Hewitt Blog

The Washington Post has an account of something Secretary Rumsfeld mentioned in passing yesterday: The creation of a new unit in the United States Marine Corps, "a force of about 2,600 highly specialized Marines intended to address a shortage of elite troops available for counterterrorist operations and other missions requiring exceptional skills."

Read the whole thing, and this article as well. I'd like to hear from active duty Marines what they think about this. As I recall, a similar effort to brand a force as "elite" in WW 2, the "Raiders," was later abandoned as contrary to USMC doctrine, but that Force Recon has emerged over the past few decades to serve pretty much the same role.

The Pentagon is home to some very old turf fights, and this one had to be intense. Bill Gertz could easily get a best seller out of this one.

It is clear that the constitutional option has the votes if it is necessary. (HT: Powerline.) That has been clear since Monday afternoon when Senator DeWine announced on my show that he would vote for the option if Judge Alito was filibustered.

MSM accounts of the coming debate that credit the idea of a threat of filibuster will be incomplete and thus lousy reporting if they do not include this obvious fact: The GOP is pledged to get an up-or-down vote on the nominee, and they have the votes to do it. Democratic Senators may well respond with gimmicks like yesterday's antics, but they are diminished by such things.

The fever swamp might force them into losing the constitutional option, but they will lose it. To what end? Another perfect example of why, in Florida, West Virginia, Minnesota, Michigan, Nebraska, Washington State and elsewhere voters have to send new GOP senators to the chamber, while returning Santorum and others throughout the country.

BTW: Lincoln Chafee has a primary opponent, Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey, whom the NRSC is already spending money to attack. (The reason why I won't give a single dime to the NRSC this year.) If Senator Chafee votes against the constitutional option or against Judge Alito, I believe this race becomes very competitive, no matter how much money the NRSC collects and spends on his behalf.

Joe Carter points me to podcasts from various courses from various universities.

The Teaching Company has been built on the idea that some professors are worth listening to. Now I don't know what Purdue's professors are like when it comes to politics or history, but if they are good, I might pay a couple of books for one of their courses. I imagine Eastman and I can get some traction for our 60 hours of ConLaw, or Erwin for that matter. Now if I can only figure out the technology to conduct a dry run. Watch for the podcast of a ConLaw lecture soon.

Though I suspect Glenn will beat me to it.

From British Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair:

The sky is dark. Intelligence exists to suggest that other groups will attempt to attack Britain in the coming months."

The radical cleric, Abu Baka Bashir, the spiritual leader of the Bali network will be out of Indonesian jail by spring.

That's going to help rebuild the tourist industry.

Story here.

General Peter Pace reviewed the massive American relief effort in the region, but the civilian private sector response has been quiet.

I shall send a Christmas Card to a few bloggers of my choice and to whom I am indebted for a kindness large or small, with the good wish for the season and a request that they send it on to a blogger that has been good to him or her. It would be fun to watch the snail mail version of linking posts.

And has Hallmark or some other gigantus produced Blogger cards? Or blogger playing cards. Like Aaron's Monopoly Game --there's niches to be filled there.

Senate Democrats want to postpone Judge Alito's confirmation hearings until January, slow rolling the nominee as the millions of MoveOn "activists" scour his high school yearbooks in search of jilted girlfriends who will claim , well, anything.

This is another absurd demand by a minority party to be allowed to dictate rules. Chairman SWpecter needs to get these guys back for the hearings the Monday after T-Day. If they don't show, give extra rounds to Kyl and Brownback, and well all learn more.

And as Senator Kyl noted on the program today, I "giggeg" him on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the D.C. Circuit. Kavanaugh and others are marooned in the Judiciary Committee while Reid pulls antic and juvenile stunts. Kyl promised to get those trains moving. Radioblogger will post the interview later.

There are some great new posts over at OTGB. I think I may have to add a few more theologians as the complaints I am getting is that site is wonderful but people want more. Suggestions welcomed.

Earlier today on the program I read a complaining e-mail about my refusal to cover much of Charles' and Camilla's American travels from Peeps/The Elder at FratersLibertas.

Please e-mail Peeps all stories/photos of the Royals, and if you know anyone who knows anyone, Peeps will travel to shake the man's hand. He'll cry when you tell him.

Make the lad's dream come true. His address is rightwinger23@hotmail.com.

And don't forget, what better to bring mom at Thanksgiving than Lileks' new book, Mommy Knows Worst. Wait until you have eaten your full to present it though. The opening review:

Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater!

Ahhhh, the 1940s and ’50s . . . a time when parents everywhere strove for the American Dream—manicured lawns, a shiny car in the driveway, and perfect children playing in the yard. Raising kids was simpler back then, or was it?

In Mommy Knows Worst, you’ll be treated to a visual feast of past parenting neuroses—as well as insight into why concerned moms and dads were driven to buy “delicious” baby laxatives, douse their baby in oil and put him in the sun, and strap Junior into a car seat that bore a strange resemblance to scrap metal. If you’re a baby boomer who lived through this childhood torture, well, we’re sorry. But if humor really is the best medicine (rather than bicarbonate of curd and mustard plaster, as was previously recommended for childhood ailments), then Mommy Knows Worst is cheaper than therapy.

Photographs, advertisements, magazine articles, and government-issue parenting guides, which seemed so helpful in their day, are given a whole new slant by the master of the genre, James Lileks. Mommy Knows Worst is a rollicking tribute to old-fashioned parenting that gives us a whole new reason not to forget our past—it’s hilarious!

When he's done selling his hundreds of thousands of books, I have a new suggestion for Lileks: A book on how Americans celebrate holidays. I have a particular fondness for large metal snowmen and four foot turkeys carved from wood. There are many other rituals as well which must have their roots in James' favorite decades.

James collects those funny little houses (and Hummels, of course) but is pleasant enough in the looming season of celebrations. If he gets to work, this one can be out for Christmas 06 massive distribution in Walmart!

I should have been a publisher. In fact, I am still willing to be an acquisitions editor for any major house that won't make me leave Orange County or my radio show. I think I can safely say I would hit home run after home run as I could promote each of my authors with the same shameless energy as I promote my own books, James' books, and Peep's Charles obsession.

Here are the details of Australian Prime Minister John Howard's warning of terrorist threat down under. Howard described it as an "immediate threat."

Keep an eye on Tim Blair.