Right Wing Nut House

For the forseeable future, Judge Roberts would appear to be the kind of Supreme Court nominee we’re likely to get; relatively young, limited service on the appellate bench, hence, limited ammunition that can be used by the President’s political opponents to block a potential nominee.

In short, with nothing much to hang their hat on with regards to Roberts’ record, the Democrats will be forced to make his appearance before the Judiciary Committee a time for speechifying rather than serious questioning of the candidates qualifications.

This will no doubt anger their more rabid partisans at the Alliance for Justice, People for the American Way, and the other far left organizations who have taken over the grass roots of the Democratic party. But the fact is, unless some transgression committed by Judge Roberts can be found, there is very little chance the Reid-Boxer-Kennedy wing of the party can block him.

Looking at statements made by the few center-left Democratic Senators left, the President should be encouraged. Here’s Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE):

The best case scenario for Judge Roberts, the President and the country is for Judge Roberts to emerge from these proceedings with broad appeal. There’s always a danger in being defined as an activist judge with an agenda and a willingness to legislate from the bench. The confirmation process will shed light on Judge Roberts’ and what kind of Justice he might become.”

Senator Landrieu (D-LA):

“As I wrote the President last week, I hoped for a nominee who could unite the nation and muster the enthusiastic consensus support that Justice O’Connor and six other current Justices earned. As the Senate examines Judge Roberts’ credentials and hears his testimony, we will begin to learn whether this support is attainable.

And Senator Lieberman said last week that if Roberts were picked, he would “be in the ballpark” as far as acceptability.

These three Democrats, along with Mark Pryor (D-AR) and perhaps Ken Salazar (D-CO) could make this a fairly easy confirmation if they get on board early enough. Their support would more than offset any opposition from Repbublican moderates like Chaffee and Snowe.

Lincoln Chaffee may be a lost cause given that he’s in a tight re-election fight in liberal Rhode Island. But the Maine Senate duo of Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins would probably be inclined to support Roberts despite his being wobbly on Roe. As for others in the gaggle of 7 GOP Senators who voted to stop the nuclear option, Senators Graham, Warner, and McCain will almost certainly vote to confirm and Senator DeWine will want to start repairing the damage he did to his base in Ohio following his participation in the “gang of 14.”

What are the prospects for a filibuster? Captain Ed has an interesting scenario:

My prediction: we will see a Bolton-style stall tactic, where the Democrats demand more and more documentation from prior cases, and then filbuster when the White House finally balks. The Democrats started this tactic during Miguel Estrada’s confirmation hearings.

Interesting scenario but, I think unlikely. First of all, unless the Democrats are going to demand raw FBI reports on Roberts, just about everything else is about him is in the public domain. As far as his work at the Justice Department in the late ’80’s and 90’s, I’m almost certain the White House has vetted that documentation very carefully and would probably make them part of the confirmation package they send to all Senators on the Judiciary Committee. In short, unless the White House rushed the nomination in order to drive the Rovian mess off the front pages and have been careless in their vetting of the nominee, I doubt whether the Democrats could stall the nomination by asking for “further documentation.”

Here’s some reaction from some of the saner members of the left:

Out Loud:

the gop controls all three branches of our government. it’s just not going to happen. this doesn’t look like the “extraordinary circumstances” that was part of the filibuster deal. in addition, we are basically sitting where the GOP was when clinton got his two picks. the GOP mustered token opposition, but ginsburg and breyer got through easily.

Shadow of the Hegemon:

According to common sense, he’s worth of a filibuster if anybody is.

According to Demosthenes, he’s a test of courage. If the Dems don’t act, they’re invertebrates.

MyDD:

You know what? If Republicans are forced to use the nuclear option to confirm Roberts, then so be it. As far as I am concerned, that is the only way he should be confirmed. People will pay attention to this one. We just have to make the case ot them why he was unacceptable.

Daily Kos (Kos Post):

So who is this guy Roberts? He has only two years of judicial experience, and his legal advocacy can be dismissed as doing the bidding of his bosses.

But he has to be honest and forthcoming, unlike his previous confirmation hearing. The Senate must take its time deliberating over the nomination. And this is something that all sides should want, not just ours. For all the right wing knows, this guy may be the next Souter who simply pretended to be virulently anti-privacy.

I think that if the Senate Republicans can peel off 3 or 4 Democratic Senators then the prospects of a filibuster are lessened considerably. There would be two reasons for this:

1. Reid may not want to appear to be too obstructionist.
2. Senate Democrats may want to save the filibuster to use against a successor to Rehnquist.

