Watcher's council Nominations, 10/03/07

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, the infamous Watcher of Weasels


Do take the time and check out the non-Council links..they are always rewarding.


Here's this week's Council lineup....

1. JOSHUAPUNDIT: What Ahmadinejad Was 100% Right About Iran's President Ahmadinejad had some things to say at Columbia University, and on one major point, I'm in total agreement with him, especially when you examine it from the cultural standpoint of his real audience, the Muslim world.

I examine what he was correct on and how it turned Ahmadinejad's Columbia appearence into a major win for him, rather than the `humiliation' some commentators are talking about.

2. Done With Mirrors: Carrots, Sticks, Poisoned Apples Callimachus shows off his historian's chops by identifying correctly the `poisoned apple' in the garden of American politics - the consolidation of power in the Federal Government. As he points out, the intensity of screed on the Left about the Bush Administration's `march towards fascism' is largely a factor of the Bush Administration's ineptitude rather than any sinister plot or new trend.


3. Soccer Dad: The Unraveling Narrative This week Soccer Dad had a great post that covers the slow but steady unraveling of one of the biggest lies ever told and abetted by the dinosaur media....the so-called `shooting' of Mohammed Al-Dura.

The picture of Al-Dura crouching with his father in a crossfire shortly before the child was shot by those mean, vicious Israelis was used throughout the world and particularly in the Middle East as an inflammatory image and, in effect, a blood libel against the Jewish State.For some reason, the Israeli government never bothered to deal with this until recently.

As is now becoming apparent, this was nothing more than a `Pallywood' production, and Al-Dura, if he was shot at all, was murdered by Arafat's thugs in front of a French camera crew positioned in advance. The Atlantic Monthly's `Who Shot Mohammed Al-Dura', a year or so old but still available online is excellent background reading on this scam for interested parties.

Or, as Yasir Arafat once famously said, "I've killed for my cause. Don't you think I would lie for it?"

4. The Glittering Eye : China's Sphere Of Influence Dave examines Burma (Myanmar) in the light of its connection to China, and compares it with other repressive regimes that also have become part of China's sphere of influence.

I think we're dealing with two separate areas here.A country/basket case like North Korea is important to China because it's on their borders, and historically the Chinese have been very careful to influence and control the regimes on those borders as much as possible.

For the others, what it comes down to, in my mind is that the Chinese are simply the ultimate lassiz-faire capitalists, who will buy and sell with anyone provided there's profit to be had or an objective to be achieved. And of course, the oil for sale in Myanmar, the Sudan and Iran doesn't hurt either.

For that matter, the Chinese have considerable influence here in America - just ask the Clintons.

5. Bookworm Room: Ward And June Cleaver Revisited Ms. Bookworm takes an interesting look at the roles of husband and wife in a marriage then and now,and draws some interesting conclusions on how things have evolved and how it's affected the actual happiness within marriage for men and women. I think she's spot on, generally speaking.

6. Rhymes With Right:Pelosi On Anti-Christian poster For S-M Fest Greg takes umbrage at Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi refusal to condemn a poster mocking Christianity used to promote a taxpayer funded gay event in San Francisco, the Folsom Street Fair.

One can only imagine what Ms. Pelosi would say if that poster mocked Islam, the Left's second favorite religion.

7.Colossus of Rhodey:Oh No! Dearth Of Gays On Network Tube! Hube does the numbers and concludes that gay characters on TV in general are actually skyrocketing.

Since I don't have television in my home, the only comment I'll make in general is that it has always presented a fantasy world and has never presented a true representation of America.

8. Cheat Seeking Missiles: Reporter-God Sy Hersh's Dixie Chick Moment Der Spiegal is an amazing publication, with consistently good writing. Here, Laer writes on an interview they did with New York Times reporter Sy Hersh on a recent piece he did on Iran, and spotlights Hersh's rote, inane replies to serious questions.As someone who has repeatedly and cheerfully revealed classified information publicly to our enemies in wartime, I can't imagine why Hersh hasn't been brought up on charges yet..but I digress.

9. Can American Culture Survive the Constant MSM Onslaught? by Okie On The Lam This week, Okie writes about the ongoing assault on American culture by the dinosaur media.

It's pretty obvious to me, and has been for some time that lots of these people are simply not patriotic...and by that I mean having a sincere affection for the country, the people and its institutions. What's more, average Americans have reacted to that by voting with their feet and will continue to do so.

In general, I have great faith in the common sense of my fellow Americans. I think our beloved country and its culture will survive as long as we want it to, regardless of what some posturing apes do on television or in the New York Times.

10. Right Wing Nuthouse: Man Without A Party Rick bids farewell to the Republican Party and his frustration is quite obvious. He's by no means alone on either side of the aisle, but it remains to be seen how permanent that divorce is for ex-Republicans when faced with the prospect of Hillary Clinton as president.

11.The Education Wonks:Boondoggle Chronicles: Public Housing For The Affluent EdWonk highlights a program for public housing in Fairfax County, Virginia that is being taken advantage of by families with six figure incomes...while the agency in charge does little if anything about it.


12. Big Lizards: Gratefully Not Dead: Iraq Civilian and US Military Deaths Plummet Daffyd Ab Hugh writes about the lowered death toll among both our military and Iraqi civilians and finds evidence therein that our strategy in Iraq continues to work successfully.

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