Re: Checking in with Powerline

1

I'm sure that he linked to the first post in the second, to make clear that he had changed his mind on this matter.

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2

Surprisingly, no.

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3

Will somebody please explain to him that Time Magazine's Blog of the Year award bestowed upon Powerline was an elaborate prank? Like Carrie winning homecoming queen? CUE BUCKET OF BLOOD.

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4

#3: Or you could just realize that Time sucks, and has sucked for at least a decade. Other evidence - Joe Klein, Andrew Sullivan, Eleanor Clift. It's not perfect, but Newsweek is much, much better.

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5

Your theory sounds interesting, Tim. Tell me more about how... {Python Quote patrol here. Sorry, folks, we almost let that one through. We now return you to your regularly scheduled pithy comment.} Shit, Denny's placemats have more accurate information.

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6

5 is causing me to giggle helplessly. I fear for my sanity.

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7

Remember: Standards and accountability are only appropriate for schools and teachers. Wars should always be a shot in the dark, conducted with the vague hope that some benefit will happen somewhere down the lilne.

Adam: I don't really see him changing his tune. In both quotes he is denouncing standards used to measure success in Iraq, either in favor of standards that can't be applied because they are completely unspecified, or standards that can't be applied because they deal with an entirely vague future time.

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8

Stop hating America.

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9

The following is an emotivist reading, which I normally oppose when applied to normative statements, but might be appropriate here. The first statement can most charitably be read as "Woo Bush - Cheney 2004!" The second statement can most charitably be read as "I don't feel bad about voting for and encouraging others to vote for Bush - Cheney in 2004." This is in fact how every Powerline post should be read, since they have no factual content.

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10

Oh, I dunno, Rob. In 2003, "[t]he truth is that the Iraq venture has gone astonishingly well"; while in 2006, "[i]n truth [...] we can only guess" how well it's going.

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11

One lesson I've learned from reading the internet is that any time somebody starts an argument with "in truth" or "the [truth/fact] of the matter is," whatever truth or fact that follows has almost always been pulled directly from the writer's ass.

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12

I thought the media were effectively controlled by the Republican press machine.

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13

Oh, and no-one had to move the goalposts. It's not like all the objectives (whatever the hell they were) were achieved and the MEDIA sniffed and decided that real victory would include extra conditions x, y, and z. The goalposts weren't met. That's just plain old failure.

Wide right!

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14

Apo: Fair enough, you win.

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15

Every time I've gone to Denny's, they've been out of tomatoes, notwithstanding the indication on the menu that tomatoes would be available. Some people say that Waffle House menus are more accurate, (but as everyone knows, Waffle House menus hate persons of color).

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16

In truth, though, I see a lot of accountability avoidance in both posts.

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17

If it hasn't already been linked to, then this deserves a link.

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18

In truth, I was happier about my take-down of another Powerline contributor in this post. I don't think those guys could get any pastier if they ate a 55-gallon industrial drum of paste.

If you don't want to read the entire FAIR compendium linked in #17, here's the shorter version. Master Shake is a neo-con, Carl is a pragmatist.

Carl: Is it supposed to stink like this?

Master Shake: Yeah, that's why they call it 'crude' Carl.

Carl: No, it's not. We hit my septic tank, you jackass.

Master Shake: Oh, so you're storing extra oil in your septic tank? I'm on to you!

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19

You might not get tomatoes at Denny's, but there's a good chance that you'll get shot.

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20

From the FAIR link: "Now that the combat phase of the war in Iraq is officially over, what begins is a debate throughout the entire U.S. government over America's unrivaled power and how best to use it." (CBS reporter Joie Chen, 5/4/03)"

Which reminded me that Joie Chen used to be on CNN, which reminded me that I didn't know what ever happened to Rudi Bakhtiar, my favorite Mexican CNN newscaster. So I looked it up. Wikipedia says that following a leave of absence, Bakhtiar left CNN to join ... FOX News.

That just makes me feel dirty.

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21

Here's a happy-time Denny's fun puzzle (no offense, Norb). Write a blog post using the headline "THE UNITED NATIONS SMEARS LEGO" and see how close you come to Michelle Malkin's.

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22

"Or you could just realize that Time sucks, and has sucked for at least a decade."

What, compared to the grand tradition of Henry Luce?

Sure, back in those days it was so much less right-wing. Who didn't enjoy hearing from Anna Chennault and Madame Chiang?

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23

Isn't the LEGO piece the excluded outsider?

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