From a reader:

Dear Jonah, It was impossible to come of age when and where Leo Strauss did, and not be influenced by, and indeed indebted to, Nietzsche. But Strauss was most certainly not a follower of Nietsche--read only the final pages of Strauss's essay "What is Political Philosophy" to understand that Strauss saw Nietzsche as the culmination of Western Nihilism, and genuinely pitied him for it. Strauss, and Eric Voegelin too, had a similar take on Nietzsche: admiration for his boldness, understanding for his predicament, and pity for his inability to believe in something greater than himself. I think Voegelin said something to the effect that "no man ever wanted and needed to believe in God as much as Nietszsche did, but he could not bring himself to do so." A follower of Neitzsche's could never be conservative.

The influence of Nietzsche is comparable to the influence of Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Hegel, or Kant. People don't directly state their indebtedness to him any more than you or I credit water for the wonderful state of our health.

From a reader:

How dare you post a time waster! I'm trying to study for my law school exams! I'll sue...eh, never mind. Let's settle, I won't sue if you keep posting Simpsons quotes. I wish there was a Simpsons casebook that outlined the law using Simpsons episodes as mock litigation.

I've got to go, Nietzsche bad, Ayn Rand good (I have a "Who Is John Galt? bumper sticker on my truck just to annoy people, but I'm thinking of making a "Goldwater/Miller '64" sticker), God better.

In summation, you're wasting all my time, you're not Just What I Needed.
From Hell's Heart, I Stab at Thee.

Faithful Reader in Alexandria,
John

Several readers point out that Leo Strauss was indebted to Nietzsche. Fair enough. Though I do think it's one thing to admire a philosopher and agree with some of his descriptions and its another to buy into his prescriptions. It's also worth noting that Strauss' influence has been significant in America and upon American conservatism (and not just on the "neocons" -- Willmoore Kendall, after all, was an acolyte of Strauss'). But, Strauss himself hardly comes out of the American tradition or the Anglo-American conservative tradition generally, even if his influence on both has been large. Anyway, I thought this email was very useful:

Dear Mr. Goldberg,

Of course, the relationship is complicated and Strauss is no ordinary conservative, but I think that it's fair to say that Strauss took Nietzsche and Nietzsche's critique of rationalism very seriously. The best sources are Werner Dannhauser's Nietzsche's View of Socrates and Lawrence Lampert's Leo Strauss and Nietzsche. The Amazon link for the latter is here.

For the former (out of print), it's here.

It's also probably worth looking at what Allan Bloom has to say about Nietzsche, to whom there are more explicit references in The Closing of the American Mind than there are to, say, Plato.

Shadia Drury (who has become a poisonous nutty Strauss-hater, as opposed to merely a poisonous Strauss-hater) also, if memory serves, insists upon the Nietzscheanism of Strauss and his students (especially the "East Coast" variety.

The response to the argument that Straussianism is a kind of Nietzscheanism begins with Strauss' respect for America, amply documented in Deutsch and Murley's Leo Strauss, the Straussians, and the Study of the American Regime. I've also written on Strauss and America in Lawler and McConkey's Faith, Reason, and Political Life Today; my contribution is entitled "Leo Strauss, America, and the End of History."

Here's the Amazon link to Deutsch and Murley.

Here's the link to Lawler and McConkey.

Best wishes,

Joe Knippenberg
Oglethorpe University
Atlanta, GA

Since I'm still alone, from a reader:

If you can stomach another Simpson's food quote, I can't believe no one has mentioned my favorite:

Flanders wins tickets to the big football game between Springfield and Shelbyville on a radio contest. Homer hears and immediately jumps off the couch and looks up to curse God.

Homer: "Oh, God, why do you mock me?"

[enter Marge with broom in hand]

Marge: "Homer, that's not God. That's a waffle that Bart threw on the ceiling."

[Marge knocks down waffle with broom. Waffle falls into Homer's hands]

Homer [to waffle]: "I know I should not eat thee, but........[takes bite]....Mmmmmm.....Sacrilicious"

Uh, oh. Maybe I stepped in something? From a reader:

Not a good point, rather idiotic. Rand denounced Nietzsche, repeatedly and in no uncertain terms. Why do conservatives insist on insulting Ayn Rand? I will be reading along, and out of the blue, totally out of context, some dig at her will appear. Stop it. It's like Terry Jeffrey insisting that you cannot be moral unless you believe in God - offensive and stupid.

From a reader:

Dear Jonah:

The influence of Nietzsche is comparable to the influence of Plato,
Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Hegel, or Kant. People don't directly state
their indebtedness to him any more than you or I credit water for the
wonderful state of our health. Nietzsche is one of those great
philosophers--like Napoleon's a great general--who is in the water we drink
and the air we breath, and that is as true for liberals as it is for
conservatives.

All the best,

Brian [name/address withheld]

Me: I certainly take Brian's point and largely agree with it. However, leftwing philosophers and intellectuals do more than accept our/their debt (or burden) from him. They embrace him. Foucault, for example, called himself a Left-Nietzschean. Derrida, Sartre all those dudes were in constant -- and generally favorable -- dialogue with Nietzsche. Right? What I want to know if there are any American conservatives who've behaved similarly.

I had forgotten about her (as I often do). A reader notes that Ayn Rand was indebted to Friedrich and that a symposium is actually soliciting papers on the subject.

This is a good point. But, again, while Rand was certainly a figure of the Right, her connection with the conservative movement was, uh, complicated.

From a reader:

Your "corner" discussion prompted a thought. Paul Wolfowitz was a big admirer of Bloom who, as you know, kissed the hand of Strauss. Azar Nafisi (Author of "Reading Lolita in Terhan") acknowledges "Paul" in her book for introducing her to a work [actually by Strauss]. I wonder how all of the women's rights groups and quasi intellects reacted when they discovered it was Paul Wolfowitz, the evil incarnate, she was thanking. This truly underscores the irony of what is just.

Tom [Name withheld]
Chicago

PS-How can certain crusaders for women's rights be so up in arms with regard
to equal admission to Augusta Country Club and not expand that determination
globally in areas where women are treated as sub human?

Okay, another egghead bleg (EggBleg?). It is widely accepted that Nietzsche was a philosopher of the Right (though he was by no stretch of the imagination a conservative). Some have even called him the author of rightwing atheism. I don't want to get into what Nietzsche was or wasn't. But what I am curious about is if any philosopher-poli-sci-historian types (or just really well-read podiatrists for all I care) out there can point to any American conservatives who've taken-up Nietzsche as a major influence or hero. Of course, there's Mencken. But Mencken's relationship with and influence on American conservatism is complex and not necessarily direct. Is there anyone else? I looked in the index in Nash's The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America and he doesn't even appear there. Nor does his name appear in the index of The Conservative Tradition in America -- a great book by Charles Dunn and J. David Woodard.

I know Nietzsche remains very popular on the American and European left but I'm interested to know if anyone on the American (or British) right has written anything substantive claiming him as a man of the right. I don't mean simply defenses of him against the most slanderous charges (it was his sister who was the real anti-Semite etc etc).

Anyway, any insight would be appreciated.

Anne Norton is clearly a boob (that happens to be the professional opinion of about a dozen scholars and professors who've written me). More to the point, here's an account of Rossiter's troubles from his son (note: it's a PDF). It certainly doesn't sound like Norton consulted Caleb Rossiter. It's nice to know that in some areas, reporters are actually more reliable than "scholars," because a reporter would have at least bothered to fact-check such stuff. [If you're lost, again, scroll down.]

In response to my Thanksgiving column:

A friend just forwarded me your recent article praising our military and I wanted to say thank you. My husband deployed today and it's difficult to stomach that he is fighting for a cause that many Americans are so harshly against and probably know very little about, other than the little that the media shows. My family is giving up being together for the holidays because it is our job to defend and serve our country. I feel like a lot of our countrymen, whose rights are fought for by our military families, do not appreciate nor acknowledge such sacrifices. Thank you for validating their fight. Thank you for remembering.

(Scroll down for the discussion from yesterday) From a friend:

Ugh! The Foer piece is totally goofy. He says Nock shaped the spirit of today’s conservatism -- and then says Nock wouldn’t recognize conservatism today. Despite the incoherence of that argument, Frank’s employing as much rhetorical gymnastics as he can to make an exceedingly tired liberal argument born of liberal conceit and blinders: Nock (you could substitute a bunch of “weird uncles” here, by the way, Nock was hardly alone) provided intellectual cover for conservative hatred/bigotry, and while Nock’s intellectual influence has melted away, the hatred and bigotry remain. Clever.

Frank needs to look at progressive intellectual history. Turn of the century progressives, mostly affiliated with Ivy League schools and Bloomsbury circles were racist and elitist, arrogant to boot. The difference between those progressives and conservatives like Nock is that Nock distrusted the state to remedy the problem of so many subhumans jostling about, making life so unpleasant for guilt-addled elites. The progressives thought the state could engineer all those subhumans they loathed in a manner more to their liking – or at least make things less untidy. If it’s a choice between conservative haters and liberal/progressive haters, I’ll take the ones mistrustful of the state any day.

The whole point – or a whole point, there are many -- of Buckley’s influence is that it stripped the Nockian influence, such as it was, away – root and branch (Hayek and the neocons had similar effect). The same cannot be said for the legacy of Ivy League progressives and the left – the root remains firmly entrenched in liberal political soil today.

Hey, I'm going to be signing off any minute so now's your chance:

Mr.Goldberg,

From Krusty's 29th Anniversary Special:

Krusty: "I've worked with a lot of second bananas over the years, but none were as memorable as Sideshow Rahim."

Flash to a scene of a Krusty show from the early-mid 70s and Krusty is standing next to a LARGE black man in a dashiki:

Krusty: "Uhh, the script says I've gotta bonk you with this mallet."

Sideshow Rahim: "I wouldn't"

Krusty: "Uhhhh..."

Flash to Krusty's 29h Special and Krusty sitting on the steps pensively shaking his head: "Angry, angry young man."

That and the mediocre Presidents song:

We are the mediocre, Presidents
You won't find our faces on dollars or on cents
There's Taylor, there's Tyler, there's Fillmore and there's Hayes
There's William Henry Harrison, I died in Thirty Days!

We are the adequate, the laughable, occasionally regrettable
Care-taker Presidents of the U...S...A....

From BBC:

Journalists on Ukraine's state-owned channel - which had previously given unswerving support to Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych - have joined the opposition, saying they have had enough of "telling the government's lies".

Journalists on another strongly pro-government TV station have also promised an end to the bias in their reporting. The turnaround in news coverage, after years of toeing the government line, is a big setback for Mr Yanukovych.

Journalists in Ukraine seem to have responded to the call by opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko for them to reject government censorship.

A correspondent on the state channel, UT1, announced live on the evening bulletin that the entire news team was going to join the protests in Independence Square. She said their message to the protesters was: "We are not lying anymore".

From a reader:

I know--it's not related to food, but the Simpsons line that made me laugh aloud, the only one that I remember doing so, was by Kent Brockman:

". . . Montgomery Burns, seen here frightening children in a nineteenth-century woodcut."

I suspect that Conan O'Brien wrote it.

From a reader:

Jonah:

I unfortunately don’t know about Rossiter’s suicide, so I can’t help you there. But you should read the book. I was extremely disappointed. It’s pretty bad. And by bad, I mean it’s unscholarly, anecdotal, gossipy, unintellectual. Mostly, though, it’s just plain poorly written and ultimately unconvincing. Norton obviously has some personal axe to grind. After reading her “dissection” of Bloom’s book, I was left to wonder if she had even read it.

From a reader:

Run into the ground or not, this is one of the funniest Simpsons quotes ever:

HOMER: "Wait a minute. Is this the biggest steak you've got? Seventy-two ounces? I thought this was supposed to be a steakhouse, not a little girly, underpantsy, pink doily, tea-party place!"

WAITER: "Well, there is one steak that's available only by special request. We call it, uh, Sir Loin-A-Lot. It's, uh, the size of a boogie board."

HOMER: "Ooh, I'll have that one. And to drink...meatballs."

An emailer informed me that a new book by Anne Norton, Leo Strauss and the Politics of American Empire, suggests that Clinton Rossiter committed suicide because of the intimidation he suffered from Straussian colleagues, including Alan Bloom. I had not heard this before, and I've read a little bit about the Cornell takeover. Indeed, my understanding of Rossiter's tragic suicide was quite different. If there's anyone out there who knows the real story or can confirm Norton's version or can simply point me to another reliable source I'd be interested and grateful.

John - I agree, it's an interesting piece and I learned a couple things from it. But that line bugged me too (I've mentioned Nock in print and criticized him in debates and speeches numerous times). Frank -- an old friend -- seems to be carving out a space for himself as the next John Judis, a liberal chronicler of conservative intellectual history. I've quibbled with Frank's versions of conservative history before, but I've decided my real problem is that he reports on conservative intellectual history as an outsider and so maybe he simply sees things I don't and I see things he doesn't. And fair's fair when it comes to interpreting such things.

But what does bug me is this entire ouevre. Conservatives, rightly, have a greater ownership of their intellectual history than liberals have of theirs. We're proud of our heritage of ideas. Liberals are proud of their heritage of action (a gross oversimplification, of course). Nevertheless, the whole project of applying a vague guilt-by-association between today's conservatives and figures from the past, particularly the pre-Buckley past, often strikes me as a bit unfair, if not tawdry. I've been wading pretty heavily into liberal intellectual history for the last two years. And, frankly, it isn't something to be all that proud of.

The key difference, I think, is that conservative have investigated their own history enought to pick and choose which traditions we want to uphold (again, a gross oversimplification). Liberal writers, on the whole, have done no such thing (there are obvious exceptions including, I think, Foer). This has made liberals far more indebted to the intellectual undertow of their intellectal past than they realize. The undercurrents of Dewey, for example, still steer a staggering amount of liberal thinking today and I just don't think liberals appreciate the implications and handicaps this places on them. Being part of an intellectual heritage that is uninterested in intellectual history means you will invariably accept certain ideas as givens you might rightly question and dismiss if you took an interest in doing such things.

Meanwhile, conservatives have the opposite problem. We have to contend with the weight of everything any conservative ever said (or, at least, anything a liberal critic wants to throw in our face). We constantly hear, for example, that conservatism has been poisoned by southern racism because the South moved to the Republican fold in the 1960s. But almost no allowance is made for the possibility that the conservative movement had a far more profound effect on southern racism -- or souther conservatism -- and that maybe not every Southern Republican is a Bull Connor.

Anyway, I gotta get back to work.

this is from the proprietess of Miss Mary Bobo's Boarding House in Lynchburg, Tennessee. (A real place, just down from the distillery. I've eaten there but you have to make reservations well in advance.)

2 1/2 cups cooked, mashed sweet potatoes
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
pinch of salt
1/3 cup Jack Daniel's Whiskey
pecan halves of marshmallow for topping

Preheat oven to 325. Combine all ingredients except topping. Spoon into greased 1 quart casserole. Top with pecan halves or marshmallows. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until bubbly. (6 to 8 servings)

Free-range turkey and giblet gravy; Prairie Chapel bass; mashed sweet potatoes with maple syrup and chiptoles; pan-roasted vegetables with walnuts and apples; cornbread stuffing; pecan and pumpkin pie with Blue Bell ice cream; Patz & Hall "Hyde" chardonnay 2002.

Well, here’s a surprise (not): the EU’s bureaucracy (in this case the EU ‘parliament’s’ legal service) looks as if it has managed to shut down the row over Chirac’s new EU commissioner, Jacques Barrot. This, you may remember, concerned the fact that Barrot didn’t bother to disclose that he had been convicted of involvement in a political funding scandal some years ago.

Barrot’s defense was that he didn’t have to mention the conviction, because he benefited from an amnesty. The EU Parliament’s legal service agrees, and, as matter of strict law, they are probably right. The amnesty effectively nullified Barrot’s conviction so there was, I suppose, literally ‘nothing’ to disclose.

Well, yes and no.

Barrot may not have had to disclose the conviction, but given the (regrettable) importance of the job to which he was being appointed, he had a clear moral obligation to do so.

He should resign.

First Havel comes out in support of the Ukrainian opposition, now Kiev is visited by Lech Walesa, another giant of Eastern Europe’s heroic age:

“Solidarity leader and the first post-communist Polish president Lech Walesa also addressed the crowd, which was in high spirits as it gathered under blue skies on this clear, windless day.Much of central Kyiv is now a solid block of protestors, most bedecked in orange, the signature color of opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko. A carnival atmosphere predominates.Estimates place the crowd at up to a million.”

The ‘winner’ of the Ukrainian election has now had his swearing in. Foreign Notes, an American blog in Kiev, has more:

”There was a ceremony of sorts yesterday where Yanukovych accepted the presidency. The swearing in is supposed to take place today so it was not his investment ceremony. It was a kind of acceptance ceremony that took place in some room somewhere in Kiev. He was surrounded by people who looked pleased with these events, but there seemed to be less than fifty. They stood and clapped and he had the look of the humble ruler reluctantly assuming power after the people have spoken. But there was something pitiful in this in a way. It was a small gathering indoors. He speaks to fifty inside. Yuschenko speaks to hundreds of thousands outside. And on that outside, Yanukovych has to ship in his supporters from other cities to Kiev to counter the crowds in the downtown square and he can’t get anywhere near the numbers Yuschenko gets who pays no one. With no pay, with no one defraying their expenses in any way to come here, these people make their way to Kiev under their own power to take part in the demonstrations. The give their loyalty freely to Yuschenko and to their country. Inside with Yanukovych, though, it is hard not to believe that those who stood and clapped for him are people who are in that position because they owe him something.”

