Rich Lowry, on the self-imposed economic woes of my home state. In a lot of ways, Michigan reminds me of California. A place of great national beauty, being run into the ground by its elected officials.

But they should:

“You did not treat my brothers with respect. You refused to acknowledge them, like you’re refusing to acknowledge me. You mocked their southern accents. You literally turned your backs on them, like you’re turning your backs on me tonight.

“You should be ashamed of the way you treated those soldiers. Ashamed! If that is what you think supporting the troops means — turn your backs on them when they come to talk to you — then you are either a fool, a coward, or a hypocrite. I leave it to each of you to decide which word fits you best.

“The charade is over. We all know that you do not support the troops. If you did, you wouldn’t turn your backs on them. You disrespected my brothers, on our front porch. So let me be absolutely clear: You may have a slip of paper from the City of Washington recognizing your right to stand here, but you are not welcome here.

Speaking truth to…well, not power, but to self-righteous foolishness.

The Anchoress compares La Fallaci and Rosie O’Donnell:

So great is my respect for Fallaci, that to mention Rosie O

The Anchoress compares La Fallaci and Rosie O’Donnell:

So great is my respect for Fallaci, that to mention Rosie O

The Anchoress compares La Fallaci and Rosie O’Donnell:

So great is my respect for Fallaci, that to mention Rosie O

Can anyone else figure out what or who Jon Goff is talking about here? Because I sure can’t:

NASA figures that making our nation look like petty hypocrates regarding freedom of speech is a better plan. Inflammatory cartoons about another relgion? No problem. Publically calling for nuking another country off the map? No worries. Wearing the flag of your native land on a spacesuit that you bought for a spaceflight that you paid several million dollars of your own hard earned cash? Sorry, no can do boss.

It’s been sad seeing friends who have told me ithat they’d rather just see Iran and most of the rest of the Middle East nuked off the face of the map, all the sudden trying to turn Ansari’s flight into some sort of political event. Let someone who actually cares about the Iranian people as an end, rather than merely a means, say what she wants to say. It’ll probably do far more lasting good for the people of Iran (and the rest of us too) than all of the words that the spacenut side of Right Blogostan would prefer to put in her mouth.

First of all, there’s an implication that the same people are advocating different policies under different circumstances (otherwise the talk about “hypocrisy” would make no sense). But NASA didn’t publish, or approve the publication of any cartoons of which I’m aware, or publicly call for nuking any countries off the map. In fact, I’m unaware of anyone doing that, other than Jacques Chirac, but maybe I just missed it.

I’m also unaware that anyone who did publish the cartoons, or defended the right of the publishers to do so, has cheered, or even noticed NASA actions with regard to the Ansari flag issue.

(And I’m not sure what Jon’s point is with regard to the cartoons–he calls them offensive, but that’s only because some Muslims consciously decided to be offended when the cameras were around. What was much more offensive, as is the case with the Pope’s recent speech, was all of the violence and death threats over cartoons. Is it only pictures of Allah that offend Jon, or is he also outraged by crucifixi in urine and pictures of the virgin painted with elephant dung?)

So who is it that Jon is kvetching about here? (I’m also curious to know which of his friends would like to see Iran and most of the Middle East being nuked off the map.)

Here’s a suggestion. Don’t blog when angry. You don’t make much sense.

[Update on Saturday evening]

Jon, who is an extremely standup guy, has second thoughts, as I expected he would. I should be so reconsiderate.

I do think, though, that he should leave the original words up for posterity, with accompanying retraction. I correct stuff that I put up, but I don’t delete it. Simply removing it (albeit with apology) seems a little too Orwellian to me…

Considering some of the things that she said about him, I thought that this was pretty classy:

The president said Richards “became a national role model, and her charm, wit and candor brought a refreshing vitality to public life.”

He concluded that “Texas has lost one of its great daughters.”

Al Franken is finally getting paid close to what he’s worth:

…you know things must be bad when even your top star can’t get paid. “I don’t know if that’s true or not,” Al Franken told Radar late Wednesday, when asked about the bankruptcy report. “We do know that there have been cash-flow problems. I haven’t been paid in a while. Like, there’s no cash flowing to me.”

To really make it right, though, he’d have to send them big checks.

Bruce Gagnon is nuts:

I am now convinced, more than ever, that the Bush pirate crew is going to pull another 9-11 before the November elections. I think they are going to declare martial law. Then when the public hits the streets in protest, they are going to trot out these “active denial” microwave weapons for crowd control. And if anyone stands around too long they will be killed, just like is happening today in Iraq.

They will use these weapons in order to “dissuade” the American people from thinking that we can non-violently protest to save our country from fascism. They are then hoping that activists will either give up and go home, or turn violent and then the military will be given the go-ahead to take people out – just like we see them doing in Iraq today.

The clamp down is coming. Folks had better come alive now before it is too late. The Bush team has decided that they do not intend to give up power. They are going to make a play for total control of the oil in the Middle East and Central Asia and will not be slowed down by elections.

[Via Thomas James, who reads sites like this so we don’t have to]

Bruce Gagnon is nuts:

I am now convinced, more than ever, that the Bush pirate crew is going to pull another 9-11 before the November elections. I think they are going to declare martial law. Then when the public hits the streets in protest, they are going to trot out these “active denial” microwave weapons for crowd control. And if anyone stands around too long they will be killed, just like is happening today in Iraq.

They will use these weapons in order to “dissuade” the American people from thinking that we can non-violently protest to save our country from fascism. They are then hoping that activists will either give up and go home, or turn violent and then the military will be given the go-ahead to take people out – just like we see them doing in Iraq today.

The clamp down is coming. Folks had better come alive now before it is too late. The Bush team has decided that they do not intend to give up power. They are going to make a play for total control of the oil in the Middle East and Central Asia and will not be slowed down by elections.

[Via Thomas James, who reads sites like this so we don’t have to]