A very interesting question was posted over at The Evangelical Outpost: Has any individual made as much money off the war as Michael Moore?

There are already plenty of reasons that Moore should be prosecuted, fined and exiled (since it's probably not practical to just have him taken out and shot). Chief among them would be the impact his work is having on the military:

"Michael Moore's film, Fahrenheit 9/11, is making the rounds here at U.S. bases in Kuwait. Some soldiers have received it already and are passing is around. The impact is devastating. Here we are, soldiers of the 1st Armored Division, just days from finally returning home after over a year serving in Iraq, and Moore's film is shocking and crushing soldiers, making them feel ashamed. Moore has abused the First Amendment and is hurting us worse than the enemy has. There are the young and impressionable soldiers, like those who joined the Army right out of high school. They aren't familiar w/ the college-type political debate environment, and they haven't been schooled in the full range of issues involved. They are vulnerable to being hurt by a vicious film like Moore's."

"Specialist Janecek, who is feeling depressed because a close family member is nearing the end of her life, just saw the film today. I saw him in the DFAC. He is devastated. 'I feel shitty, ashamed, like this was all a lie.' Not only is he looking at going straight to a funeral when he returns home, but now whatever pride he felt for serving here has been crushed by Moore's film. Specialist Everett earlier after seeing the film: 'You'll be mad at shit for ever having come here.' And there are others. Mostly the comments are absolute shock at the close connections Moore makes between the Bush family and the Bin Laden family in Saudi Arabia. 'Bush looks really really REALLY corrupt in this film. I just don't know what to think anymore,' is a common comment to hear. Some of these soldiers are darn right ashamed tonight to be American soldiers, to have been apart of this whole mission in Iraq, and are angry over all that Moore has presented in his film."

This question of profit and the reality of Moore's working toward a U.S. defeat deserves wide publicity.

Posted by hemmingway at 09:19 | Permalink

Some months ago we bemoaned the fact that the Bush White House seemed incapable of making simple statements that even an idiot like myself could see the need to make, to educate the public about the war effort. This statement from yesterday is a big step in the right direction, and in our view should be the president's answer to any question regarding "WMDs," "intelligence failures," or "misleading the country into war."

After September the 11th, we cannot fail to imagine that a brutal tyrant who hated America, who had ties to terror, had used weapons of mass destruction and might use those weapons or share his deadly capability with terrorists was not a threat.

We looked at the intelligence; we saw a threat. Members of the United States Congress from both political parties, including my opponent, looked at the intelligence and they saw a threat. (Applause.) We went to the United Nations, which unanimously demanded a full accounting of Saddam Hussein's weapons programs, or face serious consequences. After 12 years of defiance, he refused to comply with the demands of the free world. When he continued to deceive the weapons inspectors, I had a decision to make: to hope for the best and to trust the word of a madman and a tyrant, or remember the lessons of September the 11th and defend our country. Given that choice, I will defend America every time.

It would be a little stronger without the caveat "we looked at the intelligence." Forget the intelligence. We perceived a threat and the president made the decision to address the threat, and will do so again. Cut the bad guys no slack.

Posted by hemmingway at 08:42 | Permalink

Before I begin to talk for a very long time tonight - delivering a speech replete with statements that either have absolutely no grounding in anything I have ever done or said, could have been delivered by a trained Air America parrot, or are so baldly inarguable that you will wonder why you are standing and cheering and whether you would similarly roar with approval if I just read to you from the dictionary - I want to address a very special question to my opponent:

President George W. Bush, who lied in order to send our children to their deaths, who has staffed his administration with idiots and criminals, who has destroyed the hopes of the middle class in this country and made the United States the laughingstock of the world, I call on you in the next few months to join me in setting a new tone for political debate. Let us refrain from the politics of personal destruction, such as you currently practice, and let us pledge to focus on the positives and the things that bring us all together, such as Michael Moore's wonderful new movie "Fahrenheit 9-11" which, if I am elected president, will replace The Star Spangled Banner as our nation's national anthem.

Now, I want to tell you the story of my life, which began when I was born - get this - in a tram at the Bronx Zoo, where my parents sold peanuts at the Monkey House in order to buy coal to heat our house. That taught me what it means to live on this great continent of America, the history of which I will recount for you now in its entirety, prior to recounting my heroic exploits, over and over, from the 4 months I spent in VIETNAM...

Posted by hemmingway at 11:09 | Permalink

How fortuitous it is that we happened upon Greymatter when we went looking for a web logging solution. Our only conditions were that it be A) Linux or Unix friendly and B) free.