Here's Guardian cartoonist Martin Rowson's take on the Ukrainian elections, with a drawing that blends bile, ignorance, moral cretinism and anti-Americanism to use the Ukrainian elections as yet another excuse to take a run at Bush.

Very classy, Martin. Very classy.

One of the tragedies of Russia after 1991 is its failure to come to terms with the horrors of its Soviet past. There never was a Soviet Nuremberg, something that still burdens that country today. Moscow’s meddling in the Ukrainian elections shows how that old Soviet mindset persists. Failure there might produce a long overdue rethink.

The London Times quotes Konstantin Zatulin, director of the Institute of CIS Countries in Moscow, as saying this, “The Ukrainian election means more for us than for the West...The West will lose practically nothing if its candidate doesn’t win. However, for us, it can mean a reappraisal of values and significant expenses.”

Quite what the “expenses” would be, I cannot imagine, but a “reappraisal of values” is exactly what Russia needs.

By the time you read this, it will be our "Thanksgiving" holiday. This is a day when Americans commemorate the efforts of the original English settelers of this land, who came here in the name of feedom, but at great personal risk and physical danger. It is self-evident that they seldom lived in comfort, but they tamed primitive lands, exhibited a peaceable spirit, and governed themselves by equitable principles rooted in democracy and religious faith. We honor these kinsmen, praise their sacrifices, and share their respect for God. Without their great efforts and ongoing struggles, the cause of freedom may never have realized its triumphant successes. I give thanks for what these forebearers and God have given to me and my family, and I pray that you and you kinsmen will soon realize these same gifts. God bless America and God bless Ukraine!

Slava Ukraini,

The Bush administration has been admirably frank and forceful this week in denouncing the fraud in Ukraine and in making clear to Ukrainians that it is on their side. In the coming days it must drive home the message to Mr. Yanukovych that he will be a pariah in Washington -- notwithstanding his cynical offer to extend the deployment of Ukrainian troops in Iraq -- if he accepts his illegitimate mandate, and that he and all of his governmental and business allies will be held personally responsible for any violence against the opposition. At the same time, President Bush needs to accept that U.S. hopes of cooperation with Russia, in the Middle East or elsewhere, cannot be insulated from Mr. Putin's anti-democratic imperialism in Eastern Europe. The West must take a clear stand against that policy, before it is too late to prevent a redivision of the continent.

- Vaclav Havel has issued a second statement on the situation in Ukraine:

Dear Citizens,

Allow me to address you once again in these turbulent yet hopeful days. I am currently far away in Taiwan. But even here, I can feel the breeze blowing of your civic will, responsibility, and desire for freedom. It very much reminds me of our own Velvet Revolution in the former Czechoslovakia in 1989. Despite the announcement of official election results, may the course of your protests remain peaceful. I know based on my own experience how important it is to not allow oneself to be provoked into violence.

At the same time, I appeal to all of you who work in the mass media: Do not allow yourselves to be intimidated, and write the truth about events in your own country.

Yours, V.H.

(English translation by RFE/RL)

to have children in an age of birth control is an act of pure optimism….for all the talk of dark days, edge of apocalypse etc, raising kids is like shooting skyrockets into the night. and we all like playing with fire.

Mr. Robinson, I'm sure you're getting deluged with emails from nerds like myself, but let me assure you that the boys will be much better off becoming accustomed to the mouse + keyboard than the joystick. The joystick is, indeed, only used for flight sims anymore, and anyone playing a shooter with the joystick will find themselves at a severe disadvantage.

If starwars battle front is a first person perspective shoot em up [it is] then your children are better off using the mouse and keyboard to control it. Joy sticks are used mostly for flight sims and are also popular for playing the mech warrior games. Games companies have been trying for years to create and sell a better input device to control first person shooters and not one of them has managed to top the good old mouse and keyboard.

I too cook my turkey on a round Weber grill. I usually do a 25 lb bird, but to do so, I use the round ring insert, made for the rotissierie, to gain vertical clearance. The coals are banked on either side, kept there by heavy wire enclosues designed for that purpose. Weber calls it the "indirect method". The turkey is placed on a rack on the main grill after being stuffed, rubbed with veg. oil and seasoned. Takes about as long as it would in the oven, but all the heat is outside and the oven is available for other puposes. The bird gets smoked red about 1/2 inch deep and stays moist throughout, as the initial heat tends to sear the outside. I have been doing this since 1976, and the idea of roasting it breast down has never crossed my mind, but it will be done tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

From a reader:

Jonah

Not to run the Simpsons food references into the ground here, but the
Helen Hunt episode also contains another of the all-time greats, Moe's
overjoyed response upon finally getting his date:
"Don't eat nothin' for three days, baby, I'm takin' you out for a steak
the size of a toilet seat!"

Cheers

Peter,

Can you put a little update on my recipe for cranberry sauce? I've checked and a bag of cranberries is 12 ounces. It's very important to make sure that you have the right proportions on cranberries to sugar to water because cranberries are VERY tart. If you like it that way, you can cut back on the sugar, but be careful, cranberries don't necessarily taste so great without a lot of sweetener. Also, make sure you cook the berries until they burst, about 6 or seven minutes.

On the other variations to the recipe, a suggestion that I would make: Start with the base recipe to make the cooked cranberries. Then add in your other flavors. Be careful about cooking out the port wine or the orange juice at the beginning because some of the more volatile flavors will cook away.

Good luck and good eating.

RUSSIAN SPECIAL FORCES “VITYAZ” LANDING AT BORYSPIL AIRPORT

Kyiv, Ukraine – Viktor Yushchenko's presidential campaign has received reports that two Russian aircraft landed at the Kyiv International Boryspil airport today carrying military personnel of the “Vityaz” special forces unit. Approximately 1,000 in number, they were transported to Kyiv, but their whereabouts currently are unknown.

This information was provided to the campaign by Ukrainian Colonel Lyashenko, an assistant commander of aviation brigades, who services aircraft landing at the airport. He refused to follow orders from above to accept the aircraft and thereafter submitted his resignation.

The Yushchenko campaign provided this information to Ukraine 's Security Service (SBU) Chairman Ihor Smeshko for appropriate investigation and follow-up. As well, the campaign requested security protection be given Colonel Lyashenko. Subsequently, the Yushchenko campaign was informed by the head of SBU's military counter-intelligence that indeed Colonel Lyashenko resigned his post at Boryspil airport today. However, the SBU representative rejected the fact that Russian special forces arrived at the airport today.

Yesterday, Yushchenko campaign chairman Oleksandr Zinchenko and Yushchenko ally Yulia Tymoshenko reported they saw non-Ukrainian special forces units at the presidential administration in downtown Kyiv, when they were peacefully let through a human barricade located on the street in front of the presidential administration. More reporting to follow.

SECRET TAPES COULD UNCOVER ELECTION FRAUD SCHEME

Kyiv, Ukraine – Viktor Yushchenko's presidential campaign managers possess audio taped recordings of conversations held among top Ukrainian government officials and their aids documenting vote count manipulations, instigation of violence at polling stations, and falsification of election protocols. The tapes include conversations with central election commission leaders as well as top aids to President Leonid Kuchma. Personnel from Ukraine's Security Service passed the secret tapes to Yushchenko campaign managers.

The audiotapes are similar to those released in September 2000, which unveiled that the murder of investigative reporter Georgi Gongadze was tied allegedly to Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma and other top government officials. A partial transcript of the taped conversations can be found on the 24 November Internet site www.pravda.com.ua in both Russian and Ukrainian.

I have work to do, and all you people at NRO seem to do is distract me!

This morning's home page offers a cornucopia of politico-cultural junkie delights: SpongeBob, U2, and Dan Brown, all on the same screen?! Within an inch of each other?

New VDH and turkey frying? What am I to do? I don't have this kind of time. And then on the Corner, people are quoting the Simpsons and talking turducken! .... Stop being so interesting!

P.S. My use of the word "cornucopia" above reminds me that my six-year-old [son] adorably called it a "corn-mania" earlier this week.

The Lions last championship was won in 1957. Since that time, the Lions have generally been awful, with occasional bursts of pretty good.

Win or lose, my father will be watching his beloved Lions on Thanksgiving Day, hoping for the best despite plenty of reasons to expect the worst.

Morton Blackwell, a man who served as a GOP delegate for Barry Goldwater and has attended every Republican convention since, has seen the ebb and flow of politics. His Laws of the Public Policy Process includes this gem: "Don't fully trust anyone until he has stuck with a good cause which he saw was losing."

K-Lo,
The "pinko" NPR cranberry relish sounds interesting, but here's a "red state" cranberry relish. Sorry if it's too late for Thanksgiving - I kept assuming someone else would write in - but we make this at Christmas too. Ten minutes prep - no cooking.

1 large orange
4 cups (about 1 lb) fresh cranberries, picked over and washed
1/2 cup sugar, or more to taste
1 teaspoon minced or grated fresh ginger

1. Peel orange and remove all pith. Keep the orange sections and the zest.
2. Combine the orange flesh, zest, cranberries and sugar in a food processor. Process until mixture is chunky. Stir in the ginger and additional sugar if needed.

Let it sit for 30 minutes before serving to allow flavors to blend. Keeps well (refrigerated) for a few days, but it never lasts that long. (Great on turkey sandwiches.)

Best wishes,
Kevin Clark

P.S. If anyone wants the recipie for tipsy sweet potatoes (secret ingredient is Jack Daniels) let me know.

A number of thoughtful readers have written in on my Monday column
(geneticist makes house call) by remarking that the way genes determine the
characteristics of living things is complicated & not very well
understood -- it depends to some degree on the interaction of a gene with
(a) other genes, and (b) the environment a gene, or its host organism,
happens to find itself in.

All of that is perfectly true, and I did not say or imply otherwise. In
this area of science, though, it remains the astounding case that _the
dominant consensus in the public square is an extremist one_.

That dominant consensus is, in fact, the assertion that genes do _nothing at
all_, most certainly nothing to do with brain function! The consensus is,
as Steven Pinker has scoffed: "See no genes, hear no genes, speak no
genes." This is preposterous. Genes, with all their complications and
subtleties, are tremendously important in determining our characteristics --
both physical and personality characteristics -- as every parent surely
knows.

My column leaked out to several lefty websites, where there has been much
sneering at it as a typical attempt to buttress white male supremacy etc.
etc. For the record, my visitor -- the "datanaut" -- is a dark-skinned
South Asian. He boasted to me, in fact, about how easy it is for him to win
arguments with campus lefties by pulling race on them -- "I'm darker than
you, so what do you know?..." He says it generally does the trick.

From a reader:

Jonah ... I have been enjoying your articles for the past few months, but this one really hit my heart. I will be saving it for myself and perhaps sharing it with others from time to time, if that's okay with you. My son will be going back to Iraq in January and from what he has experienced from his fellow citizens, since his notification, he goes, knowing that they care. He also knows that he is doing this to show that he cares and believes in America. I'm thankful that I found out about NRO from, of all places, the CBS News website. Your writing as well as others around you has restored my faith in opinion writers. Thanks ... [Name withheld]

From a reader:

Jonah,

I read your post on Thanksgiving and the interpretation of the holiday by the Ayn Rand Institute. It struck me that perhaps this is where the notion of original intent may be most appropriate considering the times we live in, our brave men and women who are serving in far off places, and the risks they are facing day in and day out. And for that, I will defer to the wisdom of Abraham Lincoln, as written through the pen of William Seward.

"I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union."

Seems to me that his proclamation speaks volumes today, as it did in 1863.

All the best to you and the rest of the tireless crew at NRO.

A nice profile of three medics in Iraq.

Today's syndicated column
is on Thanksgiving. And, yes, it was partly inspired by (i.e. ripped-off from) 2001 Thanksgiving column which people seemed to like at the time.

From a reader:

Ok, the magical animal quote was good re: Turducken, but I immediately thought of the episode where Moe gets a date with Helen Hunt, and Moe, Helen, Homer and Marge are at The Gilded Truffle. When the waiter asks Moe what he would like to order, Moe Responds:

Moe: We'll have you best dish, stuffed with your second best:

Waiter: Very good sir, lobster stuffed with tacos.

Happy Thanksgiving!

From that emailer from NPR:

Jonah:

LOL to the NPR comment in the Corner…

Let it be known that:

1. My position is technical, so I have no (direct) control over what goes on the air…yet!

2. I voted for W, along with the other 3 conservatives at NPR.

3. The post-election atmosphere here is absolutely delightful. Plenty of shock and awe for everyone. It culminated in a reporter incredulously asking me “Are you being ironic?” after she saw a “Viva Bush” bumper sticker on my desk (put there entirely to get amusing responses like that)…

Have a great Thanksgiving,

Deep Cover NPR Guy

From a reader:

"We are giving thanks for the soil, the land, for the gifts of providence which were bequeathed to us long before we figured out our political system."

Not according to the Ayn Rand Institute: "This holiday is designed to
celebrate, not faith and charity, but thought and production.

"Thanksgiving celebrates man's ability to produce. The cornucopia filled
with exotic flowers and delicious fruits, the savory turkey with
aromatic trimmings, the mouth-watering pies, the colorful
decorations--it's all a testament to the creation of wealth."

http://www.aynrand.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=10469&news_iv_ctrl
=1021

Steve - Did you not know about my dark fascination with the Turducken? It always reminded me of this scene from the Simpsons:

Homer: Are you saying you're never going to eat any animal again? What about bacon?

Lisa: No.

Homer: Ham?

Lisa: No!

Homer: Pork chops?

Lisa: Dad, those all come from the same animal!
Homer: Heh heh heh... ooh... yeah... right, Lisa. A wonderful, magical animal.

Dear Klo,

I would offer a slight modification to my fellow Georgian's recipe for Cranberries.

Replace the water with a Ruby Port - it gives a rich fuller taste.

And being a good conservative reserve the remainder of the open bottle's contents for the cook.

To everyone - I wish you all a Great Thanksgiving wherever you are with whoever your with.

Several readers have -- quite fairly -- pointed out that the Fourth of July probably qualifies as a more nationalist holiday. I think this is certainly right in one sense. But I think it also illuminates how the word "nationalist" doesn't really fit the American context very well. For some, nationalism is about martial songs and patriotic fervor. For others, it's about an organic bond with the land and the soil and the founding culture of the nation. I consider the Fourth a patriotic holday more than a nationalist one. We are celebrating the signing of a text, the establishment of a set of laws and principles on the Fourth of July. The Fourth is about political liberty and national independence. It is, for all its pomp and circumstance, a fairly secular and rational holiday. Meanwhile, Thanksgiving plays upon the mystic chords of memory and is prior to and independent of many of things we celebrate on the Fourth.

Anyway, I agree its a fair criticism and probably just highlights different perspectives. And, yes, the food on the Fourth of July is really, really good. I am all about hotdogs, beer and barbecue.

It's my favorite holiday, I think. It's without a doubt my favorite American Holiday. I love Christmastime, Chanuka etc. But Thanksgiving is as close as we get to a nationalist holiday in America (a country where nationalism as a concept doesn't really fit). Thanksgiving's roots are pre-founding, which means its not a political holiday in any conventional sense. We are giving thanks for the soil, the land, for the gifts of providence which were bequeathed to us long before we figured out our political system.

Moreover, because there are no gifts, the holiday isn't nearly so vulnerable to materialism and commercialism. It's about things -- primarily family and private accomplishments and blessings -- that don't overlap very much with politics of any kind. We are thankful for the truly important things: our children and their health, for our friends, for the things which make life rich and joyful.

As for all the stuff about killing Indians and whatnot, I can certainly understand why Indians might have some ambivalence about the holiday (though I suspect many do not). The sad -- and fortunate -- truth is that the European conquest of North America was an unremarkable old world event (one tribe defeating another tribe and taking their land; happened all the time) which ushered in a gloriously hopeful new age for humanity. America remains the last best hope for mankind. Still, I think it would be silly to deny how America came to be, but the truth makes me no less grateful that America did come to be.

Also, I really, really like the food.

K-Lo (If I may call you that)

I've been following this recount thing closely - sure it would happen and am now not as sure.

Not only has Kerry distanced himself from the Ohio recount but he's also not picking up anywhere near the provisionals needed.

So, I did the math and looked at Ohio state law. The recount folks will have to raise five times what they already have and I don't think they can do it for a lost cause.

Hope this eases your mind. It eases mine. I was never worried about Kerry overtaking Bush's lead but it was what John Fund calls the "margin of litigation" that worried me and Kerry seeing Ohio as a last chance as 2008 slipped away.

Does anyone know if (MS)NBC has transcripts of the nightly news hidden anywhere? I've been poking around at their website for ten minutes and can't find any sign of 'em. Nexis no have either. I'm looking specifically for their story on the Ukraine from last night.

KLo,

I am a HUGE fan of NRO and especially the Corner. I also happen to be a Republican, a GOTV volunteer (partially through reading your pages), and a small businessman. The business I happen to own is a restaurant company. (4 located in Atlanta, 39 Best of Atlanta awards and reasonably priced www.bridgetowngrill.com ). For NRO readers only, I am willing to share the easiest of all homemade Thanksgiving recipes; and, it is for fresh cranberry sauce, and it actually really tastes great. BR>
1 bag fresh cranberries (1 pound or so)
1 C Sugar
1 C Water

Boil water, add sugar, stir, add cranberries, stir, boil 5 minutes (the skins will pop on the cranberries), refrigerate overnight (it thickens up in the fridge). After removing from the stove, I fold in a small can of drained mandarin oranges (you can stir in whatever you think you would like), and I squeeze a little juice of one of whatever I have in the fridge (lemon, lime, or fresh orange). Save a few fresh cranberries to garnish with.

