Best of the Web Today - September 7, 2007
By JAMES TARANTO
Today's Video on WSJ.com: James Taranto previews his Weekend Interview with Bobby Jindal, Louisiana's likely next governor.
Summer Subversives
"Congressional Democrats are trying to undermine U.S. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus' credibility before he delivers a report on the Iraq war next week, saying the general is a mouthpiece for President Bush and his findings can't be trusted," the Washington Times reports:
"The Bush report?" Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin said when asked about the upcoming report from Gen. Petraeus, U.S. commander in Iraq. . . .
The top Democrats--Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California--also referred to the general's briefing as the "Bush report." . . .
"We will see what the Bush report will be at the end of next week," Mrs. Pelosi said. "The facts are self-evident that the progress is not being made. They might want to find one or two places where there has been progress but the plural of anecdote is not data."
But the New York Times reports that the Democrats are unlikely to stand firm in their demands for American defeat:
With a mixed picture emerging about progress in Iraq, Senate Democratic leaders are showing a new openness to compromise as they try to attract Republican support for forcing at least modest troop withdrawals in the coming months.
After short-circuiting consideration of votes on some bipartisan proposals on Iraq before the August break, senior Democrats now say they are willing to rethink their push to establish a withdrawal deadline of next spring if doing so will attract the 60 Senate votes needed to prevail. . . .
The willingness to consider alternatives represents a shift by Democrats and is a recognition of changing political and practical realities they face in grappling with Iraq and its future.
In the end, it seems, the Democrats will act responsibly. But what a bizarre moment in American history it is when a major party's leaders feel politically obliged to give empty rhetorical support to the nation's enemies.
Why Tom Raum Is Ticked Off
"President Bush had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day at the Sydney Opera House," reports Tom Raum of the Associated Press:
He'd only reached the third sentence of Friday's speech to business leaders, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, when he committed his first gaffe. . . . The president's next goof went uncorrected--by him anyway. . . . Then, speech done, Bush confidently headed out--the wrong way.
You can click through to the link if you want the details, but in the last two paragraphs of the dispatch, Raum explains why he was in such a snippy mood:
APEC security workers would not allow the members of the media who travel in Bush's motorcade to enter the Opera House along with him. This even though the journalists allowed into the president's entourage are extensively screened and guarded by the Secret Service, which has more stringent security standards than about any operation in the world. And even though they always accompany him into public events.
As a result, while Bush spoke, the traveling media cooled its heels outside the landmark Opera House, shooting pictures and watching boats in the harbor.
Oh for crying out loud, would someone please give Tom Raum a pacifier?
Present at a Hanging
Chimpy W. Hitlerburton is crushing dissent again, or so you may think if you read an Agence France-Presse dispatch on the latest gathering of the anti-American outfit International Answer:
Mounted police charged in to break up an outdoor press conference and demonstration against the Iraq war in Washington on Thursday, arresting three people, organizers and an AFP reporter said.
"The police suppressed the press conference. In the middle of the speeches, they grabbed the podium" erected in a park in front of the White House for the small gathering, Brian Becker, national organizer of the ANSWER anti-war coalition, told AFP.
"Then, mounted police charged the media present to disperse them," Becker said.
The charge caused a peaceful crowd of some 20 journalists and four or five protestors to scatter in terror.
Which reminds us of a joke. Why do they have trees in Paris? Because terrified French journalists like to scatter in the shade!
But if you read on, it turns out the police weren't targeting dissent but the unlawful application of agglutinants:
Last month, the movement was threatened with a fine of at least 10,000 dollars unless it removed posters in the city announcing the September 15 march.
Washington city authorities have said the posters had to come down because they were stuck on with adhesive that did not meet city regulations.
"At our demonstration today we were showing the media that the paste we use conforms to the rules," Becker said.
"One of our activists was making a speech when the police barged in and grabbed the podium. At that point, Tina Richards started to put up a poster, so they arrested her and two others."
Sounds as if the AFP reporter came a bit unglued.
Reigning on the Parade--II
Yesterday's item on the bad behavior of Barack Obama backers at a Milford, N.H., parade prompted this email from Robert Butler, a Milfordian:
I was at the parade with my family, as it's a Labor Day tradition in our town. I watched the Obama supports with disbelief. Leading the entourage were openly gay and lesbian supporters with "Impeach Bush/Cheney" signs, followed by what I would consider to be nearly every loony leftist from nearby Vermont.
