‘It spread, like the Ebola virus – fast’: Gabriel Jeffrey’s Hub confession site has become a ‘cult hit’ and earned him a book contract. … Confession: I concede the Greatest War Movies List just can’t compete with the issue of when virginity ends.



Fine weather down there in South Carolina: Now Wily Willard has to come back to the bitterly cold north to govern. … Joan is also wondering if he’ll run for reelection in ’06. But my question now is: When (not if) he runs for president, will he run against Massachusetts? Reread the above articles. Do you catch a whiff of the possible commonwealth bashing he’ll have to engage in to win over SC votes?



‘The fraud that many predicted …’: Not Mitt. The Silver Line. ... JDaley notes the MBTA’s claims that buses and trains perform the same. …



‘As any imperfect human being …’: Didn’t jump on the Larry Summers-releases-transcript story earlier because of computer woes and a busy schedule last week. Reading the stories/transcripts, it’s pretty clear Summers’ talk was far more intellectually sloppy than first imagined. He also brings up racial issues, not just gender issues, if I’m reading this right. ... Still, the guy is getting unfairly lambasted. Every self-righteous performer in academia seems to be piling on this PC wreck. ... Don’t agree with everything Arnold Kling has to say, but he does have interesting anecdotes about the lack of academic freedom and obnoxious male behavior in academic settings. (Fear not: You’re always allowed to bring up bad points about men when it comes to gender debates.)  ¶ 9:26 AM

‘Sox-obsessed Yankees …’: Boston Dirt Dogs nail it: The Yanks are obsessed with the Sox. ... The curious role reversal was evident last year during the ALCS, when Bucky threw out the first pitch, George shoved Sox management into the Babe Ruth Suite etc. The Sox routinely lost when they were obsessed with the Yanks. Now it’s George et gang obsessed with the Sox. ...


‘The timing only a few days before coming to South Carolina’: Oh, nooooo. National political considerations didn’t drive Mitt’s stem-cell decision and announcement. No siree. ... ‘Wily Willard.’ ... The ‘compromise’ as presented by someone else.



If this was happening under Clinton …: Frank Rich summarizes the Bush administration’s strange media bribery and plant campaign. ... The entire media world is getting stranger and stranger these days. Not just this. Everything. Is this how industries fade away? Into a huge spinning vortex? ... Don’t recall it happening to the textile industry.  ¶ 9:02 PM

'Cockney barrow boy spivs': Gotta love it when pushy lefty professional activists get pushed back by Britain's equivalent of New England Patriot fans. ... Thanks to Lex Reader for the tip.



'Somehow, Bledsoe didn't see it coming ...': From blitzing linebackers to playing second fiddle to Tom Brady, there were a lot of things Drew Bledsoe didn't see coming. ... I'm sorry for the guy. But three Super Bowls are three Super Bowls. ...



'A serious case of freedom envy': Peggy Noonan has a good piece on the mainstream media's latest hyperventilating and heart-clutching attacks against bloggers. ... The thing is, most journalists who discover blogging love it. The ones hyperventilating and making jackasses of themselves have little idea how it works. Unfortunately, they're also the cranks running most media operations into the ground. ... Quibble: Hub Blog thinks Noonan's predictions about blogging are pretty obvious and therefore lame. Some of them have also already occurred. ... The perfect Hub Blog job combo: getting paid to write a blog while serving as deputy assistant sod-farm monitor, both doable in pajamas and by midmorning.

Update -- Steve of Arlington says Hub Blog could also serve as 'professor and Robert Shaw chair of War Movies Studies' at some university. ... Via distance learning? With tenure? Pension? My life goals are finally coming into focus. ...  ¶ 8:53 AM

'Oops': Armchair Gen. Savin Hill sends in this 'oops list' of airplane mishaps. Go ahead, click on any of them and chuckle at things you're not supposed to chuckle at. Guilty pleasures....  ¶ 9:34 AM

Spyware, spyware, spyware, busy, busy, busy: A combination of my computer freezing up at home due to spyware and just plain being busy had led to my own forced hiatus from blogging, as I thought would happen. Will try to fix things ASAP.... Until then, a few snide remarks about: A.) Tom Reilly. Now how do you 'evolve' and yet not change a position? I actually admired his initial stand on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's gay-marriage ruling. One can support gay marriage and still believe the court engaged in gross, egotistical judicial overreach that has undeniably led to a backlash. Now Reilly is blurring that approximate post-ruling stand by babbling about 'evolving.' At least he didn't use the word 'grow.' ... B.) Mitt Romney. Reader No. 1 and I have been having a spirited email debate about his new/old/whatever stand on stem cells. FYI: I do believe a politician can have a principled stand on the issue and use it for political advantage. That's politics. Unfortunately, I think the evidence is clear that Mitt's views on abortion and stem cells are, at best, unclear and certainly contradictory, and he's scrambling to curry favor, so to speak, with the right. He said the right things to get elected governor in 2002. He's saying the right things, he thinks, to get elected president in 2008. I now question if he's running for reelection here because 2008 is obviously more important to him than 2006.  ¶ 8:36 AM

