The Week

The Federal Tooth Commission is planning to place restrictions on candy ads on television aimed at children.

President Carter’s Notre Dame speech, whose tone was Baptist-cum-Brzezinski, announced that we are righteous again, having got over our “inordinate fear of Communism” and renewed our commitment to human rights everywhere. Democracy is contagious: if we embody it ourselves, we can inspire everyone else, especially if we nudge our allies along. “We can already see dramatic worldwide advances in the protection of the individual from the arbitrary power of the state.” Worldwide? Angola? Ethiopia? Cambodia? Vietnam? He spoke of “democracy’s great recent successes—India, Portugal, Greece, Spain,” apparently equating its sheer formal existence with its success. Trying hard not to sound like the boy who cried lamb, the President did a lot of curtseying to common sense: “I have no illusion that changes will come easily or soon”—in the Communist world, that is. In southern Africa, however, “to be peaceful, change must come promptly.” Harass our allies’, be patient and genial with our foes: lots about “detente” and “normalizing relations.” And the bottom line of our commitment to human rights: “We wish to cooperate closely with the creative Chinese people on the problems that confront all mankind.” Yes, we have no illusions.

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The Federal Tooth Commission is planning to place restrictions on candy ads on television aimed at children.

President Carter’s Notre Dame speech, whose tone was Baptist-cum-Brzezinski, announced that we are righteous again, having got over our “inordinate fear of Communism” and renewed our commitment to human rights everywhere. Democracy is contagious: if we embody it ourselves, we can inspire everyone else, especially if we nudge our allies along. “We can already see dramatic worldwide advances in the protection of the individual from the arbitrary power of the state.” Worldwide? Angola? Ethiopia? Cambodia? Vietnam? He spoke of “democracy’s great recent successes—India, Portugal, Greece, Spain,” apparently equating its sheer formal existence with its success. Trying hard not to sound like the boy who cried lamb, the President did a lot of curtseying to common sense: “I have no illusion that changes will come easily or soon”—in the Communist world, that is. In southern Africa, however, “to be peaceful, change must come promptly.” Harass our allies’, be patient and genial with our foes: lots about “detente” and “normalizing relations.” And the bottom line of our commitment to human rights: “We wish to cooperate closely with the creative Chinese people on the problems that confront all mankind.” Yes, we have no illusions.