The American Spectator

Loose Canons

Savoring the moment, George W. Bush looked out at the crowd at noon yesterday. Before commencing his speech the freshly re-inaugurated President smiled confidently. He knows what he wants to do, and in his fairly short speech he laid out his consistent theme that democracy is the best weapon in its own defense, and the survival of ours increasingly depends on the success of liberty abroad. There were no memorable lines we'll be quoting generations from now. But what he said, and what he will do, will shape the world we, our children, and grandchildren will live in.

The President said that evil is real, but courage triumphs. He said that there is no justice without freedom, and no human rights without liberty. His message to all the world was, "All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: the United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you." President Bush is a war president, and the war will go on in places where it must. To those whom we may yet have to fight, the President sent Lincoln's message: "Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves; and, under the rule of a just God, cannot long retain it." At the lunch following the ceremony, the President said he looked forward to putting his heart and soul into the job ahead. But now that the election's over, the Dems have abandoned their pretense and the game is afoot. What political evil lurks? Fear not, hearts of oak. As the President dedicates his heart and soul, his opponents have lost their minds.

AND SOME HAVE LITTLE in that department to lose. She just can't help herself. She shed a tear when her motion to block the electoral vote count didn't even get Teddy's vote. Sen. Barbara Boxer (Embarrassment-CA) once again entered the battle of wits only half-armed. Her opponent, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, made short work of Boxer's lament on Rice's honor. Boxer -- and the only other senator to vote against Rice's nomination in committee, Vichy John Kerry -- look like they're still in shock. They, and the rest of the lib community, are hanging grimly on to the last fraying thread connecting them to reality. But Boxer -- having been reelected by such a large margin her seat is thought safe (shame on you, California) -- is now the whacko libs' lead attack dog. We will see and hear more and more of her. At least until she has a few synapse shortfalls on the Sunday morning talk shows.

As the pshrinks would say, the libs are in denial. Liberals are convinced that if only they could preach their policies in a way we poor dummies in the Red States could understand, they'd win. They can't bear the thought that conservatives win because Americans understand liberalism very well indeed. Every year, Americans are better informed about what liberalism really is because the fairest of all judges -- the commercial market -- rejects the liberal media and favors a certain "fair and balanced" television network as well as conservative talk radio, web fora and magazines such as TAS. The leftie media are struggling to keep an ever-shrinking market share.

With Gunga Dan's March 9 departure fast approaching, CBS is trying to figure a way to get its ratings back up above those of the Weather Channel. The easiest way to do that would be to hire somebody who's not just another biased lib. I have a modest proposal: for the millions they paid Rather, maybe CBS could entice my pal Ollie North to be the new anchor. There's no denying that Ollie could improve CBS's ratings. A real combat Marine, with more than a decade of broadcast experience; a professional war correspondent with a great appearance and a loyal audience, he'd surely be someone CBS shareholders would welcome. But Les Moonves would rather commit ritual sepukku than hire a conservative to replace Rather.

So CBS is turning itself inside out to repackage its incredibly deep bias in a way it can recapture some sort of conscious audience. A year or two from now, they'll either be going through it all over again because the market for liberalism is declining, or there will be some shareholders' lawsuit against the directors for throwing away the value of the shares. There's a reason why you won't lose money by selling CBS short now: Moonves & Co. will make sure its liberal bias will be as well-preserved as Mao's corpse. CBS loves the UN, Old Europe and will never tell you about the EUnuchs' immorality.

THERE'S NO OTHER word for it. Even the Corleone family would draw the line at this one. On December 26, Thailand was one of the nations struck by the enormous tsunami, and has suffered tens of thousands of casualties. Five days later, according to the UK's Scotsman newspaper, "tsunami-struck Thailand has been told by the European Commission that it must buy six A380 Airbus aircraft if it wants to escape the tariffs against its fishing industry….[T]rade authorities in Brussels are demanding that Thai Airlines, its national carrier, pay £1.3 billion to buy its double-decker aircraft." The A380, of course, is the pride of Old Europe: the new super jumbo jet just announced by Airbus. The EU always insists that its below-market rate loans and grants to Airbus aren't subsidies. I'm really not current enough on that part of international law. Is blackmail a subsidy?

TAS Contributing Editor Jed Babbin is the author of Inside the Asylum: Why the UN and Old Europe Are Worse Than You Think (Regnery Publishing).

topics:
Television, Law, NATO