Mission Accomplished!

Congratulations to the Iraqi People!

Overheard in the Office

WMC: Do you think Saddam is pissed today that he is going to the gallows for one of his lesser crimes?

WML: No. I think he is pissed because Bush can do what he wants, but Saddam cannot. If Bush wants to take out a leader on the other side of the planet, he can. Saddam and other tyrants want that capability, but do not have it. If he is angry, that is the reason.

WMC: I agree that adds to it. But I have to believe he's upset he's being put to death for about 150 murders, when he's killed 5,000 in a day. It is like Clinton's defense when another girl would come up: "Puhlease. There are a dozen more where she came from." That would defuse the story and put things into perspective.

And how about the 30-day notice? In America, we give a 30-day notice to our condemned, and they kick back for 30 days. Saddam gets a 30-day notice, and the next day his cell opens and a guy says "Let's go". That part of the world is criticized for poor management of democracy, civil administration, ecetera, but they are efficient in at least one area.

Karl's Weekend Reading

While listening for the distant sound of a rope going taut, Karl will be reading the following:

Victor Davis Hanson reminds us of Iran's inherent weakness: "Iran’s Ahmadinejad Far Weaker Than He Lets On"

So, as Iranians worry that their nation is becoming an international pariah and perhaps heading down the path of bankruptcy in the process, now is not the time for America to give in by offering direct talks with Ahmadinejad. That propaganda victory would only help him reclaim the legitimacy and stature that he is losing with his own people at home.

Nancy French has some great 2006 flashbacks of Democrat mis-steps at NRO, "Blue State Blunders".

November: After months of therapy trying to “find himself,” Iraqi Jamil Hussein realizes he doesn’t exist after all — in spite of his frequent mentions in the Associated Press. A blogger uncovers the revelation that the AP used false sources and fabricated stories of war atrocities. James Frey doesn’t see what the big deal is, since a “higher truth” is being told.

Hugh Hewitt interviews Joseph Rago, who is 23 BTW!

Our response (below) to Mr. Rago's opinions of bloggers.

HH: Well, again, the chaos of the internet…let’s take another controversy from this year, the cartoons depicting Mohammed.

JR: Sure.

HH: Did any mainstream media outlet publish them?

JR: No, they didn’t.

HH: Were they published on the blogosphere?

JR: Yes.

HH: Who did the better job of providing information to the public?

JR: Well, the reason a lot of newspapers didn’t publish them is because they were in poor taste. And that’s an editorial judgment, of which you can agree or disagree.

HH: But the fact that none…no one in the mainstream media published them…by the way, I did not think it was wise to publish them, so I share the judgment of the mainstream media there. But the judgment of the mainstream media was uniform. What’s that tell you about it? It’s not journalism, Joe. It’s a club.

Latest MSM Iraq Milestone

James Taranto of "Best of the Web Today" picks up on a noticable trend - the MSM defining a major milestone in the Iraq war as the death toll exceeds the toll of 9/11:

We guess the idea of all these "milestones" is to remind Americans that the liberation of Iraq has been costly--and, if you're cynical about the motives of Torchia and other journalists, to dampen public support for the war effort. Liberating Iraq has cost as many lives as 9/11, we are supposed to conclude; therefore it hasn't been worth the cost. Are we then supposed to wish that 9/11 had claimed more lives?

Anyway, isn't there a qualitative difference between someone who goes to work in the morning and is murdered by terrorists, and someone who makes the ultimate sacrifice for his country after volunteering to take that risk? Or between a little girl murdered on a hijacked airplane and an adult man who dies in combat? In what sense are the body counts comparable?

By drawing an equivalence between soldiers and victims, Torchia is insulting the heroism of those who fight, and in some cases die, for America. By engaging in such mindless and meaningless score-keeping, he is insulting the intelligence of every one of his readers.

Thanks for the clarity, James.

Rest in Peace, Mr. President

Our sympathies to the Ford family.

Merry Christmas

Our sincere thanks to President Bush and the US military for making this a peaceful and prosperous Christmas!

Blog Criticism from the WSJ

I can understand the Dan Rathers of the MSM criticizing blogs. Their poor work is on display daily at Ushanka.us and other wonderful blogs.

