[star]The American Mind[star]

September 30, 2006

Easy to Scoop a Book as Woodard's Tome Proves

The NY Times and the NY Daily News embarrassed the Washington Post by scooping them about portions of Bob Woodward new book State of Denial. How did the Times get a hold of a book that won't be on sale until next week? Easy, they went to a bookstore and got someone to break the strict-on-sale date. At my bookstore copies of Woodard's book were in for days. I could have cut open a box, bought one, and scooped everyone. Of course I would have lost my job. It's even possible the stores didn't think they did anything wrong. Bookstores like most retail outlets is staffed by lots of part-timers. It's hard for managers to communicate all the fine points to all employees. Some bookseller might have just saw a pile of State of Denial in the backroom and thought it would be nice to stock them on the book floor. Stuff like that happens.

Other than plot points to the next Harry Potter novel it's not hard to get a scoop on a book that has been printed and shipped to stores.

"Post Rushes Woodward Story After Other Papers Scoop It"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Books at 05:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 29, 2006

WSJ Poll: Doyle's Lead Slims Tremendously

Zogby's poll for the Wall Street Journal, a combined online and phone poll, finds Gov. Jim Doyle with only a 1.3% lead over Rep. Mark Green.

And to really make the Wisconsin GOP ask themselves, "What if we actually found someone to challenge Sen. Herb Kohl?" the poll finds Kohl with only a 13.3% lead over Robert Gerald Lorge.

UPDATE: Even with this poll the overall average has Doyle with a 5% lead over Green. Doyle's numbers have started taking a nosedive.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Wisconsin at 09:23 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Good Riddance to Sicko Congressman

The hot, steamy news out of D.C. is Congressman Mark Foley resigning from his seat when news got out about sexually explicit instant messages [PDF] between him and a teenager.

You have to be very twisted to converse like he did and think you'd never get caught. It's even more twisted knowing Foley worked to pass laws to protect children from online predators.

Here's what we learned: 1.) if you have sick, twisted sexual fantasies, keep them to yourself or get professional help, but don't get elected to Congress; 2.) make sure you know how to delete potentially problematic IM conversations to prevent future embarrassment; 3.) to parents, the online sicko stalking your child might be a Congressman.

"Mark Foley's "Outreach" To Youths At Risk Of Being Hot"

"US Rep. Mark Foley Resigns From Congress"

"Foley's Folly"

"The Sexually Explicit Internet Messages That Led to Fla. Rep. Foley's Resignation"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Politics at 08:33 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Odd Poll in Governor's Race

Until I see corroborating numbers I'm discounting the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute's poll that has Gov. Doyle with a 5% lead over Rep. Mark Green. The overall spread seems right, but the poll says Green is leading in Democratic stronghold Milwaukee, and Doyle leads Green by 11% in Green Bay Green's backyard. If the numbers are accurate this will be one wild race with more unpredictabilities.

"Governor's Race Poll Contains Surprises"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Wisconsin at 09:27 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Charlie's Show Prep #170

  • Because the NY Times leaked the secret activities between U.S. intelligence agencies and Swift, the Belgian bank clearing house is taking heat from the Belgian government. Because of the Times' irresponsiblity it will be harder for U.S. intelligence agencies to track terrorists' money, endangering Americans.

  • The TSA fails to use common sense and detained a man for writing "Kip Hawley is an Idiot" on a bag. Hawley runs the TSA.

  • Police called the Terrell Owens incident an "accidental overdose."

  • I approve the new Bucks uniforms.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Charlie's Show Prep at 04:12 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 28, 2006

More Mark Green Ads on YouTube

If you watch plenty of Wisconsin television you have probably already seen these two Mark Green ads. My tv watching amounts to sports and neither Green nor Doyle are buying ad time during Brewers games. So for those with similar viewing habits here's two good Green ads now on YouTube:

Mark Green really needs your help to make sure these ads get as much play as possible. Please donate to his campaign.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Wisconsin at 09:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Screech Sex Tape

Is this Screech's latest way to "save his house?"

He may have played nerdy eighth-grader Samuel (Screech) Powers in the sitcom "Saved by the Bell." But former TV geek Dustin Diamond can now take his place with Colin Farrell, Tommy Lee and Kid Rock as the star of his very own sex tape.

Everyone who remembers Diamond as a lovable putz is in for a shock once they see a 40-minute video in which he engages in a kinky three-way with two women, sources tell us.


Screech's manager thinks the tape might help his career saying, "Dustin has been trying to escape the Screech typecast. So this may help me get more bookings."

We should have bought more t-shirts.

"Porn Star's Name May Ring a 'Bell'" [via Ace]

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Culture at 09:04 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Charlie's Show Prep #169

  • Yes, the Journal Sentinel found the State Elections Board has changed its view of federal campaign fund transfers to state campaign accounts. But remember in Rep. Mark Green's case the board voted to make his transfer illegal after it took place. It also doesn't get Gov. Doyle off the hook for having his lawyer practically tell Democratic members of the board how to vote and why.

