The Talking George Will Is an Idiot Blues.

I'm not really sure how George Will came to prominence as a columnist, or how he got a reputation as an educated, reflective thinker. Perhaps it's because he does have a large and varied vocabulary, even if his uses of it often remind me of reading freshman comp papers: the sort where the poor student has labored most of the evening over a thesaurus trying to come up with the most obscure but learned words to describe common things.

Will's latest descent into idiocy is his attack on Senator-elect Jim Webb, because Webb refused to pursue a photo-op with a war criminal. Here's Will:

Webb's more gross offense was calculated rudeness toward another human being -- one who, disregarding many hard things Webb had said about him during the campaign, asked a civil and caring question, as one parent to another.

So Webb's big problem, according to Will, is that he refused to play the political game of chumming up with incompetent abusers of the United States Constitution. Here we have an absentee President who through gross negligence and foolish hubris has brought death to untold thousands of Iraqis and to 2,888+ U.S. troops, and Will is worried about "calculated rudeness."

How clueless must George Will be to even suggest that Bush's question was asked "as one parent to another," when the Post has recently been following the Bush's kids partying it up (and getting robbed) in Argentina? Bush's kids probably couldn't even find Iraq on a map, let alone ever end up there in combat fatigues (unless of course they were play-acting, like their father).

Apparently, in Will's world, you coddle the tyrant. After all, as a champion of conservative values and administrations, Will has had plenty of examples shown to him through the years: Kissinger and Pinochet, Rumsfeld and Hussein.

Looking ahead to the Outback Bowl.

PSU has already accepted a bid from the Outback Bowl, but their opponent is to be determined. Before last weekend, it looked possible that either Auburn or LSU would be there, but now it's more likely that Tennessee will be the opponent. Tennessee has only lost three times this season, and all to ranked teams (Florida, LSU, and Arkansas). Penn State's four losses have all come to ranked teams (Notre Dame, Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin). On the other hand, Penn State hasn't beaten any ranked teams, while Tennessee beat both Georgia and Cal.

Penn State's offense is abysmal, so if PSU is to win the Outback it will require the defense to have the kind of game that held Michigan to 17 points and Ohio State to 14 (OSU scored two late touchdowns on interception returns).

I'm sure as the bowl season progresses I'll have more to say about PSU and other things, including why that dirtbag Charlie Weis and his Notre Dame team are seriously overrated (as if the USC game didn't show that one up).

p.s. and to anyone wondering about where Maryland will end up, ESPN is predicting either the Meineke Car Care Bowl or Champs Sports Bowl.

Update on Iraq: file under idiocy.

Bush's Iraq Adventure is turning out worse than anyone could have expected...unless of course you count the millions of people worldwide who filled the streets protesting against an unnecessary and illegal war of aggression prior to its beginning. Unless you count the non-mainstream media that continually debunked Bush's allegations, but were all but drowned out by the deafening stomp of the war drums being beaten by the mainstream media.

Those who argued that the Iraq Adventure would be a mistake were repeatedly cast as "Pro-Saddam" or "Pro-Terrorist," when it was clear then and it has become increasingly clear even to most of the sideline cheerleaders that toppling Saddam had nothing to do with anti-terrorist efforts and was in fact more likely to increase rather than decrease terrorism -- esp. the kind that cloaks itself in the guise of religious fundamentalism. At the start of Bush's Iraq Adventure, Saddam Hussein was a paper tiger, a dictator whose control was undermined by weapons inspectors and no-fly zones; a has-been whose greatest war crimes had been conducted with the logistical and financial assistance of the United States.

However, the Iraq Adventure has been a success for two distinct groups: Haliburton and other war profiteers AND al-Qaeda, who has seen its profile raised to new levels by Bush's boondoggle.

Proving that he is ever more out of touch with reality (and perhaps heavily medicated as well), President Bush continues to deny that Iraq is now in or approaching civil war. Our Dear Leader pulled his head out of the sand long enough to issue this statement:

"There's a lot of sectarian violence taking place, fomented in my opinion because of the attacks by al Qaeda, causing people to seek reprisal," he said.

