Bill Kristol opines inthe Washington Post about Rumsfeld's lake of leadership. And I could not agree more.

From Andrew Sullivan: "The presidential medal of freedom goes to George 'Slam Dunk' Tenet, Tommy 'We Have Enough Troops' Franks, and Paul 'Disband the Iraqi Army' Bremer. It's one thing never to punish error, but to reward it so magnificently!." Agreed.

Is it OK to call this guy an unpatriotic prick? From A defeat for an empire: "So, as a U.S. citizen, I welcome the U.S. defeat for a simple reason: It isn't the defeat of the United States -- its people or their ideals -- but of that empire. And it's essential that the American empire be defeated and dismantled."

I don't know whom to be more disappointed in, Apple or eBay. Wired reports: "EBay removed a modified U2 iPod from its auctions Monday after Apple Computer complained of copyright violations, to the wonder of several intellectual-property attorneys." Very sad, especially considering that I love each companies products. I'm not calling for a boycott yet, but someone here should have taken a stand.

I wrote a week or so ago about Peter Beinart's article in The New Republic, in which he tries to inject the Democratic Party with a little sanity. This money quote is from Jonah Goldberg's dissection of the reaction to that article in Democratic circles. He quotes Kevin Drum (of The Washington Monthly): "He continues later on: 'That's the story I think Beinart needs to write. If he thinks too many liberals are squishy on terrorism, he needs to persuade us not just that Islamic totalitarianism is bad -- of course it's bad -- but that it's also an overwhelming danger to the security of the United States.'" This article is a fabulous read. If Drum doesn't get it by now, he never will.

Ah, even in Scotland there are technicalities: "The sheriff accepted Mr Adams's argument that the hounds had only been used to flush the foxes from cover and drive them towards people with guns, who would shoot them, as permitted under Scottish law." You can kill the foxes, mind you, as long as you kill them directly. But using a dog to do the dirty work is just plain wrong. Rather silly, if you ask me.

Well, it took a while, but I was finally able to watch FahrenHYPE 9/11, a rebuttal to Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11. You'll recall that when I say the original, I wrote that Michael Moore had done a splendid job of saying nothing of substance. He danced around the issues, and the film was full of innuendo. Well, I have since come to find that it's full of something else as well. Blatant lies and deception. Early on, FahrenHype 9/11 references this document. It outlines 59 ways in which the film deceives. But it's worse than would appear on the surface. Throughout his film, Moore inserts footage of various interviews with people who presumably support his view of the world. Not so. His interview with the Oregon officer about protecting the Oregon coast line? Done by others, and then used without his permission. His interview with a severely wounded soldier at Walter Reed? Again, used without permission. In FahrenHYPE, you actually get to hear these guys in their own words, attesting to the fact that Moore severely mis-quotes them, etc. What a charlatan. I always knew that Michael Moore was a whack job, but this time he just goes way over the line, in my opinion. I can't believe that no one in the media is calling him on this stuff. Very sad, especially for those like the disabled soldier who has an amazing story to tell.

From the Press & Sun-Bulletin: "A Virginia man who admitted Monday to coating his motel room with the contents of 14 jars of petroleum jelly in May will have to pay $3,886 for damages to the motel."

From an article by Amir Taheri: "Right now there are 22 active conflicts across the globe in which Muslims are involved. Most Muslims have not even heard of most of them because those conflicts do not provide excuses for fomenting hatred against the United States." The article sheds some light on why many Muslim nations ignore other Muslims tragedies around the world.