Foresight is 20/200

After getting off shift today, I went over to the US morale area to poke around, and see what might be on AFN.

I happened upon a copy of the 2007 'Man of the Year' edition of Time Magazine. Given the events this week, perhaps this would be a good time to review that decision.



Now Time does throw out the caveat that "TIME's Person of the Year is a clear-eyed recognition of the world as it is and of the most powerful individuals and forces shaping that world—for better or for worse", but I remind people once again that they had a chance to pick this man.



Maybe this year he will get recognized for his actions in 2007.

Other notable items from a look back at the Putin spread:

- The title of the Putin article "Choosing Order Before Freedom". Hmmmmm, I guess Time was right on this one. The Georgians chose freedom instead of the order of their former Russian masters, and they ended up getting the Budapest treatment.

- "Russia needs Putin -- His firm hand will smooth the transition to democracy..." - Mikail Gorbachev. Good call Gorby....Vlad is doing wonders for the democratic ideal this week.

Maybe Putin is just flexing his muscles this week as he has realized that he is far behind Barack Obama in this year's MoTY race. Because of this, if I were Obama, I'd be wary of getting the Litvinenko treatment. When Putin wants something...he takes it.

Finally a War to Protest

Naked Imperialist aggression? Check!

Indiscriminate bombing and killing of civilians? Check!

Designs on another nation's energy resources? Check!

Remember all those breathless, and wholly incorrect, charges leveled at he U.S. at numerous "peace" protests concerning the war in Iraq? Well now all those charges are *actually* happening in South Ossetia.....so where are the calls for vast marches on the National Mall, or in Paris or Berlin, to protest this *actual* imperialist aggression?? Nowhere to be seen....

I guess all the leftists are on their summer holiday along with Obama, and can't be bothered to answer this 3am phone call.....

UPDATES: JustOneMinute notes that we have now moved on to the 4am phone call. Also, Ed Morrisey at HotAir notes how certain Presidential candidates who might have shown outrage at accidental U.S. incidents in Afghanistan, now can't summon the will to interrupt a vacation long enough to discern between aggressor and victim in this conflict.

Choking on Hope & Change

Apparently the Obamacons have a new 'sign' in order to express their unifying experience in the church of Hope & Change.

When I saw it, I immediately thought of something very different.

This is the campaign poster I envision....



This is not the hope and change *I* have been waiting for....

Elitism on Parade: Ignorance Edition

Over at Townhall.com, Amanda Carpenter points us to another new and devastating elitist insult from Barack Obama:

Barack Obama called Republicans "ignorant" for making fun of him because he encouraged Americans to properly inflate their tires to conserve gasoline. “It’s like these guys take pride in being ignorant!” Obama told an audience in Berea, Ohio on Tuesday.

Whoa nelly! Them's fightin' words… Seriously, maybe the pressure has gotten to Obama, but he certainly seems to have lowered the discourse a notch. Calling someone "ignorant" is not something casually thrown about in civil conversation. Probably because it is normally, and rightly, considered an insult. Is his new message is "Vote Democrat, or Vote Ignorant"?

So while McCain is a racist for calling Obama a "Celeb", I am sure that Obama will be considered 'brutally honest' for calling McCain, and by extension the right side of the political spectrum, "ignorant". Seems like a strange way to heal a divided nation.

Ultimately this is a grand case of the pot calling the kettle….errrr….anyhow…. This label of 'ignorant' comes from a man who's very own energy plan called for a major reduction in electricity consumption, AND an increase in cars the you can plug into an electrical socket and recharge. Does he even notice the conflicting goals here, or did they just quickly poll the interns for good energy ideas, and stick the list in a brochure without proof-reading it?

It seems to me that this could well be another "clinging to guns and religion" moment. He has just handed the GOP a great sound bite to hound him with until November. McCain should flood Ohio, PA and other flyover states with ads using the message: "John McCain and 75% of America are calling for more drilling here in America to lower oil prices. Barack Obama wants you to inflate your tires. And if you don't agree with him, he says you must be ignorant. [CLIP] So much for the message of hope and change…"

I guess we should re-write that now famous line to read "Clinging to their guns, religion, and gasoline..."

An Ignorant Wind Blows

Glenn Reynolds links to an interview with T. Boone Pickens in the New York Times, allegedly concerning his new wind power project.

Only the first quarter of the interview by Deborah Solomon covers actual substantive wind issues, before it devolves into politics and personal minutia. The most fascinating part of the interview has to be this exchange concerning Pickens involvement in the 2004 election:

You helped re-elect Bush in ’04 when you gave $3 million to the Swift Boat campaign to discredit John Kerry’s Vietnam service. Do you regret your involvement?
-Why would I?

Because it’s such an ugly chapter in American political history.
-Oh, I see. Well, it was true. Everything that went into those ads was the truth.

Really? I thought it was all invented.
-I never did anything dishonest.

[…]

If not the Swift Boats, what do you regret?

You get the drift….

I find it jaw-droppingly honest to have a journalist (or perhaps Ms. Solomon is an aspiring HS student who's journalism class interview project accidentally ended up in the NYT) admit their bias, or their ignorance, by saying "Really? I thought it was all invented" about the Swift Boat allegations. You certainly couldn't tell by their reporting.....not.

It shows the thought process and lack of intellectual/journalist curiosity that would dismiss such things out of hand as political sabotage. No wonder the use the phrase "Swift Boating" in such a derogatory fashion….

My only question is, if this is something that is considered an "ugly chapter" worthy of obvious regret, I wonder how Ms. Solomon and the NYT feel about Rathergate and evidence that was clearly "invented"?

I suppose it is better not to ask....