On Planned Parenthood

Ross Douthat has a characteristically good column in the New York Times this morning on the Planned Parenthood video, and the mental gymnastics required of PP/abortion supporters to minimize the impact of the horror those videos show (there are apparently ten more).  A key graph here;

"But the reluctance to look closely doesn’t change the truth of what there is to see. Those were dead human beings on Richard Selzer’s street 40 years ago, and these are dead human beings being discussed on video today: Human beings that the nice, idealistic medical personnel at Planned Parenthood have spent their careers crushing, evacuating, and carving up for parts."

Read the whole thing.

Marco Rubio for President--The CW Fundraising Effort

Click and enlarge, then print, fill out, and send along this handy fundraising sheet!

So far, the CW fund has $1000 donated.

We're on our way to $100,000!

DRIVE BY MEDIA

REALITY

Big Fat Friday Free For All

What's got you down, Chum?  Are you worried your little treaty deal won't go down?  Not enough support to get on the debate stage?

Share your angst with the sympathetic minds of the Conservative Wahoo.

My recent travels issued a slight setback to my dieting...weighed in at 157 today, which means nine pounds to go.

Are You Getting This?

Let's see, Trump is stomping all over his wedding tackle with some really stupid comments. Everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY is ragging his ass down to the ground. He lost his tv show, companies are dropping him like a bad habit, he's losing money no doubt and probably his mama don't love him no more. So what does he do? He doubles down.

But somebody likes it, including me. Check out these numbers, the Carlos Slim owned NY Times must be beside themselves. Do you have any clue why Trump is doing well? Well Here's the Hammeratic theory on the subject. He's got balls. He doesn't back down at the first sign of trouble. He ain't no media bitch. Plus he's putting front and center the most important issue for MIDDLE CLASS AMERICA of our lifetime...IMMIGRATION!

People are just sick of the bullshit. They're sick to death of weakness. They're sick of politicians that run as this and govern as that. No way Trump will win, but if any politician on either side tries to discredit him I predict they will pay a heavy price. Rick Perry is about to find that out.

They're so stupid. Treat Trump as Clinton treated Perot...adopt his policies. Come out right now and declare that the days of open borders are over. No more 1100 peons a day walking across our border. No more drug cartels setting up pot fields in our national forests. No more anchor babies and maternity tourism. NO MORE! We're tired of it. WE'VE HAD ENOUGH!

We will militarize the border if that's what it takes. We will will build a fence and the Mexicans will help pay for it, or wish they had. Furthermore LEGAL immigration is now on hold, no more until we can sort out those already here. No more hiring of illegals punishable by jail time. Tourists, students etc. will be required to check in often with immigration otherwise jail time and deportation.

We have one last chance, get a handle on this shit or look for another country because this one won't be worth living in. Trump is speaking to this frustration, he's being strong and proactive, and we "CRAZIES" love it!

TRUMP +11!

The Coming War: It won't be what you think.

Did you happen to see the NY Post this morning? The President and his minions are bureaucratizing racial "atonement". Every facet of our personal lives, I repeat OUR PERSONAL LIVES is being monitored and collected so as to advance a racial agenda (as defined by hard-core leftists) who themselves will then decide when their work is done. When is the last time you saw a bureaucracy announce "Our purpose is fulfilled, our mandate completed, we employees of the Federal Agency XYZ can now be reassigned and/or fired and Congress may allocate our budgeted monies elsewhere"?  Fat chance! If this outrageously un-Constitutional overreach is allowed to stand it will never be over...EVER! Full bore fascism will have arrived in the guise of "civil rights" and our commissars will be leftist judges.

We as middle class Americans need to wake up, we are now the enemy. We are the enemy in the eyes of the current administration, certainly the Democrat Party and as painful as it is to admit, much of the Republican Party. They deny us our history, they deny us our moral standing, they deny us our God. We are ridiculed and slandered with impunity and if we raise a voice in defiance we are mercilessly harassed from all sides.

I am an American. My family has been here since 1720. We fought her wars, we suffered her retribution, but we still love her. We make NO apologies for her. But if the forces of the left think we will sit idly by and allow this country to be taken over by foreigners or foreign ideologies that deny our freedoms GIVEN TO US BY GOD, they'd best think again.

Question: How many people have been murdered by governments in the pursuit of "equality"?  If this equality uber alles scheme (scam) gets going then violence will be the only option. I am not advocating violent conflict or revolt, all I am saying is one day in the not too distant future it may be our only option... and the war will be by definition a race war.

