IT'S ABOUT FREEDOM

Link.

VOTER FRAUD MADE EASY

If you can't be bothered to register to vote before election day, or if you are too stupid to know you have to register prior to election day, do we really want you to vote? Some North Carolina Democrats are still looking for ways to make their Busloads-of-the-Mentally-Ill-to-the-Polls-Program pay off.

JAYHAWKER SOUR GRAPES

So, Roy Williams decides to change jobs, and in doing so, apologizes to the recruits who had chosen to play for him at Kansas next year. One of these, David Padgett had narrowed his choices down to North Carolina and Kansas, and it is well known that the deciding factor in his selection of Kansas was the presence of Williams. Now, Kansas is threatening to file a protest with the NCAA because they think Williams is "tampering." Kansas should realize that Padgett would not have chosen Kansas if not for Williams and that it is only reasonable to allow him to play for the coach and school he chooses. If they keep him a prisoner to a deal that he did not intend, it should rightfully hurt Kansas' recruiting ability in the future and should encourage Kansas recruit Omar Wilkes (he seems to want to play with Padgett) to seek a school that considers the best interests of the players.

WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

Then Ted Rall, the untalented cartoonist and even worse columnist, sure is strong. In HOW WE LOST THE IRAQ WAR (really!), UsefulTed gets suckered by a website claiming that all Iraqi celebrations were staged. No mention of why Al-Jazeera and Abu Dhabi TV would participate in such fraud. He does include the obligatory comment about how it is good that Saddam is gone, though he didn't care that anyone do anything about Saddam.

The end of Saddam Hussein comes as welcome news, even if it's merely the accidental byproduct of a barely-disguised oil grab.

Right, if we wanted Saddam's oil, all we had to do was lift the sanctions as the French wanted. Saddam was always willing to sell his oil cheap to undercut his OPEC "friends" and finance his military state and palace construction projects.

But as Iraq's cities burn and its patrimony is hustled off into the black market and its women wail and the rape gangs rule the night, it's hard to escape the conclusion that we've lost this war as well.

Sure, it's hard to escape that notion if you're short on your meds. Only now is UsefulTed concerned about rape in Iraq. We wasn't at all concerned when rape was an instrument of torture employed by the state. If your local newspaper carries this idiot, you may want to demand equal time for his right wing equivalent (you know, the black helicopter crowd) for more laughs. Sad thing is, some people actually believe this guy.

BUT I THOUGHT THERE WAS NO CONNECTION BETWEEN SADDAM AND TERRORISTS, AT LEAST THAT'S WHAT A.N.S.W.E.R. TOLD ME

Turns out, the Regime harbored Abu Abbas. Now we have him. Cue Marv Albert -- "YES!"

NO RESPECT, NO RESPECT AT ALL

I'm surprised, with our rapidly growing traffic, that this site is not listed on Blogshares -- the virtual stock market for blogs. Go figure.

And where's our staff, anyway? Long Driver Brian, Cultural Warrior Hank, Ichthyologist Jeff and Acoustic Leftist John?

WORLD AT WAR, AND I'M BLOGGING ABOUT SOUTH PARK

Really, what could be more important than 100 episodes of the foul mouthed Tolkien fans on Comedy Central (reaction to kids playing Harry Potter: "Dorks")? It's well known that South Park creators, writers and producers Matt Stone and Trey Parker are among the most rare of all beasts in Hollywood -- they are conservatives, libertarians, anti-Left. So, why are they teaming up with Arch-Liberal Norman Lear, creator of All in the Family and founder of the misnamed People for the American Way? Norman hasn't had a creative success in years (anyone remember 407 Houser Street?), so I guess he hopes to learn a little something from the irreverant boys on the right.

IRAQI INFORMATION MINISTER AS NEW YORK TIMES EDITOR

Well, with Andrew Sullivan taking this week off, it is incumbent upon someone to point out some good Howell Raines, New York Times bashing. Here's a bit of a piece from Priscilla Turner:

"There is no Liberal Bias at the networks or the newspapers. Never! Only Conservative Infidels! Akbar Howell Raines will roast their stomachs in hell – feasting most greedily on Ann Coulter and Bernard Goldberg. The battle is fierce, but the First Amendment will grant The Heroic New York Times - a moderate, NOT a liberal paper! - victory. The battle against Talk Radio, Richard Scaife and Rupert Murdoch’s Evil Empire is continuing on the main fronts. Be reassured, we will slay the mighty Conservative Infidel Goliath. We are small but great and noble."

CONSPIRACY THEORY WORTHY OF THE ARAB PRESS

To New York Times contributor John Lukacs, when President Bush returns salutes with a salute of his own, he's signaling that his position is changing from that of President to Emperor. And the Lukacs character really seems to believe this, as though he is "deconstructing" symbolism in some bad novel.

My question is, what is the proper way for a President to acknowledge a salute? The person offering the salute is not really supposed to remove his hand from his cap until the salute is returned, so what is a President to do? I doubt it matters. Whatever this President does will be wrongly interpreted by the New York Times as a step down the slippery slope to autocracy or empire.

ABOUT THAT SADDAM-CNN AXIS

Read Victor Davis Hanson on NRO: "Reporters are cultural relativists, who never ask themselves how many more people are tortured and die because of their own complicity with a murderous regime."

And what's up with the hugs and kisses from the Iraqi Ambassador to the UN and a CNN reporter? I'm just asking.

SOMEWHERE IN THE DISTANCE A DOG BARKED

I wish I had a wav file of crickets chirping to accompany the below picture. Good find, Hank.