Random thought

Why did Tay-ray-za's kids grow up to be Democrats? Wasn't their father a prominant Republican? Wasn't Tay-ray-za herself a Republican once upon a time. You'd think one of those kids would have followed their Dad's path.

More of the story that never should have been

The Washington Post, apparently looking for a way to work sex within its pages during an administration devoid of sexual scandal, has run a follow up on the un-story of Jessica Cutler, aka Washingtonienne. The story is fascinating in that nobody seems to understand that every action has a consequence. And the one person who does understand this seems to hold Cutler unaccountable for those consequences:

And that is why DeLuca figures that all the people who employed Jessica on the Hill deserved exactly what happened next. "If Capitol Hill is this shining example of anything, how did she get hired?" DeLuca asks. "That's why it's so silly, people getting mad at her for bringing shame on the senator's office or the Hill or the system. Look at the guy who hired her for an internship, then asked her out. Look at the woman who supervised her, then pimped her out. Something is wrong with the system. It's not her."

Ummm, yeah, not her fault. Never mind the fact that she literally whored herself out. If I whored myself out to multiple women in my business, and then wrote about it here, on a blog nobody reads, when I got fired I'd realize the part I played in my dismissal. The only ground I'll give on the stupidity of that quote is that it was made by one of Cutler's best friends, who of course is going to defend her.

This Cutler story is representative of the main negative by product of the 1960's counterculture. There is a pervasive strain of "if it feels good, do it" in society today, and with it comes an entitled sense of "it's not my fault or problem." Guess what? It is, in good part, your fault. I don't buy the story's tale of Cutler's gifted and talented course in secondary school creating a sense of her own moral universe. Ya know what? I was in one of those courses myself, and at no point did it create in me the sense that, hey, I can sleep with as many females as I choose and not have some significant mud attached to my name.

This story is still dragging along because it titillates people. Frankly, it is a sad story as well. Under the umbrella of equality of the sexes and a woman's right to do what she chooses with her body, we have a heroine who has no respect for the value of her own sexuality and very little sense of direction to her life. She and the media may play this story up as a story of a feminist warrior but in reality, it is rather tragic tail of a woman with a pretty messed up life.

Chippewa Falls

Bush is visiting my hometown this week! Woohoo! I'm more than a little disappointed that I'm 4 hours away and thus can't go, but I can take away this little bit of solace: the President will be standing mere yards from where I first had glory as a little leaguer, before Kell Container bought the field and built us a new one.

For the record, Chippewa Falls is home to Cray super computers, Leinenkugel's Beer, some of the purest water in the world, and formerly of Jiblog.

What the hell?

The Leinenkugel's must have been a little strong last night. Did I actually say those positive things about Feingold? I guess I stand by them, but I should clarify that I will only break up my straight ticket if Russ Darrow ends up as Feingold's opponent.

Abolishing the electoral college

There is still a low level buzz out there about abolishing the electoral college and deciding presidential elections by popular vote. I don't think the advocates of the popular vote idea understand one thing. Once the strategy for winning the presidency moves from winning states to winning the most votes, the average Joe is going to be disenfrachised. Why? The candidates will be more concerned than ever with pandering to the biggest special interests in the nation. Now they have to visit key states, understand the needs of those states, and propose plans that meet those needs. Under the popular vote system, the number of visits to states will dry up, and instead the candidates will address special interests and proclaim that they are in lock step agreement with those groups, and that will be it. Personally, the electoral college system is more relevant today than ever.

McGreevy is a snake

I feel terrible for James McGreevy's family. The man had to retire because of an impending scandal involving misconduct on the job. When the man resigned, he hid behind the skirt of homosexuality, and tried to make his gay affair the issue, obfuscating his misconduct in office.

Feingold Gets It?

While Russ Feingold always seems to be heavily challenged for his senate seat here in Wisconsin, the man has earned the respect of many of us, even those of us who oppose his politics. Washington Times has an excellent commentary today on why Feingold's position on Iraq was principled, and how that sheds the light on why the two Johns' positions were nothing more than an example of political expediency.

