I'm guessing this is NOT what they had in mind.

Apparently, there's something to that free market thingy after all.

Human rights watch, wanker edition.

More conservative family values:

Alaska Republicans have drawn a line in the sand, refusing to obey a court order mandating health and other benefits for the same-sex domestic partners of state employees and retirees.

This has been your regular installment of "What wingnuts are doing for you," from the Adam Daifallah Centre for Avoiding Reality at all Costs.

Not a bad investment, if you think about it.

Cost of initial attack: A bunch of airline tickets, some preliminary flight school training, a whack of box cutters and 19 volunteers who are now spending eternity with more virgins than is probably healthy.

Cost of utterly unproductive response: Over half a trillion dollars, almost 3,000 lives and counting, military readiness, national security, the House, the Senate, worldwide goodwill and any chance for peace in the Middle East.

Advantage: bad guys.

Right-wing hypocrisy. No, really.

Then:

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is playing with fire when he suggests that Republicans will deploy the so-called "go nuclear" option to prevent Democrats from using filibusters to block controversial judicial nominations expected to reach the floor in mid-to-late February, says congressional expert Steven S. Smith

"Decrying Democrats' tactics as unconstitutional, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has threatened to ban judicial filibusters by majority vote, a procedural move dubbed the "nuclear option" since it would invite massive retaliation by Democrats," suggests Smith.

Now:

The Senate's next Republican leader issued a veiled threat to block action on legislation if Democrats refuse to allow confirmation votes on President Bush's troubled judicial nominations.

Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who will become minority leader Jan. 4, told the conservative Federalist Society Friday not to feel bad about the Senate election results because Republicans will hold 49 seats in a body that requires 60 votes to end a filibuster and bring legislation or presidential nominees to a final vote.

Cue citizens of Wankerville, sputtering, "But ... but ... that's different."

To infinite wankery! And beyond!

Oh, Lord ... Canada's own Crazy-Assed Racist Redneck™ channels Adam Daifallah. It's way too early in the morning for that kind of bad craziness.

BY THE WAY, it's always possible that Kate's self-congratulatory stroking might be a wee bit premature, given that the book she's crowing about isn't scheduled for release until November 24. Is it normal for someone to wax this sanctimonious over something they haven't even read yet?

And maybe, just maybe, it's worth spending a few minutes online, where one finds cautionary pieces like this:

Yet, the apple tends to fall, in all giving, pretty close to the tree. Yalies give to Yale, preps to their prep school. Educated money to the arts and cultural institutions that provide services that donors use and appreciate. The believer gives to his or her church or house of worship. The church may be in a good part of town, surrounded by big houses. The pet lover endows a home for poodles. The athlete a stadium. And on and on.

Yes, it would be interesting to see just where all that vaunted conservative charity is going, wouldn't it? Maybe, as the first commenter suggests, this is where some of those "qualifiers" have been dropped.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? Hell, no. It would be irresponsible not to.

"... without admitting any wrongdoing."

Shorter Conservative Party of Canada: "We absolutely did not break the law back then, and we're going to change the rules to prove it."

Family values blotter ...

... GOP child abuse edition. Because if you don't hit your 9-year-old foster child in the face, the terrorists will have won.

I sense a disturbance in the force ...

... ah ... Joel's back. Carry on, then.

Compassionate conservatism -- the Taser edition.

Given that it's actually the Right that's so ferociously concerned about human rights, it should come as no surprise that, when you have an appalling incident like a UCLA student being Tasered by campus police for not having a student ID card, it's the Blogging Tories that are going to be absolutely beside themselves with rage, demanding a full accounting of this atrocity and ... and ...

You didn't even follow that Blogging Tories link, did you? Have I become that predictable? Lord, you people can read me like a book.

MORE RIGHT-WING "HUMAN RIGHTS" CRUNCHY GOODNESS: Really, I could milk this for years, couldn't I?

But if I accept what REALLY happened, it's no fun.

Shorter Damian Penny: "Well, sure, he actually had nothing to do with it, but as long as I pretend I don't know that, I can be an asshole about it. What ... you got a problem with that?"

The boy in the bubble -- Adam Daifallah edition.

Adam's world:

Given this and so many other examples over the years from across the Anglosphere, it still amazes me how many people still associate support for human rights with the political Left, when the complete opposite is true. It's frustrating.

Then there's the world the rest of us live in:

Noting that every five seconds, a child under the age of five dies from hunger or hunger-related diseases somewhere in the world and the world already has the capacity to feed twice its current population, the resolution called for a response to food crises across Africa.

