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Saturday, June 2, 2007
Dept. of Things You Couldn't Make Up If You Tried
Posted by on 6.2.07 @ 8:09PM
The founder of an anti-gang group -- which has gotten $1.5 million dollars from the City of Los Angeles to combat gang violence -- has been arrested for illegally selling guns and silencers to an undercover ATF agent. The name of his anti-gang group? "No Guns."
At the End of a Long Table
Posted by on 6.2.07 @ 3:08PM
Here is Novak's take on Fred Thompson at the Saturday Evening Club.
Things Looking Up?
Posted by on 6.2.07 @ 1:13PM
Bob Novak reports that GOP pork king, Representative Jerry Lewis, will not be seeking reelection in 2008.
Friday, June 1, 2007
Young Jihadis On The Path Throwin' Up Gang Signs
Posted by on 6.1.07 @ 6:21PM
Just like the Bloods and the Crips, al-Qaeda in Iraq and nationalist insurgents are into graffiti -- and US forces are writing on the walls to encourage their deadly rivalry.
Beware the Man Who Calls Himself Little Beast
Posted by on 6.1.07 @ 6:10PM
While doing background research for this chapter I'm writing on my visit to Venezuela, I found the following Hugo Chavez quote in Chavez: Venezuela and the New Latin America (2005) written by--no kidding--Che's daughter Aleida Guevara:
I remember Venevision, a TV channel that was the spearhead of the coup d’etat; well, in the early days, I was practically king of Venevision. As president-elect, they invited me to participate in a four hour TV program. They even managed to find a photo of me when I was about two, together with my brother Adan, the only photo of me as a baby, naked and covering my private parts with a handkerchief. I was tiny and had hardly any hair. The program presenter, who these days is anti-Chavista through and through, commented, “How cute the president was, how cute he was.’ The whole scene was embarrassing, and it was their plan to lure me over to their side. Yet that little beast [in the photograph] turned out to be a hell of a beast, and little by little he cut them off. The majority [of those people]—rats—were cornered in their own lair, their own trenches, which is where we have them today.
There probably hasn't been much hope for opposition media in
McRomney Battle Heats Up
Posted by on 6.1.07 @ 1:02PM
It's pretty typical for political campaigns to send out "What They Are Saying" emails to highlight positive news coverage of their candidate, but today the McCain camp has sent out an email attacking a specific rival. Titled, "What They Are Saying: Mitt Romney on Immigration," the email highlights negative articles about Romney's recent statements on immigration.
Romney, who once called a McCain-Kennedy type solution "quite different" from amnesty, only to call the current bill "amnesty," was in Iowa yesterday:
Asked his definition of amnesty, Romney said "it is such a loaded term and we probably ought to get a lawyer to say. And I understand that in some respects this (SB 1348) is not technically amnesty, because it does come with some penalty. It comes with a $5,000 penalty, so technically lawyers would probably tell us that's not amnesty. On the other hand, it has one of the key features of amnesty -- and one that I find not fair -- that is, that everyone would be allowed to stay indefinitely. Whether or not that is technically amnesty, it is amnesty-lite, amnesty in form, and it is something which I don't support."
It's hard to see who comes out of this back and forth better off, and in a way this feud highlights the vulnerabilities of both candidates. McCain is aggressively defending a position that is highly unpopular among the conservative base, and Romney is attacking that position, but his past statements impair his credibility in doing so. Either way, it should make next week's debate more interesting.
Rudy and FedStat
Posted by on 6.1.07 @ 12:25PM
To reduce crime in New York City, Giuliani instituted a program called CompStat that compiled detailed statistics on where crimes were occuring so that he could manage resources properly and hold people accountable. Now, he says he wants to apply the same approach to border security, terrorism, and government growth.
Via the Birmingham News:
"I'd establish a border stat program to measure our effectiveness in stopping people from coming over the border," (Giuliani) said. "We have the technology to do it now. But we don't have the accountability tools to measure it, the tools that tell us how many people are we apprehending, how many are getting over, where are they coming over, how do we deploy our resources to stop that. I could accomplish the same results on the border that I did in New York City."
A similar effort aimed at combating terrorists and a bloated federal government would do the same thing, Giuliani said.
"I'd start a terrorist stat program to make sure we are collecting the right information about terrorist threats and make sure it's being disseminated from top to bottom," he said.
