Shameless Skanks. Michelle Malkin on "underdressed" (that's putting it mildly, isn't it?) young girls:

"Well, where's her mama?!" That's exactly the question I ask myself whenever we encounter some young Aguilera look-a-like and her friends hanging out at the mall with their thong straps glittering out in the open, their hip-huggers succumbing perilously to the forces of gravity, their noses and eyebrows and tongues marred with metal, and their faces plastered with red light district makeup.

Where were their mamas--and dadas--to teach them that slutty is not sexy? Gutter talk is for vagrants, not for young ladies who want respect from the world. Promiscuity isn't a sign of maturity. It's a sign of self-loathing. Being "comfortable in your own skin" doesn't require having to bare every last inch of it in public.

From Madonna, to Britney and Christina, to the under-dressed teens at the mall, legions of girls have been raised to believe that letting it all hang out is the only true path to womanhood. Christina Aguilera is a sad symptom of this cultural zeitgeist. Stripped of her inhibitions and sense of self-restraint, it's much too late for mama to put her peep-show-profiteering daughter's shirt back on.

This naked truth cannot be disguised: The era of radical feminist sexual liberation has produced a generation of shameless skanks.

Exactly. And still we wonder why kids the young have sex at ever earlier ages. Are there words to describe a culture that permits and encourages slutty attire and behavior? I'd suggest "paralyzed," but that implies a sort of stasis, and "regression" really falls short, too--going back in time might actually be good in this case. Perhaps "decadent" captures it best, or "infested," or "rotting."

A Stupid White Man. I visited Michael Moore's site today, as I sometimes do, to check for his latest screed. And much to my amazement, he has taken down his pre-election rant, in which he said Bush and Republicans would receive a drubbing. Glenn Reynolds mentioned it last night, which I must have missed. And fear not, Rachel Lucas has preserved Moore's piece in the hearty fisking she gave it last week. Geez, and I thought only Republicans and corporate executives distorted the truth.

Cruisin' for a Bruisin'. Iraq fires on allied jets over southern no-fly zone. Again, I say, take 'em out.

Another Victory. Republicans win control of North Carolina House after recounts confirm two victories (including the defeat of the sitting Majority Leader).

"Armey of One." Fred Barnes on the departure of Dick Armey. We're losing a good bit more this year, too:

Armey is part of a troika of influential conservative Republicans who are leaving Congress at the end of the year. Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina has been the backbone of the conservative forces on Capitol Hill for three decades. Senator Phil Gramm of Texas has been the brains, debating for conservative issues so effectively that liberals fear taking him on. And Armey is the theorist, the policy wonk who hates politics but loves calculating the marginal impact of tax rate cuts on individual income.

In Whose Name? James Taranto, who writes the Best of the Web Today for OpinionJournal, has been listing some of the "names" that have appeared on the Not in Our Name petition. Here are some that I was able to mine out:

• Du Mba Sanostrich of the "Neville Chamberlain Society for Denial of the Obvious"
  
• Adolf Schicklgruber, "Künstler, Wien, Österreich" (FYI: Hitler's father was born illegitimately and bore the name Shicklgruber for some years until he finally took his father's name "Hitler." Hence, instead of Adolf Hitler, we could have had Adolf Schicklgruber, whose absurd name may have changed history.)
  
• Ida Rutherbee Blind, "Pres., Concerned Citizens Against the Teaching (or Learning) of History
  
• Cray Z. Fuchs, "Professor; University of Leftist Idology (sic); nude model"
  
• Jonathan S. Tuttle, "US Army, Capt., 4077 Mobile Army Surgical Hospital" (M*A*S*H* fans should recognize that one.)
  
• Litton Mandrake, "Supreme Court Judge, State of Connecticut" (The was Craig T. Nelson's (COACH!) character in The Skulls.)
  
• Weldon M. Rumproast, "Self absorbed fool; comfort to enemies of US"
  
• Al Koholic, "professor of mixology"
  
• I.P. Daley, "Urologist"
  
• Ima Yousfel Edeeaht
  
• Durt Eeter, "famous liberal archetype"

Can't they get by on $150,000? The Senate voted itself a pay raise yesterday--or, rather, defeated a motion that would have stopped the automatic 3.1% increase. I'm all for compensating our legislators and making it worthwhile for good people to serve. But come on. Not getting a raise isn't going to put any of these people in the poor-house. And of course, this was voted on in the lame-duck session, with only 36 senators willing to stand up against the hike. I'm no fan of Russ Feingold, but God bless this guy. He makes these motions every year, only to see them fail, and he turns down the raises year after year. Unfortunately, few others are so principled.

Crimes against humanity. From Kenneth Pollack's The Threatening Storm (p. 123):

This is a regime that will gouge out the eyes of children to force confessions from their parents and grandparents. This is a regime that will crush all of the bones in the feet of a two-year old-girl to force her mother to divulge her father's whereabouts. This is a regime that will hold a nursing baby at arm's length from its mother and allow the child to starve to death to force the mother to confess. This is a regime that will burn a person's limbs off to force him to confess or comply. This is a regime that will slowly lower its victims into huge vats of acid, either to break their will or simply as a means of execution. This is a regime that applies electric shocks to the bodies of its victims, particularly their genitals, with great creativity. This is a regime that in 2000 decreed that the crime of criticizing the regime (which can be as harmless as suggesting that Saddam's clothing does not match) would be punished by cutting out the offender's tongue. This is a regime that practices systematic rape against its female victims. This is a regime that will drag in a man's wife, daughter, or other female relative and repeatedly rape her in front of him. This is a regime that will force a white-hot metal rod into a person's anus or other orifices. This is a regime that employs thalium poisoning, widely considered one of the most excruciating ways to die. This is a regime that will behead a young mother in the street in front of hre house and children because her husband was suspected of opposing the regime. This is a regime that uses chemical warfare on its own Kurdish citizens--not just on the fifteen thousand killed and maimed at Halabja but on scores of other villages all across Kurdistan. This is a regime that tested chemical and biological warfare agents on Iranian prisoners of war, using the POWs in controlled experiments to determine the best ways to disperse the agenst to inflict the greatest damage.

