Oceanside, Colorado

I fear our friend James Taranto has been had, or else his humor has been desiccated by global warming. A humorous letter writer on the topic of global warming is identified as:

"reader Eric Free of Oceanside, Colo."

Oceanside, Colorado! Global Warming! Get it?

Is that like Ethanol?

I like The Economist Magazine though I frequently disagree with my perceived slant of their coverage. This cover, however, set me aback:



Umm, guys, those would be the two countries (add India for good measure) who are GROWING! The rest of the world wants to settle for sclerotic, socialist-growth, they can use less energy.

And what countries are most likely to make other energy sources available? Just shooting from the hip, I'd guess an American firm doing some manufacturing in China.

Kill This Meme Early

I see this getting out of hand. Like President GHW Bush's amazement seeing the supermarket scanner, it will soon be accepted as fact that hurricane Katrina is the result of "global warming." It is already being promoted as such by the Independant, Boston Globe and some others.

Jim Glassman makes a trenchant case for nipping this in the bud, but it ain't gonna be easy.

My daughter, her husband and their little baby managed to get out of the city ahead of the flood on Sunday, driving 14 hours into Texas with the few belongings they could stuff into their car. They have no idea what has become of their house and their possessions, not to mention their friends, their pets, their jobs, their way of life.

Tragedies happen, and my daughter and her family are happy just to be alive. Their losses and those of hundreds of thousands of other innocents deserve mourning, prayer and respect.

That is why the response of environmental extremists fills me with what only can be called disgust. They have decided to exploit the death and devastation to win support for the failed Kyoto Protocol, which requires massive cutbacks in energy use to reduce, by a few tenths of a degree, surface warming projected 100 years from now.

Katrina has nothing to do with global warming. Nothing. It has everything to do with the immense forces of nature that have been unleashed many, many times before and the inability of humans, even the most brilliant engineers, to tame these forces.

Giant hurricanes are rare, but they are not new. And they are not increasing. To the contrary. Just go to the website of the National Hurricane Center and check out a table that lists hurricanes by category and decade. The peak for major hurricanes (categories 3,4,5) came in the decades of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, when such storms averaged 9 per year. In the 1960s, there were 6 such storms; in the 1970s, 4; in the 1980s, 5; in the 1990s, 5; and for 2001-04, there were 3. Category 4 and 5 storms were also more prevalent in the past than they are now. As for Category 5 storms, there have been only three since the 1850s: in the decades of the 1930s, 1960s and 1990s.

Kudos to the New York Times (I love typing that phrase!) for this bit of honest reporting:

"Because hurricanes form over warm ocean water, it is easy to assume that the recent rise in their number and ferocity is because of global warming. But that is not the case, scientists say. Instead, the severity of hurricane seasons changes with cycles of temperatures of several decades in the Atlantic Ocean. The recent onslaught 'is very much natural,' said William M. Gray, a professor of atmospheric science at Colorado State University who issues forecasts for the hurricane season.'"

'Course, the NYTimes is just another corporate organ, hopelessly in the pocket of the Bush Administration -- of course they'd say that.

UPDATE: Jonah Goldberg writes, in The Corner:

I've decided that every nice, cool, breezy day which happens to come along until the day I die, I'm going to credit global warming. Absent other data, it makes exactly as much sense to blame weather we don't like on global warming as it does to credit global warming for the weather we do like.

"What a lovely day, thank goodness for fossil fuels!"

Your Oil $$ at Work

A friend emails this picture -- believe it at will. It is a Silver (That's Ag, not the color) Audi A8 for a sheik in Dubai.



Now you feel better paying for $3 gas, don't you?

Border Controls: About F'ing Time

It's about time Mr President.

"I understand it's putting a strain on your resources," said Bush. "It's important for the people of this state to understand, your voices are being heard in Washington, D.C."

Bush, a former Texas governor, told a crowd dominated by retirees that he will work with Gov. Janet Napolitano and other border governors to address the problem, declaring: "We have an obligation to enforce the borders."

More people, detention space and resources will be made available in border areas, Bush said.

Of course, it's easy to say something, another to do it.

Let's get on with it.

U.S. Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., said Bush has not been getting credit for addressing border issues.

"I have no doubt that he is clearly at this point strongly embracing immigration reform that would secure our borders," Franks said.

The issue of security should be addressed first, he said, and after that, questions about guest worker programs, illegal immigrants who are already here and employer sanctions can be addressed.

"Until we secure the borders, we cannot even begin that debate," Franks said.

Exactly right. However, Bush hasn't recieved the credit, because NOTHING has been done.

Mrs. Sheehan

Judging from some recent comments, I am suddenly not very popular around here. I was going to reply in the comments but I wanted to link to a couple of other pieces.

Sugarchuck has consistently called for a hands-off, tolerant approach, based on who she is and what she has already given. I appreciate that. He and Silence would like to see commentators (especially me) lay off.

While I am also tired of vituperative attacks on Mrs. Sheehan by the right, I am NOT going to concede ground to her because I am not comfortable asserting my beliefs against one who has "laid such a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom."

Byron York details that she is the public face of one Lisa Fithian.

To anyone familiar with the world of professional protesting — protests against globalism, capitalism, war, police tactics, and dozens of other causes — the presence of Fithian is a sign of how far Cindy Sheehan has strayed from the roots of her "one mom" crusade against George W. Bush. Or, perhaps more accurately, it is a sign that the "one mom" crusade was never just one mom. Fithian is a legendary organizer who operates in the world of anti-globalism anarchists, antiwar protesters, and union activists; an advocate of aggressive "direct action" demonstrations, she protested the first Gulf war, played an important role in the violent shutdown of Seattle during the 1999 World Trade Organization meeting, was a key planner in protests at the Republican and Democratic national conventions in 2000 and 2004, and organized demonstrations at trade meetings in Washington, D.C., Prague, and Genoa.

I can sit still when she lines up with Michael Moore, or Al Sharpton, but this alliance has me concerned. Dang them for putting a sympathetic face on lunacy. But I am not going to let them offer lies and denigrate the mission, because of her.

Silence doesn't seem very chipper either. As to his first point, that's the idea: comedy writers are penning better White House communications than does "White House Communications."

