2007 Year in Review Top Stories: Lame-Duck Bush, Dubya Duck, Routed Reid, Pummeled Pelosi, Gored Gore, Hassled Hillary, Bounced Barack, Baseball, Football, Iraq War, Code Pink, Bowels MoveOn, etc.

2007 Year in Review Top Stories: Lame-Duck Bush, Dubya Duck, Routed Reid, Pummeled Pelosi, Gored Gore, Hassled Hillary, Bounced Barack, Baseball, Football, Iraq War, Code Pink, Bowels MoveOn, etc.·

By Jim Wrenn,
Editor and Washington Bureau Drawer Chief at PoliSat.Com.
January 2, 2008--

The Washington Bureau Drawer Chief announces the top stories in the "2007 Year in Review" at PoliSat.Com. The announcement ranks the stories in order of importance but lists them in reverse order in a "countdown" fashion.

Number 15: The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers (ICANN) again overcame the latest attempt by the United Nations to seize control of the internet and subjugate its regulation to a U.N. bureaucracy inimical, to say the least, to freedom of expression. A wise decision for which Bill Clinton deserves credit was the decision to transfer regulation of the internet from the National Science Foundation to the Department of Commerce and then to ICANN, the non-profit corporation created by the Department of Commerce to regulate the internet in a manner most consistent with freedom of expression. Since before 2003, the U.N. has waged a continual campaign to wrest control of the internet from ICANN, but despite such efforts, ICANN has thus far successfully resisted. All who support freedom of expression over political censorship should support ICANN.

Number 14: Although the Left, best personified by Code Pink, ANSWER, MoveOn.Org, 9-11 "Truthers," et al ad nauseum, began the year blindly interpreting the November 2006 election as a seismic empowering them -- through Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi-- to bring President George Bush's efforts to prevail in Iraq to a screeching halt, a Gathering of Eagles (organized on short notice) over-flew and overshadowed a long-planned Code-Pink-led anti-Bush demonstration in Washington D.C. which Code Pink had predicted would mark a dramatic nationwide abandonment of Bush's goal to continue seeking success in Iraq. Expecting to prove that the public had embraced the anti-war activists' agendas in 2007 just as the public had done after the Tet Offensive in Vietnam, the Code-Pink efforts proved the opposite-- i.e., that the America of 2007 was not as easily manipulated into the panic of defeat as was the America of the late 1960's.

And, in September, 2007, when Code-Pink/ANSWER/MoveOn activists again launched a propaganda battle in D.C. in an attempt to prove the America of 2007 had repudiated Bush's efforts to succeed in Iraq, the Spirit of Winston Churchill appeared to call those propagandists what they are (see poster at the left-- click to view full-size image). PoliSat.Com dubbed that propaganda struggle "the Battle of D.C." An outstanding graphics designer, Karl Egenberger, created that poster as an adaptation of (and improvement upon) a PoliSat.Com poster (with PoliSat.Com's permission), which, in retrospect, presciently predicted the spirit of Churchill to be still alive in the America of 2007.

That poster showed how Winston Churchill would have adapted to that propaganda battle in D.C. one of his most famous quotations about the "Battle of Britain," in which the British citizens courageously stood behind, rather than mocking, the courageous pilots battling the enemies of liberty. Following the Battle of Britain, Churchill said, "Never before in human conflict was so much owed to so few by so many." (Click image to the right to view full-size version of PoliSat.Com's original poster adapting that quotation to the "Battle of D.C." Note: Tthat poster used -- with permission of course-- images of Code-Pink/ANSWER/MoveOn moonbats posted by NZ Bear at VictoryCaucus.Com.)

To reinforce the message of the poster, PoliSat.Com also created a video. To adapt another famous quotation of Churchill to the Left's unrelenting assault on efforts to succeed in Iraq, the Left's failure in that "Battle of D.C." may not have yet marked the beginning of the end of their prior propagandistic successes, but it surely marked the end of their beginning, and thus paved the way for the beginning of their end. By the end of 2007, it seems that it's becoming clear that the America of 2007 has learned the correct lesson from Vietnam rather than the incorrect lesson relentlessly promoted by aging hippie retreads from the 1970's and their hippie-wannabes in the present.