Travel Update: Sunday, RDU

As I type, the dulcet tones of the Southwest gate agent drone in the background in this somewhat overcrowded (but typical) Southwest terminal.  It is the morning after the 80th Birthday Party of Julie Carey McGrath, wife of James, and Mother of Bryan (among others).  Largely due to the efforts of Sister Kelly (and the financing of James), she was surrounded last night by friends and family at a downtown Raleigh Irish bar---which turned out to be familiar to me, as it is where her #70 was held.  It was a wonderful affair, and it was good to talk with people I haven't seen in some time, as well as to see my own family---two times in a month is a treat.

While here, I stayed in the lovely town of Clayton at a bed and breakfast known as The Morning Glory Inn.  I highly recommend it should you have occasion to be in central North Carolina. I am not necessarily the target B and B market, as I find the forced intimacy of the morning breakfast with a group of strangers who are almost always more talkative than I to be a bit of a slog.  But with the clan gathering, the number of available comfy beds began to dwindle.  That--and the fact that I am only two thirds of the way through this travel--convinced me that the Sunflower Room and its large, comfy bed would be the right resting place for me Friday and Saturday nights.  It was a good decision, though because I wanted to be cooperative, I ate a carb-loaded breakfast that I will regret later.

After the soiree, I met The Hammer and Mrs. Hammer (they were in attendance) at a nearby steak joint to throw down a few ribeyes and continue our party conversation.  Both are wonderful conversationalists, and if you ever want to know where Hammer gets his irascibility, it is a function of the utter sweat-pea he is in the company of his Lady.  She clearly wears the pants in that family.

In 90 minutes or so, I'll head to BWI for a three hour wait to get on a flight to Providence en route Newport.  My dinner plans for the evening have changed, and I am on my own--which suits me fine.  Then tomorrow morning, it is to the Naval War College to think big thoughts for a few days.

August Wolf for Senate

There's a new Republican -- well, he's always been a Republican, but he's new to you -- running for Connecticut's seat in the United States Senate. Augie Wolf is a college friend of mine, and stands as good a chance of beating 70 year-old Richard Blumenthal -- when did the Democrats become the party of old people? -- like a newly imported Persian rug. Watch the opening salvo, and consider sending a contribution.

Travel Update: BWI Interlude/Brush with Senator McConnell

For those of you following my travels, I am finished with the first of three major objectives, having spent last week in San Diego with a client.  It was a delightful trip, topped off with the West Coast "Surface Navy Symposium" at which I was able to renew ties to old shipmates and gain closer ones with new.

After a delicious ribeye at Outback last evening, I headed for the airport for a couple hours of solitude in the United Lounge.  At some point, I had paid to upgrade my seat on the flight, and the seat number lulled me into believing that it was a first class seat--always a bonus for the redeye.  Alas, I was wrong, as the first class return redeye upgrade was made for the August trip to SD, and this was only to "Economy Plus".  That said, there was no one in the middle seat for the flight and to my knowledge , the guy at the window slept a well as I did.

I arrived at Dulles at 0620 , and while making my way to the main terminal, had a moment of great pain as I realized that I had lost my parking ticket.  Not only would I have to face the prospect of proving my entry time to the garage without any paper (I use the smartphone boarding passes, etc), but I always write which level of the garage I parked in on the stub so that I don't forget.  What a red-ass.  At one point as I walked through the airport, I decided to just stop and sit down to think what might have happened to it.  This was a fruitful pursuit, as I realized that I had moved all of my receipts from the wallet to a folder in which I keep travel docs.  There it was.  Whew.

Found the car and got myself here to BWI where I have about four hours to kill, so I started with a nice breakfast and some email processing, before moving down here to my flight gate for some serious people watching, a little blogging, and some coffee drinking.  Which is where I am right now.  Just a few minutes ago as I sat here, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell sat himself down about fifteen feet from me, on his way to Louisville (presumably).  He's got a security detail with him, so I approached one of them and said, "hey, please let your boss know I think he's doing the best he can with the cards he has."  The guy smiled and said, "tell him yourself".  So I strolled over and introduced myself and told him just that.  This started a very pleasant 15 minute conversation, which included me trying out my "minimum wage for the fence" idea.  He took it in, and then sorta smiled and said, "I like it, at least the concept...but I have a hard enough time getting little compromises!"  He asked me about what I did, where I lived, and he had a few ideas about Maryland and its Republican Party.  Definitely a highlight of this day.