I stand to take a beating on this from my conservative friends, but depending on which Republican wins Wisconsin's primary, it is possible that I may vote for Feingold this fall. I'd much rather have a principled political opponent who is trying to do what he sees as the right thing than a RINO in one of Wisconsin's senate seats.

For the record, I still am vehemently opposed to much of Feingold's politics, especially the McCain-Feingold act.

51%

Bush's approval rating is back over 50% according to a Gallup Poll. What is it John Madden always says after a huge 3rd quarter interception? Oh yeah, the momentum has changed. And it's Bush-Cheney's momentum to run with now.

Alert!

Squirrels have been spotted casing elementary school playgrounds. Parents, be aware but not frightened. We have our best terriers on the case.

72 White Grapes

I stumbled upon this story from the International Herald Tribune last week and I got more than a little enjoyment out of it. Now that the Koran is receiving similar scrutiny to what the Bible has been receiving for years, some pillars of Islamism may be getting a revision. For instance, there is some question as to whether martyrs receive 72 virgins or 72 grapes when they get to paradise. Imagine the kick in the balls that would be. You are some hard up Islamist schmuck and you think you are going to be overwhelmed with pooty up in paradise, and Allah hands you a bundle of grapes, pats you on the ass and sends you on your way.

Warning! Un-p.c., unpopular post

Okay, here's where I go un-politically correct and submarine any future chance I have at the presidency. Jiblog addresses gay marriage.

My first issue is with gay rights advocacy groups claiming that they do not have equal access to marriage. The truth is they do have equal access to marriage, they just choose not to join in unions with the opposite sex. Is this fair? Perhaps not, but there are no guarantees in our constitution that life will be fair.

Ultimately I think the current marriage problem is much deeper than the gay marriage issue. Marriage is ultimately a religous institution. Marriage's role in today's society is a direct result of its historical role in religion as the joining of a man and a woman as one, creating a union to meet the needs of each spouse, as well as the needs of children. Two things have happened which have begun the erosion of marriage. First, marriage became more of a legal union than a spiritual union. Legal bonds are much easier to break than spiritual. The second is the decline of religion. There is little fear of God today and even less regard for the ultimate spiritual consequences of ones actions. These two trends have combined to unravel the institution of marriage.

I'm opposed to gay marriage, but it is merely a symptom of a deeper illness for the institution of marriage. We can allow states to regulate marriage as they please, we can pass a constitutional ammendment, or we can do nothing and allow the Supreme Court to dictate gay marriage legal to us. No matter what we do in that regard, it will not begin to solve marriage's deeper problems.

Europe's Diplomatic House 'o Cards

Europe has evolved into a continent that speaks softly but carries no stick. In the past it has had a heavy to act as its threat of force behind all diplomatic efforts-the United States. With trans-Atlantic relations in a miserable state, the threat of U.S. military power is taken less and less seriously by rogue states Europe would like to engage diplomatically. What is the old continent going to do when it finds itself impotent in its cherished diplomacy?

Bing!

There is only one reason for the recent radio silence at the Jiblog-Ground Hog Day. The movie has been playing nearly continually on HBO, and I can't let the damn thing go without watching.

Several blogs have been discussing movies that may be going through John Kerry's head recently. My personal pick is Ground Hog Day, because he is trying to relive Vietnam every day, changing the story until he wins his ultimate goal. No, not Andie MacDowell, but the Presidency (although if this Drudge Report is true, he may want to win Andie as well).

Loose Lips Sink Ships, Vol. II

This edition of Loose Lips Sink Ships goes to Reuters and the New York Times. Reuters tells the story of how the NYT and itself compromised a mole we had obtained deep within al Qaeda, the computer geek from Pakistan whose intelligence recently led to the orange alert for financial institutions. By outing him, and also by outing the fact that we used him as a mole, means that al Qaeda can now go back and fix the damage we had done to them. Thanks NYT and Reuters for fighting on behalf of the enemy! Congratulations, and may American blood never be shed on your keyboards.

