Murtha Bad-Mouths the US Again

Check this out from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel:

American presence in Iraq is more dangerous to world peace than nuclear threats from North Korea or Iran, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said to an audience of more than 200 in North Miami Saturday afternoon.

Yep, the US is still busy destroying the world again, isn't it Congressman? Just like Vietnam, where we slaughtered the peace-loving Vietcong and North Vietnamese. Who knew?

Murtha, who is beginning to exhibit the symptoms of Alzheimers Disease in Wonker's opinion, has ruled for years in one of those Pennsylvania districts that mindlessly elect Democrats-for-Life regardless of whether they damage the country or not. So this is what you get. C'mon Pennsylvanians, cut the crap and give this guy the hook this fall. Surely, you're not buying this. Voters? You there??

Wonker About to Take Medical Leave

While I'll try to get a couple more posts up today, I'm going to be out of the blogger box for awhile due to impending rotator cuff surgery. This could make keyboarding a little tough for a couple of weeks, not to mention making it difficult to get to work by car. Although the way the weather's been here in the DC area over the past few days, it looks like an outboard motor might be more useful than a car.

In any event, I'll post when I can, but no posts will show up tomorrow, as I'll no doubt be enjoying the effects of Percocet which, hopefully, will prove distracting enough for me not to feel what the surgeon just completed. I will also probably have ample opportunity to read newspapers and watch cable TV, which will probably just put me in a worse mood.

But this, too, will pass. Rest assured that Luther and I will be back battling the Commies shortly. If things get a little dull here for a few days, by all means, check out the good guys we have in our links column here on HazZzMat. They'll keep you informed for sure, and probably in a high dudgeon as well.

--W

More on the Latest NYTimes Act of Treason

Leave it to an American soldier to comment eloquently on the New York Times' latest, and no doubt soon-to-be-successful attempt to get more of our soldiers killed by making it impossible for George Bush to prosecute the Global War on Terror. As most should now know, the Times, eager for yet another Pulitzer Prize for Treason, outted yet another perfectly legal, congressionally disclosed, and judicially vetted program for tracking the money of the terrorists, thus exposing another way we catch these bastards and giving them an opportunity to defense against it. Seriously, the way it's going, we're going to have to deploy a few Ranger units to the NYT building to battle the terrorist who are running this travesty of a paper. But let a brave soldier speak to the Times' disgraceful and potentially murderous management:

Congratulations on disclosing our government's highly classified anti-terrorist-financing program (June 23). I apologize for not writing sooner. But I am a lieutenant in the United States Army and I spent the last four days patrolling one of the more dangerous areas in Iraq. (Alas, operational security and common sense prevent me from even revealing this unclassified location in a private medium like email.)

Unfortunately, as I supervised my soldiers late one night, I heard a booming explosion several miles away. I learned a few hours later that a powerful roadside bomb killed one soldier and severely injured another from my 130-man company. I deeply hope that we can find and kill or capture the terrorists responsible for that bomb. But, of course, these terrorists do not spring from the soil like Plato's guardians. No, they require financing to obtain mortars and artillery shells, priming explosives, wiring and circuitry, not to mention for training and payments to locals willing to emplace bombs in exchange for a few months' salary. As your story states, the program was legal, briefed to Congress, supported in the government and financial industry, and very successful.

Not anymore. You may think you have done a public service, but you have gravely endangered the lives of my soldiers and all other soldiers and innocent Iraqis here. Next time I hear that familiar explosion -- or next time I feel it -- I will wonder whether we could have stopped that bomb had you not instructed terrorists how to evade our financial surveillance.

And, by the way, having graduated from Harvard Law and practiced with a federal appellate judge and two Washington law firms before becoming an infantry officer, I am well-versed in the espionage laws relevant to this story and others -- laws you have plainly violated. I hope that my colleagues at the Department of Justice match the courage of my soldiers here and prosecute you and your newspaper to the fullest extent of the law. By the time we return home, maybe you will be in your rightful place: not at the Pulitzer announcements, but behind bars.

Read the rest of this brilliant little missive here. And a well-deserved hat tip to Power Line for getting it on the web. We are awaiting word from the Justice Department about when and where the prosecution of Bill Keller and other GWOT war criminals will begin. Hell-ooo? Mr. Attorney General? You there???

Loose Libs?

