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 Saturday, February 9
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HAPPY V-DAY [Kathryn J. Lopez]
Brace yourselves: Valentine's Day is this coming week and so, if you haven’t noticed already, Eve Ensler and her Vagina Monologues are seemingly everywhere. This year Ensler contends that ''Afghanistan Is Everywhere,'' and through her activism will rid the world of violence against women by the year 2005. Despite her goal, however, she has been leading some of the most prominent anti-war protests. "We can bomb rubble," she tells a NYTimes reporter, "but we can't stop women from being raped?" How curious--how we were to stop the Taliban from oppressing women without sending our military to Afghanistan.
Posted
8:24 PM | [Link]
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SUPER-SIZE DEAL [Kathryn J. Lopez]
Earlier this week, the Smithsonian passed up a gift of $38 million because they’re not into celebrating individual achievement. But the Smithsonian does not pass up every moneymaker. Despite protests from groups with nutritional concerns, the Air & Space Museum, the most popular of the Smithsonian museums, will replace it’s (awful) cafeteria with a McDonald’s.
Posted
8:24 PM | [Link]
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AIN’T SO BAD FOR MILO [Kathryn J. Lopez]
Slobodan Milosevic sooths himself with Frank Sinatra’s "My Way," in his Dutch prison cell, according to a Reuters report. He’s also got a satellite television, Mr. Coffee, and "en-suite shower." "He is free to spend the day wandering around the communal areas of his wing, to cook a meal in the shared kitchen, play cards and chess with other detainees, exercise in the gym or take a stroll in the exercise yard, which he favors." And, of course, there are conjugal visits from his wife in an "intimacy room"--they were "teenage sweethearts." International justice is just ruthless. Somehow I can’t see the Serbs putting a TV--or much of anything else--in his cell.
Posted
5:00 PM | [Link]
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FYI [Jonah]
I will be on CNN's Reliable Sources tonight 6:30 PM EST. Also, I will be on "Late Edition With Wolf Blitzer" tomorrow at 2:30 PM EST. Both times I plan on being fully-clothed.
Posted
4:42 PM | [Link]
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PRINCESS MARGARET [Andrew Stuttaford]
It's a Brit thing, I know, but it's difficult not to feel sorry for the Queen today. The death of her only sister, Princess Margaret, this morning comes almost fifty years to the day after the tragically early death of her father, George VI. Margaret herself was a complex and, by all accounts, sometimes difficult character. Nevertheless, it is worth remembering that, back in the 1950s, she gave up her relationship with the man who was probably the love of her life on the grounds that he had a previous marriage. Marrying a divorced man, it was felt, would be damaging to the monarchy. Times have changed, not least in the House of Windsor, and it is easy to imagine that the events of later years must have made the princess feel that her sacrifice was pointless. RIP.
Posted
2:00 PM | [Link]
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P.S. [Kathryn J. Lopez] They pay me to read this stuff. But I have exceeded my Vogue quota, have no fear.
Posted
1:43 PM | [Link]
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ONE LAST THING [Kathryn J. Lopez]
A friend of Sex in the City's Sarah Jessica Parker tells Vogue: "She’s really shy about talking about sex or anything like that." Yeah, I bet she considered voting against Hillary, too.
Posted
1:42 PM | [Link]
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AN EARLY LEFT [Kathryn J. Lopez]
The aforementioned Sarah Jessica Parker was a child actress and has been Left from the start. She explains to Vogue that even starring in Annie, working with Bob Hope as a kid, wasn’t all that cool. She says, "I guess it was pretty exciting, but even at age twelve I knew he was a Republican."
Posted
1:41 PM | [Link]
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SARAH JESSICA PUNDIT [Kathryn J. Lopez]
In case you were wondering, celebrities still think people care what they think about politics and it is still uber-chic to be anti-GOP. In an interview with Vogue, trend-setter Sarah Jessica Parker assesses the war thus far: "I don’t have a doctorate in foreign policy, but it seems to me that this war is all about the Middle East. Despite my feelings about Bush, this war is seemingly successful and the Dow is up, but, I don’t know…." Someone call Greta’s booker!
What’s amazing is she never even had to tell the interviewer what her feelings on Bush are. They are never mentioned in the piece. It’s just understood. Because how could you have any other feelings? We stars all think the same.
Posted
1:38 PM | [Link]
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NO COMMENT [Kathryn J. Lopez]
This is Sex and the City’s executive producer, Michael Patrick King, on September 11, as written up Vogue:
I thought, What do we do? Is the show over? Am I over? Then I went to dinner. I went shopping at Jeffrey. I kept on going even when I could smell the buildings burning. We want to live!" King--who seems more Carrie than Carrie [the show’s main character]--sees no real trouble ahead. "The show has always reflected the city, with a glossier or sadder edge. The season coming up will reflect the city as we know it, whether that’s with a Dior gas mask or whatever.
Posted
1:24 PM | [Link]
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BROOMSTICK BRIGADES [Andrew Stuttaford]
Rod, without knowing all the details of the case that you cite in Hawaii, it is quite likely that the Satanist will prevail. After all, there have been at least a couple of occasions in recent years when "Wiccans" (witches) have established the right to wear their symbols at schools here on the American mainland. In a probably vain attempt to avert any angry spells being hurled in my direction, I should quickly note that most believers in Wicca will tell you that their creed is benign. It has, they say, nothing to do with Satanism. That may well be true (I'm no theologian). Nevertheless, in a legal environment where commonsense has long since disappeared, it's easy to see how the tolerance extended to the broomstick brigade will set a useful precedent for the Devil's advocates as they work their way through the Hawaiian courts.
Posted
1:22 PM | [Link]
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POT SPOT [Andrew Stuttaford]
As someone who supports the legalization of marijuana, I am in favor of allowing it for medicinal purposes. Nevertheless, check out the picture on page A10 of today's NY Times (NYC Edition) for an example of how medical-marijuana advocates are sometimes their own worst enemies when it comes to winning over the skeptics on the other side.
