging development in Britain: a coalition of conservatives demanding more local democracy and decision-making. Yes, imagine that: a conservatism trying to reduce the power of the central government.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “hello everyone! i was in Rome on vacation. It was a cruise. i hope you didn’t miss me too much! i’m tan EVERYWHERE! anyway, I paid 200 euros for a henna tattoo, and now i think i have crabs. can someone please help?” – Greg Gutfield, with another scintillating addition to the Huffington Post. Gutfield, by the way, is “a Virgo, loves long walks in the woods, knitting booties for his three cats, and hates mean people.”
BLAIR AND HAMAS: The Brits lead the U.S. toward greater acceptance of the terror-group.
SID GOT THERE FIRST: The moral idiocy of Amnesty International comparing the serious issues in Guantanamo with Stalin’s monstrous crimes didn’t come out of thin air. To the best of my knowledge, the first use of this metaphor was by … Sid Blumenthal. Here’s the piece. The whole thing is infuriating because it allows the Bushies and their boosters to avoid the real subject. The truth is: you can have a real grasp of Stalin’s Gulag and still be appalled by what this administration has been doing in its secret jails and torture chambers. Exhibit A in this moral universe is Anne Applebaum, Pulitzer-prize author of “Gulag,” who has not mercifully given in to moral complacency.
DOLPHIN GLOVES: Pliny wouldn’t have been surprised.
THE LEFT TAKES ON MOORE: Finally, a bona fide lefty tackles the ethics-free grandstanding of Michael Moore. Pity it’s in Britain.
MIDWESTERN COMMON SENSE: A conservative Minnesotan tackles the unconservative arguments against allowing gay couples to marry.
LEFT, RIGHT, AND POT: An email illuminates the deeper political factions in America:
I’m sure you are familiar with the idea that political alignment can be seen not just as polar (left/right) but as four quadrants based on left/right and order/freedom. This has always made a lot of sense to me. For example, libertarians can be found on the left and the right, and it doesn’t take two much imagination to see kinship between Joan Claybrook and John Ashcroft; they are both control freak meddlers.
You clearly belong in the right/freedom quadrant, and that is why you get a lot of left readership. Left/freedom folks like myself can find a lot of common ground in our thinking. Bush is pretty much a right/order type, as is the evangelical right, and their ascent is alienating right/freedom types like yourself. It threatens the unity of the Republican Party, to the delight of Democrats like myself. Americans like religion, but a lot of us have never liked holy rollers.
The biggest advantage the Republicans have is that most Americans trust them more when it comes to kicking a little ass on the battlefield. I personally think this is braindead, caused by associating the pacifist blather of the Democratic core with the quite reasonable Democrats who get nominated (Clinton/Gore/Kerry). But it is what it is. Sheer incompetence by our Republican Commander-in-chief may go a long way toward clearing up that misperception. It is amazing that grown adults have to be reminded that macho and passion are not enough, you also have to dispassionately analyze facts to prevail on the ground.
Back to medicinal marijuana, I am happy to be united with you and all other freedom-loving conservatives in decrying the unconstitutional affirmation of raw Federal power expressed in that decision.
Amen. It seems to me that the fundamental problem in today’s politics is that those who generally support freedom at home and a tough foreign policy abroad have nowhere to go any more. We have to choose between an incompetent and morally suspect war party that has little time for civil liberties at home and a mush-headed, left-leaning, reactionary party that inspires little trust on the national security front.
The Dish 