BY JAMES TARANTO
Wednesday, January 7, 2004 12:45 p.m. EST
The Road to Peace
Looks as though it goes through Baghdad after all. Less than a month after Saddam Hussein's capture, the news is filled with examples of former Mideast rivals eager to make up:
Libya, previously one of the most rejectionist Arab states, has held talks with Israel, the Jerusalem Post reports. This, of course, fresh from Col. Moammar Gadhafi's decision to renounce the pursuit of nuclear weapons. (Maybe he'll finally get that promotion to general.) "The [Israeli] foreign minister's political adviser Ron Prosor reportedly met in Paris with a representative of Libya's Gaddafi regime," reports the Post. "Sides reportedly scheduled an Israeli mission to Tripoli late January to discuss diplomatic relations." The Post does say that "sources close to [Prime Minister] Ariel Sharon call Israeli-Libyan rapprochement over-optimistic"--but it's a start.
Bashar Assad, Syria's boy dictator, visited Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, the Associated Press reports. Although the two countries have had nasty confrontations over disputed borderland, they now agree on the need to keep Iraq whole.
The mad mullahs who run Iran, who ended diplomatic relations with Egypt more than two decades ago over the latter's signing a treaty with Israel and giving sanctuary to the ailing deposed shah, now are seeking rapprochement with Cairo, the Guardian reports.
The Iran-Egypt story prompts alarm from blogger Charles Johnson, who links to this Iranian report, in which he says Egypt's foreign minister makes it "very clear that Egypt no longer considers itself bound by the terms of the Camp David agreements." But here's what the article actually says:
Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmad Maher said in Cairo on Sunday that Cairo considers the issue of Camp David as belonging to the past, stressing that Egypt is now eager to promote ties with the Islamic Republic, IRNA [the Iranian "news" agency] reported.
Maher, in an interview with IRNA and the Central News Bureau, said Egypt considers the case of the Camp David Accords as closed, stressing that the interest of Tehran and Cairo today is in the promotion of mutual cooperation.
"I don't think using the issue of Camp David will be useful, because it does not exist anymore and is merely a thing of the past," he said.
Maher doesn't say Camp David doesn't exist anymore, only that "the issue of Camp David" doesn't exist anymore. In other words, the mullahs are eager enough to restore ties with Cairo that Camp David is no longer a deal-breaker. The Jerusalem Post reports that Israeli officials are cautiously optimistic about the Tehran-Cairo thaw. "We are not necessarily jumping for joy, but are not concerned about this development," an unnamed "diplomatic official" tells the paper. "It may have a moderating impact on the Iranians."
Federal Employees Back Their Boss
Here's an interesting possible portent of this fall's election results: Last month FedSmith.com, a Web site for federal employees, conducted a poll of its readers and asked them how they'd vote in a Bush-Dean race. Result: George W. Bush 49%, Howard Dean 39%, with 9% saying they'd vote for someone else and 3% undecided.
Some caveats are in order: This does not appear to have been a scientific poll, and in any case the readers of this Web site are a self-selected group; they may or may not be representative of the federal work force as a whole. On the other hand, FedSmith says that in its previous polls, "readers have expressed more liberal views than those of the general population on some political issues":
Last June we asked readers whether they would vote for George Bush or one of several of the stronger Democratic candidates at that time. President Bush finished second in readers' preference to Joe Lieberman (41% for Bush, 43% for Lieberman); second to Dick Gephardt (46% for Gephardt and 41% for Bush); and also second to John Kerry (47% for Kerry and 39% for Bush). Similar polls reflecting the preferences of the country as a whole at that time showed George Bush generally coming out in front of each of these candidates.
One possible explanation: Government workers find it harder than most liberal-leaning Americans to stomach Dean because he appeals to the paranoid antigovernment tendencies of the Angry Left.
What a Gas
Here's something we don't say that often: Critics of our junior senator, Hillary Clinton, need to get a grip. At a speech for a U.S. Senate candidate in Missouri Saturday, Mrs. Clinton used a quote from Mohandas Gandhi, whom she described as follows: "He ran a gas station down in St. Louis."
