Assignment: write a eulogy

Here's an excellent chance to compare the writing abilities of two of the Star Tribune's columnists: Nick Coleman and Katie Kersten.

For the assignment, each columnist was asked to write a eulogy about a person who died recently. Nick Coleman wrote today about long-time St. Paul columnist, Don Boxmeyer:

Over the years, Box wrote the best stories in St. Paul. I was a colleague of his for 17 years at the Pioneer Press, and Box always could come up with characters or situations better than any being invented by the new-age Novelizers of St. Paul. And his stories had the advantage of being real[.]

Like the story about the sailors from St. Paul on the USS Ward, who fired the first American shots in WWII, a homeless man living on Rice Street, or a Mexican-American veteran who went from meat packing in St. Paul to the front lines in war.

All in all, a remembrance that was sweet without being saccharine, and both genuine and well remembered.

Now, regrettably, we turn to Katie. Her entry was the story of a young man who died tragically in an automobile crash. Did Spot say "young man?" He meant "young Christian man," of course. Without the "Christian" adjective, Andy Wiersma would not have been worthy of Katie's attention. She admits as much, and it will rot your teeth:

So it wasn't a desire to memorialize a brilliant athletic career that filled the gym at Andy's funeral. But when you listened to people talk about this young man, you understood why they were there.

Andy had a way of reaching out to people and drawing out what was best and most beautiful inside them, according to Pastor Don LeClere of Evangelical Free Church in Marshall, where Andy served as interim student ministries pastor.

Andy Wiersma wasn't the subject of the column; he was merely the vehicle to spread Katie's grim gospel: you don't need to really worry about horrific automobile accidents. If you're a Christian, here's the denouement waiting for you:

But don't mourn for Andy. God surely reached out and grabbed him moments [after the collision].

So there you have it, boys and girls: Nick Coleman, writer, and Katie, ideological hack.

Technorati Tags: euology,Nick Coleman,Katherine Kersten

Dealing with illegal protesters

As some of you know, boys and girls, the Cucking Stool's former Iraq correspondent Dave Thul is a member of the National Guard who has been called up to help maintain peace and order at the Republican National Convention. It promises to be a big job, but Spot's sure that Sgt. Thul is up to the job. Except for maybe one little, itty-bitty matter. That is, dealing with all of the illegal protesters waving this sign:

You see, Joe "I'm Tired" Repya is planning to hand out a whole bunch of these signs to form a counter demonstration to the protest parade planned for September 1st:

At noon on September 1, the anti-war crowd claims they’ll have upwards of 50,000 marching from the Minnesota Capitol Building to the Excel Energy Center where the Republican National Convention, [will be held] at the Excel Energy Center in Saint Paul.

We are asking everyone who supports our men and women in uniform defending America in the War on Terror to line the streets from the Excel Center with our signs. It is our way of being "Minnesota Nice" and wishing these protesters a "nice day in Minnesota." We encourage no discussion or verbal exchange with the demonstrators - only a pleasant “smile! [sic]

Well, that's just great Joe! Do you have a permit for your demonstration? You don't? You're supposed to have one, you know:

Sec. 366A.01. Permit required.

(a) No person shall engage in or conduct any parade, race or public assembly without a permit issued by the chief of police.

Under 366A.01(f), they meet the definition:

(f) Public assembly means any meeting, demonstration, picket line, rally or gathering of more than twenty-five (25) persons for a common purpose as a result of prior planning in or upon any street, sidewalk or other public grounds in a place open to the general public.

Really, you don't have one, Joe? It's too late to apply; sorry. And we haven't even talked about the special requirements for the convention.

Sgt. Thul will probably have to round you and the rest of your scofflaws up, Joe.

Let's imagine it for just a moment, boys and girls:

DT. You there, with the pro-war signs! Do you have a permit?

JR. Permit? We don't need no stinkin' permit. We're red-blooded Americans!

DT. Be that as it may [okay, Dave probably wouldn't say it that way], you need a permit to be here.

JR. I told you, we don't have no stinkin' permit!