Posted
1:22 PM | [Link]
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SHOW OF HANDS [Jonah]
Who thinks Weekends in the Corner should be Catholic-scandal free?
Posted
10:38 AM | [Link]
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ON THE FRENCH: [Kathryn J. Lopez] Um, Jonah, Rod. You guys think the Friday G-File made people mad? Please just don't start cheering them on for golds.
Posted
9:41 AM | [Link]
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LIARS: [Dreher] This morning, the Boston Herald reports that in at least three cases, the Archdiocese of Boston reassigned to parish work priests with whom it had settled sexual abuse lawsuits -- this in violation of terms of the settlements, under which the Church promised victims these priests would never work in parish ministry again. Isn't this against the law, for God's sake? Shouldn't the administrators responsible for this go to jail, even if they're a bishop or cardinal? Does anybody out there believe that this is just a Boston problem?
Posted
9:36 AM | [Link]
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87: [Dreher] Yesterday, the Archdiocese of Boston turned over to police the names of 49 more priests who have had, in the judgment of archdiocesan officials, "substantial" allegations of sexual abuse against them. This brings the eight-day total to 87 names of priests provided to Boston authorities. This is nearly nine percent -- nine percent! -- of the entire Boston presbyterate. Put another way, by the Church's own reckoning, there is "substantial" reason to believe that one in 10 Catholic priests in Boston is a sex abuser. And the search of the Church's records hasn't ended yet. Keep in mind, too, that these are only the priests against which the Church has received substantial allegations; there may be more whose victims have never made an official complaint with Church authorities. I'm sorry if I seem obsessed by this story, but I've got non-Catholic friends and family members asking me these days, in all charity, if I was considering leaving the Church, if only for the safety of my son. Not a chance, I say; the Truth was established upon this Rock. But it's a profoundly humiliating to be asked, and to realize that hey, I don't blame them, I'd wonder the same thing if I were on the outside.
Posted
8:43 AM | [Link]
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Friday, February 8
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ON SECOND THOUGHT: [Dreher] The show got a lot better, didn't it? Even though there was a certain "Stool Boom!" (from "Waiting for Guffman") shlocky pageantry to the thing, there were, in the end, some pretty amazing moments. And NONE more satisfying than seeing the aforementioned Mr. Eruzione and his 1980 teammates lighting the Olympic flame. If only -- if only! -- someone would have hoisted that smarmy Little Lost Child aloft and tossed him onto the pyre. Oh well, you can't have everything. Let the games begin! (P.S., Is it just me, or has Jim McKay turned into Grampa Simpson?)
Posted
11:42 PM | [Link]
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DISSENT IN THE RANKS [Jonah]
I've been amazed by the response to today's column. Most feedback has been positive, but a sizable minority of normally friendly fans have been pretty angry. Here's a good example:
"Regarding your Friday column: Yuck!
What exactly was the point of your vapid, silly, commentary? It was entirely incoherent, and I am, in general, a fan.
P.S. You need to get our more. I live an affluent, suburban lifestyle, but through just the most nominal volunteering in my community have experienced a horrifying level of economic need in working families here in San Diego. Worst hit are the children who really are poor, who really are hungry, who really don't have adequate clothing or shelter. Get off the couch and go help some people. Today's column made you sound like a pig."
Posted
9:55 PM | [Link]
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YEAH, YEAH. THE FRENCH ATHLETES ARE OK [Jonah]
Not, every single Frenchie runs in terror at the sound of a German accent either. Though, I'm curious to see how close they get to the German bi-athletes (they carry guns).
Posted
9:53 PM | [Link]
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JONAH, AVERT YOUR EYES: [Dreher] You will not normally hear me say this, without a glass of wine in my hand, but here it is: "VIVE LA FRANCE!" I'm watching the French athletes parade in, and they're waving double-sided flags. On one side is the Tricolor, on the other are the Stars and Stripes. Yes, Jonah, they're cheese-eating surrender monkeys, but this claret-swilling tinpot gourmand will forgive the French everything on the slightest pretense.
Posted
9:47 PM | [Link]
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SUBLIME TO RIDICULOUS: [Dreher] It's time for Winter Olympics Blogs! Man oh Manischewitz, was that not a Moment when President Bush walked out, followed by the World Trade Center flag? When TV cut to the American troops in Kandahar standing up for the "Star-Spangled Banner," I lost it. I'd just as soon have turned off the opening ceremonies after the president left, and watched a tape of the 1980 Olympic Hockey Final (Mike Eruzione is *still* the bomb!). I think it is metaphysically impossible for the "artistic portion" of the opening ceremony to be anything but asinine. I thought the Tinseled Skating Sasquatches were cool, but the Little Lost Child business was sooooo cheesy. The Space KKK Robots chased the little dude, and then Ziggy Stardust, who in real life named his son "Blade," saved him. Help, I'm swimming in fondue!
Posted
9:39 PM | [Link]
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HEAVEN HELP US [Kathryn J. Lopez] This goes in the ever-expanding "things have not really changed since Sept. 11th" file: 51-year-old VOLUNTARY Bible class in Tenn. elementary school killed by a judge and a lawsuit from some "Freedom from Religion" group.
Posted
8:45 PM | [Link]
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NITWIT DU JOUR: [Dreher] From the Moral Idiocy File, a Satanist who works for a public school in Hawaii has filed a complaint with the state attorney general, protesting a school policy forbidding clothing promoting devil-worship. The employee has found support among at least one student, 10th-grade philosopher Ashley Williams, who reasons, "If people are allowed to wear bracelets that say: 'What Would Jesus Do,' they should be allowed to say: 'What would Satan do.'" Presumably when the Hitler Youth show up at pep rallies in swastika drag, Miss Williams will opine, "If people are allowed to wear shirts that say 'Gore-Lieberman 2000,' they should be allowed to say 'Hitler is Totally Awesome.'"