‘A man whose positions are nuanced bordering on tortured’: The Herald compares Mitt to John Kerry, refers to him as an ‘alleged pro-business governor’ and blasts Mitt’s new stem-cell stand as all about ‘his national political ambitions.’ ... Did they leave anything out? When’s the next UMass poll? ... Stem-cell roundup here and here. … And, oh, read all about Mitt’s non-business business trips here. … I don’t care what the polls say or don’t say. This is all going to catch up with him, locally and nationally. The obvious question: Is he even going to run for reelection?

Update – From Reader No. 1:

“I would expect it from the Globe, but it's disappointing that the Boston Herald editorial writers would take the easy road of attributing political motivations to Romney's position on embryonic stem cell research, rather than address the substance of his point. It is possible for someone to have moral and ethical reservations about embryonic stem cell research independent of political ambition -- I'm not running for anything.”

Hub Blog’s response -- The problem is it’s obvious Mitt’s reservations are not independent of political ambition. If he really wanted a thoughtful debate here, he could have had a thoughtful debate here -- in public or in private. He chose not to. He chose instead to leak it to a national paper for maximum national attention. This is standard operating procedure for the nationally ambitious.  ¶ 8:57 AM

‘Like an old rejected boy friend who still thinks he has a chance’: Mickey expends oxygen beating up John Kerry. ...



‘The governor's position runs counter ...’: Mitt just threw an apparent curve ball caught by the NYT: He’s going to oppose some of the stem-cell proposals now before the Legislature. … Things are getting really strange around here. Hub Blog’s on Trav’s side? And Trav is on the side of business? … Speaking of Trav and the boys. …



‘A legislative Socrates he is not,’ Part 3: Steve of Arlington writes in to take both Hub Blog and Reader No. 1 to task over the UMass poll (see items from yesterday): “Mitt is L-O-S-I-N-G to Reilly. Read the damn article!” … OK, OK. I don’t know about Reader No. 1, but I’m blaming spyware. ... Speaking of Reader No. 1, he has a few more points on the issue, in case people think he doesn’t see Mitt’s faults – and voters’ faults:

“Mitt's deeds have fallen far short of his words, but his supporters don't expect a lot. After all, to the extent his supporters are addicted to the Hackerama, they/we are part of the problem... insert observation here about Reagan, Bush 2, and deficit spending. I'll respectfully submit that talking tight spending and taking the opposite tack is the true Republican strategic brilliance of the last 25 years. (NOT an excuse for anyone's behavior, just an explanation.) …

“On the Presidential issue: Massachusetts has yet to punish a native son ‘just’ for running for President. We punished native sons who ran for President and let the state go to hell in a handbasket (eg the Duke)... In that respect, the jury is out on Mitt, but I'll bet he's safe as long as the Hackerama is running state political operations, and he doesn't claim too much for himself (i.e., no ‘Massachusetts Miracle’ crap). Weakness is strength, a la Clinton after the Gingrich Revolution.”  ¶ 9:20 AM

‘A legislative Socrates he is not,’ Part II: Reader No. 1 is surprised at my surprise at Mitt’s latest poll numbers and adds:

“Scott Lehigh's return to form column today (see post below) explains Romney's high poll ratings. Remember that November 2002 Globe map showing the percentage of votes for Mitt and Shannon, those tiny little dots of blue (I think, I hope) in the Hack-Progressive urban outposts and the rest of Mass (for once!) a Red State?

“Most Romney voters, busily navigating the rapids of the Ownership Society, have no illusions about what side they are on in the battle with the Hackerama. But between soccer practice, MCAS preparation, and midnight Emails to the sales office on the other side of the world, we/they have little time to take to the political ramparts.

“And ... as noted in earlier posts on same topic, the Hack-Progressive alliance has its hooks in good to the David Brooks contingent on matters of great importance, i.e. spending on public education and public safety.

“So nothing changes. Result: Mitt continues as the Commonwealth's most popular symbol of executive responsibility. The major result on which we judge him on is not to make state government a lot worse than it already is. Maybe Massachusetts is a conservative state after all.”

FYI – I was surprised that Mitt’s presidential antics hadn’t hurt him more. I was obviously wrong. ... I am NOT surprised that many people are/will be closely watching the State House antics of Sal et gang. One of those closely watching should be Reilly.