"I've promised I will not rehire 50 percent of the positions in the federal government that retire over the next 10 years," Giuliani said. "It would save $23 billion if we did that. But, to do that, you need a program that measures what you are doing and what you're accomplishing. We don't have that now, and because we do not, we don't have accountability in Washington."
As the campaign goes forward and these ideas get fleshed out, they'll be more scrutiny as to whether a CompStat type program can be applied to problems at the federal level. But this underscores the fact that beyond 9/11, Giuliani will run as a skilled manager who can make government function more effectively and efficiently.
Manhattanhenge
Posted by on 6.1.07 @ 8:37AM
As someone who just moved to New York City, this "biannual occurrence in which the setting sun aligns with the east-west streets of Manhattan's main street grid" was but one more fascinating scene to take in. Gotham City Insider has a few decent pictures of the occurence posted here.
Don't Stop Thinking About Tommorrow (sic)
Posted by on 6.1.07 @ 1:43AM
Re: King James
Posted by on 6.1.07 @ 1:05AM
Phil: I remember how last year you were talking up LeBron come playoff time and it's nice to see your loyalty and insight being rewarded. I wasn't able to watch the game until the final minutes of regulation and then the overtime; no matter how dazzling some of King J's drives and finishes and step-back three pointers as he moved from right to left, it still was an awful basketball game. When suddenly he tried to involve others in the offense, they didn't even know where the basket was. At other times he made wild drives through 5 defenders and the refs bailed him out each time -- even though they had no mercy for the scrubs when they actually were fouled. The NBA's double standard will outlive the concept. If John Edwards wants to observe the two Americas at work, he should watch the NBA. I'm not holding my breath -- two of Cleveland's key players are foreigners and thus unlikely voters. But it was the Cavaliers' Brazilian center who saved the game, tipping Detroit's final shot by Chauncy Billups off course just enough to seal Cleveland's win. Given how Billups had speared him just before that and wasn't called for a foul, one might say that justice was served. Not that anyone will remember.
TB or Not TB
Posted by on 6.1.07 @ 12:32AM
Charlie Gibson's "ABC Evening News" leads with an exclusive: Diane Sawyer has scored an interview with the lawyer, Speaker, who traveled the world with a rare form of tuberculosis. She appears on camera in the Denver hospital where the mouthpiece is being treated and explains they have conducted a long interview, with the new Mrs. Speaker in attendance. And what does the attorney say about his meanderings?
Well, that's too good for Charlie Gibson's show. It'll be shown on ABC's morning effort, "Good Morning, America!" And poor Charlie was required to promote it before getting around to telling his audience what was news in addition to Diane's coup. (Is the CDC running ABC nowadays?)
King James
Posted by on 6.1.07 @ 12:18AM
I don't follow the NBA like I used to, but one thing I have been paying attention to is the development of LeBron James, and he just delivered a performance I haven't witnessed since Michael Jordan's heyday. For those who missed it, the Cavs just beat the Pistons in double overtime, and Lebron had 48 points, including the last 25 points the Cavs scored, and 29 of their last 30 points. It was practically a 5 on 1 game down the stretch, with LeBron doing it from all over the court: dunks, threes, fadeaway jumpers, and a beautiful layup to win it. No matter the sport, it's always great to watch an amazing athlete with a passion to win get in a zone where they simply won't be denied. I still doubt, even if they get past Detroit, the Cavs have what it takes to beat the Spurs. But LeBron will get his ring eventually, and it'll be fun to watch.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Re: Scooter
Posted by on 5.31.07 @ 8:09PM
Byron York excerpts the passages where the defense disputes the assertion that Plame was covert under the IIPA. The bottom line:
To our knowledge, the meaning of the phrase "served outside the United States" in the IIPA has never been litigated. Thus, whether Ms. Wilson was covered by the IIPA remains very much in doubt, especially given the sparse nature of the record.Like Tom Maguire, I suspect that Plame's status falls into a legal gray that is unlikely to be clarified any time soon. (As usual, Maguire's blog is must-reading for anyone trying to make sense of the case.)
More on Scooter Libby
Posted by on 5.31.07 @ 6:16PM
The first couple of dozen pages of the Libby brief are basically a long list of character references. It then goes on to urge a "downward departure" from sentencing guidelines based on the "mitigating factors" of his lifetime of exemplary character and service and also because the nature of the crime was so, well,... odd (my word, not his), in that there was no UNDERLYING crime, etc. -- and also because he already has suffered public opproprium for such a long time, and because he lost his job and probably will lose his law license, and because of "the improbability of any future criminal conduct by Mr. Libby."