Posted
7:24 PM | [Link]
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ONEIL Vs. BYRD CONT'D [Jonah Goldberg]
A reader thinks I missed the point in my column about Byrd Vs. O’Neill. Here’s part of his objection:
"The great thing about that public conversation (I watched it on the BBC.) was the fact that it could happen at all. Here are (arguably) two of the most successful Americans alive today arguing over their humble beginnings. They are both living proof that anybody can succeed in this country.
In many parts of the world, the "better" classes would be loath to admit that they even had poor relatives, let alone a history of poverty themselves. But we buried nobility with the Constitution."
Actually, I don’t disagree with that. But it wasn’t what I was going for.
Posted
5:39 PM | [Link]
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RED HOT GENEVA CONVENTION COMMENTARY!!!: [Rich Lowry]
For those interested in my ongoing series, everything you never wanted to know about the Geneva Convention, check out my latest post.
Posted
4:55 PM | [Link]
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CATO AT WAR, THE PREQUEL: [John J. Miller]
Sheer unpersuasiveness is apparently a specialty of Ivan Eland's, Ramesh. You will recall the item we wrote about his response to President Bush's missile-defense speech last year.
Posted
3:50 PM | [Link]
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CATO AT WAR [Ramesh Ponnuru]
I'm a little behind in reading through my Cato Institute press releases, so I'm only now reading the post-State of the Union statement by its director of defense policy studies, Ivan Eland. He thinks it's a mistake for Bush to expand the war on terrorism. The line that really stands out, for sheer unpersuasiveness, is this one: "What if North Korea, Iran or Iraq have already sent intelligence operatives or terrorists to the United States with weapons of mass destruction to lie in wait in case a strike is needed in retaliation for a U.S. attempt at regime change?" Now there's an argument for leaving those countries alone.
Posted
2:19 PM | [Link]
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COVERING THE SPECTRUM FROM A TO, WELL, ALMOST B: [Jonah Goldberg]
In a piece about the "War on Boys" in Salon, Amy Benfer offers this howler:
"While the girl empowerment campaign united women from very different backgrounds and philosophies -- academics like Carol Gilligan, popular writers like Mary Pipher, journalists like Anna Quindlen and Peggy Orenstein, political organizations like the National Organization of Women and researchers in the American Association of University Women -- there is nowhere near this kind of unity in the movement to help boys."
"Very different backgrounds and philosophies"? You mean the National Organization of Women and the American Association of University Women actually found common ground with each other? Carol Gilligan and Anna Quindlen? Good Lord, that’s amazing. If such "diverse" groups can get together there’s still hope for the Israelis and Palestinians.
Posted
12:18 PM | [Link]
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RICH, I DON'T BELIEVE YOU: [Ramesh Ponnuru] . . . when you write that "you hate to say" how banal Sen. Chuck Hagel is. But Hagel does have his fans, notably the McCainiacs. I wonder what their take on the man is now that he's criticizing President Bush for being too tough on the Iranian regime.
Posted
12:14 PM | [Link]
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CORNER AS YORKSHIRE [Kathryn J. Lopez] Rich, Rod, (Sen. Byrd, Sec't O'Neill): You'all missed the funniest part of the Monty Python skit. Check this out:
"Right. I had to get up in the morning at ten o'clock at night, half an hour before I went to bed, eat a lump of cold poison, work twenty-nine hours a day down mill, and pay mill owner for permission to come to work...."
Jonah, is it me, or is this life at NRO?!
Posted
12:11 PM | [Link]
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ENGLISH NOT SPOKEN HERE: [John J. Miller]
Test scores of limited-English students in California have skyrocketed ever since voters passed Ron Unz's Proposition 227 almost four years ago. But now the state board of education--controlled by Gray Davis appointees--is planning to issue a set of regulations that would undermine this crucial reform. Tomorrow the three GOP candidates for governor--Riordan, Simon, and Jones--will debate each other. One of them (or all of them) should pick up on this issue. It would be a great one to use against Davis, especially for Riordan--who was just about the only elected official in California to support 227 when it was on the ballot.
Posted
12:07 PM | [Link]
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SAUDI BLOWBACK: [Rich Lowry]
Here's part of an e-mail I just got from a pro-Saudi expert I talked to for my Saudi piece: "Other than that, your criticism about the Saudis is true, but so what. They are corrupt, yes indeed and so. They adhere to a puritanical interpretation of Islam, yes indeed. For you they export terrorism, for me, they don't. And this can go on and on. But at the end, will what you say really have an impact as long as America's Vital Strategic interests are at stake in the stability of the House of Saud? I really, really don't think so."
Posted
11:08 AM | [Link]
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OUT WITH "JONAH": [Rich Lowry]
Jonah, don't know if you caught the bit the other day about the New Jersey marijuana enthusiast who wants to legally change his name to NJweedman.com. What do we have to do to get you to change your name to nationalreview.com?
Posted
11:08 AM | [Link]
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MR. CONVENTIONAL: [Rich Lowry]
I had breakfast, along with some New York poo-bahs, with media-fave Sen. Chuck Hagel this morning. Hate to say it, but it was the most mind-numbingly--almost insultingly--banal performance that I have ever heard from politician.
Posted
11:07 AM | [Link]
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IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING…[Rich Lowry]…yes, I had insomnia last night.
Posted
11:06 AM | [Link]
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MORE ON "BIAS": [Ramesh Ponnuru]
James Bowman has an excellent review of Goldberg's book, and of the other reviews of it, in the February New Criterion. In TNC, the headline for Bowman's piece is "The charges & countercharges of self-righteous prigs." I like the title Jim uses on his website better.
