I Second that motion

Quoted from the Minister of Propoganda below

The issue concerning 'WMD's' isn't whether or not Bush was misled by a
faulty CIA analysis. The real issue is, when it came time to invade Iraq,
whether or not the analysis even mattered.

I have to say, this is a good summary of what has bothered me all along. The feeling that the administration had its course plotted out all along regardless of the facts. One gets the feeling that Iraq was a foregone conclusion, not on September 12, 2001, but rather as soon as it became clear that Dubya was actually going to occupy the White House.

And while we're on the subject of "non-truths" . . .

The issue concerning 'WMD's' isn't whether or not Bush was misled by a faulty CIA analysis. The real issue is, when it came time to invade Iraq, whether or not the analysis even mattered. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfield and Wolfowitz (the absence of Powell should be duly noted, and God only knows what Ms. Rice was doing since she obviously wasn't coordinating between the various departments), have manipulated the "War on Terror" from the very beginning to justify military action against Iraq. After all, while erroneously overstating the presence of a massive and secret program of WMD development, those same CIA analyses consistently stated that Iraq was not an imminent threat to the interests of the United States. Apparently Bush felt comfortable justifying a war with the most questionable part of the CIA analysis while completely ignoring the rest.

Of course the Bush administration's relentless enthusiasm for the occupation of Iraq, even before 9/11, is well documented, and it is extremely misleading to now suggest that the invasion of Iraq was anything other than pre-ordained. The political manipulation of intelligence condoned by this President (the Office of Special Plans at the Pentagon, for one example) is the grossest abuse of executive power since, well, Iran-Contra. Our efforts to confront al-Qaeda in Afghanistan (efforts the U.S. largely abandoned last year, incidentally, despite the continuing threat of Osama bin Laden), were met with an overwhelming degree of support, both domestic and international. That Bush would co-opt those feelings of national unity and world sympathy to service the invasion and occupation of Iraq -- a poorly-planned, poorly-debated and ill-informed exercise in neoconservative expansionism -- is unforgivable.

In fairness, the decision by Congress to give the President a blank check for the use of military force is also troubling. Such an avoidance of Constitutional responsibility is wrong, and, in that context, a legitimate complaint against Kerry, Edwards, Kennedy, and the other 74 Senators who favored the resolution. At the very least, Congress should have strictly defined and limited the circumstances under which force would be justified (for example, I doubt that Congress, if forced to debate the issue, would have approved Bush's rush to war while the U.N. inspectors were still completing their work). Of course Senator Rockefeller, ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, came forward this year and spoke candidly about the Senate vote of October 2002 (obviously, he's not up for re-election this year). While other Senators may not be so publicly forthcoming, it would require a very selective memory indeed to deny the political pressure the executive branch asserted in its efforts to legitimize the war and limit debate.

In summary, this administration is both reckless and arrogant. They deny even the slightest responsibility for their mistakes; they consistently shift blame in every other direction while viciously stifling all forms of dissent. A vote for Bush in November is an endorsement of this despicable behavior, and God help the future of Democracy if a majority of Americans will condone it.

Believe.

Possible "Non-truths"

Wow, some post by Rusty Shackleford concerning the 1.9 million unemployed. Nice link from our Maximum Leader, and indeed, well-worth a quick visit. The good doctor has done quite a bit of analysis to uncover a lie, or possibly just a "non-truth" (as Dr. Shackleford generously allows) on the part of the Democrats.

Republicans, of course, can take pride in the fact that such detailed analysis isn't necessary to reveal the non-truth of "WMD's," "al-Qaeda links," and best of all, "imminent threat." They should keep reminding themselves that "it's not a lie if you believe it yourself." Your Minister of Propaganda thinks that's a direct quote from Cheney.

Believe.

Convention thoughts and other items.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader doesn't know why, but he hasn't felt the impulse to blog much. So rather than bore you all with a link dump, or some sort of turgid prose exposition on some such thing, he decided to wait until something got him off his arse and in front of the ubercomputer.

Well... Nothing has really motivated him, but he is blogging anyway. Without further adieu...

Before you do anything else, please go and read Rusty Shackleford's exposition on the oft cited, but little understood claim put forth by the Democrats of 1.9 million unemployed. It is well worth your time and trouble. Your Maximum Leader will understand you leaving for a time to read the post. Don't worry, your Maximum Leader will wait for you.

There. Feel enlightened? You ought to.

Now, on to Convention stuff. Your Maximum Leader would like a great dark chasm to open in the earth and to have James Earl Carter to fall into it. For many years (the Reagan years in fact) your Maximum Leader thought that Carter was a great ex-president. Working on all those houses, teaching sunday school. Then he decided to get back into foreign affairs. That is where he lost your Maximum Leader. Around the time of Bush I, your Maximum Leader then determined that the best thing for an ex-president to do was to quickly expire after his term of office. Less cost to the taxpayer, and more chance for history to start working on him.

William Jefferson Clinton is a master. He can really talk. Your know, your Maximum Leader would like to meet him and have a beer with him and chat about policy wonky things. Your Maximum Leader was impressed that he was so effective in attacking Republicans, without being mean-spirited or letting the crowd get out of control.

Teresa Heinz Kerry was boooooorrrrriiiinnnngggg. Your Maximum Leader made himself a pot of tea to counteract the heavy doses of scotch whisky he was taking before and during that speech.

(NB: Your Maximum Leader has found that when watching large gatherings of Democrats it is best to self-medicate with large doses - unblemished by water or ice - of the "water of life." Scotch soothes your Maximum Leader during the speeches and keeps him from exclaiming things that the Villainettes shouldn't hear coming from their dear father. It also prevents your Maximum Leader from pulling "an Elvis" and getting one of his guns and shooting his television.)

Oh... yes... Teresa. She was utterly forgettable. Your Maximum Leader doesn't think she is a classy person. But frankly, he doesn't care either and she will have no impact on his vote. And shouldn't really impact anyone's vote. If, while you are trying to decide to whom to give your one and only franchise, serious consideration is given to the candidate's wife, you ought to be dragged out and shot. Indeed, in the MWO candidate's spouses will be figures standing on a stage; and never uttering a sound.

Howard Dean. Can't remember a damned thing he said. Must have been the scotch.

John Edwards... If your Maximum Leader has to listen to him say how he is going to give us back our "hope;" your Maximum Leader will fly into a murderous rage and slay many a beast and man without cause.

No. Your Maximum Leader shouldn't take out his rage on the innocent. He should, instead, attempt to strangle Edwards' speechwriters with the Codpiece of Eternal Glory.

Al Sharpton. Ohhhhhh... Finally. A Democrat who isn't afraid of being a Democrat. After listening to the Reverend's speech, your Maximum Leader stood up, poured himself four-fingers of Glenfiddich in his Edinburgh Crystal tumbler and toasted to a speech well-done and expertly delivered. Damn it. That is what these coventions are supposed to be all about. Pandering to your base. Giving them some red-meat. Motivating them to do their damnest for you. Not all this pussyified "we-have-to-appeal-to-the-soccer-mom-who-will-certainly-be-watching-our-convention-and-not-reading-to-their-kids" bullshit.

Al Sharpton! You are an evil, dangerous man. Your Maximum Leader salutes you! Huzzah!

And in all honesty, your Maximum Leader didn't watch Kerry's speech. He wanted to. But he had pressing family business to which he had to attend. Alas, your Maximum Leader will have to get the spin from the talking heads tomorrow.

To be fair, your Maximum Leader feels he now cannot watch Bush's speech to the Republican Convention. Not that he planned to anyway, as your Maximum Leader makes it a point never to listen to the president speak. He is such a damnable speaker. Your Maximum Leader needs the scotch for him too.

In other convention related news...

Your Maximum Leader has learned that the Minister of Propaganda is in Boston attending the Kerry coronation. He hopes that the good Minister will choose to come back to the blog and tell of his travels and adventures. Your Maximum Leader would love to hear them.

Also, being a good Minister, the Minister of Propaganda has sent your Maximum Leader tribute from Boston. A Kerry Kit from MoveOn.org. He can hardly wait for it to arrive. According to the e-mail notification:

The kit shows a side of John Kerry you may never have seen before, using never-before-seen video, thoughtful articles, and more. The kit comes complete with a DVD featuring an exclusive 10-minute preview from the forthcoming documentary "Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry". For more information go to http://kerrykit.com.

Your Maximum Leader is as giddy as a schoolgirl waiting for it.