A key passage notes that the sentencing guidelines make someone eligible for a downward departure (a lesser sentence) when what is at issue is "a single criminal transaction that (1) was committed without significant planning; (2) was of limited duration; and (3) represents a marked deviation from an otherwise law-abiding life."
As noted before, the Libby team also filed an extensive, legal-citation-heavy brief explaining why Fitzgerald's request for an ENHANCED sentence (above the usual guidelines) was legally and factually incorrect. Upon a quick read, it blows Fitz out of the water. Then again, Fitzgerald has become monomaniacal about this case and about Libby, and no fairminded person would ever trust Fitz' judgment again.
Frankly, I think ANY sentence, even one as comparatively lenient as probation (not that probation is lenient, considering what Libby already has been through), ought to be suspended (postponed) pending Libby's appeal of the conviction. Libby is not a threat to bolt the country and not a threat to commit any other crime, and waiting to actually impose whatever penalty is to be imposed does no real harm to anyone -- but making Libby begin serving his sentence would, clearly, harm him, considering that if his appeal is successful, he will be shown not to have merited any sentence at all, and considering that the time served (or even the probation served) will never be recoverable by him.
But nowhere in the brief (unless I missed it) does Libby ask for the sentence to be suspended (or postponed) pending appeal. The judge ought to take into account the fact that Libby's brief amounts to a willingness to take his lumps (via probation) for a crime (or alleged crime) that even the jurors who convicted him believed was rather small potatoes.
Via probation or postponement of sentence, there is only one fair and just conclusion to this whole fiasco: Keep Scooter Libby out of jail!
Keep Scooter Free!!!
Posted by on 5.31.07 @ 5:46PM
Attorneys for Scooter Libby have just filed their sentencing memorandum and their response to Patrick Fitzgerald's outrageous memorandum of law trying to back up Fitz' bloodlust-heavy recommendation of a heavy sentence. Short answer: Libby recommends a sentence of PROBATION, without jail time. More to come....
Rolling Thunder, Rolling Padded Chair
Posted by on 5.31.07 @ 4:07PM
Would you like to remain calm and composed while facing the most intimidating of virtual adversaries without worrying about that throbbing pain in your posterior a few hours into the fight?
Fred Dalton Obama?
Posted by on 5.31.07 @ 1:15PM
From Robert Novak's column on Fred Thompson:
The Connecticut Republicans, down to one seat in Congress after 2006 election losses, cheered when Thompson told them: "I think the biggest problem we have today is what I believe is the disconnect between Washington, D.C., and the people of the United States. People are looking around at the pork barrel spending and the petty politics, the backbiting. The fighting over all things, large or small, is creating a cynicism among our people."
This is an excerpt from Obama's standard stump speech, as delivered in
"People feel cynical about the political process. They feel as if politics is a business and not a mission, that power is always trumping principle, especially in
Washington. They get discouraged and that cynicism has been fed over the last six years….No wonder people feel cynical. The net effect is that politics has become small, it's become timid…"
Sounds like a bipartisan consensus is developing around the War on Cynicism.
Paul Chesser Abroad, Parts IX-X
Posted by on 5.31.07 @ 12:35PM
Paul Chesser has now filed from Vientiane and Bangkok, as his unusual, eye- and heart-opening mission draws to a close. Still ahead, a 17-hour flight home.
Doan Won't Give Up
Posted by on 5.31.07 @ 11:56AM
It is now clear that GSA Administrator Lurita Doan, about whom I have blogged several times previously, will not surrender her good name without a fight. Democratic hit-man Rep. Henry Waxman and the Washington Post news pages have teamed up with the GSA Inspector General and controversial U.S. Special Counsel Scott Bloch to trash Ms. Doan on a number of fronts, several of which have been shown to be unfair attacks already. The big one at issue now is the charge that Ms. Doan violated the Hatch Act by supposedly asking, at a White House-led, voluntary, brown-bag lunch meeting for administration political appointees in her agency, "how we can help our candidates." In a preliminary report on his investigation that was unfairly (and seemingly maliciously) leaked (Doan apparently believes the leak was by Bloch and/or his designees) to four news organizations either simultaneously or even BEFORE the preliminary report was given to Doan for her response, Bloch concludes that Doan did indeed violate the Hatch Act. But Doan will reply later today or tomorrow in a way that forcefully rebuts that preliminary conclusion.