Posted
10:47 AM | [Link]
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"BIAS": [Ramesh Ponnuru]
Al Neuharth's latest USA Today column is even more embarrassing than usual: It's an attack on Bernard Goldberg's bestselling book on media bias. Neuharth claims that "there is a huge difference between occasional sloppy journalism and the deliberate liberal bias that Goldberg 'exposes.'" I haven't read the book, but every other review I've read notes that Goldberg explicitly denies a deliberate
conspiracy of liberals to present biased news--he just thinks the media is helplessly biased. Neuharth also writes that based on his "longtime acquaintance with each," Peter Jennings, Dan Rather, and Tom Brokaw are all fair. Well if Neuharth says so, I guess that settles it.
Posted
10:43 AM | [Link]
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MORE O'NEILL: [Jonah Goldberg]
One last thing Ramesh, Rod, Rich (the 3 Rs). Why it should fall to me make this point I don't know. But can we at least nod that there is no shame to being born rich. I wasn't born wealthy, but I want my kids to be. O'Neill took offense at the suggestion he was born to money. Well, should he be ashamed of his kids? After all they're nominal millionaires. Sure, wealth can breed bad habits in people. But so can poverty. That's just one of the reasons most rapists, drug dealers and robbers are born poor, not rich. You could look it up.
Posted
10:40 AM | [Link]
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THE WAX DOESN'T LIE [Andrew Stuttaford]
Something of a setback today for Britain's new Conservative leader, Iain Duncan-Smith. The London Times is reporting that Madame Tussaud's is not going to include him in the display of current political figures featured at their site in the British capital. Apparently the somewhat understated (let's be kind) Tory boss is too "lifeless" to be worth rendering in wax.
Posted
10:28 AM | [Link]
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IN DEFENSE OF O’NEILL: [Ramesh Ponnuru]
I’ve criticized the Treasury secretary before, and I agree with Rich and Rod that there was an absurd quality to his exchange with Senator Byrd. But how satisfying it was to see someone stand up to the bullying blowhard from West Virginia—and especially to find a way to allude to the senator’s past membership in the KKK, for which he gets off way too easily. And since Byrd had been lecturing him about his insensitivity to the non-poor, why shouldn’t O’Neill have gone autobiographical in response?
That said, I still think O’Neill should go.
Posted
10:20 AM | [Link]
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I BEG YOUR PARDON [Kathryn J. Lopez] This morning's Washington Post criticizes President Bush for not using the pardon power--for not being merciful, in its telling--during his first year in office. While they admit that Clinton didn't either in his freshman year and that he, in fact, "disgraced himself with a raft of last-minute pardons to politically connected convicts,” the Post, however, fails to explain why during his first year it didn’t criticize the previous president for not using the pardon.
Posted
9:53 AM | [Link]
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SIX MORE: [ Rod Dreher] The Boston Globe reports today that the Boston archdiocese has removed from their posts six more priests against whom sex abuse allegations have been made in the past. The archdiocesan spokeswoman said these names were discovered in an ongoing review of personnel records. Funny, but Cardinal Bernard Law has twice before -- in 1993, and last month -- assured the public that all such priests had already been removed. But it wasn't true. Turns out that two of the six removed yesterday were living in church rectories, and the pastors of those parishes had not been told of the allegations against their clerical guests. Like I keep saying, not only the laity but innocent priests are also being betrayed by episcopal malfeasance.
Posted
9:46 AM | [Link]
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YOU TALKING TO ME? [Jonah Goldberg]
Glenn Reynolds of InstaPundit raises a great point. Who is Congress to be lecturing the Enron execs? Don’t get me wrong, if Skilling & Co. broke the law they should go to jail – and they probably will. But spare me the righteous indignation. Look at the crimes involved. Moving debt off-books? Um, Congress is the Valhalla of un-funded liabilities. Accounting gimmicks? Can you say "lock box." Arrogant disregard for the common man? Congress writes laws for the whole country and exempts itself from them. And, let us not forget, the Federal Government doesn’t raise its money from the equity markets, it does it by threatening to kill or imprison people. I’m sorry, but if GE were run by Congress it would be a penny stock (or the Mafia).
Posted
9:46 AM | [Link]
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INVESTIGATING BELLESILES [Melissa Seckora] Emory University has initiated a formal investigation of history professor Michael Bellesiles and his book Arming America. Last fall Emory had requested that Professor Bellesiles give a "point-by-point" response to his critics. At that time, Emory also said that if there is ''prima facie evidence of scholarly misconduct, the university has to conduct a thorough investigation.'' Apparently, the university must think they have a case. Stay tuned to NRO for developments.
Posted
9:38 AM | [Link]
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"FOUR YORKSHIREMEN": [Rod Dreher] Rich: Yes, my liege, you did see that on Monty Python. It's a skit called ''Four Yorkshiremen," and it's my very favorite Python routine. It has a quartet of well-off geezers trying to one-up each other in their humble beginnings. Excerpt:
"I was happier then, and I had nothin'. We used to live in this tiiiny old house, with greaaaat big holes in the roof."
"House? You were lucky to have a house! We used to live in one room, all hundred and twenty-six of us, no furniture. Half the floor was missing; we were all huddled together in one corner for fear of falling!
"You were lucky to have a room! We used to have to live in a corridor!"
"Ohhh, we used to dream of livin' in a corridor. Woulda' been a palace to us... ."
Et cetera. What a disgraceful exchange that was between pompous old Byrd and weepy O'Neill (I hate to see a grown man cry). And why was O'Neill prattling on like a Sensitive New Age Guy about "human potential"? Made my skin crawl.
Posted
9:09 AM | [Link]
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MORNING IN AMERICA [Kathryn J. Lopez] Remember “safe, legal, and rare”? It is so gone. A Republican White House has managed to make honest women out of abortion advocates. Earlier this week, when the DOJ announced filed a brief backing Ohio’s partial-birth-abortion ban, “pro-choicers” went berserk—for the second time in a week now. Last week it was because the White House was planning on expanding a federal program to include pre-natal care. This week it is because the federal government dares to support limits on abortion. Contrary to what the women squealing would admit, the Ohio ban even includes a health exception. What more can the pro-choicers want? Oh yes, no limits. So much for rare. So much for safe. Isn’t honesty refreshing?