  • St. Paul gets the 2008 GOP convention.

  • Steve Irwin's wife says his death video will never see the light of day. Correct, until someone uploads it to YouTube.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Charlie's Show Prep at 01:35 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

September 27, 2006

Green Machine

I have a fondness for green. It feels different than reds and blues. It can be bright green or it can get more earthy. I like green, but I'm not a green freak who drives a green car, paints his bedroom three shades of green, or has an assortment of Green Bay Packers jerseys in his closet--uh nix that last part. What set me off was Sony's Vaio C series of notebook computers. I'm digging the "spring green" or "natural green" for those European readers.

green-vaio.jpg

The computer is slim and small with a 13.3 inch screen. I've been drooling over Dell's Inspirion 710m for a while. I could get a mighty mobile weblogging machine in a spiffy color... IF I had $1350 bucks lying around. Anyone want to make a donation to the TAM Spring Green Notebook fund? Someone? Anyone? Bueler? Someone leave at tip anyway. It's been so long I've forgotten to forget to say thank you to generous folk.

"Sony's Vaio C Series of 13.3-Inchers"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Tech at 11:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Insensitive Morons at the NY Post

We only have one planet. We're stuck with each other. Jews are stuck with Muslims who are both stuck with Christians, Hindus, athiests, and a host of other faiths. Blacks are stuck with whites who are stuck with Asian yadda, yadda, yadda. Respecting one's boundaries, both physical, economic, emotional, and spiritual are needed or society breaks down into chaos. It's bad enough for some sick bastard to send Lefty looney toon Keith Olberman an envelope filled with white powder. I hope that creature is soon arrested. To make things worse the NY Post's gossip section, Page Six, mocked Olberman for calling 911 for help. (Here's Olberman's account.) I wonder what employees of the Post would do if they were sent such a threatening piece of mail. Wait, we already know because it happened five years ago:

A letter mailed to the New York Post has tested positive for anthrax and is similar to anthrax-laced letters sent to NBC news anchor Tom Brokaw and Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, police said late yesterday.

The letter addressed to "Editor" was postmarked Sept. 18 - as was a contaminated letter sent to Brokaw - and bore a Trenton, N.J., postmark like the letters to Brokaw and Daschle. The letter to Daschle was postmarked Oct. 9.

The handwriting on the Post letter is similar to that found on the two other letters, according to statement released by New York police and the FBI.

Police found the unopened envelope late Friday night during an investigation launched after a Post employee tested positive for the bacteria. The letter, which contained a small amount of a powdery substance, has been sent to Maryland for testing.


You can be pretty sure the Post people weren't the most cool and calm as they called the police.

Page Six's Paula Froelich took gossip to a new low. She was cruel and heartless. For shame! She better be working on that apology.

"Why Doesn't Page Six Take A Big Whiff Itself?"

"Aren't Death Threats Just Hilarious"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Media at 09:21 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Report: Terrell Owen Tried Suicide

A Dallas television station reports Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens is in the hospital because of an attempted suicide:

Flamboyant Dallas Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens attempted suicide by overdosing on pain medication, even putting two more pills into his mouth after fire rescue personnel arrived, The Associated Press reported Wednesday citing a police report.

A Dallas police report released Wednesday morning said Owens told rescue workers "that he was depressed." The report was first released by WFAA-TV.

The rescue worker "noticed that [his] prescription pain medication was empty and observed [Owens] putting two pills in his mouth,'' the police report said.

The worker attempted to pry them out with her fingers, then was told by Owens that before this incident he'd taken only five of the 40 pain pills in the bottle he'd emptied. The worker then asked Owens "if he was attempting to harm himself, at which time [he] stated, 'Yes.'"


If true it shows that even superstars with money and fame can have a hole in their soul.

In the same ESPN story is an odd Bill Parcell's quote about injured wideout Terry Glenn:

On Tuesday, the Cowboys also practiced without tight end Jason Witten, whose wife was having a baby. Wide receiver Terry Glenn practiced, albeit with several stitches in his thumb.


"He was trying to cut some tape off his uniform," Parcells said. "He had his hand down in his pants and he missed. Fortunately he cut his hand."


Was this another example of Parcell's sarcasm? What a strange detail to reveal. Late night comedians will have a field day with this.

"Police Report: Owens Hospitalized after Suicide Attempt"

UPDATE: I guess T.O. wasn't feeling too down in the dumps. He says his painkilers combined with suplaments caused a bad reaction:

As if to prove he's doing fine, Owens went from the hospital to catching passes from quarterback Drew Bledsoe within two hours, then proclaimed himself "very capable of going out there and playing on Sunday" — despite whatever happened Tuesday night and a broken right hand.

Owens said the confusion likely stemmed from an empty bottle of pain medication found by his publicist, who was with him at the time and called 911. He said the rest of the pills were in a drawer.

"I was non-responsive when she made that call," Owens said. "She made the call out of her judgment for my well-being."