Greymatter is both of those things and more! For one, it is defunct, so all improvements are implemented haphazardly (by an admirable and generous little group of coders, I will admit) and have more or less ceased. And also, it requires substantial hacking to do some things that MT and Blogger and others appear to do automatically. So not only do users get to scour the Internet for answers to basic questions when attempting to add a feature, but we also get to learn more about the code. Fantastic!

Well, glad I got that off my chest - it's just been a long stretch of googling and that does tend to wear one down. I suppose I'm being a little too harsh as Greymatter has been a fine piece of software and quite reliable. In retrospect it might have been preferable to have parted with a little dough to save a lot of time, but that which does not kill us makes us stronger. We at the Alpaca Burger Forum have always taken pride in straying from the herd.

Posted by drturner at 07:55 | Permalink

Without any risk of exaggeration, we state for the record that if you are not visiting Allah at least once every day, you only living a shadow of the life you were meant to lead.

Posted by hemmingway at 12:42 | Permalink

Against the popular notion that it's inherently more noble to be a "doer" than a "spectator" I must say that some of the best moments of my life have been spent sitting back watching others out there doing things. Why, if every one of us was a doer there would be no one left to watch, and the advertising dollars would dry up completely! In that spirit, we present this quick gallery of today's work by some of the creative young men and women whose efforts we are more than happy to take in, so long as we can continue floating along in our passive, quiet enjoyment.

* Now this is a dirty trick. (Visit Blogs of War)

* Dummocrats is blowing the lid off the GOP scheme to make Kerry look silly.

* Allah, we ALL miss Deano.

* Ace of Spades Fisks Jonah.

* Straight White Guy is working through an issue that I don't understand.

* Serenity is advocating a Very Noble Cause that you need to go support right now.

* The Pave France folks have a very thorough roundup of the Lance effect in Surrender-Land.

* Michelle Malkin is all over those wacky Syrian musicians.

* Also, see Jen for more on the above.

* The Young Curmudgeon is feeling somewhat soiled after watching the Moore-O'Reilly showdown.

* John Hawkins has a nice, cleansing follow up on the showdown.

* Dave Barry is burning a hole in his loafers trying to find news in Boston, but still coming up empty.

* Joe Carter is taking on a useful task in defining "Evangelical".

* Now that the pesky Ray-Gun is out of the picture, Jimmy Carter can finally get the credit he deserves for winning the Cold War, as noted by the untiring watchdogs over at Blame Bush.

Posted by hemmingway at 02:20 | Permalink

My plan for this evening had been to grab my trusty 12-gauge, crawl around in the dirt and bag a catfish, like I always do. However this plan had to be shelved because my wife was giving the keynote address at the Convention, so I was staying right in front of the tube. And boy am I glad I did! It was so stirring it made my head spin, to hear her regale the audience with the delightful narrative of:

• Her childhood in Africa before the invention of fire, and the wonderful progress the world has made with the amazing power of heat.

• How her mother did not have shoes until the age of 95, and how we will keep working until that day when every woman in America will be free to have her own first pair of shoes.

• Her abiding love of children, and flowers, and goodness, and joy.

• How Americans have always stood for that which is noble and happy, and not for human misery and pain.

• How her husband is a defender of freedom for all people everywhere, except in Iraq.

• How Americans are crying out for clean air - but not air conditioners; for a moral nation - but not a moral code.

• How, every ten years, we citizens of the free world have the opportunity to stand up and be heard, and make a difference in the lives of our fellow men and women.

• How her birth on Mars has allowed her to appreciate life on Earth where, after all, each of us is from another planet.

It did pain me afterwards to see the smirk on that Hillary woman's face. I wonder what that could have meant.

Posted by hemmingway at 11:47 | Permalink

I was in California in the Fall of 2002, when the Beltway Snipers were wreaking havoc on the DC area. This hit particularly close to home because most of my family lived in the DC area, and my daughter was there while I was away. I was at a golf-mecca, although I am not a golfer. The full impression of the week was "you should be home because there is no reason to be at this place." At the time, the news reports were that the the chief suspects were white supremacists in a white van.

I had a dream while in Palm Springs - how cliche is that? - of a bomb exploding in DC.

Well, I got home, and learned that the suspects were in fact Muslims, adding an additional edge to my concern. I immediately acquired some 30-gallon drums in which to store water, and also acquired a whole lot of food in cans, packages and bottles. Within a week I had enough to sustain our family for many months.

