Democratic Epic Moral Fail!

Regarding my recent blogging on the Democratic nihilists, Skye from Midnight Blue asks,"Why bother with Casper? He is an embarrassment even with the fringe folks."

Democratic blogger, epic moral fail, at bottom, jonesing for traffic.

Why? Well, with all due respect to my beautiful friend Skye, I mainly do it because it's worth highlighting the total moral bankruptcy and infinite hypocrisy of these freaking idiots.

Nihilist netroots bloggers called out conservatives for their outrage on the Linda Biegel story. What's the problem with a little Photoshop of Trig Palin as a ghoul? It's not about the baby. It's the "evil" "Homophobic, Red Shirt, Bible Thumping Nazi, Gay Bashing, Tea Bagging, Racist, White Guy, Bigots."

Well, remember John Hawkins' suggestion, that it's "time to give them a taste of their own medicine"?

It turns out when you turn the Photoshop tables, the nihilists don't like it one bit! Here's this from Repsac3, in response to my Photoshop yesterday on the "Commissariat for Internet Affairs":

A college professor with a Ph.D., and this is the level of discourse you're choosing?

As before, all I can say is wow.

If I were your employer, your student, or your friend, I'd be embarrassed to have to admit it.

Politics of the personal, at it's finest.

And worst of all, not even funny.

A loss on all counts.

Sad, to see what you've become. But I guess I should've expected it. The hinges have been coming off for awhile.

My sympathies to all those who knew you back when...

Hmm ... pretty indignant right?

The increasingly frequent "wow, just wow" line is when leftists realize they're TOTALLY F*****!!

I don't recall Repsac3's outrage, or that of his radical allies, at David Hoogland Noon's Photoshop of me from last year. Nope, it's totally cool when it's done by your side!! No matter that nihilist Noon boasts a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. Hey, anything to take down the "evil" neocons! Even left-wing anti-Semitism is cool with these jerks.

What was that Black Flag song again? Oh yeah, "No Values":

I've got no values
Nothing to say
I've got no values
Might as well blow you away

And they would too. They would blow away Sarah Palin if they had the chance. Look how they've mercilessly stalked the Palin family for almost a year now. Recall how this whole controversy erupted? With the awful, just reprehensible Photoshops of Baby Trig? Hey, no problem for the Democrats. The leftists are fully down with it! And it's understandable. "Sarah Palin is the most dangerous threat to the Obama administration with no close second." And to the radical left as well.

Of course, look at this picture ... this is who the nihilist leftists want to destroy:

And what does Brain Rage have to say about Trig Palin? It's all at the blog:

There's nothing worse than an ugly baby....

And about Trig's mother, Governor Palin?

... an incurious dullard.

A Downs child? An "ugly baby."

God help these people, seriously? I blog about this stuff all the time. It's time consuming, I know. And like Skye, many others have said, "don't waste your time on these moral reprobates."

The point's well taken, but you have to see it to believe it, so I continue to blog this stuff, to get this pure hate out in the open for all to see. John Hawkins is right: You have to get down and dirty, but you can never GET THAT DIRTY.

Repsac3 and James "Barebacker" Webb are not some fringe contingents of the Democratic Party. These people ARE the Democratic majority. THIS IS WHAT THEY DO!!

Even this morning, James "Barebacker" Webb has a post up saying it's all a joke, and that American Power has suffered a "Humor Fail."

Actually, the post in question wasn't comedy. My parody was only half in jest, as anyone familiar with the left's secular demonology knows.

Besides, we can just appeal to the marketplace of ideas to see who's really epic fail here.

Let's compare: Here's my traffic report for last week:

Here's James Webb's traffic report for last week:

So, my friends. There you have it. James B. Webb. Total. Epic. Moral. Fail.

Pretty freaking lousy blogging too! See Robert Stacy McCain, "How Not to Get a Million Hits On Your Blog, And Not Score With Hotties. Ever."

PWNED!! TOTALLY!! DUDE!!

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Cartoon Credit: David Horsey.

Iran Protests Winding Down?

Pamela Geller ran this yesterday, "Iran Revolution Day 14: Makeshift Hospitals, News Blackout, Ayatollah Khatami: Iran Protesters Will Be Punished "Without Mercy" "Worthy of Execution", BOLTON: Mullahs Must go!"

Also, via Gateway Pundit, this video shows a democracy protester shot in the head by Basij militia:

There's also been unrest in Sweden. Protesters there have stormed the Iranian embassy. See Allahpundit, "Sweden Invades Iran." And Fox News reports, "U.S. Officials: Iran Opposition Leader's Web Site Shut Down, Supporters 'Tortured' Into Confessions."

Pamela at Atlas Shrugs has a new report, "Iran Revolution Day 15: Deadly Silence." And from PoliGazette, "Iran’s Protests Ending After Clerics Calls for Executions?"

The urgency of mainstream Iran reporting seems to be fading, however. As the New York Times reports, "Iranian Leaders Gaining the Edge Over Protesters." The Lede's taking the weekend off from Iran reporting. And while Nico Pitney continues live-blogging the revolt, Trita Parsi and Reza Aslan at Foreign Policy have an analysis on the implications of the uprising, "The End of the Beginning: What Will be the Legacy of the Green Revolution?"

One implication: The world now knows that America today is an enemy of democracy promotion and human rights worldwide. "Realism" is de rigeur. Meanwhile, hardliners have welcomed the green light from the Obama administration. See the Washington Post, "Authoritarian Regimes Censor News From Iran."

