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SEE HERE ENGLAND, THIS IS FRANCE: [Rod Dreher] Andrew Sullivan does a nice job explaining American attitudes toward Israel and France to his Sunday Times of London audience. He says to the average American, "France is an essentially untrustworthy, hypocritical repository of posers and bigots." He forgot "aromatic cowards" too, but why pile on?
Posted 11:49 PM | [Link]
WOODY AGONISTES: [Rod Dreher] "Woody Allen used to be famous for refusing interviews and making himself unavailable to the press. He was far too busy and too grand to publicize his own films, perhaps because he had no time left over after writing, directing, and taking naked photographs of the adopted teenage Asian daughters of his girlfriends." -- John Podhoretz, in NRO skewering a Manhattan ephebophile filmmaker who used to be somebody.
Posted 11:41 PM | [Link]
HOME-BUYING STRATEGY [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Jonah, get to the Bud.
Posted 9:24 PM | [Link]
TO ALL THOSE WHO WROTE IN ASKING WHERE WE WERE ALL DAY [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Little technical glitch caused the delayed postings. Read what was hidden from you all day now.....Sorry about that. Thanks for staying indoors and hitting refresh regardless...
Posted 9:16 PM | [Link]
JOHN LEO DIGS BLOGGING: [Rod Dreher] The Corner gets a nice mention by John Leo in his latest column, which praised the blog revolution. So do Andrew Sullivan, Mark Shea, Instapundit, Amy Welborn, and other holy blogs of obligation (to steal a phrase from Welborn). Leo points out that the political blogs are "overwhelmingly" right of center. Yay! Fight the power!
Posted 4:10 PM | [Link]
THUMBS UP FOR SPIDEY [Jonathan Adler]
I don't want to preempt Jonah or anyone else, but the Spiderman film is most excellent. It is well-scripted, well-directed, generally well-cast, and very true to Marvel mythology. Action freaks will like the special effects, and those who want a storyline with real characters should be satisfied too. (Translation: Guys, taking a date won't obligate you to see a chick flick.) An added bonus: you get to see the teaser for next summer's Incredible Hulk movie, directed by Ang Lee.
Posted 3:54 PM | [Link]
THUMBS UP FOR SPIDEY [Jonathan Adler]
I don't want to preempt Jonah or anyone else, but the Spiderman film is most excellent. It is well-scripted, well-directed, generally well-cast, and very true to Marvel mythology. Action freaks will like the special effects, and those who want a storyline with real characters should be satisfied too. (Translation: Guys, taking a date won't obligate you to see a chick flick.) An added bonus: you get to see the teaser for next summer's Incredible Hulk movie, directed by Ang Lee.
Posted 3:52 PM | [Link]
IT'S A MIRACLE!: [Rod Dreher] This BBC video news report features footage captured by an Israeli military spy drone that shows Palestinians bearing a corpse from the Jenin rubble to a burial site. When the "corpse" falls off the stretcher, he picks himself up and jumps back on. Twice. You don't suppose the Palestinians would be trying to fool the world about the true number of dead in Jenin, do you? Naaah.
Posted 2:49 PM | [Link]
SAME PLANET, DIFFERENT WORLDS: [Rod Dreher] Hope springs eternal in the Archdiocese of Boston. David Smith, the archdiocesan chancellor, tells the Times that Catholics across the country will surely open their wallets to help out the financially stricken archdiocese. "They respond to earthquakes," he said. "Why would you not think they would respond to meet the needs of the people in Boston?" Umm... .
Posted 1:34 PM | [Link]
IS BILL KELLER NUTS?: [Rod Dreher] Columnist Bill Keller of The New York Times has an essay out today about the Scandal that is thoroughly Dowdish in its glib, shallow analysis of the Catholic Church crisis. It is only worth linking to because it almost certainly reflects the thinking of the secular liberal media. He places blame for the crisis on John Paul II, which is not necessarily unfair, given how unwilling the Holy Father has been to govern his Church by removing bad bishops. But Keller, against all evidence, claims that the problem is that JP has been too conservative! As a self-confessed fallen-away Catholic, he assumes that the Pope has appointed nothing but hardline right-wingers. Obviously, he hasn't been paying attention during this pontificate. If only that were true, we wouldn't have the likes of Cardinal Mahony, Bishop Imesch and the lot, and our reputedly conservative prelates wouldn't be so afraid to lead faithfully and decisively in implementing the Holy Father's teaching. For aging Boomers like Keller, there's nothing wrong with the Church that more doctrinal liberalism wouldn't solve. This is exactly wrong. Excessive doctrinal liberalism is a big part of the problem in the American Church, but the greater fault belongs to clericalism, which is a phenomenon of right and left.
Posted 1:28 PM | [Link]
SORRY.... [Jonah Goldberg]
The weather's just too nice to stay in-doors posting to the Corner.
Posted 12:00 PM | [Link]
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LIQUIDATION: [John J. Miller]
Want a piece of furniture made from Admiral Horatio Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar?
Posted 5:45 PM | [Link]
THE NEW BERKELEY [Robert A. George]
Stanley, thanks for the links and background on the Stanford Law and Policy Review situation. Considering that this all comes to light after (though happening before) the rejection of University of Nebraska coach Ron Brown apparently because of his Christian beliefs, it seems that Stanford is becoming the new Berkeley. Question: Was former Provost Condoleezza Rice aware of any of the law journal shenanigans?
Posted 5:34 PM | [Link]
BUSH AGAINST BORKING [Jonathan Adler]
To commemorate Law Day, the President took up the defense of his judicial nominees, and blamed Democrats for politicizing the confirmation process and creating a "vacancy crisis." In remarks earlier today, the President noted that the Senate has only confirmed nine of his thirty nominees to seats on the appellate bench. Said Bush, "The Senate, thus far, has not done its part to ensure that our federal courts operate at full strength. Justice is at risk in America, and the Senate must act for the good of the country."
Posted 5:33 PM | [Link]
CORRECTION [Robert A. George]
Jonah, of course, meant to say that DC was superior (though the Spidey movie makes my argument that much harder).
Posted 3:26 PM | [Link]
AM I LOSING MY RELIGION ... OR JUST MY LUNCH?: [Rod Dreher] A picture is worth a thousand homilies. (Scroll down a tad, and don't forget to read the USS Clueless blogger's commentary on the image).
Posted 2:56 PM | [Link]
GEN. LEBED [Andrew Stuttaford]
There's a great quote from the late General Lebed in today's Financial Times: "He who shoots first, laughs last."
Posted 2:54 PM | [Link]
MORE ON SILENCE [Stanley Kurtz]
Thanks to Instapundit and his readers for taking up the issue of the rejected law review articles. Like Glenn Reynolds, I wouldn't be at all surprised if I was in disagreement with some of the points raised in these articles. I don't always see eye to eye with critics of the gay rights movement. But in general, opponents of gay rights are silenced within the academy, and that is a problem, agree or disagree on substance. The important thing about the piece I linked, however, is that the question of the rejected articles' quality is addressed in some detail. Ty Clevenger claims that reviewers had qualms about the quality of both the conservative and the liberal articles, but that the board of the journal went ahead and pulled the conservative articles but published the liberal ones. Clevenger had even agreed to hold all articles on both sides until better ones could be solicited. Also, apparently at least one of the pieces critical of gay rights was later deemed good enough to be published by one of Harvard's journals, while one of the pro-gay rights articles that had been particularly criticized for its quality was published by the Stanford Journal anyway. So if Clevenger's account is accurate, this would indeed be a case of unsupportable bias.
Posted 2:52 PM | [Link]
SILENCING DISSENT AT STANFORD [Stanley Kurtz]
An important article detailing what appears to be an egregious incident of academic political correctness at Stanford has just been published in the Regent University Law Review. (Follow the link to the special journal issue and scroll down to the article by Ty Clevenger, "Gay Orthodoxy and Academic Heresy.") It seems that a Stanford Law Journal was planning to put out a special issue on questions related to gay rights. A social liberal and a social conservative had been recruited to put the issue together. At the last minute, all of the articles critical of current gay rights orthodoxy were rejected and all of the pro-gay rights articles were published. Ty Clevenger's piece tells the behind the scenes story of the incident, and gives a lot of other very interesting information as well. The rejected articles have been reprinted in a special issue of the Regent University Law Review. I have not read them, so I don't know whether I agree or disagree with their content. But if Clevenger's account is correct, Stanford's publication of a special law journal issue that argues only one side of this controversial question is a travesty of liberal values.
Posted 12:38 PM | [Link]
VEGAN AGAIN [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Remember the couple arrested for nearly killing their daughter, keeping her on a radical vegan diet. Well, they're expecting and plan to do the same with the next kid.
Posted 12:35 PM | [Link]
CRACKS IN THE PLAN [Andrew Stuttaford]
Could the basis of the deal that freed Arafat be beginning to unravel? Check out this story in today's Daily Telegraph.
Posted 12:29 PM | [Link]
OH JEEZ [Jonah Goldberg]
And here I thought I might have over-reacted to Reason's Corner parody. Satire's hard and sometimes it falls flat after all. But now they're parodying my response. What's next, "I know you are, but what am I?"
Posted 12:01 PM | [Link]
MORE ON THE MONKEY [Andrew Stuttaford]
The BBC report includes the old story that at one point during the Napoleonic wars the citizens of Hartlepool are said to have hanged a monkey on the grounds that it was a French spy. I pass on this information, Jonah, with no further comment.
Posted 11:58 AM | [Link]
MONKEY BUSINESS [Andrew Stuttaford]
A rather bossy "civic-mindedness" is one of the key features of Tony Blair's government. Apathy is no longer acceptable. As part of this process, mayors are now directly (rather than indirectly) elected in some municipalities. In the North-Eastern town of Hartlepool, however, voters have dealt with this imposition in style. They have elected a monkey. Running on a platform of free bananas for schoolchildren, H'Angus (in reality the mascot for a local soccer team) shows sign of "evolving" into a true politician. As this BBC report reveals, he shows depressing signs of taking himself rather seriously. Doctor Zaius would approve.
Posted 11:57 AM | [Link]
IN CASE YOU DIDN'T KNOW.... [Jonah Goldberg]
The answer is Marvel, of course.
