Antiwar.com Blog

Via Franklin Harris, the Select Smart 2004 Presidential Candidate Selector. My results certainly look odd, which suggests a BCS-like inscrutability in the formula, as well as a lack of exhaustive choices on some questions. Here’s what I got:

1. Your ideal theoretical candidate. (100%)
2. Libertarian Candidate (90%)
3. Dean, Gov. Howard, VT – Democrat (47%)
4. Sharpton, Reverend Al – Democrat (45%)
5. Bush, President George W. – Republican (42%)
6. Socialist Candidate (39%)
7. Phillips, Howard – Constitution (36%)
8. LaRouche, Lyndon H. Jr. – Democrat (35%)
9. Kucinich, Rep. Dennis, OH – Democrat (35%)
10. Kerry, Senator John, MA – Democrat (28%)
11. Clark, Retired General Wesley K., AR – Democrat (27%)
12. Moseley-Braun, Former Senator Carol, IL – Democrat (23%)
13. Edwards, Senator John, NC – Democrat (23%)
14. Lieberman, Senator Joe, CT – Democrat (17%)
15. Gephardt, Rep. Dick, MO – Democrat (16%)

Clearly, this blog’s detractors are right, at least about me: I am a Socialist (#6). Oh, and I love George W. Bush (#5). What really amazes me, though, is Howard Dean’s ranking. Granted, the agreement percentages drop dramatically after Libertarian, from 90% to 47%, but I think this highlights how unreliable rhetoric is. If I agree with Dean or Bush nearly half the time, it must be on the basis of vague campaign promises, not anything either has actually done or will do.

The always intriguing Paul Cantor on imperialism vs. trade in the Black Sea hood:

What drove one empire after another to try to take over the Black Sea, despite the enormous expenditure of resources, human and material, that was always involved? Different motives were advanced at different times. But beneath the variety of religious, ideological and other impulses feeding imperial designs upon the Black Sea, one assumption remained central: that to have influence in the area, and to benefit from its resources, one had to conquer it militarily and also forcibly impose one’s way of life on all the people of the region. But an alternate model of penetrating the region was, as far as we can tell from the archaeological evidence, always available. Merchants plied the Black Sea far in advance of their homeland navies and armies, showing that peaceful trade could accomplish what warfare, with all its dreams of imperial conquest, could not.

Asks this fellow, who thinks we’re leftists. I just love political commentary straight from the medulla oblongata: Bush right. Antiwar not Bush. Antiwar left. Left bad. (He must have hated watching this!)

If our esteemed detractor wanted commentary on Saddam’s capture, he could have checked the regularly updated main page, of course. And because I know he wants to be informed, here are some other reactions from our blogroll FOBs:

*Jesse Walker

*Keith Halderman, Wendy McElroy, et al., over at Liberty & Power

*Micah T. Holmquist

*Franklin Harris

*Deux Ego

*Karmalised

An incomplete list to be sure, but a wide range of opinion, I’d say. But don’t worry, my warbot friend: after reading the posts above, you can wash your mind out with Instapundit and Jeff Jarvis. Everything’s gonna be fine.

U.S. soldiers Monday used batons to break up a demonstration in Tikrit to protest against the capture of Saddam Hussein near his hometown.

About 700 demonstrators gathered outside Tikrit University chanting pro-Saddam slogans. Soldiers shouted back “Saddam is in our jail.”

Shorty afterwards, US soldiers charged the protest, beating and arresting some protesters.

Lt. Col. Steven Russell said that
“protests are not authorized and that participation in protests is punishable.”

Meanwhile, there are numerous reports of anti-Saddam demonstrations that are not being broken up, even though they are also not authorized. Many of these protesters are freely firing guns in celebration without any arrests.

UPDATE 12/17/03: US troops killed several protesters as pro-Saddam demonstrations continued across Iraq.

From Bush’s speechwriter to God’s press secretary. From today’s Diary:

My take on the capture of Saddam will appear in tomorrow’s National Post. I’ll post a link as soon as the Post has the story on line. For now, let’s say that while the President’s opponents have made much sport of the idea that God called George Bush to the presidency, it’s becoming increasingy difficult to doubt that God wants President Bush re-elected.

Finally!

Justin Raimondo’s The Terror Enigma: 9/11 and the Israeli Connection is now available from Amazon.com.