Gay Rights or Republican Politics?

Surely there are more pressing things in Missouri for LCR - St. Louis to complain about;

"The gay political organization Log Cabin Republicans is asking for an investigation of a drag show at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. The president of the Log Cabin Republicans of Greater St. Louis, Charles Stadtlander, said he attended the October 14 drag show. He raised concerns that the show mocked heterosexual audience members and that performers wore revealing outfits, used inappropriate language, and simulated sex acts. "...

The LCR is a partisan "political" organization, not a chapter of GLAAD....nor is it a local committee of the ACLU. This is exactly the sorts of disputes that LCR should not be getting itself involved with. And where an officer of the Chapter should not be using the LCR reputation and credentials to pursue an obviously-personal agenda.

How does this further the political agenda of gay Republicans?


Update: Right Side of the Raindow asks, ..."If you rebuff the Republican presidential nominee, support abortion on demand and call for same-sex marriage by judicial fiat, can you really draw the line at a drag show? With what constituency does that posture win traction? "....

Sir Winston Churchill

"I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined this Government, 'I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat."

- Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS
(Nov. 30, 1874 - Jan. 24, 1965) Hansard, May 13, 1940

Charging Rhino supports the Reynolds Doctrine on Hostages;

InstaPundit strongly supports the use of violent force to save lives of its workers (er, that's me), readers, advertisers, or unrelated onlookers should they be kidnapped, held hostage, or caught in the middle of a conflict situation. The use of grossly excessive or gratuitous violence, while not exactly encouraged, isn't exactly deplored, either.


As for turning the other cheek, I offer the Rhino Corollary;

He who raises his hand against me loses that hand,
He who raises his remaining hand against me loses his head.

"Ihre ausweis, bitte!"

(AP)MIAMI - Miami police announced Monday they will stage random shows of force at hotels, banks and other public places to keep terrorists guessing and remind people to be vigilant.

Deputy Police Chief Frank Fernandez said officers might, for example, surround a bank building, check the IDs of everyone going in and out and hand out leaflets about terror threats. ... "People are definitely going to notice it," Fernandez said. "We want that shock. We want that awe. But at the same time, we don't want people to feel their rights are being threatened. We need them to be our eyes and ears." ...

..." Police Chief John Timoney said there was no specific, credible threat of an imminent terror attack in Miami. ..."


Amendment IV, The Bill of Rights - Constitution of the USA
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.


-- I don't feel any safer.

How to Atone for a Loss of Honor

Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham pleaded guilty Monday morning to conspiring to take bribes in exchange for using his influence to help a defense contractor get business. "I can't undo what I have done but I can atone," Cunningham says in an emotional press conference.

And how is the Duke going to atone? Write a tell-all book that his supporters and flunkie-friends will buy up by the thousands to inflate it's sales and refill his bank account? Or as a feudal samurai of Imperial Japan atoned for failing his Daimyo lord?

The man's admitting selling his Honor for filthy silver, my expectations are low.

Cricket, Anyone?

Over at Albion's Seedling, the issue of non-cricketing in America has come-up. Maybe the gay community could demonstrate it's solidarity and start playing cricket on Sundays, leaving softball to the ladies.



I doubt any gay man would complain about the uniforms.

-- Norman Rockwell


Mine's thawing quietly in the fridge, and tomorrow evening I'm deboning the beast, brining the flesh in apple-juice and oranges, and back into the fridge. The carass gets a roasting, then an overnight stay in the stockpot with the milpote. Then Thursday all I have to do is prep the stuffing and shove-both into the oven for a slow roast.

Once you learn the secret of deboning a turkey, you'll never roast a whole one again. Though your children may go screaming from the Kitchen if they catch you in mid-debone-mode. It's like a home-reenactment of the lunchroom-scene in Alien where the critter busts-out of John Hurt's chest...

On Rep. Murtha's comments

I watched Rep. Murtha on Meet the Press last night, and read his piece reprinted in the paper. While I don't agree 100% with him, I do feel he's sincere and acting in good-faith and with great personal-honesty. Which is more than I can say for the leaders of EITHER PARTY at the moment.

And if the Iraqi elections go well and their army has another 6-months of training is it so unreasonable to say that in 12-months we could seriously reduce the troop-levels in Iraq? I think overall we should assume that the bulk of the troops will becoming-home in the next 12-24 months anyway. But also recognizing that perhaps 15,000 might be stationed there permanently atleast for the next 10-20 years as part of a regional strategy. On bases and airfields providing "regional security", not patrolling the streets or engaging in counter-terrorism or border interdiction on a day-to-day basis.

To assume that we would withdraw ALL our troops is naive. We still have troops in Germany and Japan, and in Cuba. The truth lies somewhere in-between Rep. Mutha's position and Mr. Rumsfeld's. It is an unfortunate fact that partisan politics and gingoism have replaced the possibility of calm discussion on foreign policy and military goals in the Washington, DC of today both within the White House and the Halls of Congress. And the performance of the Pentagon, Foggy Bottom and Langley haven't been free of these tensions either.


Updated: "Politics must end at the water's edge" is how Sen. Arthur Vandenberg (Mi) is usually quoted. But the full-text is much more illuminating, and much thanks to Sen. Lieberman (Ct) for recently reminding the Senate of this...

..."To me 'bipartisan foreign policy' means a mutual effort, under our indispensable two-party system, to unite our official voice at the water's edge so that America speaks with maximum authority against those who would divide and conquer us and the free world."

A Last Salute

(AP) "Alfred Anderson, the last known survivor of the 1914 "Christmas Truce" that saw British and German soldiers exchanging gifts and handshakes in no-man's land, died early Monday"...