‘A legislative Socrates he is not’: Sal’s new ‘House speaker pro tempore.’ ... Somewhat surprised by these positive poll numbers for Mitt. Reilly should be happy too – if the numbers are accurate.   ¶ 9:23 AM

Consolidating the gains: Sal is reshuffling the deck to create a new old regime tilting to the left. ... This is what ‘currying favor’ gets? The Hack-Progressive Alliance has come out of deep freeze. It lives! It lives! ... Mitt’s still buried in snow-plowing woes two weeks after a storm. Has it come to this? ... Sun and fun is just around the corner, Mitt. The South Carolina trip is only a few weeks away. ...   ¶ 6:58 AM

Another day, another championship: Ho hum. … Ho hum. … Yawn. Who wants to take on a Boston/New England team next?

Update -- From Philly newspaper: 'Die Nasty.'

Update II -- From Reader No. 1:

"Why is it so important for the Patriots to be a 'DYNASTY'? Maybe Coach Belichick can put a spin on it, but I think it's a bad thing. Dynasties are things that happened in the past and are over -- I would like to think the Pats best days are not behind them, my comments yesterday notwithstanding. My wife described last night's win as 'anticlimactic.' Certainly so by the prior 2 Super Bowl standards. It was like so many wins over the past couple of years, many of which end with a talented but erratic quarterback piling up big numbers and mismanaging the game when it really counts. Makes you appreciate Tom Brady all the more! And it's nice to know that Boston is not the only city that sentences its near-championship teams to eternal damnation when they come up short."

Update III -- Definitely check out the eternal damnation page. God Philly fans are brutally funny. ... 'Should we be looking to blame somebody today?' Classic.



‘The architect of Romney's national ambitions’: Not only does Mitt seem to be in a bit of trouble locally, Gin says he’s relying on a loser nationally.  ¶ 9:17 AM

‘What no westerns?’: Maine Man chimes in on the Greatest War Movies posts over the weekend:

“What no westerns? The Searchers, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Cheyenne. Zulu is a great movie, but it is a western set in Africa. Breaker Morant, a great movie, is a western set in Australia and Egypt. Apocalypse Now was far and away the greatest, there is no comparison; but The Searchers is number 1 if you admit westerns, and Apocalypse Now is second. ... What about From Here to Eternity, one of very few movies that both guys and gals could watch and enjoy? Lawrence of Arabia has a lot of topical interest of course. It was a great movie and it introduced many of us to Islam and the Arabs. (BTW, i think that the Omar Sharif character in the movie was later put on the Iraqi throne by the Brits.) Hell, you could even argue that the Godfather trilogy is a war movie, the family versus the state. One of the hallmarks of a good war movie is that the hero is a guy you would want in the foxhole next to you, but not someone whom you would trust in civilian life, and the movie is good enough to point that out. Rummy, who never served, is like that, isn't he?”

Hub Blog’s response -- Agree From Here to Eternity should have at least gotten a mention/acceptance/rejection. ... As for westerners and the Godfather, I totally disagree. Should we also include cop and gangster movies?



'What, no mention of Patton?’: And Sol jumps into the Greatest War Movies fray:

“What, no mention of Patton?! And don't forget to check out the oft-overlooked Howard Hughes directed Hell's Angels.”

Hub Blog’s response -- I know, I know. Read Armchair Gen. Savin Hill’s anti-Patton rant from yesterday. Patton was definitely on my list.  ¶ 9:11 AM

'Enjoy it while you can’: Reader No. 1 is holding with the Pats:

“I was going to make that 3-point pick on the obligatory Vinateri field goal, but everybody has beat that horse to death. So I'll say instead: Pats 24-9. Would not be surprised to see a slow start (call it the Media Week Effect - more effective than novocaine)... but an inevitable finish. And as Bob Kraft said this week on WEEI, 'enjoy it while you can, you never know when you'll go back.' Adios Charlie, Romeo, and about one-third of a great team in this offseason - thanks for a great run and the most thrilling Super Bowl win (#36 of course).”

Hub Blog’s prediction -- Pats, though I’m getting very nervous and pessimistic. Which is good. …
  ¶ 2:28 PM

‘The war movie version of ‘Mommy Dearest’ ’: Armchair Gen. Savin Hill is on the warpath. He thinks Hub Blog and a friend, Christophenberg, who was briefed on the general’s Greatest War Movies of All-Time List (see yesterday’s post), ambushed him by later bringing up movies that he says he distinctly rejected. Savin Hill lashes out at his low-brow critics:

“Gallipoli -- A fair, two-star movie that's more travalogue than war movie. We get to see the Australian outback, we get to see Egypt, and of course... a sliver of Gallipoli, at the very end of the movie. The dramatic build-up to the final scene is great, but really -- yawn -- oh-my-futility-of-war-isn't-it-horrible-officer-bastards, blah blah -- yawn. Also, I never really cared that much about the characters. So they were, uh, good runners, so it was particularly tragic that they die? Give me a break. I cheered when the boring blonde runner got shot….

