Best of the Web Today - August 29, 2006
By JAMES TARANTO
Ignorance on Parade
"Former Sen. Max Cleland, who has battled bouts of depression since losing an arm and both legs in Vietnam, is being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder," reports the Associated Press:
Cleland, who represented Georgia in the Senate from 1997 to 2003, said he believes the condition--cases of which are increasing rapidly among Vietnam war veterans--was in part triggered by the ongoing violence in Iraq.
"I realize my symptoms are avoidance, not wanting to connect with anything dealing with the (Iraq) war, tremendous sadness over the casualties that are taken, a real identification with that. . . . I've tried to disconnect and disassociate from the media. I don't watch it as much. I'm not engrossed in it like I was," Cleland said in an interview with WSB-TV in Atlanta. . . .
A former VA administrator under President Jimmy Carter, Cleland has been highly critical of the Bush administration's funding for the agency. The Democrat also is a vocal critic of the Iraq war and is traveling the country to help Democrats campaign for office.
How credible is Cleland as "a vocal critic of the Iraq war" when by his own admission his approach to it is "avoidance, not wanting to connect with anything dealing with" it, and trying "to disconnect and disassociate" from sources of information about it? Something tells us he was better informed in 2002, when he voted for the war--a fact the AP inexplicably leaves out.
He's Gone off the Map!
While Max Cleland is suffering from PTSD, John Kerry* seems to have just recovered from a bout of lacunar amnesia. The Associated Press reports he has just remembered that the election of 2004 was stolen:
Kerry didn't contest the results at the time, but now that he's considering another run for the White House, he's alleging election improprieties by the Ohio Republican who oversaw the deciding vote in 2004.
An e-mail will be sent to 100,000 Democratic donors Tuesday asking them to support U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland for governor of Ohio. The bulk of the e-mail criticizes Strickland's opponent, GOP Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, for his dual role in 2004 as President Bush's honorary Ohio campaign co-chairman and the state's top election official.
"He used the power of his state office to try to intimidate Ohioans and suppress the Democratic vote," said Kerry's e-mail.
Strickland seems likely to beat Blackwell in any case. Meanwhile, Reason's David Weigel notes that Republicans seem increasingly likely to lose Tom DeLay's House seat. DeLay won the primary but left the race, and the courts stopped Republicans from putting a new nominee on the ballot, so the GOP has to rely on a write-in campaign. Weigel offers this note of optimism:
Perhaps it's good for the mental health of the Democratic party. Not since the Republican shellackings of the Kennedy-Johnson era (1960, 1962, 1964) has a party suffered as many consecutive, no-upside losses as the modern Democrats. But on election night 2006, they're increasingly likely to see concession speeches from 2000 arch-foe Katherine Harris [running for Senate in Florida] and 2004 arch-foe Ken Blackwell alongside the humiliation of their enemy from-time-immemorial, Thomas Dale DeLay. All three events can unfold without power actually transferring from the GOP, but a meltdown trifecta like this will go far in healing the wounds that ripped Americans apart.
The Dems would have been mentally healthier if they had followed the approach of Mack Brown, the University of Texas football coach:
He said he had an epiphany after the 2003 season. He was going to get happy, or he was going to walk away from one of the best jobs in the country.
"I wasn't enjoying the wins enough, and I was dying after the losses," Brown said. "I think I just grew up a little. At Texas, you're supposed to beat everybody. If you lose, it's like the world is coming to an end. People would write and say, 'You ruined my life.' I just had to shut certain things out. I think it's a matter of maturing. . . ."
If the Democrats had a more mature attitude, they wouldn't need to win elections to be happy. And if they were happier, they might have an easier time winning elections.
* Whose service in Vietnam was almost one-sixth as long as his service as Michael Dukakis's lieutenant governor.
'Stomp Israel Like a Bug'
Robert Goldberg, writing in the Washington Times, surveys the MoveOn.org Action Forum, an online bulletin board for the Angry Left's premier grass-roots organization, and finds it rife with anti-Semitism:
"Christian Zionists are ultimately responsible for whatever Israel does, whether they realize it or not! Of course they're going to play dumb and say they're powerless over Israel! We're supposed to fall for that. The US Gov. could stomp Israel like a bug, if we had to! That's where the Christian Zionist "beliefs" mix with US laws and Foreign Policy. They are favoring Israel because of their Zionist belief system." Ninety [percent of readers expressing an opinion] agreed with this post.
