Oh, my aching head: Time for a “study” on DADT.

I’m noting this in RedHot/my site because Brian has covered the basics of the thing itself; essentially, the President is going to wait until the military gets back to him before he tries to get the law repealed. Speaking as someone who actually favors allowing gays to serve openly in the military, let me correct two egregious errors in the article:

  1. Clinton was not “forced to back off”; he out-and-out caved on this issue at the first sign of pressure.
  2. A “comprehensive assessment” does not actually mean a “comprehensive assessment:” as Karl over at Patterico notes in a different controversy, it means something more like “to move an issue onto a back burner.”

In other words, don’t count on this changing this spring. Or this year. Or, quite possibly, this Presidential term.

Crossposted at RedState.

You know, I STILL can’t figure out if Land of the Lost is going to be worth it.

If you watch the video:

…you rapidly come to the conclusion that the basic principle is, well, kind of stupid.  Then again, so was the the original series.  I mean, let’s face it: it was crap, crap, crap, like much of Sid & Marty Kroft’s work (all hail James Lileks for coming up with the indispensable adjective “Lovekroftian,” by the way: I’d email it to Ken Hite, except he might run with it, God help us all).  Which would be a double-strength not-a-chance, except that Will Ferrell’s involved.  The guy has a talent for making the best of crap.

So it’s a hard call.  Maybe when it hits video.

The nuance of the pro-torture Left (HRW edition).

Because it’s different when THEY do it, you see.

Good term, Wizbang: I like it. Anyway, via Dissenting Justice (via Instapundit) we can see in miniature the… ah, evolution of the Left’s stance on Obama’s reversion to rendition. Our hypocrites for the day are Human Rights Watch*:

April 7, 2008 to at least January 19, 2009:

The US government should:

·Repudiate the use of rendition to torture as a counterterrorism tactic and permanently discontinue the CIA’s rendition program;

Some time after January 20, 2009:

“Under limited circumstances, there is a legitimate place” for renditions, said Tom Malinowski, the Washington advocacy director for Human Rights Watch. “What I heard loud and clear from the president’s order was that they want to design a system that doesn’t result in people being sent to foreign dungeons to be tortured — but that designing that system is going to take some time.”

Translation: all that stuff about the need to end rendition? “Oh, that’s just what we call pillow talk, baby, that’s all.”

Moe Lane

PS: Remember. Eastasia. We’ve always been at war with Eastasia. Continue reading The nuance of the pro-torture Left (HRW edition).

Snakes on a bill!

…look, you simply have to endure the pun.  Plus, yes, yes: “Snakes.  Why did it have to be snakes?”

File this in the “Elections have consequences” folder.  R.S. McCain:

Democrats in Congress are pushing legislation that would devastate the hobby — and damage the small businesses — of a group of American hobbyists: Snake collectors.

The Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act (HR669), sponsored by Del. Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam.) and co-sponsored by several House Democrats including Alcee Hastings and Ron Klein of Florida, has got the “reptile geeks” up in arms…

Essentially, somebody apparently watched some deep ecologist agitprop, got into freakout mode, and now wants to pretty much ban the import of animals into the USA.  At least, that’s how the U.S. Association of Reptile Keepers is framing this, and when you’ve got Alcee Hastings and Neil Abercrombie on one side of a debate and a bunch of sixteen year old kids who like boa constrictors on the other I know who I instinctively trust to have a better grasp of reality.  Hint: it ain’t a bunch of Democrats.

The good news is that this only has nine co-sponsors, so it’s not too high-profile (they must not have been able to figure out a way to sneak it into the Obama-Reid-Pelosi Debt Bill).  The bad news is that it’s not too high-profile, and the Democrats have sufficient numbers on hand to pass whatever damfool legislation they choose. Including bans on snake importations.

As I said: elections have consequences.

Crossposted at RedState.

Hey, how many Obama acolytes does it take to Change a light bulb?

THAT’S NOT FUNNY.

Andrew Malcolm has a few thoughts on the subject, and this is one time where the title is enough: “Oh, c’mon, laugh! Pres. Obama does have big ears.” You’re either going to click through with a chuckle, or purse your lips, wrinkle your forehead, and frown. For the latter, permit me to show you what vibes you’re increasingly setting off in other people’s heads:


Continue reading Hey, how many Obama acolytes does it take to Change a light bulb?

Yo Joe?

OK, here’s the problem. This is what I want:

And this is what they’re going to give me:

…the question is, is this going to be close enough? It looks promising, but that’s no guarantee. There’s also the problem that, between Iron Man, The Dark Knight, and Kung Fu Panda I’m kind of overdrawn at the movie karma bank right now.  So do I really have the right to fanboy, here?

I think that self-deprecation is only half of the key to humor.

[I have had it pointed out to me that the term is obviously ‘self-deprecation‘ – so add ‘semi-literate’ to the list.]

Although I certainly agree with Ace that far too many of our esteemed opposite numbers utterly lack any tendency towards it – anyway, when you’re trying for effective comedy involving others it’s only half the story. The other half is empathy. It is my opinion that really good comedy about others has with it the subtext That could be me that this is happening to, and if you can’t believe that about yourself, then you’re going to be, at best, merely savagely mocking your target. Which is fun, admittedly, but it’s not as effective as people think.

Yes, thank you, I’m quite well aware that this argument possibly indicts me as a puerile sort of person. I’m a bit of a sadist, too. Plus, I have dandruff. Your point?

Crossposted on RedState.

Excellent news: David Duke LOATHES the Steele pick.

Which I only found about because of the trackback from the Hot Air story on Obama’s new torture policy to a Moderate Voice post that happened to link to this Jack & Jill piece that mentions it. Hey, did you know that there’s a David Duke wing of the Republican Party? Hey, it must be true: I just read it on the Internet and everything. How we balance that with, say, our supposed subservience to the International Zionist Conspiracy… well, I’m sure that they’ll figure it out eventually.

The New Transformers Trailer.

Or, a reason why to watch the Super Bowl, particularly on a big screen TV:

(Via Shortpacked!)

Yeah, baby.  Michael Bay knows what you need.  Michael Bay knows what you crave.  You want what you wanted when you were twelve, only real.  Well, have some.

Moe Lane

PS: No Dinobots.  Never mind the suits’ explanation: they gotta save something for further sequels, that’s all.