DT. Then you'll have to leave.

JR. Do you know who I am soldier?

DT. [wearily] Yes, you're "Col. I'm Tired," Joe Repya. And that's Mitch Berg and Chris Baker behind you.

JR. Then I order you to stand down.

DT. You're not even in the military any more. And you're not in my chain of command. I'm sorry; right now I am the law and you are not. Please leave.

JR. We won't. We're peaceful.

DT. Then why are your signs taped to axe handles?

CB. It's just so we can hold them up higher; honest.

DT. Right. You have to go now.

MB. We won't.

DT. Yes you will.

MB. Must I remind you that I have a permit to carry a weapon?

JR. Oh, Jesus. Mitch, shut up. But we're not leaving, Sarge.

DT. I am ordering you to leave.

JR. What? You can't do that!

[exhibiting the reflexes of the battle-hardened combat veteran that he is, DT swing his rifle and skewers JR's sign with his bayonet and jerks it off of the axe handle; JR is speechless, while MB and CB drop their signs and run]

DT. Now git!

[JR looks at the end of the axe handle with the tape flapping in the breeze; JR's jaw works, but no words come out; finally, he turns and walks away]

Technorati Tags: Republican National Convention,Joe Repya,street protests,Excel Center,parade permits,axe handles,Mitch Berg,Chris Baker

And don't forget John McCain!

Here's an article in the UK's Guardian about the war in Georgia.

Here are the opening grafs:

The outcome of six grim days of bloodshed in the Caucasus has triggered an outpouring of the most nauseating hypocrisy from western politicians and their captive media. As talking heads thundered against Russian imperialism and brutal disproportionality, US vice-president Dick Cheney, faithfully echoed by Gordon Brown and David Miliband, declared that "Russian aggression must not go unanswered". George Bush denounced Russia for having "invaded a sovereign neighbouring state" and threatening "a democratic government". Such an action, he insisted, "is unacceptable in the 21st century".

Could these by any chance be the leaders of the same governments that in 2003 invaded and occupied - along with Georgia, as luck would have it - the sovereign state of Iraq on a false pretext at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives? Or even the two governments that blocked a ceasefire in the summer of 2006 as Israel pulverised Lebanon's infrastructure and killed more than a thousand civilians in retaliation for the capture or killing of five soldiers?

The article, written by the Guardian's Seumas Milne, is excellent, and Spot recommends it, beginning to end, boys and girls. Beginning to end; maybe we'll have a quiz.

Writing in the Wall Street yesterday, John McCain added his steamed-up braying, too:

For anyone who thought that stark international aggression was a thing of the past, the last week must have come as a startling wake-up call. After clashes in the Georgian region of South Ossetia, Russia invaded its neighbor, launching attacks that threaten its very existence.

It's just too bad Georgia isn't a NATO member yet, right John? Then the US would have been duty-bound to start WWIII. Or is it IV? Spot can never remember how you guys count.

The events of the last week or so demonstrate that the uni-polar world is over. A resurgent Russia, flush with oil, flexes it muscles, and the US can only shriek impotently. The Chinese host the Olympics and give people in the US a glimpse of a society that's a lot farther advanced than we thought, one that is proud of its centuries of history and what it is accomplishing today. Not to mention putting on an opening show that the US entertainment industry couldn't match, stylistically or technologically. Disagree? Think about any Superbowl half-time show you've ever seen.

A thump of the tail to Empire Burlesque.

Technorati Tags: John McCain,Georgia,Russia,Olympics

Collect the Accountable!!!

#7: The Talking Head

Name: William (Bill) Kristol
Age: 55
Bats: Right

Most famous phrase: "There's been a certain amount of pop sociology in America ... that the Shia can't get along with the Sunni and the Shia in Iraq just want to establish some kind of Islamic fundamentalist regime. There's almost no evidence of that at all. Iraq's always been very secular." (NPR, 4/1/2003)

Honorable mention: "I think we'll be vindicated when we discover the weapons of mass destruction and when we liberate the people of Iraq." (ABC News, 3/10/2003)

What he needs to account for:

1- Prewar attempts to connect Saddam and 9/11

2- Claiming that Iraq is not in the middle of a civil war.

