Thursday, June 30, 2005

Nowhere Man 2

Q: What's the worst thing you can do with a gun?

A: Point it at someone when you have no intention to use it.

The Washington Post reports on a United Nations request to have America bolster its authority. (Hat tip: Little Green Footballs)

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan asked the United States this week to consider sending troops to Haiti to support a U.N. peacekeeping mission beset by mounting armed challenges to its authority, according to senior U.N. officials. ... He expressed hope that the United States would participate in a planned U.N. rapid reaction force, authorized by the Security Council earlier this month, that would have the firepower to intimidate armed gangs threatening the country's fragile political transition. Officials said that similar requests are being considered for other countries, including Canada and France. "We want scarier troops," one senior U.N. official said.

Annan told Rice that the Haitians "respect the U.S. military," according to a senior U.N. diplomat familiar with the closed-door meeting. Annan added that the United Nations may make a formal request for troops later, the diplomat said.

There are no suggestions by the Secretary General that the weapons carried the current Brazilian force are inoperative. So far as anyone can tell, their ordnance works just fine. So logically, what Kofi Annan really wants is someone, like the Americans, to relieve him of the onus of ordering someone to pull the trigger, though perhaps he hopes that the American reputation for 'scariness' will make that unnecessary. It's not as if the Brazilians have been totally helpless. The Post article continues.

In Port-Au-Prince on Wednesday, hundreds of U.N. peacekeepers raided a slum filled with gangs loyal to Aristide, killing six gunmen. The largely Brazilian force suffered no casualties during the eight-hour offensive. About 300 soldiers participated in the operation. Troops detained 13 suspected criminals and turned them over to Haitian police.

So Secretary Rice suggested to Kofi Annan that if he wanted scarier troops she would be more than glad to help him get the French and Canadians.

The plea from Annan comes weeks after Rice questioned the need for U.S. military intervention in Haiti, saying that it would be a "mistake" to abandon confidence in the ability of the Brazilian-led peacekeeping force to do the job. Rice provided Annan with no pledges of military support, officials said, but offered to help persuade France and Canada to contribute to the mission.

Not that there would be much wrong with Canadian or French weapons either. The post Nowhere Man argued that the worst form of demagoguery consisted in promising what you had no intention to deliver. Like 'Safe Havens' for Kosovars, safety for Rwandans, justice for the Darfur or an unswerving commitment to catch Mohammed Farah Aideed while withdrawing the armor and heavy weapons necessary to do it in the first place. Unable to deliver not because the peacekeeper's weapons are malfunctioning but because no one wants to take responsibility for using them. If America has any utility at all to transnational liberals it is as a garbage collector and checkwriter for all the dreams it peddles.

70 Comments:

Blogger jinnderella said...

Get rid of the UN! Burn it down and sow the ground where it stands with salt!
http://hot_needle_of_inquiry.blogspot.com/2005/06/whorehouse-on-first-avenue.html

6/30/2005 08:07:00 PM  
Blogger Anna said...

Fred, Canada has some good troops. But for the past decade their military has atrophied. Now they are proposing a five year plan to upgrade various parts of the military including more sealift. However even with 19 of their 32 Hercules transports grounded, the Canadian government in that $13billion shopping spree is not earmarking money for new airlift. So it is a moot point how good the troops are if they can not get anywhere without hitching a ride with the UK or the US.

And to tie American forces to UN missions with all the sabre-rattling of war-crime charges is plain stupid. Never mind the chance of an American Lt having to call UN in NYC for permission to defend someone. Srebenica ring any bells?

6/30/2005 08:27:00 PM  
Blogger NahnCee said...

Wow. Canada has one really good long-range sniper. The whole country's defense is in his hands. Like ... wow.

Regarding dear little Kofi's latest proposal, are we totally certain that this isn't a lead-up to his fondest desire that once he can inveigle American troops into a UN-led situation, he'll be able to take over command of those troops? And all those really neato American toys? I'm basing this suggestion on what happened in Baghdad when they tried to pull the same scheme off.

It seems to me, also, that the rest of the world increasingly see American soldiers as some kind of Arnold-robot which you wind up, program,and send into battle. The American soldier, as such, is ever so superior to regular mortal soldiers, like the French or Canadians can field, and certainly are superior to something like mere Iraqi soldiers or the dreadful Palestinians.

