The Consortium

Iraq Debate

For the past two years, I have repeatedly heard the complaints of those that believe in Iraqi Freedom that the Administration has failed in the communication war.  Critics have said that George W. Bush and his advisors have not adequately explained the consequences of failure and have lost the debate to the anti-war establishment. 

I have long believed that discussions of failure constitute the wrong approach.  The discussion of the consequences of failure looks defensive and reactionary.  It accepts the argument that failure is possible or likely.  This is not inspiring.  I want to be inspired to support the effort and I believe that most Americans want to be inspired. 

To change the debate, to gain support, the message needs to be more of what will be the consequences of success?  Why do we want to succeed in Iraq?  What will happen when we succeed?  No one discusses this anymore and we have lost this message amid the anger and obstructionism of the war's oponents.

Early in the war, when support was reasonably high, the administration and others delivered this message well and it was inspiring.  We were repeatedly told that a success in Iraq is merely the first step in liberalizing the Middle East and the periphery of the West.  I still believe that message, but where has it gone?  Why is it not made anymore?

Furthermore, while many supporters justifiably complain about the lack of media coverage concerning the successes in Iraq, the President is a main culprit in this failure.  When Operation Arrowhead Ripper began on June 16, 2007, why didn't the President hold a press conference or an oval office address?  We have seen success in Anbar since May and we seem to be on the cusp of a similar success in Diyala.  Those of us who read Michael Yon, Pajamas Media, and the other good sources of information on the Web know of these recent advances.  Most people don't.  The President, by the nature of his office, has a unique opportunity to cut through the filters and address the American people directly.  No one else has this pull. Yet, he failed to use the bully pulpit.  If you can't get your message out on the surge to the wider American audience, you will fail. Only the President can do this. 

Success in Iraq seems possible. It is well past time for the President to personally remind us why success is a desirable outcome and to explain our successes.  Obviously no one is going to do it for him.

-Matthew

UPDATE:  The White House has been reading this blog.  President Bush is holding a news conference this morning in 30 minutes.

I Can't Make This Up

This is a direct quote attributable to AlGore from the Examiner in reference to a rock concert to be held in Washington as part of the "Live Earth" comedy:

If we want to show our elected leaders that Americans want real action to solve the climate crisis—nothing will make that more clear than thousands of people joining me at the concert tomorrow morning.

Nothing tells people you are serious like getting bombed on the national mall at a country music concert.

At the Trough

With apologies to Mr. Orwell, I paraphrase his ending to Animal Farm:

"The creatures outside looked from pig to (Senator), and from (Senator) to pig, and from pig to (Senator) again;  but already it was impossible to say which was which."

McCain (already declining in the polls) will never be able to wash the stink of the Grand Compromise off of him.  Good riddance.

BORU

Why we're pissed

Powerline blog makes a good case as to why there is such an uproar against the Bush administration vis a vis the Kyl-McCain-Kennedy Amnesty and Border-Enforcement-without-Credibility Act of 2007.

One point they make for which Bush truly owes conservatives an explanation is:

"I feel frustrated that the White House failed, in my view, to push this hard for initiatives I favor, or when it came to defending itself on Iraq."

If Bush put the effort into Iraq that he and his minions are putting into belittling and insulting the base of his own party on immigration, the GOP wouldn't have suffered such great losses in 2006. 

BORU

It's you - not me

Dear GOP-

I'm really sorry but this relationship of ours just isn't working out.  You want my contributions, volunteer hours, and vote but then when it's time to make policy you call me a "yahoo," "nativist," "racist," "restrictionist," or "rube."  I can no longer abide that kind of verbal abuse.  Furthermore, you run from my warm November embrace and leap blindly into Uncle Teddy Kennedy's fleshy arms.  Maybe I am too demanding, too needy but I cannot help it - I expect when I ask a conservative to the big dance that once the music starts my date won't start necking with La Raza behind the bleachers.  I suppose you can tell by now that the big reason for our demise is your most recent flirtation with Amnesty.  It's one betrayal too many, GOP;  I am only human.  I can only take so much.  You have to have seen us drifting apart since you pulled this stunt last year with Kennedy and McCain.  Sure they may be the cool kids and have the best shindigs and all but what we had was so pure, so beautiful.