Even if you don't like cranberry sauce, try it, it is quite tasty. I would also say it is the true cranberry sauce of conservatives. You have to be smarter to do it (you have to figure out that the stuff in a can is actually made from something); it represents what is best about America, self-reliance-you can make it yourself; you don't need the approval of others to make it, like in the UN; and, it is true to our roots, not like some over-refined, homogenized crap invented in France, it's made of basic and solid ingredients, just like Americans. If the Pilgrims actually ate cranberry sauce, I bet it would be like this. Maybe this isn't quite as witty or funny as I had hoped it would be, but it the recipe is a nice and easy surprise for Thanksgiving dinner.

Your loyal reader,
Greg Vojnovic
Roswell, GA

Here's an email on how to help (and it came from someone at NPR!):

Jonah:

Regarding your question in the Corner about how to support British troops, here are a couple of ideas:

Support-A-Squaddie: http://supportasquaddie.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/index.jhtml

Support-A-Squaddie connects you with British military servicemen—you can send care packages, letters, etc.

Books for Soldiers: http://booksforsoldiers.com/

This is a great site that allows soldiers (American or British) to post requests for books (and other items) on a bulletin board. They have excellent instructions on how to package and send items to the troops.

With the holidays approaching, I’m sure soldiers of any nationality would appreciate our support!

Here's an email on how to help (and it came from someone at NPR!):

Jonah:

Regarding your question in the Corner about how to support British troops, here are a couple of ideas:

Support-A-Squaddie: http://supportasquaddie.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/index.jhtml

Support-A-Squaddie connects you with British military servicemen—you can send care packages, letters, etc.

Books for Soldiers: http://booksforsoldiers.com/

This is a great site that allows soldiers (American or British) to post requests for books (and other items) on a bulletin board. They have excellent instructions on how to package and send items to the troops.

With the holidays approaching, I’m sure soldiers of any nationality would appreciate our support!

I must admit that I am prefer that pinko-socialist concoction: Mama Stamberg's Cranberry Relish.

I was listening to "All Things Considered" around Thanksgiving years ago and heard Susan Stamberg (who was then one of the anchors) give the recipe. The recipe is scary, and it is REALLY pinko, like pepto-bismol, but tastes great.

The link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4176014

Opinions were split. About half the emailers didn't like it for one reason or another. The other half liked it.

But one criticism I knew I would get was over my assertion that the New York Times is a great and influential newspaper. I don't want to spend all day on this issue -- and I won't. But two forms of argumentation I don't find persuasive go something like this: "The Times isn't influential because I don't read it." And: "The Times isn't great because it's so dishonest and liberal."

Let's take the first one first. Simply because you are not directly influenced by something doesn't make it uninfluential in general or even uninfluential on you. I don't read the New Yorker very much anymore (I let my subscription lapse and events conspired against renewal) that hardly means it's not influential. The Public Interest never had more than 10,000 subscribers in its life, but it has been hugely influential. Almost no one but inside-the-beltway types read the Hotline, but it too sets the agenda in ways few people appreciate.

Which brings us to the fact that you don't have to read something yourself for it to influence you. The New York Times sets the national media agenda more than any other newspaper. As Brit Hume noted during the explosives brouhaha at the end of the presidential campaign, it is the only newspaper which can, through sheer will, force an issue onto the public debate simply by giving it sufficient play on the frontpage. You may not read the Times, but the writers, editors and producers of countless outlets you do read and watch do pay rapt attention to what it does. This may be good or bad (almost certainly bad) but it is a fact. Which brings us to argument number two. Saying it's not great and influential because you don't want it to be is like saying Napoleon wasn't great and influential because you don't like the guy.

Vaclav Havel should replace Kofi Annan!

This is a great, wonderful, humane, inspired idea. The only problem I can think of is that Havel is such a righteous dude he would once again reinvigorate the UN with moral authority. But he might actually make it somewhat moral too, so who knows?

Any ideas how to do this? From a reader:

I have already given to our US troops abroad and I will give more. I am wondering if there is a way to give to troops abroad that are fighting along side with ours, say from Britain. It must be especially difficult for them since they will have less of a hero’s welcome when they go home and are more likely to be attacked by stupid anti-war Europeans. Any show of support from the American public would go a long way I think.

What do you think?

My friend Jack Heinz and I, having appreciated the same wines on a hundred different occasions , made a pact a dozen years ago that we would limit our purchasing to white wines we could get for three dollars a bottle, red wines for four dollars a bottle. Those who have feasted at Jack Heinz's table will believe that if this story is true, Mr. Heinz has mastered not only the art of making ketchup, but also of alchemy. Not fair. He has a cellar of vintage wines he raids for special occasions .We are talking about rule-of-thumb drinking…

Any ideas how to do this? From a reader:

I have already given to our US troops abroad and I will give more. I am wondering if there is a way to give to troops abroad that are fighting along side with ours, say from Britain. It must be especially difficult for them since they will have less of a hero’s welcome when they go home and are more likely to be attacked by stupid anti-war Europeans. Any show of support from the American public would go a long way I think.

What do you think?

Never consent to taste wines that, should it happen that they meet the Heinz-Buckley formula (which has inflated [as of 1985] to ten dollars per bottle), you can’t then go out and buy in quantity. Nothing is more frustrating than to find a good cheap wine and then discover that there are two and one half cases left of it in all of New York. I bought thirty cases of a Chateau Livran from Sokolin at under three dollars a bottle, and my guests have gasped with pleasure on tasting it.
Posted at 08:09 AM

HAPPY, BLESSED DAY [KJL]
Today is WFB's 79th birthday. Official Corner love and gratitude to our founder--for all he's done to make what we're doing right now possible, for all he's done for our country and world. And for being a terrific person! Happy birthday, sir!
Posted at 07:54 AM

SOCIAL INSECURITY [Mark Krikorian]
The president's proposal to create private Social Security accounts is going to be hard enough to achieve without complicating the issue. But that's apparently not stopping the White House; according to this English-language story from the Mexican press, Vicente Fox and President Bush agreed to simultaneously introduce to their respective legislatures the Social Security "totalization" deal they agreed to, which has the potential to bankrupt our old-age benefits system by incorporating millions of currently illegal Mexicans. Congress will have 60 days after the presentation of the deal by the White House either to vote it down or to do nothing and let it become law.

So let me understand this -- the White House, which will be facing stiff opposition from Democrats to any form of private accounts, is also willing to jeopardize Republican support by trying to force through the Social Security deal with Mexico. Who is the White House expecting support from?
Posted at 07:48 AM

KILLING JOURNALISTS [Mark Krikorian ]
So far this year, three journalists have been murdered in Mexican cities along the U.S. border. And this is yet another thing that doesn't stop at the Rio Grande: "Maria Eugenia Guerra, with the Laredo-based tabloid LareDos, said drug-trafficking violence has moved from the streets of Nuevo Laredo [in Mexico] to the suburbs of Laredo [Texas] in recent years."
Posted at 07:39 AM

RE: DA WHITE GUYS [KJL]
Or, uh, Katie, Tim? She'd get to wake up much later...
Posted at 07:37 AM

"WHITE GUY" WATCH [Tim Graham]
In an interview on Rather, Katie Couric had to ask something like "all the anchors are white guys. What's the deal with that?" She must also favor Lester Holt in the anchor chair...
Posted at 07:34 AM

JUST THE BEGINNING OF WHAT YOU'RE MISSING [KJL]
if you are not NR Crusing:

My Cruise Highlights:
--hours of casual, political conversation with like-minded NR readers
--how easy it was to make new friends
--the sense of family that quickly developed at the frequent socials
--getting my books signed in the relaxed, friendly atmosphere
--seeing Jonah be himself; seeing Melissa O' be herself
--seeing the shocked reaction of liberals onboard as they realized their cruise vacation would include the constant presence of National Review t-shirts and conservative conversation
--the parade of the Baked Alaskas

Elizabeth Herring
Lexington SC

The next cruise is a big one--NR's 50th anniversary cruise, this July. Sign up here.
Posted at 06:32 AM

""THE MEDIA CERTAINLY IS NOT IN OUR HANDS ANY LONGER." [KJL]
That's precious, from Loretta Sanchez, re: Rathergate. Reed Irvine, who passed away last week, has got to have a wee bit of a smile on.
Posted at 06:22 AM

AN EXCELLENT POINT [KJL]
Where's Hollywood? A flimmaker was murdered--where's the outrage?
Posted at 06:17 AM

(EX-REP.) BOB SCHAFFER REPORTING FROM UKRAINE [KJL]
"'There's a high amount of anxiety,' he said. 'There's always a risk this thing could turn violent at any point in time.'"
Posted at 06:08 AM

MORE RE: HELPING (AND ENTERTAINING) TROOPS [KJL]
From a friend. I think this is the same group Shannen Coffin and his wife recently signed up with.

My personal favorite is Operation AC (air conditioner, although at this time of year, they are sending ceramic heaters) where you get to adopt a soldier. I have been corresponding with several for some time now (so far 2 have returned home safely and we are still in touch), and aside from snail-mail addresses, if they have access to E-mail, those are provided as well. They always need combat boots, but after sending those, I find they truly love dried fruit, hard candies, phone cards (of course), disposable cameras, and for Christmas, I'm sending one group a Presto Pizza Maker with various pizza mixes. I checked first, of course, that they have a ready supply of electricity...but this should be something they would use. I also found, at Restoration Hardware, a great dart board with magnetic darts, that is rolled up in a nicely-sized canister that can be shipped easily. Remember to ship all things "priority mail" and they usually take 3 weeks (this works for Ramadi, Kuwait, etc.). Operation AC also has general funds which can accept contributions for mass mailings.

Posted at 06:00 AM

ERRRR [KJL]
More recount talk in Ohio.
Posted at 05:37 AM

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

KEN AULETTA'S LAPDOG LINE [Tim Graham]
From the AP story on Rather's supposedly long-planned retirement from the nightly news: "I'm sure one of the things that Rather was doing here was thinking about his legacy," [Ken]Auletta said. "It must be frustrating for a guy like this who has spent 24 years doing this and building up his career to be tainted by an event that he didn't have control over."

Ridiculous. Rather was right in the thick of the National Guard story. The idea that he couldn't control it, like he was someone else's pawn? Too bad Auletta didn't say it on TV where a Bernard Goldberg could verbally blast him. Rather has only himself and his Bush-hatred to blame. He was warned off the story, and pressed ahead. He was exposed as a fraud, and nastily stood his ground with the phony papers, accusing his critics of wanting to choke the life out of him. Put the violins away.
Posted at 10:29 PM

RETRO RATHER [Cliff May]
I just remembered my NRO column from almost two years ago on Dan Rather’s hard-hitting, no-holds-barred interview with Saddam Hussein.

Sample: Dan Rather: Mr. President, you're being very patient with your time, and I want you to know I consider this a solemn moment in history, and, if I may, take time to have you speak to the American people about questions that I know are on their minds. I just want you to know that I appreciate your patience here.

If that’s whet your appetite, the full column is here.
Posted at 09:41 PM

DERB HAS SOME NERVE [KJL]
doubting the editor's numbers, (however delusional)!
Posted at 08:55 PM

UKRAINE [John Derbyshire]
One of the most interesting things Dick Morris said on last week's cruise was about the Ukraine election -- he's been advising one of the candidates (the losing one, I think). Dick thinks Putin is playing dirty games to put the old empire back together, at least the traditionally Russian part of it (Russia, Belarus, Ukraine... or if you want them by the names the Russians use: Russia, White Russia, Little Russia). These election shenanigans are part of that game. Makes sense to me. Dick also issued a more general warning about the leftward drift of politics in other parts of the world, esp. S. America.
Posted at 08:52 PM

RE: PROVIDENCE HEALTH SYSTEM IN ALASKA [KJL]
A reader received this response to a query about the "abortion referral":

Thank you for your e-mail alerting us to this situation, as until today, we were unaware of it. Surprisingly, we did not know this content resided on our Web site and you are right, it should not be there. This is a purchased library program, and we should have taken greater care in ensuring this information was not included. We are working now to delete this content from the library and hope to have this corrected promptly. Again, thank you for alerting us and for your concern for the protection of Catholic teachings and Providence Health System.

Posted at 08:52 PM

DERB FORGOT TO TAKE HIS MATH PILL [John Derbyshire]
Sorry, 2 ft apart -- that's more comfy.
Posted at 08:49 PM

RIO [Rick Brookhiser]
For the first time in my life I am in Rio de Janeiro. The city is dominateed by a mammoth art deco statue of Christ the Redeemer, Cristo Redentor, atop Corcavado (the Hunchback). It is not a crucifix. His arms are outspread though, as if to bless, or protect, or bless, or perhaps to warn. A powerful and somewhat ambiguous image.
Posted at 06:17 PM

POWER OF MATH [John Derbyshire]
Kathryn: 900 trillion people? You sure? At an average 150 lb each, that would weigh in at around 60 thousand trillion kilograms -- a noticeable proportion (about a hundred millionth) of the mass of the entire planet.

Furthermore, if you spread those 900 trillion people evenly over the earth's surface, they'd only be about 200 ft apart. Be nice to think I am only 200 ft from the nearest NR reader, but...

Just taking a break here.
Posted at 06:14 PM

SPENGLER, ALWAYS WORTH READING [Rod Dreher]
Another superb, and extremely worrying, column by Spengler the Asia Times Online columnist who is writing some of the most interesting analyses of international cultural geopolitics I can find anywhere. He says that Europeans who, in the wake of Theo van Gogh's assassination, are demanding that Muslims among them renounce violence as a condition for living in the West, are bound to be disappointed (as indeed those who expected to see large numbers of Euro-Muslims denounce the ritual slaughter of van Gogh have been). Why? Because as a matter of "theological necessity," Islam cannot tolerate blasphemy without implicitly ceding power -- anymore than medieval Christianity could do so. Spengler quotes St. Thomas Aquinas's endorsement of killing heretics, and Michael Novak's defense of the policy by saying that the times required it. Similarly, says Spengler, Islam is so fragile versus the powerful currents of Western secularism that it cannot allow itself to become a privatised faith, as Christianity and Judaism have been, or it will suffer the same enervation.

Writes Spengler:

Jews and Christians had centuries to accomplish the transition from public and political religion to private and communal religion, whereas circumstances press moderate Muslims to do this on the spot. The two older religions did so under duress, chaotically, and with limited success. Whether Islam can make such a transition at all remains doubtful.

...The tragedy will continue to unfold, and at a faster pace. Jews and Christians have learned to accept humiliation. God's love for the individual soul remains valid despite worldly reverses, and failure in the temporal realm provides cause for self-evaluation. Humiliation is intolerable to Islam; Allah sets the spin of every electron around every nucleus by a discrete act of will, and reverses in the temporal world challenge Islam's promise of success.

Posted at 06:11 PM

UKRAINE: FROM THE WHITE HOUSE [KJL]

STATEMENT BY THE DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY

The United States is deeply disturbed by extensive and credible indications of fraud committed in the Ukrainian presidential election. We strongly support efforts to review the conduct of the election and urge Ukrainian authorities not to certify results until investigations of organized fraud are resolved. We call on the Government of Ukraine to respect the will of the Ukrainian people, and we urge all Ukrainians to resolve the situation through peaceful means. The Government bears a special responsibility not to use or incite violence, and to allow free media to report accurately on the situation without intimidation or coercion. The United States stands with the Ukrainian people in this difficult time.

Posted at 06:03 PM

AW SHUCKS [Jonah Goldberg]

A note from a cruiser:

I am also decompressing from the cruise and thought you'd appreciate an observation that was made after you were spotted on the Lido Deck for the first time and news of your arrival spread like wildfire among the fellow-cruisers.

"We just a bunch of conservative nerds."

I've decided I finally know what it feels like to be at a Star Trek convention ("Look, there's the guy who played Shish-Tak from the Third Episode of the Second Season!") but without the funny ears and costumes.

Thanks for the great memories.

Posted at 03:46 PM

HUGE RESPONSE TO NR 2005 CRUISE [Jack Fowler]
Just got a report from our travel agency, and already over 110 people have booked cabins on the National Review 2005 British Isles Cruise. That’s a staggering number for so early in the “process.” I’m very pleasantly surprised, although I shouldn’t be given the itinerary (London/Dover, Waterford, Dublin, Liverpool, Belfast, Edinburgh, Guernsey), the great ship (Celebrity Cruises’s Symphony), and the all-star cast of speakers (WFB, Bob Bork, Larry Kudlow, Peggy Noonan, Paul Johnson, Kate O’Beirne, Rich Lowry, David Pryce-Jones, Jay Nordlinger, John O’Sullivan) who will be on board – all of which you can read about at www.nrcruise.com. Please join us for what is sure to be the trip of a lifetime (and great way for you to help celebrate your favorite conservative magazine’s 50th anniversary!).
Posted at 03:34 PM

RE: 900 TRILLION [KJL]
An e-mail from D.C.: "I read the U2 review, and was reminded that it is indeed U2 Album Release Day (a true holiday). I walked over to Border on 14th and F only to find them out of all but the regular edition. In hopes of a DVD edition, we hit B & N over at 11th and E- sold out of everything. The power of NRO strikes again."

And you didn't believe me!
Posted at 03:14 PM

GRIFFITH OUT OF LUCK [Jonathan H. Adler]
It looks like Senator Hatch's effort to get his friend Thomas Griffith confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has failed. Hatch may get another shot at it in December, but the prospects aren't good. (LvHB)
Posted at 03:06 PM

GEE-WIZ, JONAH [KJL]
More like 900 trillion people read NRO. Goodness. Get it right.
Posted at 03:06 PM

ISTOOK ISTAKEN [Jonah Goldberg ]

Because of the cruise I didn't follow this story too closely and now I feel hopelessly behind. So let's just set the record straight. If anyone in the GOP thinks it's a good idea for the Congress to be able to troll through the income tax records of private citizens, I think they're nuts. That said, since the GOP seems to have realized this was a bonehead mistake and not a real plan, I can't get too worked up over it. However, if someone's actually defending the idea on the merits, I'd love to hear about it since it sounds so idiotic. Maybe I'm missing something.

