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Jalen and Luka

Luka watches as Jalen plays Paper Mario

Luka and Lucy

A very cute clip. Luka gets excited as he studies what a “Lucy” is, and Lucy falls right into nurse-maid mode, licking and gently sniffing the baby as if Luka were her own pup. She was the exact same way with Jalen, and it’s one of the coolest behaviors I’ve ever seen in a dog, mine or otherwise. Lucy just loves the babies.

Luka and his rattle

OK, so here’s my first two YouTube videos — and they’re both of Luka shaking his rattle, along with some commentary and observation by mom & dad and a cameo by Kaya. Enjoy. Many more to come, hopefully.

Revisiting The Democrat's "Weak Start"

Back on November 15th of last year, just a little over a week after the Democrats took back control of Congress, Glenn “Instapundit” Reynolds opined:

Meanwhile, Betsy’s Page looks at Murtha’s candidacy for Majority Leader and thinks Pelosi has gotten herself in a box…The New Republic is criticizing Pelosi’s effort to put the impeached-for-corruption Alcee Hastings in as Chair of the Intelligence Committee…So far I’d say the Dems are off to a weak start.

I responded to Glenn’s foolish, rantish link frenzy with my own post, pointing out the obvious. I mean, it was lunacy to suggest the “Dems were off to a weak start” when they hadn’t even taken office yet.

Of course, now it’s January 24th, and the Dems have been in office for a couple weeks. Glenn spends most of time bitching about Jimmy Carter, and linking to fatass blowhards who think Jim Webb gave a shit response to last night’s SOTU. He’s also calling it “political suicide” for Republican senators to oppose Bush’s escalation (Glenn might be a very nice guy, but politically, he’s a fucking idiot. Suicide, Glenn? Suicide is any politician continuing to support this war. Of course, Glenn’s been pushing this disaster of a war since the beginning. Fact is, he’s married to this war, and he’ll say or write anything to avoid coming to terms that not only was he on the wrong side of the greatest strategic mistake this country has ever made, he was the chief cheerleader in the so-called blogosphere for it. There’s blood on his hands, and he knows it.).

At any rate, I was pleasantly surprised to read about the “real start” the Dems are off to, this time from the Evans-Novak political report (which is decidedly Republican-leaning):

“The ‘hundred hours’ program of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has been a success beyond all anticipation. The passage of poll-approved measures came with a unanimous Democratic vote and heavy — in some cases majority — Republican support. This performance shows the error and futility of Republican expectations that Pelosi as speaker would fall on her face, though they still hope that she will fail now that the set pieces of the ‘hundred hours’ have been completed…

“Meanwhile, Republicans are divided and disorganized. Senior Republicans in Congress refer to President George W. Bush and his staff as irrelevant and out of touch. Younger conservative members are going their own way, feeling that neither the White House nor the party’s congressional leadership shows the way for the GOP. Republican House aides, even in the leadership, complain that they are so completely shut out of the legislative process they have no idea what will be on the House floor next week.”

Weak start indeed. Glenn Reynolds - grotesquely wrong on the war, the Dems’ start and just about everything else. Shit, even his technology posts, usually the one tolerable thing I can read on his blog anymore, have gone bat-shit insane.

The fact is, the right’s ascendancy in this country is over, ground to a stop by the sheer incompetence and idiocy of unchecked Republican power. Honestly, I’m glad Glenn and his ilk continue to live in their bubble where opposing the surge is “political suicide” for anyone. The public has turned massively against the war, and Glenn & Hugh Hewitt are threatening Republican senators not to vote against escalation.

You know, if I didn’t know better, I’d say that Glenn & Hugh are actually deep Democratic plants, designed with the intention of making the coming 2008 blowout even more massive. Of course, I do know better, and I know that these warmongers are fucking crazy, and growing even more so the more their fortunes continue to sink. It’d be fun to watch if so many hadn’t lost their lives due to these evil fucks.

The Patriots Sure Are A Classy Bunch

“When you are a three-time Super Bowl champion I wouldn’t think you would need to act that way.”

No shit.

Wingnut Josh Trevino's response to Bush's Speech: Build Concentration Camps!

This is really unbelievably awful. Redstate.com co-founder Josh Trevino says the way we can win in Iraq is by dragging off all the Iraqi women and children to fucking concentration camps and laying waste to the rest of the country. I’m not kidding:

Make no mistake: those means were cruel. I have stated previously that I endorse cruel things in war - to eschew them is folly. The British achieved victory over the Boers by taking their women and children away to concentration camps, by laying waste to the countryside, and by dotting the veld with small garrisons in blockhouses at regular intervals. The men who remained were hindered in their movements by the wire stretching from blockhouse to blockhouse (a phenomenon that the Morice Line experience has shown would be massively more effective now); they could either surrender or die. Absent women and children, the rules of engagement were lax. From implementation to victory took under 18 months. To accomplish this required over one-quarter million soldiers.

Consider the Boer-era strategy for victory as it might apply in Iraq. Consider it because in doing so, one considers the course of action that arguably maximizes efficacy per soldier, thereby yielding a plausible figure for needed soldiery.

Let me ask you this Josh — concentration camps, laying waste to the country, making the “rules of engagement” even more “lax” — what the fuck are you talking about? Are you out of your fucking mind?

We’re supposedly fighting this war to create a free and democratic society in Iraq. Hey, I might not fucking believe it, but that’s Bush’s rationale and he’s sticking to it. For people who get awfully sensitive when someone compares our loss of civil liberties to Nazi-era German fascism, some elements of the right certainly let their awful little imaginations get away from themselves when daydreaming about how to win an unwinnable war.

Most unfortunate comic book cover ever

(Thanks to Bubblegumfink)

Bronco Cornerback Darrent Williams murdered in drive-by shooting

Last night, around 2:00am MST, somebody shot Darrent Williams dead in a drive-by. Police have no apparent motive, and no suspects. While the “thuggification” of professional sports has been an interesting topic to discuss lately, especially in regard to the Denver Nuggets, I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a case of some homeboys, jacked-up on rock, who pulled up alongside a random Hummer limousine and see if it was bulletproof or not. Sadly, this random Hummer limo also just happened to have Darrent Williams as a passenger.

Losing to the 49ers 26-23 was not unexpected. The Broncos’ game has been off for the last half of the season, and they were definitely not prepared for the post-season. I shed no tears after they managed to blow winning the toin coss (the team that wins the coin toss in overtime usually goes on to win the game), and was grateful to be spared the ugly spectacle of a near-certain blow-out loss in the first round of the playoffs.

However, losing Darrent Williams just hours after the end of the regular season? To a FUCKING DRIVE-BY? That’s just, awful. Tragic.