But criticism from the assistant editor, Joseph Rago, of the Wall Street Journal? That is the only paper left that Karl reads, yet it is only a fraction of the news sources that Karl turns to. The others? The blogs listed to the left.

The blogs are not as significant as their self-endeared curators would like to think. Journalism requires journalists, who are at least fitfully confronting the digital age. The bloggers, for their part, produce minimal reportage. Instead, they ride along with the MSM like remora fish on the bellies of sharks, picking at the scraps.

So why do the MSM sharks all swim upside down along the surface? Maybe us bloggers should find a more evolved species to ride with, like a corporate HR representative, security guard, or an IT-Help Desk operator?

You can see this article, "The Blog Mob: Written by Fools to be Read by Imbeciles", posted at Opinion Journal, where one of the Karl's favorite blogs is posted - James Taranto's "Best of the Web Today".

Your Fool and Imbecile - Karl

Karl's Reading (Last Weekend)

Karl enjoyed some great articles this past weekend.

Finally, an objective and succinct summary of the Iraq Study Group, by the ever dependable Charles Krauthammer, "What did the Iraq Study Group Tell Us?"

Mike Adams shares his opinion of Karl's alma mater, Pepperdine University: "Colleges to Attend, Part 1"

And in the spirit of the latest MSM/Commie craze, Peggy Noonan provides a concise summary in the Wall Street Journal: "The Man from Nowhere: What does Barak Obama Believe In?"

Enjoy!

Truther 'Truthed'

Found at LGF and Hot Air. (Potty-Mouth Warning)

LGF Feels Karl's Pain

Suzanne Malveaux from CNN has an opinion about US Presidents that drink Kool-Aid. Karl bets she won't say the same about the Russian President for one of the following reasons: 1) He is a fellow Commie, or 2) She is a coward.

Karl's Weekend Reading

So why is Karl so intriqued by the recent murders of three Russian journalists? Maybe because they are true professionals with investigative skills who are driven by freedom's ring? A bit different than US reporters, all striving to get the best Obama puff-piece into print 18 months before anyone cares...

The top reading suggestion for this weekend is the Wall Street Journal's frontpage story about journalism in Russia: "As Journalists Die, A Russian Paper Faces Grim Future".

Updated 12.10: Author Guy Chazan. Russian paper: (topic of article) Novaya Gazeta.

Charles Krauthammer: "If Putin Did It"

Oliver North's "State of War II"

Wall Street Journal Editorial: "Realism and Iran"

Michelle Malkin Feels Karl's Pain

Michelle has a great video summary of the Associated Press fake cop story.

Jawa Feels Karl's Pain

Great video by The Jawa Report about MSM's fake pictures:

LGF Feels Karl's Pain

Charles at LGF discusses a new book on MSM bias: Jim A. Kuypers, Bush’s War: Media Bias and Justifications for War in a Terrorist Age.

Communism Fights to the Death

While we here at Ushanka.us enjoy a few laughs each day at the expense of the scattered nuisance that was once organized communism, we are provided reminders that this disease is still among us and is fighting at all costs. Detect a pattern?

Our best wishes to Alexander Litvinenko for a speedy recovery.

11.25 Updates - (after Alexander's Death): LFG & Hot Air

Remember Viktor Yushchenko?

Remember Anna Politkovskaya?

Karl's Weekend Reading

Sick with the flu this past week, so a short list.

Get a hold of Friday's Wall Street Journal. The editorial page was rich with Milton Friedman articles.

Here is one: Capitalism and Friedman: The man who made free markets popular again.

Also on the editorial page - Daniel Henninger's "Optimism Pays Off: Twenty-five years later, Reagan’s tax cuts are a global tide."

In the final months of Ronald Reagan’s presidency, something else happened that forced even Beltway accountants to look up from their ledgers: The Berlin Wall fell in 1989. Five years later this brought forth the second great wave of supply-side tax policy.

Communism had been running what might be called a 40-year demonstration study in life at one end of the Laffer Curve—what happens to economies when you tax away pretty much everything.

Cartoons - A Pattern?

Noticing a trend in political cartoons since the election. Do you see it?