Posted at 02:56 PM

ANCHOR AWAY [Jonah Goldberg]

Drudge has this item:

ADDRESSES CBS NEWSROOM AT APPROXIMATELY 1:39PM EST [Partial transcript -- joined in progress]: No matter what you hear elsewhere, this was a mutual decision. The timing has to do with (wanting to separate) this decision to leave the anchor chair... from the (investigation) of the 60 MINUTES report. The decision got made the way I described. There is nothing more important (to me) than how honored I am to work with the greatest news organization in the world. Thank you for coming. We're not going to spend much time (on questions) because we have news to cover. (Offered to answer questions, but staff simply gave his signature 'hip hip' three cheers.) Let's get back to work. Thanks everyone.

If I'm reading this right, you gotta love that the "greatest news organization in the world" didn't see much need to ask questions. They have "news to cover" after all. But then again they're treating Rather's departure as big news, but they don't have any questions, even though the chief source is right there. You can't beat that kind of news sense my friends.

Posted at 02:47 PM

MORE RE: KETTLES & THINGS [KJL]
From a lawyer:

If you can stand two e-mails from Wyoming on this topic, union organizing is the actual reason Wal-Mart and others are eliminating solicitations. The National Labor Relations Board has repeatedly held that if an employer allows an undefined amount of charitable solicitation on the premises, the employer cannot prohibit unions from coming on the property to solicit employees to join the union or sign a card calling for a union election. To make matters worse, the rule has no bright line -- no employer knows with any degree of comfort how much charitable solicitation is too much. If an employer unwittingly crosses the gray area, and then refuses to allow a union to come onto the property, the union can file an unfair labor practice charge alleging the employer discriminated against union organizing in violation of federal law. Wal-Mart, Target, and the rest are likely recognizing this risk.

If you would like to see the application of this rule taken to its absurd extreme, review the opinion letter of the NLRB General Counsel issued shortly after 9/11 as it relates to charitable solicitations arising from that event.

Posted at 02:44 PM

REVIEW COPIES [Jonah Goldberg ]

I know there are people in publishing out there who read the Corner, so let me just vent for a monent. Over a lunch of some reheated, home-made, pizza I picked up a copy of the Weekly Standard. In it is a very nice review of Gertrude Himmelfarb's new book, The Roads to Modernity. She's been working on this book for a very long time and I've been waiting for it to appear for a very long time. Did I get a review copy in the mail? No I did not. Indeed, I rarely get review copies of books that would make any sense for me to review. I get lots of paperback releases by lesbian poets and deaf African-Americans overcoming their hardships. I get review copies of self-published books by authors seeking to blow the lid off the upholstery business (yes, that's an Odd Couple reference). But when it comes to the books I might actually be inclined to review I get nada, bupkis, zilch. Now I know this sounds kind of spoiled, since most people don't get review copies. And that's why I haven't complained about this in the past. But, look, I'm a slow reader and a busy guy. If I wait for these things to hit the stands, it's a lot harder for me to write something before it's too late. Moreover, my wife has issued a fatwah that I'm no longer allowed to buy books off of Amazon -- or anywhere else -- because I bought so many doing research (a similar fatwah exists against subscribing to more magazines). Besides I should get review copies. NRO is read by 9 trillion people, by my own estimate. My syndicated column appears in many of the top 20 newspapers around the country.

So look folks at Knopf and elsewhere: I won't be writing any reviews of books about what it was like to grow-up hemaphroditic on the African veldt. But I just might write about big cool books about history, public policy, philosophy and stuff like that. If you want to know where to send them, you know how to find me.

Posted at 02:21 PM

THE POST ON GONZALES [Jonathan H. Adler]
Alberto Gonzales' nomination to be Attorney General may become a contested affair. Today's Washington Post offered anything but a ringing endorsement. I still expect Gonzales to be confirmed, but he'll be roughed up in the process and I expect many Democrats to vote against him. I would also expect that this will reduce his prospects for a later nomination to the Supreme Court.
Posted at 02:09 PM

ROSEN'S SUPREME PICKS [Jonathan H. Adler]
TNR's Jeffrey Rosen has an interesting essay on potential Supreme Court picks. The bottom line: Liberals should fight the appointment of Janice Rogers Brown, Edith Brown Clement, Samuel Alito or Emilio Garza, but should accept the nomination of Michael Luttig, J. Harvie Wilkinson, Michael McConnell or John Roberts. If a McConnell, Luttig or Roberts nomination could go through without much of a fight, I'd be all for it, but I doubt much of the Left will take Rosen's advice.
Posted at 02:04 PM

BUSH'S COURT PICKS [Ramesh Ponnuru]

Stuart Taylor Jr. recycles the conventional wisdom that overturning Roe v. Wade would be a disaster for Republicans--which doesn't mean he's wrong! He cites polls selectively to show that Roe, and abortion-on-demand, are popular--but those polls reflect real tendencies in American opinion. Here, however, is where Taylor (along with the CW) becomes questionable: "But it seems pretty clear that headlines such as 'Bush Court Overrules Roe v. Wade' would be a disaster for the Republican Party. And its candidates would then have to choose between alienating most voters by mounting a futile push to outlaw abortion (which the Court would not do) and alienating the most loyal Republican voting bloc by not doing so" (emphasis added).

A lot would depend on how President Bush (or the leading Republican of the day) reacted. (An object lesson in what not to do can be had by reviewing the reaction of Bush's father to the Court's Webster decision in 1989.) Anyway, the assumption seems to be that the idealism of the pro-life movement will overwhelm their pragmatism. What if the first move of pro-lifers after Roe were to try to ban third-trimester abortions? The courts would no longer be in the business of rescuing pro-choice Democrats' most extreme positions. Wouldn't the shoe be on the other foot then? The Democrats would then have to choose between satisfying hard-core pro-aborts and appealing to the center.

I can't say what the political circumstances would be in a post-Roe world (though I'd be delighted to find out). Maybe pro-lifers would go too far too fast; maybe pro-choicers would quickly abandon weak positions. I can think of two reasons for thinking pro-lifers would come out ahead here. The first is that, while pro-lifers have often been depicted as absolutists and fools, they have played the hands they have been dealt pretty well (and increasingly well). The second is that I assume pro-choicers have a reason for fighting so hard to protect Roe.

Posted at 01:49 PM

RE: SPEAKING OF THE PJ BRIGADE [Jonah Goldberg]
Well, since I have a contract with CNN, I hope he doesn't hold a grudge.
Posted at 01:27 PM

YES, BUT IS HE MAD AS HELL? [Jonah Goldberg]

From a reader:

In honor of Dan Rather’s new job, perhaps we all should watch “Network” again to remind ourselves what happens when a news anchor gets fired.

Dan Rather as the “mad prophet of the airwaves?” That remains to be seen.

Posted at 01:24 PM

SPEAKING OF THE PJ BRIGADE [Tim Graham]
Don't forget that the former CBS man that first disparaged the bloggers in PJs is the new head man at CNN. I wonder if he'd like to take that crack back now.
Posted at 01:18 PM

BYE, BYE DAN [Tim Graham]
The major network news operations have been sweating that the passing of the Dan-Peter-Tom Era would mean curtains for the network news, as if only these men could carry the weight of the TV news world on their shoulders. I've long felt that was propaganda being put out by Dan, Peter, and Tom minions. People will move on, as they already have to cable. Two words to CBS: Lester Holt.
Posted at 01:15 PM

ALL CLASS (THE C & L ARE SILENT) [Jonah Goldberg ]

I find this particularly interesting because just today I bought some care packages and phone cards at the USO site. From a post on Craig's list:

I am sick and tired of the "we support our troops" mantra. Ever since Vietnam, it has been heresy to say anything other than "we stand behind the troops 100%."

It's now time for that mindless, absurd bromide to end. You want to participate in the invasion of a foreign nation on false pretenses then, after the entire planet has realized you're there on a resource grab, you are still killing unarmed civilians in mosques? You want to murder entire families at checkpoints because they don't slow down enough for you? You want to shut down religious newspapers and imprison clerics? You want to torture, murder, and sexually abuse prisoners in direct contravention of the Geneva Convention, destroying centuries of moral high ground our ancestors spent their lives building?

You're on your own, soldier. We do NOT sanction that, you don't represent us, and we do NOT support you in any way.

Are the soldiers "just doing their job"? Are they "just following orders"? Yes, they ARE following orders--just as German soldiers did at the concentration camps in World War II. When you willingly obey the immoral, illegal orders of others, you become inextricably linked to their immorality and their evil. Following orders is a rationalization; it is NEVER an excuse. You are no different than those issuing the orders simply because you're just being a "good German" and doing your job.

Update: The post has been removed.

Posted at 01:09 PM

RE: NON-VICTORY [KJL]
Pajamabeenbloggin is bummed.
Posted at 01:01 PM

TARGET [KJL]
I'm not entirely on the boycott Target bandwagon. I'm kinda thinking aloud, but am interested to see Target is a big giver. I'm a Salvation Army fan, but there certainly is legitimate defense for not having kettles outside their stores--i.e. not wanting to have to say yes to one, and no to others, etc.

Here's one interesting e-mail:

I've been wondering who to write to about this ever since the story "broke" and you guys are the lucky winners. I just don't understand what all the hoopla is about surrounding this bell-ringer ordeal.

It was only within the last two Christmas seasons that local Wal-Mart -- yes, Wal-Mart -- stores here in Wyoming, conservative capital USA, banned Salvation Army bell-ringers from its store property. The reason? The same reason they banned Girl Scouts and church groups as well... they banned every group that was soliciting something. No more bake sales, bell ringing, cookie selling, etc. Why? Because legally, if they allowed one group on the premises, they had to allow any other group the same amount of allotted space. So, to curb the problem before it got out of hand, they just banned all soliciting....And now that Target has done the same thing, there are thousands of people up in arms about it....The real story here shouldn't be that Target made the same decision that dozens of other retailers, including Wal-Mart, have already made. The real story ought to be invasive laws passed by our government that force stores to make those decisions or have their customers bombarded with solicitors when trying to enter the building. Let's not demonize Target without understanding the whole situation.

I don't see the Wyoming story, but see this about Wal-Mart's limits on the Sal Army.
Posted at 12:56 PM

"WAR ON REPRODUCTIVE CHOICE" [KJL]
That cry generally means human life is being protected somewhere in the world. Today, for the NYTimes, is also means the Gray Lady is waging, interestingly it's own war against choice--the choice of religious hospitals not to perform abortions.
Posted at 12:55 PM

IT'S NOT A VICTORY [Jonah Goldberg]

My original post was before I learned that they're keeping him on at CBS. Still the media thumbsuckers will treat this as sad news, I still predict. Nevertheless, this emailers expresses a reasonable and common response:

You're wrong - it won't be reported as a "tragedy". It'll be reported as non-news, because it doesn't really have anything to do with the Bush Guard memos. It's just a normal "evolution of his career". And they'll use the fact that he's still staying on 60 minutes, where he launched the damnable memos in the first place, as evidence of it. Until he's fired from CBS altogether, with Memogate as the directly attributed reason, this is a non-victory.

Posted at 12:48 PM

WHAT CBS SAYS [KJL]
Here
Posted at 12:32 PM

GAMBLOR [Jonah Goldberg]

Re today's G-File:

Dude.

Fine, mock Brown all you like (class of '93), but GAMBLOR is my personal ridiculously obscure Simpsons reference, so back off.

BTW: Big fan.

Ron

Posted at 12:29 PM

SORRY FOR THE WEIRD DOUBLE POSTS [Jonah Goldberg]
Am trying to fix now...
Posted at 12:29 PM

ANCHOR AWAY [Jonah Goldberg]

Let me be perfectly clear: it is wonderful, wonderful news that Dan Rather is stepping down. The media will report on this -- I predict -- as if it is some kind of tragedy. Too many big league journalists are too invested in the notion that news anchors are American heros for them to read this event any other way. Expect downplaying and derision aimed at the bloggers, conservaatives etc. Dan Rather has plenty to be proud of to look back on -- particularly given his biases -- and he's got piles and piles of cash to boot. Shed no tears, make no apologies. He deserved to lose his job for Memogate -- and no matter what they say, he did. This is just wonderful, wonderful news.

Posted at 12:21 PM

DAN DAN DAN [KJL]
Ok, we're a little too excited.... Imagine the Pajamahadeen will hold a gala.
Posted at 12:21 PM

DUDES! [KJL]
Maybe Cindy Adams had some information afterall... "ABC NEWS HAS LEARNED DAN RATHER WILL STEP DOWN FROM CBS EVENING NEWS -- STAY WITH ABCNEWS.COM FOR MORE"
Posted at 12:18 PM

BAM! [Jonah Goldberg]
Dan Rather is leaving CBS Evening News. ABC News reporting. Will have link soon.
Posted at 12:15 PM

WANT FRIES WITH THAT? [John Derbyshire]
This Protestant is not going to comment on the cheese sandwich.
Posted at 12:13 PM

ECONOMY SLOWED, IMMIGRATION DIDN'T [Mark Krikorian ]
Though today's WaPo story doesn't highlight it, the main finding of the report CIS released today is that fluctuations in the economy no longer have much effect on the level of immigration, which pretty much continues chugging along regardless. There are a variety of reasons for this, but it underlines the central flaw in the position of the immigration expansionists -- it's not 1910 any more, and our immigration policy needs to reflect changed circumstances.
Posted at 12:06 PM

OH! THAT'S WHERE THE LATE FEES GO! [KJL]

ASA SPONSORS CAPITOL TOUR FOR LOCAL STUDENTS

Sousa Middle School Students Tour Capitol

(Washington, DC) Thanks to American Student Assistance (ASA) and Senator Ted Kennedy’s office, nearly 50 eighth graders were given a special tour of the Capitol yesterday.

“It is important for these kids, who live in the shadow of the Capitol Dome, to have the opportunity to see the inner workings of their Capital,” said Shelley Saunders, Executive Vice President for ASA. “Maybe it will ignite a spark of enthusiasm for public service or government work.”

American Student Assistance provided the bus and lunch for the students. Liz Maher of Senator Kennedy’s office arranged the tour....

Posted at 11:59 AM

JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE... [Jonah Goldberg ]

to go home early: a rambling G-file on conservatism, Safire and some other stuff is now up.

Posted at 11:59 AM

MALPRACTICE [KJL]
A "Catholic" hospital does abortion referrels--inasmuch as it is directing people to abortion-advocacy groups from its website, including, for example, to: "The National Abortion Federation," which "offers a toll-free hot line that provides referrals for abortion services in the United States and Canada".
Posted at 11:56 AM

THE FRENCH AND THE PALESTINIANS [Jonah Goldberg ]

Together forever.

Posted at 11:45 AM

HILLARY ON THE HORIZON [Mark Krikorian ]
In the current NRODT, Rob Long has Hillary hilariously affecting religiousity in an effort to overcome the Values Gap. The reality is more disturbing. Hillary is born-again alright -- a born-again immigration controller! And while Kerry unconvincingly pretended to be concerned about immigration for about two minutes during the last debate, Hillary's political acumen is significantly greater; her adoption of this issue represents an extreme danger to the Republican establishment.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal fiddles while Rome burns, shooting spitballs at NR, Fox, me, and even at the incomparable Heather Mac Donald ("At least one Manhattan Institute scholar is convinced that Latino men are congenital gangbangers."). I hope we're ready for another Clinton administration, because the Journal and President Bush are even now laying the groundwork for it.
Posted at 11:41 AM

LOVE -- CORNER STYLE [Jonah Goldberg]

I like this email:

I met my future wife after I broke a guy’s nose that had dumped a cup of beer on her. Chivalry is not dead!

Posted at 11:41 AM

$28,000 FOR GRILLED CHEESE [KJL]
Surely someone can fork up $28,000 for Corner cheese if someone can afford that much for a "Virgin Mary sandwich"!
Posted at 11:18 AM

RE: SLOW DAY [KJL]
You don't want me to go there.
Posted at 11:15 AM

AND THE CIRCLE IS SQUARED [Jonah Goldberg]

From a reader:

Jonah, Your linked article is quite relevant to this discussion and should be read by those wishing to participate. There is a distinction between private and public actions. Although bad behavior does warrant a good ass kicking, Public bad behavior is best handled by "the Authorities". i.e. police, courts, the NBA, the house ethics committee- whoever. A private a**-kicking...encourages corrective behavior. A public one (the basketbrawl) can start a riot. An a**-kicking society may be a polite one, but a lawful society is an orderly one.

And, from another reader:

I'm so tired of reading and hearing comments like those expressed in the Artest email that you recently posted. The night of the brawl John Saunders said on ESPN that if you're walking in Times Square and someone throws a beer at you, you'd do the same thing. Both the email writer and Saunders improperly compare two disparate events.

Society expects and demands extraordinary behavior from certain individuals or certain classes of individuals. Jackie Robinson took a lot more abuse than Ron Artest, but he never retaliated. He knew that to do so would damage his career and the potential careers of black athletes that would follow him. Restraint was demanded and he accepted that responsibility.

Similarly, we demand restraint from law enforcement officials, your "hidden law" column notwithstanding. And it has been a not-unspoken rule that we insist that professional athletes not go into the stands after idiotic fans. A professional athlete is required to consider these situations ahead of time. He knows that he will be performing in hostile arenas half the time. He has to be aware that idiots and alcohol might combine to create situations such as the one that occurred the other night -- athletes get stuff thrown at them all the time. He has to understand that no matter what happens, he must rely on security to handle such situations.

