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Saturday, June 2, 2007
Face of the Day
02 Jun 2007 05:42 pm
An ultra-Orthodox Jew harvests wheat with a hand sickle in obediance of an ancient biblical command May 30, 2007 near the central Israeli town of Reut. He will store the wheat for almost a year and then grind it into flour to make unleavened bread for the week-long Passover festival. By David Silverman/Getty.
Gay Rights in Russia and Eastern Europe
02 Jun 2007 03:04 pm
The backlash is often violent, from Riga to Moscow:
[Businessman and anti-gay campaigner] Igors Maslakovs' views on homosexuality, he says, are Christian beliefs. He has particular affinity with the New Generation Church, an evangelical organisation with a swelling international congregation of mostly Russian speakers. The group now has 108 churches in 15 countries, including Argentina, Israel and America. It is headed by Aleksey Ledyaev, a publicity-savvy pastor with close ties to the Christian right in America. In February, Pastor Ledyaev attended a breakfast at the White House hosted by President Bush. "He's a very good man, a very powerful man. He has many connections with parliament and worldwide connections to the USA and Russia. He agrees with me," says Maslakovs.
Pastor Ledyaev declined an interview, writing instead: "I believe that Christians and their traditional values are discriminated against today, and not the gays and lesbians." In his sermons, he has been more explicit, saying of homosexuals: "God will bring evil upon them! God will drive them out and they will fall!" Many of the counterprotesters at last year's Pride wore "I Love the New Generation" T-shirts.
(Photo: Members of Russian profascist organisation "Rus" (Russia) demonstrate against the gay pride march, in Moscow 26 May 2007. By Alexey Sazonov/AFP/Getty.)
Britain's Gay Prime Minister
02 Jun 2007 02:55 pm
Who knew? A lot of people, it appears.
God and The Eighties
02 Jun 2007 02:33 pm
Peter Hitchens is a skeptic about divine providence behind Reagan, Thatcher and JP2:
There is a sort of presumption in the idea that God is particularly interested in liberating people from Communism, let alone from the rule of Jimmy Carter or of the British Labor Party. His kingdom is not of this world, as Christ unambiguously said. Go to Poland now, and you will find that the church and the Christian faith are, if anything, weaker than they were under the heel of the Communists. I might add that Poland, though freed from the iron manacles of Moscow, is now instead wrapped up in the sticky marshmallow bonds of the European Union, a despotic, secretive, and lawless empire with the strong potential to get much worse than it already is. As for the U.S. and Britain, I will get round to that. I really wouldn’t like to speculate on what God might have wanted to happen, but if He was hoping for the current arrangements, I should be very much surprised.
ChavLove
02 Jun 2007 02:14 pm
Billy Reid spreads some:
Noonan, Me, and Conservatism II
02 Jun 2007 01:09 pm
A reader writes:
I think it is important that you show the about-face of someone like Peggy Noonan. Something about it struck me as ridiculous though. I think it is because, whether you reached this conclusion now or three years ago, it came much too late. As a conservative with libertarian leanings, how could you fail to not be suspicious of this administration sooner, led by someone who wrapped himself in the flag after 9-11 and so clearly engaged in fear-mongering? Remember operation flight-suit? By then it was well past the time when reasonable people should have been afraid, not of the terrorists, but of a government so clearly willing to exploit the fears of its citizens for the most trivial partisan gains, a government led by someone so clearly dependent upon extreme political theater to accomplish anything.
I lived 4 blocks north of the WTC, in Tribeca, and as horrible as that was, what I witnessed in this country in the months following scared me more: the total silence of any opposition to the president's policies after 9-11and the glorification of war and hero-worship engaged in by the mainstream media. Even the internet offered little in the way of alternatives. All the problems we see now I think can be traced to that silence and the excess of maudlin sentiment and lack of perspective all around. It's absurd to me that many vehement supporters of this president and his policies, the excuse-makers and seemingly innocent people who attacked anyone who opposed the president's policies as unpatriotic or as a supporter of terrorists, should have much an audience any more.
Continue reading "Noonan, Me, and Conservatism II" »
Tax Breaks for Vegetarians
02 Jun 2007 12:38 pm
PETA's latest gambit.
The View From Your Window
02 Jun 2007 11:42 am
Bourbon, Missouri, 7 am. "The flag hangs for Jimmy Summers, 1986-2007. Killed over the wkend in Iraq."
For an interactive gallery of Dish readers' window views across the world, click here.
Quote for the Day
02 Jun 2007 09:30 am
"I must urge the men out there: stay away from Viagra. It is a Pandora's box of truth. Despite how much you may want to get into Pandora's box, Viagra will force you to gaze at the hideous reality: men are lousy lovers," - John Hargrave.