By getting 58 or 59 votes to confirm, Reid and the left may want to throw in the towel on Roberts and keep their powder dry for the day when Rhenquist finally leaves. And, as some believe, if Rehnquist is delaying his announcement until the fall, the confirmation battle would butt up against the 2006 Congressional elections. This would give the Democrats exactly what they want; a bruising confirmation fight where they would force the Republicans to “destroy the constitution” in order to confirm the President’s choice.

Then again…I may be completely wrong and Reid, Boxer, and the entire Democratic party may be under such pressure by the moonbats at Moveon that perhaps they’ll feel they have no choice but go to the mat over Roberts. Are they that stupid?

Time will tell.

UPDATE

Captain Ed has an excellent round-up of major newspaper editorials that show some respect for Bush’s political skills in choosing Roberts as well as a measured “wait and see” attitude that’s somehow refreshing. The Captain also correctly identifies a probable line of attack against the nominee:

On the other hand, the LAT finds the two issues I think will likely be the biggest hurdles of his confirmation, apart from Roe: his membership in the Federalist Society and his recent vote upholding military tribunals for terrorist detainees at Gitmo and elsewhere. Given the recent histrionics in the Senate involving Gitmo, I expect the latter will give Democrats not just an opportunity to beat up Roberts, but to use him as a proxy to grandstand against the Bush administration on the war.

The Powerline crew mentions possible avenues to attack Roberts but curiously leaves out the detainee decision which upheld the idea that the government could create special tribunals for the terrorists being held at Guantanamo. I agree with the Captain that along with his views on Roe, Roberts will receive the most flack for that decision.

Hugh Hewitt has a personal recollection of Roberts that makes him sound compelling:

Judge John Roberts may be the smartest lawyer I have known, and he combines that intellect with a graciousness and good humor that will make it hard for any except the most extreme ideolouges to oppose him. Here’s his bio, but it cannot fully convey the great intellectual force which Justice Roberts will bring to the SCOTUS.

Full disclosure: Judge Roberts and I were colleagues in the White House Counsel’s Office in 1985/1986.

Calling Roberts a “judicial superstar,” Mark Noonan is extremely pessimistic about the prospects for a relatively easy confirmation:

Some people are saying that there might not be that big a fight over this nominee - that with Roberts having been confirmed for his current position by unanimous consent, there is no way “extraordinary circumstances” can come into play; that while there may be some delaying tactics employed, what we should look forward to is a swift and painless confirmation of this nominee. That, unfortunately, is nonsense. Our Democrats, it must be remembered, are entirely enthralled to the far left these days - additionally, we have learned in the Delay and Rove affairs that nothing as trivial as facts and common decency will divert Democrats from their attack-dog tactics. We’re in for a very large and long fight on this nominee.

I don’t usually disagree with Mark but in this case, I think he’s wrong. If Reid can’t get his caucus to march in lockstep on this one - and it appears to me that would be a steep, uphill climb at this point - there’s no way he’s going to advocate a filibuster. Why waste your best ammunition on a lost cause? Better to wait and use it to block either a replacement for the Chief or, more likely, a nominee to fill Rehnquist’s seat. Remember, when Rehnquist goes, there will be two confirmation fights; one on Bush’s choice for a new Chief and one on a replacement for Rehnquist.

And a very interesting take on the battle shaping up between Schumer and Roberts via Thomas Lifson at The American Thinker:

Schumer, who loves TV cameras almost as much as he loves being the smartest guy in the room, is about to clash with a guy who outdid him. John G. Roberts and Chuck Schumer both did the Harvard College and Harvard Law School thing. But Roberts graduated from Harvard summa cum laude, and from Harvard Law School magna cum laude.

These are not just funny words. They mean something. A lot, in fact.

Read the whole thing. I think Lifson has Schumer down to a “T.”

UPDATE II

Jeff Goldstein asks the question of questions…the mother of all interrogatories…a plaintive cry from the blogging wilderness that all bloggers ask themselves but don’t have the cohones to actually put out there for all to see:

Question for the blogosphere: Who does a guy have to bang to get included in a roundup these days?

Thirteen updates!

That much work deserves recognition, even if it comes from me and my small, insignificant corner of the Shadow Media. Therefore, in recognition of yeoman’s work done in rounding up reaction from left, right, center, and other planets not of this solar system, I hereby link to Protein Wisdom and recommend that any and all attend to his site and read what Jeff hath wrought.

As expected, the liberal left has eschewed partisan politics and, as is their wont, taken the high road in their opposition to John Roberts to replace Sandra Day O’Connor as Supreme Court Justice.

Don’t believe me? Here’s a comment thread at Daily Kos that shows the kind of principled opposition we can expect from our patriotic friends on the left:

Did You Catch His Wife?

And an alcoholic and drug addict…That’s how Karl starts the smearing process, isn’t it???

What a brilliant and ethical approach to opposing the Supreme Court nominee; go after his children!