Bush said slain Al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had wanted to stir up trouble between Iraq's Shiite majority community and the Sunnis favored by Saddam Hussein.

He traced an increase in violence to the February bombing of a revered Shiite mosque in Samarra, north of Baghdad, saying: "We've been in this phase for a while."

Really? So sustained sectarian violence, where one group of people are killing another group of people and vice versa within the same country, does not create a civil war? How about what is nearly universally known as Lebanon's Civil War? Maybe Bush is a stickler and doesn't accept that there's a civil war unless there's a formal declaration of seccession and something called a "Confederate States of Iraq" set up with Jefferson al-Davis as President.

Or maybe he's just stupid.

From today's Post:
Kofi Annan says Iraq civil war is imminent
Anbar Picture Grows Clearer, Bleaker

Here's the lead of the second article:

The U.S. military is no longer able to defeat a bloody insurgency in western Iraq or counter al-Qaeda's rising popularity there, according to newly disclosed details from a classified Marine Corps intelligence report that set off debate in recent months about the military's mission in Anbar province.

Let us not forget that the Post and other news organizations refused to investigate Bush's claims prior to the war or give credence to any war critics; let us not forget that Congress abdicated its Constitutional responsibilities to oversee the nation's descent into war when it -- Republicans and Democrats alike -- issued Bush a blank check in Iraq.

Shameful.

Post-Holiday Letdown.

Last night I fell asleep with my clothes on, even my jacket -- a zip-up hoodie. I guess I was pretty well exhausted after a long weekend that included a rare early morning excursion on Black Friday (I generally sit that day out, because I really don't like store lines and fighting over parking spots and the last "must have" toy in the store). Anyway, I put the kids in the big bed and fell asleep with them. At least I took my contacts out prior to that.

Anyway, my wife and I hit Target at 6 a.m. on Friday morning because they had the "Easy Bake Oven" on sale for $13 and the RoboPet or RoboDog or something like that for $30. They were also selling the Simpsons Season8 DVD for $15, and I wanted a piece of that action. Unfortunately, we were unable to locate it, but I heard later on that my sister found it for me. The whole family had to come up with Xmas lists, so we all had some items to buy here and there. My brother was the most adventurous/helpful/obsessed: he combed through all the advertising and indicated next to his selections the stores in which you should buy them. For instance, Entourage Season 1 at Circuit City; Entourage Season 2 at Best Buy; Simpsons Season 8 at Target.

We got back into DC late Saturday, so Sunday I took the kids to the Hirshhorn while my wife prepped for her Monday class. They have a great contemporary sculpture show going on that was a real hit with my son. I mean, what's not to like about Andrea Cohen's "Mist Over Lake Miami," pictured below:

It's colorful and looks like something out of a Dr. Seuss book. He loved that some of her sculptures seemed to use "floam," although that's a trade name and wasn't listed as a material on the little info card. I highly recommend the show to anyone, and especially anyone with kids ages 5 to 12, because it's very entertaining and we had some good conversations about the pieces.

As we head into Thanksgiving, let's remember Why Johnny Can't Read.

I've been digging into the Bush Administration's "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB) education initiative and I've found out some fascinating things, although not what I'm looking for. Here, for instance, from the government's own website is an overview of a few ways to have your school denied funding:

Funds cannot be used for condom or other contraceptive distribution, obscene materials, promotion of sexual activities, or for sex education in schools that is not age- appropriate and does not emphasize abstinence.

OK, so no sex education that actually educates. Instead you have to pretend sex doesn't exist in the secondary school in order to receive funding. In related news, toilet seats spread AIDS. Here's another interesting bit:

Any local district that discriminates against or denies equal access to patriotic organizations, such as the Boy Scouts of America, is denied funds.

Who decides what a "patriotic organization" is? The KKK claims to be "patriotic," arguing that they are defending (white) America against "mongrelization" in much the same way the Boy Scouts claim they are defending (straight) America against the homosexual threat. Does this mean that the school must accept meetings of the Future Klansmen of America in order to receive funds?