Owens said he was "kind of out of it" which would explain his behavior in the police report.

But then we have T.O.'s publicist who turns the incident into an attack on the football player:

Etheredge also appeared at Owens' news conference, saying she "did not take anything out of his mouth" and that it was unfair for anyone to think Owens would kill himself.

"Terrell has 25 million reasons why he should be alive," she said, referring to the $25 million, three-year contract he signed in March with the Cowboys.

"I'm just upset," Etheredge added. "I feel they take advantage of Terrell. Had this been someone else, this may not have happened."


Wrong, Ms. Etheredge. When the media gets a police report that says an NFL player attempted suicide that's news. If the report had been about the third-string Dallas wide receiver instead of Owens it would have been news. Since Owens is one of the most colorful characters in the NFL that makes it a story Drudge links to and ESPN puts on their front page. And really, T.O. doesn't shy away from attention. He would have felt insulted if he was taken to the emergency ward and no one reported on it.

"Owens Denies He Tried to Kill Himself"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Sports at 09:08 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Dow Jones Index Near All-Time High

An economic story that's flown under the radar is the rise of the stock market to near-record heights. It's almost come back from the Internet stock-charged bubble that burst in 2000:

The Dow Jones industrial average is just 53.59 points away from its all-time high close, going into today's trading. In pre-market trading, Dow Jones futures are up 3 points, S&P 500 futures rose 0.5 of a point, and Nasdaq futures rose 2.8 points.

On Tuesday, the Dow industrials closed at its highest level of the year, as investors reacted to a consumer confidence survey that appeared to show an economy not floundering as some had feared, but not growing too much to spur inflationary pressure. The Dow climbed 93 points, the S&P 500 rose by nearly 10 points and the Nasdaq Composite rose 12.3 points.

The all-time high on the Dow is 11,722.98, reached in January 2000.


When Bill Clinton was President I remember his administration touting new stock market high after new stock market high as a sign of their success in managing the economy. I think President Bush and the gang should do a little crowing of their own.

"Dow Just 53.59 from All-Time High Close"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Economics at 08:57 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Joseph Sobran to Speak in Milwaukee Thursday

Last Saturday, James Widgerson posted on an up-coming speech by Joesph Sobran to the Wisconsin Forum. His speech will be about the "hijacking of conservatism." Sobran, once a paleo-conservative or paleo-libertarian now an anarchist, was forced to resign from National Review because of his unhealthy obsession with Israel and the role of Jews in American politics. In 1991, William F. Buckley wrote about how he attempted to keep Sobran from letting his obession harm his career and reputation.

From Sobran's own words about "Jewish power," the "wrath of Jewish advertisers," the "Jewish-Zionist powers that be in the United States," and his many uses of the pejorative "Zionist" (sounding like Palastinian propaganda) it's clear to me he has a dislike of Jews as a group. Ergo it's not a stretch to call Sobran an anti-Semite even though he was in awe of particular Jews like Murray Rothbard. What's also disturbing is his paranoia. Richard John Neuhaus quotes Sobran:

The older I get, the more I am impressed by this pervasive fear of the Jews-or rather, pervasive in some critical power centers, unfelt in other places. It is a huge factor, invisible and incalculable, in American culture and politics.

Sobran's obsession (one he denies) with Jews has no place in a conservatism where people are treated as individuals and not abstracted into ethnic groups with certain exceptions.

What should be done? What I can do is simply not attend the speech, and I encourage no one else to attend. Also, airing my opinion via this weblog is a constructive action. While the Wisconsin Forum has been around for decades and has an admirable committment "to speaking on behalf of the principles of liberty" I am very disappointed in their selection of Sobran. The organization's reputation has suffered in my eyes. Much work will be needed to be done to improve it.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Wisconsin at 04:03 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 26, 2006

Newsweek Chooses to Sell Book Instead of News with Cover

When seeing this graphic at Outside the Beltway I started singing "One of these things is not like the other...."


newsweek-leibovitz.jpg

It just so happens famed photographer Annie Leibovitz is coming out with a new collection of her photos called A Photographer's Life: 1990-2005. Newsweek is obviously involved in promoting the book. Thus the Taliban get bumped for a celebrity photographer for U.S. readers. That's some amazing P.R. firm Leibovitz has to get actual news bumped off the cover of a national newsweekly.

"Taliban vs. Annie Leibovitz"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Media at 09:12 PM | Comments (8) | TrackBack

Bush Signs Transparency Bill

Today, President Bush signed the Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 which, to use President Bush's words, will "create a website that will list the federal government's grants and contracts." Webloggers will love sifting through that looking for waste and possible corruption. Webloggers like Ace, N.Z. Bear, Mary Katherine Ham and others worked hard to get this legislation past. They weren't forgotten because some of them were invited to the signing ceremony. Even though I wasn't writing anything on it I was still rooting for them. Congratulations all.

