I too wish to express my gratitude to Patterico for extending to me the offer to serve as a “guest blogger” for the week while he’s off enjoying some fun in the sun. Unlike the other distinguished guest bloggers recruited by Patterico, I do not have my own blog, so this is a new experience for me. Hopefully it won’t prove to be too embarrassing to my ego – or to Patterico who has given me “just enough rope,” if you know what I mean.
A couple of notes before I launch in. I’ve not attempted to disguise my occupation, and Patterico has put it up on the site. I’ve done this to give readers and commentators a context within which to evaluate my comments. But, my comments here reflects my personal views, based on my knowledge and experience, and do not in any way reflect the views or policy positions of the US Department of Justice.
Second, one issue Patterico has requested I continue to focus on is the matter of the forced resignations of eight US Attorneys. My boss was not one of the 8 US Attorneys forced to resign, so my comments are not influenced by having gone through any professional tumult resulting from a change in office leadership.
That said, now I must confess that my first day as a “guest blogger” has coincided with a terrible day at the office from a workload standpoint, and I’ve been completely shutout of having any opportunity to google around in search of subject with which to begin. So, I’m going to put off the dreaded first post for another few hours, and hopefully get something up overnight.
Raise your hand if you’d like to see Patrick Fitzgerald investigating the disclosures of classified information regarding the Swift counterterror program.
In a lazy bar/restaurant somewhere on Hilton Head Island, a dozen people just turned to see why a man has his hand waving wildly in the air.
Sorry, folks. Go back to your Championship ‘Ritas and ignore me.
An op-ed in the L.A. Times says that Jews are crafty and shrewd after all.
But it’s okay — it’s by a Jew!
Oy.
There are a number of great punchlines I could deliver about what the paper is planning next. (“Next up, Magic Johnson says . . .”) But they would all get me in trouble.
[posted by Justin Levine]
How a bogus newspaper article became a case for propagandist nonsense that has already been rehashed countless times over the years.
(This controversy is particularly frustrating to the many of us who feel that the WMD “stockplile” issue was ultimately irrelevant to the ultimate decision on whether or not to go to war in Iraq. But many seem to have to fit their analysis regarding the “reason we went to war” into a high concept sound bite. The motivations for human history are always far more complex.)
The Washington Post performs some fancy sleight of hand this morning. But if you watch closely, you can see how the trick is done. I dropped a hint in the quote below; see if you can find it.
It was 3 a.m. in Italy on Jan. 29, 2003, when President Bush in Washington began reading his State of the Union address that included the now famous — later retracted — 16 words: “The British Government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.”
Like most Europeans, Elisabetta Burba, an investigative reporter for the Italian newsweekly Panorama, waited until the next day to read the newspaper accounts of Bush’s remarks. But when she came to the 16 words, she recalled, she got a sudden sinking feeling in her stomach. She wondered: How could the American president have mentioned a uranium sale from Africa?
How indeed?
Am I being cynical to assume that this is deliberate — just because this Page A01 article helps the reporter sell his new book? Maybe he has some reading block that makes the word “sought” look like the word “bought.” Maybe the “s” really looks like a “b” to him.
He wouldn’t be the first reporter who can’t spot B.S. when he sees it.
UPDATE: Tom Maguire has more along the same lines.
UPDATE x2: So, as it happens, does Justin Levine . . . immediately above.
[posted by Badger 6]
Patterico has offered me the pleasure of guest blogging for him. Blogging from Iraq can be challenging for a number of reasons, however I believe I will be able to add several posts over the next week.
I am an Army Reservist, a volunteer to be here, I am unabashedly pro-mission and believe that we are seeing signs of improvement here in Iraq. None that means mistakes were not made, but they are more than surmountable.
I hope you enjoy my posts and also have the chance to check out my blog, Badgers Forward. Also guest blogging is the Teflon Don from Acute Politics. TD is one of my Soldiers and we hope to do some co-blogging.
— Badger 6
(A post by See-Dubya.)
A couple of days ago, the Pakistani paper Dawn ran a piece titled “The Creeping Coup“, about how the Lal Masjid movement is taking over the city of Islamabad and acting like the Taliban, which they openly support.
Well, it looks like they’ve gathered a bit of steam:
“We will start our Islamic revolution in Islamabad on Friday by launching a crackdown on CDs, DVDs and other secular activities in the G-6 sector. The exercise will be extended to the NWFP and other areas at later stages. We have full support of madressahs in various cities,” Jamia Faridia and Jamia Hafsa in-charge Maulana Abdul Aziz told Dawn on Monday.
“Ten thousand students of the two seminaries are ready to sacrifice their lives for Shariat and we are determined to enforce the Islamic law in Islamabad in order to make it example for people,” said Maulana Aziz, elder brother of Ghazi Abdul Rashid.
Who funds this revolutionary movement? Well, you’re not going to believe this:
Asked what the funding source of the two seminaries and the Lal Masjid was, Maulana Aziz said: “Whenever we are short of essential items we close our eyes and demand the goods from Allah. Within a few minutes, we find the desired things in our kitchens.”
I told you you wouldn’t believe it.
Cross-posted at Junkyard Blog.
So long, suckers! It’s spring break, and I am off for the next week or so. Oh, I’ll probably be checking in from time to time, depending on Internet access, and whether I feel like it. But don’t count on it.
In the meantime, you’ll be in good hands. We’ll have guest posts from the following stellar individuals:
- WLS is an Assistant U.S. Attorney who has been closely following the U.S. Attorney firing scandal. Anybody who has read the comments on my posts on this subject is familiar with WLS’s insightful commentary. He will post on whatever legal issues strike his fancy, but with primary emphasis on the U.S. Attorney brouhaha.
- See Dubya of the Junkyard Blog will be giving us his unique insights on a wide range of issues.
- With any luck, I can get my usual guest blogger Justin Levine to step up his production of posts.
- Badger 6, aka CAPT Eric Coulson, blogs at the excellent site Badgers Forward. CAPT Coulson was my original contact in Ramadi, and introduced me to Teflon Don. He is living proof that Charles Rangel and John Kerry don’t know what they’re talking about when they knocked servicemen for being uneducated and without other choices in life. CAPT Coulson is an attorney from St. Louis, Missouri. He is my age (38 years old) and is married, with two dogs and a cat. He and I have had many online chats on Google, and he is the one who informed me of the tragic death of MAJ Megan McClung.
Finally, we have a possible Very Special Guest:
- Jack Dunphy has agreed to at least consider posting here, if an appropriate topic strikes his fancy. It’s pretty ballsy of me to try to poach a guy who has a gig at National Review Online, but I keep trying — hoping to lure Jack in with the carrot of the immediate ability to post items of any length, without editors. (Or pay, or much in the way of readership — but shhhh! don’t mention that! We’re trying to convince him to do this! [APPLAUSE SIGN GOES ON]).
I had hoped to get DRJ to continue her awesome series of Border Patrol posts, and perhaps to post on a special project she has been helping me with. But tending to her broken collarbone takes precedence.
Please welcome this impressive lineup of guest bloggers, and try not to cringe at the thought of how much worse the site will be when I return next week.
