Stories by tacitus
Posted at 11:33am on Jun. 5, 2005 Redstate.org posting rules
By tacitus
The posting rules for redstate.org are as follows:
No profanity. No personal attacks. No harassment or demonization of a particular individual. No disruptive behavior or off-topic remarks for their own sake.
Banning for ideological reasons will take place only in the cases of fundamentally anti-American ideologies. Nazis, Islamists, Communists and racists are unwelcome at redstate.org. Any other person of basic good sense and goodwill, regardless of party, is welcome to participate and hopefully come around to the ideals of Republicanism.
The proprietors of this site are the sole and final judges and enforcers of this policy.
Update [2004-7-12 18:12:59 by tacitus]:
A little clarification is in order. Pursuant to the mission statement, this site is explicitly meant to serve as a conservative and Republican community. Postings, comments, etc., contrary to this purpose fall under the rubric of "disruptive behavior" and will result in banning. You may or may not get a warning -- it depends on how harried the moderators are. If you are coming from a non-conservative, non-Republican context, you are still welcome here, but you must respect the site's stated purpose.
The posting rules benefit everyone. By promoting civility even in disagreement, they help the site avoid the pitfalls of notorious dens of iniquity like Democratic Underground and every unmoderated Usenet thread that has ever existed.
Update [2004-8-5 13:24:19 by tacitus]:
There is confusion over the term "Islamist," and we owe it to readers to clarify. First and foremost, we do not mean to bar Muslims per se. Rather, we mean the folks adhering to the violent and oppressive manifestations of the ideology described by that most neutral of sources, Wikipedia.
Update [2005-4-7 20:44:12 by Clayton]:
Concerning profanity: The rules are simple. If you have any doubt about whether to use a word or phrase, don't. If you still don't know what that means, don't post. Profanity is not necessary to make a point, add emphasis, or convey a message. There are plenty of other places on the 'net to be vulgar and base, but RedState.org will not be one of them. Thank you.
Posted in Miscellanea — Comments (0)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 10:12am on Sep. 15, 2004 Bush surge in....New York?
By tacitus
Quinnipiac hasn't put out too many up to date polls lately -- and a recent national poll would be useful for assessing this data -- but one set of data they have been updating is their New York state polls. The results are deeply surprising: in one month, the President has reduced John Kerry's 18-point lead to six points. In New York. Notably, the state hit hardest by the 9/11 massacres hands Bush a massive advantage on the terror issue.
Are we going to win New York? Almost certainly not. Is this a bellwether of a Kerry campaign in deepening trouble in places it shouldn't be? You bet it is.
Posted in Elections — Comments (2)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 4:37am on Sep. 10, 2004 The lonely beacon.
By tacitus
[W]e have concluded that genocide has taken place in Darfur. We urge the international community to work with us to prevent and suppress acts of genocide. We call on the United Nations to undertake a full investigation of the genocide and other crimes in Darfur.
The Government of Sudan has not complied with UN Security Council resolutions, and has not respected the cease-fire which it signed. The rebels are also guilty of cease-fire violations and failing to carry out past commitments. It is clear that only outside action can stop the killing. My government is seeking a new Security Council Resolution to authorize an expanded African Union security force to prevent further bloodshed. We will also seek to ban flights by Sudanese military aircraft in Darfur.
The world cannot ignore the suffering of more than one million people.
For the first time in history, a nation has invoked Article VIII of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The wheels are in motion to bring an end to the horrors of Darfur. Where the Europeans shirked the responsibilities of their humanity; where the Arabs decided that solidarity was preferable to morality; and where the United Nations functions as an impediment to justice, one nation is taking a stand.
That first nation to ever formally declare action against a genocide in progress under the Convention? The United States. And the leader who made the decision to make history on behalf of a common humanity? George W. Bush.
Read on.
Posted in Republicans — Comments (10)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 4:54pm on Sep. 9, 2004 Fulfillment.
By tacitus
Hot on the heels of Red State's prediction that an offensive against the terror havens in Iraq is in the offing, American and Iraqi forces have overrun one of those havens: the city of Samarra.
Read on.
Posted in War — Comments (2)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 11:11pm on Sep. 8, 2004 The light at the bottom of the barrel.
