Right Wing Nut House

It appears that Hosting Matters, the hosting company for most of the big bloggers including Instapundit, Powerline, Captains Quarters, Wizbang, and NZ Bear is down.

Haven’t been able to connect to any of the big boys since about 7:30 this morning.

UPDATE

They appear to be back up for the moment. Matt in the comments to this post says that AT&T is having problems in the south with connectivity due to Katrina.

Reporters are for the most part a hard bitten lot. Inured as they seem at times to human suffering, journalists have been criticized more than once for intruding on a family’s grief or reporting from disasters as if it were a ballgame of sorts.

An exception was on display last night. Veteran CNN reporter Jeanne Meserve was reporting first hand from neighborhoods that were underwater in New Orleans last night and showed genuine feeling and emotion as she reported to Aaron Brown via satellite phone. Her voice, shaking with emotion Meserve gave the most mesmerizing first person account of a disaster I’ve ever heard:

It’s been horrible. As I left tonight, darkness, of course, had fallen. And you can hear people yelling for help. You can hear the dogs yelping, all of them stranded, all of them hoping someone will come.

But for tonight, they’ve had to suspend the rescue efforts. It’s just too hazardous for them to be out on the boats. There are electrical lines that are still alive. There are gas lines that are still spewing gas. There are cars that are submerged. There are other large objects. The boats can’t operate. So they had to suspend operations and leave those people in the homes.

As we were driving back, we passed scores of boats, Fish and Wildlife boats that they brought in. They’re flat bottomed. They’ve obviously going to put them in the water just as soon as they possibly can and go out and reach the people who are out there who desperately need help.

We watched them, some of them, come in. They were in horrible shape, some of them. We watched one woman whose leg had been severed. Mark Biello, one of our cameramen, went out in one of the boats to help shoot. He ended up being out for hours and told horrific tales. He saw bodies. He saw where — he saw other, just unfathomable things. Dogs wrapped in electrical — electrical lines who were still alive that were being electrocuted.

Brown asks her if rescue workers can communicate at all with those who are trapped:

They aren’t tonight. When the boats were in the water, as the boats went around through the neighborhood, they yelled. And people yelled back. But Mark, when he came back, told me that — that some of the people, they just couldn’t get to. They just couldn’t get to them. They couldn’t maneuver the boats in there.

Because this had happened before in Hurricane Betsy, there were many people who kept axes in their homes and had them in the attic in preparation for this. Some people were able to use those axes and make holes in their roof and stick their head out or their body out or climb up completely. But many others clearly didn’t have that. Most of the rescuers appeared to be carrying axes, and they were trying to hack them out as best they could to provide access and haul them out.

BROWN: I’m sorry. What…

MESERVE: There were also Coast Guard helicopters involved in it, Aaron, with the seat up (ph), flying overhead. It appears that when they saw someone on a rooftop, they were dropping flares, to try to signal the boats to get there.

BROWN: Is there any sense of — that there’s triage, that they’re looking to see who needs help the worst? Or they’re just — they were just getting to whomever they could get to and get them out of there?

MESERVE: I had the distinct impression they were just getting to whoever they could get to. I talked to one fire captain who’d been out in his personal boat. He said he worked an area probably 10 square blocks. He’d rescued 75 people. He said in one instance there were something like 18 people in one house, some of them young. One, he said, appeared to be a newborn.

Brown asks how high the water is:

MESERVE: Well, I can tell you that in the vicinity where I was, the water came up to the eaves of the house. And I was told by several rescue workers that we were not seeing the worst of it, that we were at one end of the Ward 9 part of the city and that there’s another part, inaccessible by road at this point, where the road — where the houses were covered to their rooftops. And they were having a great deal of problem gaining access down there. The rescue workers also told me that they saw bodies in that part.

BROWN: Any — you mentioned earlier that the water seemed to get progressively deeper. The walkway from this, if you don’t know, is just a question of tide moving in and tide moving out?

MESERVE: Well, I can tell you that the people who were rescued with whom I had a chance to speak told me that the water came up very suddenly on them. They said most of the storm had passed and what apparently was the storm surge came.

Some of them talked about seeing a little water on their floor, going to the front door, seeing a lot of water, going to the back door, seeing more bodies of water, and then barely having time to get up the stairs. One man I talked to was barefoot. He hadn’t had time to put on shoes. Another woman was in her housedress and flip-flops.

As for the water tonight and how fast it may be going up and down, and you know, I may not have the most current information about the tides, but I can tell you that downtown here the water seemed to be, I’d say, six inches or so deeper than it was when I left earlier this afternoon. It may be a totally situation — different situation…

Brown asks if Meserve has any idea how many people may be stranded. Here Meserve actually starts to cry:

MESERVE: Yes. Nobody has a sense of that. And may I say that the crew was extraordinary. We’ve had very difficult situations. Our cameraman is working with a broken foot since 9 a.m. this morning to try and get this story to you. Big words of praise for them and for Mark Biello, who went out and ended up in that water, trying to get the rescue boats over partially submerged railroad tracks. It was a heroic piece of work by CNN employees.

BROWN: Our thanks to you for your efforts. It — you don’t need to hear this from me, but you know, people sometimes think that we’re a bunch of kind of wacky thrill seekers doing this work, sometimes, and no one who has listened to the words you’ve spoken or the tone of your voice could possibly think that now. We appreciate your work.

MESERVE: Aaron, thank you. We are sometimes wacky thrill seekers. But when you stand in the dark, and you hear people yelling for help and no one can get to them, it’s a totally different experience.

BROWN: Jeanne, thank you. We’ll talk later tonight. Thank you.

Jeanne Meserve, been on the team for almost 15 years, I think. She is a very tough, capable, strong reporter, and she met her match on a story tonight.

Superior reporting told with a reporters eye and a human soul.