He runs with the worst of them. Do these "No Blood for Oil" and "Not in Our Name" people know whom they're defending? Probably. And they probably don't care either. Even ignoring the WMD, this is reason enough, at least for me, to take him out. And they can do it in my name, too.

I was kind of hoping for a Kalashnikov. But I guess I'll take the Dragunov Sniper Rifle...precise, efficient, one-of-a-kind. (And NO, I do not condone the Beltway Snipers.)

Which Firearm are you? brought to you byStan Ryker

Stung by Losses, Party Buzzes About Its Leader. By now it's old news that Terry McAuliffe is in dire straits. But this description of Clinton was priceless, I thought: "toxic to many swing voters." He's repugnant to me, too, but I guess all those straight-Republican ballots don't qualify me as a swing voter.

Ashamed to Be a Yalie. Yesterday, at this fine university, Students for Justice in Palestine set up a mock terrorist checkpoint--complete with military-style uniforms and cardboard rifles--and stopped students and demanded ID. I'm flabbergasted..and appalled. Just one more reason why I despise demonstrations and protests. And these leftists with their Berkeley-type shenanigans are darn lucky I didn't pass through that part of campus. Here's a good simulation: walk into a cafe or club, leave a backpack in the corner, walk out, and then watch as the crowd becomes hysterical and runs out, not sure whether this sack contains explosives or not. Of course, this really wouldn't work so well here in the US since it requires years of terrorism to condition such a response. Or how about one of those dead-for-a-day things high schools like to do around prom time in order to increase drunk-driving awareness? Go to a dining hall and pick about twenty random people--"You're dead." "You were blown to bits." "You, too." Then pick another fifty--"You've been wounded." "You now have shrapnel in your intestines." "You've lost a leg." "You're blind for life." Find about a thousand others--"You've lost a friend or loved one." And for everyone else--"You must now live in fear."

In Defense of "Privatization." WFB on political word choice. Here's the money sentence: "The word 'privatize' seemed to convey greed and risk and submission to Snidely J. Whiplash, the snaky character who sneeringly ties helpless damsels across the railroad track."

Drudge Approaches One Billion. The Drudge Report will reach one billion hits today. It's the first site I read in the morning and the last before I go to bed at night--and a hundred times in between. Congrats.

Defending the Flag. Support the Citizens' Flag Alliance, which is advocating a flag desecration amendment.

Patriots. "What pity is it/That we can die but once to serve our country." --from Joseph Addison's Cato, Act IV, scene iv

"I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country." --Nathan Hale

Too often true. "Posterity who are to reap the blessings will scarcely be able to conceive the hardships and sufferings of their ancestors." --Abigail Adams

Pro Patria Mori. From The Bard:

Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words,
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered--
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England, now a-bed,
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here;
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.
--Henry V, Act IV, scene iii

Historical Atlas. Wars, Massacres, and Atrocities of the Twentieth Century depicted graphically by death toll. The table of contents links to graphs of other events of the 20th century, as well as to maps, showing various elements of the world (e.g. types of government, technology, etc.). Extremely interesting. (Via James Robbins at NRO; his Veterans Day column on the remaining World War I vets deserves a read, too.)

Veterans Day 2002. Please take some time today to remember our men and women, dead and alive, who defended our nation, our lives, and our freedom throughout America's history, as well as those who are currently fighting around the world for us. I'm proud--each and every day, but especially today--of the veterans in my family: my great-grandfather and grandfather, both now deceased, who served in the Navy during World War II; my other grandfather, still with us, who fought in the Army Air Force in the Pacific; and my dad who served, in peacetime, as an Army Ranger. I pray that my service might not be needed, but should it be, I could imagine no greater honor than to fight for this great land of ours. To my grandfathers and to all our veterans, past and present, I dedicate this poem. May we never break faith with them.

"In Flanders Fields"
by John McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Conradiana. "The white man gazed straight before him into the darkness with wide-open eyes. The fear and fascination, the inspiration and the wonder of death--of death near, unavoidable, and unseen, soothed the unrest of his face and stirred the most indistinct, the most intimate of his thoughts. The ever-ready suspicion of evil, the gnawing suspicion that lurks in our hearts, flowed out into the stillness round him--into the stillness profound and dumb, and made it appear untrustworthy and infamous, like the placid and impenetrable mask of an unjustifiable violence. In that fleeting and powerful disturbance of his being the earth enfolded in the starlight became a shadowy country of inhuman strife, a battle-field of phantoms terrible and charming, august or ignoble, struggling ardently for the possession of our helpless hearts. An unquiet and mysterious country of inextinguishable desires and fears." --Joseph Conrad, "The Lagoon"

Pelosi Labeled Pragmatic, Inclusive. ...and liberal...very, very liberal.