Someone square these two statements for me. I’m struggling, as usual.

If you mean do I think, in retrospect, we should have pushed Saddam out of Kuwait, no I don’t. I’d trust the market. Oil butters no biscuits in the ground. The only thing Iraq could have done with Kuwait’s oil is sell it to people.

and

Heck, it seems to me not only that the Sunnis ought to embrace federalism but that the Kurds and Sunnis ought to recognize each other as the natural allies in a federal system against Shiite theocracy and maximalism. There is only the small matter of those decades of schism and slaughter standing in the way.

Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, A-OK. Kurds embracing their transgressors, recommended.

If I had to guess, it’s all about…expediency? Water under the bridge, let’s move on? Smash-mouth situational politics? I’m projecting here, but do you (or does Jim) think those Kuwaitis would have profited under Hussein? Was Kuwait the only thing Saddam lacked to make him a kind & benevolent leader? Or would that be another decade of schism and slaughter? Past performance, future results, etc. — keep that in mind.

Interesting thought experiment. I’m trying to wrap my mind around the idea of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait being a done deal with no external, or minimally no US, intervention to right it. Why, Osama Bin Laden would have had no reason whatsoever to make the USA a target for terrorism. RIght?

I should quit reading Henley…no one gives me a bigger headache…

This is what some unknown number of Mohammedans want to explode in the immediate vicinity of you, your family, your friends, your co-workers and people you’ve never even met. And they want to do it over and over and over again, until you submit. Yet there are still people who believe that we can reason with them. Un-piss them off, if you will, and they’ll go away.

Well, no. They won’t.

One member of an elite military team missing in the Afghan mountains since last week has been rescued, a U.S. Defense Department official said Sunday.

Pray for his podnahs, and thank God tonight that we’re blessed with men like this.

I blogged not long ago about an Atlatnic article by Robert Kaplan on China, and the inevitable war with China, and the conjecture and assumptions in that article. Well, it seems that Thomas P.M. Barnett has responded to that article, and rather neatly sets my mind at ease about a number of things. The title of the article in the newsletter should say something about the thrashing that occurs: Kaplan’s strategic lap dance for the U.S. Navy and Pacific Command (PDF). Heh.

Thanks to Critt Jarvis for emailing the link. As an aside, I snagged Barnett’s book, The Pentagon’s New Map, at lunch time today. I got through the preface, and I can easily say that I’m impressed with the writing style and Mr. Barnett’s stated intention of lining out a way to leave a better future for our children. Which, after all, is kind of what it’s all about.

And yes, I realize I’m about a year behind the rest of the smart kids. Such as it was, such as it always will be…

Scott asks Where are the small government conservatives?

The Texas Department of Public Safety responds to all criticisms with duplicitous doublespeak that boils down to, “Trust us, we’re the government, we’re only here to help.” Bottom line, DPS wants full access to personal data about all Texans, whether or not they’ve committed a crime, and they don’t want those pesky judges looking over their shoulder anymore.

The chief of the DPS drivers license division told me after this morning’s hearing she thought it was appropriate for law enforcement to have access to a biometric password to a business or personal computer, without a warrant, because “I trust law enforcement” not to abuse the authority. Really? Ever? Do you think it’s okay if police can have your computer password without a warrant, just because it’s a thumbprint or facial recognition biometric instead of letters and numbers? That will be Texas law if HB 2337 is enacted

The answer is “Right here, ready and willing…tell me what to do.”

This is what infuriates me about government. I spend a week out of town trying to make a living, a weekend catching up on freaking Canada (and trying to make a living), two days watching Big Washington Government do a job on America while working on my regular job (never mind, you don’t care), and here comes this baloney down the pike. Even someone who givs a flying eff is absolutely under siege from all the politicos trying to screw me. Yet all these “engaged” people (getting a damn paycheck for being engaged) wonder why the average schmuck like me retreats. So please, Lobbyist Boy, tell me what I can do, instead of chastising me for not freaking caring.

