Best of the Web Today - April 18, 2006
By JAMES TARANTO
Now They're Pro-Israel!
Our item yesterday on Edward Peck's latest defense of anti-Israel scholars John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt brought this email from David Theroux, head of the Independent Institute, who earlier sent us Peck's reply to last week's item:
Your including the copy-editing of Ambassador Peck's letter to you must be unprecedented in the history of journalism. Congratulations! The point?
It would be common courtesy and ethical practice to print Ambassador Peck's letter without the copy editor's marks, and most editors would have honorably checked with the author first since only the final version was approved for publication by him.
The atrocities by Arab states and suicide bombers are indeed an outrage and should be condemned, and those individuals responsible held fully accountable. However, this has nothing to do with the policy issues at hand here.
And, why do you resort to name-calling when you disagree with someone? Since Mearsheimer/Walt/Peck strongly believe that U.S. policies in the Mideast are seriously endangering Israelis and Jewish (and all) people worldwide, and the recent Israeli elections show that the majority of Israeli citizens also oppose invasive policies as foolish and wrong, Mearsheimer/Walt/Peck could similarly accuse you of anti-semitism [sic] for supporting such measures. And yet although the attacks on Mearsheimer/Walt/Peck continue in flawed, disingenuous and disgraceful manners, Mearsheimer/Walt/Peck have remained properly respectful and civil throughout.
The end never justifies the means regarding the issues of government policy nor the simple decency of the Golden Rule.
Well, to quote Al Gore, "I also believe in the Golden Rule." We reproduced the Peck missive exactly as we received it; and we thought one of the Theroux edits relevant: He inserted the words "with ad hominem attacks" into Peck's complaints about "vilification." In fact, our original item included no ad hominem attacks against Peck, though we did make some gibes at the expense of the Independent Institute.
On to the substance. Theroux writes that "the atrocities by Arab states and suicide bombers" have "nothing to do with the policy issues at hand here." This is the only honest thing we have heard anyone say in defense of Mearsheimer and Walt. It is a pithy recapitulation of their argument, which is a moral condemnation of Israel on the basis of its sins (real and imagined), without regard to context. That is, in judging the Arab-Israeli conflict, Mearsheimer and Walt admit only those facts that establish the guilt of the Jewish side. This is an anti-Semitic argument.
To say so is not "name-calling," as Theroux implies it is. We have not impugned the motives or personal character of Walt and Mearsheimer, only taken issue with their work. As we noted yesterday, Peck evaded the substance of the criticism and instead recast the Mearsheimer-Walt argument as a trivial truth. Now Theroux, incredibly, tries to recast it as a pro-Israel argument, a vindication of, in his words, "Israelis and Jewish (and all) people worldwide" and of the Israeli political center as a better guardian of Jerusalem's interests than the right.
In fact, the Mearsheimer-Walt paper is a broadside against Israel and against American support for the Jewish state. Theroux has put the prestige (such as it is) of the Independent Institute behind a paper whose central claim is: "Neither strategic nor moral arguments can account for America's support for Israel." Yet Theroux, like Walt and Mearsheimer's other backers, is unable or unwilling to defend that claim. Instead, he pretends it is something else entirely.
The Case for Profiling
"Terrorists have been working to recruit non-Arab sympathizers--so-called 'white Muslims' with Western features who theoretically could more easily blend into European cities and execute attacks--according to classified intelligence documents obtained by The Associated Press," the AP reports from Sarajevo, Bosnia:
A 252-page confidential report jointly compiled by Croatian and U.S. intelligence on potentially dangerous Islamic groups in Bosnia suggests the recruitment drive may have begun as long as four years ago, when Arab militants ran up against tough post-9/11 security obstacles.
"They judge that it is high time that their job on this territory should be taken over by new local forces . . . people who are born here and live here have an advantage which would make their job easier. By their appearance, they are less obvious," the report reads.
Arabs, it adds, "have become too obvious, which has made their job difficult."
If this is all true, then de facto ethnic profiling is going on despite official policies discouraging it. If the terrorists are adapting, this is not entirely bad news. After all, their openness to non-Arab recruits ought to make their organizations easier for Western intelligence to infiltrate.
Nah, No Bias Here
"Finally, one of those good news stories out of Iraq. Well, maybe good news, depending on who you are. It comes from the designer of the Kalashnikov assault rifle. Mihail Kalashnikov is 86 now. He's the creator of the old Soviet rifle that's cheap, and reliable and plentiful around the world. He told a news conference in Moscow that Americans in Iraq have used AK-47's in preference to their American weapons, proving the value of his gun."--National Public Radio Web site, April 18
Now Can They Fire Him?
