Author: VD

Not too impressive for the erstwhile leader of the free world. It’s too bad that both major parties are working hard to push Americans further down the list of countries that are economically free, especially considering that only 16 were considered “free” by the Heritage Foundation. I think one could even make a strong case for the USA being listed as a second-tier “mostly free” economy.

Hong Kong (1st)

Singapore (2nd)

New Zealand (3rd)

Luxembourg (4th)

Ireland (5th)

Estonia (6th)

United Kingdom (7th)

Denmark (8th)

Switzerland (9th)

United States (10th)

TBOGG tries, unsuccessfully, to get on Instapundit for the misuse of military terminology, arguing that Wesley Clark wasn’t “fired by Bill Clinton”, he was only rotated out of his assignment. This is what happens when you try to substitute a dictionary for actual knowledge. High-ranking officers are seldom openly relieved, but a rotation in the middle of an assignment is an unmistakable slap in the face and an obvious declaration of incompetence in this context. That is why the term firing is absolutely appropriate, and it was something for which Bill Clinton, as Commander-in-Chief was ultimately responsible. But the real issue isn’t whether Clinton liked Clark or not, but if Clark is an incompetent and arrogant buffoon masquerading as a victorious general. Anyone who has read what passed for his notion of a ground invasion already knows the truth.

As DG points out: “Clark’s plan to invade Kosovo through Albania, thankfully killed by the Joint Chiefs, was stunning in its lack of basic military judgment. It called for 200,000 troops to invade through Albania over a single road which was only partly paved and had few bridges able to support our tanks and Bradleys. One defense expert said the plan called to mind Gallipoli.” One road through difficult terrain… hmmm, I was thinking more of Teutoburger Wald.

In fact, the very column upon which TBOGG relies second-hand, states: Gen. Hugh Shelton, then the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, is another matter. Shelton has recently and famously said, in a public forum, that Clark’s firing “had to do with integrity and character issues,” adding that, for that reason, “Wes won’t get my vote.” Shelton has since refused to elaborate. If there’s a story behind his claim, he should tell it, in the interests of the country. If there isn’t, he should apologize.

So, if you refer to something that no one in the know contradicts, it doesn’t exist if you don’t spell it out for the ignorant? How ridiculous! The case against Clark may be unmade for the military know-nothings in the media, but there are many people for whom Clark’s buffoonery has long been an open secret. The dirty laundry of the services is very seldom aired, especially not at the top levels, and it won’t be aired simply because Fred Kaplan is upset that he isn’t in on it. Nor, I strongly suspect, is General Shelton the only member of that elite group of five generals who won’t be supporting Wesley Clark in any way shape or form, because they know him much better than his foolish, clueless supporters.

UPDATE: Here’s the Rev. Paul Mojzes on the Kosovo air war: What the bombing did was exactly the opposite of what its intentions were. It was supposed to stop the expulsion of Albanians from Kosovo but it resulted in a greater expulsion. This turned out to be a miserable failure. The expulsion of Albanians from Kosovo is vastly greater after the attack by NATO than before, some due to bombing and some due to the activities of the Serb military and paramilitary units…. Before the bombing, there was no mass expulsion. It was in trickles. Now, 600,000 people have been expelled.

Furthermore, Milosevic wasn’t captured by US or NATO forces. He was arrested by Yugoslavian police on domestic charges of corruption almost two years after the war had ended. Only after intense lobbying by the UN and others was he turned over to the War Crimes Tribunal at the Hague. Hardly a military success.

Howard Dean is awesome. I’m totally supporting him for the Democratic nomination now. He’s so insane that I may write him in for president even if he doesn’t get the nomination. And to think they used to worry about Ronald Reagan, the author of hundreds of sober, intelligent essays, having his finger on the button.

The only downside is that the White Buffalo is going to be calling me, yelling: “Take back the White House! Hyeeeaaahh!” and then hanging up the phone for the next month. It’s Wazzup all over again.

I was so sure that it was Clark who was far and away the craziest of the bunch. I’m still leaning towards him, but that was a fine effort by Mr. Dean. A demmed fine effort.

The efforts of some colleges to shut down these classic demonstrations of free speech have failed miserably. For example, at William and Mary College, administrators recently claimed that students conducting such a sale were “violating campus policy.” However, when later asked by the student protestors to cite the specific policies, the administration claimed that, “Referring to the Student Handbook at this point in time is counterproductive.”

A pilot writes: Great commentary this week. The more I listen to Wes Clark, the more I dislike him and see his lack of integrity. I am a [plane] pilot in the Air Force and I just recently flew with [an officer] who cares very little about Wes Clark. This [officer] said that Gen Clark has 3 personal traits that, when combined, make a very “dangerous” personality. They are 1) unbridled ambition, 2) extreme intellect/intelligence, and 3) incredible narcissism. It was absolutely amazing to listen to this senior [officer] talk to us about what drove then Gen Clark to make some of the decisions he made during Op. Allied Force. It gave me more insight to how Gen Clark thinks which is why I mentioned earlier about disliking him the more I listen to him. That is the main reason I enjoyed your latest commentary because it touched on the very subject I and the [officer] were talking about as we flew into Iraq and Afghanistan.

I’ve heard this from Marines, I’ve heard this from the Army, the Navy and the Air Force. Interesting, isn’t it, that those who know Wesley best are so opposed to him. But then, on the other hand, Madonna and Michael Moore think he’s spiffy. That should tell you everything you need to know about his electability.

