The holidays are a horrible time for bloggers. Capitol Hill is deserted as Congress goes into Christmas hibernation, our wallets blessedly safe for a few weeks. Moonbats and idiotarians alike are busy mending political fences back home while trying to squeeze that extra few hundred thousands bucks out of the special interests that will insure their political survival next November . The nation itself settles down for something of a long winter’s nap, looking forward to a week filled with family, parties, college football, and the inevitable overdose of nachos.
Even the MSM seems to be on its best behavior although this gaffe by the LA Times will be eagerly snarfed up by ravenous blog beasts across the political spectrum for its sheer goofiness. For some reason though, my blog was hungry for something else today and the story of a major metropolitan newspaper using in a front page story a quote from a press release put out as an April Fool’s joke just wasn’t going to sate the appetite my own personal demon of a website. After all, it can get pretty tiresome poking fun at an enterprise as clueless as the LA Times. I mean, how many times can you tell the same joke before it goes irretrievably stale?
So it’s after 6:00 AM and I haven’t started to write anything when to what my wondering eyes should appear but this gem from MSNBC’s Craig Crawford:
I have been watching dozens of back episodes of Fox Broadcasting’s “24” over the holidays, and so far I haven’t seen rogue U.S. anti-terrorism agent Jack Bauer stop once for a court warrant—not even when he sawed off the head of an informant he was interrogating. Come to think of it, I haven’t heard the Constitution mentioned a single time as Bauer, played by Kiefer Sutherland, repeatedly breaks the rules to thwart terrorist plots.(HT: Anklebiting Pundits).This is how the President wants us to see the real world. Indeed, George Bush is the Jack Bauer of presidential power. There are no rules in Bush’s world when it comes to the War on Terror—only wimps like the whining bureaucrats on “24” balk at torture, spying, propaganda, whatever it takes.
I guess I am one of those constitutional wimps. Even the reality cop shows get me riled, as we watch the police routinely trample the individual rights of hapless suspects. Maybe we do live in a Jack Bauer world where constitutional liberties take a back seat to stopping killers. But I’d rather live in Patrick Henry’s world: Give me liberty or give me death.
I want to publicly thank Mr. Crawford for rescuing me from blog ennui. This kind of fresh, jaw-dropping idiocy is what makes writing for this site so much fun. And the fact that he used my favorite thug Jack Bauer as a sophomoric metaphor to describe the Bush presidency is so perfect, so right, that if Craig was here now I’d give him a great big wet kiss full on the mouth.
Well…maybe I’m not that grateful.
Taking the last part to begin, the first thing one notices about this piece is that Crawford is laughably ignorant of history. To reference “constitutional rights” and “Patrick Henry” in the same breath is, to put it mildly, loony. Henry, like most of the more radical patriots who were in the forefront of the movement for independence, became unreconstructed opponents of the Constitution during the ratification debate. They saw it as something of a counter-revolution, an overreaction to the weaknesses inherent in the Articles of Confederation. Not only that, the establishment of a strong chief executive as well as mandating a Supreme Court who could overrule Congress was an anathema to patriots like Henry.
This Constitution is said to have beautiful features; but when I come to examine these features, sir, they appear to me horribly frightful. Among other deformities, it has an awful squinting; it squints toward monarchy, and does not this raise indignation in the breast of every true American? Your president may easily become king. Your Senate is so imperfectly constructed that your dearest rights may be sacrificed to what may be a small minority; and a very small minority may continue for ever unchangeably this government, altho horridly defective.
The irony of Crawford’s intellectual conceits regarding “liberty” is unfortunately lost on someone whose knowledge of history apparently comes from watching episodes of Rocky and Bullwinkle where Mr. Peabody and Sherman go back in time in their Wayback Machine to learn about the past.
But the meat of Mr. Crawford’s “critique” of the Bush presidency is his comparison of the world as seen by the President with the world in which Jack Bauer of “24” fame lives.