As my wife and I stood with our two girls, who are both under 3 years old, an Obama supporter was breaking from the parade group to hand out Obama stickers. When the supporter approached us, she looked at my wife, who was wearing a Romney sticker on her shirt, then looked at me as I was wearing a Rudy sticker on my shirt. She then leaned down to my almost 3-year-old daughter, gave her an Obama sticker, and told her she needed to get new parents.
Unfortunately I was so shocked I had no time to react, but the sticker was quickly tossed into a nearby trash can.
Oh well, at least she didn't call the Butlers "snore-y and stinky."
An Anxious Nation Holds Its Breath--Day 180
BREAKING NEWS--!!--from the Omaha World-Herald:
Sen. Chuck Hagel said today that he will announce his political plans at an Omaha press conference on Monday.
The Nebraska Republican's 10 a.m. announcement will be made at the Omaha Press Club.
Hagel, 60, has been considering whether to retire, seek re-election to a third Senate term or seek the White House.
The good news: The suspense will soon be over! The bad news: We won't be able to think about anything else all weekend. Thanks for spoiling the first week of the NFL season, Chuck.
Anyway, why now? Didn't Hagel give himself until St. Patrick's Day to decide? Well, one possibility is suggested by this FoxNews report:
Paris Hilton is officially ready to go from parties to parenthood. The hotel heiress has told the U.K. edition of Elle magazine she's planning to pop as early as next year.
"I just started working out and it feels great. It gives me so much energy," she said. "I want kids next year, so I've got to get my body ready."
We're not exactly sure who this Paris Hilton is, but she seems to get a lot of attention, so Hagel is probably worried that her pregnancy will pre-empt his perplexity.
Or maybe Hagel is just playing Lucy to the press corps' Charlie Brown. Call us a sadist, but we're hoping he repeats his March stunt of calling a press conference to announce that he'll make up his mind later.
Lanny Davis Is Romanian?
A few weeks ago, we cited the nonauthoritative user-written online encyclopedia Wikipedia in arguing that Katherine Prudhomme-O'Brien, a Rudy Giuliani antagonist described by the Associated Press as a "Derry [N.H.] mother," is in fact a political activist and gadfly.
The following week, a Wikipedia user called "Biruitorul," a Romanian Anglophile who eats bananas and hates the metric system, petitioned for the deletion of Prudhomme-O'Brien's Wikipedia page. In the debate that ensued, Biruitorul cited our column in making his case:
Note that her entry has drawn ridicule for Wikipedia from a man who apparently is rather influential in his sphere. I still don't see the notability, and retain my "delete" stance.
"Getaway," who sails an eponymous boat in the Gulf of Mexico and claims two "barnstars," had a different interpretation (quoting verbatim):
Look, you, Biruitorul, obviously have a lot invested in making sure that this article is deleted. Fine. However, your criticism are over the top.
For example, You quoted the Opinion Journal of the Wall Street Journal to indicate that Prudhomme has no notability. That is rich. You quote most read newspaper in the U.S. to show that she has no notability, but the article you quote mentions her in the article. Talk about spin. This Lanny Davis territory. Soon you will have me believing that I should be deleting the article myself.
Also, in the article that you quote you twist the guys words around so much that you make the claim that he is making fun of the Wikipedia article on Prudhomme, but when in fact, when you actually read the article, he is making fun of the Associated Press reporter for not pointing out that Prudhomme IS a political gadfly and it took a bunch of rank amateurs like us to point out Prudhomme's background. He stated specifically that he wished the AP reporter has pointed out Prudhomme's background just like the Wikipedia article did.
You clearly attempted to spin that article to your favor, but I actually read it and saw that you were engaging POV spin. KEEP per the comments of the international distributed and known Wall Street Journal reporter.
Biruitorul's reply:
Hey, I am Lanny Davis! Seriously, though: we can't tell all that Taranto is implying, given an apparent tendency to use irony, but from what I can infer (ie, my own spin): a) "quite an activist" is a bit tongue-in-cheek, given her 59 Google hits (as compared with 1.76 million for Cindy Sheehan) and b) "nonauthoritative user-written online encyclopedia" is shorthand for saying "She's even on Wikipedia! That silly "encyclopedia" where anyone can write anything he wants and no one fact-checks!" In other words, it's creating yet more ridicule for us.