Number 13: Paralleling the "Anbar Awakening" in Iraq fostered and nourished by General David Petraeus's "surge" in the form of an effective counter-insurgency strategy, a similar awakening occurred in the minds of sports fans enabling them to understand what had been intuitively understood by the World War II generation, for whom the "National Past-Time" was baseball rather than football. Baseball, like the real world, requires opponents to continue the struggle until a victor emerges. In contrast, football imposes time-constraints on the struggle (except in end-of-season playoffs). An awakening in the minds of many sports fans in 2007 recognized an end-game-strategy suitable for a time-constrained struggle such as football to be an inappropriate and dangerous end-game strategy for real-world struggles such as in Iraq and that, instead, the continue-until-victory end-game strategy of baseball is the correct strategy for a real-world struggle between fanatical totalitarianism and liberty.

Number 12: Usama Girl graphically illustrated the morally offensive nature of the Code-Pink "Breasts Not Bombs" fanatics' efforts attract attention to their actions denigrating, and attempting to demoralize, our troops. Google's YouTube acceded to demands by supporters-of/sympathizers-with such fanatics for removal of the Usama Girl video from YouTube, so PoliSat.Com replaced the banned version with a redacted version (here) with frames blacking-out the images exposing the morally offensive nature of the fanatics' actions. So much for the alleged even-handedness of YouTube/Google in the political arena. (For more on such "even-handedness," scroll down to "Google/MoveOn.Org" below.)

The original version-- which is still available in Flash format here-- made it obvious: (1) that what was morally offensive about the actions of such fanatics was not the mere exposure of their breasts but rather their doing so to attract the news media to their actions for the purpose of denigrating and demoralizing our troops and (2) how readily news media (such as Google News' sources) would promote such actions. The action of YouTube (owned and controlled by Google) in uncritically acceding to demands by supporters-of/sympathizers-with the Code-Pink "Breasts Not Bombs" fanatics to ban the "Usama Girl" video exposing them for what they are makes a third point: (3) that Google did not ban Google News sources which published in Google News the "Breasts Not Bombs" images of a demonstration designed to denigrate and demoralize our troops, but Google/YouTube banned the Usama Girl video incorporating the same images for the political satire/commentary purpose of exposing those fanatics for what they are. For more about this third point, go here.

Number 11: WretchBoarding eclipsed water-boarding as the method of choice for interrogation of detainees at Guantanamo Bay (Gitmo) under an ultra-secret program assigned to former Defense Secretary Rumsfeld by Dick Cheney. Inspired by psychological-warfare techniques employed by the anti-military Left (here if no longer here and here if no longer here), WretchBoarding has proven far more effective in interrogation of terrorist suspects and detainees because it's far more terrifying to the person being interrogated than water-boarding, and, thus far the Geneva Conventions have not yet been amended to ban it as a "war crime." However, as was the case with PoliSat.Com's exclusive Usama Girl video (see above), Google's YouTube acceded to demands by supporters-of/sympathizers-with such fanatics for removal of the WretchBoarding video from YouTube, so PoliSat.Com replaced the banned version with a redacted version (here) with frames blacking-out the images exposing the morally offensive nature of the psychological-warfare techniques employed by the anti-military Left.

The original version-- which is still available in Flash format here-- made it obvious how and why the psychological-warfare techniques employed by the anti-military Left are so terrifyingly disgusting that exposing terror-suspect detainees to images of such techniques makes them confess far sooner than does water-boarding. Google/YouTube's banning of PoliSat.Com's original WretchBoarding video graphically illustrating the offensiveness of such techniques demonstrates Google's hypocrisy in the form of Google News having facilitated news-site displays of the same images for the purpose of demoralizing our troops. So much for the alleged even-handedness of YouTube/Google in the political arena. (For more on such "even-handedness" of Google/YouTube, scroll down to "Google/MoveOn.Org" below.)