Would that it were true. In fact, we should be extremely fortunate if Jack Bauer was a real person working for a real agency like CTU (Counter terrorism Unit). But what is really interesting would be to ask Mr. Crawford if, during any of the scenarios in the history of the TV series that would, God forbid, come to life – nukes, assassination, power plant meltdowns, and bio-terror – he thinks the rest of us would prefer not to fully, completely, and to the letter respect the Constitutional rights of foreign terrorists and their American collaborators and sympathizers or die a horrible death and have the country destroyed.
This would be a no brainer – except for Mr. Crawford who evidently was stuck in the washroom when God was handing out that vital organ. Any of the terrorist scenarios that have played out on 24 would in real life necessitated the very actions that Jack Bauer and other law enforcement representatives took to prevent them. For, in real life, if the terrorists had been successful, the subsequent investigation that revealed a government and a President that followed Constitutional niceties while tens of thousands of Americans died, would have resulted in the immediate and justifiable impeachment of the President. And I daresay that the relatives and loved ones of the dead would not be quoting Patrick Henry in praise of the President’s Constitutional forbearance.
The reason liberals like Crawford are likely to get a great many of us killed if they are able to hoodwink the American people into giving them power again is their willingness to allow the terrorists to win rather than do what is necessary to protect us. This is perfectly summed up in Mr. Crawford’s little blurb. By quoting Patrick Henry, he is embracing the idea that he would rather die than bend the Constitution to the exigencies of the times. That way lies madness – and death.
Using the example of poor Abraham Lincoln in this debate is getting tiresome but one wonders if Lincoln had not placed government’s extraordinarily heavy hand on the rebellious border states of Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri as well as other restless parts of the country whether he would have been victorious or not. Mr. Crawford is fortunate indeed not to have lived during those times. His writings may have landed him in jail.
As for Jack Bauer, Crawford misses the point. Jack is enormously conflicted by what he has to do to save the country. His methods have cost him the life of his wife. They have ruined his personal relationships as women recoil in horror after watching Jack in action. He has gone so far in so many critical situations that it seems as if at times he seeks the release that only death can bring.
In this letter I had published in The American Spectator, I pointed out the similarities between Jack and two other mythic American heroes; Daniel Boone and Davey Crockett. Both Boone and Crockett were single minded in their determination to succeed and would do whatever it took to come out on top. But Jack has another dimension to his personality:
The myth of the hunter/hero gave way to the lone hero motif popularized by Hollywood. This hero, usually played by a small town sheriff (Gary Cooper in High Noon) or the gunfighter with a heart of gold (Alan Ladd in Shane), used violence to defeat greater violence. This concept was turned on its head in the 1960s and 1970s as the great ” anti-heroes” of Clint Eastwood blurred the distinction between good and evil. Dirty Harry got the job done (as did the Man with No-Name) but at what cost?Enter Jack Bauer who’s not quite the Clint anti-hero but not the pure, small town Gary Cooperish protagonist either. He is, in fact, the perfect hero in a post-9/11 world. Torn as America is between getting the job done at all costs while upholding American ideals, Jack simply can’t help himself. He necessarily sees the world in stark relief, a black and white universe populated by some really nasty thugs who don’t even blink at the idea of murdering hundreds of thousands of people. We recoil at some of Jack’s tactics. But we recognize that Jack is the guy doing what needs to be done to keep us safe.
In one respect, Crawford is correct in his comparison of Jack with Bush; they are able to clearly distinguish between good and evil, between who is right in this war and who is wrong. Crawford and his ilk can’t. This makes Crawford not only someone to be laughed at but someone to be feared as well. For if we ever have a government headed by a President who sees gray where there is clearly black and white, the chances of enjoying both liberty and security in the United States will disappear as surely as Jack Bauer will end up stretching the Constitution to its breaking point this season in order to protect us from disaster.
10:36 am
Well said! You hit the nail on the head about laughing at them and fearing them at the same time.
BTW —As a fellow 24 watcher, I also eagerly anticipate the upcoming season. The promos have me ready to get back into Jack’s world. It has been a long time since Jack walked off into that sunrise in LA…
Jay
10:37 am
Craig Crawford was employed by Congressional Quarterly and the following quote is from a press release on their website regarding the aforementioned Mr. Crawford: “Before becoming a journalist, he served in 1984 as the Alabama State Field Director for the John Glenn presidential primary campaign, and the Georgia State Field Director for the Mondale/Ferraro general election campaign.” With a pedigree like that you know he is a raving moonbat whackjob. How do these Bolsheviks get away with calling themselves “journalists” when they are clearly shills for the Democratic Party? The fetid MSM is brimming with these phonies.