I'm headed to Raleigh and then to Clayton for the 80th Birthday festivities of my sainted mother.

Big Fat Friday Free For All

What's got you down, friend?  Are you worried that your sure thing in 2016 looks more beatable every day?
Are you weary of having to take to the barricades yet again to defend that famous "religion of peace"?

Share friend...share!

Alas, I am in transit and unable to assess my weight.  I fear little progress since last week, as I have had large dinners and less exercise.

Ah....Hillary

AP Photo

Some promising poll numbers here on the extent to which even Democrats have reservations about their likely nominee in 2016.  Joe Biden must read stuff like this and this and begin to lick his big white chops.  Do I think either Sanders or Biden can beat Hillary?  No.  Can they make life miserable for her along the way?  Yep.  That's all we need.

The morning reads

There is fun for everybody in the TigerHawk tabs this morning, and in the few minutes remaining on this flight I'll pass along my favorites. There is something to irritate most everybody...

Blog hounds have all read or seen Hillary Clinton's risible attack on the "share economy". Apparently, though, her PAC hasn't gotten the message. Like any other non-French city dweller with two nickels to rub together, the "Ready for Hillary" team uses Uber all the time. (For my part, I've asked every Uber driver I've hired in the last few months whether they like it, and the universal response (n=6) is that they love it. The exploitation here is purely in the mind of the social engineers.)

Immigrants, lawful or otherwise, commit less crime than citizens, not more. This is even true among Latino immigrants alone. There are excellent reasons to assert control over the border and more closely regulate non-citizens within our borders. Their supposed criminality is not among those reasons, however many votes demagoguery attracts.

"Re-Re-Re-Reintroducing Hillary Clinton." The New York Times actually wrote that in a headline. Presumably the point is that one can fool some of the people -- apparently almost half -- all the time. #RubeWatch.

Just what we need, another federal crime to fire up the social justice warriors. Remember, do not criminalize any offense that you are unwilling to enforce with deadly force. The two go hand in hand. And, no, this does not mean I approve of revenge porn.

More later.

♪ I've Got Yooooou....Under My Skin ♫

What was it Gandhi said (or was it Ben Kingsley)? First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they attack and ridicule and try to destroy you...then, if you can make it through that, you win. Well anyway, something like that.

So what's up with Trump? He has just about pissed off every politician in both parties including their hangers-on, their corporate and union minders, their whores, their secret gay boyfriends (that everybody knows about but the folks back home), their "Washington husbands" (Renee Ellmers can you spell Kevin McCarthy?) and even their wives (whatever the hell she's up to these days). Yep, he's an equal opportunity piss-or.

Remember how they treated Reagan back in the 70s? Both parties, but mostly the Republican Party slandered him no end. He's a lightweight that appeals to the worst among us. He's a crazy blowhard who will burn out in no time. He's an idiot, not Ivy League or from one of the "approved" schools. Well I'm seeing a lot of parallels with Trump.

Trump is doing the one thing most politicians of BOTH parties hate, he's responding to the people. As a businessman he's just giving the market what it wants, and brotherman the United States of American WANTS this immigration SHIT sorted out and dammnit I mean YESTERDAY! There is so much anger, so much frustration, so much pent up (for lack of a better word) energy in the true conservative base something has got to give.

I understand why Democrats want open borders. It means power for them. But I really don't understand why supposed conservative Republicans haven't opposed this VIGOROUSLY from the get go. It's insane, unless, hold on just a second, a thought just occurred to me, unless they DON'T GIVE A DAMN about anything apart from maintaining their own personal wealth and status. Gee, do you think maybe that's possible?

So let them keep calling Trump an unprincipled media clown or attention junkie. Who cares? He may be, but so what? He's giving the establishment a taste of their own medicine. He's a threat to their control. He's the turd in the punch bowl, the bastard at the family reunion, the guy who is driving them crazy, and I'm loving every minute of it. I hope he stays in until the end.

Update from the Road--San Diego

For Captain Todd--full travel rig

It's 0528 local and I've been up for nearly 90 minutes, though it was a restless night that included a call to the front desk to complain about the miscreants in the room next to me who maintained quite the din onto the 0130 hour.  I am maintaining the East Coast schedule while here, and which means I was abed at 2030 after a delightful dinner at the San Diego Yacht Club with a friend and colleague of long-standing.