More updates throughout the day.

ADDED: The Washington Post, "Iran's Lessons: Shouldn't 'Realism' Mandate Regime Change?"

Devastating: Obama's Abandonment of Democracy and Human Rights

Joshua Muravchik's essay at Commentary, "The Abandonment of Democracy," is absolutely devastating:

The most surprising thing about the first half-year of Barack Obama’s presidency, at least in the realm of foreign policy, has been its indifference to the issues of human rights and democracy. No administration has ever made these its primary, much less its exclusive, goals overseas. But ever since Jimmy Carter spoke about human rights in his 1977 inaugural address and created a new infrastructure to give bureaucratic meaning to his words, the advancement of human rights has been one of the consistent objectives of America’s diplomats and an occasional one of its soldiers.

This tradition has been ruptured by the Obama administration. The new president signaled his intent on the eve of his inauguration, when he told editors of the Washington Post that democracy was less important than “freedom from want and freedom from fear. If people aren’t secure, if people are starving, then elections may or may not address those issues, but they are not a perfect overlay.”

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton followed suit, in opening testimony at her Senate confirmation hearings. As summed up by the Post’s Fred Hiatt, Clinton “invoked just about every conceivable goal but democracy promotion. Building alliances, fighting terror, stopping disease, promoting women’s rights, nurturing prosperity—but hardly a peep about elections, human rights, freedom, liberty or self-rule.”

A few days after being sworn in, President Obama pointedly gave his first foreign press interview to the Saudi-owned Arabic-language satellite network, Al-Arabiya. The interview was devoted entirely to U.S. relations with the Middle East and the broader Muslim world, and through it all Obama never mentioned democracy or human rights.

A month later, announcing his plan and timetable for the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq, the president said he sought the “achievable goal” of “an Iraq that is sovereign, stable, and self-reliant,” and he spoke of “a more peaceful and prosperous Iraq.” On democracy, one of the prime goals of America’s invasion of Iraq, and one toward which impressive progress had been demonstrated, he was again silent.

While drawing down in Iraq, Obama ordered more troops sent to Afghanistan, where America was fighting a war he had long characterized as more necessary and justifiable than the one in Iraq. But at the same time, he spoke of the need to “refocus on Al Qaeda” in Afghanistan, at least implying that this meant washing our hands of the project of democratization there. The Washington Post reported that “suggestions by senior administration officials . . . that the United States should set aside the goal of democracy in Afghanistan” had prompted that country’s foreign minister to make “an impassioned appeal for continued U.S. support for an elected government.”

This is actually sad to read. One more passage, for example:

Obama seems to believe that democracy is overrated, or at least overvalued. When asked about the subject in his pre-inaugural interview with the Washington Post, Obama said that he is more concerned with “actually delivering a better life for people on the ground and less obsessed with form, more concerned with substance.” He elaborated on this thought during his April visit to Strasbourg, France:

We spend so much time talking about democracy—and obviously we should be promoting democracy everywhere we can. But democracy, a well-functioning society that promotes liberty and equality and fraternity, does not just depend on going to the ballot box. It also means that you’re not going to be shaken down by police because the police aren’t getting properly paid. It also means that if you want to start a business, you don’t have to pay a bribe. I mean, there are a whole host of other factors that people need . . . to recognize in building a civil society that allows a country to be successful.

Whether or not the President was aware of it, he was echoing a theme first propounded long ago by Soviet propagandists and later sung in many variations by all manner of Third World dictators, Left to Right. It has long since been discredited by a welter of research showing that democracies perform better in fostering economic and social well being, keeping the peace, and averting catastrophes. Never mind that it is untoward for a President of the United States to speak of democracy as a mere “form,” less important than substance.

The full essay is here.

Compare and contrast Muravchik with folks like Greg Scoblete, in "The War on Obama's Realism."

Scoblete evinces an astonishing degree of Bush-hatred and Sullivan-esque neoconservative derangement. With Scoblete, it's clear that the abandonment of America's historic values is a virtue for the Democrats - a party that has spent the better part of six years denigrating GOP foreign policiy and stabbing the American military in the back. This is the unfortunate result of the full-on maturation, since the 1960s, of what Fred Baumann has called the "moral condemnation of nearly any use of American military might." It didn't used to be this way. Republicans in earlier decades adopted a "realist" persuasion to put a hard gloss on events during the Cold War. Memories of World War II were still vivid for many statesmen. The idealism and pacifism of the interwar years is widely seen as contributing to the deaths of tens of millions of people worldwide. Sadly, the Western democracies stood up against tyranny much too late. When we commemorate historical anniversies like D-Day, June 6, 1944, the message of firm resolve in the furtherance and preservation of liberty is essential to the dignity of these solemn occasions.

Recalling these points makes it that much more stomach-churning to read the new "realists," who adopt the paradigm simply to provide academic cover to a postmodern epistemology of appeasement and weakness. It's evil, frankly, and fundamentally dishonest. Daniel Larison's writing comes to mind, in addition to the hack, Scoblete. A verbose essayist at the American Conservative, Larison's writings on foreign policy would be equally at home at extreme left-wing propaganda organs as the anti-American Counterpunch.

