blog.shrub

The Independent’s Johann Hari goes on a cruise with readers of the National Review:

A red-faced man who looks like an egg with a moustache glued on grumbles, ” If the Germans think they can take responsibility for the world, I don’t care about German courts. Bomb them.” I begin to witter on about the Pinochet precedent, and Kate snaps, “Treating Don Rumsfeld like Pinochet is disgusting.” Egg Man pounds his fist on the table: ” Treating Pinochet like that is disgusting. Pinochet is a hero. He saved Chile.”

Max Blumenthal checks out the College Republican National Convention:

On March 23, 2007, I received an email from MoveOn titled “Rep. Pelosi does the right thing on Iraq.” It began like this:

Dear MoveOn member,
We’re one step closer in the fight to end the war. Today the Iraq Accountability Act passed Congress. For the first time, Congress passed a real deadline to end the war—by fall of 2008. Your representative, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi voted right and helped make that happen.

This was a very hard vote for members of Congress. But Rep. Pelosi supported Speaker Pelosi in her strategy to wind down this war. Can you write her a quick note to say ‘thanks’ for bringing us one step closer and to keep up the fight until all our troops are home?

Look at the second paragraph: This was a very hard vote for members of Congress. But Rep. Pelosi supported Speaker Pelosi in her strategy to wind down this war.

No, there’s only one Pelosi in Congress. It’s just MoveOn’s software that’s a little overzealous. People in Pelosi’s congressional district should have received a differently-worded letter, or none at all.

In the Seattle Times, Floyd McKay laments the unfriendly US border:

In a reputable international survey, 39 percent said the U.S. was the world’s worst in terms of being traveler-friendly, including document processing and “having immigration officials who are respectful toward foreign visitors.” The Middle East and South Asia were “next worst,” at 16 percent. Canada was cited by only 2 percent.

This survey, by Discover America Partnership, an advocacy organization for America’s tourism industry, confirms what a lot of borderites already know — we seem to go out of our way to insult, intimidate and discourage visitors. We’ve gone across the border with Scottish friends, middle-aged professionals who were pulled out of line, rudely questioned and kept waiting for no apparent reason. One friend, after witnessing U.S. border agents harass an East Asian family, said it reminded him of his native South Africa.

Keith put together an impressive, impassioned commentary on September 11, five years later.