J O S H U A P U N D I T

Every week, the Watcher's Council members 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 the site of our fearless leader, Watcher of Weasels


OK, here's this week's lineup:

1. J O S H U A P U N D I T: Squeeze play: How the Palestinian summit in Mecca overturned Bush's Middle East policy The Mecca agreement between the two Palestinian mafia `families' Hamas and Fatah is yet another failure for the Bush Administration's Middle East policy. It has far reaching implications for American foreign policy in the region, especially since it was midwifed by our `eternal friends' the Saudis.

In this week's piece, I examine the agreement and what it signifies.


2. Done With Mirrors: What a tangled web Callimachus has an interesting piece in which he comments on the Netherland's civic-run "playgroups" offered for small children accompanied by a parent or guardian...that are gender segregated and only allow adult women in an effort to appease Muslim sensibilities.

Cal makes the point that segregation to cosset cultural norms is bizarre in itself, and while he doesn't state this directly, he's too smart not to see that this type of one way segregation is racist bullying.

The simple truth is that Islamic culture and western freedom don't mix, and trying to change our cultural mores to suit Islam is cultural suicide..inch by inch.

Should that be a problem for Muslims who live in the West, there are any number of Muslim countries that can accommodate them.

3.Soccer Dad: Undocumented Soccer Dad has certainly gotten a lot of mileage out of the WAPO lately. Here, his fine effort fisks a particularly inane WAPO editorial on the Mecca Summit. Definitely a worthwhile read...


4. Right Wing Nut House : OBAMA AND THE ASSASSINATION FACTOR This week Rick succumbs to Obama fever. Here he talks about the likelyhood of Barack Hussein Obama being assassinated as a `threat' because he is a SERIOUS BLACK presidential candidate.

Rick needn't worry. Obama is, essentially, an empty suit with no chance of winning unless something amazing happens, much of his support comes from silly white leftists rather than blacks and frankly, while anti-black racism exists, it is nowhere near the threat it was in the 1960's. Obama's Muslim friendly background, marxist views and adulation for anti-Semites like Malcolm X is far more threatening.

5. The Sundries Shack: At Least He Speaks the Truth Here Jimmie seizes on the admission by Newsweak's that bashing President Bush is their job, rather than simply reporting the news!

Well, that and releasing classified memos and documents....a great job by Jimmie as usual.

6. Rhymes With Right: Televise Supreme Court Here, Greg makes a strong argument for televising the proceedings of the Supreme Court.

7.The Glittering Eye :What to do when a dog is lost Here, Dave Schuler writes a heartfelt essay about the steps he took to find his lost dog, and passes on his experience for others who might be faced with a similar situation.

8. AMERICAN FUTURE - The Blogosphere and American Politics Marc reflects on the controversy surrounding presidential candidate John Edwards' foul mouthed bloggers, and reflects that the problem is about to become even worse.


9. The COLOSSUS OF RHODEY: More thoughts on "articulate" More Obama...here Hube has an interesting bit. he talks about the characterization of Barack Hussein Obama as `articulate' and how, while many whites consider it a compliment, some blacks would consider it condescending.

He also works in the `ebonics' question, as if to emphasize that to some blacks `talking white', ie speaking correct, grammatical English is considered race treason!

I can settle this, at least as far as Barack Hussein Obama is concerned. To me, `articulate' implies that someone has a facile and skillful way of communicating ideas of substance. Based on that,Barack Hussein Obama may be verbose, but far from articulate!

10. Francis W. Porretto:On The Abuse Of Religion In Politics Francis likewise examines the issue of the Edwards bloggers...but from a uniquely Catholic perspective, and decries the abuse of religion on the campaign trail.

11. San Francisco has bigger scandals than a debauched mayor- Bookworm Room Ms. Bookworm uses the extramarital hanky panky of SF mayor Gavin Newsome to illustrate that the Bay Area has lots more going wrong than a little adultery in high places - like the radicalization and jihadization of San Francisco State University and the near kidnap of Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel. The alliance of the Angry Left and radical Islam is a fact, and it's high time we recognized it.

I lived in Baghdad-by-the-Bay for close to three years in the early 80's, and as a single, straight male had an absolutely wonderful and libidinous time there. The City has changed quite a bit since then, to the point where I hardly recognize it...and seldom return.


12.The Education Wonks: Was This Teacher "Framed" By A Computer Run Amok EdWonk examines the case of a teacher tried and convicted of allowing seventh graders to view pornographic material in her Connecticut classroom....which she claims was in the form of `popups' while they were surfing the web. Apparently the computers filtering software had expired...zounds!!

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