Best of the Web Today - March 28, 2007
By JAMES TARANTO
Today's Videos on WSJ.com: Inside the Editorial Page--Paul Gigot & Co. talk education. Plus James Taranto on the Edwardses and Brendan Miniter on the GOP's future.
A Scientific Survey?
Christopher Mims of Scientific American, a global-warmist magazine, trumpets as a "reality check" a new poll result:
Via the very-much-worth-checking-out Sietch Blog:
In what can only be considered a tidal wave of public opinion, a new Yale research survey reveals a significant shift in public attitudes toward the environment and global warming. Fully 83 percent of Americans now say global warming is a "serious" problem, up from 70 percent in 2004. . . .
Most dramatically, the survey of 1,000 adults nationwide shows that 63 percent of Americans agree that the United States "is in as much danger from environmental hazards, such as air pollution and global warming, as it is from terrorists."
In other words, 63% of the American public now agrees with the 2003 Pentagon report that, while speculative, said as much.
(The rest of the survey results are well worth reading, and demonstrate U.S. citizens' growing concern about extinction, air pollution, and other environmental issues.)
Well, if 63% of the American public says it, it must be true, right? That's how science works!
So we checked the survey results (PDF), as Mims recommended, and we found another interesting finding: 58% agree that "as the Bible says, the world was literally created in six days." So according to Scientific American, the biblical story of creation has only slightly less scientific merit than global warming.
And if you think the people in the survey are unqualified to weigh in on such matters, they beg to differ: 71% of them agreed with the statement "I consider myself an intellectual," and 59% agreed that "I have more ability than most people." We'll bet a high proportion of them read Scientific American.
We Blame Global Warming
"Lack of Ice Set to Kill Start of Canadian Seal Hunt"--headline, Reuters, March 27
The Palestinian Sewer
"Further deadly sewage floods are feared after a wave of stinking waste and mud from a collapsed septic pool inundated a Gaza village, killing five people, including two babies," the Associated Press reports:
The collapse has been blamed on residents stealing sand from an embankment.
It highlighted the desperate need to upgrade Gaza's overloaded, outdated infrastructure--but aid officials say construction of a modern sewage treatment plant has been held up by constant Israeli-Palestinian fighting.
The report gets a bit more specific as to the meaning of "constant Israeli-Palestinian fighting":
Umm Naser is about 300 metres [300 million microns] from the border with Israel, in an area where Palestinians have frequently launched rockets into Israel and Israeli artillery and aircraft have fired back. The situation worsened after Hamas-linked militants captured an Israeli soldier last June in a cross-border raid, and Israel responded by invading northern Gaza.
The Jerusalem Post reported earlier this month that metal provided by Israel had been used in the construction of those terrorist rockets. And why was Israel selling the Palestinians metal? "For the construction of a sewage system in Gaza."
Palestinian babies drown in sewage because of the bloodlust of Palestinian grown-ups. What a fetid political culture.
Nebraska Votes to Flee
"The Democratic-controlled Senate narrowly signaled support Tuesday for the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq by next March, triggering an instant veto threat from the White House in a deepening dispute between Congress and commander in chief," the Associated Press reports. By 50-48, the Senate rejected an amendment that would have stripped a nonbinding retreat date from an emergency war appropriations bill.
Two weeks ago the Senate rejected a similar measure, also by a 50-48 vote. Both Nebraska senators, Democrat Ben Nelson and Republican egomaniac Chuck Hagel, switched sides. Aside from Hagel, the only senators to cross party lines were Republican Gordon Smith of Oregon and Democrats Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut. This passage from the AP story is telling:
Lieberman, who won a new term last fall in a three-way race after losing the Democratic nomination to an anti-war insurgent, depicted the vote as a turning point. He said the effect of the timeline would be to "snatch defeat from the jaws of progress in Iraq."
Even we wouldn't go so far as to equate Ned Lamont with America's enemies, but it's telling that the AP is doing so.
Blogger Bob Krumm has a contrarian take on all this:
If things go well in Iraq (as they finally appear to be), the ultimate Rovian conspiracy theory will be the one that supposes that BushCheneyRoveMc-hitler and Co. drug [sic] the war on long and badly enough that the Democrats (and that Hagel fellow) were forced into a vote that allows them to be portrayed as both anti-American and pro-pork-spending just in time for the 2008 election.
Let's hope!
You Better You Bet
Earlier this week came the unpleasant news that Tony Snow, the White House press secretary, has had a recurrence of cancer. Snow was treated for colon cancer two years ago, and the disease has now spread to his liver.