UPDATE

To keep abreast of events, for links to bloggers covering the disaster on scene, for links to agencies that need help, and for links to anything and everything to do with this disaster, visit Michelle Malkin at least once an hour for updates.

Talk about a journalist giving us the first draft of history, Michelle is doing it for the blogosphere.

Congress is still in recess. The President is still on vacation. Howard Dean has been tied up, gagged, and put into cold storage for a couple of weeks. Hurricane Katrina has knocked the Cindy Sheehan Show off the nets. Teddy Kennedy is waddling around Hyannis Port.

Where have all the cluebats gone?

We are, cluelessly speaking, in the doldrums. Now the doldrums is an actual place. I bet you didn’t know that. They’re located about halfway between Africa and South America. The trade winds coming from the south and the north meet near the equator. These converging trade winds produce general upward winds as they are heated, so there are no steady surface winds. Sailing vessels are routinely becalmed in the doldrums. And that’s pretty much where we find ourselves with this edition of the Carnival.

But fret not. The Senate Judiciary Committee will begin hearings next week on the Roberts nomination. I predict an avalanche of cluelessness coming from both Democrats and Republicans as the former sees Roberts as the devil incarnate and the latter as the resurrected spirit of Oliver Wendell Holmes. And Mr. Roberts will play along and try to answer questions from Senator Biden that will inevitably begin with “Now I don’t want to know your position on abortion, but…” which then turns into a grilling on the good judge’s position on abortion. If nothing else, it will be more entertaining than watching Congress trying to do something important like reforming Social Security or getting serious about illegal immigration.

So without further eloquence, here’s this week’s collection of clueless clodhoppers brought to you by some of the best writers on the web.

If stupidity got us into this mess, then why can’t it get us out?
(Will Rogers)

Ah Will! Howard Dean and the Democrats asks themselves that question every day of the week!
(Me)

Cao of Cao’s Blog (pronounced “key”) features a Code Pink cluebat protesting against wounded soldiers in front of Walter Reed army hospital who’s cluelessness extends to a problem the young man has with sexual identification. And doesn’t he realize that one never accessorizes knits with cotton?

The Maryhunter of TMH Bacon Bits shows the error of Lewis M.Simons reasoning in his expert takedown of the ex-marine turned cluebat whose piece against the war appeared in last Sunday’s Washington Post Outlook section. Funny how logic and reason defeat hysteria and hyperbole every time.

The partying pachyderms at Academic Elephants have a good time goring Cluebat Hall of Famer Charlie Rangel who questioned Vice President Cheney’s fitness for office in aq radio interview. Says Rangel: “He’s got heart disease, but the disease is not restricted to that part of his body. He grunts a lot, so you never really know what he’s thinking. Quoth the Elephants: “[T]here is a sickness eating away at the left, which is allowing its hysterical and impotent rage lead it into increasingly paranoid fantasies about its opponents.”

Bob at Stop the ACLU brings us more complete stupidity from a group whose activities have less and less to do with “civil liberties” and more to do with enabling licentiousness. This time, the ACLU is trying to block the sale of optional internet filters to keep porn away from kids. Are the filters perfect? No in that they do occasionally filter out things like pictures of Michaelangelo’s David. But it’s hardly an issue for a group purporting to be upholding civil liberties.

Two Dogs at Mean ole Meany has become quite the pen pal of John Kerry. Despite unsubscribing twice from the Senator’s email list, (and being addressed in the salutation as “Dear Two”) they continue to allow Two Dogs to make them look like the idiots they really are.

Speaking of John Kerry, Pat over at Brainsters takes us down memory lane to relive some of Kerry’s pathetic attempts to look like a regular guy. Please note when trying to catch the football he has his eyes closed. Sort of symptomatic of not only his campaign for the presidency but his entire approach to public policy.

Fred Frey’s headline says it all: “UN Blames US for African Condom Shortage!” This comes as a surprise to US policy makers who eagerly support the use of condoms - along with abstinence and faithfulness to one’s partner - as the best way to stop the AIDS pandemic in Africa. That doesn’t stop UN bureaucrats from bashing the US whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Gullyborg at Resistence is Futile tackles the Governor of Oregon for raising emission standards for autos to the point that fewer new cars will be bought thus increasing pollution because older cars not subject to the same standards will still be on the road. Too much sense for a moonbat politician to digest.

Mark Rayner at The Skwib wrote a hilarious bit about Jon Carroll at the San Francisco Chronicle. The article in which Mr. Carroll tries to debunk ID, contains this eye opening bit of cluelessness: “Scientists have been studying the origin and nature of life on earth for at least 4,000 years.” Mark says, Uh-Huh: “Look at this ancient Egyptian centrifuge. Originally, we thought it was used to removed the liquefied brains out of skulls.” Hee.

Mark Coffey tears Frank Rich a new one for his column “The Vietnamization of Bush’s Vacation.” What is it about the left and Viet Nam? I mean, were the 60’s really all that great?

AJ at the Strata-Sphere has a frightening piece about some absent minded scientists in a couple of unamed Southeast Asian countries who just can’t seem to remember where they put some of that radioactive stuff like Cobalt and such. The Australian scientists who discovered that the stuff was unsecured refused to name the culprit countries until the material was under lock and key. Well, duh!

How about a little Mr Satire with your milk and cookies? Just make sure you put down the milk before you dig into “Venezuelan President Offers Free Gasoline and 10% Discount On Brain Smog Check To Americans” or “High Pregnancy Rate In High School Spurrs Debate About Intelligent Design And Evolution.” (Not safe for work)

Buckley F. Williams has found something that should have been as plain as The Nose on your Face. In fact, this revelation will rock the anti-war movement to its foundations. Cindy Sheehan is actually an out of work actor. And Buckley has the pictures to prove it!