And while those world (and UN) leaders can moan and crab about the bloodshed and all those poor wounded and killed American soldiers, my sense is that they don't really think Americans can *get* hurt. Not really.

If you can just get the Americans to go into Dufur or Haiti or someplace that's been washed out by a gigantic tsunami wave, that's all that's necessary. Everything will then be magically taken care of, medicine will be supplied, bridges built, bad guys killed, and what's best of all, as a world leader you can keep on sniping at and criticizing America while all that weight of expectation has been lifted off your shoulders!

And God knows, Kofi has considerable weight he's trying to deal with right now from elsewhere!

6/30/2005 10:29:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

You should have put it in a stealth post ADE, but now it's too late.

7/01/2005 01:33:00 AM  
Blogger Doug said...

I forgot what the date is on the
Exit Strategy for Haiti.

7/01/2005 01:34:00 AM  
Blogger wretchardthecat said...

I recall reading about the Dutch battalion in Srebrenice -- and the bureaucratic maze they had to navigate to get air support -- which in the end the UN vetoed because it was too "provocative". In consequence, the Dutch battalion was disarmed and thousands of civilians in the "Safe Havens" were massacred, which was why the civilians stayed there in the first place and what the Dutch battalion was intended to prevent.

Nothing was wrong with the NATO F-16s wheeling overhead. Nothing was terribly wrong with the Dutch either -- other than the fact that they had almost no ammunition -- because the UN considered it necessary to ask the Serbs for persmission to transport supplies in. All the mechanical parts of UN Peacekeeping worked as advertised and yet nothing at all functioned. Why the paradox?

The Serbs understood that the UN was looking for any excuse not to act; they perfectly apprehended the pathological need by Turtle Bay to do nothing. Nearly a decade later, nothing has changed. French and Canadian troops are perfectly fine, but they will find themselves reduced to inutility simply because they intend to abide by UN orders. Ask D'allaire, he should know. The precise utility of US troops is that they can be relied on to rebel against UN orders -- to go 'cowboy' -- and it is precisely for this reason that the cynical Kofi Annan wants them there. He's not looking for someone to help; he's looking for someone to blame. What a piece of work he must be; wanting to be saved while keeping one eye on someone to blame for saving him. No wonder he is Secretary General.

7/01/2005 03:02:00 AM  
Blogger Huan said...

the less we have to do with the UN, the better we are off.

7/01/2005 04:16:00 AM  
Blogger Doug said...

Kojo spotted by John and Al.

7/01/2005 04:34:00 AM  
Blogger wretchardthecat said...

Inutility Noun 1. inutility - the quality of having no practical use.

A strange word to be sure, but a real one.

7/01/2005 04:42:00 AM  
Blogger Marcus Aurelius said...

W,

What a piece of work he must be; wanting to be saved while keeping one eye on someone to blame for saving him. No wonder he is Secretary General.

What a piece, indeed! Look what happened to his own son!

Inutility is a word I never heard before but its meaning was perfectly clear. Think of the words active and inactive and stretch that thought to utility and inutility.

Ones troops may be fine and top notch, but it is the national will to use them that counts. Cliff May at NRO was talking about a BBC interview he was in. He asked Cliff when the troops were going to leave Iraq, Cliff then turned the tables and asked when the troops would leave Germany, Japan, etc. The BBC dude replied something along the lines of "they are not being shot at". Cliff then responded by saying "Do we send firefighters to a house that is not burning".

7/01/2005 04:52:00 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

In that case, why not arm the Kurds in Syria and work those kind of angles?

7/01/2005 05:56:00 AM  
Blogger RWE said...

Remember that the U.N. considered effective action in Yugoslavia to consist of sending unarmed troops from Bangladesh who did not even have winter clothes. A major argument for the U.S. not taking effective military action there was that the troops the U.N. had sent were essentially hostages for the Serbs. Now just think about that. "Peacekeepers" as hostages?
My argument against getting involved in those situations is simple. Every member of the U.S. Military takes an oath to "uphold and defined the Constitution." That is the essence of why the military exists. No one can explain how that applies to places like Haiti, Yugoslavia, even Rwanda. Violate that principle and the oath will effectively become "perform duties as assigned", with horrific consequences.

7/01/2005 06:24:00 AM  
Blogger Doug said...

Also Wall Off France and Germany. (again)
The End of the Rainbow .
Here's something you probably didn't know: Ireland today is the richest country in the European Union after Luxembourg.

