Month: February 2010

Ambinder asks:

No one ought to be begrudge conservatives for having a good time, but a good time isn't what the movement needs: what it needs is an infrastructure that exists to promote the ideas of the millennial generation.  CPAC does not provide that or even hint that such a thing exists. Note: do not confuse an amplification infrastructure — the conservatives have a huge megaphone, ranging from talk radio to Pajamas Media to Fox News — with a political infrastructure, which  turns ideas into policies and modernizes the party.

Intellectually honest conservatives are homeless.

From a comment on the blog of Bishop Kevin Farrell of Dallas:

On the subject of justice in this Lenten season, I would like very much to know how you can reconcile the claims of Marc Thiessen on EWTN that justify our government's use of torture with Catholic faith. This man specifically referenced the Magisterium in his discussion on a Catholic network. Lent, it seems to me, is a perfect opportunity for our nation to reflect on what has been done to others in the name of our safety.

Perhaps it might even be appropriate for leaders such as yourself to reiterate the message of Pope John Paul II in Veritatis Splendor, that physical and mental torture "…are a disgrace, and so long as they infect human civilization they contaminate those who inflict them more than those who suffer injustice, and they are a negation of the honour due to the Creator."

Many Thanks – Sam

Alaa Al-Aswani says the tide could start turning against Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's dictator for the last 29 years, starting with the return of IAEA chief Muhammad ElBaradei today:

The youths have exerted a huge effort in calling on Egyptians to welcome ElBaradei home on Friday. I believe thousands of Egyptians will turn out to greet him, just as I believe the security forces will make efforts to shut down this popular welcome. In every way, and without any doubt, Dr. ElBaradei has become the most important political phenomenon in Egypt right now. 

In the eyes of Egyptians, ElBaradei is thought to be effective and honorable, who has not dirtied his hands with corruption, participated in electoral irregularities, did not keep his mouth shut when innocents are arrested and tortured, wasn’t a yes man for President Mubarak, and doesn’t sing about his historical achievements like today’s hypocritical ministers. For all of these reasons, ElBaradei is appreciated across Egypt’s political spectrum, from the Muslim Brotherhood to the leftists to the liberals and even the expat Copts.

This is could turn into a slo-mo Arab version of the Iranian democracy protests — and unlike in Iran, the US can actually have an impact here.

Amy Davidson still doesn't understand why Republicans resist trying terrorists as criminals:

If it had been discovered, midway through Timothy McVeigh’s trial for the Oklahoma City bombing, that he had a connection to Al Qaeda (and yes, there are those out there who believe he did—it all has to do with the Philippines), would we have abandoned the process that led to his conviction and execution?

Another strong point:

Terrorists can’t be tried as criminals, we are also told, because they came to this country with the aim of killing Americans. What about a man who flies to America and kills his sister or ex-girlfriend who’s an American citizen, and maybe a couple of her friends for good measure, because he believes she is not living up to the strictures of her religion? (Or just because he’s jealous, or for no reason at all?) What if he went home and had to be arrested in his apartment by, say, the French police? Wouldn’t he be a criminal? Would Cheney be offended by the idea of putting him on trial, and in jail? A real jail, that is—not a limbo like Guantánamo.

Weigel is reporting from CPAC:

Romney had been introduced by Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.), who never mentioned his party affiliation during his insurgent special election bid, but used it twice before the CPAC crowd. Romney, said Brown, was one of the “leading lights” of the GOP.

Brown had teed up the crowd for a jeremiad against “liberal neo-monarchists,” a “failing” president, and the threat of a “Godzilla-size government bureaucracy.” They cheered even louder when Romney pushed the envelope. He said the rebellion against Obama hinted that “history will judge President Bush far more kindly” than his successor for “pulling us from a deepening recession following the attack of 9/11″ and “[keeping] us safe.”

"You know in the Navy in the late nineteen hundreds, homosexuality was rampant in the United States Navy. It was so bad that mothers would not let their sons enlist in the Navy until the Navy cleaned its act up … On board ship the Navy found that there are three things unacceptable to good order and discipline and its impact on readiness. You cannot have a thief aboard, you cannot have a drug-user or a drug-pusher and we found out you could not have a homosexual," – Admiral James "Ace" Lyons (Retired), at the CPAC news conference yesterday denouncing any reform of DADT.

I'm not sure if he meant the last 1800s. It all blurs together in the end. But you really have to watch the entire video. It's truly priceless. It's like Abraham Simpson on acid.

A bizarre story from Christian Broadcasting Network. Ambers is skeptical. Sense of Events:

CBN News blogger Erick Stakelbeck writes that “five Muslim soldiers at Fort Jackson in South Carolina were arrested just before Christmas. It is unclear whether the men are still in custody.”

There is not a scintilla of credibility in this report

not least because Stakelbeck is evidently entirely ignorant of military investigation procedures. Accused soldiers are not kept in “custody.” Fort Jackson does not have a jail, it has detention cells for very temporary detention of suspects. There is no bail system in the Army and it is unusual for accused soldiers not be be released back to their units, where their commander may place them on restricted movement and/or under watch 24/7.

Usually, there are arrangements with a local sheriff’s office for custody of soldiers accused of violent felonies; someone charged with assault or murder, for example, is not someone you want to put back into his barracks room under strict orders not to flee or hurt anyone. But you have to be dreaming if you think that five presumably Muslim soldiers, accused of a murder conspiracy, and held in the Columbia jail, would not have been reported in the media long ago. Trust me, they ain’t there.

As for Stakelbeck’s claim that his information is from a “source with intimate knowledge of the investigation,” that is similarly bogus. The only people who would have such knowledge are the CID agents, the post provost marshal, the post’s commanding general and deputy CG, the post’s chief of staff and probably the secretary of the general staff, CID’s command chain and that’s pretty much it. There may be another two or three officers, but only maybe. And I absolutely guarantee not one of these persons is breathing a word to Stakelbeck or any other reporter. That’s what Mr. Grey is for, see above, and I’d even say that Fort Jackson’s PAO is referring questions to him. (He works at CID’s headquarters at Fort Belvoir, Va.)

It’s important to note that the CID agents stationed at Fort Jackson do not work for the post’s commanding general. They do not take orders from him regarding investigative matters. The post’s CG has no authority either to initiate an investigation nor to truncate or end one.

A final note: I served with CID’s Brig. Gen McGuire when we were both stationed at the Pentagon in the early 1990s.

Today on the Dish, Andrew called out American bishops for their silence on the torture question. And a string of commentators kept the heat on Thiessen, including Mark Shea, Tim Weiner, Jonathan Bernstein, Michael Scherer, Adam Serwer, and readers (here and here).

Goldblog and Andrew discussed the state of Israel, Sonny Bunch backed the Dubai assassination, Matt Steinglass remarked on Barak's "apartheid" remark, and Walt went another round with Judis. Mark Knoller wondered where Obama has been. Stimulus debate here, here, here, and here.

Andrew gushed over the Pet Shop Boys again and a reader took down Limbaugh's insane comments. We posted Nick Herbert's full speech from Cato, a pair of students confronted Yoo over his war crimes, Google compromised everyone's privacy, and a local news station couldn't say "penis."

If you want to intern at the Dish, apply here.

— C.B.