“Patton -- A very good, two-and-a-half star movie. The entire movie is a character study of Patton with an absurdly over-the-top, scene-chewing performance by George C. Scott. Who is amusing. In fact, he's so amusing, take him out of that role, and how good is that movie? Not very. It's the war movie version of "Mommy Dearest" -- the scene-chewing holds together the whole movie. You can't look away. The battle scenes all look like they were stock footage pulled from other movies, and aren't particularly realistic. Shooting a donkey doesn't make a war movie. …

“Deer Hunter -- God how I hate this movie. Take out the POW Russian roullette scene -- and ... oh my, we have "Days of Our Lives" set in a Pennsylvania coal town. Half the characters walk around in the movie sullen, inexpressive and on the verge of tears -- except when they are wildly drunk, which is when they are happy... It's like the director, at every scene said "OK, in this scene you are drunk and happy....and in this scene you are sober and morose" ... Dreadful, dreadful movie. And the ending -- good God. Vietnam vet goes back to rescue his friend -- WHO HAS BECOME A MORSOSE, SULLEN ZOMBIE! But he's a star in the Russian Roulette business (wonder what health benefits are like?). This movie manages to be both improbable AND sappy. Oh ... and he (*sniff*) can't shoot that deer anymore (*sniff*). This would make my list of top 20 WORST war movies.



‘My honorable Mom will applaud your selection of 'Zulu'’: Reader No. 1 also weighs in on The Greatest War Movies on this noble Super Bowl Day, the unofficial American Male Holiday:

“Good topic. And my honorable Mom will applaud your selection of 'Zulu' as #1. Some thoughts:

“1. Private Ryan is a deserving film, but maybe we are a little close to it right now. I agree on Battle of Britain. I enjoyed it (in a theatre!) when I was 10 but it's not in the same league as these others.

“2. How can you leave out Full Metal Jacket!? That would be in my top.

“3. Band of Brothers was fabulous but it isn't really a movie - it was an HBO series. So I'm a nitpicker...

“4. Hamburger Hill (1987) was greatly underappreciated when it came out 9 months after Platoon, plus it was written by a conservative. It's awesome.

“5. Both versions of Henry V - Olivier and Branagh - are worthy.

“6. I would bump up Glory in the listings. The battle sequences are incredible and of course, we always know what we are fighting for.

“My list is too slanted towards newer films, probably because seeing them in theatres leaves a strong impression...”


Update -- JDaley has his own thoughts. Hmmm. Dr. Strangelove. Interesting. ... Full Metal Jacket seems to have been a big oversight, at least on my part. Armchair Gen. Savin Hill doesn't like it. He's very picky.



A possible non-hiatus forced hiatus: Hub Blog is suffering massive spyware problems and may be out of it for a while. … I barely got online to make these posts today. It’s outrageous. I’m plotting to put as much distance between me and anything Microsoft.  ¶ 2:23 PM

For your pre-Super Bowl pleasure: The Best War Movies of All Time: What do three friends discuss at a bar when they go through the first weekend since last April without a Sox, Pats or playoff game to watch? Why, they discuss the best war movies of all time, of course. Armchair Gen. Savin Hill got it rolling this past Sunday by grandly announcing he had come up with his tentative top 20 list of All-Time Greatest War Movies, forcing Hub Blog and the Hub Blog Bro to guess which they were. The debate got hot and heavy, with several total strangers at the Hill Tavern eagerly jumping into the fray, one of whom had to be glumly dragged away to dinner by an annoyed girlfriend.

Anyway, feel free to discuss Armchair Gen. Savin Hill's modified list in the run-up to tomorrow’s Super Bowl and/or during the half-time show, if Paul McCartney’s not your cup of tea. Here goes:

Saving Pvt. Ryan
The Battle of Britain
Paths of Glory
Breaker Morant
Bridge Over the River Kwai
Lawrence of Arabia
A Bridge Too Far
Das Boot
Black Hawk Down
Zulu
Band of Brothers
Braveheart
Pork Chop Hill
The Great Escape
Spartacus
12 O'clock High
Bridges of Toko Ri
Battleground
Tora!Tora!Tora!
The Longest Day

Savin Hill’s Honorable Mentions: Cross of Iron, Too Late The Hero, Stalag 17, The Bedford Incident, Gettysburg, The Lost Battalion, Guns of Navarrone, Judgment at Nuremberg, Glory, The Enemy Below, The Crossing.

