Modest Proposals

Tony Blankley has a solid piece on the wistful dreams of some disaffected Dems for secession, including Lawrence O'Donnell, who in saner moments is a great writer on The West Wing...and who in not-so-sane moments sounds like the angry kid on the kickball field whose vocabulary is limited to variations on the word "liar."

I must confess, the idea of letting the Pacific Coast counties, the Great Lakes states and New England merge into Greater Canuckistan has some appeal. In exchange, I propose bringing Alberta and other willing Red State provinces into the new southern alliance. The urbanites would get their fill of health care, leftist politics, and all things French. In turn, Red Staters could officially join the rest of the world in despising the foreign influence of Hollywood and the obscenity -- excuse me, sophistication -- of New York.

Just think - the Bush Doctrine of "you're with us or you're with the terrorists" means that we can finally let the 82nd Airborne loose on those whiny celebrities. A little Guantanamo Therapy would do Sean Penn some good.

Hmmm...I never thought I'd find merit in a Lawrence O'Donnell argument.

Nah. We must all hang together, or surely we will all hang separately. As painful as the prospect sounds, we need to find whatever common ground remains and build on it.

Stones Cry Out

Stones Cry Out has a good collection of pro- and con- arguments about Senator Specter's bid to chair the Judiciary committee.

OpinionJournal - Featured Article

Arlen Specter argues in today's Wall Street Journal that he has "consistently opposed any litmus test." Specter's eagerness to chair the Senate Judiciary Committee is leading him to say many of the right things...and if those were the only words he's uttered on the matter, it might be sufficient.

It isn't. Specter may dodge the "litmus test" bullet, but he's branded too many of the wrong people as "extremists." And as the "Specter-Kerry" yard signs in the last election demonstrate, Specter's loyalty to the president and the president's agenda is - to quote Scottish law - "not proven."

Senator Specter may ultimately receive the chairmanship. But where the President spent political capital to save Specter's seat in the 2004 primaries, Specter's actions and inactions in the general election shows he is no friend to this administration.

If you agree, or disagree, contact the committee members.

Blowin' out candles and kickin' ass... - Jonah's military guys at Argghhh! wish their interservice rivals a happy one. 229 years and counting...

Godspeed to the Marines and to everyone serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. You are in our prayers.

The American Thinker offers an American creed that I could quibble with in parts, but not as a whole. It is a credo for a country I think anyone could live in comfortably, 'blue state' as well as 'red state'. It largely boils down to 'live and let live' with a good balance of liberty and responsibility. Well done, American Thinker.

Henninger on the Blue State Generation Gap: John Kerry tapped into the Vietnam Rage zeitgeist, apparently. And its backlash.