Soccer Dad

Submitted 05/07/08

This week's Watcher Council nominations have been submitted.

Death and the Madam - Done With Mirrors expresses his contempt for media navel gazing over the death of the "DC Madam."
Obama As Marley - Wolf Howling provides a thorough debunking of Sen. Obama's attempt to distance himself from Rev. Wright. He even provides a speech that would have constituted an honest attempt to explain why he differed from the Reverend. See Something Wasn't Wright about why Oprah Winfrey left the Trinity Church. (via memeorandum)
Whither? - The Glittering Eye takes issue with a column by the world's most overrated columnist, Thomas Friedman. He argues that the aspects of American society that Friedman finds so messy are those that make our country great. He also rips the notion that Singapore is a more advanced society than America because it has a nicer airport than JFK. (I thought that was pretty silly too.)
Al Gore Won Florida in 2000 - The Colossus of Rhodey writes about a segment on TV where a law professor stated that Al Gore won Florida in 2000. He patiently explains that according to most counts - including the count that the Gore campaign requested - Bush won, albeit by smaller margins.
It's Too Late To Turn Back Now - Rhymes With Right shows, by comparing Sen. Obama's two major speeches about Rev. Wright, that what really offends Sen. Obama about his (former) pastor is that the former pastor insulted him. As Rhymes with Right observes, it wasn't about principle, it was about his own ego.
Are You Ready To Be a Democrat? - Bookworm Room shares an e-mail she got about how to be a Democrat. It's very funny. In the mid 70's Commentary Magazine had a symposium about what it means to be a liberal or a conservative. Bookworm Room's list reminds me of the one by Max Frankel, then an editor at the NY Times, which pointed out inconsistencies in both positions.
Fatal Energy Policies - Cheat Seeking Missiles, like the Glittering Eye, takes apart a Thomas Friedman article. In this case he argues that Friedman's brief for developing alternative energy is correct in part, but that it's limited by Friedman's own (leftist) prejudices.
Merit Pay Chronicles: A Teacher Speaks! - The Education Wonks highlights an article complaining that those who develop educational policy don't know enough about what it is to be a teacher.
Random Thoughts - Hillbilly White Trash addresses a number of issues succinctly, including the Democratic primary race, Rev. Wright, global warming and metal detectors at courthouses.
Who Cares About Israel, Anyway? - Joshuapundit makes an impressive case that Israel is deserving of special treatment.
Party Like It's 1980 All Over Again - Right Wing Nut House argues that the political signposts show a lot of similarities between now and 1980. That isn't good for the Republicans. I don't want to admit that he's correct (and disagree with him on a few points) yet his post is sobering. See also The Shrinking Republican Base.
I Have a Nightmare- In my post I look at the implication of Rev. Wright's speech before the NAACP in Detroit. He wants to go back in time.

My non-council submission this week is Confederate Yankee's Another Gaza Media Moment
about the killing of a woman and her children by a secondary explosion and how poorly the media covered it.

Read, Enjoy. Be Informed.

watcher's council.