Posted 11:46 AM | [Link]
SPIDER-MAN [Jonah Goldberg]
Jonathan - The reviews so far a very strong. I've long thought that Sam Ramie is rapidly becoming the most interesting and versatile movie-maker after the Cohen Bros. I’m going to see it this weekend and probably write about it next week. Then, Robert George and I will probably have our long-planned debate on NRO (sorry Kathryn) on which is superior Marvel or DC comics – as if we don’t already know the answer to that.
Posted 11:41 AM | [Link]
McCAINIA! [Jonah Goldberg]
Sometime NRO contributor Seth Gitell and fulltime NR critic Jonathan Chait debate over at the American Prospect whether or not McCain should become a Democrat and run for President. I read Chait's piece in the New Republic, but generally I haven't followed this argument too closely. Maybe this point's been made, but it seems to me that if McCain became a Democrat and ran for President it would constitute a colossal victory for the Right. By now it’s becoming conventional wisdom that Bill Clinton was to Ronald Reagan what Eisenhower was to FDR. Eisenhower made the New Deal bipartisan by refusing to dismantle its key elements, like Social Security. Clinton made the Reagan revolution bi-partisan by embracing free-trade and the dismantling of Federal entitlements, particularly welfare (he did give out lots of waivers to states eager to experiment). Indeed, by making the Democratic Party about "fiscal discipline" he moved it to the "Right" of the GOP in a certain narrow sense. If, just four years after Clinton leaves office, the Democrats decide that their best candidate is John McCain – as goofy as he’s become notwithstanding – it will cement Clinton’s role as Reaganizer of the Democratic Party.
Posted 11:37 AM | [Link]
SPIDEY'S HERE! [Jonathan Adler]
Stan Lee himself on why the Spiderman character is so popular. Today we find out if the movie is any good.
Posted 11:32 AM | [Link]
JENIN B.S. CONT'D [Jonah Goldberg]
Krauthammer's column captures the outrage nicely.
Posted 10:42 AM | [Link]
WHITE HOUSE EGGHEADS CONT'D [Jonah Goldberg]
My buddy Tevi Troy's book got a positive -- albeit a bit snarky -- review in yesterday's Washington Post.
Posted 10:39 AM | [Link]
REASON: SO LAME [Jonah Goldberg]
In the last six months or so, Reason magazine, and even more so the Reason website, has increasingly taken on the tone of the asinine college sophomore. You know, the kid who knows more than everybody else, or at least thinks he does, but can’t understand why nobody thinks he’s funny or really cares about his opinion. Worse, he doesn’t understand why he’s not cool, even though he rides a skateboard to class and has "Bad Brains" patches on his backpack. Even the stoners don’t want to get high with him because he’s always laughing at how much smarter he is than everybody else. This is too bad because there’s often some very good stuff in Reason and I respect some of the authors in its orbit. But good gawd, how lame is this? I have no doubt that the gang around Reason’s editorial room think this "parody" of the Corner is downright hilarious. And that’s what’s so embarrassing. The silly ethnic-name games, the giggling over Catholics who care about Catholicism, the snooty bad-faith mockery etc: It says so much more about those guys than it says about us. Seriously: I’m mortified for you guys. It’s not even sophomoric, it’s junior-high caliber. I feel like I should be in a TV after-school special where everyone laughs at you in the cafeteria.
Posted 9:50 AM | [Link]
OUR PEACE-LOVING BUDS [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
The Saudi government is cracking down on women’s clothing. Seems there are factories adorning the head-to-toe black mandates with glittering red, blue or silver sequins on the cuffs or a jeans pocket sewn on the back. Saudis are cracking down on the factories and promise to punish owners of the risqué clothes.
Posted 6:54 AM | [Link]
ANOTHER LIGHT GOES OUT IN HONG KONG [John Derbyshire]
Jasper Becker, who wrote Hungry Ghosts, the first book on the great Mao famines of 1959-62, has been fired from his job at Hong Kong's leading English-language newspaper.
Posted 5:47 AM | [Link]
EUGENICS [Jonathan Adler]
I think Virginia Postrel actually concedes too much when she concedes that parental efforts to enhance the genetic traits of their offspring can be labeled "eugenics." Webster's Collegiate defines eugenics as "a science that deals with the improvement (as by control of human mating) of hereditary qualities of a race or breed." I think that last phrase is key. Eugenics may not require control of human mating, but it seems to me that the term -- and the revulsion it rightly engenders -- does require broader racial ambitions (and, I should note, does not require government control). This is not to say that genetic engineering of children by their parents is a good thing -- I am not sure whether I accept Bailey's arguments -- only that making decision about one's own children is fundamentally different from trying to engineer an entire race.
Posted 5:39 AM | [Link]
MICKEY D’S EGYPTIAN PROBLEM [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
McDonald’s is evidently changing its name to “Man Foods” in Egypt (maybe it sounds better in Egyptian) in an attempt to get Arabs to stop boycotting them for doing Israeli business.
Posted 5:18 AM | [Link]
ALOHA [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Hawaii came within an inch of legalizing assisted suicide yesterday. The proponents in the state senate lost 14-11.
Posted 5:14 AM | [Link]
LOUIS L'AMOUR RIDES AGAIN: [John J. Miller]
When I was in high school, I read Louis L'Amour Westerns the way some kids read science fiction. (I also read lots of science fiction, but that's another story.) Today the Wall Street Journal runs an article of mine on this great novelist. The occasion is twofold: the release of L'Amour's latest posthumous collection of short stories, With These Hands, and the "news peg" of his family and publisher donating 250,000 copies of L'Amour books to the armed services. If you haven't read L'Amour before, treat yourself to Last of the Breed or Hondo. If you want to learn more about the man, who was one of Ronald Reagan's favorite writers, check out this website.
Posted 5:00 AM | [Link]
FOR THE SUITS? [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
I bet we could get this drug company to sponsor The Corner.
Posted 4:52 AM | [Link]
THE BILL CLINTON SHOW [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
The Washington Post’s edit on Bill Clinton as talk show host isn’t half bad. Here’s the flavor:
At first the news seems ludicrous -- you ask yourself, is this, even this, possible? -- and then you think, yes, God help us, of course it is. Not only possible but inevitable. This, after all, is the man who turned all of American politics into a talk show, with his trademark town meetings, his fervid emoting, his scandals, his denials, his tears, the lower lip. The man who made all of American life a talk show, really, compelling schoolteachers and highly paid defense lawyers alike to discuss the sort of nitty-gritty questions ("Is it adultery if . . .?") usually heard only on MTV's "Loveline."
Posted 4:51 AM | [Link]
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JENIN B.S. CONT'D [Jonah Goldberg]
Will the propaganda ever end? Now the Palestinians have reportedly be filmed staging fake funerals.
Posted 6:03 PM | [Link]
BOY SCOUT LEADER FOR POPE? [Rod Dreher] Bob Tyrrell says the Boy Scouts of America look pretty damn good these days, in the wake of the gay pederast priest scandal. He thinks the bishops still don't get it; therefore, "For now, Catholic parents intent on religious instruction for their children had best send them to the Boy Scouts, where the young will also learn to identify poison ivy."
Posted 4:56 PM | [Link]
HOWEVER… [Jonah Goldberg]
Virginia Postrel’s excellent response got me thinking. She takes Fukuyama to task, and rightly so, for associating parental medical choices with totalitarian eugenics schemes. "The mere fact that you can label both "eugenics" blurs some rather significant differences that you shouldn't have to be a Hayek devotee to recognize," she writes. While I’d dispute the notion this is simply a "mere fact" – being able to label both things "eugenics" is more significant than, say, being able to label both "nouns" or "arguments" etc – Postrel is, of course, correct. Intent, means and results in the two situations are very different. Virginia makes the case that such eugenic decisions are better left to parents than to the government. If that’s the choice, I’m more in her camp than not. But what I find disturbingly absent from pretty much all discussion of eugenics – pro and con -- is culture. We simply assume that if parents don’t make these decisions, government will. If you’re opposed to eugenics but you don’t want to ban it completely or let the government decide, or if you’re just in the middle, what’s wrong with using the culture to regulate this sort of thing? Can’t we shame some people for using these techniques inappropriately? What do I mean by inappropriately? I’ll have to think about that, but we can start with obvious stuff: babies as conversation pieces; children with prehensile tails so they can carry more groceries etc.
Posted 4:35 PM | [Link]
MORE FUKUYAMA [Jonah Goldberg]
Since this morning, when I voiced my concern that Libertoid Bloggdom was surprisingly silent about Francis Fukuyama’s the Fall of the Libertarians libertarian bloggdom has exploded. The Volokh Brothers (sounds reminiscent of the Malachi (SP?) Brothers from Happy Days), Virginia Postrel, OxBlog and, of course InstaPundit All make good points but I am too tired to summarize them for you, check it out yourself if you’re interested.
Posted 4:24 PM | [Link]
MORE ASHCROFT [Jonah Goldberg]
Stanley - You might be interested to know that Peter Beinart also chimed in on Ashcroft's view that freedom and religion go to gether like beer and pretzels - or in his case iced tea and pretzels. Peter and I actually got into a big fight about it on CNN and then off-camera. This TRB was the result. It's pretty good and certainly a lot more thoughtful than Frank Rich's silliness.
Posted 2:42 PM | [Link]
CARDINAL MAHONY K.O.'D: [Rod Dreher] This is a big one. New Times L.A., the alternative weekly in Los Angeles, has a cover story out today that annihilates the credibility of Rodger Cardinal Mahony on the priest sex abuse issue.
Posted 2:28 PM | [Link]
O, SORRY, CANADA: [Rod Dreher] Toronto-based blogger Kathy Shaidle is understandably outraged by the New York morons who burned the Canadian flag at a recent hockey game. She points out that Yanks may not understand how difficult it is for individual Canadians to have stood up for America after September 11, given how hostile elite opinion there is to the United States. She's right. Look, many Canadians can be annoying as all get-out with their anti-American neurosis (the longest night of my life was an overnight train ride from Nice to Milan, trapped in a compartment with two Canadian undergraduates, who held me personally responsible for the fact that their Canadian history textbook was written by an American). Still, the kind of display that rightly upsets Shaidle is shameful. As a New Yorker and as an American, I'm embarrassed by it. Besides, why blame Canada when there's always France? (Je suis kidding, je suis kidding. Pas des hate-mails, amis.)
