BEST OF THE WEB
BY JAMES TARANTO
Monday, November 28, 2005 3:54 p.m.
Glug, Glug, Glug . . .
In recent weeks most Democrats seem to have concluded that the war effort is a sinking ship, the American people have already jumped overboard, and if Democratic politicians follow them off the side, the people will reward them by putting them in charge of the life rafts. The Washington Post notes some poll results that suggest the Dems are all wet:
Seventy percent of people surveyed said that criticism of the war by Democratic senators hurts troop morale--with 44 percent saying morale is hurt "a lot," according to a poll taken by RT Strategies. Even self-identified Democrats agree: 55 percent believe criticism hurts morale, while 21 percent say it helps morale. . . .
Their poll also indicates many Americans are skeptical of Democratic complaints about the war. Just three of 10 adults accept that Democrats are leveling criticism because they believe this will help U.S. efforts in Iraq. A majority believes the motive is really to "gain a partisan political advantage."
The Washington Times' Jennifer Harper and the Los Angeles Times' Max Boot both note the result of another poll, this one by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, which shows that the general public is considerably more optimistic about Iraq than just about any group of "opinion leaders." Respondents were asked if they thought efforts to establish a successful democracy there will succeed or fail:
Succeed Fail
News media
33% 63%
Foreign affairs
28% 71%
Security
28% 70%
State/local government
51% 45%
Academic/think tank
27% 71%
Religious leaders
41% 56%
Scientists/engineers
13% 84%
Military
64% 32%
General public
56% 37%
Watching "Meet the Press" on Sunday, we were especially struck by the dour drumbeat from the journalists' panel, which consisted of David Broder, David Gregory, Eugene Robinson and Judy Woodruff. All agreed that democracy in Iraq is simply hopeless. But their pessimism was totally divorced from the facts: Not one even mentioned the elections scheduled for two weeks from Thursday. Maybe it will turn out that we can do without experts after all.
Kerry Throws His Flip-Flops Into the Ring
From the Associated Press comes evidence that John Kerry* is running for president again, reprising the strategy that worked so well in 2004:
Kerry initially voted in favor of a Republican-sponsored resolution calling on President Bush to explain his strategy for success in Iraq. Minutes later, the Democrat changed his vote.
The Courier-Mail of Queensland, Australia, carries a story in tomorrow's paper titled "Downer Delivers Message of Hopelessness." We haven't had a chance to read the actual article yet, but from the headline it certainly sounds as though Kerry is definitely running.
* The haughty, French-looking Massachusetts Democrat who single-handedly won the Vietnam War.
Who's Crying Now?
Here's a man-bites-dog story: It seems the U.N. actually did something worthwhile last week. Here's the Jerusalem Post's report:
Following intense US pressure, the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday issued an unprecedented condemnation of Monday's Hizbullah attacks on northern Israel.
This condemnation--slamming Hizbullah by name for "acts of hatred"--marked the first time the Security Council has ever reprimanded Hizbullah for cross-border attacks on Israel. The condemnation followed by two days a failed attempt to get a condemnation issued on Monday, the day of the attack, when Algeria came out against any mention of Hizbullah in the statement.
When asked what changed from Monday to Wednesday, one diplomatic official replied: "John Bolton," a reference to the US ambassador to the UN. Bolton lobbied vigorously for the passage of the statement.
Would someone remind us again why senators filibustered Bolton's appointment? Was it because he was supposed to be an ineffective diplomat, or an effective one? Or was it just because he hurt George Voinovich's little feelings?
Shariah State U
Yaser Alamoodi, president of the student government at Arizona State University, wants to ban students from posing for girlie magazines, the State Press, a student newspaper, reports:
"I was concerned to see logos and the name of ASU being associated with such magazines," he said. "I don't want the name of ASU to be a joke anymore, and I think the Playboy association is a big reason why the ASU academic reputation is not up to what it should be."
Under the proposed rule, students who posed would be punished by the rules set forth in the student code of conduct.
According to the code, any student who is found to violate the rules is subject to expulsion, suspension, probation, warning or payment of restitution.
We must confess, we have mixed feelings about this effort. On the one hand, if we had a daughter at ASU, we suspect we'd approve wholeheartedly. On the other, the idea of a Saudi national seeking to impose such a rule on one of America's great party schools is a bit unsettling. Could it be the camel's nose in the tent leading to full Shariah law?