Not to be outdone by their fellow tin foil hat wearers, the Democratic Underground weighs in with their own special definition of “The Reality Based Community”:

With his bush close ties and background he’ll be an internal spy on the Supreme Court for bushco for years to come. Just the 2000 election advice/crap should make him suspect. Bush is surrounded by people that can blackmail him…and people he can blackmail.

Fortunately they are in recess for the next five weeks, so nothing is going to happen. We’ve got five weeks to pick this guy apart and find the ghosts in his closets. Bush is proving how desperate he is. Otherwise he would have waited until Congress is back in session so that there wouldn’t be time to dig up any dirt on this one.

Most of us would prefer to argue the merits of Judge Robert’s nomination based on his knowledge of the law, his judicial temperament, and perhaps opinions he has authored. For some reason - probably because they realize they can’t win that way - the left will take the low road here and dig up something that I’m sure Mr. Roberts, Mrs. Roberts, and his children would prefer not see the light of day.

And the sad thing is, they will have willing partners helping them do their dirty work; the mainstream media and its thirst for scandal and controversy.

UPDATE

D.J. Drummond has a much more complete, er profile of the sanity or lack thereof from our lefty friends. One sample jumped out at me:

A great indicator of the Leftist mind is presented by Volvo Liberal, who suggests “Draw Blood, Move on. We really don’t have a winning hand here, and in the big pig picture, we are making traction with the American people. So my suggestion is:

Yeah, that’s a real good idea, trashing what little image of restraint and rational consideration the Democrats have left. It’s worked out real well the last few elections, hasn’t it?

And Bill Ardolino links to a post from Conservative Yankee that says little Jack Roberts is in kindergarten. So what line of attack can the pond scum take to smear a 6 year old?

Tell us, Conservative Yankee-dog, does he put away his toys? Sass his parents? Does he have a paste-eating habit?

Just what exactly does Jack Roberts have to hide?!

Bill also thinks Roberts looks like the “auto-pilot” Otto of Airplane II fame. Surely, he must be joking?

No he’s not…and don’t call him Shirley!

That noise you hear is exploding heads over at Daily Kos:

President Bush named federal appeals court judge John G. Roberts Jr. to a seat on the Supreme Court Tuesday, delighting Republicans while unsettling some Democrats with the selection of a young jurist with impeccable conservative credentials.

“John Roberts has devoted his entire professional life to the cause of justice,” Bush said in a prime-time announcement at the White House, “and is widely admired for his intellect his sound judgment and his personal decency.”

If confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate, the 50-year-old Roberts would succeed retiring Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who has long been a swing vote on a court divided narrowly on issues such as abortion, affirmative action, states’ rights and the death penalty.

If people never say anything else good about Bush 50 years from now, they’ll say that the man had some major league gonads. All the talk over the last few weeks about Bush losing his mandate and already being a lame duck just went out the window. He’s slapped the left across the face and thrown down the gauntlet daring them to be obstructionists.

I’m sure they’ll oblige.

The fact is that this choice is armegeddon for the left. Roberts is on record in favor of overturning Roe and for every left wing political group that matters, this would be absolute catastrophe. The reason? Not because abortions would stop, because they wouldn’t. But the catastrophe would be that it would force these groups to fight 50 different fights in 50 different states rather than fighting one big fight in Washington. As the abortion battle moves to where it should have been all along - the state legislatures - some states will allow it, some won’t, and some will probably leave it up to local communities as to whether or not to allow it. The rules governing abortions will also vary from state to state with some rules being restrictive and others not.

This is how it should have been all along. Only when the people feel they have a voice in decisions like this - not the very personal decision of whether or not to abort a child - but the political decisions that set down rules to govern people’s live.

Is there a chance that Roe would be completely overturned and all abortions made illegal? I would place those chances at zero. The body of law that has grown up around Roe is too intertwined with other issues of privacy to completely jetison it. More likely, parts of Roe will be struck down which would allow states to regulate abortion.

As for other issues like federalism and property rights, if Roberts aligns himself with Scalia and Thomas on a regular basis, that would be four solid conservative votes (with Rhenquist or his successor) which means that one of the more moderate Republicans like Souter or Kennedy would hold the balance of power in the court. I’ll take my chances with Kennedy who has proven himself to be a thougtful jurist when it comes to issues like affirmative action and states rights.

So cinch it up and strap it down because Kansas just went bye bye. It’s going to get bloody and probably pretty dirty.

A few links for your reading pleasure.

Michele Malkin has her usual tremendous round-up of the big story.

The Captian was live blogging the announcement.

The boys over at Powerline have been all over the story and link to a good profile of Roberts.

Ace has some thoughts.