Posted 1:59 PM | [Link]
DEFENDING ASHCROFT: [Stanley Kurtz]
Andrew Sullivan has a great little squib up today taking on Frank Rich's recent attack on John Ashcroft. It seems that Rich is upset that the Attorney General took seriously the framers' view that our democratic liberties are God given. Peter Berkowitz has an extremely thoughtful discussion of exactly this issue up on the Wilson Quarterly's website. Berkowitz argues that even John Rawls, the pre-eminent modern liberal political philosopher, who has himself seemed more willing to tolerate religion than to profess it, may now be moving closer to a position in which the role of religious faith as a foundation for liberalism is respected. Sullivan's wonderful take-down of Rich combines with Berkowitz's thoughtful meditation on the relation between religion and liberalism to expose Rich's knee-jerk criticism and scare-mongering about Ashcroft for what it is-simple ignorance and anti-religious prejudice.
Posted 1:57 PM | [Link]
STEYN ON EUROS [Andrew Stuttaford]
Check out this article by Mark Steyn from the (London) Spectator on what EU Commissioner Patten likes to refer to as "European civilization."
Posted 12:50 PM | [Link]
HOT BABES WITH VIOLINS! [Dave Kopel]
Classical music artists are losing state subsidies, and facing tough economic times, Libertarian Samizdat explains. One solution to getting more people to buy new recordings (rather than cheap re-releases of recordings from decades ago)? The same solution that lots of other genres have found: very talented young artists who also happen to be very beautiful. Like violinist Hilary Hahn.
Posted 12:10 PM | [Link]
ONE MORE [Andrew Stuttaford]
Kathryn, I will try and make this my last bad pun on the Clinton talk show, but how about Grope-rah?
Posted 11:26 AM | [Link]
ANDEW STUTTAFORD IS MAKING SENSE [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
I know we are terrible about talking about each other and our site, but here I go again. You have got to read Andrew’s corpse-art piece today. First of all, I’m just impressed he went to see it and is willing to admit it. But, more importantly, it’s a terrific piece—just don’t read it after eating.
Posted 11:09 AM | [Link]
THE CLINTON SHOW [Jonah Goldberg]
Andrew- I've been wracking my brain trying to come up with other possible show titles for the X-Prez. So far nothing very good. But here goes: "Bill's In Heat Blues," "Queer As Polk," "West Swing," and "Me-Watch" come to mind. I'll keep thinking, but I really do have work to do.
Posted 11:05 AM | [Link]
SHANLEY ARRESTED: [Rod Dreher] Fox News reporting that the notorious Boston priest Fr. Paul Shanley has been arrested in San Diego on three counts of child rape. This is great news, but as a priest friend points out, this situation is about to get real ugly, real fast. The evil Shanley now has nothing left to lose, and I bet he'll start talking, and naming names. And if he goes to criminal trial, and it's televised -- can you imagine? At least he will almost certainly never be free to molest children again -- thanks, sadly, to the media and the police department, not the Church.
Posted 10:31 AM | [Link]
THE NEW OPRAH [Andrew Stuttaford]
The LA Times is reporting that Bill Clinton wants to host his own talk show. Apparently he wants to be the next Oprah. No indication as to what such a programme might be called, but with Mulder and Scully riding off into the sunset, maybe The XXX-Files might be one suggestion...
Posted 10:25 AM | [Link]
THE WINDY GUY: [John J. Miller]
Chicago magazine has an extraordinary interview with Seymour Hersh of The New Yorker--extraordinary in its hatred of the Bush administration and its aims, that is. Hersh on President Bush and his top advisors: "We didn't win the war in Afghanistan; I don't care what George Bush says. I don't care that George Bush doesn't know much, but the people around him should know more who don't seem to know more." Hersh on John Ashcroft: "We have an attorney general that is, I don't know, how would you describe him, demented?" Hersh on Donald Rumsfeld: "We've got a secretary of defense who thinks he's Woody Allen." Hersh on invading Iraq: "We have a possibility of some sort of horrible Armageddon." Please keep these words in mind the next time you read one of Hersh's "blockbuster" pieces of reporting.
Posted 10:18 AM | [Link]
BUSTED LINK [Jonah Goldberg]
The link to The Women's Quarterly excerpt of the Fair Jessica's book was busted below.Here it is.
Posted 9:58 AM | [Link]
FREEEEEEAKKKKKYYYY.... [Jonah Goldberg]
Speaking of cloning, if this is real it's really, really, weird
Posted 9:45 AM | [Link]
BY THE WAY [Jonah Goldberg]
I'm disappointed that libertoid blogdom has ignored Fukuyama's op-ed. Get with it Instapundit(s).
Posted 9:25 AM | [Link]
THE FALL OF THE LIBERTARIANS? [Jonah Goldberg]
Francis Fukuyama’s essay in the Wall Street Journal is certainly interesting, but I’m not sure I totally buy it. He seems to assume a link between the end of Libertarian foreign policy (often a contradiction in terms and never all that popular among conservatives) and the rise of libertarian biotechnology fetishists, when I’m not sure there is one. The libertoids who argued for appeasement of Saddam ten years ago aren’t necessarily the ones leading the biotech bandwagon today and vice versa. For example, I know for a fact that Reason’s science reporter, my buddy Ronald Bailey – one of the premiere "clone ‘em if ya got ‘em" techno-voluptuaries – was in favor of the Gulf War. I’m pretty sure that’s true of Jim Glassman and Virginia Postrel as well, though I’d have to check. Regardless, it seems to me that Fukuyama’s linkage of 9/11 and biotech is spurious. Biotech may be moving us into a Brave New World but that world has little ideological or intellectual overlap with the era ushered in by 9/11, which marked the return of History, not the end of it.
Posted 9:20 AM | [Link]
GOOD NEWS [Stanley Kurtz]
Looks like the president’s plan to tie programs that strengthen marriage to welfare reform is off to a great political start. I said a few weeks ago in a piece on President Bush that by opposing his pro-marriage initiatives the Left would only end up marginalizing itself. The Village Voice seems to agree. They’ve just put out an articledetailing their horror at the political success of the proposal to date. The president’s pro-marriage proposal has allowed Republicans to shape the debate over the coming reauthorization of welfare reform; it’s got Democrats afraid to speak up in opposition; it’s isolated NOW on the left; and it’s poised to take millions of federal dollars away from left-leaning interest groups and funnel them instead to socially conservative organizations. Not bad.
Posted 8:53 AM | [Link]
NRO NEWS [Jonah Goldberg]
NRO is back to a million unique visitors (and 10 million page views) a month. We were over a million – and beyond – quite a bit during the election, but things had tapered off for a little while. This means more people read NRO every month than read, well, a lot of dead-paper magazines which tend to look down their noses at us ones-and-zeroes types.
Posted 8:38 AM | [Link]
FAIR JESSICA NEWS [Jonah Goldberg]
Tilting the Playing Field is excerpted in the current issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education. Unfortunately the piece isn’t available on their site. Fortunately, the excellent Women’s Quarterly has excerpted the book in their current issue too.
Posted 8:35 AM | [Link]
DA MAN IS CRUSIN' [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Jonah, maybe we should go ahead and post NR OnDeadTree in The Corner in Rich's absence? After all, you are the cover story this time. Not the time to refrain from the practice.
Posted 8:13 AM | [Link]
DAMAGED KIDS:: [Rod Dreher] Today's New York Times (link requires registration) reports that NYC schoolchildren are still suffering psychological fallout from 9/11. Same with NYC pre-schoolchildren, at least in my house. Our 2 1/2 year old son still tells us daily that "the Twin Towers crashed," and asks us if it's going to happen again. Seven months after the fact! When he says his prayers at night, the only thing he asks to pray about is "the big fire," and sometimes "the people from the Twin Towers." Two nights ago, we saw him stacking boxes on top of each other, and flying his toy airplane into them. He's two-and-a-half years old. Islam, by the way, is a religion of peace.
Posted 7:57 AM | [Link]
BLOKE ON THE WATER, LOWRY IN THE SKY [Jonah Goldberg]
Okay, well, if the Deep Purple tune were playing in the background that would be funnier. Anyway, Rich Lowry has left for his NR cruise. This probably means his posts will come at very random times about very random things. This is the first NR cruise since the launch of the Corner, curious to see what it does to Rich's observations. Pay close attention.
Posted 7:07 AM | [Link]
MONEY, MONEY [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
A second class-action slavery-reparations lawsuit was filed yesterday. This is going to get much worse before it comes close to getting better. (Here's my piece on the movement from a few weeks ago, btw.)
Posted 7:04 AM | [Link]
THE VEGETARIAN’S BURDEN [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
A professor of animal science at Oregon State University is in hot water with vegetarians for telling them they’re not that innocent. Mice, moles, and rabbits tend to be run over by tractors or lose their homes to farming. Unless alternatives are found, he says, vegetarians will have to admit they have blood on their hands as much as the billions served at McDonald’s.
Posted 6:36 AM | [Link]
BERKELEY, OASIS OF TOLERANCE [Jonah Goldberg]
The kill the Jews posters are popping up at Berkeley. Thanks to Andrew Sullivan and Instapundit for the link to
The Angry Clam who's posted a couple examples.
Posted 5:59 AM | [Link]
TIME, STILL [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Good morning, Jonah. Don’t say I never bring good news to The Corner. Matt Groening says he was misquoted in that Financial Times piece from the other day. The Simpsons will be here for a bit yet.
Posted 5:58 AM | [Link]
YEAH, RIGHT [Lowry]
Wash Post quote I: In addition to its own calls for what one [administration] official called "restraint and dignity" by Arafat in the coming days...
Wash Post quote II: Arafat appeared briefly before reporters to angrily denounce the Israelis for surrounding the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, where a fire broke out after Israeli forces and Palestinians traded gunfire.
"It's an ugly crime," Arafat said of the fire. "I call on the international community to take immediate measures in the face of this horrendous crime. Those terrorists, Nazis and racists, how can we tolerate them after committing this crime?"
Posted 12:46 AM | [Link]
SO...: [Lowry]
...does this mean Arafat was responsible for the terrorism, after all? From Wash Post:
"Everybody is watching," an Arab official said. "We have to watch Arafat . . . and see what he is going to do. I believe that the wave of terrorism in the West Bank will subside," he said. "But maybe in Gaza, he has to do some more work."