Larison's hobby is to pick on writers who he thinks are less capable, or those of enough prominence to throw him enough hits to match his buddy RAWMUSLGLUTES. Larison's overriding obsession, it's clear, is to attack neoconservatives. What's especially interesting, though, is Larison's pathetic grasp of international history, which he combines with an aggressive use of half-truths and distortions (to essentially smear those who advocate a robust international policy). Contrary to Larison at the post cited above, in 2003, the Russians, French and Germans opposed the Iraq build-up for reasons of naked greed and political interest - oil - and not because they were unified in opposing some kind of neo-imperial project in the Middle East. Larison's just one of those hate-addled progenitors of the Big Lie when it comes to the previous administration. Funny how a putatively conservative journal like the American Conservative ends up in bed with the radical left; but for the left-libertarians, it's simply an alliance of convenience in opposition to a moral role for America and the world. Often influenced by nativist sentiments at home, paleo-isolationism would not only abandon America's commitment to democracy promotion and human rights, it would do so in those Third World countries that most need the moral clarity of U.S. power and leadership.

A Study in Defeat: Review of Surrender: Appeasing Islam, Sacrificing Freedom

From Jacob Laskin at City Journal: "A Study in Defeat: Bruce Bawer calls out Western apologists for radical Islam":

With the release of his new book, Surrender: Appeasing Islam, Sacrificing Freedom, the American writer and critic Bruce Bawer (some of whose work has appeared in City Journal) may have committed a crime in his adoptive Norway. In 2005, Norway’s politically correct parliament passed the so-called Discrimination Act, a law that, among other curbs on free speech, criminalized “utterances” that may be “insulting” to those of certain religious beliefs. Since Surrender is a searing indictment of Western opinion makers, especially in the media, for capitulating to the rise of radical Islam in Europe, and since Islamic extremists are bound to take issue with the author’s appeal for a sterner defense of Western freedoms, it’s a real possibility that Bawer could be prosecuted for what he has written.

That it has come to this in politically progressive Norway makes Surrender urgent reading. It also serves to bolster Bawer’s chief contention: that many in Europe, and to a lesser extent in the United States, are prepared to roll back essential civil liberties in order to pacify (or so they hope) Muslim radicals. Bawer embarks on a broad offensive, counting leading political, religious, and academic figures among the defeatists. Mainly, though, he directs his rhetorical fire at the press. In their eagerness to forfeit the free-speech rights on which they depend—whether through self-censorship or through craven reporting that casts avowed Islamists as “moderates”—journalists may present the most agonizing illustration of Bawer’s theme that, for too many in the West, surrender is indeed an option.

Read the whole thing, here.

The Amazon link is the Bawer here: Surrrender: Appeasing Islam, Sacrificing Freedom.

Video: Billie Jean Moon Walk; L.A. Times, Jackson 'Just Beaming With Gladness' at Last Rehearsal

This first video features the clip that I keep seeing over and over today: Michael's Jackson's moonwalk to Billie Jean (1983):

The second video is more recent, and is billed at the YouTube page as the "slickest moonwalk ever done":

If anyone's jonesing for more Michael Jackson gossip, head over to the WeSmirch page. TMZ's got "Michael Jackson — The 911 Call," and "Jackson Family — Demerol Shot Caused Death." Also interesting: X17 Online, "Lisa Marie Says Marriage To Micheal Jackson Wasn't ‘A Sham’."

Plus, check the Los Angeles Times, "Michael Jackson's Last Rehearsal: 'Just Beaming With Gladness'."

Barack Obama vs. International Law

From Caroline Glick:

US President Barack Obama consistently couches his demand that Israel prohibit Jewish people from constructing or expanding our homes and communities in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria in legal-sounding language.

Obama has called settlements "illegitimate." And he has said that Israel "has obligations under the road map," while referring disparagingly to "settlements that, in past agreements, have been categorized as illegal."

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Obama's Middle East envoy George Mitchell have repeatedly uttered similar statements.

By characterizing its demand that Israel prohibit Jews from building homes in Israel's capital city and its heartland as a legal requirement, the Obama administration portrays Israel as an international outlaw. After all, if building homes for Jews is a crime, and Israel is not prohibiting Jews from building homes, then Israel is at best guilty of enabling a crime to take place, and at worst, it is a criminal state.

It makes good political sense for the Obama administration to make its case against Israel in this fashion. According to a survey of US public opinion published in early 2006 by the Boston Review, whereas only 7 percent of Democrats support going to war to spread democracy - versus 53% of Republicans; 71% of Democrats - versus 36% of Republicans - support going to war to help the United Nations "uphold international law." What this poll shows is that for Obama supporters, the idea that Israel should be treated poorly because it is in breach of international law resonates deeply.

The problem with the Obama administration's characterization of a ban on Jewish building in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria as an Israeli legal obligation is that Israel has never taken upon itself a legal obligation to prohibit such building activities. Israel has never signed an agreement that has characterized any Jewish communities as "illegal."

Moreover, both former prime minister Ariel Sharon's chief of staff Dov Weisglass and former president George W. Bush's deputy national security adviser for the Middle East Elliott Abrams have gone on record stating that Sharon's much vaunted decision to curtail Jewish building in Judea and Samaria (never Jerusalem), in line with the road map negotiating framework, was based on a series of explicit understandings with the Bush administration that spelled out the scope of Jewish building that Israel would maintain for the duration of the peace process. As Abrams wrote on Thursday in The Wall Street Journal, "Not only were there agreements, but the prime minister of Israel relied on them..."

More at the link.