And Hugh Hewitt is extremely happy. Here in the midwest you can catch Hughe’s special show that will go on till midnight.

Polipundit: “Now watch the far left squirm.”

Summer in the Midwest has arrived with a vengeance as heat, humidity, and electricity bills are all on the rise. Also arriving, as if on cue, are what we used to call “The DC Follies.” It seems that as the temps rise in Washington, D.C. there is a direct correlation with the amount of cluelessness exhibited by its hot and bothered denizens.

The most obvious manifestation of this phenomena is the scandal-that-has-yet-to-be-named involving Karl Rove (has something of a clue), Valerie Plame (clueless, but cute), and Joe Wilson (clueless, not cute, and a lying SOB to boot). But the clueless cohort of Wilson-Plame has got nothin’ on the Washington press corps. As the Captain has pointed out on several occasions this week, both reporters and columnists who continue to lionize the lying lickspittle Wilson need to take a remedial reading course so that they can write the facts instead of the spin they concocted to protect the CIA errand boy and pass him off a some kind of “whistleblower.”

But to understand what the weather does to the inhabitants of the swamp along the Potomac, one need look no further than Republican Congressman Tom (nuke ‘em all and let God sort ‘em out). Tancredo’s completely clueless remarks about what the US should do if hit by a terrorist nuke. His solution? Bomb Mecca! Not only does Tancredo’s cluelessness extend to a problem with “enemy identification” in that as of now, we are not at war with the Saudis but he also has a small problem with arithmetic in that he would seem to prefer having one billion angry Muslims as enemies rather than the relative handful we’re facing now. This brings to mind the old Russian joke about a potential war with China:

On the first day of the war, the Russians killed 50 million Chinese.
On the second day of the war, the Russians killed 100 million Chinese.
On the third day of the war, the Russians killed 200 million Chinese.
On the fourth day of the war, the Russisans surrendered.

So hats off to Tom Tancredo! The effort put forth to appear that clueless in public deserves recognition!

“‘Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.”
(Abraham Lincoln)
“I wonder if Honest Abe was thinking of Michael Moore when he said that.”
(Me)

Don Surber has one of those “Ripley Believe it or Not” posts that describes the new “environmentally friendly” building named for former KKK Kleagle Senator Robert Byrd. This is a really, really environmentally friendly structure.

Hey! The Gaijin Biker from Riding Sun has joined the Carnival! The MP From the Al Qaeda Party reveals BBC world affairs editor John Simpson to be the real clueless McCoy.

Remember Muqtada al-Sadr? You may recall he thought his Mahdi militia could take on the United States Marines in Najaf? You may also recall what a truly clueless idea that was. Giacomo of Joust the Facts has an interview with the moonbat that’s a must read.

Minh-Duc of State of Flux takes George Bush #41 to task for his “Policy of Shame” from 1991 where we abandoned the Shias to their fate following Gulf War I. Well written and a excellent points made.

Mr. Right at The Right Place writes of the far left’s favorite soap opera and why it should be canceled. Good thing I can still write “heh” although there appears to be a problem with “Ind**d.”

As the lovely Pamela from Atlas Shrugs points out, if the cluebats who put Live8 on would listen to Africans about what Africa needs, maybe they would have done a little bit more than just have a bunch of overpaid, overstuffed celebrities mug for the cameras.

Some “Torturous Investigating” at Willisms that takes on a favorite theme of moonbats that putting a thong on someone’s head is an egregious violation of human rights. I prefer issues of National Geographic - you know, the ones with pictures of island women from the 1960’s?

The Pirate’s Cove has the latest cluelessness from Hilliary. I hope for her sake that she’s leaving a trail of bread crumbs as she continues her quixotic journey from far left to the center. She’s still got a long way to go.

Gullyborg of Resistance is Futile has some water safety tips for Ted Kennedy gleaned from his home state’s website. Did anyone else snicker when Martini Boy complained about “waterboarding” at Gitmo?

The Maryhunter is in Hoboken today. That didn’t stop him from piling on Chuck Schumer for his change of heart in outing secret agents. There seems to be a lot of that going around lately.

Tom Bowler at Libertarian Leanings has the skinny on the “International Convention of Moonbats” or as it was curiously renamed “Campus Progress National Student Conference.” This is where Paul Begala uttered the immortal words “Republicans want to kill me!” No cure for that kind of cluelessness.

Evil Otto (instead of Pink Kitty who I originally gave attribution) at Machine Overlords has some pretty strong words for LA Times moonbat Joel Stein who not only likes to pose with dolls but also has some unkind words for Harry Potter. Stein should pick on someone whose intellect matches his own…like Barbie.

