The Hound Of Ulster

A couple quick links, as I try to keep my head above water.

Jules Crittenden has his weekly Good/Bad POST.

And the President has a sense of HUMOR.

Much too hasty.

From the “This is utterly shocking-not” category, THIS is no surprise to anyone.

The Rangers broke camp on Thursday and are ready to head back to Texas. Reliever Eric Gagne wasn’t with them, and he won’t pitch for them for another two weeks.

The Rangers have decided to put Gagne on the disabled list and give him more time to get ready for the season. Gagne, who has pitched in just 16 games over the past two seasons, has appeared in only three exhibition games this spring.

HERE’S another interesting baseball post, though I’m not sure how many of them are finally true. If you’ve got 83, you’re bound to be right some of the time.

And from the “Speaking the truth can get you in trouble” category, THIS probably won’t go smoothly.

“In my view, Christianity at its best is the foundation of reason and liberty,” said Brown, a judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. “The true American religious tradition, the one that disciplines power, subjugating it to reason, truth and, ultimately, an all-powerful God, is not a threat to liberty but its best defender.”

Brown said those who attack the religious right “essentially argue (that) the true American religion demands acceptance of, indeed submission to, a common political vision — their vision.”

Stanley Kurtz MAKES a great point about 300. He claims that the “multiculturalism” complaints of the lefties are largely a smoke-screen for the fact that the film is very hard on anti-war types. It’s not so much that they think it’s racist, or homophobic, or even historically inaccurate. It’s that it makes their Spartan equivalents look bad. Seems right to me.

Hugh Hewitt’s latest Townhall ARTICLE is fascinating.

We lost in 1976 the full and fair and absolutely free political debate that had been the legacy of the revolution. Bureaucrats arrived to replace candidates, editors and the public as judges of what could be said and by whom. The gag order entered then on every American has grown broader with each passing year as the inevitable distortions that follow a market restraint began to build and then spread. Now George Soros and his friends –who don’t mind hiring the lawyers and gaming the rules—are in the saddle, and the spontaneous speech that has long characterized American politics begins to erupt only to be tamped down by worries about registration, incorporation, reporting and safe harbors.

You two can change that, and with a very simple stroke of the pen. Simply declare that the First Amendment meant what it said, and if the public wants a different system for campaigns, the public will have to amend it.

If you do not join with Justices Kennedy, Scalia and Thomas now, the moment will pass. Once you embrace the Buckley fiction, you own the distortions –the tens of thousands of distortions—Buckley had bred. “You break it, you bought it,” is the old saying. You endorse contribution limits on some theory in 2007, it will be very difficult to walk away in the future. This is indeed a very unique moment. You two can change American politics for the better in an instant and without apology.

Clarity is a wonderful thing. Restore it to campaign finance, please. Send the incumbents on an equal footing to the people, and every candidate to their purses and their sponsors as equals. Return free speech to its place –first among equals in the rights guaranteed in the Bill named for Rights.

And for those of you who were wondering, I have no idea why my quotations are so small now. Something to do with the latest blog.com update.

I’m back to my old tricks again. The MSM’s willingness to criticize NancyJackHarry on the Iraq Strings bills was refreshing. But we seem to be returning to normal again.

Michael Goldfarb has the LATEST.

There’s something in McCaffrey’s report for everybody, but one would have to be profoundly pessimistic–inclined to view the whole Iraq project as an unsalvageable “fiasco”–to report that the bottom line of this story is that the U.S. military is in “strategic peril.” The bottom line is that progress is being made, our objectives are attainable, and we face serious challenges in the months and years ahead.

Red State’s dkilmer has MORE, and he’s a bit more pointed. (Quite a bit. Seems fair, though. That article really seems to butcher MCCaffrey’s memo.)

Amy Proctor WONDERS why the media won’t cover Staff Sargeant Andrew McCann. Rhetorically, of course.

Still, the MSM’s not a total loss. It does give Ol’ Fightin’ Joe a PLATFORM from time to time. (Yes, I recognized that it was USA Today’s blog. Ironic.)

No longer satisfied with using his present speeches and actions to undermine his presidential run, Senator McCain is trying to shoot himself in the foot with something that happened 6+ years ago.

HERE’S the story, in all its bizzare glory, as well as comments from HUGH and the CAPTAIN. (Captain Ed is less convinced. Obviously, he is far more willing to think charitably of McCain than am I.)

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was close to leaving the Republican Party in 2001, weeks before then-Sen. Jim Jeffords (Vt.) famously announced his decision to become an Independent, according to former Democratic lawmakers who say they were involved in the discussions.

In interviews with The Hill this month, former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and ex-Rep. Tom Downey (D-N.Y.) said there were nearly two months of talks with the maverick lawmaker following an approach by John Weaver, McCain’s chief political strategist.

Democrats had contacted Jeffords and then-Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.) in the early months of 2001 about switching parties, but in McCain’s case, they said, it was McCain’s top strategist who came to them.

