flying from TLH to DFW yesterday and TSA wanted to root through my bag - I said, "Sure," because I had lots of electronics (an XM radio, a walkman, a digital camera, etc) and thought they might arouse minor suspicion.

The guy pulls out all of my clothes, sets aside the electronics, and grabs one of the two NR childrens' books I was packing (gifts for my nieces). He carefully flipped through both books, presumably making sure they didn't have gun-shaped holes carved in the pages... I practically laughed out loud when i saw what he was doing!

Incidentally, he was even more concerned about the cheese-board i was planning on giving to my mother. I got it at a county fair - it's made from a real wine-bottle, pressed flat and painted with flowers. Apparently the lead in the glass makes it look terribly dangerous in the x-ray machine. (he didn't notice the blunt, thumb-shaped cheese knife, thank goodness. I'd probably be in the gulag.)

Merry Christmas to all, even the TSA!

The head of the Senate Judiciary Committee is criticizing President Bush's renomination of 20 people, recently blocked by Democrats, for federal judgeships. ...

"I would have preferred there would have been an interlude before they were resubmitted to provide an opportunity to improve the climate on the Judiciary Committee," Specter said in a telephone interview, referring to the bitter partisan fights on the panel over appeals court nominations during the last Congress. Specter added that he is consulting with senators of both parties in hopes of working out a bipartisan agreement for handling judicial nominations.

So. I'm looking for Florence of Arabia—a last-minute gift for the missus—at my local Hastings. It's quite possibly the worst books/music/movies store in the history of books/music/movies stores, but it's nearer my house than Borders and Barnes & Noble. I know, I know: I should have ordered it from the NR bookstore, but it was an impulse thing today.

Anyway, I can't find it. It's not in the "humor" section (but something by the annoying Wanda Sykes is), nor is it in the novels section, nor is it in the "new arrivals" display at the front of the store (again heavily populated by Ms. Sykes' book).

Not terribly surprised, I turned to the in-store computer search thingy, typed in "Christopher Buckley" and "Florence of Arabia" just for fun, and, to my horror, saw that, if the book were in stock, it'd be located in the "women's studies" section!

I swear to you I'm not making this up. WOMEN'S STUDIES!!!

Oh, and Merry Christmas.

From a reader who did have the sand to give his full address and name (asterisks mine):

Jonah,

Anyone who doesn't like France is a worthless piece of s**t.

Why don't you come up here, you gutless little coward. I'm 61 years old, but
I'll still kick your a**, snot-boy.

That Times story you mentioned, John, was quite interesting (Nagourney, "Democrats Weigh De-emphasizing Abortion as an Issue"). If the Democrats are serious about this, they have to ask themselves this question: How do they fight about the courts without fighting about the social issues? If they're really okay with parental notification now, and don't think judicial nominees who can't affect Roe should be stopped because of abortion alone, what's left of their argument against Priscilla Owen?

What happens if Bush nominates a judicial conservative for a Supreme Court vacancy? If they don't fight about social issues and especially abortion, the Democrats will have a few other issues left in their quiver. They can talk about civil rights, alleged right-wing judicial activism against democratically enacted economic regulation, the nominee's alleged personal flaws--but unless the personal flaws are really glaring, I don't think this would be enough to derail a nominee. They can talk about "privacy rights" in the abstract, or try to argue that the nominee's skepticism about modern privacy-rights jurisprudence threatens to bring back laws against contraception. But contraception per se is not a live issue, and abortion is. So a debate about privacy rights risks being either irrelevant or becoming another abortion debate. At the end of the day, I think, a Supreme Court fight will be largely a social-issues fight. If Democrats want to avoid that, they'll have to back off.

Republicans were also rebuked in their efforts to blanket the state over the next week looking for Rossi voters whose ballots were mistakenly disqualified. And they said they knew of military voters overseas who say they never received their ballots.

For the love of mixology, please don't propagate any "Manhattan" recipes that include no bitters. Bitters make the Manhattan and no cocktail is a Manhattan without bitters. The best recipe comes from the late Max Allen, bartender emeritus at the Seelbach Hotel in Louisville:

2 oz rye (for northeasterners), bourbon (for southerners), or Tennessee whiskey 1 oz sweet (red, Italian) vermouth
1 dash Angostura bitters
1 dash Peychaud's bitters
1 splash grenadine

Shake all ingredients with ice. Strain into a cocktail (martini) glass. Garnish with a maraschino cherry. Serve.

