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Via Michael at Musing’s musings, The Onion presents a hypothetical Jimmy Carter Op-Ed.

Keep liquids away from your computer before clicking, and a soft surface near your chair for ROTFL would not be undue caution.

Understand that the basic facts of the op-ed are all true [although the language is a bit shrill] – I lived through them and remember. Oh, for what might have been…

Another Emily Litella moment for the Hedgemony from Danger Room: U.S. Navy Unsure Iranians Made Threat

The spokesperson for the U.S. admiral in charge of the Fifth Fleet clarified to ABC News:

“We’re saying that we cannot make a direct connection to the boats there,” said the spokesperson. “It could have come from the shore, from another ship passing by. However, it happened in the middle of all the very unusual activity, so as we assess the information and situation, we still put it in the total aggregate of what happened Sunday morning. I guess we’re not saying that it absolutely came from the boats, but we’re not saying it absolutely didn’t.”

The supposed threat was part of a US Navy agitprop mash-up video released to the media, but we now know that the “threat” was on an open radio channel used by every ship and shore installation in the area. It would certainly have been embarrassing if we had launched an all out air attack on Iran, and then had to apologize. 😈

Update: It wouldn’t be the first time.

My predictions were: Clinton, Obama, Edwards for the Dems, and McCain, Huckabee, Romney for the Reps.

The second and third place finishes for the Reps were swapped in the in the final result.

The turn out was decent, in excess of 50%, and secret ballots really mess up the talking heads.

So, now that 2% of the voters have spoken, we still don’t know anything.

The results of the truly important vote in New Hampshire won’t be reported until later today.

[Update: Marty is the new Mount Washington Topcat with 53% of the vote, avoiding a run-off.]

During the Cold War the various militaries played a dangerous game of near misses whenever their forces were in close proximity. Aircraft and naval vessels would make close passes to each other, occasionally with fatal results when someone zigged when they should have zagged.

Reading various news reports and Dr. Cole’s post, Iran IRGC Ships confront US Navy, that’s what occurred to me and to Jo Fish, a Cold Warrior in the Navy.

While there is certainly an element of garden variety stupidity in the game, it can also produce useful intelligence about the defense capabilities of the other force, as well as the skill of the potential opponent.

Danger Room has a post up on How Iran Attacks at Sea, which is quite different than the response one would expect from a navy.

A number of people starting talking about the “Gulf of Tonkin”, the pathetic and perhaps mythological event that was used to justify increased US involvement in Southeast Asia. but fortunately leveler heads have prevailed. I would hope that our forces have learned something from the first Gulf War and added capabilities to our vessels, because, while we have an overwhelming technological advantage, the Iranians tend to use more ballistic than guided weapons, and depend on numbers rather than individual sophistication. It is possible they could overwhelm our defenses with shear numbers of “antique” weapons that can’t be jammed.

My first post at the American Street will be showing up later this morning. I may cross post some of the things, but probably not all. It wasn’t made clear that I would be posting on Mondays and something should appear early in the morning, because neither Monday nor morning are among my favorite things.

Fortunately I know how to deal with those problems and the time difference.

С Рождеством Христовым to my Orthodox friends who are still waiting to see how the calendar reform works out.

Today marks the Feast of the Epiphany, end of the twelve days of Christmas, and Día de los Reyes in Spanish-speaking countries.

This is the customary day for gift exchanges in many Christian cultures as it marks the visit of the three magi to Bethlehem with their totally inappropriate gifts.

If you are Orthodox, of course, tomorrow is Christmas on your calendar. Being Orthodox is a good excuse when someone asks why you haven’t taken down the Christmas decorations yet.

No one mentioned this to me, but apparently Romney wins Wyoming GOP caucuses, CNN projects

(CNN) — Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will win the Wyoming Republican caucuses, CNN projects.

With 91 percent of precincts reporting, Romney has won eight of Wyoming’s 12 delegates.

Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson has won two, and California Rep. Duncan Hunter has won one.

I guess “None of the Above” gets the final delegate. Given the stealth nature of this event, it doesn’t look like moving the date forward is an instant recipe for success, unless you are looking for political junk mail to burn in your fireplace.

Quiddity of UggaBugga has a little chart up comparing age and finish among the candidates in Iowa. Except for Richardson and Clinton who have only a three week difference in age, in both races the older you were, the worse you did.

Well, I’m 1 for 2 on predictions, with Huckabee taking Iowa and Edward second on the Democratic side. Obama convinced young voters to come out and join the caucuses, which was his margin of victory. The only thing I really regret about Iowa is Chris Dodd’s decision to withdraw. I would have liked to have rewarded his stand on the Constitution in the meaningless Florida primary.

I will stand by Edwards and Huckabee in South Carolina.

New Hampshire is weird, so I’ll go with Clinton, Obama, Edwards for the Dems, and McCain, Huckabee, Romney for the Reps.

I don’t understand why Kucinich decided to go right in Iowa by telling his supporters to make Obama their second choice. The move seemed totally out of character.

No experienced interrogator questions anyone without a tape running. This is even more critical if the interrogation is not in the questioner’s native language. Even with a transcript, you preserve the tape, as an analyst may want a new translation to check something that was learned from another source.

It is ludicrous to claim that the only records of an interrogation of an important target are hand-written notes. That is not the way professionals do it.

The tapes also serve as leverage to open up other suspects – letting them hear what their “friends” have said about their involvement. It is much more effective that just telling them.

Instead of Iowa, the first primary should be in West Florida. We are also in the Central Time Zone, have more registered voters, and are just about as cold with single digit wind chills, but we don’t have the snow and ice until the pipes break.

When you are insulating a house in Florida the assumption is air conditioning and you are looking at a 30° temperature differential between inside and outside air, i.e. covering from 40° to 100° while maintaining 70° inside. When the temperature drops below freezing, you feel it inside during the three or four cold spells a winter.

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Laura Rozen notes that people are starting to figure out that there were multiple assassins in this hit. They still haven’t noticed that the actual shots that killed her were probably fired from the top of a building in the area while the gun wielder and bomb carrier were down on the ground. An autopsy would be crucial in proving what I believe to be the case, so I’m working from standard practice for political hits.

First off, you don’t need any special, insider information or assistance for a hit like this. The rally was announced well in advance, so there was plenty of time to get into position. There was plenty of security at the rally itself, and few avenues of escape, but Ms Bhutto had a habit of standing up through the sun roof of the Land Rover to wave to her supporters, and she always wore a white scarf which provides an excellent target.

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I believe that nothing is truly gone until the last person forgets it. As long as someone remembers, it still exists in the present. This holds for things, but especially for people.

While a number of people have mentioned the passing of Steve Gilliard last year, and rightfully so, another early pioneer and great writer was lost at too young an age, Jim Capozzola of The Rittenhouse Review. Susie Madrak wrote a nice remembrance of her friend and fellow Philadelphian last summer, when he died from a lack of health insurance at a critical moment in his illness, another victim of the lack of universal health care in the US.

While Steve attacked head-on, Jim was more cut-and-thrust, dissecting and exposing fraud with a touch of humor. Both are missed but neither is forgotten.