A Negative Endorsement

I’m feeling a little better about Bush’s plan now. Syria and Iran have denounced it. A lot of these statements sound like the current Democrat talking points, in fact. Of course, many of its domestic critics will probably think that this buttresses their own criticisms.

If my opinions about the war were the same as the enemy’s (or at least those stated by the enemy), I’d rethink them. But I guess the problem is that they don’t think that Tehran or Damascus are the enemy. For them, the enemy lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Well, That Sucks

A Navy sub got pulled into the bottom of a speeding oil tanker in the Straight of Hormuz:

That is the preliminary finding of Monday’s collision between the Norfolk-based submarine and the Mogamigawa, a 1,100-foot-long merchant ship displacing 300,000 tons.

Both were southbound, crossing the busy and narrow Strait of Hormuz while heading into the Arabian Sea.

“As the ship passed over the sub, it ended up sucking the submarine into it,” said Lt. Cmdr. Chris Loundermon, a spokesman for Submarine Force in Norfolk.

“It is a principle called the venturi effect,” he said.

I’ll bet the sub skipper’s got a lot of ‘splaining to do.

Looking For An Exit Strategy

You know, I’m a lot less concerned with whether or not we have an exit strategy, as I am with making sure that the enemy doesn’t:

…the devastation left behind by our gunships is only part of a very big U.S. win:

* Thanks to resolute military action by Ethiopia’s government (quietly backed by Washington), the terror regime in Mogadishu crumbled overnight – collapsing the lie that extremist Islam is on the march to an inevitable victory.

* The speed of the Ethiopian advance cornered hundreds of hardcore Islamist fighters in a forlorn backwater, where they can be killed out of sight of their media defenders. And be killed they will.

* Islamist outrages and subversion inspired unprecedented cooperation between moderate Somalis, Ethiopians, Kenyans and Americans.

For its part, the Kenyan government grew sick of Somalia exporting hatred, weapons and terror. Now Kenyan troops have sealed their border so al Qaeda’s agents can’t escape.

Ineffective

This story, about parents who believe that discipline doesn’t work, reminds me of the Simpsons episode about the young Ned Flanders and his (speaking of the sixties) hippie/beatnik parents:

Dr. Foster: Would you please tell your son to stop?

Ned’s Dad: We can’t do it, man! That’s discipline! That’s like tellin’ Gene Krupa not to go [starts banging on the desk] “boom boom bam bam bam, boom boom bam bam bam, boom boom boom bam ba ba ba ba, da boo boo tss!”

Ned’s Dad: We don’t believe in rules, like, we gave them up when we started livin’ like freaky beatniks!

Dr. Foster: You don’t believe in rules, yet you want to control Ned’s anger.

Ned’s Mom: Yeah. You gotta help us, Doc. We’ve tried nothin’ and we’re all out of ideas.

Nostalgia (Part 2)

Remembering the sixties. It’s sort of like the old joke–if you can remember the sixties, you probably weren’t there. But as is pointed out, that was really the late sixties and early seventies (when I was in high school).

It makes me feel old–I share many of those memories, including visiting Haight Ashbury at its height (or depth, depending on your point of view).

Biting Commentary about Infinity…and Beyond!