Soccer Dad: Submitted 06/03/08

June 4, 2008

Submitted 06/03/08

The Watcher's Council submissions have been posted.

Choice and Honor
The Razor, our newest member, considers the cases of Scott McClellan and Barack Obama and how they reacted to choices they made. The former, if he was fundamentally opposed to the direction of the administration he served had the obligation to voice disagreement and resign then, not wait for a lucrative book deal to demonstrate his outrage. In the case of Sen. Obama, he suggests - and this is an excellent point that hadn't occurred to me - that perhaps Sen. Obama never took Rev. Wright's sermons seriously. He was at the church to gain credibility with constituents.
Memorial Day
Done With Mirrors pays tribute to a number of heroes who went to Iraq to help (in different ways) and who paid with their lives for following their principles. Some I was familiar with, others I wasn't. But putting all their stories together was very affecting.
The Costs of Withdrawing from Iraq
The Glittering Eye, an opponent of the war from the start, considers what options there are for withdrawing from Iraq and then details the costs they will likely incur. Most of those advocating retreat make it sound as if it would be cost free. Though I support(ed) the war, I didn't consider the costs.
You Have To Ask?
Hillbilly White Trash blasts Deedee Myers husband Todd Purdum, not for writing terrible things about Bill Clinton, but for being surprised about them.
More Outrageousness At Trinity UCC -- UPDATED
Rhymes With Right provides some more background about Father Pfleger and then asks where's the scrutiny. (Apparently Pfleger has finally gone too far.)
Brave? Yes. Unique? No.
Bookworm Room mocks the media meme that there's something exceptional about Sen. Kennedy's fight against cancer. A lot of people have faced this terrible disease and while it certainly takes guts to face such a mortal threat, it's something that many people - who aren't senators - have done quietly.
Slouching Towards Statism
Cheat Seeking Missiles looks at how statism - governing without consent - worsens disasters. A government that doesn't have to answer to its citizenry is not limited in the damage - intentional or not - it can inflict on its people.
The Media Furor Over McClellan's Book Leads to Whoppers
The Colossus of Rhodey covers the media's credulousness over Scott McClellan's book, even to the point of publicizing false information, as long as it makes the president look bad.
Much Lizardly Ado About... A Little Something
Wolf Howling wades into a disagreement about the use of the terms "Jihadist." (I wrote about it here.) Former council member Big Lizards, on one hand, argues - along with DHS and Gen. Kilcullen - that we ought not call terrorists "jihadists" for it is a compliment to them. Others believe that not using that terminology is bowing to undue PC-ness. The argument Wolf Howling advances that nomenclature is less important than in properly identifying the enemy. (FWIW, my argument with the anti-jihad terminology was that those promoting it were clearly saying that we are not experiencing a clash of civilizations.)
Worst. President. Ever?
Joshuapundit ranks the worst presidents including the incumbent. I think he's correct that it's probably premature because of "distance" factor. But here's one of his arguments:

It only took us four and a half years to utterly defeat the Nazis and the Japanese Empire, who were far more powerful.

True they were more powerful, but they also had obvious addresses, something that many of the Islamists don't have. Most of his critiques are solid. Generally, he argues effectively that President Bush spoke well but didn't follow his best ideas consistently. Still I really think that distance is needed. Would things have been worse if he didn't act?
Life Expectancy Down For Some American Women
The Education Wonks notes a story about the decline in life expectancy for women in 1000 counties.
Leveraging -- Reloaded
I wrote about a Thomas Friedman column in which he laments that the bad guys in the Middle East had lots of leverage. It would have been more convincing if he didn't spend so much time advocating policies that ceded the leverage to them.

My non-council nomination was The Jewish Vote in 1968 and 2008, at Deja Vu, which argues in part that LBJ was not as pro-Israel as recently released transcripts seem to show.

Read, Enjoy. Be Informed.

watcher's council.