More on today's Marxist cannonade against our country and our freedom by the New York Slimes, this time from Michelle Malkin. After earlier posting some pertinent WWII posters warning folks to keep secrets to themselves lest the enemy take advantage, Michelle urged her intrepid readers to indulge in a bit of photoshopping on said posters, and they are now taking ample advantage of the opportunity. Here's our favorite pairing.

First, the original WWII poster:


And now for the 21st century update:


That's about right, dontya think? We should send a few dozen to Bill Keller and his pirate crew of treasonistas. Earth to Attorney General Gonzales: Where's the indictments?

The rest of Michelle's stuff on this, along with the comments are pretty good. Check 'em out.

Jim Lileks Opines on Freedom of Expression

Hey, it's not only fun for U.S. Hollywood types to trash Bush and all the hicks who live between the coasts and think we're living in a great country. Chinese director Ang Lee (lately of the phoney "hit" "Brokeback Mountain"), who hails from that bastion of Asian freedom, also has some choice words, by implication at least, for the current, repressive McCarthyists running this country, and their chilling effect on the film industry—which somehow does everything it pleases, anyway. James Lileks noticed this and made the following pithy call and response:

Quote in today’s paper: “The world’s least free place for making movies is the US, because it has a fixed model.”

Ang Lee. Ang Lee. So how’s that Saudi distribution deal for “Brokeback” going, eh?

Read the rest here. First the NYTimes. Now Ang Lee. Maybe "global warming" is getting to these idiots.

New York Times Commits Treason Again

Astounding. After NYTimes and Washington Post "reporters" (read "leftist propagandists)won Pulitzer Prizes—and the qualified wrath of the Bush Administration they seek to destroy—the Administration made some motions toward calling them on the carpet for these obvious acts of treason. While such cases take time to build, apparently this pressure, such as it has been, was not enough to keep the Marxists at the Times from committing yet another act of treason, having been emboldened by the first. Luther's detailed his observations below, but I can't resist chiming in as well on this latest disgrace in a ounce-proud news business now nearly wholly in the hands of unelected Marxists, who, of course, don't need to be elected since they apparently don't recognize the duly elected representatives of the American government.

This time, the Times has, in spite of Administration please to hold the story, "uncovered" yet another intelligence operation that has actually netted terrorists! But no matter. After all, who at the Times gives a rat's ass about national security when you can blow the cover of U.S. intelligence activities and make Bush look bad. And probably win another Pulitzer in so doing.

The good folks at Power Line have some observations:

For my [Scott Johnson's] attempt to address the legal issues related to the Times's conduct, see the Standard column "Exposure," and for Gabriel Schoenfeld's, see his Commentary article "Has the New York Times violated the Espionage Act?" It is unfortunately past time for the Bush administration to enforce the laws of the United States against the New York Times. The Times and its likeminded media colleagues will undoubtedly continue to undermine and betray the national security of the United States until they are taught that they are subject to the same laws that govern the conduct of ordinary citizens, or until an enraged citizenry decides, like Bill Keller, to take the law into its own hands and express its disagreement some other way.

Keeping in mind that the Power Line guys are all attorneys, the above comments are not only accurate. They carry considerable weight. We can only hope that Attorney General Gonzalez is carefully building a case against the Times (and let's not forget the Post) and will bring it before a hanging judge before these arrogant bastards do it again. When you look at this kind of brazen disregard for national security, you are witnessing treasonous conduct, a violation of the U.S. Constitution, that approaches the territory of mass murder. Unbelievable. But being a leftist is never having to say you're sorry.

NY Times, Al Qaeda's Newspaper of Record?

A fresh barrage of criticism is erupting over the decision of The New York Times to disclose last night another classified surveillance program aimed at gathering information about terrorist plots...., New Furor Erupts As Spying Secret Is Compromised, Josh Gerstein, The NY Sun, 6/23/2006

Why hasn't the Justice Department moved on this so-called American newspaper? In the past year its editors have put American lives at risk by revealing the wing numbers of intelligence agency aircraft, compromised an intelligence gathering plan aimed at terrorist cells in the United States, and now this. One can guess why. The editors at this rag probably figure that, with US courts already severely compromised by law schools that turn out "lawyers" openly contemptuous of the Constitution and of duly-legislated law, the newspaper would probably win the case, setting a precedent for selling more subscriptions in Teheran, perhaps. Of all the disgraces that have occurred in the mass media during the last five years, those arising out of this newspaper top the list. To repeat the question, when is the Department of Justice going to act?

