Unhinged

"I would vote for the Devil over John McCain." --Ann Coulter, craven lunatic.

Clinton more conservative than McCain? Why won't anybody call her on these inane assertions?

Borderline Treasonous

Look, the military isn't perfect. It has used questionable tactics during these wars, and engaged in some behavior that should be roundly condemned. That said, is there any other way to describe this besides borderline treasonous?

Hey-hey, ho-ho, the Marines in Berkeley have got to go.

That's the message from the Berkeley City Council, which voted 6-3 Tuesday night to tell the U.S. Marines that its Shattuck Avenue recruiting station "is not welcome in the city, and if recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders."

In addition, the council voted to explore enforcing its law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation against the Marines because of the military's don't ask, don't tell policy. And it officially encouraged the women's peace group Code Pink to impede the work of the Marines in the city by protesting in front of the station.

In a separate item, the council voted 8-1 to give Code Pink a designated parking space in front of the recruiting station once a week for six months and a free sound permit for protesting once a week from noon to 4 p.m.

. . .

"I believe in the Code Pink cause. The Marines don't belong here, they shouldn't have come here, and they should leave," said Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates after votes were cast.

Please Riot Here

Tell kids one thing, and they'll do the opposite. Definitely not going anywhere near Fenway, nope. Whistle . . .

Over the past few years, New England has been quite fortunate to have the Patriots as a regular participant in post-season contests. Unfortunately, at times some of the celebrating and disappointment has turned unruly, resulting in property damage, disturbance of the peace, arrests, personal injuries and even the loss of life.

With the Patriots and Giants scheduled to play in this coming Sunday’s Super Bowl, the College encourages you to root for your team, but asks that your behavior remains responsible, lawful and respectful of others and their property regardless of the outcome.

Boston Police Captain Evans recently sent a letter to all area colleges and universities. His letter states in pertinent part, “the BPD will be out in force in the Kenmore Square and Hemenway Street areas to prevent any disorderly conduct after the game. The areas surrounding Fenway Park will be closed during and after the game and many adjacent streets will be closed as well. Please do all you can to discourage your students from coming to these areas. Arrests will be made and acts of violence or vandalism will not be tolerated.”

John Edwards Outdoes Himself

I just watched his S.C. defeat speech. He actually alleges that poor Americans have "no voice" in our democracy. Wait a minute, has universal adult suffrage suddenly been repealed? Have my guiltiest dreams come true?

Before Paul Was Paul, He Was Saul

Hitchens apologizes for 1968. Peter Hitchens, that is. A competent, if incomplete, indictment of youth gone mad in paradise.

Bush = Liberal

He'd make a fine Truman Democrat. Check out the spectacular tripe Michael Gerson, his former speechwriter and ideological co-conspirator, is pushing this week. It's mind blowing. I can't believe anyone believes Gerson and his neocon comrades are conservative in any way, shape, or form. Watch as he sneers at Thompson's understandable hesitation to send boatloads of hard-earned American money to dysfunctional African regimes.

Thompson's argument reflects an anti-government extremism, which I am sure his defenders would call a belief in limited government. In this case, Thompson is limiting government to a half-full thimble. Its duties apparently do not extend to the treatment of sick people in extreme poverty, which should be "the role of us as individuals and as Christians." One wonders, in his view, if responding to the 2004 tsunami should also have been a private responsibility. Religious groups are essential to fighting AIDS, but they cannot act on a sufficient scale.

Thompson also dives headfirst into the shallow pool of his own theological knowledge. In his interpretation, Jesus seems to be a libertarian activist who taught that compassion is an exclusively private virtue. This ignores centuries of reflection on the words of the Bible that have led to a nearly universal Christian conviction that government has obligations to help the weak and pursue social justice. Religious social reformers fought to end child labor and improve public health. It is hard to imagine they would have used the teachings of Christ to justify cutting off lifesaving drugs for tens of thousands of African children -- an argument both novel and obscene.

In the lifeboat dilemma Thompson proposes, we are asked to throw overboard either an American child with leukemia or an African child with AIDS -- and, by gum, it had better not be the American. The real issue is different: Should we increase the amount of money devoted to our generous cancer research efforts at the expense of African lives that can be saved for about $90 a year?

Daniel Larison, a wonderful paleocon, has some wonderfully pointed commentary on Gerson's inability to organize our national priorities in a matter even vaguely conservative.

P.S. This makes a good case for just how much the Democrats sacrificed by making a sharp left turn in the cultural arena. The Boomer Dems ran the party flat into the ground by scaring off Social Gospel liberals, who just couldn't abide by sharing an organization with abortionists and same-sex marriage cheerleaders, but who have zero problem with spending public money on "good works." They were a critical element of the long perished New Deal coalition, and their departure helped end liberalism's dominance of American politics.