Yes, the country that for hundreds of years was best known for emigration, tragic poets, famines, civil wars and leprechauns today has a per capita G.D.P. higher than that of Germany, France and Britain. How Ireland went from the sick man of Europe to the rich man in less than a generation is an amazing story. It tells you a lot about Europe today: all the innovation is happening on the periphery by those countries embracing globalization in their own ways - Ireland, Britain, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe - while those following the French-German social model are suffering high unemployment and low growth.

7/01/2005 07:22:00 AM  
Blogger goesh said...

Anyone got the numbers?? What is the UN molestation rate in Haiti?

7/01/2005 07:33:00 AM  
Blogger Doug said...

Too ugly to think about.
---
PERFECT!
Gonzales for O'Connor,
I can handle that.
Gonzales for Rehnquist would suck.
Big Time.

7/01/2005 07:35:00 AM  
Blogger Doug said...

Lutig for Rehnquist.

7/01/2005 07:39:00 AM  
Blogger Doug said...

Better yet:
Janice Rogers Brown to the Supremes!
...Marin's Bab's Boxer shows her true racism, again.

7/01/2005 07:43:00 AM  
Blogger Annoy Mouse said...

“We want scarier troops”. Priceless.
“Haitians "respect the U.S. military”

I wonder if there is a correlation. The very fierceness that US troops exude allow them to be more compassionate as well. No greater friend. No worse enemy.
In the calculus of military operations; scary=respect

But consider that the Haitians speak French so the request that French or Canadian troops be sent is diplomatically a smooth move. Kofi was again making a vain attempt to put US forces under the aegis of UN control but Condi cooly postured. Though the Brazilians seem to be able to handle their own it would seem that the French, most of all, would have a moral responsibility to contribute to the the peace keeping effort.

Whatever the case, priceless.

7/01/2005 07:46:00 AM  
Blogger Doug said...

The French "understand" the class/caste system well, also.
Even have their own "N-word."

7/01/2005 07:55:00 AM  
Blogger Annoy Mouse said...

The UN are a bunch of Mandarins.
A Dutch friend of mine served in Bosnia with the UN forces. He said that everyone including the Opfors respected the Americans. Check points would not hold up unless they were manned by US troops, in which case nobody dared to transgress them. The reason ultimately is that US troops would never relinquish their command and control, and, as such, had different rules of engagement. These cases clearly show why UN meddling in US military affairs is little more than demagogery. The UN is trying to guard their reputation, not break a fingernail, and because of that they have no credibility left to be effective or respected.

7/01/2005 08:04:00 AM  
Blogger exhelodrvr1 said...

I have an idea: let the liberal anti-war faction volunteer for a special unit that will only be sent to Haiti.

7/01/2005 08:56:00 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

I'm with Jinnderella. Turtle Bay needs some land fill so that it can be properly developed.

If Kofi wants some scary troops he needs to ask the Frogs. We're kinda busy now killing terrorists.

7/01/2005 09:10:00 AM  
Blogger Annoy Mouse said...

“Turtle Bay needs some land fill so that it can be properly developed.”

What kind of taxes do these guys pay? Maybe the land can be annexed and given over to a corporation that can contribute more to the public good. How ‘bout a Walmart?

7/01/2005 11:08:00 AM  
Blogger Doug said...

fox,
I betcha OUR sugar industry is more corrupt than YOURS!
We grow pure CANE sugar. (from Hawaii)
...with UNION LABOR!
On land worth millions/acre w/free water.

7/01/2005 01:42:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose,
Nothing don’t mean nothing honey if it ain’t free,...

7/01/2005 01:43:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

So,
I'm not sure what the WORLD price is, but we have our own "special" price too!

7/01/2005 01:45:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

...and a govt that's been in Democrat/Union hands for half a century.

7/01/2005 01:46:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Not to imply you might be Irish, but I forgot.
Do remember you were infantry?

7/01/2005 01:47:00 PM  
Blogger Engineer-Poet said...

foxenburg:  inutilité

(it's é in Latin-1.)

7/01/2005 02:15:00 PM  
Blogger Tony said...

Visited the USS Cole today, visiting Penn's Landing in Philly. She looks great!

And mean.

7/01/2005 03:30:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

The Tony mystery approaches Wretchardian Proportions.
...we DO know he gets around.

7/01/2005 03:44:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Does that make him Nowhere Man number 1 or Number 2?
Har de har har.