Alas, the news is more complex than that. The blue pill can reduce your sperm count as well:
And this is where Pfizer turns a liability into a brand new marketing opportunity, right? Younger fellas, who don’t want to have kids, may now think of Viagra as not just a party drug, but a form of birth control ...
Embassies as Bunkers
02 Jun 2007 08:15 am
The security issue has led to a strange role for American embassies across the globe:
In reality, American embassies are increasingly cut off from those very countries in which the U.S. is supposed to be fostering better relations, and worse, create caricatures of the detached diplomat more interested in tennis than work. Even in Doha, a relative safe haven from terrorism, the embassy is many meters off the main road, and to enter, you pass through a security checkpoint staffed by Filipinos. Depending on your business at the embassy, you then go through another layer of security to enter the building. Even for embassy employees, entering the building was time consuming. For foreigners, it could be a good chunk of the afternoon.
There's a loss here:
I grew up in South America so I've had experience with the US consular system. When I was a kid, sure, there were Marine guards in bullet-proof guard huts checking you out, but in effect, you could walk in off the street. What happens to the point of an embassy or consulate if the locals can't get in at all, and the consular staff lives apart from and has no interaction with the locals?
The Last Straw, Etc.
02 Jun 2007 07:15 am
A reader writes:
The reader you posted stated that Noonan and others who are late to the party have no credibility to criticize Bush. Hogwash. Have you and this reader never heard of the expression "the straw that breaks the camel's back?" You maintain loyalty in politics even when you are in disagreement with a party or a President. If you are part of a political movement you realize that no politician is ideologically pure or completely without fault. However, you do expect that your loyalty will be rewarded with more than mere lip service to one's ideological beliefs and you expect more than comically bad incompetence.
A lot of intellectual conservatives are now asking themselves at which moment did they lose faith in Bush. For some, such as yourself, it was Abu Ghraib. For others, it was the chaos that unfolded in late 2003-04 and the intransigent refusal of Rumsfeld and Bush to respond to it.
Continue reading "The Last Straw, Etc." »
Friday, June 1, 2007
Accountability and the Right
01 Jun 2007 11:24 pm
Rod Dreher is unimpressed by recent epiphanies:
So yes, by all means let's turn our backs on this failed presidency, and save what we can, while we can. But let's not kid ourselves: Bush has failed conservatives, yes, but we have also failed ourselves. It doesn't take much courage to stand up for conservative principle to a president as weak as this one has become. It would have taken real courage to stand up for conservative principle in 2002, 2003, 2004, even early 2005. How many did? I know I didn't -- not until Katrina and Miers, which came late in 2005.
If we're looking to blame someone for the failure of Republican government and the conservative crack-up, look to the White House, yes, and look to the late, unlamented Republican Congress. But also look to the conservative talk show hosts, the conservative columnists, and finally, in the mirror. The only way we're going to rebuild after the present and coming political shattering is through honest reckoning, and taking responsibility for what we've done. It is tempting to blame Bush for everything. But it's not fair, and it's not honest. Bush is today who he always was. The difference is we conservatives pretty much loved the guy - when he was a winner."
The Summer of Our Discontent
01 Jun 2007 09:36 pm
"We're in an extraordinary situation when gas is $3.50 a gallon and it is the voters' third-ranking concern," - Byron York, NRO.
The Neuroscience of Imagination
01 Jun 2007 07:12 pm
Eventually, everything will be neuroscience, it seems. Even Harry Potter.
"Verschärfte Vernehmung"
01 Jun 2007 07:03 pm
Del.icio.us now has 119 lnks to the post on the origins of the Bush administration phrase "enhanced interrogation." Thanks. One day, we'll stop the torture now being inflicted in our name.
Carpe Diem
01 Jun 2007 06:11 pm
Every day in America is a special day. No, this isn't an excerpt from a Romney speech. That would be:
"Fabulous. America. Faith. Faith. Faith. America. God. Faith. Gosh. God. Fabulous. America. Great. America. Strong. Strong. Faith. Strong. Family. God. Faith. America. Strong. Fabulous. Tagg!"
It's a statement of fact, as Melissa Lafsky notes. Today, June 1, is, for example, Pen Pal Day, Kentucky Statehood Day and Leave The Office Early Day. Hey, where do you think you're going?
Reason, Left and Right
01 Jun 2007 05:57 pm
Mark Hoofnagle notes:
It's important to remember both the left and the right have anti-scientific tendencies, the left's just tend to be less religious, less world-threatening and more woo-based. My brother recently told me about moving to California, "they don't believe in Jesus here, just bullshit" in reference to the woo-based beliefs of large portions of the population. The risk of unscientific tendencies is when people with potential to become cranks see a scientific theory as a threat to some overvalued idea they hold dear. Sometimes the over-valued idea isn't even a bad quality, it can be compassion - but taken to an extreme. If the left starts to see global warming policy as a money-grab by the elites, expect to see more left wing crankery and climate denial based on conspiratorial beliefs about carbon markets.