"I believe that the picture is clear now to everybody," the official said. "I would be shocked, amazed, surprised if I see a resumption of violence again. We either all win, or we all lose."
Posted 12:41 AM | [Link]
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JOE BOB BRIGGS REVIEWS THE NY SUN: [Rod Dreher] He thinks it's okay, but would improve with livelier writing and a stronger point of view. Yep.
Posted 11:20 PM | [Link]
'FRONTIER' FINALE: [Rod Dreher] Frontier House ended on PBS tonight, and I have to say, by the time the bears showed up, I didn't really want them to eat the Clunes after all. They turned out to have a pretty healthy family dynamic, at least compared to the Glenns. Karen Glenn -- jeez, what an insecure, man-hating shrew (no surprise that her weak-sister husband moved out once they got home; how pathetic he looked pulling at his collar in a singles bar). The program taught an interesting lesson about how the luxury of 21st-century life allows people to remain immature and selfish; those traits simply wouldn't work on the frontier, because a family and a community couldn't survive with such petulance poisoning the well. Funny, but when the Clunes returned home, to their McMansion on the Pacific, they looked so spiritually impoverished by their wealth. It was almost cartoonish.
Posted 10:26 PM | [Link]
BLOG CLONE [Jonah Goldberg]
Rod,OxBlog looks cool, even though this was my cousin's nickname in prison -- long story that. But how come it looks identical to InstaPundit? There are enough blogs out there as it is, the least the new guys could do is look distinctive.
Posted 4:44 PM | [Link]
HOISTING THE (CONSERVATIVE) BLOG IN BLIGHTY: [Rod Dreher] The American Politics/International Relations students at Oxford University have an intriguing new blog, which is distinctly rightish in its editorial flavor. Check out Josh Chafetz' recent entry there on Nietzsche as anti-anti-Semite (Chafetz notes that the Guardian, the upholder of mainstream Left orthodoxy in England, barely noted the trashing of a London synagogue).
Posted 4:08 PM | [Link]
THE LAST WORD ON STEWARDSHIP: [Rod Dreher] Michael Dubruiel says it.
Posted 3:38 PM | [Link]
PUBLIC FOR PRIVACY [John J. Miller]
Ward Connerly says his Racial Privacy Initiative is doing well in the polls. "If the election were held today, RPI would be approved by the California electorate by a margin of approximately 60% to 40%," says a statement from the American Civil Rights Coalition. These numbers are based on a Field Poll showing RPI supporters outnumbering opponents by a 3-2 margin--48% in favor, 34% opposed, and 18% undecided. Whites, blacks, Hispanics, men, and women are all more likely to support RPI than oppose it; oddly, Asians are more likely to oppose than support, even though they've suffered from racial bean-counting more than most. ACRC describes its initiative this way: "The proposed constitutional amendment would largely end the governmental practice of classifying and tracking individuals by race, ethnicity, color or national origin. Upon qualification and passage, racial check-off boxes would be phased out in state and local government forms by 2005, with explicit exemptions for such areas as medical research and treatment, law enforcement, and the Department of Fair Employment and Housing." Connerly hopes to place the ballot question before voters in November.
Posted 2:49 PM | [Link]
ACTION IN PAKISTAN [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
A building housing U.S. troops in Peshawar was fired on this morning.
Posted 2:37 PM | [Link]
BRAVO FOR MICHAEL NOVAK [Michael Potemra]
In his column on the travails of the Catholic Church, he comes closer than anyone else has to the heart of the matter; at a time when the only choice seems to be between ordinary hysteria and galloping hysteria, he is a voice of reason. The tiny handful of Catholic priests who are sex abusers will no longer commit their crimes as priests; it is further to be hoped that they will be prevented by some combination of legal, medical, and spiritual attention from committing them at all. The vast majority of priests, meanwhile, will continue to say Mass, hear confessions, and offer religious counsel to the faithful. They are holy men, most of them--even those with the misfortune to have become bishops, cardinals, or popes. And in the long run, people who believe the Church hierarchy has become fundamentally corrupt will have to decide whether they will A) demand the right to appoint their own bishops or B) accept those nominated by the pope. On behalf of option A, we can adduce an inadequate and insensitive response by a handful of leaders to a handful of crimes by a handful of predators. On behalf of option B, we see the evidence of a profound spiritual tradition stretching back 2,000 years. I predict option B will prevail.
Posted 2:26 PM | [Link]
WHOA!: [Rod Dreher] A major lay opinion leader of Catholic charismatics is heard from in a big way.
Posted 2:10 PM | [Link]
CORRECTION: [Rod Dreher] A reader points out that my link yesterday to the loonybird Arab psychiatrist who called President Bush a moron incorrectly attributed Saudi nationality to him. In fact, the shrink is Egyptian.
Posted 1:49 PM | [Link]
MARK SHEA FIGURES IT ALL OUT FOR US: [Rod Dreher] Hey Jonah, Catholic blogmeister Mark Shea does have a Bible in hand, and he's brilliant besides. He explains the "sons of Satan" passage most excellently, methinks.
Posted 1:38 PM | [Link]
FYI [Jonah Goldberg]
Here's the actual chapter and verse on this whole "sons of Satan" thing. Though, I should note, this version doesn't use the word "Satan," it uses "Sid Blumenthal." Oh, wait, that's my version. This one says "the Devil."
Posted 12:36 PM | [Link]
JESUS AND THE "SONS OF SATAN": [Rod Dreher] Jonah, you're right, those passages from Arab Christian clergymen are revolting. But let me clear Christ's name here on the "sons of Satan" comment. In the Gospel of Matthew, John the Baptist confronts the Pharisees with their hypocrisy. He was trying to make the point that their religious heritage and strict observance of the Law won't do them any good before God if their hearts aren't clean. Jesus told them (this is a paraphrase), "Look, you can say that you are sons of Abraham all you like, but that doesn't get you anywhere; God could raise sons of Abraham out of these stones." Jesus made this same point over and over again in confrontation with the Pharisees. As a Jew himself, Jesus was not condemning the Jewish people, rather telling the Hebrew religious sect known as the Pharisees that their status as Jews doesn't matter before God, that if they were truly sons of Abraham, they would behave differently -- a standard Christ applied to all humanity (he famously compared the Pharisees to "whited sepulchers," tombs that looked beautiful from the outside, but inside were filled with death and corruption). Does that clear things up, Jonah? Mind you, to the everlasting shame of the Church, many generations of Christians have made malicious, anti-Semitic use of these texts -- and clearly still are, in the Middle East -- but that's another story.
Posted 12:23 PM | [Link]
THANKS...JESUS FANS! [Jonah Goldberg]
I'm getting zillions of answers to my question about the sons of Satan thing. Here's a typical response--and please, no more:
Let me hasten to assure you that the quote from the misguided bishop is accurate, but completely out of context. Jesus was speaking to a group of Pharisees (who were of course Jews). Jesus always had a problem with Pharisees and their hypocrisy. He couldn't have meant all Jews, because he was a Jew, as were all his disciples and the vast majority of all Christians in the first century AD.
Posted 12:12 PM | [Link]
I MEANT TO SAY: [Rod Dreher] ...that the Clunes are incapable of NOT whining. They're the biggest bunch of fat, spoiled California suburbanites you've ever seen.
Posted 12:12 PM | [Link]
CLUNE LOONS: [Rod Dreher] A reader and fellow Frontier House aficionado writes to ask why I'm so hard on the Clune family. At least they have something like a family, she writes, unlike the Glenns, with that shrewish wife and the gonads-free husband. She has a point. I thought the Clunes -- WHO ARE INCAPABLE OF WHINING -- were trashy for cheating and making moonshine, but Karen Glenn's moralizing at the end was pretty ugly too. Looking down her nose at the Clunes, she said how she hoped her Sunday School class back home would be proud of the way her family conducted themselves in the experiment. Shortly thereafter, we see previews from tonight's broadcast, in which her henpecked husband tells the camera that his marriage is probably going to end after the show's over, but it was worth it, because he finally found himself, and he's not the loser his mommy always thought he was. Good grief! Karen's marriage is falling apart, yet she snoots off re: the Clunes because they cheat and make moonshine. Forget the Comanches; maybe what this frontier village needs are ravenous bears. (But you bet I'll be watching the finale tonight!)
Posted 11:51 AM | [Link]
OTOH: [Rod Dreher] The magnificently named Fr. Al Capone, pastor of the Boston-area parish that announced it wasn't going to give money to the Cardinal's Appeal this year, apparently received an offer he couldn't refuse from the chancery.
Posted 10:07 AM | [Link]
JENIN B.S. CONT'D [Jonah Goldberg]
The Palestinians now concede that only 56 Palestinians died in the Jenin "massacre." I know this merely disappoints Western media outlets -- when it should embarrass them to no end. Poor Peter Jennings must be inconsolable. Meanwhile, this would suggest that the Israelis were actually heroic in their restraint. They lost 33 soldiers in the fighting when they could have simply bombed from the air. Somehow I doubt they’ll receive many thanks from the U.N. or the Red Cross though.
Posted 9:43 AM | [Link]
THE POPE--AT LEAST [Jonah Goldberg]
John--You're right it'd be nice if the Pope stepped in and denounced anti-Semitism in Europe. But his relative silence is the least of the Jews' problems on this front. MEMRI has an absolutely horrifying report on various Christian leaders in the Holy Land calling Jews, in the words of a Bishop of the Assyrian Orthodox Church, " the enemy of God, the enemy of people, and the enemy of Christianity…" and--oh yeah--the children of Satan.
Indeed, the Bishop goes on to quote Jesus saying:
"Jesus once said to the Jews: 'You are the sons of Satan, and you do the will of your father Satan.' They answered: 'No, we are not the sons of Satan, we are the sons of Abraham.' He replied to them: 'Had you been the sons of Abraham you would be acting [in accordance with] the acts and precepts of Abraham. Therefore you are the sons of Satan...'"I confess I’m not up to speed on the New Testament. But is this true?
Posted 9:26 AM | [Link]
GWB STEEL TARIFFS EXPLAINED [John Derbyshire]
Check out Lawrence Henry's take on the steel-tariffs decision. If Larry's right, it wasn't as bad as we thought.