More on this later today, but for now, consider these elements of the controversy. First, even if Doan DID say such a thing (she says she does not remember doing so and that she does not believe she did), WHAT WAS THE SIN? There is no charge that she actually directed the GSA to award contracts based on electoral considerations -- and indeed, as this meeting took place in January of this year, a full 22 months before the next federal elections, there is little possibility that any candidates could even have been identified yet, much less arranged to be helped. If this was a meeting of political appointees and Ms. Doan asked the White House person a political question unrelated to any official action on her part, WHAT IS THE HARM? There is no evidence that she pressured any of the GSA employees to take part in ANY political activity.
Second, Ms. Doan has long claimed that she was not even paying much attention at the meeting because she was spending the time handling a backlog of e-mails on her Blackberry. The Post reported that investigators concluded that this wasn't true, because her Blackberry records do not show heavy incoming or outgoing traffic. She now notes, though, that those same records show a backlog of more than 250 e-mails in her inbox at the time, caused in part by a documented problem with the GSA's email system that the GSA technicians had been working on. Futhermore, she says that she provided the Special Counsel GSA documentation that proves that an e-mail with an attachment was sent by her during the meeting. Moreover, it was just before that meeting that Waxman's fishing expedition (on an earlier matter) had produced a big document request from Doan, and two e-mails from her personal attorney relating to just that topic had arrived just before the meeting in question. Wouldn't YOU, Dear Reader, have been distracted at the meeting if you had just received such e-mails?
As I said, I'll have more on this later. Doan's official response has not yet been completed. But while the Post articles on Doan certainly SEEM to provide compelling evidence that she committed various acts of fairly minor wrongdoing, Doan promises that those articles are misleading and that she will show that she has nothing to be ashamed of.
Considering that a couple of the earlier charges against her were demonstrably bogus, Ms. Doan deserves the benefit of the doubt until and unless her responses to the allegations have themselves been shown to be untenable. For now, fair-minded people ought to withhold judgment -- and support Ms. Doan against the underhanded procedural (leaks, etc.) tactics being used against her.
Freeh For Rudy
Posted by on 5.31.07 @ 10:27AM
The NY Daily News reports that Louis Freeh, the FBI director under Bill Clinton, will endorse Giuliani today. The move is unlikely to win many votes, but as the article notes, it does help reinforce Giuliani's image as the candidate with the strong security background, allowing him to talk about fighting crime and terrorism, and is somewhat noteworthy that an ex-Clinton official has defected.
The Economy, Stupid
Posted by on 5.31.07 @ 10:14AM
The Commerce Department reported sluggish economic growth in this year's first quarter, of 0.6 percent, which is the slowest since the last quarter of 2002. For all of the criticism Bush has received on a variety of fronts, economic growth has been solid for about 4 years now. Though polls indicate Americans feel worse about the economy than you'd expect from the economic numbers (liberals attribute this to income inequality), the economy has been strong enough so that the Democrats haven't been able to use it as an issue. If the economy stalls over the next year and a half (or dips into a recession) it will be another tool in the arsenal for Democrats in 2008. Then, the argument won't just be that we're spending too much money and losing too many lives in Iraq, but because Bush was so worried about Iraq, he neglected people here at home. In other words, it would strengthen the Democrats' case for change. To be sure, there are six more quarters between now and next November, so this may just turn out to be a blip, but it's worth keeping in mind, because when the economy is doing poorly, pocket book issues rise to the top of the political radar, and that's normally not good news for the incumbent party.
Rachel Carson, Alarmist
Posted by on 5.31.07 @ 10:14AM
Read Iain Murray's excellent deconstruction of Rachel Carson and her tactics to counteract the current greenie worship of her.
Paul Chesser Abroad, Part VIII
Posted by on 5.31.07 @ 9:40AM
Back in Phnom Penh, Paul and his group meet up with new friends in very humbling but moving circumstances.
