exvigilare

IMAO has a secret to eliminate spam from your inbox: If you mark your e-mail account with lamb's blood, spammers will "passover" it.

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By my count, there have been more votes for me than the TTLB site is reporting. Kiwords, Belief Seeking Understanding , the Tao of Dowingba, Practical Penumbra, Evangelical Outpost, while TTLB says I have 2 links. If I've left you off of this list, email me or comment me so I can give you credit!

update: Annika voted for me - and I like it! She may be the only blogger that I know to have absolute perfect musical taste:

39. i think the greatest male singer ever was Frank Sinatra. The greatest singer ever, male or female, was Ella Fitzgerald.

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Kira has not only voted for me, but written a little blurb about me as well. You should read her site regularly - she was one of the inspirations for this blog!

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I can't remember how I got there, but I stumbled on Go Dubya! where he's linked to the Howard Dean Tax Calculator. Dean would cost me $1755 - how much would he cost you?

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Have I mentioned that you should consider voting for me?

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Right Wing News recently carried this post about a young Englishwoman being "accosted" by Immigration as she arrived in NY. In it, John Hawkins responds to an exceptionally moronic article written by Jimmy Breslin. Breslin will never be accused of objective reporting (or a good deal of other intellectual pursuits) but this is particularly foul-smelling. A few choice quotes from Mr. Breslin:

Arriving from London at Kennedy Airport last night was Ms. Lisa Virtue on Virgin Airlines flight 003. Certainly, there could be no way to bar her entry on grounds of moral turpitude. But the new American government did find a way to humiliate her. They took her fingerprints and picture.

She is a slim, lovely 28-year-old woman with brown hair and, in the damp darkness outside the terminal, with eyes that appeared light brown, and were glistening.

"I didn't like it," she said. "I told that to the man. He said because I had a visa I had to be fingerprinted."

Now in the darkness the long, long line shuffled a foot or so at a time as cabs rushed up to get fares. I had no way of knowing how many of them had been fingerprinted; but there had to be many. Watching them, you looked at the end of the America that the people who put this place together thought it should be.

How can I put this delicately? Hmm, let me think about this carefully. What an enormous piece of crap. Yes, that does it nicely, I think. My lovely bride is English, her family staying with us for the holidays are English. Breslin's dark and scary Ashcroft-monster (a "walking symbol of the banality of evil," says Breslin) has been nowhere to be found. No bashing in of doors in the middle of the night, no cavity searches in airports. None of this has happened anywhere except in the imaginations of the psychotics who hold court over the paranoids.

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Noting that I've received my first vote, I went to Susie's site and couldn't help but notice that she's part of Bloggers with (insert anatomy here), an alliance of "strong, self-assured female bloggers." Too funny! Did I mention that she voted for me?

update: the Tao of Dowingba has also voted.

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I am en fuego. In less than a week I've evolved from a Lowly Insect to a Slippery Mollusc (sic) now to a Flippery Fish in the Blogosphere Ecosystem. Current ranking is #2986. I now have 14 inbound links (for comparison, Instapundit has over 2400 - a tightening race, I think). No, I don't have any idea of the significance of any of this.

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I may have made a slight misjudgment, here. This is what happens when I am left on baby duty (yeah, I know she's two and a half, but it takes me a long time to come up with these pithy catch-phrases - what, am supposed to let them go just because Emma gets a bit bigger?) and the fair madam is out for the night:
I've entered myself into The Truth Laid Bear's New Weblog Showcase. The idea is to vote for me. I'm not totally certain how this is tracked, so click here as many times as possible:

exvigilare: MoveOn hasn't earned the right to be angry.

then link to this post as often as you think you can get away with. This is where I'm going to check results, so see if your multiple links and clicks are working. I think if I win (?) this contest I get to take everyone out for drinks. But only on a night that's good for me, and you don't feel like drinking very much. Or I can get you drunk and talk you into buying everyone else's drinks. Whatever. We'll deal with the technicalities later.

update: this is what the "official" rules say - Other bloggers can then read the submitted posts, and, if they find them worthy, can "vote" by linking to the posts they like on their own blogs.

update: this is where you can find cut and paste-able HTML code to add to your site for casting your link-votes.

