BY THEIR WORKS, YE SHALL KNOW THEM

Change the channel. Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt's advice to Iraqis who see TV images of innocent civilians killed by coalition troops

I wish I could be my usual smartass self, but when I read things like this and this, I just want to cry - or scream. Juan Cole:

Az-Zaman reports that telephone calls with residents of Mosul reveal that the guerrillas who took control of the city's streets the day before yesterday have burned all the police stations in the city and have released from jails all the criminals that had been incarcerated in them. In the center of Mosul, eyewitnesses said, the offices of government service agencies and economic targets had been set ablaze. A number of shops were attacked and/or looted.

Armed men roamed the streets and manned checkpoints between city quarters. Mosque preachers called on Mosul residents to flood into the streets to protect their quarters and government offices and shops. The main streets seemed deserted. American troops had withdrawn from the center of the city, but maintained control of bridges.

All signs of Iraqi national guardsmen and police had disappeared. The police chief of Ninevah province resigned (other reports say he was fired by the Allawi government).

US military spokesmen denied that guerrillas were in control of the city, and maintained that US troops and Iraqi national guardsmen continued to advance into it. US warplanes repeatedly bombed suspected safe houses of the guerrillas. Guerrillas had killed one American serviceman in Mosul on Thursday.

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Bill O'Reilly got called out by Media Matters the other day for comparing the South Side of Chicago to Haiti:

O'REILLY: I'm seeing a guy who's very, very committed to the government. To government, the government's going to solve the problems, and I'm going I don't know how that's possible. If you've ever been to the South Side of Chicago, I mean, it's a disaster, all right? It's like Haiti, it's like -- I've been to Haiti a couple of times. I support some charities there, but Haiti just never gets better, no matter how much money you put in there because they don't have a system. And I said the government can't do it but, Obama really believes the government can do it.

Last night on his Fox News show, O'Reilly -- rather than apologizing or ignoring the matter altogether (which is the Loofahmeister's usual MO) -- decided to double down on it altogether:

O'Reilly: Now those comments deeply -- deeply -- offend far-left Kool Aid drinkers even though every word is true. And if you don't believe me, just ask a guy named Lupe Fiasco.

Lupe Fiasco, it seems, is a rapper who was asked about O'Reilly's remark and answered that he agreed with him insofar as some parts of minority communities in America are like third-world countries.

That's right: O'Reilly cites a rapper -- who on any other occasion would be dismissed as a caricature by O'Reilly, particularly if he had disagreed with him or called him out -- as proof that he's right.

Moreover, Lupe Fiasco didn't seem to be agreeing at all with O'Reilly's larger (and more outrageous) claim -- that these poorer quarters of the world are essentially hopeless, and that the government should have no role in changing their conditions -- that it should just step aside and let nature take its course.

O'Reilly indeed expanded on this:

O'Reilly: For decades, Chicago's South Side has been a pocket of poverty and brutality -- Barack Obama is well aware of that, because he worked there. An enormous amount of federal and state money is poured into the South Side, and yet it remains a major problem.

The situation directly parallels what's happened in Haiti: massive aid, few results. Self-reliance is the key to success in life. A nanny state chokes that. If the president and I have one area of disagreement, it is big government. I believe it cannot solve your problems, he believes it can level the playing field at least somewhat.

Claiming that the conditions that created the malaise on Chicago's South Side are the same that made Haiti into the nightmare it is today is just ludicrous. About the only things the two have in common is that they're both products of generations of the systematic disenfranchisement and impoverishment of black people; to claim that American "big government" and federal aid to Haiti have somehow worsened the situation there is sheer ignorance.

And finally, has O'Reilly forgotten that, you know, there was just this thing called an earthquake that recently killed 200,000 people and turned Haiti into a massive disaster area?

Does he really think it's even remotely accurate to compare anywhere in the United States to that? It's one thing to talk about the Third World generically, but to make an analogy to Haiti, of all places, is indeed outrageous.

And you don't have to be from the "far left" to see that.

To the consternation of the right wing blogosphere, Ron Paul raised 4.2 million dollars to stay in the Presidential race, a GOP record. I'm supporting the Democratic candidates for President, but If I had donated to the Paul campaign---I'd email Red State and ask them why they discount you...And you all know how Charles Johnson feels...Captain's Quarters responds...

Updated: Glenn Greenwald digs a bit deeper...

By far the most significant and interesting political story of the past 24 hours is the extraordinary, record-breaking outpouring of support for Ron Paul's presidential campaign. Therefore, it is being ignored by much of our establishment press...read on

And the Great Orange Satan, Markos writes: The most impressive online campaign this cycle...

This is the single biggest example of people-power this cycle. And as annoying as it is that we're seeing it from a Republican -- and a crazy one at that -- it's nevertheless a beautiful thing to behold.