3- Massively misleading comments about Scooter Libby's involvement with the Valerie Plame leak case.

4- Nonsensical attempts to get around the WMD issue. (Shorter Kristol: If they're gone, can you prove they didn't go elsewhere?)

5- Stating that it is "irresponsible" for those who disagree with his war to publicly state disagreements during said war.

6- Stating that it is impossible for those who disagree with his surge to support the troops.

7- Claiming that "No one believes the inspections can work." before we went to war with Iraq.

8- Stating that a war in Iraq would "start a chain reaction in the Arab world that would be very healthy" and that it "could have terrifically good effects throughout the Middle East." (Keep in mind that this is the same guy who said sectarian violence wasn't likely.)

9- Claiming that "very few wars in American history were prepared better or more thoroughly than this one by this president."

10- You can read more of Kristol's misstatements here.

Mr. Kristol teaches at Harvard. He edits the Weekly Standard. He's a Fox News All Star. As if a political magazine, an elite college, and a 24-hour news channel weren't enough, he also is an op-ed columnist at the New York Times (this isn't his 1st op-ed gig; he used to write thinly veiled save-my-own-ass editorials about the president for the Washington Post). Last year at this time he could be found running around saying that our new Serious Strategy (a.k.a. The Surge) has finally allowed us to turn the corner and make progress in Iraq.

Career Stats:

- Evil Plus Snideness (EPS) percentage: .980
- Incorrect Statement Average (ISA): .322
- ISA+ (media saturation): .410

Notes:

Always the team player, Bill is never afraid to step into the fray--no matter how long the odds--to take a swing at the opposition. Apparently lacking either self-esteem or personal awareness (maybe both), Bill's love of the long shot--all the while with an ear-to-ear grin on his face--is his trademark play. He can currently be found blubbering about the need to stand up to Russia.

1 Year Ago

My how time does fly. While we're all in a hubbub over the Olympics and Georgia, it's easy to forget just how far we've come in the past year. So, when you turn on MSNBC to hear some talking head babble on about the need to stick it to the Russians, remember this:

ROBINSON: Well, he has presence. I‘ll give you that, Chris. The rest of it, you and Ana Marie can decide, as to the sex appeal. You know, the numbers say he is more of a guy‘s candidate. He is doing well. Maybe he is a man‘s man. But, you know, it is interesting, what he said on Leno last night, which was essentially that he never really wanted to go after the presidency, but he kind of would like to have it.

MATTHEWS: Who wouldn‘t if it is offered to you? How many people get it offered to them.

(CROSS TALK)

MATTHEWS: Can you smell the English leather on this guy, the Aqua Velva, the sort of mature man‘s shaving cream, or whatever, you know, after he shaved? Do you smell that sort of—a little bit of cigar smoke? You know, whatever.

CONTINETTI: Thompson‘s a smooth character. He likes to smoke cigars. There‘s no question about that. People should ignore the “Tonight Show” interview. They should go to Hoover.org, Chris, another interview Thompson gave yesterday, where he was asked, what was the most damaging judicial decision made in the past 30 years. Thompson said Roe v. Wade. There will be a clear choice for Republican voters between the anti-Roe Thompson and the relatively ambivalent, semi pro-Roe Giuliani.

I think that may make the difference in the end.

Save us Fred Thompson. Save us all. These people are wrong about everything.

A Simple Question

How nuts would we have gone had the Soviets made a ginormous political issue out of the Cuban Missile Crisis in real time and on TV?

Mr. McCain says that "standing up" to Russia doesn't mean that we have to enter another Cold War. I, for one, don't think that McCain knows the first damn thing about Cold War history. If he did, the words "sphere of influence" would mean something. If you thought that getting involved in Iraq didn't fit into our national interests, you ain't seen nothing yet.