We must admit, they both make some good points. In the end, though, Biruitorul prevailed, as "EliminatorJr" explained:
The result was Delete. A classic case of someone who's on the way to possible notability, but isn't there yet. A few WP:RS based on a couple of incidents doesn't quite cut it, really. Very little coverage outside these minor incidents. No problem with re-creation if she manages to increase her claims of notability.
"WP:RS" is shorthand for "Wikipedia: Reliable sources." Well, we're certainly glad to be certified as reliable, though we wish it were by someone authoritative.
Reliable Sources
"Eleven public officials from across New Jersey, including a mayor and two state lawmakers, were arrested Thursday in a federal corruption probe," the Associated Press reports from Trenton:
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity so as not to upstage a formal announcement, said the arrests were related to insurance contracts for local governments.
That makes sense. Corruption is so common in New Jersey that the bust itself isn't news; what people are really interested in is who is making the announcement.
Then there's this report from the New York Times Paris edition:
Many publishing executives see Amazon's entrance into the e-book world as a major test for the long-held notion that books and newspapers may one day be consumed on a digital device.
"This is not your grandfather's e-book," said one publishing executive who did not want to be named because Amazon makes its partners sign nondisclosure agreements. "If these guys can't make it work, I see no hope."
Why should we think these guys can make it work when they can't even make their nondisclosure agreements work?
Dispatch From the Porn Belt
If you live in Los Angeles, this report from KGW-TV in Portland, Ore. (Gore by 35.32%), will come as good news:
Jack McClellan, who gained pariah status among parents because of his now-defunct Web site that featured photographs he took of little girls in public places, has moved to Portland, citing its reputation as a "haven for offbeat people."
McClellan told KGW he used to author a blog where he described his fondness for underaged girls. Though the 45-year-old admits he is sexually attracted to girls, he said he has never molested one. McClellan said he started the Web site as a form of therapy.
He was arrested in August at the University of California, Los Angeles, after violating a restraining order requiring him not to loiter or congregate within 30 feet of minors, police alleged.
On Wednesday McClellan appeared on radio station KEX and said he moved to Portland for the "liberal, tolerant" climate the city was known for. He told interviewers he had been in town for a few days and was living off money from the government.
Be thankful you don't live in such a liberal, tolerant place. The Associated Press brings us more news from the Pacific Northwest:
The state Supreme Court today overturned the murder conviction of a transient accused of stabbing a man to death in Seattle's Pioneer Square neighborhood.
In an unanimous ruling, the court ruled that the state violated Darrell Everybodytalksabout's right to an attorney when he was questioned by a Department of Corrections officer during a presentencing interview in 1997.
Does it strike anyone else that the defendant has an odd name?
Zero-Tolerance Watch
"A 5-year-old Erskine Elementary kindergartner has been suspended for two weeks from riding school transportation after an Aug. 29 incident where he hid from a bus driver," reports the Herald Bulletin of Anderson, Ind.:
The bus driver left Erskine to pick up students at another school with the child still hiding on the bus, and he was discovered only after the driver heard him giggle.
School officials say they re-created the incident as part of an investigation, and discovered that the bus driver was not at fault. But Natasha Pulley, the boy's mother, says that she does not agree with her son's punishment.
"He's five years old, he just started riding the bus," said Pulley. "I find the whole situation kind of messed up."
Kid, you can run, but you can't hide.
Metaphor Alert
"Like an Arctic hunter watching global warming thin the ice beneath his feet, the Medical College of Georgia is facing enormous changes as it seeks to expand its programs, and the pace is accelerating, MCG President Daniel W. Rahn said. In an interview before his annual State of the University speech Thursday, Dr. Rahn acknowledged that, far from being an ivory tower, the school's plans to expand have it smack in the middle of community debate with some thorny issues to navigate."--Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle, Sept. 7
Whoa, Cool Down, Condoleezza!
"Mobile Secretary of State Hits Ravenna"--headline, WOOD-TV Web site (Grand Rapids, Mich.), Sept. 6
'I Told Her I Wanted 12-Year-Old Scotch!'
"Woman Accused of Giving 9-Year-Old Gin"--headline, Associated Press, Sept. 6
The Victim Had $50 in His Wallet
"Crime Efforts Get Grant"--headline, Grand Rapids (Mich.) Press, Sept. 6
Don't Do It, Felicity! You Have So Much to Live For!