Number 10: Google/MoveOn.Org exposed itself as BowelsMoveOn.Org with its movements in synch on the Axis of Sleazel in an attempt to portray General David Petraeus as "General Betrayus" while simultaneously asserting a patently frivolous "trademark infringement" claim to ban from Google Ads a political advertisement by Maine Senator Susan Collins identifying MoveOn.Org as a funding source for political ads attacking her as a stooge of Bush. Unwittingly making the structure of the Axis of Sleazel more easily discernible by the public, Media Matters, a media organ for Hillary Clinton, speciously attempted to rationalize such nakedly political action by Google as well as MoveOn.Org defamation of Petraeus as having been "inspired" by Rush Limbaugh's characterization of Senator Chuck Hagel as "Senator Betrayus" for Hagel's votes opposing his own party's support for Bush as a political "betrayal."

Subsequent events made it obvious that the public correctly perceived Media Matters' lame attempt to equate Limbaugh's and MoveOn.Org's usages of the term "betrayus" as no more valid than to equate "lightening strike" and "lightening bug." Likewise, the public correctly perceived as patently phony the Media Matters attempt to smear Limbaugh as having smeared dissenting solders as "phony" soldiers.

Perhaps the most absurd, most laughable aspect of Media Matters' specious attempt to cite Limbaugh's use of a variation of "betrayal" (in the context of political betrayal of party loyalty) as "inspiration" for MoveOn.Org's portrayal of General Petraeus as a person prepared to betray his country was the absolute stone-cold silence of Media Matters when -- in February, 2004-- Al Gore gave a frothing-at-the-mouth, Cotton-Mather/Elmer-Gantry type speech explicitly and vitriolically accusing George Bush of "betraying our country." And, of course, the Google element of the Axis of Sleazel had already been politically in bed with Al Gore for quite a while.

Number 09: In Hillary's unveiling of her "energy plan" she unwittingly (?) exposed the paleo-Stalinist nature of her economic philosophy. Indeed, the "boldness" (brazenness?) of her plan even prompted Hugo Chavez to urge her to be at least a little bit subtle in wrapping Marxist class-warfare strategies in populist rhetoric. But, in the wake of his recent setback in the Venezuelan referendum on his proposal for constitutional changes to enable him to be "President for Life," he decided to emulate Hillary's emulation of him with her unrivaled Machiavellian skill in embracing the the great economic maxim, "From all according to their abilities and to Her according to Her needs." However, Hugo's new strategic alliance elicited strong protests from some of his most devout admirers among Hollywood's preeminent economic theorists such as Danny Glover, Sean Penn, Edward Asner, Michael Moore and Harry Belafonte, but when he threatened to cease being a patron of their artistic endeavors, they quickly began applauding.

Unfortunately for the rest of the Left, Hillary's being seen as having out-Chavezed Chavez had the effect of diminishing sales of "Che" tee-shirts in anticipation of the Hillary 2008 "Che-quette" tee-shirts. Indeed, campaign experts are expecting a deluge of advance orders for the tee-shirts (at PoliSat.Com/CafePress.htm) in a rush not seen since parents battled other parents in toy stores to acquire "Cabbage Patch" dolls. When asked whether PoliSat.Com is ready to accept requests to place advance orders for the "Che-quette" tee-shirts and "CITGO-HITGO" posters, the Washington Bureau Drawer Chief said, "Of course!" Meanwhile, another unexpected effect of Hugo Chavez's warm embrace of Hillary 2008 as his "little Che-quette" has been a potential rift in Chavez's now-long-standing embrace of Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. According to highly reliable sources, Ahmadinejad sent a top-secret message to Chavez asking him, "Are we no longer 'Amigos'?"

