Bush should listen to Larry Kudlow

I love Larry Kudlow – the guy has quals and a great demeanor. He’s also insightful like a satellite in a hurricane:

Folks are very unhappy about Republican management of the war. Voters on the left want an immediate pullout — a terrible idea. People on the right, like me, want to win the war, but the president is not unveiling a truly new victory plan. His own Pentagon just issued a gloomy Iraq report that chronicles near-civil-war sectarian violence and the security problems in that country….But this will not resonate for the election. … It is too late to make this sale.

He’s right. What’s starting to scare me is the lack of a nationalized Republican campaign to get the local politicians elected.

The ACLU Democrats will keep carping about chemical plants, bridges, and tunnels. And Republicans must counter with highly publicized votes on surveillance expansion. This is what stopped the terrorists in the London plot. Folks know this. There’s also the issue of probable-cause warrants, which could delay FISA approval. Crucial days could pass as the government authorities argue needlessly about criminal intent and the matter of detaining suspects for tough-minded interrogation. Republicans must get loud on this front. There also should be no question about the legality and utility of the SWIFT financial tracking program. Or NSA wiretapping of al-Qaeda phone calls to people living in the United States. Or telco data-mining for phone-call patterns here at home.

Bush’s administration repeatedly acts like the crusty veteran who gets the work done (good), but whose myopia is thinking that the job ends where the work does (bad). For what the administration has actually engaged on, they get nearly an A every time, which is true even for the B- they get in Iraq. But what good is it to create Guantanamo if you’re not going to protect it for the tool that it is? What good is it to go after Al Quaeda’s finances with operational success if you give up on the legalistic wranglings that will let the programs continue?

Anyway, Kramer is worth listening to. What’s the use of his having a blog if you’re not going to listen to him?

19 Potential HiJackers Named

It’s good to name names …

A Continuing Spate of Hmmmmm

See-Dubya has some suspicions about the BP pipeline disaster.

Just remember that Alaskan pipelines go through miles and miles of desolate wilderness. If someone wanted to do something naughty out there, they could. It’s not unheard of; this report mentions an incident of pipeline sabotage at Steele Creek in 1978. Pipeline-jacking is a way of life for insurgent groups in South America, Iraq, and Africa. Here’s a nice little essay on the subject, noting various jihadist calls to screw with our oil supplies. Plus there are ELF maniacs out there who wouldn’t be above a little sabotage.

I’ve thought about this a lot since 2001 – how many accidents aren’t accidents at all. Given the urgency with which the authorities insist that these are not acts of terrorism or sabotage, I have to wonder. If a guy can walk up to an LAX ticket counter or into a Jewish Federation building and start shooting, what’s to keep an enemy from doing damage to an unattended pipeline?

Does anyone else have examples? I remember thinking that something may have been funny about a Houston refinery fire in 2002.

I dunno. This would all be easier if there wasn’t a blanket denial coming from the authorities. If it’s not terrorism, then there should be a clear explanation that is publicly accessible.

Update: Someone in See-Dubya’s comments said they saw pictures of corrosion on the inside of the BP pipes. So this is probably nothing.

Seattle’s Latest Terrorist Enemy

Since the shooting in Seattle and the surrounding events are happening in my backyard, I’ve been following events very closely. I was guest blogging about it over at Ace’s this weekend as more news came out.

The Seattle Times had this wrap up. It is typical of what we’ve all come to expect from the nuanced left: Muslim slaughters Jews, but it’s not a hate crime. A few choice words:

At approximately 3:50 p.m., a 14-year-old girl, the niece of one of the shooting victims, approached the entrance; Haq came up behind her and put a gun to her back, ordering her to open the door.

Gun to the head of a 14 year old girl – sane and civil. It gets better, really. A pastiche:

Haq told the girl, “I’m only doing this for a statement,” the court documents say … He told Klein to tell the 911 operator to call CNN…Haq gave the operator his name and social security number and announced “this is a hostage situation,” the papers say.

The Times trips over itself to keep from calling it terrorism or even a hate crime:

Haq, 30, has also been charged with first-degree kidnapping for holding a gun to the back of a 14-year-old girl to force his way into the building; one charge of first-degree burglary and malicious harassment, the felony charge for a hate crime.

I think they would have put it in a footnote if they could have.