Lately, I have been a bit of a Johnny One Note about Iraq, but please hear it again: The conventional line is that this is a Sunni-Shiite civil war; but the news pages often tell us that it’s a war by terrorists on any and all wanting a decent life.

This is from the AP, Saturday (article here):

A suicide truck bomber struck a police station in a mainly Sunni area in Baghdad on Saturday, killing at least 20 people, police said, as insurgents apparently step up their campaign against Iraqis seen as collaborating with the U.S. and the Iraqi government.
The blast in Baghdad, which could be heard across the city and sent up a plume of black smoke over the skyline, came a day after Deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zubaie was seriously wounded in a suicide bombing during prayers at his home in Baghdad. Nine other people were killed, including al-Zubaie’s brother and an aide.

And please note those last words: “Deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zubaie was seriously wounded” — during prayers, no less — and “nine other people were killed, including al-Zubaie’s brother and an aide.” I have said it before, and must say it again: Those who serve in the Iraqi government are among the bravest people in the world. They are constantly ducking murder, and their loved ones are having to do the same. But these officials get nothing but grief, from all quarters. They should really have our gratitude and admiration, whatever the mistakes they have made.

‐In a column last week, I noted the longstanding use by Palestinians of their children in vile ways. Many readers wrote to say that Iraqi terrorists are following suit. They are using children in their suicide bombings — leaving them in the backseats of cars, to be blown to bits, along with other innocents.

What does it take to awaken the world at large to the nature of this enemy? A lot, apparently. Many people in this country are convinced that George Bush, Dick Cheney, and Al Gonzales are the enemy. One should be so lucky.

And, by the way, above, I should have said “terrorists in Iraq,” rather than “Iraqi terrorists.” The terrorists in that country are as likely as not to be foreign — fighting one, everywhere jihad.

‐I know I’m late to comment on that ridiculous, maddening Time-magazine cover: the weeping Reagan. But let me comment briefly anyway. They love to use Reagan against us, don’t they? All through his presidency, liberals hated Reagan, claiming that he was leading the world to nuclear war, taking food from grandmothers and children, and plotting to keep black people down. (Ben Hooks of the NAACP was only one of many who called him a racist.) And now they revel in using him against us! (Some use WFB in this same way.)

The cover provoked a memory: Sometime in the first Clinton administration, Time ran a cover saying how disastrous the Reagan years had been. I ran into Mike Deaver that very week. We sort of celebrated, together, how good Reagan had been for the country and the world — and Deaver said, “No matter what Time magazine says this week.”

Yes, no matter what.

In the future, as the GOP is grappling with problems, will Time or one of its counterparts run a weeping GWB? Stranger things have happened (really).

‐May I make a whiny conservative point (or rather, another one)? Are those fired U.S. attorneys the biggest whiners in the world? No, their backers are — their backers in the media and the Democratic party. But these people aren’t really backers — they couldn’t give a rat’s behind about U.S. attorneys, fired or not. They simply want to bruise President Bush.

U.S. attorneys serve at the pleasure of the president. Clinton fired them all — all of them — and no one said boo. I’m sure that the current administration has fumbled matters, but this scandal is the biggest bunch of garbage since the last, unthinking, get-Bush scandal.

There, I’m done whining, till the next item.

Oh, one more thing on the attorneys: You know how that guy in New Mexico said he felt pressured when Pete Domenici and Heather Wilson called him? Well, a good thing Heather didn’t raise her voice, or he might have wet his pants.

People around the world are facing real, awful pressure. Do you ever think that we Americans are the biggest bunch of weenies alive?

‐You might have heard that the University of Florida denied former governor Jeb Bush an honorary degree. (A story is here.) If you’re like me, you thought of two instances past: 1) Harvard refused to award Reagan an honorary degree in the year of its 350th anniversary (1986). The school’s main speaker at the relevant ceremonies was Prince Charles. (I can still remember him in his Rolls limo, being driven into the Yard.) And 2) Oxford refused to honor its daughter, Thatcher, in an act unprecedented.

So, as far as I’m concerned, Jeb Bush is in fine company.

‐Would you like an indication of a Republican failure over the last quarter-century? Okay, consider this: Way back when, we dreamed of abolishing the Department of Education (which Jimmy Carter had brought into being). Well, we didn’t abolish it. And now we — in the person of President Bush — are naming the department’s headquarters after Lyndon Baines Johnson. (Read about it here.)

Yep: More decisive proof of failure would be hard to imagine!

‐I kind of like the way Mike Huckabee, the weight-losing former governor of Arkansas, talks. Check him out: “Sometimes when people say, ‘When you get traction, I’m going to be with you,’ my answer is, ‘You are my traction.’” More: “If people of genuine conservative convictions don’t support a conservative with convictions, then quite frankly I’m not sure what the point would be to be in politics.” (The news article from which I’ve culled these quotes is here.)