"Bloggers Gather at White House for Pork Bill Signing"

"President Bush Signs Spending Transparency Bill"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Politics at 08:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Offering Facebook Invites

Facebook has opened itself up to the non-college student and select workplace world. I signed up but I know no one in the Milwaukee, WI group. It's because I'm older than your typical Facebook user. If you want an invite send me an e-mail (sean--at--theamericanmind--dot--com) or leave a comment with your e-mail address.

And if you want a Gmail account I can send you one of those too.

"Facebook Opens Registration to All"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Internet at 07:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Intel Shows off 80 Core Prototype

Moore's Law continues. Instead of the number of transistors doubling on microchips every one to two years Intel looks to double the number of microprocessors periodically:

But the ultimate goal, as envisioned by Intel's terascale research prototype, is to enable a trillion floating-point operations per second--a teraflop--on a single chip. Ten years ago, the ASCI Red supercomputer at Sandia National Laboratories became the first supercomputer to deliver 1 teraflop using 4,510 computing nodes.

Intel's prototype uses 80 floating-point cores, each running at 3.16GHz, Justin Rattner, Intel's chief technology officer, said in a speech following Otellini's address. In order to move data in between individual cores and into memory, the company plans to use an on-chip interconnect fabric and stacked SRAM (static RAM) chips attached directly to the bottom of the chip, he said.


At this rate a Matrix-style shunt into the back of one's brain isn't too far off. And to pick another movie metaphor, will these powerful computers become sentient and strike back at their human "oppressors?"

"Intel Pledges 80 Cores in Five Years"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Tech at 07:24 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Saddam Ejected from Trial Again

The judge in Saddam's genocide trial tossed out the chief defendent for the third straight hearing:

New chief judge Mohammed al-Ureybi, who had thrown Saddam out of the two previous hearings he has chaired in the past week, opened Tuesday's hearing with a lecture to Saddam to behave.

He let him read a 20-minute statement, with microphones off so those in the glass-enclosed press gallery could not hear.

But after listening to two Kurdish witnesses, Saddam again began to argue and the judge lost his patience.

"You are a defendant and I'm a judge," Ureybi said. "Shut up, no-one talk ... The court has decided to eject Saddam Hussein from court."

As Saddam left, smiling, his six co-defendants -- top commanders under Saddam -- stood and tried to follow him out, demanding they leave too. The judge shouted back: "Get Saddam out and put the others back in their seats."

Several co-defendants started shouting and pointing fingers at the judge. Unusually, the sound was left on for television broadcasts, allowing all Iraqis to watch and listen during several minutes of courtroom pandemonium.

Ureybi ejected one, former defense minister Sultan Hashim, ordered a recess and switched off the sound. A source close to the court said he then ejected the others.

When the hearing resumed, it was the first time the genocide trial proceeded with none of the defendants in court.

The defense lawyers have been boycotting the trial since the new chief judge took over last week, so the defendants were represented only by court-appointed back-up lawyers.


And I thought the O.J. Simpson trial was wild and wacky.

"Saddam, Aides Ejected from Genocide Trial"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in War at 08:17 AM | Comments (19) | TrackBack

Charlie's Show Prep #168

  • Americans who don't understand basic economics like supply and demand think there's a conspiracy between the President and the oil companies.

  • The "Madden Curse" strikes again. The 2007 edition of the football video game features Seattle's Shawn Alexander. He broke his foot in Sunday's game against the Giants.

  • Washington Republicans are set to increase federal spending 9%.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Charlie's Show Prep at 04:04 AM | Comments (15) | TrackBack

September 25, 2006

British Wack al-Qaeda Bombmaker

Omar al-Farouq, who escaped from an Afghan prison in 2005, was killed by British troops in Basra, Iraq:

Burbridge said he could not comment on whether it was the same man who allegedly led al-Qaida's Southeast Asia operations, citing British policy not allowing him to link an individual to a specific organization.

But a Basra police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, said it was the same man. The officer said al-Farouq entered Iraq three months ago, was known to be an expert in bomb making and went by the name Mahmoud Ahmed while in Basra.

Al-Farouq and three other al-Qaida suspects escaped from Bagram, in central Afghanistan, in July 2005, but the Pentagon waited until November to confirm his escape. The delay upset Indonesia, which had arrested al-Farouq in 2002 and turned him over to the United States.


Al-Farouq's wife should now accept he was indeed a terrorist:
In Indonesia last November, al-Farouq's wife said the U.S. government should have put her husband on trial.

"My husband was kidnapped by America but they never officially told us ... for more than three years," Mira Agustina said then. "I don't believe that my husband was a terrorist. He is only an ordinary man who cried when he watched movies about violence."

"I was shocked when news broke that my husband was a terrorist wanting to kill many people," she said, adding that she told her two daughters that their father had gone off to America "to work."


Instead he went around Southeast and Central Asia planning attacks on the U.S.

This gives more validity to the "flypaper" theory of the Iraq War. Security consultant Ken Conboy said, "He's Iraqi after all. If he's not hiding out (in Afghanistan or Pakistan), he's probably headed to Iraq to join the fight there." (Emphaisis mine.)