Comrade Repsac3: Commissar of State Security, People's Commissariat for Internet Affairs

This is Comrade Repsac3, the USA People's Republic Netroots Commissar 1st Rank of State Security, Commissariat for Internet Affairs. Comrade Repsac3 grips feverishly to his sinecure as hardline enforcer for the USA radical left-wing netroots people's movement, the paramilitary base of the Democratic People's Party USA. Comrade Repsac3 models his program as akin to the notorious Lavrenti Beria, the CPSU's butcher of internal security from 1938 to 1946.

As internal security chief for the netroots party appendage apparatus, Comrade Repsac3 leads the Godless nihilist cadres in the left's purge of "Homophobic, Red Shirt, Bible Thumping Nazi, Gay Bashing, Tea Bagging, Racist, White Guy, Bigots."

Comrade Repsac3's shock troops include:

* Comrade Biobrain, State Chief for the Final Extermination of Truth.

* James "Barebacker" Webb, Master Enforcer for the Annihiliation of Non-Hypocrisy.

* (O)CT(O)PUS: Netroots High Commissioner and Chief Breaker of Men, Supreme Enforcer of Internet Security and Conformity.

* Truth101, Minister of Hate, Animal Bestiality Division.

The central organizational directive of atheist collectivists will stop at nothing to implement its totalitarian system of eradication of tradition and values. No one in conservative America is safe.

Change! Obama Will Hold Terror Detainees Indefinitely!

Breaking!

From the Washington Post, "White House Drafts Executive Order to Allow Indefinite Detention of Terror Suspects":

The Obama administration, fearing a battle with Congress that could stall plans to close Guantanamo, has drafted an executive order that would reassert presidential authority to incarcerate terrorism suspects indefinitely, according to three senior government officials with knowledge of White House deliberations.

Such an order would embrace claims by former president George W. Bush that certain people can be detained without trial for long periods under the laws of war. Obama advisers are concerned that bypassing Congress could place the president on weaker footing before the courts and anger key supporters, the officials said.

After months of internal debate over how to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, White House officials are growing increasingly worried that reaching quick agreement with Congress on a new detention system may prove impossible. Several officials said there is concern in the White House that the administration may not be able to close the facility by the president's January deadline.

Whoa!

Compare that to the news from January, "Obama Signs Order to Close Guantanamo Bay Facility."

Here's the video:

The full text of Obama's January executive order is here.

Commentary at Memeorandum.

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UPDATE: From Andrew Malcolm, "Obama prepares to hold Gitmo guys indefinitely, just as Bush did":

In yet another sign of political perfidy, the White House of President George W. Bush has drafted a presidential executive order that would allow that double-dealing Republican chief executive to hold suspected terrorist detainees indefinitely.

According to the president's intentions, such suspects could be detained for long periods of time, virtually indefinitely. Is this really what the nation voted for last November?

Oh, wait. No. According to an exclusive Washington Post report this afternoon, it's the refreshing new Democratic administration of Barack Obama that's now preparing this new executive order to hold certain terrorist suspects indefinitely.

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UPDATE II: See also, Heidi at Big Girl Pants, "Hurry, Hurry, Hurry, Hurry - Now Wait," Wordsmith at Flopping Aces, "Drafting a new EO that supports Dubbya’s Claims?", and Moe Lane, "Annnnd There’s the White House Turning Back to Inefinite Detention."

Jackson Death Fetishism Swarms Coverage of Farrah Fawcett

This Farrah Fawcett video care of This Ain't Hell, But You Can See It From Here...:

My wife and I were watching all the news coverage of Michael Jackson's death last night. She's always been a Jackson fan, but was concerned that the coincidental timing of the deaths would drown coverage of Farrah Fawcett. My wife wrote at her Facebook:

R.I.P. Farrah Fawcett. You will not be forgotten. I was so sorry to hear that Farrah had lost her battle with cancer on the same day that Michael Jackson passed. She will be lost in the circus of "Michael Jackson." She was a true hero in her fight with cancer. So instead of hearing about her life we are only hearing of Michael Jackson. Don't get me wrong I loved Michael Jackson but really who was he at the end???

See also, Allahpundit, "Video: House Holds Moment of Silence for Michael Jackson," and Jonah Goldberg, "Some Quick Thoughts on Michael Jackson."

Related: CNN, "Jackson Dies, Almost Takes Internet With Him," and the Los Angeles Times, "Michael Jackson-related traffic doubled Twitter's update frequency, tripled Facebook's [UPDATED]." See also, Memeorandum.

Bonus: Jim Treacher on Michael Jackson, Carrie Prejean, and pop-cult hypocrisy.

Cap and Trade Follies

Check out Punditte & Pundette, "The Growing Backlash Against Global Warming.

Also, here's this from Kimberley Strassel, "The Climate Change Climate Change":

Steve Fielding recently asked the Obama administration to reassure him on the science of man-made global warming. When the administration proved unhelpful, Mr. Fielding decided to vote against climate-change legislation.

If you haven't heard of this politician, it's because he's a member of the Australian Senate. As the U.S. House of Representatives prepares to pass a climate-change bill, the Australian Parliament is preparing to kill its own country's carbon-emissions scheme. Why? A growing number of Australian politicians, scientists and citizens once again doubt the science of human-caused global warming.

Among the many reasons President Barack Obama and the Democratic majority are so intent on quickly jamming a cap-and-trade system through Congress is because the global warming tide is again shifting. It turns out Al Gore and the United Nations (with an assist from the media), did a little too vociferous a job smearing anyone who disagreed with them as "deniers." The backlash has brought the scientific debate roaring back to life in Australia, Europe, Japan and even, if less reported, the U.S.