The entire event would have been over with no fan involvement if Artest had not climbed into the stands. "Hidden laws" are supposed to make things run BETTER. Artest's actions made everything much, much worse. There's NO justification for what he did, none. I'm sure this is a girl thing (never have I been more convinced of the superiority of females than I have during the past few days), but it never would have occurred to me to do what Artest did. I can't say -- as so many sportswriters have -- that "I understand why he did it, but..."

I know you said you didn't "entirely" agree with the email that you posted -- but you posted it just the same. I want to be on the record saying that I entirely disagree with the email because the premise that what Ron Artest experienced was the same as what anyone experiences when a cup of beer is thrown in one's face is faulty. The email may have been clever and witty but it's still basically stupid.

And now I'm going to get in sooooo much trouble from Kathryn for the public bawdy language this (now hopefully concluded) series of posts has generated.

Posted at 11:10 AM

I MADE THE BLEAT [Jonah Goldberg]

And we are happy for it.

Posted at 11:03 AM

SLOW DAY [John Derbyshire]
Since arriving home from the NR cruise around 6 pm Saturday, I have written a 2,000-word article, a 2,000-word book review, 1,200 words of unsigned editorial matter, and my Christmas -- oops! that's Holiday -- book recommendations for NRO. I have updated my website, taken my kids to the movies, unpacked my bags, read my mail (20 or so items) and e-mail (200 or so), paid some bills, walked my dog, read 2 chapters of a book about finite-dimensional vector spaces, and caught up on newspaper/magazine reading. All this while struggling with PCD (that is, post-cruise depression). Slow day? What's that?
Posted at 10:59 AM

ARTEST [Jonah Goldberg]

Folks, just to be clear, I am all in favor of Artest's punishment. I don't follow the NBA really at all. But it seems to me very close to a prison league with better salaries in terms of the role models and style of play it promotes. Besides, the NBA is a private league and I am all in favor of private institutions putting the interests of the institution (and, in this case, the country) above the interests of its individual members. But I do stand by the general principle that if you throw a beer in a dude's face you shouldn't cry like a little girl if you get decked for it (that was the point I liked about the initial email). In this actual instance the extenuating circumstances don't back Artest up. Again, I don't follow this stuff closely, but these two emails are fairly representative and persuasive in my book:

maybe what Ron Artest did should constitute a hate crime? When Ben Wallace shoved Artest, his reaction was of complete calm. Artest knew that Wallace was going to be suspended and since Indiana and Detroit are two top teams, Ron made a conscious decision to NOT fight back. He knew he'd be suspended if he fought back against Wallace. So, in the heat of the moment, we know that Artest can think things through...

But when a white fan throws a plastic cup of beer on him, all hell breaks loose. Surely the Wallace shove was more physical and potentially damaging than a plastic cup of beer.

Plus, we don't live in a self regulating society...if we did, the fans who saw Ron Artest attack the wrong guy would, in your poster's world, have the right to knock the snot out of Artest for his misdeed.

And...

Throw a cup of beer in someone's face and get beat up, sure. But isn't there an also an unwritten rule that when you get jacked up, chased down the court, and have a towel thrown on you, you stand your ground and fight? Because that's what Ben Wallace did to Artest. And in response, Artest, tough guy that he is, laid down on the scorer's table. But when some scrawny little guy in the stands chucks a soda on him, all of a sudden he's gotta defend his manhood?

I agree with the taking a beating point. But the person who should have taken his beating like a man, or as a standup guy or whatever, was Artest. If it's a long standing social tradition to get beat up for beer throwing, then it's also a long standing tradition to heap opprobrium on the guy who runs away from the big guy to beat up the little guy.

Posted at 10:53 AM

RE ARTEST AND THE HIDDEN LAW [Jonah Goldberg]

From another reader:

While I enjoy the Heinleinesque attitude Artest attacked the wrong guy! He jumped the guy next to the thrower. I think he should be banned for life.

Posted at 10:39 AM

ARTEST AND THE HIDDEN LAW [Jonah Goldberg ]

One of the oldest themes in my columns is the concept of the "hidden law." Maybe that's why I liked this email (sent to me and Geraghty) even if I don't completely agree with it:

I think it a simple rule of life: Throw a cup of beer in someone’s face you get your a** kicked. I think this a conservative position; it has been a rule for thousands of years. This rule has been passed down from our Mongol, Viking, even the French forefathers. I have personally observed this rule in effect in the civilized and conservative communities of South Philadelphia and the Harvard campus. Why should we expect 20 year olds to ignore thousands of years of social conditioning simply because they make $6 million a year?

Artest showed great initiative and perseverance in kicking that guy’s ass, a model of individual responsibility in a self regulating society. In fact, absent the subsequent activities of lawyers, I am certain that the a**-kickee will think twice about throwing further cups of beer. To paraphrase Robert A. Heinlein ‘an a** kicking society is a polite society’.

I grew up in South Philly (yo) and strongly believe that ‘taking a beating’ for improper conduct is a social good. During the 1980’s, and I assume to this day, the honorable Philadelphia police would offer a beating as an alternative to arrest for minor offenses. If you took the beating the cops then thought of you as a stand-up kid.

Posted at 10:20 AM

A FALLUJAH TIDBIT [Rich Lowry]
From the New York Times: "Insurgent attacks around the country have fallen sharply - to about 90 a day from a high of around 150 a day as the battle in Falluja began, according to data compiled by a private security company."
Posted at 09:57 AM

SLOW DAY? [KJL]
In, like, what part of the world. Can I go there? Like 6 hours ago?
Posted at 09:49 AM

SLOW DAY BLEG... [Jonah Goldberg]

This fall I'm planning on finally dumping AOL and updating my entire web/email world. I'm going to buy a new blackberry doohickey (my old one was the lame AOL Mobile Communicator, long defunct), change my email system etc. etc. Here's the problem, I used to be fairly techno savvy, but years of Mac and AOL use has caused my muscles to atrophy -- both literally and in the sense that I no longer have a firm grip on what PPOEs and DNS watchyamafradgets are. So here's what I'm looking for and I would appreciate any guidance.

1. First, No web-based email. I simply don't like the feel of 'em.
2. I want to be able to synch everything: laptop, blackberry, desktop etc.
3. I want everything to be easy. I know that PC people think that it's not "serious" unless it's difficult and involves a whole bunch of dot-sys-batch files and C-prompts. But I want to make this one upgrade and then continue on my blissful slide into ignorance about how it all works.

My systems: I'm a Mac Guy -- and that will not change. I have a G-4 laptop (on its last legs) and a G-5 desktop. I haven't bought the PDA doohickey yet. My ISP is a local cable company. I do most everything on WiFi.

So what I'm looking for is the best email software, the best blackberry (probably PDA-phone combo) and the best way to hook 'em all together (blue tooth etc). Another thing: I would like to have, if possible, multiple email addresses that can all be checked easily and interchangeably by my various devices without mucking up the synching and the rest. Guidance would be very much appreciated.

But one more favor: please please send all suggestions, advice and criticisms on this issue to JonahResearch@aol.com. My JonahNRO email can't withstand the onslaught of a tech bleg, and keeping it all there helps me refer back to it. I don't mean to sound cranky, but for reasons that should be pretty obvious, techblegs for a readership which is by definition fairly computer savvy always result in lots and lots of email.

Thanks again and any help really is very much appreciated.

Posted at 09:36 AM

CAL-LELUIAH FOR NR’S CHILDREN TREASURIES [Jack Fowler]
Joining the chorus singing the praises of The National Review Treasury of Classic Children’s Literature and The National Review Treasury of Classic Bedtime Stories is our good friend, mega-syndicated columnist Cal Thomas, who says:

“These are great. If children can be taught to read and appreciate good literature at an early age, it helps serve as a moral, intellectual and cultural deterrent to the stuff they are being forced-fed by the pagan and dishonest media.”

Cal’s dead-on, and no word-mincer. Of course, the most important two words of his are “good literature.” That’s precisely what these books consist of: there’s no heavy-handed sermonizing in these pages; just good, wholesome, beautifully written and illustrated stories! With Christmas looming these books make a terrific present for a child or a family: they have real worth and lasting value, and will help shape children into being good, decent, moral folk. Order any or all of our great titles: the original edition or “Volume Two” of The National Review Treasury of Classic Children’s Literature, and our delightful book designed especially for new and beginning readers, The National Review Treasury of Classic Bedtime Stories (a lavishly illustrated collection of enchanting stories by the great Thornton Burgess). Order these perfect Christmas gifts here.

By the way, don’t forget to watch After Hours with Cal Thomas on Fox News Channel, Saturdays at 11 p.m. Eastern Time!
Posted at 08:42 AM

JUST GO ALREADY [KJL]
More talkthat whining liberals will leave the country....

Update: Yipes...this is an old story...anyone know if these folks left?
Posted at 08:32 AM

MORE RE SOVIET MUSIC [Cliff May]
Jonah’s post reminds me of when I was an exchange student in the Soviet Union. I particularly recall playing for my Russian room-mates the Beatles’ “Back in the USSR.”

The song puzzled them. “You mean he’s saying he’s glad he’s not back in the U.S.S.R.?” they asked me.

“No, on the contrary,” I replied. “He’s happy to be back in the U.S.S.R.”

“Oh, I see. Very good. And uh … why he is so happy to be back in the U.S.S.R.?”

“Well, you know, as he says: ‘Russian girls really knock me out. They leave the West behind. And Ukraine girls make me sing and shout. And Georgia’s always on my mind.’ ”

”Oh. This song makes fun of Soviet Union, yes?”

“No, not really. It makes fun of Americans, of the Beach Boys, of California culture, of …”

At this point it was really time to have another tumbler of warm vodka (the dorm didn’t have ice) and sour pickles and change the subject.

And change the record too – to something like, “Hello Children! New People of the Fatherland!”

That was one of my favorites.
Posted at 07:35 AM

AND, NO GOD IN CHRISTMAS, OF COURSE [KJL ]
Dawn Eden on a Messiah-free Garden State.
Posted at 06:57 AM

NO GOD, PLEASE, THIS IS MARYLAND. [KJL ]
Banning God from Thanksgiving.
Posted at 06:55 AM

HELPING TROOPS [KJL]

The DoD just launched www.AmericaSupportsYou.mil so that servicemen and servicewomen and all Americans can log on and see how communities are displaying support for America’s armed forces. Those who log on are also encouraged to share stories of their own support.

Posted at 06:41 AM

TARGETTING TARGET [KJL]
www.dontshoptarget.com
Posted at 06:37 AM

SEX, LIES & VIDEOTAPE [KJL]
Congo U.N. abuse on video?

Of course, this is all--however ugly--just icing on Annan's resignation cake after Oil-for-Food.
Posted at 06:24 AM

REAL INTEL [KJL]
An NRO friend e-mails:

I came across a mention of National Review...in the book The Interrogators. The was highlighting how many of the Intel guys were leftists. However, there was one young man who in his spare time in Afghanistan read the National Review.

Posted at 06:16 AM

INCUBATING CONSERVATIVES ON CAMPUS [KJL]
Bernadette Malone on the Intercollegiate Studies Institute.

Evil thought: MoDo should be assigned covering ISI's anniversary dinner.
Posted at 06:13 AM

GOOD SIGNS [KJL]
You Catholic and worried? Tim Drake has some encouragement. His new book Young and Catholic (Amazon link here, website here) profiles, well, young Catholics. There’s enthusiasm, scholarship, service. The book leaves you quite optimistic—I read it in galleys a few months back. The more ecumenical counterpart to Drake’s Young and Catholic is Colleen Carroll’s (now Campbell) 2002 The New Faithful (review here, Amazon link here)--both encouraging reports about the future of the faithful.
Posted at 06:08 AM

MY HEAVY BURDEN [John J. Miller]
A French emailer blames my book for destroying "the union of the western civilisation and eventually of democracy." But the first sentence is the best one. Maybe it should go on the paperback edition.

Dear Sir,

I am french and I am outraged by this book you just wrote. I don't know what your intentions are, but I can see nothing good in calling another country "the oldest ennemy".

This very title is proven wrong right away by the small excerpt presented online. You rightly remind that Chirac was the first foreign leader on ground zero. You could have call it "the new enemy". I still would have hated the intention, but at least it wouldn't be misleading for the many who will not read the book and don't know anything about history. It sounds like you made an historical research and found out that France really has been an ennemy over time, which is false: you are only studying the last 4 years!!

We are thankful for what the US did in WWII, but we gave our lives for your freedom long before you did for us. Do I have to remind you that France helped liberating the US in the first place? So no doubts we don't owe you anything but friendship.

I won't bother you much more with my views, which you probably don't care about anyway since I'm one of those "enemy", but I just want you to know that France will always be on the side of Liberty and Human Rights, and that we are actually proud to be considered like an enemy by people like you. The parallel you're making with Ivory Coast only proves your total ignorance of History and Africa. Today, the UN security council gave an UNANIMOUS (US included) clearance of french action in this country. The same cannot be said over Irak!

The US are falling in the trap of Ben Laden, and only religious fanatics can buy it so easily and forget about international law for example! Your work will contribute to the end of the union of the western civilisation and eventually of democracy. You can be proud!

No salutation.

[name withheld]

Posted at 05:57 AM

SORRY! [KJL]
A reader: "What's your fixation with booze?! The stuff is poison!"

Back to cranberry sauce? Thanksgiving pies?
Posted at 05:41 AM

VOTE STEALING [KJL]
in Washington?
Posted at 05:39 AM

MANY HAPPY RETURNS [John J. Miller]
More evidence that Congress doesn't even bother to read the legislation it votes on.
Posted at 05:12 AM

Monday, November 22, 2004

YOU'D THINK [KJL]
Tony Blair would be newly appreciated with this kind of news...
Posted at 09:51 PM

HOW TO HELP [KJL]
I asked someone who would know earlier today how to send stuff to troops. This is what was recommended--a few options:

1. http://www.uso.org/pubs/93_325_1391.cfm

2. Just looking around on the USO site see that they need $$ for phone cards. In most forward areas there are phone centers for the soldiers and Marines to call back to the US but they need phone cards (which they typically pay for at the PX). The PX is always out of phone cards though for some reason. Anyway the USO has come up with 'Operation Phone Home' to get phone cards to these guys so they can...phone home.

3< a href="http://www.soldiersangels.com/">www.soldiersangels.com is a good one if people want to 'adopt' an individual soldier/Marine/sailor. The only thing is, packages need to be sent by this Saturday to make it to either Iraq or Afghanistan by Christmas.

4. www.operationgratitude.com is another good one- just send $$, they send packages. Their holiday drive is already completed but it doesn't mean the guys in the field don't still need stuff.

5. www.ustroopcarepackage.com also sends packages to the wounded soldiers at Walter Reed, and in Germany and Kuwait. The guys especially need underwear, socks and sweats.

Posted at 06:15 PM

MORE ON FALLUJAH [Rich Lowry]
E-mail:

"Rich,

I am also a professor at a military-related institution, and my little brother is an enlisted Marine (a sniper with 1-3) in Fallujah. This weekend he called for the first time since the battle began. He informed us that a large number of the residents of Fallujah, before fleeing the battle, left blankets and bedding for the Marines and Soldiers along with notes thanking the Americans for liberating their city from the terrorists, as well as invitations to the Marines and Soldiers to sleep in their houses. I've yet to see a report in the media of this. Imagine that.

Additionally, he said their spirits are high, but they would certainly appreciate any "care packages" that folks in the States would care to send their way (preferably consisting of non-perishable food items, candy, deodorant, eye-drops, q-tips, toothpaste, toothbrushes, lip balm, hand/feet warmers, black/dark undershirts, underwear & socks, and non-aerosol bug spray)

It would be great if you could pass this message along to anyone interested in helping out."
Posted at 06:12 PM

KYL [KJL]
criticizes the Ukraine election
Posted at 06:04 PM

MAN, DO I HAVE WORK YET TO DO [KJL]
An e-mail, giving me something to aspire to in life:

I'm looking at the Catholic University of America's website and for prominent alumns it lists Maureen Dowd and Susan Sarandon but no K-Lo!! This is an outrage! To whom must I speak to rectify this.

Posted at 05:56 PM

THE ACADEMY [Stanley Kurtz]
John Fund has a great article out today on bias in the academy, with some important ideas on possible solutions. These new empirical studies seem to be setting of a chain reaction of publicity. It looks like the public and legislators are paying attention. Let’s keep this train rolling.
Posted at 05:20 PM

TYROPHILE [John Derbyshire]
Doesn't anyone use dictionaries any more?

Merriam-Webster's Third:

Main Entry: tyr-
Variant: or tyro-
Function: combining form
Etymology: Greek, from tyros cheese -- more at BUTTER

: cheese
Posted at 04:30 PM

WELL, OF COURSE [KJL]
An e-mail:

I've been reading K-Lo's discussion over what wine to have with Thanksgiving dinner.

I would suggest instead of wine, have a good Apple Cider (alcoholic or non). It fits the season perfectly, and usually compliments all the different flavors found at the table.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted at 04:22 PM

"THIS IS OUR COUNTRY; IT IS NOT A REVIVAL TENT. WE MUST CONTINUE TO FIGHT TO SAVE IT." [KJL]
"Stages of Grief," In These Times.
Posted at 04:20 PM

PERFECT TIMING [Jonah Goldberg ]

This weekend Charles Murray questioned whether Universities are really as leftwing crazy as rumors suggest. And today we learn that a department chair at Columbia doubts Osama was really in on the 9/11 attacks (and that CNN should be tried for war crimes for its coverage. Makes you wonder what he thinks of Fox!).

