I rarely ever read jingoblogs (known to most as “milblogs”), but I took the time to check out an applinked post over at Blackfive, which according to MM is “good advice for Murtha about what to say about Haditha that should be used by every pol in Washington.”

I left the following comment there last night:

Could you clear something up for me?

In the speech, you had Murtha stating, “I didn’t agree with the invasion of Iraq,” yet he voted in support of the force resolution.

Although he changed his mind in a remarkable fashion, I’m sure his vote was a measured one, and that he believed (at the time) that giving the President all options was the best one.

I have yet to receive a simple “thank you” for fact checking their fiction.

David Neiwert:

At last weekend’s [Washington] state GOP Convention, the party adopted a platform including a resolution calling for a measure to deny citizenship to children born to illegal immigrants. It also endorsed a guest-worker program that would require all applicants to return to their home countries first.

Nearly three years ago Michelle wrote a nasty column that closed as such:

Clearly, the custom of granting automatic citizenship at birth to children of tourists and temporary workers such as Hamdi and to countless “anchor babies” delivered by illegal aliens on American soil, undermines the integrity of citizenship – not to mention national security. Originally intended to ensure the citizenship rights of newly freed slaves and their families after the Civil War, the citizenship clause has evolved into a magnet for alien lawbreakers and a shield for terrorist infiltrators and enemy combatants.

If the courts refuse to close the birthright citizenship loopholes, Congress must. Citizenship is too precious to squander on accidental Americans in Name Only.

Anchor babies? Accidental Americans?

And to think that I agree with her that this is the greatest country in the world. What we do not agree on is whether it will survive any challenge short of our own species’ demise. Her career, being based on the politics of fear, smacks of her willingness to accept our country’s vulnerability.

Where Michelle believes that racist, isolationist policies will “save us”, I believe we have nothing to fear but our own ignorance and hatred. If Michelle has her way, our country will be transformed into a nation in which no mother would even want to bring forth life.

In yet another bit of sterling Internet journalism gone totally awry, Michelle has linked to a Guardian article titled:

Gore: Bush is ‘renegade rightwing extremist’

But here’s the actual quote:

“If you have a renegade band of rightwing extremists who get hold of power, the whole thing goes to the right.”

In other words,

Gore: Bush Administration is ‘a renegade band of rightwing extremists’

Sure. A case, even a snarky one like Michelle’s, could be made to counter the Dubya-as-Steve-Sailer claim, but it goes without saying that the administration has behaved like a renegade cabal, e.g. excessive use of signing statements, waging unprovoked wars, domestic spying, which all happen to be inline with extreme rightwing values. Hmmm.

At least Gore doesn’t need to get a novelist’s take on environmental science to feel like an expert.

Is “coddle” really the right word to use here? Seems to me they’re just enforcing the laws.

The wingnuts get it wrong. Par for the course, really. Writing on a new development in the Haditha Massacre story, we have this from Allahpundit:

One of [the Marine eyewitnesses], Lance Cpl. Ryan Briones, was interviewed by the LA Times…. I take Briones at his word because he’s a Marine, but I admit that if he weren’t, I’d find some elements of his story suspicious.

Oh, Allah! Please tell us what bits of info you’d comb over from behind the safety of your monitor! Is it the part about the batteries running out before photos of the cases of stage blood could be taken? (Q: Must every story with more than a handful of details turn into a Nouveau MemoGate?)
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A few days ago, The Liberal Avenger left the following comment, under a post titled The Malkinverse:
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According to Master Steamer Allahpundit, being physically strong, morally astute, and pro-civil liberties makes one a “gaywad”.

Our gaywad superheroes

There aren’t enough real villains to fight, I guess, so they’re duking it out with each other over civil liberties. The dissenters — led by Captain America, naturally — are facing hard time at a Gitmo-esque facility. … Stay tuned for next week’s issue, in which a grief-stricken Batman hears the news about Haditha and has the Human Torch immolate him outside Don Rumsfeld’s office.

Perhaps he means that the whole intra-superhero conflict is frivolous and unimportant, leaving all involved with a “gaywadish” stain on their respective tights. (N.B. According to Urban Dictionary, gaywad may not necessarily have a homophobic connotation.)

Either way, it’s just fiction.

On a related note: I still haven’t forgiven Topps for attempting to militarily indoctrinate me with their Desert Storm Trading Cards.

Update: Geez. I call him flamboyant one time, and he has to go and whine in wingnut fashion. Cushy job, that.

I was going to do a long-ish write up on the asininity of all that is the National Review’s Top 50 Conservative Songs to which Jesse applinked (”approvingly linked”) last week. It turns out that Jon Swift and Rude Pundit easily put anything I could have come up with to shame.
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Today is Memorial Day. Please take a moment to reflect on those who gave their lives in our country’s armed conflicts. The official “National Moment of Remembrance” is at 3 PM local time.

I’ve never been inclined to trace my lineage back to the Civil War, when the tradition of celebrating the lives lost in American wars began. So as far as I know, I have no personal connection to any of the soldiers being recognized today, but without the collective roles of those who gave their lives under the command of our nation’s leaders, we would not have a national identity based in prosperity and personal freedoms.

Below are some links to hit around 3 PM.

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Remember.gov
Wikipedia article
U.S. military deaths sorted by home state: Iraq and Afghanistan
A Women’s History of Memorial Day
The IndyStar’s Indy 500 coverage (simply b/c it’s an M-Day tradition)

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Update: gordo (of appletree) has a great suggestion on how to spend The National Moment of Remembrance: Disabled American Veterans.