Your Maximum Leader will also relate a quick story about a phone call he took Tuesday afternoon. A friend in Colorado called. She is a rabid Democrat, and great lover of Bill Clinton. She once described in lurid detail what all she would allow the former president to do to her if he asked... That aside. She called to ask if your Maximum Leader had seen Clinton. Then she went to town on how wonderful he was. Your Maximum Leader agreed that he was very good. Not Reagan-esque, but quite good. Certainly the best the Dems have had in many decades. Then she tore into her viseral hatred of George W. Bush. Your Maximum Leader listened to her for a good 15 minutes. Then he asked her if she now understood the viseral hatered of Bill Clinton by some conservatives; as she had used almost the same terms to describe Bush as many have used from the other side to describe Clinton. She stopped talking. Your Maximum Leader heard very heavy breathing on the other end of the line. Then she said that while I might think it is the same type of hatred, it wasn't becasue Bush is evil; and Clinton only has a wandering penis. Heh.

In non-convention related news...

Have you been keeping up with Kilgore's writing? Your Maximum Leader loved his post on the Bush twins. And he hopes that he one day gets to meet his appreciation group.

Where the hell is your Maximum Leader appreciation group? Damn you all. (But Kilgore remembered your Maximum Leader in prayer once - and that makes everything okay.)

The Poet Laureate is working. But has not yet posted photos of himself wearing the lab coat with all the sex toys. Chicken? Humm...

By the way. Read Skippy. Daily please. He doesn't have good permalinks (ie: no permalinks) so your Maximum Leader can't link to some of his recent posts. But let your Maximum Leader exhort you to read his recent political commentary. He is quite insightful. Also, your Maximum Leader liked reading about the photo requirements for strippers entering Canada. Your Maximum Leader, many moons ago, visited "gentleman's clubs" in the Toronto area. My what fine specimens of humanity were to be found there!

Check out this quick post over at BRD's site. Your Maximum Leader chanced to see Streep, Denzel Washington and Jonathan Demne (the director?) on the Today show. They were pratteling on about the Manchurian Candidate. The very fact that they were all convinced that corporate america was determined to undermine our nation was shocking to your Maximum Leader. Sad really.

And finally, Rachel reminds us of what is really important in life. It would be worth a trip to Hawaii to eat in one of Sakai's restaurants. Remember your Maximum Leader's official chef is Morimoto.

Minions, your Maximum Leader bids you,

Carry on.

For all you anglophiles

 
The official web site of the British Monarchy.

Are we sure this is a good idea?

So the latest we're hearing is about the creation of a Muslim force to help combat extrimists.  Here's a reference to it, but it's all over the news.  Now, it does sound good for Muslims to fight Islamo-terrorists themselves.  Still, creating something that could evolve into a sort of pan-Islamic military force definitely doesn't sit well for me.  Given the omnipresent subversive nature of Islamo-terrorism within Arab culture, and given the dishonest nature of terrorism to begin with, I could very easily envision a pan-Arab military turning into a complete disaster.

All we need is some gay British officer with a vision to lead them to victory.  Where's Peter O'Toole when you need him?

 

I was watching the game, when a convention broke out.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader was watching the Yankees/Red Sox game last night on ESPN. It was a great game. Everything you want to see in a game in fact.

Except all of the gratuitous shots of John Kerry in the owners box. With Kerry were his wife, one or two of his kids, the Sox ownwers, Tom Brokaw, Katie Couric, and Tim Russert.

Allow your Maximum Leader to make a few stream of conciousness comments.

First, if George W. Bush invited Brokaw, Couric and Russert to a baseball game in NYC during the Republican Convention would they go? Your Maximum Leader puts his money on Brokaw and Russert going. He can't see Couric sitting that long with Bush. Plus, under that fun and perky veneer there is a snarling animal of leftist loathing.

Second, when the ESPN crew interviewed Kerry (in the 6th?) they asked him a few softball questions. Which is fine, because the candidate was at a game relaxing. He was not stumping. Oh... But wait. The questions turned political. One of the play-by-play guys asked Kerry if he would make steroid use an issue in the campaign. What? With all of the other things going on do we really need the president focusing on doping in sports? Regardless, Kerry did the right thing by saying his campaign was about jobs, opportunity, and the war. There really wasn't any other sensible answer to give.

Third, John Kerry and your Maximum Leader agree on one issue at least. The Designated Hitter rule in baseball is bad and should go. Huzzah for John F. Kerry! (Note this moment, it might be the only time you hear it.)

Fourth, since when did Ben Affleck start writing Kerry speeches. That was a little factoid your Maximum Leader learned last night. It can't hurt you to have an Oscar-Award winning writer writing for you. NB to Karl Rove: Do you have Peggy Noonan's cell phone number? You might need it big boy.

Carry on.

The Justice League of Ministers

Well, at first your Minister of Propaganda quiz results came up as 'Batman,' but the Maximum Leader had already assumed that role (wisely chosen, although one might suspect the Leader's mustache will chafe inside the mask). Your Minister of Propaganda quickly retook the quiz so he could be 'Green Lantern' before any of the other Ministers could claim it. Why Green Lantern, you ask? Because Green Lantern is cool, and someone else is going to get stuck as 'The Martian Manhunter.'

Which member of the JLA are you? Green Lantern With the Green Lantern corps destroyed the last Oa power ring made it's way to Earth to the unsupecting artist Kyle Rayner. Able to create anything his mind imagines the ring lacks the weakness to the color yellow and the 24 hour time limit which makes Kyle the one true Green Lantern.

Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

Whatever the Minister of Agriculture results, Maximum Leader should go ahead and assign him 'Plastic Man.'

Believe.

If Skippy can do it...

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader took a quiz he saw over on Skippy's site. Results:

Which member of the JLA are you? Batman Losing his parents to a tragic mugging, Bruce Wayne took a vow to wage a one man war on crime. Using the image of the bat to strike fear into criminals, he dons the guise of the Dark Knight after the sun sets. A genius detective and scientist he is a valuable member to the League even without powers

Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

Now, your Maximum Leader will log off the Ubercomputer and will but Tim Burton's Batman on the DVD player and watch it...

Carry on.

Baseball as America

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader mentione in his recap of this little road trip that he was disappointed in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Disappointed because much of the Hall was closed for renovations. Well guess where the stuff that he would have seen in Cooperstown had it not been for the renovation is? Washington DC. At the Smithsonian. Check it out, Baseball as America. How did your Maximum Leader not know this?

Carry on.

Saturday silliness.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader, in addition to changing the poll question, decided to have a little fun with this post. He found a series of questions on the Llama Butchers site, and decided to answer them himself. So, here are:

35 Things

1. WHAT COLOR ARE YOUR BEDROOM WALLS? Chinese Imperial Yellow. Mrs Villain would like them repainted to an off-white or Ivory. And if Mrs. Villain wills it (domestically) it shall be done.
2. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? The 9/11 Commission Report, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, The Art of Love, and Colossus.
3. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? Myself.
4. FAVORITE BOARD GAME? Toughie. Risk or Monopoly. Love them both. Chess is very good, but your Maximum Leader is quite rusty. He also likes an old Avalon Hill board game based on the battle of Waterloo. It is called Waterloo. He is also fond of a game called "UBI." He believes the Minister of Agriculutre owns a copy. If so, he should play it next time we are together.
5. FAVORITE MAGAZINE? National Review. Your Maximum Leader has subscribed to it since he was 15 years old.
6. FAVORITE SMELL? Napalm in the morning.
7. FAVORITE COLOR? Green.
8. LEAST FAVORITE COLOR? Orange
9. HOW MANY RINGS BEFORE YOUR ANSWERING MACHINE PICKS UP? Answering machine?
10. MOST IMPORTANT MATERIAL THING IN MY LIFE? The Ubercomputer or the Villainmobile.
11. FAVORITE FLAVOR OF ICE CREAM? Vanilla.
12. DO YOU BREAK THE SPEED LIMIT DAILY? Heh. Ask the Minister of Agriculture.
13. DO YOU HAVE A STUFFED ANIMAL IN YOUR ROOM SOMEWHERE? No. Your Maximum Leader requires that the Villainettes store their stuffed animals in their proper place. Mrs. Villain used to keep Teddy Bears in her room. But after we were wed, the bears were banished to another room. Your Maximum Leader does own a stuffed sloth, but it is kept in the Villain, Jr.'s room.
14. STORMS - COOL OR SCARY? Cool.
15. FAVORITE DRINK? Scotch. Scotchy-scotch... Mmm...
16. WHEN IS YOUR BIRTHDAY? June.
17. FAVORITE VEGETABLES? The ones that don't need life support. Oh! You mean the eating kind! In that case: Asparagus, broccoli, potatoes. Your Maximum Leader likes most vegetables in fact. Though he does despise Lima Beans. They are vulgar.
18. IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY JOB, WHAT WOULD IT BE? Humm... If he were not your Maximum Leader, he would want to be Anna's love-slave.
19. IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY COLOR HAIR, WHAT WOULD IT BE? Brown.
20. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN IN LOVE? Yes.
21. TOP THREE FAVORITE MOVIES (IN ORDER)? Can't put them in order. But they are The Lion in Winter, Lawrence of Arabia, and Bridge on the River Kwai.
22. DO YOU TYPE WITH YOUR FINGERS ON THE RIGHT KEYS? If you mean does your Maximum Leader use the familiar "Touch Typing" method. By which he positions his fingers on the "Home Keys" (asdf & jkl;). Yes. He does.
23. WHAT'S UNDER YOUR BED? Nothing. Your Maximum Leader keeps the toe eating monsters in the dungeon.
24. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE NUMBER? 15.
25. FAVORITE SPORT TO WATCH ON TV & IN PERSON? On TV - Football. In person - Baseball.
26. WHAT IS YOUR SINGLE BIGGEST FEAR? Villainette #1 growing up and dating.
27. FAVORITE CD OF ALL TIME & RIGHT NOW? Hard to tell. Of all time... Couldn't pick one. Right now your Maximum Leader has been listening to a Tom Jones CD quite a bit.
28. FAVORITE TV SHOW OF ALL TIME & RIGHT NOW? The Simpsons.
29. HAMBURGERS OR HOT DOGS? Hamburgers.
30. THE COOLEST PLACES YOU'VE EVER BEEN? Aiyee! Hard to pick. The Grand Canyon probably.
31. WHAT WALLPAPER AND/OR SCREENSAVER IS ON YOUR COMPUTER RIGHT NOW? Wallpaper is a photo of Mrs. Villain, the Villainettes, and Villain, Jr.
32. DOES MCDONALD'S SKIMP ON YOUR FRIES & DO YOU CARE? They do not. Nor does your Maximum Leader care.
33. FAVORITE CHAIN RESTAURANT(s)? Don't really go to many chain restaurants. (Except when the Villainettes want McDonalds.) Most of the time your Maximum Leader patronizes small/individual establishments.
34. IF YOU HAVE A BOY (OR HAVE ANOTHER BOY) WHAT WOULD YOU NAME HIM? Humm... Don't know. Mrs. Villain and your Maximum Leader come to blows over naming the Villainous progeny. But boys names of which your Maximum Leader are fond include: Angus, Achilles, Richard, Thomas, Robert, Alexander, and Elvis.
35. IF YOU COULD LEARN TO PLAY ONE INSTRUMENT OVERNIGHT, WHAT WOULD IT BE? Piano.

So there are 35 questions answered by your Maximum Leader. Nothing so intelligent as his interview with the Poet Laureate; but you minions might like it.

And in one more flight of silly... Here is something fun courtesy of Dr. Shackleford and J.J. Chandler.



Carry on.

Who is the fairest?

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader was inspired to change the poll question today after reading the Poet Laureate's site.

But as for the first poll.... You all voted wisely. At least some of you did. Jennifer Love Hewitt was voted the fairest of them all with 43% of the vote. Halle Berry was second with 30% of the vote. Jaime Pressly and Kate Moss were tied with 13% each. Heather Graham and Ann Coulter received no votes.

Your Maximum Leader is happy with the results. O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! As a gift to all the minions who voted for "Love" here is a little gift.

Since Ms. Hewitt won the vote fairly (and without the intervention of the Supreme Court of the United States) this should stop the Minister of Agriculture from pratteling on about Jaime Pressly this and Jaime Pressly that...

Being pleased with the outcome of the voting, your Maximum Leader has determined that it is safe (for now) to continue with meaningless plebicites.

Moving on to the second poll...

It seems that the Big Ho is feverish and thinking that he may puke. He asked rhetorically if he would puke tonight. So! That becomes the new poll question. We'll compare your thoughts to the actual happenings later.

Voting in the same place. Near the bottom of the left side nav bar.

Carry on.

Lesbians Divorcing

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader was reading some of the headlines over on NewsfeedOnline and found this very interesting link.

Two quick thoughts on this matter. First, if a nation is going to allow homosexuals to marry, it also stands to reason that they should be allowed to divorce. (Of course, all his loyal minions are well aware of your Maximum Leader's position on gay marriage, so he will not rehash it now.)

Second, from the sparse information in this news article, your Maximum Leader feels that these particular lesbians just got married to force a political issue. And now they are getting divorced to force another political issue.

Carry on.

Update: Thanks to the good keeper of jawas for the link to this post. And one more thought on this matter... Who gets custody of "the videos?" Or more importantly, do they have to split the proceeds of sale?

Reading.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader has been reading the 9/11 Commission Report. Go out, find yourself a copy (links all over the place) and read the first section about the hijackings. Its a chilling read, even in an antiseptic narrative.

Carry on.

A Tale of Two Pities

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader thanks those of you who have voted in the poll. (Look down the left side nav bar.) He thinks he'll keep the voting open until next week sometime. If you have a question that you are dying to have asked in poll format on Nakedvillainy.com; just shoot it to your Maximum Leader. (E-mail at top of left side nav bar.)

For those of you who are baseball fans, allow your Maximum Leader to commend to you Mike Wilbon's latest: Cubs and Red Sox: A Tale of Two Pities.

Carry on.

Democracy in action.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader has decided to act on a request by his trusted Minister of Agriculture. He asked that your Maximum Leader place a poll on his blog to determine which of lovely women discussed herein is the most babealicious. The requested poll is now available near the bottom of the left side navigation bar. (Under the "Credits" section.)

In case you need refreshers on the looks of the contestants your Maximum Leader provides visual links!

Jennifer Love Hewitt.
Kate Moss.
Jaime Pressly.
Heather Graham.
Halle Berry.
Ann Coulter.

Let it never be said that your Maximum Leader never listens to the outcry of his people.

Vote my minions. But vote wisely. It may be your only chance to ever do so here.

Carry on.

Those crazy physicists!

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader is shocked (Shocked!) to learn that when he is not out making up theories of the universe or being attacked by his wife, Stephen Hawking is out making bets with other physicists.

And what do you know? Sometimes the big name guy loses his bet. Well it seems like some matter may in fact seep out of black holes instead of being completely destroyed.

Hello... McFly? Your Maximum Leader could'da told you that. You did see the film about it after all? Right? Oh! You people. Keep up! We've known this since 1979!

Carry on.

Update: While looking through some Google links for black holes your Maximum Leader stumbled across this site. Cool, but now he wonders if it is in need of revision?

Newsfeed & Intelligence Head

Greetings, loyal minions.  Your Maximum Leader has found a new site to add over to the Reputable News area of the site.  It is NewsfeedOnline.  Newsfeed is a sort of clipping service for news.  Not like your Maximum Leader doesn't already read over all of the Reuters news wires on Yahoo.  But your Maximum Leader doesn't have (or try to make) the time to read lots of different news sites (after the Reuters wire that is).  And your Maximum Leader must admit that he has never really been a fan of Drudge.  Can't explain why, maybe it is the complete lack of aesthetics on the Drudge site that annoys him.

Really.  Just look at them:  Drudge/Newsfeed
  Drudge is just a jumble of links. Newsfeed is more elegant, streamlined, and with those summaries you can find something interesting quickly.

Indeed, your Maximum Leader chanced upon this link from the Christian Science Monitor by visiting Newsfeed. The article is deserving of some comment.

There is quite a bit of hubub right now concerning the desire (or possible desire) of the 9/11 Commission to push for a unified head of America's 15 various intelligence agencies. Your Maximum Leader learned from the CS Monitor article that Bush could, by Executive Order, give the Director of Central Intelligence (aka: the Director of the CIA) more authority over some of the other intelligence agencies.

Some may say that such an order might be a wise first step, but your Maximum Leader thinks not. Really, do we need another layer of bureaucracy in our already bureaucrat-heavy intelligence community? How about this for a radical idea: Combine different agencies and make them accountable to one Director?

Your Maximum Leader has never quite understood how the NSA, National Reconaisance Office, and some of the other agencies grew up independently. Why could they not be put under the aegis of the CIA? Then they would share resources, share expertise, and share accountability under a single director.

Creating some sort of Uber-Intelligence Director (the Intel Tsar?) will not facilitate the sharing of information between agencies. It will mean that intelligence summaries will all be passed to one bureaucrat who will then have to pass them through their own group of analysts before passing them along to decision-takers.

One would think that the need for quick action and speed would be apparent to lawmakers (and the members of the 9/11 Commission). But they all seem to be in labouring in the fog of groupthink. Sad really. We don't need more bureaucrats in Washington. We need more spooks (especially Arab spooks) in the field.