The Associated Press reports Hillary had to wait for "laughter from many in the crowd" to subside before explaining that she was just kidding: "No, Mahatma Gandhi was a great leader of the 20th century." We guess you had to be there.
The reaction has been way over the top. Her remarks "could be incredibly harmful," said Michelle Naef, administrator of the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, based in Memphis, Tenn. "To be generous to her, I would say it was a poor attempt at humor. Perhaps I'm overly sensitive, but I find it offensive when people use stereotypes in that way."
Mrs. Clinton promptly apologized. According to the AP, she "suggested in a statement late Monday that she never meant to fuel the stereotype often used as a comedic punch line that certain ethnic groups run America's gas stations." That ought to please all those aggrieved Norwegian-American gas-station owners.
Some people still aren't happy. Yesterday evening a statement from the Senate campaign of former congressman Bill McCollum, a Florida Republican, landed in our e-mailbox:
"I am appalled and shocked about Senator Hillary Clinton's tasteless and offensive joke concerning Mahatma Gandhi," McCollum said. "He was one of the great leaders of the 20th century. Such a statement demonstrates her insensitivity to others. That she engaged in ethnic stereotyping, particularly against such a great man who was such a revered leader is another indication why Sen. Hillary Clinton owes the American people more than just an apology."
More than an apology? What does he want, a fast unto death? Or maybe Congress can impeach her once she's been elected president.
Look, we agree Hillary's joke wasn't very funny. Keep your day job, Hillary. Though we did get a kick out of the pun--we can't tell if it's hers or the AP's--about "fueling stereotypes."
But Did He Inhale?
"On Saturday night, when [folk singer Peter] Yarrow performed 'Puff the Magic Dragon' at a house party in Ames [Iowa], [John] Kerry [the haughty, French-looking Massachusetts Democrat, who by the way served in Vietnam] lifted his fingers to his mouth for a quick toke on an imaginary joint."--Washington Post, Jan. 7
Perot Without Pictures
"Kucinich Shows Pie Chart on Radio Debate"--headline, Associated Press, Jan. 6
Gen. Clark Says a Mouthful
"Wes: Monicagate Was Overblown"--headlne, New York Post, Jan. 5
Just the Kind of Guy Whose Finger You Want on the Button
"Howard tends to jump to conclusions. He's usually right, but he just leaps."--Judith Steinberg on her husband, Howard Dean, quoted in The New Yorker, Jan. 12 issue
"His major problem continues to be one of impulsive syntheses when problems are approached. He should take care to be more deliberate in making assessments and deciding upon plans. Because of this trait, he is not quite the superior physician that he is in other respects."--from a supervisor's review of Dean during his medical residency, quoted in the same article
Those Confederate Flag Guys Are Gonna Love This
"Asked if he ever thinks, 'What would Jesus do?,' [Howard Dean] said no. He said the one public policy decision that was affected by his religious beliefs was his signing of a bill as governor of Vermont granting gay couples the same legal rights as married couples."--Associated Press, Jan. 6
Dick Gets Nicked
Speaking of religion and politics, we suspect the Cheneys are removing New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof from their Christmas-card list. Kristof doesn't like the card Dick and Lynne sent, and he's telling the world:
Over the holidays, Vice President Dick Cheney's Christmas card symbolized all that troubles me about the way politicians treat faith--not as a source for spiritual improvement, but as a pedestal to strut upon. Mr. Cheney's card is dominated by a quotation by Benjamin Franklin: "And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?"
It's hard not to see that as a boast that the U.S. has become the global superpower because God is on our side. And "empire" suggests Iraq: is Mr. Cheney contending that in the dispute over the latest gulf war, God was pulling for the White House and fulminating at Democrats and others in Beelzebub's camp?
But wait. Is that really what Franklin was saying? "Is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?" Obviously this is a rhetorical question; the answer is no. Franklin's message would seem to be one of humility: Men cannot build an empire without assistance from above. And in fact, Kristof figures this out in his very next paragraph:
If you read the full speeches Franklin gave to the Constitutional Convention, including the one with the sparrow line, you see that Franklin is not bragging that God is behind him but rather the opposite--warning that the framers face so many difficulties they need all the help they can get, including prayer.
