Propaganda By the Numbers

Once again, Hamas has played fast and loose with the facts -- more specifically, the number of civilian deaths in the recent clash between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. A Gazan doctor, who didn't give his name because he wanted to live for at least another 24 hours, told an Italian newspaper:

"The number of deceased stands at no more than 500 to 600. Most of them are youths between the ages of 17 to 23 who were recruited to the ranks of Hamas, who sent them to the slaughter,"

A resident of Tal al-Hawa, who also preferred to not paint a target on his own back, had this to say to the newspaper:

"Armed Hamas men sought out a good position for provoking the Israelis. There were mostly teenagers, aged 16 or 17, and armed. They couldn't do a thing against a tank or a jet. They knew they are much weaker, but they fired at our houses so that they could blame Israel for war crimes."

Read more on this story at Ynetnews.com.

Meryl Yourish has also posted on this story. However, her post also contains links to video evidence of previous fallacious claims by Hamas. I recommend you check them out. You will discover how the UN is used by Hamas and that the "dead" can come back to life!

Fact-checking the fact-checkers

Byron York's National Review Online article, McCain and the Fact-Checking Fallacy, examines the subjective world of political fact-checking. It seems even the facts provided by the fact-checkers aren't always facts. And that's a fact. Really.

The Nebulous Definition of "The Bush Doctrine"

Chuck Gibson's interview of Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin was nothing more than a continuation of the attacks on her by the Left-Wing Media elite. The question that best confirms this assessment was, "Do you agree with the Bush Doctrine?"  Sarah's response, which was to ask "In what respect, Charlie?", was the proper response because there is no single definition for the term Bush Doctrine. All one needs to do is to read the first paragraph of the Wikipedia entry for The Bush Doctrine. The following is the relevant section (emphasis added):

It may be viewed as a set of several related foreign policy principles, including stress on ending terrorism, spreading democracy, increased unilateralism in foreign policy and an expanded view of American national security interests. Foreign policy experts argue over the meaning of the term "Bush Doctrine," and some scholars have suggested that there is no one unified theory underlying Bush's foreign policy. Jacob Weisberg identifies six successive "Bush Doctrines" in his book The Bush Tragedy, while former Bush staffer Peter D. Feaver has counted seven.

Now, put yourself in her place. You are asked if you agree with a term that has several possible meanings. No matter which one you pick, the inquisitor can decide that the definition he meant was one of those you didn't pick. It's a bit like someone holding their hands behind their back and asking how many fingers they are holding up. No matter what number you give, they can arrogantly display their recently altered finger count and proclaim you an idiot for not getting it right.

Well, Chuck did his best, but all he succeeded in doing was to give the Kos-DU-HuffPo crowd something to cackle about. For the rest of us out here in middle America, we saw a confident, composed, strong woman who stood toe-to-toe with an aggressively biased Left-wing Media snob. Could she have done better? Yes, I think there were questions she could have handled better. More importantly, there were no Biden-like gaffes -- or if you prefer, Obama-like gaffes.

And what about Chuck's idea of what the Bush Doctrine means? To his credit, he narrowed the timeframe to, ". . . the Bush doctrine, enunciated September 2002, before the Iraq war." Then he defined it (emphasis added):

The Bush doctrine, as I understand it, is that we have the right of anticipatory self-defense, that we have the right to a preemptive strike against any other country that we think is going to attack us.

If that is the Bush Doctrine, then virtually every leader of every civilization in history agreed with it. If FDR had received information on December 6th that the Japanese fleet was going to attack Pearl Harbor the following day, is there any doubt that he would have ordered a preemptive strike? Of course he would have. However, Chuck got it wrong according to the previously referenced Wikipedia entry. Again, I will quote the relevant section (again, emphasis added):

Other foreign policy experts have taken the term to mean Bush's doctrine of preventive war, first articulated in 2002, which holds that the United States government should depose foreign regimes that represent a threat to the security of the United States, even if such threats are not immediate and no attack is imminent. This policy was used to justify the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

I am certain, given Chuck's obvious bias, that this was the policy he intended to trap her with. Unfortunately, he couldn't get it right and he failed miserably in trying to make her look bad. In fact, his ineptitude gave her the perfect opportunity to highlight what almost all Americans know in this election:  If we want to be safe from enemies, foreign and domestic, the only choice is McCain-Palin.

Tony Snow Video Tribute

I decided to do a little tribute to Tony Snow. I couldn't think of anything better than to post some of his better moments as White House press secretary. Take it away, Tony...

Tony takes on Helen Thomas




Tony's marvelous reaction to a reporter's question




Tony gives advice to John Kerry




Tony bangs his head on podium




And to close things out, Tony plays the blues...

