Here's what I thought you'd like to hear about today:

1. Goodbye Tom - DeLay's Farewell Address
2. Should we Talk? - with someone you can't trust?
3. The Threat to National Security - David Thompson and the White Helicopter
4. Cancelling AOL - the toughest inside sales rep in the business

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Goodbye Tom

Tom DeLay has left the House Republican Majority Leader position under a cloud of suspicion, much as Newt Gingrich left in the 90's. The Democrats were able to cobble together a corrupt Texas Democratic prosecutor, vague campaign finance laws restricting free speech and donations, and a willing media to drive DeLay from office. As expected, he does not go quietly. Rush Limbaugh played excerpts from his farewell address in the house on his Friday show. I pulled some difference excerpts from C-SPAN. He says beware of too much bipartisanship.

Play clip.

Compromise is not a first principal, it's a means to an end. I agree with that. Later he defends his fighting reputation.

Play clip.

Should we Talk?

As Joan Rivers used to say...

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I bring that up now in light of questions about whether it is useful to talk to Iran about their development of nuclear weapons. Iran signed the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, which is a set of protocols under which countries receive assistance in peaceful nuclear energy development in exchange for a rigorous inspection regime. Iran signed the agreement, and then cheated on the inspections. Why should we think that negotiations with Iran would be beneficial, when they have shown in the past that they have not lived up to the agreements they have signed before? Their current leaders show no signs of rational behavior. Why talk? First, let's spend a few minutes on what nuclear nonproliferation means. An expert on the subject is Leonard S. Spector. He spoke recently at Middlebury College. From the site description:

Leonard S. Spector is deputy director of the Monterey Institute of International Studies' Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), and leads the Center's Washington D.C. office. He joined CNS from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), where he served as an assistant deputy administrator for arms control and nonproliferation at the National Nuclear Security Administration.

He discusses the protocols in an hour and a half presentation. This clip is from the middle.

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Later he describes the history of the Iranian nuclear program.

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So we have Iran proving that they cannot be trusted. They received the benefit of nuclear energy development assistance, and cheated on their side of the agreement to allow thorough inspections. Should we expect a different result of negotiations today? I don't see why. Madeleine Albright has a different view. The former Secretary of State under Bill Clinton has been undergoing something of a rehabilitation. She showed up at a speech the other day with recent facial surgery to begin the process. Thanks to the Belmont Club for the pointer to the real audio program. Here's what they said about the video:

The video is worth watching for three reasons. First, Albright is, for better or for worse, the most well-known and probably the most serious foreign policy expert that the Democratic Party has. It is useful to listen to her, if for no other reason than to hear the "reasonable version" of the mainstream Democratic criticism of United States foreign policy under Bush. And, frankly, she has a number of interesting observations that she would not have made on a Sunday news show and which I failed to capture in my notes. Second, at 56:45, you can hear what she says about Kim Jong-Il, which is hilarious. Third, at 47:30, you can hear me -- TigerHawk -- ask her the best question I could muster about the Clinton administration's policy toward Iran. That alone is worth the price of admission.

Here's the clip where she explains why they talked to Iran. I don't find it very persuasive. It is the best example of the Democratic point that says that talking is always better than military action. In general, that's true. In reality, it's not so clear. It's certainly not true that "You can do nothing if you do not talk." as she says in the clip.

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Later she is asked about North Korea, and she discusses her experience talking with them.

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What was accomplished by these discussions? Looking back, one would have to say nothing. Signing an agreement certainly has no effect when the other party has no intent to live up to the bargain. Her self serving reference to Bush and the "Anything but Clinton" attitude has no effect. She is just blaming Bush for her failures. Outsourcing indeed.

The Threat to National Security

From the Corner on National Review Online we have Jonah Goldberg to thank for the following, from a post headlined:

Democracy At Work

A mere explanation won't do this justice. Just be warned: There's a rogue helicopter pilot out there and he's in on the whole ice in the arena thing.

If you get a chance, go see the video on You Tube. But for those who like to listen, here's the audio:

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Cancelling AOL

Boing Boing, a blog that dubs themselves "A Directory of Wonderful things", found this today:

AOL's efforts to keep you from quitting your account
Listen to this recording of a guy who called AOL to try to cancel his account and the AOL jerk who tries to keep him from canceling. Just disgusting.

Listen to the middle. It starts bad, and gets worse. It reminds me of all the calls I hate to make, but have to anyway. You always dread that they will turn out bad. Sometimes you underestimate how bad. This guy had the foresight to expect the worse, and the insight to record it. I edited it somewhat to cut the space out.

Play clip.

The AOL guy proceeds to read the whole script despite being asked not to. What a jerk. He said the account was used for 541 hours, when in fact it was never used. How could you possibly use it for 75% of the available hours in a month? What a jerk.