It Is Only A Matter of 'When'
Posted by on 5.31.07 @ 9:20AM
This USAToday article makes it certain that Fred Thompson will enter the race:
Politician-turned-actor Fred Thompson has been coy with audiences as he flirts with a bid for the Republican presidential nomination.However, if you read a bit further down the article, David Keene of the ACU doesn't seem too impressed:In an interview with USA TODAY, however, the former Tennessee senator not only makes it clear that he plans to run, he describes how he aims to do it. He's planning a campaign that will use blogs, video posts and other Internet innovations to reach voters repelled by politics-as-usual in both parties.
"I can't remember exactly the point that I said, 'I'm going to do this,' " Thompson says, his 6-foot, 6-inch frame sprawled comfortably across a couch in a hotel suite. "But when I did, the thing that occurred to me: 'I'm going to tell people that I am thinking about it and see what kind of reaction I get to it.' "
Some skeptics question whether Thompson has the drive for a national campaign. "He didn't have a particularly distinguished Senate career, though that has never been a bar to anybody else being president," says David Keene, president of the American Conservative Union, who isn't supporting any candidate. "The book on him is he's lazy. I don't know whether that's true or not."
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Bluey's Blues
Posted by on 5.30.07 @ 4:17PM
Rob Bluey, one of the hardest-working and most insightful conservative bloggers around, takes President Bush to task for the way he impugned the motives of conservative critics of the Bush immigration plan. Earlier, Bluey had written an open letter to Bush urging the president to keep his rhetoric in check while saying that "conservatives will never completely abandon you." Bluey is absolutely right. Bush, and his brother Jeb, and his former speechwriter Michael Gerson, and conservative columnist/activist Linday Chavez, and others on Bush's side in this debate have consistently not just argued their case but resorted to name-calling or other insults against fellow conservatives who favor a tougher stance against illegal immigrants. The president's critics from the right, on the other hand, have generally been loud but not insulting. Bush's positions have been criticized, with detailed specifics citing actual provisions of the bill in question, but nobody respectable on the right (that I know of) has questioned his sincerity on this issue. A little mutual courtesy from President Bush would be in order.
Just to be clear, I repeat earlier notices that I am something less than a total hard-liner on this issue. I supported the Pence Plan that would indeed set up a guest worker program, but only after denying amnesty. And I might even be talked into something that is fairly close to what is now on the table. I would not vote for the bill as currently constituted, but it is at least within the (very) outer edges of the right ballpark in most respects. The point of this post is not whether Bush is right or wrong on the issue, but instead that it is a major problem when people can't take positions in good faith without being called "bigots" or "nativists," or being accused of using unfair fear tactics, or being accused of deliberately taking provisions out of context, or being accused of having failed to even read the bill or the relevant parts thereof, i.e, of criticizing it in bad faith.
What arrogance! What cynicism! What mean-spiritedness! This is not good for the conservative movement.
Bluey is right.
Katherine Mangu-Ward...
Posted by on 5.30.07 @ 2:34PM
...delivers one of the funniest headlines I've seen in awhile here.
Kerry Withdrawal Contest Redux
Posted by on 5.30.07 @ 2:20PM
Dean Barnett is holding a McCain Campaign Dead Pool. This strikes me as even more premature than Mickey Kaus's declaration in December of 2003 that "Democratic Senator John Kerry, once proclaimed the frontrunner in the press, faces not just defeat but utter humiliation in the New Hampshire primary." It's awfully early to be writing any top-tier candidate's obituary.
Re: Enter Thompson
Posted by on 5.30.07 @ 2:10PM
Jim Geraghty is hearing that the report that Thompson is entering on July 4 is incorrect. "My gut instinct after talking with [a Thompson associate] is that there will be an announcement in July, but not July 4," says Geraghty.
Poulos On Torture Lines
Posted by on 5.30.07 @ 12:02PM
Per usual, it's brilliant. Here's a bit:
I've helped foreign victims, who, I'm convinced, had been tortured, find their way in America, and my final verdict on waterboarding is that it's a pretty humane way to torture a person. I would much 'rather,' that is, wind up being waterboarded than being stuck in Eli Roth's Hostel. This seems like a crude point to make, but if reasonable people can differ on abortion they certainly can on fake drowning. As much as I'm foursquare opposed to torture, I'm not therefore opposed to whatever people say torture is.
Mainstream, Where Art Thou?
Posted by on 5.30.07 @ 11:56AM
Noting Ron Paul's anti-interventionist position "may be the most mainstream thing" the Congressman believes, Todd Seavey writes (you'll have to scroll way down to get to this part):
In contrast to his views on the military, I'm completely onboard with Paul in his desire to:
-abolish the Federal Reserve
-end Federal involvement in drug enforcement
-abolish the income tax
-dismantle the entire welfare state
-get the U.S. out of the U.N.
