What If Bill Clinton had Proposed
ArchPundit
The same plan as Bush did for veteranss affairs.
Notice that both Chris Smith and Lane Evans agree on this issue.
2003
Bad Bush Day
Barbara Bodine, come on down.
Just go read it and explain the possible reason the Administration could be this dense.
Brass vs. Pol Appointees
Via Kos:
Suddenly, the government of the United States has discovered the virtues of international law. It may be waging an illegal war against a sovereign state; it may be seeking to destroy every treaty which impedes its attempts to run the world, but when five of its captured soldiers were paraded in front of the Iraqi television cameras on Sunday, Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, immediately complained that "it is against the Geneva convention to show photographs of prisoners of war in a manner that is humiliating for them".
Err…actually the brass pointed this out to the political appointees a while ago. They have a vested interest in keeping the Geneva Convention strong–apparently the political appointees don’t understand that issue.
I Will No Longer Make Fun of McCaffrey
Watching TV last night, Barry McCaffrey (failed drug warrior, but Gulf War Commander of the 24th Infrantry) was starting to raise some issues given the type of deployment. His views are well covered here.
This new warfare meme is cute and all, but I’d rather just have the most overwhelming force available. We are doing well, but I see no reason to not overcompensate.
Intelligent Talk Radio
From Berger
When a caller on Charles Jaco’s morning drive-time show praised radio ranter Michael Savage on Wednesday, Jaco snorted in derision and then proceeded to savage Savage’s qualifications as a pundit. What made the rip so interesting is the fact that both men’s shows are carried on the same station – KFTK-FM (97.1).
Gotta love Jaco. His show has been pretty good with the war.
Ahhh, Chris Lauzen, CPA
The Leader does a puff piece on Chris Lauzen (R-Batavia).
Lauzen’s name should never be mentioned in print without recapping his ridiculous effort to have his name officially changed to Chris Lauzen, CPA.
Steve Neal addressed it in March of 2001:
State Sen. Christopher J. Lauzen (R-Aurora) is going to court this month to have his name changed to "Christopher J. Lauzen, CPA."Lauzen, 48, the 1998 Republican nominee for state comptroller, is adding the three letters to his name because he’s still angry about an opponent’s radio commercial that claimed Lauzen wasn’t a licensed certified public accountant. What is strange about Lauzen’s name change is that he won the Republican primary over this opponent.
Political rival Harry Seigle’s ad suggested that Lauzen was overstating his credentials. Lauzen recently told the Associated Press that although he doesn’t have a license to handle audits, he has state certification as an accountant. Lauzen says that he is changing his name to clear up any confusion about his professional status.
But in asking the Kane County Circuit Court’s permission to change his name, Lauzen is calling attention to an issue that was a nonstarter and making himself look silly. If becoming a household word is his goal, he could do worse than changing his name to "Christopher J. Lauzen, goofball."
It’s not all that unusual for politicians to legally adopt a more exciting ballot name than the one they were born with. Just as movie stars take on stage names that are designed to capture the public’s imagination, political hopefuls also play the name game.
Usually the candidates seeking this kind of attention are long shots. Mike the Mover, who ran for mayor of Seattle in 1997, legally acquired this moniker to promote his campaign and his moving business. The voters sent him packing.
The director of Nebraska’s Turtle Conservation Project, Angelika Byorth, legally changed her name last year to "Turtle Lady" and then ran for the state legislature.
Before his 1992 race for the U.S. House from the Northwest Side’s 5th District, businessman Elias R. Zenkich changed his middle name to "Non-Incumbent." If he had been elected, Zenkich would have presumably dropped his self-styled nickname. The voters let him keep it.
Former Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun (D-Ill.) was less than pleased when Lauryn Valentine obtained court approval to change her name to Carol Moseley-Braun. When the copycat then attempted to run for the City Council from the 37th Ward, the court withdrew its permission and gave the senator back her name.
Arthur L. Janura Jr. set himself apart from other judicial hopefuls by misrepresenting his name for political advantage. When he ran for the Circuit Court in 1990, it was as a Democrat and under his full name. After losing, Janura learned that female candidates tended to get more votes than men in judicial elections. Four years later, he made another run for the court, this time as a Republican, with the ballot name of "A. Laurin Janura." I’m surprised he didn’t buy radio ads with "I Enjoy Being a Girl" as his theme song. Janura’s shameless misrepresentation didn’t work. The former Betty Jean Perske had better luck in changing her name to Lauren Bacall.
Janura, who later got appointed as an associate judge, has reverted to his first ballot name.
What is unusual about Lauzen’s name change is that he’s had a fairly successful political career. He is one for one in contested statewide primaries and, though he did poorly in the general election, might try again. But in adding "CPA" to his name, he’s acting like a goofball.
Lauzen adds new meaning to the phrase, petty twit.
Strangelove Moments: Den Beste Channels Huntington
In the ongoing effort to spew ignorance without actually reading much about the topic, Den Beste has called for a war to destabilize the Middle East. One then gets lost in his rantings about Islam and Arab culture which is both the same and different depending on which sentence of which one is trying to make sense.
Not surprisingly, Den Beste still can’t seem to figure out that a less loopy, but just as fascist of a tract, was written by Samuel Huntington. Of course, Den Beste has a lot on his mind with the possibility that France may be nuking us soon…
Cynicism? Yes. Shocked and Awed by the Administration
While one might question my quest to ever be cynical in light of my generally positive views on the war to date, let me assure you, the administrations little bullshit move to to take secret bids for the rebuilding of Iraq fully has my attention and has shocked and awed me in the level of gullibility they think the US public will tolerate. This is a campaign issue and war profiteering stinks to voters.
Errr…I think Our Troops Doing Quite Well
Some have suggested that our troops are meeting stronger resistance than expected. I’d suggest that anyone who thinks that this is
a) strong resistance is a bit loopy. In a few short days we have covered more ground than either side in the 8 year Iran-Iraq war.
b) an example of Generals underestimating the other side is wishing too hard. While all warplans have surprises, this is incredibly smoothly. War produces casualties and the casualties in this one are almost all on one side.
Daniel Drezner comes up with a good reason why we may be seeing different views:
"’If you’re the corporal in the lead vehicle that’s getting shot at, then you would call that stiff resistance. But if you’re the division commander and you’re moving 30, 50, 60 miles in one day, that’s no resistance,’ said Col Ben Hodges, commander of the 1st Brigade of the 101st Airborne at Camp Pennsylvania, Kuwait.
‘At the moment, the main thing that’s slowing the forces is the ability of the fuel trucks to keep up with them.’"