Over at the Angry Left site Daily Kos, a poster named WinSmith spends some 1,300 words explaining that he's really quite indifferent to Snow's condition:
Are we better than they are? Of course we are. Theirs' [sic] is a movement so morally bankrupt that they'll send more American troops to die in a civil war because they can't even admit to themselves they made a mistake.
On that most profound issue, life and death itself, they don't care. If you think we can somehow convince them that we're not who their propaganda empire tells them we are, you're wrong.
So again, let me be crystal clear about this. I am not happy Tony Snow has cancer. I'm just not praying for him.
He's not in my "thoughts." I have no empathy for him. He has been an accomplice and an apologist for a failed political movement that has unleashed tremendous pain and upheaval on this planet.
I will save my emotions for those who deserve it.
You can see why they're better, can't you? And just imagine how long the post would be if WinSmith gave a darn!
Meanwhile, Tony, for whatever it's worth, you're in our thoughts.
Kerry's Legacy
He'll never be president, and no one will ever again mistake him for a war hero, but as of today no one can ever again say John Kerry didn't have an impact on the world. Thanks to Kerry, Sam Fox will not be ambassador to Belgium, as the Associated Press reports:
President Bush on Wednesday withdrew the ambassadorial nomination of businessman Sam Fox after Democrats denounced Fox for giving money to a controversial conservative group that undermined Sen. John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign.
Kerry, D-Mass., had criticized Fox because of a $50,000 contribution that Fox made in 2004 to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. . . .
"Sam Fox had every opportunity to disavow the politics of personal destruction and to embrace the truth," Kerry said Wednesday. "He chose not to. The White House made the right decision to withdraw the nomination. I hope this signals a new day in political discourse."
The hopes of the haughty, French-looking Massachusetts Democrat, who by the way served in Vietnam, are likely to be disappointed. But at least he has had an impact on U.S.-Belch relations.
Great Moments in Political Honesty
From the Web site of KCCI-TV in Des Moines, Iowa:
Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack gave Sen. Hillary Clinton his endorsement for her presidential campaign.
The Clinton campaign has promised Vilsack to help pay off a $400,000 campaign debt he built up during his run for the White House. . . .
The campaign said there is no connection between Vilsack's endorsement and their commitment to help pay off his campaign debt.
We're sure Mrs. Clinton would have been happy to pay off Vilsack's debts even if he'd endorsed Barack Obama.
Try Something Simple, Like 'See Spot Run'
"Military Officials Discuss Sentence for Hicks"--headline, NPR Web site, March 27
Uh-Oh
"Pope Says Hell and Damnation Are Real and Eternal"--headline, Australian, March 28
The Making of 'Top Gun'
"Naval Academy Looking at Cruise Behavior"--headline, Associated Press, March 27
This Is Taking Privatization Too Far
"Police Seek Help in Killing"--headline, Orange County (Calif.) Register, March 26
Its Croak Is Worse Than Its Bite
"Group Finds 'Monster' Toad the Size of a Small Dog"--headline, Associated Press, March 27
Especially if You Work for Bloomberg
"London Overtakes New York as Global Financial Hub, Balls to Say"--headline, Bloomberg, March 28
News You Can Use
"Tourists, Land Mines Don't Mix"--headline, Globe and Mail (Toronto), March 28
Bottom Stories of the Day
o "No Penn State Events Scheduled"--headline, Centre Daily Times (State College, Pa.), March 27
o "DNR Finds No Chronic Wasting Disease in Area Counties"--headline, Associated Press, March 28
o "Lambeau Field Not Likely to Expand Soon"--headline, Associated Press, March 28
o "General Motors Seen Not Bidding for Chrysler"--headline, MSNBC.com, March 28
o "Democratic Candidates Praise Value of Organized Labor"--headline, Washington Post, March 27
o "Billie Jean King Endorses Clinton"--headline, Associated Press, March 28
Woman Bites Dog Food
"An Ottawa woman has become violently ill after eating some of her dog's food," the Canadian Press reports:
After noticing her dog, Missy, wasn't eating, [Eliane] Larabie said she took bites of Missy's Iams pet food in order to trick the terrier into thinking it was people food.
The ploy worked and the mealtime routine continued for about two weeks until both dog and master became sick on March 17.
It wasn't until she saw a TV news story about the Menu Foods recall that she connected the dots.
Last week, the Toronto-area company recalled 60-million cans and pouches of food made under 95 different brand names. On Sunday, the recall was expanded to include all varieties of the company's wet dog and cat food.
Let this be a lesson to you canines: Just because your owner eats something, that doesn't mean it's safe.
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