As for the "No WMD's" comment, I offer two rebuttals. The first comes from that crazy, right-wing, in the pocket of the Bush Administration magazine, The New Yorker. Nicholas Lemann wrote in February 2003:

Has a war ever been as elaborately justified in advance as the coming war with Iraq? Because this war is not being undertaken in direct response to a single shattering event (it's been nearly a year and a half since the September 11th attacks), and because the possibility of military action against Saddam Hussein has been Washington's main preoccupation for the better part of a year, the case for war has grown so large and variegated that its very multiplicity has become a part of the case against it. In his State of the Union address, President Bush offered at least four justifications, none of them overlapping: the cruelty of Saddam against his own people; his flouting of treaties and United Nations Security Council resolutions; the military threat that he poses to his neighbors; and his ties to terrorists in general and to Al Qaeda in particular.

My second defense is a plea to recall discussions we had over lunch. You thought that the Neo-Wilsonianism was a ruse and said that if you believed that they were serious about propagating democracy then you'd be on board. (This is all from memory, if I have it wrong tell me and I will retract everything I said.)

As for the Vietnam comparison, I don't see where that happened in this post but I am very interested in that. The assertion that "they didn't want is there" was constantly cited by the antiwar crowd, but my experience with South Viet Namese as completely orthogonal to that.

I have met a few families that came over after, and they really resent the inference that "the simple little rice farmer doesn't care if he lives under democracy or Communism." That is patronizing to the highest degree.

Crawford Media Circus

Al Sharpton has arrived in Crawford, and is praying with Cindy Sheehan

Hurricane Katrina

When facing an impending collossal hurricane like this one, the only things you can do are take your family to a safer refuge and pray that what you leave behind will still be there.

Our prayers are with the Gulf Coasters.

A coworker of mine is from New Orleans, and he's been saying for as long as I've known him, that New Orleans is just one storm away from being gone.

With the reports saying that this storm is huge, it will be extremely catastrophic. Given that New Orleans is 6 to 10 feet below sea level, it stands to be in a lot of water.

Can a city be destroyed and abandoned?

Do we do that? Does American culture / society provide for something like that?

We always rebuild. Better. It's the American way.

But if it's left a lake, can we rebuild?

Operation Yellow Elephant

Operation Yellow Elephant a blog who main goal seems to be to harrass College and Young Republicans into enlisting has targeted the Montgomery County YRs, an organization to which I belong.

They note on their website, "It's their war. Why aren't they fighting it?" They encourage readers to send emails to the young (lowercase Y) Republicans.

Some choice quotes...

First up, Sarah Holcome [sic], a real looker who works with Senator Rick Santorum (R-Canine) in the Philadelphia office. She's the Chairman, and as such probably has more balls than the rest of the lot.

And...

And then there's Avedis Boornazian, who looks far too much like an ARAB (gasp!) to be in this group. OK, maybe an Armenian. Likely he is a good Christian, don't you think? How else could he rise to the leadership position of Treasurer?

Must be some of that famous liberal compassion on display there.

Of note, the former Secretary of the MontcoYRs is "former" because he's currently a JAG, serving in Iraq. The previous Chairman was in 1991's Desert Storm.

As to the tired "chicken hawk" argument. I think it's the last refuge of those that have no other argument.

Potential answers to this group:
"You've never been in Saddam's torture chambers! What give you the right to deny their liberation?"

"You're not the President, what gives you the right to question what he does?"

"You want to send someone else out to fight crime? How about you go be a cop!"

"Don't like oil prices? Go drill for your own!"

"Don't like the current foreign policy? Go run for office! Or get you guy elected!"

Basically anything in the form "You want someone to do X for you, go do X yourself!" will work.

Yawn. Is their campaign harrassment? Nah. It's free speech, and their time, I suppose. It's more indicative of their desperation than anything else.

Since they are targetting those who may have political aspirations, or those who are politically involved do they really want more politicians with military service? Maybe they want ONLY politicians with military service? The list of politicians who have led Americans to war is long, and contains both Democrats and Republicans, some of them civilians. Surely they're not criticizing them as well.

I wonder if they're also going to target Young Democrat groups in states whose Senators and Reps voted for the Iraq war. New York comes to mind.

I'll quote NRO's Rich Lowry.

The chicken-hawk argument is nakedly partisan. During the Kosovo war waged by Bill Clinton and supported by Democrats in 1999, a cry didn’t go up from the Left that no one could support the war unless they were willing to strap themselves into B-2 bombers for the 33-hour ride from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri to Belgrade and back to degrade Serbian infrastructure.

And to answer you... No. I haven't served. And you're not a high school teacher, so you can't comment on the quality of algebra education. Go be a teacher!

That's how mature it is, thanks for playing.

Among Heroes

Caelestis at The Makaha Surf Report (Forward Deployed) pens a stirring piece called In the company of heroes. It is hard to pick an excerpt -- I'll go with the close:

I have spent nearly a year in Iraq in my three tours here, and my spirits are always buoyed by watching my countrymen and potential countrymen at work and at play. They go out everyday and face mortal peril, they go out and have to confront the evil of our time, they go out and see friends killed or maimed for life. They do that and still they smile much more than they scowl, they show love and compassion to the Iraqi people instead of fear and hatred. They still believe in the mission even after nearly 1900 of them have been cut down in the sands of Mesopotamia. Being here with them reinforces my beliefs in humanity and my idealism, with brave and selfless men and women such as these, anything is possible. The fires of human passions are often at their hottest in war, the fires of evil seek to scorch and destroy all that is good, in our men and women I see the fires of righteousness in action. Good done for the sake of good, selflessness for the sake of your brothers and sisters in arms, sacrifice in the name of love, and honor in a battle against those without honor. I truly have been blessed these last 2 and 1/2 years, I have lived in the company of heroes. Heroes of America, heroes to the downtrodden and dispossessed, heroes to the persecuted and brutalized, heroes descended from the peoples of every nation under heaven.

Thanks to all who serve. And Hat-tip to Mudville Gazette.

Reardon Metal

Samizdat Brian Micklethwait got a laugh out of me with his comment that he "regards the word 'nanotechnology' as nerd-speak for it will never happen."

But he links to a nanotubes article that you'd have to be comatose to read without excitement:

The nanotubes are made of carbon and possess incredible strength. The sheets of nanotubes measure just a few times wider than the actual carbon atom, or 2 millionths-of-an-inch (2000 times thinner than paper). A square mile of this will could weigh as little as 170 pounds. The sheets are transparent, flexible and stronger than steel or high strength plastics.

