Category: The Dish

Or not:

The U.S. government has quietly withdrawn a $5 million reward it was offering for the killing or capture of Abu Ayyub al-Masri, named by Pentagon officials as the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq.

Michael Moynihan explains what Republicans could learn from the Tories. Money quote:

The political landscape in America is hardly analogous to that of England. Despite Blair’s public piousness, fealty unto God isn’t a prerequisite for a presumptive prime minister. Nor do issues like abortion, the death penalty, or stem-cell research dominate the political culture. British conservatism is in many important ways distinct from its American cousin. But as many American conservatives have noted—David Frum in his book Comeback and his National Review colleague Jonah Goldberg—America too is becoming more socially tolerant and, if the Republican Party is interested in a successful future, a Cameron-like shift to the center on issues such as gay marriage and the drug war is advisable.

Now they tell us.

Instapundit discovers the libertarian Republican. Where has he been? His explanation:

Paul and I are both libertarians, but of different varieties. Paul is an old-fashioned Rothbardian. I’m more of a Heinleinian libertarian and we, like the Randian libertarians, tend to view national defense as more important than the Rothbardians do.

Paul’s view, essentially, is that if we quit sending troops abroad, other people and countries would quit wanting to kill us. I’m not particularly persuaded by this. First, even during the minimal-government era of Thomas Jefferson we wound up at war with the Barbary Pirates (in many ways, the spiritual antecedents of today’s Islamic terrorists). And second, Paul is not an isolationist – he favors much more commercial and cultural engagement with foreign countries, something which, if experience is any guide, is as likely to anger Islamic fundamentalists and other varieties of terrorists and tyrants as is the establishment of foreign bases.

Sobering:

In many visits to the so-called Holy Land, I have never quite been able to imagine that a Jewish state in Palestine will still be in existence a hundred years from now. A state for Jews, possibly. But a Jewish state …

Not as rabid as Coulter but pretty pissed at the La Raza speech.

North Carolina’s voters are comfortable voting for female candidates:

Eleven women were on the ballot last week running in primaries for statewide elective office. Seven of them won their races by beating male opponents. An eighth, Winston-Salem’s Mary Fant Donnan, was the top vote-getter in the Democratic primary for commissioner of labor, and may face a runoff … In November, the U.S. Senate race in North Carolina will pit two female candidates against each other: the Republican incumbent, Elizabeth Dole, and her Democratic challenger, Kay Hagan.

A two-way street:

A reader writes:

I’m a graduate student at a prestigious university, with considerable international experience, (most recently working to revitalize the Afghan university system). Like it or not, I’m a member of an elite. I am a hard core Obama supporter.

I’m also a proud Kentuckian, who grew up with, and worked in tobacco fields alongside, people who, to this day, I consider to be as honest and decent people as one could ever be privileged to know.

They were serious about religion, and law and order, for whom  a trip to the Cracker Barrel was a big deal. Their kids longed to drive Camaros, and idolized WWF.  Many of these folks were born Democrats, and most of them have experienced serious economic hardship for a good while. Maybe a good bunch of them think Obama is ‘not American enough’ or even think he is a secret Muslim, at which I cringe and almost automatically think, "stupid redneck". Well, for all the hair-splitting about Hillary’s "hard-working white Americans" comment, let me point out, that while the folks I grew up around may not be a traditionally oppressed group, these days, no one bats an eye if you call someone a ‘redneck’ or a ‘country-bumpkin’ – they are fair game for all kinds of derision.  And while one might not be able to control some of their crazy notions about the likes of Obama, one can certainly control the rather facile urge to pile on and proclaim these people some particularly despicable species of moron.  If for no other reason than because in a tough year, the Republicans are salivating at the thought of exploiting such a rift.

McCain’s troubles with the right are not restricted to Christianists. Ron Paul plans to make an impression at the convention and Bob Barr will carry the banner of limited government. Money Barr quote:

"In the month since we formed our exploratory committee, not a single Republican who has spoken with me to try and convince me not to seek the Libertarian nomination has disagreed with my reasons for considering a run."

Oh, and Ron Paul’s book is Number One on the NYT list!

A first-hand account of the cyclone aftermath in Burma and some horrifying photos.