BY JAMES TARANTO
Friday, October 17, 2003 3:40 p.m. EDT
URL:http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110004188
'This Guy's Got It'
In a column earlier this week, Bloomberg News Service's Andrew Ferguson relayed a story from George Shultz, President Reagan's secretary of state and an adviser to California's Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger:
"Buffett and I"--that would be billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who with Shultz heads the soon-to-be-governor's team of informal economic advisers--"were doing a conference call with Arnold back in September. A number of businessmen had joined us. And one of them, a Latino restaurant owner, starts to push this driver's license thing."
That would be the new California law, signed by a desperate Governor Gray Davis shortly before last Tuesday's recall election, allowing illegal immigrants to obtain drivers licenses.
"This fellow says, 'Arnold, all my employees are for it. All my customers are for it. You support this thing and I can guarantee you a lot of votes.'
"There was a long silence. Finally Arnold says, 'But I don't support it.'
"And this businessman says, 'But it would be very good for you,' and so on and so on.
"Another long silence.
"Finally, Arnold says, 'I'm sorry, I can't. What kind of governor would I be if I started supporting things I don't believe in?'
"Remember, this was not a public event for public consumption. This wasn't some kind of grandstanding. I just thought, Wow. Bam. What an answer. This guy's got it. This guy's the real thing."
"This guy's got it." Sound familiar? If so, you probably read our Peggy Noonan's column of Oct. 13, 2000 (ellipsis in original):
About two years ago I saw George Shultz, a man of great judgment and experience who is both shrewd and wise. Mr. Shultz told me that George Bush, the Texas governor, would run for president, and that he was enthusiastically supporting him.
I was surprised. Isn't Bush . . . young? I asked. He's been governor for one term, is that enough experience?
Mr. Shultz's eyes narrowed, and he shot me a look. I've spent time with him, he said. "He's like Reagan. He's got it."
President Bush stopped in San Bernardino, Calif., yesterday and made his first appearance with the governor-elect. Watching the event on TV, it struck us that Shultz was right: Both men do call to mind the spirit of Reagan: the optimism, the patriotism and the humor. From the president's remarks:
We did have a good visit, and during that visit I was able to reflect upon how much we have in common. We both married well. Some accuse us both of not being able to speak the language. We both have big biceps. Well, two out of three isn't bad. We both love our country. Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to be a fine and strong leader for California. I'm proud to call him friend.
What a contrast with the Democrats, who've become the party of despair, doom and anger. Can you imagine dyspeptic Howard Dean standing with dour Gray Davis and declaring: "We both love our country"? Some may find this corny, but we'd say it's refreshing, especially after sitting through numerous Democratic debates in which the candidates never deign to mention patriotism except to accuse the Republicans of lacking same.
The Bush-Schwarzenegger "lovefest," as the Associated Press amusingly dubbed it, also reminded us that Jay Nordlinger was right on the money when he described the GOP as the manly party. The serene masculinity of the president and the governor-elect is especially appealing when compared with the other party, which is desperate to prove its manhood by fielding a presidential candidate who's served in uniform.
Still Digging
The Daily Californian reports on an appearance at the University of California, Berkeley, where Los Angeles Times reporter Mark Barabak spoke to a group of students. "While the campaign may be over, Barabak said, the story of [Arnold] Schwarzenegger's past is not," the student newspaper reports. "He said the Times is investigating potentially more damaging charges against the governor-elect."
Blogger Mickey Kaus asks a good question: "Do reporters usually say they are investigating damaging charges before they are proven? It seems permissable [sic] to me--but if a Times reporter announced that the paper was investigating unspecified 'potentially damaging' but unproven charges against, say, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, I suspect the editors of the Times might come down somewhat hard on him."
Humiliate Bush? Please, Anything but That!
"UK Protesters Aim to Humiliate Bush Like Saddam" reads the Reuters headline:
Anti-war protesters plan to topple and dance on a mock statue of President Bush in the center of London as part of demonstrations to "blight" his visit to Britain next month.