I’ve only got one question for Ferdy the Cat…How do you get your little paws around the microphone to do The Conservative Cat Podcast? I would hope that Bruce gives you a helping hand, although I realize the difficulty in training us dummy humans. Maybe if you gave him a cheeseball…

AJ at The Strata-Sphere gives us a glimpse at collectively speaking, the most clueless bunch of cluebats outside of Moveon; the United Nations. Can’t anybody add and subtract at the UN?

Van Helsing of Moonbattery has some strong words for Oliver Stone and his outer rim ideas about 9/11. I don’t mind so much a film about 9/11 as much as I think Stone will find some way to make it seem to have been our fault.

Mark Coffey at Decision ‘08 takes the nutty professor Juan Cole apart for being…well, nutty. Congratulations professor for being named “Jackass of the Week.” You certainly earned that one.

Beth at MVRWC has a leftard on the ropes for some idiocy about the Rovian kerfluffle. Besides attracting flies, the left’s constant preoccupation with excrement-laden insults makes one think that they’re all suffering from chronic diarrhea.

Two dogs at Mean Ole Meany takes on the splodeydopes who think that laws were broken in outing Mrs. Wilson. I guess some people think Vanity Fair should be marked “classified.”

Fiesty Republican Whore is walking the internet streets again and guess what she’s found? Pornography! Of course, our intrepid whore is just jealous because Hillary found it first.

He’s baaaack! The “Junior Senator from Massachusetts” and Cluebat Hall of Famer John Kerry has once again made our “A” list of clueless cads. Via Raven comes this excellent fisking by Flight Pundit of Kerry’s rant against Rove.

How clueless was Mahdi Obeidi, Saddam’s nuclear Dr. Frankenstein? Read Cao of Cao’s blog and her post on Obedei’s fear and you’ll get an understanding of how near a thing - a matter of a few years once the sanctions were lifted - Saddam’s nuke ambitions became a reality.

Harvey at Bad Example has a suggestion for how to target Islamist scum like Professor Tariq Ramadan who believes the attack on London was justified. At least, as Harvey points out, we don’t have any problem in enemy identification when it comes to people like the professor. “It’s the quiet ones we have to worry about.”

Jay at Stop the ACLU has a project we can all get behind. The moonbats at ACLU think that child porn is just fine and that we should have more of it. That would be the consequences of legalizing it I should think.

TEB submits an article from The Wall Street Journal that highlights some really clueless quotes from Time Inc. Editor in Chief Norman Pearlstine in which he complains about being criticized in “broad brush strokes.” Quoth TEB: “This poor gentleman receives just a stroke from the broad brush that he and his ilk have been slopping with for years, and we’re supposed to feel sorry for him?” Indeed.

Ogre at Ogre’s Politics and Views has some interesting “facts” about the North Carolina Legislature. Attention all you hyped up federalists out there! Please read and then tell me if you’re really all that gung ho for “states rights.”

Northstar at The People’s Republic of Seabrook takes the Bush Administration to task for stonewalling on the Rovian mess. Oh, if walls could talk what interesting things we could have heard in Rove’s office when talking with Matt Cooper of Time.

Mr. Satire catches the “Reality Based Community” engaging in a little unreal speculation involving ghosts. Frankly, I thought the ideological split on this issue would have been the other way around.

The votes were cast last week in the weekly Watcher’s Council’s best post contest and the winner in the Council category was a great read by Jimmie at The Sundries Shack entitled I Despair. Second place went to Dymphna’s post at Gates of Vienna called A Functional Philosophical Structure Must Have an Understanding of Evil.

In the non-Council category, Winds of Change with their excellent flash presentation on terrorism finished in the top spot. Neptunus Lex and Rythmns Part 8 finished in the runner up position.

If you’d like to participate in the Watcher’s Council vote, go here and follow instructions.

One thing consistent about the Bush haters over the years has been their enthusiasm for being on the losing side of just about everything.

Losing two elections was the easy part. All they had to do is put up two dummies who couldn’t empty pee out of a boot even if they held it upside down to read the directions. It’s much more difficult to be on the losing side of a war like the “quagmire” in Afghanistan or the “failed democracy” in Iraq. To be a loser there you have to ignore human nature and the forces of history, not to mention the lethality and fighting skills of the United States military.

When it comes to scandals though, the left has outdone itself. Just in the last year, three different “scandals” have been manufactured by the left. The common denominator in all three was the almost childlike faith held by the left that “this time” Bush is going down! This time we have him! There’s no escape for the Prince this time!

OOOPS!