The sheets will emit light when they are heated. The nanotubes are similar to solar cells because they can produce electricity when exposed to sunlight. It is hoped that other future applications can be developed including artificial muscles, faster race cars and better batteries.

The sheets can be produced very quickly. The real breakthrough is the automated process that can produce a 2 ¾ inch (5 centimeters) wide strip at a rate of 47 feet per minute. Previous methods have been much slower.

So, it's Reardon Metal, but it has photovoltaic properties and can emit light. Hank would be proud...

GOP Partisan Hacks!

Is it me, or is there a lot of gloating on the right over Senator Thune's saving Ellsworth Air Base?

I love to see Republicans win but I love to see politicians lose. I bet the military would be well served by closing a lot of bases. Too many are not strategically important, yet they have some powerful Senator or Congressman who will protect it at all costs. Is Ellsworth strategically necessary? I don't know but I would like to see all the Pentagon suggestions taken, even if it doesn't help a Freshman Republican.

PowerLine disagrees:

Thune unseated then-Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle partly on the strength of his claim that he would be better positioned to help save the base. The Democrats gloated when it looked like Ellsworth would be closed, but now Thune gets the last laugh.

I am a small government Republican and I ain't laughing!

On Constitutions

Hand-wringing over perceived inadequacies in the draft Iraqi constitution do not concern me as much as your average NYTimes columnist.

First, we should smack our heads with wonder every time we read a headline about factional conflict in the Iraqi Parliament. These folks are discussing, arguing, and when they get really grouchy, threatening to boycott or walk out. Not shooting, not bombing. Elected leaders behaving no more childishly than US Congresspeople.

Secondly, this is a draft. There will be many opportunities to amend and repair flaws. The US Constitution did not outlaw chattel slavery and we did okay.

Thirdly, as the WSJ notes, Britain has done pretty well with no written Constitution, the USSR had a great one that was never enforceable, let's keep an eye on reality, not clauses.

Lastly, Michael Barone observes another thing about representative democracy:

They make the point that Iraqis are not necessarily going to make the same constitutional and policy choices that Americans would. This is of course true of other democracies. Britain has an established Church of England, and the prime minister effectively (and the Queen formally) chooses the Archbishop of Canterbury. Canada provides public funding for Catholic and other religious schools. France bans girls from wearing headscarves in schools. Germany prohibits the publication of Nazi materials. We don't do any of these things, and most Americans wouldn't want to. But who would argue that Britain, Canada, France, and Germany are not acceptable representative democracies with acceptable levels of human rights? They just have different histories and different traditions, and have made different choices.

Some have argued that Iraq is a poor testing ground for democracy in the Middle East because it has multiple sects and ethnic groups—the Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds. But I think the multi-sect, multi-ethnic character of Iraq is actually helpful in forging an acceptable democracy. It forces constitution-makers to confront squarely the age-old dilemma of representative government, how to reconcile majority rule with minority rights. In a mono-ethnic, mono-sect state, or one in which one group is the overwhelming majority (Shiite Iran, Sunni Egypt), that issue doesn't necessarily present itself, and you risk getting the tyranny of the majority that our own Founding Fathers strove to prevent.

Long as they're arguin'...

That's Not Funny!

Scrappleface's Leak: Draft of Bush Answer to Cindy Sheehan is not funny. Here's a long excerpt, but you're gonnaa wanna read eevry word of this:

You ask for what noble cause your son died?

In a sense he died so that people like you, who passionately oppose government policies, can freely express that opposition. As you camp in Crawford, you should take off your shoes, for you stand on holy ground. This land was bought with the blood of men like your son.

Now, 25 million Iraqis cry out to enjoy the life you take for granted. Most of them will never use their freedom to denigrate the sacrifice of those who paid for it. But once liberty is enshrined in law, they will be free to do so. And when the Iraqis finally escape their incarceration, hope will spread throughout that enslaved region of the world, eventually making us all safer and more free.

The key is in the lock of the prison door. Bold men risk everything to turn it.

Mrs. Sheehan, everyone dies. But few experience the bittersweet glory of death with a purpose -- death that sets people free and produces ripples of liberty hundreds of years into the future.

Casey Sheehan died that freedom might triumph over bondage, hope over despair, prosperity over misery. He died restoring justice and mercy. He lived and died to help to destroy the last stubborn vestiges of the Dark Ages.

Hat-tip: Instapundit

Okay, then, in MY name

I am on the Not In Our Name mailing list. A couple of years ago, James Taranto pointed out that people were signing their petitions with silly names, so I signed as Hadda V. Shinynoz (it was close to Christmas as I recall).

I have enjoyed the emails. They are infrequent, and remind me with whom we are dealing out there. They're waaaay left, but not much further out than some of my family and friends.

Today's features calls to support Mrs. Sheehan, buying an ad in the Waco Tribune-Herald, Upcoming events, call to volunteer in the Statement of Conscience National Office...and this item:

2. Responses to the International Commission of Inquiry on Crimes
Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration.

Work is progressing on the Commission. Our goal is to continue to build
on the impact of the Not In Our Name statements and the World Tribunal
on Iraq by holding a court of inquiry that will both frame and fuel a
discussion that is urgently needed in this country: Is the
administration of George W. Bush guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity?

Check for updates on our web site - there's a special section for the
Commission http://www.nion.us/commission.htm

Some responses we have received:
*****
8/19/05
I wholeheartedly support the public holding a public inquiry and public
trial. If the government stops representing us then we must represent
ourselves. Bush claims to act in our name. We have a right to say NO! I
hope the trial will be televised on C-Span!
PAH, Houghton, MI
*****
8/1705
Thank you so much for making it possible to voice my outrage at the
stupidity, ignorance, lies, intolerance and barbarism of the Bush regime.
Regime-change is necessary: in Washington! You're right, that he did
get the popular vote does not legitimate his acts. It does question the
validity of democracy in the US. Enclosed please find my contribution.
Sincerely, PH, Paris, France ( & LA, CA)
*****
8/18/05
Frankly, I think President Bush should be impeached for his constant
lying to the American people and for a war based on lies.
BW, Westport, CT
*****
8/18/05
Thank you for the excellent Statement of Conscience and for planning
the Commission of Inquiry. These provide a solid foundation for taking
action in these repressive times and re-energize us. Enclosed is a check
for $100.00. In solidarity, AG, Oakland, CA

Click "Continue Reading..." if you'd like to see the complete email

Subject: From the Not In Our Name Statement of Conscience
To: @yahoo.com
From: "Not In Our Name Statement of Conscience" Add to Address Book
Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2005 14:34:10 -0500

E-Message from NION SOC: August 23, 2005

1. Support Cindy Sheehan! Dubya does not speak in our name! Donate to
the publication of the Not In Our Name Statement of Conscience in
Crawford, Texas.

