Sadly, No!

Quiddity over at Uggabugga asks:

That GAO report:

… saying that there is little progress in Iraq, is a stab in the back. Right?

Let’s go ask Dan Riehl.

Playing Politics With Terrorism And War

While Hillary Clinton continues to take some flak for playing politics with terrorism, will there be a sound about the obvious playing of politics concerning war, given these quotes below from a WaPo article on the leaking of a draft GAO report designed to undermine support for the war in Iraq? And isn’t leaking potentially classifiable material before it has an opportunity to be classified basically as criminal as leaking it after the fact?

So yes, in Dan’s America, it doesn’t matter whether information is actually classified or not: If it’s potentially classifiable, it’s a criminal act to leak it. And since negative information about the war is never value-neutral, but is ‘designed to undermine,’ such a leak is also a moral crime, and a stab-in-the-back (i.e., a dolchstoss).

…That is, if the information treasonously makes Republicans or their programs look bad. Otherwise, you know, ‘free speech.’

Here’s how Dan brings it home (emphasis his):

The person who provided the draft report to The Post said it was being conveyed from a government official who feared that its pessimistic conclusions would be watered down in the final version — as some officials have said happened with security judgments in this month’s National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq.

More likely said government official feared recent polling and reporting suggesting a general increase in support for our efforts in Iraq.

Cowardly saboteurs are forever scheming, etc.

From the Larry Craig arrest tape:

Craig: “I sit down, um, to go to the bathroom and ah, you said our feet bumped. I believe they did, ah, because I reached down and scooted over and um, the next thing I knew, under the bathroom divider comes a card that says Police. Now, um, (sigh) that’s about as far as I can take it, I don’t know of anything else. Ah, your foot came toward mine, mine came towards yours, was that natural? I don’t know. Did we bump? Yes. I think we did. You said so. I don’t disagree with that.”

Sergeant: “Okay. I don’t want to get into a pissing match here.”

Indeed not! Then again, who doesn’t love a challenge?

Via Newsbusters.

I think the strip is actually getting better. It’s less driven by bizarre non-sequiturs than it used to be.

Dear Red Sox,

All you had to do was not get swept by the Yankees this week. That’s all you had to do. And now you’re going to get swept. Jesus Christ, I hate you. I hate you all.

Universal Soldiers: Future Drugs May Reduce Fighters’ Nerves, Stress, Pain, Fear, and Even Post-Traumatic Shock

Above: A.O. Spades

• Perhaps I’m not a soldier, but insofar as my experience playing Quake translates to the realities on the ground in Iraq, I should like to say that running over stim packs increases gibbing and is awesome.

‘Shorter’ concept created by Daniel Davies and perfected by Elton Beard.

Bonus Shorter Ace Of Spades HQ:

An Open Letter of Sorts to New Orleans:

• God, will you whining losers in New Orleans never freaking shut up? Update: Made some changes to keep from sounding as though I’m indicting the people of New Orleans.

That they never really learn (dadun-dun duh-duh)…

Allawi’s Inside Track?

[…]

I confess that I have a much greater tolerance for these sorts of creative approaches to national sovereignty and democratic change when I have any confidence the puppeteers have a clue what they’re doing. But, that said, it would seem Mr. Allawi may be the coming man to continue Iraq’s democratic revolution.

(Via.)

Yes, yes; I know. I’m an asshole and a purist, what with my insistent refrain that ‘it’s the Imperialism, stupid.’ Yes, Marshall is an excellent reporter. Yes, he is anti-Bush. Blah-blah-blah. I’m just saying: That’s not nearly enough. Marshall confirms that while he may never be pro-war again in a time of a Republican presidency, he’s still willing to play neocongames if the puppeteers identify as Democratic (which, with foreign policy centrists like Obama and Clinton in the running, is a likely scenario). So, while it’s great that our Serious Liberal Journalists are now — after all that’s happened — suspicious of crusades that might be instigated by, say, Bill Kristol and Max Boot, they’ll still be up for those instigated by, say, Ivo Daalder and John Ikenberry. In other words, they’re against silly imperialism, but still more than open to ‘smart’ imperialism. Yeah, goody goody.

