Posted on 05/10/2006 1:48:26 AM PDT by M. Thatcher
No. I don't read posts that I know in advance as FOS.
No, it isn't. Punditry may be informed and analytical, but it tends to sell better to many audiences with hyperbole-to-fact rations exceeding unity by a wide margin.
Does that include 95% of this thread?
Is it just me, or is the slobbering over a MARRIED woman's pictures here on Free Republic a tad unseemly?
Hows that quote search going?
No, but I've cerainly been here long enough to know who to read and who to scroll past.
Take most 1000+ posts-in-one-day threads with grains of salt.
That's our Howlin!
Never let a snappy reply get bogged down in objectively verifiable truth! You can see how successful she is with that "scrolling" plan.
It's like a diva trying to ignore a mirror.
I see the problem.
I said that Michelle Malkin's vetting policy boils down to accepting whatever the Minuteman pass to her, and that she does so without reading the documentation that allegedly supports their claims. Unfortunately, I made the absolutely horrid blunder of leaving some quotes in before pressing the Post button.
Now, yes, a certain species of pedantic jerk that is gifted with far more education than good sense will make much of my misusing quotes. Boo-f***ing-hoo. I f***ed up. Unlike Michelle, I accept that I f***ed up, admit it, and continue on.
Now that that is out of the way, on to the real purpose of this discussion.
You see, unlike Michelle, I actually read Sara Carter's report carefully, and read the documents cited therein. The claims made by the Minutemen do not stand up to scrutiny. The documents make it clear that the consular officials have access to information on arrests, including the names of all participants (this includes arresting officers/citizens, and witness statements). This is nothing new. They've always had that access. It's part of any consular official's job, anywhere in the world.
I knew this because of my background. You see, I have had to arrest foreign nationals as a cop, so I am familiar with consular notification requirements. And, yes, if the Minutemen give their information to the Border Patrol, and also state that they observed someone crossing the border at location X and time Y, then that information will be in the arrest report. If they give any witness statements, those documents are also available to consular officials.
Michelle ignored all of those facts to jump to her desired conclusion, justify her use of purple prose, and thus continue to play to her chosen audience.
Said grain of salt should be roughly the size of the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs...
Have you been corresponding with Sara Carter like Michelle has?
I understand your frustration. It's a bitch having someone hold your feet to the fire as close as you want to hold others.
Michelle ignored all of those facts to jump to her desired conclusion, justify her use of purple prose, and thus continue to play to her chosen audience.
Coming from you, this is rich.
Hey, wait a minute...Geneva Convention? Isn't that the treaty the dictates how enemy combatants are to be treated during war time? I thought we weren't being invaded by Mexico. That's what I keep being told. Hmmmm....
Hey, I guess I made the cut.
In one direction only--I sent an email to Ms. Carter detailing exactly what the documents referred to, complete with quotations from and links to the relevant treaties, and how those treaties get implemented.
I have received no response.
Maybe she's too busy talking to important folks like Ms. Malkin to examine facts.
"What is truly amazing is that the very people who claim to despise Mexico are now quoting heavily from a Mexican web site and taking it as absolute fact."
Ironic isn't it? Kinda like the dems that think we should bow down and worship the 7 Generals that slam Rummy, but think that General Hayden isn't qualified to run the CIA. Two-faced hypocrits.
To say the least.
Oh, I don't know. I hear that is pretty standard treatment for "Keepers Of Odd Knowledge" and outhouse attorneys. And for sure, your ability to filter out all the interlocking evidence in her report with the single exception of the one detail you have experience with definitely puts you in one of those categories.
The "interlocking evidence" all related to consular reporting, which is tied to consular treaties that we have ratified and are thus the supreme law of the land along with the Constitution. Amazing that she ignored that stuff, eh? I guess it must be too dry and dull to get a "BUSH IS EVIL INCARNATE" rant out of.
with the single exception of the one detail you have experience with definitely puts you in one of those categories.
Some people (you in particular and Ms. Carter, apparently) have a real problem when they learn that they don't know what they're talking about.
You can keep saying it, but you can't make it true. "Consular reporting" has become your magic wand. You seem to think you can make everything else disappear by using it as your rubric.
Kind of like the official line.
Unfortunately, the official line isn't tying up all the loose ends. You may be an expert in arithmetic, but you're out of your depth when you start claiming "you can't do math with letters instead of numbers."
Nobody can force you to draw reasonable inferences from less than comprehensive evidence, but neither can you prevent thinking people from drawing inferences by disdaining with less than comprehensive evidence.
I may not know what I'm talking about, but you certainly haven't demonstrated it.
It's not like one can cite an official form that gets filled out when a government agency decides to engage in malfeasance.
Finally, I'm beginning to have serious questions as to whether your tangential experience in this area has left you "invincibly ignorant" for the purpose of assimilating new information.
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