It's up to Mbeki - Just as China is the only regional power able to keep the lid on crazy uncle Kim, South Africa is the only hope for the people of Zimbabwe. From the Boston Globe - "The lever to oust Mugabe": "Zimbabwe's devastated economy impedes regional growth, and the people fleeing its collapse are a strain on its neighbors. [South Africa president Thabo] Mbeki would be an African hero, not an imperialist, if he helped resolve this crisis and improved the lives of the 12 million Zimbabweans."

Our government's very own Cassandra

It's that craaaaazy David Walker again, the Comptroller General of the United States, telling people we're going broke. From CNN: "One man's campaign against federal debt"

The way programs such as Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare are structured, the government will incur an additional debt of $50 trillion during the next 20 years, according to GAO figures.

The $50 trillion total amounts to about $440,000 per American household, Walker said.

The primary drivers behind the additional rise in spending are the baby boomers, who start becoming eligible for Social Security in 2008 and Medicare in 2011.

"We are talking about an unprecedented change in the demographic landscape of America," Walker said. "And we are not prepared for this oncoming wave."

(Hat tip: Heritage)

Rah-rah sis-boom OW!


From the NYT: "As cheerleaders soar higher, so does the danger"

Emergency room visits for cheerleading injuries nationwide have more than doubled since the early 1990s, far outpacing the growth in the number of cheerleaders, and the rate of life-threatening injuries has startled researchers. Of 104 catastrophic injuries sustained by female high school and college athletes from 1982 to 2005 — head and spinal trauma that occasionally led to death — more than half resulted from cheerleading, according to the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research. All sports combined did not surpass cheerleading.

Still, "Bring It On" is a great movie.

England's rush to war, then

I suppose that when your military is concentrated in naval power, it's easy to make decisions like this:

Look at the timeline 25 years ago:
On April 2nd, the Argies seized the Falklands, which were all but undefended.
On April 5th a British task force of over 100 ships and 28,000 men sailed from England for the South Atlantic.
In three days! Talk about a rush to war, eh?

Now the Brits appear to be befuddled as to what can be done with Iran and England-based Expat Yank is not encouraged by the latest news.

More - From Oxblog "Your friendly neighborhood terrorist": "The United States has integrated its Arab and Muslim immigrants more successfully than most of Europe. But it would be wise not to ignore the threat that faces our most important ally and may soon face many others as well."

Thank heaven - Captain Ed's wife has made it through kidney transplant surgery; now let's pray for a speedy recovery.

Brownback grabs the third rail - Ramesh Ponnuru reports from the Club for Growth meeting: "[Sam Brownback] unveiled his Social Security plan here at the Club for Growth meeting. The plan is heavy on personal accounts and light on benefit cuts." Well, it won't find much support in Congress but it'll thrill the Club for Growth.

That's it, blame the bloggers - Radio Equalizer writes on the upset Muslims in Minnesota and how bloggers are being blamed for increasing tensions. Except the bloggers in question didn't write what they're accused of and, even if they did, welcome to the land of free speech.

Extra - The same mainstream media that balked at Mohammed cartoons loves Chocolate Jesus. Just in time for Easter!

The focal point of the war on terrorism

Charles Krauthammer says it's in Iraq. Al-Qaeda agrees:

Al-Qaeda has provided the answer many times. Osama bin Laden, the one whose presence in Afghanistan (or some cave on the border) presumably makes it the central front in the war on terror, has been explicit that "the most...serious issue today for the whole world is this Third World War that is raging in Iraq." Al-Qaeda's No. 2, Ayman Zawahiri, has declared that Iraq "is now the place for the greatest battle of Islam in this era."

And it's not just what al-Qaeda says, it's what al-Qaeda does. Where are they funneling the worldwide recruits for jihad? Where do all the deranged suicidists who want to die for Allah gravitate? It's no longer Afghanistan but Iraq. That's because they recognize the greater prize.

The obvious counter-point to Krauthammer's argument is that Iraq wasn't the central front in the war on terrorism prior to the U.S. invasion. He tries to address this in his concluding paragraph:

But you do not decide where to fight on the basis of history; you decide on the basis of strategic realities. You can argue about our role in creating this new front and question whether it was worth taking that risk to topple Saddam Hussein. But you cannot reasonably argue that in 2007 Iraq is not the most critical strategic front in the war on terrorism. There's no escaping its centrality. Nostalgia for the "good war" in Afghanistan is perhaps useful in encouraging antiwar Democrats to increase funding that is needed there. But it is not an argument for abandoning Iraq.

So, basically, Iraq was a mistake in terms on the war on terrorism but we have to see it through now. Well, OK, but so much of this depends on whether Iraq can form a stable, democratic state and that's a huge question mark.

He lives! - From the NYT "Zimbabwe Police Release Opposition Leader": "The police in Zimbabwe today released Morgan Tsvangirai, one of the country’s most prominent opposition leaders, after detaining him and about 20 other members of his political party, the Movement for Democratic Change, on Wednesday."

Worst episode ever

Wasn't that just the worst episode of Lost last night? The correct answer to Sawyer's oft-repeated question of "Who is Nikki?" is "A minor character with a nice rack who's going to be killed off tonight in a manner that will send Rod Serling's lawyers scrambling." I say that because Nikki (and Paolo's) death was ripped off from a Twilight Zone episode from - what? - fifty years ago?

