Watcher’s Council time
Another week, another vote over at the Watcher of Weasels. I’m very proud of the fact that I won on the Council side, because I think my post was good on its own merits, and because I’m pleased (in a kind of sad way) by how prescient I was when I wrote it. The post I’m talking about is Harry Potter and Ostrich Syndrome, which has a little history. I wrote it in May 2006 as an article for American Thinker, right after I’d amused myself by rereading the Harry Potter books and after we’d bought the DVD of the Narnia movie.
With these big media (publishing and movie) successes in mind, I was impressed by the fact that the books and movies present messages totally at odds with those currently being peddled in Hollywood and Democratic conference rooms. They say that good and evil are real forces, and that evil can and must be challenged. I was also struck, as I have been since 9/11, by Harry’s constant battle against institutional powers that refuse to acknowledge the evil in their midst (i.e., “He Who Must Not Be Named”). So I wrote way too long post that Thomas Lifson, American Thinker’s editor, was kind enough to publish as an article.
Last week, with the new Harry Potter movie out, the last Potter book on the horizon, and the new British Prime Minister announcing that Islamism is now an enemy that “Must Not Be Named” I felt that I had to republish my original article. The timing was just too good. I’m therefore very pleased that my fellow council members appreciated my post enough to vote it into first place.
There’s another American Thinker connection for one of the three posts tied for second place post at the Watcher’s Council: Right Wing Nut House’s Are Conservatives Really Hoping for Another 9/11. It’s a marvelous rumination about the charge that Conservatives are praying for another 9/11 so that they can consolidate political power. Instead of just brushing that charge off, because it’s an exceptionally mean-spirited one, Rick Moran examines it closely and decides that conservatives (a) want political power (of course); (b) that another attack on Americans probably benefit the conservatives because Americans understand that they are better on defense; but (c) that conservatives, while recognize the benefits of an attack, don’t want one — instead, they fear that, because of liberal attitudes, we’re going to get one regardless, and we’d better be prepared. Oh, I mentioned the American Thinker connection, right? Rick Moran is now associate editor there. Congratulations!
The other two second place posts are A President’s Legacy Quick Fix Playground — The Middle East, by Soccer Dad, and Pangloss, by Done With Mirrors. Soccer Dad tackles the morass every American President feels obligated to enter — the challenge of bringing peace to the Middle East. Done With Mirrors examines what frightens liberals (nature) and what frightens conservatives (terrorists who want to kill us), and ruminates about the difference between those two fears. They are both excellent posts.
On the non-Council side, the article I voted for won first place, so I’m pretty pleased about that too. It’s TCS Daily’s Myths and Realities of the Bush Presidency, written by a guy who characterizes himself as a fairly lukewarm Bush fan, but a big supporter of the truth. The article doesn’t state anything new, but it gets big points for being a really lucid summary of some of the worst lies circulating about the Bush presidency, including the charge that he stole the 2000 election. Second place went to All Things Beautiful’s Politics of Terror Reign Supreme, an angry (but eloquently controlled) rant against the same ostrich syndrome I attacked in my post: as the terrorists explicitly state their desire to kill, kill, kill, the powers that be in the West deny, deny, deny.
As is so often the case, the winners were good, but the ones that didn’t win were equally good. This is especially true on the Council side, so I’m going to do something I’m usually too lazy to do: list all the nominated Watcher’s Council posts that I haven’t already discussed above. Without exception, I enjoyed reading them, voted for some of them, and learned from all of them.
5. Pope Reaffirms Teachings of Vatican II (UPDATED), by Rhymes With Right
6. Bush Muzzled Sturgeon General — Thank God!, by Big Lizards
7. What’s Wrong With This Story?, by Cheat Seeking Missiles
8. Mutants, Civil Rights and Fundamentalism, by The Colossus of Rhodey
9. Another One That Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by The Education Wonks
