Is it just me, or does the title of this post seem appropriate for the title of this NYT piece?
This, from the man who thinks that discussions of his voting record, or congressional testimony after Vietnam, are “attacks.”
Monthly Archives: March 2004
Steyn On Clarke
Here it is.
Having served both the 42nd and 43rd Presidents, Clarke was supposed to be the most authoritative proponent to advance the Democrats’ agreed timeline of the last decade – to whit, from January 1993 to January 2001, Bill Clinton focused like a laser on crafting a brilliant plan to destroy al-Qa’eda, but, alas, just as he had dotted every “i”, crossed every “t” and sent the intern to the photocopier, his eight years was up, so Bill gave it to the new guy as he was showing him the Oval Office – “That carpet under the desk could use replacing. Oh, and here’s my brilliant plan to destroy al-Qa’eda, which you guys really need to implement right away.”
The details of the brilliant plan need not concern us, which is just as well, as there aren’t any. But the broader point, as The New York Times noted, is that “there was at least no question about the Clinton administration’s commitment to combat terrorism”.
Yessir, for eight years the Clinton administration was relentless in its commitment: no sooner did al-Qa’eda bomb the World Trade Center first time round, or blow up an American embassy, or a barracks, or a warship, or turn an entire nation into a terrorist training camp, than the Clinton team would redouble their determination to sit down and talk through the options for a couple more years. Then Bush took over and suddenly the superbly successful fight against terror all went to hell.
Richard Clarke was supposed to be the expert who could make this argument with a straight face.
Forty-Five Minutes Till Launch
You can follow the progress of today’s Hyper-X test here, starting at noon Pacific time.
[Update at 12:23 PST]
Fox News says they’re going to cover it, if you want to see it on television instead of your computer.
[Update about 1 PM]
As Hefty notes in comments, the B-52 is in the air. Listening to Fox is a little irritating. First they have the PR guy from the program on, and he’s talking about how this will enable a five-hour trip to Japan. That’s nonsense. First of all, you don’t need scramjets to do that–supersonic flight will. A scramjet flying at this speed would do the job in an hour and a half. But there’s nothing about this technology that deals with the real issues of supersonic/hypersonic flight–the drag and the sonic boom. This is a military technology, first and foremost, and its first application, if there is one, will almost certainly be in hypersonic cruise missiles. It’s also unlikely that it will be used in launch vehicles for a very long time, for reasons that I explained here, with responses to criticism of that article here.
I’m also irritated that they reflexively go to John Pike as their “expert.”
[Update at 4:45 PM PST]
The test appears to have been successful. Leonard David has the story.
The Terrorist Connection That Won’t Go Away
With Terry Nichols’ trial opening up soon, LA Weekly reporter Jim Crogan remains on the case of linkage between OK City and the Middle East.
And I wasn’t aware that Jayna Davis is coming out with a book on the subject in a couple weeks. This could have unpredictable effects on the presidential race this fall. It certainly won’t do anything for Mr. Clinton’s legacy.
The Terrorist Connection That Won’t Go Away
With Terry Nichols’ trial opening up soon, LA Weekly reporter Jim Crogan remains on the case of linkage between OK City and the Middle East.
And I wasn’t aware that Jayna Davis is coming out with a book on the subject in a couple weeks. This could have unpredictable effects on the presidential race this fall. It certainly won’t do anything for Mr. Clinton’s legacy.
The Terrorist Connection That Won’t Go Away
With Terry Nichols’ trial opening up soon, LA Weekly reporter Jim Crogan remains on the case of linkage between OK City and the Middle East.
And I wasn’t aware that Jayna Davis is coming out with a book on the subject in a couple weeks. This could have unpredictable effects on the presidential race this fall. It certainly won’t do anything for Mr. Clinton’s legacy.
Nearing A Turning Point?
The fact that this is a news story is depressing. On the other hand, the story itself offers a glimmer of hope. One would like to think that the basic humanity of the people called “Palestinians” hasn’t been totally quenched by the oppressive conditions and brainwashing that they’ve endured for decades (and no, I’m not referring to the Israeli “occupation”).
Golda Meir once said that the war would end when the Palestinians decided that they loved their children more than they hated the Jews. This may be a sign that this is starting to happen.
Back in the USA
I’m back from my travels, which were extended due to the untimely death of my father. I won’t go into detail, since that’s not what you read this blog for. Suffice to say he was a fundamentally good man who lived his faith in every word and deed. If there is an afterlife in which our actions in this life count for anything, then there can be no doubt he is well rewarded. If not, at least he lead a life replete with meaning, filled with life, laughter, and love.
More blogging after I’ve recovered from jet lag.
An End To High-Power Model Rocketry?
I don’t know, but the news isn’t good. Tripoli just lost its suit against ATFE, and the agency will be allowed to classify ammonium perchlorate compound propellant as an explosive, which will be a significant damper on the hobby, since hobbyists will now have to get a federal Low Explosives Users Permit (LEUP).
This kind of bureaucratic stupidity is the reason that I’m not thrilled with the Bush administration, but there’s no reason to think that a Kerry administration would be any better.
The only way this can be fixed now is with legislation, but that’s unlikely to happen in an election year.
[Thanks to emailer Bruce Brazaitis for the heads up.]
A Dinosaur Butt Print
Really.
They found one in Utah.
And here’s the obligatory entertaining freeper thread about it, complete with a pic of Helen Thomas.