The Dish

Steve Sailer says it’s fecundity that makes a red state red.

“There are some subjects so depressing that we do whatever we can to avoid hearing about them. Along with the results of a certain recent election, the sexual enslavement of children is high on the list.” – Andrew Johnston, TV listings, Time Out New York.

“Gonzales’ Middle Name: It’s just ‘R’! At least that what it appears to be according to my quick online search of Texas’ vital records database. There is one Alberto R. Gonzales listed as having been born 8 August 1955 in Bexar County, which is where his hometown of San Antonio is located. This birth records info track with Gonzales’ bio at Wikipedia. For all of the other listings, the records show full middle names where available, and are blank where there is no middle name at all. For Gonzales, under the middle name column, it simply says ‘R’.
It’s a bit odd, but it isn’t the first time I’ve seem someone with just a middle initial, without an actual full middle name. If this is true, then perhaps the White House’s ‘secrecy’ about his middle name is really just a joke. They’re simply taking the piss out of the media and waiting to see how long it takes them to find out that the White House had, in fact, released Alberto ‘R’ Gonzales’ full middle name already!
This all reminds me of one Homer J. Simpson’s growing up not knowing what his middle initial stands for, only to find out eventually that it’s ‘Jay’!” Yep. The Simpsons are always ahead of the curve. Then there’s this.

Tim Garton Ash has one of the best columns I’ve read on the subject.

The trickle of good news from Iraq is beginning to gain momentum, it seems to me. I’d cite several things: the relatively subdued Shiite and Kurdish response to the suppression of the Falluja revolt; the forgiveness of 80 percent of Iraq’s debt (can you imagine the media hype if John Kerry had negotiated that?); the larger-than-expected load of captured armaments in Falluja; the capture of Zaraqwi’s aide, Abu Saeed; and now, the latest desperate propaganda tape by Zarqawi. What Zarqawi is doing is complaining that some Sunnis – those not committed to the global Jihad so much as defending their own privileges and fighting the occupation – are going soft. Negotiations with Allawi might bear some fruit, thus isolating Zaraqwi even further. The barbarism of Zarqawi may also be alienating more moderate Iraqis – and many Shiites whose co-religionists have been targeted by insurgent violence. The elections, even without overwhelming Sunni involvement, will doubtless add momentum to the interim government and the prospect of holding Iraq together. Yes, huge obstacles remain; and the threat of civil war (which is the flipside of Kurdish and Shiite ambivalence toward watching the Sunnis get clobbered) is still intense. But it seems to me that the light at the end of this tunnel just grew a little. Here’s hoping.

Apologies for the light blogging. It’s been an intense month and I’ve been chilling. Back tomorrow.

“Free debate is a war of ideas. It’s a place where we should be able to hurt each other.” – Theo van Gogh, murdered for criticizing Islam. Salon’s piece has some interesting background. I didn’t know that van Gogh had produced 25 films and programs, or that he was killed 911 days after Pim Fortuyn. Hollywood’s relative silence becomes all the more repulsive.

It’s almost a state secret. Why?

Here’s a guy who’s there. And, yes, the revolution will be blogged.

“What does the new Bush team remind you of?- Funny you should ask. To me, the closest historical parallel would be the Soviet politburo under Brezhnev, where loyalty to the faultless was placed above competence and ideological fealty to a discredited belief system held trump over reality… How long can we expect this Soviet style regime to continue to stumble onward, normative failure after normative failure?- I have no idea.- The Brezhnevites eventually gave way to Gorby, but it took the humiliation of Afghanistan to drive the point home.” – Eric Alterman, equating a duly elected president with a Communist dictator.