About
Captain Ed is a father and grandfather living in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, a native Californian who moved to the North Star State because of the weather. He lives with his wife Marcia, also known as the First Mate, their two dogs, and frequently watch their granddaughter Kayla, whom Captain Ed calls The Little Admiral.
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The Crows Nest
Rule 1: Drag The Corpse On Over First
If I've learned anything in four years of blogging, don't try to be out in front of the death rumors, especially with the villains of the world. Saddam died a hundred deaths before we caught him alive in his spider hole, and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi almost as many before his demise last year. Osama may or may not be alive, but everyone's avoided speculating on his fate for a while now. Maybe Val at Babalu Blog will get luckier with his "Castro Is Dead" story. We all hope so. I'll wait for the announcement ....
Hobbs Choice
Volunteer Voters is holding its annual "Best of Nashville" on-line polls, and one of the categories is for the best political writer. Our friend Bill Hobbs, now posting at Newsbusters, and he'd like his on-line fans to cast their votes. Drop by and put one in for Bill if you get a chance!
Murtha Getting Backlogged On Apologies
Gary Gross of Let Freedom Ring sees another case collapsing on the Haditha charges. He's called for Murtha to apologize earlier, and adds another reason to the tally.
No Such Thing As 'Moderate' Islam?
Turkish PM Tayyip Erdogan told a television interviewer that he finds the label "moderate Islam" offensive. Shrink Wrapped has a lot more on this, but at least in the same interview Erdogan acknowledged that "radical Islam" exists, and that it's been a catastrophe. Be sure to read the whole post.
MS-NBC Gets Punk'd
Power Line has a great post on a lack of journalistic effort on the part of MS-NBC. In covering the Michael Vick story, they reported on what they thought was Al Sharpton's website proclaiming Vick's innocence. I guess Alex Johnson and two other MS-NBC reporters couldn't bother to read the title bar of the site, which proudly proclaims it as a "parody site".
New Instapundit Podcast On Pharmaceuticals
I just caught this e-mail from Glenn Reynolds about his new podcast with Richard Epstein, the author of Overdose: How Excessive Government Regulation Stifles Pharmaceutical Innovation. Haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, but the topic is important enough to make sure I carve out time for it tomorrow. Get their first and tell me what I'm missing ....
Fed Trying A 'Stealth Easing'?
The Federal Reserve seems to have conducted a quiet campaign to steady markets that started spinning out of control, according to King Banaian at SCSU Scholars. He thinks that the Fed has conducted a "stealth easing". Be sure to read his explanation and follow his lnks.
A Shameless Bit Of Sel-Promotion
Gateway Pundit and Val at Babalu Blog note a crass PR move by Hugo Chavez. Venezuela has responded to Peru's eathquake disaster with food shipments -- and with Hugo's smiling picture on the cans. He also uses the tuna-can label to undermine President Garcia of Peru, who narrowly defeated Chavez' pal Ollanto Humalla, whom the labels extol for his "solidarity" with Chavez.
Tacky beyond belief.
Bush Going After Palestinian Terror Financing?
George Bush's new orders to USAID forces them to review the executive management of all NGOs to ensure that they have no terrorist connections. Carl in Jerusalem says at Israel Matzav that the order specifically intends to target Palestinian front groups for terrorists. Let's hope he's right.
Slow Start!
Yes, I'm off to a slow start today, thanks to some scripting issues, a bad back, and an alarm clock that needs replacing. Bear with me -- I'm ramping up, I promise...
And Now, In Little League Action Last Night ...
I once played in a Little League game where we lost, 30-1, obviously before mercy rules came into being. The only comfort during that shellacking was that 13-year-olds don't have to justify their salaries for being on the field. You have to wonder what the Baltimore Orioles have to feel without that caveat today, after losing 30-3 to the Texas Rangers. Sixteen of the runs came in the last two innings .... (via TMV)
Bush Speech On Iraq
I got a couple of e-mails wondering why I haven't linked to George Bush's speech today. I liked it; I just didn't have much to add. Rush Limbaugh covered it well on his site, and Power Line also links approvingly but has nothing much more to say. Michael Goldfarb notes that the Weekly Standard had made a similar argument regarding Vietnam a year ago.
Rove Fears Me -- No, Really!
Hot Air notes the latest fundraising letter from John Edwards. No longer content to indulge his paranoia when Ann Coulter mentions him, now he wants to indulge it when Karl Rove doesn't. Has any candidate seemed this desperate before now?
Racism Or Hard Truth?