10:40 am
Rick,
This is even better. Unborn humans having no civil liberties, I think a fetus would rather endure water boarding over vacuum decapitation.
http://crawfordslist.blogspot.com/2005/12/constitutional-relativism.html
Constitutional Relativism
Craig Crawford: “What I find fascinating is that here`s a president who constantly talks about strict constructionism. For example, when it comes to the privacy right, the underpinning of Roe v. Wade, he wants a very restrictive view of the Constitution. But when he talks about his own power, suddenly it gets very broad, and not strict constructionism in the least.” (MSNBC “Hardball” 12/26)
11:03 am
Rick…
Glad to see you putting the “Moe” back in Moron.
Matt.. In 1984 Bush was coming home drunk and coked-up, That’s a pedigree for ya. John Glenn was a real hero.
11:06 am
CO Bob:
Good God is that the best you can do? Make fun of my name?
The last time someone did that I think it was a girl back in the 5th grade – which, judging by your comment, puts you on a par with her emotional maturity and intellectual acumen.
11:23 am
Good catch, Rick. ( We’ve been doing the 24 marathons, too, and I’m impatient to get the new seasoon set on the TiVo.)
Of late I have been thinklng of President Bush as the anti-John Galt. The President isn’t shrugging, and furthermore the Democrats are betting their lives that he won’t. As long as the President fights this enemy with every tool at his disposal the Dems will be free to continue their subversions unabated, and won’t pay the ultimate price for another attack on our country—assuming that the President is successful.
12:02 pm
Colo Bob,
Why the Mary Mapes approach to Bush? The liberals fascination with the President’s personal conduct during his youth is striking hypocrisy.
12:43 pm
I think that Colorado Bob is really Keith Olbermann. Craig is one of his favorite guests and Media Matters is his repository for facts. Although in reality, the three are indistinguishable.
1:24 pm
Keith Olbermann and Craig Crawford will be starring in the sequel to Brokeback Mountain, to be called “Two Monicas Minus the Smarts”. These clowns truly suck.
2:40 pm
Rick.. I wasn’t making fun of your name, I was making fun of your intellect. You don’t want to get in a battle of wits with me son, you’re only half armed.
3:18 pm
[...] hat is only dreary. Seems the sensible take on it. RightwingNuthouse was shaken from his blogging ennui thanks to Craig Crawford at MSNBC, who su [...]
3:46 pm
Colorado Bob,
First, you’re a liar for claiming you weren’t making fun of Rick’s name. Second, staffing the Mondale/Ferraro campaign DOES make him a moonbat. Third, as for Bush, he cleaned up HIS act far better than Crawford cleaned up his. Fourth, I’ll leave my browser window open, so if you want to match intelligence, Bring.It.On.
4:22 pm
Craig Crawford and his ilk would view a terrorist attack on America as a great opportunity to ply their trade of bad ideas on the American public. They would be the first to blame Bush for failing to stop such an attack, even as they condemn him for overstepping what they claim is the limit of his Constitutional authority.
Our media and civil libertarian “watchdogs” are more interested in protecting the civil liberties of our enemies than they are in protecting the country at large. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that the ACLU is threatening our airports with litigation over profiling “suspicious” behavior. After all, if Bushitler is running roughshod over our freedoms, is it much of a stretch to see our terrorist enemies as the “real” victims?
Our country is in deep trouble right now, more from the enemy within than the enemy outside our borders. If we tie the hands of our security and intelligence organizations, I’m afraid that we’ll have no one but ourselves to blame when the nuclear s*** hits the fan.
4:46 pm
CO Bob:
I find the more one brags about how smart they are, the dumber they turn out to be.
