The great left-wing freak out

Here’s Michelle Malkin plugging her new book in a post that appeared early this morning:

The views of unhinged liberals are no longer relegated to the private remarks of a few Democrat politicians or the bloviations of a few fringe figures on the farLeft. The syndrome is far more pervasive, intense, and sanctimoniously self-delusional than anything on the Right.

As if staged for effect, this was followed later in the day with the Democrats’ temper tantrum and a “Lockdown in the Senate” causing NRO’s K-Lo to marvel: “How did she get Harry Reid to agree to do p.r. for her book the day it launched, with this tactic?”

Oh, Katherine. Lord Rove finds your lack of faith disturbing.

Ask and ye shall receive – Last week, I asked “What exactly is the difference between “perjury” and “false statements?” Today, Slate’s Explainer expands on the question: “The difference between perjury, false statements, and obstruction of justice.”

Slow-motion famine in Zimbabwe

People in Zimbabwe are starving because agricultural output has plunged since the government seized white-owned farms and redistributed them to the black population. At least they're starting to face an unavoidable fact:

Deputy Agriculture Minister Sylvester Nguni was quoted in the state-owned Herald newspaper as saying that while a few of those given land were committed to agricultural production, many others were doing "nothing" on the farms.

Although he mentioned the poor rains, he also told a meeting of the Zimbabwe Farmers' Union: "The biggest letdown has been that people without the slightest idea of farming got land and the result has been declining agricultural output."

In hindsight, this seems like a critical problem, no? Nice work, Robert Mugabe.

A real Poindexter, and not the good kind

Princeton classmates remember Sam Alito:

Andrew Napolitano '72, a senior judicial analyst for Fox News and a former New Jersey Superior Court judge, said Alito hasn't changed much since their college years.
"He's a teetotalling, early-to-bed and early-to-rise legal scholar," Napolitano said. "He's modest, charming and brilliant ... There is no arrogance in Sam whatsoever."

NERD! Man, it would have been so much cooler if somebody said: “Yeah, I saw him shotgun a Molson in two seconds flat then he burped ‘Go Tigers’”. Now I’m not so sure I can support this nomination.

Agree/disagree with Captain Ed – Agree that there’s no chance the Gang of 14 will decide that the nomination of Judge Alito rises to an “exceptional circumstance” and there will be no filibuster. Disagree on the vote count: no way will Alito get a 65-35 confirmation vote. After all, he’ll be replacing the vaunted O’Connor seat and the Democrats will show their displeasure with a near-straight line vote. Alito will be confirmed by 55 Republicans and maybe two conservative Democrats.

The WashPost comes to bury Social Security reform

Today’s Washington Post has a lead editorial on Social Security that seems to be a compendium of all the points I’ve been making for two years (along with others):

The Bush administration's declining fortunes have buried the prospect of Social Security reform. Congress was never keen: Democrats united against personal accounts; Republicans were divided as to what sort they wanted. But although President Bush's critics may celebrate this defeat, delaying Social Security's reform makes the eventual change only harder. Both sides should acknowledge their contributions to this debacle -- and reengage.

Well, that’s just great. The time to show support for reform was at least a year ago when President Bush declared that he would “spend” his political capital to ensure the solvency of the program. Now with millions of baby boomers within grasp of their “free” money, we’re strapped in:

Starting 12 years from now, pensions will cost the government more than it collects from the payroll tax that's supposed to finance them. This shortfall, coupled with the much larger drain from Medicare, threatens to consume resources needed for other government functions. It is unsustainable.

Fat lot of good your call for reform does us now, WashPost. A useless waste of ink and electrons, too little too late.

Why communism will never work

Tonight I sat on my front porch with a large bowl full of candy. When kids came, I extended the bowl and they usually took one, maybe two pieces. Then, before we sat down for dinner, I filled the bowl to the top and placed a sign: "take one." Midway through dinner, the bowl was empty; this was repeated ten minutes later. Basically more candy was taken in 20 minutes than in the previous (supervised) two hours.

Looks like Luttig – Erick with a K over at Red State is reporting rumors that Samuel Alito will be tapped to be the next Supreme Court justice. Therefore he’s doomed: “As the editors are privately joking, let me apologize in advance to Judge Alito for sabotaging his chances by putting up his picture. When the picture goes up, the judge strikes out.”

Call the ACLU, or not - Generation Why says so much for that “innocent until proven guilty” stuff: “Funny how quick liberals are to toss out Constitutional rights when they belong to Conservatives.”

Hate-fest on Boston Common

It was a beautiful, crisp fall day in Massachusetts yesterday. Perhaps some Bostonians or tourists decided to walk down to Boston Common where 230 years ago men such as Paul Revere and Samuel Adams discussed the blessings of liberty. Unfortunately, they probably needed to cover their children’s ears. From the Boston Globe: “Anti-war protesters march on Common”

One demonstrator carried a sign that read, ''Bush Wants Your Children For Cannon Fodder," and another that accused the president of causing the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Some of the musical performers sang antiwar anthems that could have played on any coffeehouse stage. But others led the demonstrators in chanting choruses laced with expletives against the president and the war.

Cindy Sheehan, the Left’s favorite mother, made it clear she wasn’t cut from the June Cleaver mold:

''She said, 'Cindy, don't you want to use a little nicer language, because you know there might be people sitting on the fence that you offend,' " Sheehan told the crowd. ''And do you know what I said? I said, 'Damn it, why is anybody on that fence still?' "

Then they all went home, having convinced exactly zero people to their viewpoint, yet warmed by their glow of their profanity-laden rhetoric.

