Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Thanks, Joe!

I forgot to be thankful for Joe Lieberman last Thursday. But I am thankful. Mr. Lieberman gives me hope for my old party.

Via Instapundit (along with half of everything I post, I expect).

Monday, November 28, 2005

So I'm Not Alone

The Washington Post notes these poll results, which show most people apparently have the same opinion of Democratic Congressional leaders that I do. First quote:
Seventy percent of people surveyed said that criticism of the war by Democratic senators hurts troop morale -- with 44 percent saying morale is hurt "a lot," according to a poll taken by RT Strategies. Even self-identified Democrats agree: 55 percent believe criticism hurts morale, while 21 percent say it helps morale.
Second quote:
Their poll also indicates many Americans are skeptical of Democratic complaints about the war. Just three of 10 adults accept that Democrats are leveling criticism because they believe this will help U.S. efforts in Iraq. A majority believes the motive is really to "gain a partisan political advantage."
Of course they are polls, so they are only slightly more accurate than the weatherman and slightly less accurate than military intelligence, and public opinion changes almost as fast as the weather....

Sunday, November 27, 2005

A Clinton Appointee Remembered

Gee, maybe the Democrats have forgotten Clinton Appointee Kenneth M. Pollack. Well, the Brother's Judd haven't. And the case Pollack made for deposing Saddam was good then, and it's still good.

Gun Vault, Safe to Armed in Seconds! - Products

Got a Mini GunVault for myself for Christmas. It's on sale for eighty bucks at Cabelas until 4 December. Now I just have to figure out where and how to mount it. Well, and I need to wrap it, of course.

Saturday, November 26, 2005

Arabia Steamboat Museum

The most amazing attraction in Kansas City is a celebration of the pioneering values of adventure, entrepreneurship and the can do spirit. The Wince family took a pair of Mrs. Wince's cousins and their families yesterday to see the Arabia Steamboat Museum. (Aside: Isn't it cool when two brothers marry two sisters?) The Steamboat Arabia was a floating ante-bellum Wal-Mart. It hit a sang in the muddy Missouri on the way to big supplies to pioneers in Nebraska and sank. 132 years later a group of men in search of buried treasure dug it up with no government money and they are sharing these incredible finds with only private support. See what shopping was like in 1856!

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Democrats Despise! Iraqi Hopes They Minimize!

Well, clearly my slogans need work. You say we are losing? I don't know who this "we" is. Our troops say they are winning the war and are proud of their efforts. I'm not winning or losing the war, I'm working on billing software. If you are losing the war, stop it! (Wink.) If on the other hand, you are saying our troops are losing the war, well, you aren't over there, they are. I trust them. Stop criticizing the people who are fighting and dying. It would be different if they also thought they were losing. Then you could criticize the Administration and say the Administration was losing the war. But since the troops don't agree, I just will not accept that. Here's what I'll accept: You believe the Administration should be winning faster or cheaper or better. But not that "we" are losing.

Myths

The American Enterprise gives nine Urban Legends About the Iraq War.

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Pray for The Weary Warriors

It seems Kurt Vonnegut is feeling down. We need to respect our old warriors, weary of war, especially when we disagree with them. Pray for Kurt Vonnegut, John Murtha, John Kerry and any other old warrior who is tired of war.

Sunday, November 20, 2005

The Opposite of SGT Walter J. Rausch

Here is a person, Professor John Daly, unlike SGT Walter J. Rausch, who should be fired, just because he reflects so poorly on his employer, Warren Community College. Do our institutions of higher learning know how disgusting they appear by defending people like Daly? In his email, Daly denies the 100 million killed in the Communist Holocaust. That's right, Daly is no different from a Holocaust denier. Communist sympathizers are no different, morally, than Nazi sympathizers. This isn't surprising, since Nazism is Communism's younger, less murderous, but more bigoted brother. So, does Warren Community College also employ Holocaust denying Nazi sympathizers as a sop to academic freedom? I doubt it.

Via the Gun Guy.

Saturday, November 19, 2005

This Is A War For Freedom

Perhaps the Iraq War is not a war for freedom to you. But it is for this sergeant. Arguably, that gives him more moral authority than Martin Luther King or Mahatma Gandi. How so? They were fighting for their own freedom, and the freedom of their own people. This sergeant is fighting for freedom not just for someone else, but for another people. Think about what surrender will do to this young man and those, like me, who support his desire to fight, win, and achieve his noble purpose.