Number 08: Given the continuing controversy over whether Hillary Clinton has been withholding permission for broader access to the Archives at the Clinton Library (to be confused with the Clinton Liebrary), the Archivist's unauthorized release of the 2001 first-drafts of Hillary's and Bill's memoirs (as excerpts from the Clinton Liebrary Book) then expected to be published as their "Dueling Memoirs" surely ranks as one of the top news stories of 2007. Written in the form of "political love poetry," which, despite its somewhat bawdy nature, may well result in Bill and Hillary receiving a joint Nobel Prize for Poetry in 2008-- just in time for the 2008 election. According to PoliSat.Com's Washington Bureau Drawer Chief, an anonymous Clinton aid said: "Eat your heart out, Al Gore!"

Number 07: Highly reliable, or perhaps reliably high, sources within the Hillary 2008 Campaign told PoliSat.Com's Washington Bureau Drawer Chief (on condition of anonymity) that early in the campaign Hillary was "channeling" with Eleanor Roosevelt again. According to the source, Eleanor told Hillary that it would be imperative for there to be a political "theme song" for the 2008 campaign just as "Happy Days Are Here Again" served as the political theme song for Franklin Roosevelt's campaigns. But Eleanor told Hillary that the current disdain for "excessively negative campaigning" also made it imperative that she collaborate with her chief rival to record a duet to serve as the political theme song for both their campaigns in 2008. Although Barack Obama had already become a "rock star" when Hillary made proposed such duet, Barack quickly agreed when he saw the costume Hillary planned to wear for the song, because, as Obama told his aides, his appearing with a scantily-clad female would dispel unease among some voters that a candidate named "Barack Hussein Obama" might be an "Islamic version of a Manchurian candidate."

Number 06: Given the long-standing animosity and condescension exhibited by Al Gore towards Bush for his long-standing refusal to embrace Gore's Global Warming theory, it shocked the world when Bush not only invited Gore to the White House for a ceremony honoring Gore and other winners of Nobel Prizes but also granted Gore a private meeting in the Oval Office. Even more shocking, however, was the fact that during such private meeting, Bush exhibited an unequivocal and effective commitment to help Gore stop Global Warming. Although Bush was aware that the private meeting would be recorded by the top-secret Oval Office Video Recording system, he intended for such video to remain confidential. However, a highly reliable source made it available exclusively to PoliSat.Com.

Number 05: A big story that should have never needed to have been a story at all was Richard Armitage and Valerie Plame driving nails into their own political coffins confirming what fair-minded people had known since September, 2003: That no one had "blown" Valerie Plame's alleged "cover" as a CIA employee as a means of retaliating against, or attempting to discredit, her husband, Joe Wilson, for his specious and false claims about the purpose and fruits of his "mission to Niger" to "investigate" whether Saddam Hussein had "attempted" to acquire material for a nuclear-weapons program. What makes the story "big" is that it drives redundant nails into the coffin of not only such spurious claims of retaliation but makes it even clearer how utterly irresponsible it was of Patrick Fitzgerald to have even continued his investigation beyond its initial stages when he learned the "leaker" of Plame's name to Robert Novak (a conservative critic of Bush who was widely known to have been hostile to Bush's strategy of toppling Saddam) was none other than an inside-the-administration critic of Bush who was simpatico with Novak's hostility toward Bush's strategy and that the patently obvious motive for such "leak" was to bolster, not discredit, Wilson's diatribes against Bush. To fully understand why the foregoing descriptions are correct, read the entire November 13, 2007 installment on the subject, which is now archived here.

Scooter Libby, an honorable man, did not deserve being the victim in this anti-Bush witch-hunt, and Patrick Fitzgerald was certainly not entitled to perform any "end-zone dance" for obtaining a conviction of Libby (on perjury grounds for testimonial errors less egregious than un-prosecuted errors by witnesses for the prosecution called by Fitzgerald) by a jury in what has been the virtual capital of blind hatred for Bush -- i.e., a jury composed of residents of the overwhelmingly Democratic, Bush-hating District of Columbia. This whole episode reeks of the political show-trials we became accustomed to witnessing in places such as China and the former Soviet Union. It's disgraceful that it happened in America. Armitage, Fitzgerald, Plame and Wilson should hang their heads in shame.