2. Responses to the International Commission of Inquiry on Crimes
Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration.

3. Upcoming events:
-- National Organizers Conference Sept 3-5 NYC World Can't Wait -
Drive out the Bush Regime! Mobilize for November 2nd.
-- Join the Not In Our Name Project on September 24 in Washington, DC
to End the War on Iraq. Check out the new Not In Our Name Project
merchandise annex

4. From the Not In Our Name Statement of Conscience National Office:
-- Volunteer to work in the Not In Our Name Statement of Conscience
National Office
-- New on the Not In Our Name Statement of Conscience web site

*********************

1. Support Cindy Sheehan! Dubya does not speak in our name! Donate to
the publication of the Not In Our Name Statement of Conscience in
Crawford

Cindy's Sheehan's face off with G. W. Bush at Crawford, Texas, has
become a lightning rod as millions around the country have organized
support for the mother whose son, a US soldier, was killed in Iraq in April
2004. Millions around the country have demonstrated their support.
Others have arrived at Crawford to join the encampment.

To join in the support of Cindy's stand, the Not In Our Name Statement
of Conscience will be published in the Waco Tribune-Herald (circulation
40,000) midweek. A half page ad costs just under $5000.00. Your
contribution can be made at: www.nion.us/NSOC/sign.htm or mail to: Not In Our
Name Statement of Conscience, 305 West Broadway, #199, NY, NY 10013.

Support Cindy:
-- Read a first hand report from Crawford Texas on the Drive out the
Bush Regime web site World Can't Wait and on our web site
http://www.nion.us
-- Visit www.meetwithcindy.org
-- Send emails of support to contact@gsfp.org
-- Write letters to the editor of your local paper

Cindy was also a participant in the Not in Our Name sponsored Military
Voices Against Endless War (http://www.notinourname.net/mv/) event
held Memorial Day weekend. The audio of her presentation, as well as a
back stage video interview, is available online at the link above.

2. Responses to the International Commission of Inquiry on Crimes
Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration.

Work is progressing on the Commission. Our goal is to continue to build
on the impact of the Not In Our Name statements and the World Tribunal
on Iraq by holding a court of inquiry that will both frame and fuel a
discussion that is urgently needed in this country: Is the
administration of George W. Bush guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity?

Check for updates on our web site - there's a special section for the
Commission http://www.nion.us/commission.htm

Some responses we have received:
*****
8/19/05
I wholeheartedly support the public holding a public inquiry and public
trial. If the government stops representing us then we must represent
ourselves. Bush claims to act in our name. We have a right to say NO! I
hope the trial will be televised on C-Span!
PAH, Houghton, MI
*****
8/1705
Thank you so much for making it possible to voice my outrage at the
stupidity, ignorance, lies, intolerance and barbarism of the Bush regime.
Regime-change is necessary: in Washington! You're right, that he did
get the popular vote does not legitimate his acts. It does question the
validity of democracy in the US. Enclosed please find my contribution.
Sincerely, PH, Paris, France ( & LA, CA)
*****
8/18/05
Frankly, I think President Bush should be impeached for his constant
lying to the American people and for a war based on lies.
BW, Westport, CT
*****
8/18/05
Thank you for the excellent Statement of Conscience and for planning
the Commission of Inquiry. These provide a solid foundation for taking
action in these repressive times and re-energize us. Enclosed is a check
for $100.00. In solidarity, AG, Oakland, CA

3. Up coming events:
Below are some upcoming events. The Not In Our Name Statement of
Conscience informs its list of events and campaigns in the spirit of the
content of our statements.

-- National Organizers Conference Sept 3-5 NYC World Can't Wait -
Drive out the Bush Regime! Mobilize for November 2nd.
Where: The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center, 208
W. 13th St. New York City, NY
Register: 347.693.3319 conference@worldcantwait.org,
More info: www.worldcantwait.org, $25-100 fee

Come be part of developing and organizing the mass outpouring needed to
Drive out the Bush Regime. Be part of putting together the
organization, plans, and structure needed to do this. Download the flyer at:
www.worldcantwait.org

Public Forum: Why & How to drive out the Bush Regime. Initiators of
the World Can't Wait call. Saturday September 3, 6pm 208 W. 13th Street,
NYC. For info: 347.963.3319

-- Join the Not In Our Name Project on September 24 in Washington, DC
to End the War on Iraq
Where: Washington, DC

On the East Coast: If you are in the NYC area, join the Not In Our Name
Project bus going down to DC. Call Not in Our Name NYC to reserve your
seats at 212-760-1722. Consider purchasing a ticket for someone who
cannot afford to pay. Tickets are only $35 each, $20 for students/low
income.

Check out the new Not In Our Name Project merchandise annex. Let people
know that we say: Not In Our Name.
http://www.notinourname.net/store/index.html

4. From the Not In Our Name Statement of Conscience National Office:

-- Make a difference in the world. Volunteer with the Not In
Our Name Statement of Conscience (NION SOC) national office. People have
written to us about how much it meant to see the statement published -
how it put words to their feelings as well as a sense of not being
alone. Help publish, distribute and otherwise make good the words of the
statement. You don't need to live in New York city to volunteer. Write:
janet@nion.us

-- Check out what's new on the Not In Our Name Statement of Conscience
web site. Additions to the issues page
(http://www.nion.us/NSOC/issues.htm) with new articles (including a
letter from Eve Ensler about the June 2005 World Tribunal on Iraq in
Istanbul), blogs, links

Not in Our Name Statement of Conscience
305 West Broadway #199, New York, NY 10013 info@nion.us
Donate at www.nion.us/NSOC/sign.htm
www.nion.us

Change Subscription:
http://ezinedirector.com/subscriber/member_profile/?skid=25608576

Cancel Subscription:
http://sub.ezinedirector.net/?fa=r&id=25608576&c=964698168

NEVER Too Early

Not for me, nosir! You could do an exit poll on the next election and I'd look it over. So Patrick Ruffini's 2008 Straw Polls are right up my street.