Carry on.

On Blogging.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader believes he is finally caught up on reading the blogs that he missed during his weeklong hiatus. He feels that he should direct you to one piece that Eric at Classical Values wrote. Here is the link: Blustering bloggers, complacent Americans, and "complex motivational issues".

Take a moment to think about Eric's post. (Go and read the links too.) Your Maximum Leader thinks that what he does on this blog is opine. It is his right to be able to opine. He doesn't consider himself a journalist. But he does believe that the journalists will do a better job at their writing if they know that there are thousands of bloggers ready to opine on what is reported to them. Perhaps they will check facts better, try to be objective, and certainly try to be more thorough in their reporting of facts. It is a very sorry day when the Director of the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy at Harvard University wants to limit the influence of citizens with opinions on discourse in the United States.

Your Maximum Leader will agree with Eric that one can generally identify and understand the bias of a blogger with ease. With much more ease in fact than one could identify the bias of a print/tv journalist.

Jolly good screed Eric! Jolly Good.

Carry on.

Guns.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader was perusing various sites across the internet when he came upon a number of pieces concerning guns. Your Maximum Leader decided to opine some.

First on Keith Burgess-Jackson's site there was an interesting posting from a NY Times editorial. Keith's post states that gun owners have a love of liberty and security. This love moves them to own guns. Your Maximum Leader agrees with these premises. As for the subject of the editorial (Virginia gun owners wearing their holstered guns in public - specifically the suburbs of Washington DC) your Maximum Leader is concerned about one thing. While he supports the rights of citizens to bear their arms in public, he is concerned that doing so may lull the bearer into a false sense of security, or possibly recklessness. Gun owners have a responsibility to themselves and to other citizens to be aware of their surroundings, and act according to the laws of their state and of good sense. Generally your Maximum Leader believes that if you want to carry your guns on your person, you should get a concealed carry permit, and take the requisite class.

And one more note on this, your Maximum Leader was in Reston last week, and believes he may have seen someone walking along the street wearing a gun. Interesting coincidence.

While checking out the news wires, your Maximum Leader came across this piece on the Reuters wire. It is interesting. Your Maximum Leader was most interested about Jim Kessler and his group, Americans for Gun Safety. Here is the Americans for Gun Safety (AGS) web site. For a group that seems to be advocating a "A moderate, sensible approach to guns." the final quote of the Reuters piece seemed odd. AGS spokesperson Jim Kessler, speaking about the spread of concealed carry laws, said:

"They are ineffective in stopping crime but they also seem to be unharmful and have not led to mass shootings the way some on the left feared."

This line struck your Maximum Leader odd. In the context of the article it seems as AGS was opposed to conceal carry laws, and would fight them if they didn't seem so harmless. This last quote was odd because of the earlier Kessler quotation concerning the expiration of the "assult weapons ban." Kessler is quoted by Reuters as saying:

"The assault weapons ban has no chance of being extended unless President Bush gets forcefully behind it but Bush has apparently made a naked political calculation."

Reading this quotation made your Maximum Leader assume that Reuters was just being biased and quoting an anti-gun advocate.

So which was it? Is AGS just confused? So your Maximum Leader did some checking... Humm... It seems that AGS was founded by a large grant from Andrew McKelvey. McKelvey, the founder and CEO of Monster.com, was the donor who convinced Handgun Control, Inc. to change their name to the less left-wing Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Now it is all coming back to your Maximum Leader... AGS is all about incrimental gun illegalization.

Nice of Reuters to be so unbiased.

Your Maximum Leader supposes he will just have to take a walk through town with his Ruger Vaquero in his belt just to make a point.

Carry on.

Huzzah for capitalism!

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader was filled with a deep melancholia while the beautiful Anna was not posting. Surely he understands that people do things outside of blogging, but after a few weeks and a big black screen proclaiming "It's not you. It's me." your Maximum Leader can start to become despondent.

Well, Anna is back. She is in good form. And what do you know? She is harnessing her creative powers. She's saddling up that bucking bronco of e-commerce. And now she is digging her spurs into the fleshy hindquarters of the free market. With her golden tresses streaming out from under that oh-so-fashionable Dominatrix mask; and with a whip in one hand and a brandy snifter full of port in the other; she commands you to buy some Dog Poo. Or if you don't have a dog, some butt-tingling salve for your own self.

Your Maximum Leader doffs his bejeweled floppy hat in her direction and gives her a hearty "Huzzah!" Bonne Chance, Anna.

NB: Your Maximum Leader is addicted (yes ADDICTED) to a particular brand of soap. It is the Fresh f21c soaps. He has not allowed anything else to touch his magnificent dermis in nearly three years. But he is going to give Anna's soaps a try. He will report back with his findings.

Carry on.

Dr. Rusty...

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader sends his warm congratulations to Dr. Rusty Shackleford on the release of Rusty V3.0. As your Maximum Leader has his own newly minted Villain laying about the Villainschloss he feels qualified to say that he hope the good Dr. is getting rest while he can.

And did you all notice? Dr. Rusty has fallen in with those MuNuvians... Humm... First Anna, then Annika, then BRD, now Dr. Rusty. To what is this world coming?

And who's next? Kilgore? Skippy? The world wonders.

Carry on.

Note to Smallholder

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader and the Smallholder saw this home for sale on our road trip. We both were quite impressed. If you happen to have $1.3 mil laying about, and a desire to live on one of New York's finger lakes; you should run out and buy it.

Carry on.

Art History.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader is trying to catch up on all of the reading he has missed in the past week. There is too much of course, so he is going to give up on some and just comment on other things.

Your Maximum Leader directs you to the interview with Roger Kimball on National Review Online. An interesting Q&A session concerning the politicized state of the teaching of art history. Wonderful money quotation: "Enjoy the work, eschew the politics."

That line reminded your Maximum Leader of the little discourse with Bill concerning National Geographic and the politization of science. Your Maximum Leader mused that if you always considered politics in listening to music or reading magazines one's diet of leisure would be seriously curtailed. (Assuming you are of a more conservative bent.) Your Maximum Leader has found he often has to eschew politics.

Except in cases where the artist in question refuses to lay low in the political arena. (Like Whoopi Goldberg for example...)

Carry on.

Your Maximum Leader returns.

Greetings, loyal minions.  Your Maximum Leader has returned.  Oh, how much he has to tell you minions.  Where to begin?
 
First off, a retraction.  The last post your Maximum Leader completed before departing for his little trip, the one about the attack on a French woman on a train; is in fact a hoax.  Shame to the woman.  Scorn on her for fabricating such a tale.
 
Now, on to business.  Shortly after his last post, your Maximum Leader jumped into the Villainmobile and drove on down the the Minister of Agriculture's (collective) farm.  The two of us then departed the friendly confines of the greater Charlottesville, VA area on a mad rush to New York state.
 
We drove (okay, for the sake on full disclosure - your Maximum Leader drove) at high speed across the beautiful mountains of Virginia and Pennsylvania.  We then skirted across the Pennsylvania piedmont and tidewater.  Then we crossed up towards the Finger Lakes regions of New York.  Our first destination, Auburn, NY.
 
Once we crossed into New York, we determined to visit the Millard Fillmore birthplace.  It seemed a must while so near.  Yes, loyal minions.  Your Maximum Leader and his faithful Minister of Agriculture were going to go and see the very place where one of the most mediocre men ever to occupied the presidency of our great nation was born.
 
We veered the Villainmobile off the highway and started to drive the scenic byways of New York state.  We passed through many lovely late 19th century villages and towns as we progressed towards our destination. 
 
Alas, this part of our story is not a happy one.  We drove and drove all around the region looking for the Millard Fillmore birthplace.  It was so clearly marked on all our maps, yet in reality it was so elusive.  Eventually, your Maximum Leader and his Minister of Agriculture broke down and decided to ask a local...
 
Much to our horror, no one in the area knew, or had ever seen the Millard Fillmore birthplace.  They all had heard about the Fillmore Glen state park.  But none could help us in our quest to see the place de naissance of our less-than-illustrious thirteenth president.  Alas, we feared that time was growing short and our quest for Millard Fillmore was abandoned.  Unfulfilled.
 
But we did stop at a winery on Lake Cayuga.  The wines were a little too sweet for your Maximum Leader's palette.  But we did contribute to the local economy nonetheless.
 
Late in the evening we arrived in Auburn.  We caught a quick bite at a local pizza joint and turned in to watch the home run derby on ESPN.  (Well, your Maximum Leader watched the home run derby at any rate.)
 