But that was yesterday, and I have skipped Sunday afternoon/evening, which cannot stand.  I arrived mid afternoon to a gorgeous SD day, got my rental and headed to my hotel for a quick workout before meeting the fair Skaidra and her husband Philip and little one Penny for dinner.  Skai and Penny live in the family house in DC, while Phil does his USCM business out here, but since it is summer and Skai has no teaching duties, she and Penny have decamped to San Diego for a bit.  We ate a steakhouse with an amazing view of the harbor, but I wasn't terribly enthused by the steak itself.  Had prime rib at the Yacht Club last night, which is generally a bad choice for me because it is a poor representation of the Art of Beef, and while it was tasty, it still is a long way from a good ribeye.

Very busy time out here with my client, good, hard day of work yesterday and stuff I think is important and that I like to do.  Today should be somewhat less busy, but a full day nonetheless.

When it ends, I'll head back to the room, get a little workout in, and then go where I know I'll get a good steak--the local Ruth's Chris--where I'll be met by a fellow of infinite jest with whom I worked here in San Diego many years ago on USS PRINCETON (CG 59).  THAT--was a great ship, a truly great ship, and the trail of success she's left in her wake--measured in folks who went on to command ships of their own, is wide indeed.  This guy will assume command of a souped up destroyer in December, and I'm hoping to arrange my travel here that month to correspond with that glorious day.

Thus far, my meticulous packing plan (ten days, cube method, one carry-on) is working fine, though I'll have to re-wear one of the dress shirts (packed 2, and a third requirement for one just popped up yesterday), but that shouldn't be too much of a hardship.  My client actually expressed concern for my health, wondering if my weight loss were not connected to some deeper malady.  I assured him it was nothing so serious, just runaway vanity.

Ok, maybe something tomorrow.

Love is NOT an Option

As I'm sure you know, our crack team of hard-nosed US negotiators led by Secretary of State John Kerry and some ponce with a bad 70s haircut have cut a deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Now I've been hearing some details on the radio but I really don't need to hear any. The only deal worth having with a criminal regime like this is what's it going to take for them to GIVE UP the idea of nuclear weapons immediately, now and forever. Anything short of that is a waste of time.

Now I've heard the same old BS about how they will like us now and how we have some basis for dialogue and this is just the beginning. You know, the same old painfully twisted logic and deluded thinking we got from liberals back during the days of the Soviet Union. Of course it was crap then and it's crap now. The only difference is no deal we ever made with the Russkies ever came close this POS.

What is Obama thinking, Iran can be turned? He thinks they will be our "regional partner" against ISIS etc. and eventually we'll all be bosom buddies and the world will marvel at the vision and wisdom of BARACK OBAMA: THE MAN WHO SAVED MANKIND? Is he crazy or just an amateurish incompetent with legacy issues? I've read that Obama's nickname inside his campaign in '08 was Jesus due to his obvious messianic complex. I believe it. Only a lunatic would go for a deal like this.

But let me just digress a second. A few hundred years ago Machiavelli answered this question about what is best, being feared or loved? He said it's best to be both but if you can only have one it's better to be feared. You can fall in and out of love. You can decide to get a sex change in which case who and what you love will change. You can love Cherry Garcia this week and Chunky Monkey next week. Love can be fleeting, that's just the nature of the emotion. But fear, well that's a constant. No matter where you are no matter what you're doing, no matter how your life has changed for good, bad or whatever, you will always fear a gun to your head. If we wanted a productive outcome with Iran we needed a loaded gun, and be prepared to use it because love is NOT an option. Ironically Obama has GUARANTEED a war, the only question now is when and how many will die.

There are outrages, and then there are outrages

There is a lot to be angry about in the world, from Confederate iconography to Hillary's emails to the latest thing that Donald Trump said. I respectfully submit that all of that pales in comparison to the outrage visited upon me this evening, Guinness in a freaking Budweiser glass. Evidence:

Where was my trigger warning?

New Stuff on the Blog

I put a little widget off to the right that allows everyone to see how well (or not well) read this blog is.

Also, there's the form for sending your cash off to Marco Rubio.

Travel Follies Begin Tomorrow

Tomorrow I will begin a series of trips, one business, one pleasure, then another business, that will keep me out of my bed until Wednesday the 22nd.  I shall do my best to provide those among you without interest in politics and pop culture with sufficient travel oriented fare whilst on the road.

Leg one is to San Diego, where I'll stay until I hop on Thursday evening's redeye.  This is business, though it will be cut with much pleasure, as I'll dine with LtCol Waggoner and his family Monday night (steak, natch), then with a colleague on Tuesday night (San Diego Yacht club, I say old sport), and then one of my best friends from Navy days on Wednesday night (Ruth's Chris--he has some "certificates").  Thursday's agenda will include spending the day at the Surface Navy Association's "West" forum, held right down on the San Diego waterfront--which enables me to get my ship fix in.