I wouldn't put too much stock in them, but I think the skeptics are wrong to discard the results entirely. As I read the results, they scream:

1) Weak Bench!
There's still plenty of time for a candidate to catch our imagination, but I don't see anybody in the basic slate who excites me at all. I'd take a bullet for Rudy Giuliani, the "mayor of America" and I'd certainly support him, but he has too many things to overcome: the health and family issues that pulled him out of the '00 Senate race, plus some positions on social issues that are at odds with the GOP base. I just don't see this guy winning.

2) Fantasy Candidates
Hence the need for a "fantasy candidate" section with three solid picks: Gov. Jeb Bush, VP Dick Cheney, and Secretary Condoleezza Rice. I'll work for any of those, But Senator Allen and Gov. Romney will have to earn more than tepid support (I started out tepid on then Gov. George Bush). If Senator Frist is the nominee, I may switch to the Democrats...

3) Senate-itis
Allen's a good guy, McCain could get me, Jon Kyl, Mitch McConnell -- I love Senators! But they make terrible candidates (cf. John Kerry). Just say "NO!"

I'm surprised that the GOP bench seems weaker. The Ds have the Senate-itis problem worse than the Rs (Sen. Biden? Yawn.) But Senator Clinton and Gov. Richards both look very strong. And they seem to have an okay second tier with Gov. Vilsack and some folks I am ignoring.

Two funny things on the Junior Senator from New York:
-- She doesn't suffer from Senate-itis; she's the Democrat queen. Senator Edwards, as a one-term Senator, was too inexperienced for VP but those charges will not stick to Sen. Clinton.

-- People talk of the Giuliani-Clinton matchup as a "subway series." I guess that she has completely shed the carpet-bagger thing. It frustrates me that the MSM goes so easy on her, but I like to live in a vibrant nation where one can remake himself or herself in another image -- Go Yankees!

Altruism and Organ Donations

Johngalt's extremely candid comment in our running discussion of altruism has made my heart grow to three times its size.

I post a link to an article I suspect we will both like: The Limits of Altruism and the Power of Self-Interest (I bet I got him at the title!)

For the last thirty years, many well-meaning organizations have spent lots of time and money trying to convince more Americans to donate their organs after they die. These efforts have relied exclusively on appeals to altruism, and they have failed. It's time to use self-interest to relieve the organ shortage.

The demand for organ transplants has skyrocketed, but the number of donated organs has remained relatively flat. As a result, over 89,000 people are on the waiting list for an organ transplant in the United States. Another 40,000 names will be added to the list in the next twelve months. In 2004, 6,529 people on the waiting list died waiting for a transplant. Another 1,594 were removed from the list because, while they were waiting, they became too sick to undergo a transplant. More than half of the people who need transplants in the United States die before they get one.

The authors suggest that a financial market is over debated and they prefer a system where preference will be given to registered organ donors.

I like the idea of incentives and I could live with the one they suggest.

I, however, would prefer financial incentives. It might seem importune, but the fact is that markets works and that we have a currency-based economy, why not use it? This seems to comport with the rest of the article.

After all, we use the incentive of self-interest to increase the supply of food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. There is every reason to think it will also increase the supply of organ donors.

Markets work, it's a wonder we are so afraid to employ them.

Hooray for High Oil Prices!

Man, I thought I was a contrarian. Larry Kudlow takes the prize!

Permit me to take a contrarian view on the oil price shock. I say three cheers for higher energy prices. Why? Because I believe in markets. When the price of something goes up, demand falls off (call it conservation) and supply increases (call it new production). We're seeing a tectonic shift.

As Dan Yergin has advised us, energy supplies in the next few years will explode. Now the public is even favoring nuclear power. And the government is stepping out of the way by giving FERC the authority to override localities who oppose nuclear power, liquefied natural gas or other forms of energy.

I don't know how many of you watch his show on CNBC, but he has been doing this great riff: after an analyst attributes Wal*Mart's bad numbers to high gasoline prices, Kudlow says "Are gas prices cheaper for Target shoppers? Their numbers are up. So are Lowe's and Home Depot."

Prices are how information gets conveyed and ultimately how capital gets allocated. Prices are telling that it's time to invest in production.

On a side note: I am a big fan of Tennessee Congressman Ford, but he showed a tin ear last week on "Kudlow & Company," saying "It cost me $51 to fill my Tahoe. My salary is set by law at $158,000. These prices are real and that will make it hard for me to fill up every week.

I asked my wife to hand me a tissue...

Military Enlistment

Meeting and exceeding their goals.
Yeah, I know!

Let's look at the numbers, which offer a different picture of patriotism than the editorial pages do.

* Every one of the Army's 10 divisions — its key combat organizations — has exceeded its re-enlistment goal for the year to date. Those with the most intense experience in Iraq have the best rates. The 1st Cavalry Division is at 136 percent of its target, the 3rd Infantry Division at 117 percent.

Among separate combat brigades, the figures are even more startling, with the 2nd Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division at 178 percent of its goal and the 3rd Brigade of the 4th Mech right behind at 174 percent of its re-enlistment target.

This is unprecedented in wartime. Even in World War II, we needed the draft. Where are the headlines?

* What about first-time enlistment rates, since that was the issue last spring? The Army is running at 108 percent of its needs. Guess not every young American despises his or her country and our president.

* The Army Reserve is a tougher sell, given that it takes men and women away from their families and careers on short notice. Well, Reserve recruitment stands at 102 percent of requirements.

* And then there's the Army National Guard. We've been told for two years that the Guard was in free-fall. Really? Guard recruitment and retention comes out to 106 percent of its requirements as of June 30.

Sarcasm Alert

Judge John Roberts cracks me up.

Here's why.

"How fascinating and edifying it must have been for you to review the files I compiled during my service to the attorney general," Roberts wrote. "I assume that the archivist will deposit my files in one of those hermetically sealed display cases that drop into a concrete vault in the event of nuclear attack, similar to the cases housing the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Once this is done, I will consider donating my personal papers, at a time to be determined by my tax advisers."

Tip to Chappy who writes... If the Post recognizes the sarcasm dripping off the page of this note they do not note it. Instead, they report it as straightforward, which I doubt it is.