And just to piss everybody else off — I blame the GD idiotic local media for talking about “Black Girl” in Waxahachie. But asking a journalist to objectively cover an issue of this import is quite apparently purely unthinkable. So I have to get it from a lobbyist from the ACLU, and thank God that at least I have a place to find this shit out, so don’t take it the wrong way, Scotty boy…just tell me what I need to do.

Our long national nightmare is over — the Good Old Boys Club will remain the Good Old Boys Club. And none of the august body will have to pee in a coffee can this time around.

You can bet there will be bazillions of photons and pixels and ink and trees wasted on this, but it boils down to this: enough Republican Senators preferred not to kick over the anthill and embroil themselves in something that might actually mean something. They caved…buckled like a wet cardboard box. Now they can ALL go back to finding ways of assuring the inexorable creep of governmental power over the lives of those whom they deign to govern. Wanna take a guess what will come next? The Drumettes have an answer: HEALTHCARE….I believe that national healthcare in the United States is inevitable. Of course they believe that — they’re socialists, that’s what we expect from them. And they just got a leg up on achieving that.

Boy, you know…I really had some hope there for a couple of days. Shoulda known better.

Good OpinionJournal article by James Taranto about the so-called Religous Right. I wish everyone would read this who’s ever typed one word about the coming theocratic takeover of America by Bible-thumping, Jesus-shouting, cross-brandishing weirdos:

For the most part, the religious right has responded in good civic-minded fashion: by organizing, becoming politically active, and supporting like-minded candidates. This has required exquisite discipline and patience, since changing court-imposed policies entails first changing the courts, a process that can take decades. Even then, “conservative” judges are not about to impose conservative policies; the best the religious right can hope for is the opportunity to make its case through ordinary democratic means.

In the past three elections, the religious right has helped to elect a conservative Republican president and a bigger, and increasingly conservative, Republican Senate majority. This should make it possible to move the courts in a conservative direction. But Senate Democrats, taking their cue from liberal interest groups, have responded by subverting the democratic process, using the filibuster to impose an unprecedented supermajority requirement on the confirmation of judges.

…but I know they won’t — it’s easier to be sarcastic and dismissive.

This is unheard-of for me, that I actually finished last month’s Atlantic before this one showed up in the mail. But such did happen, so I got to settle in with this month’s cover story, and it’s a humdinger. I strongly suggest that you out there who fancy yourselves foreign policy / military wonks hasten out to pick one up at the bookstore, if you don’t already subscribe. The title is How We Would Fight China

The Middle East is just a blip. The American military contest with China in the Pacific will define the twenty-first century. And China will be a more formidable adversary than Russia ever was

There is a ton of information and material in there to chew on, and it’s worth every nickel. If I can ever find the time, I’d like to discuss some of the stuff in the article here. We’ll see.

It also pleases me that I beat Craig to the punch for once about an Atlantic article.

After beating up a little bit on Scott Henson, proprietor of Grits for Breakfast, for his wrong-headed thinking about a fake news story coming out of the Supreme Court, I now owe him major props for doing the right thing and endorsing a gun law that would allow any Texan to carry a gun in his car (all necessary disclaimers about felons and court orders and blah-blah understood) without the requirement that he/she be travelling between counties, as it stands now.

I think it’s a crying damn shame that such a law was ever on the books in the first place, and I’m glad to see that there is at least the possibility that it can be rescinded. Let me tell you why. My father and my grandfather were small businessmen in what were cash businesses at that time - groceries and hamburgers. Each of them would, as a matter of course, have hundreds or thousands of dollars on their persons at just about any time, day or night. Maybe coming home from another 14-hour day, maybe going to the night deposit, maybe bringing back a change order. Each of them carried a pistol, usually on the front seat next to them, because it was dead-easy to figure out who James or Jesse were, and that they might have some significant amount of cash on them at literally any time, and to knock them over. Carrying that gun with them, and making sure everyone knew, kept both of them safe; neither one was ever carjacked or robbed of their day’s receipts. Back in those days, it was understood by the police that these men were on a mission of commerce, and they would let them slide with these minor infractions of the gun laws. Many’s the time they were stopped by DPD with that gun on the seat, but the cops either knew them, or they were smart enough to look at the printed deposit slip and the gargantuan wads of cash, and send them on their way.

