Oh... THAT explains it.

OpinionJournal - Best of the Web Today: "Several readers asked what the acronym TWOROTDOLHFCOOTCOTM, which we used in
an item yesterday, means. Actually, we spelled it out just before the block quote in the same item. It's an acronym for 'those who oppose restrictions on the destruction of live human fetuses, conditional only on the consent of the mother.'"

Say What?????

In today's Best of the Web Mr. Taranto has stumped me with this one: "TWOROTDOLHFCOOTCOTM would have to be out of their minds to follow this advice, for let's face it: Much support for legal abortion rests precisely on a crass appeal to self-interest. "

Anyone??? Anyone get this?

Cindy Sheehan fallout and the danger of Hate e-mail.

I have been avoiding the Cindy Sheehan subject because, frankly, I'm uncomfortable confronting a parent who has lost a child. I don't know how I'd react given the overwhelming emotions that must be in involved with this.

But today something occurred that deserves attention. Michelle Malkin, who has been on this story like Gerber's Squash on my baby's face, began receiving vile and un-repeatable hate e-mail.
Click to her site to read them, she's posted some of the worst.

Well one of these braniacs sent the e-mail from his office computer. After Malkin posted it on her page, the company was swamped with complaints from Michelle's readers. Take a look at the response she got:

"Update, 1:50 pm eastern time: I have just received an e-mail and phone call from Gray L. Geddie of the L.A. office of Ogletree Deakins. Here's the e-mail...

Dear Ms. Malkin,

I am the Managing Shareholder of the law firm of Ogletree Deakins with offices located across the country. I was very disturbed to learn today that a legal secretary in our Los Angeles office sent you the vile e-mail referenced on your home page. Such remarks are clearly inappropriate in any context and an e-mail such as this certainly should not have been sent during working time using our firm's equipment. The comments of this employee are not reflective of the views or opinions of the firm and are directly in violation of our e-mail policy. As Managing Shareholder, I wanted to extend to you our apologies and let you know that this serious violation of our firm's work rules has resulted in the discharge of this employee.

Once again, let me offer you our deepest apologies for any discomfort that the referenced e-mail has caused. It will not happen again.

Sincerely,

Gray Geddie

Thanks to Mr. Geddie and to all who wrote."

George Will hits a homer today.

We'll admit that lately, George Will's column have not been "must reads" for us every Thursday. He's been a bit pedantic and long-winded of late. But this week he has a brilliant piece titled: "Carter continues lying about me"

That gets your attention, doesn't it? Read the entire column. The story has to do with President Carter accusing George Will of stealing his depate-prep book and giving it to the Reagan campaign! Seriously... Carter really believes this!!! And Will just destroys him!

"Regarding your briefing book, I will tell you what I have told many others. When I got to David Stockman's house on the day he was preparing to play the role of you in the debate preparations, he had on his kitchen table what I gather was the briefing book. I do not know how he got it; more to the point, I do not know who thought having it would be helpful. Frankly, you deserved better. My cursory glance at it convinced me that it was a crashing bore and next to useless — for you, or for anyone else."

UPDATE: Taranto with a great take at OpinionJournal - Best of the Web Today: "So Carter (a) nurses this trivial grudge for 13 years (and still is after 25 years), (b) refuses to read Will's book because of it, (c) feels vindicated when he finds it on the remainder table, and (d) writes a letter to Will boasting about (c)! Next to this guy, Bill Clinton is Winston Churchill."

9/11 Slush Fund?

We start the day as we often do, with Michelle Malkin:

"Among hundreds of pages of other documents obtained by The Star-Ledger was a memo from a top administrator in the Attorney General's Office who describes the program as 'Christmas Tree funding' -- a term long used in Trenton to describe grants given along party lines to loyal and politically connected lawmakers for use on pet projects in home districts."

She links to the complete story that details allegations of the NJ Governors office funneling Homeland Security ant-terrorism dollars to districts controlled by Democratic Party cronies.

Notice something here... whenever Democrats try to sound tough on terror, they often sound off about "First-responders" or "Port security". What do these positions have in common? They translate to more jobs (and more federal money) for union members. Dock workers, police, firemen... these are unions that traditionally support the Democratic Party (the union leadership, the rank and file usually find Democratic positions to be repulsive).