Here is another posted recently.

These and many more at Townhall.

Our First Daily Kos Freak Link

Conservative bloggers: Ever wonder if we are the majority of the hits at Daily Kos? I do, because I think there are more of us than them. Well, to prove they are the glass-is-half-full types, mcjoan has a networking opportunity for all of those out-of-work Democrat campaign staff.

You have the thanks of us all, even though you're now probably unemployed.

So a good portion of the 4.4% un-employed in this nation are former campaign workers? Well, GOOD NEWS Kos Kids, agenda item #1 is a minimum wage hike. (Did you really think it was the war??)

Can you multiply the proposed 41% increase with your current wages?

Don't spend it all in one place!

Not Close, So No Cigar

No reason since Tuesday to smoke a cigar. Only a matter of time. The winners of the 2006 election are acting humble, keeping quite, or both. It is an act. It will end soon. And Karl will light up here shortly.

Until then, Karl will enjoy the weather, the backyard, and will finish reading Never Call Retreat

Karl's Weekend Reading

Been looking for some reading material that cuts through the post-election noise. This week's list is short - part 'half full' and part 'half empty'.

Charles Krauthammer's: Democrats moving the ball

The result is that both parties have moved to the right. The Republicans have shed the last vestiges of their centrist past, the Rockefeller Republican. And the Democrats have widened their tent to bring in a new crop of blue-dog conservatives.

Daniel Henninger's: Like Father, Like Son? Team 41 is a threat to the Bush legacy.

George Bush's foreign policy is at a tipping point. The administration's thinking on Iran and North Korea looks stalemated. He has taken to talking about the need for "fresh eyes" on Iraq. Looking back over the roster of the Iraq Survey Group, I'd say the eyes focused on his foreign-policy legacy, all essentially retired from public life, are anything but fresh. In response to Tuesday's election, House Republicans are about to usher in a younger generation of political thinkers. If he really wants to refresh his presidency, Mr. Bush should start looking in the same direction.

2006 Election Analysis

Here is our analysis of the 2006 election:

Ushanka.us 2006 Election Analysis

The Jawa Report Shares Karl's Pain

Some proposed headlines from The Jawa Report (Gay Republican Theme):

Labor Crunch at "Crippling" Five-Year High
Church May Resort to Hiring "Suspected Homosexuals" to Meet Staffing Needs

Karl Rove Spotted Buying George Michael Album
Evangelicals Express "Appropriate Concern"

Dick Cheney's Daughter: "Yes, I'm STILL a lesbian."

Frustrated with the MSM? Be sure to add Ushanka.us to your daily blog journey and vote on our biased headlines, fresh from the MSM. No disenfranchised voters here!

Sunday Night Cigar

What: CAO Brazilia Samba
Why:
Yet another Rove coup
Saddam to swing at a gallows near you,
One last task, but don't tell Dean
We figured out how to hack the voting machine!

Instapundit Shares Karl's Pain

From Instapundit's Nov. 5 post:

UPDATE: Hmm. Turned on the TV. Fox was covering Saddam, but CNN was running an election-themed piece on stem cell research, and MSNBC was reporting on the hot prospects for the Harold Ford campaign. You'd think this would deserve more attention than that . . . .

Oh, wait, they just teased a coming story with "Will Saddam Hussein's sentencing spark more violence in Iraq?" I should've figured on that spin, shouldn't I?

Ushanka.us doesn't have the disk space or manpower to record each MSM-Commie plug like this one. Help us do the next best thing and vote early and often on our headlines, and report any juicy ones we missed!

Overheard at the Office

WML: Want to hear a conspiracy?

WMC: From you? I expect nothing less.

WML: They're going to announce Saddam's verdict next week. My guess, they'll do it Monday night, give him a death penalty - just in time for the election.

WMC: Oh, I like that. But to get the proper impact, they'll have to catch somebody too.

WML: [drawing a blank, snapping fingers] Oh, oh, uh, that tall guy.

WMC: John Kerry?

WML: No, no... no. Um...

WMC: Osama?

WML: Ya, they'll pull him out of a hole.

WMC: Sorry, I get the two confused. They both say the same things.