The next morning we awoke and visited the Seward Mansion.  It is a grand old house.  The Minister of Agriculture suggested this stop (click here to see the Smallholder in front of the house), and it was a good one.  The house is filled with books.  Your Maximum Leader had no idea that William Seward was such a world traveller.  He visited Egypt, the courts of Europe, China, and Japan.  For a man of his time (d.1872) he was remarkably well travelled.  If you are in the Auburn area, your Maximum Leader suggests you stop in and see Seward's house.  
 
Then your Maximum Leader and the Minister of Agriculture drove on to Cooperstown, NY.  There we visited that great shrine to the great American game, the Baseball Hall of Fame.
 
If you've never been to Cooperstown allow your Maximum Leader to make some observations.  First, the town is hell and gone from anything.  There is no direct route there.  One must travel small two lane roads through hills and fields.  While this was just what your Maximum Leader and the M of A were hoping for, it could be disappointing for those of you out there used to seeing things "right off the interstate."
 
Cooperstown is a lovely little victorian hamlet.  One big main street, filled with baseball stores, a few restaurants, and various trinket stores.  There are large victorian houses throughout the town.  And their owners must take particular pride in their homes, because they are all beautifully landscaped and well kept.
 
The National Baseball Hall of Fame was a little disappointing to your Maximum Leader.  (Who is a baseball fan.)  Much of the hall was closed for renovations, and many of the exhibits were travelling around the country.  Most were in Houston for the All Star Game.
 
Your Maximum Leader saw many of the plaques enshrining some of his favourite players in the grand hall.  He also liked seeing some of the memorabilia from the early 20th century.  One of your Maximum Leader's favourite players of the game is Ty Cobb.  (Click here to see your Maximum Leader with the plaques of the first class inducted into the Hall.  Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson - and being blocked by your Maximum Leader - Babe Ruth.) 
 
Yes, yes.  Ty Cobb was a horrible, vile man.  But he was a great player and your Maximum Leader admires him for his skills.  Another of your Maximum Leader's favourite players was Hank Aaron.  (Who by all accounts is a fine man as well as a fine player. Seeing the plaques for these two greats, and looking at their bats and uniforms was fun.  Overall the visit to the hall was a little disappointing as so much of it was not available to see.  Your Maximum Leader will have to go again some time.  Perhaps next time he will find a way to hit a few balls on Doubleday Field. (Click here to see your Maximum Leader and the Smallholder in front of Doubleday Field.)
 
Then your Maximum Leader and the Minister of Agriculture went on to Sagamore Hill.  Your Maximum Leader had been to Teddy Roosevelt's home before, but it was the first visit for the Minister of Agriculture.  It is a wonderful house.  Your Maximum Leader has found that presidential homes are often great reflections of their owners/builders.  This is certainly true of Sagamore Hill and TR.  The rooms are covered with hunting trophies.  (They are also filled with books.)  The house is masculine to say the least.  The walls are covered in dark walnut paneling (save the drawing room - which Mrs. Roosevelt painted a light blue and filled with Louis XIV furniture).  And the lighting is generally quite subdued.  Your Maximum Leader finds the house relaxing.  Which is, he suspects, as it should be.  TR and his family were a vigourous outdoor bunch, and when they came inside it was to eat, read, rest, and prepare for more outdoor activities. 

(Need more images?  Well here is the Smallholder relaxing in one of TR's rocking chairs on the porch of Sagamore Hill.  Here is the house from the main road.  Here are some of TR's "big sticks."  Here are the chaps TR wore while working as a rancher in North Dakota.  And here is the uniform in which he charged up San Juan hill.)
 
After Sagamore Hill your Maximum Leader and the Minister of Agriculture returned to Virginia.  But shortly after the Minister of Agriculture returned to his farm, your Maximum Leader went to pay a visit on the AirMarshal, Mrs. AirMarshal and their newest daughter (who is your Maximum Leader's goddaughter). 
 
Many many congratulations to the AirMarshal.  Your daughters are beautiful.  You are a very lucky man.
 
After paying a visit to the AirMarshal, your Maximum Leader returned to the Villainschloss to recieve the Foreign Minister and his family.  We had a great visit, and determined that (somehow) your Maximum Leader must contrive a gathering of all of his ministers.  Since the Poet Laureate is in Korea, the Minister of Propaganda is on the left coast, and the Foreign Minister himself is regularly in Germany that is a tall order.  But your Maximum Leader will put his formidable mental powers to that task.
 
So, now your Maximum Leader is back and ready to comment pithily on current events, philosophy, Jennifer Love Hewitt, and other sundries that come his way.
 
Carry on.

The Big Favor by the Poet Laureate

Yo, Minister o' Proppa-ganda!

I gotta favor to ask yas.

Foist, a preface:

You don't know me from Adam.
I don't know you from Eve.
We bot' know Mike da Maximum Leadah.
I trust Mike's taste in friends.
So I feel free to do sump'n rude and obnoxious.
I'm askin' yas a fayvah.
A big fayvah.
A fayvah dat plays on our mere two degrees a' separation.

You're free ta' say no, because it's two degrees of separation and not one.

But I hope ya' feel guilty if ya' say no.
I hope ya' feel like God will hate 'choo.
Like God will fook widjer cereal in the morning.
Turn it inta' maggots or oithwoims or some udda' "Lost Boys"-meets-"Raiders a' da' Lost Ark" cliché.

And now:
Here it is.
The fayvah.

You know people, from what I understand.
Big people. People who might not have time, but dey've got money.
And connections.
In udder woids, dey got clout.
People wid' political views.
People who can make noise.
People who might be able to contact certain parties in, oh, I dunno... Hollywood.
Or da' media.

I dunno if you been following dis, but dere's massive censorship going on in South Korea right now.
Visit my blog and click the bannah'. Dat'll lead you to a post dat explains everything.
Blogs and sites are bein' censored.
Mosta' dem ain't guilty o' nuttin'.
Dis shouldn't be the sole consoyn of us expat Koreablogguhs.
It should be everybody's business.

Everybody's fookin' business.

So I'm askin' yas to make some noise for our cause.
Lots and lots o' noise.
If you know people, and your people know people, get them ta' make some noise, too.
The Korean government gets a free ride from our press about this nonsense, but Koreans worry about how dey're viewed by da' woild.
Get a buncha' people togeddah to tell Korea:

YO, WE AIN'T PLEASED.

Can you do me dat fayvah?
Can you hit da' right people?
If you can, I'd appreciate it.
And you'd have my dog's gratitude, except my dog's fookin' dead.

Tanks, man. Tanks in advance.

I know you'll do da' right ting. 'Cause you don't want da' Almighty Himself fookin widjer cereal every mornin'.

_

A reason not to travel to France.

RETRACTION!:  Greetings, loyal minions.  Your Maximum Leader must alert you to that which you likely already know.  The attack referred to in this blog post is a hoax.  Your Maximum Leader thought he might just delete the post, but decided against it in favour of the retraction.
 
Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader provides you with a stomach turning link. Gang Attacks Mother on Paris Train. Let us hope that the French people do mobilize against anti-semetic attacks.

Carry on.

Road Trip!

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader is not going to be posting much (or at all) until Thursday. He will be leaving tonight to get the Minister of Agriculture for a fun (geeky) road trip. We plan on visiting the William Seward House and Sagamore Hill at the least. We may also be able to stop in to Cooperstown and see the Baseball Hall of Fame.

So, loyal minions. In your Maximum Leader's absence, be good.

Your Maximum Leader supposes that in his absence he leaves his blogsite in the hands of the Poet Laureate, Air Marshal and Minister of Propaganda.

Carry on.

Rising to the challenge...

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader has decided to enter the fray with his esteemed Minister of Propaganda. He feels as though there is an implication in the Minister of Propaganda's last post the the war in Iraq was not properly debated.

Of course there is a more insidious implication in the last post. Namely that the administration, through use of cleverly manipulated intelligence information (or out and out fabrication of intelligence information) to move the people of our nation towards favouring war with Iraq.

As we all know, the war was debated by our elected represenatives in Congress. And after that debate both houses of the Congress voted to authorize military action by the president. Your Maximum Leader believes that one could make an argument that Congress rushed the debate and therby did not give the war as full consideration as one might desire. The Congress did have, in your Maximum Leader's opinion, plenty of debate before voting.

Unfortunuately, our Congress doesn't generally like to have lengthy debates on contraversial subjects. They instead like to have intermidable debate on lower profile subjects and rush through the items on which they should concentrate their energies. This has been a tendency in Congress since the 1960s at least; and doesn't appear to favour one party or the other.