Posted
7:51 AM | [Link]
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AFGHAN ART: [John J. Miller]
An important faction of the art world insists that countries retain ownership of native cultural artifacts, e.g. returning the Elgin Marbles from the British Museum to Greece. When a third-world country is involved, it often lays a heavy guilt trip on the (usually) American or European institution housing its cultural treasure with silly talk about "cultural imperialism" and so forth. There's already a movement afoot to return Afghan art to Afghanistan. But isn't the example of Afghanistan powerful evidence against this practice?
Posted
7:11 AM | [Link]
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DIDN’T I SEE THIS ON MONTY PYTHON ONCE?: [Rich Lowry]
Amazing exchange between Paul O’Neill and Sen. Byrd yesterday:
"`I started my life in a house without water or electricity,’ said O'Neill, who grew up in a low-income St. Louis, Mo., household. `So I don't cede to you the high moral ground of not knowing what life is like in a ditch.’
"‘Well, Mr. Secretary, I lived in a house without electricity too, no running water, no telephone, a little wooden outhouse,’ said Byrd, who was raised by his aunt and uncle in West Virginia's coal country."
If I’m not mistaken, didn’t Orrin Hatch talk in one of the GOP primary debates about living for a time in a converted chicken coop?
Posted
3:57 AM | [Link]
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THE CAMPAIGN-FINANCE SCANDAL GROWS: [Rich Lowry]
E.J. Dionne in Washington Post today cites a study that explodes the awful truth behind the current campaign-finance system. Some people out there—and you know who you are--are trying to influence elections: "the overwhelming majority of the ads run by outside groups in the two months before Election Day were designed not to make a case about an issue but to elect or defeat a particular candidate." This must be stopped!
Posted
3:56 AM | [Link]
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"A QUAGMIRE OF GLOBAL SCALE": [Rich Lowry]
Guess what? The next phase of the global war on terrorism is already a "quagmire," according to Michael Kinsley. Never mind that we don’t even know what exactly it is yet. My only question: Is Johnny Apple going to be upset that Kinsley got to the Q-word first?
Posted
3:55 AM | [Link]
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Thursday, February 7
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BOOB RETRACTION [Jonah Goldberg]
Turns out the killer boob story was too good to be true. Still kids don't try any of that at home.
Posted
5:57 PM | [Link]
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SEX ON THE TUBE [Kathryn J. Lopez]
I really hate racy TV but maybe I have been hanging at the CATO too much because I’m not too keen on petitioning the FCC to crack down on the likes of FOX’s Boston Public. Recent Boston Public episodes, family groups point out, have included storylines about a female candidate for class president performing oral sex on a male opponent in exchange for his support, a student earning extra cash by working as a stripper, and a prolonged affair between a teacher and a student. None of that has any business being on network TV at 8pm. Whatever happened to a voluntary, every-body-does-it family hour? The FCC shouldn’t be mandating one, but the networks should be shamed into it.
Posted
5:47 PM | [Link]
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DECLARING WAR: [Ramesh Ponnuru]
Michael Kinsley suggests that Bush should get a declaration of war before taking action against Iraq. I'm agnostic on the question, leaning toward agreement. But I am struck that Bush's purely partisan interest would counsel getting Congress on record. People like Paul Wellstone would presumably feel compelled--by their most fervent supporters if not by their own consciences--to vote no, and that vote would probably not play well with the electorate at large (which has consistently supported war with Iraq since the attacks). I'd bet that Congress would back Bush--it's even possible a majority of Democrats would. But there would be many who wouldn't, and--at least if the vote were taken before November this year--the party would suffer the consequences.
Posted
5:33 PM | [Link]
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I.C.K: [Dreher] Brian Barcaro, editor of the conservative Catholic news and commentary website diocesereport.com, points out that the Society of St. John is not the only traditionalist RC order dealing with gay sex allegations within its ranks. Fr. Timothy Svea, 38, of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign, was
arrested last month on charges that he handcuffed a 16-year-old boy to his bed and took sexual liberties with him. The Institute appears to have done the right thing, and suspended Svea immediately. I.C.K. claims it had no reason to believe the priest had a problem of this kind. No word on where the accused priest is now. A close friend of mine, a Church traditionalist, was a big admirer of the accused priest's, and even took him to dinner once. He's taking this news hard.
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5:17 PM | [Link]
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INTERESTING WAY TO GO: [Jonah Goldberg]
If your fiancé is going to kill you for going to a strip club anyway, this is about as good a way to go as any other.
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5:13 PM | [Link]
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IS THE MOOSE AN ISSUE AD? [Jonah Goldberg]
Recall the New York primary when the nefarious Wyly brothers funded diabolical "issue ads" attacking John McCain. At the time the goody-goody corps was scandalized. Senator McCain railed: "We ask governor Bush to tell his sleazy Texas buddies to stop these negative ads. Take your money back to Texas where it belongs." The editors of the New York Times declared that "the secret sponsorship" of these ads "cries out for investigation." Well, I’ve been poking around the Project for Conservative Reform and I’ll be damned if I can figure out who pays for its regular pro-McCain and anti-GOP establishment diatribes. Would campaign finance reform spell the end of the Moose?
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5:09 PM | [Link]
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THOSE TOLERANT MUSLIMS: [Dreher] Seems that some Peace-Loving Muslims have run afoul of the Los Angeles public school authorities. An Islamic foundation donated Korans to the schools in a post-9/11 attempt to encourage tolerance and understanding. The Korans were just yanked because the foundation included in the Korans its own grossly anti-Semitic commentary.