Their re-working in Trafalgar Square of the famous humiliation of a Saddam Hussein statue in Baghdad six months' ago will be among running protests including marches and a mock trial of Bush planned around his November 19-21 state visit.
"People are excited about the prospect of opposing George Bush because they feel this visit adds insult to the injury already caused by the Iraq war," said Lindsey German, of Stop the War Coalition, one of various groups planning the events.
Now, if there's one thing we know from reading Reuters' coverage of the Palestinian Arabs' "uprising for independence," it's that it's not a good idea to humiliate people. The Israelis keep humiliating the poor Palestinians, who naturally react by wantonly murdering innocent Israelis. Isn't Lindsey German the slightest bit worried that she's going to cause President Bush to kill lots of people by humiliating him like this?
The Felony Party
"A recent review of U.S. elections concluded that if felons could vote, Al Gore would be in the White House and Democrats would have ruled the U.S. Senate since 1986," reports the Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Sociologists Christopher Uggen, at the University of Minnesota, and Jeff Manza, at Northwestern University in Chicago, found that this country's high crime rate and laws that forbid felons--and in some cases, ex-felons--to vote have had an effect on elections.
Uggen's and Manza's report is published in the Summer 2003 edition of Contexts, an American Sociological Association magazine. They calculated that the felons banned from voting are more than 2 percent of the country's potential voters. They examined the voting records of other Americans with similar backgrounds--such as race, education and marital status.
Among their conclusions: If Florida had allowed ex-convicts to vote, Gore would have beat George Bush by at least 30,000 votes.
Since men are a lot more likely than women to be in prison for felonies, could this also help explain the "gender gap" by which women are more likely to vote for Democrats?
This Just In
"Democrats Seek a Candidate Who Can Beat Bush"--headline, Associated Press, Oct. 17
Money Well Spent
The House has approved President Bush's request for $87 billion to fund American military and reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq. But a majority of Democrats and a handful of Republicans are eager to leave Iraq in the lurch. The vote was 303-125, with six Republicans, 118 Dems and Bernie Sanders, Vermont's independent self-styled socialist, voting "no." Eighty-three Democrats voted in favor, including presidential candidate Dick Gephardt.
The Senate is expected to follow suit later today. On a 51-47 vote yesterday, however, the upper house passed a pound-foolish amendment that would make half of the $20 billion in Iraq reconstruction money a loan rather than a grant. Cheers to the four Democrats who bucked their party and voted "no": Joe Biden (Del.), Maria Cantwell (Wash.), Daniel Inoyue (Hawaii) and Zell Miller (Ga.). And jeers to the eight Republicans who joined 42 Democrats and Jim Jeffords in support of the amendment:
Sam Brownback (Kan.)
Ben Nighthorse Campbell (Colo.)
Saxby Chambliss (Ga.)
Susan Collins (Maine)
John Ensign (Nev.)
Lindsey Graham (S.C.)
Lisa Murkowski (Alaska)
Olympia Snowe (Maine)
Once they've passed their respective versions of the bill, the House and Senate will have to reconcile them, giving them an opportunity to drop the loan proposal, which, Reuters reports, Republican leaders are confident "will not survive."
Give That Man a Medal
Here's another one of those odd congressional dissents. Yesterday, amid the debate over Iraq funding, the Senate passed a resolution "to express the Sense of the Senate that the Global War on Terrorism medal should be awarded expeditiously to members of the Armed Forces serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Noble Eagle." The vote was 97-1.
So who was the lone dissenter? Well, we'll give you a hint: All 50 Republicans present voted "yes." So did all 47 Democrats. That leaves only Sen. Jim Jeffords, the Republican-turned-independent from Vermont, who abandoned not only his old party but the one he usually supports now. One wonders what exactly was his objection to this resolution. Is he against giving servicemen medals, or does he just want it to be done slowly?
Mr. Moderate--II
"Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad refused to apologize Friday for a speech in which he said Jews ruled the world," the Associated Press reports. Digging himself in deeper, Mahathir said: "If Muslims can be accused of being terrorists, then others can accuse the Jews of being terrorists also."