"British Forces Kill Leading Terrorist"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Terrorism at 09:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Vice President Raises Big Bucks for Green and GOP

Vice President Dick Cheney came to Milwaukee to raise $150,000 for Mark Green and Wisconsin Republicans. That should help make up for losing in court to a Jim Doyle-appointed judge.

"Cheney Visits Milwaukee"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Wisconsin at 07:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Mark Green Hits Back at Doyle

Many of us Mark Green supporters have been waiting for him to strike back at Jim Doyle's constant barrage of attack ads. With today's ruling against him in liberal Dane County by a Doyle-appointed judge he has to know the rules of the game are being rigged by his opponents. Now, Green has struck back. I hope this is just the beginning. The next ad should feature one Georgia Thompson who's going to federal prison for rigging a state travel contract toward a big Doyle contributor.

The Green campaign will move the questioned $467,844 into a separate account leaving Jim Doyle with that much more of a financial advantage. Please donate to Mark Green. Wisconsin doesn't deserve four more years of Doyle's ethical treachery.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Wisconsin at 06:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Charlie's Show Prep #167

  • There's lots of yapping over leaked portions of the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) that the Iraq War has inspired untold numbers of new terrorists. Here are two things to remember: 1. the NIE isn't God's word sent down from heaven, it doesn't have the greatest track record; 2. there's a reason someone wanted this story, based on a report written in April, leaked weeks before Election Day when the GOP was making headway with voters on the terrorism issue.

  • There's much still to learn about the deaths of an East St. Louis mother and her four children, one cut from her mother's womb.

  • The Washington Times looks at how affirmative action has twisted Indian society.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Charlie's Show Prep at 03:29 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

September 24, 2006

Washington Post on Chavez's Hot Air

Many, including me, paid more attention to what Hugo Chavez said last week (and what book he hawked) at the U.N. than how he's leading Venezuela especially its oil industry. Thankfully the Washington Post editorial board points out Chavez's ineptitude:

Since Mr. Chávez took power seven years ago, Venezuela has mismanaged its oil so disastrously that production may have fallen by almost half, according to the estimates of outsiders, reducing global oil supply by a bit more than 1 percent. Along with natural disasters and Nigerian rebels, Mr. Chávez's ineptitude has contributed to high energy prices.

It takes sustained determination to reduce output by that much, and Mr. Chávez has provided it. He inherited a competent national oil company that produced three times more per worker than its Mexican counterpart. He immediately starved it of investment capital and dispatched ignorant political cronies to oversee it. When this abuse provoked a strike, Mr. Chávez fired the staff en masse, getting rid of two-thirds of the skilled employees and managers.


"Hurricane Chávez" [via Betsy's Page]

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Foreign Affairs at 05:25 PM | Comments (13) | TrackBack

September 23, 2006

Osama bin Laden: Dead and Alive

The brief hope that Osama bin Laden was dead (and by a "water-born" illness no less) cheered me up this rainy Saturday. But that's not the case according to Pakistani intelligence.

"Captured and Dead/Sick Savage Report"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Terrorism at 05:45 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Obsessing over Numbers

How many Bush-bashing, Leftist shibboleths can one reporter put into an "objective" news story? Count along with we go through the Associated Press' Calvin Woodward:

Now the death toll is 9/11 times two. U.S. military deaths from Iraq and Afghanistan now surpass those of the most devastating terrorist attack in America's history, the trigger for what came next.

The latest milestone for a country at war came Friday without commemoration. It came without the precision of knowing who was the 2,974th to die in conflict. The terrorist attacks killed 2,973 victims in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

An Associated Press count of the U.S. death toll in Iraq rose to 2,696. Combined with 278 U.S. deaths in and around Afghanistan, the 9/11 toll was reached, then topped, the same day. The Pentagon reported Friday the latest death from Iraq, an as-yet unidentified soldier killed a day earlier after his vehicle was hit by a roadside bombing in eastern Baghdad.

Not for the first time, war that was started to answer death has resulted in at least as much death for the country that was first attacked, quite apart from the higher numbers of enemy and civilians killed.


I was waiting for this number to come up. For some reason Woodward doesn't bother to explain what 2,974 battlefield dead has to do with anything. The only thing interesting about that number is it provided Woodward a reason to write his anti-war "news" story.

Historians note that this grim accounting is not how the success or failure of warfare is measured, and that the reasons for conflict are broader than what served as the spark.

The body count from World War II was far higher for Allied troops than for the crushed Axis. Americans lost more men in each of a succession of Pacific battles than the 2,390 people who died at Pearl Harbor in the attack that made the U.S. declare war on Japan. The U.S. lost 405,399 in the theaters of World War II.

Despite a death toll that pales next to that of the great wars, one casualty milestone after another has been observed and reflected upon this time, especially in Iraq.

There was the benchmark of seeing more U.S. troops die in the occupation than in the swift and successful invasion. And the benchmarks of 1,000 dead, 2,000, 2,500.

Now this.