Posted 9:18 AM | [Link]
SORRY I MISSED IT [Jonah Goldberg]
There was a debate between Tariq Ali and Chris Hitchens at Georgetown. Michael Berube wrote about it for the Chronicle of Higher Education. Sounds like Hitchens won on points and style. He called the Koran a "10th-rate penal code" suggested that, if the book truly represents the word of God, "then it was a very bad day for Him."
Posted 9:13 AM | [Link]
MY DARK PERIOD [Jonah Goldberg]
Mycolumn is finally up. Already, it's elicited another round of emails noting that my writing is getting "darker" or "more somber" and asking if I'm ok. Well, I'm fine. But I guess the G-File has been getting a bit more morose. It may be the times or the subject matter, or the various stresses of home-buying and trying to rent-out this damn apartment. Or maybe it's the six or seven liters of absinthe I go through every day. Who knows? But don't worry shecky Goldberg will be back.
Posted 8:29 AM | [Link]
SMOKE ‘EM IF YOU GOT ‘EM [Jonah Goldberg]
John Walters, the Drug Czar, has an Op-Ed in today’s Washington Post on "The Myth of 'Harmless' Marijuana." No doubt it will elicit condescending giggles from libertarian bloggers and other anti-drug warriors (drug peaceniks?). While I favor decriminalizing pot and eventually legalizing it, Walters is absolutely right when he says it’s a myth that chiba is harmless. Pot is addictive. I don’t know if it’s chemically addictive or simply psychologically addictive, but I’ve known more than enough pot-heads in my day to conclude that for some significant fraction of people, herb can be extremely destructive. Activists who treat ganja like it is a cure-all or as innocuous as aspirin are propagandists. That said, it’s difficult to read Walters’ op-ed without subbing the word "alcohol" for marijuana and when you do, it undermines Walters’ case quite a bit. Today pot is easier to get for lots of teens than beer or cigarettes. The irony is that legalizing the stuff might change that.
BOYCOTTING ISRAELI SCIENTISTS [Jonah Goldberg]
A bunch of Euro-scientists and professors have decided it would be best to sever all cultural and scientific links with the Israelis. Some American scientists are opposing the boycott.
Posted 7:31 AM | [Link]
BUREAUCRATIC DETAIL [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Rilya Wilson is five years old. When she was born the state of Florida took her into its custody because her mother was a drug addict and father nowhere to be found. Eventually she would stay with her grandmother. But the Department of Children and Families is supposed to have her now; but they don’t. It turns out she has been missing for over a year—the state agency thought her grandmother had her and the grandmother thought she was in state care. And they just figured this out. A detective says they hope she is just “lost in the system.” Hopefully. And it’s clearly also time to rethink that system.
Posted 7:13 AM | [Link]
YOU GO, GIRL [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
A 16-year-old New York Girl Scout was prohibited by her Girl Scout troop to walk in a pro-Israel parade as part of her “Gold Star” project. She was told, according to a New York Post story that it is a “political activity” and therefore not allowed. (One wonders how the Girl Scouts lobbying budget, U.N. advocacy involvement, among other things aren’t prohibited, too, then.) She’s not doing it for Gold Star points anymore, but Erica Belkin says “now, it's much more important."
Posted 5:05 AM | [Link]
CLONING BY ANY OTHER NAME...IS STILL CLONING [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
This is getting ridiculous. The Washington Post homepage right now says "Hatch Backs Stem Cell Bill." That would be "therapeutic cloning" we're talking about. We can disagree about its merits, but can we at least be honest about the terms? That the media is so willing to go along with linguistic changes doesn't bode well for honest debate--the cloning bill could lose in the Senate and most Americans wouldn't even know it was a cloning bill the way things are going.
Posted 4:45 AM | [Link]
JUST WONDERING [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
John, you think he reads The Corner? Cause that would be some endorsement.
Posted 4:39 AM | [Link]
MEMO TO JP2: [John J. Miller]
This would be a very good time for the Pope to issue a statement condemning anti-Semitism in Europe.
Posted 4:32 AM | [Link]
PROFESSIONAL HELP [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
The Saudis are worried about their image here. They've hired GOP spinners to sell them. If they can't sell the Republican party though....
Posted 4:31 AM | [Link]
TOMAHAWK STOP: [John J. Miller]
California appears ready to become the first state in the country to pass a law banning Indian team names from public schools. Almost never do the news stories on this topic mention that most Indians themselves don't even oppose the practice.
Posted 4:20 AM | [Link]
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GET THE TOMAHAWK: [Rod Dreher] OK, night two of Frontier House is over, and could it be any more evident that that horrible Clune family from California needs to be raided, captured and enslaved by Comanches? Especially that dad, who has a pair of "Man Called Horse" hooks with his name on 'em someplace.
Posted 11:38 PM | [Link]
NOT SO FAST:: [Rod Dreher] Father Shawn O'Neal, a parish priest in North Carolina, has some good advice for angry Catholics who are considering cutting off donations to their parish to send a message to their bishop. There are ways you can do this without making your parish suffer unduly, Fr. O'Neal writes.
Posted 11:34 PM | [Link]
GORE VIDAL, IDIOTARIAN [Ramesh Ponnuru]
Many of us were disappointed that the Independent Institute--not to be confused with the Independence Institute--was holding an anti-war panel discussion including Gore Vidal. His comments turn out to have been, as was entirely predictable, demented.
Posted 7:14 PM | [Link]
O PIONEERS: [Rod Dreher] Anne Wilson has some amusing insights into Frontier House, the PBS Survivor-meets-The 1900-House knockoff. I watched some of the show last night, and got hooked, precisely because the California whiner family is so much fun to hate! Especially that jerky dad and his bratty teenage girls. Where the hell are the Apaches when you need 'em? You better believe I'm going to watch tonight. The pioneers are going to be, as Bob Eubanks says, "making whoopee" -- using chitlins as condoms! Is this a great country, or what? Can your backwards oil-rich Islamofascist police state do that?
Posted 5:16 PM | [Link]
HATCH ACTS [Ramesh Ponnuru]
As I predicted yesterday, Orrin Hatch came out for cloning human embryos for purposes of medical research--in a reversal of the position he took in 2000, when he was fending off a primary challenger.
Posted 5:12 PM | [Link]
JONAH...RICH: [Rod Dreher] My pal Cud'n Larry Lebowitz of the Miami Herald counts as one of the high points of his journalistic career the time he reported, for the Orlando Sentinel, a piece on new techniques in animal husbandry. He said it was the first and probably last time he will ever see in print the phrase "artificial bovine vagina." Coincidentally, wasn't that was the name of Jonah's art-rock 1984 concept album, the one on which he covers Styx's "Mr. Roboto"?
Posted 5:00 PM | [Link]
JONAH…: [Rich Lowry]
…Mike Potemra tells me that word was changed to, in true NR style, “b-----s.” Sorry…
Posted 4:41 PM | [Link]
BUFFY FYI [Jonah Goldberg]
Tonight at 6:00 PM EST the Buffy the Vampire Slayer where she graduates from highschool will be on the FX cable channel.
Posted 4:38 PM | [Link]
ONE LAST THING [Jonah Goldberg]
If Rich's assessment of my piece doesn’t do it for you, you might want to know that I am if not the first then one of the first writers to get the word "boobies" into the magazine. At least it was there in my galleys.
Posted 4:27 PM | [Link]
AAAWWW [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
What's the equivalent of a Kodak moment online? And, Rich, do remember that even if it was late for one issue, it was early for the next. Sometimes you gotta look at the glass as half full.
Posted 4:17 PM | [Link]
AN INTERIM STEP TOWARD CONFIDENCE-BUILDING: [Rich Lowry]
Before the Goldberg-Lowry dispute “spirals out of control,” let me say this: Jonah’s next magazine piece (that was delivered two weeks late) was entirely worth the wait. It’s terrific, and NR subscribers are in for a real treat.
Posted 4:10 PM | [Link]
WOOPS! [Jonah Goldberg]
It's not the University of Kansas. It's the University of Missouri's Kansas City campus. My bad.
Posted 4:01 PM | [Link]
PEDOPHILE CHIC [Jonah Goldberg]
Classic New York Times apologia to a University of Kansas scholar who merely wanted to "start a discussion" about pedophilia. Typically the University is circling the wagons, defending his academic freedom etc. The guy doesn't seem to be an ogre and he may even have a point about "moral panic." But, I know in my gut that if this guy had written an essay spouting racist ideas or calling for overt discrimination against homosexuals, neither his university, his colleagues nor the New York Times would rally to his defense.
Posted 3:51 PM | [Link]
OH WELL. [Jonah Goldberg]
Kathryn thinks that was too mean. That's the problem with these posts -- hard to get the tone right.
Posted 3:37 PM | [Link]
BETTER STILL.... [Jonah Goldberg]
...you could leave for your cruise a day early.
Posted 3:34 PM | [Link]
BETTER YET…: [Rich Lowry]
…e-mail parts of it to me as you go, and I’ll post. I’m partial to long posts.
Posted 3:30 PM | [Link]
JONAH…: [Rich Lowry]
…I'm thinking you should just post your G-File directly to The Corner as you write it, so then it might, just possibly, maybe get in on time--or at least not two days late (ok, ok, a day and half).
Posted 3:29 PM | [Link]
BUSH AND THE BASE [Ramesh Ponnuru]
As I've said before, the fact that some conservatives have been criticizing Bush's Mideast policy is not a major political problem for him; what might be a problem for him is that those criticisms are sound. (That is, if his policies don't work and undermine our position in the world, that might end up having electoral repercussions.) But Bush could develop a political problem with the Right if he's not careful. As Charlie Cook puts it, "If there is a base problem of any kind this year for President Bush or the Republican Party, it has nothing to do with the recent criticism and everything to do with the president's inability or unwillingness to throw red meat to get them really riled up and motivated to vote in large numbers."
Posted 3:27 PM | [Link]
EURO NONSENSE [Andrew Stuttaford]
EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy is claiming that if France had not joined the EU's single currency, "the Franc would have plunged 20,30 or 40 percent" after the first round of the presidential elections. That's rather like a murderer claiming credit for stopping his victim's suicide. One of the reasons for Le Pen's success was, of course, the introduction of the Euro.