Just stick to the data, as best you can. I prefer hoo with my woo, personally.
You Think?
01 Jun 2007 05:21 pm
"For the record, I personally don't have strong views on immigration. I just find it amazing that the response to grassroots opposition is to fire the telephone solicitors!" - Todd Zywicki. I guess Zywicki just doesn't want to do what's right for America.
Gore and the Media
01 Jun 2007 04:45 pm
Is the MSM back to its old tricks with respect to covering Gore? Paul McLeary thinks so:
[Dana] Milbank gives us an account of a recent speech by Gore that reads almost like a parody of everything we read about the candidate back in '00.
Milbank said that during the speech, Gore "waxed esoteric," "waxed erudite," and "waxed informed," as if these might be bad things to have happen during a speech. Milbank then quotes several audience members who gush over how smart Gore is, concluding that "therein lies a problem for the Gore '08 bubble." Can't be too smart, now, or else you'll look like an egghead, right?
… Making this point in his own way, Milbank says that "the crowd loved it. But would the 'average American?'"
When reporters at places like the Post start acting like they know what's up with the "average American," we're headed for trouble. Milbank is trafficking in a portrayal of Gore that was almost entirely invented by the press, and, given that seven years later the press appears unable to move beyond that caricature, perhaps we'll all be better off if Gore doesn't run.
A couple of thoughts. I'm not unsympathetic to many of Gore's points in his new book. But have you read it? It's a multiple-page-sigh at the idiocy of his fellow humans. He comes off as a total jerk, when he's not being a monumental bore. And if you're a grown-up politician trying to get better press, it might not be the best idea to blame the media for everything that's wrong in American democracy. It's also a stupid argument. The notion that Americans became collectively unhinged after the O.J. Simpson trial, that it's only been in the last decade or so that news has been chased out of American consciousness by celebrity, Hollywod and scandal, is so loopy and ahistorical it reads like a college thesis - which, of course, it once was. Really, I try and give the guy a chance. He's not wrong about everything. He's right about the Bush administration's constitutional excesses, torture, war-bungling and the dreck that passes for news on a lot of cable channels. He deserves mad props on climate change. But there really is something about Al Gore. It took real talent to throw the 2000 election away. He's still got it.
Defining Secularism
01 Jun 2007 04:18 pm
Ross makes an essential point:
There are two strains of secularism, I would argue, which are usually intertwined but philosophically distinct: A soft secularism that argues for a legal separation of church and politics - no school prayer, no federal funds for churches, etc - and a hard secularism that militates for a complete separation of religion and politics, and shades easily into hostility toward organized religion in a general. But neither form precludes private belief in the supernatural. A perfectly "secular" society would be defined not by universal atheism, but by a religion-free politics in the short run, and probably a long-run "decoupling," as Razib puts it, of supernatural beliefs from religious institutions.
The conflation of secularism with atheism in the popular vernacular is one of the more corrosive abuses of the English language today. It is perfectly possible to be devoutly religious and aggressively secular. Yes, that combo is rarer than it was, but its possibility is a lynchpin of liberal democracy.
Jihad in Gaza
01 Jun 2007 03:45 pm
They start in Kindergarten.
A Moment To Savor"
01 Jun 2007 03:35 pm
Peggy Noonan after Bush's re-election.
Iran's Enabler
01 Jun 2007 03:33 pm
Gordon Chang blames Mohamed El-Baradei for weakening the economic vise around Tehran:
Sanctions may ultimately not disarm the Iranian government, but at this moment they are the last tactic on the road to military action. They are contributing to the already severe woes of the Iranian economy, in the hopes of inducing Ahmadinejad to stop the nuclear program. Western banks are breaking off business ties with the regime, and pressure from Washington is persuading European energy companies to reevaluate investing in Iran.
Sanctions cannot work unless the international community joins together behind them. But Mohamed ElBaradei is standing in the way. He is not giving coercive diplomacy a chance, and if he succeeds in eroding support for still-tougher diplomatic measures, the only way to stop the Iranian mullahs will be war.
Noonan, Me, and Conservatism
01 Jun 2007 03:22 pm
A reader writes:
The problem with the conservative "revolt" over immigration and the discomfort it is causing with the base and their mouthpieces (along with the broader reconsideration of Bush this seems to have provoked) is that all this is coming far, far too late.