I know that this is the part of the game where the candidates get to put on their big boy clothes and pretend that they are sitting behind the desk, but we don't, and shouldn't care about Georgia to this extent.

Furthermore, who in their right mind thought that making this a campaign issue was a bright idea? We're locked in the middle of two wars that are largely against non-state interests and this guy wants to pick a fight with our good ol' buddies the Russians just to show people how tough he is. Scary. Absolutely scary.

Drinking Liberally: just a reminder

Please remember, boys and girls, that Sen. Patricia Torres Ray will be at Drinking Liberally tomorrow night for a meet and greet. Spot expects that she'll arrive around seven. Word is that her story-teller husband Jack may be there, too.

Drinking Liberally in Minneapolis meets on Thursday nights, from six to nine or so, at the 331 Club in northeast Minneapolis.

Technorati Tags: Sen. Patricia Torres Ray,Drinking Liberally

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Republican candidate for Congress in the First District of Minnesota, physician Brian Davis, announces today the formation of his new PAC, "Physicians Against Nutrition." Building on his remarks at the recent Farmfest, Davis says that, "It just seemed like the thing to do."

In discussing the recent farm bill at Farmfest, Davis did not quarrel with subsidies, direct payments, or the ethanol blender's tax credit. Or, apparently, some of the earmarks added in the Senate.

However, Dr. Davis said the nutritional aspects of the recently passed farm bill were "bad." Just for the record, here is a list of these nutritional programs as compiled by the USDA.

When asked how fund raising was going among his fellow physicians, Dr. Davis said, "I am encountering more resistance than I expected."

A thump of the tail to a Bluestem Prairie and Tild, for the graphic.

Technorati Tags: farm bill,Farmfest,Brian Davis,First Congressional District of Minnesota

Holy Joe!!!

The 2000 Democratic nominee for Vice President turns on the class (highlights are mine):

“In my opinion, the choice could not be more clear: between one candidate, John McCain, who’s had experience, been tested in war and tried in peace, another candidate who has not,’’ Mr. Lieberman said. “Between one candidate, John McCain, who has always put the country first, worked across party lines to get things done, and one candidate who has not. Between one candidate who’s a talker, and the other candidate who’s the leader America needs as our next president.”

The McCain camp has since endorsed Holy Joe's comments.

A couple of things:

1. What kind of douche does it take to accuse a man running for the highest office in the land that he has not always "put his country first" (which, BTW, just happens to be McCain's latest campaign slogan)?
2. All the Barry "Hussein" Obama crap has never been about getting people to associate the man with Islamic terrorism. It's always been about invoking the ultimate angry black image: the Nation of Islam. Holy Joe is fishing for an explicit response.
   
3. How crappy is our national press? The 2000 Democratic nominee for VP just said that the 2008 Democratic nominee for president has not always put his country first. One would think that this sort of statement would result in the following question: "Gee Joe, that's a pretty inflammatory statement, what is it based on?"
   
4. The underlying subtext of this entire escapade is Georgia (apart from the underlying subtext of race). Not the state, but the South Carolina sized nation that is locked up with Russia right now. In both the initial article and the campaign's response, McCain's response to the current crisis is noted in spades. I'm sure the same media that will ask Holy Joe about the reasoning for his troubling statements will ask Mr. McCain about Georgian President Saakashivili quoting the candidate in a recent speech. Ahhhh...product synergy.
   

Getting back to the main point of this post, a former Democratic candidate for VP has accused the current Democratic candidate for president of not always putting his country first. Do you know what this means? What is this statement based on? Has anyone asked Holy Joe what he means by this statement? The outcome of this little escapade will say as much about our modern press as it will about the party that is literally running "where are all the white women at" commercials about a black candidate.

Public Service Announcement

John McCain has a new web ad out about Barack Obama:




You heard that correctly: hot chicks love Obama. Hot white chicks.