What I particularly like about this story is that Osama Bin Laden recently confessed to the 9/11 murders in a video tape released in the waning days of the presidential election. Who are you going to believe? Prof. Hamid Dabashi or your own lying eyes?

Posted at 04:05 PM

ABSORBENT & YELLOW [John Derbyshire]
Saw the Sponge Bob Squarepants movie Saturday evening. What a let-down! Total floperoo. Danny giggled most of the way through, but without real conviction I thought -- and this is the East Coast's most dedicated SBS fan. Nellie: "Lame!" The movie-makers' worst mistake was leaving Squidward out almost completely. Squidward, as all SBS fans know, is the true hero of the TV show. Talk about Hamlet without the prince!
Posted at 04:05 PM

PHILLY [KJL]
gets a conservative paper?
Posted at 04:03 PM

UPROAR IN UKRAINE [KJL]
More coming on this amazing scene in Ukraine--where voters will not accept what many observers saw as a corrupt election.
Posted at 03:58 PM

BEER & WINE [John Derbyshire]
Who's got the book? "Derb---With this question currently raging on (in?) the Corner, you might wish to point out Belloc's reasons for asserting (in The Four Men) that 'beer is king.' This, from a man considered a great vinophile."

Also a great tyrophile, IMS.
Posted at 03:51 PM

THE BRAWL ON RADIO [Rich Lowry]
E-mail:

"Re the radio call: the feed went off the air almost immediately as Artest leaped over Pacer radio announcer Mark Boyle to get at the beer hurler. When they were able to reconnect after it was all over, Boyle said he had tried to grab Artest to stop him with little effect. He said he now knows what it feels like to take a charge from him."
Posted at 03:38 PM

"FRIST IS GETTING THE HANG OF BEING LEADER" [KJL]
Bob Novak on the Specter efforts.
Posted at 03:08 PM

THIS E-MAIL IS MOST DEFINITELY FOR JONAH [KJL]
"My wife is leaving me Thanksgiving morning. She's flying to Green Bay for the Monday night Packer game. I have to work friday, will be home alone Thanksgiving and will be expecting active bloggertations from you. "
Posted at 02:51 PM

I REST MY CASE [Jonah Goldberg]

First email. Received about 2 minutes after post:

Dear Jonah: A beer and Bar B Q tour WITHOUT TEXAS!!!! GET A ROPE!!!

Posted at 02:48 PM

MORE FALLUJAH [Rich Lowry]
E-mail, from a professor at military-related institution:

“Rich,

Re. your NRO post on Fallujah. I just received an astounding PowerPoint (what else) presentation from one of my former students who currently commands a brigade in Iraq. The insurgents used 60 of the Mosques as fighting positions and weapons caches during the battle - that's 3 of every 5 Mosques in the city. 653 IEDs were found and detonated by coalition forces - 11 IED "factories" were also found, not to mention the slaughter houses and just run-of-the-mill weapons stockpiles.

Where's the media in all this? Or, how about a better question: Where is our information offensive?”
Posted at 02:43 PM

WHERE IS EVERYONE? [KJL]
Is it Thanksgiving already? I feel like readership is getting lighter by the minute today (based only on e-mail traffic). Was it the Ohio beer? Last time I pander to swing staters.
Posted at 02:43 PM

WANNA SEE A BRAWL? [Jonah Goldberg]
Kathryn -- First, announce that the Great NRO Bus Tour will visit only the greatest BBQ spots in the country. Second, announce that we won't be visiting Texas or North Carolina or other similar states. Third: stand back.
Posted at 02:39 PM

ESPN [Rich Lowry]
Because I have been slow catching up from the cruise, I still hadn't seen the basketbrawl footage as of last night. So I half-watched the Packers-Texans game waiting for SportsCenter. This isn't news to anyone--but Brett Favre is such a pleasure to watch. Anyway, that fight footage has to make for the most compelling/disgusting/astonishing/compulsively watchable highlight reel ever. I wonder what the radio call sounded like by the announcer who got knocked over by Artest as he started his rampage. Needless to say he and the others are a disgrace, and it's going to be nauseating listening to them plead for reductions in their suspensions in coming days and weeks.
Posted at 02:35 PM

BEYOND THE NORTHEAST [KJL]
I totally forgot that we have been requested at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.
Posted at 02:28 PM

BUSH 41 HAS A CLOSE CALL [KJL]

Posted at 02:28 PM

RE: DAN RATHER [KJL]
Maybe not.
Posted at 02:22 PM

FALLUJAH [Rich Lowry]
I'm just re-entering the real world after the cruise. This is what I'm hearing, checking in with people on Fallujah. We have found some 600 ready-to-go IED's there so far, compared to roughly 225 around the rest of the country the previous month. We've found 91 major weapons caches in Fallujah--basically every mosque has one--compared to 130 throughout the rest of the country the prior month. The terrorists and insurgents seemed to expect us to come in from the south, but instead we poured in from the north. We probably killed up to 2,000 insurgents and captured another 1,000. So in operational military terms, it seems to have been a big success and to have denied the insurgents an important sanctuary.

Politically, things are hanging together reasonably well. The Iraqi Islamic Party has made sounds about quitting the government, but its officials are still there. Sheik Ghazi Yawar, the president of Iraq, from the largest Sunni tribe, has stayed in the government. The Sunni Ulema Council has announced it will boycott the elections, but so be it--it represents Sunni radicalism.

Mosul has been a problem, one the administration probably should have better anticipated, although the city seems to be coming under control again. The police chief there, now fired and under arrest, was considered a model official not too long ago. His turning is probably a sign that the insurgent's intimidation efforts are still much too effective. The performance of the police overall--they are the linchpin of security--continues to be a problem, as we are about a year behind where we should be with their training. Not enough effort and resources were poured into the training initially. We'll be turning out more police soon, but the key ingredient is leadership, which is much harder to create. On the bright side, units of the Iraqi National Guard and the Iraqi Intervention Force seem to be performing well.

And so it goes...
Posted at 02:16 PM

THE HONORABLE TERRY TEACHOUT [KJL]
Our friend has been confirmed by the Senate to sit on the National Council on the Arts.
Posted at 02:16 PM

EU SCANDALS [Andrew Stuttaford]
The scandal over French EU Commissioner Jacques Barrot (you know, the ex-conviction that he failed to mention) rumbles along, and the EU's new president, Jose Barroso is doing his best to get everyone to, please, please, just move on. A Barroso spokeswoman is now saying that the offenses were 'minor' and 'amnestied'. The latter is certainly true, and, as a former Maoist, the now right-of-center Barroso is always likely to be inclined to be forgiving of past errors, but to downplay Barrot's old offense as "minor" may be a little too kind.

Over at the EU Referendum Blog, Richard North is less charitable: "if the commission decribes presiding over a £2.5 million illegal party funding scam [as] a "minor" offense, one really does have to wonder what you would have to do for it to be considered "major".

But then he adds this: " But there again, [by] commission standards, this probably is a minor offense."

Indeed.

Posted at 02:02 PM

DAN RATHER [KJL]
to CNN?
Posted at 01:59 PM

I'M STARTING TO GET A LITTLE SCARED [KJL]
An e-mail:

Yeehaa!!!
All aboard. I'm a homebrewer in Ohio.
You guys go ahead and charter a bus. Set up several stops nationwide.
Have an NROnics brewing and wine making festival.
We will allow you all to judge our creations.
I defy Jonah to operate heavy equipment after a couple of glasses of my 'Demotivator Stout'.
We'll have a bonfire and consume all the evidence.
Derb can regale us with sea chanties.
Local hospitality will be offered.
The regional winners are invited to the NRO National Consumables Championship.
Winner gets Buckley's book.
Bring it.

Posted at 01:57 PM

"EBULLIENT AND SOBERING" [KJL]
Michelle Malkin on the NR Cruise.
Posted at 01:54 PM

ERRATUM [John Derbyshire]
A geneticist: "Derb---GT is an unallowed pairing. Only AT (thymine-adenine) or GC (guanine-cytosine) are normally allowed at the DNA level, though AU pairs are allowed in RNA."

As I said, i am far from fluent. Count this a grammatical error.
Posted at 01:51 PM

THE LAST ELECTION [John Derbyshire]
At one of the panel discussions on the recent (sigh) cruise, we panellists were invited to opine about what GWB did right this election, and what JFK did wrong. I laid out my own contribution in the form of a Letterman-style Top Ten. Several people have asked me to post it. Here is as much as I can glean from my notes.

---What Bush did right

10. Married Laura. She was a great asset to W's campaign, a natural.

9. Showed humor. Steve Sailer argues that W is a teaser on humor -- always seems on the point of making a joke but never quite does so. This is asking too much. W gives the impression of being a *humorous man* -- a man who likes to laugh, and who could probably tell a joke if he felt inclined, but at any rate will laugh heartily at someone else's joke. For campaign purposes, that's quite sufficient to give him a big likeability boost.

8. Went on The O'Reilly Factor. That was W at his best: relaxed, charming, engaging. I have never seen him present himself so well. I don't know if it was something O'Reilly did, or something the producers did, or perhaps we just caught W on a good day. Whatever it was, it must have been worth half a million votes.

7. Kept Cheney on ticket. I doubt there was ever a thought of taking Cheney *off* the ticket, but if there was, it was a thought well discarded.

6. The convention. What a convention! It was my first, and seemed to me really good; but because it was my first I wasn't sure of my impressions, and checked with colleagues. Yes, they all agreed, theis was a *really* good convention. Zell Miller... Arnold... Rudy... Cheney... Oh boy!

5. Stood aloof. From the dirty stuff. The new wild card in this campaign was the 527s. W mildly dissed the Swifties, but otherwise gave the impression of paying no attention to the 527s. Which was the right thing for *him* to do. (But see my point on Kerry below.)

4. Steered straight on Iraq. Unusually for a conservative magazine, NR is right where the broad US public is on Iraq: Willing to be patient & see if the current strategy bears fruit. If it doesn't (in a few months), willing to clamor for a new strategy. So the course through Sept-Oct-Nov was steady as she goes. It was what we wanted; it was what the public wanted; it was exactly right.

3. Cut taxes. What people expect from a GOP administration is tax cuts. Even people who don't vote Republican expect them, and are disturbed if they don't get them. ("Darn it, the GOP got in. Oh, well, at least we'll get a tax cut...") To some degree, a party must live up to expectations, otherwise the electorate gets queasy. Compare Bush 41...

2. Got out the vote. What a great ground game we played! I had a chance to talk to some of the foot soldiers on the cruise. They did a MAGNIFICENT job. God bless you all (especially you, Shawn).

1. Was himself. W is not always an attractive character. He has a mean streak -- remember all those Church Lady faces in debate 1. There is, however, a core of great steadiness and sincerity there, and the campaign brought it out. Say what you like about the "intrusiveness" of modern presidential campaigns, but we really get to know these guys. As we should.

---What Kerry did wrong.

10. Windsurfed. Kerry carries around with him a whiff of the old WASP sportiness (as did Bush 41). It's a net negative, and windsurfing in a $1,000 wet suit really didn't help.

9. Married Teresa. I'm going to be a gentleman and say no more, but you all know where we are here.

8. Goose hunted. In camouflage! Dukakis redux! Don't they ever LEARN? If there's anything worse than a WASP showing off WASP sportiness, it's one faking red-state sportiness.

7. Picked Edwards. America has a complicated psychological relationship with trial lawyers -- all those lawyer jokes, yet still they can pull off the thing about standing up for the little guy against those big, evil corporations. Being a trial lawyer could be made to work in a campaign context, I am sure, but Edwards didn't find the right formula. He came over as phoney, I think. In part this was his boyishness. Guys in their 50s are not SUPPOSED to be boyish. Gravitas deficit without any compensating likeability.

6. Did NOT go on The O'Reilly Factor. I know, you want to argue with me all day about what O'Reilly is and isn't. Fact is, though, that a lot of thoughtful, persuadable people watch his show. W went on there, K should have done so too, else the assumption is: (a) he's chicken, or (b) he disdains the kind of people who watch O'Reilly.

5. Stood aloof. For Kerry, this was the WRONG way to deal with the 527s. He should have held a news conference and laid out his side of the case forcefully, then left it alone.

4. Gravitas overload. He just overdid it, became the visiting judge in Tom Sawyer, too grand to approach. His physical appearance was all against him here -- he couldn't even smile convincingly, and his laugh made me cringe. This is unfair, but hey.

3. Flipped & flopped. In contrast to W's strong clear line. Not a man of firm convictions -- who ever thought so? In times like these, that won't do.

2. He lawyered up. The shadow of 2000 loomed -- fears of a constitutional crisis. That got the GOP lawyers out -- yes! there are lots of them! Whatever we think of lawyers, we are pretty unanimous that we don't want them deciding our elections for us.

1. Was himself. Every time I saw John Kerry's face on TV it brought to mind Dr. Johnson's remark about Mrs. Thrale: "Sir, the insolence of wealth will creep out." Yes, it will. It did.
Posted at 01:45 PM

CRUISEMAS PRESENT [Jack Fowler]
If you’ve ever contemplated going on one of our trips read the blogs and blogs and blogs from happy NR cruisers who were on our post-election shindig. If you’re one of those who believe we run Potemkin cruises, get off the grassy knoll. NR cruises really happen. The speakers really show up. The panel sessions really happen. The discussions are really scintillating. The cocktail parties really happen. As do the smokers. The speakers show up at them – and schmooze and schmoke with our travelers. A fun time is had by all. Really. Is it any wonder that the typical person on an NR cruise has been on 4 or 5 already? We must be doing something right if they keep coming back. Well, all this is a prelude to suggesting that you sign up for our next trip to the British Isles in July, 2005 (along with WFB, Bob Bork, Peggy Noonan, Larry Kudlow, Paul Johnson, Rich Lowry, Kate O’Beirne, David Pryce-Jones, Jay Nordlinger, et al), and that if you need some sort of rationale/excuse/premise for making a reservation, why not do it in the guise of a Christmas present to your spouse, your kid, or yourself? Now go to www.nrcruise.com and book that boniest of voyages!
Posted at 01:41 PM

RE: BACK TO THE BUS TRIP [Jonah Goldberg]

On the cruise -- which had a lot more young people than ever before -- several folks came up to me and begged, pleaded, implored for more NRO meet-ups, get-togethers and modified, limited hang-outs. I have to assume the suits got the same message. I for one think it would be great if we could have more such events.

In the meantime, I think the NRO bus trip is still sheer brilliance.

Posted at 01:31 PM

BAD GUY OPENS FIRE ON MARINES AFTER PLAYING DEAD [KJL]
From Fallujah
Posted at 01:22 PM

REBRANDING'S FINEST HOUR [Andrew Stuttaford]
An Australian is advising his countrymen to think of locusts as 'sky prawns'.
Posted at 01:20 PM

MOVE OVER, PHILLIP-MORRIS [KJL]
Church is hazardous to your health.
Posted at 01:14 PM

I THINK A LARGE PART OF OUR NON-NORTHEAST CORRIDOR TYPE READERS MIGHT TAKE ISSUE WITH THIS SUGGESTION [KJL]
The best possible NRO bus trip would start at the world-famous Brooklyn Brewery, followed by a journey to the traditionally low-priced wine-and-spirit stores of NJ for ports and Zins. Next, a rest stop at Cranbury, NJ to visit the famous turkey farm there, ending with a PA Turnpike trip to Hershey Park to compare and contrast beer-n-chocolate vs. wine-n-chocolate.
Posted at 01:13 PM

BELTWAY BORINGS [Jim Robbins]
So the new DC baseball team is going to be called the Washington Nationals? That is so typical of Washington's lack of style. How about the Washington Insiders? The Washington Fat Cats? The Beltway Bandits? Crimeny, how is anyone supposed to get excited about the Nationals?
Posted at 01:11 PM

EURONEWS [Jane Jolis, NR editorial assistant]
From my father: "I saw yesterday for sale in Paris' Champs Elysées "Drugstore" the Sunday New York Times for 16 Euros, which at today's exchange rate is about $21. I'm pretty sure there's poetic justice in there somewhere, but I can't exactly put my finger on it... (For starters, it's not very much less than a fresh new hardback copy of Our Oldest enemy)".
Posted at 12:48 PM

LIDDY & LINDBERGH [Jonah Goldberg ]

Johann Hari has a very interesting, often disturbing, interview with G Gordon Liddy (Link via Andrew Sullivan). I'm still reading and processing it. But one part interests me in part because I've been researching it for my you-know-what which rhymes with hook. Hari refers to Charles Lindbergh as a "notorious anti-Semite." Now, perhaps Hari is being overly clever in his choice of words with his use of "notorious." Lindbergh may have been notoriously anti-Semitic in the sense that it is and was widely believed he was anti-Semitic. But the facts are more complicated.

In his public speeches and comments during the run up to WWII, Lindbergh mentioned Jews in just three paragraphs in just one speech in Des Moines. In that speech he noted that Jewish and British Americans (and capitalists) were pushing for intervention. Lindbergh treated the Jewish position as entirely rational -- even if it was against what he thought to be American interests. Lindbergh's attitude toward Jews was, again, complex. But the basic point is that he saw them as an unmeltable ethnic group for the American melting pot. I think Lindbergh was wrong on several fronts, of course. And -- as Lindbergh biographer A. Scott Berg has argued -- I think one could call him an anti-Semite but only if you define anti-Semitism not as hatred of Jews but as the belief that Jews are "different" or "the other."