And, remember their position on the original Homeland Security Bill? They famously attempted to block it because the Bush Administration wanted more freedom to fire union employees.

Now the State of New Jersey, dominated by a corrupt, state Democratic Party, has been channelling money meant for anti-terrorist efforts to cities controlled by the Party. I'm sure that on the surface, the funding will appear to have gone to more first-responders or perhaps to certain security measures that seem legit., but if they probe further, I'm confident the local union bosses have been well rewarded for their undying support.

A cynic might observe: Only the Democratic Leadership could see the burning twin towers and see a fantastic opportunity for a Federal Jobs program.

Spitzer's involvement was just a matter of time.

Michelle Malkin is linking to a story in the NY Post that reveals that State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer - the Uriah Heep of our time - is now stepping in to the Air Scamerica scandal.

This is going to be an interesting tight rope as Spitzer is running for Governor and has Proesidential ambitions. This could be his "Sister Soljah" moment.

Ultimately, New Yorkers should beware... the most dangerous place to be in NYC is between Eliot Spitzer and a camera!

This will lift your spirits.

Do yourself a favor and look at the photos posted at Cranky Neocon. These show the real spirit of our brave armed forces and the citizens of Free Iraq.

More good economic news.

Power Line has a link to the Labor Department's report of 207,000 new jobs in July. I wonder why the stock market hasn't responded to all of the strong economic data over the last two years? And Powerline wonders about the public opinion polls:

"The oddest thing about the strong economic growth that has taken place over the last several years is how stubbornly many people refuse to recognize it. Polls continue to suggest that most Americans are unaware of the economy's excellent performance. Can that really be true?"

If it's Friday, it's Krauthammer.

Cell Lines, Moral Lines:

"It is a good idea to expand federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. It is a bad idea to do that without prohibiting research that uses embryos created specifically to be used in research and destroyed."

Given his unique experience, there is no better commentator on the subject of stem cell research than Charles Krauthammer. (Even if his name wreaks havoc on my spell check!)

Axis of Evil update.

Captain's Quarters:

"MS-NBC reported last night that American military forces captured a large shipment of shape charges, the kind of explosives used against American military forces by Iraqi terrorists. Sources within the military and intelligence communities told the network that the charges originated with Iran, an allegation that could have potential to escalate already-existing disputes between Washington and Teheran:"

Does the lack of news coverage on this significant story expose an ongoing resistance to acknowledge President Bush's courageous description of Iran as part of the terrorist Axis of Evil?

This guy is GOOD.

Michael Barone: Barone Blog:

"'The public censured the Commander-in-Chief for the bloodshed, for this seemingly endless war. More and more politicians and journalists, Republicans as well as Democrats, called his administration incompetent. Military failures produced demands for peace negotiations. And the President was roundly condemned for curtailing civil liberties.'

Sound familiar? But the president in question (the quotation has been altered slightly to conceal this) is not George W. Bush but Abraham Lincoln. The time is not summer 2005 but the spring of 1863. The words are not those of some contemporary columnist but of poet and novelist Daniel Mark Epstein in his beautiful and elegaic book Lincoln and Whitman: Parallel Lives in Civil War Washington."

The decision of Michael Barone to start a blog is already reaping benefits. Do yourself a favor and read the entire post.

Malkin on the case...

If you want to stay up to date on the Air Scamerica scandal, you have to check every few hours with Michelle Malkin: "AIR ENRON: QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS".

That woman is ON THE CASE!

Laura Ingraham's Courage

SOme how I missed this picture of Laura Ingraham that was postedon her web page. I know many OC Chronicle readers are Ingra-maniacs and you've been inquiring about her condition.

This photo looks as though it is from the hospital right after a chemo treatment (see the IV hook-up in her arm.) The rest of the people are identified as "Lee, Patty, Felicia, and James" and they are the producer's engineers and staff for her radio program.

She looks tired (as well she should) but she also looks fantastic! God bless her speedy recovery.

Never again...

