“We progressives will defend free speech with our last breath!  (Unless, of course, it’s the speech of ‘Neandertals [sic] in fancy suits’ who—‘other than Left Behind books’—‘[…] don’t read.  In which case, we’re willing to relax that whole ‘last breath’ thing.) “Tolerance for Semtex-strapped Palestinian freedom fighters! Death to fascist conservonazis! Birkenstocks for the underclass!  An XBox in every pot…!” **** h/t Michelle Malkin **** update: all the web traffic

**** for Jeff Schultz. Photo here. **** update:  “It’s photo-ops like this one that reaffirm my belief that, come November, John Kerry is going to be savaged like a hymen on prom night.” You’ll fit in just fine around here, son.

Ernest Miller on RatherGate: At what point do the members of a news organization have an ethical duty or responsibility to speak out against their own organization? Shouldn’t those who claim to be journalists and reporters hold themselves to a higher standard? Shouldn’t they demand the same of the organization to which they belong? Reporters rely on ethical individuals in other institutions to blow the whistle when there are critical

1. Michele is running a RatherGate pool.  My prediction:  September 17, during a live Friday evening broadcast, an organ grinder’s monkey wielding one of those giant vaudeville hooks will drag Dan Rather kicking and screaming from the set.  For the remainder of the show, a rubber chicken wearing pimp gear and smoking a joint will sit in Rather’s chair while the news is delivered in a Casey Kasem voice over.

Oh, for Chissakes.  I bet he wishes vinyl LPs were still around.  CDs are so much less efficient as snack trays. **** (via Michele, who should never go away again.)

If I really wanted to, I could make this post look exactly like it was printed on a 1972 IBM Selectric typewriter.  But what good would that do?

Jonah Goldberg, NRO: The folks at Powerline compare the willingness of Dan Rather to chase a partisan hit job into the land of fiction to the revolution of suicide bombing. The sudden willingness, indeed eagerness, of terrorists to die with their victims changed the whole paradigm of national security. Similarly, Rather was willing to destroy himself in pursuit of a partisan attack. It’s an okay analogy, but it misses a

Om’let | Act 3, Scene 1 Click here. **** Om’let | Act 5, Scene 1 SCENE I. A field in Red Bank, New Jersey.  Prince Omlet examines the skull of a famous news anchor. PRINCE OM’LET      Alas, poor Rather! I knew him, Teddy: a fellow      of fine buzzcuttery, of most excellent folksiness: he hath      borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how      abhorred in my imagination it

When in doubt, stay home and make yourself a nice pastrami on rye, instead. With one of those crunchy Claussen dill pickles on the side.  And maybe some chips. **** h/t Allah, who has another great roundup of Rathergate links.