Why the Jews? Or as one post quipped, "Why are the Jews so Jew-y?" According to the mind of Moveon, "(I)t's those GREEDY PIGS who own our mainstream media who are placing RELIGION/POLITICS (ISRAEL) and CORPORATE GREED above the best interests of the American people (peace, democracy, clean air, healthcare, etc.). As we've already agreed, most of these GREEDY PIGS are Jewish." Fifty percent approved of this post. . . .
Meanwhile, postings (mostly by Jews) pleading for moderation are rejected.
"The amount of anti-Semitic trash on this forum is abhorrent to most Americans. These rants, castigating Israel and Jews in general, are taking MoveOn so far from its roots and avowed purpose." Well said. But only 21 percent of Moveon members agree.
MoveOn is, by its own description, "a way for busy but concerned citizens to find their political voice in a system dominated by big money and big media." The hateful posts Goldberg quotes, that is, don't reflect the views of MoveOn's leadership but rather are spontaneous expressions by its members. It's not clear how representative they are, but at the very least, the Angry Left's grass roots are beset by some aggressive weeds.
Meanwhile, the Washington Post's Dana Milbank reports that Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer, authors of a notoriously tendentious "study" about the "Israel lobby," appeared at a National Press Club panel sponsored by the Council on American-Islamic Relations:
Walt singled out two Jews who worked at the Pentagon for their pro-Israel views. "People like Paul Wolfowitz or Doug Feith . . . advocate policies they think are good for Israel and the United States alike," he said. "We don't think there's anything wrong with that, but we also don't think there's anything wrong for others to point out that these individuals do have attachments that shape how they think about the Middle East."
"Attachments" sounds much better than "dual loyalties." But why single out Wolfowitz and Feith and not their non-Jewish boss, Donald Rumsfeld?
"I could have mentioned non-Jewish people like John Bolton," Walt allowed when the question was put to him.
Picking up on the "attachments" lingo, Mearsheimer did mention Bolton but cited two Jews, Elliott Abrams and David Wurmser, as "the two most influential advisers on Middle East affairs in the White House. Both, he said, are " fervent supporters of Israel." Never mind that others in the White House, such as national security adviser Stephen Hadley, Vice President Cheney and President Bush, have been just as fervent despite the lack of "attachments."
This line of argument could be considered a precarious one for two blue-eyed men with Germanic surnames. And, indeed, Walt seemed defensive about the charges of anti-Semitism. He cautioned that the Israel lobby "is not a cabal," that it is "not synonymous with American Jews" and that "there is nothing improper or illegitimate about its activities."
But Mearsheimer made no such distinctions as he used "Jewish activists," "major Jewish organizations" and the "Israel lobby" interchangeably.
Milbank adds this detail: "Before leaving for an interview with al-Jazeera, Mearsheimer accepted a button proclaiming 'Walt & Mearsheimer Rock. Fight the Israel Lobby.' 'I like it,' he said, beaming." What a loser.
And Some People Blamed Israel
"Annan Tours Devastated South Lebanon"--headline, CNN.com, Aug. 29
Buon Viaggio!
"Lebanon: 'Garibaldi' Weighs Anchor From Taranto"--headline, Agenzia Giornalistica Italia, Aug. 28
Too Good to Check
From Britain's Press Association (note: not Reuters, even though it says "Oddly Enough"):
Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is being made to watch his appearance in cult cartoon South Park while he is behind bars.
The deposed leader on trial in Iraq was featured in the movie spin-off as the lover of the devil. South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut featured Hussein and Satan attempting to take over the world together.
Speaking at the Edinburgh International Television Festival, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone said US Marines guarding the former dictator during his trial for genocide were making him watch the movie "repeatedly."
"I have it on pretty good information from the Marines on detail in Iraq that they showed him the movie last year. That's really adding insult to injury. I bet that made him really happy," Stone said.
