The Council has spoken

The Watchers Council met in conclave at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem (to more conveniently attend Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations) and chose this week's winning entries:

The winning Council post was Republicans Ponder The Abyss by Wolf Howling. Here is a sample:

About a week ago, on the eve of the third special election in a safe Republican district, House Republicans huddled to ponder their fate. We do not know what was said in the meeting but Rep. Tom Davis, coming out of the meeting, blamed Republican troubles on Bush and things such as his opposition to SCHIP – the Democratic plan to spend billions to create nationalized health care for children. And in that one event, all was summed up.

Congressional Republicans are both deaf to their constituents and delusional about the causes of their problems. If there is a single Republican who thinks emulating the left and embracing SCHIP or some other huge new socialist program is the way forward for the Republican party, they are insane. What in God’s name is wrong with these people? Bush certainly has to take a major share of responsibility for all of the above problems, but let there be no doubt that our Congressional Republicans and the RNC all shoulder an equal share of the blame.

Go and read the rest. When Republicans face a bloodbath this November they will not be able to say that they have not been warned.

The winning non-Council entry was Blog For Human Rights -- May 15th, 2008 by The Whited Sepulchre. Here is a sample:

It's May 15th. If you look to your right, you'll see this is Blog For Human Rights day. I decided to go old fashioned, and talk about a series of Norman Rockwell paintings based on Franklin Roosevelt's "Four Freedoms" State of The Union Address. These were originally published in The Saturday Evening Post (1943), and were eventually used to sell War Bonds.

Yeah, yeah, I know. Norman Rockwell is totally out of favor and widely ridiculed as bourgeois kitsch. Rockwell was cursed with both talent and training, both of which are out of favor. If only he'd been inspired to create a Virgin Mary with elephant dung, or photograph a crucifix in urine. Now THAT is art.

[. . .]

Here's the second Rockwell painting, called Freedom From Want. You can safely assume that it's Thanksgiving.

In the meantime our government, in an effort to guarantee that campaign donors are properly cared for, has mandated that MORE than 100 % of our yearly production of certain foodstuffs be converted to ethanol. The current Farm Bill, which will probably make it through the House of Representatives today, provides more of the same.

This has caused food prices all over the world to skyrocket. Food riots have broken out in Haiti, Bangladesh and Egypt.

Here's the third Rockwell painting in the series, and it's called Freedom of Speech. My parents had a picture book of Norman Rockwell paintings, which included this series, and I've always been intrigued by the man standing to speak. Do you see what's unusual about him, relative to everyone else?

He's the youngest person in the painting.

He's also wearing the grungiest clothes in the painting.

And yet everyone has to listen to him.

In the meantime, our allies in Saudi Arabia are putting barbers on trial for "insulting Islam".

In Canada, believe it or not, Canada.... The Alberta Human Rights Commission, truly one of the most poorly named bureaucracies in North America, is hauling people into court for insulting Islam. I'm noticing a trend.

And don't get me started on the sanctions against Free Speech in China.

Again, go and read the rest.

The rest of the results can be seen here.