Court of Appeals:
Terrence W. Boyle (4th Circuit) (first nominated May 9, 2001)
Priscilla Richman Owen (5th Circuit) (first nominated May 9, 2001)
David W. McKeague (6th Circuit) (first nominated November 8, 2001)
Susan Bieke Neilson (6th Circuit) (first nominated November 8, 2001)
Henry W. Saad (6th Circuit) (first nominated November 8, 2001)
Richard A. Griffin (6th Circuit) (first nominated June 26, 2002)
William H. Pryor (11th Circuit) (first nominated April 9, 2003)
William Gerry Myers, III (9th Circuit) (first nominated May 15, 2003)
Janice Rogers Brown (District of Columbia Circuit) (first nominated July 25, 2003)
Brett M. Kavanaugh (District of Columbia Circuit) (first nominated July 25, 2003)
William James Haynes, II (4th Circuit) (first nominated September 29, 2003)
Thomas B. Griffith (District of Columbia Circuit) (first nominated May 10, 2004)

District Courts:
James C. Dever, III (Eastern District, North Carolina) (first nominated May 22, 2002)
Thomas L. Ludington (Eastern District, Michigan) (first nominated September 12, 2002)
Robert J. Conrad (Western District, North Carolina) (first nominated April 28, 2003)
Daniel P. Ryan (Eastern District, Michigan) (first nominated April 28, 2003)
Peter G. Sheridan (New Jersey) (first nominated November 5, 2003)
Paul A. Crotty (Southern District, New York) (first nominated September 7, 2004)
Sean F. Cox (Eastern District, Michigan) (first nominated September 10, 2004)
J. Michael Seabright (Hawaii) (first nominated September 15, 2004)

Return to Kyiv – International Interest Everywhere
Though I traveled to Ukraine many times in the last years of the Soviet Union and in the early years of Ukraine’s independence, and even though I continuously have met with, hosted and communicated with people from all across Ukraine, and even though Nadia has regularly traveled to Ukraine, it has been many years since I last was in Ukraine.
Even before I left Washington the growing interest in Ukraine was evident. Obviously we all are aware of the daily and prominent stories about the Orange Revolution and evolution of Ukraine’s presidential election. But there at Dulles International waiting to board my plane on Tuesday afternoon I quickly found myself in conversation with two women also flying to Ukraine to serve as observers at the December 26th revote.
Upon landing Wednesday afternoon at Kyiv’s Borispol Airport the immense international interest in Ukraine was evident everywhere. At passport control I believe at least 8 of the 14 check-through lines were designated for Canada’s arriving international observer corps. Upon passing passport control there were many facilitators meeting people with signs, “Canadian Observers,” “OSCE,” “NDI,” etc. There were others anticipating the arrival of teams from international news organizations, NBC, Sky News, etc. Further on, past the customs check-through, there were more people waiting for arriving elections observers. Cliff Downen had his sign for one of the former congressmen who was arriving a day before the rest of the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation-Association of Former Members of Congress delegation, and Markian Bilynsky (Vice President of the Foundation and Director of Field Operations) was there to meet me.
The influx of what I understand to be over 8,500 registered international election observers is well underway.
The rest of our team of former United States senators and congressmen and former European parliamentarians arrived today and met tonight for dinner and the beginning of our briefings, training, preparations and dispersal throughout Ukraine on Friday, Christmas Eve.

Kyiv is Yushchenko Country
Yesterday, as soon as Markian and I left Borispol the “orange” became prevalent. Cars with orange flags flying and/or inside tied around the rear view mirrors, people with orange armbands, billboards, and this was only along the access road between Borispol and Kyiv.
As we came into the capital there was more and more orange. It was like arriving in Dallas on the weekend of the Texas-Oklahoma football game when the whole city is decked out with Texas’ burnt orange and Oklahoma’s red. The difference is that here everything is Yushchenko orange - - more billboards, more cars with banners, seemingly everyone walking on the sidewalks has scarves, hats, armbands of orange. There are orange ribbons tied around trees, organizational tents of orange along major streets, orange banners waving from buildings.