Indeed, the historical evidence that Lindbergh was a typical, virulent, anti-Semite is wanting, to say the least. Lindbergh's own daughter credibly corroborates this. I've only just started Phillip Roth's "The Plot Against America," but on this score I think Roth starts from an unfair, flimsy and even childish premise given the dangers of real anti-Semitism out there (as opposed to a half century ago in an alternate universe). But as I am very interested in getting to the bottom of this point for the book, if anyone cares to correct me (preferably with facts and evidence), I'd love to hear from you.

Posted at 12:45 PM

BACK TO THE BUS TRIP [KJL]
Another reader:

Some of us NRO/Corner fans can even multitask. I for one, am a Home Brewer, and a Hardware store owner. So I could not only get you drunk (on premium beers you would have a hard time matching with the store bought variety), I could help you repair the furniture when Jonah fall down and breaks someting.

Kudos to the Corner and have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Posted at 12:28 PM

NBA BRAWL [KJL]
I mentioned in passing over the weekend, promise there is more coming. We'd be faster overall today if we weren't also putting to bed the next issue of NRODT. (Which, you definitely want to treat yourself to if you are not already a subscriber.)
Posted at 12:20 PM

MSM UPDATE [Jim Robbins]
FYI -- MSNBC producers say they have taken down the photo of the dead soldier and it will not be reposted.
Posted at 12:11 PM

FROM CLEVELAND [KJL]
Ok, I promise not to post things about wine and beer all day, but I'm still getting loads of e-mails, and do want to share some (if not the actual bottles): Here's another e-mail:

I appreciate your effort to focus on good wines from the Anglosphere, but most of your recommendations came from California, Oregon and Washington. Ohio produces some great wines in the region along the Lake Erie shore. Ferrante Winery probably is the best I've tried. The specialty for the region is ice-wines (dessert stuff) which is not really my thing, but there are some very good Ohio reds.

Also, for Jonah-- Ohio produces some great beers-- notably Great Lakes Brewing Company (try the Edmund Fitzgeral Porter, and Burning River Pale Ale).

All these places have web sites- and the products are available, if not nationally, at least in the industrial midwest. (Although I hear that Great Lakes is available in New York).

After all, shouldn't everyone be a little thankful for Ohio this year?

Posted at 12:08 PM

RE SOVIET MUSIC [Jonah Goldberg]

From Poppa Goldberg:

An excellent site. The most famous of all Russian folk singers, incidentally, was a woman named Ruslanova. She made hundreds - thousands - of Soviet folk recordings and appeared in many movies, usually playing a collective farm worker, smiling broadly while singing at the top of her lungs, her voice carrying across several miles of the farm, all the while lifting a hundred pounds of hay with her pitchfork. She had a remarkable, throaty voice, and was so popular that villagers would stop the train she was on if it passed through their village. She sang for troops all over the front during World War II. She probably was - by far - the most popuilar entertainer in Russia duriing the 'thirties and 'forties. After the war, Stalin had her arrested for treason (!) and she was sent to the Gulag for several years. I think after Stalin died she was reeleased and died soon thereafter. I saw several of her clilche movies and have several of her records.

Posted at 11:55 AM

BASTARDS [Rich Lowry]
Here is a reminder, if you needed another one, of what our guys are up against in Iraq, from yesterday's Times: "Two marines were killed and four wounded in an ambush on Friday in which an insurgent deceived the Americans by waving a white flag, military officials said Saturday."
Posted at 11:52 AM

DEXTER FILKINS... [Rich Lowry]
...deserves a Pulitzer. His Fallujah stuff has been breathtakingly good. What a service to the guys he's covering and to the rest of us. Here is his wrap-up piece from yesterday's Times.
Posted at 11:51 AM

CRUISE [Rich Lowry]
Thanks to everyone who came. Spirits were extremely high, as you can imagine, and it was a joy to be with you all. Never too soon to sign up for the next one!
Posted at 11:49 AM

TOUCHING THE VOID [Jonah Goldberg]
Dozens of emailers say the book is outstanding by the way.
Posted at 11:40 AM

JFK-ASSASSINATION VIDEOGAME [KJL]
Can anyone think this is a clever idea for a game? Can there really be an audience for that kinda product? (Sigh--the answer being obvious.)
Posted at 11:21 AM

WINE WITH CHOCOLATE [KJL]
Many readers are passionate on this front. One, with established good taste:

Port, and some Zinfindels, can both be amazing and delightful with chocolate.

Just to set the record straight.

There's desert for ya.
Posted at 11:17 AM

NPR'S RIGHTWING BIAS [Jonah Goldberg]
Tim - Yeah, I think you hit upon the chief explanation for NPR's listeners complaining chiefly about rightwing bias: NPR listeners are disproportionately liberal. Of course, many conservatives listen too. But I think most of us are fairly inured to the biases of the network. Why bother to complain when you knew exactly what the product was going to be anyway?
Posted at 11:09 AM

BLAME THE RIGHT-WING MEDIA [Michael Graham]
Virginia Democrat Jim Moran knows why his fellow liberals in Congress are struggling. It’s the right-wing control of the media, of course! He tells a lefty weekly in Northern Virginia: "Liberalism is the essence of human progress…We have to express our ideas better and deal with the conservative control of the media, especially of radio."

I’ve always tried to discourage my fellow conservatives from whining about the media because it doesn’t do any good. CBS is what it is, the New York Times is what it is, and there’s nothing we can do about it. But at least conservatives complaining about liberal media bias have the virtue of accuracy on their side.

What to say when a sitting member of Congress looks out at the Dan Rather/Maureen Dowd/Howard Stern/All Things Considered media universe and decries the rampant conservatism he finds there?
Posted at 11:05 AM

NPR, DOWN THE MIDDLE? [Tim Graham]
Howard Kurtz interviews National Public Radio's ombudsman, Jeffrey Dvorkin, today. He says he receives most of his mail from liberals upset about NPR leaning to the right. Dvorkin boldly proclaimed that NPR's devotion to objectivity is "kind of a shock to the system of those who felt NPR is there to reinforce their own ideas about the world. That's not journalism. We're not in the informational comfort-food business."

Any conservative who cares to listen would think otherwise -- not only the political stories, but the cultural reporting as well. And don't forget the occasional piece from Iraq that's so one-sided it would cheer the insurgents.
Posted at 11:01 AM

RE: BEER & BUSES [KJL]
Reading e-mails, I often get the impression that if NRO were to go on a road trip, we'd get many a free meal and drink--and rooms--along the way. Our readers are restaurant owners, bar owners, bartenders, hotel owners.
Posted at 10:49 AM

RICHARD "BROAD BRUSH" MORIN [Jonah Goldberg ]

I like some of Morin's stuff, but this strikes me as a childish outburst more than a thoughtful comment:

But rather than flog the bloggers for rushing to publish the raw exit poll data on their Web sites, we may owe them a debt of gratitude. A few more presidential elections like this one and the public will learn to do the right thing and simply ignore news of early exit poll data. Then perhaps people will start ignoring the bloggers, who proved once more that their spectacular lack of judgment is matched only by their abundant arrogance.

Posted at 10:39 AM

BEER! BEER! [KJL]
Another e-mail:

Hi K-Lo --

Add another "amen" to the beer-for-Thanksgiving idea. As a bartender in a craft brewery, I can attest that beer is head-and-shoulders above any grape beverage with dinner. Beer goes with more foods - - there is no wine that goes with chocolate, for example, but several stouts are great with most chocolate desserts.

For turkey, try an ale instead of a lager. The yeast in ale brings out the flavor in mild-tasting foods, while lagers attenuate spicier meals.

Cheers!

Posted at 10:39 AM

"TOUCHING THE VOID" [Jonah Goldberg ]

The Fair Jessica and I watched this documentary on PBS last night. It's about two mountain climbers who got into a lot of trouble in the Andes. It's really a gripping, if disturbing story. These guys were reckless, but they certainly faced the consequences . Anyway, it's worth watching if you get the chance.

Posted at 10:33 AM

DISSENT NONSENSE [Jonah Goldberg]

Today's syndicated column (written while cruising) addresses the current hullabaloo about how George Bush is a fool, a traitor or tyrant for not appointing more "dissenters" to his second term cabinet. I certainly agree that getting honest advice and opposing points of view is worthwhile. But this whole mini-scandal strikes me as complete bad faith. If Bush needs more dissenters, why isn't anyone clamoring for cabinet secretaries who are more hawkish, not less? More free market, not less? The answer is that the New York Times and New Republic don't think Bush should hire more dissenters, he should hire more people who agree with the New York Times and the New Republic.

By the way, where was the clamor for more dissenters in the Clinton administration? I don't recall it. I do recall that when Donna Shalala timidly mentioned that she was troubled by Clinton's behavior with Monica Lewinsky, she was browbeaten by Clinton. I do recall Clinton bullying Abigail Thernstrom, too. I do remember that Bill Clinton refused to meet with the head of the CIA because Jim Woolsey "dissented." If you read Rich Lowry's book, you'll know that Clinton basically avoided working with the FBI because he couldn't stand Louis Freeh. Yes, this was the more mature and sensible way of dealing with subordinates.

Posted at 10:18 AM

RE: MCCAIN 2008 [KJL]
Mark Levin saw it coming.
Posted at 10:18 AM

I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE SAYING.... [Jonah Goldberg]

"Thank goodness Jonah's back from the cruise! Otherwise I might never have found this link to a storehouse of Soviet era music!"

Posted at 10:01 AM

“UNIVERSITIES RECORD DROP IN BLACK ADMISSIONS” [Roger Clegg]
So reads a front-page story in today’s Washington Post. And the reason for this drop? Well, the Post really can’t say for sure, and it’s true that there is probably more than one reason, but the careful reader can figure out what a major one is. The Supreme Court’s decisions in the University of Michigan cases in 2003 outlawed the use of the more blatant sort of quotas and preferences, including the practice of awarding admission points based simply on skin color. And even those relatively modest prohibitions have resulted in a drop of black enrollees at some schools, especially selective, large public universities. So when these schools were claiming that race was “just one factor”—nothing more than a tiebreaker, really—it turns out that, surprise, they weren’t telling the truth.
Posted at 09:55 AM

THANKGIVING WINE?! [KJL]
This, from a reader, seems very NRO:

After reading all the comments about what wine to serve at Thanksgiving, I have a better suggestion - serve beer. You don't have to worry about supporting the French (as the former importer of Heiniken is rumored to have said, French beer is the reason the French drink wine), and there are a ton of great American microbrews to choose from.

Besides, you will be historically accurate, as the Pilgrims drank beer - and some even say that they landed at Plymouth Rock because they were running out of beer on the Mayflower.

Posted at 09:53 AM

WORD WATCH [John Derbyshire]
I like this one, from The Economist's review of Robert McCrum's new book Wodehouse: A Life: "Just as Wodehossue was evidently asexual, so he was 'aworldly,' that is, neither worldly nor unworldly, simply uninterested in what was going on around him."
Posted at 09:53 AM

FIAT CRUISIA RUAT CAELUM [John Derbyshire]
Kathryn: My pessimism is intact and unspotted. However, between now and the falling of the sky, an NR cruise is a pretty darn good way to pass some time.
Posted at 09:50 AM

HOW BAD WAS THE CHILE INCIDENT? [KJL]
A Powerline reader says your first thought upon hearing the news should have been assasination attempt.
Posted at 09:24 AM

GOODNESS!! [KJL]
Just e-mailing back and forth, I have never heard the Derb (Mr. Sky Is Falling) so optimistic, so happy, so, what's the word? RELAXED. The man is a walking commercial for the NR summer cruise. (Which, is a very generous gift option--perfect for a spouse, parents, siblings, etc.)
Posted at 09:11 AM

RE: SHOPPING DAYS [KJL]
I was scared by the scene at a local mall this weekend--and it's not even the post-Thanksgiving rush yet (nevermind Advent). Christmas shopping will be through the net this year, for me, for sure.

I'm sure you think I do this only because I want a Christmas bonus, but I'd honestly recommend buying the NR books--the kids's books, the Florence King, etc., for Christmas even if I didn't work for NR. Take a look, give them a try.

There's also, of course, the print mag, which is available for half-price for Christmas here.
Posted at 09:10 AM

CONSPIRACY THEORY ALERT [John J. Miller]
An interesting LAT article by James Reston Jr. on how an elaborate corset may have cost JFK his life 41 years ago. Bonus: There's even a (non-consequential) reference to Arlen Specter!
Posted at 09:07 AM

ONLY 34 SHOPPING DAYS LEFT! SUPER-SAVINGS ON NR KIDS BOOKS! [Jack Fowler]
Just in time for your Christmas shopping, we’ve crafted a number of sweet offers that let you get multo great books for those deserving young ones. Here’s one: get one copy of Volume Two of The National Review Treasury of Classic Children's Literature and one copy of The National Review Treasury of Classic Bedtime Stories, plus a FREE second copy of Volume Two, plus a FREE copy of Queen Zixi of Ix, all for only $59.90! Four great books for one low price. And that includes free shipping and handling via US Mail! You can do your ordering here.

By the way, here’s George Will’s glowing take on our wonderful books:

National Review, having done so much to make government safe for subsequent generations, has now turned its attention to making those rising generations suited to self-government. These treasuries of children's literature will delight young readers, and improve them without making them aware that anything so annoying is going on.

Posted at 08:35 AM

THE CAMERAMAN SPEAKS [Jonah Goldberg ]

The guy who shot the video of the Marine shooting the Iraqi has spoken up.

Posted at 08:09 AM

ISN'T THAT SPECIAL [Jonah Goldberg]
The Saudis helped fund the Clinton library. And here's the full list of donors.
Posted at 07:59 AM

GOOD FENCES . . . [Mark Krikorian ]
The current Middle East Quarterly has an article justifying Israel's security barrier against the Palestinians by examining the success of similar border measures in India, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Cyprus, and Northern Ireland. Is it too much to hope that someone in our Border Patrol will bring the article to the attention of the White House?
Posted at 07:59 AM

I DON'T KNOW... [Jonah Goldberg ]
This may be self-hypnosis or the old loder runner game gone beserk. Either way, don't stare at it too long
Posted at 07:59 AM

A CRANBERRY (THE NON-CANNED KIND) RECIPE [KJL]
Apparently, cranberries are not grown in cans.

Kathryn,

From the self-proclaimed world capital of the world's greatest Zinfandel’s, CA's Amador County's Shenandoah Valley this will trump any and all pretenders.

Mike Daley

Spiced Cranberry & Zinfandel Sauce

Ingredients:

2 cups Zinfandel
¾ cup sugar
5 (2 inch) orange rind strips
½ cup fresh orange juice
6 whole cloves
4 slices, peeled fresh ginger
2 (3 inch) cinnamon sticks
1 (12 oz) package fresh cranberries

Instructions:

Combine first seven ingredients in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and cook 15 minutes or until mixture begins to thicken and sugar dissolves, stirring occasionally. Strain the mixture through a sieve into a bowl & discard the solids. Return mixture to pan.
Add cranberries to pan; cook over high heat 10 minutes or until berries pop. Reduce heat to low; simmer 30 minutes or until mixture is slightly (?) thick. Pour into a bowl; let cool.
Can be made up to two days ahead and refrigerated.

Posted at 07:13 AM

I WAS [KJL]
surprised that the word "Hypocrites" did not appear in the headline to this story on the popularity of Desperate Housewives in red states. Restraint from the NYTimes.
Posted at 07:10 AM

WHAT IS [KJL]
Alberto Gonzalez's name anyway? (Reminds me of this re my name [scroll down].)

P.S. It would have helped if I spelled Gonzales's name right...
Posted at 06:39 AM

MCCAIN 2008 [KJL]
The Arizona senator in NH.
Posted at 06:36 AM

NON-W. WOMEN [KJL ]
This weekend was a high-school reunion for me. Some real wonderful women came back (an all girls school), many mothers, many varied careers. And…most of them John Kerry voters, still in mourning! It's not shocking, of course, youngish, NYC, etc. But, I find such things fascinating. It’s not that I'm not close to plenty of people who are at odds with what I do for a living and what I believe in, I certainly am, but it’s just always weird to realize people you spent some intense times with think so differently than you do—and, by the showing this weekend, most of them from the teen years do! Still great gals. They’re my favorite Kerry voters…
Posted at 06:27 AM

THANKSGIVING WINES [KJL]
Here's a sampling of e-mails. My conclusion: We need to have an NRO wine-tasting sometime. Ok, Jonah, after a kegger.

Dear K-Lo,

(Writing as a longtime veteran of the trendy New York restaurant/club business)

It's traditional in some circles to drink Beaujolais Nouveau for Thanksgiving, being the season and all. (Even though B.N. is rarely very good.) But my opinion of France has declined enormously in recent years and I no longer buy French products on purpose.

My happy new discovery: Little Penguin from Australia. Here's a link to a six-pack variety.

I like red wine with poultry especially when it's got gravy, stuffing, cranberries and potatoes with it. My choice this year is Little Penguin Merlot (the one with the blue label). The red and purple labels (Shiraz and Cabernet) are also wonderful and if you like white wine their Chardonnay (yellow) has got to be one of the best values available anywhere.

I also recommend Blackstone Merlot, a nice pan-Californian blend.

All of these are very inexpensive and taste way beyond their price. Plus, they're 100% steadfast-Anglosphere purchases, not a small consideration for me at least.

If you're looking for something fancier, don't forget our Italian friends--you can't possibly go wrong with a fine Barbera but be prepared to pay a premium.

Here’s “Professor Bainbridge” on the topic. Is there really an answer? the latter part of this, probably is the answer:

Pinot Noir is probably the best wine to go with Turkey, cranberry sauce, etc. However, Food & Wine's recent issue ran an article arguing for Chardonnay at Thanksgiving. Truth of the matter, my advice is: Drink what you like best (or what your guests like).