Hub Blog’s comments -- Those in bold -- which shall be called the Bold of Shame -- are the movies Savin Hill actually forgot on his initial list, if you can believe it. ... I don’t agree with his top two. I’m tired of Saving Private Ryan, and Battle of Britain never did it for me. ... I’m also no big fan of Tora, Tora, Tora! and the Longest Day. ... And my biggest pet peeve: Battle of the Bulge doesn’t even make honorable mention? The all-time greatest Saturday morning war movie on Channel 56? C’mon. OK, so it’s historically inaccurate from beginning to end. But it’s got Robert Shaw as Colonel Kessler! ...

My top movie? Probably Zulu. Rounding off the top five: Paths of Glory, Lawrence of Arabia, Saving Private Ryan and Schindler’s List, with Pork Chop Hill, Breaker Morant and Patton tearing at my heart strings. ... Schindler’s List raises a question: Is it really a war movie? Is Spartacus? Savin Hill fudged and said his main criteria was that a movie had to include a battle scene. But wouldn’t that exclude the Great Escape, Stalag 17 and Judgment at Nuremberg? ... Questions, questions. ...

Yes, yes, yes. We were aware of the Big Red One, Kelly’s Heroes, MASH, Where Eagles Dare, Midway and other ‘60s and ‘70s big-production vehicles for movie stars. R-E-J-E-C-T-E-D. ... Yes, yes, yes. Aware too of Platoon and Apocalypse Now. Very little debate over Platoon. R-E-J-E-C-T-E-D. But Apocalypse was hotly debated. .... Should made-for-TV flicks and series be included? ... Questions, questions. ... To our collective shame: we forgot Deer Hunter and Gillapoli. ...

I’m thinking of more movies as I write. But I have to stop somewhere. ...  ¶ 10:22 AM

‘This Charles-Manson-with-a-turban’: Tom Friedman hails the Sunday vote in Iraq: “It's about time, because whatever you thought about this war, it's not about Mr. Bush any more. It's about the aspirations of the Iraqi majority to build an alternative to Saddamism. By voting the way they did, in the face of real danger, Iraqis have earned the right to ask everyone now to put aside their squabbles and focus on what is no longer just a pipe dream ...”

The realistic discussion about Iraq is now between those who were gung-ho from the start and gratified by Sunday’s vote and those who had legitimate criticisms and misgivings but are still gratified by Sunday’s vote. All those who simply carp at the president and the United States -- and ignore the reality of Sunday -- are irrelevant to the debate. ... How can you not be happy about Sunday's vote?



What hiatus?: Andrew Sullivan has written more in the last 48 hours than I’ve seen in months. Some hiatus. Sort of like John Ellis’ hiatus. ... The key is, methinks, to admit to any blogger exhaustion/addiction and withdraw in stages, without announcing it until the winding down is made obvious. Sort of like quietly going on a diet. I tend to signal to everyone I’m determined to lose weight, then get caught the next night wolfing down a Steak Bomb sub at Ninos. ... Glenn Reynolds has a great post on blogging. Like the sand-and-rocks comparison. ...   ¶ 8:08 AM

Islamic law in Ontario?: Must have missed this imbecility when it first broke. Who’s opposing the oh-so progressive move not to fully assimilate Muslims into Western laws and institutions? Islamic women who know sharia tribunals are stacked against them. ... Great article: ‘He's a martyr now.’ And he is. As are others.
  ¶ 9:07 AM

Money talks: Mitt’s running: Mitt’s denying it, of course, but money talks. ... Is he going to brief Spartanburg County, S.C. Republicans on the snow removal efforts on battered Cape Cod? Update Michigan state senators on his relations with Trav and Sal? ... I’m beginning to wonder if he can win reelection in Massachusetts. I don’t think his advisers have an inkling how poorly his shallow checklist governance style is playing on the streets here. ...


Update -- 2.2.05 - ‘Romney vs Kerry in 2008?’ Unlikely, but it would be fun. ... Wait a second. Who would run the state while they’re going at it?



‘Those Boston years were good years’: Godfrey Sperling Jr. looks back on his long career at the Christian Science Monitor, Boston's often overlooked third daily. ... A signal he’s going to retire soon?  ¶ 9:34 AM

‘There is only one way ...’: The man of peace and love sure spits out a lot of venom today -- again. ... Can’t you at least be happy for one day, James? One day? ... Tom Oliphant is right: a phased, smart withdrawal of U.S. troops is important and inevitable. But not the way Ted Kennedy wants. ... There are simply very few precedents, if any, in history of a people tolerating a foreign occupation in the name of protecting them from their own people, even if those people happen to be fascist thugs. ...

