Category: Awards

Malkin Award Nominee

"The problem is that our political and journalistic classes lack sufficient patriotism to promote self-discipline, or perhaps sufficient self-discipline to allow them to act patriotically," – Glenn Reynolds, who certainly knows self-discipline when it comes to news that might displease the Bush administration.

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Malkin Award Nominee

Well, maybe Althouse deserves her own special award for reliable loopiness. Here’s her latest on Clinton’s cackle:

"I think it was her strategy to make us talk about that instead of substantive problems she has. It’s a distraction. She’s deliberately laughing in a way designed to derail us from going in a direction that would hurt her. (So was the cleavage.)"

She’s devious, but not that devious. And it hurt her. Which is why we will never hear it again.

Poseur Alert

"Barbara and I went to Indianapolis for a Toby Keith concert, where we partied with something like 25,000 happy rednecks, most of them young, most of them wearing boots and cowboy hats (and cheering Keith’s great song "I Should Have Been a Cowboy"). It’s a great show, and he’s a wonderful performer, not least because of his deeply moving patriotic songs like "American Soldier," "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue," and " The Taliban," etc. 

It’s great to get out of the Washington culture of narcissism and spend some time with the rednecks, a.k.a. real Americans," – Michael Ledeen, NRO.

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Yglesias Award Nominee

"The recipe for Republicans is to stop acting like, well, Republicans–that is, Republicans of recent vintage. In Congress, they’ve been soft on earmarks, the source of so much corruption. They practically invited Democrats to trump them on ethics and lobbying reform. And they’ve allowed their obsession with illegal immigrants to get out of hand. This drives away Hispanic voters and leaves the impression that Republicans are small-minded, ungenerous and nasty. The worst offenders are the presidential candidates, who would be wise to tone down their rhetoric on immigration," – Fred Barnes, WSJ.

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Malkin Award Nominee

"A quick question for you to ponder, ladies and gentlemen. How do we know which side in this war John Kerry is on? In the last war he was with the enemy, met with them, lied for them before a Senate committee. How do we really know what side he is on? Being pretty consistent, if you ask me," – Rush Limbaugh, yesterday. Here’s the graphic that pitched the piece:

Osamad

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Von Hoffmann Award Nominee

"We are tempted to comment, in these last days before the war, on the U.N., and the French, and the Democrats. But the war itself will clarify who was right and who was wrong about weapons of mass destruction. It will reveal the aspirations of the people of Iraq, and expose the truth about Saddam’s regime. It will produce whatever effects it will produce on neighboring countries and on the broader war on terror. We would note now that even the threat of war against Saddam seems to be encouraging stirrings toward political reform in Iran and Saudi Arabia, and a measure of cooperation in the war against al Qaeda from other governments in the region. It turns out it really is better to be respected and feared than to be thought to share, with exquisite sensitivity, other people’s pain. History and reality are about to weigh in, and we are inclined simply to let them render their verdicts," – Bill Kristol, March 17, 2003.

(Hat tip: Anonymous Liberal. Award glossary here.)

Yglesias Award Nominee

"At first I thought that commuting Libby’s sentence was a reasonable compromise—keeping him from serving prison time, but letting the jury verdict stand. But now I don’t think it makes any sense. There’s an incoherence at the heart of the administration’s case. It says that Libby’s sentence was excessive. But technically, it’s not. It’s only excessive if you think it was a politicized prosecution and never should have happened in the first place. But if you believe that, then Libby deserves an outright pardon. The administration’s middle ground can’t hold," – Rich Lowry, NRO.

Yes, but the prosecution obviously wasn’t politicized. It was initiated by a Republican Justice Department, it was prosecuted by a Republican appointed prosecutor, and the appeal failed in front of Republican judicial appointees. The jury obviously wasn’t rigged. They liked Libby. But the perjury was so obvious, so blatant and so pathetic they had no choice but to convict. There is no coherent defense of this commutation; and no defense of a pardon. There’s just elite privilege and rank, shameless abuse of presidential power. People in Libby’s privileged circle simply don’t believe the criminal law should apply to their friends. And the president has used his constitutional authority (and unconstitutional powers) to hide his own crimes and wartime deceptions.   

More broadly, it’s a mistake, I think, to try and find a coherent, principled reason for this commutation. I once gave Bush and Cheney this kind of credit and have learned my lesson. This was a brazen political act designed to prevent Libby from telling Fitzgerald more. Bush’s loyalty, via Cheney, was already promised long ago. Just read Libby’s letter to Judy Miller. This was fixed at the highest levels, regardless of the justice system. In retrospect, it’s extremely clear.

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