More on Terror in the Sky

More on the NWA flight 327 story here, here, and here. Make up your own mind.

Tardy Post on 'Bounce'

Here's a post I meant to make on Tuesday:

Despite taking much personal satisfaction from Kerry's lack of bounce in the polls following the Democratic National Convention, I'm also not putting much weight into it. Because of the contested election in 2000, 9/11, and Iraq, I suspect this is one of the most personal presidential elections to voters in quite sometime. To me, that means the polls are worthless this time around. What I mean is that the vast majority of people have already made up their minds, and that isn't going to change. Those who haven't yet made up their minds are small in number, and probably also unreliable as 'likely voters'. The polls only importance is in perception. Neither side will want to fall very far behind because that will be a sure fire way to de-motivate the base, and both candidates desperately need their bases to turn out en force.

On the record, I believe that on election day voters will break for Bush, giving him a 5 point victory in the popular vote, and a comfortable electoral victory. This will be the result of a small number of 'Bush/post 9-11 Democrats" and a de-motivated Deaniac wing of the Democratic party. Kerry may have their minds for now, but he's never had their hearts.

Homegrown Terror Threat in Chicago

I worked in Chicago today. As I drove in, I told a co-worker that I was nervous for Chicago, because it did not seem to be getting the security that many of our other major cities were. Maybe I was wrong, maybe we were lucky, but this story about a homegrown terror threat to a Federal Building in Chicage gave me chills tonight. The building was never in jeopardy because officials were on this guy like flies on Uday, but it personalized these threats for me in a way that they never have been before. As I've mentioned before, I can never feel 9-11 like those lost loved ones, who worked in the WTC or the Pentagon, or those for whom those buildings are very familiar. Today I worked about 2/3 of a mile from the Dirkson Federal Building. I was about a block from it as I left town tonight, and I looked at it. Scary to think that someone wanted to kill hundreds or thousands inside of it.

Bad Jiblog, Bad Jiblog

Wow, no post in about a week. Shame on me. My audience of two, plus my one time visiter in Iraq rely on me to rehash the daily news for them, and I let them down like this. And how how am I supposed to impress my blog models like NRO, Moxie, Viking Pundit, and Right Wing News? (plugs over).

Bad, Bad Conservative!

I'd love to fill this blog with my stunning insights on the Democratic National Convention. Unfortunately, I was a bad conservative. Why? I couldn't stomach this claptrap. Oh, I caught a little bit here and there on Fox from 10-1 am, but not a lot. Instead I drank beer, played softball, drank beer, watched baseball, and drank beer. The political convention is dead. It is more tradition than substance today. I'm a poli-junky just looking for reasons to criticize the Democratic party, and I couldn't get myself to sit down and mine from the wealth of material they were offering up for me on prime time. I know I'm not alone here. Reports are that the ratings are low. I'm curious if this will have any affect on the Kerry campaign. A lot of my fellow bloggers seem to think that this will be a negative for Kerry. I'm still firmly in the less is more camp when it comes to the Kerry campaign. In other words, the less people see him, the less they know about him, the better his chances to win are. While I firmly believe that is a formula for a disastrous Presidency, I still believe that is what it will take for Kerry to win. And considering how few people seem to care about this convention and Kerry, the apathy just may play into his hands. And I'm a bad conservative for not watching myself and proclaiming from the blogger-tops what a putz this guy really is.

John 'Rambo' Kerry

Something has got to stick to Kerry sooner or later.  The RNC seems to think it will be an 11 minute tape of Kerry contradicting himself on Iraq over the years that they are releasing tomorrow.  I doubt that will dent him.  Another video tomorrow could, though.  The video that will introduce him tomorrow has some of his Vietnam 8 mm clips in which he would return to the place of a skirmish and re-enact it for his own pleasure.  It probably only has about a 20% chance of becoming a Dukakis moment, but if the press were to run with it hard, it could.  What kind of freak re-enacts war and video tapes himself doing it?