By tacitus
Part of the reason
href="http://nytimes.com/2004/09/08/politics/campaign/08CND-CAMP.html?hp">John Kerry's attacks on the President over the Iraq war href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/05/weekinreview/05filk.html?hp=&pagewanted=all &position=">ceded href="http://nytimes.com/2004/09/08/politics/08policy.html?hp">swaths
to the very Islamists we are presumably locked in a life-and-death struggle with,
the Bush Administration has a lot to answer for in its too-often lackluster conduct
of this war. (By the bye, it is a willing cession: no battlefield defeat or
logistical exigency drove us to this political decision.) In this, the
critics of the war and the Administration are on firm ground.
But they generally err on two counts. They err in the assumption -- near universal
amongst them -- that things now are as they shall be: as if Lincoln's presidency
ended on the many occasions when the Army of the Potomac retreated in defeat; as if
FDR's administration ended when the American fleet was smashed and our territory
from Manila to Wake was overrun.
And they err in the assumption that John Kerry will do better: this assumption
usually premised itself on a further assuption -- that things cannot get worse.
Difficult to grasp as it may be to the apocalyptic-minded, things can get
massively worse. And John Kerry is hellbent on accomplishing exactly that.
Read on.
Posted in War — Comments (81)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 1:08am on Sep. 7, 2004 The things they do well.
By tacitus
I said elsewhere
that Democrats don't care about foreigners, and indeed this does seem to be the
case: the party that prides itself most upon inclusiveness seems curiously
indifferent to the fates of strange peoples in faraway countries of which
href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&safe=off&q=%22faraway+country +between+people+of+whom+we+know+nothing%22&btnG=Search">they know nothing
Which is in keeping with the past generation's activities, not only of the party,
but of John Kerry himself.
Read on.
Posted in Democrats — Comments (9)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 11:29pm on Sep. 6, 2004 By the sweat of their brow
By tacitus
As we celebrate this Labor Day, it befits us to recall that we are not celebrating May Day. The former is an explicit recognition of the dignity of American workers; the latter is a glorification of the old Marxist illusion of international class solidarity. Republicans have recognized the value of labor and its intrinsic necessity from the beginning, even if the party -- along with the rest of America -- has too often been blind to the oft-bloody struggles of the American worker for a just wage and a humane life.
Read on.
Posted in Culture — Comments (4)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 9:30pm on Sep. 3, 2004 As it was.
By tacitus
The speech was everything it needed to be: just specific enough, just visionary enough, just humble enough, just exhortatory enough. And what it needed to be was dictated by only one thing: reelection. Even sitting in the rafters of Madison Square Garden, I could feel the energy of the crowd as they rose and fell with the cadences of the President's address. Pace Boston, this is what a party that wants its nominee looks like: from the roars of approval when the man emerged to greet the nation, to the spontaneous yells of support -- "Go get 'em, George!" shouted one fellow up in nosebleed -- far from any applause lines. Oh, but those applause lines: "[W]e have seen Americans in uniform storming mountain strongholds and charging through sandstorms, and liberating millions with acts of valor that would make the men of Normandy proud." Somewhere, Michael Gerson is enjoying his well-deserved pay. To call the speech well-received in its venue would be to understate things. The masses loved it. They had been served up three nights of the specter of President John Kerry, and now that the alternative was onstage, he looked good.
Read on.
Posted in Special Events — Comments (11)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 1:02pm on Sep. 3, 2004 A message to new Red State readers.
By tacitus
Register! Remember that in coming to Red State, you're not just coming to a place with prepackaged commentary -- you're arriving at a community of thoughtful individuals interested in issues of Republicanism, conservatism, and American politics. By registering (and all we need is your e-mail address and username), you receive the full benefits of participation in our community:
You can create public Diaries, containing your profound thoughts on the present and future of American politics. You'll receive your own subdomain at username.redstate.org, containing all your Diary entries. You get the ability to post reasoned, vigorous comments on others' postings, both on the main page and in the Diaries. You may opt in to Red State e-mail updates. And you'll feel the pride that comes from being part of the very best online Republican and conservative community around.
If you're one of the readers sent our way by the RNC coverage -- and average traffic has more than doubled since Sunday -- then stick around for the rest of the election. Red State is hot on the stories that matter, and what you've read this week is just prelude.
Posted in Miscellanea — Comments (0)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 9:37pm on Sep. 2, 2004 Bottom line?
By tacitus
The President did what he had to do with this one -- and a little bit more. That's the bottom line. We'll save the analysis for tomorrow. But just one thing -- in case you didn't catch it, here's the line that will win this for the President:
"And you know where I stand."
Exactly.