Am I really supposed to take Peggy Noonan, or Glenn Reynolds, or, basically, anyone at NRO seriously when they become indignant at Bush now? All they have done (in varying degrees, of course) is carry water for this man for the last six years. They stood by him as he declared "Mission Accomplished," they stood by him as he authorized torture, they stood by him as he massively expanded government and destroyed any vestiges of fiscal sanity that were handed on to him. Some complained here and there, and some more than others. Noonan, in particular, seemed genuinely put off by his second inaugural address. But, to cite another example, can I really view David Frum's current protestations as credible after reading "The Right Man"? After glorifying Bush, after hailing him as the man Providence bequeathed to us, after blindly marching behind him into war, now they act indignant?
Continue reading "Noonan, Me, and Conservatism" »
Bloggy Peggy
01 Jun 2007 03:09 pm
The rightwing blogosphere reacts to the latest high-profile defection from the Bush disaster. Gandelman:
In considering Noonan's main point, you could slice the immigration issue totally off, and you'd still have to note profound differences between this administration's central ideology (to retain and expand political and executive branch power) and traditional Republican conservatives who insist upon following Barry Goldwater's and Ronald Reagan's cherished principles.
Yet, traditional conservatives have been driven into the circled covered wagons by the Bush administration to defend policies that are in some cases radical. And how? By using the late 20th century America’s most identifiable and potent political tactic: demonization of the opposition. If you believe your opponents have horns and pitchforks, you'll work until your last breath against them.
Amen. One lesson conservatives should surely learn from the last six years is the danger of partisanship. It can blind you to the betrayal of your own ideals. The Right Angle loves Noonan. Rising Hegemon notices that Noonan's own record on calling her own party out is less than stellar. Hey, better late than never.
The Return of the Realists?
01 Jun 2007 02:47 pm
Steve Clemons exults in a new policy director for Condi. Money quote:
The constructive players in the administration, at this point, include people like Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten (he has made HUGE difference in general change of course of this administration away from Cheneyesque pugnaciousness), Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Deputy Secretary John Negroponte (yes - for all the critics who have a problem with Negroponte, you need to take another look - he is winning bureaucratic battles for Condi now against Cheney's team), Under Secretary of State R. Nicholas Burns (whose success at 'lots' of new international deal-making that was preempted in the last few years make him a great potential successor to Bob Barker on The Price is Right), Legal Adviser John Bellinger, and now David Gordon succeeding Stanford's Stephen Krasner in George Kennan's famous job.
Others on the side of light include Secretary of Defense Bob Gates who is strongly backing the Diplomatic Team (and by reports I've received is in the clear lead - though not demanding credit - in laying out a new strategic road map for American interests in the Middle East). Gordon England, Deputy Secretary of Defense, is running DoD far more competently than Paul Wolfowitz did. Mike McConnell at the Directorate of National Intelligence and Michael Hayden have completely turned around a convulsing, dysfunctional intelligence establishment that was being ravaged and distorted by Rumsfeld and Stephen Cambone into something far more ordered and constructively supportive of the current foreign policy and national security missions.
Make no mistake about my enthusiasm for the rising A Team here.
Bush and Abu Ghraib
01 Jun 2007 02:43 pm
Way ahead of the revelations, the president approved of almost all of it:
The report, completed last August but only declassified and made public on May 18, suggests that the abusive techniques stemmed from a much more formal process than the Defense Department has previously acknowledged. By 2002 the Pentagon was looking for an interrogation paradigm to use on what it had designated as "unlawful combatants" captured in the "war on terror." These individuals, many taken prisoner in Afghanistan, were initially brought to the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo, although others were subsequently hidden away in CIA secret prisons or turned over to U.S.-allied governments known to practice torture. That same year, the commander of the detention facility at Guantanamo began using the abusive "counter resistance" techniques adopted from SERE on prisoners at the base, and according to the Pentagon report SERE military psychologists were on hand to help.
From whom did they learn their techniques? The Soviet Union. We looked at the worst our former enemy did, and copied it.
Face of the Day
01 Jun 2007 01:34 pm
In this handout image provided by Courtesy Science Ltd and Jay Jopling/White Cube (London), Artist Damien Hirst's platinum cast of a human skull is shown covered with 8,601 ethically sourced diamonds and is estimated to be worth over $98 million. Titled 'For the Love of God', the original skull was examined by forensic experts, who concluded that it was male, probably of European origin and about 35 years old at the time of death. Radiocarbon analysis suggests that he lived some time between 1720 and 1810. (Photo by Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd via Getty Images)
Quote for the Day
01 Jun 2007 01:05 pm
"In the end, you came away with the strong sense that they had contempt for the faith-based community. The way we were being treated it was as if we had leprosy," - former McCain "Americans of Faith" director Marlene Elwell.
