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Did You Get the Message, Prime Designer? We Have a Contest Winner — and More. Interesting and creative, despite the carping about plagiarism from some people. The link immediately preceding this sentence gives you the winners, the raw entries (all 437 of ‘em) are here.

On Dems riding the tiger, Part II… (sub-titled “Why it’s SO difficult to get off”) MoveOn, that’s why:

In the Hell Hath No Fury sweepstakes, groups like MoveOn.org are gearing up to take on a new set of perceived traitors in their midst--Democrats who have acknowledged some success from the troop surge in Iraq.

Chief among the targets is Washington Congressman Brian Baird, whose indiscretion was recognizing progress on the ground, despite having initially opposed the surge and having opposed the war in the first place. After a recent trip to Iraq, Mr. Baird said: "One of the things that gets very little attention is that virtually every other country I visited says it would be a mistake to pull out now."

We hope he took his flak jacket home from Baghdad. MoveOn is rolling out an ad this week in Mr. Baird's Washington district, in which a former soldier tells of being shot at in 2003 by the Iraqis he had fought to liberate and calls America's continued presence in the country "wrong, immoral and irresponsible." What does this have to do with the wisdom--or lack thereof--of the current strategy? Nada, which tells you something about MoveOn's honesty.

The group doesn't aim to engage in debate, but to punish and silence Democrats who dare to think for themselves. There's a pattern here: When John Dingell contradicted party orthodoxy on global warming and auto mileage standards this year, MoveOn ran ads in his Michigan district calling the 81-year-old Congressman "Dingellsaurus."

Further down in the piece the WSJ editors (there is no attribution) claim MoveOn and its billionaire financiers have achieved “ideological control” of the Democratic party. I’m not quite sure that’s the case. It’s true that MoveOn and fellow-travelers Code Pink and A.N.S.W.E.R (do you know how hard it is to type that frickin’ acronym?) factions are the most vocal political organizations in the US…by far…and that they are generally associated with/related to the Democratic party. And yes, they have had significant influence on Congress— witness Harry Frickin’ Reid’s infamous weekly conference calls with the nutroots. But I believe the numbers of MoveOn members and their look-alikes are low, compared to the numbers of Americans…Democrats, Independents, and Republicans…who (a) don’t wear their political opinions on their sleeves, and (b) will not accept defeat in Iraq, and (c) vote. That last bit being the most critical, of course. There’s more than a bit of truth to the ol’ Silent Majority thing.

Oh. And you just keep callin’ ‘em as you see ‘em, Representative Baird. (Ed Note: link is to an mp3 file of a four-way discussion on The News Hour last evening between Rep. Baird, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (Idiot-Ill.), and two other congresscritters. Rep. Baird hands Schakowsky her ass during the ten or 12 minute exchange, but it’s a classic “you hadda be there” kind of moment that doesn’t come through as well on audio, as opposed to video.)

Oh (Part Deux). As long as we’re passing out kudos to improbable recipients of same: Good On Ya, Katie. More of the same, please. And by that I mean an honest accounting/recounting and not the same ol’, same ol’ retread MoveOn verbiage your counterparts at the other networks are flogging. (This doesn’t mean I’m gonna watch you, though, Katie. Just sayin’.)

Today’s Pic: Poppies in a Taos garden. The interplay of colors and textures are what caught my eye during a Taos walk-about in May, 2004. I have an affinity for blue, and a special affinity for Taos Blue…which one sees everywhere in that part of the world. There must be a law…or something.