First, there was the matter of the President’s National Guard service and the belief that their war-hero candidate could contrast his noble service with that of the draft-dodging, shirker Bush. Of course, within hours of the false memos being broadcast the left was already getting misty eyed, bemoaning the fact that with Bush gone, life just wouldn’t be fun anymore. The DU moonbats were pushing Ramsey Clark for Defense Secretary and Ted Kennedy for…well, anything he wanted in the new Kerry Administration that was surely a foregone conclusion now that Bush was revealed to be a classless jerk 30 years ago

But something weird happened on their way to the White House. First of all, a collective yawn emerged from the yaps of the overwhelming majority of the American people about what anybody was doing 30 years ago. Then there was the matter of the memos, Lucy Ramirez, and all of a sudden the fortunate son was standing tall and before you could say “Bush lied people died” the scandal petered out and disappeared, but only after much foot stomping and table thumping from left wing hacks who insist to this day that a 1970’s era typewriter, with a little hammering and some subtle and deft keystrokes, could have left the impressions on those memos.

Not content with creating one scandal, the left all of a sudden thought it shocking, shocking I say that a partisan reporter could have gotten into the White House press room to lob softball questions at Mark McClellan. I’m speaking of Jeff Gannon/Guckert, the Talon News reporter who by day, led a quiet, unassuming life poking his nose into the White House Press room on a daily basis to see if those correspondents for the big nets were actually taller in real life. By night, however, Mr. Gannon proved himself to be something a little different; a gay model and possible prostitute.

The apoplexy of the left at hearing the news (Gannon was outed by a kind soul who has made it his mission in life to “out” gay Republicans) knew no bounds. If ever there was a forum to display the utter irrationality and cluelessness of the liberals, it was with regards to Mr. Gannon. Did you know that Gannon may have compromised national security? Did you know that it was obvious that Mr. Gannon was sleeping with someone high up in the Administration in order to get his daily White House press pass? Did you know that God don’t make little green apples?

Needless to say, that scandal was great entertainment if only to watch as the left got madder and madder at their buddies in the mainstream press who just couldn’t see where the impeachable offense was in the White House letting a friendly reporter ask some innocuous questions. Eventually, even Oliver Willis got tired of flogging a dead horse and that scandal also fell by the wayside, a classic case of good intentions being outstripped by mundane reality. There just wasn’t any “there” there.

And now we have the yet-to-be-named scandal involving Rove, Plame, and Wilson - three more dissimilar characters could never be found in the same sentence. Rove, stodgy, smart, boring, and depending on your point of view, political genius or Dark Lord of the Sith.

Plame, the glam-spy, Vanity Fair’s favorite spook, and an operative whose closely guarded identity was apparently know by half the press corps, most of the socialites, and every major intelligence service in the world.

Then we have Ambassador Joe Wilson who has been described in the press as “flashy,” “smart,” “urbane” - anything except the low-life scumbag lying SOB that he is. Well, I take that back. The Washington Post said as much in an editorial:

Mr. Wilson’s portrayal of himself as a whistle-blower was unwarranted. It turned out his report to the CIA had not altered, and may even have strengthened, the agency’s conclusion that Iraq had explored uranium purchases from Niger. Moreover, his account had not reached Vice President Cheney or any other senior official. According to the Butler Commission, led by an independent jurist, the assertion about African uranium included in Mr. Bush’s State of the Union speech was “well-founded.”

And the blogswarms and media feeding frenzy continues, despite Mr. Wilson being discredited long ago by his betters. What remains to be seen is not who leaked Mrs. Wilson’s name to the press, but rather how far will the press go in unmasking the CIA-Plame-Wilson connection that was using the Niger uranium story to affect an election and bring down the President. Somehow, I don’t think that story will get a full airing.

We will, however, be treated to another couple of weeks or months of “What did the White House know and when did they know it” as once again, the left is going off the deep end over nothing. In the end, the people doing the “frog marching” may not be who the left thinks. Instead, some of the very people that the left is elevating to hero status - Wilson, Plame, Judith Miller - any or all could be doing the perp walk before this is all over.

I wonder if Kos’s head will explode if that happens?

Mr. Kos has hit the nail on the head with his post this morning that takes Republicans to task for our blind, unswerving, automatonic support for Karl Rove and The Evil One.

Reading his diatribe this morning, I almost wanted to weep. He has captured what I and most Republicans are. He has unmasked our conspiracy. He has described us to a tee:

But to modern-day Republicans and their apologists, they can do no wrong. No Republican’s action is worthy of scorn or censure. They are perfect. Flawless. Immune to error. Godlike.

Yep…that’s me all over. Although, my waistline could use a little work…But other than that, yep I’m immune and flawless. And “Godlike”…I like the sound of that. Come to think of it, I feel a little Godlike this morning. And because I feel Godlike, I proclaim Kos an apostate and a defiler of young boys who should be struck down and laid low by my omnipotent powers! Begone, I say!