7/01/2005 03:45:00 PM  
Blogger ledger said...

Kofi's confidence games are wearing thin. Every time Kofi talks my eyes glaze over, my ears stop up and a smile slow forms across my face. After the OFF scandal, I doubt if Bush even listens to him. But, I have an idea. Kofi should consult the War Expert - John F. Kerry. John Kerry has the Iraq war all but solved. He explained how simple it was in the NYT. If Kofi would just take the time to read some of Kerry's brilliant (and sometimes borrowed) ideas he would have Haiti fixed in no time at all. Just substitute Haiti for Iraq in each sentence:

[JFK in the NYT]

...Our mission in Iraq is harder because the administration ignored the advice of others, went in largely alone, underestimated the likelihood and power of the insurgency, sent in too few troops to secure the country, destroyed the Iraqi army through de-Baathification, failed to secure ammunition dumps, refused to recognize the urgency of training Iraqi security forces and did no postwar planning. A little humility would go a long way - coupled with a strategy to succeed... We're doing our part: our huge military presence stands between the Iraqi people and chaos, and our special forces protect Iraqi leaders. The Iraqis must now do theirs.

The first thing he should do is tell the truth to the American people. Happy talk about the insurgency being in "the last throes"... The president must also announce immediately that the United States will not have a permanent military presence in Iraq. Erasing suspicions that the occupation is indefinite... The administration must immediately draw up a detailed plan with clear milestones and deadlines for the transfer of military and police responsibilities to Iraqis after the December elections. The plan should be shared with Congress. The guideposts should take into account political and security needs and objectives and be linked to specific tasks and accomplishments... The administration must work with the Iraqi government to establish a multinational force... Such a force, if sanctioned by the United Nations Security Council, could attract participation by Iraq's neighbors... If Mr. Bush fails to take these steps, we will stumble along... casualties rising, costs rising, the patience of the American people wearing thin, and the specter of quagmire staring us in the face
....

See: The Speech

[Liberal Larry comments on Kerry]:

Along with windsurfing, bicycling, and sucking the morale out of our armed forces like an industrial vac, John Kerry has the uncanny ability to predict the content of Bush's speeches and rebutt them in advance. There was little point in me watching Bush spew his jingoist propaganda last night, for Big John had it all covered. He knew that Bush would defy 200 years of presidential tradition and attempt to rally the nation with "Happy Talk" in a time of war. He knew that Bush would try to make us have faith in our country and pride in the troops, despite everything democrats have taught us. And he knew he had to do something about it.

Fearful of coming off like a sore loser, yet he finding himself unable to tolerate Bush's littany of lies, he took to criticize Bush's poorly planned war. A Vietnam war hero thrice wounded in combat, he courageously expressed his dissatisfaction with a war he himself supported before he was against it, and that he boldly sort of supports now
.

[You have to take Liberal Larry with a grain of salt - it's a humor site]

See: John Kerry Has Bush's Number

7/01/2005 04:24:00 PM  
Blogger Tony said...

Doug,

Wait a minute, isn't this the prose poetry philosophy blog?

----

What if the DDG is in Philly for point defense for the Fourth of July?

That bad thought was in a Clancy or (better) Stephen Coontz book, where an Aegis boat docked somehow in D.C. protects the Capitol w/ Standard missiles (vs the unlikely circumstance that terrs grab a missile sub).

I liked seeing the USS Cole docked at Penn's Landing, protecting the original capitol, about a mile from Independence Hall.

7/01/2005 04:36:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Fixed your typo for you, Ledger:

Such a force, if *sanctified* by the United Nations Security Council....

I feel his pain:
How would YOU like to live your life with a specter staring you in the face all the time?
And of a QUAGMIRE no less!

Hey, John's French Looking: Calypso JFK2 saves the day.

7/01/2005 06:43:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

For shame Raymond, you and Tony should demonstrate that you're Live Aid Patriotic.

7/01/2005 06:45:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

In addition to specters there are also highly dangerous, and destructive swarms:

On Capitol Hill, today's resignation unleashed a *swarm of right-wing fringe groups and corporate lobbyists* pushing for a nominee who will favor narrow prejudice and greed over the rights of the American people.