President Bush is now claiming ‘vindication.’ To a degree he’s right. To a degree he’s not. Walter Russell Mead: "Certainly at this point, you have to say that the Bush administration's critics have made as many mistakes as the Bush administration in assessing Iraq." Actually, I’d say the critics have made more mistakes. But the problem is the Bush administration and most of its Bushie groupies have admitted no mistakes. I’m sorry, but I never viewed this war, in the winter of 2003, as a war of liberation. That’s the jingoistic, backup argument that came to the forefront after the WMD and terrorist-link arguments fell by the wayside. I view the successful election just completed as more a case of the administration snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. It was its last hope, while a successful election should have been icing on the national-interest cake. ... Was it worth it? Let’s answer it this way: How can you not rejoice (James Carroll excluded) at people defying terrorist thugs and voting for democracy? So, in that regard, it was worth it, seeing we can’t go back in history and undo the past’s almost unforgivable pre-war planning and occupation blunders. ... And, oh, yes, I know it’s not over. The crocodiles are still there. But I’m rooting for the Iraqis -- and us -- to win in the end. I don’t like failures.  ¶ 9:30 AM

‘On hiatus for a few months’: Following in the footsteps of John Ellis, Andrew Sullivan is also taking a hiatus from blogging. ... I think Reader No. 1 is right: we’re at the end of the blogging beginning and something else is emerging. ... I’m looking forward to Andrew returning with a revamped site. Hopefully he’ll help take blogging in a new direction and/or heights. ... Hub Blog is bravely sticking it out! This is a hobby for me, so it’s not a burden. I like it. When I’m not in the mood, I don’t blog. Simple. I don’t quite understand the pressure some, like John and Andrew, apparently put on themselves to produce. Any observations, Sherman? ...

I do hope certain backbone bloggers stick it out. Locally, there’s Adam Gaffin, who’s built a terrific Hub central blog and is now thinking of major changes, for the positive I assume. (I’ve voted to keep Boston Common, FYI. See cyber ballots at the left.) .... Nationally, there’s Glenn Reynolds, who’s dared to annoy me in recent months, but who constantly startles me. Did you see his post yesterday on neo-Confederates? That’s been an unwritten pet peeve of mine for a while. I’ve been giving the issue some thought and was looking for an opportunity to write about it. And Glenn just rips out an unbelievably great item on the issue. How does he do it? Hope he sticks it out too. ...   ¶ 9:23 AM

‘A moment for Arab self-criticism and soul-searching’: Williams College’s Marc Lynch writes for CSM on the Arab media’s criticism of the tepid, tardy Arab response to the tsunami disaster, saying it marked a significant change in tone and substance. ... Maybe the change lapped over to the coverage of yesterday’s election in Iraq, where the Arab media actually covered the voting, not the violence. ...

Kennedy and Kerry alert: Mickey is raking the two senators from Massachusetts over the coals. ...

Blogger war alert: Andrew is still bashing critics of his criticism of noncritics; Mickey still isn’t saying what he thought or thinks about the elections; Glenn is rightly pointing out goalpost-moving efforts while not mentioning his and others’ past goalpost-moving efforts (lack of WMD, bogus comparisons to post-war German occupation etc. etc.). And so it goes ...



Roads, roads, roads: Even if fire departments got more resources they still would have to face Boston roadways. ... Speaking of roads, I’m not terribly impressed with city and state snow plowing efforts during the recent storms. Many roads are still clogged -- and they’re now freezing over. But I was impressed with snow removal on Cambridge Street. There used to be huge mounds everywhere. Tractors and dump trucks arrived this weekend and, well, it’s remarkably clear. Where they put the snow, I don’t want to know. ...  ¶ 9:09 AM

‘We want to be like other Iraqis’: A truly historic day. ... Seventy-two percent turnout? Not in my wildest dreams did I think it would be so high. Imagine if there wasn’t an insurgency. Now we know: a minimum 72 percent of the Iraqi people are not with the fascist insurgents. Period. End of argument.

... My pre-election pessimism calls for me to eat a little crow. Not an entire crow. Maybe just a wing. But some crow nevertheless. Pass the Grey Poupon! ... The big question: What now? Will the fledgling democracy be consumed by corruption and apathy? Subverted by mullahs or other would-be Islamo dictators? Anyone who says they know is a fool. Yet this much is clear: today’s vote was a dramatic, positive start for a new Iraq. ... The biggest short-term domestic winner: President Bush. The guy’s on a roll. The biggest short-term domestic loser: Ted Kennedy. He should have waited until after the election to give his troop-pullout speech.