Headlines and On-going International Communications Only Tell a Fraction of the Story
In the late afternoon yesterday we met with a key campaign contact on the latest developments in the campaign and political maneuverings. From the stand point of observing this upcoming revote most interesting were the reports of plans to discredit Yushchenko. Groups already on the move from the Donetsk region to central and western Ukraine with the intention of causing disruptions that then can be blamed on Yushchenko supporters. We heard of these and other plans to disrupt the vote in ways that can be charged against Yushchenko supporters and used to support post-vote charges of election fraud.
There were more reports on the efforts in a number of Eastern Ukrainian cities to prohibit entry of a large motorcade of citizens. The motorcade, mentioned in some western newspapers, is a mixture of Yushchenko supporters and less aliened Ukrainians championing a free and fair revote.
Of course there was discussion about Yanukovych’s growing charges against President Kuchma and “the government” (though he insists he is still the Prime Minister) and his calls for an open and fair election while, at the same time, his making no public effort to dissuade people in his home region from dispatching the troublemakers to the West or the hooligans blocking access to his hometown and other Eastern cities.
There were more details on the arrest of the Russians responsible for the positioning of a car bomb outside Yushchenko’s Kyiv headquarters several weeks ago. After the bomb was discovered and disarmed these men were caught and arrested. They have admitted being paid in Russia and of having entered Ukraine on false passports with materials provided to them.
The point of course is, again, this election is not over. Polls, calmer public declarations from President Kuchma and Russian President Putin’s acceptance-like comments in Germany this week, all are very welcome but such sentiments are not necessarily reflected in what is going on below the public radar screen as the revote approaches.
A number of Donetsk oligarchs have told western reporters and analysts of their desire to integrate their businesses with Europe, sounding sanguine about the potential of a Yushchenko victory, while at the same time they sponsor disruption.
On the positive side there may be close to 8,500 international observers, a massive international media build-up and a citizenry with a heightened sense of election propriety, but there are still 33,000 polling places, many regional vote tabulation stations and forces determined to disrupt what might otherwise be seen as inevitable.
So This Is Post November 21st Independence Square!
After our meeting we walked to Independence Square. Seeing it on television, in pictures and reading and hearing about this “revolution” is one thing. Walking through and standing with these people is something quite different.
It is night and the closer you get to the central square the thicker the crowds. They spread out in every direction from the great square itself.
Everyone is friendly, everyone is calm. They stand decked in orange, holding everything from small orange flags, to large orange banners on long poles, to Ukraine’s blue and yellow flag, to a huge banner saying in English, “Welcome to Ukraine.” They listen to music from the massive stage and politely listen to short comments from political spokespeople. When there is a periodic lull in music or comment from the stage the chant begins, “Yu-chshen-ko, Yu-chshen-ko, Yu-chshen-ko….”
In the middle of the crowd I look around at the changes in downtown Kyiv, the lights, the signs of bustling commerce, the huge monument to independence (with a huge orange flag flying from its top) on the square below the massive building where, in the basement, Stalin had something over 1,000 bards gathered and killed, the new buildings, and the Christmas decorations.
I think back to a time in the early 1990s, in an apartment the windows of which are barely visible in the distance beyond the Yushchenko stage, where I first met Viktor Yushchenko. It was at a small and informal dinner in Katya Chumachenko’s apartment where she wanted me to have time to visit with my already old friend Yuri Kostenko and the young and reform-minded banker I had been told so much about. So much has changed, so much has happened, so much needs to be done.
I marveled at this crowd. Thousands and thousands of people standing quietly, no rancor, no uncivil words heard, little talking as they listen to music and political comments, in temperatures -5 centigrade. Some are passing out more orange ribbons. Some visit quietly, no voices raised except when the periodic chant begins only to subside when the next song or voice is heard from the stage. There were old and young, groups, couples and individuals.
At one end of the crowd is the stretch of street where many tents remain from the 24-7 demonstration immediately after the November 21st vote. Young people still living in their city of tents, friendly, posing in front of their tents with yellow banners and clothes. Their humor found in the names over the portable toilets - - “Yanukovych Headquarters,” etc.
Then a little past 8:00 PM music started that invigorated the crowd, essentially Yushchenko’s theme song. This meant that Viktor was here and would be addressing his supporters. He came out onto the stage to a warm greeting. A massive screen projected his picture so that all could see.
First he spoke to what the crowds meant to him, to what they have done. He listed what these people have accomplished since November 21st. He talked about their accomplishments - - the finding of the vote to have been fraudulent, the scheduling of the revote, the dismissal of the prime minister, the dismissal of the procurator general, the changes in the laws, the historic and unprecedented opening up of Ukraine’s press. He applauded the crowd. He talked of how they - - citizens of Ukraine - - opened their arms to those who traveled from Donetsk to demonstrate for his opponent but who had no shelter, and ran out of food and support. He talked of their generosity as Ukrainians, taking in those with a different political view. He talked of the businesses and the restaurants that provided food and supplies to demonstrators. He talked of the heroes in the streets - - the citizens he was looking at - - the diplomats who put their careers on the line by denouncing the fraudulent November vote, the others who took personal risks to declare their values. And he remembered Ukraine’s past patriots and heroes who he reminded had never had a chance to see such changes and witness what he saw before him from the stage.
Yushchenko summarized his program from pension payments, to limiting the service of those conscripted into the armed forces to one year, to making certain that no Russian language schools are closed, to making sure that there are no divisions due to language, religion or ethnicity, to focusing on the needs of all Ukraine - - focusing just as much on the regions that do not support him as those the will.
He urged all to vote and to be vigilant on the day of the revote.
Yushchenko ended asking God’s blessing for Ukraine and for all citizens of Ukraine.