"The University of South Florida and Gov. Jeb Bush dishonor the ideals of public universities by trying to fire a Palestinian professor whose anti-Israel statements have produced threats to the campus and a decline in contributions. . . . The case involves Sami Al-Arian, a tenured professor of computer science active in the Islamic movement. In 1988, he gave a speech in which he called for "victory to Islam" and "death to Israel." Last September, in a television appearance, Mr. Al-Arian was reminded of his words 14 years ago and asked about militant Muslims whom he had invited to the university. Mr. Al-Arian distanced himself from his previous statements and from violence of any kind."--editorial, New York Times, Jan. 27, 2002
"A former Florida college professor, Sami Al-Arian, has pleaded guilty to aiding Palestinian Islamic Jihad and agreed to serve more jail time before being deported from America, according to records made public yesterday by a federal court in Tampa."--New York Sun, April 18, 2006
Three Cheers for NKU
"A professor who led students in destroying an anti-abortion display at Northern Kentucky University has been placed on leave for the remaining week and a half of classes," the Cincinnati Enquirer reports:
Other faculty will step in to cover Sally Jacobsen's four courses in the literature and language department. At the end of the semester, she will retire--a step she had been planning to take months before last week's controversy, officials said.
We noted the case Friday. NKU's president, James Votruba, put out a strong statement:
One of the important roles that a university must play is to be a forum for debate and analysis concerning the important issues of the day. Often these issues are surrounded by strident rhetoric and strong emotions, which makes it even more incumbent on the university to create and nurture an intellectual environment in which reason and evidence prevail and where all points of view can be heard.
Northern Kentucky University has a distinguished record of addressing important public issues in a balanced way. We are proud that, as a campus, we are not the captive of one ideology or point of view. At their best, universities are not places of comfortable conformity. They are places where ideas collide as students and faculty search for deeper understandings and perspectives.
While the University supports the right to free speech and vigorous debate on public issues, we cannot condone infringement of the rights of others to express themselves in an orderly manner.
Many presidents of more prestigious schools could learn a lot from Votruba.
Keep Your Day Job, Howard
Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, stopped by the offices of the liberal American Prospect for lunch last week, and according to the Propsect's Tapped blog, Salon's Walter Shaprio had this exchange with him:
Shapiro: Governor, from where you sit, is the fact that there will be two caucuses between the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary a done deal, or is this still open for negotiation, as to whether there will be caucuses and/or whether New Hampshire will have its traditional unmolested Iowa/New Hampshire role in American history?
Dean: We don't molest anybody. We leave that to the deputy press secretary of the Homeland Security agency.
Dean's reference is to Brian Doyle, who was arrested this month for allegedly sending sexually explicit emails to a "14-year-old girl" who was actually a police detective. Blogger Kevin Aylward notes that this case has gotten lots of attention from liberal bloggers, "heaping generous portions of blame on the Bush administration."
But it turns out, also according to Aylward, that Doyle is a career civil servant and a registered Democrat! Dean's little joke is not only tasteless but is at the expense of his own party.
The White House Isn't Hanging Them Out to Dry
"Cheney Stumps for GOP Candidates in Wash."--headline, Associated Press, April 17
C'mon, These Hunting Jokes Are Getting Old
"Is Texas Governor Angling for Shot at Vice President?"--headline, Dallas Morning News, April 18
When He Turns 75, We'll Open Him
"40-Year-Old Man Aging Beautifully"--headline, Chicago Tribune, April 18
So That's How They Survive Underwater!
"Norway: Scientists Discover That Carp Can Hold Its Breath for Months"--headline, FishUpdate.com, April 18
While Holding Its Breath No Less!
"Fish Finds Form, Takes Tennis Title"--headline, Los Angeles Daily News, April 17
Generalissimo Francisco Franco Is Still Dead
"The Dead Sea Is 'Dying' "--headline, Agence France-Presse, April 17
That's Easier Said Than Done
"Hawaii May Honor Humuhumunukunukuapuaa"--headline, Associated Press, April 18
Thanks for the Tip!--LXVIII
"Health Tip: Get Your Kids to Eat Healthy"--headline, HealthDayNews, April 18
So Someone Actually Does Need These Tips
"Our male leaders are into menopause. Don Rumsfeld keeps having hissy fits and hot flashes. Jeb Bush cries at the drop of a hankie. As New Orleans was drowning, FEMA's Michael Brown was asking how his shirt looked. And the vice president is into senior memory lapse. He forgot Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11."--Maureen Dowd, quoted by Cindy Adams, New York Post, April 18
"Health Tip: In Men, It's Called Andropause"--headline, HealthDayNews, March 15
Not Satisfied With Civil Unions
"NBA Is the Next Stop for Connecticut's Gay"--headline, USA Today, April 17
Bottom Story of the Day
"Star Trek's Mr. Sulu Backs Gay Activists"--headline, Associated Press, April 18
A Hare-Rasing Experience
"A fake Easter bunny and three of his friends terrorized a group of teenagers Sunday night," the Daily Item of Sunbury, Pa., reports from nearby Danville.
Well, thank goodness it wasn't the real one. |