Even though our townhouse is barely large enough to store a full sized vacuum cleaner, I tanked us up on canned and bottled sustenance.

At the present time, we still are sitting on those stocks of supplies.

Whether a bomb goes off in DC, or Tysons Corner, or elsewhere in the area, we should be covered in that we could hightail it out of town in a caravan or hunker down here in the homestead.

One of the questions could be, Have you rotated your supplies? The initial answer would be, No.

Because of space issues, we have not been rotating supplies. But I have to think, if the question should arise, I would say "Pal, in the grand scheme of things we're doing ok." We have food and water in reserve, and it is basically ok.

But if the Big One goes off, as some might wish to accomplish, what would we be left with? Would the cookies be safe for consumption?

The answer would be, good enough for Armageddon.

Posted by John Climacus at 03:51 | Permalink

I got back from Memphis ok, with no further run-ins with the folks on the dark side. Not much blogging got done, to be sure, but the experience was worthwhile, and Positive Thinking is today's topic. For starters, I received this via e-mail:

Bus fare to anti-war protest rally: $0.50

Paint and canvas protest signs: $32.00

Asking a retired US Army Sergeant to translate your anti-American protest slogans: Priceless

(Yes, it's probably an urban legend but I've been known to traffic in flimsier stuff).

On a far less irreverent note was a visit to the Crystal Shrine Grotto at Memphis Memorial Park.

Cemetery founder E. Clovis Hinds, a Mississippi cotton magnate, hired Mexican sculptor Dionicio Rodriguez in the 1930s to build a series of biblically-themed pieces and cemetery features. Hinds spoke no Spanish and Rodriguez no English.

Hinds was able to communicate his vision for a testament to the life of Jesus Christ. For 12 years, Rodriguez lived in a tent on the cemetery grounds and using nothing more than concrete, rebar and very rudimentary pigments he built the Grotto and numerous other sculptures at the Park.

Even if constructed today by a team of artists and Disney-level fabricators, the work would be considered stunning. Considering the conditions under which they were actually built, it is an inspiring feat. Here are some shots of the interior:

The Grotto has been designated a national landmark. Many years later, Hinds attempted to find Rodriguez, to honor him personally, but at the time was unable to locate any record of his whereabouts. As far as Hinds could see it, the sculptor appeared for 12 years, then fell off the face of the earth. To hear the tale told at the site, one can see how stories of angels come into existence.

Posted by John Climacus at 08:42 | Permalink

Ok, get this. I'm traveling on business to Memphis, seeing the town for the first time, not expecting much but some work, and peace of mind. Much to my surprise, my accomodations for the week are going to be better than expected. Two rooms in a beautiful hotel at the University of Memphis, plenty of reading material, fridge, two TVs, high speed connection and convenient access to comestibles - what's not to like?

Cool, huh? Then, about two hours ago that familiar, indefinable sensation of irritation came upon me.

I'm wandering up to the second floor lobby, nursing a goblet of vino, following the sound of some commotion, when I turn a corner to find:

What the heck is this in my obscure gem of a hotel? I look around, and it's like someone spiked my belladonna with ketamine:

(Well, actually this was sort of cool because the guy on the left is Roscoe Dixon himself, and I'm not totally immune to the glow of celebrity.)

YIKES! This last shot was taken just after Max Cleland finished his address to the Shelby County Kennedy Day Dinner, earning a roaring, extended standing ovation. I got some hairy eyebrows, standing just outside the guarded door listening as Max described to frequent applause the importance of removing the Bush cadre from office and the mindset of the opposition. Although I had managed to nab one of these

...I still couldn't get too close to the door until the ex-Sen. had left and the shouting had yielded to the distribution of door prizes. For reasons of continued employment the last thing I need is to get in a public tussle with angry Democratic security men. The fundraiser for the local Democratic Party offered seats for $125 and tables for $1000, with a goal of raising $100,000.

For health reasons I am not supposed to be thinking about Democrats, much less standing around taking pictures of them. And for moral reasons I should not be sullying this fine opportunity for a few healthy, pleasant days by immersing myself in the antics of the foolish and misled. But here I am.

Well, I'm going to try and put it all to bed and start fresh tomorrow. Maybe it will all have been a dream.

Posted by John Climacus at 02:20 | Permalink

I've been invited to return to the Forum for a few days on the condition that I not engage in blogging on topics involving extremely annoying personages. I am happy to accept the offer.

Therefore, the topic for the moment is this fellow from our neighborhood who is going to try to make his first Olympic team. His name is Alan Webb, and he attended the high school next to my house. Here is the current story:

Alan Webb heard his naysayers and began to doubt himself.