Ralph Peters in the New York Post has a nicely coherent warning to the US public:

"August 4, 2005 -- In Iraq yesterday a roadside bomb killed 14 Marines. Two days earlier, six Marines from the same outfit were ambushed and killed. Yet those Marines were not the terrorists' primary target.

You were.

Our enemies know the Marines won't quit. But they hope you will.

The terrorists realize now that they can't defeat our military. Instead, they hope to achieve what the North Vietnamese did: To blur the reality on the ground and convince the American public that we're losing.

Those Marines were tactical targets of opportunity. You're the strategic target. The terrorists hope that our media will create an atmosphere of failure � and that you'll give in to a sense of defeat.

The Marines are looking for a few good men (and women). The terrorists are looking for headlines"

We hope that in this age of alternative media and instqant communication, we will not succumb to the constant drumbeat of quagmire and defeatism led by "The most trusted man in America" we saw in the Vietnam era.

Let us not allow the brave Marines on the other side of the planet to struggle and sacrifice in vain.

Bob Novak sandbagged on his own network!

DRUDGE has a breaking item:

"BOB NOVAK WALKS OFF CNN LIVE 'THAT IS BULL*HIT'... Was on with Carville talking Katherine Harris make-up... Host Ed Henry ended segment by telling viewers he had told Novak in advance he would ask him about the CIA leak case. Henry said CNN hoped to get Novak to answer such questions in future... DEVELOPING..."

You know, Novak has to take a lot of abuse on CNN. He's constantly the only conservative on panels of three or four liberals, they routinely gang up on him. And on Capital Gang, the other panelists regularly use personal invective and ad homenim attacks when debating the guy. Now he gets sandbagged by a guy during an exchange that was supposed to be about Katherine Harris?

Maybe this will push the guy over the edge and he'll join FOX News.

I wonder... could this be considered workplace harassment? Does Novak have a case?

Huge drop in productivity today.

God help me. Between obsessively checking my hit counts from yesterday's "Best of the Web Today" link and the Angels' afternoon game, I'm not going to get ANYTHING done today.

Irreverant? Yes. Funny? God yes!

Musum Pontificalis is a new blog by "Papa Ratzi". You guessed it, it's Benedict XVI himself in the blogosphere!

Check out the former Joseph Ratzinger's bio on the blog:

"Basically, I'm just your average Joe. I like to drink beer and muse like everyone else. I love the Good Lord with all my heart and He has blessed me immensely, for which I am eternally grateful. I work very hard trying to shepherd His flock; which is no small task when you consider all of the wolves in sheep's clothing out there! So occasionally, I need some R&R. For me, that comes in the form of musing. Thanks to Blogger, I can muse all I want and it doesn't take a single penny from Peter's Pence."

See, we Catholics are smart, funny AND don't take ourselves TOO seriously all the time.

HT: Roman Catholic Blog: Truth Through Satire

Michelle Malkin: SNEAK PEEK: UNHINGED

Michelle Malkin's new book will be out in October but she's released the artwork for the cover yesterday. You just can't look at it and not chuckle, and see Howard Dean.

YAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!

Just when you thought they couldn't sink any lower...

DRUDGE REPORT FLASH 2005: "The TIMES has investigative reporter Glen Justice hot on the case to investigate the status of adoption records of Judge Roberts' two young children, Josie age 5 and Jack age 4, a top source reveals."

Michael Barone is now blogging

Hugh Hewitt on Michael Barone's blog: "Welcoming Michael Barone to the blogosphere is like welcoming the 1927 Yankees to the local Triple AAA park."

Barone has always appeared to us as the most brilliant mind inAmerican politics today. His performance on Fox News the evening of the 2000 election was brilliant. As the growing importance of a re-count in Florida was becoming clear, he rattled off almost every county in the state, from memory and gave Brit Hume an analysis of how each county might end up going for either Gore or Bush. It was something we'll not soon forget.

Over the years, his opinion on just about any major political issue has been spot on. We'll be checking his blog daily.