If he likes The Corner, he must have good taste:

I am not an expert, but just an educated amateur with a decent palate, so be warned. The problem with a typical Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner is the mix of flavours--from fairly bland white turkey meat, through probably slightly musty gravy, to tart cranberries, and strong vegetable flavours such as brussels sprouts. No wine can really match it all. I favour something fairly fresh and fruity but with some depth. If you want red wine, try a gamay. A good pinot noir can just about manage [heck, a good pinot noir goes with almost anything]. Strong flavoured whites such as gewurtztraminers and rieslings are very good options--if the bottle has food pairings on it, look for those that will go well with spicy Asian cuisine. The whites I just mentioned plus a pink zinfandel [very celebratory] or similar vivid blush are my usuals. However, there is also something to be said for a decent very dry champagne--it's very daring, but you'll be suprised at how well it holds up.

Love The Corner, love NRO, love you!

Yikes:

My liberal friends seem to be having a tart, presumptuous little white whine with a lingering bitter aftertaste.

Ha-Ha:

"Is it DONE yet????"

Some of the same names keep popping up:

For a white wine with turkey, I have always enjoyed a good Alsatian Gewurztraminer (Trimbach is widely available for about $15 to $17 per bottle; try a Zind-Humbrecht if you're splurging). For the red, try a good Cru Beaujolais, like a Morgon or Juliénas. The 2003 Beaujolais is out and it's supposed to be spectacular. They can be found for $14 to $20 per bottle. Avoid at all costs the faddish Beaujolais Nouveau!.

If you're boycotting France, as I suspect many Cornerites are, then I'd go with a Pinot Noir from Oregon for the red (Rex Hill and Benton Lane are two of my favorite producers). Domestic whites are tougher. There are some good Gewurztraminers and Rieslings from the Northwest (Canoe Ridge from Washington state is nice), but in general they lack the power and finesse of their Froggy or German counterparts.

The most popular U.S. varietals, such as Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot just don't work with turkey (which is very lean) and the wide variety of tastes in the typical Thanksgiving spread (cornbread stuffing, cranberries, sweet potatoes, etc.)

All-American Suggestions:

KJL-

For this American holiday, stick with an American wine. A fruity, youthful California Pinot Noir is what I like best with the bird. And the 2002 vintage is spectacular in every California region. Some mid-range (40-50 bucks or so) to look for are Martinelli, Dumol, Siduri, Loring, Failla, Kosta Browne, and Testarossa. For something in the $20 and under range, Chalone, Chateau St. Jean, Hitching Post and Sebastiani are good bets. If you really want to splurge look for Kistler, Paul Hobbs, Brewer-Clifton and Williams Selyem. These may cost north of $100. If you do splurge it may be better to get an older vintage as many of the more expensive Pinots will improve with a little age. A red Zinfandel is also a decent pairing and great quality in this uniquely American varietal can be found for $25 an under.

Last tip- don't eat cranberry sauce until you are finished with your wine. It will ruin your palate.

Posted at 06:21 AM

NATIONAL TREASURE [John J. Miller]
My wife and I went to the movies without our kids for the first time in we-couldn't-remember-how-long last night, and saw National Treasure. We really enjoyed it, too. I was a bit concerned going in because the reviews haven't been outstanding. The movie contains one implausibility stacked upon another, but if you're willing to suspend your disbelief over its central proposition--that the Founding Fathers hid an ancient treasure and left behind clues--then everything flows. It reminded me of nothing so much as The Da Vinci Code, with Ben Franklin playing the part of Da Vinci and the Declaration of Independence as The Last Supper. (Bonus: no anti-Catholicism.) The heist scene at the National Archives is very well done and the script includes plenty of humor (and that's another bonus, because there's nothing funny in Dan Brown's books). So if you're looking for a good movie over Thanksgiving and SpongeBob isn't an option, I recommend this one.
Posted at 05:49 AM

POLTERGEISTS [KJL]
It's a new device I've come up with to make authors come in on time, of course.
Posted at 05:46 AM

Sunday, November 21, 2004

IT'S SUNDAY [Rick Brookhiser]
...at the Hotel Faena in BA, so the business center is closed. So I´m blogging this on a wireless computer the staff loaned me. Did I say the staff was helpful?

Did I say Argentinians in general are gregarious and friendly? But they do have certain sins.

1. Smoke. They smoke in restaurants and other public places.
2. Meat. I know the answer to Walter Mondale´s question to Gary Hart. The beef is here, in Argentina.

3. Leather. The slaughter of animals does not stop there. Their hidees become wallets, shoes, belts, coats. A popular creature, alas for it, is the capybara, the worlds largest rodent.

4. Fur. Same thing. Not a PETA place.

5. Spike heels and other stigmata of pre-feminism are much in evidence.

I will watch carefully for other political stories as they develope.
Posted at 11:32 PM

ADVOCACY POLLING [Ramesh Ponnuru]
On stem-cell research, the Washington Post keeps being suckered by it. Charles Babington and Ceci Connolly (see third item) take the latest release from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation at face value. Their summary: "The poll of 800 Bush voters found that as people learned more about the science and ways to impose ethical guidelines on it, support climbed higher." Take a look at the actual questions, and you can reformulate that: "As people are subjected to arguments for funding embryo-killing stem-cell research, some of them deeply misleading, with no rebuttals, and no mention of cloning, support increases." No doubt that is an accurate finding, but hardly an interesting one. (The poll keeps telling respondents that stem-cell research holds the promise of a cure for Alzheimer's, a story that has been debunked by the Post's own Rick Weiss.) The poll spends a lot of time establishing that few Bush voters chose Bush because he has placed limits on stem-cell funding--have many people been arguing otherwise? It doesn't tell us how many Kerry voters chose him because he wanted to lift those limits; and the whole set-up underscores the fact that even those Bush voters who do support expanded funding didn't care enough about it to affect their vote. Why these findings are supposed to impress anyone is beyond me.
Posted at 08:21 PM

ON TARGET [Ramesh Ponnuru]
Hugh Hewitt is posting a lot about Target's banning of the Salvation Army--including links to people who aren't as worked up about it as he is. I'm with Hewitt on this one. It's disappointing, too, that Best Buy is doing the same thing Target is.
Posted at 08:02 PM

RE: MARRIAGE COUNSELING ETC [Jonah Goldberg]
Hey folks, I don't why the poltergeists deep in the belly of NRO decided to post a column from this summer as the current G-File, but if you look at the date you can tell it's not current. Nevertheless, thanks for all the interesting email.
Posted at 05:53 PM

"MERE CLUSTERS OF CELLS" [Ramesh Ponnuru]
The only thing I would add to this comment is that 35-year-olds, viewed through the same reductive lens, are also "clusters of cells."
Posted at 03:56 PM

KRISTOL VS. RUMSFELD [Ramesh Ponnuru]
Kristol writes: "What remains to be done is to announce new leadership for the Department of Defense. This, surely, would be an opportunity for a strong, Bush Doctrine-supporting outsider, someone who of course would be a team player, but someone who could also work with the military and broaden support for the president's policy. Is John McCain, or Rudy Giuliani, or Joe Lieberman too much to hope for?" Yes; or maybe too little.
Posted at 03:45 PM

THE METAPHYSICAL MR. GOLDBERG [John Derbyshire]
Jonah's comments are way too modest.  In fact, he made the most penetrating observation of all in that latter debate, to the effect that modern democracy is in sore need of a metaphysic.  I thought this so striking I am basing a 2,000-word article on it.
Posted at 03:45 PM

DOUBLE THINK [Cliff May]
For days and days, the pundits and pols on the left have been saying how Bush needs top advisors who aren’t “yes men,” who will stand up to him, who will tell him “no,” who will tell him when he’s wrong.

  So now, a few members of Congress have stood up to the president on the intelligence reform bill and said: “Mr. President, we have to stand up and tell you we think you’re wrong.”

  So what are these pundits and pols on the left saying now? Why can’t the President get his troops to take orders? Why doesn’t he tell them to shut up and stay in line and do what they’re told! What’s wrong with him? What a disorganized mess!  

And it’s worse than that. These pundits and pols have been criticizing Bush’s choice for positions in his cabinet and in the executive branch (e.g. State and CIA). Consult your high school civics text (the one that doesn’t explain self-esteem in 700 pages): The President is in charge of the executive branch of government – everyone in that branch of government works for him and therefore, one might imagine, should not be working against him.  

By contrast, the Congress is a co-equal branch of government. Even Republican members of Congress don’t work for the President.
Posted at 03:43 PM

MORAL FRIVOLITY [John Derbyshire]
Simply brilliant piece on the Marine mosque shooting by Kevin Myers in today's Telegraph.  Kevin is one of the best opinion writers at work today.  Sample:  "Vicarious indignation at so-called atrocities is a moral frivolity: it proves that we are unaware of the scale of the crisis we face, now and into the foreseeable future. Our common enemy has vision, dedication, courage and intelligence. He is profoundly grateful for whatever tit-bits come his way: our media have a moral obligation to ensure that we are scattering absolutely none in his direction."  The full piece is here.
Posted at 03:40 PM

AN ODD IDEA [Ramesh Ponnuru]
Would the world have been a better place if Henry Tandey had killed Cpl. Adolf Hitler when he lay bleeding on the ground during World War I? Well, sure. Presumably the world would have been just as much a better place if someone had killed Hitler a decade or two before. But we have good reasons for not killing defenseless, wounded enemies, or children, and those moral norms are thankfully not held hostage to soothsaying.
Posted at 03:40 PM

CONDIMENTS [John Derbyshire]
No, nothing to do with the new Secretary of State.  This is the cranberry sauce thing -- though I'm going to go off on a tangent.  Hey, I'm Derb. Going off on tangents (and occasionally normals (that's an in-joke for my math club fans)) is what I do.

Thing is, I am recovering from the NR Caribbean cruise, which was...  Well, I had better not say.  Readers have already chid me for chortling churlishly about how much fun we were having.  All I can say to you chortle-chiders is: (a) Sign up for an NR cruise & see for yourselves, (b) I am, among my numerous other titles, the NR/NRO house churl. 

By way of demonstrating (b), however,  I note the following.

The NR cruise was my first -- not just my first NR cruise, but my first cruise *ever*.  I thought that, taken simply as a people-handling operation, Holland America (and the organizers of our particular group) did a superb job.  Every inch of that ship was spotless;  every encounter with a crew member came with a smile & a cheery greeting;  every request for help or information was answered at once; all the tedious and SNAFU-prone shipboard necessities (lifeboat drills, disembarkation, etc.) were got through efficiently & painlessly.  These people have cruising down to an art.  You really have to be some kind of a churl to find anything at all to criticize. I'm that churl, though, and here's my point -- which is, as I said, tangentially connected to the raging Corner controversy about cranberry sauce.

*** WHATEVER HAPPENED TO MINT SAUCE? ***

It is a fact universally acknowledged that roast lamb can't be fully enjoyed without mint sauce.  Yet all that Holland America could offer me was mint *jelly* -- a loathsome ersatz concoction, in the same relation to mint sauce as Reddi-wip is to real whipped cream.  (Which latter they *did* have.  I smothered all my desserts in great heaps of it, to the disgust of my wife, who was fecund with suggestions that I just smear the stuff round my waist, inject it directly into my arteries, etc., etc.)

It's hard to blame HA too much.  I have been in very tony restaurants in major blue-state urban centers, and asked for mint sauce, and got this foul mint jelly abomination instead.  I long for true mint sauce.  My dear mother, a working woman with a great many other things to occupy her, none the less managed to keep a small herb garden back of the tool shed, where she grew actual mint, to be chopped up & steeped in malt vinegar to make actual mint sauce for the Sunday roast.  Can't Holland America -- and the restaurateurs of America -- go to the same small amount of trouble when serving lamb?
Posted at 03:37 PM

NEWS BULLETIN: TOM FRIEDMAN WRITES SENSIBLE COLUMN [Cliff May]
In his column today, he writes that in Iraq “we are trying to plant the seeds of decent, consensual government in some very harsh soil. We are not doing nation building in Iraq. …We are trying to host the first attempt in the modern Arab world for the people of an Arab country to, on their own, forge a social contract with one another. Despite all the mistakes made, that is an incredibly noble thing. …[E]very time I think this can't work, I come across something that suggests, who knows, maybe this time the play will end differently. The headlines last week were all about Falluja. But maybe the most important story in Iraq was the fact that while Falluja was exploding, 106 Iraqi parties and individuals registered to run in the January election. And maybe the second most important story is the relatively quiet way in which Iraqis, and the Arab world, accepted the U.S. invasion of Falluja. The insurgents there had murdered hundreds of Iraqi Muslims in recent months, and, I think, they lost a lot of sympathy from the Arab street.”
Posted at 03:12 PM

AFTER VAN GOGH (CTD) [Andrew Stuttaford]

Terrific piece in the London Spectator by Anthony Browne on the slaughter of Theo Van Gogh. The whole article is a must, must read, but here’s an extract:

“At least, though, the Left in the Netherlands has seen that there is a clash between liberal democracy and cultural relativism; that some cultures are simply not compatible with Western traditions of freedom and tolerance; and that the old distinction between evil right-wingers and cuddly left-wingers no longer makes sense. It is one thing to turn a Christian church into a mosque, quite another to get radical Islam to accept liberal democracy. Outside the Netherlands, however, the Left has yet to learn these lessons.”

Yes, yes, of course ‘the Left’ is too broad a phrase to describe what is a very broad church (and I’m often guilty of the same offense), but insofar as the author is talking about Europe’s ‘liberal’ consensus, he’s spot on. He’s also right to highlight the fact that the response of many in Europe's governing classeses to this challenge is to trample on the rights of the many in a gesture to the grievances of the extremist few.

“In Britain,” Browne notes, “the government wants to introduce laws supposedly to ban ‘incitement to religious hatred’ but which will inevitably be used by Islamic activists to silence criticism of their religion and culture.”

Note that this repellent piece of legislation is being proposed in a continent that likes to claim that, by re-electing Bush, the US is rejecting the Enlightenment.

The retreat from free speech is a process that has been taken furthest in Belgium, a country that is, quite simply, no longer a democracy, a country that should, in a just world, have no place in the EU, and should no longer have the privilege of hosting NATO.

Browne explains: “Democracy too is under attack, with Belgium’s largest political party, the Vlaams Blok, banned last week. Attracting a quarter of the vote in the Flemish region, the anti-immigration separatist party was disbanded because it fell foul of anti-racism laws; unable to beat it in public debate or at the polls, its left-wing opponents killed it in the supreme court. In western Europe in the 21st century, the Left is getting courts to ban political parties because they are too popular.”

What, I wonder, would Thomas Jefferson have thought about that?

Posted at 02:26 PM

WHAT??? [Andrew Stuttaford]

This is simply appalling:

“WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congress passed legislation Saturday giving two committee chairman and their assistants access to income tax returns without regard to privacy protections, but not before red-faced Republicans said the measure was a mistake and would be swiftly repealed.”

What were they thinking?

Posted at 02:24 PM

A 'NON' ON THE WAY? [Andrew Stuttaford]

According to the Independent, Chirac is now worried France might also reject the EU’s draft ‘constitution’, not least because of opposition from the country’s left. If he's right that's terrific news, but read this sentence from that report, and see if anything else strikes you:

“The President's pessimism is based on assessments by the French security services, and by Mr Chirac's own sensitive political antennae, of the likely outcome of a ballot of members of the 120,000 members of the Parti Socialiste on 1 December.”

The security services are checking this out?

Truly, France is not a democracy like other democracies.

Posted at 02:16 PM

IT'S NOT OVER [Jonathan H. Adler]
Legal activists plan to file suit challenging Ohio's presidential election results as soon as they are certified, the Plain Dealer reports.
Posted at 02:15 PM

BRAVE FRENCH TROOPS [Jonathan H. Adler]
That's not quite what this video shows. (Link via Instapundit.) Why is it that the French military's most decisive actions of the past few decades either involve shooting unarmed civilians or sinking environmentalist boats? Just wondering.
Posted at 02:14 PM

THAT ROLLING STONE LIST [Andrew Stuttaford]

Imagine is “America’s alternative national anthem since 9/11”?

Words fail me.

And that’s something I have in common with John Lennon at the time he was writing that saccharine totalitarian dirge.

Posted at 02:13 PM

CROSSED CIRCUIT PRIORITIES [Jonathan H. Adler]
Outgoing Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch is intent on getting Thomas Griffith confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. So this week he held a lame-duck confirmation hearing for his long-time friend. The Griffith nomination may have some trouble, however. No Democrats attended the hearing, and several may oppose him. Unlike with other Bush judicial nominees, Dems actually have a reason: Griffith's law license lapsed, yet he continued to practice law. Worse, the Washington Post reports today that Griffith may have misled Utah bar officials about his work. With so many unconfirmed Bush judicial nominees who have unimpeachable credentials -- and are opposed by Democrats solely in ideological grounds -- is rushing Griffith through really Hatch's highest priority?
Posted at 02:12 PM

TOP 500 [KJL]
I suspect this could go on forever. One e-mail:

I'm sorry, but any list that ranks "Nothing Compares 2 U", "Hey Ya", and anything by the Jackson 5 ABOVE ANY AC/DC song can NOT be taken seriously. And I would certainly put any number of Duran Duran songs above the 3 I mentioned........but not over AC/DC. ;)

Another:

"Mack the Knife" is rock and roll? There are 85 songs better than 'Thunder Road'? (Politics aside, of course.) "Super Freak" was the only good song from 1981?

Posted at 02:01 AM

DASHCLE'S [KJL]
last act in the Senate.
Posted at 01:31 AM