Hillary Claus

Friday we talked about Huckabee's Christmas greeting. Hillary's effort below offers an interesting contrast. In her's there's no mention of the reason for Christmas, no hint of the spiritual significance of the season, only the implied promise of something for everyone, a chicken in every pot, free gifts from Santa Clinton. Her ad follows the standard liberal trends toward secularization and desacralization of Christmas:

No wonder there's a "Huckaboom" among those who want Christmas to mean something more than just crass commercialism and cynical, tawdry attempts to bribe voters with promises of plunder from the public purse.

Jonah Goldberg writes about the two ads at NRO and recalls a nugget from a book by P.J. O'Roarke:

It's a profound commentary on the state of our political culture that Huckabee's ad is the controversial one. Huckabee promises nothing, Hillary everything.

The contrast between the Candidate of God and the Candidate of Goodies should remind everyone of P. J. O'Rourke's timeless book Parliament of Whores.

"I have only one firm belief about the American political system, and that is this: God is a Republican and Santa Claus is a Democrat," wrote the indispensable O'Rourke.

"God" he explained, is "a stern fellow, patriarchal rather than paternal and a great believer in rules and regulations. He holds men strictly accountable for their actions. He has little apparent concern for the material well being of the disadvantaged. ... God is unsentimental. It is very hard to get into God's heavenly country club."

P. J. continues: "Santa Claus is another matter. ... He's nonthreatening. He's always cheerful. And he loves animals. He may know who's been naughty and who's been nice, but he never does anything about it. He gives everyone everything they want without the thought of a quid pro quo."

"Santa Claus is preferable to God in every way but one," O'Rourke concluded. "There is no such thing as Santa Claus."

P.S. Fred Thompson serves up a greeting that is unassuming, poignant, and, unlike Hillary's, focusses on the sacrifice others are making rather than on what others will get if they vote for him:

RLC

No Credibility

On The Drudge Report:

'...this war is lost and...the surge is not accomplishing anything' --- Sen. Harry Reid, 4/19/07

'...the surge certainly hasn't hurt. It's helped. I recognize that' --- Sen. Harry Reid, 12/21/07

Anyone can change his mind in the face of new evidence. The problem with Sen. Reid is that he was in such a hurry to pronounce the surge a failure that he made the above claim in April, at least a month before the surge was fully implemented. Why was he so eager to pronounce the war lost? Why was he in such a rush to declare the surge a failure before it was even really begun? Either the man is reckless or he's dishonest. In either case he doesn't belong at the head of the U.S. Senate.

RLC

Nuclear Facility Attack

This is scary:

An underreported attack on a South African nuclear facility last month demonstrates the high risk of theft of nuclear materials by terrorists or criminals. Such a crime could have grave national security implications for the United States or any of the dozens of countries where nuclear materials are held in various states of security.

Shortly after midnight on Nov. 8, four armed men broke into the Pelindaba nuclear facility 18 miles west of Pretoria, a site where hundreds of kilograms of weapons-grade uranium are stored. According to the South African Nuclear Energy Corp., the state-owned entity that runs the Pelindaba facility, these four "technically sophisticated criminals" deactivated several layers of security, including a 10,000-volt electrical fence, suggesting insider knowledge of the system. Though their images were captured on closed-circuit television, they were not detected by security officers because nobody was monitoring the cameras at the time.

There's more to the story at the link including a bit of heroics on the part of one of the plant's employees.

If this attack occured in South Africa one wonders how many succesful attacks have occured elsewhere in countries like Pakistan where word of the breach might never surface in the outside world.

RLC

Tanc Picks Mitt

Tom Tancredo has endorsed Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination for President. There was no one in the presidential race more committed to stopping illegal immigration than Tom Tancredo, who withdrew his candidacy Thursday. That he has passed the torch to Romney (instead of Duncan Hunter?!) will certainly go a long way to allay fears that Romney is not really serious about closing the border. Mitt did, after all, countenance sanctuary cities in Massachusetts when he was governor so there's reason to be dubious about his commitment to the cause.

Nevertheless, Tancredo's endorsement will surely boost Romney's stock among conservatives for whom this issue is a major criterion in deciding how to cast their vote. Tanc gives his reasons for selecting Romney here.

In our opinion this is one of the most significant endorsements of the primary campaign. Tancredo has a lot of credibility with conservative Republicans, especially on immigration, and Romney will surely benefit from having his support. It may even be decisive in Iowa where Mitt is in a tight battle with Mike Huckabee.

RLC