Soccer Dad: Watchers of weasels 10/11/06

October 12, 2006

Watchers of weasels 10/11/06

Council nominations are in, voting is taking place. Here are the entries for the other members of the watcher's council.

AbbaGav explains why we need generals prosecuting wars, not lawyers

In prosecuting the Global Litigation Against Terror, it is clear the government should be carefully monitoring those who are already locked up after having been convicted of a crime, since their rights are therefore already legally circumscribed anyway based on the Constitution or ACLU position papers or something like that. But terrorists running around on the battlefield without uniforms, well, who can even tell them apart from the innocents who merely finance their operations? Plus, they've got rights that haven't even been read to them yet. So let's not go all Mission Impossible on them, spying on their phone conversations and illegally collecting their finger prints by tricking them into touching glasses of alcoholic beverages (which is clearly entrapment anyway in the case of Islamists who would never otherwise even go near the stuff). Instead, the proper law enforcement procedure here is to wait until the not-yet-jailed terrorists actually kill people -- preferably a lot of them, and provably so, with a signed confession that can be demonstrated was collected without coercion -- and then, and only then, do we go all Starsky and Hutch on them, locking them up in a comfy jail cell where in a more legally perfect world we would then start spying on their pen-pal correspondence and contraband cigarette orders.

Done with Mirrors continues his series with Kat and lets her explain her frustration with the media's choices

[O]ut of the more than 200 project completions and section completions we and government sources reported to the press, only two that I know of ever reached outside the country in the MSM, and those two were buried in a report about an increase in oil production. That's it. That�s the whole show. That's all of the reporting anyone ever got from four major irrigation systems, twelve major water supply systems, and twelve major oil and natural gas systems.

The Education Wonks quote Rep Lasee >"To make our schools safe for our students to learn, all options should be on the table," he said. "Israel and Thailand have well-trained teachers carrying weapons and keeping their children safe from harm. It can work in Wisconsin.". But, if I'm reading them correctly, he seems skeptical.

Gates of Vienna celebrates Wayne as one who makes a difference and who knows the rules of flag etiquette

As he was leaving, Wayne noticed our American flag hanging from the porch. He mentioned in passing that he had both an American flag and a state flag (hanging lower � and smaller � of course, he said). He and his dad had erected a tall flagstaff in a bricked-in flower bed. In addition, they had installed a floodlight that illuminated the flags at night. Thus he could leave his flag up instead of having to take it down after dark. However, he said, he was a stickler for the rules and when it rained, the flags always came down. �Sometimes,� he said, �the rules matter.

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The Glittering Eye considers the differences and common ground between the Left and libertarians

As I see it the major gap between the two is the role of government. I see no reluctance or hesitancy whatever in the Koses of the world to use the coercive power of government in achieving their ends. Libertarians (presumably like Arnold) are tempted in the opposite direction i.e. into believing in the complete incompetence and intolerable danger of government.

Joshua Pundit gets to the core of the problem of accomodating terrorists

Because the Bush Administration wants to look good and curry favor with people like the Saudis and the EU and continue to flush more taxpayer dollars down the Palestinian rathole without actually breaking US law by funding a terrorist government, they are actively working to subvert the Palestinian democracy by supporting Arafat II because he's better at hiding his real agenda - the elimination of Israel.

Rhymes with Right scores Joseph Califano's selective recollection of scandal's past

But O'Neill didn't want the Ethics Committee to expel either of the members who engaged in sexual conduct with pages. Rather than really deal with the integrity of the House and say that such conduct was wrong, he supported mere censure. Newt Gingrich argued for expulsion of both the abusive congressmen -- including close ally Dan Crane -- but the Democrat-controlled leadership firmly opposed such a move. Democrats kept Studds -- a sexual predator -- around for over another decade and even gave him a committee chairmanship. Sonds like they had no concern at all about the integrity of the House. On the other hand, Crane was thrashed in his reelection attempt.

Right Wing Nuthouse warns against the diplomatic-journalistic complex that posits that talking is better than fighting in all circumstances. Lots of good lines, but here's something that especially bothers me.

Negotiations have been nearly continuous between Israel and the Palestinians for nearly 60 years and one must look realistically at what those talks have achieved. Is Israel safer? Do the Palestinians have a homeland? How much real progress has been made? Diplomats point to concessions made by Israel that have ceded land and sovereignty to the Palestinians. But has this made Israel safer, more secure?

After looking at a number of political and social Changes Shrinkwrapped wonders

I enjoy change and love our headlong rush into the future. I find the possibilities of nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology, space technology, etc, much more exciting than frightening even while I recognize how disruptive such changes can be. Yet I wonder, have we, in effect, already reached a kind of Singularity? Has the accelerating rate of change in our world already out-paced our National and International Institutions' ability to adapt? If so, chaotic change is likely and that favors regression, not progression.

Socratic Rhythm Method is leaving the council. It was a pleasure serving with him as he wrote some excellent and provocative articles. If you read this blog and have an interest in joining the Watcher's Council here are the rules.

The Sundries Shack objects to the way the left uses sexual orientation as a means to ruin someone's reputation.