Luther

Murtha's Culture of Corruption

Last June, the Los Angeles Times reported how the ranking member on the defense appropriations subcommittee has a brother, Robert Murtha, whose lobbying firm represents 10 companies that received more than $20 million from last year's defense spending bill. 'Clients of the lobbying firm KSA Consulting -- whose top officials also include former congressional aide Carmen V. Scialabba, who worked for Rep. Murtha as a congressional aide for 27 years -- received a total of $20.8 million from the bill,' the L.A. Times reported...In early 2004, according to Roll Call, Mr. Murtha 'reportedly leaned on U.S. Navy officials to sign a contract to transfer the Hunters Point Shipyard to the city of San Francisco.' Laurence Pelosi, nephew of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, at the time was an executive of the company which owned the rights to the land. The same article also reported how Mr. Murtha has been behind millions of dollars worth of earmarks in defense appropriations bills that went to companies owned by the children of fellow Pennsylvania Democrat, Rep. Paul Kanjorski...., Jack Murtha and the 'Culture of Corruption', Front Page magazine, 6/23/2006

It's a tough break when even the lefty coast rag, The LA Times won't let a fellow lib off the hook which, incidentally, rhymes with crook,. Kudos to Front Page and to the LA Times for publishing this. Read it all. You may join the chorus:

Oh, those Democrats!
Every time they see a monster in the mirror,
they swear it's a Republican,
but damn, Jack Murtha,great warrior senator,
that mirror image you see is you!
That's right; that image is you!
And that feeling inside, that fear?
It's you, wanting to break the mirror!

Luther

Lileks Translates Demspeak

Jim Lileks is back in form on his Screed Blog, taking the Dems to task for endeavors that involve their only true area of expertise: twisting the language around until it means something else. Here's his opening fusillade:

The Democrats have many mantras and slogans: “grim milestone,” “hopeless quagmire,” “culture of corruption,” and “Karl Rove’s dingo ate my baby.” But for a while they’ve had one big overall slogan, dripping with gusto: “Together, America Can Do Better.”

Not will, or should, or must, but Can. It’s like saying “Together, Frenchmen can win a hot-dog speed eating contest.” Doesn’t mean it’s going to happen, or that you’d want to watch. But it’s typical of modern politics – something vague and patriotic, but not so patriotic it would unnerve a Dixie Chick. Together, America Should Be Greater! Together, America Might Go Further! Together, Democrats Can Win Elections! Providing the Republicans stay home.

[Bold emphasis above is from Wonker.]

Lileks is onto the essentially Gramscian tactic of manipulating the message until it supports the socialists without you really knowing it.

As a f'rinstance, he cites House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's brilliant tactic of making all Americans rich by raising the minimum wage:

Nancy Pelosi announced that should the Democrats retake the House, item #1 will be Bold and Sweeping: they will “give America a raise by increasing the minimum wage."

Apparently she believes that America makes the minimum wage. The population consists of industrial workers who get a dime each day for the number of fingers they haven’t lost to the machinery, a few million skinny Bob Cratchits shivering in underheated counting houses, and six plutocrats whose tight control over Consolidated Spats, Amalgamated Whalebone and other nefarious trusts keeps everyone poor and shoeless.

How right Jim is. I recall making a business trip to Woburn, Massachusetts, that hotbed of socialism, back in the mid-1980s. I stayed overnite in what was probably a Holiday Inn at the time, right across from a Micky D's restaurant. This was mid-Reagan, of course, he the destroyer of the working-class and at the time, another Republican opponent of the Dem's usual solution, raising the minimum wage, which, as I recall, was around $3.85. Mickey D's, of course, historically paid minimum wage at its stores, making it one of the Dems' favorite targets every election year for 'Rat demagoguing.

But what to my wondering eyes did appear? A big, handwritten sign in the front window of Mickey D's, advertising: HELP WANTED! $6.00 an hour plus benefits!

A little baffled by the apparent cognitive dissonance, I entered the store and spoke to the manager, saying something like, "What's the deal here? I thought McDonalds paid its starting help the minimum wage." He replied, "Well yes, we do, but each store takes care of itself. We can't find enough workers for minimum wage here, so we're having to offer more."

