Best of the Web Today - January 5, 2006
By JAMES TARANTO
Man of Peace Nears End of Life
Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is gravely ill after suffering a severe stroke, which, the Associated Press reports, was likely iatrogenic:
The blood thinner may be to blame for the severity of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke, but his doctors should not be criticized for prescribing it, independent experts said Thursday.
Sharon was fighting for his life in an Israeli hospital after seven hours of surgery to remove blood from his brain following a burst blood vessel, or hemorrhagic stroke. His doctors said they planned to keep him sedated for another 24 hours. Experts say his chances of recovery are slim.
Experts agree that while the blood thinner, an anticoagulant called enoxaparin, did not cause the blood vessel in Sharon's head to burst, the bleeding would probably not have been so severe if he had not been taking the medication.
The blood thinner had been prescribed after a blood clot caused a previous, mild stroke. "Blood thinners are commonly given after clot-related strokes," the AP reports. "They reduce the risk of another clot-related stroke but at the same time raise the risk of bleeding":
Giving Sharon a blood thinner was a tough judgment call, but one that many of the best doctors would have made, [Dr. Keith] Siller [of New York University's Comprehensive Stroke Care Center] said.
"If they hadn't given him blood thinners and he had another clot-related stroke--which could have happened--there would have been outrage and criticism that the doctors had not treated the first stroke aggressively enough," said Siller, who is leading a study on whether medication or closure of a hole in the heart is the best way to prevent strokes.
Then again, a neurologist who reads this column wrote us on Dec. 19, the day after Sharon's first stroke, and said, "Presumably he will get put on aspirin," a less aggressive blood thinner. The same neurologist tells us that Sharon probably has very little time to live and no chance of sufficient recovery to resume a political career. (For extensive coverage of Sharon's condition, see Barak Moore's blog.)
Sharon had the distinction of having been, just in the past few years, a hated figure of both the international left and the Israeli right. We were highly flattered in July 2002 when a writer for the Arab News described us as an "extreme and vitriolic . . . Zionist" and wrote: "What Sharon is doing on the ground, Taranto is doing in cyberspace." (We hasten to add that the comparison is far too kind to us, a mere scribe.) Last month found us at a Zionist Organization of America dinner, where one of the honorees, a writer for the Jerusalem Post, described Sharon in terms quite as vituperative as those the left once employed, owing to his decision to dismantle Jewish neighborhoods in the disputed Gaza Strip.
What's next for Israel is anyone's guess. Sharon, a man of the right, toward the end of his career became the center of Israeli politics. Just weeks ago, Sharon left the Likud Party and formed a new party, Kadima ("Forward"), which under his leadership was expected to win election in March. Sharon's deputy, Ehud Olmert, has been named acting prime minister; Kenneth Baer, a onetime speechwriter for Al Gore, employs an American analogy in speculating about Olmert's leadership:
Now, we have to see if Olmert will become an Andrew Johnson or Lyndon Johnson figure. If Olmert ends up emulating the man who stepped into Lincoln's shoes--a hapless leader unable to bring the country together or bend policymaking to his agenda--then Israel, the region, and US interests there are in trouble. However, if Olmert ends up as an LBJ, he will use the Sharon legacy as an effective political tool to bring the country together, break political logjams, and undertake policy advances that seemed unlikely or impossible just months before.
A former mayor of Jerusalem, Olmert has contributed several op-ed pieces to The Wall Street Journal, which you can read here, here and here. In September 2003, after Israel's cabinet decided to expel terror honcho Yasser Arafat*, he wrote:
If Palestinian voices of moderation are capable of rising up and making themselves heard over the extremist roar, all Israelis will be very willing to continue the path toward peace. But for the moment we will place our trust in our own ability to confront the terrorists directly. And as the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashana, approaches, tradition dictates that we review past mistakes and try sincerely to repent. The Oslo decade has shown us what is the incorrect and foolhardy way to try to make peace between Arabs and Jews. Armed with this new clarity, we can now attempt to rectify our errors--and set out down a safer, better-calculated road.
Israel never carried out the expulsion, and Arafat is now dead, but it remains highly doubtful that "Palestinian voices of moderation are capable of rising up." Blogress Anne Lieberman has photos of Palestinian Arabs celebrating Sharon's illness by handing out candy and waving signs reading "Sharoon [sic] Go to hell" and "Die, Sharoon, killer of our children."
* Arafat won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1994.
What Would We Do Without Arabs?
"Arabs Don't See End to Mideast Conflict"--headline, Associated Press, Jan. 5
A Judge Who Won't Judge
Thirty-four-year-old Mark Hulett of Williston, Vt., has been convicted on charges that he "raped a little girl many, many times over a four-year span starting when she was seven," reports Burlington's WCAX-TV. Prosecutors asked for a sentence of eight to 20 years, but the judge gave him . . . 60 days:
Judge Edward Cashman disagreed explaining that he no longer believes that punishment works.
