Best of the Web Today - October 8, 2004
By JAMES TARANTO
Best of the Tube This Weekend
We'll be joining Paul Gigot, Dan Henninger, Dorothy Rabinowitz and Jason Riley for this week's edition of "The Journal Editorial Report" on PBS, devoted to tonight's Bush-Kerry debate and other topics in the presidential campaign. Air times are determined by local PBS stations; you can check the schedule by clicking here.
The bad news is that PBS is practicing the doctrine of pre-emption, albeit because they have to, not because they want to. That is, on those East Coast stations that normally air the show Friday nights, the debate will be on instead. (On New York's WNET, for instance, "The Journal Editorial Report" will air at 7 a.m. Saturday but not at 10 p.m. tonight.) You'll also be able to find video on the program's PBS Web page.
They've Got the Whole World in Their Sights
On the eve of the last presidential debate to cover foreign policy come a pair of reminders of the global nature of the terrorist threat. In Egypt, terrorists murdered at least 27 people, and probably dozens more, mostly Israelis. The massacre happened in Taba, a resort town on the Sinai Peninsula that is a popular spot for Israeli vacationers. "Israel's intelligence chief told Cabinet ministers Friday that the bombings at Egyptian resorts were most likely carried out by al-Qaida," reports the Associated Press.
Meanwhile in Paris, "a small parcel bomb exploded outside the Indonesian embassy" this morning, Reuters reports. Ten people were injured but no one was killed. "French officials saw it as a criminal act while Indonesian president-elect Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono condemned the blast as an act of terrorism," Reuters adds, dispensing with the scare quotes it usually includes when terror victims are American or Israeli.
Do They Read Their Own Paper?
"Sanctions worked. Weapons inspectors worked. That is the bottom line of the long-awaited report on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, written by President Bush's handpicked investigator. . . . As the war continues to bog down, the power of nonviolent international sanctions looks more muscular every day."--editorial, New York Times, Oct. 7
"The report suggests that Mr. Hussein was justified when, speaking at a gathering of leaders of the Iraqi armed forces in January 2000, he boasted that despite efforts by the United States and the United Nations to isolate Iraq, he would still be able to buy just about whatever he wanted."--news story, New York Times, Oct. 8
This Just In From Last January
"We realize that some of our media friends think the salient news here is the old news: that Saddam did not possess large stockpiles of WMDs when Coalition forces invaded in March 2003."--editorial, The Wall Street Journal, Oct. 8
"An Oct. 7 article and the lead Page One headline incorrectly attributed a quotation to Charles A. Duelfer, the chief U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq. The statement, 'We were almost all wrong,' was made by Duelfer's predecessor, David Kay, at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Jan. 28."--correction, Washington Post, Oct. 8
This Is News?
"New York Times Reporter Held in Contempt"--headline, CNN.com, Oct. 7
John K. Fairy?
Columnist Maggie Gallagher has an amusing take on last week's presidential debate:
What got to Bush? Here's what I think: It was not the brilliance of Kerry's debating tactics but the absurdity of the essence of the new Kerry position: The war on Iraq is an easy thing. The reason bad things are happening is Bush is bungling.
Give that man a wand and slap a pair of wings on his back: John Kerry is running for fairy godmother! Our allies are opposed to the war? A swoosh of the Kerry wand and President Kerry will have the French and Germans rushing to our rescue in no time. Iraq needs a new army to defend itself? Zap bing--the Kerry touch will make training an Iraqi army faster and easier. Al-Qaida and other terrorists are pouring over the border to join the fight? When Kerry is elected, the guerrilla insurgency will magically disappear. A summit? How brilliant! Why didn't President Bush think of that?
The problem, as we noted yesterday, was that the "allies" whose approval Kerry would seek were actually part of Saddam Hussein's coalition of the bribed. The almost certain result of Kerry's "diplomacy" would have been Saddam's continued defiance of U.N. resolutions. The U.N.--and, more important, the U.S.--would have suffered an enormous loss of credibility, as threats of force proved empty.
Beirut's Daily Star notes that last month the U.N. Security Council passed Resolution 1559, calling for an end to the Syrian occupation of Lebanon. The paper speculates that the U.S. at some point may make good on the U.N.'s demands:
Arch political strategist Hafez Assad is no longer at the Syrian helm, and we are living in a post-9/11 world in which the United States is bent on imposing its will on the Middle East. There is little room for error in political maneuvering when it comes to UN 1559, which should be regarded as a ticking time bomb by those in power in Damascus and Beirut: Washington's wrath could know no bounds if the wrong buttons are pressed. In the context of the murky world of Syrian-Lebanese politics, the power brokers here simply cannot afford to see these events through the prism of local politics. Intelligent, constructive responses to the challenges of 1559 are required. The alternative could be disaster.