The more important implication of the Minister of Propaganda to discuss is the misleading of the public (and by extension our representatives). Your Maximum Leader will agree that there was a considerable amount of misinformation floating around during the debate preceeding the war. Information that was judged at the time credible by the US, UK, France, Russia, and other nations has now been shown to be innacurate. And there should be a price to pay in the intellegence community for that.

However, there was no significant dissent at the time concerning the quality of intelligence information under discussion. If those in Congress, or in the public, had concerns about the quality of intelligence they should have acted in a way to get more time. Senator Kerry, for instance, could have quietly asked for more time to debate. Or Senator Edwards could have discreetly threatened to use various parliamentary tactics available to all senators to get a longer period of debate. And use that time to get more intelligence review.

But they did not.

It is one thing to carefully consider the information at hand, and then upon learning that the information is not accurate; declaring that your decision was bad. It is another thing to give cursory examination to information presented to you; and then later declaring that you lied to. Alas it is the latter statement that both Kerry and Edwards are declaiming now.

Your Maximum Leader would also like to take a moment to address the question of intelligence information. While most would agree that the immenent Iraqi threat to the US did not exist as it was portrayed; that does not equate to an immenent Iraqi threat not existing at all. We have found artillery shells containing nerve agents (which were supposed to be destroyed years ago). We have found and removed from Iraq over a ton of radioactive material (that the Iraqi's were not supposed to have). We have evidence from the United Nations no less that Iraq shipped missles (they weren't supposed to have) to various nations around the world before the war began. We know that Saddam Hussein was neither a friend of the civilized world, nor his own people. We know that Saddam's intelligence services did have contact with Al Qaida.

And we don't know what would have happened had we not acted.

Your Maximum Leader still believes that our actions in Iraq were justified, and are a positive accomplishment towards a safer world and a more progressive Iraq. Has the administration done the best job possible in rebuilding Iraq? No. They have not. Have we done the best job possible in managing Iraq? No. But the job we have done is not over. Your Maximum Leader doesn't believe that Kerry/Edwards will do a better job. Nothing Kerry has said has given your Maximum Leader any reason to believe that he would, in fact, do anything different. Thus, changing presidents would have zero net effect on Iraqi policy. And would only give a possible President Kerry the opportunity to stay the course and blame everything (rightly or wrongly) on Bush. Your Maximum Leader would just as soon retain President Bush, who has at least demonstrated that he will act in the manner that he believes is best for the country.

We continue to have a democratic system of government, and if Bush's opponents hold contrary opinions to the president's they can use our existing institutions to force/make changes. If they do not (as it seems they haven't in the past to listen to them), they have, in your Maximum Leader's opinion, very little ground on which to make a principled stand.

Carry on.

Alluding to World War II, ever so gently

While poking around the blogosphere, I stumbled upon a quote I think worth contemplating, especially amongst such fine historians as count themselves in the Maximum Leader's cabinet:

"Why of course the people don't want war. But after all it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger."

--Hermann Goering (Nazi), at the Nuremberg Trials

C'mon, gentle readers, I know it might be difficult so soon after the 4th of July, but set aside the Lee Greenwood patriotism for a minute and think it through. Vote for a publicly-debated foreign policy in '04.

Believe.

Quiz Time

I took the personality quiz recently suggested by Maximum Leader and scored as follows:

Wackiness: 52/100
Rationality: 62/100
Constructiveness: 74/100
Leadership: 66/100

You are an SRCL--Sober Rational Constructive Leader. This makes you an Ayn Rand ideal. Taggart? Roark? Galt? You are all of these. You were born to lead. You may not be particularly exciting, but you have a strange charisma--born of intellect and personal drive--that people begin to notice when they have been around you a while. You don't like to compromise, but you recognize when you have to.

You care absolutely nothing what other people think, and this somehow attracts people to you. Treat them well, use them wisely, and ascend to your rightful rank.

Going back into the archives, I also took the geek quiz and scored only 15%. That didn't really bother me (I already knew I was less geeky than the Min. of Agriculture), but as a California liberal, I was disturbed by the fact that my score was accompanied by a picture of Arnold "The Groper" Schwarzenegger.

Believe.

A name, booze and sundries...

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader woke in the night after a vision. In the vision he saw a great legion of villainous bloggers set to do his bidding. And thus he found the name to separate the quality bloggers he knows and loves from those those mega blogs. And thus the "The Legion of Villainy" is born. The sidebar has been updated accordingly. One will also note that the fabled ranks of the "Loyal Minions" category has been expanded by one. Dr. Rusty Shackleford has entered the ranks of Loyal Minions. Perhaps your Maximum Leader should award some sort of gift for those who are granted the Loyal Minion status. Hummm... Your Maximum Leader will ponder that.

In the "sundries" department... Ever wonder what the root cause of the Poet Laureate's humour is? Look upon his dingus ye mighty and lament!

Your Maximum Leader reviewed two recent posts by Bill, both kindly mentioning posts in this space. In the first of Bill's linked posts, he discusses how he felt he had to resign from the National Geographic Society due to their publication of bad science. Your Maximum Leader asks rhetorically, how susceptible is scientific journalism to the affects of ideology? In discussing global warming (the scientific question at the heart of Bill's decision to leave National Geographic) there is a tendency among "left-leaning" scientists to ignore data that may contradict their preconceived notions concerning that phenomina. "Right-leaning" scientists commit the same sin in reverse. The open question on this matter may be do we have enough data to make an informed hypothesis? Humm... Something to ponder.

In the second linked post, Bill discusses some of the AirMarshal's (very popular) booze posts. Specifically he asks about Oban. Your Maximum Leader has not had Oban for a number of years. This should not be construed to mean that he didn't (or doesn't) like Oban. He doesn't remember the taste in fact. (Which is a sure sign that he should pick up a bottle.) Your Maximum Leader, like his AirMarshal, will wholly endorse Johnnie Walker Gold. He was drinking some last night. It was served frozen. And it was a fine compliment to a bowl of vanilla ice cream (Edy's) and fresh peaches.

Carry on.

I am losing my faith in the American people

I am so angry about this administration right now I can hardly think straight, much less compose a calm and rational blog posting. That the American people continue to tolerate this degree of hypocrisy, deceit, manipulation and incompetence is unbelieveable to me.

Channeling anger through humor:

The Liberal Media Compares the Candidates

Bush Discovered to be Evil Cyborg

The Learning Curve

The Blame Game

A Terrifying Election

How Conservatives See It

Play It as It Lies

Scalia to the Rescue

Conservatives Suspicious of Coverage

Mission Accomplished: One Year Later

Attention: Multi-Millioniares!

Mom and Apple Pie

Presidential Revisionist Comics

Encyclopedia Bush

Things We Have Learned From Republicans Lately

Slime and Defend

Actionable Intelligence

Believe.

WTF?

Boy, if gay marriage causes such a stir in the US, imagine what THIS would do.

I sincerely hope that the Ag Ministers animals stay within their species. I mean, really.

How Convenient

My Father in Law is a Vietnam vet. He served as an Army intel officer right out of ROTC circa 1967, and saw combat. He's also a lifelong Republican who has chosen to live in Maryland. go figure. He's also completely intolerant of draft dodgers. It's the reason he hated Clinton.

What boggles my mind is how he's completely resentful of John Kerry's military service. I continuously get e-mails from him about unconfirmable nit picky problems with Kerry's war record.

So I ask him what about Dubya going into the National Guard, and all the associated problems with potential AWOL behaviour, and leaving early etc. His response is that "noone can prove it, so what's the big deal." When I ask him how he feels about Cheney who avoided going to Vietnam for various nebulous reasons, he doesn't have a problem with Uncle Dick avoiding the draft, or service.

Gotta love hypocrisy. It's OK for Dubya or Uncle Dick to avoid service entirely, but God forbig Kerry actually wears medals he earned.

So some of Dubya's Nat Guard records have been lost? How convenient. Lost in '96 and '97? Sure. Right. Excuse me for being skeptical.

What we have here is a rich kid whose powerful Daddy got him out of an obligation to go to War by defending the skies over Texas from Mexican infiltration. And Dubya, for whatever reason, couldn't even meet that obligation. War time President? Sure thing. George Sr. lied about his age so he COULD serve in WWII. That's character. Being too drunk, or whatever, to show up to fly a jet over Texas? That's pathetic.

Slay the fatted calf!

A Most Happy Blogiversary to the Maximum Leader!

_

What do Frank J and your Maximum Leader have in common?

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader and Frank J have something in common. Both our blogs were started on July 9th.

We're also devilishly handsome, quick-witted, and armed to the teeth.

Carry on.

Housekeeping, and being bad...

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader needs to just throw out a few things for his ministers and loyal minions to consider.

