Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Watcher's Council Nominations 7/25/07




Every week, the Watcher's Council members nominate two posts each, one from the Council members and one from outside for consideration by the whole Council. The complete list of this week's Council nominations can be found at the site of our fearless leader, Watcher of Weasels


Do take the time and check out the non-Council links..they are always rewarding.


Here's this week's Council lineup:

1.Palestinian Prisoner's Release: Rattlesnake Logic This week,in yet another attempt to `bolster' our preferred terrorists, Mahmoud Abbas and Fatah, the US pushed Israel into releasing 256 prisoners held in Israeli custody as some kind of good faith gesture. And to be fair, given the innate weakness of the Olmert government, the Bush Administration didn't have to squeeze very hard.

This has been celebrated by the dinosaur media as a move towards peace in the Arab-Israeli conflict. In fact, it is anything but. Abbas referred to these prisoners as `heroes of freedom' and vows never to rest until the rest of the ones still in Israeli custody are released. When you consider whom these prisoners actually are, what they've done and how those deeds are being celebrated by the Palestinians, you get a much clearer idea of the Palestinians' agenda.

And peace isn't part of it.


2. Done With Mirrors;Snark vs Smart 2 Callimachus continues to dissect the nature of `snark' this time using and ad hominum attack on ace correspondent Michael J. Totten's reports from Iraq as a vehicle.

3. Soccer Dad: Prisoners to Prisoner releases Soccer Dad and I have been on somewhat similar wavelengths lately. He likewise looks at the Palestinian prisoner release, and has a great piece showing the original agreements between Israel and the Palestinians, which Arafat (and his deputy in Fatah, Mahmoud Abbas) cavalierly discarded like so much used toilet tissue.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Until we learn...

4. The Glittering Eye :Discussing What next in Iraq This week, The Glittering Eye's Dave Schuler continues his series on Iraq, and asks that we consider our strategy with an eye ( sorry!) towards our country's best interests rather than partisan politics and gamesmanship.

Unfortunately, as Dave himself has pointed out on more than one occasion, politics is trumping common sense these days. The Democrats have their eye on `08, and success in Iraq in any form is not part of the equation.

5. Bookworm Room: False Posturing in Congress Ms. Bookworm's incisive piece this week focuses on the Democrats and the circus they're running regarding the Iraq War. As she correctly points out, they are not looking at any long term consequences whatsoever..or really anything else besides their own short term political advantage.

I'll go one step further, and say that the reason for the recent `surge' in anti-war activity has a great deal to do with how successful General Petraeus has been on the ground in Iraq.


6. Rhymes With Right: The Limits of Student Speech and School Authority (UPDATED) Greg writes about a lawsuit in Connecticut which a sixteen year old student has filed after she was disciplined for writing a blog entry on her personal computer attacking the school administrators.

7.Colossus of Rhodey: Boy, Was Thomas Right The `Thomas' Hube refers to is Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and the statement was `beware of elites bearing racial theories'.

Hube's well written piece focuses on school integration policies in Britain under its New Labour overlords....in which multiculturalism is the goal and even public and private schools with exemplary academic records will be designated as `failing' (and thus subject to government takeover) if they don't meet goals for `racial and religious mixing.'

The real motivation is revealed by a couple of the guidelines:

"Schools in rural or suburban areas will be urged to twin with multi-ethnic schools, for example by staging joint plays or sporting events.

Faith schools should link up with different denominations
while schools with no religious affiliation should arrange trips to churches, mosques and synagogues."


In other words, much of this is about Islam...and will of course go only one way. Could you picture the riots that would occur over the government taking over a Muslim madrassah because it wouldn't send its children to synagoges and churches or expose them to non-Muslim religious doctrine?

8. Cheat Seeking Missiles: Russia vs, the US: No Contest Laer has a great story here about an Indian entrepreneur who tried to get his business off the ground in Russia, and then came to the US....and the contrats in what he found in each country.

9. Max Boot to Kissinger -- “Iraq Isn't Vietnam, Henry” at ‘Okie’ on the Lam This week, Okie uses Max Boot's rejoinder to Henry Kissinger as a launch pad to discuss the very real differences between Iraq and Vietnam.

Actually, I do see certain similarities in the way a Democrat congress is attempting to legislate defeat, without regard for the casualties,the damage to our military, th effect on our friends and our enemies or anything besides the next election.

And of course, one major difference...this time, the enemy will follow us home.


10. Right Wing Nuthouse: Little noted but long remembered Rick's piece commemorates the 38th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the moon on July 20th,1969.

11.The Education Wonks: Virginia's Clown Princes: Governor Tim Kaine & Co. EdWonk takes on the practice of using exorbitant traffic fines as a money getter, aided and abetted by the current governor of Virginia.

12. Big Lizards: Dubai Ports Weird Apparently some people, in retrospect are attempting to justify the attempt to turn management of our ports over to a company wholly owned and controlled by the UAE, a nation with considerable ties to terrorism. The new line is that there was a secret deal between President Bush and the UAE, to the effect that if we bribed Dubai Ports World with this lucrative contract, they would allow us to embed CIA agents in all the other ports they managed.

Just one leetle thing...if DPW knew where and who these agents were, why would anyone imagine that they would be allowed to see anything of major importance? Why would anyone imagine that they simply wouldn't be smokescreened and bypassed?

And if the UAE is such a great ally of the US in the War against Jihad, as the president said, why was it necessary to bribe them? Don't real allies help each other in this fashion anyway?

Sorry. No sale.

That's this week's lineup..enjoy

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