Two years without a breakthrough, two years of sub-par performances and two years of constant criticism are difficult enough to withstand for an experienced athlete, let alone someone recently out of high school.

Webb was anointed the future of American middle distance running as a high school athlete in 2001 when he surpassed the decades-old national prep mile record.

"Regardless of what those people were saying, those thoughts crossed my mind," he said last week. "Maybe I was a fluke. Just because at a lot of points last year I thought things were going to start turning around, and I don't understand what's going on. What am I doing here?

"I consider myself a pretty persistent person. I kept running, and now that everything's starting to go my way, in the future it will make things easier. It was a good lesson for me to learn. You just have to be persistent and keep running."

That's what Webb did. And in a matter of eight weeks this spring and summer, he went from not-quite to Olympic contender.

He strides into tonight's quarterfinals of the 1,500 meters at the U.S. Olympic trials a huge favorite. So much so that none of his closest competitors recently has run within five seconds of his personal record of 3 minutes, 32.73 seconds. That is the sixth-best U.S. mark all time, set in a meet in the Czech Republic on June 8.

This is a Pretty Cool Story. The 1500 quarterfinals are today at 8:00 pm; semis tomorrow at 7:40 pm; and finals Sunday at 4:30 pm. I think the TV coverage will be later each night, taped, on USA.

More background is here, here, and here.

Posted by John Climacus at 07:23 | Permalink

Oh, they're cute all right. Real cute.

But if you were five inches tall, she'd rip you to shreds just to watch you die.

Dr. Turner's ferret was not invited to live in his home, but rather was thrust upon it. Now, as the good Dr. is having some remodeling done, the animal has been thrust upon us. At six years old she is, I am told, at the geriatric stage of her life.

But she's a pistol nonetheless, quick and vicious. If I had a mouse infestation, I'd solve it with a ferret or two just for the entertainment value. I watched as one of the Wee Ones introduced the ferret to a mouse-ette who was about to be introduced to a boa. This little monster pounced on the mini-rodent and with a few lightning fast jabs and nips utterly marginalized it from the realm of the living.

I'll be away for a few days after this, but will attempt to persuade John to pitch in here with some non-stressful, non-political topic-meandering in my absence. Have a nice day.

Posted by hemmingway at 07:08 | Permalink

No time for this today so I am referring you to the stellar crew at Winds of Change, where today you can buy a drink for Christopher Hitchens.

Elsewhere, Straight White Guy digs up a novel road trip story.

The Commissar says rosy reports about Fallujah are ignoring the obvious.

Michelle Malkin - heart: still thyself - introduces the Uncle Tom Outreach Initiative. Buy the shirt.

And Florida Cracker observes the Philippines sheep are clamoring to be slaughtered.

Posted by hemmingway at 06:31 | Permalink

I have finally made it back with my notes from the Pittsbugh trip. The full story is posted over at the main site in the latest President George W. Bush Report.

With the unintended prolonged hiatus of this past weekend, I find my opinionating energies are less than 100%, so at this point I will call it a day and hope to be back in form, such as it is, by tomorrow.

Posted by hemmingway at 08:50 | Permalink

I just covered a good little portion of the central Appalachians and plan to do it more often. I also had a chance to talk with some intelligent, upper middle class voters in Pennsylvania and my appraisal is, the President has some work to do.

This is the storm that chased me home, seen through the Sideling Hill Cut in western Maryland.

This is the view on the north side of Sideling Hill:

Now that you've seen the pretty pictures, I hope you will be satisfied for the moment, as I have to be somewhere within a time frame that might require some shenanigans with the space-time continuum if I am not to be late.

Assuming I survive the trip and remain free on my own recognizance, I shall return to the keyboard later this evening and update this post with a report on the PA voters. If it becomes long-winded it may be another President GW Bush Report. Wish me luck.

Posted by hemmingway at 07:09 | Permalink

Who will the Bozo be?

As luck would have it I am driving over there on business tomorrow am, to arrive in the mid afternoon. I think the decision will have been made by then, so on the assumption I won't arrive in time to crash the rally I will offer these projections from the night before.

The question is: Does this Jacques fellow realize how boring he seems to the regular folks?

If he doesn't see this, he may well choose the one we all know as Miserable Dick. A Democratic governor or ex-governor would also fit into this category of "safety and possibly delivering some constituencies." Any of these avenues would result in the quintessential "We are not too interesting, but we're here in case Bush really flubs everything up" sort of ticket.