Since this seems to be the MO of a major party's candidate for the highest office in the land, and since we have over 2 months to go before we can vote this nonsense away, you can expect to see many more of these types of ads. As a public service to you, let me explain how this little game works:

1- White candidate implies that his black opponent fulfills a commonly held stereotype of a black male. So far we have gone through "uppity" and "he's after all the white women".
2- Black opponent argues that the white candidate is using race as a political weapon; by doing so he explicitly makes race an issue.
3- White candidate explicitly complains that his black opponent is "playing the race card."

Wash, rinse, and repeat.

Of course there are no shortages of stereotypes to turn into commercials.

It takes a special type of a-hole to run a campaign with this strategy as a centerpiece. Hat's off to you Mr. McCain. Hat's off to you.

BTW: If the McCain folks figure out a way to run a commercial that implies Obama is a big-dicked, loud-mouthed basketball player (we've already seen the basketball reference) who is too church-going and superstitious...is that something I should applaud for its pure political technique, or should I be all the more horrified that it would probably work like gang-busters?

Oh well, I suppose even the racial stuff is a step down from possibly implying that the guy is the anti-Christ. Now that Mark Penn's internal memos from the Hillary campaign are out in the open, let's see some of the McCain folks' thoughts on race and religion from their internal campaign documents. I'm sure their intent is, was, and always will be completely benign on those two fronts.

UPDATE: For those of you unfamiliar with the Left Behind series (you should read them) and premillenial dispensationalism, let me point out a passage from an additional link on the subject of McCain's anti-Christ Obama ad (from the WSJ; highlights are mine):

The End Times, a New Testament reference to the period surrounding the return of Christ, were popularized in recent years by the "Left Behind" series of books that sold more than 63 million copies. The Rev. Tim LaHaye, co-author of the series, said in an interview that he recognized allusions to his work in the ad but comparisons between Sen. Obama and the antichrist are incorrect.

"The antichrist isn't going to be an American, so it can't possibly be Obama. The Bible makes it clear he will be from an obscure place, like Romania," the 82-year-old author said.

Again, for those of you who aren't familiar with LaHaye's work, this is essentially like Dr. Seuss (if he were still alive) saying he recognizes that silly rhymes and the use of a Wangdoozer in an Obama commercial are allusions to his work.

McCain's strategy is to play the implicit card as far as it can possibly go...and it can go an awfully long way. As someone who has read the entire Left Behind series, I have to say that from cover art to language to the frickin' lighting, it's pretty hard to not recognize the references in McCain's ad.

Update by Spot: The video is available here.

Sen. Patricia Torres Ray at Drinking Liberally

Is there an echo in here Spot?

Why do you ask, grasshopper?

I thought Sen. Torres Ray was already at Drinking Liberally.

Ah, yes. Due to a tragic scheduling error, for which Spot accepts the entire responsibility, she could not come as scheduled. But Sen. Torres Ray is coming NEXT THURSDAY NIGHT, August 14th.

More details to come, but remember, boys and girls, that Drinking Liberally meets from six to nine or so at the 331 Club in northeast Minneapolis.

Technorati Tags: Sen. Patricia Torres Ray,Drinking Liberally

Reporting with real pain in his voice

Here's the Owl over at Power Line:

Osama bin Laden's driver, Salim Hamdan, could be a free man very soon. A U.S. military jury sentenced him to five and a half years following his conviction for supporting terrorism. It was bin Laden's terrorism, of course, that led to the deaths of more than 3,000 Americans. And Hamdan didn't just drive bin Laden, he also guarded the master terrorist. His defense is that he was just a working stiff.

It really has to hurt guys like the Owl who stood by and led cheers for the detention and interrogation scheme at Gitmo, the denial of even the most basic rights of the accused, and the development of a "judicial" process that Franz Kafka would have loved, to see that Salim Hamdan probably - Spot says probably - won't spend the rest of his life rotting in jail. This is a bitter pill indeed for our revenge-nik friends.

But the commission that heard Hamdan's case really did the administration a favor. There was another US Supreme Court case with Hamdan's name written all over it concerning whether the war crime of "material support" even exists under international law, or whether it was an ex post facto law as applied to Hamdan - and undoubtedly others at Gitmo, too.