Now, I know there’s a lot of unverified material in there. And I also know that my dislike for McCain and his political posturings almost certainly colors my perception of this particular story. But it sure doesn’t seem far from the usual way McCain does business. The man is a firm follower of only one party: The Party of John McCain.

If it is true, this part reflects particularly badly on the man.

Daschle noted that McCain at that time was frustrated with the Bush administration as a result of his loss to George W. Bush in the 2000 Republican primary.

He wanted to switch parties because he lost? How much stroking does that ego need, anyway? Why are our elected officials so very childish? We’re fighting a war right now; this sort of behavior is terrifying, even if it is over six years old.

I’ve avoided the “Jim Webb Gunn” story up until now, largely because it seemed like a non-story. Or rather: a story created by life in the fish-bowl that is the US Senate, and one that really shouldn’t be a story at all.

But THIS post from Captain Ed is of interest to me, because it seems to move past the “story” and delve into Webb’s character a bit. And that is most definitely important, even if the “story is not.

Given Jim Webb’s predilection for carrying weapons and the unlikelihood of Thompson’s desire to go postal on Capitol Hill, it’s reasonable to assume that Thompson did what he said — he carried his boss’ bags to drop them in the office, without knowing or remembering about the weapon. Why can’t Webb just admit that much? It doesn’t make Webb culpable in any way — as he made sure to point out, he has an alibi. It at least doesn’t make Thompson look like a liar within hours of making bail.

…

Meanwhile, Webb’s trusted aide, who inadvertently carried Webb’s security plan into the Russell building on Monday, had to make bail just after Webb made sure to give reporters his alibi and refused to state whether the gun was his. So much for loyalty.

Webb really seems like a loose cannon. And now he also seems like he’s a liar, and like a man that doesn’t seem to concern himself too much about the wellbeing of his employees.

(While we’re at Captain’s Quarters, HERE is a bonus story. Highly amusing. Except she’s one of my senators. That’s not quite so amusing.)

THIS is as close to a convincing account of why I should not be upset if James Loney goes to AAA as anything I’ve seen so far. (Not saying I’m convinced, of course. Just saying it’s as close as anyone’s come so far.)

This is all assuming that Loney wouldn’t do much if he were on the active roster. If situations arose where Loney could get three or four starts a week, then he should be here. James Loney is one of the best hitters in the Dodgers organization, but if the Dodgers are going to stick with their vets, then Loney shouldn’t be fiddling away his service time on the bench.

THIS seems totally deserved. It’s not something I would have done, of course. But it sure looks like McCain’s “peeps” were at fault on this one.

HERE is an incredibly silly 300 review. (HT: The TANK)

Film critic Curt Holman best sums up why a film like 300 is so dangerous in today’s political climate: “You can easily imagine 300 being used as the best military recruitment film ever, lacking only a coda like, ‘Did you know that Persia is now called Iran? Let’s invade Tehran and kick ass like Spartans!’ In the wrong hands, 300 could be a lethal weapon.”

As one of those who has actually seen the film - (a fact that I’m no longer at all sure can be said of Mr. Korn) - I am at a complete loss when I read these sorts of things. The film is so fantastical, and (more importantly) so clearly intended to be fantastical, I fail to see how anyone could think it was meant to have real-world significance.

Was it trying to say that fighting for one’s country is a heroic thing? Definitely. And it is.

Was it trying to portray the assault of Xerxes as bad for the West? Certainly. And it would have been a very bad thing for the West if he had succeeded.

Is it trying to convince America that we should attack Iran? Ludicrous.

Speaking of ludicrous, Pro Ecclesia LINKS to this absurd account of the Pope’s speech involving the “realness of Hell.”

A furious Pope Benedict unleashed a bitter attack during a sermon while on a visit to a parish church and said: “Hell exists and there is eternal punishment for those who sin and do not repent.”

Sounding “more of a parish priest than a Pope” the leader of the world’s one billion Roman Catholics added: “The problem today is society does not talk about Hell. It’s as if it did not exist, but it does.”

Pope Benedict unleashed his fury during a visit to the tiny parish church of St Felicity and the Martyr Children at Fidene on the outskirts of Rome, in his capacity as bishop of the Italian capital.

One churchgoer said: “The Holy Father was really having a go. It was a typical fire-and-brimstone sermon that you would have expected from a parish priest years ago.”

Death comes unexpectedly!!!

And I just love the combination of headline and content on THIS post.

Lastly, Byron York has a fine PIECE on the DOJ fiasco.

Some Democrats have pointed to the memo as a smoking gun. But there are problems with their theory. The first is that Sampson wrote his memo in response to an inquiry the day before from the White House, and his note was basically a resending of an e-mail he had sent the month before. More importantly, the evidence shows that Sampson urged that Lam be fired in notes written in March 2005, January 2006, and April 2006 — all before Lam informed Washington of her prosecution plans. The notion that Lam’s most recent investigation was the cause of her firing simply doesn’t have much support in the documents.

