Disney could solve this problem [hajj deaths] in its sleep. That the Saudis aren't up to Disney's standards, and use lame fatalistic theology as an excuse, isn't evidence of death-cultism so much as arrogance and ineptitude. Of course, the helpless rage that this behavior produces (or, perhaps, that the realization that Disney could solve this problem in its sleep produces) tends to feed the fanatics -- but that's still not the same as death-cultism.---Glenn Reynolds.

The cats are furious with us about the rain. They both went out this morning at 6, and I went back to bed. Fitch is smart enough to go around the house and meow at the bedroom window, so at 8:30 I got up and let him in the back, but Abby just stayed in front, so she didn't get in until 9, and she Let Me Know in no uncertain terms what she thought about that, and about the rain, and it's All Your Fault!

No caching today, too wet, so we went to see Mystic River. Who knew Sean Penn could act? Rich doesn't much like movies, but he stayed awake for this one. GOOD movie!

Lileks on the Boob. (Registration required)

Primaries:

• Powerline Blog: "The aftermath of the Iraq war has largely vindicated the administration's diplomacy, but this good news has been lost in the 'Bush lied!' frenzy."
• Robert Novak, the press diddling with numbers...

  For a while, the exaggeration stopped, but early in January it recommenced. The round number "500" was apparently irresistible. . . .
  These 343 (not 500) combat deaths, furthermore, need to be set in context. During 2003, the number of homicides in Chicago was 599, in New York City 596, in Los Angeles 505, in Detroit 361, in Philadelphia 347, in Baltimore 271, in Houston 276, and in Washington 247. That makes 3,002 murders in only eight cities.

• John Kerry is a Lamer.
• comment at Polipundit:

  Clinton (the military loathing draft dodger) beat war vet Bush 41 and disabled war hero Dole. But now it is extremely important to Dems that we consider Kerry's service in the war. Clark got a purple heart and other military honors, but he is still a wacko conspiracy theorist. Kerry performed honorably in the war, but he is still a liberal who has slandered his fellow vets and defunded the military. Let's just say it.
  Lorie

• and another: "A Navy guy that served in the same outfit as Kerry told me that he would vote for Saddam before he would vote for Kerry.---Another Thought"
• a third:

  A good way to make the contrast is that Bush wants to fight the terrorists on the front lines where Kerry wants to fight them in the courts.

  In other words, Bush wants to attack the terrorists and stop them before they attack us, whereas Kerry wants to let them attack us first and then pursue justice in the American judicial system.

  This one issue is why I will support Bush no matter how much I disagree with him on the domestic side: Kerry's position would allow several thousand more Americans to die from terrorist attacks before he does anything about it.

• Bill Quick:

  FDR waged worldwide war against two gigantic powers for four years after a sneak attack on Hawaii that killed fewer people than 9/11. Truman waged war on North Korea and China even when the US mainland was not attacked. JFK brought America into a war, and LBJ continued it, with tens of thousands of US casualties, in order to prop up the government of South Vietnam.

  George Bush gets excoriated by morons who worship at the altars of all of the above, because a few more than five hundred Americans died in a victory that overthrew a murderous tyrant, brought freedom to 23 million Iraqis, and destroyed one of the great terror-supporting regimes of the world.

• Bernadette chimes in with a well-thought-out comment.
• Pass-fail test for President. A comment: "A point I've made on my own site -- for all his military record, John Kerry has never taken one action that has made American stronger or safer. Never. I don't trust the man to defend America and more importantly, western values, in the face of hostile, ruthless enemies."
• Heee heee heee!. Actually, I'm a little sad about Whiny Joe, but this is really funny.