If we can deliver 250,000 signatrures and comments by Tuesday, we can make sure the voice of ordinary Americans can compete with this *swarm* and tell our senators to stand up for our rights.Please sign today.
. Protect Our Rights.
(Exactly: Us Rights ARE Right: Protect us.)
Thanks for all that you do.
Ben, Joan, Justin, Eli and the MoveOn PAC Team
Friday, July 1st, 2005
P.S.
As soon as we heard about the resignation, we put an ad on the air calling for Bush and the Senate to protect our rights and not nominate an extremist. You can check it out at: moveonpac.org

7/01/2005 07:12:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

...AND,
he served in Vietnam, dontcha know?

7/01/2005 07:21:00 PM  
Blogger Jack said...

Both sides, even.

7/01/2005 08:06:00 PM  
Blogger Marcus Aurelius said...

Annoy Mouse,

I heard a story from a couple who were from South Africa. They said they had privatized the security of the military bases and most of the employees were ex-US Army.

An SA general was coming to a base from far away and forgot his credentials. He tried to bluster his way through the private security guard, but ended up with a muzzle pointed his way. The General went back and got his credentials. The way the story was told the guard had a Texas accent.

7/01/2005 08:21:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Hey, Cutler:
Is Washington and Lee your school?
...Anyway -
"In a break from longstanding tradition, which held that W&L's president deliver the commencement address, the keynote speech was given by author, alumnus and trustee emeritus Tom Wolfe '51. "
http://news.wlu.edu/news/page/normal/1299.html
---
I heard part of this and it was great, but I cannot find the rest.
(not mainstream friendly enough, I guess)
So that's what I'm looking for, transcript, audio, whatever.
---
The mediocrity of their competition, paris hilton, usual Wolfe stuff!

7/01/2005 08:38:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Foxenberg was a 'roady.

7/01/2005 08:39:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

"The way the story was told the guard had a Texas accent."
Maybe he was just from
South South Africa.

7/01/2005 08:42:00 PM  
Blogger ledger said...

Ooops. You are right Doug.

Make that: ...Sanctified by the United Nations Sexcrewity Council.

7/01/2005 10:33:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Now you're leaving out letters!
(or as tony would say, characters)
It's
"Sexscrewity Council"
They are some sort of characters, but it ain't good.

7/01/2005 10:50:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Only a moron with oxygen sickness would associate character with the Sexscrewity Council.

7/01/2005 10:52:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Yeah,
There's really some pretty good info in the article, esp considering it's the NY Times.
Friedman is certainly better than THEIR average.
Here's a neat quote from that Michael guy that unloaded dead end memory on me:
"We set up in Ireland in 1990," Michael Dell, founder of Dell Computer, explained to me via e-mail. "What attracted us? [A] well-educated work force - and good universities close by. [Also,] Ireland has an industrial and tax policy which is consistently very supportive of businesses, independent of which political party is in power. I believe this is because there are enough people who remember the very bad times to de-politicize economic development. [Ireland also has] very good transportation and logistics and a good location - easy to move products to major markets in Europe quickly."

Finally, added Mr. Dell, "they're competitive, want to succeed, hungry and know how to win. ... Our factory is in Limerick, but we also have several thousand sales and technical people outside of Dublin. The talent in Ireland has proven to be a wonderful resource for us. ... Fun fact: We are Ireland's largest exporter."

7/01/2005 10:59:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Does everybody's memory go dead in the end?
(Doug displays his deep philisophical side for Tony.)

7/01/2005 11:00:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

"because there are enough people who remember the very bad times to de-politicize economic development."
So why can't the left do that here?
It's always:
Bad times are coming back bad if we don't shuffle some new cards in the now very old New Deal.

7/01/2005 11:05:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

...not to mention the last 5 years of Republicans in control.

7/01/2005 11:07:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Maybe they still have real Catholic Education there?

7/01/2005 11:10:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

JFK2,
Some things are eternal.

7/02/2005 12:56:00 AM  
Blogger NahnCee said...

I, for one, would welcome a Haitian invasion. Or attempted invasion. At least they'd be *doing* something, besides languishing, begging, and starving.

if someone names themselves Kropotkin Beard, does that mean they're a liar twice over? once for being a communist, and once for being a beard?

7/02/2005 09:46:00 AM  
Blogger Doug said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

7/02/2005 01:47:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

7/02/2005 01:53:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

7/02/2005 01:56:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

You left out using babies for doorstops.
Ken Hamblin reported that back in the early 90's.
That and trucks loaded with bodies.
---
Beards...
The "relentless aggression"(???) is similarly irrepressible and was on show again at a press conference this week. Ryanair's marketing manager, Sinead Finn, noted that she was the only woman addressing a roomful of male journalists.

