Month: August 2006

by David Weigel

Paul Kiel at TPM Muckraker (for my money, the crown jewel in the Josh Marshall empire) examines how the GOP plans to retain Tom DeLay’s seat in Congress. Because DeLay lost a gambit to remove himself from the ballot, the party’s candidate is a write-in. Because the local party consists of idiots and/or masochists, they passed over Sugar Land Mayor David Wallace and threw their weight behind Shelley Sekula-Gibbs. That would be a hard enough name for voters to remember if they were able to write it down. But they can’t. They have to use a clickwheel and select letters on a screen to spell it out. The odds of tens of thousands doing this successfully and beating Democrat Nick Lampson and Libertarian Bob Smither? S-L-I-M.

When Tom DeLay and Cynthia McKinney go on tour together to campaign against electronic voting machines, I want to sell the tickets.

(Cross-posted at Hit and Run.)

by David Weigel

In a post titled Fortune Cookie Neoconservatism, paleocon Michael Brendan Dougherty knocks the neocons in a fresh way that doesn’t focus on pre-Iraq war naval-gazing. It jibes just as well with any debate over Iran, or Syria, or the Fourth Afghan War of 2017.

Whenever a neoconservative says something should be done, whether it is democracy promotion, or instilling purpose in an enervated American populace, or diplomacy you can finish the thought for him by adding three little words: by killing people.

It sounds fun. Let’s try it with, I dunno, Danielle Pletka.

The Palestinians must decide the way forward for themselves. And no amount of cajoling, strategizing or talking can change this most basic fact. The United States should support moderate parties, and encourage pluralistic democracy, by killing people.

I’m not sure if that adds or detracts from the argument. Cool.

(Cross-posted at Hit and Run.)

by Michael J. Totten

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Seniora said that Hezbollah will not start a war with Israel again.

"I don’t believe it can happen again," he said. "I don’t think Hizbullah is in the same position where it was before the war, and won’t be able to repeat what it did. It learned the lesson from what happened."

I have a hard time believing this really is true. Syria and Iran are already resupplying Hezbollah for the next round.

But it’s telling that Seniora says he wants a peace treaty with Israel. No Lebanese politician could possibly have said anything like this two months ago without all but begging to be car-bombed on the way to work in the morning.

by David Weigel

John McCain is running for president the way a music company compiles a hits disc. Remember those Howard Dean consultants you knew and loved? Well, they’re back!

John Weaver, McCain’s chief political strategist, confirmed today that Nicco Mele, the webmaster of Dean for America, is among those who have committed to help. Mele’s work on Dean’s campaign, which including , led Esquire to name him as one of the country’s "best and brightest." His firm, EchoDitto, lists more than twenty major Democratic and liberal firms and candidates as clients.

And do you want to get the best of the Bush administration without waiting for 2009? Look to John McCain.

Former Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick is planning to go to work fulltime next year for the presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain, overseeing development of domestic and foreign policy, Republican officials tell TIME.

If McCain keeps up this streak, soon enough he’ll have Karl Rove batting for him and whispering to South Carolinans about Mitt Romney’s black love child.

(Cross-posted at Hit and Run.)

By Michael J. Totten

Eli Lake at the New York Sun found some disturbing evidence that Iran armed Hezbollah through Turkey during the recent war in Lebanon.

TEL AVIV, Israel ‚Äî Israel’s relationship with Turkey, its closest ally in the region, has been put under severe strain by the Israeli army’s discovery that one route Iran used to resupply Hezbollah in Lebanon ran through Turkey into Syria.

The intelligence, described by one Israeli official here as "irrefutable," found that in the days prior to the August 14 cease-fire, a shipment of spare parts and components for mobile missile launchers was sent by truck through Turkey to Syria and then into northern Lebanon before being funneled down to front-line Hezbollah terrorists in southern Lebanon.

An American diplomat and another Israeli official who requested anonymity confirmed this account last night.

Turkey is an ally of Israel. Turkey belongs to NATO. Turkey hopes to join the European Union.

These arrangements, especially the bid to join Europe, were already strained leading up to the Hezbollah war. If it turns out that Turkey knowingly, rather than negligently, helped arm an Iranian-backed terrorist army in the heat of battle against a Western-allied democracy, they can forget joining Europe forever.

One of the best things about Turkey joining the EU, at least from an American perspective, is that Turkey would be all but forced to align itself permanently with the West and forswear forever these sorts of shenanigans.  If Europe slams the door for whatever reason, we‚Äôll likely see more murky and nefarious behavior from Ankara in the future.

by David Weigel

Liberal Philadelphia blogger Will Bunch does a modicum of legwork and discovers that Rockey Vaccarella, the Katrina survivor who travelled to DC to thank the president is – quelle surprise! – a devoted Republican.

Turns out that the earthy Vaccarella — a highly successful businessman in the fast-food industry — is indeed a Republican pol, having run unsuccessfully under the GOP banner for a seat on the St. Bernard Parish commission back in 1999… and in fact, Vaccarella seemed very confident that he would be meeting with Bush when he left home, to the point where he had a date scheduled and everything.

Even if this deep, dark secret never matriculates outside the blogs, I’m wracking my brains to understand the point of this "PR coup." Is a cheerful white guy really the mascot who can erase Bush’s Katrina problem? Is his sing-song praise of federal spending going to motivate the GOP base? More evidence that Rove’s touch has lost any of its Midas-like qualities.

Via Matthew "Award" Yglesias.

by David Weigel

With all the fuss about internet video being used to promote insurgent politicians or destroy incumbents, it’s worth remembering what the medium is meant for: Extremely stupid people filming themselves doing stupid things.* Here Joanne Colan of Rocketboom speaks with "the Numa Numa guy," who seems as startled by his success as he is by a woman talking to him.

*George Allen didn’t film himself. Crucial difference.

Chicago, Illinois, 6.15 pm.

Buckingham Palace’s honour guard plays the Darth Vader theme. Dick Cheney was visiting.

by David Weigel

In Foreign Policy, John Mueller has the perfect article to read while standing in line for a plane, dumping out your scary liquids, and watching the latest Fox News Alert on one of the airport TVs. Is there still a terrorist threat? How much should we actually worry about it? Is the threat posed by al Qaeda terrorists equivilent to that of 1930s fascists? ("No" to the last one, obviously.)

Although it remains heretical to say so, the evidence so far suggests that fears of the omnipotent terrorist — reminiscent of those inspired by images of the 20-foot-tall Japanese after Pearl Harbor or the 20-foot-tall Communists at various points in the Cold War (particularly after Sputnik) — may have been overblown, the threat presented within the United States by al Qaeda greatly exaggerated. The massive and expensive homeland security apparatus erected since 9/11 may be persecuting some, spying on many, inconveniencing most, and taxing all to defend the United States against an enemy that scarcely exists.

It didn’t take long for Reason to poke holes in the terrorism hysteria (most recently here and here). It’s taken five years to make that point in the pages of a musty, serious journal. How long will it take to point this out in the mainstream media, in politics, at Thanksgiving dinner? (I realize some people might not want to ruin their Thanksgivings by talking about this. Well, 9/11 changed everything.)

(Cross-posted at Hit and Run.)