It is estimated that maybe 10 WW1 veterns remain in Britain, and a small handful scattered throughout the Commonwealth and America.

It's important that we remember. It's one of the debts we owe to those who have served on our behalf, even though separated by generations.

As Revolutionary as the Model-T?

The MIT Media Lab unveiled the $100 childrens' laptop at the World Summit in Tunisia. Wireless, hand-cranked and able to function as both laptop and book-viewer that could be as great a cultural thunder-clap as moveable type or the rotary printing-press.

"Let a Billion Children's Laptops Bloom."


Update: Welcome Instapundit readers.

The two most dangerous words a child can utter, "..but why??"

Uncle Andrew's Sold-out?

Has Andrew Sullivan sold-out? It sure appears that he's climbing in bed with Time, Inc. Certainly this is a blow to the independent blogsphere. Can you truly be independent and critical of the MSM when they host your 'blog?

Towards a New Nationalism?

Count me as one of those who, unfortunately for the Republic, believes that St. Hillarybeast will be elected in 2008 by default. So far, NONE of the floated Republican names...other than maybe Giuliani...can appeal to the moderate-Center and pull enough votes from both Parties. At present I dismiss McCain as a spent-force who will be too-old, and more importantly too-compromised, to be an effective candidate for 2008.

The GOP needs to be out-of-power in order to reflect on their over-reaching mistakes of playing to the "convenient" extreme-Right of the Party; and to regroup with new ideas for a new century. I've been re-reading T. Roosevelt's The New Nationalism speech where he outlined his Square Deal-philosophy, and Douthat & Salam's The Party of Sam's Club essay that Andrew Sullivan was touting a few days ago on his site. Print them both out and read them at the same-tim, the problems haven't changed. We need to step-back, regroup, and look in the GOP farm club for another Theodore Roosevelt. I'm becoming increasingly convinced through reading Theodore Rex and Kissinger's Diplomacy that it's already time to start looking past just the War on Terror to the fundementals of our National Self-Interests...be they immigration, health-care in an aging population, or living with China.

The GOP leadership has become so intent over the last 30-years in getting into power, that they have forgotten what and why they were "Republicans". They have sold the Party in market-square to the anti-abortionists, religious fundementalists and the narrow self-serving agendas of the corporate, NGO and societal Special Interests. They gained power and are so desperate to keep it that they have compromised their principles for pork, illusory power, and five anti-abotion seats on the SCOTUS.

Time to regroup and return to the party of Teddy Roosevelt and Barry Goldwater. Reagan, while a great man, did great long-term damage to the Party's principles by his alliance-of-convenience with the Religious Right. And the unintended consequence is the fiscal and governance log-jam we have inherited.

And sometimes the only way to clear a log-jam is with high-explosives, a sure balance, and sharp nerves.

On the 11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month

“These men were crusaders. They were not going forth to prove the might of the United States. They were going forth to prove the might of justice and right, and all the world accepted them as crusaders, and their transcendent achievement has made all the world believe in America…”

- Woodrow Wilson

We remember those who did not return,

and those who did but damaged in body or soul.

We mourn with those who left camrades behind.

Dedicated to men like my grandfather,

who manned a "French 75" on the Line, their toast;

"To Lost Friends..."

We have too many high sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them.

--- Abigal Adams, letter to John Adams, 1774

Immigration "Reform"?

So far, I have not seen any demonstrated connection to identifying “immigrants” and stopping “potential terrorists”. As a purely-pragmatic security issue, I’d rather focus on knowing who EVERYONE is on U.S. soil, their true name and origin…and worry less about how they got here in the first place. No more false ID’s, fake SS#’s and phony “papers”. We’re about 10-million-and-counting too-late worrying about “border security”. And we should be encouraging US citizenship for all here, and get rid of the various visa-programs and such that prevent Canadians, Mexicans and others here for years and even decades from becoming “productive” tax-paying citizens.

Hell, I’d even go for saying to the “criminal classes” that if you pay every-penny according to the tax-laws, we’ll not prosecute you for tax-evasion; though we will for the illegal activity that generated the money in the first place, and expend “priviledge” to tax-preparers so long as the tax were paid. Since tax-evasion the favorite way to bust-’em, tax compliance would sky-rocket.This done, we can then effectively deny the borders to the smugglers and narco-businesses that are doing far more damage to the U.S. than the “threat” of International Terrorism. Stream-line the legal border-crossings and Customs-stations at our airports and seaports to the regulated entry of all, and close the borders to irregular trade in both drugs, material and potential WMDs in trucks, planes and containerships.

Bright light scares off the cockroaches. Get the “people” out of the shade at the border, then you can concentrate on the real national interests of “controlling a frontier”. What we are doing now on “immigration” is about as effective and cost-efficient as the TSA operations at the airports….meaningless, inconvenient, expensive, and ultimately useless.

A wise man gets more use from his enemies than a fool from his friends.

--- Baltasar Gracian

Corzine?

As a lifelong "progressive" Republican, even I could not bring myself to vote for Doug Forrester; even though I’ve supported so real-stinkers in the Republican-ticket over the years. Forrester was just too-much a inexperienced naif, and a rotten campaigner with zero-charisma. The campaign was Corzine’s to lose, and he might have IF the NJ State GOP could have pulled itself together a select a meaningful candidate.

While I’m not happy about Corzine’s sleazy-ways, I expect the “mistakes” he makes in office will be political ideological-ones, and not just stupid or naive like McGreevey did…or Forrester would have. At least Corzine’s not an incompetent, just a liberal Democrat….and THAT can be remedied in four years when he makes his run at the White House in 2010.

St. Hillarybeast has the Democratic nomination locked-up with Corzine sidelined for 4-years…