The Beginning Of The End Of Torture?
01 Jun 2007 12:32 pm
Marty Lederman sees a few glimmers of hope on the Senate Intelligence Committee.
The Conservative Soul
01 Jun 2007 12:13 pm
"The beginning of my own sense of separation from the Bush administration came in January 2005, when the president declared that it is now the policy of the United States to eradicate tyranny in the world, and 
that the survival of American liberty is dependent on the liberty of every other nation. This was at once so utopian and so aggressive that it shocked me. For others the beginning of distance might have been Katrina and the incompetence it revealed, or the depth of the mishandling and misjudgments of Iraq.
What I came in time to believe is that the great shortcoming of this White House, the great thing it is missing, is simple wisdom. Just wisdom - a sense that they did not invent history, that this moment is not all there is, that man has lived a long time and there are things that are true of him, that maturity is not the same thing as cowardice, that personal loyalty is not a good enough reason to put anyone in charge of anything, that the way it works in politics is a friend becomes a loyalist becomes a hack, and actually at this point in history we don't need hacks. ...
Now conservatives and Republicans are going to have to win back their party. They are going to have to break from those who have already broken from them. This will require courage, serious thinking and an ability to do what psychologists used to call letting go. This will be painful, but it's time. It's more than time," - Peggy Noonan, WSJ.
Glenn Reynolds concurs in large part. It's good to see others finally come around on this. My own book-length account of the same journey can be found here. I just got to where Peggy now is three years ago.
The View From Your Window
01 Jun 2007 11:52 am
Belgrade, Montana, 8.30 am.
For an interactive gallery of Dish readers' window views across the world, click here.
Complex Iowa
01 Jun 2007 11:34 am
A reader writes:
I'm writing as a native Iowan (22 yrs, including college), reconciled to a life on the East Coast. The reader you quoted who opined that Iowa "may be the most isolationist state" is, well, how I might I be charitable here, an idiot.
On the isolationist charge alone, next time your intrepid reader is in Iowa, have him climb into the cab of a tractor or combine with a farmer, as he rides his fields while simultaneously checking global commodity prices on his laptop. The agricultural community isn't isolationist, but rather extremely sensitive to the "at home" realities of global integration. Regarding the reader's wholly generic statement that "on wars Iowa is not indicative of the country", the reader is only partially right -- the most thoroughly Republican parts of Iowa are indicative of the parts of the country that send more kids off in uniform to fight wars than those that send more kids off to Wall Street.
From a political culture perspective, western and southern Iowa are far more "Deep South" or "Conservationist West" than Upper Midwest or Vermont Granola. The differences between the eastern and western sides of the state, moreover, indicate a degree of diversity beyond the grasp fo your reader. While the western part of the state elects Congressmen like Steve King (5th district), the self proclaimed most conservative Republican in Congress, my home district, the Iowa 1st in the Mississippi Valley, elected Jim Leach for most of my lifetime, replacing him with Democrat Bruce Braley.
I'm with you on your read of the poll, Andrew. If Iowa Republicans are abandoning the war, its because they've felt the family costs, and they're turning despite the fact that in recent years the Iowa GOP has become increasingly Christianist, socially conservative, and Rovian in its composition.
Theocons vs Rudy
01 Jun 2007 11:18 am
They're organizing:
One of the anti-Rudy groups is The Conservative Declaration. Based in Michigan, the group claims backers in over 30 states, many with ties to the hard-right. The group is led by former Buchanan supporters and Christian Coalition activists.
Paul Nagy, the group's top-gun in New Hampshire, believes nominating Giuliani would be disastrous for the American conservative movement. Along with other activists, Nagy signed a letter seeking additional signatories to the anti-Rudy declaration. The letter states: "Rudy Giuliani is an unacceptable Republican nominee for President of the United States. He is pro-abortion, pro-partial birth abortion, pro-registration of handguns, and pro-homosexual rights. He is the most liberal Republican candidate for President in our nation's history."
Another Drop
01 Jun 2007 11:03 am
From Pollster.com:
Your Moment of Ralph II
01 Jun 2007 10:58 am
Yes, there's more! Six minutes more! But don't binge all at once.
The Candor of Obama
01 Jun 2007 10:42 am
You want to know why I can't stop myself being impressed? Because the man isn't pandering - even in primary season, as the clear underdog:
When a questioner at a rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, wanted to know whether he would cut the military budget to make room for other priorities, Obama answered, "Actually, you'll probably see an initial bump in military spending in an Obama Administration" to replace the equipment that has been depleted by the Iraq war and build up the size of the active forces. When a teacher asked him about the No Child Left Behind law that is so unpopular with educators and their unions, Obama agreed that it "left the money behind." But while he endorsed higher pay for teachers, Obama also talked about "the things that were good about No Child Left Behind," including more accountability. By then, his listeners were shifting in their chairs.