Anyway, I think we should, like, totally break up and start seeing other people.  Well, you already are but I thought I might seek out a tall, dark & handsome conservative Party someday.  Until then I'll just wing it out there on my own as an independent.  Please don't cry - I think this is really harder on me.  After all, you seemed to view what we had as more of a string of November Tuesday one night stands with the occassional phone (bank) - um shall we say - fun.  We had some good times, didn't we?  Mmmm, good times .....  Anyhow, let's not make this any harder than it has to be.  Like Ronald Reagan used to say about his famous break-up with the Democrat Party of his youth:  he didn't leave the Democrat Party, the Party left him.  I feel the same way about you, pooky.  I am not so much leaving the GOP as it has left me this week.  No, no, no, don't protest.  It's all just too much.  Just remember to please scratch my name out of that black book of yours (snail mail AND email addresses please!). 

I know next time you're lookin' for a few bucks you'll come crawling back all doe-eyed and maybe even showing some leg, but please remember that this time is the last time.  We're not Ross & Rachel and we're not just going on "a break."  We've been through this too many times and a clean split is the only way either of us will get any closure.  I'll miss the old GOP but the new you is so unrecognizable in so many ways.  Alas, goodbye my sweet and - "So we beat on, boats against the current........."  - good-bye!

Best wishes,

Brian Mahoney (BORU)

At least Vick's dog's drank Gatorade

The police raided pothead thug Michael Vick's house and found out he was (gasp!) a proprieter of the ghetto's favorite sport - dogfighting.  Well, let's all have some perspective here.  At least in his mugshot he is wearing a front office sanctioned Gatorade visor.  It's not like he has brought the same spectre of shame to the NFL that Brian Urlacher did when he had the temerity to wear a Vitamin Water hat???  Now that's an offense worthy of a $100,000.00 fine!

But being a generally repugnant gangsta wannabe?  That's de rigeur in the NFL.  Give him an endorsement, not a fine.  Michael Vick is the very face of an NFL concerned more with sponsorships than role models. 

BORU

p.s.  I am pretending that the most recent post never happened. 

McCain 2008?

I have a terrible confession to make.  I am starting to lean toward supporting John McCain. This growing admiration for the Senator from Arizona is not a sudden revelation.  Rather, it is this gnawing feeling that he might be a good man for the job.  This is an embarrassing admission considering the loathing contempt I had for his politics as recently as last year.  However, now that the media has turned on him, I have grown to respect Mr. McCain.  Maybe this is a case of the enemy of my enemy becoming my friend, but I cannot shake this startling admiration.  Please keep this to yourselves and don’t judge me too harshly. Now, if we can just get past McCain-Feingold, we'll have a winner.

-Matthew

p.s. I came within a hair's-breadth of contributing to his campaign until I realized that my paycheck doesn't come in until next Tuesday.

Tell Media To Cool It - Va Tech

The Chicago Tribune, like many other institutions in the media, is awfully quick to blame the administration of Virginia Tech University for failing to warn the student body immediately after two students were shot in what appeared to be a domestic dispute.  Parents of Virginia Tech students and supposed "experts" hired by the media have strongly criticized Virginia Tech's President and it appears that some have called for his resignation for not shutting down the 26,000 member campus.

Give me a break!  This need to blame someone other than the true culprit is pathetic.  It is reminiscent of the media's treatment of the tragedy that was Hurricane Katrina or the rush to blame America because the terrorists attacked the United States on September 11, 2001.  It was wrong then to cast stones at bystanders to the tragedy just as it is wrong now.

