I Don’t Understand Barack Obama
At least he keeps us on our toes. But does he really think our troops haven’t been engaging the Taliban and Al Qaeda on the ground in Afghanistan?
“Now you have narco drug lords who are helping to finance the Taliban, so we’ve got to get the job done there, and that requires us to have enough troops that we are not just air raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous problems there,” Obama said.
Campaign spokesman Reid Cherlin said Obama was not endorsing the current Bush policy, which consists solely of air raids and bombing of civilians.
Maybe Mr. Cherlin takes the credit for that opinion on current Bush policy. Or maybe it’s the author’s opinion; it’s hard to tell. Regardless, I’m sure there are a lot of brave U.S. servicemen and women with boots on Afghani soil who would beg to differ, like Major Dan at AfghaniDan or B at Going Down Range.
And one more thing: Why is he always making a big deal about being a black man?
“Look, I am already doing battle with the old guard. I can tell you they didn’t see me coming. They are just saying, ‘Who is this guy, Barack Obama, 46-year-old, black guy? We didn’t plan on him,’’’ Obama said.
Please don’t label me a racist for asking. After all, his mother is white; not that that matters, nor does it matter to me that he’s black. I suppose I understand that someone who’s of mixed race would choose to identify with one race over the other(s). (I have to say “suppose” because that’s not the case for me, so I can’t honestly say I understand.) My wife is from India; at some point, our children might choose to identify with one race over the other. So be it. Read more
Some childrens’ books
Meghan Cox Gurdon reviews five childrens’ books that she recommends be read aloud. I found only one, Just William
Thelma’s Is No More
Thelma’s is no more. Leveled by a bulldozer, the former general store and ice cream shop on Colvin Run Road in Great Falls, Virginia stood for years as a reminder of what northern Virginia must have looked like before everyone arrived.
I only went in maybe three times for ice cream with my girls, the last time in May after a trip to the park. But walking through the front door, after passing by where the gas pumps must have once serviced a ‘40 Ford or a ‘57 Chevy, you felt like you were walking back into a time and place long gone. It reminded me of my grandfather’s store in Mechanicsville, where my cousins and I would sneak behind the counter and steal candy while he dozed in the chair.
While I can’t claim to have been a regular customer, I liked going to Thelma’s when I did go, because it leveled me, like the bulldozer leveled it, to the ground, where Tyson’s Corner seemed a world away and you could hear the squeak of the wooden door behind you as you made your way across the wooden floor to the counter. The lady behind the counter was so nice, patiently waiting for my four year old to figure out what she wanted. As she handed her the cone, it seemed like her only desire at that moment was make my daughter happy.
The property’s owner plans to build a new store and reopen the ice cream shop. I’ll go there, and hope that girls who never knew my grandfather and his store will remember a spring afternoon at Thelma’s.
I Just Might Try This
I’ve been considering having a go at National Novel Writing Month this November. From the site:
National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.
Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.
Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It’s all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.
Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that’s a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.
As you spend November writing, you can draw comfort from the fact that, all around the world, other National Novel Writing Month participants are going through the same joys and sorrows of producing the Great Frantic Novel. Wrimos meet throughout the month to offer encouragement, commiseration, and — when the thing is done — the kind of raucous celebrations that tend to frighten animals and small children.
In 2006, we had over 79,000 participants. Nearly 13,000 of them crossed the 50k finish line by the midnight deadline, entering into the annals of NaNoWriMo superstardom forever. They started the month as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors, and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists.
When I used to write a lot for my job, I often found the only way to get something written was to close the door, strap myself into the chair, and write like a mad man for however long it took to get a draft out. Doing that for 30 days straight sounds like a death wish, but it might be fun.
Republican Debate?
Power Line thought the debate was at 8 pm Sunday, but it turns out it was at 7 am! Who knew? I agree with Scott Johnson: “I’m not sure why anyone would schedule a debate at 7:00 on a Sunday morning, unless the idea was to make sure hardly anyone would see it.”
I watched parts of it early Sunday on C-SPAN. I heard a lot that I like, and I think the Republicans have some strong candidates. Mitt Romney, when asked what was one of his most regrettable mistake, cited his support for abortion rights in Massachusetts when he was personally opposed to abortion. Mike Huckabee spoke strongly in support of the fair tax.
Best statement? Tom Tancredo, on his most regrettable mistake: “I have no doubt of what the greatest mistake in my life has been, and that is that it took me probably thirty years before I realized that Jesus Christ is my personal savior.”
Amen.
Censorship as a Form of Terrorism
Cambridge University Press was sued for libel in Britain by Sheikh Khalid Bin Mahfouz, who the American authors of Alms for Jihad: Charity and Terrorism in the Islamic World, Robert Collins and J. Millard Burr, described as associated with businesses and charities that financed acts of terrorism in the 1990s. Rather than try the case, Cambridge settled, agreeing to apologize to Mahfouz, destroy all remaining copies, pay damages and court costs, and ask approximately 200 libraries to return their copies. The total number printed was 1,500. Mahfouz has successfully sued or settled with different authors four times now.
You can read about it here:
Libel Suit Leads to Destruction of Books
Cambridge University Press’ apology
Erin O’Connor, writing at Critical Mass, has a good summary of the issue as well as information on other suits filed by Mahfouz.
In some ways, I fear tactics like this (censorship, intimidation) that slowly chip away at our basic freedoms (that I too often take for granted) more than I do those employed by terrorists.
Update: Please read Jeffrey Breinholt’s summary at Counterterrorism Blog of libel cases filed by Islamic organizations. (h/t: Stanley Kurtz at The Corner)