How someone could be reduced to that level is beyond me. Republicans have now sent notice that they place allegiance to party and power above their allegiance to the United States of America. To them, the elephant flies above the Stars and Stripes

Well…he’s got the right idea but I sure hope he was speaking figuratively. After all, considering how big an elephant is, I think it would have a helluva time balancing on top of a flagpole above the stars and stripes. Maybe he means a pygmy elephant. And as far as flying, well I saw an elephant flying once but that was down in Tijuana back in the 70’s when my friends and I dropped a little blotter and drank tequila for three days straight.

It is quite instructive and shocking, even with this administration, that the outing of a CIA agent, her front company, and god knows how many other agents and operations, is met with a collective shrug from wingnut circles. While a blow job gave them the vapors, a genuine breach of national security gives them no pause, gives them no reason to abandon “the architect”. Political power trumps everything — even the safety of our nation.

Actually, this sounds pretty serious. Good thing its not true. Especially the part where liberals care one whit about “outing a front company” or other agents and operations from an agency that they’ve spent the last 50 years trying to destroy. Maybe if they hadn’t cheered when Philip Agee outed those agents back in the 1970’s and made him a hero their protestations would have a ring of truth. And I have to say that a blow job has never given me vapors although in my current Godlike state, I’d like to give it a shot.

The Democratic majorities were undone in large part to the endemic corruption that afflicted the long-entrenched Democratic majorities in the House and Senate. It’s the curse of any party that rules for too long, the insidious creep of hubris, corruption, and sense of entitlement which we, as a species, can’t seem to avoid.

The GOP is now facing those very same pressures, and exposing that corruption and hubris in spectacular fashion to the American public. A party that believes it holds a “permanent majority” is under no pressure to behave ethically and work for the common good above all else. Their missteps have been big. Their crimes increasingly brazen.

Just one question…When talking about “insidious creep” is he talking about me? Or himself? Other than that, yes I have a sense of entitlement. We Republicans wish to rule the world and would like nothing better if you liberals just all went away to some re-education camp where you could be indoctrinated with Christianity and love of Bush. The one at Gitmo is almost ready although the camp at Abu Ghraib is gonna need some more work.

And our permanent majority will become a reality when the smoking bodies of our political opponents lie crushed and unrecognizable on the battlements of democracy.

Yes…I feel Godlike this morning. It’s great to wake up and see that once again, you political opponents have made absolute fools of themselves.

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’s Carnival was the best yet with 22 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.

It’s going to be a hot one today in Chicagoland with temps hitting the century mark by later this afternoon. Because the heat will rule out any yardwork (YIPEEE!) I get to watch the final round of the British Open from start to finish, a real treat since the tournament is being played on my favorite course, The Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St. Andrews, Scotland where, according to local legend, they’ve been playing golf since the 1400’s.

Before I sit down with my tea and crumpits and become engrossed in Tiger Wood’s quest for another major championship, I thought I’d link to some of the best blog posts from some of the best writers around; my friends and blogbuds from The Wide Awakes.

If you’re not aware of our group blog, you should be. Some of the best writers on the net can be found among our members. Most of The Wide Awakes are small and medium sized blogs who are up and comers in the ecosystem. While all of us are conservatives, the range of opinion on many issues is astonishing. We have experts on terrorism, Islam, economics, the ACLU, science, history, the media, and Christianity to name a few areas of interest. We also have side splitting humorists, ranters, a radio talk show host, and funsters guaranteed to keep you entertained.

Here then are some links I know you’ll find interesting.

Raven at And Rightly So has the Marine of the Year. It’s not someone you might expect.

Cao of Cao’s Blog (pronounced “Key” for all of you not familiar with the Celtic language pronunciations) and TWA blogmama, has the jaw dropping story of a dopey pot smoker who asked the police for assistance…to find her lost stash! While visiting, I urge you to check out Cao’s incredible archive of posts on radical Islam. I haven’t seen any better anywhere.

Romeocat at Cathouse Chat is blogging about her beloveds and how they keep themselves amused. “Cat is on the move following the retirement of her husband from the military and we hope that she and her kitties can get settled soon.

TWA newbie Clarity and Resolve has a post on a Hamas “Capo” being taken down by the IDF. Go Team!

Crystal of Crystal Clear has made her move to Hawaii (lucky she-devil) and is looking for work in her chosen field as a family therapist. Speaking of therapy, she gives the what-for to a moonbat troll who has been showing up on a lot of TWA blogs lately. He calls himself “Corruption Exposer” and not only has made some truly clueless and insensitive comments on blog posts, but has published personal information of a TWA member on his own blog. He hasn’t been by here, probably because he knows I have a notoriously short fuse for off-topic comments. Crystal puts him down expertly.