First, the Minister of Agriculture (who's dearth of posting is related to his crappy computer at home) has suggested a weekly poll or some sort of multiple choice question be added to the site. Your Maximum Leader has given this some thought and is not opposed to the idea. But, would it really be worthwhile? Although we've been getting more and more traffic of late (over 3200 visitors last month!) do people really want another poll?

Second, your Maximum Leader has tried (furtively at 3 am on Sunday mornings) to get Haloscan comments and trackbacks working. While he can get them to display, they seem to ruin the asthetics of the page as he can't get them to display in a font/colour he likes. Again, the Minister of Agriculture has expressed his desire to have comments on the page. Also, the esteemed Dr. Rusty Shackleford has given the most compelling reason for adding comments. The comments cause you to reflect on what you have written; and can make you a better writer. Excellent point. But they also can be the domain of putzes and counter-revolutionaries. (And frankly if your Maximum Leader wants a contrary political opinion to his own he can always consult his Minister of Propaganda.) He may give Francey a call on this one and try again. If anyone has any thoughts on this matter they are welcome to shoot your Maximum Leader an e-mail. (Link on left.)

Third, your Maximum Leader is growing upset with his current blogroll layout. He likes the "Loyal Minion" category (for those minions so near and dear to his heart). But then when you get to "Villainous Bloggers" he feels he needs another category. While bloggers like Keith Burgess-Jackson, Annika, Anna, Dr. Rusty, BRD, Bill, Skippy and the Grand Vizier all deserve the title, the more mainstream (and higher trafficed sites) like Instapundit, IMAO, Allah and Du Toit should be sorted by some other type of nomenclature. But your Maximum Leader is not sure what to call that other title. Suggestions are welcome (again, e-mail your Maximum Leader using link on left). Perhaps he will send a Nakedvillainy T-shirt (or thong) to the minion who sends him the best suggestion.

And now we begin the "Being Bad" portion of the post....

Your Maximum Leader and his Minister of Agriculture are going on a ROAD TRIP!!!! Woo Hoo! We are going to pile ourselves into the Villainmobile and run off (leaving our lovely spouses and progeny) to.... Long Island.

Yes... THAT Long Island. The one that is part of New York state. That big barrier island protecting Connecticut and Rhode Island...

Okay it is not the most fun destination. But there is a reason we are going to Long Island, NY. That is where you find Oyster Bay. And when speaking about Oyster Bay there is only one thing to see there... Sagamore Hill. The home of Teddy Roosevelt.

Okay... We're geeks. And history geeks at that. But hey, if we pack lots of booze and guns and a digital camera and promise to share the pics it will be okay right? Right?

Really! We're gonna be bad. We're probably gonna cause the rangers up there to have heart palpitations with our badness... Wez gonna partay old school. (And at the same time have a great learning experience...)

Well... Moving on....

Another item in the "being bad" category. Your Maximum Leader just bought a movie on Amazon utilizing their patented "One Click" technology. He bought Bubba Ho-Tep. Your Maximum Leader is practically salivating waiting for the film to arrive. Indeed, he has made a space next to the deluxe "Boomstick" edition of Army of Darkness in his DVD collection. The space already longs to be filled by Bubba Ho-Tep.

Why is this bad? Well, let us just say that your Maximum Leader and his lovely, devoted, and sometimes willful spouse, Mrs. Villain, don't often agree on what films to purchase for the Villainschloss DVD collection. Indeed, most of the films in the collection are much beloved by your Maximum Leader - and completely unwatchable to Mrs. Villain.

To illustrate this point, on your Maximum Leader's birthday, Mrs. Villain looked over the DVDs sent as tribute and declared Monty Python's Life of Brian, "Shit."

Your Maximum Leader is sure that Mrs. Villain will not get even 1/1,000,000th the joy from watching Bruce Campbell (as Elvis) and Ozzie Davis (as John Kennedy) battle Bubba Ho-Tep.

And your Maximum Leader bought the film anyway.

Why is this bad? Your Maximum Leader promised Mrs. Villain that she would get to pick the next DVD added to the collection.

Oops!

Your Maximum Leader believes he will try to make it up to her by taking her out for dinner next week (around the time the film should arrive) at our favourite restaurant. Calling now to make reservations...

Carry on.

What!?! Another Quiz.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader saw this over on the Poet Laureate's site (site not accessible in the Republic of Korea, the People's Republic of Korea, and other screwed up places). He saw it on the lovely Annika's site (site also not accessible in the Republic of Korea - and your Maximum Leader guesses the People's Republic of Korea). And now here are the results of this quiz, as taken by your Maximum Leader.

Wackiness: 36/100
Rationality: 50/100
Constructiveness: 10/100
Leadership: 40/100


You are an SEDF--Sober Emotional Destructive Follower. This makes you an evil genius. You are extremely focused and difficult to distract from your tasks. With luck, you have learned to channel your energies into improving your intellect, rather than destroying the weak and unsuspecting.

Your friends may find you remote and a hard nut to crack. Few of your peers know you very well--even those you have known a long time--because you have expert control of the face you put forth to the world. You prefer to observe, calculate, discern and decide. Your decisions are final, and your desire to be right is impenetrable.

You are not to be messed with. You may explode.

Your Maximum Leader leaves it to his minions to determine the accuracy of the test.

Carry on.

Remakes... Hmmm

One good, one undecided.

A broadway version of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" with Hank Azaria, David Hyde Pierce and Tim Curry sounds like it has a lot of promise. Who knows, though. Still with that cast it could be really funny.

A remake/prequel of/to "the Pink Panther"? Ok, skeptical enough. But Steve Martin as a pre-Peter Sellers Clouseau? No. First of all, Martin is too old. Second of all, Inspector Dreyfus IS Herbert Lom. I don't see Kevin Kline in the role. Actually, the more I think about it, the more I don't think that Martin can pull off Clouseau. What made Peter Sellers' Clouseau so great a character was Clouseau's absolute ignorance of his on incompetance. I don't think Martin can pull it off. One characteristic of a Steve Martin comedic performance is an awareness of the absurdity of his character. And I think that would ruin Clouseau.

Boozing it up.

So my wife and I are in "when the hell is the baby coming?" Mode. The latest sono (yesterday) estimated the baby at almost 9 lbs, and estimated my wife as being 41 weeks pregnant. Now huge babies aren't typical in our family, as they are in the MaxLd's family. My personal feeling is that her docs miscalculated her due date. I've felt this from the beginning. Oh well.

Anyway

For Fathers' day, my wife splurged and got me a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label. I was shocked, and grateful, that she'd spend the bucks on alcohol. Blue label typically runs in the $150 to $200 range, so I was quite pleased.

So on Fathers' day, my dad and I enjoyed this fine blended Scotch. I've long believed that stuff that expensive couldn't be worth it. I can happily say now that I was
wrong.

So here's my take on Johnnie Walker. I'll admit at the start that I haven't tried Green Label. It's fairly new. Unfortunately, I can't access the official Johnnie Walker web site, so I'm not linking to their descriptions of the various whiskies'. Here's a link that should guide you to the official sites, but it's not working for me at the moment.

Now, Red Label is just nasty and not worth considering. It's good for mixing, or drinking with liberal ice and water added. But for really enjoying it as scotch, don't bother.

Black Label is yummy. It's got kick. A good 12 year old blend. Until recently, it was THE deluxe scotch in the Johnnie Walker stable. Now, with the additional colors, it's not got the reputation it once had. Still, it pretty much rocks in my humble opinion. It's smooth, yet it has smoke, a full flavor and enough of an edge to keep it interesting. And it's affordable, which is a plus. The only negative right now is that I don't have a bottle of it at home.

Gold label is an 18 year old. It's completely different. It's got a texture I haven't experienced in the whisky world before. It's a very thick, almost buttery texture, with a butter scotch flavor that is just wonderful. Frozen, this whisky is wonderful with good chocolates. Still, having kept it in the freezer for a while, I've taken it out. I prefer whisky neat at room temperature, and this one is no exception. I highly recommend this whisky. It's about the best price you are gonna find for an 18 year old. Compare it to The Macallan 18 year old Single Malt, which I'm told was recently selected the best whisky in the world by Whisky Magazine, and you find in Gold Label you can get a great 18 year old whisky for $40 less. Maybe not quite as good as The Macallan 18, but there isn't much that is.

The Macallan might be the subject of another post at some point. If you haven't tried it, go out and buy yourself a bottle of the 12 year old today. The Macallan is a wonderful contrast to The Glenlivet. Both are Speyside Single Malts, but radically different in flavor.

But I digress.