"The one message I want to get through is that anger doesn't solve anything. It just corrodes your soul," said Judge Edward Cashman speaking to a packed Burlington courtroom. Most of the on-lookers were related to a young girl who was repeatedly raped by Mark Hulett who was in court to be sentenced. . . .
"I discovered it accomplishes nothing of value; it doesn't make anything better; it costs us a lot of money; we create a lot of expectation, and we feed on anger,"Cashman explained to the people in the court.
Nothing of value? Locking Hulett up for 20 years would keep him out of circulation, unable to rape more little girls, until 2026, when he would be 54 years old. That in itself seems sufficient reason to do so.
"Cashman explained that he is more concerned that Hulett receive sex offender treatment"--whatever that is--"as rehabilitation," according to the report. Bizarrely, "under Department of Corrections classification, Hulett is considered a low-risk for re-offense so he does not qualify for in-prison treatment." You almost have to wonder if the people who run Vermont are insane.
I'm Just a Law Professor, Why Should I Know the Law?
Yesterday radio host Hugh Hewitt interviewed Rosa Brooks, a professor who teaches constitutional law at the University of Virginia Law School and columnist for the Los Angeles Times, who has raised the idea of impeaching President Bush for spying on al Qaeda terrorists' phone conversations with Americans. Radioblogger.com has a transcript:
Brooks: I think it seems to me that the NSA surveillance program on its face violates the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and--
Hewitt: Now, you have read United States v. United States District Court, right?
Brooks: Uh, Hugh, you're pushing me here.
Hewitt: It's--
Brooks: Refresh my memory.
Hewitt: United States v. United States District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, in which the United States Supreme Court specifically says, Justice Powell writing, we are not going to consider whether or not the president can, in fact, conduct surveillance of this sort.
Brooks: What sort?
Hewitt: Foreign agents communicating with their agents in the United States, even if those latter are citizens.
Brooks: OK.
Hewitt: So they specifically reserved the question to one side, and the foreign intelligence surveillance court appeals board, in In Re Sealed Case No. 2 [link in PDF], also said no, the president has the authority to do this. So given that the federal authority--
Brooks: Well, you know, Hugh, I mean, you've got the case law at your fingertips, and I'm not going to challenge you on it, because I don't.
She then goes on to say that "quite a lot of Republicans" agree with her--but when Hewitt presses her to name them, the best she can do is John Dean, the Watergate figure whose views today are indistinguishable from those of the angriest of Angry Leftists. "He counts. He counts," she insists.
It's certainly fun, if not enlightening, to get this glance into the Bush-haters' brain trust.
Poll: Americans Oppose Judicial Legislation
From a Harris Poll on the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court:
Opposition to the confirmation of Judge Alito would probably grow substantially if most people believed he would vote to make abortion illegal. A 69 to 31 percent majority of the public say they would oppose his confirmation if they thought he would vote to make abortion illegal. Majorities of Democrats (86%) and Independents (74%) feel this way. However, a majority of Republicans (56% vs. 44%) would support his confirmation if they believed he would vote to make abortion illegal.
Yeah, well, we would oppose Alito's confirmation if we believed he would vote to make abortion illegal--and we think Roe v. Wade is a monstrosity. Reversing Roe, however, would not make abortion illegal; it would merely make it possible for duly elected legislators to do so. The guys who write Harris polls know so little about constitutional law, they ought to be teaching it at the University of Virginia.
Your Cheating Hart
Former senator Gary Hart weighs in on the Puffington Host. He's alarmed at the prospect of America establishing permanent military bases in Iraq, presumably because that worked out so badly in Germany and Japan. Anyway, he gets a bit confused in his metaphors:
When the president says: "When they [Iraqis] stand up, we will stand down," it cries out for an explicit definition of what "stand down" means in practice. Otherwise, "stand down" will quickly join "stay the course" and "support the troops" as rhetorical substitutes for policy and the equivalent of the scarves magicians use to obscure the concealment of an ace up the sleeve.
Magicians don't hide aces up their sleeves; cheating card players do. No wonder Hart was so inept at concealing his own cheating--which, come to think of it, might have been very lucky for America.
A Jury of One's Peers
Our item yesterday on media bias brought an interesting response from reader Robert Sherman:
I agree that media bias may well be a function of possibly inaccurate perceptions about who the "consumer" is, although I think the problem is more systemic than reporters having friends who are overwhelmingly affluent, liberal baby boomers.
The most immediate "consumers" of media are people working in the media industry--reporters' editors, colleagues, potential employers and competing journalists. This dynamic becomes even more pronounced at the individual media outlet level. I dare say that reporters and editors of The Wall Street Journal are far more likely than a subscriber to read the Journal cover to cover and to take a keen interest in the stories of particular reporters. So for reasons of job security and career advancement, reporters have powerful incentives to write stories, either consciously or not, that appeal first and foremost to this primary "consumer" audience.
