Let Iraq Fall To Pieces

Phoblographer points to James P. Pinkerton in Newsday, who makes an essential point concerning post-Saddam Iraqi politics. It's really pretty simple: there should be no more Iraq. This is an obvious case in which devolution of power would be just the thing.

This should have been US policy since long before day one.

Bleedin' Dimwits

How on earth can people who don't know anything be responsible for the culture they live in? You know; in the way that social constructionists say, when they go on about stuff like "the social contract" when it comes to representation in the legislatures, etc. Look: if any of that is really true, then we're all in bigger trouble than most people know, because most people are half-educated and not at all able to think.

It should be well-known that Americans are manifest dolts. It could be taken for granted that most people on the planet are equally dim, and it shouldn't be surprising if British historians greeted with "alarm" survey results indicating that, for instance, one in ten of British adults did not think that Adolf Hitler was a real person.

The mind boggles. On whom is it wasted whenever the lefties scream about "fascists" over there, now? It seems like it might not be worth the bother.

Holy cow.

(linkage -- Gary Cruse)

Presumptional Ethics

"Yoon Ho Song could face 50 years to life in prison if he is convicted of the first degree murder of Mario Sandoval Martinez and a special allegation of using a handgun, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said.

Prosecutors say Song came out of his house to find two car thieves pushing his customized Honda out of his driveway in the predawn hours on Monday and opened fire, hitting Martinez, 25, in the back. The second suspect got away."

Los Angeles is a place where the criminals get to make up the rules. They take you on their terms. You take them on the state's terms. The rules of engagement are dictated by people like the prosecutors -- and, of course, the legislators -- and when the fight's on, your values don't count. You certainly don't get to scale anything that's yours against the life of the animal that tries to take it. Others will do that for you, after the fact.

There is nothing to see here. Show's over. Move along, citizens.