Now, today, I am a (weekend) small businessman, and I often find myself in exactly that situation…hundreds or thousands (OK, one time it was more than a grand, but I’m working on it) in pure cash. I’ve got two options — deposit cash in the night deposit (not on your life), or leave it sitting in an uninhabited house until I get back on a weekday to make a teller deposit. I absolutely do not want to put it in my truck and tote it back to Dallas unarmed, because today, the coppers stop you and there ain’t no letting you slide. Even though I’m in the right, travelling between counties, the last thing I want to do is set off one of the many small-town Deppity Dawgs that are on my route home by having a .45 in the seat next to me. Cops these days are nothing like the benevolent LEOs that worked my dad’s and granddad’s beat. They scare me, frankly. But if this law passes, at the very least that means I’ve got two laws on my side, which might just cool off Patrolman Hothead enough to let me get on about my business.

Important to note, too, after busting on his ACLU affiliation: this law is most likely contra the ACLU’s official position. If they have one, of course…the ACLU has not been known to stick it’s nose into 2A issues. But…Scotty’s running cross-ways to his employer, and I respect a man that can take a position publicly that goes against his paycheck. That’s admirable.

So, now, Scotty — what do we, the big dummies, need to do to make sure this law is passed? Your advice is appreciated.

Good post at Phil Carter’s Intel Dump that describes the ad-hoc formation of some Iraqis into military units who are out killing bad guys:

The unplanned units — commanded by friends and relatives of cabinet officers and tribal sheiks — go by names like the Defenders of Baghdad, the Special Police Commandos, the Defenders of Khadamiya and the Amarah Brigade. The new units generally have the backing of the Iraqi government and receive government funding.

Mr. Carter equates them to the Afghan warlord, like the Northern Alliance. Being who I am, I tend to think of them as modern-day Texas Rangers, a model that achieved a fair amount of success on a rugged and ragged frontier. And really, on hearing about this, I have more faith than ever that Iraq is going to do just fine as a democracy, and an American ally. Not that it’s any kind of surprise to me, really, but I have been waiting to hear about people taking matters into their own hands. I suppose you wouldn’t be shocked to find that it was the Wall St. Journal that has the original story. heh heh

This being 2005, though, they call these irregular units “pop-ups”. Yeesh…let’s scrub that ASAP, please, and allow them some dignity.

It’s time for Washington to learn the virtues of silence.

Dang, I love Francis Poretto. More…

The proof is before us today. There’s not one word in any statement being made by any foreign statesman, diplomat, or mouthpiece for the same that suggests that America has anything to gain from soliciting other nations’ good opinion. Nor does it matter that we’re the ones that have something to give. If we were a beggar nation, as poor as we were in Revolutionary times, it would still avail us nothing to treat with the thrones of Europe, or any other state. International “assistance” always comes with a price tag; one always pays excessively for it.

That’s the kind of isolationsm I can get behind. Often misinterpreted, Teddy Roosevelt said it this way — “Speak softly and carry a big stick.”

Hi, Canucks!

Four pages of pictorial hilarity at the expense of Canadian lefties — great way to kill 10 minutes. Not that I have 10 minutes to kill, but I needed some light reading.

Found it at Teem Bleah…

I’ve actually been to Quebec — nice place, and great people (but cold, cold, cold). They actually enjoyed talking to a mush-mouth Texan at that point in time, but that was back when Billy Ray Clinton was personally dropping off huge bags of money at everybody’s doorstep.

Captain’s Quarters has a post up about Chinese economics, specifically the fact that the workers that are churning out furniture, bicycles, shoes, and t-shirts are now going on strike for better pay and better working conditions. Pretty intresting stuff. From the Cap’n:

The maintenance of free trade with China has the scales falling from the eyes of Chinese workers. While free trade may have hurt the US in the short run, we have mostly recovered from the blow, while the Chinese have just started to discover that a little freedom is an impossible measure: it either grows exponentially or dies altogether. Now that they have built the economy that communism could never deliver, neither option will be compatible with their autocratic rule. Either the government has to allow more freedom and individual choice to its people, or crack down and face the loss of overseas investment and a wide-scale worker revolt which could wipe out the government.