Texas vs. Yugoslavia
Simon Jenkins, a columnist for London's Sunday Times, comments on reports that President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair toyed with the idea of bombing al-Jazeera, the Qatar-based TV network:
That Blair and Bush should have discussed bombing the Al-Jazeera building in Qatar is hardly surprising. They agreed to bomb the headquarters of Serbian television during the Kosovo war.
Well, color us impressed. Who knew President Bush was already conducting foreign policy back in 1999, when he was still governor of Texas?
Next He'll Come to the Conclusion He Isn't Napoleon
Here's one of the more amusing political stories of the month, from the Associated Press in Albuquerque, N.M.:
Gov. Bill Richardson is coming clean on his draft record--the baseball draft, that is, admitting that his claim to have been a pick of the Kansas City A's in 1966 was untrue.
For nearly four decades, Richardson, often mentioned as a possible Democratic presidential candidate, has maintained he was drafted by the Kansas City Athletics.
The claim was included in a brief biography released when Richardson successfully ran for Congress in 1982. A White House news release in 1997 mentioned it when he was about to be named U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. And several news organizations, including The Associated Press, have reported it as fact over the years.
But an investigation by the Albuquerque Journal found no record of Richardson being drafted by the A's, who have since moved to Oakland, or any other team.
Informed by the newspaper of its findings, the governor acknowledged the error in a story in Thursday's editions.
"After being notified of the situation and after researching the matter . . . I came to the conclusion that I was not drafted by the A's," he said.
In other baseball news, the AP reports that Fidel Castro, Cuba's communist dictator, "criticized Cuban baseball players who have left the country for multimillion-dollar contracts in the major leagues, saying the island always finds better players to replace them":
During a five-hour appearance on state television Wednesday, Castro remarked on those players "who cannot resist the millions of the major leagues" and acknowledged that baseball "is the sport in which we have been beaten the most" when it comes to defections.
Still, the 79-year-old [tyrant] insisted Cuban baseball has always survived the losses.
"When one leaves, another 10 better players emerge," he said.
Maybe we can trade Richardson to Havana for a draft pick to be named later.
Greatly Exaggerated
Following our lead, Lloyd Grove of New York's Daily News weighed in Thursday with an item (second one) taking note of the numerous errors in the New York Post's coverage of Justice Antonin Scalia's New York appearance. Grove scores an interview with Jake Garn, a former Utah senator, who the Post reported was "on death's door" 19 years ago, when Scalia was appointed to the Supreme Court:
"I'm only 73, and I'm still Rollerblading and skiing at high rates of speed and flying my own airplanes," Garn told me from Salt Lake City. "I still weigh the same as I did in high school, and anybody who can't do 75 pushups, don't challenge me."
Garn--who was healthy enough back during his brush with death to donate a kidney to his daughter--added that his vision is so good that, unlike [the Post's] Richard Johnson and me, he doesn't need glasses for distance or reading.
"I'm not going skiing for Thanksgiving," he added, "because I'm such a 'black-diamond bomber' that I wouldn't want to go on a holiday because there are too many people in my way."
Grove also notes one error we missed: The Post story, in a Scalia quote, rendered Garn's first name as "Jack" rather than Jake.
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
"Irish rocker Bono says Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin's inability to further increase foreign aid mystifies him, especially when he's facing an election in a country that clearly favors more foreign aid," the Associated Press reports from Ottawa:
Bono said he was heartened by polls suggesting most Canadians support a boost to foreign aid. He wants Canada to increase foreign contributions to 0.7 percent of its gross domestic product.
That would more than triple the $2.5 billion Canada spends on foreign aid each year.
Meanwhile, the Indianapolis Star reports that "when U2 singer Bono found himself in Italy without his favorite hat, he spent $1,700 to have it flown to his side--first class." And if Bono can spend that kind of money for a lousy hat, is it really too much to expect every taxpayer to cough up at least as much for foreign aid?
Zero-Tolerance Watch: An Update
In May 2001, we noted a story from Rio Rancho, N.M., in which a high school teacher was accused of pointing a pellet gun at two children riding an all-terrain vehicle near his home and telling them: "If you ever come back again, I will kill you."