OC Chronicle invades the Northern Alliance territory

It's official, the OC Chronicle will be traveling August 13 - 17 to the hot and wet environs of the twin cities. I have a pretty full schedule for the visit, but I'd love to hook up with the goof balls at Fraters Libertas. Well, actually I'd like to have a pint or seven at Keegan's Irish Pub & Restaurant and I figure if I link to them enough, I'll get them to buy a round.

---Also at OC Chronicle: President Bush's comments on intelligent design draws curious comment from Barney Frank

UPDATE: Fraters Libertas: "Keep dreaming Larry. Keep dreaming." - Apparently there's some confusion over the OC Chronicle's "OC" designation. (Explanation here)

Although it's true that we are not OFFICIALLY affiliated with that trashy documentary of my high school years at Newport Beach's Corona del Mar High School I do intend to bring Rachel Bilson with me to Keegan's. We all know each other here in OC, you know?

Bush Remarks On 'Intelligent Design' Theory Fuel Debate

Within the Washington Post's front page article on the somewhat benign remarks President Bush has made about including the Intelligent Design theory along with the theory of evolution in school curricula is this little gem of a quote from Barney Frank:

"It is, of course, further indication that a fundamentalist right has really taken over much of the Republican Party,' said Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), a leading liberal lawmaker. Noting Bush's Ivy League education, Frank said, 'People might cite George Bush as proof that you can be totally impervious to the effects of Harvard and Yale education.'"

Get it? Bush is stupid!!! Ha ha ha ha ha! Wow, that's a really brilliant wit Barney displays there... what an original thinker he is!

But let's explore Mr. Franks' embrace of natural selection a little further. It's no secret that Rep. Frank is gay. How, exactly, does natural selection (survival of the fittest) fit in with the scientific basis of homosexuality? If natural selection is truly the scientific basis of our existence and survival, then wouldn't homosexuals be extinct by now? I mean, it's hard for a species to survive or thrive if there's no procreatin' goin' on, right Barney?

If I were gay, I'd be embracing the idea of intelligent design. It supports the position that I am one of God's children and should be afforded the same respect and dignity of any other person as I am created in His image.

More on Air Scamerica

Michelle Malkin
is all over the Air America scam over mis-appropriated funds from the NYC Boys and Girls Clubs. Her weekly column takes a great angle asking why Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have not expressed outrage over a corporation taking funds from poor, inner-city minority children:

"If a conservative radio network had been entangled in a scam to steal from black children to line the pockets of wealthy white con artists, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton would already be staging hunger strikes in protest. But both have hefty political and financial stakes in Air America's success -- and the big mouths aren't about to badmouth their friends.
Air America's flagship New York City station is housed on Park Avenue at WLIB-AM, owned by Inner City Broadcasting. The company shunted aside its black-themed talk format at WLIB to accommodate Air America. In return, Air America made room for a few minority radio hosts and also entered into lucrative lease management agreements with Inner City Broadcasting, which owns and operates 17 radio stations in five markets."

If only Haliburton were somehow involved in this... THEN we'd hear about it!

Steven Vincent, RIP

(Welcome 'Best of the Web Today' readers! Please feel free to look around. I couldn't be prouder than to be linked by Mr. Taranto)

These are the words of Steven Vincent, a brave and talented journalist and blogger who reported from the heart of Iraq. These words probably helped get him killed. His murder was announced this morning:

"Words matter. Words convey moral clarity. Without moral clarity, we will not succeed in Iraq. That is why the terms the press uses to cover this conflict are so vital. For example, take the word "guerillas." As you noted, mainstream media sources like the New York Times often use the terms "insurgents" or "guerillas" to describe the Sunni Triangle gunmen, as if these murderous thugs represented a traditional national liberation movement. But when the Times reports on similar groups of masked reactionary killers operating in Latin American countries, they utilize the phrase "paramilitary death squads." Same murderers, different designations. Yet of the two, "insurgents" and especially "guerillas" has a claim on our sympathies that "paramilitaries" lacks. This is not semantics: imagine if the media routinely called the Sunni Triangle gunmen "right wing paramilitary death squads." Not only would the description be more accurate, but it would offer the American public a clear idea of the enemy in Iraq. And that, in turn, would bolster public attitudes toward the war.

