Sunday 10/17 links
Burnt-out blogger Steven Den Beste supplies a gem of a cameo (so to speak) as he carefully analyzes poll numbers and concludes: "In my opinion, the polls were being deliberately gimmicked, in hopes of helping Kerry. In early August it looks as if there was an attempt to engineer a 'post-convention bounce,' but it failed and was abandoned after about two weeks. ... In September, I think there was a deliberate attempt to depress Kerry's numbers, so as to set up an 'October comeback.' Of course, the goal was to engineer a bandwagon. Public opinion isn't usually as ephemeral as these polls suggest that it is. But there can be long-term trends, and ... it's quite striking how close some of the data falls to the long term trendlines ... . The reason the Democrats and the MSM are getting frantic is that they're losing." Belmont Club blogger "Wretchard" examines Den Beste's data and reaches the same conclusion.
New York Post columnist Amir Taheri has great difficulty keeping all the lefty nutjob conspiracy theories straight. But who can? Remember the Saudis' plan to ensure Pres. Bush's reelection by adjusting the price of oil? Well, it doesn't seem to be working out that way, does it?
US News & World Report columnist John Leo attempts to see things from the perspective of the New York Liberal Cocoon--er, that is The New York Times.
Appearing this time in the Chicago Sun-Times, Mark Steyn doubts Sen. Kerry's new hard line: "I love that bit in every debate where John Kerry pledges to 'hunt down and kill the terrorists.' You can see him thinking, 'Must remember to say "kill" very loudly and in a deep voice. And sound as if I'm not gonna be some pantywaist president who uses special forces or unmanned drones. I'm gonna kill -- sorry, KILL -- 'em myself.'"
Meanwhile, Ottawa Citizen columnist David Warren watches events unfold in "Fallujah again."
New York Daily News columnist Zev Chafets sneers at Sen. Kerry's protestations that he intended his Mary Cheney remark in good faith: "He was crying Mary to send a message to presumably homophobic Christian voters: Just in case you hadn't heard, the vice president harbors a practicing lesbian in the bosom of his family. Despite Kerry's angel-faced sanctimony, this was a piece of premeditated gay-baiting (John Edwards used the same gambit in his debate with Cheney) whose transparent purpose was to keep some of the GOP's evangelical voters from turning out on Nov. 2. This was a miscalculation."
Los Angeles Times guest columnist Martin Peretz thinks that if Sen. Kerry is elected he will screw Israel.
In his Newsweek column, George F. Will warns that the 2000 Bush v. Gore Supreme Court ruling could "plunge the nation into chaos on Nov. 3."
This one is priceless: US News & World Report "Washington Whispers" columnist Paul Bedard reports that prospective high-level CIA apointee Michael Kostiw was forced to withdraw after he was caught shoplifting: "But what dismays the spooks most isn't the ethics or the propriety of the case--it's that Kostiw had served as a case officer for 10 years and still couldn't manage to shoplift a package of bacon without getting caught in a Northern Virginia market. Says one old spy: 'It's a perfect metaphor for the sorry state of the CIA.'"
Associated Press correspondent Zinie Chen Sampson reports that border state towns are suddenly realizing that Civil War battlegrounds can be profitable.
Chicago Tribune computer columnist Jim Coates is impressed by Google's new hard-drive search engine, but cautions that there may be privacy issues. He also discusses some music stuff that doesn't interest me.
Writing in The New York Times--hah! that's certainly a tip-off!--Benedict Carey says: "Here's a soothing thought, Red Sox fans: Losing isn't everything." Patronizing bastard. Oh, and the piece tries to explain why fans follow local clubs so avidly.
Miami Herald humor columnist Dave Barry thinks traffic has gotten out of control. How bad is it? How about this: "FACT: In greater Los Angeles, the only documented instance in the past two decades of anybody actually getting anywhere by car is O.J. Simpson." (Registration required.)
New York Post columnist Amir Taheri has great difficulty keeping all the lefty nutjob conspiracy theories straight. But who can? Remember the Saudis' plan to ensure Pres. Bush's reelection by adjusting the price of oil? Well, it doesn't seem to be working out that way, does it?
US News & World Report columnist John Leo attempts to see things from the perspective of the New York Liberal Cocoon--er, that is The New York Times.
Appearing this time in the Chicago Sun-Times, Mark Steyn doubts Sen. Kerry's new hard line: "I love that bit in every debate where John Kerry pledges to 'hunt down and kill the terrorists.' You can see him thinking, 'Must remember to say "kill" very loudly and in a deep voice. And sound as if I'm not gonna be some pantywaist president who uses special forces or unmanned drones. I'm gonna kill -- sorry, KILL -- 'em myself.'"
Meanwhile, Ottawa Citizen columnist David Warren watches events unfold in "Fallujah again."
New York Daily News columnist Zev Chafets sneers at Sen. Kerry's protestations that he intended his Mary Cheney remark in good faith: "He was crying Mary to send a message to presumably homophobic Christian voters: Just in case you hadn't heard, the vice president harbors a practicing lesbian in the bosom of his family. Despite Kerry's angel-faced sanctimony, this was a piece of premeditated gay-baiting (John Edwards used the same gambit in his debate with Cheney) whose transparent purpose was to keep some of the GOP's evangelical voters from turning out on Nov. 2. This was a miscalculation."
Los Angeles Times guest columnist Martin Peretz thinks that if Sen. Kerry is elected he will screw Israel.
In his Newsweek column, George F. Will warns that the 2000 Bush v. Gore Supreme Court ruling could "plunge the nation into chaos on Nov. 3."
This one is priceless: US News & World Report "Washington Whispers" columnist Paul Bedard reports that prospective high-level CIA apointee Michael Kostiw was forced to withdraw after he was caught shoplifting: "But what dismays the spooks most isn't the ethics or the propriety of the case--it's that Kostiw had served as a case officer for 10 years and still couldn't manage to shoplift a package of bacon without getting caught in a Northern Virginia market. Says one old spy: 'It's a perfect metaphor for the sorry state of the CIA.'"
Associated Press correspondent Zinie Chen Sampson reports that border state towns are suddenly realizing that Civil War battlegrounds can be profitable.
Chicago Tribune computer columnist Jim Coates is impressed by Google's new hard-drive search engine, but cautions that there may be privacy issues. He also discusses some music stuff that doesn't interest me.
Writing in The New York Times--hah! that's certainly a tip-off!--Benedict Carey says: "Here's a soothing thought, Red Sox fans: Losing isn't everything." Patronizing bastard. Oh, and the piece tries to explain why fans follow local clubs so avidly.
Miami Herald humor columnist Dave Barry thinks traffic has gotten out of control. How bad is it? How about this: "FACT: In greater Los Angeles, the only documented instance in the past two decades of anybody actually getting anywhere by car is O.J. Simpson." (Registration required.)
posted by S.Y. Silverstein at 8:48 AM
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