Hey, what a concept! Supply and demand. Except, perhaps, in certain rarified circumstances, all the Dems do when they force through these idiotic minimum wage increases is encourage businesses to make due with less employees, thus creating a situation of overwork for those with jobs at that level, while denying entry-level opportunities for those trying to get a toe-hold. Ironically, Pelosi is probably trying to suck up to the illegal alien vote. (Note: in case you weren't generally aware, they are permitted, off the record, do this in California all the time, since it ensures large 'Rat margins in general elections.) It might work, too. But in point of fact, every time the minimum wage goes up, it succeeds in depressing the hiring of minimum wage people, including the voters, illegal or otherwise, who vote for the boobs who propose this non-solution.

But here, in 1985, in the socialist paradise also known as Massachusetts, just a stone's throw from Boston, the laws of supply and demand were working just fine during that interregnum known privately in Dem-World and Tip O'Neill land as "Reagan's Evil Empire," forcing the slave-drivers at Mickey D's to offer a starting salary of $6.00 an hour—nearly 3 bucks more than the minimum wage at the time—just to get enough employees to keep this particular store open. What a concept. And without Nancy's (or Ted's) help, either!!

Meanwhile, back at Lileks, you'd really ought to read the whole Screed Blog, which elucidates further the manipulation of the English language in ways that Wonker finds truly awe-inspiring.

Slaughtered U.S. GI's: Where's the International Human Rights Outcry?

I've found the silence of the "human rights" community rather perplexing in light of the apparent beheading, dismemberment, desecration, and booby-trapping of what was left of two young American soldiers once the Islamofascist "holy warriors" caught up with them. (And so has Jeff Emanuel.) The military is being discreet, but it's clear that the final moments of these American heroes were somewhat less than pleasant, as they appear to have been tortured to death before the ritual butchery occurred.

We regularly hear of the "horrors" of Abu Ghraib where no Iraqi prisoners were killed by GIs who are now in the slammer for it. And the peacelovers from lefty organizations like Amnesty International constantly harp on the inhuman conditions in Guantanamo where the resident Islamofascist butchers get Korans and prayer rugs and politically correct diets and where none of them have been killed either. But why is it that when Americans are actually tortured and killed for real, there's no international outcry from the peaceniks? Could it be because these not-so-closeted Marxists have a double standard? Could it be that they're not really for "peace" at all, but the destruction of the United States?

Just wondering.

UPDATE: Belmont Club's Wretchard weighs in on the weasels at Amnesty International on this topic. Read his commentary here.

And "Nahr" to You, Too...

Building on a comment in the previous post, it's becoming pretty apparent that the two missing GI's in Iraq were indeed "slaughtered" by the Islamofascists, and also booby-trapped in the hopes of causing more death and mayhem. Obviously, the new Al Qaeda boy has to show his fellow thugs that he's just as nasty as the late Zarqawi who is currently roasting in Hades and has yet to spot a single virgin let alone 72.

The Anchoress observes that the "Geneva Convention Doesn't Fit Here:

It is very difficult to read the news of the deaths of our kidnapped soldiers. As a parent, all one can do is weep for the families of these men and pray for them, and pray for the people who boast of their “slaughter” while demanding their own be treated with kid gloves and accorded the treatment and considerations due real soldiers - the ones who wear uniforms and do not hide in shadows or shield themselves with children. (Imagine how many fewer innocent civilians would die if the Jihadists would just fight with honor).

Of course, The Anchoress is well aware of the answer to her own question when it comes to these thugs who apparently worship not Allah but Jason Voorhees. She and other bloggers are now wondering just how much play the Islamofascist torture issue is going to get in the anti-US MSM and blogosphere, vs. the screaming and howling that greeted, say, the "fake but accurate" flushing the Koran down the toilet story that burned up the headlines not so long ago, or the many lies smuggled out of Guantanamo by leftists who are willing to be the lackeys of these murderous idiots from the Middle East. (Of course, we and they already know the answer to that. Either silence. Or "blame it on Bush.")

The usual Islamofascists quickly rushed to claim credit for these latest buckets of blood, in a statement cited by The Anchoress:

The statement, which could not be authenticated, said the two soldiers were “slaughtered,” suggesting they had been beheaded. The Arabic word used in the statement, “nahr,” is used for the slaughtering of sheep by cutting the throat and has been used in past statements to refer to beheadings.