Supporters of the conflict in Iraq bear much blame for allowing the terminology ---and, by extension, the narrative--- of events to slip from our grasp and into the hands of the anti-war camp. Words and ideas matter. Instead of saying that the Coalition "invaded" Iraq and "occupies" it today, we could more precisely claim that the allies liberated the country and are currently reconstructing it. More than cosmetic changes, these definitions reflect the nobility of our effort in Iraq, and steal rhetorical ammunition from the left.

The most despicable misuse of terminology, however, occurs when Leftists call the Saddamites and foreign jihadists "the resistance" What an example of moral inversion! For the fact is, paramilitary death squads are attacking the Iraqi people. And those who oppose the killers--the Iraqi police and National Guardsmen, members of the Allawi government, people like Nour--- they are the "resistance." They are preventing Islamofascists from seizing Iraq, they are resisting evil men from turning the entire nation into a mass slaughterhouse like we saw in re-liberated Falluja. Anyone who cares about success in our struggle against Islamofascism, or upholds principles of moral clarity and lucid thought--- should combat such Orwellian distortions of our language..."

A more fitting epitaph one can hardly imagine.

---Also at OC Chronicle: President Bush's comments on intelligent design draws curious comment from Barney Frank

Bush out-smarts them again

Here's more proof that global warming fanatics are more interested in punishing America than they are in actually improving the carbon emission problem. The Anchoress points to Powerline's analysis:

"The pact's stated goal is to cut production of "greenhouse gases" in half by the end of the century. What distinguishes this plan from the Kyoto protocol is that it will actually lead to a major reduction in carbon emissions! This substitution of practical impact for well-crafted verbiage stunned and infuriated European observers."

As The Anchoress points out:

"I still maintain that if President Clinton - or to be fair ANY Democrat president - had done exactly the same things Bush has done, the press would be laying down palms and crying out Hosanna’s and writing editorials screaming for the abolition of the 22nd amendment. Heavens, they practically did that when Clinton was ending his second term after doing nothing re Kyoto, nothing on terrorism, nothing on Social Security, nothing on Education, nothing on taxes…"

Top 11 Creative Financing Ideas for Air America

If you need some background on the Air America brou-ha-ha that is heating up the blogs, read Michelle Malkin: "AIR ENRON: AL FRANKEN SPEAKS".

Once you're up to date, you'll appreciate this little take from Nihilist In Golf Pants: Top 11 Creative Financing Ideas for Air America:

"11. Fencing candy stolen from babies.
10. Renting out homeless shelters for raves.
9. Smuggling untaxed cigarettes into Minnesota.
8. Importing olive oil from Sicily.
7. Using Air America's bank accounts to help corrupt Nigerian government officials sneak embezzled funds out of the country.
6. Selling phony draft deferments to gullible left-wing college students.
5. Opening an Air America donut shop across the street from Michael Moore's apartment.
4. Setting up a brothel catering to conservatives who have a thing for Janeane Garofalo.
3. Smuggling illegal aliens across the Rio Grande.
2. Stealing Howard Dean's medication and selling it on the street.
1. Selling bumper stickers accusing Bush of being corrupt."

(HT:Fraters Libertas)

The Truth about Hillary

RealClearPolitics has a terrific post on some recent articles sighting Democrat insiders worrying about Hillary's ability to win a general election.

"More recently, Ruy Teixeira, co-author of The Emerging Democratic Majority, told the Daily News that 'people don't like to come out and say it because they don't like to tick her off, but privately most people don't think she can win.'"

Maybe it's just wishful thinking here at the OC Chronicle, but we've never really believed the HRC has a chance in a Presidential Election. Our theory is this: People always vote for the more likeable person, period. And even if the Republican's nominate someone as abrasive as Newt Gingrich, he'd still win over more voters than Hill. For most people I know, even many of those that agree with her views, listening to Hillary speak is like nails on a chalkboard. No one wants to live with that for four years of their lives.

Do they? Ugh.

They Took Her T-Bird Away

Peter Marks in the Washington Post has a scathing and bitchy account of the Suzanne Sommers Stink Bomb of a Broadway show that closed after seven days last week in New York.