Friday, November 18, 2005

An Argument Against Too Much Federalism

In this post I argued for federalism. I'm still not sure what Breyer would say against my arguments, but based on what I've read so far, he might say that pushing too much power down to small electoral bodies exposes them to the problem of factionalism. Representation over large groups of people dilutes factionalism by making a representative beholden to a wide variety of special interests, whereas a smaller district can easily be captured by a particular special interest group. This is a good argument. One way to solve the problem is by random appointments, like we do for juries. Ancient Athens had many randomly selected positions. Frank Herbert believed that many of our political decisions should be subject to jury review. Now that's active democracy!

Thursday, November 17, 2005

Bend It

I just realized I have a new favorite movie, Bend It Like Beckham. And every time I watch it I end up with the most wonderful music running through my brain.

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Active Liberty, Obtained

I got Active Liberty : Interpreting Our Democratic Constitution, Stephen Breyer's new book, from the library and started reading it. Breyer believes he should interpret the Constitution in ways which promote active citizen participation in our democracy. Good thesis. I'm all for it. I will be interested to find out how he supports it. I have to wonder why he isn't more of a Federalist, though. The less power in Washington and the more at the statehouse the easier and more effective my democratic participation will be. In fact less power in the statehouse and more power at the county, city and even school board levels the more power I have. One school board per school is good, too.

When the Constitution was drafted, the entire population of our Republic was less than some cities today. Lot's of place were governed by town meetings, where everyone, not just a few aldermen, got to vote. I'd say that means we need even less power in Washington, not more.

What Does Losing Mean?

When will Congress and the President take the War against Islamic Fascism seriously?

This article, by an unknown author, not Major General Vernon Chong, describes the price of losing. The price of losing this war is no less than the price of losing the Cold War and being ruled by totalitarian Communists. Most Communists believed in communal living. And we all know that most people who lived in communes were peaceful. The price of losing this war is no less than the price of losing World War II and being ruled by totalitarian Fascists. Most Fascists were Christians. Isn't Christ the Prince of Peace? Aren't most Christians peaceful people? Of course Hitler, master of a Christian nation, murdered slightly more Christians than Jews. And Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot killed more of their own people than of us. And the Islamic Fascists are killing more of their own people, too.

Hitler, with a tiny fraction of the world's Christians behind him, plunged the world into chaos and murdered fourteen million people. Do we really want a tiny fraction of the world's Muslims to do the same? Let's fight little wars now, not big wars later. And let's not lose.

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Spooky!

Spooky DogI guess with dogs it's green eye reduction. She sure is cute, huh?

Monday, November 14, 2005

The Real Story About The War

TigerHawk revisits and updates Den Beste's strategic overview of the War on Terror. These were the reasons I favored the campaign in Iraq before it started, and I still do. My biggest fear was that Bush would go to the U.N. and get talked out of it. I shouldn't have worried.

No More Breezes

The Geek With A .45 muses about architectural adjustments.

Fish Cookies

Fish CookiesMy Dad, who likes to fish, turned seventy-five over the weekend. Mrs. Wince made fish cookies and my girls helped, especially with the decoration. Tasty and easy on the eyes. And the same for the cookies.

Sunday, November 13, 2005

Keep Raking Lads! They're Gaining On Us!

Leafy lawn Last Saturday I raked all my leaves. Can you tell? Last year I ignored the leaves in the street too long, and the bottom layer turned to mud. It's wonderful to have such beautiful trees along our street. Even in the winter they stand majestic with the cold light filtering through their many branches, squirrel nests exposed for all to see.

Saturday, November 12, 2005

More Government Spending Less Happiness

Juan Non-Volokh links a study by three Swiss economists which found that people are less happy when their government spends more. I don't know if it is true, but I have observed that American conservatives are less happy when their government spends more.

Friday, November 11, 2005

What is the Arm of Decision in the War on Terror?

Steven Green thinks that he knows where victory will be won or lost in the War on Terror. He says Bush doesn't know. He says Congress doesn't know. He says our public thinkers don't know. He says the media knows - but they don't want you to find out. I'm not sure. Does the Media know they are losing the war?

Thursday, November 10, 2005

Fooling Yourself About Bush

People fool themselves all the time. I fool myself all the time. For example, I fool myself about how much I'll get done each day. And I fool myself about how easy it will be to get up in the morning every night before I go to sleep. If you think Bush either lied or exaggerated the Iraqi threat you are fooling yourself. Norman Podhoretz examines the mountain of evidence.

Via Rand Simberg.