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4:47 PM | [Link]
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TOP TEN -- THE RESULTS ARE IN!: [Dreher] Thanks to all those NRO readers who participated in the contest, which was inspired by NYC Mayor Bloomberg's goofy idea to pay for the upkeep of parks and landmarks by selling corporations naming rights. The votes are in, and I can now reveal that the Top Ten Worst New Corporate Names for New York Landmarks are:
10. Comedy Central Park
9. Bic Penn Station (also: Pilot Penn Station)
8. The Chase Manhattan Bridge.
7. Madison Guaranty Square Garden ("in honor of New York's junior senator," the reader writes)
6. The Ralph Lauren Polo Grounds.
5. The Google-heim Museum.
4. Western Union Square.
3. Energizer Battery Park (also, Duracell Battery Park).
2. Ground NetZero.
And the No. 1 Worst New Corporate Name for a New York City Landmark is: THE STATUE OF LIBERTY MUTUAL.
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3:05 PM | [Link]
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RIGHT ON [Andrew Stuttaford]
I suppose that NRO types shouldn't fill up the Corner praising each other, but if you want to see the spirit of conservatism summed up in one half-sentence check out this quote from John Derbyshire's piece on NRO today: "It's in the nature of dreams to end in tears...."
How splendidly bleak.
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2:39 PM | [Link]
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MATERNAL WISDOM: [Jonah Goldberg]
Well Rich, my mom just reminded me that the President did say we should fear the "Axes of Evil."
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2:15 PM | [Link]
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AX FOLLOW-UP: [Rich Lowry]
Jonah--it was just that sort of color that was missing from your airport-day-in-hell piece for us. Forget smuggling nail clippers. You should have tried to force a cock-pit door.
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2:00 PM | [Link]
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OUCH: [Rich Lowry]
Check it out. Guy got hit in head with an ax, when he tried to force his way into a cockpit.
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1:59 PM | [Link]
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CHEW THIS [Andrew Stuttaford] Here's something to chew over. Yesterday's WSJ reported that UST, inc., (the makers of Skoal and Copenhagen) has asked the FTC for permission to advertise its chaw as being a possibly safer way to consume tobacco than smoking. Naturally this raises some health issues. The Journal touches on these, but a more detailed discussion can be found in NR alumnus Jacob Sullum's For Your Own Good, the best book there is on the anti-tobacco jihad.
Chewing tobacco comes with some nasty health risks (oral cancer, primarily), but it is far less dangerous than Joe Camel's alternative. There isn't even any passive smoke to complain about. Jacob cites data showing that if all U.S. smokers switched to chewing tobacco the death rate would be an annual 6,000 deaths from oral cancer as opposed to the more than 400,000 deaths a year currently linked to cigarette smoking.
Reducing the death toll by anything approaching that amount would usually be seen as a healthcare triumph, but, as Jacob noted back in 1998, the anti-tobacco establishment wants to have nothing to do with it. Judging by the WSJ report, it still does not. This makes no sense unless one understands that many anti-smoking activists are driven more by their authoritarian impulses than any concern for the health of their fellow citizens. The FTC should ignore these fanatics, and look favorably at the proposed changes, unless like Transportation Secretary Mineta, it wants to put PC principle over public safety.
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1:50 PM | [Link]
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SHAME ON YOU RICH! [Jonah Goldberg]
Rich, you really shouldn't be doing the bidding of the lucre-obsessed suits. Why, just this morning, while snugly ensconced in my ultra-cozy National Review Online fleece pullover , I was thinking that we should maintain the most scrupulous ethical standards possible. Why, I’m sitting here right now, sipping from my stylish cobalt-blue National Review coffee mug thinking, "Rich really shouldn’t be such a sell-out." NRO’s readers expect unimpeachable insight – just like it says on the T-shirt – and nothing else. If you want to, we can discuss this over a beer sometime. I’ll bring the National Review Online Official Flying Monkey Beer Mugs.
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1:25 PM | [Link]
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SHAMLESS SUBSCRIPTION TROLLING (ED CAPANO MAKES ME DO IT!) [Rich Lowry]
Here’s a reader e-mail: “By the way--you will find my name on the NRODT [National Review on Dead Tree] subscriber list. This is a direct result of the excellent work going on at NR Online. Before I started visiting the website, it had never occurred to me subscribe. Now I'm hooked, and I enjoy the magazine very much.” Everyone else should do the same.
[Richardlowry@hotmail.com]
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12:42 PM | [Link]
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FINALLY: THE SWEATIEST MOVIE: [Jonah Goldberg]
Okay, yes: The question of "what was the sweatiest movie ever?" was first raised in the very first episode of Cheers. Now, John Podhoretz and many readers present a very strong case for "A Time to Kill," and I must admit this is a strong contender – and clearly the sweatiest film of the 1990s. "Body Heat" is also a reader favorite, but there are really only two sweaty people in this film, and the sheer tonnage of perspiration is inadequate for anything but an honorable mention. The same holds true for "Angel Heart" and the "Rocky" movies. (Also, porn movies do not count). So, yes, in my humble opinion, as well as most of my readers’ opinions, Cheers had it right all those years ago. The answer is "Cool Hand Luke."
Here’s is my own official list:
10. Angel Heart/Body Heat [Tie]
9. Sorcerer
8. Rambo II
7. Bridge on the River Kwai
6. Twelve Angry Men
5. King Rat
4. Do the Right Thing/ Long Hot Summer [Tie]
3. Papillon/Apocalypse Now [Tie]
2. A Time to Kill
1. Cool Hand Luke
I don’t know if this will end all discussion of this vital topic. But I can assure you it ends my discussion of it for quite some time.