I'd like to know who is advising Ms. Sommers and her erstwhile husband Alan Hall on how to spend their investors (I am generously guessing that they didn't personally bankroll the ENTIRE production budget) money.

Here is free advice to anyone out there considering producing a Broadway Show: If your show is booked to open at the BROOKS ATKINSON in the middle of JULY.... it's a BOMB! Your show STINKS! It doesn't have a CHANCE IN HELL! This was the live theatrical equivilent of your movie being released direct to video.

Suzanne: Next time you want to do a show, hire a consultant or General Manager with some scruples who will tell you the TRUTH!

PS: I'm available.

Wishful Thinking

"The day I say Dick Cheney is going to run for president, I'll kill myself." - Helen Thomas, American journalism's crazy old aunt in the attic. (HT: Best of the Web Today)

Welcome back from vacation, Best of the Web Today.

You've got to love James Taranto's re-telling of the Clarence Thomas/Anita Hill brou-ha-ha from 14 years ago:

"Who is Anita Hill? She is best known as a pioneer in bawdy broadcast humor, a sort of American counterpart to England's Benny Hill. In 1991 she made history by becoming the first person ever to utter the phrases 'Long Dong Silver' and 'pubic hair on my Coke' on national television. Everyone knows what happened next. Americans turned out to have an appetite for juvenile sexual comedy. The following year they put Bill Clinton in the White House. In 1993 'Beavis and Butt-head' picked up where Anita Hill had left off. After Clinton's second inauguration, in 1997, 'South Park' took televised ribaldry to new extremes. Part of Hill's shtick was to allege that that Clarence Thomas had written her gags a decade earlier. Although he disclaimed authorship, some Democrats said that they believed her and that this made Thomas unsuitable to be a justice. Thomas was of course confirmed, but given Hill's role in trying to keep a black man off the Supreme Court, for her now to pose as a champion of diversity seems the height of hypocrisy."

Hugh Hewitt is best when excoriating the LA Times.

It's hard to pick just a few lines from Hugh Hewitt this morning:

"The Los Angeles Times' Ronald Brownstein writes on the 2008 presidential race today. He does not disclose that his wife is a senior aid to John McCain. Which candidate does McCain favor getting the Democratic nod? My guess is that it has to be Hillary as that will significantly boost the Beltway chatter about McCain's cross-party appeal.


Indeed, it seems odd that this article does not mention the DLC's role in blunting a potential McCain or Rudy challenge from 'the center.' You have to wonder if Brownstein is holding back on references to McCain because of the problem his wife's employment poses.


The Times recently pledged transparency in conflict-of-interest matters. I guess that means if you declare a conflict once in print, every reader for all time is presumed to know and not care about it. BTW: To my knowledge, the paper has still not detailed Mrs. Brownstein's job or salary, or how funds paid her by Senator McCain are not part of Ron Brownstein's direct financial interest that would preclude him from covering McCain or related stories, like today's on Hillary: '[S]taff members may not cover individuals or institutions with which they have a financial relationship.'"

Bravo, HH. The Times will never learn.

Vince Vaughn, I'd cast this guy in a heartbeat.

"'I keep my politics to myself--I am just an actor making movies.'": Cue the Alleluia Chorus! How long have we waited for a Hollywood actor to say something like this? (HT: Alarming News)

Michelle Malkin comes out early with her 2008 Endorsement

"DICK CHENEY FOR PRESIDENT": is the succinct and provocative response from Michelle Malkin regarding her choice for 2008. Given her growing influence, this should cause a little stir in the blogosphere.

OC Chronicle back and better!

Dear Readers:

I'm sorry for the lack of posts over the last 2 weeks. Our home office has moved to a new location and we were out of commission for the time of the moving process. But now, the Chronicle is back and BETTER!

We've upgraded our operating system at the office to MAC OSX and we are now capable of utilizing all of the bells and whistles Blogger makes available through the Safari Browser. What does this mean to you, our loyal reader (all 9 of you)? It means that blogging will be easier for me here at the office making posts more frequent and rapid!

Stay tuned and click back often!

Thanks for your support,
Larry O'C