“Look, we worked hard and gave it our best shot, but the demographics, well, they are what they are…”

The “demographics”? Hmmmmm, now whatever could he mean by that?

I wonder, could a Republican get away with saying something like that? Need I even ask?

NOTE: I’m not at all suggesting that what this fella said was somehow offensive. But lately the bar really seems to have lowered considerably in terms of what might be considered the “polite” discussion of racial politics. Well, I guess if it just stays among the Democrats, then that’s A-OK.

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…one of the dumbest bills I have seen introduced in the state legislature in a very, very long time. And that’s saying something.

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Michael Yon in the Wall Street Journal:

As the outrages of Abu Ghraib faded in memory – and paled in comparison to al Qaeda’s brutalities – and our soldiers under the Petraeus strategy got off their big bases and out of their tanks and deeper into the neighborhoods, American values began to win the war.

Iraqis came to respect American soldiers as warriors who would protect them from terror gangs. But Iraqis also discovered that these great warriors are even happier helping rebuild a clinic, school or a neighborhood. They learned that the American soldier is not only the most dangerous enemy in the world, but one of the best friends a neighborhood can have.

Yon also adds this:

The U.S. military is the most respected institution in Iraq, and many Iraqi boys dream of becoming American soldiers. Yes, young Iraqi boys know about “GoArmy.com.”

They’re not just dreaming it.  I’ve met some who already are American Soldiers.

BTW, Michael Yon has just released Moment of Truth in Iraq about his experiences as an embedded journalist there.  Order it here.

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Fort Benning - It was a short question: “CRC?” The answer from the military liaison at the Columbus, Georgia airport was almost as short. White bus outside. Says CRC on it.” We waited on the white bus outside until the last person from our flight had his bags. There were fifteen of us. Then began the twenty minute drive to Fort Benning. Our destination was the CONUS Replacement Center, hence the “CRC”. “CONUS” is itself an acronym meaning “Continental United States.” The military has this strange habit of making acronyms into words and then making second-order acronyms out of the first acronym.

(more…)

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Some commenters on a previous post have wondered why I haven’t made mention of the fact that I’m headed to Iraq. Two reasons: I’ve really been busy getting things in order and spending time with my family, and now that I’m on my way, it’s not very easy to post. This I’m doing from my cell phone, so forgive the grammar and spelling errors.

I’m now at Fort Benning, Georgia at the CONUS Replacement Center. The CRC is where the Army processes about 20,000 Soldiers a year on the way to overseas deplyments. Most of us here ar individual augmentees, that is, people deploying individually instead of as part of a unit.

It’s been a while since I’ve been to Fort Benning. I was last here twenty years ago for jump school. It’s also been a while since I’ve deployed to the Middle East. Two things have struck about this experience thus far.

The equipment is so much better than what Soldiers brought with them even just a few years ago. It’s more comfortable and stronger. In many cases it’s lighter (although there’s more of it, so on that count everything cancels out. It’s aso more civilianized. The Army now issues Gerber knives and Camelbak canteens. Before Soldiers if they wanted them (and, in the case of the Camelback, were allowed by their command to wear them) they had to buy them themselves.

The other thing abut my time here at Benning is that I’m reminded of how beautiful this area of the country is this time of year. The hardwoods are out, showing that light green color of new spring leaves. The dogwoods are fully in bloom, as are the azaleas. Both are dramatic and colorful complements to the green forest. Not too far form here the Masters begins this week with the same verdant backdrop. It’s the foreground that is very different.

There’s one other difference that I was just reminded of by the chaplain I’m now sitting by. Years ago when soldiers went through these kinds of “hurry up and wait” exercises, Soldiers would bring a book to keep them occupied. Now they have a cell phone or a pda so that they can read their emails and check the web. Instead of reading about the past to pass the time, today’s Soldiers are keeping up with the present

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Sean Oxendine offers perhaps the best analysis of voting demographics I’ve seen in a long time.  He calls it a “scenario” instead of a prediction.  But it’s a pretty good prediction too. 

Read it, look at the maps, and you will understand why Hillary Clinton would be foolish to drop out of the race before Puerto Rico votes.

And if this scenario comes to pass you’ll have to wonder how stupid Bill Richardson, et al., will feel in about two months.