From our “What else do you expect from a bunch of Euro-Twits” Department, Van Helsing brings us a stranger than fiction tale of a library in Denmark in which you can check out not only books, magazines, and movies but human beings as well. No, that’s not a misprint. Says the library Director: “The customers can rent a veiled Muslim woman and finally ask her all the questions they would never dare to ask if they met her on the street.” Isn’t that swell? The possibilities are endless. Maybe they can add a terrorist to their inventory. Or a serial killer.

Drew at Conservative Outpost rants against Mother Sheehan for her despicable comments about mothers who have lost a son in Iraq who support the President. Calling them “continue the murder and mayhem” moms” it seems that the less people pay attention to her, Mother Sheehan’s rhetorical excesses reach new heights of moonbattery, something Drew points out nicely.

Ze’ev from Israel Perspectives: Feeling ‘Right’ at Home is angry at those who want to have it both ways when it comes to holocaust comparisons. Says Ze’ev: “I take offense with the hypocrisy of many in Israel who have offered strong condemnation for those who have made allusions of comparison between the “Disengagement” and the Holocaust, while they themselves have cheapened the memory of the Holocaust through comparisons of their own when it has suited their needs”

Wonder Woman harangues Hugo Chavez for crying crocodile tears over Pat Robertson’s idiotic statements about assassinating him last week and asks Jesse Jackson a rather direct and pertinent question about criticizing people who advocate killing President Bush. I smell a double standard.

Not to be outdone, Tom Bowler finds out that some of the same people criticizing Robertson today said something eerily similar about Saddam just a few years ago. I think the left should have a meeting and decide which leaders we should be assassinating and which ones we shouldn’t. Just to clear up any misunderstandings.

Miriam from Miriam’s Ideas has an oldy but goody that questions the Jerusalem Post’s editorial policies. And I’m very happy to hear that she’s “pro-tango.” So am I.

Giacomo from Joust the Facts features the not-so-deep thoughts of Hollywood bad boy Sean Penn on his “peace” mission to Iran. What kind of hubris do you think it takes to actually believe that people are interested in anything you might have to say about Iran, Sean? We don’t even care what you have to say about Madonna anymore!

Kid Various from The Idiom Blog has a short, funny bit about stupid criminals. Cluelessness is indeed a policeman’s best friend.

Dave at Short Final, Cleared to Land takes on Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi regarding what had to be the most clueless editorial written last week. If generalities and formless bromides could win the War on Terror, Reid and Pelosi would go down in history as the architects of the winning strategy.

Mr. Right has a liberal’s interpretation of the Constitution. Hey! Why are there so many things crossed out? And some of that language looks a little unfamiliar.

Ken at Am I a Pundit Now Blog directs some well deserved scorn at Huffington Post as he praises the only poster at the site who makes any sense, Greg Gutfeld.

As Neddy at Kerfluffles points out, the liberals who run the Associated Press are a piece of work. The article criticizing the President’s gasoline expenditures as President got a lot of play this week, as well it should have. Such idiocy deserves to be highlighted.

Elisa at Boxer Watch has some interesting statistics about Cindy Sheehan, Iraq, and Jerry Springer as well as some real stupidity on the part of the American people. Example: 27% of Americans believe there is a cure for cancer but its being withheld by the healthcare industry. They can’t all be members of the Democratic Underground!

Finally, I take Cindy Sheehan on a Magical Mystery Tour.

Calling all bloggers!

You have until Monday night at 10:00 PM to get your entries in for this week’s Carnival of the Clueless.

Last week was the best yet with 35 entries from both the right and left side of the political spectrum hammering those individuals and groups among us who are truly clueless.

Here’s what we’re looking for:

Each week, I’ll be calling for posts that highlight the total stupidity of a public figure or organization – either left or right – that demonstrates that special kind of cluelessness that only someone’s mother could defend…and maybe not even their mothers!

Everyone knows what I’m talking about. Whether it’s the latest from Bill Maher or the Reverend Dobson, it doesn’t matter. I will post ALL ENTRIES REGARDLESS OF WHETHER I AGREE WITH THE SENTIMENTS EXPRESSED OR NOT..

You can enter by emailing me, leaving a link in the comments section, or by using the handy, easy to use form at Conservative Cat.

As Hurricane Katrina bears down on New Orleans and the people there brace themselves for what may turn out to be the most horrendous natural disaster in my lifetime, I’m struck by the shared nature of the emerging catastrophe. Most of us are glued to the TV watching the coverage of the news nets who for the most part have been sober and restrained in their commentary while at the same time giving frequent and informative weather updates from the National Hurricane Center for the millions of people whose homes and loved ones are in the path of this “hammer of God” as our ancestors may have put it.

It makes one feel pitifully small indeed to realize the enormous forces at work that in a very short time will knock our silly pretensions of being omnipotent for a loop. This storm will destroy in a few hours what it has taken man centuries to achieve. Things we take for granted - electrical power, sanitation, all the accoutrements of modern living - will be taken away with just a few breaths of the earth’s cardiovascular system. Scientists tell us that hurricanes are necessary to maintain balance in the atmosphere and the oceans. And as we’ve learned the hard way, the only thing you can do is get out of the way.

The focus of the entire nation is now on those cities and towns in the path of the monster. And as the disaster develops, we will be united as a community in our outpouring of support and sympathy for the victims. This is possible because our country is wired wall to wall with communciations technologies that our ancestors would have found almost magical. Not only will television and radio be covering this disaster, but bloggers also will be giving us frequent updates on the storm’s track and the local efforts to deal with the tragedy.

All of this got me thinking of how our ancestors dealt with events like this. The answer to that can be found in American folk music traditions and how songs about disasters became like tabloid news reports that informed the country of what it was like for the victims to live and die during events like hurricanes, ship wrecks, floods, and mining disasters.