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12:22 PM | [Link]
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THIS IS REFORM?: [Rich Lowry]
The National Right to Life Committee has become one of the most effective advocates against campaign-finance reform, which is why--of course--John McCain denounced it as corrupt during his presidential campaign. Here is just part of a devastating NRLC anlysis of the McCainiac assault on the First Amendment about to be voted on in the House:"Sections 201, 203, and 204 of H.R. 2356 retain the Senate bill's unconstitutional restrictions on broadcast issue ads. The net effect of these provisions is to ban NRLC, NRLC affiliates, and all other 501(c)(4) advocacy corporations (but not PACs) from funding TV or radio ads that even mention the name of a local member of Congress for 30 days before a state's congressional primary, and for another 60 days before the general election (or a runoff election). This restriction applies to any ad that "can be received" by 50,000 or more "persons," including minors, within a district -- which covers nearly any TV or radio ad, since few persons do not possess TVs and radios." For more--and there is much, much more--on this consitutional monstrosity of a bill, check out the website of the James Madison Center for Free Speech at www.jamesmadisoncenter.org. [Richardlowry@hotmail.com]
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11:57 AM | [Link]
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THE MOOSE, EXPLAINED: [Jonah Goldberg]
Rich, I keep getting email from people saying, "Who is this Moose you and Lowry keep talking about?"
Here’s a quick primer for the uninitiated. The "Bull Moose" is the mascot for the Project for Conservative Reform. This is a Teddy Roosevelt-worshipping, McCain-o-phile semi-think tank which pushes very hard for campaign finance reform and the like. It is run, reportedly, by Marshall Wittmann, a former Christian Coalition and Heritage Foundation analyst now with the Hudson Institute. We suspect that Marshall writes the anonymous "Bull Moose" column which regularly denounces the corrupting influence of big money on conservatives and Republicans. Rich and I think this analysis is usually a bunch of Bull (moose) droppings. We’re giving Marshall…er…the Moose a hard time because in the last few weeks the Moose’s heroes – John McCain and Bill Kristol -- have both been revealed to have taken money from Global Crossing and Enron respectively. We think the Moose should, for consistency’s sake, denounce "Big Money" wherever he sees it. So, now you know why we are looking for the Moose. Here Moosey, here Moosey-Moosey…
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11:49 AM | [Link]
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FROM THE MOOSE ARCHIVE: [Jonah Goldberg]
Rich, Good point on Global Crossing. Look what I just found. It’s a piece by Alison Mitchell in the January 13, 2002 New York Times:
".…As the collapse of the energy giant Enron sent the White House into a flurry of damage control last week, trying to distance the Bush administration from the company that had been its generous campaign donor, W. could do worse than follow [Teddy Roosevelt’s] example…. Mr. Bush, like his ebullient predecessor, might call himself the "Trust Buster" and thunder against representatives of "predatory wealth."
Perhaps …Mr. Bush could lambaste the judiciary for failing to stop "the abuses of the criminal rich."
True, the president has never expressed such views, but a few Republicans who believe their party has become too beholden to corporate interests were hoping Mr. Bush might seize the moment to remake himself….
"My sense is his one vulnerability is that the administration is too beholden to big money," said Marshall Wittmann, a conservative maverick who uses the logo of a Bull Moose (as T.R. did as an independent presidential candidate, running on the Bull Moose ticket) on the Web page of his Project for Conservative Reform.
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11:43 AM | [Link]
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THE RETURN OF...: [Rich Lowry]
...the $700 toilet seat. You could just feel it coming with Bush's proposed proposed defense increase, and sure enough a couple of defense-policy weenies raise it in a New York Times op-ed today complaining about defense waste. I hate government waste as much as anyone, but as Don Rumsfeld unfortunately proved last year, it is nearly impossible to rationalize the defense budget. It sadly makes more sense just throw money at the Pentagon, on the theory that you will be able to fund some good programs along with all the stupid outdated pork-barrel weapons programs.
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11:31 AM | [Link]
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THE RETURN OF...: [Rich Lowry]
... "racial insensitivity." It's the charge that liberals make when they can't actually accuse someone of being a racist. It's a smear that achieved its full flower during the Ashcroft confirmation fight. Now it's back in the Pickering confirmation fight, courtesy of among others Bob Herbert in the New York Times this morning. It's a wonderful accusation for the Left, since it basically amounts to accusing someone of disagreeing with liberals.
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11:18 AM | [Link]
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MORE ON OSAMA’S PUBLICIST: [Jonah Goldberg]
The other day I suggested that Al Jazeera spiked its Osama interview because it made him look bad, i.e. like the terrorist he is. After reading Howie Kurtz’s piece today, I’m even more convinced.
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11:15 AM | [Link]
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THE RETURN OF...: [Rich Lowry]
...the Moose? No. The so-called Project for Conservative Reform is still AWOL on John McCain's appearance of corruption in the Global Crossing controversy.
Posted
11:15 AM | [Link]
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THE SOON-TO-END WEST WING CONVERSATION [Kathryn J. Lopez] Jonah, you're are right, Toby did say he'd look over the tolerance language in the end, but you know, just this time, I excuse it. The joke of a corrupted government in the Congo--and the no-holds-barred-nature of that particular story line--along with the right-on words re: Islam were just so unusual for a prime-time show, especially this one, I thought were enough to excuse him possibly just appeasing the congresswomen who was, afterall his ex-wife. It's not like they cut to Martin Sheen delivering the U.N. speech as he delivered a "tolerance" line. Actually, you know what bothered me the most? The continuing image of pundit Lawrence O'Donnell as Pres. Bartlett's father (who, of course, scarred him for life).
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10:48 AM | [Link]
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UNHAPPY BIRTHDAY MR. PRESIDENT: [Jonah Goldberg]
Yesterday the House voted on a bill recognizing Ronald Reagan’s 91st birthday. 4 Representatives refused to vote in favor, casting a vote of "present" instead. They were Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas and Pete Stark, Barbara Lee, and Diane Watson of California. They are all Democrats.