What was the administration at Virginia Tech to do?  Remember, this is a campus of 26,000 students in addition to thousands of faculty and staff.  All together, Virginia Tech is the size of a medium-sized city.  Who would have been responsible for enforcing a lockdown of this city?  Further, how could you justify shutting down a city of, let's say, 35,000 people because of what appeared to be a single domestic dispute.  Based on this logic and considering proportion, we should lock down the North side of Milwaukee on the weekends where you typically see as many as eight shootings a night in the summer.

Yesterday was an outrage and people should be angry.  However, direct your anger at the lunatic shooter where it belongs, not at the Virginia Tech administration.

-matthew

Excuse Me, Holy See, Are those Prada Loafers?

Pope Benny the Too Many has released a new book entitled Jesus of Nazareth in which he criticizes capitalism and excessive wealth in the world today.  Yes, you read that right - the Holy See who dons red Prada loafers to officiate mass in Rome is condemning excessive wealth.  Just when you thought Rome could not possibly be more hypocritical they open a new front.  You have to give 'em credit, the good ole boys in Vatican City never rest - when it comes to rank hypocrisy.

Apparently, the Pontiff was jealous of the charlatan Reverends Sharpton and Jackson getting all the attention this week.  In this tome he writes that wealthy people "are empty despite the abundance of their material goods."  He must have felt a little of that emptiness while 'summering' in the Italian Alps.  It couldn't possibly have been during his regular days of living in a palace and having his gourmet meals served to him.   He goes on to decry wealthy nations for exploiting "Third World" nations (apparently he didn't get the memo in his gold-plated mailbox - there are no more Third World nations;  the politically correct term is "developmentally disabled nations" or, oh wait, maybe it's "developing nations" - heck, I didn't get the memo either).  Yet, methinks the theologian formerly known as Joey Ratzinger should skuff those Prada shoes up gettin down on his infallible knees to thank God for the wealthy nations.  It is the wealthy nations' Catholics whose coffers were raided to pay:

1.) a $100 million dollar settlement in Boston

2.) $153.4 million in settlements and jury awards in Dallas

3.)  $25.7 million dollar settlement in Louisville

And those are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the Roman Catholic Church's payouts for their half century systematic cover up of child sexual abuse.  Where on Earth would Pope Benny have found the money to paper over the child rape committed at the hands of literally thousands of priests in his and his predecessors employ, if it were not for the wealthy nations he now decries?  Imagine how many vestements he could pair with matching Prada shoes had he and his unimpeachable forerunners had the same zeal for ridding the church of pedophiles as they do (and did) for criticizing the United States, global wealth, Israel, and/or the Global War on Terror!

Now, he does clarify that he started writing the new book back when he was just a Cardinal and had not yet been cloaked in his Papal infallibility (and his poor feet were probably still being relegated to Gucci shoes - the horror!).   "Everyone is free, then, to contradict me," he says.  Sounds good to me your Holiness.

I would just think that someone who was installed as a (then) 78 year old placesitter Pope, a man who rose from Hitler Youth to his perch on top of the world, and someone who continues to harbor fugitive Bernard Law in the Roman Curia would do himself (and the rest of us) a favor and just shut up and enjoy those summers in the Italian Alps.

BORU

Predictions

1.)  Thompson (Fred, not the hapless Tommy) is in - he will announce the 1st week of May and will either lead or tie Rudy for fundraising Q2.  All the conservatives who topped out contributions to the Mormon wonder can still give $4600 to Fred (2300 for the primary and ditto for the general).

2.)  By Independence Day, Gingrich will announce that he is NOT running for President and that he endorses........Rudy Giuliani.  Santorum will also endorse Hizzoner;  both will give cover to more conservatives publicly endorsing the next President of the United States of America.

3.)  When Hillary falls below 30% in the national polls in addition to her recent precipitous falls in the early states of South Carolina and Iowa, the gloves will come off;  may God have mercy on Barack Obama. 