Laziness has set in hard. It used to be that we would have flashbacks of major characters while some small part of the island puzzle was revealed. Now we have flashbacks of minor characters of their time on the island. Oh, but now we know that Ben and Juliet visited the Pearl to watch Jack in the pre-exploded hatch. Big whoop.

Another bankrupt public pension - Another state (Montana this time) denies there's a problem and kicks the can down the road.

Opposition leader in Zimbabwe arrested

After his near-fatal beating two weeks ago, I felt that if Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai survived until the country's election, he would win the presidency. But now I'll be shocked if he lives to see tomorrow. From Publius Pundit: "He [Robert Mugabe] has systematically turned Zimbabwe into hell on earth, but even most tyrants will allow their opposition to exist in name while restricting their activities. Not Mugabe." Zimbabwe Pundit has more.

Welcome Newsbusters readers! - Well, my first ever "editor's pick" from the media-busting site. Somebody out there likes me.

Keep it clean - If the Left didn't have profanity to convey their emotion, how could they get their point across? With reasoned debate? C'mon, now!

Four legs good, two legs better

Have I questioned the Democrats' patriotism today? Well, let's get to it!

House Democrats delivered a $124.1 billion spending monstrosity larded over with domestic handouts: $100 million for citrus growers; $120 million for the shrimp and menhaden fishing industries; $283 million for the Milk Income Loss Contract program; $500 million to fight wildfires; $74 million for peanut storage — the list goes on.

This domestic slop was the political price to buy off supposedly principled Democrats who oppose the war and support the troops. Even with $21 billion in bribes, Pelosi was only able to muster a bare majority, with 14 Democrats joining the Republican opposition.

The Democratic leadership has eked out some sort of anti-war message with this pork barrel bonanza. But they should be ashamed of the unscrupulous way they did so. Bush could not have saved his veto pen for a more worthy piece of legislative junk.

Remember all those principled Democrats who promised - no way, nuh-uh - would they ever vote for the war funding, under any circumstances? Yeah, their opposition to the illegal, immoral war melted away with the right incentives.

Tax the rich


Oh boy, did we ever. Investors Business Daily reveals the extent of the ever-increasing redistribution of wealth in the United States:

Looking at both taxes and spending in a representative year - 2004 - the study found an estimated $1.03 trillion to $1.53 trillion was 'redistributed downward' from the two highest-earning income quintiles. That's a lot of redistribution.

Today, some 44 million Americans pay no taxes at all. Meanwhile, the upper 5% of all income earners in 2004 paid 57.13% of all taxes, up from 35.01% in 1980. In other words, the U.S. tax code is becoming more progressive, not less.

It's been argued that the reason health care costs are spiraling out of control is because most Americans don't (fully) pay for medical care and, thus, don't care that much about the cost. If market pressures were brought to bear then, perhaps, medical costs could be kept under control. By the same coin, when Americans are disassociated from the costs of government, it's a free-for-all. What's worse is that when the bill comes due for long-term obligations such as Social Security, the tax burden will not be evenly distributed for what is supposed to be a universal benefit.

Refresher - The late, great Milton Friedman on the four ways to spend money.

Victory through surrender and pork - Glenn Reynolds has a roundup of reaction to the pork-laden Iraq timetable bill that passed the Senate today, on the way to a certain Presidential veto. Don Surber itemizes the "emergency" spending and notes: "Disgusting is too nice a word for people who voted to send troops to Iraq in 2002, and less than 5 years later play political chicken with funding for those very troops."

That darn Wal-Mart - From MSNBC: "Wal-Mart Stores Inc. increased its U.S. charitable giving 10 percent last year to $272.9 million, the world’s largest retailer said Tuesday, likely defending its position as the country’s largest corporate donor of cash."

Associated Fark headline: "Wal-Mart is nation's most charitable corporate giver. Critics not swayed because admitting that Wal-Mart does anything positive would make their heads explode"

Back to Elmira - From the Hill: "Fifty percent of Americans would not vote for Clinton"

Politics first, second, and last for the Democrats

Here's Thomas Sowell with "Dangerous Demagoguery"

The demagoguery of the Democrats has already put them in the position where a successful conclusion of the Iraq war before the 2008 elections can be a political disaster for them.

If the recent increase in the number of troops in Iraq, and their freer hand in dealing with the terrorists there, reduces the level of violence enough to stabilize Iraq enough for American troops to start coming home before the 2008 elections, the Democrats will have lost their gamble.

Only an American defeat in Iraq can ensure the Democrats' political victory next year.

Their only strategy is to sabotage the chances for a military victory in Iraq without being held responsible for a defeat.

That is the corner that they have painted themselves into with their demagoguery that even their own supporters see through.

Betsy adds:

Pelosi was willing to pull out all the stops to get their version of the supplemental bill for Iraq passed. They loaded it up with sweetners to pull in more votes. And Pelosi twisted the arms of those opposed to the Democratic bill even going to the length of threatening senior Members with being taken off crucial committees. And for what? She knows that the bill will be vetoed and they'll have to go back to the drawing board to write a new bill. But at least she'll have the political record to trumpet during the 2008 campaign. And that is what it is all about.

Hence Pelosi's not-so-arbitrary timeline of August 2008 to withdraw all troops from Iraq, was significantly chosen to coincide with the 2008 elections. It's all a big game to them.