Also Blogging: Michelle Malkin, "Cap and tax liveblog: Democrats limit debate, stampede toward national energy tax," and Ed Morrissey, "Cap and trade vote today, complete with AP spin; Update: 300-page, last-minute amendment; Update: Greenpeace opposes."

Cartoon Credit: Ed Driscoll, "2009: A Smoot-Hawley Odyssey."

(P.S. Don't miss the Greenpeace opposition!)

More at Memeorandum.

James "Barebacker" Webb

You can't make this stuff up!

From "Brainrage," who thrives on informality in his insistence on calling me "Don." And then, in another example of his glorious hypocrisy, turns around and demands that folks use his full name:

... it's James B. Webb. Get it right, Don ...

Actually, I NEVER gave James B. Webb permission to call me by my first name, AND THEN TO SHORTEN IT INTO CRUDE MONIKER OF MAN-CRUSH AFFECTION!

Obviously, James B. Webb ignored my earlier memo:

I think all of my readers should call me Dr. Douglas. 'It's just a thing. I worked so hard to get that title.

Hey, man ... it's cool. If he insists, James "Barebacker" Webb it is!

And I mean, SERIOUSLY!! James's link to that OUT website is like a buffed-gay gold mine!

Here's another blog that came to my attention through James B. Webb's blogging: "Best Gay Bloggers." (BUT WAIT!! EDDIE BURKE TRUTHERISM CONTENT WARNING: DON'T GO THERE!!)

And don't forget what I said earlier, "I don't do the flip-floppy on the side!"

Photo Credit: "Best Gay Bloggers."

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UPDATE: My friend Stogie at Saberpoint has joined the debate, "Jimmy B. Webb: What's a Libertarian-Socialist?"

Robert Stacy McCain: "I’m Going to Beat You Today"

From Robert Stacy McCain's moving essay on family and Southern heritage:

My two brothers and I grew up in a handsome brick home on a large tree-shaded lot in Lithia Springs—now a booming Atlanta suburb, but then still a relatively sleepy small town—where our middle-class status was always haunted by the shadow of our parents’ childhood poverty. We were constantly reminded of how fortunate we were, a message reinforced by frequent visits “down home” to Randolph County, where my father’s mother still lived in a four-room farmhouse, hoed her own garden, and drew her water from a well. By the early 1970s, with her health beginning to decline, Maw McCain consented to let her children pay to install plumbing at the home place. For most of my childhood, however, there was not even an outhouse at Maw McCain’s, where one attended to calls of nature at a designated area behind the dilapidated old barn.

Obama on Iran: 3:00am Call Ringing Off the Hook!

From Melanie Phillips on Barack Obama and Iran, "On The Wrong Side of History":

That 3am call to which Hillary so memorably referred during her doomed election campaign has now rung off the hook.

Whoa Baby! Arab Activists Go Neocon! Diss Obama!

Maybe the Arab Street didn't get the "realist" message!

From the Washington Post, "Arab Activists Watch Iran And Wonder: 'Why Not Us?'":

Mohamed Sharkawy bears the scars of his devotion to Egypt's democracy movement. He has endured beatings in a Cairo police station, he said, and last year spent more than two weeks in an insect-ridden jail for organizing a protest.

But watching tens of thousands of Iranians take to the streets of Tehran this month, the 27-year-old pro-democracy activist has grown disillusioned. In 10 days, he said, the Iranians have achieved far more than his movement has ever accomplished in Egypt.

"We sacrificed a lot, but we have gotten nowhere," Sharkawy said.

Across the Arab world, Iran's massive opposition protests have triggered a wave of soul-searching and conflicting emotions. Many question why their own reform movements are unable to rally people to rise up against unpopular authoritarian regimes. In Egypt, the cradle of what was once the Arab world's most ambitious push for democracy, Iran's protests have served as a reminder of how much the notion has unraveled under President Hosni Mubarak, who has ruled the country for 30 years.

"I am extremely jealous," said Nayra El Sheikh, 28, a blogger and Sharkawy's wife. "I can't help but think: Why not us? What do they have that we don't have? Do they have more guts?"

The frustration comes against a backdrop of deep-rooted skepticism among pro-democracy activists that U.S. policies under President Obama will help transform the region, despite his vow to engage the Muslim world in a highly publicized speech here last month. Some view Obama's response to Iran's protests, muted until Tuesday, as a harbinger of U.S. attitudes toward their own efforts to reform their political systems. The Egyptian government, they note, is a key American ally, and U.S. pressure on Egypt for reforms began subsiding in the last years of the Bush administration.

"When Obama does not take a stance, the very next day these oppressive regimes will regard this as a signal. This is a test for his government," said Ayman Nour, a noted Egyptian opposition politician who was recently released from jail. "If they can turn a blind eye to their enemy, they can turn a blind eye to any action here in Egypt."

Now that's what I'm taking about!

Also blogging: Ed Morrissey, "Could Iran restart democracy movements in Arab world?", and Wake Up America, "Iranian Dissident To Israel: 'Iran needs your help more than ever now'."

Hat Tip: Memeorandum.

Palin Hammers Kerry! "Why The Long Face?"