Johnny  "Two Cents" Rocketseed seems a little wistful about the good old days when the warron terra was more popular:

JOHN adds: I think it's one more sign that the "war on terror," which with all its faults has kept us safe for the last seven years, is winding down. It's impossible to say what the consequences will be.

Maybe we're recovering our senses, Johnny, and not listening to pants pissers like you quite so much. Maybe we'll figure out that our militarism is making more enemies than we eliminate, and that we're bankrupting the country in the process. And maybe, just maybe, we'll figure out that the United States without civil rights and liberties really isn't the United States at all.

Richard Bruce Cheney was right that we're in an existential conflict; it just isn't the one that the vice president and the boys and Power Line think it is.

Technorati Tags: Dick Cheney,Power Line blog,Salim Hamdan,military commissions,Guantanamo Bay

How easily it can happen.

The American Bar Association Journal this last month had a cover story about the 25 Greatest Legal Movies. As you can imagine, we here at the Cucking Stool are big fans of all of these. MrMNO has a special fondness for My Cousin Vinny, but for reasons more associated with limited slip differential than the Rules of Criminal Procedure.

But tonight at Chez Observer, we watched something a bit more timely, Judgment at Nuremberg, Stanley Kramer's examination of the limits of responsibility for the horrors of the world inhabited by normal people. Of course, the speech given by Judge Haywood (Spencer Tracy) is what makes one pause. Having heard months of testimony about the need to go along with evil in order to survive, in order to prevent greater evil, or in order to save one's country, he nonetheless concludes:

But this trial has shown that under a national crisis, ordinary -- even able and extraordinary -- men can delude themselves into the commission of crimes so vast and heinous that they beggar the imagination. No one who has sat at through trial can ever forget them: men sterilized because of political belief; a mockery made of friendship and faith; the murder of children. How easily it can happen.

There are those in our own country too who today speak of the "protection of country" -- of "survival." A decision must be made in the life of every nation at the very moment when the grasp of the enemy is at its throat. Then, it seems that the only way to survive is to use the means of the enemy, to rest survival upon what is expedient -- to look the other way.

Well, the answer to that is "survival as what?" A country isn't a rock. It's not an extension of one's self. It's what it stands for. It's what it stands for when standing for something is the most difficult!

Before the people of the world, let it now be noted that here, in our decision, this is what we stand for: justice, truth, and the value of a single human being.

Add it to your Netflix que. You won't regret it.

It carries the seeds of its own destruction

There has been a run on sackcloth and ashes here in Cakeville this past week when it was learned that Edina High School, yes Edina freakin' High School, did not meet the AYP standard for No Child Left Behind this year:

Several high schools hailed as among the best in Minnesota and the nation, including Edina, Wayzata and Eastview in Apple Valley, also were labeled as "underperforming."

Newsweek magazine had ranked Edina as one of the nation's top 100 high schools earlier this year.

How could that be? Spot could have predicted that it would happen; eventually all schools will fail:

The list is growing, officials say, because slight test score gains didn't keep pace with annually increasing benchmarks.

The increase frustrates some educators, who say the system is designed to eventually label all schools as failing. But others say the law forces schools to devote resources to students they overlooked before.

This is, of course, precisely the agenda of people like Sticks, Katie, John Brandl and John LaPlante. But perhaps they didn't count on the fact that the jig would be up on their Franz Kafka scheme when public schools universally recognized as excellent are held up a failures:

With those schools on the list, "It's not 'those kids,' it becomes 'our kids,'" said Tom Dooher, president of Education Minnesota, the statewide teachers' union. "And when people with influence see that it's happening to them, they're going to put some influence and pressure on the political system to change it."

Yes, they will.

Technorati Tags: No Child Left Behind,Edina High School,AYP,Minnesota Free Market Institute,John LaPlante

Wait until we catch the guy who does his hair!