"I wouldn't be too sure," interrupted O'Leary. "There's someone here from the Guardian and you can never tell with them."

Green lobbyists insist Ryanair's growth is unsustainable, although it shows little sign of slowing any time soon. Passenger number are forecast to jump by 26% this year, overtaking British Airways' worldwide total.
Life in short Title
Chief executive, Ryanair, since 1994
Age 44
Education
Clongowes Wood College; Trinity College, Dublin (did not graduate)

Be sure not to miss the live 8 activities Nahncee:
I heard the purpose is for raising taxes in order to help save the world.
The celebrities that showed up were given gifts worth $12,000.

7/02/2005 01:58:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

ADE,
Know much about education system, Catholic Schools, etc?

7/02/2005 02:04:00 PM  
Blogger Tony said...

Yo Ray,

I had fun talking to Navy vets down at the pier, we couldn't stop talking, too. There's something uplifting about seeing the Cole fully healed and stopping in Philly for the Fourth.

Yo Doug,

I COME here for Wretchard, so maybe in that limited sense I'm Wretchardian.

I sincerely enjoy and learn from most posters here, you all add a Wretchardian refinement and context to the issues at hand. (Especially if no one wastes time in bicker-fests.)

I just try to throw in my two cents about places I've been, imho to offer some grounding observations.

This is why I do that: Right after we counter-attacked our enemies in Afghanistan, a dear liberal friend of mine grudgingly granted a weak 'yea' - as long as we "left them with a constitutional government and a competent justice system."

I got the impression that he and other smart people like him who have never been to these places tend to think of the whole world as if they're like just parts of New Jersey they've never driven through. Therefore, Afghanistan is sort of a particularly troublesome Jersey county, probably near Hoboken, that just needs a cupla tweaks, some smart arrests, maybe other minor adjustments to put things in order. And, hey, if they need a few courthouses built or whatever, that's our responsibility, natch.

Having been to both Afghanistan and Hoboken, I feel compelled to point out the differences.

If that makes me Wretchardian, I'll add it to my resume right under Roman Catholic Altar Boy, specialty: thurifer.

7/02/2005 03:01:00 PM  
Blogger NahnCee said...

I think the liberals are loathe to give up on those Lennon refrains of "Give peace a chance", and "All you need is love". If those two mantra's to live by go away, it might mean that folks will have to grow up from being happy 60's hippies, to being responsible adults.

7/02/2005 03:10:00 PM  
Blogger Tony said...

Nahncee,

Right. If you think all you need is love, why don't you take a walk through my old neighborhood.

7/02/2005 03:59:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Tony,
I meant I get curiouser and couriouser about what you were doing in slightly out of the way places like Iran, Afghanistan, but not Novi, really.
A mystery:
Like where is Wretchard posting from now?

7/02/2005 08:52:00 PM  
Blogger Jack said...

Yes Doug.

I didn't see Wolfe speak. I did see both Hitchens, Scalia, and Robert Kaplan, however. Passed on Donna Brasille and Al Sharpton.

7/02/2005 08:53:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Think what you may have missed!
Think I'll write web editor and ask if she can't post the audio of wolfe.

Looks like 3 girls for every boy in the audience:
Better than the Beach Boys had it!

7/02/2005 09:59:00 PM  
Blogger Jack said...

"both Hitches, Scalia, and Robert Kaplan"

Apparently I also missed English class a few too many times, also...

7/02/2005 10:44:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Yup,
too many times, also,
no doubt about that!
Two Hitchens in one evening would be a bit intense.

7/03/2005 01:00:00 AM  
Blogger Tony said...

Doug,

I was just passing through, gathering observations to post on the Belmont Club, a few decades later.

As for Wretchard, I looked and couldn't find him, he's like The Cheshire Cat I guess. In a professorial way, of course.

7/03/2005 11:03:00 AM  
Blogger Doug said...

Very prescient, my boy!
Carry on!
(Sure would like some more hints from the both of you though. Always been a very curious sort in at least two ways.)

7/03/2005 06:18:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

" I get curiouser and couriouser"
and now I'm even couriouser than that!
couriouserer?

7/03/2005 06:21:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

You're not that mysterious "Tony" that Tootpick used as a secret weapon against muslim terror, are you?

7/03/2005 07:07:00 PM  

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