Defending A Southerner

This from John Derbyshire is interesting. It's not often that you'll here somebody defend George Wallace, who's been so vilified through the years. Here's some of what Wikipedia has to say:

George Corley Wallace (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who was elected Governor of Alabama as a Democrat four times (1962, 1970, 1974 and 1982) and ran for U.S. President four times as well (in 1964, 1968, 1972 and 1976). He is best known for his racist attitudes, for which he later repented, during American desegregation.

While I don't pretend to know a lot about George Wallace and am far to young to remember anything about the times (I was born six years after his famous standing in the doorway), was George Wallace really a racist or was he simply a populist politician reflecting the wishes of his constituents at the time?

Mark Steyn: Genius

In a discussion with Hugh Hewitt, Mark Steyn nails it as usual:

I think it [the Administration] does seem to me exhausted. And in a strange way, a lot of the things that he's [President Bush] getting into trouble with over the moment, like the $3 a gas pump, is, I think, a reflection of...it doesn't even have the sort of strength of will to drag its own party with him. I mean, I thought the Senate bill, that the Senate Republicans proposed on energy, is completely preposterous. If the Republicans cave in on energy, which is a national security issue, and which is something where the Democrats are even more witless than usual, because they're not in favor of any kind of energy. If you were to say we should all go back to wood-fired steam trains on the Atchison, Topeka and the Sante Fe, they'd say oh, no, sorry. We're opposed to logging. We can't even have that. They're opposed to all kinds of energy. And if you've got a Democrat Party that's not serious, you've got a Republican Party that is frivolous in Congress more than half the time, then it's no wonder the administration is just exhausted.

All, of course, is still not lost. I think the solutions to a lot of the problems the Republicans are facing now are fairly simple (secure the borders, open domestic drilling, repeal the boutique blends requirments, etc..) they just need to return to their conservative roots. They're not going to win any converts by acting like Democrats, but could win back a lot of support if they started to govern like conservatives. If the House can pull the Senate back into line, there's still plenty of time to right the ship (pun intended.)

Are These Republicans?

What in the hell is happening with the Republicans in Washington? In response to high gas prices they want $100 checks for everybody, anti-price gouging protection, repealing tax incentives for oil companies, higher fuel economy standards, investigations into oil company profits? This is absurd. With behavior like this, I can't tell any difference between the two party's.

They'd better get their act together or they're heading for a train wreck in November.

UPDATE: Powerline has the details with thoughts on the matter as well.

Watch For Heads to Explode!

If this is true, the White House press corp will go nuts!

I've always liked Tony Snow. He's very smart, well versed in all things political, and has a calming demeanor. But if he is named the White House press secretary, the press will go nuts for one reason and one reason only: Fox News. They absolutely loathe Fox News and everything they believe it stands for. They hate the fact that Fox News continues to enjoy unrivaled success in cable news as what they perceive to be a conservative news outlet. I don't believe there is any doubt that Fox's news commentary is dominated by center-right hosts, but their news reporting is honest and fair, something that cannot be said of their nearest rivals CNN and MSNBC.

Strategically, I'm not sure if it is the best move because even though the press corp is hostile towards this White House, a little outreach wouldn't hurt. This is practically a thumb in the eye to the MSM. I used to be of the mind that you could basically write off trying to work with them because of their inherent hostility, but that strategy obviously hasn't worked on Scott McClennon who basically stonewalled them at every corner and provided as little information as possible -- somtimes even muddling the issues even more.

If Tony Snow is appointed, there is not doubt it will be fun. We shall see.

Update: Hotline has some of the details behind the possibility of Tony becoming press secretary. In part, they say:

Fox Newser Tony Snow is said by Republicans familiar with the negotiations to have asked for guaranteed access to the president's ear and to an unusually large degree of latitude to reconfigure the WH press operation. That pleases the new chief of staff, who wants to relegitimize the press podium in the Brady briefing room. But Snow, not content to be a herald, also wants near-complete control over what he says from the podium, be it bromides, platitudes or substance.

This would be good. Tony needs to be able to freelance a bit from the podium. I trust him, cut him loose.