Examples of such disaster songs can be found throughout the American songbook. Revell Carr who writes for the New York Journal of Folklore, found that songs of disasters have six basic elements:

1. The song describes actual historical events
2. The event features significant loss of life
3. Themes and motifs include unheeded warnings, human culpability, and divine retribution.
4. Stock formulae—most commonly the date of the tragedy, which usually appears at the beginning—are used both as mnemonic devices and as keys signifying the performance frame.
5. Voyeuristic and sensationalistic details give the song a tabloid quality:
6. The song conveys empathy for the victims and the survivors

The hurricane that struck Galveston, Texas in 1900 offers an example of folk music at its best; telling a story with narrative power while evoking an emotional response to the victim’s suffering. The song “A Mighty Day” was recorded by the Chad Mitchell Trio:

The trains they all were loaded
With people leavin’ town,
The tracks gave way to the ocean, Lord,
And the trains they went on down.

Now death your hands are icy.
You’ve got them on my knee.
You took away my mother now.
You’re comin’ after me.

That last verse is evocative of a more famous disaster song, Gordon Lightfoot’s The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald:

When supper time came the old cook came on deck
Saying fellows it’s too rough to feed ya
At 7PM a main hatchway caved in
He said fellas it’s been good to know ya.

Does anyone know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours
The searchers all say they’d have made Whitefish Bay
If they’d put fifteen more miles behind her.

These songs were used in lieu of the nationalizing of grief that we take for granted today. Professor Carr:

Disaster songs like “The Lexington” serve as catalysts for communitas and help heal psychic wounds in the disaster’s aftermath, and they capitalize upon the common human urge to bear witness—all part of the same process of coping with the chaos and confusion of traumatic social dramas….

Disaster songs function as redressive action, communicating shared sentiments and emotions, through which a social bond with others can be solidified in the days and weeks following a disaster. The power of the ritualistic performance of the disaster song is linked to the profound experience of communitas inherent in the social drama of disaster….

Does the power of song still hold sway today? Following 9/11, a huge outpouring of emotion rocked American letters and the performing arts. The event was so transcendent that it could be said that only the Civil War brought more emotion to the surface through artistic expression.

The Civil War lasted 4 years and colored a generation of American artists for decades afterwards. But the effect of 9/11 has sadly been more transitory. In a very large way, the American artistic community has let the country down. Even though 9/11 colors our politics and affects the very definition of what America is and what it will become, it does not affect much of our cultural life. Execpt perhaps in the visual art of photography, there have been precious few artistic endeavors that have sought to explain 9/11 and make it part of our national narrative. Are we too close historically for that to happen? I don’t believe so. And what little has been written or displayed about that horrible day has largely taken the form of petty political shots at the President - not very elevating but typical of an artistic culture that seeks acceptance at Upper West Side cocktail parties rather than dealing with that event as the cultural earthquake it proved to be.

As I write this there’s a chance that the worst of the hurricane’s destructive power will miss New Orleans - good news for the city but bad news for someone else. And if the past is a guide, I’m certain that someone will be putting words to music in order to give voice to the powerful emotions engendered as we all witness the titanic forces of nature once again reminding us how small and insignificant we truly are in the scheme of the Almighty.

Who are you going to believe with regard to the story on the Iraq constitution? The Washington Post, AP, or Omar from Iraq the Model who was live blogging the legislative session where the constitution was discussed as well as giving us a blow by blow account of analysis by major players being interviewed on television.

First, the updated Washington Post:

“The chances of bringing Sunni Arabs to the political process are almost lost,” said Salih Mutlak, the most vocal and most publicly unyielding of the Sunnis involved in talks on the constitution. “The Sunni Arabs will suffer a lot, unfortunately. Everybody in Iraq is going to suffer from this.”

And here’s the AP:

A top Sunni negotiator, Saleh al-Mutlaq, told Alhurra Television that all opponents of the constitution will hold a conference to decide their next move. He gave no date.

“Now we will move to a general conference that includes all groups that did not take part in the (Jan. 30) elections to take a decision,” he told the U.S.-funded station.

Al-Mutlaq said earlier the Sunni negotiators would not sign off on the final draft because of objections to provisions that allegedly threaten Iraqi unity — particularly federalism — and fail to affirm the country’s Arab identity. The draft refers to Iraq as an Islamic — but not Arab — country as the Sunnis demanded.

“I think if this constitution passes as it is, it will worsen everything in the country,” he said.

At the same time, al-Mutlaq urged all Iraqis to refrain from violence

Now here’s Omar:

While the draft is still being read, Salih Al-Mutlaq confirmed again that none of the 15 Sunni members of the CDC have signed the draft.

Al-Mutlaq also highlighted the American role in bridging the gap between the different parties involved in the process but he put the blame on the other parties (the Sheat and the Kurds) for focusing on “their narrow partisan and sectarian” interests.

Our only difference we had with the Americans was about setting a rigid timetable for completing the process.
[..]

We’ll be calling all the powers that didn’t participate in the last elections for a conference where we will be declaring our objections on the draft…

Al-Mutlaq also explained that their objections are limited to a few points and that they agree with large parts of constitution and he stressed that they (the Sunni parties) will fully participate in the future phases of the political process.

He also called on the people who are not satisfied with the draft to avoid violence and keep practicing their normal daily activities and express their opinion in peace.

I think I’ll let you, the reader decide about which account is the least biased and most accurate. All I’m doing here is shaking my head in sadness that we live in a time of such peril and are being served by such a bunch of idiots in the mainstream press.

I’ve written about this before and I’m going to keep writing about it because it bears repeating. If Cindy Sheehan has energized the anti-war movement, if she’s “ignited a prairie fire of sentiment against the war” that’s sweeping the country, and if our Griever in Chief is the “Rosa Parks” of the opposition to the Iraq War would someone please give me a straight answer to a very simple, very straightforward question:

WHERE ARE ALL THE PROTESTERS?

It took a little digging, but I was able to discover that there are less than 200 people camping out with Mother Sheehan in Crawford with perhaps another 1,500 people in and around the town on any given day. While the number of campers is kept low due to space limitations, that 1,500 number appears to be pretty solid. And not all of those people are there for the protest. Many are connected with the so-called “Crawford Peace House” whose anti-semitic activities have been well documented elsewhere.