Posted 3:17 PM | [Link]
SAUDI PSYCHIATRY: [Rod Dreher] The top shrink in Saudi Arabia says that President Bush is mentally retarded. The doctor also provided this marvelous syllogism, addressed to Bush: "Don't you understand, stupid, that when a girl of 18 springs blows herself up, this means that her cause is right, and that her people will be victorious sooner or later?" This is why Saudi psychiatry, like every other professional discipline in that excellent nation, is the envy of the world. Next: A feuilleton on the surpassing virtues of French rock-and-roll.
Posted 3:16 PM | [Link]
RICH LOWRY'S DREAM CORNER-POST [Jonah Goldberg]
Rich, maybe you should just type each issue of NR into the Corner?
Posted 3:16 PM | [Link]
YOU BETTER BE CHILLIN' [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Jonah, I did not SAY IT WAS CANCELLED. CHILL. I think The Corner needs sedation today. But, Homer, gay? Yeah, explain that one sometime. Next you'll tell us they say that about Captain Kirk, too.
Posted 3:12 PM | [Link]
GROENING TO TAKE OWN ADVICE?: [Rod Dreher] Without question, the end of The Simpsons would be a cultural catastrophe, and we must at once organize rosary novenas to ward off that dread day. But there would be a certain logic to it, if Matt Groening is to be believed. In 1993, I interviewed him about the show, and threw him a big fat softball, asking him what the "message" of the show is. His answer was brilliant: "Turn off your TV."
Posted 3:12 PM | [Link]
"OIL WEAPON": [Rich Lowry]
The Cato Institute's Jerry Taylor is one of the smartest guys around on energy policy. Here's his take on the Saudis and oil, in response to a question I asked him. It's long, but really instructive stuff:
Saudi Arabia's ability to fire an "oil weapon" at the United States does not depend on the amount of imports we receive from that country. Even if we imported no oil from Saudi Arabia, a production cutback there would affect the price of crude wherever it was produced. I'm not sure whether I'd refer to them as a "fading oil power" save for in reference to the fact that there is more non-OPEC oil out there to make up for any Saudi shortfall today than existed in the 1970s. Still, the Saudis do have significant market power.
You are right, however, to argue that a Saudi production cut-back would be far less damaging than most people think.
In the short run the relationship between supplies and price in oil markets is about 0.1. That is, a 1 percent reduction in supplies induces a 10 percent increase in price. In 1990 after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, for instance, world oil production decreased by about 7.4 percent. Oil prices accordingly increased by 72 percent.
Mideast oil today accounts for about 31 percent of the world oil market with Saudi Arabia accounting for 11.8 percent. If we do the math, a complete Saudi shutdown would produce at least a 120 percent increase in price (from about $25 to about $55) while a Mideast shutdown would produce over a 300 percent price increase (from $25 to $75).
For those who think such prices are unimaginable, think again. We have already experienced them. The average cost of crude oil used by U.S. refineries in 1981 was $35.24. That is just over $60 at today's prices. To be sure, most Americans don't have fond memories of 1981, but we survived.
The other reason that a Saudi production cut-back would be less devestating than people imagine is because the impact of energy on the economy is generally overstated. Oil purchases account for only 2 percent of GDP today whereas they accounted for about 6 percent of GDP in the 1970s. And even then, economic scholars now believe that the 1974 energy crisis only led to a 0.35 percent reduction in Gross National Product during the recession. Monetary policy, not oil prices, were at root the cause of the economic slumps of the 1970s, but scapegoating OPEC is more attractive to politicians of both stripes than taking responsibility for bad governmental policy.
Posted 3:01 PM | [Link]
KATHRYN! THE SIMPSONS WAS NOT CANCELLED! [Jonah Goldberg]
Good Gawd, woman choose your words more carefully! I had to go read the linked article while I'm on a tight deadline. Truth be told though Groening is right, the show is getting tired and I, for one, am not amused by the increasingly frequent suggestions that Homer's gay. But that's a subject for later -- after I finish my syndicated column.
Posted 2:58 PM | [Link]
NATIONAL ZONING? [Jonathan Adler]
The always excellent Tom Bray blows the whistle on Sen. Jeffords effort to pass legislation encouraging federal standards for local zoning in order to "improve environmental policy," "promote social equity" and avert "loss of community character." This is not the first time the Feds have sought to take over local land-use planning -- national land-use planning was considered and rejected in the 1970s. Unfortunately, even if Jeffords' latest effort fails, it is unlikely to be the last either.
Posted 2:53 PM | [Link]
HOMER’S END TIMES [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Jonah, isn’t the end of The Simpsons one of the signs of the apocalypse?
Posted 2:52 PM | [Link]
HOG WILD [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Jonah, whatever they’re called, they better get more jailtime than these stupid Wake Forest frat boys do for getting a pig drunk and leaving him in the sun.
Posted 2:51 PM | [Link]
GERBIL-KIND [Jonah Goldberg]
Kathryn - I do believe the official word for people like that are "Fruitarians." They believe that humans were never intended to eat anything that you can't feed to a gerbil or maybe a dyspeptic guinea pig.
Posted 2:36 PM | [Link]
THE REAL REASON THE GFILE WAS LATE [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Jonah was reading the Mark Bowden Atlantic Monthly piece on Iraq.
Posted 2:34 PM | [Link]
CAN’T JUDGE A BOOK… [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
It’s hard to believe, I know, but turns out the Benevolence International Foundation may not be so benevolent. It’s a Chicago-area Islamic charity whose assets have been frozen. Today its head was arrested and charged with perjury (in documents filed to have assets released) and accused of supporting terrorists—not any old terrorist, either—we’re talking OBL here.
Posted 2:29 PM | [Link]
VEGAN PRIORITIES [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
A couple has been arrested for starving their baby to near death, feeding her a diet of "ground nuts, fresh-squeezed fruit juices, herbal tea, beans, cod liver oil and flax seed oil."
Posted 2:16 PM | [Link]
JUST SO YOU KNOW [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Faculty and students are banned from having sex with one another at Ohio's Wesleyan University.
Posted 2:15 PM | [Link]
YORK PAW PIECE GETS MORE PLAY [Rich Lowry]
ALEXANDRIA, Va. --- Media Research Center President Brent Bozell blasted several of the largest media companies in America today for their open financial support of People for the American Way, an ultra-left wing Washington special interest group - a group these organizations cover on a regular basis. An exposé published by National Review Online reveals the New York Times, Time, Inc., CBS, NBC and Disney (the parent company of ABC), all purchased tables - at $500 to $600 per seat - at the group's annual fundraising dinners in New York City…
Posted 2:14 PM | [Link]
FRENCH HATING AT ITS FINEST [Jonah Goldberg]
This is the now-famous anti-French commercial from Saturday Night Live. It's a quicktime movie. If you can't play it, I have no guidance for how you can remedy the situation. But it is outstanding.
Posted 2:11 PM | [Link]
CAREFUL [Jonah Goldberg]
Rod - I know you're upset right now and you don't know what you're saying, but I would prefer if you didn't disparage cable TV like that.
Posted 2:09 PM | [Link]
CABLE TV FINDS ITS MORAL BACKBONE, FOR ONCE: [Rod Dreher] At least nine national cable networks have rejected the slick propaganda spots for the Islamofascists who run Saudi Arabia. The commercials, produced and paid for by the Saudis, tout the Wahhabi police state as a reliable ally of America's in the fight against terrorism. Perhaps the Saudis can now spend the money they'll save from the rejected ads on a more credible cause, such as helping O.J. find the real killer.
Posted 1:49 PM | [Link]
D-FILE UP NOW: [Rod Dreher] Did you hear about the orthodox Catholics in Chicago who are mad as hell and are threatening to withhold money from the collection plate until Cardinal George gets serious about sex abuse? Here's the story. I don't consider it good form to promote one's own pieces in The Corner, but I was in touch with my inner Jonah this morning, and was therefore late delivering this piece this ayem. Inasmuch as this news is an important development in the scandal, and I don't want scandal-curious NRO-niks to inadvertently overlook it.
Posted 12:41 PM | [Link]
G-FILE DELIVERED, UP IN THE MORNING [Jonah Goldberg]
I know, I know. I blew my Monday deadline again. Sorry, but it happens. Blame Lowry. I don't know why, but it seems fair for some reason.
Posted 12:28 PM | [Link]
HOW TO MAKE A PROTEST [Andrew Stuttaford]
It's been very noticeable that many of those attending the anti-Le Pen demonstrations in France have been too young to vote. There's a report in today's Daily Telegraph that helps explain why.
"In some parts of France, parents who voted for Le Pen have complained that their children are being dragooned by their schools into protests against the National Front [Le Pen's party]. In Paris it would be a brave student who refused to join in. The lycee students...have their own union which has called them on to the streets"
Doubtless, many of the young demonstrators are sincere. Others may simply be enjoying a day out of school. Nevertheless, there is something about mass political demonstrations involving children that has more than a hint of North Korea about it.
Posted 12:20 PM | [Link]
JONAH... [Rich Lowry]
...right, right, of course. How about this? Among adult men (and the last time I checked Catholic priests are adult men), only homosexuals and bisexuals will want to have sex with teenage boys.
Posted 12:16 PM | [Link]
UMMM.... "INARGUABLE"? [Jonah Goldberg]
Rich - I take your meaning, but I think you mean "homosexual priests" or something like that. Because I've heard rumors -- and they are only rumors, mind you -- that teenage boys have been known to have sex with teenage girls. I am leaving the issues of bisexuality and Peter Singer's more expansive view of the dating scene out of this entirely.
Posted 11:37 AM | [Link]
I WAS FRAMED: [Rich Lowry]
Will Saletan is an extremely shrewd writer and his “Frame Game” on Slate is always worth reading. But last week he took a shot at me for supposedly suggesting on CNN that only homosexuals have sex with minors. This would be absurd. I was trying—obviously inartfully, if Will misunderstood me—to say that only homosexuals have sex with teenage boys, which seems inarguable.
Posted 10:55 AM | [Link]
OUR SOB?: [Rich Lowry]
I take Dinesh’s point on NRO today, but there have been some disturbing signs lately in Pakistan. A Times op-ed today hit on them:
"General Musharraf has quietly released most of the 2,000 militants he arrested as part of his much-publicized antiterrorist crackdown. They include leaders of two Pakistani outfits tied to Al Qaeda--Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammed, the latter group being implicated in the murder of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter. Many of the detainees were picked up for their links with terrorism, but they were freed on little more than their promise not to associate themselves again with an extremist group."