Sheehan : Letter to the Editor

A friend of mine sent the following letter to the editors of Norristown's Times-Herald.

Dear Editor-

Your article “Rallying together” of Thursday, August 18th covered the rally held by Colonial Area Democrats and MoveOn.org in support of Cindy Sheehan.

I am curious if the Colonial Area Democrats and their candidates for school board and municipal office support Mrs. Sheehan’s statements such as, “the biggest terrorist in the world is George W. Bush,” “get…Israel out of Palestine,” and “this country is not worth dying for,” as well as her decision not to pay taxes?

Such views and actions seem to be radically out-of-step with the views of most voters in Conshohocken, Plymouth, and Whitemarsh, regardless of their stance on the war.

Jim S,Plymouth

It's clever that the stars on the flag are colored like the peace sign. I wonder if that woman, along with Joan Baez got the message that the 60's ended quite a few years ago.

Reliving the heydays, I suppose.

I can't help but think of the lack of retrospection on the parts of those who would compare Iraq to Vietnam, and agitate for our withdrawl.

It wasn't too long after our withdrawl from Vietnam that the place went to hell. How many died? How many fled? I've got a friend who was a "boat person." Harrowing tale. Perhaps I'll blog it one day.

How many millions died in Cambodia, whose oppressors had nothing to fear from a neighboring American military?

It that a legacy that the 60's generation is proud of?

Withdrawl means consequences for everyone. Something the "anti-war" activists don't say too much about.

1,000 Bin-Ladens

My antiwar friends believe, as absolute Gospel, that our efforts in Iraq provide a breeding ground for terrorists, and that President Bush is manufacturing terrorists with his aggressive posture.

Yet Michael Barone looks at 'The Pew Global Attitudes Project's recent survey of opinion in six Muslim countries and sees progress being made.

Minds are being changed, and in the right direction.

Most importantly, support for terrorism in defense of Islam has "declined dramatically," in the Pew report's words, in Muslim countries, except in Jordan (which has a Palestinian majority) and Turkey, where support has remained a low 14 percent. It has fallen in Indonesia (from 27 percent to 15 percent since 2002), Pakistan (from 41 percent to 25 percent since 2004) and Morocco (from 40 percent to 13 percent since 2004), and among Muslims in Lebanon (from 73 percent to 26 percent since 2002).

Support for suicide bombings against Americans in Iraq has also declined. The percentage reporting some confidence in Osama bin Laden is now under 10 percent in Lebanon and Turkey, and has fallen sharply in Indonesia.

I have seen this referenced in a few blogs, but I am not expecting coverage anywhere else.

The Vioxx Verdict, II

When I calmly think a situation over and refrain from making a rash decision, as I did in my first posting on the $229 Million Texas Vioxx Verdict, I reserve the right to change my mind.

Like Trivial Pursuit, sometimes your first answer is the best. And my first answer is that Merck in no way deserves this company-threatening decision. Two columns in today's Wall Street Journal have put me back on-track.

Both detail facts I did not know when I let the silver tongued lawyer calm me and Larry Kudlow on CNBC's "Kudlow & Company." Although some data exist showing accelerated heart risk, there is actually little chance and no evidence that Vioxx contributed to this death at all. The widow's husband had 70% blockage of his arteries, did not suffer a heart-attack according to the death certificate, and had only taken Vioxx for eight months (elevated risk usually shows up after 18).

First is a Wall Street Journal editorial that questions Merck's viability "if you multiply the number of suits by only the $25 million in economic losses imposed by the Texas jury you have a company that could soon be turning over most or all of its earnings to the trial bar."

The verdict is also more bad news for the millions of Americans who suffer from the kind of chronic pain for which stomach-friendly Cox-2 inhibitors like Vioxx provide welcome relief. Before Vioxx, Celebrex and other Cox-2 inhibitors, patients relied on pain medications like aspirin and ibuprofen, which are harder for some to tolerate. There are 15,000-plus deaths a year from gastrointestinal bleeding in people who develop full-blown stomach ulcers on this older class of drugs.

The cardiovascular risk that led Merck to withdraw Vioxx appears only in patients who have taken the drug for more than 18 months. The husband of the plaintiff only took it for eight. Merck had kept the Food and Drug Administration fully aware of its clinical results showing the relatively small heart-attack risks.

Like all drugs, Vioxx has risks and side-effects but was hardly an "unsafe" drug. Earlier this year, an FDA advisory panel recommended that the drug go back on the market, with appropriate re-labeling. But after Friday, and given the brutal vagaries of the American tort system, the question is less about Vioxx's survival than Merck's.

The second is a guest editorial by Richard Epstein, Ambush in Angleton, which questions the size of the award and the effect on the whole pharmaceutical sector.

Forget the jury's whopping quarter-billion-dollar verdict in Ernst v. Merck, because it's cut 90% by the caps that Texas law places on punitive damages. Still, where do $25 million in actual damages come from? Robert Ernst died in his sleep, without pain and without medical bills. His lost income as a Wal-Mart employee was small. But the $24 million price tag for anguish and loss of companionship to his widow Carol is off the charts.

It seems the doctors were arrogant and the jurors wanted to send a message.

So, in return, I would like to send my message to Mr. Lanier and those indignant jurors. It's not from an irate tort professor, but from a scared citizen who is steamed that those "good people" have imperiled his own health and that of his family and friends. None of you have ever done a single blessed thing to help relieve anybody's pain and suffering. Just do the math to grasp the harm that you've done.
[...]
Ah, you will say, but we're only after Vioxx, and not those good drugs. Sorry, the investment community won't take you at your word. It realizes that any new drug which treats common chronic conditions can generate the same ruinous financial losses as Vioxx, because the flimsy evidence on causation and malice you cobbled together in the Ernst case can be ginned up in any other. Clever lawyers like Mr. Lanier will be able to ambush enough large corporations in small, dusty towns where they will stand the same chance of survival that Custer had at Little Big Horn. Investors can multiply: They won't bet hundreds of millions of dollars in new therapies on the off-chance of being proved wrong. They know they'll go broke if they win 90% of the time.

Mr. Epstein contends that "Much as I disapprove of how the FDA does business, we must enact this hard-edged no-nonsense legal rule: no drug that makes it through the FDA gauntlet can be attacked for bad warnings or deficient design."