Via Conservatives for Sarah Palin, "Sarah Palin Talks to Camp Bondsteel Soldiers, 26JUN09"

Good stuff - thanked the troops, spoke about military spending and issues that concern people in uniform, mentioned that she will head to Germany to visit wounded troops...and stick through all the way to the end for a response to John Kerry's "joke":

Senator John Kerry makes this joke..I don't know if you saw this...but he makes this joke saying "Well, shoot, of all the governors in the nation to disappear, too bad it couldn't have been that Governor from Alaska."

Well, when he said it he looked quite frustrated, and he looked so sad, and I just wanted to reach out to the TV and say "John Kerry, why the long face?"

(laughter)

Governor Palin's on Twitter, and she is hot for freedom!

Love it to death!

Related: "Sarah Palin, Neoconservative." And, Ben Smith, Memeorandum, RCP.

Regime Change Iran! Better Do What You Can!

Via Gateway Pundit and Memeorandum, "Beat It You Fanatics!!! Get Out of My Land!!":

James Webb, Atheist Hypocrite, Loves teh Gays

James Webb, of Brain Rage, was creepily interested in my post last night, "Democratic Values! Left-Wing Alaska Operative 'Ghoulshops' Trig Palin!"

In his entry, "American Power and Trig Palin 'Ghoulshopping', James agrees radical Linda Biegel's Photoshop of Trig Palin was indeed "ghoulish." But then he attempts to walk it back because it wasn't really Trig. It was "just" the "evil" Eddie Burke:

Now while I wouldn't go so far as Don in saying that he's a grotesque ridicule of Down Syndrome I will say that he does indeed look a bit ghoulish ...

Hunh ... (gasping here, eyes bulging out of sockets) ... WTF!! It's ghoulish or it ain't! Help me out, yo!

Oh, you know what? It's not ghoulish if it's Palin's baby, because the Palins are Wasilla hillbillies and Eddie Burke's ... well, he's a "Homophobic, Red Shirt, Bible-Thumping Nazi, Gay Bashing, Tea-Bagging Racist, White Guy Bigot!

Okay, gotcha! That makes it a-okay!

Actually, full snark stop here for a second ... it's not okay!

Weasel Zippers nails it: "Something this vile, mean spirited and vitriolic is the sole property of the left..."

And Texas for Palin adds this, "Shocked? Don't be. These are Democrats. It's what they do. It's who they are."

Conservatives for Sarah Palin have been updating their original post all day, for example, this shocker! "Dr. Chill: Liar, Liar; Now They're Claiming That We Made the Photo Ugly."

But that's just the typical dishonesty and hypocrisy you get from the radical leftists.

Another quick example is James Webb's policy of tracking hit pieces on American Power back to ... wait for it ... American Power!

That's right! Can you believe it?!! This freak, James Webb, writes a post hammering me as representing "everyday stupidity of right-wing religious neoconservatives." And then he tracks-back, twice, like a MOFO LINK WHORE - FREAKING A!!

I am not even kidding! Dude! You can't make this sh** up! Check the track-back links, here and here! It's like, yo, he thinks I'm a bro or something!

And guess what? What's so wierd about it is that, yeah, I'm like totally cool with folks leaving their hits in my comments section. I'm a link whore myself, frankly. No shame in it, IMHO, as long as everyone reciprocates.

BUT JAMES WEBB FLIPPED A WIG WHEN I DROPPED MY BLACK FLAG PUNK POST IN HIS COMMENTS A WHILE BACK -or some such bunk, who knows WTF is up with this guy's hysterics??!!

It turns out that James Webb sent me a whacked, totally pissed-off HOLY HELL INDIGNANT e-mail to show it:

I warned you once before Don when you shamelessly linked some post about your skateboarding youth on a completely unrelated comment thread at my site. I left that link up and made it clear that I would delete any future comments not at least tangentially relevant to their posts ...

Okay, okay, what was it? Maybe my post wasn't "tangentially related." It's not like I was trying to rip the guy a new one with, well, stuff like:

The term 'sore losers' seems a bit simplistic and trite to explain this apparent derangement and never ending persecution complex but at this point I can't think of any other rational explanation for this type of behavior.

Sheesh, that's what I get for trying to be a homie! Man, remind me never to try to drop off an old punk rock post at some WANNABE-HIP dude's freaking blog! Forget about, ah ... you know, trying to be, like, friendly!!

But wait!!

That's not all!

James Webb hearts him teh gays, but he doesn't like it one bit when you call him out on it! Remember my post on "How to Get a Blogger Content Warning"? That's where you can find some gay homo-sex blogs by clicking through James's OUT Campaign link. Alexander the Gay's blog pops right up (but wait, don't go there ... unless you're looking to see James' phat-hung Asian dudes!).

It's like I told folks: "Shoot, if you need a happening online portal to teh well-hung gays, James Webb is your man!"

But, boy, did the dude flip his stack at that one! James was steaming hotter than a spooge-soaked hunk of throbbing gristle!!

(Oh yeah, snark's back on here, just in case anyone takes this too seriously.)

I'm surprised too! James is down with the homosexuals, so you wouldn't think he'd get so pissed about giving folks the heads up on his gay-supporting atheism. I mean, really, James is totally down on the e-mails to his bro Andrew Sullivan, and the Atlantic's barebacker even links to James blog! Now that is inside baseball! Switch-hitting too!

NTTAWWT!!

Come out, come out, wherever you are!!

Just be careful dude! With the support of Linda Biegel, James is practically getting over there into Trig-Truther territory! And even more importantly, you've got to look out for that AIDS-related dementia! Pretty soon, we'll have to get Christopher Badeaux to put up a huge bio-piece nailing down James' descent into anti-neocon (anti-Semitic) madness!