Friday Night Cigar

What: Santa Domiana No. 600 Cabinet
Why: Un-Employment rate hits 4.4%. (Bush's fault for making the economy so hot! More people are working than should be working - Karl included!)

Karl's Weekend Reading

Topic: Election 06

"Party of the Rich": Limousine liberals are upgrading to Lear jets. By Peter Schweizer

Blues Project Depressed voters may roll the dice on the Democrats. By Daniel Henninger

Topic: John F. Kerry

Kerryism, by Victor Davis Hanson

Senator Kerry, Media Darling: The media have circled the wagons around the junior senator from Massachusetts. By Thomas Sowell.

Shame on Him John Kerry picked the wrong people to insult. By Ronald R. Griffin

Best of the Web Today, by James Taranto (Wednesday's Post)

Headline Proposals for MSM

Rove: I Deny Forcing John Kerry To Say That
Kerry: The Smart Soldiers are in Afghanistan
Poll: Voters to Turn to US Soldiers for Voting Advice
Kerry to Stop Apologizing on Nov. 8

Kerry Smart

From: Scrappleface

Halp Us Jon Carry

Karl:
14 years, US Army Reserves
2 graduate degrees
0 botched jokes

Picture Above - Priceless

Updated 11.2: Format and quote below.

A clip from Victor Davis Hanson's post at NRO regarding the picture above:

20 million Americans must have seen it [picture] all over the Internet, and nothing sums up the nothingness of Kerryism better than those smiling soldiers. After seeing that, no wonder he's offering deer-in-the headlights apologies.

Blog Fun

This much fun should be illegal!

What: Poster Girl, by Beccy Cole
From: The Jawa Report

The Aussies weren't even attacked, yet they fight in division strength and produce this!

What: Why Vote Republican
From: Marvin's Word

Funny. Will it change any minds?

Run to the Flash, You Crazy Islamo Fascists!
Found at Debbie Schlussel's Blog

Team America - What a Sense of Humor!

MSM Numbers Are In!

Hugh Hewitt has a tally of the latest circulation numbers from the main print operations. Just a matter of time - the Ushanka.us and MSM total readership will converge.

Another Great Weekend for a Cigar

One More Article - A MUST READ!

The Democratic Party's agenda is finally in print. Extra special Ushanka.us thanks to the Wall Street Journal's editorial board.

The Non-Contract With America: What Democrats aren't saying about their agenda, so we will.

WSJ: America has been waiting years for this agenda. Please consider re-printing in a weekday edition.

Two Classics

Both found at Townhall.com

Our First Week

What a fun first week!

We achieved 93% up-time in week one. Our site was offline for a 12-hour period. Numerous calls to our hosting service included one help desk person telling us Ushanka.us is not hosted with their company, and many others scratching their heads to the point of festering, oozing head wounds. Had they been wearing ushankas, none of this would have happened. We wish them all a speedy recovery.

Ushanka.us' hosting issues are Bush's fault. It is his cowboy tax cuts that put the US economy on such a fast-growth trajectory. With 4.6% un-employment, there are people working today that shouldn't be working...

Survey #1 shows that of the family and friends that made up the site's visitors in week one, two are either smartasses or closet commies. We'll smoke 'em out McCarthy style, don't worry.

Last... Maybe because it is election season, or maybe this is the norm, but of all the political headlines the site captures, nearly all are biased! This is a surprise even for Karl, a true believer of Communist infiltration in America's newsrooms. Karl posts about 3% of captured headlines and discards the rest. Another 3% could be considered journalistic mistakes that convey a pro-democracy spin, and about another 5% could be characterized as objective. In short - Ushanka.us visitors are voting and commenting on the most biased of them all.

Thanks to everybody who have helped us launch this fun project! And, keep your eyes out for the site's first guest blogger.

Overheard at the Office

MAL: I hope we can remain friendly after the election.

MWC: Of course. I'm going to be happy on Nov 8th regardless.

MAL: Even if the Democrats take over?

MWC: Yep. Americans need to be reminded what the Democrats stand for. Then we sweep in 08.

MAL: You grew up in a Democratic era. They were in charge for most of your life. There is a long line of great Democrats - [walking away] FDR, Truman...even Clinton.