Angela Winters looks at an editorial cartoon and the controvery it has caused in Jacksonville, Florida, especially in the black community. Truth or racism? When rap artists tell young listeners not to cooperate with the police, how much responsibility do they have for the victimization that follows? Read all of the essay at The Moderate Voice.
Support Citizen Journalism
Bill Ardolino at INDC Journal reminds us that there is a reporter shortage on the front lines. The best way to solve that problem? Donate to Public Multimedia, the citizen-journalist organization that supports Bill Roggio, Bill Ardolino, and others. (And a direct donation to Michael Yon would be much appreciated as well.)
Comments (21)
Posted by jay | June 20, 2007 7:10 AM
I am wondering why the Dems don't put Bill in as president of the DNC. He is probably the best politician that the Dems have had since JFK or FDR. Also he wouldn't make 1/10th as many gaffs as Howard Dean.
Posted by Hagar | June 20, 2007 7:26 AM
I thought she was going to make him Attorney General so as to ensure the Justice Dept. freedom from undue political influences?
Posted by Monkei | June 20, 2007 7:48 AM
Gosh if only Laura was running the WH behind the scenes!
Posted by Keemo | June 20, 2007 7:53 AM
While we are at it; remember this...
Terrorist pilot Mohammad Atta blew up a bus in Israel in 1986. The Israelis captured, tried and imprisoned him. As part of the Oslo agreement with the Palestinians in 1993, Israel had to agree to release so-called "political prisoners."
However, the Israelis would not release any prisoners with blood on their hands.
The American President at the time, Bill Clinton, and his Secretary of State, Warren Christopher, "insisted" that all such prisoners be released.
Thus Mohammad Atta was freed.
Posted by starfleet_dude | June 20, 2007 8:08 AM
I'd take Bill Clinton as a shadow President any day over Dick Cheney.
Posted by Bachbone | June 20, 2007 8:30 AM
According to the two recent books about St. Hillary, she's a lot like Jimmy Carter - can't delegate much of anything. In addition, she rather enjoys the pithiness found in bashing opponents' heads to a bloody pulp. Slick Willie might be given a figurehead assignment, but St. Hillary would dictate his every move and have his Secret Service handlers reporting back to her every hour as to what Slick did to and with whom.
Posted by starfleet_dude | June 20, 2007 8:44 AM
Keemo, what you're recalling is actually a case of mistaken identity. From Wikipedia:
Posted by prolix | June 20, 2007 10:06 AM
Small quibble: I think the amendment you meant to cite is the 22nd, which establishes Presidential term limits. The 25th deals with succession and the the position of Vice President.
Posted by AA | June 20, 2007 10:21 AM
25th or 22nd?
Posted by John | June 20, 2007 11:08 AM
The really cynical view is that Hillary is saying this mainly to assuage nervous Democratic Party voters who remember her health care debacle, and that once sworn into office, she'll treat Bill in about the same manner Lyndon Johnson treated Hubert Humphrey while president, keeping him as far away from any real power in order to avoid having to share the limelight with her more personable husband.
If that's true, than even Bill may be in for a surprise after Jan. 20, 2009, as his wife's control-freak nature reaches its natural conclusion after she achieves the ultimate goal. Of course, since there would then be a 2012 election to think about, if the first year or so of a Hillary administration went about as well as Bill's first two years did, there's always the chance that down the line she would need him as much as he needed her after the Monica Lewinsky scandal, and you could see another deal between the Clintons simply for political convenience.
Posted by Monkei | June 20, 2007 11:23 AM
Keemo, what you're recalling is actually a case of mistaken identity. From Wikipedia:
Don't let truth ever get in the way when one is bashing Bill Clinton.
Posted by The Fop | June 20, 2007 11:26 AM
When the 22nd amendment was ratified, I'm sure no one thought that a woman would ever become president. If they did, I would think that there would be a good chance that they would add a caveat to the amendment saying that the husband or wife of a former president could not run for president, as it would constitute a co-presidency that could run for a total of four terms.
You could make the same argument about two brothers or a father and a son becoming president, but it's not the same thing as a husband and a wife, for the same reason that a husband can't testify against their wife in a courtroom. The first lady occupies the White House along with the president. I have no problem with George W. Bush taking his wife's opinions into consideration when making decisions. But Laura Bush should not be able to put her two cents in for eight years and then run for president herself and have a former president putting his two cents in during her presidency.
It would be one thing if she got a divorce or if her husband died, but as long as they're still married, it shouldn't be allowed.