4.)  I will NOT apologize (nor lose the MSNBC simulcast of me typing these posts) to the fake-Rev. Al Sharpton for calling him a disgusting, deranged, greasy, predatory, greedy, inarticulate race-baiting media whore with the intelligence, charm, hairstyle, wit and eloquence of an inbred hyena, its smarmy jagged-tooth sneer gleaming with the festering blood and guts of cultural roadkill.  May his syphilitic carcass soon join his life's 'accomplishments' in the gutters of New York City.

BORU

Assad's Useful Idiot

Has anyone asked the question: who is paying for Nancy Pelosi and her Congressional Democrat delegation to deliberately and without authority undermine United States' foreign policy towards Syria? I hope to hell it is not me.  To think that I may have just worked the past 2 minutes to pay for Pelosi's Gang of Traitors to pursue their dangerous freelance diplomacy enrages me to no end.

United States of Bush/Clinton???

1980:  Reagan/Bush

1984:  Reagan/Bush

1988:  Bush/Quayle

1992:  Clinton/Gore

1996:  Clinton/Gore

2000:  Bush/Cheney

2004:  Bush/Cheney

2008: Clinton/Ford???

For over a generation, the victorious ticket in US Presidential elections has always had a Bush or a Clinton on it.  It's about time for a change.  I think you'll see this pointed out more and more as SheBeast's inevitability is confirmed by things like Obama's flatlining polling (see graph) and Madame Clinton's massive fundraising. 

BORU

Leadership

MLB 2007 Predictions

And now, my predictions for the 2007 Baseball season sure to be wrong by June:

AL East: Yankees, Red Sox*, Blue Jays, Devil Rays, Orioles

AL Central: Tigers, Twins, Indians, White Sox, Royals

AL West: Angels, Rangers, A's, Mariners

ALCS champion: Yankees

NL East: Braves, Mets, Marlins, Phillies, Nationals

NL Central: Brewers, Cardinals, Reds, Astros, Cubs,Pirates

NL West: Dodgers, Diamondbacks*, Padres, Rockies, Giants

NLCS Champions: Braves

World Series Champion:  Yankees

* Wild Card

There you have it.  The Yankees will reclaim the title for the first time in seven years.  To get there, they will have to get some pitchers healthy and, while waiting, pound the piss out of the ball in April. Nonetheless, it is the Yankees year.

I acknowledge some surprises on the list.  Many would question how I could put the Cubs in fifth place in the NL Central after blowing $300 million on talent.  The problem with the Cubs lies with its pitching and defense.  Its pitching continues to suffer under the weight of injuries and simply does not contain enough talent to keep opposing offenses under 5 runs on a nightly basis.

Another potential surprise is my choice of the Braves to win the NL East over the Mets.  Once again, I think it is a matter of pitching.  While the Braves are clearly not a pitching-stacked team, they have a very good 1-2 and perhaps number 3 as well with Smoltz, Hudson and James.  The Mets on the other hand don't have much of anything with an aging Tom Glavine as their staff Ace followed up by a few other less than stellar unnotables including el Duque and Oliver Perez.

Go Brewers!

-Matt

Game Over

With the shocking (!)  news now on Drudge that burly, former tennis champion Billy Jean King has endorsed Madame SheBeast, how can the competition even compete?!?!??  Will fellow Prince of Tresses Bruce Jenner throw his decatheletic support behind John Edwards?  Will Obama be endorsed by  Jimmy Walker? 

Ms. King expressed pleasure in Mrs. Bill Clinton's strong leadership in women's causes (whatever the hell those are?), her ability to soak up airtime despite having never actually sponsored any legislation in her 7 years as Senatrix from the Empire State, her sensible and inspirational hairstyle, her sturdy gait, as well as her slacks-informed fashion sense.  The feminist athlete asserts she does not speak for her whole community (Wimbeldon winners?  the visually challenged?  supertall chicks?  manhands?) but she would leave that up to Rosie O'Donnell. 