In favour - 175 countries
Against - The United States.

The U.S. representative explained that he had difficulty with the concept of food as a right...

Oh yeah. And Canada abstained from recognizing the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, making this the first time Canada has not supported the resolution.

When I grow up, I wanna be a big-time, right-wing pundit like Adam. It looks easier than actually having to know stuff.

Separated at birth -- the TBogg edition.

That whole "One of my eyes is bigger than the other" thing -- adorable:

Ehhhhh ... not so much adorable as creepy:

Those who cannot remember history ...

... are apparently condemned to be Blogging Tories. According to Adam, a lack of government regulation is a good thing. After all, what can possibly go wrong?

Busy morning open thread.

It's called "dead air." Feel free to fill it.

Debatably a hanging offense.

(CC NEWS) -- In a shocking reminder of the old days of the Cold War, Canadian authorities arrested a suspected Russian spy as he was about to board a plane out of the country.

The man, who had been living in Canada under the name Paul William Hampel, was taken into custody on Tuesday at Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in Dorval, Quebec.

According to Canada's Minister of Justice and Attorney General Vic Toews, Hampel, under interrogation, admitted to having been sent to Canada to snoop on "Canada's New Government" and steal any information related to the Conservative Party of Canada's new policies on women's rights, gay tolerance and environmental protection.

Toews suggested that, given the severity of the crime and the inherent value of the data collected by Hampel, he was recommending a sentence of 10 days in prison for Hampel, to be served on alternate weekends and followed by 100 hours of community service. Hampel's lawyer, horrified by the unfairness of the sentence, has already promised to appeal.

Canadian security officials are still uncertain how Hampel planned on smuggling the stolen information out of the country and continued to search his luggage for high-tech items such as microdots and encoded data but found nothing out of the ordinary, although they admit being puzzled by the presence of both a postage stamp and a shaving brush.

Blogging Tories Short Takes: November 16, 2006.

Shorter Dr. Roy: "So, if by 'internecine fighting' we mean one disgruntled hack who happens to be married to a high-level GOP operative, I believe I have an interesting point to make here."

Shorter Adam Daifallah: "So, if you ignore our gutting the Status of Women Canada and the Court Challenges Program and our rampant racism and homophobia, I believe I have an interesting point to make here."

Shorter The Politic: "So, if someone wants to explain what my interesting point might be, I believe I have an interesting point to make here."

Oh, Jesus.

I just wet myself.

What part of "metaphor" do you just not get?

Dude ... when we use the phrase "bitch slap," we don't mean it literally.

Great moments in Canadian punditry.

This is why Adam Daifallah gets invited onto The Agenda, and you don't.

"And Iran? Yeah, that'll be a cakewalk, trust me."

Ti-Guy brings our attention to more pontificating from Canada's Mark Steyn:

Well, my view of Europe in 20 years' time is that you'll be switching on the TV, you'll be looking at scenes of burning and conflagration and riots in the street. You will have a couple of countries that are maybe in civil war, at least on the brink of it.

Good thinking, Mark -- make predictions 20 years out. 'Cuz if they're any closer, well, stuff like this tends to happen, know what I mean?

YOU KNOW, one can generally respond to anything by Mark Steyn by referring simply to his Wingnut All-Star bio page, leaving it at that and moving on to more pressing topics. As Thomas Huxley once said, "Life is too short to occupy oneself with the slaying of the slain more than once."

But we'll still check in on Steve Janke once in a while, anyway.

BY THE WAY, it's amusing to watch interviewer Hawkins and interviewee Steyn continually refer to other ethnic groups and their "breeding," as if those groups were collections of prize show dogs or something:

Hawkins: Mark, here's the $24,000 question: can you give us a quick rundown on the reasons why Europe's birth rates have plummeted?

Steyn: Well, I think it's true as countries get wealthy, birth rates decline and that's true around the world even in Muslim cultures. For example, more advanced Muslim societies such as those little wealthy Gulf Emirates, they breed less than they do, say in Somalia or in Pakistan or Yemen...

Hawkins: Now, here's an even more relevant question: is there any plausible way you can see to get them breeding again?

That's a good question. I'm thinking maybe lightly spritzing their genitals with Axe Body Spray and letting nature take its course. If all else fails, some soft-core porn and a 12-pack of Molsons.

Hey, it works for us.

GETTING SLAPPED BY THE BEST. I only this minute noticed that uber-blogger Glenn Greenwald also takes uber-dumbass Steyn out to the curb. That has to be uncomfortable for Greenwald since Steyn is pretty much low-hanging fruit even for me.