Here is a list of recent Jewish hijackers and suicide bombers: .
An MSNBC report says that Malaysia's foreign minister, in an effort to back away from Mahathir's remarks, said that "Islam was not anti-Jewish and the problem was Israel." But the problem isn't Israel; the problem is the rulers of the Muslim and Arab world who refuse to let Israel live in peace and instead use it as a scapegoat to divert attention from their own misrule. This is why establishing a decent government in Iraq is so crucial. If America succeeds there, the example may spread throughout the Arab and Muslim worlds, eventually allowing Jews to live in peace and Arabs and Muslims in freedom.
Weasel Watch
The Associated Press notes that at a European Union summit, weasel in chief Jacques Chirac blocked a European Union effort to condemn Mahathir's remarks as part of a final statement, "saying it had no place there."
What Rotten Timing
Earlier this week President Bush signed a "Waiver and Certification of Statutory Provisions Regarding the Palestine Liberation Organization." This allows Yasser Arafat's PLO to operate within the United States for the next six months despite the provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1987.
Bush signed the waiver on Wednesday--the same day Palestinian terrorists murdered three Americans in the Rachel Corrie Memorial Massacre. Although the PLO and the Palestinian Authority do not seem to have perpetrated this attack, their attitude toward it is clear from a cartoon published in Al-Hayat-Al-Jadeeda, an official Palestinian Authority Newspaper, and reproduced on Little Green Footballs. It depicts three caricatured Jews driving a car through the desert with an American flag flying from a pole on the roof. The car's wheels are time bombs with blue Stars of David on them.
Arafat won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1994.
Good News Watch
The Jerusalem Post carries a first-person account from Maj. Carlos Huerta, a rabbi who serves as a chaplain in the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division. Huerta visited Al-Kosh, an Iraqi town populated by Christians that is the site of the tomb of the Jewish prophet Nahum. He found the grave site: "It was a synagogue, or had been. The roof had collapsed and there was dirt all over." After saying his afternoon prayers, he was invited to tea with some locals:
As we prepared to leave, they asked us if there was anything we could do to restore the synagogue. We told them we could not. But would a Jewish house of worship in the middle of their village be welcome?
Their answer gave us hope in humanity. They said they would be honored to have such a holy place restored to its original condition. They felt it was a national treasure. The caretaker told us that as long as God granted him life he would defend the holiness of the place. As he said this, the other villagers nodded in agreement.
We came to Iraq in a time of war, destruction and great hate. We came sowing in tears. Perhaps, if God wills it, and with a little help from our friends, we will be able to leave having reaped in joyous song.
Henry Ford's Legacy
The New York Sun is publishing an eye-opening four-part investigative series by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency on the Ford Foundation's funding of anti-Semitic organizations. The full series is also available here on the JTA Web site. One of the most interesting revelations comes in Part 3, which suggests the foundation is at risk of running afoul of the law (ellipses in original):
Earlier this year, Washington's fears over the loosely controlled millions streaming into Palestinian organizations from foundations turned into action. The State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development began applying President Bush's Executive Order 13224 to American organizations working in Palestinian areas.
Executive Order 13224 recognizes "the pervasiveness and expansiveness of the financial foundation of foreign terrorists" and regulates financial transactions that may end up in the hands of those that either commit or even "advocate" terrorism.
In May and June of this year, USAID informed American tax-exempt charities it funds that if they partnered with any Palestinian NGOs, those NGOs would be required to sign a Certification Regarding Terrorist Financing. The certification pledges that no funds have made or will make their way into organizations to "advocate or support terrorist activities."
The Palestine NGO Network, or PNGO, an umbrella group of 90 Palestinian organizations that is funded in part by the Ford Foundation, was outraged.
On July 12, PNGO published a statement declaring: "Some donor agencies in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are setting unacceptable conditions for providing financial support to Palestinian NGOs. Such conditions include a pledge titled 'Certification Regarding Terrorist Financing' . . . stipulating that Palestinian NGOs pledge not to 'provide material support or resources to any individual or entity that advocates, plans, sponsors, engages in, or has engaged in terrorist activity . . .' based on the U.S. Executive Order 13224."
