Liberal panelist Ellen Ratner on FOXNews’ “The Long & the Short of It,” discussing the Democrats’ position on withdrawing troops from Iraq: “If you got [Dem leaders] in a room off camera everyone agrees, but people are trying to look tough on security so the Democrats can win the House back in 2006.” Shot back Newsday‘s resident libertarian, Jim Pinkerton, “viewers should note that Ellen basically said that Democrats will

“Oooh.  Peanut butter!” squeaked Timmy the curious mouse, poking his curious little mouse head into the springloaded trap’s airy and inviting opening.  “Gosh, I sure do love me some pea –” SNAP! ~finis~

In keeping with one of our festive holiday topics of last week—torture (see here and here if you missed the posts previously)—I thought I should share with you this piece by Charles Krauthammer, from the December 5 issue of the Weekly Standard.  From “The Truth about Torture”: DURING THE LAST FEW WEEKS in Washington the pieties about torture have lain so thick in the air that it has been impossible

Attempts by the left (or, if you prefer, left-leaning “moderates”) to keep the White Phosphorus chemical weapons story alive continues apace —though the new tactic seems to be to soften the stance a bit in order to paint the use of WP more as an open moral question than as a question either of legality or battlefield effectiveness. From Michael Sticking’s “What is white phosphorus?” I come back to this:

From Breitbart/AP: During its live coverage of the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, NBC did not tell viewers that a giant balloon had caught on a street lamp and injured two sisters. At the point in the broadcast when the “M&M’s Chocolate Candies” balloon was supposed to have crossed the finish line, announcers Katie Couric, Matt Lauer and Al Roker stuck close to their scripts and the network ran footage

Of course not.  But it just seems cruel to ask a gravy-drenched armadillo to dance after watching him cram a leftover drumstick, half a corn casserole, and over a pound of oyster and sausage stuffing into his tiny maw. Besides, right now he’s so bloated he couldn’t dance even if you rubbed $600 worth of Bolivia’s finest over his gums.  Like a snouted, armor-plated bowling ball with cranberry relish crusted

From the Jerusalem Post: Following intense US pressure, the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday issued an unprecedented condemnation of Monday’s Hizbullah attacks on northern Israel. This condemnation – slamming Hizbullah by name for “acts of hatred” – marked the first time the Security Council has ever reprimanded Hizbullah for cross-border attacks on Israel. The condemnation followed by two days a failed attempt to get a condemnation issued on Monday,

oatmeal:  “The worst thing about being a Quaker?  Not being able to pimpslap the toast when he rags on you for being ‘pasty’.  Stupid pacifism.”

From the Sacramento Bee’s review of a one man musical play by controversial atheist Michael Newdow: But [Newdow’s] budding musical career, which he put on display in a one-man show before a sparse audience Tuesday night, may be cut short by, of all things, lack of God-given talent. Christ, do I wish I’d written that. (h/t Angry Clam)

Thanksgiving dinner: “Say, isn’t there a football game on TV somewhere –?” Me: “– DIE, YAM CASSEROLE!”