But hey, everything's cool, alright?

I'm not going to delete James' spam links in my comments section. Just as long as he stays the f*** back, okay? I like teh gays ... really, some of my best friends ... But frankly, I don't do the flip-floppy on the side!

YouTube Censors Pro-Life Live Action Films

Via Cassy Fiano, "YouTube Removes an Anti-Abortion Video From Live Action Films:

Planned Parenthood Falsely Says Abortion Pictures Are "not Real" - Funny videos are here

Yesterday, Live Action Films posted the following video to YouTube...

It has since been removed by YouTube with no detailed explanation other than a “violation of the YouTube Community Guidelines”.

Here are YouTube’s community guidelines that could be considered relevant to this particular video ...

Read the whole thing, here.

YouTube took Live Action's videos down, but left up the clips of Neda Soltan's murder in Iran. Hmm ... must be a neocon/Ahmedinejad thing? Either that, or they didn't want to miss the ad revenue.

See also, Jill Stanek, "Mainstream Media's Selective Censorship of Iconic Images, Even TODAY."

Michael Jackson Dead at 50

TMZ was reporting it first (The Blog Prof has links and Memeorandum), and then the Los Angeles Times, "Michael Jackson is dead [Updated]." Both Fox News and CNN held off on reporting, until a few minutes ago, absent confirmation. I was never one to be too hard on Michael Jackson. Reclusive and enormously wierd (and perhaps criminal), Michael Jackson, and earlier, with The Jackson 5, was more than a cultural icon in my family. Like Farrah Fawcett, Jackson's death engenders "wistfulness." I truly feel older today.

Mojtaba Khamenei, Revolutionary Guard, Key to Power in Iran

From the Los Angeles Times, "Iran supreme leader's son seen as power broker with big ambitions":

There are few anecdotes about him, and pictures, at least ones that have appeared in public, are scarce. But Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Iran's supreme leader, wields considerable power and is a key figure in orchestrating the crackdown against anti-government protesters, analysts say.

The younger Khamenei operates tucked behind an elaborate security structure, an overlapping world that stretches from Iran's Revolutionary Guard corps to the motorcycle-riding Basiji militiamen.

Analysts and former dissidents describe him as the gatekeeper for his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a reclusive son whose political instincts were sharpened in a post-revolutionary Iran where affiliations with security and intelligence services were just as important as Islamic ideology ....

"Mojtaba's hands are well into the [Revolutionary Guard] hierarchy," said Said Idriss, an Iranian expert with Cairo's Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies. "Like all conservatives, he is keen not to let any reformers reach power because then many questions will be raised regarding the financial management of the country and the billions of dollars conservatives use to support their regional political agenda.

The video above, from Al Jazeera, on the Revolutionary Guards, discusses the monopoly on the use of force in Iran.

Despite rumors of dissension, the police apparatus appears unified and in full control. From Con Coughlin, "Is Iran's Ruthless Crackdown Working?":

The effectiveness with which Iran's security forces have dealt with the worst outbreak of political violence since the 1979 Islamic revolution illustrates the scale of the challenge faced by the Green Revolution's supporters in changing the way the country is governed.

From the moment Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country's supreme leader, issued a stark warning declaring the protests to be illegal, the regime has moved quickly and forcefully to suppress the pro-reform movement.

And, to judge by the diminishing numbers of protesters who are prepared to risk their lives demonstrating against the result of the recent presidential election, the tactics appear to be working.

More at the link, and also the BBC and Memeorandum.

Democratic Scheme Shuts Down July 4 Atlanta Tea Party!

I saw Obi's Sister's report last night, "Very Sad News":

The Atlanta Tea Party, scheduled for July 4th at Gwinnett Place Mall, has been cancelled.

But via Glenn Reynolds and Bob Owens, it turns out that top Democratic Party donors schemed to have the event shut down, "Large Democratic Donors Help Shut Down July 4 Atlanta Tea Party":

A real estate company whose owners have contributed heavily to Democratic causes apparently used articles and content on conservative blogs to justify bringing about pressure to shut down an Atlanta tea party protest scheduled for the Fourth of July — an event that organizers estimated would attract 20,000 people.

The apparent plot was uncovered when blogger and radio talk show host Andrea Shea King noticed an unusual amount of traffic coming to her site earlier this month.

On Jun 16, Andrea Shea King emailed me, questioning a heavy burst of Sitemeter traffic coming from Simon.com. She included screencaps of the traffic, two of which are reproduced below (click to enlarge).

Go to the post for the screencaps and concluding analysis.

As Glenn says, "Well, I guess that means they’re afraid."

They should be: The Obama/Democratic agenda is shaping up as THE MASSIVE FAIL of 2009!

Possible Iran Runoff Election!

From Iran Bureau, "25 June: Possible compromise?":

The following is from Mehdi Noorbaksh, Harrisburg University of Science and Technology:

There is a possibility, and I am saying a possibility, for a compromise on the election result among the involved parties in Iran in the next couple of days. I received a call from Iran late last night indicating that there is a possibility for a runoff between Mousavi and Ahmadinejad. There are a few points that we should consider in this context.

1. The Guardian Council all but acknowledged election irregularities a few days ago and indicated that it involved 3 million votes. This body did not restrict these irregularities to a few thousand or even a hundred thousand votes, but millions. That was a face saving gesture to open the door for a possible future compromise in the event of mounting pressure. There are other irregularities having the same nature. Many districts, up to 170, show voter turnout of 95% to 140% of the eligible voters.

