Tuesday, October 26, 2004

Tuesday 10/26 links

Appearing this time in the London Daily Telegraph, Mark Steyn takes aim at Charlie Brooker, the imbecile who called for Pres. Bush's assassination in Saturday's London Guardian. You know, the one the newspaper characterized as an "ironic joke"--the moment they realized just how bad it was going to be.

Here's a news flash: the most recent front-page New York Times exclusive blasting Pres. Bush, this time for not securing high explosives in Iraq, is false. (As though the president is supposed to do that in the first place.)
Matt Drudge, Captain's Quarters blogger "Captain Ed" Morrissey, Hugh Hewitt, Belmont Club blogger "Wretchard," and the other usual suspects cite the first-hand NBC report that the stuff was gone when US troops got there--and gleefully pile on.

And it keeps getting better and better.
Morrissey also reports that when the Bush campaign blasted Sen. Kerry for continuing to refer to the story even after it was discredited, Kerry's spokesman Joe Lockhart said: "The White House is desperately flailing in an effort to escape blame. It is the latest pathetic excuse from an administration that never admits a mistake, no matter how disastrous.'" As Morrissey puts it: "Unless Lockhart is a practicing ironist, which might be a side effect of working for Bill Clinton, that statement contains more projection than an IMAX theater."

New York Sun writer
Josh Gerstein reports that Kerry is a plagiarist. (Hat tip to Hugh Hewitt)

New York Post columnist
John Podhoretz pose a great question: "What if there are no undecided voters left?"

Power Line blogger "Deacon," aka
Paul Mirengoff, compares the 2000 and 2004 elections. He sees some similarities--but some significant differences.

Meanwhile, Tech Central Station columnist
William J. Stuntz compares the 1948 and 2004 elections--and while perhaps Pres. Bush is no Harry Truman, Sen. Kerry certainly resembles Thomas Dewey.

Syndicated columnist
Dennis Prager argues "How Jews Should Vote." Boston Globe columnist Jonathan D. Sarna describes how both parties are fighting for every last Jewish vote, although Jews are only 1/50 of the population. Two Weekly Standard columnists, William Kristol and Joel Engel, also weigh in.

New York Post columnist and former Army major
Ralph Peters insists--absolutely, positively, [insert your own superlative adverb here]--there will not be a draft.

Chicago Tribune columnist
Eric Zorn goes behind the scenes at RealClearPolitics.com.

Online satirist ScrappleFace, aka
Scott Ott, posts another classic: "Saddam Worried Explosive Cache Now in 'Wrong Hands.'" The subtext: why wasn't Sen. Kerry worried about this stuff when Saddam controlled it?

A lovely piece in the generally less-than-lovely Chronicle of Higher Education (that's not fair; it is a very good publication):
Thomas H. Benton really loves books: "My Own Private Library: An assistant professor suspects that he is a scholar because he is a bibliophile rather than the other way around."

Whimsical New York Times columnist
Clyde Haberman (really--Haberman appears to have been assigned the "whimsy" beat) interviews a national treasure; ie, the guy who designed the New York subway map. And New York Daily News guest columnist Clifton Hood, who wrote a book about building the subway, remembers the guys who did it.