Friends in the Crowd
As Markian and I made our way of to find dinner it was fun to meet people I have met before. I believe it was three different young people who interned at the U.S.-Foundation and had traveled to Washington and had been guests in our home. I was introduced to a man - - a Ukrainian-American - - I have corresponded with by email.

Music into the Night
After dinner I returned to the Dnipro Hotel several blocks away from Independence Square. My room faces in the direction of the Square and I went to sleep listening to the on-going concert with the periodic chants of “Yu-shchen-ko, Yu-shchen-ko, Yu-shchen-ko…”
It is terribly cold in Kyiv, but the people are warm.

Robert Novak's latest column makes some interesting points. ("Rumsfeld is often bracketed with the neocons, but that is incorrect. In a long political career that dates back to his election to Congress in 1962, he has not even been associated with the traditional conservative movement. In the run-up to the attack on Iraq, he was not aggressively pressing intervention by force of arms, but instead was shaping a military response to fit President Bush's command.") Novak takes the view, shared by my colleagues, that some neoconservatives (and, it might be added, some liberal hawks) have turned on Rumsfeld in order to blame the difficulties in Iraq on poor execution rather than on the war's being a bad idea to start with. That kind of impulse could well be at work in some people.

But I'm not persuaded by Novak's contention that Bill Kristol's call for Rumsfeld's ouster "was, in effect, a declaration of war by the neoconservatives against the secretary of defense." I'm not sure who "the neoconservatives" are, but presumably they include Midge Decter, David Frum, and John Podhoretz--all of whom think Rumsfeld should stay. Victor Davis Hanson might be described as a neocon, at least on foreign policy, and he wants Rumsfeld to stay, too. Once again, the word "neocon" just isn't all that helpful.

Luckily, no extended commentary is any longer necessary, for two reasons. 1) Your last comment is, as far as I can tell, utterly devoid of any argument. (The fact that you're getting many emails cheering you on (as am I) doesn't constitute an argument.) 2) I am beginning to wonder about your reading-comprehension skills.

To clear one thing up: I didn't suggest in any of my previous comments that you had shown disrespect to me. Nor do I think I have indulged in any "personal invective" (although I did characterize one of your lines of argument as senseless and another as boneheaded). If I've hurt your feelings, I'm very sorry. You are, as I said, a great American with whom I disagree on this matter--how much clearer could I have made that? Have a merry Christmas, and a happy new year.

Has anyone every really paid attention to the lyrics of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer? Here they are:

Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer had a very shiny nose. And if you ever saw him, you would even say it glows.

All of the other reindeer
used to laugh and call him names.
They never let poor Rudolph
join in any reindeer games.

Then one foggy Christmas Eve
Santa came to say:
"Rudolph with your nose so bright,
won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"

Then all the reindeer loved him
as they shouted out with glee,
Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer,
you'll go down in history!

Ok, so here we have little Rudolph with an unfortunate deformity. All of the other reindeer laughed and called him names, shunning him from the tightly-knit reindeer community -- right up until they have a use for the little mutants deformity! Then they suddenly declare they "love" him. Yeah, right. Just so long as his honker lights up the night sky!

"He is identical [to her dead cat of 17 years]," the woman told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "His personality is the same."