A must-read from Mark Steyn, he said redundantly - “Don’t expect a joyride from Scooter”: “Just for the record, Scooter Libby is the highest-ranking Scooter in the Bush administration, chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney. All last week, lefty gloaters were eagerly anticipating "Fitzmas," their designation for that happy day when federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald hands down indictments against Libby, and Rove, and maybe Cheney, and -- boy oh boy, who knows? -- maybe Chimpy Bushitlerburton himself. Pat Fitzgerald has been making his list, checking it twice, found out who's naughty or nice, and he's ready to go on a Slay Ride leaving Bush the Little Drummed-Out Boy and the Dems having a blue blue blue blue blue-state Christmas in November 2006, if not before.”

Good question – Powerline asks: “Having now read fifteen or twenty news stories about what a devastating blow the Lewis Libby indictment was to the administration…I couldn't help wondering: does anyone remember who Al Gore's chief of staff was when he was vice-president?” It was that guy, the one who was always standing and walking. Rory Calhoun!

Sunday morning lineup – Mark Kilmer has the guest list for the Sunday shows but seems unsure about who will be on “Late Edition”: “Host Wolf Blitzer will talk with someone or other about Scooter and about Harriet.” Maybe somebody whose name rhymes with “Moe Slidin” hmmm….?

Another Scalia would be sca-lightful

From the WashPost:

President George W. Bush on Saturday was narrowing his choices of Supreme Court nominees to replace Harriet Miers as Republicans said the short list consisted of highly credentialed, solidly conservative judges.

Among the candidates most talked about were appeals court judges Michael Luttig and Samuel Alito. Bush, who is spending the weekend at his Camp David retreat, was expected to unveil his choice within days.

Judge Luttig (4th Circuit) once clerked for Scalia and Judge Alito (3rd Circuit) has been given the nickname “Scalito” for “his Italian heritage as well as his reputation for conservatism and a strong intellect.” Either one would thrill the conservative base.

(P.S. - Worst post title ever? Maybe!)

Extra – SCOTUSblog says let’s get ready to rumble: “Conservative organizations, without a doubt enthusiastic about either Alito or Luttig on the basis of thoroughly conservative records on the bench, will be ready to get their promotional machinery going again.”

Even more – By way of Ryne, the online contracts for Alito (check the table on the right) are thumping Luttig by a 2:1 margin.

Follow-up - Mark Levin utterly plagiarizes my post: “Luttig or Alito? A conservative dream! Let's get ready to rumble!” Time stamp: 11:24pm.

Fred Barnes: “Karl Rove’s survival is a boon for the Bush White House”

“California cosmology” - Michael Crichton names five books that you won’t find on Greenpeace’s coffee table.

Somebody call Detective Columbo – I wonder who could be responsible for this and this. My first guess: radical Presbyterians.

Not-so-merry Fitzmas

The New Republic on the morning after:

Well, that was much ado about nothing. I don't really think the indictment of the man who served as the Vice President's Chief of Staff--and whose role in the administration was in fact much larger than that--is no big deal. It is. But the way Democrats were talking about this case leading up to the indictment, this has to come as a letdown. After all, liberals believed that Patrick Fitzgerald was going to cripple the Bush administration and reveal the lies and deceptions behind the Iraq war. There was speculation that Fitzgerald would shine a bright, unflattering light onto the inner workings of the White House Iraq Group. There was talk that he was going to name a "Constitutional officer"--namely Cheney--as an unindicted co-conspirator. And there were rumors that he was seeking to empanel a second grand jury to investigate who ginned up the fake "Niger documents."

Maybe Fitzgerald just has a very impressive poker face, but it sure seemed from his press conference that none of those things is now going to happen.

Although the Libby indictments are a stain on the White House, the Left was positively giddy about the thought of Karl Rove in handcuffs. If Libby pleads out, it will be long-forgotten among most Americans (who don’t follow the story as compulsively as we do) by Christmas. (Hat tip: Polipundit)

More – The Washington Post gets it mostly right:

The special counsel was principally investigating whether any official violated a law that makes it a crime to knowingly disclose the identity of an undercover agent. The public record offers no indication that Mr. Libby or any other official deliberately exposed Ms. Plame to punish her husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV. Rather, Mr. Libby and other officials, including Karl Rove, the White House deputy chief of staff, apparently were seeking to combat the sensational allegations of a critic. They may have believed that Ms. Plame's involvement was an important part of their story of why Mr. Wilson was sent to investigate claims that Iraq sought uranium ore from Niger, and why his subsequent -- and mostly erroneous -- allegations that the administration twisted that small part of the case against Saddam Hussein should not be credited. To criminalize such discussions between officials and reporters would run counter to the public interest.

While the NY Times, well, let’s just say that they never fail to play to form.

Bonus – From Gay Patriot: “Libby indicted for doing what Wilson did, but under oath” – “Libby has now been accused of doing exactly what Joe Wilson has been doing since that “Administration critic” wrote the New York Times op-ed at issue in this whole mess. He deceived people. With one big difference. Libby lied under oath and Wilson did so in the pages of newspapers, in the pages of his book, on the lecture circuit and on a variety of talk shows.”

Finally - Welcome readers of Keith Milby’s blog!

A small piece of good news in a rotten week – “Economic growth accelerated in 3rd quarter”: “The economy grew at a faster pace in the third quarter, the government reported yesterday, as stronger consumer and government spending helped offset the effects of two devastating hurricanes and soaring energy prices. The nation's gross domestic product rose at an annual pace of 3.8 percent from July to September, up from 3.3 percent in the second quarter, the Commerce Department said.”

Stop the humanoids! – Target to sell stand-up arcade cabinet, loaded with 12 Midway games, starting in November. Defender! Robotron! Oh, if it only had Berzerk, I’d be so there. (HT: American Mind)