The first of the Worst of the Worst has been convicted. Osama bin Laden's driver has been convicted by a military commission on the island resort of Guantanamo Bay:

Yesterday a military panel rendered a split decision in the prosecution before a Guantánamo military commission of Salim Hamdan, the chauffeur of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. In the first war crimes prosecution brought by the United States since the close of World War II, Hamdan was accused of participation in an Al Qaeda conspiracy that included attacks on the United States on September 11, on the U.S.S. Cole and the East African embassy bombings as well as of material support. The six military panelists acquitted Hamdan on the major charges of conspiracy, which were the only charges originally brought against him. They convicted him of material support on the grounds that he was in fact bin Laden’s chauffeur. The case now goes into its sentencing phase.

Boy, good work! But it's kind of like a $100,000 DNA test to prove your kid took a cookie out of the jar:

After six and a half years in which the name “Guantánamo” has become badge of shame and humiliation, there has at last been a prosecution–of an individual whose role was at best completely peripheral. The former chief Guantánamo prosecutor has now openly acknowledged that an independent, objective prosecutor never would have charged Salim Hamdan, because he was an absolute nobody. This is not to say that Hamdan is an innocent, of course.

Scott Horton, the author of these words goes on to contrast how Attorney General Robert Jackson handled the first Nuremberg prosecutions.

Moreover, it isn't clear that in a world actually governed by the rule of law that Salim Hamdam would be guilty of any war crime:

[I]t is not clear that Hamdan's conduct of "material support" to terrorism (and, in Specification 2, to al Qaeda), in the form of of transportation and "body guard" services, was conduct that violated the laws of war in the period from 1996 to 2001. Judge Allred ruled (see page 2 here) that if such conduct was not a war crime at the relevant time, then Congress is barred by the Ex post Facto Clause from designating such conduct as a war crime after the fact. Were these forms of "material support" to terrorist acts -- or, even more broadly,to an organization that commits terrorist acts (Specification 2) -- a violation of the laws of war between 1996 and 2001? A very interesting and important question. See pages 3-6 of Judge Allred's opinion, in which he holds that even though there is no recognition of such a war crime in any international instruments, or U.S. field manuals, and even though the Congressional Research Service found no historical support for it, there is some evidence of similar "support" conduct being tried by military tribunals in the Civil War, and thus it was within Congress's broad authority under the Law of Nations Clause to determine that such conduct was a war crime when Hamdan acted. Whether that holding is correct will be a major issue on appeal.

Some commentators believe that the government's case that "material support" was a war crime is baloney.

Spot wrote before that we'll see Salim Hamdan's name in a US Supreme Court caption again.

Technorati Tags: Salim Hamdan,war crimes,material support,military commission,Guantanamo Bay

Two ring Drinking Liberally!

Tonight's DL will be even better than advertised earlier, boys and girls. As Spot told you a couple of days ago, at least some of us will head over to the Ritz Theater, virtually next door, to see Catfight, the new Michele Bachmann bioplay.

And, if that's not enough, the Huffington Post house band, Max and the Marginalized, will play a set beginning around eight.

This is an evening that will be recounted around the campfires long after the oil is gone, boy and girls.

Remember, Drinking Liberally meets Thursday nights, six to nine or so, at the 331 Club in northeast Minneapolis.

UPDATE: By popular demand - or by some demand, anyway - Spot may also read the first installment or two of his Michele Bachmann epic tonight.

Technorati Tags: Drinking Liberally,Catfight!,Michele Bachmann,Max and the Marginalized,Huffington Post,331 Club

Once trained, Janet does okay

John McCain has a recent commercial mocking Barack Obama as something of a pop culture messiah. McCain's campaign's has endlessly repeated the frame. It's pure Karl Rove: attacking Obama's strength, and frankly, the campaign doesn't have much else to say about Obama.

Sure, Obama knows how to use email, but McCain has, well, lots of people for that kind of stuff!

It's kind of sad, really.

However, Spot is glad to report that after several days of steady indoctrination, Janet, the Spice Girl over at SCSU Scholars, is ready to add her two cents:

The fawning mainstream media has just published another article about their messiah, The One and Only Obama. The CBS News "O-Force One" headline about Obama's corporate jet shows the continuing presumptuous arrogance of Obama's presidential campaign.