And your pompous arrogance doesn’t faze me in the slightest. If the best critique you can give of the Prez is that he got drunk and stoned 30 years ago, your schoolgirl name calling can then be put in an entirely different context – you simply don’t have the brains to do anything accept personally attack your targets.
8:51 am
Frankly, I hope that Bush learned an important lesson from Johnny “taliban” Lindh. He fought against the U.S., directly caused the death of CIA officer Michael Spann and proceeded through the U.S. justice system to spend a few years in prison.
Lindh should have been shot as a traitor on a foreign battlefield then and there. He had forfitted his rights at that point.(look it up Crawford and CO Bob….)
But idiots like Crawford (and CO Bob) would suggest that our Constitutional Rights apply to everyone, regardless of nationality or circumstances.
Crawford says: “I guess I am one of those constitutional wimps. Even the reality cop shows get me riled, as we watch the police routinely trample the individual rights of hapless suspects.”
My relpy to that statement is in the context of elecronic surviellance of suspected enemies and his feelings that Bush is somehow violating their Constitutional rights….
When was the last time he read the Constitution?
What rights are being trampled?
How can he possibly believe that these people are “hapless suspects”?
For Crawford’s benefit, “Give me liberty or give me death” means give me liberty or let me die trying….. It DOESN’t mean rolling over and letting people kill you because you don’t have the balls to fight. If you don’t have the balls to fight to victory your “liberty” won’t mean a damned thing.
CO Bob, for Christ’s sake, if these people weren’t previously implicated in terrorist activities and/or connections the government wouldn’t give a rats ass about them or their phone calls.
PS Bob, ever come home drunk?
“I Don’t Like you ‘cause you’re gunna get me killed!”
2:28 pm
Colo. Bob (Colo., is that short for “colon”? Ahh, but I wasn’t mocking your name, just your bowels, mayhaps where your intellect resides): youse just tickles me silly. All one need do to yon “Coke-fiend W” spouting folk is mention one simple name: Mary Jo Kopechne.
OK, it’s not such a simple name, but it sure speaks volumes about the Conscience of the Democrat Party and his silly and reckless youth.
Rick, your fisking of Crawford was truly admirable. Now, which half of your brain was tied behind your back when you were writing this?
3:14 pm
BTW, Rick, wasn’t it last season of 24 that an ACLU-proxy organization came in and interfered with interrogation of a crucial witness, with rather catastrophic results? I don’t recall the details…
3:21 am
Colorodo Bob – “John Glenn was a real hero.” . . . Yeah, while he was still wearing a Marine uniform. When he took it off, he became just another smarmy Democratic politician shoveling money out of the public trough to his constituents in Ohio to ensure his reelection. Some ending to the astronaut hero.
3:58 am
The Council Has Spoken!
First off… any spambots reading this should immediately go here, here, here, and here. Die spambots, die! And now… the winning entries in the Watcher’s Council vote for this week are Let Me Tell You Something, Preside…
4:55 pm
[...] st, “3Let Me Tell You Something, President Bush”. The second place post was Right Wing Nut House’s post, “How MSNBC̵ [...]
7:30 pm
The Council Has Spoken!
Once again, from a myriad of excellent blog posts in the last week, several have shown themselves to be worthy of the coveted prize of recognition by the Watcher’s Council. Among the Council posts, Dymphna’s style and substance have earned
8:28 pm
Rick, this was an AWESOME post. The idiotarians of the talking head variety are truly the gift that keeps on giving. Great job of taking this “nutcase” to task.
8:30 am
[...] to Let Me Tell You Something, President Bush by Gates of Vienna, and second place went to How MSNBC’s Craig Crawford Saved My Day by Right W [...]
1:12 pm
Watcher’s Council results January 6
The Watcher’s Council (what?) chose these best posts from among those nominated January 4, 2006. Gates of Vienna on a roll! Let [Dymphna] Tell You Something, President Bush: If you ever hold hands with one of these degenerates again … then I pity yo…
6:08 pm
Watcher’s Council Results
A belated post for the January 6th results: Council links Winner: Let Me Tell You Something, President Bush—Gates of Vienna Runner Up: How MSNBC’s Craig Crawford Saved My Day—Right Wing Nut House Non-council link To Speak…