Bhutto Dead...

I can't say I know more than just the simplest facts about Bhutto but the news [Edit]that she has been assassinated is not good. Not at all. [Graphic photos, here. Be forewarned.]

The Islamists will see this as a victory. Murdering a candidate for office...a woman...is a victory for them. Their brutality has no bounds. As things appear to be working in Iraq, we need to keep in mind just who our enemy is.

Seen first at Captain Ed's place (along with his insightful analysis here), but it'll be discussed just about everywhere else on the net too.

Edit: My gold-bug internet acquaintance is saying that this will be the trigger for another World War in the same way that the assignation of Archduke Ferdinand was the trigger for WWI.

"Hussein"...

...is a Muslim name.

Like it or not, Obama's middle name is relevant to a candidate for office in today's America.

Clinton-Kerrey?

This article makes the interesting case that should Hillary get the D nomination, that one of her short-list picks for VP is none other than Bob Kerrey. He, the former Senator from Nebraska, and lately President of NYC's New School, offers some "backbone" credibility to a Clinton ticket via his status as a former Seal who wears the Medal of Honor.

I dunno, though. The article brushes by Kerrey's famous quote that [referring to Bill Clinton] "Clinton is an unusually good liar. Unusually good". To me, this seems to be an awfully wide gulf to bridge, and it only serves to remind the general election voter of the many Clinton scandals, and in particular, remind that voter of Hillary's connection to a number of them.

Merry Christmas...

Even if you won't vote for the man, try watching this without having a tear well up...

Merry Christmas, General Petraeus...

I have noticed in my travels that many, many more people are wishing others "Merry Christmas" as opposed to "Happy Holidays". Walmart got off on the wrong foot last year and had to reverse course to allow their employees to use the "Merry Christmas" phrase. Target was in trouble two years ago on this same point (although this appears to have been at least as much urban legend as anything). But this year, I'm hearing "Merry Christmas" a lot. In addition, I am hearing religious, in addition to secular holiday music in the public spaces. The public is cheerful again.

I had to wonder: Why this change now?

My answer? General Petraeus and the success of the Surge. The War doesn't look like it is failing like it did last year. Indeed, the opposite is true: It looks as though we're winning.

I think it is a mistake to make a political connection to absolutely every topic that we might think of (and far too many people make this mistake, IMO). With that said, I think this Christmas Cheer I see, and the connection I see to the success of General Petraeus' Surge, bodes ill for the Democrats.

They've staked their claim to opposing everything President Bush has tried, and cannot in any way attach themselves to the success of the War.

This morning on Fox News Sunday, Fred Barnes predicted that Barak Obama would win the Presidency. I take his point that the R's have not coalesced around either a candidate or a theme, but I must disagree with Barnes. The D's, and Obama, have done nothing but criticize the effort in what I believe is our most pressing issue...winning the GWOT. The Surge is working, we don't hear about the casualties in Iraq in the daily news, and the public is cheerful. This ought to worry the Democrats.

Energy Independence...

[No. Not some post on OPEC or CAFE or Kyoto or any other damned pointy-headed thing.]

So we've got this piece of land in eastern Arizona that we hope to retire to. She'd like a cute cabin. I, of course, envision something more resembling a fortress. Something with firing ports and either concertina wire or claymores.

Now, courtesy of Ace, I finally found the solution to my power problems.

Off the grid! I'll finally get to use that degree in Physics!

The Mortgage Mess...

I haven't written yet on what to do about the Mortgage Mess. I am fully convinced, however, that what President Bush is proposing will, if anything, only delay and exasperate the problem.

This opinion piece in today's New York Sun offers what I believe--that allowing the mortgage borrowers and lenders to fail--is the best course. The Free Market will correct these problems with a far better solution than the .gov can ever dream up.

The Politics of Personal Destruction, Case #2087...

Even I, from my distant perch, can see this article as being germinated in the bowels of the campaign of She-Who-Must-Never-Be-Elected-Again.

As seen in Arizona in July...

Shamelessly stolen from Gerard.

As if we needed more evidence...

Nancy Pelosi: Idiot [I know. I know. That's redundant.]

"...The grassroots are justifiably disappointed and I am too that we could not do something to end this war," Pelosi said at a press conference today. "The assumption that I made that the Republicans would soon see the light and listen to their constituents was not an accurate one."

She continued: "They like this war. They want this war to continue. We thought that they shared the view of so many people in our country that we need a new direction in Iraq. To affect that we need redeployment of our troops with a goal of a year to do that. But the Republicans have made it very clear that this is just not George Bush's war, this is the war of the Republicans in Congress...."

h/t HotAir, via Blackfive.

Thank you...

I've been standing on a "Thank You" post for some time now...been distracted with the remodel. We've got the son of some friends who is in Iraq today, and he's in my mind constantly. I run across soldiers frequently in my travels, and when it's appropriate I always find a way to thank them.

Anyway, via Ace, here's a nice way of unobtrusively thanking the next soldier you see...

They just don't get it...

I'm not much of a football fan, and especially not much of a pro football fan. Living here in the Phoenix area, it's hard--real hard--to like football.

That said, I certainly haven't followed Atlanta Falcons football. So when Falcon players send public messages of support to Michael Vick, one wonders just how grown men can not understand the gravity of Vick's crime.

The coach complicated the drama by resigning to go coach college ball. Lots of intrigue in the Atlanta Journal Constitution (registration required) on the coach's resignation, but not one word connecting the players support for Vick and Petrino's resignation.

I'm not defending Petrino at all. As I said, I don't follow football at all. Perhaps he was wrong in the way he handled the team and especially in the way he left. But the Falcon players were totally wrong in supporting Vick during their game.

Obama...

Vote for me, and everyone gets some of that free gubmint cheese.

Mission Accomplished...

Bitches.

Eureka!!

Computer is fixed! I'll be soon back to blogging!