Number 04: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi found themselves hoisted on their own political petards-- i.e., the "blue dog" Democrats they recruited to run against Republican incumbents in November 2006 in order to attain a majority in the House and Senate in order to bring "Bush's war" in Iraq to a screeching halt. The real screeching has been coming from Reid's and Pelosi's political masters on the Left because too few of those "blue dogs" were willing to run with Reid and Pelosi off the political cliff of American self-defeatism and few of them were beholding to the far-Left Bush-haters currently dominating the Democratic Party through the influence of activists/interest-groups such as MoveOn.Org, Code Pink, ANSWER, DailyKos, the Huffington Post, and a whole host of Leftists in Hollywood, in the rest of the entertainment media (save country music), and in most of the so-called "mainstream" media. (For more on this in scroll-down to "Number 01.")

Number 03: Despite a pedal-to-the-metal, full-court-press (pardon the mixed metaphors) propaganda effort by Hollywood to discredit the motives, goals and chances for victory in Iraq, politicians paying attention to their own private polls of Americans (including "independents" and "middle-roaders") quickly discerned that most Americans not only were un-persuaded by, and wholly unwilling to spend money to view, such propagandistic fare failures by Hollywood but also found such fare to be highly offensive. So much for the Bush-hating bubble in which the Hollywood Left and much of the rest of the entertainment media live, eat, breathe, and sleep to the exclusion of contact with people possessing and employing common sense and common decency.

Number 02: Although the tragic assassination of Banizir Bhutto in Pakistan certainly ranks near the top of important stories in 2007, it's likely to have less of the adverse impact in 2008 as is being predicted by critics of Bush's efforts supporting her involvement to pressure modernist Pakistanis to forge a broader, stronger alliance against the jihadists. Bhutto was, as are most political leaders in countries lacking strong liberal-democracy traditions, an imperfect leader, but she was also a person of immense personal courage who, despite her flawed wielding of the levers of power more than a decade ago, favored what is understood to be classical Western liberalism of the kind favored by the vast majority of "conservatives" today in foreign policy. Yet the tragic circumstances of her murder are likely in the long run to help serve one of the goals for which she was determined to risk her life: strengthening of collaborative efforts among modernist Pakistanis (despite their current feelings of mutual antagonism) against the fanatical jihadists.

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Number 01: The "surge" designed by General David Petraeus, approved and ordered by George Bush, and implemented with extraordinary success and courage by American troops, enabled Bush to re-define the term "Lame-Duck" in a way that bodes well for the country, our troops, and the interests of posterity in the ultimate triumph of liberty over totalitarianism. Given the faux triumphalism of Reid and Pelosi and their hard-Left political masters in MoveOn.Org, Code Pink, ANSWER, the Hollywood Left, et al ad naseum, in the wake of the November 2006 election results, their defeat at the hands of the "Lame Duck Surge" ranks as the top story of 2007. How should the "conventional wisdom" about "lame duck" presidents be modified to place the Lame Duck Surge into proper perspective?

Wordsmiths and pundits have not yet reached any consensus that I've been able to discern. What are the possibilities? Dubya Duck? Dynamic Duck? Durable Duck? Determined Duck? Laminated Duck? Formidable Duck? Fortified Duck? Invigorated Duck? Power Duck? Potent Duck? Robust Duck?

My preference is "Dubya Duck," and I hereby take credit for coining the term. Teddy Roosevelt is remembered for his "big stick" policy. Abraham Lincoln, another war-time "lame duck," is remembered for his dogged determination and vision for posterity. Bush could do worse than be remembered as the "Dubya Duck" President who defied conventional wisdom about "lame-duck" presidents, especially since his vision combined the toughness of TR's "big stick" policy with Lincoln's dogged determination and vision to preserve intact what would become the world's best hope for liberty for his (and our) posterity.