Bunker Mulligan "Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry." ~Mark Twain

September 24, 2004

Dubya Interview

Filed under: Media — Bunker @ 7:18 am

Last night O’Reilly had an interview with Kerry that was taped in December 2001. I didn’t pay close attention, but Kerry sounded then like he sounds now–he would do something, although he can’t quite put his finger on it. This segment was a prequel to O’Reilly’s interview with Dubya, which will air next week.

I understand I’m going to take some heat from all sides. In fact, I got a letter today that told me the interview was dumb, even though nobody’s seen it yet.

You can be sure that O’Reilly will have a tough talk. He is determined to not be perceived as partisan. But he will also be respectful. That respect will be viewed by some as fawning.

He still hasn’t received a commitment from Kerry. Kerry will wait to see how Bush does. Don’t expect to see him enter the No-Spin Zone any time soon.

Intellectual Morons

Filed under: Society-Culture — Bunker @ 6:25 am

I went to the bookstore in search of the new P. J. O’Rourke book I wrote about yesterday. Not in, but on order. Maybe I’ll get it this weekend.

So, as I always do, I browsed. Only for an hour or two, though.

I found Intellectual Morons by Daniel J. Flynn and began reading it last night.

The act of abandoning an idea when contrary evidence disproves it is hardly unusual in the hard sciences. Contrary evidence in the social sciences and the humanities often has the opposite effect: devotees tighten their embrace of the theory. As a result, their grip on reality loosens. When you tether yourself to ideology, you necessarily liberate yourself from facts. You become an intellectual moron.

I try very hard to make myself focus on facts, especially facts which contradict my beliefs. It is called “learning.” Like everyone, I get disturbed when something upsets the balance of those beliefs. But knowledge rides an edge, and new information can tilt you one way or the other if you are willing to learn. Intellectual Morons have jumped off that edge into the abyss called ideology which lies on either side, and they are virtually unrecoverable.

A simple, current example is the absolute surety with which some people insist Dubya got favorable treatment in the TANG, and skipped out on his commitment. Facts show that isn’t true. Rather than back off, they become even more convinced. They simply can’t bring themselves to even try and climb back up on that edge.

I am diligent in trying not to become an Intellectual Moron. Reading others’ blogs certainly helps.

International Relations

Filed under: Government — Bunker @ 5:52 am

Yet another opportunity has come and gone. Mr. Allawi spoke to a joint session of Congress yesterday and offered the chance to meet and speak with the man who will continue to lead his country until at least January when elections are held. John Kerry couldn’t be bothered.

At first, I was disturbed that he felt being in Ohio was more important. Then I heard a report on the radio driving home that most of the Democrats in Congress played hookey. I’ve not been able to confirm that this morning.

Are they at all serious about any kind of international relations except donating money to fight a particular trendy “Disease of the Week” or propping up Kofi Annan and his ilk?

September 23, 2004

A New Beginning

Filed under: Media — Bunker @ 10:54 am

We can only hope that Les Moonves takes Hugh Hewitt’s advice. I think this would be the start of a good thing for television news.

I am not firing Andrew Heyward, Dan Rather, or Mary Mapes, though Heyward is no longer CBS News president and Dan’s not our anchor anymore. These three, and a few others involved in this meltdown, have been given an assignment to produce a one-hour special detailing what happened. It is scheduled to run in two weeks. I will review it before it airs. If it doesn’t answer every question, then that will be the end of some fine CBS careers. I am not interested in retribution. I am interested in reputation. Ours is toast, and it deserves to be. Dan’s in charge of the first step in the rebuilding process. I have confidence in him.

Can Moonves bring himself to admit that bringing in [Someone Else] is the smart thing to do?

Will hiring [NAME] turn us into Fox News? Fox News is a fine news organization, and if you haven’t figured that out yet, you are in denial. They owned the Swift Boat story because we were sniffing about the fact that this or that didn’t seem appropriate to us. They owned the Republican convention because people trust Hume. I’d hire him tomorrow to anchor but he won’t come. So get over this “Fox News is a right-wing carnival” crap.

This morning after my segment, Jim Lago had on the GM for the local CBS affiliate. (HINT: They are not to blame for the problems. But it is affecting them.) And affiliates are not real pleased about the whole thing. They are loyal, however. It was clear that the fake documents do carry legitimate questions in the minds of many. Looking at facts, I don’t know why.