The only ones obsessing over body count numbers has been a sensationalist MSM and Bush-bashing, war protesters who wish they lived in a world where we could sing "Kumbaya" with Osama bin Laden and ask him nicely not to attack us again.

While each American death in the Islamist War is awful all of us must stay focused on the goal: defeat the enemy and secure the nation from future attacks. Many have already died, and many more will perish in this mission. Afghanistan and Iraq have been two places, and expect other places where the U.S. military will extend its sword in defense of the homeland. War is hell, yet we shouldn't shudder from the fight because of a body count.

Woodward is so obsessed with numbers so I'll give him a more important one. The number of Islamist terrorist attacks since Sep. 11, 2001: zero*.

[UPDATE: I made a mistake. I meant the number of Islamist attack on U.S. soil since Sep. 11. My apologies.]

Do you think President Roosevelt cared when the number of Americans killed in World War II equaled the number dead at Pearl Harbor? I doubt it. He was too busy commanding conflicts on both sides of the world. Did it matter to the Founding Fathers that the deaths at Lexington and Concord were greater than that of the Boston Massacre? No, they were a little busy organizing a resistance to the British.

"There's never a good war but if the war's going well and the overall mission remains powerful, these numbers are not what people are focusing on," said Julian Zelizer, a political historian at Boston University. "If this becomes the subject, then something's gone wrong."

Beyond the tribulations of the moment and the now-rampant doubts about the justification and course of the Iraq war, Zelizer said Americans have lost firsthand knowledge of the costs of war that existed keenly up to the 1960s, when people remembered two world wars and Korea, and faced Vietnam.

"A kind of numbness comes from that," he said. "We're not that country anymore — more bothered, more nervous. This isn't a country that's used to ground wars anymore."

Almost 10 times more Americans have died in Iraq than in Afghanistan, where U.S. casualties have been remarkably light by any historical standard, although climbing in recent months in the face of a resurgent Taliban.

Hey Woodward, casualties have also been "remarkably light by any historical standard" in Iraq too. Before the war in 2003 I fully expected 10,000 troops to die. I thought Saddam's vaunted Republican Guard would put up a tougher fight, and chemical weapons--that the whole world thought Iraq had--would produce grotesque injuries and deaths. Despite my fears of so many deaths I firmly supported the invasion because I thought the cause was true. Thankfully, the invasion went well. The occupation and Iraq's rebuilding has been the real challenge.

The Pentagon reports 56 military deaths and one civilian Defense Department death in other parts of the world from Operation Enduring Freedom, the anti-terrorism war distinct from Iraq.

Altogether, 3,031 have died abroad since Sept. 11, 2001.

The toll among Iraqi civilians hit a record high in the summer, with 6,599 violent deaths reported in July and August alone, the United Nations said this week.


Wouldn't it be better to lump these tragic deaths to Iraq's liberation and ascension into civilization? No, because Woodward wants to pull at his readers heartstrings. If anyone should be blamed for those deaths it's the resistance who reject a democratic regime.

Among the latest U.S. deaths identified by the armed forces:

_Army 2nd Lt. Emily J.T. Perez, 23, Fort Washington, Md., who died Sept. 12 in Kifl, Iraq, from an explosive device detonated near her vehicle. A former high school sprinter who sang in her West Point gospel choir, she was assigned to the 204th Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

_Marine Sgt. Christopher M. Zimmerman, 28, Stephenville, Texas, killed Wednesday in Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.


These are all patriots who deserve nothing but gratitude.

A new study on the war dead and where they come from suggests that the notion of "rich man's war, poor man's fight" has become a little truer over time.

Among the Americans killed in the Iraq war, 34 percent have come from communities reporting the lowest levels of family income. Half come from middle income communities and only 17 percent from the highest income level.

That's a change from World War II, when all income groups were represented about equally. In Korea, Vietnam and Iraq, the poor have made up a progressively larger share of casualties, by this analysis.


Now, we get into Woodward's bit of class warfare. He mentions the income distributions of casualties in a number of wars but "forgets" to note that there's no longer a draft. We have a voluntary armed forces. Men and women are free to enlist and now renew their enlistment when their service time in done. But that important piece of information would unravel Woodward's "rich man's war, poor man's fight" canard.

Eye-for-an-eye vengeance was not the sole motivator for what happened after the 2001 attacks any more than Pearl Harbor alone was responsible for all that followed. But Pearl Harbor caught the U.S. in the middle of mobilization, debate, rising tensions with looming enemies and a European war already in progress. Historians doubt anyone paid much attention to sad milestones once America threw itself into the fight.
Yes, because we don't have an MSM and Bush-bashing Left obsessed with making President Bush look bad instead of seeking victory over our enemies.
In contrast, the United States had no imminent war intentions against anyone on Sept. 10, 2001. One bloody day later, it did.