Rewriting History, Again

I found this article by Arthur Schlesinger in today's Washington Post interesting. Most of it is pretty boring and not very noteworthy. The point, as best I can make it, is that the President is a bad man and basically we should do nothing in the War of Terror. What I found most interesting is that Mr. Schlesinger simply breezes past the Cold War as if it was won through "containment plus deterrence."

It was lucky that JFK was determined to get the missiles out peacefully, because only decades later did we discover that the Soviet forces in Cuba had tactical nuclear weapons and orders to use them to repel a U.S. invasion. This would have meant a nuclear exchange. Instead, JFK used his own thousand days to give the American University speech, a powerful plea to Americans as well as to Russians to reexamine "our own attitude -- as individuals and as a nation -- for our attitude is as essential as theirs." This was followed by the limited test ban treaty. It was compatible with the George Kennan formula -- containment plus deterrence -- that worked effectively to avoid a nuclear clash. [...]

But our Cold War presidents kept to the Kennan formula of containment plus deterrence, and we won the Cold War without escalating it into a nuclear war.

Notice how easy is was to face down the Soviets during the Cuban Missile Crisis and ultimately win the Cold War? A simple speech and a policy of "containment plus deterrence." Gee, if only it was that easy.

Of course Mr.Schlesinger fails to mention that the policy of "containment plus deterrence" got us nowhere with the Soviets under Kennedy (Cuban Missle Crisis, Bay of Pigs, Vietnam-Beginning), Johnson (Vietnam-Middle), Nixon (Vietnam-Defeat), Ford, and Carter (Afghanistan). Only when Ronald Reagan aggressively confronted to Soviet Empire were they defeated.

Of course lofty speeches and wishful thinking may make liberal intellectuals feel superior, but the reality says otherwise. Just as President Reagan won the Cold War by confronting what truly was an Evil Empire, President Bush and future president's can only win the War on Terror by aggressively confronting the evil ideology of the Islamists.

Culture of Corruption

Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-West Virginia), the top Democrat on the House Ethics Committee is stepping down while his own questionable financial behavior is investigated:

The top Democrat on the House ethics committee, Alan Mollohan, will leave the panel _ at least temporarily _ while he defends his own financial conduct, Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said Friday.[...]

The Wall Street Journal reported two weeks ago that Mollohan steered millions of dollars to nonprofit groups in his district _ with much of the money going to organizations run by people who contribute to the lawmaker's campaigns.

I look forward to seeing this on the front page of the New York Times tomorrow and as well as the lead story on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC... NOT!

I said from the very beginning that it was a bad idea for the Democrats to pursue this "Culture of Corruption" strategy. When it comes to corruption in the House, it's a bipartisan issue. There's plenty to go around and it most certainly cuts across party lines.

This Is Lame

This from CNN:

Immigration arrests 9 IFCO bosses along with 1,000 workers

The Bush administration unveiled Thursday what it said is a new strategy aimed at companies employing illegal immigrants, illustrating it with a crackdown on the German-based firm IFCO Systems.

So NOW they're going to get tough on illegal immigration. What a blatent, ham-handed political stunt. Very sloppy.

Just seems to prove that nobody in Washington is going to do anything about this and the White House still has a tin ear.

Sad or Sick?

I never really paid much attention to Cindy Sheehan. I've always felt sorry for her as it's pretty clear that the lose of her son drove her to insanity. Kind of a freakish sideshow. Anyway, this story from Gateway Pundit illustrates that not only has she gone mad, she's willing to lie about anything to make her country and our military look bad.

Thanks A Lot Harry

So let me see if I've got this straight. Harry Reid says that the President is a multilateralist concerning Iran, and this is a bad thing. And he, and the democrats, say that Bush is a unilateralist concerning Iraq, and this is a bad thing. Wow, those democrats sure know how to stick to their principles. Oh, and as if that weren't enough, he tells Iran that we're too weak to do anything about their nuclear ambitions. Thanks Harry, it's great to see your confidence in our military capabilities are so high while simultaneously instilling confidence to our enemies. Please continue to speak more, the Republicans can use all the help they can get right now.