There's a structural disconnect between reporters and non-media-industry consumers, such that the traditional feedback mechanism between media output and marketplace appeal is the blunt measurement of circulation data for the publication as a whole.
Thus the University of Chicago study's conclusions need some modification. Yes, growing competitiveness in the media market would improve media bias, whether in the Middle East or anyplace else. But "condemning organizations" that engage in bias is an important complement to greater media competition, one that helps inform media consumers both inside the media industry and out.
Zero-Tolerance Watch
"An Oley Valley High School graduate was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing Wednesday, despite prompting a major police response in February by climbing onto his school's roof while wearing a gorilla mask," reports the Morning Call of Allentown, Pa.:
After a two-day trial in Berks County Court, Matthew Pattison was found not guilty of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor, and defiant trespass, a summary offense.
Pattison, who graduated [from] high school in June with academic honors, told the jury that he meant his actions as a prank. Pattison did not expect his stunt to draw police, the FBI and a state police helicopter, according to his lawyer, Kenneth Millman of Wyomissing.
Millman said Pattison testified that all he was trying to do was make his friends laugh.
Pattison did not intend to create a ''serious public inconvenience,'' a definition of disorderly conduct, even though he did so, Millman said after the verdict. It might have been foolish and childish, but it wasn't a crime, the defense lawyer said. . . . After the verdict, Millman said, jurors approached Pattison and told him that they didn't think they needed to convict him because he already learned his lesson.
We noted the story in February and again in April.
Megan Marshak Could Not Be Reached for Comment
"Ford VP: 'Change or Die' "--headline, Detroit News, Jan. 5
What Would Media Do Without Some?
"Some Say Media Erred in Mine Coverage"--headline, Associated Press, Jan. 4
Talking Turkey
"Turkey Says Dead Boy Had Bird Flu"--headline, CNN.com, Jan. 4
That Would Explain the Soreness
"Central Fla. Doctors See Spike in Cases of Sore Throats"--headline, WKMG-TV Web site (Orlando), Jan. 5
Just Your Brain
"Don't Let Your Body Go Numb at Work"--headline, ABCNews.com, Jan. 5
Thanks for the Tip!--XXXII
"Health Tip: Children May Refuse to Eat"--headline, HealthDayNews, Jan. 4
If You Can't Withstand the Heat, Go Into the Kitchen
"Police in a Vancouver suburb reminded residents on Tuesday it was not a good idea to play with a loaded gun while using the bathroom, after a man accidentally shot himself."--Reuters, Jan. 3
Unchain My Art
Have you ever accidentally tied together the laces of your shoes so that you tripped all over the place when you tried to walk? Neither have we, but the Associated Press reports from Baker, Calif., that someone did something even dumber:
An artist who chained his legs together to draw a picture of the image hopped 12 hours through the desert after realizing he lost the key and couldn't unlock the restraints, authorities said Wednesday.
Trevor Corneliusien, 26, tightly wrapped and locked a long, thick chain around his bare ankles Tuesday while camping in an abandoned mine shaft about five miles north of Baker, San Bernardino County sheriff's Deputy Ryan Ford said.
"It took him over 12 hours because he had to hop through boulders and sand," Ford said. "He did put on his shoes before hopping."
As for the drawing, Ford says "it was a pretty good depiction of how a chain would look wrapped around your legs."
Bottom Story of the Day
"12-Year-Old Tina Enjoys Being a Girl"--headline, Arizona Republic, Jan. 4
The Bore Wars
If you're an American conservative depressed about the direction the Republican Party has taken since the golden age of Ronald Reagan, take heart. Things could be worse. The Financial Times reports on the latest crusade of Margaret Thatcher's successor:
David Cameron, Conservative leader, on Wednesday launched an outspoken attack on retailers, singling out WH Smith for offering cut-price chocolate oranges. He accused it of irresponsible marketing that made people fat. . . .
Mr Cameron said the consumer industries could do more to promote healthy lifestyles. "Try to buy a newspaper at the train station and, as you queue to pay, you're surrounded by cut-price offers for giant chocolate bars. . . . As Britain faces an obesity crisis, why does WH Smith promote half-price chocolate oranges at its checkouts instead of real oranges?" he said.
So apparently in the unlikely event that the Tories regain power, Prime Minister Cameron will re-establish the Orange Free State.
(Carol Muller helps compile Best of the Web Today. Thanks to John Williamson, Michael Segal, C.E. Dobkin, Brian O'Rourke, Matthew Tarpy, Thomas Dillon, Adam Phillips, Allen O'Donnell, Doug Levene, Pat Rowe, Fred Furia, David Bockstanz, Don Hubschman, Kathleen Myalls, K. Dinolfo, Rick Schwalbach, Dan O'Shea, Ruth Papazian, Leonora LaMantia, Greg Corcoran, Steve Fortson, Patrick Skingley, Ronald Wertel and Greg Askins. If you have a tip, write us at opinionjournal@wsj.com, and please include the URL.)
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