Update -- Steve of Arlington asks what I was pessimistic about. Though I didn't annuniciate it in detail, I was mostly fearing turnout of at best about 50 percent or so, marred by ferocious violence and massive Florida-like voting irregularities and other woes. Never expected the open, festive atmosphere after what Iraq went through in recent months. ... Glad to be proven wrong. ... And, hey, eating crow isn't that bad.   ¶ 11:31 AM

‘It shouldn't have taken me this long to say so’: Jeff Jacoby writes one of the most honest columns I’ve read anywhere in a long while, this one on the torture scandal. Jeff:

“If this were happening on a Democratic president's watch, the criticism from Republicans and conservatives would be deafening. Why the near-silence now? Who has better reason to be outraged by this scandal than those of us who support the war? More than anyone, it is the war hawks who should be infuriated by it. It shouldn't have taken me this long to say so.”

Hub Blog was talking to a friend the other day about the torture scandal, trying to put it into historic perspective. My friend compared it to the internment camps for Japanese-Americans during World War II -- an undeniable black mark within the context of a good cause. Not a perfect comparison, obviously, but you get the idea. ... The conversation turned to other aspects of the current war. My friend also compared the military, intelligence and diplomatic blunders at the start of the war to the ineptness of Union forces at the start of the Civil War -- undeniable and almost unforgiveable mistakes within the context of a good cause. ...

Such real-time blunders and contradictions, I suspect, contribute more than a little to Hub Blog’s Wobbly Warrior Ways.  ¶ 11:27 AM

‘The Little Prince’: I just received my winter edition of Tufts Magazine (Fall 2004 edition still up, alas) and consumed a long excerpt from Sol Gittleman’s new book, ‘An Entrepreneurial University.’ The unquestioned star of the book is the late Tufts President Jean Mayer, the mischievous sorcerer who transformed the university in the 70’s and ‘80s through a beguiling mixture of ‘disinformation and misinformation,’ as Gittleman affectionately puts it. What a character: a former resistance fighter and Free French adviser to Charles DeGaulle who once shot a Nazi guard when escaping prison and who later went on to rescue Tufts. Gittleman is right: Mayer, a huge figure at both Tufts and within American academia, shouldn’t be forgotten. ...

Mayer is one of those miraculous university presidents -- including BC’s J. Donald Monan and BU’s John Silber -- who blessed Boston in the late 20th Century by propelling their then underachieving schools to new heights. All three were great dreamers, schemers and builders. ...   ¶ 11:23 AM

Sammy Sosa to the Orioles?: The AL East is going to be fun this year. ... It's fun every year, granted. This will just make it more fun.  ¶ 11:53 AM

It's a blogger war! ...Part I: All quiet on the newspaper war’s Southeast Expressway Front. ... Wait! Another blast from Wingo Way! ... The horror. The horror! ... Anyway, there’s a blogger war now breaking out on the Iraq front. Andrew is lobbing grenades at Mickey, who’s lobbing back, and Instapundit is getting sucked into the vortex and responding in a syrupy ‘who me?’ lawyerly way. ...

Bottom line: Just about everyone with an opinion on Iraq has had something to blush about -- Andrew’s emotionalism, Mickey’s caginess, Glenn’s blame-everything-on-the-media tactics and, definitely and for instance, Hub Blog’s notorious Wobbly Warrior Ways. But let’s face it: Everyone is obviously maneuvering to come across as being all knowing and, certainly, not wrong, as if events in a war are on a straight path to triumph or truth. But the reasons for the war and the undeniable blunders are old arguments. This weekend is an historic one. It certainly looks like the Iraq voting will turn out OK. If the fascist insurgents indeed disrupt it, well, the whole world is watching, as the lefties said during another war. ... No matter what happens this weekend, and in coming weeks and months, remember these two lines:

-- Victory has a thousand fathers but defeat is an orphan.

-- Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.

Update - 1.30.05 -- Reader No. 1 writes in: "A 'foolish' consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. (Of course today we would debate what is 'foolish' for months on end...)" ... I stand corrected. Should have googled the quote beforehand. I'll leave the foolish mistake above as yet another reminder to get it right next time.  ¶ 11:19 AM

King Gillette, now at most a brand prince: The loss of FleetFinancial and John Hancock hurt. But Gillette Co. being sold to Procter & Gamble hurts more, for both sentimental and practical reasons. Gillette has deep roots and a rich history in Boston. ... Time for area entrepreneurs to once again fill the long-term void, as Gillette did in the early years of the 20th Century when it led the way with its post-textile highly skilled manufacturing operations.