The Kos Kids have been cited for calling observations like ours "quaint." But even more quaint is the left's insistance that we play by the rules while the Islamofascists do what they please but cry "wolf" when we so much as give these murderers a dirty look.

But hey, who cares? Let's do more stories convicting (without trial) Marines who might have whacked a few Iraqis who may or may not have been terrorists. You wonder how lefty journos and bloggers can sleep at night. But what can one expect from folks who regularly find Bush far more "frightening" than the Sultans of "Nahr"?

Return of the Native

Wonker has finally returned from his (and Mrs. Wonker's) epic journey to far-off Mackinaw Island, smack dab between the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan, though closer to the Upper--home to a vast (if sparse) Republican majority making it different from the Lower Peninsula which remains home to the dwindling band of Democrat-Unionists who are determined to drive every last manufacturing job from this beautiful and delightful state before they finally turn the lights off forever. The people of Michigan deserve better, but they'll need to start changing their bad voting habits first. They might begin by kicking out their current Gov and voting for challenger Rich DeVos.

A nice several days at the Grand Hotel with old friends was not good preparation for our return to just-outside-the Beltway, where we are always recipients of the latest news about how bad we're doing in Iraq, how we've already lost Afghanistan, and how we'll lose the whole world after Iran closes out its oilfields and North Korea nukes Anchorage. Just another day in BushMcHitlerville, we'd guess.

But since we've taken to generally ignoring MSM memes (or trashing them as the case may be), they don't upset us too much, as the stories these days are based more on leftist fantasies than hard facts.

Not a lot happened while we were gone, save our long-awaited whacking of the murderous Zarqawi (downplayed with great intensity in the leftist media)and W's massive 1/2 point gain in the rigged polls that resulted. Of course, our media pals will be playing up the apparent mutilation and booby-trapping of two (unfortunately former) GIs by the latest jihadist to head up Zarqawi's Murder, Inc., offering this as proof once again that the Islamofascists can't be defeated. But you grow to expect this sort of thing. And besides, it's Bush's fault anyway.

The most heartening development since we've returned is the very real possibility that an attractive political newcomer, Diana Irey, is taking on and making considerable inroads against lefty favorite Congressman John Murtha, who apparently suffers from Alzheimer's disease induced by 32 years in Congress. Though a vet, he seems to have forgotten the meaning of the term "patriotism," forgetting as well what it means to young GI's on the firing line when a senior Congressperson disses their efforts on the battlefield by giving aid and comfort (and propaganda talking points) to the enemy. Irey is apparently closing on Murtha in his Dem-friendly Pennsylvania congressional district, which should give weak-kneed Dems some pause the next time they trash a war effort that citizens seem to understand even if the Kos Kidz don't. (Little Green Footballs calls these dudes "sick freaks," and if you read the previous link, you'll see why.) Maybe Murtha is trying to get an honorary appointment to the French Legion of Honor from fellow surrender expert Jack ("The Hack") Chirac, eh? Who knew?

As Wonk settles back into the routine here at work, more and more things are bound to arise to inspire fresh, brilliant rants, so stay tuned. And once again, thanx to the intrepid Luther for keeping the pot stirred last week!

Greetings from the Grand Hotel

Wonk just wanted his legion of fans to know why he's been conspicuous by his absence lately.

First of all, for what seemed like 2-3 days last week, Blogger was either down for repairs or unresponsive. A little irritating, but since the service generally operates quite smoothly (and doesn't cost us anything) it would probably be churlish to complain, except for causing Wonk to miss the opportunity to express his extreme pleasure in the successful US-Iraqi campaign to send Zarqawi to a permanent and very real hell where, I'm sure, he was surprised to find a complete lack of compliant virgins.

Mr. and Mrs. Wonker are now vacationing at the absolutely wondrous Grand Hotel on Mackinaw Island smack dab between the Lower and Upper Peninsulas of Michigan. When folks talk about the Rust Belt they are mostly referencing their impression of flyover country as exemplified by Cleveland and Detroit. What they forget (and what East and West Coasters don't care about) is that Michigan contains some of the most stunningly beautiful places on the North American continent, and Mackinaw Island is one of them.