"American Girls' Suicide Rate Spikes"--headline, Associated Press, Sept. 7
You Only Live Twice
"New Yorker Finds Roommate Dead, Second Time in a Year"--headline, FoxNews.com, Sept. 6
The Rest of the Week Was Just a Blur
"Grandparents Remembered Sunday"--headline, El Paso (Texas) Times, Sept. 7
Why There Are No More Dinosaurs in Space
"Study: Ancient Space Collision Killed Off Dinosaurs"--headline, Space.com, Sept. 7
Help Wanted
"Dog Shooter Sought"--headline, Grand Rapids Press, Sept. 6
News You Can Use
o "Toddlers Warned to Stay Away From Pools"--headline, Park Record (Park City, Utah), Sept. 7
o "Students Learn Life Is the Best Teacher"--headline, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Sept. 5
o "Kids Smarter Than Apes--Sometimes, Anyway"--headline, Reuters, Sept. 6
Bottom Stories of the Day
o "Richardson Airs New Ad in Iowa"--headline, Associated Press, Sept. 6
o "Evergreen Student Wins Facial-Hair Contest"--headline, Seattle Times, Sept. 6
o "Bill Clinton Says He Likes Democratic Candidates"--headline, Augusta Chronicle, Sept. 7
o "Pro Soccer Deal in Chester Near, Investors Say"--headline, Philadelphia Inquirer, Sept. 7
o "Somebody Loves Lauren Jones"--headline, Duke Chronicle, Sept. 4
Maybe She Just Has a Complex
Kathy Rudy, who studies women at Duke University, is turning out to provide a rich vein of material. Our item yesterday brought lots of interesting comments from readers. One called our attention to the Dec. 15, 2000, issue of Duke's Faculty Forum newsletter, in which Rudy, who had just received the university's $5,000 Alumni Teaching Award, describes the undergraduate class that "was most formative in my academic training." It turns out to be one in which her teacher went AWOL:
The setting was the mid-70's, a small Catholic college in Upstate NY, and rather unwittingly I signed up for a class in something called "Organizing 101." I was a pretty organized person and therefore thought that maybe I would get a good grade in the class. We started by reading the works of labor, political, and community organizers--people like Si Kahn, Saul Alinsky, Lenin, etc. . . .
Almost half-way through the semester, the teacher just stopped coming to class. No explanations, no excuses. . . . I remember as if it were yesterday the day that one of our classmates came up with the idea that maybe we should use the very techniques we had learned in the first weeks of class! We could organize ourselves, he suggested, and make demands that would get our needs met. Immediately, the class divided, about 2/3 thinking that this was a great way to give the teacher a taste of his own medicine, and 1/3 (the obedient Catholics) believing that we should just continue to show up and wait patiently. . . . Over the next few weeks, we talked the good Catholics into joining us, refused to bargain accept as a whole, demanded that all of us be given A's, and asked for double course credit to compensate for the time and energy we spent dealing with this situation.
They got their A's, though the credit was for only a single course. Her professors who did show up, though, must have been really bad if they were all outshone by the one who flew the coop.
Lots of readers, meanwhile, laughed at Rudy's statement that "complexifying this equation to include race meant identifying ourselves as white oppressors." Reader Eugene Dillenberg writes:
I teach at a major Midwestern university where most students, and large sections of the faculty, generally laugh off the kind of racist/sexist nonsense Kathy Rudy spouts. We are preparing our students to take their places in the world, and we have little time for this kind of childishness.
But one word caught me up short. "Complexifying"? This is a college-educated person? This is a college professor? My undergraduates know better than to make up words like this. If they try, they get their essay returned to them, with the offending text circled and the grade lowered accordingly.
If someone knows this little about language, we must wonder what else she knows little about.
Paul Clark adds: " 'Complexifying'?!! Rudy isn't an English professor, is she? In undergrad, I had an English professor who was not satisfied with the word 'epiphany.' He converted it to 'epiphanic moment.' " Brian McBrearty finds it hard to take Rudy seriously:
As a white male oppressor let me say that dominating women is easier when they sound like Foghorn Leghorn when trying to sound erudite. She was trying to be serious, but I could not stop my oppressive testosterone-fueled laughter long enough to read the end of her whiny complaint.
Christopher Scalia quips that " 'Complexifying' is the new 'strategery,' " and Gregory Taggert asks, "Complexifying? Is that the feminist version of complicating?"
Of course not. Everyone knows that the actual word is "complexificationalizing."
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