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Oh no, he's going to ruin it. Dean spoke again - when will someone tell him that he'll win the nomination if he just doesn't say another word until November? There are so many arguments against this ridiculousness that I would just be wasting space to comment on them. Check out Deacon's response, a report on Dean's night out, and Ashbrook Center's opinion. And while you're at it, read NRO's article on gay marriage.

update: and Neophyte Pundit!

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I mentioned before that I wanted Dean to win the nomination, now it looks as though I'm not alone. Hat tip to Instapundit.

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Must read for today: National Review Online today, specifically Byron York's article and the Flashback about Bush-haters. Allow me to address some of the points. Wes Boyd is angry that MoveOn.org is receiving so much negative publicity over the recent Bush/Hitler ads.

"We do not support the sentiment expressed in the two Hitler submissions," Boyd said in a statement released Monday.
"We agree that the two ads in question were in poor taste and deeply regret that they slipped through our screening process."

Ummm, slipped through? I submit to you that the only reason these ads ever saw the light of day was because of the screening process. Judges for the screening process included Michael Moore and Janeane Garofalo, who no doubt were appalled by the comparison. For MoveOn to "disown" the ads after their release is exactly the same as Howard Dean saying that his statement about Bush's previous knowledge of 9/11 via the Saudis is only an interesting theory, but not what he really believes. The entire point of these Hitler comparisons and conspiracy theories is to force doubt into the minds of the undecided, and to reinforce the Bush hatred that their ilk has created.

To take their ridiculous point even further, they've even developed a tie between the Bush family and the Nazi party. I am truly disgusted by the behavior of these people (and I use that word very loosely). These are the same idiots who complain at every turn of unfair behavior and dishonest representation. The knowledge that some Democratic supporters are embracing what amounts to pure evil should disturb all good people, regardless of party affiliation.

update: I know the pain implied by this statement, but click on Moore and Garofalo's links - I found a couple of hilarious sites about them.

update: vote for Little Green Footballs Idiotarian of the year. Guess what fat, bitter filmmaker I'm voting for?

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Neophyte Pundit had this post earlier. Allow me to hint at it:

In France, officials are seeking a man with a bomb...

This is from a rather frightening FOXNEWS story, if you'd rather go straight to the source.
Yes, the French were almost on to something there, and then they did that thing they do. Y'know, that French thing. They were French. A man with a bomb. A MAN WITH A BOMB?!?!?! What ever were they thinking?

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The Evangelical Outpost has an idea what the mysterious "middle class" is, and how it can be quantified. Or rather, how it really can't be quantified, but is still used as a political tool. My favorite comment on the post, from JD Mays:

One argument though, that is highly entertaining to try on your left-leaning friends and relatives is this:
The next time they start to rant about Bush giving tax cuts only to the rich ask them if they received a rebate check last year on their taxes. Then ask them if they consider themselves to be rich.

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Bumbling around this morning, I found this site, Oh no, the Blog. Don't know him, but he's local, has a nice site and writes well. Way too many things in common with me, as well.

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Uggh, I didn't think it would be this revolting. I knew it was coming, but that doesn't stop my stomach from turning.

Calling Howard Dean's campaign "one of the best things to happen to American democracy in decades," former Sen. Bill Bradley endorsed the Democratic front-runner on Tuesday and praised his ability to engage voters.

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Rich Lowry knows why Dean is so nutty - it's because of the Bush tax cuts. How could I not have seen that?

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Howard Dean Then.....Howard Dean pre-now.....Howard Dean Next

Uh-oh, Michael's been writing in the middle of the night again. He has a great point about Gore's endorsement:

No wonder Al Gore endorsed him--this is the one candidacy that has the potential to erase the memories of his pathetic campaign.

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Here's some good news, I think. I've risen above the level of Lowly Insect #3929 on The Truth Laid Bear's Blogosphere Ecosystem. I'm now a Slimy Mollusc (sic), #3729. Now that's something to be proud of! I also just realized that the code they supply automatically updates itself, so I'll put it in the sidebar instead of the body and let you all gaze in wonder at my blogging evolution. It's a shame my HTML evolution isn't as rapid.

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Rich Lowry has 16 questions for Howard Dean. My personal favorites:

You have said at various times that it would be irresponsible not to support President Bush's $87 billion funding request for the troops and reconstruction in Iraq, and that you opposed the $87 billion. What is your position right at this moment on the $87 billion? How about now? And...now?