Posted 10:47 AM | [Link]
JENIN B.S. CONT'D [Jonah Goldberg]
Jerome Marcus has an outstanding op-ed in the Wall Street Journal today on how the Palestinians defied the rules of war by hiding munitions, bomb "factories," and gunmen amidst civilians. Unfortunately, it's not on the (free) web. Meanwhile, the Jerusalem Post reports that the Palestinians are exhuming bodies from cemetaries and putting them in mass-graves in order to pump up "massacre" totals.
Posted 10:33 AM | [Link]
THE SCARY PART: [Rod Dreher] I have a piece in the works about the growing movement to withhold money from collection plates until the bishops reform the Church. Amy Welborn helpfully points out today that the heart of this scandal is not orthodoxy vs. progressivism; it's clericalism. That's why we're seeing both left and right in the Church coming out against the bishops. Amy also notes that every time in the past the Church has faced a crisis like this, one force has come to rescue it, and return it to holiness: the religious orders. Amy doesn't say this, but I will: generally speaking, the religious orders in America are more heavily homosexual than the diocesan priesthood. We really can't know how many homosexually-oriented priests are both celibate and orthodox, but the anecdotal evidence is not encouraging. But to the extent that priestly homosexuality equals dissent from Catholic teaching, the religious orders, by and large, are worse off than the rest of the Church. Where that leaves us is anybody's guess, but it's not in a good place.
Posted 10:30 AM | [Link]
FINALLY. [Jonah Goldberg]
Mark Bowden's cover story on Saddam Hussein is finally on the web. It's very long but very good.
Posted 10:28 AM | [Link]
PC TOYS [Andrew Stuttaford]
Politically correct action figures? I can imagine them in their stiff, unnatural poses, sanctimonious, yet strangely inarticulate. Mmmm, yet again, troubling questions are raised about the real origins of Al Gore.
Posted 8:34 AM | [Link]
PROPER TERMINOLOGY [Jonah Goldberg]
Kathryn, for the purposes of this conversation I think the proper way to refer to the "Stop Christo" campaign should be "Anti-Christo." Has a more Biblical feel.
Posted 7:29 AM | [Link]
KILL THE HUMANS! [Jonah Goldberg]
Kathryn - the cartoon you're thinking of is "Captain Planet." Yes, I used to watch it -- just to see how angry it could make me. I saw one episode in which -- I swear -- the Planeteers (Earth conscious kids from around the globe) were on a "Family Feud" style quiz show. The rich ethnic cocktail of do-gooders were asked what the single best way to save the planet would be. They guessed "reduce, re-use, recycle" and other such stuff. But the number one answer was "remove all the people from the planet" (quoting from memory). And they call conservatives ideological.
Posted 7:25 AM | [Link]
STOP CHRISTO [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
James Gardner, an occassional NRO contributor, has a terrific piece in the NY Post on the dumb plan being floated to allow the artist Christo--the wrapper (who Gardner--God bless him--calls "talentless)--and his wife to "do" Central Park. They would cover every path in the park with cloth suspended from metal rods. And the city might let him do it, too.
Posted 5:00 AM | [Link]
BREAKTHROUGH [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Turns out the first black president may have exploited blacks, according to a DePaul professor speaking at an NAACP confab. From today's Washington Times "He exploited black sentiment because he knew the rituals of black culture," said Michael Eric Dyson, a professor of religious studies at DePaul University in Chicago. "Bill Clinton exploited us like no president before him."
Posted 4:37 AM | [Link]
IS NOTHING SACRED? [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Adler, that is so disappointing about G.I. Joe. Reminds me of that cartoon Ted Turner put on a few years ago with the eco-crime fighters.
Posted 4:33 AM | [Link]
. . . BUT G.I. JOE SURE IS GREEN [Jonathan Adler]
Whatever the politics of the original G.I. Joe, in the 1990s Hasbro introduced the "Eco-Warrior" G.I. Joe "to battle Cobra's destruction of the Earth's environment." The new Cobra enemies created to fight the "Eco-Warriors" were all scientists and business executives. My favorite: CEO Cesspool, who comes armed with an acid-assisted chainsaw and toxic sludge gun. On the back of each package, Hasbro provided alarming and misleading "Eco Facts."
Posted 4:32 AM | [Link]
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FRENCH PRIDE [Andrew Stuttaford]
Here's what Olivier Duhamel (a French Socialist and member of the European 'Parliament') had to say about France in the aftermath
of the first round of the Presidential vote:
"As far as our economy, health, culture and sport are concerned, we are among the most effective performers on the planet. As for our politics, we've gone back to a degenerate democracy of the kind you find in the United States, Austria or Italy."
Astute readers will remember that it is Le Pen who is supposed to be the xenophobe and they will be puzzled. Then they will discover that Professor Duhamel is also a leading French academic, and then they will understand.
Posted 6:41 PM | [Link]
OH YEAH, THAT EGAN: [Rod Dreher] A priest e-mails to remind me that Cardinal Egan, trying to fight off lawsuits in his previous assignment as Bishop of Bridgeport, Conn., tried to convince the court that his priests were "independent contractors," and that therefore the diocese was not responsible for their actions. It didn't work.
Posted 6:01 PM | [Link]
DOLLS AND ACTION FIGURES [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Andrew, Hasbro's official G.I. Joe website calls the real American hero only a doll in the very beginning of their history of the toy--and they use quote marks. He's all masculine action figure otherwise.
You're lucky today. She who wrote about The Bachelor for today's site can't be too fast to cast stones in The Corner.
Posted 5:09 PM | [Link]
CLARIFICATION PLEASE [Andrew Stuttaford]
Jonah, I'm going to ask this question quickly (before Kathryn sends her goons in to break up this discussion). Is Ken an "action figure" or a "doll"?
Posted 5:05 PM | [Link]
GI JOE ISN'T A LIBERAL.... [Jonah Goldberg]
And he isn't a "doll" either -- he's an action figure. But, I should say, I never considered him my kind of conservative. First of all, he seems to be trying too hard with that butch mustache. But, more important, he strikes me as a sort of Kissingerian real-politick figure, er, action-figure. After all, he never seems to be fighting for justice so much as for U.S. oil interests overseas.
Posted 4:26 PM | [Link]
UNIONS 1, DISABLED 0 [Jonathan Adler]
The Supreme Court continued its unprincipled and ad hoc interpretation of what constitutes a "reasonable accommodation" under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by creating what may become the "union exception" under the ADA. Reassignment to another vacant position has been one of the traditional means corporations used to comply with the ADA. In U.S. Airways v. Barnett, however, the Court held that conflict with workplace seniority rules is sufficient to create a presumption that a proposed accommodation is not "reasonable" under the Act. This is the same Court that one year ago held that it is perfectly "reasonable" for courts to eliminate a long-standing rule in a private sports competition to accommodate a competitor who could not meet the condition.
Posted 3:54 PM | [Link]
U.N. AFFIRMATION [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
The U.S. has been voted back on the U.N. Human Rights Commission. Too bad we didn't say "no, thanks."
Posted 3:30 PM | [Link]
EGAN TO NY PRIESTS: YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN: [Rod Dreher] The meeting between New York's Edward Cardinal Egan and his priests has broken up, and I'm hearing that priests left steaming. According to Father X., a priest I just talked to, Egan told them that the archdiocese won't pay the legal fees of an accused priest unless the priest is exonerated in court. What this means is a priest who gets hauled into court on the flimsiest of pretexts will have to hire his own lawyer -- priests, of course, make little money -- and can't hope to get a penny of that back unless he wins. "Does this mean I have to hire the $100-an-hour guy over the $800-an-hour guy?" Father X. told me. "The general consensus of the priests after this meeting was, 'You're on your own.'" Fr. X. reports that Egan ducked a question about gay priests ("This is one of the most important questions in this whole crisis, and he won't deal with it," the incredulous Fr. X. told me. "This is not good, not good at all."). The priest further said that the cardinal would not take questions from the floor, only written questions given to his staff in advance, which outraged the priests in attendance. Concluded Fr. X.: "Basically, we're dealing with a bunker mentality. We're going to have to gear up for a long, drawn-out drama. Somebody said to Egan, 'What should we tell our people?' He said to tell the adults whatever you like, just don't be overdramatic, and keep in mind that whatever you say could affect ongoing legal proceedings. It's all in terms of how he's doing with lawyers. There's no facing that this is a spiritual and management crisis."
Posted 3:08 PM | [Link]
STANDARDS ON CABLE [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
A number of cable channels have rejected Saudi Arabia propaganda commercials. The tagline: "The People of Saudi Arabia--Allies Against Terrorism."
Posted 2:47 PM | [Link]
ADM OF THE ENERGY WORLD [Jonathan Adler]
Bob Novak provides more evidence that there was nothing "free market" about Enron, nor did the company rely on GOP contacts. Enron was lavishly subsidized under the Clinton adminstration through the Export-Import Bank.
Posted 2:37 PM | [Link]
CONSERVATIVE DOLLS [Andrew Stuttaford]
Jonah, What about GI Joe? The guy wouldn't like to be described as a "doll," but he is certainly no liberal.
Posted 2:23 PM | [Link]
NOT GETTING IT [Andrew Stuttaford]
At a speech in Oxford today, EU Commission "President" Romano Prodi came across as a little insecure. Why, he asked, is the UK is "so confident" in its dealings with the U.S. , yet so "afraid" of deeper involvement in the EU. Well, Romano, I'm not sure if "afraid" is the right word (I'd prefer "skeptical"), but let's look at a few of the reasons why the UK is a little, er, cautious about deeper involvement in the European project. Tax increases, low growth, high unemployment, intrusive regulation, a corrupt bureaucracy, a common currency founded amid budgetary chicanery, and a "foreign policy" based on the lowest common denominator, and that's just part of the list. Prodi shouldn't be worrying about the Brits at the moment anyway. He needs to be talking to the voters in France, a country rather more deeply integrated within the EU. They seem to be a little upset.