By the way, I don’t believe the Republican rumors that Clark is any kind of stalking horse for the Clintons. Not for a second. The man is far too vain and ambitious to willingly play the patsy, and he’s intelligent enough to see through their generally rather obvious machinations. Contrary to what people believe, neither Bill nor Hillary are especially intelligent – from what I understand, Clark is at least a level up on both of them. This would not be unusual. I happen to know that at least one member of Bill Clinton’s Joint Chiefs – not Wesley Clark – had an IQ that exceeded his 137 by almost 40 points.

I’m not surprised that Dean melted down, in multiple senses, last night. This isn’t based on any sophisticated political analysis, just given that America generally prefers candidates who are taller and better-looking, with better hair, you’d expect either Wesley Clark or John Edwards to be the eventual nominee.

The fact that Kerry won means little, since Iowa is a very poor predictor of the eventual Democratic nominee. He strikes me as being far too lugubrious for one thing, and boring for another, and for a third, senators tend to make for unsuccessful candidates. Edwards is also a senator, of course, but very few people know enough about him to realize that. According to NRO’s Corner, he speaks well, which is unsurprising considering that he’s a successful trial lawyer.

Clark makes a decent candidate when seen from afar, but he’s already committed enough mistakes to sink himself twice over. His abortion comment alone would be enough to sink him, and the fact that he’s loathed by everyone in the military from generals on down means that what should be his greatest strength is actually his greatest weakness. This doesn’t matter in the Democratic primaries, where the military vote is nonexistent, but will matter greatly in the fall.

I’m not that interested in politics as horse race. But it was fun to see the media’s pet, Doc Sausage, implode like that. The only thing that would have been better is if he’d actually burst out crying. Three whole weeks of people being mean! Live by the media, die by the media. I suppose they play nicer in Vermont. What a loser.

Westcott whines: Just thought your comments about Wesley Clark were ill advised. He does not have an abstract view of the world, he has had to keep the world together in order to prevent almost a million muslims from being slaughtered by Serbia. BTW My IQ is 141 and you are an idiot. Why? because I said so.

A. Wesley Clark doesn’t keep the world together, even if he believes so.

B. Wesley Clark certainly has an abstract view of the world, which is why he is a UN-worshipper. This is true of all UN-worshippers, except those starry-eyed few who would seriously argue that the UN has significant practical relevance today as opposed to theoretical potential in a globalist vision for the future.

C. Wesley Clark and his ill-advised bombing campaign did little damage to the Serbian army and significantly worsened the ethnic cleansing that took place there.

D. You’ll have to do better than 141, wannabee.

“Stefanie Thomas, a senior women’s studies major, is performing the monologue “Reclaiming Cunt,” which depicts one woman’s passion for the word. Similar to vagina, “cunt” is not often used in daily conversation, but the women of The Vagina Monologues have embraced it. “Cunt is not a derogatory word, cunt,” Thomas said. “Cunt is a word that I have reclaimed to transform into something positive, and that is an important message. Somehow it got transformed into something negative and so this monologue is all about transforming something that could be perceived as negative and claiming it and turning it into a positive.”

Oh, dear luscious Vaginette, how I do love thee.

Though thou doth shameth my lame hand at parodee.

Try as I might, I am put to flight,

By the limitless depths of thy self-mockeree!

INTERCEPTED ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION – Excellent work, Brotherhood Idealizing Totally Curvacious Hos. For our next masterpiece, we’ll be convincing overeducated young women that having anonymous sex with strangers is a mark of self-confidence and feminist independence… oh, we already did that? Right, then that brings us to a project that is close to my heart, convincing the poor dears to swallow the notion that performing a daily blow job will prevent breast cancer. And remember, no taxation on breast augmentation!

Fred brilliantly expounds: The US government consists of five branches which are, in rough order of importance, the Supreme Court, the media, the presidency, the bureaucracy, and Congress. The function of the Supreme Court, which is both unanswerable and unaccountable, is to impose things that the congress fears to touch. That is, it establishes programs desired by the ruling political class which could not possibly be democratically enacted. While formally a judicial organ, the Court is in reality our Ministry of Culture and Morals. It determines policy regarding racial integration, abortion, pornography, immigration, the practice of religion, which groups receive special privilege, and what forms of speech shall be punished.

Interesting to see the depth of insight of a man who is, as near as I can tell, not a Christian, but nevertheless has great respect for the primary fount of Western values. Most Christians, let alone secular humanists, would vociferously argue that there’s no ongoing abolition of Christianity in America. They’d also be completely wrong.



…the two-party system prevents expression of any ideas the two parties agree to suppress. How much open discussion do you hear during presidential elections of, for example, race, immigration, abortion, gun control, and the continuing abolition of Christianity? These are the issues most important to most people, yet are quashed.

Unlike most, Fred puts his money where his mouth is. He doesn’t like the direction America is going, so he left. The truth is that America is not the most free country in the world, among other things, the Heritage Foundation puts it tenth in economic freedom. I’d put it even lower in comparison with some of the countries of New Europe who have no taste for our creeping socialism, so I imagine that our rank will be dropping in the next decade.

Susan comments (tongue-in-cheek, I do hope): To borrow a pharse- What’s frightening, to me, is the notion of intelligent people who are able to focus because they so slaver after power over others. That is why I think that anyone who is willing to put themselves in the position to alliance others by espousing their superior thoughts should be at least considered as suffering from perhaps being somewhat psychologically narcissistic.

“Pharse” may indeed describe this blog from time to time, but I do excuse typos here. I do not, however, excuse the confusion of ‘alliance” and “influence”. As for psychological narcissism, come on, Susan, it’s a blog! It’s psychologically narcissistic by definition! How on earth would you explain the popularity of the phenomenon otherwise?

As for power over others, I don’t slaver after it. Quite the opposite. I try to avoid getting saddled with it as best I can.