I happen to agree with Cappie that economic freedom is THE weapon of choice. There aren’t many people drawing breath who aren’t interested in making their life better and building a better world for their kids, and that starts with acquiring the means to do so. I also happen to think that economic freedom will be the engine that drives the Middle East out of the Dark Ages of theocratic thugocracies. As the Commie leaders of China are learning now, so shall the mullahs and the shieks. Sadly for both sets of bullies, democracy will grow in that freedom. My advice to the more forward-thinking dudes of those ruling classes is to start paddling like hell & get in front of the wave so you can ride it, or get crushed and broken underneath it. It will happen.

SIDE NOTE: who horse-whipped that Most Favored Nation status through? Credit where credit is due — old Slick himself — Billy Jeff Clinton.

The Wounded Warrior Project

The Wounded Warrior Project was founded on the principle that veterans are our nation’s greatest citizens. The Project seeks to assist those men and women of our armed forces who have been severely injured during the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other hot spots around the world. Many of the injuries are traumatic amputations, gunshot wounds, burns and blast injuries that will retire these brave warriors from military service. These wounded soldiers will return to civilian life minus one or more limbs, or with serious wounds or disfiguring scars, and will face greater challenges today obtaining assistance and finding opportunities that would enable them to provide for themselves and their families.

I’ve been on the phone all night with family trying to set up the annual Thanksgiving dinner. As usual, when I do these things, I realize how damn much I have to be thankful for, and that it would not be possible without the sacrifices made by millions of others that I’ll never know. Think about that, and go give a little bit to help out — skip the Shiner and get the Keystone, ditch the Bluebell for the pumpkin pie a la mode and go with the store brand, donate your last big hand at the online tables…whatever works for you. Let’s just make sure that our guys and gals are taken care of as much as we can, OK? You wouldn’t be able to sit around and bitch about how full you are and fall asleep in front of the boob tube if it wasn’t for them, right?

Found it at Stryker’s old joint, The Daily Brief…

No less a luminary than Tom Wolfe agrees with me about the Born Fighting idea (you know…the one I haven’t taken the time to post.)

So who are the people who voted for Bush? I think the most cogent person on this is James Webb, the most decorated marine to come out of Vietnam. Like John Kerry he won the Silver Star, but also the Navy Cross, the equivalent of our highest honour, the Congressional Medal.

He served briefly under Reagan as secretary for the navy, but he has since become a writer. His latest book, Born Fighting, is the most important piece of ethnography in this country for a long time. It’s about that huge but invisible group, the Scots-Irish. They’re all over the Appalachian mountains and places like southern Ohio and Tennessee.

Their theme song is country music and when people talk about rednecks, this is the group they’re talking about: this is the group that voted for Bush.

Though they’ve had successes, the Scots-Irish generally haven’t done well economically. They’re individualistic, they’re stubborn and they value their way of life more then their financial situation. If a politician comes out for gun control they take it personally. It’s not about guns, really: if you’re against the National Rifle Association you’re against them as a people.

They take Protestantism seriously. It tickles me when people talk about “the Christian right”. These people aren’t right wing, they’re just religious. If you’re religious, of course, you’re against gay marriage and abortion. You’re against a lot of things that have become part of the intellectual liberal liturgy.

Everyone who joins the military here thinks, “Where did all these Southerners come from?” These people love to fight. During the French and Indian wars, before there was a United States, recruiters would turn up in the Carolinas and in the Appalachians and say, “Anyone want to go and fight Indians?” There was a bunch of boys who were always up for it and they haven’t lost that love of battle.

I snagged the book on the recommendation of Craig Henry, and let me tell you, it sure did illuminate a lot of things that I thought I saw in the campaigns and the election. I highly recommend the book, if you want to get serious about this Red State/Blue State thing. Or you can all go on calling us ignorant hayseeds…doesn’t matter to me.