Earlier this month we heard from Kevin Jarigese, whose name had turned up in our archives when he did a Google search. He writes:
I am that teacher, and I never said that to the children. When teachers uphold discipline standards in a school and deal with truant behaviors on a daily basis, they are at risk of retaliation from students. This was such a case. This incident was thrown out of court due to lack of evidence and the simple fact that this situation never occurred in the first place.
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
"It's the Jets vs. the Saints: Helpless vs. Homeless"--headline, New York Times, Nov. 25, 2005
Doing It the Hard Way
"Moose Hit by Train to Feed the Needy"--headline, Washington Times, Nov. 27
Who'll Make the Rest of It?
"Inmates Join Effort to Make Most of Moose"--headline, New York Times, Nov. 27
'I'll Stop the World and Melt With You'
"Scientists Discover Singing Iceberg in Antarctica"--headline, Reuters, Nov. 24
Over Egyptian Protests
"Mel Gibson Donates Pyramids to Mexico"--headline, NewsMax.com, Nov. 26
We're Going to South Carolina! And Oklahoma! And Lhasa!
"Dean to Greet Dalai Lama"--headline, Belfast (Northern Ireland) Telegraph, Nov. 22
Good News for Satanists
"Black Vows to Be Vindicated"--headline, Globe and Mail (Toronto), Nov. 24
Sounds Undercapitalized to Us
"50 Cent Plans to Extend Business in Sex Market"--headline, NewKerala.com (India), Nov. 27
Wouldn't It Be Cheaper to Hire a Sitter?
"Cruise Buys Sonogram Machine to Watch Baby"--headline, Reuters, Nov. 23
'Last Night Was Wonderful, Dr. Kim'
"Women Offer Eggs to Doctor in South Korea"--headline, The Wall Street Journal (link for WSJ.com subscribers), Nov. 25
Thanks for the Tip!--XVII
"Health Tip: Be Careful Shoveling Snow"--headline, HealthDayNews, Nov. 28
Bottom Story of the Day
"Study--Longer Needles Needed for Fatter Buttocks"--headline, Reuters, Nov. 28
Royal Canadian Air Farce
"A former Canadian Minister of Defence and Deputy Prime Minister under Pierre Trudeau has joined forces with three Non-governmental organizations to ask the Parliament of Canada to hold public hearings on Exopolitics--relations with 'ETs,' " announces a press release from the Canadian Exopolitics Initiative:
On September 25, 2005, in a startling speech at the University of Toronto that caught the attention of mainstream newspapers and magazines, Paul Hellyer, Canada's Defence Minister from 1963-67 under Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Prime Minister Lester Pearson, publicly stated: "UFOs, are as real as the airplanes that fly over your head."
Mr. Hellyer went on to say, "I'm so concerned about what the consequences might be of starting an intergalactic war, that I just think I had to say something." . . .
Hellyer warned, "The United States military are preparing weapons which could be used against the aliens, and they could get us into an intergalactic war without us ever having any warning. He stated, "The Bush administration has finally agreed to let the military build a forward base on the moon, which will put them in a better position to keep track of the goings and comings of the visitors from space, and to shoot at them, if they so decide." . . .
Three Non-governmental organizations took Hellyer's words to heart, and approached Canada's Parliament in Ottawa, Canada's capital, to hold public hearings on a possible ET presence, and what Canada should do. The Canadian Senate, which is an appointed body, has held objective, well-regarded hearings and issued reports on controversial issues such as same-sex marriage and medical marijuana.
CEI's Web site, PeaceInSpace.net, has information about how to contact the Canadian Senate. The press release notes that at least one former U.S. president claims to have had contact with an alien civilization:
Vancouver-based Institute for Cooperation in Space (ICIS), whose International Director headed a proposed 1977 Extraterrestrial Communication Study for the White House of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who himself has publicly reported a 1969 Close Encounter of the First Kind with a UFO, filed the original request for Canadian Parliament hearings.
Carter's experience should serve as a cautionary tale about the dangers of appeasing hostile extraterrestrial cultures. In 1994 he brokered an agreement with Kim Jong-Il, a Zyphon from planet Gyron, which Kim, whose avowed goal is "to conquer the Earth," subsequently violated.
Carter won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
As in his presidency, Carter has again served as a bad example and reinforced the truism that peace through strength is the only way to keep America--and planet Earth--safe.
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