Tony Snow, 1955-2008

Former White House press secretary, journalist, columnist, political commentator, and all-around good guy Tony Snow lost his battle with cancer early this morning. My condolences to his wife, children and friends. There are many people in this world that I'm glad I don't know. There are very few people that I wish I had known. Tony Snow, in my book, you're one of the few.

WaPo: "Lull in news coverage" of Iraq Progress

Yesterday's Washington Post editorial, The Iraqi Upturn, starts out by commenting on the lack of media coverage of the remarkable good news coming from Iraq.

There's been a relative lull in news coverage and debate about Iraq in recent weeks -- which is odd, because May could turn out to have been one of the most important months of the war. While Washington's attention has been fixed elsewhere, military analysts have watched with astonishment as the Iraqi government and army have gained control for the first time of the port city of Basra and the sprawling Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City, routing the Shiite militias that have ruled them for years and sending key militants scurrying to Iran. At the same time, Iraqi and U.S. forces have pushed forward with a long-promised offensive in Mosul, the last urban refuge of al-Qaeda. So many of its leaders have now been captured or killed that U.S. Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker, renowned for his cautious assessments, said that the terrorists have "never been closer to defeat than they are now."

The editorial goes on to mention several areas of significant progress, politically as well as militarily. In the last paragraph, it suggests that "likely Democratic nominee" Obama may need to adjust his strategy to the current situation. The editorial suggests that, instead of withdrawing troops on an arbitrary time table, he should tie "withdrawals to the evolution of the Iraqi army and government". In other words, he should handle it like President Bush and the Republicans have been saying all along.

BRILLIANT!

Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself

As usual, the Left-stream Media has failed to bring this story to our attention. This past Sunday morning, airport security at Tampa International Airport found a box cutter hidden in a hollowed out book in the backpack of a 21 year old man from Clearwater, Florida.

After Baines was read his rights, he said his cousin had cut away the pages to make the hollow section in the book. Later, reports state, he said he had hollowed it out himself to hide money and marijuana from his roommates.

Baines told officers he was moving to Las Vegas and forgot the cutter was in the book. Officers found books in the backpack titled "Muhammad in the Bible," "The Prophet's Prayer" and "The Noble Qur'an." He also had a copy of the Quran and the Bible.

Oh, yes. There is one more thing. The title of the hollowed out book was Fear Itself.

Thanks to Hugh Hewitt (and James Lileks who gave Hugh the "heads up" on this story) for bringing this story into the light.

Suppressing the Truth

The following video is a clear demonstration of the type of the "irrational rationalization" by the Left-Stream Media. Howard Kurtz, on his CNN show "Reliable Sources", interviews Robin Wright of the WashPo and Barbara Starr of CNN. The topic: The media's failure to report the drop in casualties, US military and Iraqi civilian, in Iraq. Their answers must be heard to be believed.





Notice how the facts change as they answer the questions. There have been 4 months of decline in casualties. First, Ms. Wright reduces it to 2 months in her attempt to discount the progress in Iraq. Then, at the end of the clip, Babs has reduced it to 1 month. Also notice how they try to discount the casualty numbers and call them into question. It seems to me that one of the best arguments supporting their accuracy is the fact that the media is trying to bury the story. Why don't they report it straight up and include their doubts about the accuracy of the numbers? The answer is, of course, that they have an agenda and it doesn't include success in Iraq.

For further coverage, transcript excerpts and follow up, go to NewsBusters.

HT: Prager

Missing Lieutenant Daily

Christopher Hitchens' Vanity Fair article, A Death In the Family, will simultaneously inspire you and break your heart.

Thank you, Christopher. I now miss him, too.

HT: Hugh Hewitt

Has 24 Jumped the Shark?

If the series hasn't already, the addition of Janeane Garofalo to the cast for the upcoming season may very well be the equivalent of Jack Bauer strapping on a pair of skis and grabbing the tow rope. Maybe Ms. Garofalo will surprise me, but can anything good come from Air America? I mean, really? The only thing one can hope for is that they find a more interesting way to bump off her character than they did for Samwise Gamgee, er, I mean Sean Astin.

Coverage of the Coverage

There has been wall to wall local news coverage pretty much since the bridge collapsed yesterday at 6:05 PM. For the most part, the coverage I have seen has been very good, given the circumstances. There have been a few inevitable stupid comments by some of the reporters and anchors giving live, unrehearsed reports. However, I am inclined to give them a lot of latitude in this situation.

Having said that, in this post, Chad the Elder of Fraters Libertas gives the over-inflated ego of local TV anchor Don Shelby a skewering for his coverage of himself in reporting on the bridge collapse. To his credit, Shelby waited nearly 3-1/2 hours before bringing is left-leaning politics into his reporting. Nice, Don.