The feather in the cap of the Johnnie Walker range, Blue label has no stated age. I've heard it's a 25 year old. Still, it almost seems to miss the point to focus on the age. It's just a phenomenal whisky. I don't have the words to describe it.

I recently bought a bottle of Gold Label for a friend as a graduation present for an MBA. He was a Single Malt snob who admits that JW Gold Label is better than most anything he's had, save The Macallan 18. It might be a nice contrast to taste Blue Label and The Macallan 18 together. To see the best Single Malt and the best Blend side by side. And try JW Black Label and The Macallan 12 together. Two 12 year olds that rock, but are radically different.

Scary thought.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader read this on the Minion and Lackey blog and immediately thought of the Poet Laureate.

What? Too lazy to click through? Allow your Maximum Leader to quote in full:

You kids have it easy these days. When I was young there were no gerbils. We had to cram enraged weasels up our cornholes and we were thankful for 'em.

Do you now understand why your Maximum Leader read this and thought of the Poet Laureate?

Carry on.

Bill's problem.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader was thinking about Bill's recent post concerning his leaving the National Geographic Society. (Your Maximum Leader is in good company in this as Keith Burgess-Jackson was thinking about the post as well.)

It is sad really when even "scientific journals" are becoming filled with political polemics. Your Maximum Leader is still a member of the National Geographic Society and has also recognized the slant in some of their more recent articles. Your Maximum Leader continues to be a member however because Mrs. Villain likes the magazine very much.

In point of fact, your Maximum Leader receives four magazines at the Villainschloss. The first is National Review. Your Maximum Leader has subscribed to NR since he was 15 years old. He has read it religiously every two weeks.

The second is National Geographic. Mrs. Villain has subscribed since she graduated from college and no longer had easy access to her parent's copy. Your Maximum Leader always picked up a few months worth of National Geographic magazines when he visited his (now late) Grandfather and thus never subscribed until he was married to Mrs. Villain.

The third is American Rifleman. The journal of the National Rifle Association. The magazine is a nice benefit to membership. But, your Maximum Leader would belong to the NRA regardless of them sending him a magazine.

The fourth is Smithsonian. The offical journal of the Smithsonian Institution. Your Maximum Leader loves going to the Smithsonian, and has since he was a wee villain. Now he takes the Villainettes regularly. Soon Villain, Jr. will join us on our visits. The magazine comes with becoming a member of the Smithsonian. Since your Maximum Leader enjoys the discounts on things at the museums and invites to special events that comes with membership, he joined. But the slant in so many articles in the magazine towards a "leftist" or "politically correct" interpretation of history, sociology, or culture is quite noticable.

This brings your Maximum Leader to his point. For many years one of the editors of National Review, John O'Sullivan, has espoused "O'Sullivan's First Law." The law states: "All organizations that are not actually right-wing will over time become left-wing." Your Maximum Leader fears that the National Geographic Society and Smithsonian Institution are both becoming victims of O'Sullivan's First Law. They can hardly help it. They are in fields (education) that are dominated by left-wing voices and attitudes. The fact that they have held out as long as they have is a miracle.

Of course, if one was to sever contact with all left-wing, or left-leaning, institutions in our great nation what exactly would you be left with? National Review, the Weekly Standard, an a few other political journals. The New York Post, the Washington Times, and a few other newspapers (but none of national significance). No TV news channels. No entertainment programming on mainstream TV networks. (And only a few cable shows.) No mainstream music. (No great loss there.) And, perhaps, even this blog would be off the list. (As we do proudly host the commentary from the Minister of Propaganda and sometimes the Smallholder too.)

Your Maximum Leader doesn't believe it is possible to isolate oneself from the left in our nation. But, then again, to be informed and part of the debate you shouldn't be. There is the "know thine enemy" maxim to live by. Your Maximum Leader isn't sure what one can do, except continue to fight for the ideas and beliefs to which one adheres. As they say at National Review, you sometimes have to stand awthwart history and yell stop.

Carry on.

Justice?

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader doesn't know how many of the links on his sidebar you actually visit. For your Maximum Leader, the links serve as a favourites list of sorts. He likes to go down the list and keep up with the other blogs.

Your Maximum Leader hadn't read the Iowahawk blog in a little over a week. And when he did he was shocked to read the story of Shawn Howard. Your Maximum Leader also followed the links to read about this horrible murder on Jennifer Chancellor's site as well.

So it seems as though two men, a local business owner and a manager in his employ (Josh Martin), were beaten by a homeless man with a metal pipe. The business owner, Shawn Howard, died as a result of this attack. The local District Attorney, Tim Harris (Tulsa, Oklahoma) is not prosecuting the attacker, one Terry Badgewell. D.A. Harris has said that Badgewell was acting in self-defence; although the only wounded people were Shawn Howard and Josh Martin.

It seems inconceivable to your Maximum Leader that the D.A. would not so much as convene a Grand Jury to see if there was evidence enough to go to trial. Perhaps some of the lawyers who sometimes read this site could comment on what legal issues might be in play here. For surely, your Maximum Leader doesn't understand the current disposition of this case from the facts he knows. Alas the local newspaper website requires paid registration to view the articles it has published on this case. And the local TV station websites seem to purge stories after a few days.

This appears to be a miscarriage of justice in our nation's heartland.

Carry on.

The Grand Vizier.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader was wondering why the Grand Vizier had taken a hiatus without mentioned he was leaving town or something. It seems he was involved in a bad accident. Your Maximum Leader entreats you to go over to his site and wish him a speedy recovery.

Carry on.

While watching TV last night...

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader, rather than responding to the many congratulatory e-mails in his mailbox, was watching television last night and happened upon the film Armageddon on FX. He only watched the last 45 minutes or so (as he started channel surfing late).

Warning plot spoilers follow... Of course if you haven't seen the film yet, it is unlikely that you will...

So your Maximum Leader is watching the film, and at the end, the brave Harry Stamper detonates the bomb that bifurcates the asteroid and saves the world. The movie shows scenes of people all over the world pointing heavenward and marvelling at the blast that saves them all.

Then your Maximum Leader had a cynical moment.

Leaving aside the many problems of the film (concerning the real science of what was going on, etc., etc.), your Maximum Leader realized something...

If there was a giant asteroid on a collison course for our planet, and...
If the US was able to launch a mission to the asteroid to destroy it and save the world, and..
If the mission was successful and the US astronauts did save all humanity from certain destruction,...

then...


The French would still vote against a UN Security Council Resolution thanking the US for saving the world.
The rest of the world would still hate us.
A sizeable number of Americans would say it was just about oil.
And Michael Moore would make a film in which he would claim that Halliburton overcharged the government for materials.

Carry on.

Edwards and Kerry... Perfect together...

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader is being pretty retro, oui? What? You don't recognize the subtle lifting of that old New Jersey Tourism motto from when Tom Keane was governor? New Jersey and you... Perfect together. Well... Let your Maximum Leader just move along then.

So, John Kerry had chosen John Edwards as his running mate. What does this mean?

Well, it means that now there is someone else on the ticket that Teresa can call "cheeky" and "sexy." If John Kerry and Elizabeth Edwards are flying together somewhere and the plane crashes, would Teresa and John Edwards make that love match? They are both filthy rich. So that sort of negates the money motive for Edwards. Hmmm...

Actually, your Maximum Leader is pretty sure that this is an ingenious move by Kerry to force Bush to campaign in the south. Kerry has already been spending money and time in the south. He is trying to put into play states that (except Florida) would not be in play. This is either very crafty, or just a waste of time and resources.

Surely he will get that post-Veep-selection bounce. But will that bounce have staying power? Doubtful. Your Maximum Leader believes that many of the Democratic faithful (who will vote for Kerry anyway) will have some buyers remorse about his selection every time they see the sauave, dashing, and wholly-inexperienced Edwards on the campaign trail. They will sigh whistfully and wish that they had pinned their hopes to that dashing southern senator who made his money by exploiting our out-of-date laws concerning class action and medical malpractice suits. Your Maximum Leader asks you all, what could be more desirable for a Democrat than a sexy class-action lawyer?

(Okay, your Maximum Leader heard you all in the back snickering while calling out a career politicican from Arkansas...)

Your Maximum Leader isn't sure what to make of the whole Kerry/Edwards southern strategery. If the economy continues to improve, and the situation in the middle east improves; all the time and money spent by Kerry/Edwards in the south is a waste. If the economy doesn't continue to improve, and the situation overseas deteriorates, then the time and money spent in the south by the Democrats is a waste because the critical midwestern swing states are going to go Kerry/Edwards anyway.

So, Kerry's southern strategery is a waste.

But that John Edwards is a cheeky, sexy, trial lawyer no matter how you parse it.

Carry on.