It’s hard to pick a villain between the tort bar and the FDA. I would not choose to further empower the Government as an absolute arbiter of safety and efficacy, because I wish to reduce the FDA’s role. But we have to do something. I need new drugs today, we will all need them, someday.

Unemployed claims drop by one

Joan Baez now has something to do, she is going to Crawford.

I love the AP headline: "Folk Singer Supports Anti-War Protesters." As we all know, without folk songs, there would be no peace. Getting somebody of the stature of Ms. Baez is certainly a coup for the other side. Now they've got Joan Baez and Senator Chuck Hagel.

Ex Nihilio

Pundits on both sides are making a huge mistake in both Iraq and Gaza. I wish I had an influential blog because I would like to make an economic correction to the Conventional Wisdom.

CW states that an agreement to share oil revenue is important in Iraq. This has been floated by the left and right and is currently thought to be one of the stumbling blocks for Sunni approval of the draft Iraqi Constitution. Meanwhile, pundits on the left are concerned that Palestinians in the newly autonomous Gaza strip will need buckets of aid to become anything but an economic backwater. (NPR’s Juan Williams was in good metaphorical form on FoxNews’s “The Beltway Boys” this weekend. Fred Barnes said that the ball is in their court; Williams rebutted that they don’t have a mitt to catch it or a bat to hit it back. Maybe a tennis metaphor would have served better, but he made his point.)

Oil wealth did, in fact, do wonders Jed Clampett, allowing his entire family to enjoy the high life in their Beverly Hills mansion. But when you look at the per-capita GDP figures for oil exporting nations, it looks less like a gift. Saudi Arabia has per Capita GDP of $10,430 in 2004; oil-rich Venezuela’s is $4080. (Source: worldbank.org ) Israel, for natural resources, has pretty much sand – and a per-capita GDP of $17,380.

Israel has created an economy, ex nihilio. Next week I will start a drug regimen from an Israeli Pharmaceutical company. They have tourism from holy sites – not second to Saudi Arabia – but they have not relied on natural resources. The new economy of the Gaza strip must look to its human capital for prosperity, not for aid. We’ve seen how well aid works in Africa. Likewise, a look at oil exporting nations shows the new Iraqi economy would be better served by diversifying itself.

Yes, the US still provides aid to Israel (what’s the use of having a powerful, Zionist neocon lobby if you can’t use it?) and, yes, I would support a similar aid package for the Palestinians. But I would like to see it structured as micro-loans or targeted development aid. And it will of course have to be contingent on peaceful behavior.

And yes, the oil revenues can be a big boost to Iraqi reconstruction and development. But rather than distributing shares to every citizen, why not finance the government and infrastructure with oil revenues. Entrepreneurs in Iraq could then enjoy a low tax climate with modern infrastructure and have access to inexpensive energy (no, I don’t mean buying Iran’s nuclear electricity). This would be a foundation for a long-term prosperity that would be protected from price volatility and less susceptible to terrorism or corruption. Give the Kurds the oil wealth; in time, the Baghdadian traders would be richer.

Air Americsam

I've been mostly silent on Al Franken's woes. While it seems a lot worse than Rush Limbaugh's "little problem," I cannot imagine it will rise to the level of scandal in the MSM. Hell, these folks can't even report on the UNSCAM Oil-for-Food scandal, I can't imagine they'll get around to investigating Mr. Franken.

The New York Sun ahs done yeoman work on this, just as they did for Claudia Rosset's work on UNSCAM. PowerLine reports they have now set up a special web page with all of their stories. Good Stuff!

"Altruistic" Military Service - Repost

JK's August 13 post on altruism and military service didn't get a reply until August 19. It dropped off the main page the next day, so I'm reposting it now (through the preceding hyperlink.) It's five comments are worthwhile reading, and will lead to a new posting from me (as soon as I can make the time for it) about modern views of military service.

Why They Hate Us

I suggested last week that Silence Dogood be ThreeSources's Fashion Editor. Publius brings us the latest swimsuits from Saudi Arabia, plus a link to an amusing mock interview with the Saudi Minister of Tourusm.

I guess it's okay that her knuckles are exposed, because men and women cannot swim together anyway!

The Vioxx Verdict

Sounds like a Ludlum book...

I went to write a knee-jerk, pro-Merck, "are you joking?" post about the award of more than a quarter billion dollars to the widow of a 59-year old Wal*Mart manager.

I own the high horse of "chasing capital out of the pharmaceutical sector," and my Multiple Sclerosis gives me what Maureen Dowd would call "absolute moral authority."

But I counted to ten and watched Larry Kudlow's show, and I am having second thoughts. The widow's attorneys were on and made a compelling case to Larry, who is at least as tough on tort reform and crazy awards as I am. One said that the juries were conservative, many Republican; most favored tort reform and the forewoman said during jury selection that she thought Merck was a great company.

The guy watches Kudlow & Co., and said "Larry, that's how strong the evidence was -- you'd've voted for this settlement."

Kudlow was surprised and so was I. Color me suspicious still, but perhaps there is real evidence of malfeasance, in which case I will not blindly back the corporation.

Hinderacker at Power Line notes that the settlement will get a serious haircut in the appellate process, which is good. The amount was outrageous.

The problem is that this was the first of several thousand Vioxx cases to go to trial. It isn't feasible to try them all, so the first few verdicts will tend to set the ground rules for future settlements. Even though the plaintiff will never collect the bulk of this particular verdict, it likely will cost Merck more than $250 million in the years to come. The company's stock lost more than $5 billion in value today.

No word on whether John Hinderacker saw Kudlow & Co. today.

UPDATE: I have had a change of heart.

Ken Salazar for Guv?

Yeah, I'd rather be Governor than Senator, but this PoliPundit.com post really surprises me.

Two years after being elected Senator, Ken Salazar is considering a bid for the Democratic Gubernatorial nomination in Colorado. A Democratic poll apparently reports that he is a strong candidate against the leading Republican, Congressman Bob Beauprez. Were Salazar to run, I imagine that Republicans would be ecstatic. Not only would it give them an opportunity to win the Senate seat back two years earlier than expected, but if Salazar were to lose, he would be practically roadkill in 2010.

The bad news I keep trying to forget is that we lost both houses to the Democrats in 2004. Governor Owens has kept us afloat with his veto pen but a Democrat gov would be very dangerous in Colorado.

