Month: July 2009

It Has Nothing To Do With Legal Expenses

Like we didn't know that already. First Palin lied by talking about millions of legal expenses incurred by the state; now she's lying by pretending that the salaries of state lawyers wouldn't be paid anyway; and she lied about the major lawsuit costs, which she initiated. At some point, the real reason for her abrupt departure will emerge. But not after the usual avalanche of disprovable lies that she routinely provides.

On the reporting front, I'm doing what I can to prod MSM journalists to actually do their jobs. But they refused all last fall and it's uphill work now. It may require a real news organization, like TMZ or the Daily Show. If Palin were a Democrat, the Drudge Report would have cracked this open last September. So we wait.

The Daily Wrap

Today Andrew explained the real reason behind his relentless pursuit of Palin. Two readers backed him up with excellent emails, and another proffered a new theory behind her resignation. We also put forth more reasons why Ross is wrong about Palin's resentments and how East Coast elites are actually among her most powerful supporters. And we continued to show how mainstream outlets like Time and the NYT have failed to question "Queen Esther."

In Iran news, while citizens continued to protest in little ways, a huge demonstration could be on the horizon for tomorrow. In Honduras, we got a grisly glimpse of censors at work. On the home front, Massachusetts is suing the feds over marriage equality. On the blog front, David Kahane got a Malkin, Dan Riehl got an Yglesias, and Patrick Mahoney got a Hewitt. In our look at Iranian culture, we featured car enthusiasts and a remarkable female driver. And the MHB today was pretty awesome.

— CB

What Palin Needs: Keeblers

Camille Paglia won't give up on Sarah Palin:

[It's] pretty obvious that Palin still lacks that cadre of trusted pros who are the invisible elves behind every successful national politician — the assistants who gather and vet material and who filter proposals and plan logistics. In a way, this is part of her virtues — her complete freedom from routine micromanagement and business as usual. She does her own thing with seat-of-the-pants gusto. It's why she remains hugely popular with the Republican grass-roots base — as I know from listening to talk radio. Callers coming fresh from her rallies are always heady with infectious enthusiasm.

Worse Than Bush?

Greenwald has at Obama after the administration suggested continuing to hold detainees found innocent:

Show trials are exactly what the Obama administration is planning.  In its own twisted way, the Bush approach was actually more honest and transparent:  they made no secret of their belief that the President could imprison anyone he wanted without any process at all.  That's clearly the Obama view as well, but he's creating an elaborate, multi-layered, and purely discretionary "justice system" that accomplishes exactly the same thing while creating the false appearance that there is due process being accorded.

Hewitt Award Nominee

"And I think that we are wondering, when we look at President Obama: Is there a culture of hostility toward expressions of faith in the public square — particularly Christian? Let's put this in context. Several months ago, the president spoke at Georgetown University; when he spoke there, he covered a cross, and he covered a sacred symbol for the name of Jesus. He did not celebrate the National Day of Prayer at the White House, had no events at the White House, and yet just a couple of weeks ago we had a major reception to celebrate Gay and Lesbian Pride Month in June," – Patrick Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition, on the Pentagon's decision to forgo an annual flyover of Air Force jets at the "God and Country Family Festival" in Nampa, Idaho.

Going First

Ryan Avent makes a good point:

I think it’s worth pointing out that while it makes no sense to care much about the emission reductions in W-M independent of W-M’s effect on international emission reductions, it really makes no sense for other economies to care about their emission reductions independent of what America is doing. We’re richer than basically all of the other significant emitters, and our per capita emissions levels dwarf those of the other significant emitters. And we produce a fifth of global emissions. Why does it matter if we go first? Because what the hell is the point if we’re not involved?

Profiling The Uyghurs

China blogger Fear of a Red Planet discusses the events in Xinjiang:

Whilst the Muslims of Xinjiang are no less oppressed than the Muslims and Christians in any other part of China, the regular outbursts of violence in Xinjiang as compared to other Muslim-majority regions requires explanation. The first and foremost cause is the distinct ethnic identity of the Uyghur, whilst Muslims in other parts of China are either ethnically Han or can pass as Han, the Uyghur remain a visible minority to whom the worst characteristics and stereotypes are applied. Outside of Xinjiang the Uyghur constitute a poor minority who seemingly make their living through the running of kebab stalls and Xinjiang-themed restaurants. Perhaps driven by poverty or alienation, some drift into petty crime, and it is the stereotype of Uyghurs as pick-pockets and violent knife-wielding thieves that is most prevalent in China today. Otherwise respectable Chinese lawyers, teachers, professors, and accountants think nothing of repeating these stereotypes in polite conversation, or of loudly complaining about the positive discrimination policies applied to all ethnic minorities in selection for university or government positions, and this attitude informs Uyghur-Han relations both inside and outside Xinjiang.

Dave Schuler describes how China is squashing protests.