Posted by Keemo | June 20, 2007 12:21 PM
There are (3) different stories regarding Atta's involvement with the 1986 bus bombing floating around the internet; all three are conflicting.
This is the story I read recently:
http://www.btinternet.com/~nlpWESSEX/Documents/newsweekpentagonalert.htm
monkei;
You readily accuse Bush of everything from taking the "worst president" honors away from Carter, to killing American soldiers on purpose, referring to them as "meat"; but yet you give Clinton a pass on having been weak regarding the threat that OBL and AQ... OBL and AQ had been attacking and killing Americans for at least 10 years prior to the Bush presidency, but yet you give Clinton a pass.
"Don't let the truth get in the way"; seems to apply to most of us quite frankly... I admit guilt in this area, that is for sure. My blinders are coming off rapidly though, with this bullshit shamnesty bill getting pushed by both parties...
Posted by Hagar | June 20, 2007 12:36 PM
Bill and Hillary come as a pair; like Ma and Pa Ferguson of Texas fame.
Posted by starfleet_dude | June 20, 2007 12:42 PM
Keemo, the article you cite was dated September 24th, 2001 and subsequent reports corrected the case of mistaken identity, as noted in Wikipedia.
Posted by Del Dolemonte | June 20, 2007 1:36 PM
starfleet_dude sez:
"I'd take Bill Clinton as a shadow President any day over Dick Cheney."
LOL, you forget to include the "H" word, Scotty.
By the way, tell us about those no-bid contracts Bill Clinton gave to Halliburton during his war of choice in Kosovo...
Posted by Monkei | June 20, 2007 2:16 PM
You readily accuse Bush of everything from taking the "worst president" honors away from Carter
No, you are wrong there, he is the worst president since Hoover, not Carter. Carter was the worst president BEFORE Bush II and after Ford.
I am not aware that I ever said Bush killed American soldiers on purpose, if I did I was wrong and misquoted. I do think he is an idiot and bullheaded and unwilling to accept wrong decisions on so many levels and on so many issues. I am sure he does not want to kill American soldiers on purpose though.
but yet you give Clinton a pass.
Both have had problems, Bush's problems have been intelligence and intelligent issues, Clinton's has been moral. How does that work for you. Maybe, if we had Clinton's intelligence with Bush's morals we would be better off?
By the way, tell us about those no-bid contracts Bill Clinton gave to Halliburton during his war of choice in Kosovo...
Gee Pineapple ... what are you saying here, that Bush is as bad as Clinton, or Clinton is as bad as Bush?
Posted by AA | June 20, 2007 3:40 PM
UPDATE: 22nd Amendment, not 25th. Back to civics class! Thanks to CQ commenter AA for the correction.
A personal acknowledgement from Captain Ed! OMG. I’m not worthy.
Now if I could just get James Lileks to use one of my contributions. A guy can dream…
Posted by Del Dolemonte | June 20, 2007 11:28 PM
monkei said:
"Bush's problems have been intelligence and intelligent issues, Clinton's has been moral. How does that work for you. Maybe, if we had Clinton's intelligence with Bush's morals we would be better off?"
Maybe if Clinton had been less distracted by "moral issues", bin Laden wouldn''t have been so pissed off at him? Ozzie actually wanted to pull off the attacks before Clinton left office. Atta said they needed more time to train. He was right.
You also conveniently forget the simple fact that Clinton could just as easily been fooling around with an "intern" who was really an intelligence operative from another country.
As for insulting Bush's intelligence, please! You're like an old TV show repeat from 2002.
And as for Halliburton, Lydnon Johnson was worse than both of them combined, as he jumped into bed with the firm in 1936. His widow Lady Bird is still a member of their Board of Directors.
Needless to say, the no-bid contracts Lyndon gave to Halli were unreported at the time, and pooh-pooed by the people on your side of the aisle.
Posted by jaeger51 | June 21, 2007 1:31 AM
Bill agreed to the deal only if he was allowed to interview the interns. Seriously, though, you can say one good thing about ol Bill: he was smart enough and self serving enough to avoid doing the usual leftist economy messing so avoided the usual Dem economic slump caused by tax-raising. Terrible on foreign policy and cultural issues though.
Posted by Monkei | June 21, 2007 7:11 AM
As for insulting Bush's intelligence, please! You're like an old TV show repeat from 2002.
Gee what's wrong with that, afterall there is a whole TV network out there who airs nothing but TV repeats. Maybe if GWB wasn't constantly repeatedly bolstering his incompetancies and ruining the GOP it would go way ... but he remains and so it goes.