…but one I can get behind. Left-lane drivers unite.
The inability of many people to recognize the purpose of the left lane is easily the reason for at least half of traffic congestion.
Too Good To Check
Whitehouse.org, whitehouse.gov, it’s all good.
Different Timetables
A comment from Instapundit, with regard to Max Boot’s WSJ column (following up on his previous article):
The commanders’ timetables are driven by a desire to win. The Washington politicians’ timetables are driven by a cowardly desire to have the war off the table before the 2008 elections.
Yes.
The key message from the Boot column:
It’s still possible to stave off catastrophic defeat in Iraq. But the only way to do it is to give Gen. Petraeus and his troops more time–at least another year–to try to change the dynamics on the ground. The surge strategy may be a long shot but every alternative is even worse.
Kind of like democracy.
Religious Persecution
That is, persecution by a “religion.” Keith Henson needs your help:
The petition I asked you to sign asks Schwarzenegger to pardon Keith or commute his sentence. Ask for what you want, but I think she is right that humanitarian and compassionate grounds are best right now, for whichever boon you wish to request.
His full name is Howard Keith Henson, awaiting a hearing in the Yavapai Superior Court, jailed in the Yavapai Detention Center, where last night he was kept awake till 2 while another inmate rolled around in agony from kidneystones, then was taken to the infirmary and given aspirin. Then Keith was awakened at 4 a.m. for blood pressure check and meds–which we’re glad he got, but 2-4 hours of sleep a night in an extremely noisy dormitory, with no contact lens supplies to clean his lenses, and no blanket in a jail where even the young people complain of the cold (over airconditioned in the daytime, down to the 40s at night here in the mountains). His blood pressure has continued dangerously high for some days. The worst thing about Riverside, of course, where he appears to be headed now is not the weather or the lack of supplies (or having to write with only a stub of a pencil because pens or regular-sized pencils are not allowed) but the control of $cientology over the jail there.
I’ve categorized this as “Space” because Keith is one of the founders of the L-5 Society, and it is one of his passions (as well as extropianism in general). Unfortunately, so was taking on Scientology.
[Update a few minutes later]
Emailer Jim Bennett notes:
It’s a good start. But this seems like a good First Amendment case if nothing else – it really doesn’t seem like Keith had very good
legal help.
Is there a pro-bono First-Amendment lawyer in the house? Where the hell (pardon my French) was the ACLU? Too busy fighting creches and ten-commandments placards, I guess…
Condolences
I was never a fan of Jerry Falwell, though it’s possible that Reagan wouldn’t have been elected without him, and what a different world that would be. Other than that, about the best thing I can say about him is that he wasn’t as big an idiot as Pat Robertson. But condolences to his family and friends.
And it will be very interesting to hear what Newt has to say about him at commencement on Saturday.
[Update in the evening]
Another roundup of “thoughts” (such as they are) on Falwell’s passing. They seem pretty much in synch with hater Brian Swiderski’s comments here. Birds of a feather…
Can’t Have It Both Ways
But “liberals” always want to try. Imagine the mental and logical gymnastics one must go through in order to believe that it’s all right to abort a “normal” baby, but not one genetically deformed:
Mr. Imparato said he was disturbed to learn recently that in several states with legislative efforts to restrict abortion rights, groups like Planned Parenthood often lobby for an exemption for women who learn their child would have a disability.
But he said that the person who alerted him was a Planned Parenthood lobbyist who was herself troubled by the tactic because it seemed to run counter to the progressive political agenda that supports both choice and tolerance of human difference.
Can’t Have It Both Ways
But “liberals” always want to try. Imagine the mental and logical gymnastics one must go through in order to believe that it’s all right to abort a “normal” baby, but not one genetically deformed:
Mr. Imparato said he was disturbed to learn recently that in several states with legislative efforts to restrict abortion rights, groups like Planned Parenthood often lobby for an exemption for women who learn their child would have a disability.
But he said that the person who alerted him was a Planned Parenthood lobbyist who was herself troubled by the tactic because it seemed to run counter to the progressive political agenda that supports both choice and tolerance of human difference.
Can’t Have It Both Ways
But “liberals” always want to try. Imagine the mental and logical gymnastics one must go through in order to believe that it’s all right to abort a “normal” baby, but not one genetically deformed:
Mr. Imparato said he was disturbed to learn recently that in several states with legislative efforts to restrict abortion rights, groups like Planned Parenthood often lobby for an exemption for women who learn their child would have a disability.
But he said that the person who alerted him was a Planned Parenthood lobbyist who was herself troubled by the tactic because it seemed to run counter to the progressive political agenda that supports both choice and tolerance of human difference.
Happy Fifth Bloggiversary
To Alan Boyle.
A To-Do List For Iraq
Max Boot has one (while also cautioning patience). One of the things that I don’t understand why the administration isn’t doing:
Another necessity is to go more aggressively after foreign fighters. They comprise a relatively small percentage of the overall insurgency, but they account for a very high percentage of the most grotesque attacks–80 to 90 percent of all suicide bombings, according to General Petraeus’s briefing with Pentagon reporters on April 26. These jihadists are of many nationalities, but most infiltrate from Syria. The Bush administration has repeatedly vowed that Syria would suffer unspecified consequences if it did not cut off this terrorist pipeline, but so far this has been an empty threat. The administration has refused to authorize Special Operations forces to hit terrorist safe houses and “rat lines” on the Syrian side of the border, even though international law recognizes the right of “hot pursuit” and holds states liable for letting their territory be used to stage attacks on neighbors. It’s high time to unleash our covert operators–Delta Force, the SEALs, and other units in the Joint Special Operations Command–to take the fight to the enemy. They can stage low-profile raids with great precision, and Syrian president Bashar Assad would have scant ability to retaliate. We also need to apply greater pressure to Iran, which continues to support both Shiite and Sunni terrorist groups in Iraq, but that will be harder to do because Tehran is a more formidable adversary than Damascus.
[Update a few minutes later]
Jeff Goldstein is less than impressed with John Edwards’ notion of “supporting the troops”:
What kind of cynical political beast would profess to all that