To Calvin Woodward and those Bush-bashing, anti-war protesters I give you this from Victor Davis Hanson:

Today I finish the last class of a five-week course I taught this late summer at Hillsdale College on World War II. What is striking is the abrupt end of the war, whose last months nevertheless saw the worst American casualties in Europe of the entire struggle. 10,677 of our soldiers died in April 1945 alone, just a few days before the collapse of the Nazi regime— about the same number lost a year earlier during the month of June in the 1944 landings at Normandy and the slogging in the Hedgerows. Okinawa saw our worst casualties on the ground in the Pacific—and was declared secure only 6 weeks before the Japanese surrender. 1945 was far bloodier than 1939, a reminder that in the midst of a war daily losses are not necessarily a barometer of how close or far away is the end of the carnage. Ask the Red Army for whom the final siege of Berlin—361, 367 Russian and Polish soldiers lost—may have been their worst single battle of their entire war, itself characterized by killing on a scale unimaginable in the West.

I don’t know how close or far away we are in Iraq from securing a chance for Iraqi democracy to stabilize, but I do know—despite the recent spate of doom and gloom journalistic accounts—that, as in all wars, it is almost impossible to tell from the 24-hour pulse of the battlefield.

For more reaction there's Allahpundit, Tigerhawk, and Chad the Elder.

"War Price on U.S. Lives Equal to 9/11"

*Since we don't know who was responsible for the anthrax attacks soon after Sep. 11 I don't count that. Even if it is discovered to be al Qaeda's or some other terrorist group's doing I will include that with Sep. 11 since the nation was only in the beginnings of responding to the Islamist threat.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in War at 03:05 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack

September 22, 2006

Wait a While for Final Harry Potter Book

Harry Potter fans, I have to give you some bad news. It will be a while before the final Harry Potter book. J.K. Rowling said, "I'm not close to finishing it."

"Rowling Says Seventh Harry Potter Book 'Not Close to Being Finished"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Books at 04:24 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Charlie's Show Prep #166

  • Hamas won't join a coalition Palestinian government if they have to recognize Israel despite what President Mahmoud Abbas told the U.N.

  • Wisconsin political junkies won't have to wait a month until the next Green-Doyle head-to-head battle. The two governor candidates will debate 10.06 in Milwaukee.

  • Wal-Mart will sell 30-day supplies of generic for $4. Wal-Mart haters are looking for some sort of underhandedness by the monster retailer.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Charlie's Show Prep at 04:22 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

September 21, 2006

More on Doyle's Rigging of the State Elections Board

There has been plenty of electrons spilled on the news that a Gov. Jim Doyle lawyer conspired with members of the State Elections Board to stick it to Rep. Mark Green. Patrick at Badger Blogger has an extensive round-up. So check him out for breadth. I'll highlight some thoughts I found interesting:


  • Campaign finance uber-scholar and former FEC member Bradley Smith calls Michael Maistelman's actions "as unethical behavior as I have seen from a lawyer appearing before an administrative agency, or members of the agency itself."

  • Jeff Wagner writes, "The attorney for the State Elections Board suggests that this contact was legal. Maybe, maybe not. The point though is that these e-mails provide pretty clear evidence that the process was fixed from the beginning. This wasn't a private citizen lobbying the Elections Board. It was the attorney for the patron of several appointees telling them how to vote."

  • Rick Esenberg writes, "Of course, apart from the legality, this looks awful. Here's Maistelman carefully circumventing the open meetings laws and telling these intrepid seekers of truth what the "powers that be" had deemed acceptable. Here he is again telling them that they can tie Green up in the courts and make him look bad."

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Wisconsin at 08:31 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Sen. Harkin Doesn't Bash Chavez

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) can "understand" Hugo Chavez's "frustration" with the U.S. That's far from Reps. Rangel's and Pelosi's denunciations of the Venezuelan autocrat. He then turned a question about Chavez into your standard criticism of President Bush's foreign policy.

"Harkin Defends Venezuelan President's U.N. Speech against Bush"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Foreign Affairs at 05:55 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Democrats Bash Chavez

I know they're doing it because elections are about six weeks away still I'm please Reps. Charles Rangel and Nancy Pelosi ripped Hugo Chavez:

"I just want to make it abundantly clear to Hugo Chavez or any other president - don't come to the United States and think because we have problems with our president that any foreigner can come to our country and not think that Americans do not feel offended when you offend our Chief of State," Rangel said.

"Any demeaning public attack against him is viewed by Republicans and Democrats, and all Americans, as an attack on all of us," Rangel said.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, who spent most of the day criticizing the Bush administration's economic and environmental policies, told reporters that Chavez's performance at the U.N. "demeaned" himself and the his nation.

"He fancies himself as a modern day Simon Bolivar, but all he is an everyday thug," Pelosi said.


It's good to know political expediency still trumps Bush Derangement Syndrome in Democratic leaders.

