Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Watcher's Council Nominations, 11/15/06




Every week, the Watcher's Council nominate two posts each, one from the Council members and one from outside for consideration by the whole Council. The complete list of this week's Council nominations can be found at Watcher of Weasels


1. J O S H U A P U N D I T: The March of Folly In my piece this week, I write about the message and meaning of the `06 elections to the American public and to our enemies..why it occured, how people aren't getting something very different than what they think they voted for and what we have to look forward to in the next two years.

2. Gates of Vienna: It’s Much Too Late to Worry Dymphna's take on the elections is much gloomier than mine..and involves a reminiscence concerning her son and folksinger Al Stewart.

3. Done With Mirrors: Santorum's daughter One of the hallmarks of the Left - and one of the many things they share with Islamic fascism - is the extreme viciousness with which they pursue their percieved `enemies', with absolutely nothing out of bounds...because, after all, they have the moral high ground, right? A case in point, which Callimachus writes about, is the shameful glee with which some members of the left enjoyed over defeated GOP Senator Rick Santorum's 8 year old daughter breaking into tears on camera when her father lost the election.


4. Soccer Dad: One-sided diehl Soccer Dad writes about another of the Left's useful idiots, columnist Jackson Diehl and his take on Middle East Peace. It never ceases to amaze me how columnists like Diehl (and he's by no means alone) can continue to pontificate in print year after year and still remain employed even when their opinions and predictions have been proven not only foolish but factually wrong, time after time.



5. AbbaGav :: Don't Cry For Me Bangalore AbbaGav does an excellent, in depth interview with a victim of what he calls `globatization'..himself!


6. Right Wing Nut House: THE SLAUGHTER OF THE MODERATES Rick opines that the GOP has become `ideologically monochromatic' and shrunken geographically, with the defeat of what he refers to as Northeastern and Midwestern moderates. I don't entirely agree with him, or entirely disagree. For instance, I consider this election largely a referendum on President Bush's leadership..and I hardly consider him a `conservative'. Neither do I consider the`06 elections as indicative of a long term trend, as events will overtake us. I actually agree with Charles Krauthammer that both parties moved right. Unfortunately, conservative Democrats are going to get hammered because of the nature of the party's leadership..old leftists who date from the Vietnam and Watergate era.


7. The Sundries Shack: How To Disagree Civilly… Jimmie Bise writes on that lost art...debating and disagreeing in a civilized fashion. Sometmes, I think we're all becoming Jerry Springer!

8. Rhymes With Right: An Interesting Exclusion Greg's take on the arcane nature of `identity politics' and how it plays out in the MSM.When is a black person not a black person?

9. ShrinkWrapped: Leftist Bankruptcy in a Time of Abundance ShrinkWrapped includes a number of different themes in this post...which, essentially, is about defeatism. He compares the historic aspects of tribalism, in which the members of the tribe understood that
competition and victory were about survival with the attitude of today's Left, which actually appears to endorse defeat for their own `tribe' on arcane, altruistic grounds. As an example, he uses the Boston Globes' James Carroll, who likes the idea of an American `defeat' in Iraq and wonders if we're enough of a happenin' country of morally upright globalists to accept it gracefully as our just desserts. Of course,useful idiots like Carrol still fantasize that we can simply ignore Islamic fascism and it will simply go away.

The fallacy of that kind of reasoning will be written in blood, and sooner than many people think.

In another part of his post, ShrinkWrapped suggests that President Bush allow Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid to listen in on his daily briefings so they can see the reality of what our enemies are up to. What, we need more intel leaks?


10. The Glittering Eye: You’ve caught the firetruck. Now what? Dave reacts to a Ralph Peters piece on advice to various parties on Iraq after the elections.

11. The Education Wonks: Pledgeless In Calfornia The Bible says there's nothing new under the sun. This news story about a group of California college students brought to mind the 1938 declaration by the students of Oxford, England that they refused to fight for their King and country.

Of course, the little darlings are just parroting what they've been taught by their teachers..academia is the hiding place of choice for the Angry Left.

12. AMERICAN FUTURE - The Politics of Iraq Marc says that writer Mark Steyn is all wet when he says that the new Democratic leadership in Congress is going to pull out prematurely in Iraq.

Based on what they've said and what the constituency of the Democratic leaders of congress will want, as opposed to the more moderate frshmen who were just elected, I think the heliocopters will be leaving Baghdad in less than six months.

For the record, since the Bush Administation, who turned a brilliant military victory into the sorry situation we see today has no intention of fighting the war offensively or properly, I say we leave ASAP...though for strategic reasons, I'd love to see the US team up with a strong, independent Kurdisatsn and have our bases there. Don't look for that to happen with the New Order in charge. A piece by Steyn recounting his meeting with President Bush entitled `Where's the Offense' expresses my view on this quite well.


That's this week's lineup..enjoy!

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