When I land at Dulles on Friday early, I'll then drive to BWI to start the pleasure part of the trip.  I'll hop on a flight to Raleigh and rent a car to drive to my ancestral homeland of Clayton, where we will with great ceremony, fete my sainted mother on the occasion of her 80th Birthday.  The whole clan will be there--and I hope to run into the Hammer while in his home state.  I'm staying at a little B and B in town there, so I'll make sure and give you the lowdown on the important things (breakfast, specifically).

On Sunday morning, it's up and at'em, to fly from Raleigh back to BWI---and then BWI to Providence.   I'll rent another car there and drive down to Newport, stopping along the way in Jamestown for dinner with a wonderful friend I acquired when I began to squire the Kitten.  There's another just like him there in that quaint little town, but he and his family will be on vacation.

After dinner, I'll drive down to Newport where I'll spend the next three days "war-gaming" with a bunch of really smart people.  Then its back to the airport Wednesday afternoon for BWI, and home somewhere around 830PM.

For those of you asking why I didn't do the flights more elegantly, the answer is because of the personal nature of the trip in the middle and my not wishing to get on the bad side of Mr. Obama's IRS.

The entire ten days is going to spring from one carry-on....as I have moved to the next level of cube packing efficiency.  Unfortunately, my loudest, most colorful pants---suitable for Newport--are also my largest, and so they will stay on their hangers, shamefully reflecting their circumference while I wear more sedate, better fitting things.

Oh--full travel rig in the morning.

Build the Fence...and Raise the Minimum Wage

Politics is the art of compromise, though many on each end of the political spectrum have come to see compromise as a sign of weakness. I have not yet reached this cynical state and consider the ability to compromise while moving steadily toward one's broader goals as the height of strategy.  I realize I have mentioned this idea here before, but I haven't taken the time to flesh it out.  So here goes.

Speaker Boehner and Leader McConnell should offer the Democrats a grand bargain--an increase in the minimum wage in exchange for a secure southern border and increased enforcement of current immigration laws.  Here are the reasons to make this deal:

1.  Because it separates border security from immigration policy--specifically the question of what to do with immigrants already illegally in the country.  Poll after poll show border security to be a more broadly popular policy than any approach to legalizing illegal immigrants, but as a political matter, tying the two subjects together creates a dependency that does not work for Republicans.  The matter of border security gets bound up in all sorts of side issues, nativist rants, and ethnic tensions, rather than being treated as a straightforward matter of the table stakes of sovereignty and national security.  Break this unnatural linkage and REFUSE ANY EFFORT TO CONTINUE TO LINK.

2.  Because raising the minimum wage--while dubious in its impact on actual wages and outcomes--is a relatively pain-free way for Republicans to "give" on something that Democrats are hard over on. Let's face it. There is ALREADY a minimum wage and it has been raised a number of times in the past. And to the extent that pain does develop as a result of economic distortion created by raising it, my sense is that such pain would amount to a rounding error compared against the totality of our economy.  We are standing on principle here, and it isn't working for us.

3.  Because as a political matter, this puts the Democrats on the defensive, in a HUGE way.  Let's say Boehner and McConnell make this offer in a splashy way to the President and Democrats--and the Democrats walk away from it.  Imagine the reaction from working class voters of all races and ethnicities who will have to reconcile the fact that the Democrats refused this increase in order to essentially protect the rights of those who would enter our country illegally--thereby continuing to exert downward wage pressure in the first place.

4.  Because it would show that with Republicans in charge, big important things CAN happen, and we can achieve things that are very important to our voters.  Yes, the cost of this is giving in on another issue, but it is one that is far less important to Republican voters.

5.  This entire “swap” cannot be held hostage to the “must be revenue neutral” crap.  Building a fence is going to cost some money.  We have to recognize that.

6.  This is a "take it or leave it" negotiation.

What then, to do about those who are already here illegally?  What about paths to legitimacy and citizenship?  These are important questions, questions that should be considered and discussed.  But for the time being--they are simply not subject to political solutions and the discussions surrounding them do not work to GOP advantage.  Skip them and move on.

Ought Hillary be held accountable for Iraq's collapse?