No word yet on who Martina Navritalova supports but we'll do our best to keep you posted on these crucial developments.

BORU

Trafalgar

In 1805, the British Navy was the greatest military force ever to grace this Earth.  Like the 21st century American Military, the early 19th century British Navy had no peers.  At the Battle of Trafalgar, Lord Nelson's 27 ships of the line annihilated a numerically superior French and Spanish armada without suffering the loss of a single ship and, afterwords, survived a near hurricane to bring its sailors and officers home. 

Last week, the once might Limeys surrendered their pride.  The loss of pride did not occur when the presumably outnumbered fifteen capitulated.  It was not their fault that their commanders had directed Rules of Engagement that prohibited the fifteen from defending themselves.  Rather, the blame for Brittania's humiliation lies with its spineless leaders and its refusal to stand up for itself. It is a sad, sad day when a fellow member of the Anglosphere loses its will to survive.

What hath the modern-day emasculation of the West wrought?

-Matt

Bottom of the Ticket Speculatin'

When he first threw his (in the words of Senatorial colleague Joe Biden) "clean & articulate" hat in the ring, I (and I surmise a few other political junkies, as well) believed that freshman Senator Barack Obama was really running to be inevitable Democrat nominee Hillary Rodham's Vice President.  Well, after Geffen-gate and the "1984-Big Sister" YouTube ad, we now know that in Clintonland, the junior Senator from the Land o' Lincoln need not only be defeated, he must be destroyed.  Carville & Begala will be dispatched to the Situation Room and Anderson Cooper 3way69 to repeat and repeat and repeat as many unsubstantiated derogatory claims on the man until one sticks and even when proven wrong or unfounded, will throw out a one-time dismissive apology.  "Ooops, we're sorry we said he molested kittens - we were mistaken, our bad!"   

Then they'll bring David Rodham Gergin in to say just how much the mere implication has tarnished the Obama mystique and that Madame Hillary is the only viable candidate for the Democrat Party.  He will follow this up by mentioning for the 11 billionth time that he has worked for every President since Garfield as if that has any bearing whatsoever on the topic at hand.  Then he'll fall asleep on air while Anderson plays footsie with John Roberts.

Which brings me to my real reason for this post:  do you think the Clintons may have another - as the LA Times put it the other day - "Magical Negro" in mind?  Might Mr. & Mrs. Clinton tap Harold Ford, Jr. to balance the ticket?  He was recently named chairman of the DLC - a post once held by none other than William Jefferson Clinton - and one that keeps him in contact with big money business donors who may be put off by Hillary's necessary pandering to the lefty loons during primary season (which is now longer than a full television season - I smell a reality show...).  He was also recently made a FOXNews contributor which gives him national exposure until such time as she taps him to be her house.....oh wait, I'll let Harry Belafonte  deliver that line.  In addition, he is from the South while she is from New York City, Arkansas, Chicago's tony suburbs.  And he kinda looks like Derek Jeter so they'll wrap up the part of the female vote that finds her completely repulsive.  Not to mention he will deliver a marked uptick in the ticket's likability factor.

Yes, I believe SheBeast may have found a mighty fine partner for her 2008 dance card since Barack will be a shell of his former self by the time the War Room is done with him.  Some may claim Bill Richardson is the one running for VP right now but I think his Bill-esque handsiness will keep him off the ticket - the eventual nominee will not want too many reminders of the sexual depravity of the 1st Clinton administration.  Besides, after the two-for-one Bill n' Hillary show in 1992, do you think her PR people are gonna let her have a ticket of "Hillary n' Bill"??!?

So Clinton/Ford 2008?  You heard it here first.....