-restore the gold standard and/or allow private currency production
-end all subsidies
-eliminate virtually all Cabinet-level agencies
And so on. Who would have thought, in other words, that being antiwar is the thing that would get him "in trouble"? I only wish I could take this to mean we're all now in agreement on all those other items.
Me too!
Thompson's Asset
Posted by on 5.30.07 @ 10:47AM
Phil Klein is right that Thompson lacks executive experience, but what he has in spades is what George W. Bush lacks completely: communication skills.
Had Clinton been Bush, he simply would not have survived. Whether one views the development as laudable or not, outstanding communications skills have become a requisite for effective political leadership. Any lack of executive experience on Thompson's part is more than compensated for by his gifts in presenting himself and his positions.
Enter Thompson
Posted by on 5.30.07 @ 9:50AM
Not that it should come as a shock to anybody at this point, but Fred Thompson is planning to enter the race over the July 4th weekend. I would expect him to receive at least a slight boost in polls from making it official, but the question that remains is whether he can live up to the rather lofty expectations of conservatives once he begins to campaign in earnest. Polls indicate that he takes away the most from Giuliani, but I think ultimately he is the biggest threat to Romney because he occupies a space--"viable conservative"--that is central to Romney's strategy. If Romney is going to win the nomination, he has to peel off the soft Rudy support and pick up supporters of lower tier candidates once they drop out, but now Thompson is going to compete for those voters. So, while we aren't seeing Thompson eat into Romney's numbers now, I think Thompson's entrance lowers the ceiling on Romney's growth potential. Another thing that Thompson has going for him is that he can make the argument that he's the candidate most capable of unifying the party. There's a lot of bad blood between the Romney and McCain camps, so should either drop out of the race, it's hard to see their supporters jump to the other. Giuliani is unacceptable to a lot of social conservatives. Thompson may not be everybody's first choice, but nobody seems to dislike him--at least not yet.
My issue with Thompson has nothing to do with him personally, but that he lacks executive experience and beyond a mostly conservative voting record, he really didn't accomplish much in the Senate. After six years of a president who is a disengaged executive, I think it's really important to have somebody who is detail oriented and interested in not only setting a policy, but making sure that it gets implemented properly. I'm not sure Thompson fits the bill. But I look forward to hearing what he has to say.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Karnick Replies to Tabin
Posted by on 5.29.07 @ 11:46PM
S.T. Karnick asked me to post this reply to John Tabin's post regarding Karnick's understanding of Mill and liberalism:
-are all too easily cast aside by the ultilitarian thought in the sentence that immediately followed:
This is a loophole through which one can drive an entire army. One could surely "calculate" that a free Iraq would "produce evil to someone else," and hence we may be justified in compelling it to become a modern, liberal, democratic state. But even if we set aside the fact that it is manifestly impossible to accomplish this task, it is clearly a contradiction of the first four sentences of Mill's statement. Mill's willingness to set such limits on liberty is, in fact, precisely what begins the movement away from classical liberalism to the odious modern kind.
Well, That's Anticlimactic
Posted by on 5.29.07 @ 4:12PM
Warren Buffett and Jimmy Buffett take a DNA test and discover that... they're not related.
On Conservatism
Posted by on 5.29.07 @ 4:00PM
Peter Berkowitz explores on the tensions within modern conservatism that keep debate on the Right so vibrant.
Let's Hear It For...
Posted by on 5.29.07 @ 3:57PM
On Liberalism
Posted by on 5.29.07 @ 3:54PM
Occasional AmSpec contributor S.T. Karnick has a piece at TCS Daily arguing for withdrawal from Iraq shortly after the troop surge shows results. Whatever the merits of this position, his framing of it is more than a little peculiar. Karnick claims he's laying out the classical liberal view of foreign policy. "Nation-building is simply not a proper function for government, according to classical liberal thinking," he writes. That statement would seem to write John Stuart Mill, a defender of the British Empire, out of classical liberalism. If the author of On Liberty isn't a liberal, no one is.
Mill's views on the Empire were different from those of some of his liberal contemporaries, by the way. There simply isn't any single set of narrow principles that define the "correct" classical liberal foreign policy (or modern liberal or conservative foreign policy, for that matter).