The other night, folk singer and legendary anti-war activist Joan Baez drew around 200 people to a free concert near the camp site. Also, this blogger took the trouble to add up names from three Guest Books which had been placed around Camp Casey and discovered 750 signatures - not from one day but from more than 2 weeks of protests.

It’s like this “mass movement” exists only on a Hollywood sound stage. When the cameras are turned off, it disappears like smoke from a fog machine wafting up into the rafters. It’s bogus. It’s a lie. It’s one gigantic photo-op staged for the benefit of the press whose seeming indifference to some of the truly kooky things Sheehan has said (not to mention the nauseating anti-semitic rants of Mother Sheehan and her supporters) is almost beyond comprehension.

Cindy Sheehan is not Rosa Parks. She’s Carrie Underwood, the completely made for TV “star” that Fox created out of whole cloth on their show American Idol. Cindy Sheehan has been manufactured. Piece by counterfeit piece, the legend of Mother Sheehan has been built from scratch. What started out as some left wing nut of a mother and her genuine grief at the loss of her son being shamelessly used by the hard, anti-war left to raise their pitiful profile has now morphed into a media event complete with PR flaks, political advisers, and media gurus who have turned her Quixote like protest into the signature image of a movement with nothing and nobody behind it.

Even the Moveon.org sponsored anti-war “Peace Vigils” last week - 1600 of them if you believe the propaganda (a number never confirmed by any news organization but used in every single account by the press reporting on that night’s activities) drew paltry numbers of people. Some blogging accounts put the number of activists at many of these protests at a dozen or less. And the estimate of 1600 protests is from the same folks who said there were 500,000 people in the streets of New York City during the main protest at the Republican Convention. Less hysterical and more professional crowd counters - the New York City police - put the number at 150,000.

This Washington Post article on the “dueling protests” in Crawford yesterday is a perfect example of how the national media has chosen to promote the anti-war uber mother:

In three weeks, Sheehan, who lost her 24-year-old son, Army Spec. Casey Sheehan, in Iraq last year, has become the face of an invigorated antiwar movement. She has drawn praise from scores of supporters as well as condemnation from conservatives who believe she is motivated by a political agenda that dishonors fallen soldiers.

“Why are we allowing him to continue to kill our kids, because he’s killed so many already?” she asked. She then invited the crowd to turn toward Bush’s ranch and chant “Not one more” — not one more death — 10 times so that the president might hear.

Her protest, timed to coincide with Bush’s vacation and the usual news vacuum in August, mirrors the country’s increasing fractiousness over the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq. Sheehan has said that if she fails to get a second audience with Bush before her self-imposed deadline of Wednesday, she will lead a bus tour to Washington, where she says she will set up a permanent vigil.

Is the anti-war movement “invigorated?” I’ve seen no sign of it. There’s been a lot of ink spilled saying that but where are the bodies? Where’s the passion? Where’s the organization? Where’s the “mass movement?”

WHERE ARE ALL THE PROTESTERS?

You’d never find the answer to that question in the Washington Post article. Somehow that fact got lost on the composing room floor. What does the Washington Times say?

Meanwhile, busloads of war protesters gathered several miles away at “Camp Casey,” named for Mrs. Sheehan’s 24-year-old son.

A bell-ringing ceremony at the camp honored soldiers serving in Iraq. Organizers estimated the crowd at more than 2,000, but it appeared smaller.

“I know that the Camp Casey movement is going to end the war in Iraq,” Mrs. Sheehan said after folk singer Joan Baez led supporters in singing “Amazing Grace.”

The Times estimated the pro-war crowd at about 1,500. The NRO’s Eric Pfeiffer puts the number (quoting AP) at 3,000. Needless to say, the spur of the moment “Move America Forward” pro war rally organized in less than a week outdrew someone whose name, face, and cause has been plastered all over the media for more than a fortnight.

I believe it’s time to challenge the left and their allies in the media to start giving us some hard facts on the size and scope of the anti-war movement rather than relying on “impressions” and passing them off as news. Anecdotal evidence won’t do. The latest polls show that most Americans disagree with the President’s handling of the war. Hell, any conservative blogger worth their salt is criticizing the President’s handling of some aspect of the Iraq War. It’s a silly question that doesn’t mean anything. The question that really matters is how many Americans want to cut and run from Iraq - the position being advocated by Cindy Sheehan and the leftist lickspittles who are shamelessly using her grief to advance their radical agenda. And that number has remained overwhelmingly in favor of the President. By more than 2 to 1 in the latest Gallup, Rasumssen, and Washington Post poll, Americans say that we should remain in Iraq until the job is done.

That’s the number that counts. And despite a media campaign manufactured, massaged, and manipulated by professionals whose skills in creating illusions rival those of a magician or a Hollywood special effects house, the number of people who actually support Mrs. Sheehan and her increasingly violent rhetorical attacks on the President, on her opponents, on other mothers who have lost loved ones in Iraq, and on America itself is not growing into some critical mass of people that will explode like the protests of a generation ago against Viet Nam. Rather, it appears that Mother Sheehan’s support is drawn from the same tired old left, old guard, blame America firsters whose numbers continue to dwindle as old age, senility, and a dissolute lifestyle catch up with them.

UPDATE

Lori Byrd at Polipundit notices the same lack of anti-war enthusiasm:

For all the publicity Cindy Sheehan and the anti-war groups are receiving, they are not attracting large numbers of people. This says more to me than the recent public opinion polls. When the steady drumbeat from the MSM is that we are losing in Iraq, it is understandable that many would express disapproval of the way things are going there. I believe that the most passion, however, is with those who support the troops and their mission. We should take every opportunity available to express that support – even if it does not get much attention from the MSM. Through email, talk radio, and the blogs, the message will eventually get through to those serving in Iraq.