Regarding Social Security, the social program enshrined like no other in the theology of the Democratic base, Obama has said he is open to such politically heretical ideas as upping the retirement age and raising payroll taxes to shore up the system. Before black audiences, Obama regularly condemns violent and misogynist rap lyrics and chastises African Americans for disenfranchising themselves by not voting. In March, Obama caused some consternation among Jewish leaders by saying, "No one is suffering more than the Palestinian people." Given the chance to disavow that comment during a debate, Obama merely clarified it, saying the fuller context included an assertion that this suffering was the result of "the failure of the Palestinian leadership."
We need this guy. We're lucky to have him.
(Photo: Scott Morgan/Getty.)
That Medicare Bill
01 Jun 2007 09:40 am
The worst moment in big government conservatism gets the Full Monty from Matt.
28,000 Words Later
01 Jun 2007 09:37 am
Ross Douthat reviews Paul Berman on Tariq Ramadan.
Douchebaggery
01 Jun 2007 09:30 am
Goldberg vs Taranto
01 Jun 2007 08:59 am
I really should 't get so much pleasure from this, should I?
Dissent of the Day II
01 Jun 2007 08:53 am
A reader writes:
You wrote:
"Iraq, however, is not the sole cause of this phenomenon. Where states are weak in the Arab Muslim world, where order is remote, Jihad will thrive. And its targets are far more likely to extend more globally to the West and Westerners and Western-oriented Muslims than the Palestinian terrorism of the past. This is the next wave. I see no way to stop it."
There is definitely a way to stop it. Drastically reduce our consumption of gasoline. Drop the price of oil worldwide, and apply economic pressure to any nation with citizens that finance Jihadis. Saudi Arabia in particular. We must force Muslims to make their money the traditional way - with ingenuity and innovation. Integrate them into the global market, instead of subsidizing their fanatical religious bubbles. Blowing up Westerners will become far less popular among their populations, once we become their primary customers. Given the option, 99.9% of people will pick secular, progressive capitalism over fanatical religion every time. Having a petro-economy deprives many Muslims of that choice, and they in turn help radicalize the rest.
Thompson, Obama, Experience
01 Jun 2007 08:51 am
A reader writes:
Just something I found interesting. Barack Obama's candidacy has been criticized because of his lack of governmental experience. He spent about 8 years as an Illinois state senator and will, by '08, have spent almost 4 years in the U.S. Senate.
What about Fred Thompson? He doesn't get the "lack of experience" criticism, but he was in the Senate for only about 8 years - he filled the last 2 years of Gore's term, and then had one full term of his own. Other than this, he's never been elected to anything. He was an assistant US Attorney for 3 years and served about a year as an attorney for a Congressional committee investigating Watergate.
Good point, no?
An Age of Abundance
01 Jun 2007 08:49 am
Brink Lindsey offers a helpful counter-balance to the doom-sayers on the American economy.
Dissent of the Day
01 Jun 2007 07:40 am
A reader writes:
As a former editor of a campus conservative newspaper, I feel particularly sad when I see comments like those of George Will describing what conservatism "means." The problem is that there is a difference between normative conservatism -- what conservatism should be about -- and positive conservatism, or a description of what conservatism actually is today. The conservatism of Ron Paul, or George Will, or Andrew Sullivan, while an admirable thing, has almost nothing whatsoever to do with conservatism as it has actually been practiced in this country for many decades. To be "conservative" in America today is to believe in state power -- something that would have repelled Barry Goldwater. To be "conservative" in America today is to believe in Wilsonian foreign activism -- something that would have repelled Robert Taft. To be conservative today is to believe in Federal laws about "morals" issues instead of state-by-state federalism on issues not related to "interstate commerce." Conservatism today is all about cultural affinity as opposed to ideology. It is about comfort. Comfort with people, and comfort with received notions of what America is supposed to "represent."
The notion that conservatism is somehow a "temperament" as opposed to an ideology is true today, but in a different way than the past. Conservatism has become something tribal -- It is not about anything in particular anymore.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
New Hampshire Republicans
31 May 2007 09:38 pm
A dying breed.
"Postures, Not Positions"
31 May 2007 08:49 pm
Joe Klein on Mitt Romney.
The Presidential Disconnect
31 May 2007 08:35 pm
Georgie-Ann Geyer reports:
Friends of [the president's] from Texas were shocked recently to find him nearly wild-eyed, thumping himself on the chest three times while he repeated "I am the president!" He also made it clear he was setting Iraq up so his successor could not get out of "our country's destiny."
Gulp.
