Patterico's Pontifications

6/1/2005

Bolton, Bulldog, Bow Wow Wow

Filed under: General,Snarkage — See Dubya @ 4:24 pm



In perhaps the most stunning endorsement yet of John Bolton’s fitness for office, 76 of his classmates from the Yale class of 1970 have signed a petition declaring him unfit for office.

The 76 signers include cartoonist Garry Trudeau, who lampooned Bolton in his “Doonesbury” strip in May. Others were fellow members of the Class of 1970 who participated in a 35th reunion over the Memorial Day weekend.

“We are embarrassed and ashamed that the Bush administration has nominated someone so manifestly unsuited to represent our country at the United Nations,” the Yale classmates wrote.

“As his classmates, we do not believe that Mr. Bolton has exhibited the values of civility, light and truth which our shared institution represents.”

Wow. A bunch of privileged bobo preppy-hippies don’t like the cut of Bolton’s jib? Including cutting-edge cartoonist Garry Trudeau? Say, wasn’t Senator John Kerry Yale ’70 too?

I would love to have heard these conversations held in clenched-chin New England accents over Bloody Marys and goat cheese at Martha’s Vineyard. “Topper, we simply can’t let that man ruin all the work we’ve started. I don’t think the man even believes in international law.”

Let us remember that a spokesman for North Korea once called Mr. Bolton “human scum”. With enemies like these, Bolton doesn’t need friends.

h/t to Best of the Web.

Because I Like Problems.

Filed under: Bear Flag League,Humor,Law — Angry Clam @ 4:09 pm



Xrlq’s new terms of use (no link!) specify a 75 word limit, along with hyperlink, for quotations. Therefore, I present to you the following:

If the Dems do not filibuster a single judicial candidate between now and January 20, 2009, or if the first filibuster is met with the same “nuclear” response the Republicans should have brought last week, Paul wins a bottle of Merlot, of a label of his choice, price not to exceed $20.00. Otherwise, I win a bottle of a type of my choice, subject to the same price constraints. Basically, I win either way. I’m open…

That quotation is 76 75 words long, and I didn’t include a link! HA!

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Deja-Vu, Pardon My French

Filed under: International,Snarkage — Dafydd @ 2:02 pm



Dominique de Villepin, appointed the new French prime minister by Crock Jacques Chirac, has said that his greatest hero is Napoleon Bonaparte. De Villepin even wrote a hagiographic account of Napoleon’s return from exile on Elba: Les Cent-Jours, ou, L’esprit de sacrifice.

Allons enfants de la Patrie
Le jour de gloire est arrivé!

I’m not a historian, but my vague recollection from reading lots of Rafael Sabatini is that Napoleon, the greatest general of the revolutionary government of France, was named first consul — prime minister — following a coup d’etat in 1799; he then seized absolute power following the complete economic collapse of the First Republic. Napoleon declared the First French Empire in 1804, with guess-who as the first emperor.

Now his accolyte agitates for the massive resocialization of France, which will, of course, lead to the complete economic collapse of the Fifth Republic.

Things that make you go hm….

If de Villepin takes to having Beethoven’s Third played whenever he arrives, it may be time to say “l’addition, s’il vous plait,” and grab the first Airbus out of Paris.

Conservative Grapevine

Filed under: Blogging Matters,General — Patterico @ 12:57 pm



John Hawkins has a new site aggregating good conservative posts of the day: Conservative Grapevine. Check it out.

Radio Appearance

Filed under: Blogging Matters — Patterico @ 9:34 am



I will be on Clint Taylor’s radio program tomorrow (Thursday) sometime between 5 and 6 p.m. Pacific, most likely beginning at 5:30 p.m. I plan to discuss the L.A. Dog Trainer in general, and specifically the paper’s curious year-long delay in reporting the possibility that Hillary Clinton’s brother was bribed with money derived from drug trafficking.

The show broadcasts in Northern California’s Bay Area on 90.1 FM. You can listen to it live on the Internet by going to the station’s web site, clicking on the big red heart, and clicking on the appropriate program. Clint can’t take phone calls, but you can submit questions in advance by e-mail. Send them to kzsushark@yahoo.com. (I reserve the right to refuse to answer any question submitted by Xrlq.)

Clint is a brilliant writer whose work I have highlighted on this site before. He is the guy who scooped all the major media in getting the story of the “Syrian Wayne Newton” whose band was on Annie Jacobsen’s “Terror in the Skies” flight. Most recently, Clint highlighted how the Wayback Machine appears to prove that George Galloway said something false under oath. (I’d tell you more about Clint, but then I’d have to kill you.)

I’m looking forward to it. Hope you tune in.

UPDATE: While I may not answer Xrlq’s questions, I will definitely want to answer questions referred by this site. One of the commenters even pegs Xrlq perfectly:

Seems like a right-wing blogger who uses a lot of strong language and rubs even some of his fellow right-wingers the wrong way.

Sounds like they’ve got your number, X.

UPDATE x2: After a rough start where I got bogged down explaining the intricacies of blog traffic, it seemed to go okay. Not great, necessarily . . . but okay. Thanks again to Clint Taylor for the opportunity.

A long-awaited essay

Filed under: General — See Dubya @ 3:07 am



Usually I’m supposed to finish reading something before I recommend it to you, gentle readers. But it’s late and I’m falling asleep and there’s no way I can do justice to the new piece by Lee Harris in Policy Review, a dense-looking article called “The Future of Tradition”. So I’m going to put it off till the weekend and report back to you then. You guys who are lazy layabouts with more time than callouses on your hands, go ahead and start commenting on the piece here if you like.

Oh. Who is this Lee Harris, you may ask, and why ought I to care? (more…)

The Wishing Ring, part 1

Filed under: Blogging Matters,Books,Education,Media Bias — Dafydd @ 12:34 am



Here are three upcoming inventions that you probably haven’t thought much about, but which will revolutionize the world. I will divide this post into three parts, to give the illusion that I have more to say about it than my feeble imagination can actually dig up.

E-Paper

Assuming you are over the age of twenty-five and know what a book or magazine is, open one up. Take a look at it. Very different from a computer screen, eh? You can lie on the couch or on the floor and still read it. You can even read it in the bathtub without electrocuting yourself (unless it’s the Neve Campbell issue of Maxim). You can take it with you to the beach or the mountains, read it in direct sunlight or by flashlight on a camping trip. You can look at the centerfold under the covers when your Mom thinks you’re asleep, which is how most of us got our first glimpse of Byte Magazine.

Now imagine a book or magazine that looks exactly like print — but whose software driven words and pictures morph on the paper like a webpage. That, my slavish devotees and soon to be competitors, is e-paper, also sometimes called smart paper, though one company seems to have trademarked that phrase.

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