Barak 2.0?
Posted by on 5.29.07 @ 2:18PM
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has made it into a run-off election against Ami Ayalon to replace Amir Peretz as the leader of the Labor Party, and presumably to take over the Ministry of Defense. It speaks to the dirth of leadership in Israel right now that Barak (who was ready to give away the store to Arafat in 2000) has re-entered the political fray. Should Barak become the head of Labor, at least it's unlikely that he'd be much worse than Peretz as Defense Minister, and he has military experience. While both Barak and Ayalon have called on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to resign, it's uncertain how far they'd push things. Barak has said he wouldn't withdraw Labor from the coalition government (which would trigger its collapse), but would push for early elections. One thing to keep in mind is that there is a certain dis-incentive for Labor to call early elections, because polls show Likud would be a big winner. That's another reason why Olmert has managed to stay in power dispite having practically no support from the Israeli public.
Hamas Nobel Peace Prize Watch
Posted by on 5.29.07 @ 1:42PM
Another incremental step toward the fulfillment of my prediction.
The AP reports:
An independent human rights expert called Tuesday for the United States, the United Nations, Russia and the European Union to fully recognize the Palestinian government - including Hamas members - as an "indispensable requirement" to peace.
John Dugard, the UN Human Rights Council's investigator on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, said the Mideast Quartet has to treat both sides equally if it wants to broker a successful peace agreement.
Israel has consistently rejected Dugard's reports and statements as one-sided. In March he compared the Jewish state's treatment of Palestinians to apartheid - comments that drew strong criticism from Israeli officials, who called them "inflammatory and inciteful."
"In order to prevent another season of violence and to protect human rights in the region, the Quartet must intervene immediately in a fair and evenhanded manner," said Dugard, a South African lawyer. "This means the recognition of both Hamas and non-Hamas members of the Palestinian Government of National Unity."
Apparently Dugard's definition of being fair an even handed means recognizing a terrorist group that is dedicated to the destruction of another nation.
Going Postal
Posted by on 5.29.07 @ 11:40AM
Teresa Stack and Jack Fowler -- president of The Nation and publisher of National Review, respectively -- are sharing a byline on the LA Times op-ed page today to protest new postal rates that favor big magazines at the expense of small magazines.
Love For New Orleans
Posted by on 5.29.07 @ 10:30AM
Times-Picayune columnist Chris Rose has, since Hurricane Katrina, become the true Bard of New Orleans. New Orleans expatriates all over the country keep tabs on their city, their home, through Rose's columns. This latest one is a virtual love letter to our city, and it is just wonderful. Read it. And then read it again. And then ask if we should let this magical place wallow in crime and misery, as the Bush administration continues to do, and as the city's own political leadership seems pathetically incapable of fixing.
Attention Bore, Maybe
Posted by on 5.29.07 @ 10:05AM
Another choice quote from Mother Sheehan's farewell address: "I have also reached the conclusion that if I am doing what I am doing because I am an "attention whore" then I really need to be committed."
Couldn't have said it better myself.
Larry Right About Anna
Posted by on 5.29.07 @ 10:00AM
Lawrence Henry's post about Anna Kournikova is correct; matter of fact, I said so, but not so concisely, yesterday in a comment to one of the posts below, a comment that for whatever reason still hasn't actually shown up on site. Anyway, yes, she made number 8 in the world in singles, made it to the semis at Wimbledon in singles, and was herself ranked number one in doubles in the enitre world. She and Hingis won two grand slam doubles titles together and made it to the finals of another one. She also made it to the finals of two grand slams in mixed doubles. She was known as a hard worker who worked out often, and she failed to rise any higher in singles only because of a balky serve -- a problem not of character, but of technique and confidence. She would have continued playing longer, but suffered from serious back problems. Just because she is beautiful and welcomed the limelight doesn't mean that she was a Paris Hilton-like embarrassment. And as for the comparison with Danica Patrick... well, Anna's record, related above, is so much better than Patrick's has been so far that Danica is sucking down Anna's fumes.
Goodbye, Heart. Hello, Primitive.
Posted by on 5.29.07 @ 9:58AM
Cindy Sheehan--uniter, not divider--managed to decry partisanship while simultaneously dismantling the myth of the Republican Heart in her Farewell Address this weekend:
I am demonized because I don't see party affiliation or nationality when I look at a person, I see that person's heart. If someone looks, dresses, acts, talks and votes like a Republican, then why do they deserve support just because he/she calls him/herself a Democrat?