Fun With Fonts
31 May 2007 08:33 pm
More high-tech calligraphy and typeface art here.
Dissent of the Day
31 May 2007 07:29 pm
A reader writes:
That poll of Iowa Republicans is interesting, but you should note that Iowa may be the most isolationist state in the union. I'm not a GOP'er and not trying to spin that poll, but on wars Iowa is not indicative of the country.
A useful piece of context. But still ...
Email of the Day
31 May 2007 07:27 pm
A reader writes:
I'm a Two-Time Bush voter. In Pennsylvania in 2004 I voted for Pat Toomey. I voted straight Republican last fall.
Now I want an "Impeach Bush" Bumper Sticker. You're right. It's the arrogance and condescension that finally gets to you.
Lieberman and the Troops
31 May 2007 06:54 pm
Talking past each other.
How Much Does The Internet Weigh?
31 May 2007 06:50 pm
Discover magazine sets out to answer that question. Not that anyone asked.
Face of the Day
31 May 2007 05:56 pm
Former British Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher looks into a machine striking a commemorative coin to coincide with the 25th Anniversary of Liberation of The Falklands Islands from Argentine occupation at the Pobjoy Mint in Kingswood, south of London, 31 May 2007. Thatcher, Britain's Prime Minister at the time of The Falklands conflict, and Governor Sir Rex Hunt, watched a series of coins struck on behalf of the Government of the Falkland Islands. By Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty.
Will We Ever Leave Iraq?
31 May 2007 05:48 pm
Justin Logan asks a good question.
A Museum of Beards
31 May 2007 05:27 pm
How have I lived this long without knowing about this? (Hat tip: Table of Malcontents.)
Mrs Kucinich's Wardrobe
31 May 2007 05:15 pm
Thank God we're finally dealing with the real issues.
How Serious A Candidate Is Fred Thompson?
31 May 2007 04:43 pm
I like the guy, but I'm not convinced the hype is backed by anything substantive. But, hey, I'm open to persuasion! Bainbridge is excited. Chait is worried. Matt disagrees. Zengerle sees another Wes Clark. Matt counters:
But what happened with Clark is that it seemed like he'd be a strong candidate - military background, southerner, etc. - but then it turned out he was really bad at campaigning. Thompson's actually campaigned before and it seems he was pretty good at it. If he stumbles, it'll be for some other, not-especially-Clark-like reasons.
My view: the more the merrier.
Fred Thompson and Scooter Libby
31 May 2007 04:41 pm
Not the best moment for Fred.
Women Under Siege
31 May 2007 04:28 pm
"Saudi society is based on masters and slaves, or, to be more precise, masters and maids, because the masters are the men, and the slaves are the women... The ownership of a woman is passed from one man to another. Ownership of the woman is passed from the father or the brother to another man, the husband. The woman is merely a piece of merchandise, which is passed over to someone else – her guardian. How do you recognize a maid or a slave? ... I believe that in general, for the Saudi woman, every day is a new battle. She needs to find ways to live on the face of this earth without colliding with the law, with men, with society, with the religious clerics, or with the political establishment. She is besieged. There are five types of shackles, or jails, for the woman – if she manages to escape one, she might enter another. The first is the tribe, then comes the family, then the religious institutions, the political establishment, and finally, society. Wherever you go, you encounter a battle. What are you to do?" - Wajeha Al-Huwaidar, Saudi liberal.
Iowa Republicans and the War
31 May 2007 04:23 pm
A reader notices this intriguing poll of 600 Iowa GOPers:
Do you see President George W. Bush as a conservative Republican in the mode of Ronald Reagan? (Republicans Only)
Yes 5%
No 79%
Undecided 16%
More striking:
Do you favor a withdrawal of all United States military from Iraq within the next six months? (Republicans Only)
Yes 54%
No 37%
Undecided 9%
All troops. Next six months. Among the Dems, the pro-withdrawal number is 81 percent. It's over, Mr President.
The Curse of "Diversity"
31 May 2007 04:15 pm
So good to hear someone tell the truth:
Diversity, the idea, is good. Diversity, the social engineering project, in which each colored, each religionist, each sexual preference, is praised for the simple fact that he or she exists, is a load of crap. When everyone is all into fully embracing their “identity,” they give up what Jean Baudrillard calls the will for sovereignty. In other words, who gives an eff what you call yourself if you’re not free? Yet that’s exactly what the diversity discourse does. It tells you, here is a nice corner for you , look we even put cushions there of the kind your mother stitches, now just stay there OK? Everyone ends up in ghettoes. The best place in the US to see it are top tier universities like the kind where I went, or, you can go to Canada, apparently the entire country is suffering from this problem.