MWC: Clinton was a Republican. Do me a favor - show me a Democrat today that can drop a nuke.

Karl's Weekend Reading

Topic: Election 06
David Limbaugh's: "Without conservative help, Democrats shouldnt bet the farm"
Cait Murphy's: "Why the Republicans need to lose the midterms"
William F. Buckley's: "Pelosi Ahead"
Michael Medved's: "Eight reasons conservatives must vote on November 7th"
Michelle Malkin's: "Blabbermouth media, blabbermouth Dems"
Ann Coulter's: "Dems' favorite Halloween costume: Patriot"
Dean Barnett's "The Smell of Victory"

Topic: Iraq
Victor Davis Hanson's: "The Wonders of Hindsight"

Topic: Middle East
WSJ Global View/Bret Stephens': "Three Ways to War in Gaza"

Topic: Taxes
Larry Kudlow's: "Pay-Go and Polls: What a Predicament"

Overheard at the Office

MWL: So I hear we're changing course.

MWC: No more cowboy diplomacy?

MAL: [walking in] You're missing the news conference.

MAL: [sitting down] It's more of the same.

MWC: Wait a minute. He just said we're changing course. Which is it?

MWL: Well, there's a timetable now.

MAL: Just rheteric.

MWL: Such a moron.

MWC: What should he be saying?

MWL: That 'I made a mistake.' That 'I'm stepping down.'

MWC: So Cheney steps in. What would you want him to do?

MWL: Be a lame duck for two years.

MWC: Seriously.

MWL: He'd probably stay [in Iraq].

MWC: No, what would you want him to do?

MWL: Withdraw.

MWC: And let it collapse?

MWL: It already is collapsed.

Headline Proposals for MSM

Poll: Most Dems Enjoyed CNN Sniper Video

NYT Denies Another Pre-Election Release of Strategic US Secrets

Reuters: "One Man's Liberal is Another Man's Communist"

AP Poll: US Citizens Prefer Conservative Blogs as Their News Source

Is that a Democrat on the tracks?

Or is it the MSM?

Overheard at the Office

MWC: Do you think the North Koreans really tested a nuke?

MWL: I don't think so.

GWC: I've been out of the news for two weeks.

MWL: So you don't know who the next UN General Secretary is?

GWC: Nope.

MWL: It is a South Korean. And, the Olympics are coming up in Beijing...

MWC: Ahh. A little triangulation on North Korea?

MWL: Yes.

MWC: So GWC, if you haven't seen the news in two weeks, there is one thing you didn't miss.

GWC: Ya?

MWC: The Democrats didn't announce their agenda yet.

GWC: They never will.

Republicans at UC Berkeley?

And they outnumber the campus Democrats too?

Time for another cigar!

WSJ Article

Berkeley College Republicans

A Great Night for a Cigar

Karl's Weekend Reading

Topic: Our Educators
Larry Elder's "High School Student and his Bush-Bashing English Teacher"

Topic: MSM Goal of American Defeat
James Taranto's "Best of the Web" Thursday edition

Topic: Election 06
Mike Adam's "Preparing for Pelosi"

Topic: Islam
Victor Davis Hanson's "Traitors to the Elightenment"

Topic: North Korea
Charles Krauthammer's "Rice's Declaration"

Overheard at the Office

MWC: Was North Korea threatening the US? What would happen if they declared? Would Kim stand at the shore and shake his fist at us?

WWL: It would be like 1953 all over again.

MWC: Really? We'd send troops against a million-man army?

MWL: Think they'd bomb South Korea? Japan?

MWC: To draw us into a war? That's all they can do. But to what end? They'd be destroyed.

Headline Proposals for the MSM

Experts: New York Times Circulation Down, Decline to Continue

Film Actors Guild Disappointed by NK Nuke Test

Dems: Foley Scandal Eliminates Need for Agenda

Poll: Putin's Popularity Rises After Anna Politkovskaya's Death

Thanks!

My heartfelt thanks to the Ushanka.us developer and website designer.

The site works great, and looks great!

Thank you for the hard work this year.

May you stay warm with a surplus Soviet ushanka!

- Karl