Again, I kind of like the way this fellow talks.

‐When you read about Russia, do you ever get the impression you are reading about an unfree country? Just linger over the words of this story (a comparatively mild one — no deaths):

NIZHNY NOVGOROD, Russia (AP) — Anti-government activists said police arrested hundreds of protesters in this central Russian city on Saturday in the third major crackdown on a demonstration in recent months as the country prepares for parliamentary elections and a presidential vote.
Authorities had not given permission for the rally in a central square in Nizhny Novgorod, saying a demonstration could only take place far from the city center. Hundreds of riot police in full gear cordoned off the central square.
Still, organizer Natalya Morar said, several hundred protesters managed to hold a short rally — dubbed the March of Those Who Disagree — near the central square until police dragged them into buses that took them to police stations.
An Associated Press photographer saw only dozens of protesters before he was briefly detained by police, who later released him, saying there had been a mistake.
The activists focused on local issues such as housing reform, but they also accused the Kremlin of stifling free speech, silencing dissent and depriving them of free and fair elections.
Oksana Chelysheva, another organizer and rights activist, said her group had received complaints from hundreds of people heading to the rally who said they were blocked by police from entering the city center.

“The March of Those Who Disagree” — poignant name. I sometimes think I’m part of such a march myself.

‐Care for a somewhat lighter news story? Yeah, me too. The headline over this item is “Bolivian Navy Gets New Sense of Purpose”:

The landlocked Bolivian navy finally found its own sea to sail.
A murky inland ocean created by months of catastrophic flooding in Bolivia’s lowland east gave the navy’s fleet of riverboats a fresh sense of purpose when their crews stepped in to rescue stranded villagers and round up livestock drowning in millions of acres of inundated cow pasture.

Anchors aweigh, dear Bolivians.

‐I must say I was a little confused by the new Miss USA, who comes from the beautiful state of Tennessee. Here’s what I got from this story:

Rachel Smith realized she had a real shot at the Miss USA crown when she made it to the top 15. Next up was the swimsuit portion of the pageant, and the journalism graduate from Tennessee told herself: “I’m just going to work it.”

Huh?

‐Let’s have a little language. I was watching Tiger Woods play at Doral over the weekend — I guess there were other participants in the tournament, too — and one of the commentators said, “I miss not seeing David Duval.” (Duval was a dominant player in the late ’90s who fell off the map.)

This reminded me of one of my favorite William Safire stories. Someone said to him, “I’ve missed not seeing you.” And Safire replied, “Actually, you’ve missed seeing me.” The other guy said, “Hmm: Maybe I meant what I said!”

During this same PGA broadcast, another commentator quoted F. Scott Fitzgerald as saying, “The rich are different than you and me.” I’m fairly sure Fitzgerald said “from” instead of “than,” what with his Princeton education and all — but I may be mistaken.

And, I’m sorry to tell you, friends: I’m getting looser on “than” all the time.

‐Some music (in the form of reviews from the New York Sun)? For a review of the pianist Ivan Moravec, go here. For a review of Strauss’s Egyptian Helen at the Metropolitan Opera, go here. For a review of Rossini’s Barber of Seville in the same house, go here. For the tenor Juan Diego Flórez in recital, go here. For the soprano Diana Damrau in recital, go here. And for a recordings roundup, go here.

Under consideration in that last one are the cello-and-piano team of Alexander Kniazev and Nikolai Lugansky, the pianist Yevgeny Sudbin, and the late soprano Rita Streich.

‐Finally, friends, I give you something absolutely amazing. A reader wrote in to say this: “My teenage daughter has progressed enough in her musicianship that she wants a more professional instrument. I was browsing various websites when I came across this from Canada — and in ‘Shipping Information’ no less!”

Okay, this is what we find under “Shipping Information” at ZacharyMusic.com:

Where are we? We are in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Windsor is located just across the river from the big bad city of Detroit. I actually grew up in Windsor but moved away in 1980 and recently have returned. Windsor, the last time I checked is still a part of Canada, as they tell us, the best country in the world. Its a social utopia where no one can get rich since our wonderful prime minister keeps our money and takes care of it for us. The attainment of the “American Dream” is seriously forbidden and a punishable offense in Canada, where bilingualism, multiculturalism, political correctism and few other “isms” rule the land. Canada is ruled by an army of unionized and highly paid civil servants who are unproductive leaches on the taxpayer. 43% of the Canadian population seems to work for the Government in some form or another. Most of the rest of the people are on welfare, which is basically the same thing. Capitalists are heavily persecuted for any success they may achieve. The religion here is socialism and liberalism, which Canadians defend with a passion. Socialism is just about the only thing a Canadian will ever become passionate about. So if you are a Democrat in the USA, you are in the wrong country, Canada is your dream state. I digress, but I can’t help it… I know, I know, this should be about shipping information.

No, no, feel free to go on!

And I’ll see you guys later.