John “Chicken” Hawkings at Right Wing News has licked the Andy Capp’s Hot Fries dust from his fingers for some serious typing.

Above: “Red Six standing by…”

A Public Bathroom Is Not A Gay Pick-Up Bar

Amazingly, Larry Craig’s arrest has prompted more than a few people to come out and imply or outright say that you should be able to legally use public bathrooms like a gay pick-up bar.

As in, to get a low-key drink at a place with a witty bartender and Amy Winehouse on the jukebox? Put us down for that! (It’s all been trending upward in the airport-men’s-room arena since the changing tables started appearing.) What follows, though, is two quotes from Garance Franke-Ruta and Slate’s Jacob Weisberg saying that tapping your foot in a certain way in a bathroom doesn’t, in fact, seem to be against the law. But Hawkins is flummoxing onward like a steam train made of angry veal, and will not be stopped by puny words.

What? Is the cop supposed to have let Craig into his stall so that he could whip his Johnson out in the middle of the public bathroom? Because obviously, that’s where it was going. He was sending what is, apparently (I have no idea what foot signals gay men use to show interest in bathroom stalls and don’t want to know) a sign that he wanted sex from the officer. That’s not much different than handing a prostitute her fee in my book and we accept that as being good enough for an arrest.

As to Garance Franke-Ruta’s assertion that turning a public bathroom into a dating service is fine by her, all I can say is that she’s morally retarded. There’s a time and place for everything and a public bathroom in an airport is neither when it comes to sex.

‘When it comes to sex’ is becoming a long wait indeed for Hawkins, but it’s good to know that he can still be philosophical about it.

Upcoming at Right Wing News:

“A Gay Pick-Up Bar Is Not a Public Bathroom!”

“A Public Bathhouse Is Not a Private Gay Bedroom!”

“A Pirate Barroom Is Not A Public Gay Bed Bath And Beyond!”

“My Gay Pickup Truck Isn’t Your Private Snickers Bar!”

“Blixa Bargeld Is Not a Public Gay Hiccup Room!”

Like something else we can think of, he can milk this for a long time.

Senator Craig Should Resign

Above: Hewitt

• Senator Craig’s behavior is so outrageous, in this time of war, that we are compelled to accept a Republican replacement for him — in contrast to the diaper fetishist David Vitter (R-LA), the appointed replacement for whom would be a Democrat.

‘Shorter’ concept created by Daniel Davies and perfected by Elton Beard.

Rebuilding New Orleans: A Continuing Mistake

Above: Southern culture on the skids

• Alas, the blame and blame-shifting for 9/11 will continue, with many alleging that President Bush made certain misjudgments — but the real issue is how stupid it was to build a Ground Zero right in the middle of Manhattan, where terrorists could fly planes into it.

‘Shorter’ concept created by Daniel Davies and perfected by Elton Beard.

Bonus Shorter Confederate Yankee:

• Alas, the blame and blame-shifting for the Minneapolis bridge collapse will continue, with many alleging that the Republican neglect of public infrastructure played a role — but the real issue is how stupid it was to build a highway that was suspended in the air over a river.

Dennis Prager explains what he’s learned in his attempts to understand leftist positions:

Many people who hold them are personally decent, some very much so — yet they hold positions that I believe increase cruelty (e.g., advocating withdrawal from Iraq); increase criminality (e.g., more lenient attitudes toward punishing criminals); hasten the decline of Western society (e.g., pushing multiculturalism); and undermine liberty (e.g., expanding government, passing more and more laws, taking away ever larger percentages of citizens’ money).

Gosh, when you lay it out like that, I feel grateful for Prager’s generous assessment of my personal decency.

They also panic easily (e.g., heterosexual AIDS in America, carbon dioxide emissions leading to global catastrophe); and the further left one goes, the more morally confused they are (e.g., the inability to label the Soviet Union an “evil empire”; the exaggeration of America’s flaws — it is sexist, imperialist, racist, homophobic — and the undervaluing of its virtues).

If I were a prayin’ man I’d get down on my knees and thank God that I live in a country that allows me to hold such dangerous viewpoints and express them publicly.

A lot of countries wouldn’t grant me that luxury, y’know. I mean, not during a time of war.