Um, this is a funny story and all, but reread the first paragraph: The PA is reporting this as fact on the say-so of an outré cartoonist who says he has "pretty good information." Are we the only one to whom it's occurred that Stone was probably joking?
Watch Those Antecedents
This Reuters dispatch from Fairbanks, Alaska, is a good example of how not to write:
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Sunday warned North Korea may pose a threat as a weapons seller to terrorists and that America would consider taking the nuclear warheads off intercontinental ballistic missiles so they could be used against terrorists.
It sounds as though Rumsfeld is seriously considering using nuclear weapons against terrorists, doesn't it? Only in the eighth paragraph do we learn that the antecedent of they in the first paragraph is "intercontinental ballistic missiles" and not "nuclear warheads":
Rumsfeld, after that closed-door meeting, said the Pentagon was considering a plan to replace the nuclear warheads on some intercontinental ballistic missiles with conventional weapons, a move that would make the missiles less lethal and therefore more conceivable for politicians to use in preemptive strikes against terrorist groups.
The most likely result of this dispatch is to scare the dickens out of any terrorist who doesn't read it all the way through. You almost have to wonder if Reuters isn't atoning for its sins by carrying out psy-ops on behalf of the Pentagon.
Life Imitates the Onion
"GLENCOE, IL--Shock, outrage and fear were just some of the emotions that failed to sweep through this affluent Chicago suburb Monday, when word got out among residents that a white family had moved to town over the weekend. Challenging none of the close-knit community's long-held beliefs and traditions, maxillofacial surgeon Bill Hanson, his wife Marge, and children Kevin and Sue are the first Caucasians to relocate to Glencoe in more than two days."--Onion, June 16, 1999
"The entries will likely be as diverse as the concept they try to illustrate. Yet, one Glencoe youth's pictorial representation of the village's diversity will suffice for all. A logo contest for children in kindergarten through eighth grade kicks off the year-long program 'Glencoe Celebrates Diversity,' which will schedule a series of events through 2007. By making the most of the village's differences, the Human Relations Forum intends in this new program to bring people together."--Glencoe News, Aug. 24, 2006
What Would States Do Without Experts?
"Gas Prices Drop Across State, but Experts Warn It Won't Last Forever"--headline, Associated Press, Aug. 28
Hot Air Is Free
"Democrats Offer Cheap Gas as a Way to Get Voters' Attention"--headline, McClatchey Newspapers, Aug. 25
So Do Beer Chasers
"Alcohol Shots Cut Withdrawal in Alcoholic Patients"--headline, Reuters, Aug. 29
Thanks for the Tip!--XCIX
"Health Tip: Get Enough Fiber"--headline, HealthDay.com, Aug. 29
Bottom Stories of the Day
o "Estonia Fails to Elect President"--headline, Associated Press, Aug. 28
o "Rain Doesn't Cause Problems Near Gas Station"--headline, Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World, Aug. 29
o "Biotech Stocks Go Nowhere"--headline, Forbes.com, Aug. 28
o "Freshmen say lacrosse not on minds during extended orientation"--subheadline, Chronicle (Duke University), Aug. 25
o "Jessica Simpson Keeps Quiet"--headline, E! Online, Aug. 29
o "Students End Threat to Move Halloween Party"--headline, Capital Times (Madison, Wis.), Aug. 29
Dumb as the Proverbial Post
"Posters and a Web site mocking President Bush have put the spotlight on a small Ontario university that thought a bold and edgy recruiting campaign was just the ticket to attract potential students," Reuters reports from Toronto:
The Web site, yaleshmale.com, has a black and white picture of Bush, with the caption: "Graduating from an Ivy League university doesn't necessarily mean you're smart."
Bush graduated from Yale in 1968.
A link takes viewers to a site for Lakehead University, in rugged Thunder Bay, Ontario, some 1,375 km (850 miles) northwest of Toronto.
"It was literally a tongue-in-cheek way of getting attention," Frederick Gilbert, president and vice-chancellor of Lakehead University, said on Monday.
First of all, even in Canada it's hard to believe anyone would think that mocking a Republican president's intelligence is "bold and edgy." Even funnier is Gilbert's misuse of the word "literally." We guess being president and vice-chancellor of a rugged Canadian university doesn't necessarily mean you're smart either. |