I have more thoughts on this posted over at my new website, which I just launched this weekend to replace Return of the Primitive after a still-unexplained design meltdown. Any clicks, links, suggestions, critiques or comments on the new new would be very much appreciated.
Re: Uh, Good Morning
Posted by on 5.29.07 @ 9:49AM
Don't feel too bad, Dave -- I was born on the 26th of July.
Re: Kournikova and Patrick
Posted by on 5.29.07 @ 9:32AM
I know nothing about Danica Patrick, but I must object to the short-changing of Anna Kournikova as a tennis player -- glamour gal accoutrements notwithstanding. Because of the way tennis is played, in single elimination tournaments, you can be ranked in the world's top 10 (and AK was as high as number 8), and never win a tournament because one, two, or three strong players always win in the quarters, semis, and finals. Kournikova was ranked #1 indoubles, with Martina Hingis, and won several Grand Slam doubles titles. As Mary Carillo would say, "She ain't no tomato can."
Uh, Good Morning
Posted by on 5.29.07 @ 8:02AM
I just found out that I share the same birthday, May 15, as Ira Einhorn.
Yuck.
Paul Chesser Abroad, Part VII
Posted by on 5.29.07 @ 1:26AM
On their way back to Cambodia, Paul and his group visit the Viet Cong's Cu Chi tunnels, northwest of Saigon -- and is starkly reminded that when it comes to the Vietnam War, there's no let-up in anti-American propaganda. Read -- and watch -- his latest report.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Re: Danica Patrick
Posted by on 5.28.07 @ 11:27AM
Dave: I don't think the Kournikova analogy works -- from the start Kournikova was more Paris Hilton than Serena Williams. She was content to be a princess rather than a serious competitor. Say what you will about Patrick, but she runs with big boys. Can you imagine how she'd dominate a woman's racing circuit, if there were such a thing? Yesterday's race was a crap shoot in the rain; she did fine. If not for a late pit stop she could have finished much closer to first. One thing she didn't do is make mistakes, such as the huge error at the end of the race by hotshot Marco Andretti, which could have ended a lot worse. From what I heard, Patrick was the fans' favorite to finish first. Hillary should have such charisma.
Danica 'Kournikova' Patrick?
Posted by on 5.28.07 @ 10:47AM
Thought I would be the first to bring this up, but looks like Chris Isidore of CNNMoney beat me to it: Is Danica Patrick the next Anna Kournikova? Kournikova never won a tennis tournament, and Patrick has yet to win a race (although it is still early in her career.) Though, after she placed 8th in yesterday's Indy 500, I can't help but think that she might be the next athlete whose good looks and marketability exceeded her athletic talent.
Kournikova, it seemed, spent so much time living the "model" lifestyle--photo shoot, party, tv commercial, party, party, party--that she never even got close to developing her potential on the tennis court.
From Isidore's column:
Patrick says she needs to start winning soon to maintain her appeal to advertisers.Here's an idea: Patrick should suspend all of the photo shoots, red carpet events, and everything else non-racing related for about six months and focus just on seeing that checkered flag."What I always kept in mind, and what I really believe, I just need to win," she said when I asked her whether marketing considerations weighed in her considering a jump to NASCAR. "Wherever I'm at, it will be a big deal when I win, and a lot of other things will materialize and things will happen."
Health Care Time Machine
Posted by on 5.28.07 @ 10:19AM
Take a look at this paragraph:
Health care reform is one of the most urgent needs facing American today. The high and rising cost of health care threatens to bankrupt individuals and small businesses, while millions of Americans no longer can afford to buy health insurance. Serious charges are being leveled against the quality of America's health care system, and proposals for reform than can only be called radical are seriously discussed in Washington D.C. and in state capitals around the country.
Reads like something written recently, no? Actually, it is by Dick Armey, and was written in 1993 as the foreword to the book Why We Spend Too Much On Health Care.
The more things change…
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Paul Chesser Abroad, Parts IV-VI
Posted by on 5.27.07 @ 12:49AM
From Cambodia Paul has crossed the Mekong River into Vietnam. "...I had trouble processing the beautiful girl who was trying to sell fried bugs to travelers," her writes. Don't miss his latest observations here, here, and here.
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