Best of the Web Today - December 15, 2004
By JAMES TARANTO
From Baghdad to Jerusalem
Peace seems to be breaking out all over. Mahmoud Abbas, interim chief of the Palestinian Arabs, "said in an interview published Tuesday that the violence employed by Palestinians in their more than four-year armed uprising was a mistake and that opposition to Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip should be expressed peacefully," the Washington Post reports. Not that Abbas opposes terrorism in principle:
Abbas, a former Palestinian prime minister who now heads the Palestine Liberation Organization, told the London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq al-Awsat that it was "a legitimate right of the people to express their rejection of the occupation by popular and social means." However, Abbas said, "the use of arms has been damaging and should end."
Meanwhile, the Jerusalem Post reports that the terror group Hamas "has decided to cancel a major rally marking the 17th anniversary of its founding . . . out of fear that Israel would target the Islamic movement's leaders." Call them chicken-martyrs.
Credit the progress to the absence of two men: Yasser Arafat, who is in stable condition after dying in a Paris hospital, and Saddam Hussein, who is rotting in prison somewhere after having been captured a year ago, almost on the Hamas anniversary. The significance of Arafat's death requires no explanation, and Saddam was the Arab world's most enthusiastic backer of Palestinian terrorism.
Not coincidentally, the Associated Press reported Sunday that Abbas, on a visit to Kuwait, apologized for the Palestinians' backing the erstwhile Iraqi dictator's invasion of that country. We observed nearly three years ago that the road to peace goes through Baghdad. It is increasingly difficult to deny that we were right.
Cole Cash
A blogger called Juan Cole has declared a jihad against the Ali brothers, who run the pro-democracy Iraq the Model blog. (For more about them, read Daniel Henninger's Friday column, which describes their visit to The Wall Street Journal last week.) Cole claims the Alis "are far out of the mainstream of Iraqi opinion," and he endorses instead an anonymous anti-American blogress who uses the handle "Riverbend."
Relying on a zany conspiracy-mongering post from an unknown blog with an appealing name, Cole engages in some fevered speculation:
The MR posting brings up questions about the Iraqi brothers who run the IraqTheModel site. It points out that the views of the brothers are celebrated in the right-leaning weblogging world of the US, even though opinion polling shows that their views are far out of the mainstream of Iraqi opinion. It notes that their choice of internet service provider, in Abilene, Texas, is rather suspicious, and wonders whether they are getting some extra support from certain quarters. . . .
The phenomenon of blog trolling, and frankly of blog agents provocateurs secretly working for a particular group or goal and deliberately attempting to spread disinformation, is likely to grow in importance. It is a technique made for the well-funded Neoconservatives, for instance, and I have my suspicions about one or two sites out there already.
This has set off quite a kerfuffle, with blogger Jeff Jarvis calling Cole "pond scum." We're not sure about that (though Jarvis makes a pretty compelling case), but what we do know is that Cole is far out of the mainstream of American opinion, as evidenced by the result of last month's election. Cole might want to look into whether he himself is getting some extra support from certain quarters.
Commies vs. Christmas
What does Cuba's communist regime have in common with the American Civil Liberties Union? "Cuba's most senior US diplomat says he has been warned by the government of serious consequences unless he takes down Christmas decorations in Havana," the BBC reports:
The display at the US interests section--so-called because the United States and Cuba do not have diplomatic relations--includes a huge white Santa Claus, an image of galloping reindeer and a flashing sign wishing Cubans a Happy Christmas.
A large figure 75, is picked out in neon, inside a large circle.
Although the commies are demanding the removal of all decorations, their real objection seems to be to the 75, the number of dissidents the regime jailed in a crackdown last year.
The Beeb also notes that "the government cancelled Christmas as a holiday for several decades in an apparent bid to increase sugar production." Sounds like the Christmas display needs an image of sweet baby Jesus.
The Opposite of 'Rather'
In an essay on Crosswalk.com, Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., notes an interesting quote from Newsweek's Jon Meacham about the Bible's account of Jesus' birth:
Meacham argues that we really shouldn't be concerned about whether the accounts are historic in the first place. In a December 7, 2004 appearance on MSNBC's "Hardball with Chris Matthews," Meacham cited the authority of the second Vatican Council, which, in his words, "says that the scriptures can be true without being accurate."
Hmm, true but inaccurate. You'll recall that in September a New York Times headline described CBS's fraudulent reporting as "fake but accurate." Ah well, at least there's no longer any risk that people will take CBS's word as the gospel truth.
This Just In
"Christians Aiming to Boost Religion"--headline, Associated Press, Dec. 14
Political Poison
Doctors say they've figured out what made Viktor Yushchenko, the Ukrainian opposition leader and election-fraud victim, sick: dioxin poisoning. Yushchenko's blood has a dioxin concentration of "about 100,000 units per gram of blood fat," the Associated Press reports. A normal level is between 15 and 45 units.