The island is accessible only by ferry either from Mackinaw City on the LP or St. Ignace on the UP. And, mirabile dictu, you leave your car on the mainland. Since the turn of the last century, the automobile has been banned, and transportation is only by horse, horse-drawn carriage, or horse-drawn taxi. Or, if you want a bit of exercise, hundreds if not thousands of rental bicycles are available for your cycling pleasure.

The Grand Hotel is well over 100 years old and is done in the grand style of legendary places like the Greenbrier in West Virginia. However, it's remarkably unknown to media types who prefer to sneer at the vast spaces of this country that God carelessly tossed in between Really Important Places like New York, Washington, and La-La Land. Thus, it's left to poor saps like Mr. and Mrs. Wonker to luxuriate in fine rooms, luxury amenities, brilliant meals on the nearly full American Plan, and, of course, to dress formally for dinner after 6 which is served to the accompaniment of a fine jazz combo. Apres, one can adjourn for a demi-tasse in the wondrously huge parlor and be serenaded by a solo harp or other ensemble. At which point, promptly at 9:30, one can further enjoy dancing in the ballroom to the sounds of an accomplished troupe of musicians who traverse the vast territory somewhere between big band and Joe Cocker.

Hiking, boating, and exercising one's obligations to perform under the Trickle Down Economic Theory in town (whereby the enterprising townspeople extricate tourist dollars--tastefully, of course) round out one's delightful stay.

Mr. and Mrs. M will conclude festivities here tomorrow evening, hitting Frankenmuth (where Bonner's sells amazing Christmas stuff all year) and Greenfield Village, where Henry Ford transported pieces of the known universe to Dearborn, MI, will round out the holiday before the W's return to bustling DC and whatever fresh hells await them at the workplace. (Enterprising folks are roundly punished for their vacations by the neverending backlog that faces them when they return.)

Spending time on Mackinaw and in the Grand Hotel (where scenes from the Christopher Reeve-Jane Seymour tearfest Somewhere in Time were filmed, several just down the hall from the W's suite) is a wonderful trip back in time, albeit an expensive one. Those who are accustomed to denigrate the intellect and taste of Midwesterners would do well to sample this little oasis of good manners, fine dining, and overall fine taste before they start predicting the outcome of the fall election. Most of the hotel's clientele is pretty well off. On the other hand, many of the folks who come here are of more modest means and are, perhaps, doing a once-in-a-decade blowout vacation, a honeymoon, or a significant wedding anniversary (like our companions). But all are intelligent, diverse, and individualistic thinking human beings. Their wide divergence of opinion on everything ranging from illegal immigration to anything else you might think of would surprise.

See you again in a few days, and thanks to Luther for holding down the fort!

Education: Something Is Happening...

And even Chronicle of Higher Education readers do know what it is.

Yes, tenure also protects a small percentage of highly visible, career-driven, ideological extremists. But they are disdained by the majority of moderate professors. Freedom of speech sometimes means letting the Klan demonstrate. And education with character means giving teachers the protection they need to uphold standards. Otherwise, you might as well send your children on a four-year cruise...It's time to restore tough love to higher education or just call the whole thing off...., A Tough Love Manifesto for Professors, Thomas H. Benton

Prof. Benton isn't quite secure enough in his assault on the latest con in higher education to use his (or her?) own name yet, but the venue, the professional journal of higher ed, suggests that something is going on that we ought to know about. As discussed before, the bizarre, and by many accounts disastrous, 1970s pedagogy from primary and secondary education called child-centered education is now being applied at the university level. There it's called student centered education. In this pedagogy, the student guides his or her education. This is about like saying "given a choice between doing the calculus problems, playing Grand Theft Auto (IV? V? VI?), or going to an Online Casino, what should a student do?" Benton lays it down directly:

Students are not customers...teachers are not [their] employees...I will manage the class in a professional manner; that may include educating you in appropriate behavior. I will prepare carefully for every class. I will begin and end class on time. I will teach only in areas of my professional expertise. If I do not know something, I will say so. I will conduct scholarly research and publication with the aim of making myself a more informed teacher. I will return your assignments quickly with detailed feedback. I will pursue the maximum punishment for plagiarism, cheating, and other violations of academic integrity. I will keep careful records of your attendance, performance, and progress....(Tough Love Manifesto...continued, Chronicle of Higher Education...)

