Month: December 2009

Al Franken bravely goes after GOP *staffers*…

So much for ‘Minnesota Nice.’

…apparently, the negative fallout from going after actual Republican Senators was a bit much for the man, and of course he can’t just act like a mature federal legislator.  Al Franken, remember?

Anyway, via Drudge here’s the latest loss-of-control:

Franken invited [Sen. Bob] Corker to his office to discuss an op-ed that Corker penned in a Tennessee newspaper opposing an amendment Franken offered to a defense bill. The measure gave the employees of defense contractors who suffer rape or sexual assault at the workplace the right to sue in court.

The meeting quickly deteriorated when Franken began berating one of Corker’s aides, according to GOP aides familiar with the incident. Franken’s sally was so harsh that Corker told Franken to lay off his aide and direct the comments at him instead.

Franken’s tough approach came as a surprise because Corker scheduled the meeting to mend fences after Franken confronted him about the op-ed during an angry exchange on the Senate floor.

Franken also went out after another GOP staffer – female, of course – for the supposed crimes of Republican Senators. You almost have to feel bad for the decidedly junior Senator from Minnesota: after all, it’s been an entire year since the election, and he’s still just Al Franken.  And he’s starting to subconsciously grasp that putting the title ‘Senator’ in front of his name won’t change that.

Moe Lane

PS: In the unlikely chance that he ever reads this: make me respect you, Senator Smalley.

Crossposted to RedState.

Call of Duty and the failure of Newspeak.

Alternative title: Thus Do We Refute Marshall McLuhan.  Via Instapundit, The Market Hath Spoken:

Hollywood churned out dozens of in-the-trenches, pro-America extravaganzas such as Wake Island and Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo while World War II was being fought.

But the portrayal of the U.S. military during its current engagements has been more subdued and even critical.

Game makers have stepped into the breach. And they’re making huge bucks crafting patriotic entertainment pieces for which the movie industry used to be famous.

It’s actually fascinating to see the blind spot exhibited by Hollywood antiwar types, here.  If you had ask them whether they thought Prohibition worked, or whether Just Say No works, they’d immediately reply no, it didn’t.  Merely forbidding a behavior doesn’t make it simply go away, and someone would have to be an unsophisticated hick with a naive worldview to think that not talking about something is the same as suppressing it.  And yet, they’ve spent the last decades resolutely ignoring the fact that their attempts to tamp down patriotic and pro-military attitudes in the American population didn’t work, and has cost them a lot of money.

Incredible.  Then again, it’s not like Hollywood selects for critical thinking.

Moe Lane

PS: By all accounts, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is one heck of a game on its own merits.  Whether or not it’s what the above article portrays it as being.

Crossposted to RedState.

Jimmy Carter apologizes for the entire ‘trying to destroy Israel’ thing.

Before you read that: Jimmy’s grandson is running for a Georgia state senate seat in a district with a significant Jewish population.  OK? OK.  From UPI:

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter asked the Jewish community for forgiveness for any actions that may have caused distress.

In a letter to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency published Monday, Carter offered a holiday message wishing for an Arab-Israeli peace.

“We must recognize Israel’s achievements under difficult circumstances, even as we strive in a positive way to help Israel continue to improve its relations with its Arab populations, but we must not permit criticisms for improvement to stigmatize Israel,” Carter’s message said. “As I would have noted at Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, but which is appropriate at any time of the year, I offer an Al Het (a plea for forgiveness) for any words or deeds of mine that may have done so.”

Via AoSHQ. It says something about Jimmy Carter that wanting to help his grandkid’s electoral chances would be the nice reason why he’s doing it: all the other ones are either less charitable, or else would put too many people’s hopes up.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

An early Christmas present.

Thanks to the generous support of my readers – one in particular – I was able to take a major item off of the Blogging Wish List: the Canon PowerShot SD1200IS 10 MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.5-inch LCD (Dark Gray).  I was admittedly tempted to go with the Wii, but I’m still holding out hope that someday I’ll be important enough that Democratic party operatives will seize upon this opportunity to destroy my productivity.

Hint, hint, Democratic party operatives.

Moe Lane

PS: The link below is to the site host.  Without Neil Stevens, no MoeLane.com.


Only Kerry would go to Iran.

(H/T: Hot Air) It’s bad when you have somebody from this administration wincing at a proposed foreign relations move:

Sen. John Kerry has suggested becoming the first high-level U.S. emissary to make a public visit to Tehran since the 1979 Islamic revolution, a move White House officials say they won’t oppose.

“…say they won’t oppose.” How… bloodless… a response. And how quick the administration was to remind the world that as head of the Foreign Relations Committee* the movements of Senator Kerry is beyond the White House’s control. It was all his idea, in fact.  A complete surprise:

The Obama administration hasn’t decided whether to make Sen. Kerry its official representative if he goes, but as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Kerry can visit if the White House and Tehran both approve.

Many opponents of Tehran’s regime oppose such a visit, fearing it would lend legitimacy to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at a time when his government is under continuing pressure from protests and opposition figures. Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets again this week to voice their opposition to the government following the death of a reformist cleric.

That Kerry’s timing this olive branch to the Iranian ruling regime just when street protests bubbled over is merely a sign that the Senator is watched over by a spirit possessed of vast cunning and political strategic genius.

Who hates Senator Kerry.

Moe Lane

*Yes. I know. They made John Kerry head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES, PEOPLE.

Crossposted to RedState.