The Daisy Cutter has an article on the Rove leak entitled “Karl Rove: I confess. I am Joe Wilson.” (Heh)

Dr. Sanity, another TWA newbie (and my compatriot on the Watcher’s Council) has a great post on multi-culturalism.

Kit Jarrell of Euphoric Reality has a funny bit about the nationally renowned nutritionist caught huffing the nitrous oxide found in whipped cream cans in a grocery store.

More Rovian info from Flight Pundit.. Great takedown of some cherished myths of the MSM by Michael.

GM Roper at GM’s Corner has a thoughtful piece on moral relativism and terror. Guess who’s being morally relative.

Another relative TWA newbie, Hans Brick presents “Starring Joe Wilson as Tawana Brawley.” The caption under Hans site name reads “You’re breaking my balls here, Hans”…That just about describes Hans to a tee.

Moonbat slayer and bloggod Van Helsing of Moonbattery piles on my home state Senator Dick Durbin for being…well, a moonbat.

Check out Nickie Goomba’s take on Rehnquist’s insistence that he’s not retiring. Looks like they’ll have to pry that seat from the Chief’s cold, dead fingers.

A TWA original and one of our group’s founders, Ogre of Ogre’s Politics and Views has a link to a legal guide for bloggers. Given the interest shown by the FEC, I’d read the guide very carefully.

Parrott Check has the skinny on the Dallas Morning News surprising and courageous stand against political correctness and terrorism. Don’t miss this one.

Another TWA original (and an original in the truest sense of the word) is the Mad Tech. Don’t miss his WTF Friday Rant for some interesting and provacative stuff.

Mustang of Social Sense takes the British press to task for their wishy washy coverage of terrorists. Mustang is not wishy washy, just in case you wanted to know.

Jay from Stop the ACLU has some more idiocy from that completely clueless organization.

Jack Bauer wannabe and TWA science critic The Maryhunter from TMH’s Bacon Bits has “The View From Iraq.”

For other writers, see the left sidebar for a complete listing.

The Karl Rove resignation watch continues here at the House with more information on the scandal being released like a Chinese water torture. And, just as the purpose of that torture is to drive the poor bastard experiencing it insane, the lefties are frothing at the mouth like rabid dogs with every new revelation.

You’ll recall yesterday that the secret Grand Jury testimony of Mr. Rove was published in several media outlets. It’s pretty much of a forgone conclusion in Washington scandals where there is a Special Prosecutor that testimony given before the Grand Jury is about as secret as the #1 telephone number for oral phone sex (1-900-BLOWME. Ask for Linda).

Today’s revelations involves a State Department memo that discussed Joe Wilson’s heroic campaign to undermine the credibility of the Administration and to carry out the wishes of his wife and the faction she was part of at CIA who were at war with the White House over Iraq policy. Those wishes involved not just Wilson’s bogus trip to Niger to investigate what his wife so objectively put as “crazy” information about the Iraqis and yellow cake, but to also have Mr. Wilson act as a conduit for information from the CIA to the press, most notably WAPO’s Walter Pincus.

Pincus could turn out to be the key player in the entire affair as apparently it was his source or sources who not only knew that Wilson’s wife worked at the CIA but that her maiden name was Plame. It’s pretty certain Rove never spoke to Pincus about Wilson, Plame, or Niger yellow cake so the question of culpability for the Plame leak has narrowed to two people; Former DCIA George Tenet and perhaps Ari Fleisher, the President’s former press secretary.

And one other drop that hit Mr. Rove’s head today was the publication of evidence in the case that should be secret but is evidently as easy to get as the #1 web address for “Terrorist Apologists.” This was an email sent by Rove to Stephen Hadley, National Security Council Advisor for the Administration immediately after Rove’s session with Times reporter Matt Cooper:

After mentioning a CIA operative to a reporter, Bush confidant Karl Rove alerted the president’s No. 2 security adviser about the interview and said he tried to steer the journalist away from allegations the operative’s husband was making about faulty Iraq intelligence.

The July 11, 2003, e-mail between Rove and then-Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley is the first showing an intelligence official knew Rove had talked to Matthew Cooper just days before the Time magazine reporter wrote an article identifying Valerie Plame as a CIA officer.

“I didn’t take the bait,” Rove wrote in an e-mail obtained by The Associated Press, recounting how Cooper tried to question him about whether President Bush had been hurt by the new allegations.

My head is hurting from trying to keep all the players straight and fit them in the timeline so, instead of doing the hard, grinding work necessary for a good blog post, I’m going to be really lazy and instead refer you to Tom Maguire who I guarantee you will be so sick of this scandal’s twists and turns in another week he’ll wish he never started.

Be that as it may, see Tom’s post here on the State Department memo and go here for some great info and deductions on the probable culprit in this scandal-that-has-no-name-yet.