Part 1 of the series notes that the Ford Foundation "was endowed with funds donated by Henry and Edsel Ford but no longer maintains any ties to the Ford Motor Company." Henry Ford, of course, was a notorious anti-Semite, so perhaps the folks who run the foundation that bears his name feel they are honoring his legacy.
That Explains It
"Congressman Kucinich is one of the few vegans [fundamentalist vegetarians] in Congress."--from the "About Dennis" page on Kucinich's Web site
"A new German study found B12 levels low enough to cause attention, mood, and thinking problems in a whopping 68% of vegetarians."--Prevention magazine, November issue
Staten Island's Noble Savages
You really have to love the New York Times editorial board. It's actually kind of endearing how out of touch they are, sitting up there on Olympus. On Wednesday 10 people died in a horrific accident on the Staten Island Ferry, when the boat crashed into the pier in New York's southernmost borough. By yesterday morning, the city had restored ferry service, and Staten Islanders were riding the boat into Manhattan as usual.
The Times calls this "a testament to the resilience of Staten Islanders." Huh? Says a blogger who calls himself "Tax Guy": "No morons, it was a testament to the fact that Staten Islanders have families to feed and clothe, health insurance, mortgages and car loans to pay, etc. I suspect that if no one in Staten Island needed to work for a living, there would have been fewer people on the boat yesterday. What planet do the editorial writers of the New York Times live on? And how patronizing and condescending are they?"
Lack of Food May Have Something to Do With It
"Governor Asks Advisers to Study Hunger's Causes"--headline, (Eugene, Ore.) Register-Guard, Oct. 16
But if They Have a Healthy Son, They'll Love Him All the Same
"Parents Hoping for Comatose Daughter"--headline, Associated Press, Oct. 17
Sox Defeat Truman
"It's not exactly 'Dewey Defeats Truman,' but the New York Post made a colossal error today on its editorial page," reports TheSmokingGun.com:
The paper somehow printed an editorial bemoaning last night's Yankees loss to the Boston Red Sox, noting that the "Curse of the Bambino boomeranged this year" and that the Bronx Bombers "couldn't get the job done at home." The editorial concluded, "Wait'll next year!" Obviously, the Post piece was drafted while the Yanks were trailing the Sox, but was--unbelievably--not yanked when the club tied the game in the eighth inning and won it on Aaron Boone's walkoff home run in the 11th.
TheSmokingGun has an image of the mistaken editorial, which is no longer available on the Post Web site. The rival Daily News has some fun with the story, headlining a Bloomberg News dispatch "It's Another New York Post Exclusive! Yankees Lose!"
The Yanks, who have not appeared in a World Series in nearly 23 months, now face the Florida Marlins, the only professional sports team named after a White House press secretary. Actually, forget Truman and Dewey. Maybe this is a preview of the 2008 presidential election pitting Florida's Jeb against New York's Hillary.
(Elizabeth Crowley helps compile Best of the Web Today. Thanks to Scott Leonard, James Foster, Evan Graham, Darren Gold, Patrick O'Malley, Tony Booth, Tom Linehan, Ed Miseta, Monty Krieger, Michael Hopkovitz, Joel Goldberg, Michael Segal, Raghu Desikan, Lawrence Renbaum, Natlie Cohen, Carl Sherer, Edward Hildebrand, Yehuda Hilewitz, Nancy Zimmerman, Seán Fitzpatrick, Ed Lasky, Jerome Marcus, Mark Segal, Jamie Gregorian, Barry Benjamin, S.E. Brenner, Darryl May, Scott Siegel, Ilana Rosansky, Barak Moore, Stanley Schaffer, Martin Kimel, Paula Simmonds, Hampton Stevens, Judie Amsel, Michael Zukerman, Sam Ehrehnalt, Greg Yamada, Nicholas Zeisler and Robert Felton. If you have a tip, write us at opinionjournal@wsj.com, and please include the URL.) |