Foreign Policy

Filed under: International — Bunker @ 6:05 am

I check my Aussie friends’ blogs each morning, and am always treated to outstanding commentary. They get an early jump on us Yanks, so have had time to sift through many things out on the web while we sleep. This morning, Slatts had a pointer to something excerpted from a new book by P J O’Rourke:

Frankly, nothing concerning foreign policy ever occurred to me until the middle of the last decade. I’d been writing about foreign countries and foreign affairs and foreigners for years. But you can own dogs all your life and not have “dog policy”.

You have rules, yes – Get off the couch! – and training, sure. We want the dumb creatures to be well behaved and friendly. So we feed foreigners, take care of them, give them treats, and, when absolutely necessary, whack them with a rolled-up newspaper.

That was as far as my foreign policy thinking went until the middle 1990s, when I realised America’s foreign policy thinking hadn’t gone that far.

I think that’s the point Dubya was trying to make. He has a different approach.

September 22, 2004

End of the Intifada

Filed under: International — Bunker @ 5:22 pm

As I read through Michael J. Totten: Terror and Victory, I kept nodding my head in agreement. Michael is one of my favorites, a site I check daily. He is also a liberal with a strong sense that our war on Jihadists must be carried through to the end. I applaud him for his intellectual integrity. He understands, far better than most who have a knee-jerk reaction one way or another on the topic.

My point here is that the pessimists among us were guaranteed to declare regime-change in Iraq counterproductive and/or a quagmire no matter what actually happened short of an instantaneous transformation of Mesopotamia into Belize.

In addition, he has some very knowlegeable commenters. And if the list isn’t too long, I linger to read them as well. One really caught my attention on this post. It was written by Samuel Freedman, and I asked his permission to post his comments here for all my readers who may not make it to Michael’s blog (although you should).

As a Jew I give much thanks to who I consider our first Jewish President George Bush (African Americans can have Clinton and Teresa). In truth Bush could have put a stop to this had he carried the mentality of a Carter. The right in Israel may have sought to proceed despite such lack of support but many more moderate minded Israelis that have backed Sharon would have weakened at the knees without our support.

Mr. Pessimist has never won a war, Mr. Resolute has. All of our Presidents that have presided over critical victories have two things in common. First, they all (Washington, Lincoln, etc) were declared losers early on. Second they all had high goals that trump the pessimism and discouragment others heap on them. I listened to Dubya at the UN and by golly if he didn

Texas ANG

Filed under: Media — Bunker @ 4:06 pm

A gentleman named Bill sent me a link to this article. It seems to be a very balanced account of Dubya’s service in the ANG. It includes quite a few quotes, both good and not-so-good, about a brash young man who flew fighters.

According to several former officers, the openings in the unit were filled from a waiting list kept in the base safe of Rufus G. Martin, then an Air National Guard personnel officer.

In a recent interview, Mr. Martin of San Antonio said the list was kept on computer and in a bound volume, which was periodically inspected by outside agencies to make sure the list was kept properly.

Mr. Bush said he sought the Guard position on his own, before graduating from Yale University in 1968. He personally met with Col. Walter B. Staudt, commander of the 147th group.

In an interview, Mr. Bush said he walked into Col. Staudt’s Houston office and told him he wanted to be a fighter pilot.

“He told me they were looking for pilots,” Mr. Bush said. He said he was told that there were five or six flying slots available, and he got one of them.

While Guard slots generally were coveted, pilot positions required superior education, physical fitness and the willingness to spend more than a year in full-time training.

“If somebody like that came along, you’d snatch them up,” said the former commander, who retired as a general. “He took no advantage. It wouldn’t have made any difference whether his daddy was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.”

Bobby Hodges, the group’s operations officer, and others familiar with Guard rules said Mr. Bush made it to the top of the short list of candidates who could pass both the written officer test and a rigorous flight physical to qualify for the three to four annual pilot training “quotas” allotted to the unit.

Mr. Hodges and Gen. Staudt are the two surviving members of the military panel that reviewed and approved Mr. Bush’s officer commission.

Most of those wanting to get into the Guard at that time, they said, didn’t want to put in the full year of active service that was required to become a pilot.

Since we know Mary Mapes has been researching this story for five years, I think it’s time for CBS to tell us who has been dedicated to scrutinizing John Kerry’s background.

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