Another Update: Oh yeah. I meant to link to MM’s M-Day post. Here it is.

This is what you get for escalating the rhetoric. Deep breaths will just make you dizzy Chicken Littles, instead of the plain ol’ wannabe headless ones.

Read Mykeru. All of it.

P.S. I ♥ vulvas.

Update (2006.05.30): If you were to Google “queefing” right now, this post would be the fourth hit. That is all.

I take responsibility for Auguste’s departure. After over a year of incessant IMs and emails extolling the talents and overall greatness of Mrs. Malkin, he’s decided hand it over to me.

auguste [23:50] :: wtf? didn’t I tell you to stop sending me links?
ryan [23:50] :: I didn’t think you were serious…
ryan [00:02] :: Are you mad?
auguste [00:03] :: [CENSORED]

I think he meant to type “sigh” there. Eh.

As far as I know, there aren’t any other major changes planned, save for the things the previous blogger will be taking with him. Most notably: Auguste’s signature “Friday Poetry Blogging” and quality writing. He may pick these up at the Liberal Avenger. We’ll see.

I can be contacted at ryan.mwatch[AT]gmail.com. And since you wouldn’t abuse Michelle or Allahpundit’s email addresses by signing them up for scandalous newsletters, please extend the same respect to mine.

In all seriousness, I applaud Auguste for the work he’s done here. Although it started as an excuse to publish something (anything) in blog form, he’s established that there is an audience for commentary on Michelle’s daily spews. I can only hope to be the Jon Stewart to Auguste’s Craig Kilborn. I think my inner child just shed a little tear…

Circle - Howard Moss

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Okay, the title might be an exaggeration, but this time spent not reading Malkin has been very relaxing and reinvigorating.

One thing it hasn’t reinvigorated me to do, however, is to continue reading Malkin. I’m tired. I think that, more than anything else, it was HotAir that finally broke my back. Following her 362 blog posts/day was hard enough, but now I’m supposed to watch a badly-produced video clip every day? I don’t think so.

But then again, maybe it’s something going around. Chris Clarke is also expressing malaise, although he has more of an excuse - having been at this longer and much, much better. (More well?) Then again, he gets to write about squirrels if he wants to. Michelle? Was it too much to ask that you throw in a squirrel now and again?

Anyway, when I took this last hiatus I intended to recharge as I have in the past and come back ready for action. I mean, getting back into watching is like jumping back aboard a moving train.

Wreck.

But something funny happened on the way back to Malkin(s)watch. To wit:

I DON’T WANNA!

YOU CAN’T MAKE ME!

NO! NO! NO! NO!

Let’s face it. I hit my peak with this blog a long time ago. It’s been quite awhile since Who Keeps Company With Wolves or, you know, Ghost Blogging - which was fun. And true.

IT. IS. TRUE.

Just wanted to say that one more time, for anyone who missed it.

But more important than whether I’ve got another Malkin scoop in me is whether I want to have another Malkin scoop in me. And the answer is no. Contrary to what my wingnut detractors seem to think, I spend very little time on this blog. But this last two weeks made me realize that the reason for this is not busy-ness but boredness. So, I’m out.

I’m still gonna write, though. I may- emphasis may - even start another Watch blog eventually. (Jeff Goldstein, I’m looking your direction.) For now, I’m gonna do something I was theoretically doing all along, which is contributing at The Liberal Avenger. It’s gonna be fun to pick my own damn topics again. I’ll consider other options as they present themselves.

Thanks to everyone who’s been reading me. Right up till the end people were spreading the word about MW, and I appreciate it very much. I’m gonna keep my malkinwatchblog e-mail at least for awhile but I’ll be slowly trying to get y’all to use augusteisfree at gmail dot com. (auguste@gmail.com was taken, for crying out loud!).

As for Malkin(s)watch: A blogger a lot of you might know is probably going to take over. Negotiations are ongoing. I think. Maybe this person already said yes and I got confused. Stay tuned. I’m gonna post one more Friday Poetry Blog tomorrow and then sayanora.

Thanks a million to everyone, especially those that took to the blog right away - including but not limited to LA (of COURSE), Ryan, Eric Muller, David Neiwert, Mykeru, and all the people I’m forgetting.

See you ’round the blogosphere.

In this episode of Negros sure iz CRAZY! her highness goes for a trifecta!

• “The definition of insanity” in [negro-rich] New Orleans reelecting [zany negro] Ray Nagin as mayor. “They’re stuck on stupid,” says Michelle. Yet another in her long line of photos of NIGGAZ ACTIN’ KRAZY is included in the post to drive the issue home with her readers who need visual reinforcement for their race-hate. On their behalf, we thank ye for the extra help, Michelle.
• She introduces “bussing” to the story with a letter from “Reader Jim K.” (Jim Krow?) who notes that “Evacuees were bused in from Atlanta and Houston to vote…” Amen, Michelle and Jimmy! We all know how much NIGGAZ LOVE BUSSES!
• She includes a link to and quite from Paul Mirengoff whose response to Nagin’s reelection was to pay tribute to another KRAZY NIGGA public servant, convicted felon and crack-smoker Marion Barry. I can’t for the life of me figure out what Malkin/Mirengoff are trying to say by making a connection between Nagin and Barry. Can you?