Ted Koppel Almost Makes Sense

So the clock radio goes off this morning and I find myself listening to something I cannot believe: Ted Koppel sound like a war blogger and making sense. And then, just when I begin to wonder if I'm still dreaming, he turns it around. He's still too liberal to get his own point

Check it out:

The administration is right. The consequences of a premature U.S. withdrawal would have disastrous implications for the region. And the region, in case anyone has forgotten or is too polite to mention it, is the oil-rich Persian Gulf.

So setting benchmarks for Iraqi achievements and behavior is nonsense. What are we saying? It's too dangerous to leave because of possible consequences to the region; but if the Iraqis show that they're incapable of preventing anarchy and chaos by not meeting our benchmarks, then we're going to leave?

I think what we ought to be saying is that U.S. troops will start withdrawing as Iraqis do meet the benchmarks.

Right on, Ted. He's getting more liberal here but watch him give Nancy Pelosi and company the back of his hand:

We've been given so many bad reasons for why we went to war in Iraq — those weapons of mass destruction, Hussein and his neighbors, Hussein and al-Qaida, establishing democracy — that we've actually convinced ourselves that we did it for them… for the Iraqis; not because it served the U.S. national interest.

That makes it easy to depict the Iraqis as a bunch of underperforming, ungrateful retches; and if they don't start shaping up, we're pulling out.

Yeah Ted. It is about U.S national interest. And treating the Iraqis like a bunch of teenage slackers is stupid. Too bad the Democratic leadership keeps doing it. But wait. It gets a little vague after that so I'm not wedded to this interpretation, but in going on to say the democrats are equally dishonest he seems to imply that the "tough love" approach he finds so silly is Bush's doing. He thinks he's back handing Bush.

He's so sure that Bush can't say anything worthwhile that it has completely escaped him that he has offered the exact same policy. Can anyone tell me the difference between these two lines:

-- "I think what we ought to be saying is that U.S. troops will start withdrawing as Iraqis do meet the benchmarks" --Ted Koppel

--"When the Iraqis stand up, we'll stand down." --George W Bush

It's almost as if he attributes every stupid idea, no matter how many times the Democratic leadership utters it, to Bush. Fascinating

Meme Propagated

We have a fabulous public affairs radio show here in KC called Up To Date. I really like the host. He asks intelligent questions and actually lets he guests get a word in edgewise. But I guess they were short on guests this week because they did a program where they invited four of the areas "most interesting and diverse personalities" to basically BS about whatever.

They very first question was to one Nicholas Segura who runs a marketing/design firm. What's the best movie he's seen recently. Loose Change. Seriously, that's what the guy brings up. I'm sure he thinks it's all edgy and hip. Just like him.

As if this hasn't been debunked numerous times.

Of course, he goes on to mention the fascinating Noam Chomsky book he downloaded from the internet, so Loose Change is par for his course.

Behold: The Power of Fries

Mia developed some sort of mental block about reading for her teacher. She'd never done it and when her teacher would bring it up, she would cry. Now she will read to strangers on the street, so I don't know what the problem was. But after months of waiting patiently and weeks of cajoling, I brought out the big guns. Yesterday, I told her that if she read for the teacher, I would take her to McDonald's for a happy meal. Today, she read for the teacher.

John Kerry Defined

Why does Mark Steyn have so many devoted fans? Well, here's how he describes Kerry:

If Karl’s Rovebot laboratory had spent years constructing the perfect candidate to run against, it would have looked pretty much like John F Kerry – a vain thin-skinned self-regarding tone-deaf francophile insecure not-quite-blue-blood incoherent anti-war war-hero from a Swiss finishing school with nothing to show for 20 years in the Senate other than getting wrong every foreign policy question of the day and so alien to the habits of his electorate he’s unable to engage in as routine a photo op as eating a hot dog without looking like a Grand Duchess dropping in on the village idiot’s hovel.

Alas, as is typical with Steyn, it's a good thing he's making you laugh or his larger point would make you cry:

And yet the media came within a whisker of pulling him across the finish line. If it’s a 50-50 nation with John Kerry dragging down one half of the seesaw, what would it have been with someone marginally less unlikeable on the ticket? A blowout?

I wondered that myself at the time. And I just pray that the Dems don't nominate another empty suit (John Edwards, for example), because I have a feeling that at least 51% of Americans are ready for a change.

Oil As Strategic Weapon

So, the Saudi's are increasing oil production, causing a drop in price, presumably to squeeze their current enemy #1, the Iranians. Says Allah:

Someday that mullah mushroom cloud’s going to spout over Manhattan, but I promise you this, my friends: by the time it does, gas will be at 35 cents a gallon.

Ha, ha. But I've always wondered why we can't do this. Oil prices would drop if we just started looking for oil off our coasts. We wouldn't even have to actually drill. Of course, neither environmentalists nor oil companies want to see low prices. But couldn't they just suck it up so we stop pumping our money directly into the pockets of our enemy?

Is This Nifong's First Trip Off the Reservation?

Seriously, do you go this far over the line on your first try? How many people without great legal teams and tons of press interest has this guy railroaded?

So, I finally did it.

I finally called the cops on my neighbor, the drummer. He's been drumming on average for 30-50 minutes, 2 times a day, every day for the past month and half. Yes, that includes Christmas day. Occasionally he only drums once a day, which doesn't bother me. Hey, a kid has to drum. But often, we get three sessions which I just cannot tolerate.

But I have been tolerating it, because I'm loathe to make any waves. But tonight, he had a 20 minute drum session during our dinner (as always. How does he know?) He later commenced with a session that has been going on for an 1.5 hours. I called the cops after 65 minutes.

Doesn't this kid have parents? Do they have no consideration for their neighbors? Or do I just have too much consideration? I would strongly discourage Mia from taking up drums, would make her practice in our windowless room, and would never let her drum on and off all day. But maybe I'm just to into what everyone thinks of me.

Ohhh, silence. Maybe the police have arrived. But I'm way to into what everyone thinks to risk looking out the window and giving away that it was me who called.

Nerd in Training?

At one of the many after Christmas sales, I found a great price on Hey Andrew, Teach Me Some Greek, a program to teach beginning Greek to little kids. Even though Mia's not quite ready to use the full program, I think she can easily learn to say the Greek alphabet and the price was unbeatable.

Well, Mia saw me ordering it and is absolutely beside herself waiting for it to get here. Why? Does she even know what Greek is? Brian got a package today and when she saw it wasn't her Greek, she cried. She's going to hound me about it every day until it gets here. But who knows when that will be? With the weekend and the holiday and the day off in honor of President Ford, the package probably didn't even ship until today. And it's probably coming by donkey cart, since the shipping was free.

I had hoped she would like it. She likes to learn German phrases to say to her opa. But I never dreamed she'd be this excited about it. Now I'm worried. She's either going to be disappointed when she sees what it's all about, or she's a nerd. If her parents are any guide, it's the latter.

Cleaning Up Our Act

New Year's Day Impulse Buy = Hoover Steam Vac:
I could never figure out a convenient time for the carpet cleaners to come, so when I saw that I could buy one of these for less than the cost of 2 visits from the pro's (not including stairs and upholstery), I said "what the heck."

To be sure it worked, I cleaned a small room. That's all I really planned to do today, but Brian is really into it. He's done part of our bed room, the dining room, the stairs and is starting in on our hand-me-down recliners. I should bring home cool cleaning toys more often.