Feste...a foolsblog

Monday Meanderings

Lair exposes trackbombing, a ploy to suck readership from vastly superior, high-traffic blogs, of course a Deaniac is reputed to be one of the culprits. Cheesy.

Which segues into American RealPolitik's lede 'toon today. Scroll down to two gems from Samuel Clemens that still ring true. Thank God.

The Dems continue to bleat that the rich aren't paying their fair share. Soaking the rich might not be such a good idea as this article posted by John Hudock demonstrates.

The rich are no longer getting richer in California. And the rest of us, oddly enough, are suffering from their misfortune.
...
Why should we care?

Because California's skewed income distribution, combined with progressive tax rates, means that the people at the very top of the income heap pay a very high percentage of the personal income tax collected in this state.
...

The media is very dishonest on this issue, they lean in earnestly and ask the candidates the wrong questions. This past Sunday, Tim Russert allowed Howard Dean to reinforce the "rich" canard without a blink. I waited for the follow-up question about small business tax rates and wouldn't Dean's roll-back of the tax cuts be a job killer? I'm still waiting.

Meryl lists a host of reasons why North Korea isn't our problem, concluding with:

America is not the world's policeman. We shouldn't act unilaterally. We have starving people here at home to feed. What's the United Nations for, anyway? The Axis of Evil, it's such a simplistic world view.

It is far more important to protest Israel's treatment of the palestinians, or the security fence, or the American occupation of Iraq, or the prisoners at Guantanamo.

Chris Muir's take on the "America as bully" meme sums it up:

Monday Tour d' Blogosphere

Stephen Green predicts that Edwards may be the next President "Edwards is Clinton without the bimbo eruptions." Hmmm...now there's a scary thought..Clinton Lite.

Dean Esmay gets it about right on the Kay kerfuffle over WMD...

I'm tired of having my country and my President bashed by people who seek only partisan cheap shots and easy points while we're in the middle of a war for the future of Western civilization. We did the right thing in Iraq, for the right reasons, and were not lied to by anyone but Saddam and his minions--as any reasonable person should conclude.

Unfortunately we ain't seen nothing yet...the approaching campaign is going to leave everyone with a bad taste in their mouth.

Which segues to Juliette's latest melange of crunchy goodness...guaran-damn-teed to fortify your immune system against the election cycle vapours and leave you clamouring for more.

Or seeing red as the case may be as The Commisar at The Politburo Diktat posts this amazing photo. Is there any question that our good friend France is pissing into the Allied tent? It only figures that when the Chinese lost access to American technology transfer that they would woo the mother-of-all-whores.

Merde In France offers his usual stomach-churning window into the French sewers. Pity The French aren't as keen on exporting democracy as they are on arming murderous regimes.

Speaking of whores, General Jack Ripper takes in in the shorts from Greyhawk, who promises more to come from his dossier on Clark.

And Smash asks "What the heck was Clark thinking?"

Clark is exhibiting the same ego-centric, tone-deafness that was a hallmark of his NATO command and pissed off SecDef Cohen.

Monday Morning Observations

A tour through the ole blogroll with the morning Joe provides insight and humor into the news stories and items that captured the fancy and/or ire of the Blogosphere.

Charles Austin of Sin Qua Non Pundit tosses off the best non sequitur of the political season thus far:

Every time the Angry Left gets their rock to the top of the hill, it just rolls back down again. Who knew Sisyphus was a Democrat?

Is Dean done? John Hawkins thinks so.

Jim at Smoke On The Water bitchslaps Dems (a must read and worthy addition to your VRWC library and debate catalog.)

Commissar Diktat lauds Dr. Susan Block Hero of Socialist Labor for her "Rape of Iraq" agitprop article, which condemned Amerikan occupiers, and inspired further Revolutionary suicide bombing in Istanbul and extends Politboro praise for Scott Burgess' Daily Abultion suggestion that if one looks up the term "ratbag" in ones trusty Oxford Concise, one finds the Guardian masthead.

Guardian Page One Shocker! - Guantanamo Guards "Calling Us Names"

The Guardian devotes part of its above-the-fold, page one space to an article about accusations of name-calling at Guantanamo Bay. Here's the horrifying allegation, from a letter written by a detainee, as quoted in full by the reporter:

"Everything's OK in Guantanamo. It's just that sometimes some of the guards are OK with us, and some are saying things to us, calling us names like camel rider and raghead."

The Taliban and Saddam's prisons were horrifying, this doesn't even rise to the level of impolite by comparison.

Matt at Blackfive asks Is Blogging A Legitimate Communication Forum?

Last, but certainly not least, a bit of refreshing cheekiness from the Antipodes. Andy at World Wide Rant pointing out that genteel sport is not what it once was:

MELBOURNE, Australia, - Australian police have warned "beer wenches" -- scantily-clad women hired by cricket fans to queue at the bar for alcohol -- that they would not be welcome at the one-day international series with India here.

The MCG Test match and larrikin doesn't compute...Rules yes. However, not having attended a Test match in yonks I wouldn't know if my arse was on fire. What next polo divot wenches?