Posts by Danyl Mclauchlan

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  • Hard News: The Solipsistic Left,

    I would like to know what those who opposed the war had as an alterntive.

    'Wow! What happened here?'
    'Well, this building used to be an orphanage but it caught fire. Thos bodies over there are all the orphans.'
    'So you just let the place burn to the ground?'
    'Well, not exactly. These two guys ran in and tried to put the fire out and save the orphans. Problem was they were drenched in gasoline and carrying sticks of dynamite - that's when all of this happened.'
    'Oh my God! Why didn't you try and stop them?'
    '(Sneering with contempt) What? And then just let the orphanage burn to the ground?'

    Personally, my alternative to the botched US invasion and occupation was to have an, uh, unbotched international invasion and occupation. Imagine if you had a division of the Egyptian army patrolling the Sunni triangle, or a hundred thousand German troops to safeguard Saddams munitions stores after the invasion. What if - instead of dismissing the entire Iraqi army, refusing to pay them out and then opening fire on them when they protested (thus ensuring that several million unemployed soldiers in a country awash with weapons now loathed the US) they kept the army together and used it to provide security and rebuild the damn country?

    Clearly under the Bush Administration all of these were pipe dreams so my other alternative for the US is not to invade and occupy another country if you have a dishonest and incompetent government.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 927 posts Report

  • Hard News: The Solipsistic Left,

    Over a ten year period, the number of attacks in the west by right wing fanatics matches that of Islamists (and without the WTC "success" would have been as bloody)

    You might find this amusing

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 927 posts Report

  • Hard News: The Solipsistic Left,

    Speaking of books about Liberals, the West, and Islam anyone bothered to read D’Souza’s The Enemy At Home: The cultural left and its responsibility for 9/11 yet?

    I'm still trying to finish his first book: To Live in Infamy: How Beatkniks, Loose Women and Uppity Nigra were Responsible for Pearl Harbour

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 927 posts Report

  • Hard News: The Solipsistic Left,

    He told me he thinks al-Qaeda has already won.

    Yeah. I'm sure they're overjoyed to see their despised Shia enemies seize power and start ethnically cleansing Iraq of their Sunni brethren.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 927 posts Report

  • Hard News: Public Address Radio,

    PublicAddress radio is going to be a godsend - I walk home every night, it takes me an hour and I'm having real trouble finding interesting podcasts to pass the time. (If anyone can recommend anything good please do so).

    Part of the idea is to draw talent from the blogosphere: David Haywood, Graham Reid and Craig Ranapia will be making regular contributions and you'll also hear from, Keith Ng, Idiot/Savant of No Right Turn, Hadyn Green of the Dropkicks podcast and others.

    I think you'd be insane not to take advantage of one of the NZ blogospheres most consistently hilarious commentators. I'm talking, of course, about Adolf. I think he could be the Public Address Radio breakout hit - you know, like Toby Radloff in American Splendor.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 927 posts Report

  • Hard News: Some Politics,

    The other Clinton aspect that will surface at some stage is their library. To date no list of donors or expenditure has been disclosed. Bearing in mind plenty of foreign countries and nationals, many from the Middle East have made "donations", (is it a donation, or a fee for services rendered, or services to be rendered?) Americans have every right to know who Bill and Hill owe IOUs to, and what this money has been spent on. A cynic would say that the library is a clever exercise in money laundering.

    Maybe Ayam al-Zawahiri paid for the tin-foil lined roof?

    I can't remember things being so highly excited this time last cycle, or is my memory just really bad?

    I was pretty excited during the primaries - Bush had been such a disaster the Democrats were BOUND to get it! Then they nominated Kerry and Edwards.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 927 posts Report

  • Hard News: Some Politics,

    One more thing about Clinton that leaves a bad taste in my mouth - let's say she's elected President and serves two terms. The US will have then been lead by people from either the Bush or Clinton family for 28 consecutive years. There's something basically wrong there . . .

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 927 posts Report

  • Hard News: Some Politics,

    Incidentally the most recent polling this week at Polling Report puts Obama level pegging with Rudy....a jump of some 5 points in a week. Early days, but, as I said earlier, he has the momentum right now

    Yeah. It's no big deal that Obama polls lower than people like Clinton and Rudy during the early days of the campaign, since hardly anyone in the US outside the political classes knows who Obama is while everyone knows who Hilary and Rudy are.

    I don't think people's opinions about most of the other candidates - Hilary in particular - are likely to shift significantly but I think the more people see of Obama the more they'll be impressed.

    Exhibit A

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 927 posts Report

  • Hard News: Some Politics,

    If Clinton gets the Dem nomination then I suspect whoever the Republicans run will win - too many people hate her and not enough people like her, no matter how much money she raises.

    If Obama is nominated then I think he will win no matter who he runs against. Giuliani beats him in the polls right now but I think he's unlikely to survive the scrutiny of a presidential campaign.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 927 posts Report

  • Hard News: Some Politics,

    The DOJ fuss is a non-scandal in the sense that the firings in question were perfectly legitimate. The positions in question are political appointees who serve at the pleasure of the President; they can be fired for any reason at anytime.

    The attorneys do serve at the pleasure of the president, so it's uncontroversial when people like Reagan and Clinton fire every single AG's and hire a bunch of party apparatchiks (although that strikes me as being a really bad way to run a government).

    It is controversial when you selectively fire a bunch of AG's who are either investigating members of your party or have refused White House requests to investigate democrats. It's really controversial when you defend your decision by claiming you sacked them for performance reasons and it transpires that they were some of the highest rated AG's in the country.

    But the Dems have been very open that there strategy for the next 2 years to fight the White House is, to quote Chucky Schumer, "subpoena after subpoena". They are going to try to bog the Administration down as much as they can.

    Cough . . . the Gingrich Congress . . . Cough.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 927 posts Report

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