Nature's 300
31 May 2007 04:05 pm
Stunning YouTube footage of a brutal, bloody battle between lions, water buffalo, and two crocodiles in an African watering hole. Nature red in tooth and claw. Watch all the way through if you have a few minutes. And cheer the buffalo on! (Hat tip: Haha.)
Red-Handed
31 May 2007 04:00 pm
John Edwards trips up.
Nancy Grace Watch
31 May 2007 03:57 pm
Hathos strikes again.
Kafka and Gitmo
31 May 2007 03:33 pm
Another detainee suicide. Scott Horton ponders its meaning. Meanwhile, there's a book of poetry from Gitmo detainees due out. Robert Pinsky discusses it here. A blog discusses Pinsky's argument here.
Moments In Desperation, Vol XXVII
31 May 2007 03:14 pm
"Look, the bill in the Senate is not [the president's]. The White House was called in after the negotiations already began on the bill. In the House, they're going to start from scratch, it's not his bill. And the president, I just think, needs to drop out of this debate. He's unpopular, the opponents of immigration reform are going to call whatever the bill is, a Bush bill, because they think that'll make it more unpopular than it might otherwise have been." - Fred Barnes, still spinning, Fox News.
The Netroots and Obama
31 May 2007 02:23 pm
Have you noticed how Obama's healthcare plan is the more centrist of those on offer from the Democrats? And have you checked out Obama's latest foreign policy article? Money quote:
To renew American leadership in the world, we must immediately begin working to revitalize our military. A strong military is, more than anything, necessary to sustain peace...
We must use this moment both to rebuild our military and to prepare it for the missions of the future. We must retain the capacity to swiftly defeat any conventional threat to our country and our vital interests...
We should expand our ground forces by adding 65,000 soldiers to the army and 27,000 marines...
I will not hesitate to use force, unilaterally if necessary, to protect the American people or our vital interests whenever we are attacked or imminently threatened...
I will work with other nations to secure, destroy, and stop the spread of these [nuclear] weapons ...
Iran and North Korea could trigger regional arms races, creating dangerous nuclear flashpoints in the Middle East and East Asia. In confronting these threats, I will not take the military option off the table...
We should pursue an integrated strategy that reinforces our troops in Afghanistan and works to remove the limitations placed by some NATO allies on their forces....
To defeat al Qaeda, I will build a twenty-first-century military...
The anti-war left is worried. Money quote:
Again, I'm sorry to say this, as I know it will bring me grief from many of you, but Obama sounds just like a hawk - maybe a more competent version of Bush.
Er, no. Obama has pledged to get out of the Jihadist trap in Iraq. He's a path beyond Bush-Cheney. But he doesn't appear to be in denial about the threat itself. I don't have a problem with that. In fact, isn't it precisely the strategy we need? Call it: chastened interventionism.
Verschaerfte Vernehmung Update
31 May 2007 02:03 pm
25 trackbacks and counting. 174 Technorati links. Thanks for spreading the word.
Madison Active Dom Madly Into Lactation Knowledge
31 May 2007 01:55 pm
Breastfeeding for kinks? Dan Savage's latest column deals with the phenomenon, now thoroughly milked on this blog.
Good Advice
31 May 2007 01:50 pm
Mark Kleiman calls it like it is:
Democrats should stop getting the vapors every time a Republican accuses them of being "soft on terror," and stop whining about how mean and divisive the Republicans are being (though indeed Bush's preference for political point-scoring over national unity is indeed one example of his unseriousness about fighting the GWOT). Instead, they should point out in detail how the total fecklessness of the Bush Administration has made the country less safe.
Re-Branding Canada
31 May 2007 01:41 pm
"Snow-Mexico" no more! Alex Beam has a jolly column:
Canada, the world's second largest nation, has launched a $10 million "Canada: Keep Exploring" promotion campaign to convince Americans that Snow Mexico isn't boring and stodgy, but cutting-edge, upscale, and hip.
The Wall Street Journal says one ad soon to land in Boston and elsewhere hypes "tony outdoor digs on Vancouver Island accompanied by the caption ' Is sipping 40-year-old brandy in a luxury tent still considered roughing it?' " My proposed caption would attract a lot more Yankee turistas: "The Pot Capital of North America -- Just Minutes Away." I'm still fuming that the newspaper didn't send me to cover Vancouver's Global Marijuana March ("Think Global, Smoke Local"), which took place earlier this month.
Or "Canada: Keep Going."
Thompson Channels Obama
31 May 2007 01:29 pm
A revealing sign of the shifting times.
Derb Classic
31 May 2007 01:11 pm
Heh:
"'Here is Sam Brownback talking about evolutionary biology.' That's a bit like saying: 'Here's Paris Hilton talking about partial differential equations.'"