The embroidery on The Ego-bama's plush leather seat has "Obama '08" on the top line, "President" on the next. This removes any doubt that Obama has a breathtakingly oblivious sense of self importance.

She apparently even got up early to post it!

Technorati Tags: SCSU Scholars,Barack Obama,John McCain,Karl Rove

Please pray for the children

What children Spotty?

The Little Scholars.

You mean the King and Morticia Banaian's kids?

The same, grasshopper.

Why?

They clearly need it. Imagine a dinner conversation in the Banaian household:

The Perfesser leads off with a lecture on the difference between wants and needs. "Yes, Littlest, I know you said you needed a new sweatshirt. But you need to drink eight glasses of water a day; you don't need a sweatshirt, you want one."

"But Dad, I mean Professor Dad, it gets chilly at night and I have nothing to wear over my school uniform when I police the lawn before bed."

"Of course you do, Littlest. Have you lost the blanket from your bed? Do you not have the warm polyester parka we bought for you several years ago? If healthcare for poor children is not a need, a sweatshirt certainly isn't."

Then Morticia segues into the new art at the St. Cloud Public Library saying, "Yes, we mustn't fritter money away! Think of the money spent on art at the library in town. Any expenditure on art must be intended to glorify God, a party, preferably the Republican Party, or a monarch, like our own King George. It must be intended to promote obedience in the people. That thing looks like a bunch of vines."

The Little Scholars heave a sigh of resignation and return to their turnip porridge.

Technorati Tags: public art,SCSU Scholars,needs and wants

Drinking Liberally, the Theater Edition

You do remember the Fringe Festival people who came to Drinking Liberally recently, don't you, boys and girls? And that Spot put up a post about a guide to the festival?

Well, the Fringe Festival is practically invading Drinking Liberally! One of the venues for the festival is the Ritz Theater, just a few doors up from the 331 Club in northeast Minneapolis where DL meets. And you'll never guess what plays there on Thursday, August 7th, the night of the next Drinking Liberally gathering:

That's right; it's a play whose muse is one of our favorite topics, Michele Bachmann. OMG!

The show starts at seven, and you can buy tickets thirty minutes in advance of the curtain. Some of you boys and girls probably even have passes that the Fringe folks gave us at DL; they can be exchanged for a ticket.

Come to DL, follow Spot to the Ritz, and return to the 331 Club after the performance. Maybe we can persuade some cast members to come, too!

It promises to be a memorable evening. Don't miss it!

Technorati Tags: Drinking Liberally,Cat Fight,Michele Bachmann,Fringe Festival,331 Club

An open letter to those who keep emailing me to participate in RNC spruce up efforts

Thank you for your email yesterday about efforts to add decorations and plantings to our neighborhood on August 16. I understand that this effort is being undertaken together with Spruce Up MSP, a group that wants to tidy up our city to welcome the arrival of the Republican National Committee's convention in September. I am grateful for your efforts to make our neighborhood a better, more attractive place. It is a goal I share.

I must, however, respectfully decline your invitation to participate to welcome our RNC guests. Planting flowers in front of or painting houses that are vacant as a result of the mortgage crisis that enriched unscrupulous mortgage lenders (and GOP donors) at the hands of homeowners and the cities where they live is an irony I cannot stomach. Pretending that my neighbors are affluent enough to afford landscaping and patriotic bunting when they struggle economically is a charade I can't be part of. Disguising my disdain for an administration that has treated our fundamental liberties as expendable by hanging an American flag on my porch mocks what America really stands for.

I understand that hospitality to one's guests is a tradition throughout the world, and that it represents the best in all of us. But I am not willing to let mere politeness trump decency and commitment to the ideals we share as a nation.

If you plan an event this fall after the convention, I will gladly dig up every plant in my beloved garden and place them all over the neighborhood at locations of your choosing. I will help however I can in efforts to improve our corner in the city we love.

But I cannot do it to to just make a political party that has so disregarded the ideals of our country feel welcome.