The front page of The New York Times book review section is given over to a book called The Unraveling by one Emma Sky. Ms. Sky is British, an "Arabist," and originally an opponent of the invasion of Iraq, who ultimately volunteered to advise British and then American military officers in Iraq after the fall of Saddam. Apologies for the block quotation, but it sets up what follows for those of you who cannot get past the pay wall:

Emma Sky has a lovely sense of irony about many things, from her evocative name to her frustrated dreams for Iraq, where, in the first decade of this century, she spent what she thinks of as the most important years of her life advising senior officers in the American military. “Amidst the horror of war, I had experienced more love and camaraderie than I had ever known,” she writes. “I had become part of their band of brothers.”

Many soldiers have felt that way, but Sky was no soldier, and not even American. She had been among those who opposed the war, an Arabist in her mid-30s working for the British Council, a cultural and educational organization. She thought she would go on temporary duty to Iraq after the shock and awe of 2003 to apologize, if she could, and try to help the Iraqi people. This was a common sentiment among Western Arabists at the time: We shouldn’t have done this, but having done it, we must make it work.

Almost against Sky’s better judgment, as she writes in her important and disturbing memoir, “The Unraveling,” she quickly found herself sucked deep into the business of occupation as she tried to sort out the chaos after the fall of the tyrant Saddam Hussein. She thought she would be working with the British in the coalition forces that had participated in the invasion, but they told her to talk to the Americans running the show. She also thought she would be in Baghdad, but wound up about 150 miles to the north in Kirkuk.

Sky made herself useful in whatever way she could. She provided expertise in the region and the language that was appallingly rare in American ranks. Faute de mieux, she began to function very quickly like the Orientalists of the old British Empire — part diplomat, part diviner of local moods and frequent mediator in bitter disputes. She became the indispensable adviser to the United States colonel trying to hold together the explosive, contested Kirkuk region, which sits on 40 percent of Iraq’s enormous oil reserves. As Sky puts it, sardonically, “Within weeks of the fall of Saddam I had found myself governing a province.”

There is a lot in there about her perspective on the American military, her longstanding (professional) relationship with General Ray Odierno, the first collapse between 2003 and 2007, and the ultimate success of the "surge" starting in late 2007 and running in to 2009. But then there is this (bold emphasis added):

Sky and Odierno worked closely with the United States ambassador, Ryan Crocker, an accomplished Arabist in his own right, and Gen. David Petraeus, whose name had become synonymous with sophisticated counterinsurgency. Petraeus told Sky he saw her as a “kindred spirit.” But Crocker and Petraeus were gone by 2009, and when the Obama administration pushed forward with plans to withdraw American forces by 2011, everything started to go to hell again. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his coalition were defeated in parliamentary elections in 2010 by a more centrist, nonsectarian candidate (and an old favorite of the Central Intelligence Agency), Ayad Allawi. But Maliki, by playing his many sectarian cards, managed to hold on to power, and in the process reignited the hideous intercommunal violence most Iraqis hoped was behind them.

Crocker’s successor at the United States Embassy-cum-fortress was Christopher R. Hill, a career diplomat with a long track record in Asia but no feel for the Middle East. He had the backing of Hillary Clinton, then secretary of state, but he ­emerges from Sky’s book as the individual most responsible for forfeiting the gains of the previous years when he decided to throw Washington’s weight behind Maliki.

Sky clearly detested Hill: “It was frightening how a person could so poison a place,” she writes. And it appears the feeling was mutual. In a recent piece for Politico defending his record in Iraq, Hill suggests Sky (unnamed but unmistakable as Odierno’s political adviser) was a sucker for complaints by key Sunni members of the government who were being excluded, prosecuted and jailed. Actually, Hill didn’t have much time for people who had served in Iraq before him. The enormous importance of long-term relationships in Middle East politics seems to have escaped Hill, and those relationships were exactly what Sky was all about.

This is rather an amazing couple of paragraphs to appear in the lead book review in the Sunday Times, but every now in then they still practice journalism over there. Hillary is indeed getting away with diplomatic murder right now, with all the mainstream attention to her record as Secretary of State going to her frenetic travel schedule and "public diplomacy" (as if effort were the most important metric), and the tragic sideshow of Benghazi on the right. This is a great waste, for there is much to be learned from Clinton's bottomless failure to accomplish anything important in that job, and her hand in key decisions that have been disastrous for American interests (including the war of choice against Libya, the very confusing signalling in the Syrian debacle, and, now, the collapse of Iraq). The smart GOP presidential candidate will dig more deeply in to Ms. Sky's book to learn more.