Newsweek via MSNBC:

The Iraqi-born (Wafaa Bilaal is) 19 days into a grueling monthlong (art installation) project that sounds, at first blush, suspiciously gimmicky: until June 4, Bilal is living his entire life inside one room at Chicago's Flatfile Gallery, which anyone with a Web connection can log on to watch. Oh, and to shoot him. With "Domestic Tension" Bilal has turned his makeshift living quarters into a 24-hour-a-day war zone. Viewers can peep in on him anonymously at any time, and even chat with him online. On the installation's Web site, his audience can fight for control of the camera and pan it around the room. Since the camera is affixed to a rifle-sized paintball gun-and the Web site has a button that allows viewers to fire the gun-they also have the opportunity to shoot at him, or anything else in his room. Which they have done an astonishing 40,000 times in the project's first two and a half weeks.

Continue reading »

The Star (h/t NonnyMouse):

An odd-looking Canadian coin with a bright red flower was the culprit behind the U.S. Defence Department's false espionage warning earlier this year, the Associated Press has learned.

The odd-looking - but harmless - "poppy coin" was so unfamiliar to suspicious U.S. Army contractors travelling in Canada that they filed confidential espionage accounts about them. The worried contractors described the coins as "anomalous" and "filled with something man-made that looked like nano-technology," according to once-classified U.S. government reports and e-mails obtained by the AP.
The supposed nano-technology actually was a conventional protective coating the Royal Canadian Mint applied to prevent the poppy's red color from rubbing off. The mint produced nearly 30 million such quarters in 2004 commemorating Canada's 117,000 war dead.

It's really a shame that the media is more interested in displaying the irrational fear over a decoration on a Canadian coin then the actual declining value of our own currency.

Jesus General: ..."A few hours ago, I read a post at Captain's Quarters that prompted me to think about the important work the 101st Fighting Keyboarders are doing. It was basically a mash note from Captain Ed to Mr. Rove. Reading it, I was reminded of the time he allowed me to tour his basement command center. It was a short tour. His mother sent me home after she got into an argument with the Captain about taking out the trash....read on"

Think Progress: "Jonah Goldberg just posted this on the National Review’s blog, the Corner:

GOOD FOR CINDY! She’s rallied the Nazis to her cause (obviously unintentionally, but it’s interesting how her message resonates in such quarters nonetheless)....read on"

As I've said before, these apologists are suffering from the "Cindy Sheehan Effect." Jonah, her message is resonating with over sixty percent of the US. Are they all Nazi's?

(Update): Armando has a roundup of: A New Republican Low.

"
You know, I must have had a thousand lunches with John, and I can't think of a single thing he's said that would specify his politics," says Prettyman, a World War II veteran who once served as an aide to Robert F. Kennedy. "We were all under the impression that he's a conservative, but he always talked generalities. He's not the type to lay it all out." ...read on
The jury is still out on whether Roberts fills the bill of the type of conservative that the extreme religious right is looking for. I've been trying to figure out why they have been tripping over themselves with his nomination when Miguel Estrada, Edith Jones, or Priscilla Owens are more their type of judge. I know that the religious right is rallying around the fact that his wife is such an anti-abortion activist. I can't understand why Captain's Quarters would be up in arms with the release of that information. I've mentioned it in the context that it deserves.

Frank Rich says that Alberto Gonzales is too closely tied to Rove-Gate. Jeralyn digs a little deeper into the Air Force One passenger list.

Neo-Con pundit William Kristol was creamed with a Pie last night while speaking at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana. Click here to see the latest pastry uprising.

Pat Buchanan doused also.

Update: Captain's Quarters worries about the radical left and food fights. I agree they are childish, except of course in Ann Coulter's instance.

Foxblocker.com - Shut The FOX Up!

Purchasing a FOX Blocker and telling the advertisers at FOX News why you did it will encourage advertisers spending their money somewhere else.

If we band together and tell the advertisers to shut the FOX up, we can help limit the scope, or at least the profitability of FOX News.

FOXBlocker is an innovative new product that filters out the FOX News network. Simply screw the filter into the back of your TV and never be exposed to right wing propaganda again (at least through FOX News). Using a proprietary technology, the FOXBlocker works to filter out FOX News from your cable lineup.

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Schiavo "Push Poll?"  Mystery Pollster

Another day, another polling controversy.  The latest involves a survey released last Monday by ABC News that shows 63 to 28 percent support for removal of Terry Schiavo's feeding tube.  The survey drew intense interest in Washington and immediate allegations of biased question wording from the blogosphere's right wing.  Captain's Quarters called it a "push poll for euthanasia." Wizbang

Purchasing a FOX Blocker and telling the advertisers at FOX News why you did it will encourage advertisers spending their money somewhere else.

If we band together and tell the advertisers to shut the FOX up, we can help limit the scope, or at least the profitability of FOX News.

FOXBlocker is an innovative new product that filters out the FOX News network. Simply screw the filter into the back of your TV and never be exposed to right wing propaganda again (at least through FOX News). Using a proprietary technology, the FOXBlocker works to filter out FOX News from your cable lineup.

Protect yourself and your family, or send one to a misguided right wing friend.