musing minds

Two claim fatherhood for Anna Nicole’s baby girl. Of course they do. They want control (or some control) over the millions that Anna may receive from J. Howard Marshall II’s estate…

The Dow reached a closing high of 11,727.34. The intraday high was 11,758.95.

The economy is doing quite well, thank you very much Mr. Bush for those tax cuts!

Support Dunkin Donuts and Applebees. They check to make sure their employees are legal. We had Applebees’ Carside To Go just last Thursday.

The woman who carried me inside, then carried me outside and still occasionally figuratively picks me up and carries me!

These pictures were taken less than 30 days before I was born…

Happy Birthday Lady Mine!

We’re a month and change away from the mid-term elections. As far as I can tell the Dems (with a few exceptions) are OPPOSED TO:

Bush,
NSA,
Coercive interrogation techniques against captured terrorists,
Bush,
Staying the course in Iraq,
Bush, and
Bush.

The Dems are IN FAVOUR OF:
………………………………well, not Bush.

Right now the Dems are a reactionary, ideological political movement. They are not, by any reasonable measure, a political party with a positive message (platform) detailing how they would direct the management of the country.

The Dems are gambling that this mid-term will be about what people don’t want, rather than what people want. They are wrong, and as a result, will not make any material gains in either the House or Senate.

It’s a shame too. A healthy functioning democracy requires a legitimate government in waiting.

It’s time for the Dems to get in the game, rather than shouting insults from the sidelines. The country needs a legitimate healthy democratic debate.

I forgot last year, well I missed it by a day.

Two years, 128,046 + visitors.

Cool beans!

Thanks to everyone!

Thanks to Chris at A Large Regular (owner of blogshares in this blog), Michelle Malkin, Rusty Shackleford at The Jawa Report, Ideazione (The Right Nation), The Anchoress, Jeanette and Newton at Oh How I Love Jesus and the rest at Hang Right Politics, Betsy at Betsy’s Page, Lorie at LorieByrd and Wizbang! and Wizbang Politics, Matt Margolis at Blogs for Bush, Lady Jane at A Lady’s Ruminations, Laura Lee at The Wide Awake Cafe, Hugh Hewitt, LaShawn Barber, Mover Mike, and all the others who have linked to us.

The media’s dishonest approach to the NIE continues unabated. Numerous examples abound, but Isikoff offers us an unparalleled display of projection and hypocrisy.

The by-line: The National Intelligence Estimate doesn’t say what Bush says it does.

As a starting point, the premise of the story is misleading as I don’t believe Bush summarized what the NIE said, but rather he simply released it for people to judge for themselves. Paradoxically, this is something most media outlets have refused to do. Isikoff, like the rest, prefers to carefully control what we should know, by summing up the entire report in a single paragraph containing a handful of carefully selected quotes. Here’s how he summarizes what he calls “the actual wording” of the NIE:

The NIE, which is supposed to reflect the consensus judgment of the U.S. intelligence community, states that the global jihadist movement “is spreading and adapting to counter-terrorism efforts”; that the number of jihadists are “increasing in both number and geographic dispersion,” and that the war in Iraq had become “the cause celebre” for jihadis around the world, “breeding a deep resentment of U.S involvement in the Muslim world and cultivating supporters for the global jihadist movement.”

There’s no mention in the article about the NIE citing the importance of bringing democracy to the middle east – the hallmark of Bush’s fight against terrorism. Further, there’s no mention of the NIE’s warnings about dangers of failing in Iraq. In fact, Isikoff suggests the NIE doesn’t say it:

None of this necessarily undercuts the president’s argument that a U.S. defeat in Iraq would embolden the worldwide jihadi movement

The NIE, as parsed by Isikoff, doesn’t necessarily undercut Bush’s position? In fact the NIE follows the president’s argument precisely:

“We assess that the Iraq jihad is shaping a new generation of terrorist leaders and operatives; perceived jihadist success there would inspire more fighters to continue the struggle elsewhere.”and

“If democratic reform efforts in Muslim majority nations progress over the next five years, political participation probably would drive a wedge between intransigent extremists and
groups willing to use the political process to achieve their local objectives.”

It gets worse. Take a look at this quote from the Bush administration which Isikoff cites as an example of how it conflicts with the NIE:

“Together with our coalition partners,” Bush said, “we’ve removed terrorist sanctuaries, disrupted their finances, killed and captured key operatives, broken up terrorist cells in American and other nations and stopped many attacks before they’re carried out. We’re on the offense against the terrorists on every battlefront.…”

Yet here is what the NIE says (in the fist paragraph no less), which Isikoff conveniently fails to mention:

“United States-led counterterrorism efforts have seriously damaged the leadership of al-Qa’ida and disrupted its operations”

Remarkably, the rest of the article is largely spent chastising the White House on how it “mischaracterizes intelligence-community assessments in politically useful ways.”

Kung Fu Baby

It feels like an Asian version of Funniest Videos from the soundtrack.

h/t Fox Online

And I’ve had it fresh at the Brewery at St. James Gate in Dublin! (h/t: Leslie’s Omnibus)

You Are Guinness

You know beer well, and you’ll only drink the best beers in the world. Watered down beers disgust you, as do the people who drink them. When you drink, you tend to become a bit of a know it all – especially about subjects you don’t know well. But your friends tolerate your drunken ways, because you introduce them to the best beers around.

A few quotes from the declassifed NIE the Dems won’t like to hear (or the agenda journalists – though I doubt they’ll report these in any meaningful way):

United States-led counterterrorism efforts have seriously damaged the leadership of al-Qa’ida and disrupted its operations;

(that’s the very first line of the report by the way)

Greater pluralism and more responsive political systems in Muslim majority nations would alleviate some of the grievances jihadists exploit.

Now who is it that has been talking so much about the importance of bringing democracy to the middle east…….hang on….it’ll come to me.

We assess that the Iraq jihad is shaping a new generation of terrorist leaders and operatives; perceived jihadist success there would inspire more fighters to continue the struggle elsewhere.

So, leaving Iraq before the job is done would be a ……. bad thing?

The jihadists greatest vulnerability is that their ultimate political solution an ultra-conservative interpretation of shari a-based governance spanning the Muslim world is unpopular with the vast majority of Muslims. Exposing the religious and political straitjacket that is implied by the jihadists propaganda would help to divide them from the audiences they seek to persuade.

So I guess denying or minimizing the existence of the threat, rather than “exposing” it, is also………..a bad thing?

Sorry for the sarcasm, but I couldn’t resist.

Welcome Wizbang! readers. Please have a look around. We have segment transcripts from Fox News today featuring one who says he didn’t read the NIE report but all the reports he’s read say…. and Terry McAuliffe stating “…when Chris asked the question, he asked it, as you know, as an accusation.” You have to read it and you still won’t believe it…