For the Herky-bird drivers out there...

h/t LTC Patrick.

The New Greatest Generation...

I'm in the middle of another discussion on that other forum where one of my opponents implies that our services are in need of willing volunteers.

Then, Glenn had this.

Heh.

"Greatest" is a fully inadequate adjective.

A light posting schedule...

Despite what I see as the increased polarization of the political world, and the increasingly divergent views on the War, I've cut back on my posting for the time-being. Not that I don't have views here--because I do--I simply have elected to do other things for these summer months.

I am in the middle of a moderately busy work schedule. It is lucrative for me to fly more right now, so I am doing so.

More importantly, this will probably be the last summer that I can enjoy with all three of the kids home, and I am thoroughly engaged in time with them. Our trip to Havasu Falls was an example of this, and we're off for a "car-camping" trip next week. Couple this with occassional evening swimming sessions, a trip or two to the range, and there aren't many free hours for me to sit here and write. SonofAzlib and Dau#1ofAzlib will both graduate next year, and Dau#2- is off for her freshman year next month. Dau#1 came home from France engaged to her beau. The family is busy!

With our nest rapidly emptying out, we find ourselves approaching the point of being ready to downsize the house...which brings into mind the projects necessary around here to get the most from the place. Also, an approaching wedding (date not set yet) means the same thing: Which remodeling projects can we do, and in what order?

So, I haven't forgotten you, my tens and tens of faithful readers. I shall return!

Can you Imagine...

No. Not John Lennon's insipid Imagine.



Gerard's version.

Fred Thompson...

He's real. And he's spectacular.



Grabbed from Cold Fury, who himself got it from Ace, who got it from Bumperstickerist, and so on...

"Why don't you have a glass of wine with us?"

A-freaking-mazing.

Group hug?

How about a group beating instead?

And I've got to think I'm with mojo in the #19 comment.

John Edwards...

The first paragraph...

The hair, up close, is peppered with tiny strands of blond. Chestnut brown and
so finely trimmed, mellifluous, smooth, and feathery, it could almost be a
weave, the Platonic ideal as imagined by the Hair Club for Men. Along with the
piercing blue eyes, slashing V-shaped smile, and a shimmering burgundy shirt
tucked into stonewashed Levi's resting low on the hips, the hair completes the
man: John Edwards, a populist Adonis, a golden god of a Southern Democrat.

I stand my ground: John Edwards is a lightweight of the first order.

h/t: Ace.

The Libby Commutation...

Last night, President Bush commuted the sentence for "Scooter" Libby. Of course, the Democrats are up in arms about the commutation, and the Progressives have it completely wrong with their headline: "ABOVE THE LAW: BUSH COMMUTES SCOOTER LIBBY'S PRISON SENTENCE". (Of course, Bush is not "above the law". He expressly has the right to commute sentences. Presidents do it all the time.)

This whole episode has been wrong. The Democrats and their screaming left wing began with the demand that someone--ANYONE--be punished for the crimes they believed took place in the Bush administration. They really wanted Rove's, or perhaps Cheney's head on their pike, and had to settle for Libby. So they invented the crime of "outing" a CIA officer (who never was covered by the law preventing such), then "lying" about the "outing". The Special Prosecutor knew early on that it was Richard Armitage who had spoken with Novak, but Fitzgerald continued with his investigation anyway searching for a neo-con to convict on something (Armitage is not a "neo-con", but rather a Powell protogee).

However, if I may, I think this commutation is right on a number of levels...

• As to whether this was the right thing to do: I think it was. I've said in the past that I think Libby was over-charged. He was essentially convicted of having a faulty memory on evidence provided by others who also had faulty memories. There was no underlying crime charged, and on this point, I noted the strange company I keep here. I long ago said that Martha Stewart should have never gone to prison. If a prosecutor (Special or not) can't charge or gain a conviction on a underlying crime, then lying about that crime shouldn't be chargable.
• Libby was also over-sentenced. From my distance, the judge appeared to throw the book at Libby because he didn't express any contrition at all.
• Allowing Libby to stay out of prison while his appeal progressed also seemed like a reasonable request. He wasn't going anywhere. Why throw him in the slammer?
• The commutation removes the most excessive part of Libby's sentence. It also allows his appeal to progress, and with some luck and good lawyering, Libby may find this whole thing erased completely. Of course, that won't get him back the money he's spent on his legal defense, or the job he has lost, but it will get him back his good name (as opposed to this guy--who apparently has given up on any defense of his "good name").

I think a pardon, at this point, would be too much special treatment for Libby. Allow the legal system to find justice, and if it still has him convicted, then Bush ought to consider a pardon.