Who would think the economy good?

The Wall Street Journal Editorial Page this morning carries the unsurprising news that Americans think the economy is bad because they've been told it's bad.

The middle editorial, Media Bears, quotes an MRC study that shows "negative full length TV news stories on the economy outnumbered positive stories by an overwhelming ratio of 4 to 1,"

To cite just one example, a CBS Evening News story on July 22 said that the economy is "very tenuous. It could fall apart at any moment. One piece of bad news, one additional terrorist attack, one negative corporate earnings, and it goes right down again." Contrast that funeral dirge with what Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told Congress that same day: "The outlook is one of sustained economic growth." And this was after Dan Rather had departed Planet CBS.

Media coverage of President Bush's tax cuts has been particularly slanted. During the 2003 tax-cut debate, three of every four major TV network news stories were negative. The favorite criticisms were liberal echoes that it would bust the budget and favor the rich. Earlier this year, a news story on National Public Radio announced that "as everyone knows, the primary cause of the budget deficit was the Bush tax cuts." No word yet on whom NPR is crediting with this year's revenue surge of $262 billion. Robert Rubin?

This is a great opportunity for bias in that they can just select the stories to present, the experts to cite, and write the headline. The economy is complex and partisan enough that you can always find somebody to say what you want.

Canadian Health Care

Captain Ed looks at health care from the North and comes to the same conclusion as Silence and I did this week.

The Captain complains that "While Americans tend to think of the Canadian health-care system as a model of nationalized medicine, many Canadians have to travel to the US in order to get timely treatment. " I fear he is right, many Americans do think highly of the Canadian system. I will have to continue blogging until that notion is disabused!

What Canadians have discovered is that government-rationed health care provides slow and limited options for patients, just like everywhere else it has been tried. The American healthcare system, in comparison, uses the market to ration care and results in much more responsive providers. It also provides higher degrees of innovation and gives doctors incentives to specialize. In Britain, for example, hospitals discarded viable transplantable organs due to a lack of trained physicians to perform the operations -- a shortage caused by the lack of compensation for transplant surgeons despite the increased cost of certification for the procedure.

Market-based rationing may have its flaws, especially in a litigation-heavy arena like health care. However, those rarely get solved by government-based rationing, which not only make the same flaws worse but compound them with a raft of other destructive practices. The CMA should be congratulated for starting to comprehend this pattern. Their patients have already made their diagnosis.

Devadip

Carlos Santana and Eric Clapton were my idols as a young guitarist. I was disappointed when Mr. Santana showed up at the Oscars in Che-wear, but I'm now pretty glad I don't work for him.

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. -- A former personal assistant to Carlos Santana has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the veteran rocker, claiming he was fired after his consciousness was calibrated and determined to be too low.

Bruce Kuhlman, 59, charges that Santana's wife, Deborah, brought in a man known as "Dr. Dan" so employees could grow closer to God and become better workers.

"In Deborah's view, the higher a person calibrated with Dr. Dan, the better employee they were because they were more `spiritually evolved,'" the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit, filed in Marin Superior Court, alleges that "spiritual calibration" allowed a person to develop a deeper level of consciousness.
Kuhlman is seeking monetary damages for lost wages, emotional distress and unpaid overtime, among other demands.

A Clapton biography I read a while back makes me think he was nuts as well, although I think he has grown into a credible role as an "elder statesman" of sorts; I hope he's okay.

Now I like Jazz, home to all kinds of lowlifes, dopers and psychopaths (cf. Stan Getz) but I think Tal Farlow was a pretty good guy as was Joe Pass.

Hat-tip: The Corner

Last Word om Mrs. Sheehan

-- matches my first, so I will attempt to make these posts bookends, and let this August contretemps die like a parched and dehydrated flower -- or photojournalist -- in the Crawford sun.

Much as I enjoy pointing out the far left and anti-Semitic nature of her outbursts, the best argument consists of saying "fine, let's listen to all the families."

The WSJ Ed Page brings a good one and posts it on the free site: "She Does Not Speak For Me."

Although we all walk the same sad road of sorrow and agony, we walk it as individuals with all the refreshing uniqueness of our own thoughts shaped in large measure by the life and death of our own fallen hero. Over the past few days I have reached out to other parents and loved ones of fallen heroes in an attempt to find out their reactions to all the attention Mrs. Sheehan has attracted. What emerges from those conversations is an empathy for Mrs. Sheehan's suffering but a fundamental disagreement with her politics.

The author is Ronald R. Griffin, who also lost a son in Iraq. He goes on to enumerate other families, whom they lost, an their opinions on the mission. As Maureen Dowd would say, they have "ultimate moral authority."

Crawford Crosses

The Sheehan media circus in Crawford Texas is bringing out the best in people.

Anti-war protester Cindy Sheehan tried to calm tensions on Tuesday with area residents upset by her vigil but expressed outrage after a pickup truck driver ran over crosses at her campsite near U.S. President George W. Bush's ranch.

Some 800 white wooden crosses, bearing the names of soldiers killed in Iraq like her son, have lined the road near the area where Sheehan has pitched a tent. Witnesses said they saw a truck dragging a pipe and chains drive over some of the crosses on Monday night.

It's unfortunate that Mr Larry Northern would desecrate the wooden crosses like that.

He could have just called the ACLU. They would have been more than happy to file a lawsuit to have them removed.

jk's Expired Plates

I did mention before that I needed an emissions test this year to get my new plates.

And Silence noted in the comments that drive-by tests are now as accurate as the torture.

Well, it's August and my plates are now expired. But Virginia Postrel has a posting claiming nefarious reasons for bureaucrats to keep the old system.

Remote sensing is about cleaning up the air, not changing lifestyles or collecting a general tax on cars. It doesn't make any interest groups rich, and it reminds (some) drivers that they, not anonymous big corporations, are now the major sources of smog.

Meantime, I am admitting to a crime on my blog. If I ever run for office or get nominated to the Supreme Court, this blog will be my death knell.

Yawn

Leahy Lambastes Roberts' 'Radical' Stands

WASHINGTON - Sen. Patrick Leahy (news, bio, voting record) says Supreme Court nominee John Roberts holds "radical" views and has been an "eager, aggressive advocate" for policies of the far right.

It's true y'know. Senators Leahy and Kennedy have see