But IF the Kerry-monster should become aware of himself over the next few hours, all bets are off. Like the penultimate development in our man Arnold's signature series, when the machines achieve self-awareness, everything quickly goes to hell.

If Jacques decides he needs spice and treasure, Edwards will be the pick. With his added pizzazz, Edwards would both enliven the ticket and compel Jacques to be less of an android. Lawyer contributions would be an additional benefit. But watching Edwards debate Dick Cheney (or Condi Rice) on issues related to national security could be embarassing for the nation.

If Kerry feels the tide has not turned sufficiently in his favor, he may go the extra yard and try to draft the female Clinton. There are umpteen political considerations for both, so this would be a stretch.

I'm personally intrigued by the possibility of Kerry choosing our home state exec Mark Warner. He offers none of the traditional benefits - Virginia will go for Bush no matter what - but Warner has a track record of both beating down ill-prepared GOP opponents and taking a pragmatic approach to governance. He seems a quick study and would, in my view, handle himself well under the national spotlight.

The key question will be, does Mssr. Kerry feel the need to work within the conventional wisdom of his Party?

UPDATE: I have to get on the road, but this am we have the NY Post saying it's Miserable Dick and the Wash. Post confirming it's John Boy. Let them fight it out, I suppose.

Posted by hemmingway at 12:41 | Permalink

Please take a moment to bookmark and link to this new site. These darn campaign seasons seem to start earlier every four years, and what do you know, this one's already upon us (thanks to Dummocrats for the link).

You'll find it contains a variety of pointed information and graphics, but please deploy with care: Liberals may be watching, and they may not be amused.

For more background, please see:

CNN, Wolf Blitzer Reports, May 27, 2004

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Miles, it's something that we've heard a lot about, a possible al Qaeda plot to influence elections. But there's their hasn't been a lot of discussion about what the objectives might be. So we checked in with some terror experts to find out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARENA (voice-over): Terror experts say it's not about who wins the U.S. election, it's about impact.

M.J. GOHEL, ASIA-PACIFIC FOUNDATION: If, for instance, say, George Bush was in the lead in the opinion polls right now and an attack took place and that changes the equation as it did, for instance in Spain, then al Qaeda would feel that it has scored a major success.

ARENA: Al Qaeda affiliates attacked Spain just before its elections in March. Some suggests that cemented an overwhelming win for the socialist party.

ASHCROFT: We believe, for example, the attack in Spain is one that is viewed by al Qaeda as particularly effective in advancing al Qaeda objectives.

ARENA: The attack did result in Spain pulling its troops out of Iraq. Experts say the less Western influence in Iraq, the better for al Qaeda.

GOHEL: Iraq is a key battleground for the terrorists. The terrorists want to turn Iraq into another Taliban Afghanistan. They would like to see the premature withdrawal of the U.S.-led coalition forces.

ARENA: Neither John Kerry nor the president has said troops pulled out of Iraq any time soon. But there is some speculation that al Qaeda believes it has a better chance of winning in Iraq if John Kerry is in the White House.

BEN VENZKE, INTELCENTER: Al Qaeda feels that Bush is, even despite casualties, right or wrong for staying there is going to stay much longer than possibly what they might hope a Democratic administration would.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

And this:

Kerry says threat of terrorism is exaggerated

Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts said during last night's Democratic presidential debate that the threat of terrorism has been exaggerated.

"I think there has been an exaggeration," Mr. Kerry said when asked whether President Bush has overstated the threat of terrorism. "They are misleading all Americans in a profound way."

And finally:

Kerry Pledges Return to Clinton Terrorism Policies

Democratic presidential front-runner John F. Kerry pledged on Saturday that if he becomes president he'll treat terrorist acts against the U.S. as a law enforcement problem rather than as acts of war - the approach favored by President Clinton throughout the 1990s as Osama bin Laden repeatedly struck U.S. targets with impunity.

Speaking before a group of Oklahoma City firefighters, Kerry complained that the Bush administration "doesn't understand the war on terror."

Under a Kerry administration, he said, the fight against terrorism "will involve the military now and then," but it will be "primarily an intelligence-gathering, law enforcement operation."

"It's a great big manhunt," Kerry explained. "[The Bush] administration has translated that legitimate threat into a completely wrongheaded kind of full-fledged military response."

An Al Qaeda for John Kerry resource page will be opening in the coming weeks. If you have source material to contribute please e-mail or post comments here at the Forum and we will see they are passed along.

Posted by hemmingway at 10:32 | Permalink