BORU

Keep SheBeast out of the White House

VETO!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this $124 Billion pork-laden abomination coming out of the House right now is perhaps the worst piece of legislation I have ever seen.  Not only does it shamefully call for defeat in Iraq at a time when we are seeing success, but it buys this cowardly goal with pork.  It is sickening and deserves to be vetoed.  I understand that the military needs its funding, but it cannot be permitted to go through like this.  My question, and I don't know how to answer it, is can the President veto this filth or will his hands be tied?

The Gore Doctrine

The Earth's on Fire! The Earth's on Fire!  Big Al shrieked his unsubstantiated warnings before both a House and a Senate committee yesterday (and while wearing a striped shirt w/ a patterned tie;  where's Naomi Wolf?  I thought the gays were on the liberal side - they couldn't help Big Al get dressed for his big show???).  According to Gore this is a huge emergency and we must declare preemptive war on fossil fuels.  But what if he is basing these assumptions on faulty - or worse yet trumped up - intelligence?  What if Big Al is misleading us into an unnecessary war against oil, and coal, and methane, oh my? 

There are skeptics to this preemptive war strategy.  A French former global warming bandwagoneer has jumped ship (to mix an already murky metaphor) and now contends that maybe the Sun's increase in temperature has led to the very very slight increase in the Earth's temperature.  He supports his assumption with the silly fact that Mars (about the size of Earth but lacking man's fossil fuel usage) has experienced a similar warming.  Should we perhaps listen to the French(man) and postpone this preemptive war on fossil fuels and its potentially disastrous economic and social costs?  Shouldn't we let the UN have more time to send inspectors to Mars?

Will we turn a deaf ear to patriotic criticism (cuz it's patriotic to critique our supposed leaders, right?) and be lead into a preemptive war by an egomaniac and a compliant press? 

BORU

Shocking News from the Captain Obvious File

Kathleen Blanco will NOT run for reelection as Governor of Louisiana!  Also, this just in the sun WILL rise in the East tomorrow!

Go Bobby Jindal!

The NPR and then a flurry of blogs/"news" organizations acted as though this were some sort of Earth shattering announcement.  "Ummm, no monotone host, "Blanco said, "I will not be entering the race to win an election that I stand absolutely no chance of winning."

Today, however, I have a feeling a big announcement is in the air somewhere.........yup, I can just feel it.

BORU 

What the Chuck Hagel?

I am writing this post to formally announce that I may or may not write a post about Chuck Hagel's political future someday.  I am consulting with family and friends and compiling information and may feel compelled to complete such a post.  I may, however, decide it best not to.  Please stay tuned for further announcements about the possibility of a Chuck Hagel post.  Thank you.

BORU

300

This is one of the best movies to come out of that sh!tbox called Hollywood in a long, long time.  I freakin loved this movie and highly recommend it to anyone with a pulse.  Go see it.  It is visually stunning, emotionally stirring, and the 2 hours fly by.  I just got home from seeing it and I could go back and see it again right now. 

I cannot say enough about how much I loved this movie so just go see it!

BORU

McCain on Letterman

A few observations:

1.)  John McCain announcing he is running for President tonight is like Rosie taking a minute from the View to announce that she is a lesbian tomorrow.  Ummm...duh....

2.)  Letterman?  Really???  No spots available on Olbermann?  Is this guy running for the Republican or Democrat nomination? 

3.)  Trying to relaunch his flagging Presidential campaign while at the same time (the very same week even!) relaunching his Ted Kennedy co-sponsored shamnesty bill?  Seriously, is he trying to win over Republicans or cozy up a VP slot on the 3rd party Bloomberg ticket...... I just got finished watching American Idol and yet I've never seen anyone so tonedeaf as McCain!

Unbelievable.

BORU

Rudy...Rudy...RUDY...RU-DY....RU-DY!!!

Since I haven't been here in a while, I thought I would personally endorse former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's bid to be the next President of the United States of America!

That's all I got for now. RUDY!

BORU