Yeah, like we said. So what exactly is Kristof's point again?
They Needed an SUV to Fit a Quorum
"D.C. Council Bans Cell Phones While Driving"--headline, WEDN-TV Web site (Washington), Jan. 6
What Would We Do Without Experts?
"Experts Remind Staying Warm Important After Cold Contributes to 5 Deaths"--headline, Canadian Press, Jan. 6
What Would We Do Without Yoruba Priests?
"Yoruba Priests See Bumpy Year Ahead"--headline, Reuters, Jan. 7
So Who Conducted the Study?
"Study: Universe Lifeless After Big Bang"--headline, Associated Press, Jan. 7
We Must Unite, or the Martians Will Have Won
"World Opinion Is Fragmented on Tighter Security for Visitors"--headline, New York Times, Jan. 7
Santa's in the Slammer?
"Court Orders Release of Ex-Elf Executive"--headline, Associated Press, Jan. 7
At Least He's Still With Tipper
In the months since Sept. 11 Lee Harris has emerged as one of America's most interesting writers and thinkers; we've picked up a couple of his Policy Review essays on this Web site (here and here). Lately Harris has been writing regularly for TechCentralStation.com, and he's been expanding his range. Check out his musings on Al Gore:
I woke up to hear that Gore had conceded the election to Bush, and then had called him back to tell him, Gosh, gee-wiz, he had changed his mind.
My first thought was: You simply don't do that. It is a violation of the code of a gentleman--as corny as that might sound nowadays. . . . Certainly my response was not due to any partisan bias, since I had voted for Gore myself--voted, I hasten to add, for the image of Gore that I had developed prior to the retraction. In which case, why was I so deeply troubled by what he had done?
Then I remembered a book that I had read many decades before, called How To Do Things With Words. According to its author, the twentieth century English philosopher, John Austin, it is an error to think that words only describe things, as in the statement "The cat is on the mat"--since they also do things; or, more accurately still, since they also allow us to do things with them, such as making a promise and taking a vow.
Austin's example comes from the marriage ceremony. When the couple says, "I do," they are not describing an action, but making a commitment. . . . To concede to an opponent is to make a promise to him--the promise that, on my word of honor, I will do nothing to challenge your position as the winner. . . .
This accounts for Gov. Bush's shock at Gore's second phone call--what Gore, in his ethical oblivion, referred to as Bush's "getting snippy" with him. From Bush's point of view, Gore's retraction was simply unthinkable. . . . It was like hearing a recently married friend say, "You know, I was so rash to make my vow. I really regret doing it now."
Is this not brilliant? Finally, an answer to the age-old question: What does Al Gore have in common with Britney Spears?
(Elizabeth Crowley helps compile Best of the Web Today. Thanks to Daniel Foty, Natalie Cohen, Gershon Dubin, Barak Moore, Jerome Marcus, Carl Sherer, Michael Segal, Ralph Smith, Justin Taylor, Erik Moy, John Williamson, Ruth Papazian, Christopher King, Aryeh Bak, Steve Hilton, David Bookless, Alexander Kerdman, Ryan Hurey, Marty Daks, Paul Music, Chris Fehr, Ian Colle, Matthew Noonan, Stephen Owens, Glenn Mincey, Glenn Taubman, Steve Roberts, Charlie Gaylord, Joseph DeMartino, Danny Conner, Alice Airola, John Matthews, Tom Elia, Al Dubinsky, John Baumgartner, Kathleen St. Onge, Edward Tannen, Dennis Murphy, Steve Ginnings, Peter Cummings, Eric Ivers, Daniel Goldstein, Michael Siegel, Aaron Spetner, Joel Goldberg, Kevin Gowen, William Gilbert, Edward Schulze, Elizabeth Stinson, Yehuda Hilewitz, Steve Sudhoff, Danny Carlton, Brenda Tipper, Patrick Baker, Alan Ridgeway, John Moore, Robert LeChevalier, Edward Morrissey, Mark Wallace, Edward Hildebrand, James Rutherford and Jeff Meling. If you have a tip, write us at opinionjournal@wsj.com, and please include the URL.)
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