‘Mission inebriation’ - Part III: Mickey is turning into a interesting Speech Analyzing Site with yet another op-ed tip on the president’s inaugural speech. ... Noonan and Wright both dislike the president’s speech. I tilt more toward Noonan, if only because she so deftly nails the pumped up emotional state at the White House. But Wright, almost sounding like a patient Cold Warrior of yore, is right about the undeniable march of free markets and democracy.  ¶ 8:27 AM

‘Mission inebriation’ – Part II: Peggy Noonan has more on the president’s speech – and this column is even better than the last (via Mickey).



Massachusetts’ contribution to the war and really cool weapons: PackBot and R-Gator, made by Burlington’s IRobot Corp. ... Robotics Trends Inc. in Northborough is also mentioned in the CSM article.



It’s a newspaper war! ... Part IV: The fusillade resumes!: I know, I know. Hub Blog said I was going to lay off the issue. But I’ve been put on KP Duty while on active duty, so I have time in between spatula flips to type out dispatches. ... Where was I? Oh, I couldn’t resist: Fearless Leader discovers more about the Metro gang. ... Bravo One Hub Blog to Herald. Bravo One Hub Blog to Herald. Put Coz’s frigging full column online. Over. ... Ah, the smell of ink in the morning. It smells like -- victory. ... Medic! Medic! Adam is going to need a heart defibrillator! ...

... Ah, a very balanced, very long and very overdue Globe story on the Globe-Metro deal. ... The article seems to quickly appease Dan Kennedy, who notes for the first time that more than a few people have been “waiting for the Globe to weigh in.” Gee, no media critique or smack across the head on why we shouldn’t have waited so long? ... Anyway, KP duty calls, so I’ll leave with these quick questions: Why did the original Globe-Metro deal story go on Page 1 -- without a single mention of a likely Herald response, FYI -- and then get buried in the business section once the story took a nasty racial turn? Why did a first-day racial controversy at MIT make it so quickly to the front page of the Globe’s Metro section? Why did a first-day Larry Summers gender-remarks story go on Page 1 and stay there? ... Is there anyone in this city who doesn’t think the Globe would have been all over the Metro racial flap if it involved any other prominent local institution except itself? Just asking. ...

But enough. ... Good-bye, Ma. Good-bye, Pa. Your soldier boy will write! ...



See ya, Doug, and leave the keys and ball: Doug Mientkiewicz is outta here. ... Actually I’m pretty sure I would have kept the ball too. Instinctive selfish reaction. C’mon. Admit it. You would have too. ... The problem is he didn’t wisely and diplomatically relent once the obvious was pointed out. ... Boston Dirt Dogs are all over Minky and Jodi. ... Tomori has been signed by Sox?   ¶ 7:27 AM

‘Watching this episode unfold ...’: Quebec Reader, missing in action of late, tips me off to this Christian Science Monitor op-ed on poor old Larry. From NYU professor Jonathan Zimmerman:

“Watching this episode unfold, you can understand why so many people hold university professors in contempt these days. They think we're smug, arrogant, and intellectually dishonest. And here's a little secret: They're right.”

Except for increasingly rare exceptions like Zimmerman.  ¶ 8:15 PM

Oh that Sal and Trav: Pay raises are needed to launch a new era of openness. Don’t you see? ... They’ll quickly embrace some progressive cause, talking oh so sensitively, making the usual suspects swoon. The Hack-Progressive Alliance: solid as a rock. ... Is this Mitt’s Curry Favor/Weld Pay Hike moment? ...
  ¶ 8:36 AM

‘It’s off the charts’ ... Part II: Hub Blog confident before a big game? Bill Belichick ‘emotional’ before a game? And they still win? ... Time to say it: The Steelers are the Buffalo Bulls of the AFC Championships. They just can’t do it. ... Gotta love the reaction in other cities, though Pittsburgh and its fans are hard to mock. I like ‘em both. ... I also like the ‘counterpunchers’ analogy. The Pats didn’t manhandle the Steelers, like they did the Colts. They almost toyed with them, letting them have their best shots then popping them in the nose.

Did you notice how many times pundits and broadcasters brought up ‘firsts’ and ‘records’ regarding Heinz Field? (Longest field goal in such-and-such situation, biggest crowd etc.) Hey, the stadium is only four years old. ... I’m sure Gillette Stadium has similar ‘firsts’ and ‘records.’ But who cares? It’s a new stadium, dummies.



Sad, sad, sad: David Nyhan has died. ... Yet another great figure in Boston journalism to pass away in recent years.

Update -- Adrian remembers David ... Here's the Globe obit.  ¶ 8:46 AM

‘Mission inebriation’: Good Peggy Noonan column (via Dan) on the president’s speech:

“One wonders if they shouldn't ease up, calm down, breathe deep, get more securely grounded. The most moving speeches summon us to the cause of what is actually possible. Perfection in the life of man on earth is not.” ...


  ¶ 1:45 PM