He's not blind to the realities of tenure-seeking, however.

It's probably safe to say that more than two-thirds of college teaching is now done by people who are routinely punished for maintaining standards. The professional survival of untenured faculty members depends on processing large numbers of students without making waves....(Tough Love Manifesto...continued, Chronicle of Higher Education...)

"Benton" has written a series of articles on this subject, including The 7 Deadly Sins of Professors and The 7 Deadly Sins of Students. I'd pay attention. Something is happening and we ought to encourage what it is.

Luther

One MSM Couldn't Conceal

Au revoir, Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi.

And let's hope that the ACLU doesn't decide that an F16 air raid on a terrorist, mass murderer violates the Geneva convention.

Luther

John Kerry: Off the Record and Off His Rocker

In the news biz, if someone tells you something "off the record" you're not supposed to print it, although, I suppose, you could gossip about it or quote it indirectly without attribution if you were feeling slightly churlish. But it's one of those little rules of honor that keep the news flowing, more or less. At least that's the theory.

Lefty wackos, however, care for no rules but their own, as Amerikkka's most bourgeois excuse for a leftist found out recently:

Failed presidential candidate John Kerry blasted President Bush on Thursday as a "criminal" who has been "looting the country."

The Massachusetts Democrat offered the incendiary comments during an off the record meeting with liberal bloggers after a speech in Los Angeles to the Pacific Council on International Policy.

According to the Web site L.A. Observed, Kerry asked the bloggers to keep his comments confidential; a request they apparently dismissed out of hand without telling him.

Blogger "Hollywood Liberal" reports that Kerry "agreed completely with someone's assessment that everything that Bush does is solely for the purpose of looting the country."

Gotta love it. If you want more you can find it here.

Hat tip to Little Green Footballs for digging out this gem.

When you see the people of Massachusetts electing Stalinist-elitists like Kerry and Kennedy each and every year, you really have to wonder who's mixing the Kool-Aid in that state.

When you watch the ongoing antics, bloviating, and preening of John Kerry, and the Dems' other notorious loser, Ozone Al Gore, no sane individual can have any doubt as to why George W. Bush, for all his virtues and faults, won both elections.

Calling CBS: Anyone in Iran?

Our local CBS News radio outlet has reported endlessly on the "insurgent" (i.e., terrorist and thug) attack on 3 of the network's newspeople, two of whom were killed by an IED while another is lying severely injured in a German hospital. We regret the carnage, and don't mean to diminish it. But why was CBS hanging out in always-dangerous Anbar province, attempting to work the "we're losing in Iraq" meme while the probable funders of the perps—the Iranian mullah-cracy—is having serious problems with ethnic violence over in its own Islamofascist paradise. The problems have been scarcely mentioned in the MSM, but they are serious and growing worse and more violent. According to Gateway Pundit:

Pan Armenian News is one source reporting a slaughter of Azeri protesters in Tehran:

The elemental rally of South Azerbaijanis next to the Iranian Parliament building on May 28 was suppressed with special cruelty. Iranian authorities used (Yegani Bizhe) the Special Punitive Guard, which opened fire to suppress manifestations of Azerbaijanis, says a statement of the Committee for Protection of Rights of South Azerbaijan. The message says that during mass protest in Iran 50 Azeris were killed, 600 were wounded, over 1000 are arrested.

But, significantly, the MSM were far away from this important story, busy covering one of their own or trying to tar the Marines with the closest thing they can find to a a My Lai meme in Iraq. No doubt they are avoiding the significant events in Iran. Reporting this story can't help them in waging their war against President Bush and the American people. Stay tuned, and we'll try to keep you posted, even if the networks won't.

Should DC Police Train in Iraq?

Iraqi civilian death statistics complied by Rep. Steve King, R-IA, indicate that, contrary to the impression made on the evening news, Iraq actually has a lower civilian violent death rate than Washington, D.C., and pre-Katrina New Orleans. Iraq is also substantially safer than several foreign countries...., Iraq: Safer than D.C., Andrew Walden, Frontpagemag.com, 6/1/2006

And D.C. and New Orleans are Democrat towns! See, in D.C. and New Orleans, slaughtering civilians is all right, as long as you don't do it trying to stop someone having an abortion.

Luther