2008 Woodie Awards
Associating the extreme Left with mainstream progressives. Doesn’t make much logical sense. Then again, what else to expect from Michelle “Internment” Malkin?
Travelling today, so not much here. However, I want to make a couple of points.
-With the indictment of Lewis Libby, we can be certain of one thing: this is an Administration that is corrupt thorugh to its upper echelons. Literally. This is the worst Administration in American history, and the most immoral.
-The right may try to spin this as though Rove is off the hook. He’s not. He’s in no better position than he was yesterday. Fitzgerald has made no decision on Rove. Yesterday, he had made no decision on Rove. Rove remains under investigation.
Often, a lot of my Republican or centrist friends ask if I can respect the other side even though I choose to disagree with it- even profoundly. Well, the answer is: sometimes no. Sometimes the other side is so different that it’s not possible to see them as just simply well-intentioned people who just have a different viewpoint. That occurs when they adopt values that aren’t recognizably human. I bring this up in light of today’s WP editorial:
VICE PRESIDENT Cheney is aggressively pursuing an initiative that may be unprecedented for an elected official of the executive branch: He is proposing that Congress legally authorize human rights abuses by Americans. “Cruel, inhuman and degrading” treatment of prisoners is banned by an international treaty negotiated by the Reagan administration and ratified by the United States. The State Department annually issues a report criticizing other governments for violating it. Now Mr. Cheney is asking Congress to approve legal language that would allow the CIA to commit such abuses against foreign prisoners it is holding abroad. In other words, this vice president has become an open advocate of torture.
Please read the whole thing. I strongly believe in associating somebody’s moral values with who they are as people. That may not be popular among some elements of the Left, which in itself is symptomatic of a kind of moral relativism to which progressives have an unfortunate tendency of wedding themselves.
I think Dick Cheney has lost a large element of his personhood. Normal people- Republicans, Democrats, whatever- revolt at torture. John McCain sponsored the Senate amendment to eradicate it. Yet Dick Cheney wants to turn it into business as usual. Cheney, as I said, is a different kind of fish.
How you stand on something like torture is a reflection of the deepest part of your humanity. This is a little difficult to articulate, and I know it will make some people uncomfortable. I am saying that I have a very difficult time recognizing the humanity of people of those who take a position like that, because what they stand for is so contrary to the basic system of beliefs that I think make people, well, people. This is not about politics. It’s about ontology.
I’m not saying that all Republicans are neanderthals. As we know, the Senate vote on the McCain amendment was 90 to 9, so most Republicans rejected torture. I’m saying Dick Cheney is a different kind of fish. Someone who is an “open advocate of torture” is truly a different kind of fish.
My understanding is that Fitzgerald is going to seek indictments. My reading list may ultimately prove helpful to some people.
A special, if sordid, moment in our history.
Initially, I could’ve cared less if she had stayed in jail for life. Then I got to be a real journalist for a few weeks, and I had some sympathy for her on principle. Now I’m just disgusted by what she’s done. Judy Miller is a stinkingly bad reporter and a disgrace to the profession. She gives journalists everywhere a bad name. Some reactions, followed by my thoughts.
Kos: “It is an embarrassment to the NYTimes and all of us who bothered to defend Miller’s refusal to reveal her source on journalistic grounds. We are covered with egg today.”
Josh: “. . . it certainly seems as though the tacit bargain between Miller and Libby was that Libby would provide Miller with information in exchange for her assistance in deceiving her readers. And that violates the rule or principle that amounts to the Occam’s Razor of journalistic ethics — fundamental honesty with your readers.”
Atrios: “It certainly is odd that a reporter would have a security clearance. Their job is to report information to the public, not to be let in on secrets they can’t report.”
Drum: “For what it’s worth, I just want to point out that Judith Miller’s contention that she can’t remember who originally provided her with the name “Valerie Flame” is completely ridiculous. She apparently wrote down the name in her notebook sometime around July 8, 2003, and obviously she knew where it came from at the time.”
Taegon Goddard has some intelligence on what Rove’s move would be if indicted.
Read the rest of this entry »
Just got this breathless email from Tony Perkins:
Stop the Homosexual Movement’s Agenda in U.S. Senate
October 14, 2005 | Refer a FriendWhen I wrote you two weeks ago, the U.S. House, with no advance warning, had just passed a key item on the homosexual movement’s agenda, the hate crimes bill. FRC immediately began working with key Senators to make sure the bill goes no further. I have to say, we are in an uphill battle and the homosexual movement and their supporters in Congress are gaining ground.
The conservative movement faces fresh challenges in Washington, D.C today. Many issues compete with our agenda for attention, Katrina, Rita, the war in Iraq and, of course, the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court. The homosexual movement sees this as an opportunity. While the conservatives are debating the White House and each other over the Miers nomination, the homosexual movement is mobilizing its forces to pass the hate crimes bill in the Senate. I’ve warned that hate crimes laws punish thoughts, not just actions. They equate homosexual behavior with race, and could eventually lead to criminal charges for preaching or teaching against homosexual conduct. We must stop the U.S. Senate from passing this bill.
I have directed our legislative staff to fight it with every resource we have. Right now I am making plans to meet personally with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist to let him know that passing the hate crimes bill will be a major mistake, for our country and for him. I want to take your support with me. Will you sign our Hate Crimes Petition to Sen. Frist? He needs to see that there are hundreds of thousands of pro-family citizens across this land who are willing to stand up and be counted in the battle against the homosexual movement. Will you be one of those who will stand with me?
Please sign our Hate Crimes Petition and please also take time to make a generous contribution right now to help FRC fight the agenda of the homosexual movement.
I Oppose S. 1145 the So-Called, “Hate Crimes” Bill.
Y’know Tony, Osama bin Laden’s still on the loose. How ’bout sending me a petition to sign asking George Bush to refocus the war on terrorism on capturing him? After all, bin Laden is a mass murderer and has quite literally destroyed many American families. Or do you believe that gay people pose a greater threat to Americans than Al Qaeda?
Talk about having screwed up priorities. Tony Perkins- pro hate crimes.
NYT:
Explaining his reasons for supporting her and praying for guidance, Dr. Dobson cited her religious faith and said he knew her conservative evangelical church. “I know the person who brought her to the Lord,” he said. “I have talked at length to people that know her and have known her for a long time.”
Dr. Dobson acknowledged conversations with Karl Rove, the president’s top political adviser, about the selection but declined to disclose their contents. “You will have to trust me on this one,” he said, adding that if he was wrong, “the blood of those babies” - aborted fetuses - “will be on my hands to some degree.”
Now that America’s leading radical cleric has assumed responsibility for Miers’ decision-making- “to some degree,” I’m sure we can all rest easy.
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