The good news is that "experts say Yushchenko . . . has probably experienced the worst effects already and should gradually recover, with no impairment to his working ability." The bad news is that his dioxin level "is the second highest ever recorded in human history." All that trouble, and he doesn't even break the record.
John Kerry to the Rescue!
"U.S. Pupils Have Mixed Performance in Global Test"--headline, News-Leader (Springfield, Mo.), Dec. 15
Homelessness Rediscovery Watch
"If George W. Bush becomes president, the armies of the homeless, hundreds of thousands strong, will once again be used to illustrate the opposition's arguments about welfare, the economy, and taxation."--Mark Helprin, Oct. 31, 2000
"Hungry, Homeless Figures Increase in U.S."--headline, Associated Press, Dec. 14, 2004
"Clinging to Shelters, and to Hope: Howard Woman Has Degree but No Home"--headline and subheadline, Washington Post, Dec. 15
"Death Walks Streets With Area's Homeless: Indigent population swells--and so does number of casualties"--headline and subheadlne, Rocky Mountain News (Denver), Dec. 15
What Would Multiple Murderers Do Without Experts?
Monstrous mom Andrea Yates, convicted of murder for drowning three of her children (and not tried for drowning the other two) is appealing her conviction, the Associated Press reports from Houston. Her lawyer argues that the conviction "should be overturned because the state's expert witness gave false testimony about working on a nonexistent episode of 'Law and Order' ":
Yates' attorney Troy McKinney focused on expert witness Park Dietz, who McKinney said "told a whopper of a falsehood" when he said he consulted on an episode of the TV show "Law and Order" involving a woman found innocent by reason of insanity for drowning her children.
Dietz testified the episode aired shortly before the drownings, and testimony during the trial indicated Yates was a viewer of the series.
After jurors found Yates guilty, attorneys in the case and jurors learned that no such "Law and Order" episode existed.
Apparently the argument is that Yates should walk because Dietz, although an expert, doesn't play one on TV.
What Would Wearers Do Without Experts?
"Polyester Briefs Reduce Wearer's Sperm Count, Expert Says"--headline, Daily Times (Lahore, Pakistan), Dec. 15
What Would We Do Without Experts? Go Crazy, That's What!
"Shortage of Experts Blamed for Surge in Mental Illness"--headline, Herald (Harare, Zimbabwe), Dec. 14
The Whistle Blew, and the Play Was Dead
From an Austin American-Statesman article about Tom Penders, the University of Houston's basketball coach:
Ironically, Penders received inspiration from a former referee, Pete Pavia, who had died of cancer in 1991. Pavia fought the disease for 13 years, adhering to a strict lifestyle of exercise and nutrition that allowed him to return to refereeing and eventually work the 1996 Final Four in Dallas.
Wow, we knew there were some blind refs, but this is the first time we've heard of a dead one.
But Will Anyone Wear Them?
"Chirac Rolls Out Designs for U.S.-European Ties"--headline, New York Times (Paris edition), Dec. 14
You Don't Say
"Sales, Discounts, Coupons Mean Less Buys More"--headline, Baltimore Sun, Dec. 14
Tire Blogging
We thought we were being ironic yesterday when we described blogger Andrew Sullivan as "irony-impaired." But then we read this item on his blog:
SELF-PARODY WATCH: "For the last hour or so I've been blogging from the tire place. Found a flat tire on the Passat, pumped it up with a hand pump (no small job) and drove it over to get it fixed. There's no wifi here, but the Verizon wireless card has worked great, letting me post to the blog and do research for a law review article I'm finishing up."--Glenn Reynolds.
Well, OK, that is pretty funny. But here's the very next item Sullivan posted:
CPAP UPDATE: I have a little piece in this week's Time special on sleep about my apnea diagnosis and treatment. But there have been some subsequent developments. In general, I haven't had the amazing burst of energy I had after my night in the hospital. Maybe the psychosomatic explanation holds up. But my sleep has been better; and longer; and deeper. I'm told it takes time to feel the cumulative effects; I do feel more rested; and sleeping itself has been much easier than I anticipated. But one side-effect has surprised me. It probably shouldn't have. It makes sense, after all. I'll give you a subtle hint: when you have air being pumped into you with a face mask for eight hours a night, and when there's nowhere for it to escape, except some small holes in the top of the mask, then the air finds other outlets. So now, I officially have hot air coming out of both ends. The boyfriend has to choose between being deafened or fumigated. But my sleep is heavenly.
If we were trying to write a parody of Sullivan, we couldn't do much better than this. All the Sullivan tics are there, from the elaborate detail about his personal physiology to the awkward use of the first person singular to the obligatory cameo by that mystery man known only as "the boyfriend."
Which reminds us: Is Andrew ever going to settle down and get married? |