Yup.

Jay Tea at Wizbang hits the nail on the head with this post about other questions Mother Moonbat should be asking Bush:

But while she’s there, perhaps she’ll take a moment or two to bring up a couple of other matters. She might ask President Bush why he’s the “biggest terrorist in the world.” She could inquire why he “and his indecent bandits traitorously had intelligence fabricated.”

And while she has the “lying bastard” and “maniac’s” undivided attention, she might bring up her solution to the Middle East problem — “you get America out of Iraq and Israel out of Palestine and you’ll stop the terrorism.”

While she’s there, maybe she could give the President the “Chief Brody Slap”…it’s what she wants anyway.

And yes Mr. Joyner, it is a nice day for a Sunday drive!

UPDATE II

Welcome LGF Readers! Thanks to Charles for the link. Here’s another Cindy Sheehan post you may enjoy on her upcoming bus tour:

SHEEHAN: I AM THE WALRUS

UPDATE III

Little Green Footballs actually has some pictures that prove the point of this post.

I see some intelligent comments from the lizardoids about hurricane Katrina pushing Cindy off the nets followed by the Roberts confirmation starting next week.

Good point. Except this hurricane looks like it could be the worst natural disaster in American history and if, God help us, it stays on course, just about everything else will pale in comparison to what those people in New Orleans will be going through for a very long time.

If you haven’t seen the numbers, they’re talking about 100,000 people being homeless with the city itself uninhabitable for weeks. FEMA has activated its catastrophic disaster plan - the kind they’d use for a massive terrorist attack or a truly horrifying earthquake - and they’re putting people up in the Superdome. The economic hit could be as massive as 9/11.

Cindy Sheehan’s crusade should be relegated to the ash heap of history because she’s taking part in a fraud. It’s ironic, and typical of the MSM, that a natural disaster will accomplish that fact and not any well deserved disapprobation on the part of the media or the people.

This could be good news. Then again, it may be too late. But in an 11th hour bid to keep the constitutional process alive, the Sunnis have apparently offered a “compromise

The counterproposal came in an afternoon news conference held by Tariq Hashimi, secretary general of the Iraqi Islamic Party, who said he would be meeting with U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad later Saturday.

Hashimi said a plan by Shiites and Kurds to have parliament approve the document Sunday — with or without Sunni concurrence — was too hasty.

“This is unfair,” he said. “They cannot put us in such a corner where either we agree or that’s it. The draft did not contain what we had asked for.”

This “not so fast” ploy is being played out under what has to be intense US pressure on all parties to get together and break the impasse. The President already had called Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) leader Abdul Aziz Hakim yesterday and pleaded with him to give more ground to the Sunnis in order to reach a deal. Apparently Hakim grudgingly gave in to the President’s pleas only to have many (not all) of the Sunni negotiators throw the compromises back in his face.

That’s when Hakim decided to up the ante and announced that the draft constitution would be taken before the parliament “as is” and voted on. Since the Shia-Kurd block controls 221 out of 275 seats in parliament and only a simple majority would have been needed for passage, the wily Hakim was giving the Sunnis a stark choice; get on board or be frozen out.

Apparently, Hakim’s gamble has paid off and the Sunnis want back in. And their representatives meeting with American Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad signals that there may be a little more “give” to the Sunnis position than they’ve had previously.

The Sunnis really have little choice. Already hugely unpopular due to their domination during the Saddam years as well as their more recent support of the violent insurgency, any walkout by them could throw the entire country into chaos - with violence directed toward their communities by Shia militias who vastly outnumber the Sunni minority.

The US military is worried enough that they’ve made arrangements to augment the number of troops in case of massive unrest as a result of a failure to reach an agreement on the constitution:

While outwardly declaring optimism over the political process, the US administration appeared to be preparing for its unraveling with urgent plans being drawn up to send more large-scale military reinforcements. The Pentagon had announced that two battalions of the 82nd Airborne, about 1,500 troops, will be deployed. But according to senior American sources, a brigade of some 5,000 will be sent to combat the violent fallout from the constitution crisis.

Those troops were probably earmarked for Iraq anyway in that there was a plan already in place to increase US troop strength in the lead-up to the referendum on the constitution on October 15. And while domestic pressure would increase on the President to get American forces out of Iraq in the event of a full fledged civil war, that eventuality is thankfully becoming more remote.

The two largest Shia militias - Moqtada al Sadr’s Mahdi militia and Hakim’s SCIRI’s Badr Brigade - are rivals for power in the new Iraqi government. But in a twist of irony, al Sadr can’t afford all out war with the Badr Brigades because of the latter’s much larger size and Hakim needs al Sadr and his supporters to make any Iraqi government work. The two are caught in a mutual dance where all out war between them could doom them both.

Would they combine to slaughter the Sunnis? The Sunnis have their own militias (many of which are involved in the insurgency already) and could make any such conflict troublesome for the Shias. The key must be found in the new federalism being proposed by the Shias in the constitution. Sunni leaders are worried that if strong, autonomous states are formed with the Kurds in the North and Shias in the south, any Sunni state will be squeezed out of oil revenue as well as other economic benefits.

Their fears may be justified. That’s why the Sunni compromise may be the key to success. The Sunnis wish to delay debate on any federalism issues for two years. From their point of view, it makes eminently good sense. They want to see how Sunnis will be treated in any new government before they commit to a federalist system. My guess would be that there will be enormous pressure placed on the Shias by the US to accept this compromise. It won’t bring all the Sunnis on board, but it should bring enough that the constitution could claim support among all elements of Iraqi society.

Any way you look at it, the next few hours will be crucial in the life of the new Iraq. In the end, let’s hope they all realize that in order to live together, this constitution will have to be a first step.