Posted
10:44 AM | [Link]
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ARGH!!! [Jonah Goldberg]
Look, I don’t like feeding the Leviathan. But, Lord help me, I hate – yes, hate with a blinding passion not usually found outside the furnaces of Hell – morons on cell phones screwing up traffic. This morning, some lead-paint eating imbecile nearly got me killed twice – once by veering out of his lane, the other because my rage nearly gave me a heart attack. Almost every day I lose a left turn signal or some other opportunity because some yacker won’t put the phone down. And yet, in this country, if I were to kill them I would be the one to go to jail! In DC we just had a car accident which killed five people because a girl was talking to her boyfriend on her phone when she flipped over a rail. I know the Cato types oppose car phone bans and say the devices make us safer, but I’ve got tell say my personal experience says otherwise. Someone give me a free-market alternative to a handheld cell phone ban, please, or I’m going to be wearing someone’s viscera for a scarf.
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10:17 AM | [Link]
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APRES LAW, LE DELUGE: [Dreher] Actually, Bernard Cardinal Law is somehow still there, and the deluge is occurring anyway in the Archdiocese of Boston. Today's Boston Herald reports that phones "are ringing off the hook" at Boston-area law firms. People are calling in saying they were sexually abused by archdiocesan priests, and want to file suit against the Church because of it. And the state of Massachusetts announced yesterday it was going to look into the 30 state-licensed day care centers run by the archdiocese, to see if any abuse occurred there. A reader points out that that is called "expanding the investigation," and that it was the documenting of child molestation in church-run day-care centers that eventually bankrupted the Anglicans in western Canada. Remember that the Boston archdiocese said recently that it's insurance fund to pay for these settlements is almost tapped out -- this, with many lawsuits pending, and now many more apparently on the verge of being filed. What did the Catholic laity of Boston do to deserve this millstone? Only trusted their priests and their bishops.
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10:15 AM | [Link]
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BIRDS OF A FEATHER: [Dreher] Here's a moment. I'm sitting on my floor reading the Times just now while listening to President Bush speak at the National Prayer Breakfast. It was a lovely speech, all the more so because of the sure knowledge that we finally have a president who is not cynical when he praises faith and character. As Bush was speaking, my eyes fell upon the following lines in Caryn James' review, in today's Times, of tonight's PBS "Frontline" report on the porn industry: "From the 70's through the early 90's, [the documentary] says, pornography was regularly prosecuted, until the Clinton administration took a different approach. Janet Reno, that administration's attorney general, explains on camera that issues like national security and eliminating violence were higher priorities. 'Frontline' tips the balance against that argument by including disgruntled prosecutors and, most vividly, the producer of a video series called 'Jailbabies,' who says, 'When Clinton comes in, it's definitely blue skies and green lights and fat bank accounts.'"
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9:03 AM | [Link]
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AND NOW SOME PRAISE FOR WEST WING: [Jonah Goldberg]
But I will say what is really refreshing is that they don’t make up names of countries. Normally, in shows like this, you’d expect them to make up the African nation of "Bong-Bongo," the Central American republic of "Parador," or similar fictitious nonsense in order to avoid offending people. Or, they might ascribe traits to nations that don’t make sense ("Mr. President, separatist rebels in Liechtenstein have just seized control of our embassy!"). West Wing doesn’t do that. They portrayed the Congo as the corrupt, horrible country it is. Bravo.
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9:02 AM | [Link]
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WEST WING CONT’D [Jonah Goldberg]
Rod, K-Lo: Yeah, the "they’ll like us when we win," stuff was great in West Wing. Though I think you guys missed the salient part. Once Toby was done with his little outburst, he agreed to look at the more conciliatory language for the speech. West Wing does this head-fake stuff all the time. They give wonderful speeches and arguments that conservatives can agree with but, in the end, common sense (read: liberalism) wins. The producers seem to think it shows "balance" to air conservative arguments only to see them defeated when it really matters.
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9:01 AM | [Link]
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TIM NOAH COMES CLEAN: [Jonah Goldberg]
In Lloyd Grove’s gossip column today, he revisits Tim Noah’s typically bitchy little item about Danielle Crittenden’s email in which she bragged about her husband’s authorship of the "Axis of Evil" line. Yawn, I know. But Noah’s defense is that the news had already been made public (as Kathryn Lopez noted here yesterday). Stay with me. If the news had already been made public, then what exactly is the news, Tim? I mean, for such a famously prissy guardian of journalistic ethics, how is that a defense for revealing a private email? It’s one thing to say, "Oh, this minor invasion of privacy was warranted by the news value blah, blah, blah." It’s another thing to say it was warranted because there was no news value. In effect, Noah’s simply admitting "I did it because I’m an obnoxious, nosy liberal with nothing serious to report." Yes, I do think Danielle shouldn’t have sent out the email (though as the husband of a speechwriter I do understand the temptation). But, if it bought us this admission, her small headache is worth it.
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8:39 AM | [Link]
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About West Wing [Kathryn J. Lopez] Rod, maybe the real White House could hire Toby as special assistant for Arab affairs. Move over CAIR!
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5:51 AM | [Link]
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GET YOUR FUNDS OFF MY FETUS [Kathryn J. Lopez] Senators Jeff Bingamin and Jon Corzine hit the NYTimes today with the anti-"unborn child" message. The men, who had they the opposite view would be implored to back away from women's ovaries, should expect due props from the lefty "it's-a-zygote" women of the Beltway.
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5:45 AM | [Link]
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Wednesday, February 6
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GO 'WEST WING'!: [Rod Dreher] Did y'all see Toby Zigler just now on "The West Wing," slam-dunking his Congressman ex-wife, who was whining about the president's upcoming speech being insufficiently sensitive to the Islamic world? After angrily cataloguing the good the US has done for the ungrateful Islamic world, "Why does the United States have to take every Arab country out for a | |