You quit the Episcopal Church because you thought its position on a Burlington, Vt., bike path was "not very Godlike." What is God's position on bike paths? Scriptural references would be helpful.

You say that Republicans want to end public education. Education spending under Bush has increased 65 percent. How is that consistent with the alleged goal of ending public education?

As I said yesterday, this is too easy. What amazes me is the sheer amount of voters that seem to think that Dean is actually a valid candidate. Don't get me wrong - I want Dean to win the nomination. I think Joe Lieberman is the only current Democratic wanna-be that can be trusted and is an honest person, but the nomination of Dean will polarize the Democratic party. After that, the rational will be clearly separated from those who voted for Dean. Lieberman knows this, and knows what Dean will do to the party. In the last debate, Lieberman justifiably hammered Dean and allowed Dean to show his sliminess. Byron York relates the exchanges between the two, but really sums it up in his subtitle: Lieberman attacks Dean, makes sense, will lose.

Pretty much sums up the Democrats lately, doesn't it? If someone starts to make sense, they are bound to lose (or be driven out). Thank heavens the voters in Georgia haven't caught up with the rest and Zell Miller can still try to demonstrate some sanity within the party. Bruce Walker from the Intellectual Conservative has a good article on how Miller has been marginalized within his own party. Also read this from Elaine Long (ChronWatch) on Gary Aldrich's article on Dean's candidacy.

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Howard Dean is finally ready to talk about religion. Nothing at all suspicious about that, is there? The reason he gives is that the campaign has changed him. Imagine that, he's a changed man. Don't we wish. I have absolutely no problem with a candidate talking about religion for informational, educational, or especially evangelical purposes. Something about this stinks - like all of it. Today's Washington Post (or Washington Compost to Col. Oliver North listeners) has this article. Shall we look at some of the specific statements made and figure what he really means? Yes, lets.

the presidential race has awakened him to the importance of religious expression, especially to southerners.

Would that have anything to do with the fact that in 2000 Bush won every single state in the Bible Belt? No, that would be too big of a coincidence. Perhaps I'm just being overly suspicious.

In some ways, Dean is coming to acknowledge a reality of American politics: Voters, particularly in the South, want to hear more about faith and morality from national leaders. This phenomenon has hurt Democrats and helped President Bush, according to strategists from both parties. A recent poll showed 63 percent of voters who regularly attend church back Bush, while a similar percentage of those who rarely or never attend lean toward Democrats. A small shift in support of religious voters could provide a big boost to the Democratic nominee.

Yes, you're right, I'm just too suspicious.

Dean was reared an Episcopalian, but left the church 25 years ago in a dispute with a local Vermont church over efforts to build a bike path. Dean's wife is Jewish, as are their two children.

Sounds to me like he's got a very clear view of his faith, and how he can use it. Leaves a church over a dispute over a bike path. Come om, at least pick a biggie like a gay bishop. Wait - wouldn't that bring him back to the Episcopal church?

Dean said he prays daily and has read the Bible from cover to cover. "If there was one experience that deepened my religious faith," Dean said Saturday, "it was the capture of my brother [in Laos] almost 30 years ago."

That would explain his attempt to have his brother given military honors for dying as a civilian (a tourist there to "witness" a war in Cambodia that he opposed). He must have missed those one or two passages that refer to honesty.

When asked Friday night about his favorite book of the New Testament, he cited Job, about a righteous man whose faith was tested mightily by God through great suffering. After thinking about the scripture, Dean pointed out an hour later that Job is from the Old Testament.

Knows it inside and out, doesn't he?

"I think all human beings have to have an explanation for why bad things happen to good people," which resonates with him, in part, because the suffering he witnessed as a medical doctor, Dean said.

And in no small part to the suffering he caused as a medical doctor.

...when discussing corporate greed, Dean promised if elected president to call business leaders from around the country into the White House to stress ethics and responsibility. "Moral tone is a huge deal in the presidency," he told the audience.

Umm, this is too easy.
Among, I'm sure, many others, Chris Adamo has a nice column about Dean's "Convenient Religion," and Barbara Stock talks about Dean's Hypocritical Oath. Joshua is on top of it, as usual.

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