Muqtada al Sadr is a name familiar to most Americans who have been following the Iraq war closely. His “Mahdi Militia” has twice foolishly tried to take on the US military and been slaughtered - once in Najaf where Sadr’s chestnuts were pulled out of the fire at the last minute by a sickly Ayatollah al Sistani and again in Baghdad’s impoverished Sadr city where the radical cleric was forced to agree to a cease fire to save what was left of his militia.

Despite those two setbacks, Sadr’s militia has become the sharp end of the stick for his brand of Iraqi nation building. In a story that’s been developing for months and has gone largely unreported in this country (although British newspapers have done a good job in keeping tabs on Sadr’s political ploys) Sadr’s militia has followed the age-old axiom of politics - power abhors a vacuum - and moved into cities and hamlets in southern Iraq where Iraqi government forces have either been too weak or too scared to challenge him. They have introduced the strictest form of Islamic law, segregated the sexes, forced women to wear the burqa, and adopted an Islamic code of justice for local jurisprudence.

In effect, Sadr has been trying to set up an autonomous region in the south. Part of the reason for doing this is that he believes that the largest Shia party in Iraq, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) is getting too close for comfort to the Iranian Mullahs. Sadr fears Iranian influence almost as much as he opposes the American occupation. Hence, as a hedge against that influence (and as a way to have more influence himself) his militia has carved out a sizable slice of Iraq where neither the national government or American’s have much sway.

The wrangling over the new constitution has put Sadr into something of a bind. Relegated to a backseat in negotiations with the Sunni’s and Kurds, Sadr has decided to play an extraordinarily dangerous political game. He has actually cast his lot with the Sunni’s in opposing the constitution based on the concept of federalism as defined in the drafts. Sadr evidently believes that by granting too much autonomy to a Shia federal state, the SCIRI will dominate the politics of the state government leaving he and his followers out in the cold.

To assess his influence within the Shia community, al Sadr fomented an armed clash this past Wednesday between his Mahdi militia and the militia backing SCIRI, the Badr Brigade:

The violence erupted after al-Sadr loyalists tried to reopen an old office belonging to the al-Sadrite movement. The attempt to open up an office met with resistance from al-Sadr’s main rival group, the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI). SCIRI’s armed wing, the Badr Brigades, and al-Sadr’s Mehdi Army are the only two noteworthy militias among the Iraqi Shia.

Almost everyone in the Shiite political spectrum took serious note of the clash and has been quick to placate al-Sadr. His opposition comes from SCIRI, not the entire Shiite community — and even SCIRI publicly denies involvement in and condemns the attack. Satisfied that he is taken seriously by the more established groups among the Shia, al-Sadr then decided to back off and call for peace and harmony within the community. In other words, al-Sadr generated a mini-crisis to assess his current political status and the future of his movement.

This move also puts al-Sadr closer to the Sunnis, who have accused the Badr Brigades of engaging in violence against their community. Al-Sadr knows that if he is to rise within the ranks of the Shia, resistance will come from SCIRI — which means future clashes between Shiite militias are likely. For now, however, the Shiite movers and shakers have brought things under control.

By fighting with the SCIRI, whose revenge killings against Sunnis for Shia deaths due to the insurgency have been rising in recent months, al Sadr has actually gained some support among important Sunni leaders. In addition, while Sunni’s have taken to the streets to protest provisions in the constitution that outlaw Saddam’s Baath Party, Sadr’s politicos also ordered demonstrations and in an impressive show of political muscle, more than 100,000 al Sadr supporters poured into the streets in several cities on Thursday protesting against US interference in the constitutional process as well as proclaiming opposition to the federalism clauses in the draft document.

So far, Sadr himself has kept his position on the fate of the draft constitution to himself. In a way, he has painted himself into a corner and will have no choice but to oppose it. If the constitution is passed by parliament as is, Sadr will find himself in a quandary. If he supports the constitution, his influence in the Shia community will be reduced significantly. If he opposes it, he’ll be seen as an impediment to progress. What’s more, Sadr’s opposition will likely not take the form of sitting on the sidelines with his militia. Armed conflict with the SCIRI could be in the offing.

In short, al Sadr is a wildcard in the whole constitutional mess. His choices are narrowing the closer the constitution gets to ratification. And despite his militia’s questionable military capabilities, they are fanatical enough to cause a host of problems for both US troops and the SCIRI. Al Sadr will not go quietly into political oblivion.

Is there a way to satisfy the radical cleric while maintaining the integrity of the constitution? Some observers believe that most of what al Sadr is doing can be explained by a desire to be taken seriously by the entire Shia community. They point to Sadr’s religious standing (he’s too young to have the experience and years of religious study to become a respected Shia cleric) as a major cause of his frustrations. Could he be appeased by Ayatollah al Sistani who could elevate his standing as a cleric? It’s possible but not likely. As in all religions there are rules and procedures, not to mention traditions, that must be followed. It’s doubtful that even if Sistani wanted to he could satisfy al Sadr’s desires in this regard.

Could al Sadr’s Mahdi militia join with the Sunni insurgency and make common cause against the coalition? This has been a fear of the US military since Sadr emerged as a player following the US shut down of his inflammatory newspaper Al Hawza. And al Sadr’s flirtation with Sunni support in opposition to the constitution is troubling indeed. However, unless Sadr has gone off the deep end, it’s unlikely not only that he would actually join forces with the unreconstructed Baathists but that the Sunni’s would trust him in the first place.

What is possible is that Sadr would initiate a low level insurgency in the months leading up to the October 15 nationwide vote on ratifying the constitution which would be designed to highlight his political position as well as attempt to weaken support for the SCIRI. This too would be a dangerous game with Sadr running the risk that the Badr Brigades and the US military would think him too troublesome and try to destroy his militia and thus his influence. But it’s also possible that by carrying out attacks on both US military targets and Badr Brigade cadres, his influence would skyrocket among the Shia population.