"Office Space" is great, but it has some horrible slow spots, especially at the beginning when Ron Livingston's character is first hypnotized and kind of out of it. Interestingly, the same thing happens in my all-time favorite comedy, Albert Brooks' "Modern Romance." The slow spot in that movie is caused not by hypnosis, but a Quaalude, which gives you a nice signpost for the era of the film. Anyway, it's a terribly funny (and kind of painful) movie, with an especially nice portrait of working Hollywood -- Brooks is a film editor working on a hilariously bad sci-fi epic starring George Kennedy.

As for books, "Confederacy of Dunces" is hands down number one, and "Portnoy's Complaint" is no slouch either.... In non-fiction, I nominate anything by Bill Bryson, especially "A Walk in the Woods," but not so much his "Short History of Nearly Everything," in which he seems obsessed with the many ways the universe can deal out instantaneous death. Which come to think of it, is pretty funny, too.

The discussions of the last few days have compelled me to write to you. First of all, thank you so much for The Corner. It's amazing the quantity and quality of the free content you provide.

I am about to turn 30. When I was a teenager, I spent most of my time smoking pot and listening to Iron Maiden albums in my Mom's basement. Believe it or not I had a subscription to National Review back then. I can't even remember how I became aware of it, but I used to read it each month. I always put it down having enjoyed it, but feeling a bit like the guy who laughs but didn't really get the joke. It was a bit over my head and I let the subscription run out.

Fast forward to today.... A few months ago I quit one of those Office Space jobs....OK, it wasn't that bad, they treated me well, and the money was good, but I was bored senseless with it. In my free time I discovered NRO and The Corner in the run-up to the election. One of the first things I read was John Miller's Powerslave article, and I was floored by the memories it brought back, not only of Mom's basement but of trying to explain to my friends what National Review was all about (what's wrong with you dude, my dad reads that...etc). I now check it so often that I just leave a tab open in Firefox with The Corner on it. I must check it 20 times a day, and there is almost always something new and worth reading.

Anyway, depending on how fast I can lose this remaining 10 pounds, I ship out for basic training at Fort Leanord Wood in about mid-February (21B-Combat Engineer). The Army needs help, I need a job, and if I let another few years slip by I'll be too old to serve at all. The Office Space job just sort of fell into my lap after college, I wish I had joined up then.

So there you have it...from teenage pothead headbanger, to respectable (hopefully) US Army Specialist, with National Review there on both ends. I have a hunch I'll be getting an NRO Digital subscription for Christmas, if not I'll be ordering it myself after the new year.

Thanks to Ramesh and Derb for being so damn smart, Jonah for being so funny, John Miller for being so cool, K-Lo for keeping it all running and everyone else for contributing.... OK, you are all smart, funny and cool....

Thanks for the best site on the web by a million miles,

Here's how Michael Kazin starts his article in Mother Jones: "Listening to the Democratic nominees during the 2004 presidential campaign, it often seemed as if they were ashamed to belong to their own political party. In his acceptance speech, John Kerry boasted that he 'broke with many in my own party' to support a balanced budget and ridiculed the idea of 'Democratic values' and 'Republican values.' John Edwards gave a rousing concession speech -- but didn’t even bother to invoke the party’s name. The other side never makes that mistake."

Never? Take a look at Bush's 2000 and 2004 convention speeches. The only references you will find to the Republican party come when Bush talks about how he has worked and will work with Republicans and Democrats. He doesn't invoke the party's name in any serious sense.

Sorry. All of you who disagree with me are objectively wrong. The argument is made -- and summarily dismissed -- that Aniston wasn't supposed to be comedic in office space. I think this is not true. She was supposed to be the "straight man" as it were. This is sometimes the hardest job in comedy, but it is still comedy. While easy on the eyes, she had no charm. She didn't resonate. She fills space. She is a prop.

If it were not so late in the day, I think it would be an interesting conversation for the Corner to discuss the most gifted straight men (and women) in film history. Bud Abbott has to be included on any list, of course. But I have to go Christmas present shopping, right now.

Michael Graham must have loved every job he ever had because anyone who's ever had a lousy job knows that "Office Space" is an outright hands-down masterpiece. Right up there with "The Searchers" and "Apocalypse Now," but you know, funnier.

It sounds like the contract was grossly under-utilized. The Army may have found another instrument to accomplish that work with a contractor they liked better. The contractor may have been losing money in Iraq and was sick of waiting for the Termination for Convenience (aka "T'ferC"). (Termination for Default wouldn't work unless the contractor was not performing- aka T'ferD).