 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE SAUDIS [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Michael Barone (in a U.S. News web exclusive) says the Saudis are our enemies and everyone knows it, despite post-Rand-leak spin to the contrary. Regime change in Baghdad and Riyadh is what is going to make Americans safer, Barone says. Posted 9:46 PM | [Link] GENERAL PRAISE [Kathryn Jean Lopez] The NY Times had an uncharacteristically generally good profile of Ted Olson earlier this week, in case you missed it. (I'm just catching up on reading it.) As you may recall is was quite a chore for him to get by the Senate in the first place, but it's hard even for the Times to argue with his remarkable record this year (mentioned here before)--winning all the cases he argued in front of the Supremes, his office winning 54 of the 65 cases it was involved in. And, this, all, of course, during the same year his wife was murdered. Posted 9:31 PM | [Link] IMAGINE IF A CONSERVATIVE WROTE THIS ABOUT A LIBERAL [Kathryn Jean Lopez] The day Charlton Heston makes his sad announcement, Slate puts a piece up asking if Heston has to give up his guns now that he may have Alzheimer’s. It’s not just that it’s in bad taste; it’s also wrong in its legal analysis, Eugene Volokh writes on his always-worth-reading blog. Posted 9:18 PM | [Link] THE KINKS [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Jonah's little site ain't working. A lot of disappointed Saturday-night NRO readers out there, if the in-box is any indication. Working on it.... Posted 9:05 PM | [Link] WRONG WEEKEND[Kathryn Jean Lopez] I can’t help but think Jonah would have something Cosmo-inspired to say about this one. Posted 6:10 PM | [Link] JONAH SIGHTING [Kathryn Jean Lopez] He just checked in over in his "adventure" corner. Posted 6:00 PM | [Link] TIPS GETS TRIMS [Kathryn Jean Lopez] The Justice Dept. has eliminated mailmen and utility workers from the controversial spy program. Posted 3:02 PM | [Link] TIME FOR TURKMENS TO BUY NEW CALENDARS [Kathryn Jean Lopez] President Saparmurat Niyazov of Turkmenistan evidently wants to rename months of the year after himself, his mother, and some national heroes. Derb, this one's for you. Posted 2:55 PM | [Link] "ICH BIN EIN SLACKER" [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Speaking of Europe: Jeff Gedmin, who recently moved there to head the Aspen Institute, says Germans are lazy. Posted 2:49 PM | [Link] TALKING IRAQ [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Saddam Hussein is "an enemy until proven otherwise" with a "history of tyranny" the Prez says. He also says that "I think most people understand he is a danger." I guess he was not counting the U.N. and Europe. Posted 2:48 PM | [Link] THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GOT HHHHMMMM [Kathryn Jean Lopez] A few too many germ-warfare conincidences. Posted 2:36 PM | [Link]
TERM LIMITS FOR JUDGES: [Ramesh Ponnuru] A number of commentators have proposed term limits for federal judges over the years--Patrick Buchanan and William Kristol each did so in the mid-'90s, for example. The latest proposal, that of Akhil Amar and Steven Calabresi in the op-ed to which Melissa linked below, is not well defended. The harm that they allege comes from life tenure just doesn't seem like a big deal. They argue that justices time their resignations to get the successors they want, and that this practice makes the public think of the Court in political terms. That effect seems fairly minor and, to my way of thinking, beneficial. The real, substantial problems with the federal judiciary would not be solved by term limits. There's no reason to waste time on them. Posted 5:30 PM | [Link] HEY... [Kathryn Jean Lopez] When is NR gonna get a reality-TV show? With Jonah alone the possibilities seem endless. Posted 5:21 PM | [Link] PERLE PUMPS UP THE VOLUME [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Richard Perle has a piece in the Telgraph making the case for moving on Iraq. Posted 5:19 PM | [Link] THE FRENCH MUST DO THESE THINGS SO WE'LL HAVE SOMETHING TO WRITE ABOUT [Kathryn Jean Lopez] French schoolkids can go to jail for insulting their teachers. Posted 5:04 PM | [Link] IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Half the Saudi population is under 15. Or so says our favorite English-language daily. A lot of jihadists to train. Posted 4:59 PM | [Link] MORE ON NFP: [Rod Dreher] Kathryn, as one-half of an NFP-practicing Catholic couple, I'm so pleased by your excellent article on the Torodes. It was so difficult for Julie and me to get NFP instruction when we were planning our wedding. In our experience, the institutional Church doesn't care at best, and actively discourages it at worst (e.g., in the Archdiocese of Miami, where I was living at the time, the CCL teaching couple there told me they had been told by a number of pastors to stay away from the marriage-prep courses for engaged couples). NFP is not easy to do, emotionally, and those who advocate it tend to soft-pedal the sacrifices it entails. But Julie and I feel good knowing that as Catholics, we subject every part of our lives to the authority of Christ in His Church, even when it's difficult. Besides, there's a lot to be said for Popcak's point (mentioned in your essay) that NFP requires lots of deep, open communication between husbands and wives. You really do grow closer, and it becomes difficult to see your partner as an object. And, on a practical level, my wife tells me how great it feels not to have her body shot through with chemicals. Then again, you know she's a crunchy conservative, so you probably figured she'd say that. ;-) Posted 4:55 PM | [Link] RAMESH, PLEASE DECIPHER [Melissa Seckora] Is there a little circumventing of the Constitution here, or what? Posted 4:54 PM | [Link] HESTON [Andrew Stuttaford] I haven't seen the recording of Charlton Heston's announcement, but my wife called in to say that she had. I'm told that Mr. Heston was moving, eloquent, and brave. I can believe it. Posted 4:45 PM | [Link] HOW FAITHFUL? [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Just because a groups says it wants reform (in this case, "Voice of the Faithful") in the wake of scandals in the Catholic Church does not make it automatically good. It's like getting behind Marian Wright Edelman's Children's Defense Fund just because they say they are "for the children." In either's case, the general goals are ones everyone can agree with. (Leave no child behind!) Deal Hudson of Crisis magazine takes a closer look at Voice of the Faithful, the lay group that's been getting a lot of press lately. It is worth a read. (This is one of their weekly "e-letters"--always interesting, sometimes scoopy. Worth subscribing to (you can do it here) if you are interested in such things.) Posted 2:43 PM | [Link] IDIOT, IDIOT [Andrew Stuttaford] Judging by a report in today's New York Times, here's someone else to add to the idiot list. Speaking at some sort of rain forest benefit that was recently held in Manhattan, Kristin Davis (Charlotte from Sex and the City) announced that she thought that the "whole [human] race has set out to ruin the environment." Well, thanks for that insight, Kristin, but if anyone is earthy on your show, it's Samantha. Posted 2:19 PM | [Link] SEX TALK [Kathryn Jean Lopez] If you are interested in more on Natural Family Planning: A reader of my NFP piece today who is e-mails: There is software available (all the sites I could find charge a bit for it, like www.lifecyclesoft.com and femta.com, but there is shareware out there) to keep track of ovulation and menstrual cycles with a goal to either avoiding or achieving pregnancy. We (observant Jews) used it, not for any compelling religious reason (only the fringe sects of Judaism have a blanket ban on birth control) but more out of pragmatism: I'm not interested in synthetic hormones, noxious chemicals, or gadgets that are at best awkward and at worst physically painful. The plus side is that you end up so aware of your body that when you want a baby, it's generally a snap to time it as precisely as you want. Anyway, if you're spreading the word about this book, I thought you might like to let people know that the software can help -- no charting things on paper, etc. There's more too, the Couple to Couple League, for instance, is one popular group. Posted 2:10 PM | [Link] CHARLTON HESTON IS SERIOUSLY ILL: [Rod Dreher] Fox reporting the actor just held a press conference to say he has Alzheimer's Disease. Posted 1:46 PM | [Link] RE: MORE BLOOMBERG IDIOCY: [Rod Dreher] Hear hear, Jonathan. I cannot believe New Yorkers will stand for this ridiculous anti-smoking policy by Bloomberg. I don't like smoky bars either, which is why I don't patronize them. But what right do I have to tell other people that they can't do in bars what people have been doing in bars for centuries? Bloomberg, a pro-choice fanatic, believes a woman should have the right to have her baby murdered as it's being born, and if there's a limit to the rights he thinks transvestites and suchlike should have, it has not been discovered. But he thinks that a construction worker stopping off at an Irish bar for a beer after work should not have the right to smoke a Camel. Insane. Posted 1:45 PM | [Link] SMOKIN' JOE [Andrew Stuttaford] I wrote something on this Hollywood/smoking issue last year. Here it is. Posted 1:27 PM | [Link] MORE ESZTERHAS IDIOCY [Andrew Stuttaford] His repellent little screed also includes some discussion of Basic Instinct. The dictatorial director notes how "in the movie's most famous and controversial scene, [Sharon Stone] even has a cigarette in her hand". Well, I think I know which scene he's referring to, and if I know moviegoers, it wasn't a cigarette they were staring at. Posted 1:11 PM | [Link] GIVING DIRECTION [Andrew Stuttaford] Rod, Kathryn, perhaps the worst thing about that Eszerthas piece is the arrogance it reveals. It is arrogant in its cavalier disregard for individuals' right to decide for themselves whether to smoke and it is arrogant in its assumption that smokers take their direction from Hollywood. Of course, Eszerthas also reveals his contempt for the intelligence of the ticket buyers who have made him rich when he comes up with this comment: "Hollywood films espouse a belief in goodness and redemption". Oh, come off it, Joe. Posted 12:59 PM | [Link] THE REAL BATTLE (CONT.) [Jonathan Adler] The Village Voice discovers what I've said in The Corner before: The real battle over partial birth abortion will occur in the states (as it should). The Bush Administration should be commended for focusing its efforts on supporting Ohio's law, rather than a federal bill banning partial birth abortions "in or affecting interstate commerce." Posted 12:54 PM | [Link] 41'S BIGGEST MISTAKE [Robert A. George] Following up on Deroy's great column Saudi Arabia on the site today, isn't it about time to turn conventional wisdom on its head? The CW of the last eleven years is that that Bush "41" made a serious mistake by not going onto Baghdad and taking Saddam out. Now even liberals who opposed the Gulf War parrot this line. Maybe everyone was/is wrong. Perhaps Bush 41's biggest mistake was in stopping Saddam from annexing Kuwait and, subsequently, Saudi Arabia. After all, who kept a radical Islamic state (Iran) in check during the '80s? Saddam. Do we really believe that Saddam in control of the Saudi oil fields would be harder to deal with than the current crew? Saddam is in it for regional power. As far as we can tell, he's not interested in launching an ideological Islamist crusade around the world -- unlike the people that the House of Saud are funding. Hmmm.... Posted 12:44 PM | [Link] BLOOMBERG THE SAFETY-NAZI [Jonathan Adler] Need another reason to miss Giuliani? Read this story about Mayor Bloomberg's desire to ban smoking in ALL city restaurants and bars. This is obscene. The article claims that Bloomberg sees restaurants and bars as "workplaces" first, and that "employees within them should have the same option of a smoke-free environment as those who work in offices." That may be the party line at City Hall, but it's incoherent. If the Mayor really supports "choice" -- whether for employees or customers -- he wouldn't support any restrictions at all. Restaurants and bars are fully capable of choosing to be smoke-free, and many do. The Carlyle Grand is a perennial D.C.-area favorite, and it's been totally smoke-free for years. In my own neighborhood, my local wine bar is smoke-free too. If many people truly prefer smoke-free restaurants and bars, they should vote with their pocketbooks and only patronize such establishments. That's the only approach to smoking that supports free choice. Posted 11:59 AM | [Link] NOT GETTING IT [Rod Dreher] The heads of Catholic men's religious orders are rejecting criticism from victim's groups, who say that their decision to retain convicted sex abusers within their ranks, but keep them away from the public, is wrong. Fr. Canice Connors, famous for treating sex abusers, says the victim's advocates refuse to recognize that some of these guys can be successfully treated. Fr. Connors, former director of the St. Luke's Institute, doesn't exactly have a lot of credibility. According to a Boston archdiocesan document released in the Geoghan case, the priest's "spiritual assessment" of the serial pedophile was as follows: "Father Connors notes that there are no particular recommendations concerning [Fr. Geoghan's] spiritual life since he is involved in spiritual direction and seems to have a good prayer life." As George Weigel comments on this in his great new book The Courage to Be Catholic, "A man has been raping children for decades and a Catholic therapeutic center has 'no particular recommendations concerning his spiritual life,' because the man's breviaries show signs of use and he talks with a spiritual director? Please." Posted 11:55 AM | [Link] ESZTERHAS: I'VE KILLED MILLIONS!: [Rod Dreher] Hollywood screenwriter Joe Eszterhas is suffering from smoking-related cancer, and this morning pens a mea maxima culpa in the New York Times. He says that by glamorizing smoking in movies he's written, he, as well as Hollywood, are responsible for the deaths of millions. The poor guy has been through a lot with this cancer, and I'm glad he seems to be straightening himself out. God be with him. But this essay is grandiose, self-dramatizing malarkey. The damage to society and individual lives that Hollywood has wrought by glamorizing easy sex, gory violence, and self-gratification as the highest good is unquantifiable, but undeniable. When a Hollywood player finally has a moral awakening about the abdication of social responsibility his career represents ... it's about smoking, for crying out loud! Give me a break. Posted 11:36 AM | [Link] BREAKING: [Rod Dreher] U.S. Customs commissioner Robert Bonner on CNN now announcing a huge international child-porn ring bust. The ring, based in the U.S., involved the abuse of 45 children, aged two to 14. Get this: in most cases, their parents were their abusers. Bonner said this was as disgusting a crime as he's ever seen, and pointed out that thanks to the Internet, these kids will suffer in perpetuity, as these images are passed around from pedophile to pedophile. Damn these mothers and fathers. There is no hell deep enough for them. Posted 11:17 AM | [Link] BRITNEY UPDATE [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Her father is already packing. Posted 11:15 AM | [Link] NO ONE IN HERE IS THIS GEEKY[Kathryn Jean Lopez] Or do I assume too much? Posted 11:05 AM | [Link] ANDREW GETS A LIFE [Kathryn Jean Lopez] You just want a travel blog, too, don'tcha? I suppose you can do whatever you want on the weekends in here. :-) Posted 10:45 AM | [Link] THE WEEKEND [Andrew Stuttaford] Well, Kathryn, I'm off to Las Vegas (Viva! Viva!) on Saturday, but I'll do my best... Posted 10:44 AM | [Link] BRITNEY 'N' HEAT [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Rod, don't worry too much about Britney. Maybe she'll take your governor's advice and arm herself. (See John Lott today.) Or maybe she'll just go the Rosie route and make sure all her bodyguards are well-armed. Posted 10:39 AM | [Link] BYE-BYE BRITNEY?: [Rod Dreher] Oh no, Kathryn! You lyin'! Dat poor girl's gonna go back down to south Louisiana, cap, and the serial killah's gone get her if dem West Nile muskeetah's don't first. (Sorry, but I've been on a Vic 'n Natly tip ever since I got back from the Great State. Any of you New Orleanians know of a Bunny Matthews website, so we can spread the Vic 'n Natly gospel among the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy?) Posted 10:33 AM | [Link] CORNER COMPETITION [Kathryn Jean Lopez] I was missing Jonah until he trashed The Corner in his new ego trip…I mean travel blog. Andrew, make sure you’re not planning on having an outside-of-The-Corner life this weekend…we need you. Competition, baby! Posted 10:33 AM | [Link] GOOD OLD DAYS [Andrew Stuttaford] Woody should just stick to "Kelly, Kelly, Kelly." Posted 10:32 AM | [Link] WHY DO WE EVEN QUOTE THEM WHEN THEY GIVE THEIR OPINIONS? [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Woody Harrelson has some choice words about the war on terror. He even defends George Michael. If you care. Posted 10:15 AM | [Link] GET 4 FREE ISSUES OF NATIONAL REVIEW! That's right: We'll send you 4 FREE issues of National Review at absolutely no risk to you. If you're impressed by National Review's superior writing style, analysis, and wit, we'll send you the next 12 issues — for a total of 16 in all! — for only $19.95. Click here for details. Posted 10:13 AM | [Link] NEED A JONAH FIX? [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Want to know where he is? What he was doing last night? Where Cosmo drove him to? Read his travel blog. NOTE: This is a blog, read it like you read The Corner, bottom up. Here it is. He'll be randomly and continously adding to it throughout his travels. Posted 9:38 AM | [Link] ENGLISH LESSONS [Dave Kopel] England's extremely repressive gun laws--the most severe in the Western world--are hailed as models by American anti-gun groups. Joyce Malcolm's new book Guns and Violence: The English Experience shows that England had little crime at the dawn of the 20th century, when the nation had essentially no gun-control laws, but over the course of the century, the English government repeatedly lied to the English people in order to prohibit handguns, severely restrict possession of rifles and shotguns, and punish people for using force to defend themselves against violent crime. The unsurprising result, as Glenn Reynolds notes in his review for FoxNews.com, has been soaring violent crime, giving England a violent crime rate notably worse than the rate in America and other Western nations. Posted 8:51 AM | [Link] STRANGERS ON MY FLIGHT [Jack Fowler, NR Associate Publisher] For the warriors in us all. [N.B.: It's an audio link.] Posted 8:51 AM | [Link] WHO NEEDS REMORSE? [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Joe Bob Briggs has a screed up against the value of remorse. "They use this word 'remorse' all the time now, at criminal trials, at parole hearings, at parent-teacher meetings after Tyrone gets caught chunking rocks on the playground. The judge wants it. The jury wants it. And they want it out there on your sleeve like proof that you belong to the human race." Posted 8:25 AM | [Link] ******B R I T N E Y S P E A R S******** [Kathryn Jean Lopez] (I'm sure that got someone's attention.) Oh, to be twenty and burned out! The pop-tart princess is taking a break and moving back to Rod's Red America. Posted 7:57 AM | [Link] WHAT'S BEHIND AN IRAQ STRIKE [Kathryn Jean Lopez] "President George W. Bush is looking for a war" in seeking to avoid dealing with the Israeli lobby. From this morning's Arab News Reader. Posted 7:20 AM | [Link] ANOTHER ATTACK IN PAKISTAN [Kathryn Jean Lopez] This one on a Christian hospital. Three nurses dead. Posted 5:33 AM | [Link] THE BEST MOVIE EVER MADE... [Kathryn Jean Lopez] ...Citizen Kane. Posted 5:04 AM | [Link] BEWARE EXPLODING LIGHT BULBS [Kathryn Jean Lopez] The FBI warns. Posted 4:50 AM | [Link]
RISING TO THE CHALLENGE [Andrew Stuttaford] Blogger Mike Hendrix at Coldfury now refers to some US 'allies' as the 'axis of feeble'. Could this be the EU's response? Posted 11:52 PM | [Link] INJECTING SOME GOOD [Andrew Stuttaford] There's an interesting article (no link, alas) in the August 3rd issue of the London Spectator by Michael Vestey. Mr. Vestey is discussing a recent debate on British radio as to whether America's power is a power for good. The 'American' side was represented by a professor of war studies at King's College, London and Tom Reid, the London bureau chief of the Washington Post. Needless to say, 61 percent of listeners thought that America's power was not for the good (well, it was a BBC crowd), but one statistic quoted by Mr. Reid caught my eye. Since Afghanistan's liberation, 19 million Afghans have been inoculated against measles (the Taliban had previously banned inoculation as some sort of heresy). As a result, "thirty-five thousand children who would have died of measles will not die this year." A power for the good? Yes, I think so. Posted 11:36 PM | [Link] TEXAS NIGHTMARE [Andrew Stuttaford] Bob Herbert in the New York Times has been running with this story for a while. If the facts are as he describes them, it is an absolutely disgraceful saga: it also appears to be yet another reminder of the scope for abuse offered by this country's drug laws. Posted 10:59 PM | [Link] FISHY BUSINESS [Andrew Stuttaford] A reader writes with a link from Tasmania which would suggest that the risk of global domination from giant squid is less than suggested in my post from yesterday ("Be Afraid, Very Afraid"). On the other hand, if the facts on that site are correct and we are safe from calamari conquest, the prudent shouldn't overlook the sturgeon menace. Another reader sent in a story from the NW Florida Daily News (no link) which reported that no fewer than four people have been injured this year following encounters with "leaping sturgeon". No word yet on Tom Ridge's response. Posted 10:09 PM | [Link] NEVER MIND THE... [Andrew Stuttaford] Rod, no, the Clash haven't evolved: they always were hypocrites, and, if you'll allow me a bit of nostalgia for late 1970s London, that was yet another reason to prefer the Sex Pistols. Best punk song of that era? "Where's Captain Kirk" by Spizz Energy, which I could discuss at some length except that Kathryn would be very, very angry. Posted 9:53 PM | [Link] THE JEWS DID IT[Kathryn Jean Lopez] That's how some in the Arab world are explaining the Rand briefing. Posted 9:44 PM | [Link] HMMM [Jonah Goldberg] Jim, having sparred with Jello once or twice (we were on the "Spitfire Tour" together) I don't think we should be elevating him to Chris Hitchens status quite yet. Posted 9:26 PM | [Link] WITH A NAME LIKE THAT, HE COULD REPLACE BILL COSBY [James S. Robbins] Jello Biafra is the only honest leftie punker. Posted 4:20 PM | [Link] DESTINATION: FOUND [Jonah Goldberg] We found a hotel. Thanks to all who helped. Posted 3:39 PM | [Link] MUDHEN BOUND [Jonah Goldberg] Anybody know a non-dump hotel that might take Cosmo and me for the night? Posted 3:04 PM | [Link] STEYN ON SAUDIS[Kathryn Jean Lopez] Here's what he says about the Kingdom: I don’t believe those stories in the British press about the Kingdom being on the verge of collapse. In fact, I’d say they most likely came from Crown Prince Abdullah himself, desperate to stave off the invasion of Iraq. His ludicrous ‘Palestinian peace plan’ served as a grand diversion this spring and he’s hoping this latest wheeze will see him through to New Year. One reason why the House of Saud wants Saddam to stick around is because the first thing a new Iraqi regime will do, liberated from UN constraints on oil exports, is start pumping an extra couple million gallons a day. It’s a small point but one worth noting that, by keeping Saddam in power but restricting his ability to sell oil, the West to a certain extent punishes itself. A new regime in Baghdad, whether democratic or not, means more oil, which means cheaper prices at the pump, which means more pressure on the House of Saud, whose underpants get tightened a notch with every per barrel dollar drop. Thus, Saddam’s removal could be seriously crushing. Posted 2:51 PM | [Link] HAS MARK STEYN GOTTEN A PULITZER YET? [Kathryn Jean Lopez] This time he's on the case for destabilizing the Mideast. Posted 2:49 PM | [Link] BAD POLICY: [Rod Dreher] One-third of the Catholic priests in the United States are members of a religious order (e.g., the Franciscans, the Jesuits, the Dominicans). Leaders of the male religious orders just concluded their annual meeting, and have declared that they will not expel sex offenders, only keep them from personal contact with children and other parishioners. This is naïve at best. Consider the five Jesuits named in a civil suit filed on behalf of retarded men who worked at the Sacred Heart Retreat Center in Los Gatos, California, where at least some of the Jesuits lived. Two of the Jesuits pled guilty to criminal charges stemming from the case. Nothing in this new policy would have protected those retarded men from these predators. Expelling them from the order would have. Posted 1:32 PM | [Link] RE: THE CLASH: [Rod Dreher] Regarding the Clash's "London Calling" being used to sell luxury cars, this brings to mind the line from "White Man in Hammersmith Palais," chastising other bands for "turning rebellion into money." Are the Clash hypocrites, or have they simply evolved? Posted 1:28 PM | [Link] IN CASE YOU MISSED IT [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Slate has up the Rand Saudi briefing. Posted 1:12 PM | [Link] I HAVE MARSHALL MCLUHAN RIGHT HERE [James S. Robbins] I saw two great commercials back to back. The first was the Jaguar spot featuring the Clash song "London Calling." Hard to believe that this neo-Marxist punk anthem is now being used to sell one of the more expensive luxury cars in the world, especially one so associated with the British upper class. Hopefully the surviving members of the group are getting a nice fat capitalist pay day. The second, Norwegian Cruise lines, showing young active healthy people running about, skiing on glaciers and doing other exciting things to Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life." They don't quite give you enough of the lyrics to let you know the song is all about heroin addiction. I found it all very ironic, and a fine example of the way in which the electronic medium reshapes and bastardizes content to its own ends. I remember when both of these tunes were somewhat subversive. And wasn't there a hearing aid commercial pitched at aging baby boomers to the tune of the Who's "Tommy?" Think about it. Posted 12:21 PM | [Link] NO WONDER GORE'S SO SORE [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Posted 12:15 PM | [Link] ABA ON THE OUTS? [Jonathan Adler] Liberal activist groups used to insist that on giving substantial weight to the American Bar Association ratings of judicial nominees. No longer. Nan Aron of the Alliance for Justice is complaining that the ABA's judicial nominations are too friendly to Bush's nominees; "the administration has turned the ABA process solely into one of amassing support for the nominee." Senate Democrats have also changed their tune. Whereas they once insisted on the importance of ABA ratings, they now ignore the high ratings given Bush's judicial nominees. Indeed, while the Senate resists confirming the many judicial nominees rated "well-qualified" by the ABA, it unanimously confirmed the sole Bush nominee to receive an "unqualified" rating. Posted 11:37 AM | [Link] CONSTITUTIONALLY PROTECTED COMIC BOOKS [Jonathan Adler] Here is a reason Jonah should like the First Amendment. Posted 11:35 AM | [Link] ENRON, WORLDCOM, CLINTON? [Jonathan Adler] We all know the federal government cooks its books, but Novak suggests the Clinton team may have spiced up the numbers a bit more than usual in 2000. Posted 11:33 AM | [Link] THE MILK OF HUMAN STUPIDITY: [Rod Dreher] Another Norm Mineta success story. How long are the American people going to put up with this kind of crap? Posted 9:05 AM | [Link] SADDAM TRIES INTIMIDATION [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Says anyone who strikes against Iraq will "die in disgraceful failure." Posted 8:19 AM | [Link] FOX ROCKS [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Books Charlie Daniels--nixed from PBS Fourth of July special--for 9/11 tribute. Posted 6:48 AM | [Link] OUR "FRIEND" PLAYS VICTIM[Kathryn Jean Lopez] Looks like the Saudis are milking that Tom Ricks's piece from the other day. Posted 6:39 AM | [Link] SADDAM HUSSEIN GEARS UP TO FLEX SOME PROPAGANDA MUSCLE [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Posted 1:14 AM | [Link]
LETTERS TO HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH [Jonah Goldberg] Ramesh, I agree that HRW is silly if it thinks it can convince Hamas of giving up murder. But I think the letters might be worthwhile anyway -- because they might convince Human Rights Watch. The more the international human rights community pays attention to the fact that Hamas murders people despite the "moral force" of these letters, the better. If even one activist says "I can't believe it! These guys are stillmurdering teenagers even though we asked them to stop!" the more hope there is that world will right its moral compass. These investments of time and energy pay off precisely because they are worthless. Imagine if the New York Times had decided to editorialize day after day about Hitler's extermination of the Jews rather than turn a blind eye the way it did. It certainly wouldn't have hurt and it might have made the world realize a moment earlier what Hitler was up to. Posted 11:10 PM | [Link] LETTERS TO HITLER: [Ramesh Ponnuru] James Taranto rightly ridicules Human Rights Watch for sending a note to a Hamas leader urging an end to the targeting of civilians. He writes, "Just think. If only Human Rights Watch had been around in the 1930s, [someone] might have dashed off a 'Dear Adolf' letter asking Hitler to kindly knock it off with the genocide. Imagine how history would have changed!" Actually, Gandhi wrote a few letters to Hitler along those lines, one of them explaining to him the virtues of nonviolence. Gandhi also advised the Jews of Germany on the virtues of non-violent resistance, as I recall. Not the great man's finest moments. Posted 9:05 PM | [Link] BE AFRAID, VERY AFRAID [Andrew Stuttaford] Watch the seas. Posted 6:16 PM | [Link] "BEDS, BATHHOUSES AND BEYOND" UPDATE: [Rod Dreher] The AIDS virus is showing increasing signs of resistance to drugs used to fight it, says a report in the New England Journal of Medicine. Posted 6:09 PM | [Link] This is your link. Posted 6:07 PM | [Link] MORE RIGHT-WING GIANTS LOVE: [Rod Dreher] The Weekly Standard's Christopher Caldwell, writing in his New York Press column this week, says he and his family have been listening to No!, the new They Might Be Giants kids' album, all the time this summer. Writes Chris: "I started the week plunged in Strausbaughian speculation about whether this is a great next step for TMBG, or whether they’d’ve been better off just fading into the sunset. But my doubts have passed. First, because the album is so terrific–a mix of actual new children’s songs ("In The Middle, In The Middle, In The Middle") and weirdly beautiful vintage TMBG tunes of the "Ana Ng" variety ("The House at the Top of the Tree"). It leaves me wondering whether the band’s appeal to me hasn’t been a children’s-music one all along ("I’ve been leaving on my things/So in the morning when the morning bird sings/There’s still dinner on my dinner jacket/Till the dinner bell rings")." Posted 6:07 PM | [Link] WHAT'S ABOVE MY DESK AT HOME?: [Rod Dreher] This horrifying image. I'm not sure about this, but I think this four-headed beast was mentioned in Revelation as a sign the end of the world is at hand. Posted 5:39 PM | [Link] MATTER MEETS ANTIMATTER: [Rod Dreher] If you ask me, Phil Donahue's show, not The O'Reilly Factor, is the one to watch tonight, because the famously liberal Catholic host will argue with Battlin' Bill Donohue of the Catholic League. The topic: gay rights at Catholic colleges. MSNBC, 8 p.m. Posted 5:31 PM | [Link] O'REILLY: [Ramesh Ponnuru] Obviously, not being a deep thinker is part of his shtick. But he is widely regarded as a conservative spokesman. And he does have a column in the New York Post, in which he purports to tackle serious issues. . . . Compare him to Rush Limbaugh, who rightly regards himself as an entertainer but is also a serious thinker, even--dare I say it?--an intellectual. Posted 5:03 PM | [Link] BILL O'REILLY [John Derbyshire] Seriousthinker? It's TV, for crying out loud. Posted 4:59 PM | [Link] ABOUT BILL O'REILLY [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Does anyone actually think him a serious thinker? Does he? I don't think so. I think Phil Donahue and Geraldo Rivera think themselves serious thinkers. Bill O'Reilly, I've always thought, just wants people to watch his show and buy his books, and so he entertains them so they will keep tuning in. Seems to work. Posted 4:26 PM | [Link] CORRECTION: [Rod Dreher] Port Arthur is not on the Houston ship channel. OK? Posted 4:14 PM | [Link] BTW [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Jonah, was that your first D&D Corner reference? Derb might want to rethink that "cool" thing. Posted 4:03 PM | [Link] MAYBE I SHOULD DISAPPEAR FOR A FEW HOURS MORE OFTEN[Kathryn Jean Lopez] For all Jonah's morning talk, we got quite The Corner showing today. Posted 3:54 PM | [Link] DID SOMEONE FAX THIS TO COLIN POWELL?[Kathryn Jean Lopez] While I was out, I assume one of you got on this...Saudis are making clear they are not on the "friends" list. When do we catch on? Posted 3:43 PM | [Link] I'M CONFUSED... [Jonah Goldberg] Ramesh, I thought the "Dork Rock" was a little-known brother gem to the famed "Philosopher's Stone." All one need do is touch it and suddenly all you want to do is stuff like read articles in the Public Interest about reforming the Davis-Bacon Act. It's really useful in Dungeons and Dragons because you can make a level 20 Ranger drop his sword and dive into back issues of Regulation magazine. Posted 3:04 PM | [Link] JONAH IS RIGHT [Andrew Stuttaford] Glad to keep you company, Jonah. You should try this place at the weekends : it's like The Shining on redrum night.. Now, turning to UNC, I don't think that we're that far apart - which may be prudent - you are the editor. When it comes down to it, I do think that the UNC should be free to teach this course, however skeptical I may be about its contents. The university just needs to remember that even if the course is about a religion, it shouldn't be taught, forgive the phrase, as gospel. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that it will be. Posted 2:46 PM | [Link] TMBG SAY "NO!": [Rod Dreher] Ramesh, I'm so glad you brought up They Might Be Giants. They have a bestselling kids' album out now, called "No!" We bought it for our three-year-old, who loves it, and I can't quit playing it for my own 35-year-old self. It's just terrific. Posted 2:41 PM | [Link] PAPA DOC: [Rod Dreher] Remember Fr. Doc Ortman, the Michigan priest I blogged about yesterday who publicly endorsed a pro-choice candidate and told his parishioners in a letter to get over their intolerance? Turns out that he's a more complicated figure than we thought. Michael Dubruiel has turned up an article in which he defended a pro-life display on Church grounds. Scroll down Mike's blog for more info. Wonder what's going on with this guy? Posted 2:34 PM | [Link] THE RACIAL INTIMIDATION STRATEGY: [Ramesh Ponnuru] Peter Boyer ends his New Yorker piece on the Texas Senate race by quoting a Dallas political commentator named Rufus Shaw: "This is our Colin Powell. This is as close as a black politician can come to being inoffensive to the Anglo community, without becoming a Republican. If Texas doesn't vote for him, it's going to say something about Texas, and it will not be very good." Maybe what it would say is that Texas prefers Republicans. Boyer is going along with a rather ugly campaign tactic--and catering to the prejudices of New Yorker readers. Posted 2:27 PM | [Link] DORK ROCK BEFORE IT WAS COOL: [Ramesh Ponnuru] I used to listen quite a bit to They Might Be Giants and, although it's been a while, I was happy to see an article about They in the New Yorker (not online). I wasn't quite so happy to learn that they made their debut at a Sandinista rally in Central Park. Posted 2:21 PM | [Link] WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE: [Rod Dreher] The Saudis are telling the United States that it can't attack Iraq from Saudi soil. Useful to get that learned. Perhaps those Saudi oilfields ought to be in U.S. custody until a more civil, humane, religiously moderate and anti-terrorist regime is in power in Riyadh. Posted 2:19 PM | [Link] THE UNC-ISLAM CONTROVERSY: [Ramesh Ponnuru] I first read about it in a Catholic League press release. I think they got it about right. . . . Incidentally, isn't it about time that someone on the Right noted that Bill O'Reilly is a demagogue, not a principled conservative or even a serious thinker? Posted 2:14 PM | [Link] THE UGLIEST STATE: [Rod Dreher] So Louisiana is the ugliest state, eh? Why I oughta...! Well, parts of it sure are, but then you should drive through the Felicianas, or through most of north Louisiana, which is beautiful. That's the problem with this task: most states are too diverse to be condemned wholesale. I find the treeless plains of north Texas to be incredibly depressing, and a friend of mine who grew up in Port Arthur, on the Houston shipping channel, to be the armpit of the world. But east Texas is beautiful, and the Texas Hill Country around Austin is one of my favorite places on the planet. All I know of New Jersey is the decrepit Jersey shore, but I'm told they don't call it the Garden State for nothing, and that parts of it are exquisite. The only state I've ever been too that seemed to me to be topographically and aesthetically flawless is Vermont. Posted 2:11 PM | [Link] NO ONE HERE BUT US GUYS: [Rod Dreher] Sorry, Jonah, I worked from home this morning and didn't find time to blog. Mrs. Dreher and Young Master Dreher are in Dallas visiting her folks, and I gotta tell ya, the bachelor life stinks, and the absence of a female person in the house has caused my guardian angel to flee. How else to explain the eerie phenomenon of my underwear remaining -- I kid you not -- right where I left it the night before? Bizarre, man. On the upside, I can finally watch The Man Show and Cops in peace, and play all my old Stones discs as loud as I want to. Posted 2:04 PM | [Link] AHA! [Jonah Goldberg] First of all, thanks for chiming in Andrew. I was getting cabin fever (No I wasn't! Shut up. You Shut up!) Second, I'm glad you took up the gauntlet on this teaching Islam thing. I've gotten a pile of email about it already. Here's my response. Absolutely, you're right that UNC is probably assigning a crappy book and, yes, this Professor Ernst sounds like a jerk. But when you think about it, so what? This lawsuit claims that the school has no right to require students learn about Islam or religion at all. This means that as a legal matter they would oppose the assignment of a good book about Islam, or Christianity too for that matter. Somehow, I can't imagine them suing if the assigned book was, say, Dave Shifflet's wonderful "Christianity On Trial" or Neuhaus' seminal "The Naked Public Square." It's going to be very difficult for conservatives to argue that Christophobia is a problem in this country if other conservatives have decided to ape the ACLU and argue that all religion should be banned (indeed, they're even inviting the ACLU to sign-up with them!). If you have no problem with the idea that a university has the right, if not the obligation, to teach about such things then your argument is reduced to the typical conservative complaint about P.C. and multiculturalism. Of course, I'm not only sympathetic to that argument, I make it all the time. But I don't think the government has the right to force universities to only assign good books. Also, I know O'Reilly meant it as a bully-boy tactic, but I think his comparison of the Koran to Mein Kampf is instructive. America would have been much better off if more of us had read Mein Kampf in 1941 or, better yet, 1938. I am not saying the Koran is Mein Kampf, but even if it is, all the more reason people should learn about it. The fact that we are even having this argument shows why we are superior to so many Muslim/Arab nations. If a University in Saudi Arabia assigned a relatively positive book about Christianity to its incoming students, the professor in question might be shot. I hate to sound like liberal goody-goody here, but I don't think becoming more like Saudi Arabia is the answer to anything. Posted 1:34 PM | [Link] TAR HEEL TURMOIL [Andrew Stuttaford] Jonah, there should, of course, be no objection to teaching students about Islam - in fact it is obviously a good idea. The question is how it will be taught. If this UNC introduction to Islam is to be nothing more than force-fed multiculturalist pap it should be abandoned. A number of the early signs are bad. I mentioned some of these on the Corner a week or so ago, but the quote in the Washington Post story from Carl Ernst is yet another ominous sign. Ernst, a professor of religious studies at the university, has denounced the opposition to the course as "part of a long history of anti-Islamic bias that is akin to anti-Semitism or even racism". In other words, the professor is playing the victim card, and he is doing so in a way that is quite remarkably dishonest even by the low standards of the PC academy. Here, I suppose, is the critical question. When the UNC students are asked to discuss their set book on Islam, will they be able to do so in a free and open way, without any fear of sanction for 'insensitivity'? Having read what Professor Ernst has to say, I think that I know the answer. Posted 1:06 PM | [Link] Beware Inferior Chorizo Sausage Peddlers [Jonah Goldberg] No, that's not a line from your favorite hardcore Latino prison movie...it's just the headline of the day. Posted 12:43 PM | [Link] HEY.... [Cleofus Greezlydick] I just realized that if I'm all alone in here I don't have to use my real name! Posted 12:28 PM | [Link] WATER COOLER TOPIC [Jonah Goldberg] Since, I can't carry the load all alone in here, I thought I'd suggest a conversation topic for restless officer-workers stuck in their veal pen cubicles. You will be amazed how much time you can waste arguing about this question: What is the ugliest state in America? Not in terms of people, though that might be interesting too, but in terms of general landscape, architectural and geographic. My friends and I wasted hours on end arguing about this more than once back when I worked in an office. We used the following criteria: if you were a travelling salesman who had to drive around and work in a state for months on end, which state would you least like it to be? We generally found that this ruled out coastal states, though Louisiana came up often as a nominee for the ugliest state. Indiana and Nebraska were often cited as the most boring, a closely related category. Discuss amongst yourselves. Posted 12:26 PM | [Link] THIS IS GREAT [Jonah Goldberg] Kathryn's disappearing for a few hours today and everyone else appears to be MIA. This means I have the Corner all to myself. I can walk around naked, post stuff about comic books and Star Trek all I want and no one can stop me. Right now I've got my spaghetti-strainer codpiece on and I'm dancing to "Brick House" or whatever that song was called. But I better stop because it makes Cosmo bark at me. Posted 12:19 PM | [Link] ISLAM MEANS PEACE CONT'D [Jonah Goldberg] The blogger Little Green Footballs has found a website dedicated to giving guidance to Muslim teens. The chatroom has plenty of cheery stuff about stabbing, shooting and otherwise slaughtering Jews. The homepage is here. The forum is here. That's about all I know. [KJL ADDS: readers tell me in just a few clicks you can find some Pearl-video-level stuff. So be forewarned.] Posted 11:57 AM | [Link] AM I MISSING SOMETHING? [Jonah Goldberg] I've defended evangelical conservatives over Bob Jones U., Promise Keepers etc. But for the life of me I can't understand why the Christian conservative push to keep Universities from teaching students about Islam is a good idea. I'm going to read more because I think this would be a good column topic, but the story in the Washington Post-- if it's being fair -- makes the Family Policy Network look pretty ridiculous. And if O'Reilly really compared assigning a book on the Qur'an to assigning Mein Kampf in 1941 he should be embarrassed. Posted 11:00 AM | [Link] BACK TO YOU JEFF [Jonah Goldberg] The political cartoonist Jeff Danziger took a shot at those like me (and Rush Limbaugh, John Fund, Ann Coulter et al) who advocate war with Iraq but won't have to fight themselves. I returned fire in my syndicated column (which, for some reason the Washington Times and Townhall are not carrying today). I wish I'd had more room to respond because I hear this sort of thing from readers all the time. Posted 10:13 AM | [Link] I'M GLAD THIS COUPLE ISN'T AMERICAN [Kathryn Jean Lopez] They got hitched at McDonald's. Posted 7:30 AM | [Link] BOOK YOUR FREE FLIGHT [Kathryn Jean Lopez] One air-carrier gives away free 9/11 flights in the hopes of getting Americans in the air. Posted 7:28 AM | [Link] AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL IS IRRELEVANT [Kathryn Jean Lopez] So say the Canadians at the National Post. Posted 7:24 AM | [Link] GET 4 FREE ISSUES OF NATIONAL REVIEW! That's right: We'll send you 4 FREE issues of National Review at absolutely no risk to you. If you're impressed by National Review's superior writing style, analysis, and wit, we'll send you the next 12 issues — for a total of 16 in all! — for only $19.95. Click here for details. Posted 12:06 AM | [Link] THE GOOD NEWS [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Religion makes better fathers, a new study says. Posted 12:05 AM | [Link]
THE PLENARY COUNCIL: [Rod Dreher] Catholic News Service has seen the much talked about letter from the eight U.S. Catholic bishops calling for a plenary council to address the Church's grave problems regarding holiness and sexuality -- and they reveal the names of the bishops who signed it. It's surprising who is on the list, and who is not. Here's the story. Posted 10:24 PM | [Link] BLESS ME FATHER, FOR I FAVOR KILLING THE UNBORN: [Rod Dreher] Mark Shea alerts us to an outrage in Michigan. A parish priest has publicly endorsed a pro-choice Democrat running for governor, and chastised those Catholic parishioners who criticized the candidate for favoring legalized abortion. Scroll down Mark's blog a bit, and you can not only read the Father Doc's remarkable -- and remarkably revolting -- letter to his parishioners, but also links to let you e-mail Father Doc, and Cardinal Adam Maida. Posted 6:26 PM | [Link] WARM REGARDS [John Derbyshire] Thank you, Kathryn. Coolness is what Jonah and I crave... Posted 6:04 PM | [Link] HAPPY ANNIVERSARY [Kathryn Jean Lopez] To the Derbs! Is that how you celebrate? Hang in The Corner? Jonah, you have an anniversary coming, take notes! If only others realized how cool The Corner is.... Posted 5:53 PM | [Link] WARM PEOPLE [John Derbyshire] Jonah: I am a sweater, too. Back in my single days, when I had money to throw around, I used to patronize an extremely posh gentlemen's tailor in London's Hanover Square. This man came from a long line of bespoke tailors, probably going all the way back to the Norman Conquest. He was extraordinarily good at his job, and could measure you up at a glance--not only size, but also temperature. Going through some swatches with him one day, I picked out a fabric I liked, that I thought would look good made up as a suit. It was a rather thick worsted. Mr. Brown shook his head: "I think not, Sir. Too heavy. We are a warm person, are we not?" Posted 5:51 PM | [Link] ROAD TIPS [Jonah Goldberg] Suggestions are flying in for my adventures. I like this site particularly. Posted 5:50 PM | [Link] RE: MANNERS ENDETH MAN [John Derbyshire] Andrew: For a portrayal of a society in which men engage in duels at the drop of a hat, see the early Heinlein novel Beyond This Horizon. Other features of this novel (which, considered just as a novel, is actually not very good): (1) It also has some astonishingly--it was written around 1940--up-to-date-sounding discussions of genetics. (2) It is the source of the phrase: "An armed society is a polite society" (p.147 of the Signet paperback edition). Posted 5:47 PM | [Link] CLASSIC REBUILD [Kathryn Jean Lopez] This World Trade Center idea from Fred Turner at TechCentralStation won't be popular on the left side of the city. Posted 5:23 PM | [Link] A WHOLE LOT OF NOTHING [James S. Robbins] So a RAND guy briefs the Defense Policy Board on his unconventional (however creditable) views on Saudi and suddenly its news? Please. I hate to sound like the old Washington hand, but the real story here is who let this leak and why. Trust me, all kinds of offbeat ideas get discussed at fora such as this. I saw this story as another in the sort that have been running in the NYT of late, an attempt to foment public reaction more than a reflection of an evolving policy. If it was an NSC leak, maybe. But the DPB? Come on. Posted 5:16 PM | [Link] STATE CLARIFICATION [Andrew Stuttaford] "Prince" Saud Al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, is now reported as saying that he has received a telephone call from Colin Powell in which the Secretary of State assured him that the views presented at that Pentagon briefing in no way represented the views of George Bush or his administration. If that's true, it is the "in no way" which is disturbing. It's quite possible to disagree with some of that briefing, but if there really is "no way" in which it reflects the views of the administration this would suggest that the U.S. now has an executive in which Norm Mineta is the brightest light. Posted 4:47 PM | [Link] WHAT A DIFFERENCE A (BEAUTIFUL) DAY MAKES [Jonah Goldberg] Yesterday (and the day before and the day before that), I was unbelievably depressed about the DC weather. I'm a sweater (as in one who perspires, not a cardigan) by nature and the heat and humidity had me beat. It actually had me hating the suburbs generally (and I was bit cranky at Western Civilization, carbon-based life and the space-time continuum generally too). I felt like I was under house arrest. But today is simply glorious. All of a sudden, sitting on my deck with the laptop seems quite civilized. I still have problems with suburb-dwelling (this is the first house I have ever -- ever -- lived in), but I'm saving those observations for a big article one of these days. For now, though, beer in a beach chair seems to make up for everything. Posted 4:40 PM | [Link] SCREENING NICOTINE [Andrew Stuttaford] Just when you think that anti-smoking zealotry could become no more intrusive, something else happens. Thanks to blogger Natalie Solent for highlighting this truly absurd story. Posted 2:03 PM | [Link] MANNERS ENDETH MAN [Andrew Stuttaford] Time for a little civility? British blogger Peter Cuthbertson examines the case for legalizing dueling. Posted 1:56 PM | [Link] OF HUMAN BONDAGE [John Derbyshire] Today is the Derbs' 16th wedding anniversary. The only extant photograph of this momentous event is here. Posted 1:45 PM | [Link] CANTERBURY TALES [Andrew Stuttaford] Rowan Williams, the dim-witted parson who will shortly become the next archbishop of Canterbury has found a new hobby to add to his hatred of Walt Disney and opposition to any invasion of Iraq. He has just become a druid. Posted 1:41 PM | [Link] STUFF! [Jonah Goldberg] The G-File is in. It was epic in length, but I've cut it down to little longer than the director's cut of Dune. Whether it's any good is for history to decide. But since it is so long, Kathryn and I have decided to cut it into a two-parter. So if it's great, you can make it last. If it sucks, you don't have to endure it all at once. This will give me the flexibility to get ready for my trip. I leave Thursday for Alaska where I will be fishing with the in-laws (that's not a euphemism). Cosmo the Wonderdog is coming with us, which is why I am driving to Minneapolis to ensure that we can get on a plane. This means that the entire family unit (as they say in "Raising Arizona") will be driving -- that's right, driving -- back from Fairbanks, Alaska to Washington DC (in a car I've not yet seen). While I am gone, the Goldberg File will be turned into a temporary Blog site so that I can post from the road whenever possible. I am also hoping to do some reporting about forest fires and the like on the way back. Last year, on my last road trip, readers were incredibly generous and helpful with suggestions about where to go and what to see. I am hoping you'll be helpful again. Please (please!) put "Road trip" somewhere in the subject header of any email you send me, that way I'll know what to save to a different file. Examples: "Road trip: Forest fires in Oregon," or "Road trip: Check out the big ball of twine," or "Road trip: You're higher than a moonbat!" etc. More exciting announcements and groveling to come! Posted 12:26 PM | [Link] PENTAGON DOWNER [Andrew Stuttaford] Jonah, Kathryn, that Washington Post piece is absolutely fascinating. What was peculiarly depressing was the craven response that it generated from Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke. This included the comment that "the Saudis cooperate fully in the global war on terrorism and have the...Administration's deep appreciation." While it is reasonable to expect some diplomatic guile from Washington, remarks this dishonest--and this feeble--do nothing other than broadcast an impression of U.S. weakness across the Middle East. Still, perhaps I'm being unfair. Maybe Ms. Clarke would like to explain the nature of this "full cooperation." Posted 10:24 AM | [Link] THOUGHTS ABOUT "ABOUT THEM JUDGES" [Jonathan Adler] Jonah's correct that the increased political influence of judges is one reason judicial confirmations have become so partisan. I do have a few observations suggesting "them judges" are not the sole source of the problem. First, liberal activists are so involved in this fight because they have come to realize that much of their agenda can only be implemented through the judiciary. Congress and the executive won't do it -- at least not openly. This leads to my second observation: The judiciary has so much power, in no small part, because of abdication by the other branches. This comes in several forms. One is Congress' refusal to consider the Constitutionality of its own enactments. (Exhibit A is McCain-Feingold; Exhibit B is the partial-birth abortion ban the House passed -- which prohibits such procedures "in or affecting interstate commerce.") Another is the habit both Congress and the executive have of enacting vague statutes and regulations that courts must interpret in subsequent litigation. In effect, both Congress and executive agencies routinely delegate policy-making to the courts, hoping that courts will enact policies for which Congress lacked the courage to enact. A good example of this is the Civil Rights Act of 1991. This leads to my final observation. Congress has ample ability to reduce the political importance of the courts by taking its constitutional obligations more seriously. If Congress legislated more clearly and directly, courts would legislate far less. (I'm not saying Congress should do what courts have done. Rather, Congress should be more clear and explicit in its policy choices.) It can also stop creating endless causes of action under federal law. If these steps are not enough, Congress can further curtail judicial power by limiting the jurisdiction of federal courts. Of course, I would not expect Congress to do any of these things any time soon. Posted 9:11 AM | [Link] THE SAUDIS ARE OUR ENEMIES [Jonah Goldberg] That Tom Ricks Washington Post piece about the growing sentiment among military and strategic planners that the Saudis are the bad guys is hugely important . From the piece: "The Saudis are active at every level of the terror chain, from planners to financiers, from cadre to foot-soldier, from ideologist to cheerleader," stated the explosive briefing. It was presented on July 10 to the Defense Policy Board, a group of prominent intellectuals and former senior officials that advises the Pentagon on defense policy. Posted 8:22 AM | [Link] AIRPORT SECURITY GETS SERIOUS [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Posted 4:24 AM | [Link] VERY FAR AWAY FROM FOGGY BOTTOM [Kathryn Jean Lopez] A Pentagon briefing is blunt about Saudi terrorism--and what the U.S. may have to do to stop it. Posted 4:21 AM | [Link]
THAT WEIGEL BOOK: [Rod Dreher] Megadittoes to Michael Novak on his rave review of George Weigel's upcoming book on the Church scandal. I'll save my comments for my NRODT review, but this book is going to become a bestseller, deservedly so. It is the clearest, bluntest explanation of why things have gotten so bad in the Catholic Church, and what can be done about it. I have only one major quibble, which I'll save for my review. But yes, absolutely buy several copies of this book to pass out. I was thrilled and edified by it, and those who have purchased Michael Rose's Goodbye, Good Men and Paul Likoudis's Amchurch Comes Out will want to get their orders for the Weigel book in now. Posted 11:59 PM | [Link] ROY DALE: [Rod Dreher] Thanks to everybody who wrote about my essay today on the little baseball player who was killed by a car. Like Derb says, everything you send me gets read, but there's often so much of it I can't respond individually. A number of you suggested that that piece should be mailed to the millionaire prima donnas who play professional baseball, so they'll realize that there are kids in America who still play for the sheer love of the game, and who need heroes. Good idea. Posted 9:15 PM | [Link] LEDEEN ON IRAN[Kathryn Jean Lopez] The Iranian people have taken to the streets again. If you read Ledeen in the morning, make sure you read his update posted in the P.M. Posted 9: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
<% printurl = Request.ServerVariables("URL")%>