Losing Strategy

Publication Note

http://blog.paperworth.com

now resolves to this address. Old address will continue to work as well.

Sandy Berger: What Did He Take and Why Did He Take It?

What could have been important enough for Berger to take the risks he did? What could have been important enough for a lawyer of his distinction to risk disgrace, disbarment, and prison?

To paraphrase the questions asked of Richard Nixon by members of his own Party, what did he take and why did he take it?

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/15/america/web.0115americanism.php?page=1

Taken as a whole, the chapters in the book suggest it is not too late to undo some of the damage that has been done to America's global reputation. Gauging the strength of anti-American sentiment around the world, in all its varieties -- and understanding its roots -- is a crucial first step toward reversing it. Dialogue with those who express radical anti-American sentiment and would take up arms against us may not be possible or desirable. With everyone else, it is imperative.

That is, as long as dialog does not equate to capitulation. Popular among the loopy-left these days seems to be the assumption that if we disagree with any external entity on any issue, we must by definition be wrong. Can't have it every-which-way after all, but if you are one of the new-age hippies you can certainly hallucinate such things. While our "core values" have withered substantially we still have at least a vestige of what made this country great. Will that short attention span induced by "Twenty Four Hours" hypnotics (or Youtube for that matter) further erode who we are?

Probably.

Hang 'em!

"Congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damage morale and undermine the military are saboteurs and should be arrested, exiled, or hanged." - Abraham Lincoln

Real Estate Fairy visits pols who believe

The Real Estate Fairy and Obama bought adjoining property. The Real Estate Fairy paid the asking price for his parcel; Obama paid less than the list for his and, presto, Obama had a home in Kenwood and a nice vacant lot next door.

Obama said that if he had to do it all over again, he wouldn't, since it didn't look right, perhaps because all of political Illinois knew that Rezko was by then toxic, infected with federal grandjuryitis.

A picture tells a 1000 words

"Check out this photo from our mess hall at the US Embassy yesterday morning. Sen. Kerry found himself all alone while he was over here. He cancelled his press conference because no one came, he worked out alone in the gym w/o any soldiers even going up to say hi or ask for an autograph (I was one of those who was in the gym at the same time), and he found himself eating breakfast with only a couple of folks who are obviously not troops."

Al Qaeda Sends a Message to Democrats

Zawahri calls on the Democrats to negotiate with him and Osama bin Laden, not others in the Islamic world who Zawahri says cannot help.

As quoted by ABC:

"The first is that you [Democrats] aren't the ones who won the midterm elections, nor are the Republicans the ones who lost. Rather, the Mujahideen -- the Muslim Ummah's vanguard in Afghanistan and Iraq -- are the ones who won, and the American forces and their Crusader allies are the ones who lost,"

A possible ambassadorship for former President Clinton or Carter?

Who really cares?

A new book, titled "Who Really Cares" by Arthur C. Brooks examines the actual behavior of liberals and conservatives when it comes to donating their own time, money, or blood for the benefit of others. It is remarkable that beliefs on this subject should have become conventional, if not set in concrete, for decades before anyone bothered to check these beliefs against facts.

House Ethics Report Finds No Rules Broken

Elections over, holidays coming up, time for every good MSM reporter to tidy up their desks:

"Hmmm, whats this stack?"

"Foley. Name doesn't ring a bell. Hey Don, can I borrow your trash can, mine's already full."

"Let's see, what can we cook up for 2008?"

Father of Chelsea's Boyfriend in Prison for Fraud, Scams

More for the reader comments than the story itself:

But then, says Zauzmer, Mezvinsky began to steal from clients and even his own mother-in-law to raise the money to try yet another scheme.

"He was always looking for the home run. He was always trying to find the business deal that would make him as wealthy as all the people in his social circle," said Zauzmer.

Former Aide Parts With Carter Over Book

That criticism is the latest in a growing chorus of academics who have taken issue with the book, including Alan M. Dershowitz, professor of law at Harvard, who called the book “ahistorical,” and David Makovsky, director of the Project on the Middle East Process at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Did George W. Bush Kill JFK?

That’s what makes us so smart. We know that JFK was actually assassinated by a 17-year-old George W. Bush in order ensconce fellow Texan Lyndon Johnson in the White House, thus laying the historical background necessary to facilitate Lady Bird Johnson’s highway beautification scheme years later—a scheme that encourages oil consumption by brainwashed pleasure drivers entranced by the wafting aroma of beautiful mind-controlling uber-poppies. Oh, and Halliburton.

Great article.

The Giant, Helpless, Pitiful Democratic Majority

In the Senate, there is no such thing as a majority. Ever since the elder Bush's administration, the filibuster has become routine. No longer reserved for civil-rights issues or for egregious legislation, it now is used to counter even motions for recess and adjournment. Members of the Senate are no longer subjected to the indignity of standing on their feet and reading a telephone book. Rather, the gentlemen’s filibuster applies.

Clinton Won Easily, but Bankroll Shows the Toll

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 — She had only token opposition, but Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton still spent more on her re-election — upward of $30 million — than any other candidate for Senate this year. So where did all the money go?

Same place all your tax money will go if she gets to be Pres. Dems are not provably better than Repubs at keeping their hands out of the public trough. They are better at increasing the size of the trough though.

Democrats Target Wealth Gap Democrats Target Wealth Gap And Hope Not to Hit Economy

Divide Between Rich and Poor Continues to Widen; Spurs 'Robin Hood' Plans

Surprise!

December 7, 2008

"The failure of many Americans, including many of the leading Democrats in Congress, and some Republicans, to fully appreciate the persistent, long-term threat posed to America's liberties and survival, and to the future of Liberal Democracies everywhere, by an Islamic Resistance Movement that envisions a world dominated and defined by an Islamic Caliphate of religious totalitarianism, and which will fight any war, make any sacrifice, suffer any hardship, and pay any price to achieve it, may prove to be the kind of blunder upon which the fate of America turns, and falls."

Rubin's Tax Gambit

By the way, how does Mr. Rubin continue to dodge any historical accountability for the dot-com bust of 2000 and the recession that followed? In the liberal economic narrative, we are supposed to believe that the Clinton Administration somehow ended in 1999, and that Mr. Bush is to blame for everything that followed. Yet the Nasdaq peak came in the spring of 2000 and the third quarter of that year recorded negative growth. The shallow recession began in March 2001, with slower-than-average growth continuing until the tax cuts on dividends and the top marginal income rate passed in 2003 and the expansion moved into high gear.

One wonders.

Brilliant

Peace mom Sheehan arrested in Washington

WASHINGTON - Activist Cindy Sheehan was arrested Wednesday as she led about 50 protesters to a White House gate Wednesday to deliver anti-war petitions she said were signed by 80,000 Americans.

Better get the publicity now Cindy. The old act won't show so well now.