Watcher's Council Nominations, 6/25/08

Every week, the Watcher's Council members nominate two posts each, one of their own and one from outside the group 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 to check out the non-Council links available at the Watcher's site as well - they're always worthwhile.


So here's this week's Council lineup...enjoy!

Warped Joshuapundit - There's a certain warped mentality existing in somebody so desperately wedded to a political agenda, to a certain 'script' that they're willing to bend the truth or willfully ignore certain basic facts when they don't fit..especially if they don't have to live with the consequences. Nicholas Kristoff provides us with a fine example this week as he writes a farcical op-ed about Israel and the so-called 'occupation'.

As I reveal, Kristoff seems to have little or no knowledge about the Arab-Israeli conflict beyond what he 'feels'. And the reality is that as long as people of this ilk continue to fail to hold the Palestinians accountable for their murderous tribal mentality and or to make them pay a significant price for it, the two-states-living-in-peace-next -to-each-other mantra these people keep chanting will remain a fantasy.

More Quincy Done With Mirrors - Callimachus shows off his historian's chops in a nice piece on John Quincy Adams, a president he wishes some of our current leaders would emulate more.

Moonbat Kucinich Wants to Impeach Bush The Colossus of Rhodey -This week Hube looks at Congressman Dennis Kucinich's articles of impeachment just entered into Congress. Two minor quibbles...first of all, it's not Kucinich's fault that these are surfacing now. Kucinich wanted to introduce these long before but was held up by congressional procedure and the fact that the House Democrat leadership put considerable roadblocks in the way, prefering to keep Bush in office as an unpopular incumbent rather than appearing as a bunch of hysterical vindictive partisan fools. Here's a shocker for some of you - I disagree with Dennis Kucinich on any number of issues, but I have enormous respect for his personal courage and integrity, especially compared to a great many other congressmen. Doing this took a certain amount of political courage, even if he's dead wrong.

Second, there's absolutely no comparison between Bill Clinton and George W. Bush when it comes to impeachable offenses, and I say that as no great fan of the current occupant of the White House. President Clinton was guilty on several counts of two felonies, perjury and obstruction of justice, which is why he was disbarred...and that's just the stuff they were able to prove fairly easily. While President Bush has made a number of very questionable decisions while in office, I'm not aware of any felonies he may have committed.

Left Continues Denigration of McCain's Military Service, POW Heroism Rhymes With Right - Greg sees a pattern in Leftist attempts to minimize and disparage John McCain's military record. Considering how most of these people obviously feel about the military, it's hardly surprising, especially with an election looming.

South Africa's Neville Chamberlain The Razor - Scott looks at South African president Thabo Mbeki and compares his failure to pressure Zimbabwe's thug - in -chief Robert Mugabe with the failures of British PM Neville Chamberlain prior to WWII, and questions why Mbeki has been so ineffectual with Mugabe.

If I might offer a suggestion, I think it has to do with the long-standing ties between Mugabe and the ANC leadership of South Africa, back when both of them were terrorizing their respective countries . People have largely forgotten how brutal and thuggish those `freedom' movements were. Mugabe obviously knows where a lot of bodies are buried, so to speak, and the last thing Mbeki and the current rulers of South Africa want is stories of the bad old days tarnishing their image. Easier by far to keep things low key and wait for the ranting old killer to die off, along with the sordid details he's been privy to, I think.

Dick Morris Gets One Right Hillbilly White Trash - Lem has a fine post in which he expands on a column by Dick Morris that equates Obama's 'law enforcement' approach to combatting Islamic fascism with the failed approach of the Clinton years..and then compares it with the successes of a primarily military approach to the problem.

The Whole Shebaa-ng Soccer Dad - Soccer Dad examines the demands on Israel by to relinqish the strategic Mount Dov area to Hezbollah and the hypocrisy behind it. As he correctly points out, Israel captured the area in 1967 from Syria in response to Syrian aggression. Not only that, but when the Israeli Army left southern Lebanon, it went to considerable pains to have the UN demarcate the borders under Resolution 425 so that there would be no doubt about Israel remaining in any Lebanese territory, and the resolution specifically states that the area in question is part of Syria.

Of course, none of that matters when it comes to dealings with Israel. They're being pressured from various parties to relinquish the area to Hezbollah as a 'sacrifice for peace'. If they do it, they're absolute fools.

When you voluntarily give up strategic territory on your borders in a vacuum without ensuring that a friendly or at least neutral party has control, this is what happens. Had the Israelis established a friendly buffer state in South Lebanon controlled by a coalition of the Druse, the Marronite factions and the SLA before pulling out rather than relying on the UN, they wouldn't have the problems they're having today.

Gay Pride Week Bookworm Room - As a native and resident of the Bay Area, Ms. Bookworm takes a look at Gay Pride Week and the implications of some of its more outre' spectacles.

Afghanistan Update The Glittering Eye - Dave Schuler looks at the current situation in Afghanistan and wonders whether this is a no win situation.

My ANWR Photo Gallery Cheat Seeking Missiles - Laer does a wonderful job in showing us exactly what the small section of the Alaskan National Wildlife Reserve where the oil is looks like, as opposed to the fantasy. Having actually been to the area in question myself, I've always wondered at the arguments against drilling here.

And on the Seventh Day, He Rested Wolf Howling - GW has a delightfully snarky look at the latest series of hypocritical actions by a certain presidential candidate. Change!

Paradise, Favorites, and the Evaluation Headgame The Education Wonks - EdWonks gives us an inside look at the teacher evaluations process.