Furthermore, what does letting reactionary quasi-military outfits like the Boy Scouts into the schools have with education? (Full disclosure: I was in scouting from cub scout through boy scouts, having come up through the ranks to 1st Class, which is to say not terribly far)

The more I read about this policy, the less it seems to be about education and helping children succeed and the more it seems to be about dictating a path of failed conservative opinions toward schools.

My picks got pounded.

It wasn't a good weekend to be predicting games. I went an abysmal 10 wins and 7 losses in the top 25. I push up to 11 wins and 7 losses if you count in my bonus pick of PSU over MSU, but man I came close to losing that one. Now it's just up to seeing who Penn State plays in the Outback Bowl on January 1. Will it be Auburn and crybaby Tommy Tuberville? Will it be LSU (in which case two inept offenses will go up against two outstanding defenses)? Or will something bizarre happen, like OSU and Michigan remaining 1 and 2 in the BCS and therefore bumping PSU up to the Capital One Bowl? Highly doubtful.

Anyway, I'm off to the dentist's.

Two completely unrelated items.

Item 1. Bush is in Vietnam, where he has the audacity (or idiocy) to say that Vietnam holds lessons for Iraq. If I'm a Republican (and given that I'm neither an uninformed drone nor a black-hearted scoundrel, I'm not a Republican), I'm cringing as this Texas half-wit links Vietnam to Iraq, instantly generating a week of fodder for late-night comedians and weekend talk shows. Bush, ever the lackluster student, of course can't draw out the real lesson of Vietnam for Iraq, so he resorts to bullshitting the essay question. And boy does it show:

"My first reaction is history has a long march to it, and societies change and relationships can constantly be altered to the good," Bush said after speeding past signs of both poverty and the commerce produced by Asia's fastest-growing economy.

"It's just going to take a long period of time for the ideology that is hopeful -- and that is an ideology of freedom -- to overcome an ideology of hate," Bush said after having lunch.

"We'll succeed," Bush added, "unless we quit."

The lesson Bush apparently learned from Vietnam is that we would have won, but we quit. I know that may be true in the Rambo and the Missing In Action movies, but unfortunately after dropping millions of bomb tonnage on North Vietnam and surrounding countries, after resorting to chemical weapons, after "pacifying" villages like My Lai, we apparently were no closer to winning than the French had been back in 1954.

But enough of Item #1.

Item 2. College Football Pick'Em.
1. OSU v. (2) Michigan. Michigan wins.
3. Florida v. Western Carolina. Please. Florida in a 50 point blowout.
4. USC v. Cal. Cal leaves the Trojans feeling unprotected at home.
5. Arkansas v. Mississippi State. Arkansas in a rout.
6. Notre Dame v. Army. Another delicate pastry for the ND schedule. What a surprise.
7. Rutgers v. Cincy. Rutgers destroyify the Bearcats.
8. WVU already beat Pitt.
9. LSU v. Mississippi. LSU wins.
10. Louisville v. South Florida. Louisville wins in a closer than should be match.
11. Texas is idle.
12. Wisconsin v. Buffalo. A late season cupcake for the Badgers, what a tasty treat!
13. Boise State v. Utah State. Boise State tramples Utah State.
14. Wake Forest v. Virginia Tech. Wake thumps Tech.
15. Auburn v. Alabama. Roll Tide Roll and shut Tuberville up.
16. Oklahoma v. Baylor. Oklahoma dominates this supposed division 1-A team.
18. Georgia Tech v. Duke. Georgia Tech wins by 40.
20. BC v. (21) Maryland. While I don't fear the turtle, BC should. Maryland wins.
22. Tennessee v. Vanderbilt. Tennessee goes down in embarrassment to Vandy.
23. Brigham Young v. New Mexico. BYU wins, and all your wives can watch!
24. Nebraska is idle.
25. Clemson is idle.

Unranked PSU will beat Michigan State at Beaver Stadium. JoePa returns!