Posted 2:22 PM | [Link]
X-FILES SHMEX-FILES [Jonah Goldberg]
Andrew, Kathryn - A reader reminds me that there was the Star Trek Barbie & Ken, which is -- obviously -- much cooler. One day conservatives will be cool enough to have their own dolls, though I am sure there are already some inflatable Ayn Rands out there.
Posted 12:53 PM | [Link]
PRE-BREAKFAST HISTORY [Jonathan Adler]
Punditwatch publishes a very useful roundup of the weekend talking-head shows. This week, however, Punditwatch missed past (and future?) Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu at his finest. Discussing the "root causes" of terrorism with Tim Russert on NBC's "Meet the Press," Bibi said the following:
"it's often said, and you just heard it, that between the lines that what produces terrorism, and, by extension, what produces suicidal terrorism, is the deprivation of rights. OK? Well, if that were the case, then in the 19th century--you can say that to an audience whose historical understanding goes back to breakfast. OK? But if you look at the thousands, thousands of conflicts for national liberation and for equal rights in the 19th and 20th century, hardly any produced terrorism. Martin Luther King didn't use terrorism. Mahatma Gandhi in fighting for the liberation of India from Britain didn't use terrorism. The peoples of Eastern Europe in fighting--struggling to bring down the Berlin Wall didn't use terrorism. In the 19th century, the Poles, the Czechs, the Greeks, the Italians, all fighting for their independence, never used terrorism. And neither did most of the people who fought for these freedoms."
A full transcript should be on the show's website later in the week.
Posted 12:40 PM | [Link]
MEANWHILE, CLOSER TO HOME [Jonah Goldberg]
The Missus is discussing her book at the National Press Club next week. Don't know if C-Span is covering, but they should.
Posted 11:58 AM | [Link]
REVEALED: THE TRUE STORY OF THE WHITE HOUSE & EGGHEADS [Jonah Goldberg]
My longtime buddy, Tevi Troy, has finally come out with a book: Intellectuals and the American Presidency. Tevi currently "works" at the Labor department as chief ideologist or something like that, but don’t hold that against him. He’s such a good and smart guy I even blurbed his book.
Posted 11:48 AM | [Link]
BLAMING THE SIX-YEAR-OLD VICTIM IN BOSTON: [Rod Dreher] Another outrage story in Boston. Legal defense papers filed by the archdiocese in one of the Fr. Shanley lawsuits claim that the victim and his parents bear some responsibility for the victim's rape at the hands of man-boy love advocate Shanley. The boy was six years old when the abuse started. The thing to understand is that this is a public-relations disaster more than anything else. As the Boston Globe helpfully points out, this kind of language is standard legal boilerplate in these kinds of lawsuits; one can be quite sure that no one in Cardinal Law's office truly believes the kid is responsible for what happened to him. That said, it is insane that the Church, given all that has happened over the past four months, would put itself in the position of being seen publicly to blame the child victim for his own rape.
Posted 10:39 AM | [Link]
YA SAY IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY? [Jonah Goldberg]
Today is Momma Goldberg's birthday. Feel free to visit her site if you want to give her the gift of web traffic.
Posted 10:36 AM | [Link]
ARIEL SHARON'S SECRET LIFE?: [Rod Dreher] Just received a mass e-mailing from some nut with a French name, and a not-so-good command of English. She writes: "Dear Sir / Madam: How could be Ariel Sharon considered as a 'man of peace' while he is charged for a war crimes in the Sabra and Shatella camps in 1982 by an Israelis court. he is now claimed for a mascara in Jenins camp." A mascara?! I would have sworn the Israeli leader only used a little eye-liner.
Posted 10:27 AM | [Link]
X-FILES BARBIES [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Oh, yes, Andrew. Mattel released a Scully and Mulder Barbie and Ken to coincide with the movie a few years back (remember, FEMA is the enemy?).
Posted 8:26 AM | [Link]
HOLD ON [Andrew Stuttaford]
Kathryn, A Scully Barbie? Was there a Mulder Ken?
Posted 8:20 AM | [Link]
GOOD NEWS FOR COSMO [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Jonah, Cosmo can join you when you head out on the town--there are pet-friendly bars in Alexandria, Va. One place has "Doggy Happy Hours." Rich, some do bring their cats, but you'd be much cooler with a dog. Maybe you need to spearhead a cats-bar-hopping-rights movement.
Posted 8:17 AM | [Link]
BOTH CHURCH SIDES AGREE [Stanley Kurtz]
It has become commonplace to say that conservatives attribute the Church scandal to the disproportionate homosexuality of the priesthood, while liberals blame celibacy. Actually, both liberals and conservatives attribute the scandal to the disproportionate homosexuality of the priesthood. It’s the solutions that differ. Conservatives want to retain celibacy, but call for stricter screening of homosexual priests. Liberals call for an end to celibacy as a way to broaden the pool of priests, thus reducing the proportion of homosexual men. Liberals don’t like to spell out the logic of their proposal, precisely because its reasoning embraces the conservative view that homosexuality is at the root of the scandal. But the parallel is real. We see this every weekend, when Cokie Roberts or Tim Russert lay the question of homosexual priests in front of liberal Catholics, who respond that celibacy is the solution. So from now on, when conservatives are criticized for blaming the abuse scandal on homosexuals, I hope Church liberals are included in the condemnation.
Posted 8:01 AM | [Link]
MORE PASTRAMI IN THE CAFETERIA [Jonah Goldberg]
Simply amazing story on the front page of the Wall Street Journal today (no link). It turns out that many schools are ethnically profiling in favor of Jews in order to raise their elite rankings. Jews score disproportinately high on the SATs as a religious group and so Universities -- Vanderbilt in the lead -- want them. I'm sure this has been going on for a while, but this story is shockingly forthright. Generally, I see nothing wrong with this because the schools are using ethnicity as a stalking-horse for merit rather than some amorphous concept like "diversity." And yet, I bet low-SAT score Jewish kids are aided by this trend because schools know that the more Jewish kids you have, the more likely it is that other Jewish kids will want to attend. So, letting in a couple of the dimmer members of the tribe in order to attract their brainier cousins might make sense. Still, this should scare the hell out of some diversity-mongers because it shines an unpleasent light on the nexus of merit and ethnicty. One interesting side note; the religious group which scores the highest on the SAT aren't Jews, they're Unitarians. Of course, lots of these folks are secular ex-Jews who decided to get off on the last exit before abject atheism.
Posted 7:56 AM | [Link]
OPERATION TARMAC [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
450 airport-security officials at 15 airports arrested for fraudulent ids and the like. Should Secretary Mineta, perhaps, be held responsible for this continued mess?
Posted 7:44 AM | [Link]
BARBIE’S MOM [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Ruth Handler, creator of the Barbie doll, died over the weekend at age 85. As far as I know, Barbie’s never been a member of NOW, instead she’s been an encouraging inspiration to girls for decades, with her “We girls can do anything” message—from Ken’s girlfriend to doctor to Dana Scully to the president of the United States. Sure, she has no waist and walks weird, but then, Ken’s head tends to pop off. It’s playtime, cut her a little slack.
Posted 7:09 AM | [Link]
GERTZ SAYS [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
China continues missile buildup aimed at Taiwan.
Posted 4:51 AM | [Link]
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A QUESTIONABLE DEFINITION [Andrew Stuttaford]
The same New York Times piece includes a list of countries with what it describes as "questionable" human rights records. The list is made up of Algeria, China, Cuba, Libya, 'Saudi' Arabia, Sudan and Syria. Questionable? That's a curiously mild adjective to use for that bunch of tyrannies.
Posted 4:37 PM | [Link]
HUMAN RIGHTS BLOCKERS [Andrew Stuttaford]
The New York Times is reporting concerns that the work of the UN Commission on Human Rights is being thwarted by a voting bloc of repressive states combining to stop particular countries being singled out for criticism. That's true enough. And when the UN-sponsored 'international court' comes to life, we can be sure that there will be similar political manipulation, but with a crucial difference. The bloc voting will be designed to ensure that citizens of one particular country are singled out for punishment. And which country will that be? The United States, of course.
Posted 4:30 PM | [Link]
SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS: [Rod Dreher] The Times' Alex Kuczynski turns in a deliciously sour piece about how the trashy Robert Blake murder case doesn't interest jaded Hollywood. It features an ice-cold noir quote from a Hollywood lawyer, who dismissed the killing of the low-rent Bonny Lee Bakley thus: "It's a B murder." God, I love that dirty town.
Posted 2:15 PM | [Link]
HERE'S THE PLM LINK: [Rod Dreher] Sorry about that. Here's the link for the atrocity item below.
Posted 11:22 AM | [Link]
PEACE-LOVING MUSLIM UPDATE: [Rod Dreher] Islamic militants have just shot and hacked to death 14 Christians in Indonesia, including an infant. They also burned down houses. Sooner or later... .
Posted 11:20 AM | [Link]
WEIMAR FRANCE: [Rod Dreher] Here is the decadent nation that produces the entirely predictable Jean-Marie Le Pen reaction.
Posted 11:18 AM | [Link]
ST. AUGUSTINE, A REAL MAN: [Rod Dreher] Writing about Bishop Augustine of Hippo, Garry Wills shows us what a saintly bishop does when confronted by clerical corruption. This is a knockout piece.
Posted 11:16 AM | [Link]
HELPING HIM HOME [Andrew Stuttaford]
So, Abdullah is due to fly home tomorrow. Is there any chance that the male air traffic controllers in charge of his route could call in sick, leaving their female colleagues solely responsible for the job? If the Saudi despot doesn't think that women are up to this sort of work, he could always drive out of the country.
Posted 11:15 AM | [Link]
ABDULLAH'S AMBUSH [Andrew Stuttaford]
Time is reporting that during the course of the Crawford talks 'prince' Abdullah 'surprised' George Bush with a photo album and videocassettes recording the destruction of Palestinian homes by Israeli troops. Apparently, "Abdullah wanted Bush to see what people in Arab countries were waking up to every day in local newspaper and television reports — and then contemplate the anger those images generated and the pressure that placed on Arab leaders".
After 9/11 Americans should be used to being ambushed by Saudis, so let's hope that Bush had expected something like this. An appropriate response? To have handed Abdullah a sample dossier of the anti-Semitic filth and hatred of the West available daily in the state-controlled Arab media.
Somehow, I don't think that is what happened.
Posted 11:00 AM | [Link]