Too bad the same can't be said for the wackos at Democratic Underground. Here are some good comments on Rangel's remarks:


  • OneBlueSky: "when that president represents an immediate threat to world peace . . .
    and, indeed, to the survival of humanity and of the planet itself, I'd say that criticism is quite appropriate -- anytime, any place, and by anyone . . . "
  • Rex: " Well then he can go and goosestep with his new best friend
    George Bush. I hear Lieberman was a great progressive at one time and pissed his whole career away due to a kiss by the Devil."
  • El Zopilote: "What is U.S. Congressman Charles Rangél doing? Is he betraying the Democratic Party? He's bashing Hugo Chavez and defending Bush. It is very disturbing and alarming to see a Democrat, especially a monority, to critize an international Hispanic leader and ally by expressing sympathy for Bush and his racist Republicans. Has Mr. Rangél gone loco? Has he turned into a rogue Democrat? Is he a traitor? Hopefully Mr. Rangél has an ulterior motive. But as Democrats we must be careful not to create the slightest impression that our strong united coalition has a crack in it. I consider all minorities (African-Americans, Hispanics of course, Muslims, American Indians and all to be my brothers in the cause of solidarity). We must remain united. Solidarity is the key to victory. We do not need dissent.

"Chavez Catches Hell For 'Devil' Slam"

"Rangel and Pelosi Denounce Chavez "Devil" Comments"

"Rangel to Chavez: Shut Up"

"Video: Rangel Warns Chavez Not to Attack “My President”; Update: Gratuitous DU Thread Added"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Foreign Affairs at 04:13 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Bad Timing of Doyle's "Ethics" Ad

Ask Me Later's Cantankerous noticed Gov. Doyle's great timing. Yesterday, his campaign released a new ad [PDF] bashing Rep. Mark Green for keeping $468,000 in PAC donations that were legal until Doyle got his cronies on the State Elections Board to retroactively declare them illegal.




In the ad Doyle says he won't stop cleaning up corruption. Will he be asking for Carl Holborn and Kerry Dwyer to step down from the board? Will Doyle campaign attorney Michael S. Maistelman be fired? Will Doyle's campaign pay for the Election Board's court costs since it's a being used as a political weapon against Green?

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Wisconsin at 03:24 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Doyle's Words vs. Facts

Badger Blogger's video sums up nicely the first Doyle-Green debate:


You could make two good commercials out of that. Nice work, Patrick.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Wisconsin at 02:45 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Charlie's Show Prep #165

  • "Torture" worked on al-Qaeda leaders, and they provided valuable information.

  • Arizona's Sep. 11 memorial is a leftist paean. Instead of focusing on what happened it's full of unrelated moments like the Gulf of Tonkin incident, the sinking of the Lusitania, and Pearl Harbor as well as U.S. mistakes like the bombing of a wedding in Afghanistan, and Congress questioning CIA and FBI missteps. My favorite was the date the Patriot Act became law.

  • Because of new airline security rules you're not allowed to use ice or cold packs for carry on food (steaks and lobsters for example) but you can use frozen vegetables.

  • McDonald's is thinking about serving breakfast 24/7. A McGriddle anytime of the day? Yum.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Charlie's Show Prep at 04:51 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

Doyle's Lawyer Had Board Stick It to Green

We might as well toss aside the latest poll numbers. A new piece of data has entered the governor's race, and it's a doozy. Gov. Jim Doyle's campaign lawyer told Democratic members of the State Elections Board to retroactively declare some of Rep. Mark Green's PAC contribution illegal to stymie the Republican's campaign.

Attorney Michael S. Maistelman bluntly told Democratic Party members of the board he contacted why they should publicly sanction or punish the Green campaign, according to documents obtained by the Journal Sentinel under the state's open records law.

"Even if this ends up in Court it is a PR victory for us since it makes Green spend money and have to defend the use of his Washington DC dirty money," Maistelman said in a 9:31 a.m. e-mail one day before the vote. He sent the message to Carl Holborn and Kerry Dwyer, board members appointed by Democratic leaders of the Legislature.

Holborn, Dwyer and another Democratic appointee, Robert Kasieta, were part of a five-vote majority that gave Green's campaign 10 days to divest itself of $467,844 in donations from political action committees not registered in Wisconsin - an order the Green campaign will fight in a Dane County courtroom today.


Now, those of us political junkies figured Doyle was behind the board's unfair ruling, but now the public knows how brazen Team Doyle was.

Wisconsinites strongly feel people should play fair. We've learned again that Gov. Doyle doesn't care about fairness. He simply cares about winning re-election and advancing his liberal agenda. He trades state contracts for campaign contributions, lies about the state government's finances, labels his opponents as "extreme," over does it when talking about embryonic stem cells' medical potential, and now turns a bipartisan election board into a political weapon.

Wisconsin is at a point where serious people need to work together to solve the assortment of problems facing the state. With Rep. Mark Green we have a man who's laying out plans on education, taxes, and health care. With Gov. Doyle it's smear commercials and stacking the deck through cronies. Wisconsin deserves better than that.

"Doyle Lawyer Urged Sanction" [via Fraley's Daily Takes]

UPDATE: To read Michael Maistelman e-mails you can download them here [PDF]

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Wisconsin at 04:08 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack