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NYC IS THE REAL CAPITAL OF AMERICA: [Rod Dreher] The Times' Frank Rich (a DC native) has started a huge Washington-vs.-New York slapfight with his provocative essay pointing out that New York City is superior to Washington, DC, in every way that counts. An excerpt: "First appearances can be deceptive to new visitors to DC. Edmund Wilson once observed that Washington, 'after other American cities, seems at first such a relief, so agreeable,' but 'turns out, when one has stayed there any length of time, to have little personality of its own and to come to taste rather flat.' Or as [New York Post gossip columnist] Cindy Adams wrote this year: 'Even folks who live in Washington don't want to be there. The high point for a visitor? Catching a glimpse of Trent Lott in person? I mean, please.'" Now, having lived in both cities, and loved both, I find Rich's delightfully arrogant piece unanswerable. But I look forward to someone from NRO's Washington office to hazard a rebuttal. Or maybe John Podhoretz, who once wrote an engaging essay in which he spoke unironically of Washington as a "place of excitement, romance, and mystery," will speak up in DC's defense -- if he can manage it with a straight face, now that he's been happily back in NYC for five years. Posted 10:42 PM | [Link] DAMN THOSE RALLY MONKEYS!: [Lowry] Posted 8:43 PM | [Link] THE ANAL-RETENTIVE PUNDIT STRIKES BACK (BY PROXY): From another reader: "I'm sure that this is not the only e-mail you'll get on the subject, but if it takes a cybermob to correct an evident idiocy, then it's a mob I don't mind being a part of. Contrary to what your reader wrote, there is no singular noun talebun in Persian. The singular is taleb: in my Persian dictionary (Haim), 'one who seeks or demands.' We foreigners who were in Afghanistan in the mid-nineties, during the rise of the Taleban, used to refer to them as talebs, i.e., adding the English plural form to the Persian singular. Like many words in Persian, taleb comes from Arabic. But Persian has its own grammar rules for pluralizing. In Persian, the suffix -an (pronounced 'awn') dentes the plural for humans (-ha, pronounced 'haw,' is used for inanimate objects). Thus, taleban is the plural for taleb... . Your reader should be reminded that the recent Arab invasion of Afghanistan has been defeated, and his application of Arabic grammar to Persian may be a clever rear-guard action, but it is also demonstrably false." So there! Next topic: Paula Zahn's promiscuous abuse of gerunds in colloquial Albanian -- just who the heck does she think she is?!. Posted 6:17 PM | [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 1:04 PM | [Link] DARE TO DREAM [Andrew Stuttaford] In an annoyingly realistic gesture, Taiwan has renounced its claims to Mongolia (which stem from the island nation's status as the continuation of pre-Communist China). Su Jia-shan of the Taiwanese interior ministry told the Financial Times that Taipei was simply being "practical", "To have Mongolia shown as part of our territory does not accord with reality." He's quite right, of course, but it's still somewhat disappointing. I rather like the thought of Taiwan's ambitious hegemons, hungrily staring across the ocean and dreaming of empire in distant Ulan Bator. In a way it's a little reminiscent (if I remember correctly) of the supposed war between Sweden and Yugoslavia dreamt up by the humorist Peter Simple in the London Daily Telegraph a few decades ago. The conflict had, apparently, being going on for years, with attempts to bring it to a successful conclusion by one side or the other being continually stymied by the fact that there was nowhere that these two powers could actually meet to have a battle. Posted 11:59 AM | [Link] FULL BLOOM [Andrew Stuttaford] The September 30th edition of the New Yorker has a long piece on Harold Bloom. It's worth reading in its entirety, but this remark by Bloom (on the experience of giving a lecture at Oxford) is truly something to savor: "I watched the faces of my audience as I delivered this, and I saw blank incomprehension. I had a vision of an airplane flying over cows in a meadow." Those words are, of course, boastful, rude and shamelessly elitist, and in an age of fake humility, bogus politeness and pious egalitarianism, they are a delight. Posted 11:25 AM | [Link] CUBA LIBRE [Andrew Stuttaford] In a charming gesture, delegates to an anti-racism conference in Barbados have voted to exclude all attendees with the 'wrong' skin color. Of all people, the Cubans had the guts to object. Who would have thought it? Posted 10:39 AM | [Link] ROTH TO NEW YORK CITY... [Andrew Stuttaford] Roth had, it turned out, arrived in New York City on September 10th, 2001. He stayed on afterwards for a few months. As he explains, "For me New York had become interesting again because it was a town in crisis, particularly in the weeks that followed when everyone was expecting another attack. It was a strange time and the first time for years that New York interested me." I'm sure that New Yorkers will be glad to know it. Posted 10:24 AM | [Link] PORTNOY'S COMPLAINT [Andrew Stuttaford] Author Philip Roth is reportedly attacking Americans for their "narcissism" in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Well, I guess that it is a quality he knows something about. Posted 10:00 AM | [Link] A YANKEE FAN'S AGONY III: [Lowry] The Angels play like the Yankees of the mid-to-late 1990s: lots of basehits and disciplined at-bats, no superstars, doing all the little things right (like bunting, for instance--the Angels' lead-off hitter can do it, the Yankees' can't). Posted 9:29 AM | [Link] A YANKEE FAN'S AGONY II: [Lowry] When Mondesi dropped that ball in right-field, I couldn't help thinking: Paul O'Neill would have caught that! Posted 9:25 AM | [Link] A YANKEE FAN'S AGONY I: [Lowry] This feels a lot like 1995. Posted 9:22 AM | [Link] THE ANAL-RETENTIVE PUNDIT IS WRONG!: [Rod Dreher] Writes a reader: "Someone please tell the anal-retentive pundit the plural of talibun, student, is not taliban but tullabuun. Taliban is still a singular noun." Thanks, Mullah Omar! The anal-retentive pundit acknowledges his error, and will henceforth limit his lexicographal tut-tutting to lecturing Yankees on the proper use of the term y'all. Posted 8:45 AM | [Link] DOMESTIC PREEMPTION[Kathryn Jean Lopez] Those DNC ads showing the president killing elderly people might be the Democrats interpretation of preemption: the president kills people before they kill themselves, which they will do under CONSERVATIVE RULE. Posted 8:39 AM | [Link] WE SPONSORED THE BAGHDAD DEMS IN IRAQ…[Kathryn Jean Lopez] …but we’re not political. (That, but they are antiwar.) If they want to preserve a nonpolitical veneer, this "charity" should choose whose trips it pays for a little more carefully. Posted 8:34 AM | [Link] CAN'T WE FIND SOMETHING TO KEEP THE U.N. OCCUPIED... [Kathryn Jean Lopez] ...so they will stop messing with real life? U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child has informed Britain that it needs to rethink legal spanking, or else be in violation of an international treaty. Won't those bloddy British every learn human rights from the likes of Libya. Posted 2:18 AM | [Link] “PUT UP OR SHUT UP[Kathryn Jean Lopez] Mark Steyn on European whining. Posted 2:08 AM | [Link] CYNTHIA MCKINNEY SUPPORTERS ARE LOOKING FOR A FRIENDLY COURT... [Kathryn Jean Lopez] ...to turn her primary loss around for her... Posted 1:59 AM | [Link]
THE ANAL-RETENTIVE PUNDIT: [Rod Dreher] I know, I know, there are worse things to worry about (like those two Jane Monheit devotees out to get me for extolling the virtues of Diana Krall last night in The Corner), but I've gotta say that I'm really tired of newscasters calling John Walker Lindh the "American Taliban." The word taliban is the plural form of talib, which means "student." Inasmuch as there is only one of him, he is the "American talib." Posted 11:20 PM | [Link] A HITCH IN TIME [Andrew Stuttaford] Jonah posted something nasty from the London Daily Mirror earlier today. Any Corner readers overcome by nausea on reading it can find an antidote from, surprisingly, the same newspaper: Christopher Hitchens' entertainingly brutal comments on Clinton's performance at the Labour Party Conference earlier this week. Thanks to Blogger Pejman Yousefzadeh for pointing this out. Posted 11:06 PM | [Link] IS KRISTOF SERIOUS? [Kathryn Jean Lopez] >The New York Times columnist seems to not understand that the run-of-the-mill Iraqi is not suicidal and therefore takes everything folks he interviewed there at face value. Posted 5:13 PM | [Link] RE: RAELIAN SICKOS[Kathryn Jean Lopez] As for those nuts, they have been claiming to have buns in the oven so to speak for much more than nine months now. Truth be told, it's not them I am worried about. As each day passes without a federal ban on human cloning, serious, mainstream cloning technology from much more respectable types comes a little closer to reality. Posted 5:06 PM | [Link] RAELIAN SICKOS: [Rod Dreher] The Raelian UFO cult now says it has cloned pregnancies underway. The group is also undertaking a nasty anti-Catholic campaign in Canada that includes the burning of crucifixes, it is reported. If the space-cadet Raelians were burning Torahs or Korans, Canada would be in an uproar, eh? Posted 5:00 PM | [Link] ARIZONA READERS.. [Kathryn Jean Lopez] ...are suggesting there are in-state boycotts of KUPD sponsors going on, and one sponsor has already reportedly pulled from the station. If any of you have a link to send people too, holler with it. A lot of Corner readers want to constructively voice their outrage. (A complaint or two to the FCC couldn't hurt, either.) Posted 4:48 PM | [Link] G-FILE FOLLOW-UP [Jonah Goldberg] Getting nice feedback on today's column. But a few people think I'm too calm on the whole New Jersey thing (they think the same of NRO generally). I think this is a big deal for the Republican Party and I think the GOP is right to be peeved. But I don't think this is the legal or cultural disaster some readers seem to think it is. One thing to keep in mind is that generally speaking elections in this country are cleaner today -- as in less corrupt -- than any other period in American history. If the GOP loses the Senate race because of this it will be an outrage, but it will be a lesser outrage in the history of the republic. I'm more concerned -- as my column suggests -- with the general glorification of voting in our culture. And since I think the judges were largely hacks rather than ideologues, I'm not sure we can say this spells a huge national trend quite yet. Posted 4:41 PM | [Link] JOHN WALKER LINDH... [Kathryn Jean Lopez] ..has officially been sentenced to 20 years. So he'll be in his 40s? Doesn't seem long enough. Posted 4:36 PM | [Link] RE: NOT EVEN CLOSE: [Rod Dreher] That apology says the jerk DJ's phone call to the widow "was not intended to be hurtful or malicious in any way." What the hell was a taunting phone call to the wife of a dead man meant to be, then? And the station is shocked that people are offended. Maybe the morning show's producer Brady Bogen (brady@98kupd.com) can explain. Posted 4:31 PM | [Link] BLUE IN THE FACE [Jonah Goldberg] A Libertarian poster boy -- in living color. Posted 4:28 PM | [Link] ANOTHER, SLIGHTLY BRAINIER, TIME WASTER [Jonah Goldberg] Trivial Pursuit Online. Posted 4:25 PM | [Link] NOT EVEN CLOSE TO GOOD ENOUGH[Kathryn Jean Lopez] That Phoenix radio station has a pathetic apology up on their website. The DJ in question, Beau Duran, should not be employed by this station if he did what the previously linked-to news story is true: He called baseball player Darryl Kile’s widow (Kyle is the 33-year-old Cardinals pitcher who died of a clogged coronary artery this summer) and asked her if she had a “date” for the playoffs. The radio station is calling it a "misjudgment." Misjudgment does not do such a rotten thing justice. Posted 4:22 PM | [Link] LIGHTEN UP, GOP [Byron York] The Democratic National Committee has released a new set of talking points in reaction to the furor over its "Bush Kills a Senior" flash animation posted on the DNC website. And the DNC's defense is...it was all a joke, sort of. The points are titled, "Lighten Up, GOP: DNC Social Security Flash Animation Wraps Truth in Humor." They continue: "The Republicans can dish it out, but they sure can't take it. The DNC's flash animation is a creative way of illustrating the ugly truth about the President's Social Security privatization plan -- that it will cut guaranteed benefits and gamble Americans' retirement savings in the stock market, the same stock market that has lost $4.5 trillion since the Bush Administration took office." Posted 4:10 PM | [Link] RE: AWFUL: [Rod Dreher] Good Lord. Kathryn, if that really happened, the DJ should be missing a lot more than his job by the end of the day. Posted 4:06 PM | [Link] WILL JONAH SINK BIG IDEA?: [Rod Dreher] Christianity Today is reporting that the future of Big Idea, the company behind VeggieTales, depends on the success of the Jonah movie. This report says Big Idea is in financial trouble, has been laying off lots of people, and has left behind some pretty sour ex-employees. Posted 3:39 PM | [Link] AWFUL! [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Another rotten radio DJ "prank." If this is what happened, this guy should not have a job by the end of the day. Posted 3:20 PM | [Link] ENOUGH! [Jonah Goldberg] Rod - I am nobody's fearless leader, partly because I have many fears and partly because I constitute a one man puppet regime -- run from "below" by Kathryn Lopez and from above by Rich Lowry. Think of me as the President of the Ukraine during Soviet days. Rich is the Soviet premiere who runs the Big Show and Kathryn is the local Ukranian Party boss who informs me of how things are "going to be." I get to name streets, kiss babies and make suggestions. And K-Lo, for now and into the future we should have no more conversations about who does or does not "love our Jonah." I'm afraid to know how that would break down among Cornerites let alone the general public. Posted 2:33 PM | [Link] ROD... [KJL] No offense to Mark Shea, who is a good guy, but who cares what he thinks of the VeggieTales if he doesn't love our Jonah? Posted 2:14 PM | [Link] I STAND CORRECTED [Kathryn Jean Lopez] In a posting yesterday, I referred to Margaret Thatcher as a former head of state. I should not have. She was head of the government, QEII is head of state, as many readers have pointed out. Posted 2:13 PM | [Link] MARK SHEA LOVES JONAH: [Rod Dreher] The VeggieTales movie, not Our Fearless Leader. Here's his review. Mark liked the movie more than I did, but we're both VeggieTales devotees, and we agree that "The Song of the Cebu" is the best VT song ever! Posted 2:01 PM | [Link] THANKS [Jonah Goldberg] I gave a little talk to the gang from the Leadership Institute/Heritage Foundation last night. As a token of their appreciation they gave me a Heritage tie, three bags of beef jerky (mmmmm Jerky) and -- best of all -- a tube of Pupperoni for Cosmo the Wonderdog. I just wanted to say thanks from the pup. He seems to enjoy it a great deal. Posted 1:30 PM | [Link] THROW GRANDMA FROM THE CLIFF [Kathryn Jean Lopez] "Dirty" campaigning doesn't usually bother me, but this is outrageous. Posted 1:12 PM | [Link] I'M SURE IT IS JUST A COINCIDENCE... [KJL] ...But should we be especially worried that one of these Oregon terrorists is named "October"? Posted 1:06 PM | [Link] TALK BACK TO NEW JERSEY SUPREMES[Kathryn Jean Lopez] A few readers have emailed me that they have gone to the Forrester website and donated $25 to his campaign in a protest against Democrat election games and judicial activism. We report, you decide. Here’s the link. Here's his homepage. Posted 12:49 PM | [Link] WIMGATE: [Rod Dreher] There are further developments today in the controversy over European Central Banker Wim Duisenberg's big-mouthed, apparently anti-Semitic wife, reports Dutch blogger Michiel Visser. It seems that Yassir Arafat is thinking of naming a human rights institute after her. Posted 12:26 PM | [Link] SIX MORE AMERICAN AL QAEDA ARRESTED [KJL] Signed up after 9/11 evidently. Ashcroft holding press conference at 1. Posted 11:30 AM | [Link] TERRORISTS TARGETING SCHOOLS? [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Posted 11:28 AM | [Link] SCONJ FELL LONG AGO [Jonathan Adler] I've read lots of outrage at the SCONJ decision in the New Jersey Senate case yet, with the exception of Mark Levin's post yesterday, I've seen no effort to deal with New Jersey precedent on the issue. While I agree with Mark that the prior cases are distinguishable, I think they are much closer than his essay suggests. In 1952, the SCONJ allowed the substitution of a candidate on the ballot when a candidate died after the substitution deadline in the New Jersey election statute. There the Court made clear its preference for candidates for both major parties, in addition to candidates from OTHER qualifying parties. In 1991, in the Catania case, the SCONJ allowed the Republicans to place a nominee on the ballot even though the Republican Party had failed to comply with the explicit statutory requirements for placing a candidate on the ballot. In other words, the SCONJ has long held that the interests of voter choice -- defined to mean candidates from the two major parties -- trumps a hypertechnical reliance on statutory text. I agree with all the commentators on this site that this is a terri ble -- indeed, dangerous -- approach to statutory interpretation. But we should all recognize that, at least in the Garden State, it is not unprecedented. Posted 11:17 AM | [Link] BUSH SPEECH MONDAY NIGHT... [KJL] ...on Iraq.... Posted 10:48 AM | [Link] OUTSTANDING GYMNASTICS [Jonah Goldberg] How a newspaper managed to kiss Bill Clinton's butt while having its own head crammed so far up its own is a miracle scientists will be studying for centuries. Posted 10:21 AM | [Link] WE CARE [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Vicki Saporta, president and CEO of National Abortion Federation in a letter to the Washington Post today writes, "The opposition to the nomination of Michael McConnell to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals is not about a 'litmus test' on abortion; it is about women's access to safe, legal abortion care." Posted 10:14 AM | [Link] MORE JUST WAR [Stanley Kurtz] Let me add a note to my earlier blogs about the “just war” symposium. I had a comeback to Bill Galston’s reply to my comments, but wasn’t able to give it. (Understandably, the moderator felt that I had already had enough time.) Here is what I would have said. In response to my claim that Saddam could not be deterred, Galston argued that Saddam had in fact been successfully deterred when we read him the riot act. It was only when we were weak that Saddam took advantage. But that’s not true. As Kenneth Pollack shows in The Threatening Storm, we told Saddam during the Gulf War that several actions on his part would bring the severest possible consequences. One of those actions was destruction of the Kuwaiti oil fields. But Saddam burned the Kuwaiti oil wells anyway, and we neither deposed him nor struck him with nuclear weapons. So in fact, Saddam has already defied us and broken out of the constraints of deterrence. Worse, we allowed him to get away with it. How can that have done anything other than encourage Saddam to believe that he can get away with nuclear blackmail? By the way, last night The Threatening Storm was seventeen on Amazon’s best-seller list. Posted 10:03 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 9:47 AM | [Link] RE: TERRORISM AND "TERRORISM" [Kathryn Jean Lopez] To his credit, Jonah, I just heard the Montgomery County sheriff refuse to rule out terrorism, as opposed to what authorities were so quick to do at LAX on July 4th. Posted 8:40 AM | [Link] GALSTON, BTW [Stanley Kurtz] By the way, if you’re interested in reading William Galston’s case against a move on Iraq, you can get the written version here. Walzer’s essay on the topic is in The New Republic, but available only to subscribers. Posted 8:22 AM | [Link] TERRORISM? [Jonah Goldberg] I haven't scoured the web for this so maybe someone has floated this idea already. But isn't it possible that the Montgomery County sniper is a "terrorist" or terrorist-without-quotation-marks? I make the distinction because he wouldn't have to be a member of al-Quaeda or any other group. But the fact that these killings are random, in the DC suburbs and that they seem to be committed by a skilled shooter possibly with an accomplice makes it seem unlikely that it's a typical spree killer. They usually don't work in teams. There are precendents: This sort of thing is very common in the West Bank, not unheard of in Europe and there was the CIA shooter and the LAX guy (who was a freelancer). If it's an al-Quaeda type operation it may be evidence that bombing and large scale operations aren't possible in the current climate. Other than catching them, the surest way to tell if this more than a "normal" spree-killing is if there's another similar spree in a completely different area. Posted 8:18 AM | [Link] WALZER’S ISSUES [Stanley Kurtz] Walzer’s argument also had other problems that I couldn’t get to in my comments. He wanted to trust the French and Russians to impose stringent inspections, even when he admitted that they had been bought off by Saddam, and even though he was pessimistic that they would really come around. How can we gamble our lives on the slim chance that the allies will do what needs to be done. Walzer also argued that the Israeli preemptive strike on Iraq’s reactor was justified because Israel was technically in an unresolved state of low level war with Iraq. Yet in his answer to a question at the symposium, he acknowledge that we too have been engaged (with the no fly zone bombing) in an unresolved low level war with Iraq. So his distinction between our preemption and the Israeli preemption disappears. Walzer and Galston are brilliant, and both strongly supported the war in Afghanistan. Since 9/11, Walzer has taken a courageous stand against leftist anti-war sentiment. But I think these two important thinkers have got the Iraq question wrong. Posted 8:14 AM | [Link] THE SYMPOSIUM[Stanley Kurtz] I didn’t feel entirely comfortable with either side of the debate at the just war symposium. Even those who said an invasion of Iraq would be justified hedged their approval with limiting conditions that in my view were misguided. It seems to me that the whole “just war” tradition has serious problems. For example, as Walzer noted, just war theory doesn’t like any kind of pre-emptive move. It seems fairly clear from his remarks that just war theorists would not have approved of a British and French attack on Hitler in 1938, when they could have won. By waiting till 1939, we got World War II. Was that just? Posted 8:14 AM | [Link] "JUST WAR" TALK [Stanley Kurtz] Earlier this week I attended a symposium sponsored by the Institute for American Values called “Iraq and Just War.” In that symposium, two eminent political philosophers, Michael Walzer and William Galston, argued that an invasion of Iraq at this time would be in violation of traditional “just war” principles. Two other theorists of just-war traditions argued that an invasion at this time would be justified. I led off the question and answer period by pressing William Galston, and to a lesser extent, Michael Walzer, on their points (although time forced me to leave out a more detailed response to Walzer). If you want to hear the symposium, click here. To get to my comments, and the response by Galston and Walzer, scroll down to Question and Answer, and click on “Segment 1.” By the way, my comments refer to certain “stipulations” that all the panelists were said to accept. (See the “Introduction” segment for the stipulations.) Posted 8:09 AM | [Link] OH NO [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Jeff Greenfield is on CNN's American Morning discussing how Bush and Saddam Hussein would stack up in a duel, and Cheney vs. Iraqi Vice President Ramadan. Makes me feel less self-conscious for calling our president a stud a little earlier in The Corner. CNN actually cancelled Greenfield's intelligent late-night news show for the likes of this.... Posted 7:53 AM | [Link] PEACE IS FLOWING… [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Friday sermons in Iraqi mosques today warn worshippers that Muslims who choose to side with the U.S. against the Iraq regime (threatening neighboring countries) will be made to be “tea boys and dust sweepers” and be “relegated to the dustbin of history,” according to a report on CNN this morning. Posted 7:38 AM | [Link] SADDAM BETTER THANK ALLAH... [Kathryn Jean Lopez] ...that our studly Texan prez didn't take him up on this offer. Posted 7:34 AM | [Link] HOW ABOUT BLAIR REPLACE BLIX? [Kathryn Jean Lopez] More tough talk from Britain's prime minister. Meanwhile Hans Blix gives Iraq more time to hide anything they don't want inspectors to see in any of the off-limits presidential sites. Posted 7:16 AM | [Link] THE REV DON’T NEED TRUTH [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Asked to speak to the Tawana Brawley fiasco that ruined a cop’s life for no true or good reason, he accused the media of being the only ones who care about the issue and said that everyone else respects him “for standing up for what I believe in”—regardless if they are lies or not. Posted 6:50 AM | [Link] AL GOES TO THE BARBER [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Al Sharpton on local NBC news just now suggested that he opposes Barbershop’s Jesse Jackson, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King, Jr. lines because they are racially exclusive. Jokes are only funny--and PERMITTED--if they work on a quota system. Posted 6:50 AM | [Link] MEVROUW DUISENBERG'S BIG MOUTH: [Rod Dreher] Michiel Visser has news of the latest anti-Semitic buffoonery of the wife of the European Central Bank president. Posted 12:39 AM | [Link] NOW PLAYING: [Rod Dreher] Jazz diva Diana Krall's Live in Paris disc is out this week. Unless you've won the lottery, listening to it will be the best thing to happen to you all week (follow the link and see for yourself). Lord have mercy, but she is so good it hurts. Posted 12:22 AM | [Link]
JERSEY TALK [Dave Kopel] The Wall Street Journal's on-line "Discussions" website is hosting a discussion of the Torricelli controversy. Along with Jonathan Adler, I'm one of the experts selected by the Journal to participate in the discussion. Please join in, and share your views. Posted 8:14 PM | [Link] GOOD POINT! [Kathryn Jean Lopez] A reader writes: "Do not fear. I am sure the Democratic party can find a friendly court to rewrite the constitutional requirement that the US President must be born in this country." Posted 8:10 PM | [Link] ON GRANHOLM [ Mike Potemra] Look at the bright side, Kathryn: She could have chosen Mary Robinson or Gro Haarlem Brundtland! Posted 8:07 PM | [Link] VOICE OF THE ORDAINED: [Rod Dreher] There was a fascinating meeting in Manhattan this afternoon, in a room above an Irish bar. It was the inaugural gathering of "Voice of the Ordained," a group of priests from the Archdiocese of NY, the Diocese of Brooklyn, and the Diocese of Rockville Center (Long Island). About 140 priests showed up for discussion about the predicament Catholic priests find themselves in amid the scandal. There was no small amount of anger and fear present, as very many of the priests feel that they have been abandoned by the bishops, who (in the priests' view) are all too eager to throw them overboard if they are accused of sexual misconduct. A priest and canon lawyer from Brooklyn gave a presentation to the group about various aspects of the situation. At one point he advised them not to admit anything to the bishop if they are called in on a sex charge, because the bishop may release it to prosecutors. At that, a Brooklyn man who claims to have been a victim of clerical sex abuse leaped up and began railing at the priest, waving an outline of the priest's lecture and saying, "This is a road map for protecting pedophiles!" He had to be dragged out of the room, but a couple of priests later spoke sympathetically about his pain. Interestingly, the priests gathered included some of the most liberal and conservative priests in the city. There was also one notorious ephebophile priest present, as well as both a priest who has publicly asserted that he was molested as a boy by a priest, and the priest who allegedly molested him. For all that, there was a palpable sense of fraternity among the men, who seemed glad to finally be able to get together to talk about the whole damn mess. Posted 7:17 PM | [Link] AT LEAST…(A.K.A. I LIED WHEN I SAID I WAS DONE WITH GRANHOLM [Kathryn Jean Lopez] …Granholm will never make it to the White House. And it’s not because she is from Michigan (fear of another Gerry Ford): She was born up north—in Canada. Posted 5:50 PM | [Link] MAYBE THE U.N. SHOULD GET TO WORK ON THIS… [Kathryn Jean Lopez] ….the world’s funniest joke. Posted 5:42 PM | [Link] A MAN SHOT AT THE UNITED NATIONS TODAY [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Hans Blix, Kofi Annan, and other very important people doing vitally important work were inside the complex, near where the gunman was aiming. Fortunately, no one was hurt/hit. You might think, though, that the world would have stopped due to the scare, but it didn’t. The world barely noticed. Posted 5:41 PM | [Link] FROM JERSEY TO THE SUPREMES [Kathryn Jean Lopez] NJ GOP appealing to real Supreme Court. Posted 5:40 PM | [Link] THE TORCH, A WINNER[Kathryn Jean Lopez] This story got somewhat lost in the fog of the N.J. Supremes remarkable lawmaking/breaking move yesterday: Torricelli had tried to get then-President Clinton to pardon one of his launderers. Posted 5:05 PM | [Link] THE BLUE CANDIDATE [Kathryn Jean Lopez] The Natural Law party (which has nothing to do with natural law) has as part of their platform that candidates for office should submit CAT scans to voters. This Libertarian candidate for the Senate from Montana has done better. Posted 5:05 PM | [Link] ONE LAST GRANHOLM THING [Kathryn Jean Lopez] The Economist had a great line a few weeks ago: "To hear Democrats talk about it, Ms Granholm is the most exciting thing in Michigan politics since Gerald Ford." Posted 5:03 PM | [Link] RE: GRANHOLM [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Mike, I think you might be giving her a little too much credit. She’s got her share of left-liberal feminist pretensions. Because she has Maggie Thatcher on her list doesn’t mean she’s an American conservative, capitalist iron lady; I think it’s more like Thatcher was the most prominent and successful female head of state she could think of. Posted 5:03 PM | [Link] THATCHER’S A GOOD CHOICE [ Mike Potemra] The New Republic has an interesting cover story on Michigan Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jennifer Granholm. The reporter "asked Granholm to name her political heroes. Most of her list--Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Gandhi--was predictable, the stuff of ninth-grade civics presentations. The one exception was the only woman Granholm mentioned, Margaret Thatcher. It was not lost on Granholm that Thatcher was probably the modern female politician who most transcended gender stereotypes. ‘She took no guff and got it done,’ Granholm explained." The point of the article is that Granholm is running "like a man" and thus offers a good paradigm for how women can run for office without engaging in radical-feminist or "soccer-mom" pretensions. Posted 5:00 PM | [Link] FORGIVE US OUR LARGE TIME GAPS [KJL] I've moved to a undisclosed location from where I can post (NR World Headquarters is having some technical difficulties). No one else can post for awhile because they are mini-golfing, of course. Thanks, Jonah. Posted 4:28 PM | [Link] BUT.... [Jonah Goldberg] Please don't write me screaming "Damn you Goldberg!!!! I'm going to lose my job!" Which is more or less what a bunch of you have done because of the mini-golf time waster. It's not my fault. Posted 3:31 PM | [Link] GOOD TIME WASTER [Jonah Goldberg] The web is being very persnickety for NRO, so if you have trouble getting into the corner or if we have trouble posting to it, you can waste some time here. Posted 1:14 PM | [Link] A CONNERLY READ [Stanley Kurtz] Ward Connerly is out with a very nice column today about Worth v. Martinez, the suit against HUD and the EEOC being argued by the Center for Individual Rights. This suit is sure to provoke a major fight. If it succeeds, the massive and draconian affirmative action apparatus that applies to all federal employees will have to be significantly scaled back. Posted 9:21 AM | [Link] SOMETHING MISSING FROM MESA [Stanley Kurtz] A very interesting new entry today on Middle East scholar Martin Kramer’s blog, Sandstorm. It seem that the Middle East Studies Association is meeting this year in Washington DC. They meet in DC regularly, to remind the federal government just how much MESA scholars contribute to our national security in exchange for all the money they get from the federal government. Trouble is, there are no panels scheduled on suicide bombing or Wahhabism, no mention of al-Qaeda or Osama bin Laden. Even the few mentions of “terrorism” are put in quotes. These scholars, who are getting subsidized by the federal government for contributing to our national security, are busy planning panels on Middle Eastern “sex and gender” in the early twentieth century. I have no problem with that topic per se, but where is the attention to the crisis of the moment? Is this what we’re paying for? After all the embarrassing revelations about their refusal to deal with the reality of terrorism and Muslim fundamentalism, these scholars have learned nothing. Posted 9:10 AM | [Link] STARS AND STRIPES AND HIGH TAXES [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Democratic U.S. Rep. Janice Schakowsky of Illinois, on the campaign trail for a fellow state Dem running for congress, attacked his opponent, incumbent Pat Toomey for being "unpatriotic." His disloyalty? Supporting Bush tax cuts. "It is unpatriotic if we don't put tax cuts on hold," Schakowsky said during a news conference. "Everybody is being asked to sacrifice, we are dipping into the Social Security trust fund, and only the wealthy are not asked to give anything." Posted 9:09 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 8:24 AM | [Link] IRAQ WON'T ATTACK? THINK AGAIN. [Kathryn Jean Lopez] So Iraq is claiming it will not attack a nation in retaliation for the U.S. attacking Iraq. But Iraq doesn't actually consider Israel a country, does it? Posted 8:22 AM | [Link] RE: IS IT ME? [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Well, I laughed out loud during the president's post-school-bombing we-need-more-teachers-in-the-classroom speech, as well as during the idiotic Rock the Vote scene with the press secretary. Maybe it's like Bill Clinton going to Britain--once you have reached liberal-dream status, you don't have to try hard anymore. Just hang out with actors and look cool. (On the topic of Bill Clinton, he couldn't help but make multiple Bush v. Gore jokes, I noted between snoozing, during that speech in the U.K. yesterday. Wonder how he'd spin this NJ nonsense.) Posted 8:19 AM | [Link] IS IT ME? [Jonah Goldberg] Or has the writing on the West Wing gone way down this season? Maybe it's the fact that the do-gooders are in campaign mode, but it seems to me the show has slipped from character sketch to caricature. The subtlety -- to the extent there was any before -- is missing entirely now. Now it's just a bunch of liberal supermen. The president sayng stuff like "I want justice, that's why I contacted a lawyer"...come on! Posted 8:09 AM | [Link] HEAD FOR THE ZONE: [Rod Dreher] Al Gore says he's too fat to get his wedding ring back on. Posted 5:55 AM | [Link]
KIDS, COMMERCIALS, ETC. [Andrew Stuttaford] This debate has now carried over to Mark Shea's blog. Mr. Shea is with Rod on this one, but be sure to check out Justin Katz's response in the 'comments' section... Posted 11:32 PM | [Link] KEVIN SPACEY? [Andrew Stuttaford] Kevin Spacey, eh? That's a wasted opportunity, Kathryn. Clinton should have taken Alec Baldwin and then dropped him off in France before returning home. Posted 11:08 PM | [Link] CONSUMER SOCIETY [Andrew Stuttaford] Rod, I'm sure that any remaining Corner readers would like us to "just move on" from the kids, commercials and TV debate, but one (rather crunchy) comment that you made earlier today was fascinating in its wider implications for the adult world: "Advertising exists, in part, to create desires in us for things we don't need. It is a tendency each one of us has to fight within himself to master, and it's tough..." While I would agree that people do need to exercise more self-control in how they spend their money, let's not take this puritanism too far. The habit of buying stuff we don't really need is one of the motors of the American economy. Besides that, it's fun. Posted 10:45 PM | [Link] MORE WJC [Kathryn Jean Lopez] The former president is travelling with his friend Kevin. Kevin Spacey. So Bill Clinton. Posted 10:43 PM | [Link] SMALL OBSERVATION, NOTE OF THANKSGIVING [Kathryn Jean Lopez] There are many, many reasons, of course, why I am grateful Bill Clinton is not POTUS anymore. But right now, with him speaking from London at a Labor party conference(CSPAN replay from earlier in the day, this is the one I am most grateful for right now: that I don't have to regularly listen to his ridiculously LONG speeches anymore. Fifteen minutes into the speech, I think, he just indicated he was at the beginning of his speech. Posted 10:42 PM | [Link] TITLE IX IS OFFICIALLY UP FOR DISCUSSION [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Tonight on West Wing, the Aaron Sorkin's liberal dreamy White House didn't have a unanimous opinion on it. Actually it was a boy/girl split with obnoxious political operative Ron Silver announcing his indifference on the issue. Yes, it's TV, but they wouldn't do it if they couldn't. Posted 10:26 PM | [Link] PAY TO PLAY [Jonathan Adler] It's also worth noting that under the New Jersey Supreme Court's order directing the removal of Torricelli's name from the ballot, the Court further ordered "that all of the costs related to the preparation and, when necessary, the mailing of revised ballots . . . shall be borne by plaintiffs." That's nice. It would have been better to direct that such costs be borne by the campaign. Posted 10:10 PM | [Link] LAUTENBERG V. FORRESTER [Jonathan Adler] It's over. A unanimous New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled for the Democrats. Lautenberg's name will be on the ballot, potentially allowing the Democrats to retain the New Jersey Senate seat. I take some consolation from the fact that the Court relied on the precedent I cited this morning. Posted 10:09 PM | [Link] A DISSENT ON DEES: [Ramesh Ponnuru] I agree with Wesley Smith that animal-rights terrorism is a menace, but I can't sign off on the description of Morris Dees's Southern Poverty Law Center as "one of the most respected antiterrorist organizations in the world." Dees, the SPLC, and its publications are not above smearing conservatives, as in a recent attempt to paint Colorado Republican congressman Tom Tancredo, the Center for Immigration Studies, NumbersUSA, and indeed the immigration-reform movement generally as a racist conspiracy. Caveat lector. Posted 4:50 PM | [Link] CPUSA AND THE DEMS [Jonah Goldberg] I was scanning through the American Communist Party's website -- nothing better for writer's block. Anyway, look through their news archive. Isn't amazing how so many of the groups they mention are staples of the Democratic Party? Okay, maybe it's not amazing. But it is sort of an interesting reminder. Posted 4:33 PM | [Link] BUCKING THE TREND: [Rod Dreher] Duane McAllister, publisher of the Gaston (N.C.) Gazette, explains why his newspaper won't be publishing notices of gay commitment ceremonies. Writes McAllister: "I think publication of these announcements legitimizes a practice that offends many of us in that it leads in a direction different than our personal compass heading. As individuals, and a society as a whole, we seldom get lost by suddenly altering our course by 180 degrees. Rather, we lose our way one small increment at a time. When we do, or accept in our personal lives someone else doing, a small course change, we are taking the first step in an off-course direction. Subsequent steps always seem like they are easier to take. It seems to me that we’ve been taking a lot of steps in a direction that is increasingly becoming off-course." I spoke with McAllister earlier today, and he says the paper has lost one advertiser because of its stand, but reader calls praising the move outnumber the protests 60 to 1. Posted 4:32 PM | [Link] DUDE.... [Jonah Goldberg] David Boaz would spontaneously burst into flame if my name even made the short list. Posted 4:16 PM | [Link] ONE GENIUS AND COUNTING [Jonathan Adler] Jonah, take heart, there is one award on "our" side like "genius" grants: the Cato Institute's Friedman prize. The first prize was given last year to the late Lord Peter Bauer and came with a $500,000 check. Stop whining about booze advertisements and start playing nice with libertarians and you might be eligible yourself some day. Posted 4:09 PM | [Link] BYRD'S COMPLAINT [Ramesh Ponnuru] About an hour ago, Sen. Robert Byrd was complaining that none of the spending bills have been sent to the president yet: "This is the worst record for progress in the appropriations process since 1987. . . . Let me say again, this is the worst record for progress in the appropriations process since 1987." And who was the Senate majority leader in 1987? Robert Byrd. Posted 3:59 PM | [Link] GENIUS GRANTS [Jonah Goldberg] I was reading a good piece at TCS-- the site who's full name I refuse to mention -- about the MacArthur Genius grants. And, in a fit of pure jealously, I was wondering why the conservatives can't come up with something like this. Many conservative foundations are considering or have already spent down their endowments. Why can't one of them do it by handing out checks to conservatives? Posted 3:34 PM | [Link] HURRICANE WARNING: [Rod Dreher] Hurricane Lili is now a Category 4 storm, and is looking to become the strongest hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland since Andrew. It looks like New Orleans will barely dodge the second bullet in two weeks -- if the storm doesn't tick to the east just a bit. Posted 3:34 PM | [Link] ON THE OTHER HAND: [Rod Dreher] Is there a website that features Islamic sermons that aren't so fire-and-brimstoney? That preach peace between Muslims and non-Muslims? If anyone is aware of such, send the link to me, and I'll be pleased to post it to The Corner. Posted 3:24 PM | [Link] I'M BACK.... [Jonah Goldberg] The G-File is up. And I'm done arguing about censorship for a while. But I would like to allay the fears of some readers who are concerned that all of this talk of censorship is a sign that I no longer appreciate the women's prison movie genre. Nothing could be further from the truth. I just don't have anything new to say on the subject. Oh and Sarah, as for the Harvard Law Bloggers, I really couldn't give a rat's patoot about what they think about me (especially if they spend their spare hours reading Paul Gottfried of all people. Elizabethtown College's Harvey Mansfield he ain't.) Besides, if even my "defenders" have to score points by calling my dog "freakish-looking" then I turn my back on the Harvard Federalist Society and all of their ilk. Posted 3:18 PM | [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 3:16 PM | [Link] SCHRODER'S MISCALCULATION [Ramesh Ponnuru] "[I]f Shroder miscalculated, it wasn't only about which words to use or how many of those words added up to a majority in parliament. It was about just how vindictive an American president could be, and what that could do to Germany." -- Jane Kramer in The New Yorker. Posted 3:04 PM | [Link] HARVARD LAW BLOGGINGS [Sarah Maserati] The Harvard Law School Federalist Society has started its own blogging community, Ex Parte. Tuesday's entries have a lively debate on the paleocons. (And today there's a defense of Jonah, whom the paleocons can never help bringing up.) Posted 2:32 PM | [Link] RELIGION OF PEACE UPDATE: [Rod Dreher] Here's a link to the Mecca-based AlMinbar.com, which is Arabic for "ThePulpit.com". It contains a collection of current and past sermons given in mosques throughout the Islamic world. It is an enlightening read. For instance, here's a diverting little homily about devil-worship, which the preacher seems to define as participating in modern life as we in the West know it. If we're all a bunch of devil-worshipers, of what value are our lives? Or here's one from the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, informing the faithful of a conspiracy among the U.S., the U.K., Russia and Israel, to unite against and destroy Islam. These sermons are the voice of madness -- and it's right there for you to read, in English. Posted 2:29 PM | [Link] SAUDI MOSQUES [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Rod, you and the rest of the "infidels" and "enemies of Allah" should read all of MEMRI's latest Saudi Friday sermon translations. I's a long document but eye-opening--even if you have been reading this stuff for a year now (thanks to MEMRI). Things like: "Muslims must… educate their children to Jihad. This is the greatest benefit of the situation: educating the children to Jihad and to hatred of the Jews, the Christians, and the infidels; educating the children to Jihad and to revival of the embers of Jihad in their souls. This is what is needed now…" Posted 2:19 PM | [Link] THE INDIANS DEFEATED CYNTHIA MCKINNEY! [Kathryn Jean Lopez] McKinney seems to think "Indian-Americans--American citizens--lobbying and voting against her is illegal foreign involvement in an election. Posted 2:16 PM | [Link] SPEAKING OF SWINE: [Rod Dreher] How about those sermons in Saudi mosques? Posted 2:08 PM | [Link] SUBWAY READING: [Rod Dreher] I was squeezed tight on the No. 4 subway line from Brooklyn this morning, and happened to look over to see what the perfectly normal looking South Asian guy next to me was reading. It was a book called The Dangers of Eating Swine Flesh, and my eyes fell on a paragraph that talked about how Christianity is the false religion that leads good Muslims to hell, and which must be fought. I returned to Page Six and minding my own business. Posted 2:06 PM | [Link] RENDEVOUS IN HAVANA [Kathryn Jean Lopez] To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis, “veterans” of the crisis will meet in none other than Havana. Some of the faces traveling to the Cuban paradise? Robert McNamara, Ted Sorensen, Arthur Schlesinger Jr. And, ex-Soviets: deputy foreign minister Georgy Kornienko, missile-deployment planner Gen. Anatoly Gribkov, and KGB officer Nikolai Leonov. Posted 2:00 PM | [Link] PRECISIONS [ Mike Potemra] 1) I "imagined" no lefty whining on Jonah's part or anyone else's. My exact words urged all concerned to "stop carrying on like whiny lefties." When whiny lefties are the chief proponents of a cause, it is perfectly legitimate to use their support as an argument against that cause. If I, for example, were to start making arguments against the Iraq war, pointing out that its proponents never served in the military, I could legitimately be reproached with "carrying on like Chuck Hagel." I would, of course, understand that I was not being accused of actually being Chuck Hagel; but that would not be the specific point of the reproach. 2) But of course, I recognize that this kind of argument cannot be dispositive. I cannot prove Jonah or anyone else is wrong about something merely by pointing out that certain unpopular people hold the same view, and use silly rhetoric in its defense. That's why I made clear why, specifically, I believe this particular ad-censorship policy would be harmful to America: its liability to abuse by regulators. That's why I am delighted that Jonah, like me, is "not gung-ho to ban ads." Posted 1:59 PM | [Link] THE G-FILE IS IN, I'M OUT [Jonah Goldberg] I've got to take the über hound out and finish the book I'm allegedly reviewing for NR. Back in a bit. I STAND CORRECTED [Jonah Goldberg] Fair enough, Jon. I wrote too fast. However, my understanding is that these rules were set -- like many censorial rules at the networks and elsewhere -- in order to head off government regulations. So yeah, the nets may be policing themselves in this regard, but it is out of a reasonable expectation that Congress would step in if they didn't. Posted 1:48 PM | [Link] BOURBON WITH THE POWERPUFF GIRLS [Jonathan Adler] Actually, Jonah, there is no law prohibiting the advertising of hard liquor on television, even during cartoons. Rather, it is the policy of the major networks to reject such ads. Congress might be quick to enact such a law were a station to air Courvosier ads during Pokemon, but they have yet to do so. Posted 1:41 PM | [Link] GIVE A GIFT SUBSCRIPTION, SAVE A COLLEGE STUDENT: [Rod Dreher] When I was a campus left-winger in the late 1980s, an old friend then living in DC bought me a subscription to the late, lamented, possibly-resurrected-in-some-form The American Spectator. The intelligence and (perhaps more importantly, given my age) lively rhetorical style of the magazine eroded my liberal pieties and convictions, and helped bring me over to the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy. Imagine how much more quickly I would have seen the light had she bought me a subscription to National Review, the flagship magazine of the Right? Why not send a biweekly care package of sanity to your undergrad? The mind you save will one day parent your grandkids. Posted 1:34 PM | [Link] THE CHILDREN [Jonah Goldberg] Mike, I too feel the need for brevity. But you're A) dodging the fact that you imagined "lefty whining" on my part that did not take place and B) you're putting the cart before the horse in a major way. Even if your assertion that "There is no terrible political offense that is not defended by sanctimonious invocations of 'the children'" is true, that doesn't mean that all invocations to the children are therefore sanctimonious or terrible. Conservatives have made numerous arguments referencing the vulnerable status of children without being either "sanctimonious" or "terrible." There are countless sanctimonious and terrible arguments which invoke race and the environmemt too, but that hardly means that all arguments about race and the environment are sanctimonious or terrible. Discerning between legitimate and illegitimate arguments is what we're supposed to be doing here. We are not supposed to say "Oh, he mentioned children, therefor his argument is illegitimate." I'm not gung-ho to ban ads, but I'm hardly providing aid and comfort to the left by simply noting that some ads can certainly be banned. Indeed, I might add that the government can, does and always has regulated what sorts of ads and programs can be aimed at children. Just try to sell bourbon during Saturday morning cartoons or run an unedited R-rated movie on a broadcast network. Again, Mike, this isn't a "new government power" it is a very old government power which waxes and wanes in its application. And, again, if you want to have an argument about how limited that power should be, that's fine. Indeed, that's what "defenders of freedom" do. And, now, I am done with this argument. Books need reviewing, dogs need walking, whiskey needs buying. Posted 1:12 PM | [Link] OH, AND JONAH [ Mike Potemra] ...thanks very much for putting up that letter from the guy in Durham-it shows how little liberality of spirit some liberals have. When a conservative gets something wrong-something important, like the lyrics to the witch-doctor song-he usually endeavors to correct his mistake. Posted 1:01 PM | [Link] ON A SERIOUS NOTE [ Mike Potemra] A number of readers have pointed out that the witch-doctor song actually goes "oo-ee-oo-ah-ah-ting-tang-walla-walla-bing-bang." I apologize to all concerned, and I hope that my mistake will not set back the cause of interreligious understanding. Posted 1:01 PM | [Link] MORE ON YALE [Stanley Kurtz] Thanks to the reader who sent me this very interesting article on changing attitudes toward the military at Yale. For more on today’s decision to allow military recruiters at Yale Law School, consult the estimable Instapundit. Posted 12:55 PM | [Link] 1000% GUARANTEED TO ANNOY ALL CONSERVATIVES [Jonah Goldberg] I'm not kidding. Let the email fly! Posted 12:44 PM | [Link] JONAH... [ Mike Potemra] The last thing I would want to do is distract you from the important book review you are writing for the next issue (hint, hint), so I'll make this brief. There is no terrible political offense that is not defended by sanctimonious invocations of "the children," and this attack on TV ads is no exception. But we can make short work of the idea, as follows: In practice, such a regulation would require government to be able to distinguish between ads aimed at children and ads aimed at people with a mental age of six. You see the problem? I can well understand why whiny lefties would gleefully welcome such a new government power, but I fail to see why "every conservative in the history of National Review"-defenders of freedom-should support them in this particular power grab. Posted 12:42 PM | [Link] LIBERAL READER COMES TO MY DEFENSE [Jonah Goldberg] As a loyal reader, it's disappointing to me that a liberal writer wouldn't use your name directly in an attempt to discredit your wife. Not to take anything away from your mother, but I think you've earned the right to be shunned by the Left based on your own accomplishments. I'm sure your readers will enthusiastically vouch for your independent qualifications as a member of the vast right-wing conspiracy. Keep up the good work, I'm sure someone over there at Slate will take a swipe at you personally soon enough. Posted 12:41 PM | [Link] REAL PEOPLE; ARTICLES YOU CAN HOLD [Kathryn Jean Lopez] I promise to stop soon, but the e-mails are overwhelming. Another reader: I wanted to let you know that I put in for a subscription to National Review over the weekend. I did this for two reasons: 1) Because I really like what I read online, and 2) for my 18 year old son to read. Every so often, my husband and I must go through a deprogramming session to undo all the liberal crap he hears from his friends and teachers. He was really eager to read the issue I picked up at Barnes and Noble the other day. Posted 12:26 PM | [Link] MIKE.... [Jonah Goldberg] If you'd like to point out where I whined or where I even sounded like I was whining -- about corporations or anything else -- I'd be delighted to hear it. I can't speak for Rod, but since you referred to the plural "whiny lefties" I can only assume you referred to me as well. I might also point out, by the way, that there are already rules on what kind of speech is appropriate for children (and there were plenty more when we were growing up, including the vaunted Comics Code). Simply because I acknowledged this fact by saying it doesn't "frighten" me hardly makes me a leftwinger or whiny -- or wrong. You can use Hillary as a Medusa's head to petrify your opponents all you like, but there's not a single conservative in the history of National Review who would dispute that community standards matter, especially in regard to children. The debate is where and how you set those standards, not about whether those standards should exist. That's the real reality check. Posted 12:13 PM | [Link] NOT EVERYBODY IN HOLLWOOD IS AN IDIOT, THOUGH [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Talking to Bill O'Reilly last night about being pro-life in Hollywood, two-time Emmy-winner Patricia Heaton, from Everybody Loves Raymond said: "it will not be Barbra Streisand I'm standing in front of when I have to make an accounting of my life." In discussing abortion she said, talking about her work as chairman for Feminists for Life: "The early feminists were pro-life. And really abortion is a huge disservice to women, and it hasn't been presented that way. So -- so it's a -- there's a sort of an in for me because of that take on it." Posted 12:08 PM | [Link] "I HATE BUSH" [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Sorta like you might hate Saddam Hussein, Jessica Lange hates our president, in case you are keeping a tally on Hollywood political idiots. From Spain, she says she feels "ashamed to come from the United States — it is humiliating.” Posted 11:47 AM | [Link] SHOULD THIS WORRY ME? [Kathryn Jean Lopez] The Derb e-mails to inform me that he will be somewhat incommunicado for a few days, but leaves me emergency-contact info. I e-mail in reply that "I would be evil" if I used the secret info to bother him during one of his few non-NR-controlled days. Derb replies: "Kathryn, you ARE evil! It's part of the job description." (And yes, Rod, I already know you agree; the vodoo doll was a clue.--sometimes witch doctors are useful, eh?) Posted 11:35 AM | [Link] A FEW POINTS [ Mike Potemra] 1) I saw a movie last night about butch lesbians, called By Hook or By Crook. It opens in a few weeks; it is dull and I do not recommend it. But I do think the leading lady would be kind of cute if she shaved off her beard. 2) On the censorship of kiddie ads: Stop carrying on like a bunch of whiny lefties about what "the corporations" are doing to "the children." Reality check: It does not take a village, Hillary. 3) I know brother Stuttaford is a stickler for theological orthodoxy, so let me reassure him that ecumenism does not require Christianity to actually Iadopt witch-doctor practices. I do, however, endorse the singing of "oo-ee-oo-ah-ah-bing-bang-bala-bala-bing-bang" outside the context of the formal liturgy, and in specially approved rites for children. Posted 11:34 AM | [Link] THE BLUES [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Like Jay, by the way, I was saddened by the Barry Manilow news this week. Posted 11:15 AM | [Link] JOIN THE CLUB [Kathryn Jean Lopez] A reader--just minutes ago--writes: "I finally gave in and subscribed. I'm a longtime online version reader, but Glenn Reynolds excerpted a long bit from a Ramesh Ponnuru article from the dead tree version, and I realized I needed all National Review, all the time." Thanks, NRO/(and now)NRODT reader. And thanks to Glenn Reynolds, Instapundit. Posted 11:09 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 11:07 AM | [Link] THIS IS HOW THE WORLD THINKS? [Kathryn Jean Lopez] "Is it any wonder that Sharon is Saddam for most of the Arab and Islamic world?" In case you missed (I had), this was in the Moscow Times on Monday, from an American. Posted 11:06 AM | [Link] BREAKING... [Kathryn Jean Lopez] From CNN: Pentagon says at least one U.S. serviceman killed in bombing near military base in the Philippines. Posted 10:59 AM | [Link] SNOPES ON THE BABS QUOTE [Jonah Goldberg] Here's their take, fyi. Posted 10:39 AM | [Link] UNEASY FEELING[Kathryn Jean Lopez] Barbra Streisand and Wes Smith both quote from JFK today....the same quote. Posted 10:22 AM | [Link] WHO YOU CALLING AN ATTACK-DOG? [Jonah Goldberg] Some woman named Lynn Sanders has a tiresome discussion of Title IX over at Slate. I'm used to this sort of thing, but I figured I'd point it out anyway. While criticizing my wife's position on Title IX Sanders writes "Gavora‚ who advises and writes speeches for Attorney General John Ashcroft (and who's also the daughter-in-law of anti-Clinton attack-dog Lucianne Goldberg)..." Now, I'm pretty sure Jessica is quite happy being Momma G's daughter-in-law and vice versa. But what's interesting here, in a very small way I admit, is the guilt-by-association implied. What is the relevance, exactly? Is there some sort of link between a wonkish book written by Jessica and my mom's "attack-dogging" toward the Clinton administration? Having been there when Jessica patiently explained the issues surrounding Title IX to Momma G, I'm very curious to know what connection Ms. Sanders imagines there to be between the two of them. Or do Slate's readers and writers subscribe to some sort of seamless garment of the Right doctrine of which I'm unaware (not being a regular Slate reader anymore, I'm in the dark). Anyway, I'm sure this will go unquestioned by the vast majority of Slate's audience since it's so typical of those guys these days. I wouldn't even have bothered except, well, my wife and mother are involved. Posted 9:56 AM | [Link] DON'T CHANGE THE BALLOTS [Jonathan Adler] I wonder if the New Jersey Supreme Court will read this New York Times op-ed. It makes some strong equitable arguments against permitting an electoral bait-n-switch. Posted 9:46 AM | [ | ||||||||||||||||||||
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