Muqtada al Sadr presents an enormous problem for both the United States and the new Iraqi government. At the moment, they’re desperately trying to placate him so that his fanatical followers don’t disrupt the constitutional process that’s balanced on a knifes edge. But Sadr has his own balancing act to worry about. Which way the radical cleric goes may determine the future of constitutional government in Iraq.

Information in this article was obtained from Lebanonwire.com, a subscription only mideast news service.

I just can’t wait.

In six days the “Mother Sheehan Magical Mystery Tour” will depart from Crawford, Texas and slowly wend its way toward Washington, D.C. where it’s scheduled to arrive on September 24. That’s the day set aside for every loon, goon, moonbat, March hare, and various vagrants to appear on the Washington Mall for a rally against any and all things Bush, Republican, and to a large extent, American.

Oh what a time it will be.

I’m mighty tempted to join in myself just to soak up the atmosphere and relive the glories of my youth where it was the fashion to attend anti-war demonstrations so that you could show your solidarity with the brave Vietnamese resistance to American imperialism. It was also a fact that hippie girls were easy as was access to some great weed. Put the two together and you could have one hell of a party without really trying.

For Mother Sheehan, the bus trip will be reminiscent of of one of the strangest Beatle’s albums (and movies) the fab four ever made. Magical Mystery Tour told the story of a bus trip taken by the Beatles through the English countryside where they meet the strangest bunch of kooks and characters including someone Sheehan should be very familiar with; The Fool on the Hill:

Well on his way his head in a cloud,
The man of a thousand voices talking perfectly loud
But nobody ever hears him,
Or the sound he appears to make,
And he never seems to notice,
But the fool on the hill . .

The Lennon-McCartney lyrics call to mind the times perfectly; a colorful, carefree kind of harmless nonsense with the war’s darkness always lurking in the background. These lyrics to I am the Walrus epitomize that concept:

Expert textpert choking smokers,
Don’t you think the joker laughs at you?
See how they smile like pigs in a sty,
See how they snied.
I’m crying.

Semolina pilchard, climbing up the Eiffel Tower.
Elementary penguin singing Hari Krishna.
Man, you should have seen them kicking Edgar Allan Poe.
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen.
I am the walrus, goo goo g’joob…

Also reminiscent of the 1960’s was the little piece of guerrilla theater put on yesterday by Sheehan and her supporters:

The antiwar protesters responded Thursday with an emotional ceremony, carried live on national television, in which Sheehan was presented with the boots worn by her son before he was killed. She tearfully laid them before a small cross bearing her son’s name, surrounded by dozens of supporters. There were sobs from other women whose sons were killed in Iraq.

I have no doubt Sheehan’s tears as well as the tears of others there were genuine. However, when you hire a public relations firm and have a dozen or more political “handlers” advising on the protest, the fact that this little slice of “reality” was broadcast live makes the entire “event” fair game for critics like me who would have thought the gesture much more heartfelt if carried out in private - like the President’s visit with Mrs. Sheehan following the death of her son.

The event was put on for the cameras. And for the left to continue to use this woman’s grief as a rallying cry for cutting and running in Iraq is worse than ghoulish. It’s a sad reminder of the utter contempt the left holds for the American people and America itself.

UPDATE

Meanwhile, the semi-official blog of Mother Sheehan’s catered Jamboree Camp Casey Now continues to sound a couple of discordant notes in this anti-American symphony.

First, they complained that there weren’t enough people camping out with her (150 as of Wednesday), something I pointed out here:

If Cindy Sheehan is the “Rosa Parks” of the peace movement, if she’s the second coming of Martin Luther King or the “tipping point” that will energize the anti war movement and turn it into a raging prairie fire that will sweep evil George and his neocons from office, how come there are less than 100 people camping out at salon de Cindee in Crawford?

For God’s sake, Waco, a city of more than 100,000, is just a hop skip and a jump from Crawford. Are you trying to tell me with a city of that size and that close that you can’t even get the local loonies to come out and show their support for Sheehan?

Not only was there a complaint of not enough moonbats, the ones who were there were taken to task for being lazy!

Why are activists spending time cooking and cleaning etc… they should be spend most of their time building (tent city, signs, more crosses), educating the media, doing something pro-active to get more numbers there. They should be doing everything imaginable to get the truth covered by the mainstream media, like making banners or flyers with things like, “The Downing Street Memo is equivalent to the Watergate Tapes” and placing them everywhere, so any mainstream newscast from Camp Casey will have something in the background. Beware of ineffective signs… misinformation agents will gladly volunteer for the task then make it illegible, or put bad slogans, etc…

Now the problem appears to be that they’re having such a good time in Crawford, there’s some question as to why they want to leave so early:

Why? Labor Day is a huge travel holiday… why not advertise Crawford, Texas as the site of the Great American Campout this Labor Day Weekend. I don’t know for sure, but in all likelihood our vacationing President will stay thru the weekend- why the rush to disband Camp Casey? Why the rush to announce the camp’s demise- if not to kill the momentum.

Is Ann Wright’s plan the best plan for the peace movement? Do the caravans really need those extra 5 days?

The moonbat wants to advertise a “Labor Day at Camp Casey” that would draw thousands, thousands I tell you!

This will be paid for by the $125,000 or more in donations already received. $10,000 in lumber and in canvas, and 100 volunteers with cordless drills could whip up a slew of quick tent frames that could fit a family or two.

If we advertise this widely- we could get many, many thousands of people to come to Crawford to make a real statement. Which would be more powerful in affecting change, caravans leaving the 31st, or the Great American Campout in Crawford? Am I being divisive just because, or is there actual logic behind this proposal.

Logic? At Camp Casey? When you find some kid, let me know.

UPDATE

With both Al Sharpton and the Neo-Nazis on their way to Crawford, Goldstein has the line of the day:

I see. A bit of logistical advice to Camp Crawford organizers, if I may? Hide any strong rope and/or Jews.