But the documents do reveal serious problems inside the Justice Department. The papers that have been made public show a Department that was sluggish, insular, and arrogant in its handling of the U.S. attorneys matter. Officials had no interest in hearing from critics, even those from the president’s own party, and they were not inclined to act until political pressure forced them to. All that is bad, and they deserve the criticism they get for it. But they didn’t fire Carol Lam to stop a criminal investigation.

I’m a huge Russell Crowe fan. (As an artist, of course. Personally, not so much.)

I think he has brought a tremendous amount to nuance and power to every role I’ve seen him take over the past several years. And that assessment includes Proof of Life, I might add.

I am also a huge Sherlock Holmes fan. Doyle’s finest creation, despite the stories’ numerous continuity problems. Holmes is a fascinating character study, and the details of the stories themselves are largely incidental to that fact.

So, I’m not sure whether THIS should make me excited or sick.

…Hollywood bosses intend the new movie to “focus more on Holmes’ physical attributes.”

A source tells British newspaper the Daily Express, “Unlike previous films this one is going to focus more on Holmes’ physical attributes, including his talent for bare-knuckle and sword fighting, which were both mentioned in the original books.

“Holmes’ physical attributes?” Yikes!

I think I’m going to go for “sickly excited.” Or perhaps “excitedly sick.”

There’s no way he can match up to Brett. It doesn’t matter how well he can act. Jeremy Brett was a more complete Sherlock Holmes than the one Doyle wrote - no small achievement.

Jan Crawford Greenburg has a fascinating PIECE on the DOJ “scandal.”

The firestorm over the fired U.S. attorneys was sparked last month when a top Justice Department official ignored guidance from the White House and rejected advice from senior administration lawyers over his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

More loose canons. This administration is being destroyed by them.

I know why the Pope has to say stuff like THIS, I just wish it were unnecessary. Fundamental doctrines like this shouldn’t need explaining. But they do, so I’m glad he did it.

HERE is the Starz Bunny Club version of Spiderman 1 & 2. (HT: ORTHOMETER. Yep, a priest brought this to my attention. I love it.)

And all you soccer fans that read the blog - (Hi, CC) - check THIS out.

There seem to be lots of positive signs in Iraq.

Captain Ed REPORTS that the enemy is starting to attack itself.

Potential hurdles still exist. The Sunni insurgents want to force the Iraqi government to recreate itself “from square one,” according to a Shi’ite member of Nouri al-Maliki’s party. The Shi’ites will resist that idea, and rightly so. The plans for the government came from an elected body of representatives, elected while the Sunnis boycotted the polls. Now they want a do-over, and it’s too late for that. However, they can participate in elections now and offer amendments to their constitution to address their needs. The Shi’ites will have some desire to be flexible in exchange for an end to the factional fighting in Baghdad and the west.

The split between AQI and the natives could bring about a national reconciliation, if properly managed. Nothing unifies a people like a common enemy — and AQI’s brutal nature has made them an almost universal foe in Iraq.

Michael Goldfarb PUBLISHES excerpts from Stuart Bowen Jr.’s testimony.

Stuart Bowen Jr, the special inspector general for Iraq Reconstruction, testified on Capitol Hill on Thursday. Bowen has been a harsh critic of the incompetence, disorganization, and waste that has characterized U.S. reconstruction efforts in Iraq, which he has documented in a series of scathing reports since his appointment twenty months ago.

Nonetheless, after having returned from his latest trip to Iraq last week, he now feels “cautious optimism . . . something that I had not returned from Iraq with . . . over the last twenty months.”

As he put it: “It’s been about twenty months since I have returned from Iraq with a sense of cautious optimism. I have that now.”

(Goldfarb also REPORTS on more MSM madness, but Jules Crittenden SEES improvement even there.)

Of course, then the Senate went and did THIS.

Republican attempts to scuttle the non-binding timeline failed on a vote of 50-48, largely along party lines. The roll call marked the Senate’s most forceful challenge to date of the administration’s handling of a war that has claimed the lives of more than 3,200 U.S. troops.

Three months after Democrats took power in Congress, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the moment was at hand to “send a message to President Bush that the time has come to find a new way forward in this intractable war.”

Great. With friends like these…(Yes, I’m looking at you, Chuck.)

THIS is a real shame.

Presidential spokesman Tony Snow’s surgery to remove a small growth showed that his cancer has returned, the White House said Tuesday.

…

[Perino] said Snow is resting comfortably after his surgery and has pledged to aggressively fight the disease with an as-yet-to-be-determined treatment course.

“He said he’s going to beat it again,” Perino said in an emotional morning briefing with White House reporters. “When I talked to him, he was in very good spirits.”

Prayers and best wishes for Mr. Snow. He’s beaten it once, and he can do it again.  His charm, poise and class will be greatly missed.