(ht:GR)

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SEE UPDATE BELOW: 

As soon as I read this story linked on Drudge,

AIR AMERICA host Randi Rhodes Suspended for Clinton Remarks…

I had three questions:

1.  Randi Rhodes still has a show?

2.  Air America is still on the air?

3.  If calling Hillary Clinton a “big f-ing whore” is grounds for adverse action because the network “does not condone such abusive, ad hominem language by our hosts,” then why are not most of its hosts on indefinite suspension?

You can watch a video of the comments that got her fired here.  Except for the f-bombs, it’s typical drivel that I’ve heard her spout on the radio numerous times before–only about conservatives.

UPDATE:

Now I understand why there were no groans or boos in the audience when Rhodes trashed Clinton and Ferraro:

Christian Grantham does some digging and discovers that the event where Randi Rhodes spoke was promoted on Barack Obama’s website.  Sure, the campaign distanced itself by saying that it was a KKGO event, but they were proud enough of Rhodes’ help to highlight it on their website and even to encourage people without tickets to show up in case there were no-shows.  They even had a way to sign up for the event on Obama’s webpage.  Clearly they were happy to have Randi Rhodes’ help.

Strangely, the media is awfully silent about the clear connection to the Obama campaign.

MORE:

Christian made a comparison in the comments below that is spot on.  He likened Randi Rhodes’ remarks to those of WLW host Bill Cunningham.  If you remember, when Cunningham introduced John McCain at a campaign event in Cincinnati, he purposefully highlighted Obama’s middle name “Hussein” at least three times during his short remarks.  When he came to the stage John McCain immediately said that Cunningham’s comments were uncalled for.

John McCain was right to do that.  Now, will the press push Barack Obama to distance himself from Randi Rhodes for her comments which were even more hateful?

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I’ve been saying the same thing ever since the Tennessee primary two months ago but Michael Barone says it far more authoritatively:

Read the whole thing.

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Surely you remember the cover photo on the (London) Independent story entitled:

USA 2008: The Great Depression

Blogger Vernon Dent found that the photo came not from 2008 but from 2005.  Here’s the caption on Getty Images who owns the picture:

New York Mayor Hands Out Coats To The Poor
NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 30: People wait on line to receive donated coats at the kickoff of the 17th annual New York Cares Coat Drive a the Bowery Mission November 30, 2005 in New York City. Bloomberg helped give out coats to residents of the Mission and the coat drive hopes to collect and distribute 80,000 coats to needy New Yorkers by New Years. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

The deceitful photo, the hyperbolic headline, and the hyperventilating conclusion about how America was headed into a new depression was based on nothing more than a story about a 5.6% increase in the number of food stamp recipients over 2007 because the food stamp program increased its outreach and changed its distribution method in order to purposefully get benefits to more people.

That’s an example of journalistic malpractice of the worst kind–even for a tabloid.

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Polls indicate that more than 20% of Hillary Clinton’s supporters will vote for John McCain if Barack Obama is the nominee.  If that number is just 5% in November it will devastate an Obama candidacy.

There are Democrats who recognize (a) that a disenchanted Democratic vote for McCain is twice as destructive as simply a non-vote and (b) that comments like “God damn America,” ”for the first time in my adult life I’m proud of my country,” and “ I will slow our development of future combat systems” will not go away.  Some of those disenchanted Democrats, inspired by this post by an Obama supporter-turned-loather have created a movement to blunt Obama’s rise: 

WriteHillaryIn.com

The website offers this message:

We will not vote for Barack Obama for a host of reasons, the most important one being his unimpressive legislative record.  That there is persuasive and mounting evidence that Senator Obama is deeply dishonest and holds racially divisive beliefs are important facts for us as well.

We will not vote for John McCain for very different reasons having nothing to do with his qualifications, which are strong and evident.  We simply don’t want a pro-war  President who is indifferent about the ailing American economy.  A vote for McCain is likely to be a vote for an extension of W’s tragically detrimental policies.

As a practical matter, third parties and especially write-in campaigns are almost always losers.  But they are powerful indicators of disenchantment.  This divide in the Democratic Party is not going away.  Furthermore, the superdelegate push for a decision before the convention might actually worsen Democratic chances if between the primaries and August more unflattering revelations of Obama’s past emerge.  Keep in mind that just a month ago Barack Obama was cruising along with eleven straight victories, his Ivy League-educated wife hadn’t yet looked down with disdain at her country, and disgust with Jeremiah Wright’s rants was limited to a few geeks in the blogosphere.  A lot can change very quickly.  If buyer’s remorse kicks in, expect WriteHillaryIn.com and movements like it to gain traction.

(ht: GR and BQ)

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