2. Ali Larijani, the head of the Iranian parliament, is trying to convince the leadership on the side of the supreme leader to give national TV time to Mousavi to talk to the Iranian people. In his TV talk a couple of days ago, Larijani was critical of the Iranian national TV for not allowing Mousavi to use that medium of communication to talk to the Iranian people. He also announced that a few members of the Guardian Council were biased toward one candidate, namely Ahmadinejad, in the election.

3. There is report that Rafsanjani has succeeded to get the signatures and support of many of the high clerics in Qom denouncing the election. If they openly denounce the election that could be a colossal blow to the supreme leader, and the much diminished legitimacy of the institution of Velayat-e Faqih and his authority.

4. The Guardian Councils’ investigation of the vote fraud has been extended, possibly to gain more time in negotiating a solution to the conflict.

More at the link (or e-mail me for a full copy of the report).

The Washington Post has the story, "Possible Runoff Vote, Power Struggle in Iran." And from the Los Angeles Times, "Iran Opposition lLader Mir-Hossein Mousavi Lashes Out; 70 Professors Arrested."

More news at The Lede, "Latest Updates on Iran’s Disputed Election," Nico Pitney, "AHMADINEJAD LASHES OUT: Compares Obama To Bush," and Ed Morrissey, "Ahmadinejad Snubbed by Iranian Parliament."

Check updates at Memeorandum as well.

Farrah Fawcett, 62, Was America's '70s Pinup

Farrah Fawcett has died.

The Los Angeles Times has an obituary, "Farrah Fawcett dies at 62; actress rose above 'Charlie's Angels'":

Farrah Fawcett, who soared to fame as a national sex symbol in the late 1970s on television's campy "Charlie's Angels" and in a swimsuit poster that showcased her feathery mane and made her a generation's favorite pinup, died today. She was 62.

Fawcett, whose celebrity overshadowed her ability as a serious actress, was diagnosed with a rare anal cancer in 2006, died about 9:30 a.m. at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, said Paul Bloch, her publicist.
Three months after she was declared cancer-free in 2007, doctors at UCLA Medical Center told her the cancer had returned, spreading to her liver, and she repeatedly sought experimental treatment in Germany.

As an actress, Fawcett was initially dismissed for her role as Jill Munroe in "Charlie's Angels," one of the "jiggle" series on ABC-TV in the late 1970s.

But she transformed her career and some popular perceptions in 1984 with "The Burning Bed," a television movie about a battered wife that brought her the first of three Emmy nominations. She further established herself as an actress in the play and later feature film "Extremities," about a rape victim who takes revenge on her attacker.

For many, the poster of her wearing a wet one-piece swimsuit and a blinding smile endured.

More here. A photo slideshow is here.

Photo Credit: Times of London.

Palin Hits Back at 'Malicious' Photoshop of Son Trig

Via Riehl World View, CNN reports that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has denounced Democratic blogger Linda Kellen Biegel, who posted a nasty Photoshop of Palin's son Trig to her website, Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis.

That's Ms. Biegel below, carbo-protein-loading for her next round of attacks on the Palins. No Sheeples Here! has more information:

Dan Riehl, who features Biegel's Facebook photo to the right of an earlier post, adds this:

Apparently Linda Kellen Biegel thinks it funny to alter an image to portray Trig as her "humorous" version of what a child with Down's syndrome would look like.

At right is what Linda Kellen Biegel's un-altered picture looks like.

Need I say more?

She must be relying on PETA to protect her. But I doubt they'll want that face for one of those warm fuzzy billboards during "Hug an Animal" week.

See Memeorandum as well, for example, Sister Toldjah, "Yet Another Sterling Example of Liberal “Compassion”."

But see especially, Conservatives for Sarah Palin, "Obsession Clouds Common Decency ."

More Weenie Diplomacy? Venezuela and Syria

"Can't have the Iranian diplomats over for hot dogs? Then kiss and make up with their friends."

That would be President Barack "Buns" Obama making nice with Venezuela and Syria.

Get the full story from Fausta, at Real Clear World.

Hope Fades but Anger is Alive in Iran Crackdown

From the Washington Post, "Hope Fades but Anger is Alive as Iran's Rulers Crack Down":

Standing in Tehran's grand Vali-e Asr Street amid a sea of green, the opposition's signature color, Mehrdad was sure Iran was on the verge of a change for the better.

He pulled out his cellphone and started filming the crowd around him: the girls in green head scarves, the ladies in traditional chador with green bands around their wrists, the middle-aged couple holding hands as they marched. All were supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi, the man Mehrdad was certain would be the next president of Iran.

That was two weeks ago. Now everything has changed.

"I deleted those movies," said Mehrdad, a tall 31-year-old who, like others interviewed for this article, spoke on the condition that his last name not be used. "What if they find those on my cellphone? I could be arrested. Actually, I could be arrested even for wearing green."

Mehrdad is one among millions, part of a movement that has gone in a matter of days from the exultant hope of reforming Iran's government to the disappointment of facing down leaders who have labeled them terrorists and hooligans. For now, at least, the millions are largely silenced. Only small groups venture out to demonstrate, and when they do, they are suppressed violently.

But their anger remains.

More at the link.

Hat Tip: Lucianne. See also, Ryan Mauro, "Regime Change in Iran: Yes, We Can."