If John Kerry becomes president, however, it's far likelier that the Syrian regime would get away with flouting the U.N.'s demands.
The San Francisco Chronicle weighs in with a survey of European attitudes toward Kerry, which includes this telling quote from Rosemary Hollis, a British think tanker: "Kerry would be less inclined to claim an American victory in Iraq and could look at anything that will sort the place out." Being less inclined to claim victory is supposed to be an advantage, mind you.
Une Catastrophe Américaine!
"French President Jacques Chirac warned Thursday of a 'catastrophe' for global diversity if the United States' cultural hegemony goes unchallenged," Agence France-Presse reports from communist Hanoi:
Speaking at a French cultural centre in Hanoi ahead of Friday's opening of a summit of European and Asian leaders, Chirac said France was right to stand up for cultural and linguistic diversity.
The outspoken French president warned that the world's different cultures could be "choked" by US values.
This, he said, would lead to a "general world sub-culture" based around the English language, which would be "a real ecological catastrophe."
AFP notes that although the French colonized Vietnam, only 375,000 of its 81 million people, or less than 0.5%, speak French. "English is considered by most people a far more valuable and practical second language." Sacre bleu!
What's really odd about this story, though, is that it involves an anti-American Frenchman in Vietnam of all places, yet it never mentions John Kerry.
Wrong, or Just Prescient?
"Correction: President Bush Did Not Win Election on October 7"--headline, WBAY-TV Web site (Green Bay, Wis.)
What Would We Do Without Nader?
"Nader Says He Can't Win Single State"--headline, Associated Press, Oct. 7
Great Moments in Public Education
Marc Trail, a Warren, Mich., father, is steamed at his son's American studies teacher, Gregory Queen, who "distributed to his students copies of a Web site page that contained political satire aimed against President George W. Bush," the Detroit News reports. Queen, who teaches at Fitzgerald High School, apparently did not present similar material about John Kerry, at least according to Trail, who says, "both sides were not presented fairly."
Aside from being unfair, the material Queen used was pretty idiotic. It comes from a Web page called "Anarchie Bunker," and in the News's description "it purports to be a dialogue between father and child on why U.S. troops invaded Iraq." Sample:
Q: Why?
A: Because war is good for the economy, which means war is good for America. Also, since God is on America's side, anyone who opposes war is a godless unAmerican Communist. Do you understand now why we attacked Iraq?
Q: I think so. We attacked them because God wanted us to, right?
A: Yes.
Q: But how did we know God wanted us to attack Iraq?
A: Well, you see, God personally speaks to George W. Bush and tells him what to do.
Can't the ACLU sue this guy for bringing God into the classroom?
Meanwhile, Phoenix's KPHO-TV reports that "an artist who is also an assistant professor with a Chicano Studies project" at Arizona State University has been posting antiwar fliers with a photo of Pat Tillman, the Arizona Cardinals player who left the NFL to join the Army Rangers then was killed in action in Afghanistan:
The posters had a picture of Pat Tillman in his Army Ranger uniform, and then right next to his picture is a message that suggests was written by Tillman himself.
It said . . . I was killed by my own Army Ranger platoon in Afganistan [sic] on April 22nd, 2004. I am a hero to many of you. My death was tragic my glory was short lived. Flawed perceptions of myself my country and the war on terror resulted in the disasterous [sic] end to my life.
Do these sorts of obnoxious political messages have an effect on young people? A Knight Ridder dispatch from Chapel Hill, N.C., gives reason to think not:
As big-name bands storm the country with an anti-Bush, pro-voting vigor this fall, young adults in this musical hot spot have a message for the lefty crooners:
Cool it on the hatin'--and serve up some hopeful vision instead of just knocking Republicans.
"A lot of musicians bash the current administration rather than forwarding a specific agenda," said Shawn Wilson, 19, an English major at the University of North Carolina who calls himself socially liberal but fiscally conservative.
"I find it slightly offensive that they're going out of their way to influence young people's politics."
One reason young people may not be so receptive to obnoxious liberalism is the Roe effect, because of which a high proportion of them should have had relatively conservative upbringings. Another is that obnoxious liberalism is obnoxious and hence off-putting to those who are conservative, moderate or open-minded.
Speaking of the Roe Effect
Self-proclaimed Bush-hater Jonathan Chait has an op-ed in today's Los Angeles Times in which he explains that "an editor at the paper" asked him to write a piece making the case for the president's re-election. It's a mildly amusing concept, and it hints at an aspect of the Roe effect that we haven't discussed much:
Plenty of my fellow liberals freak out at the thought of Bush appointing two or more Supreme Court justices. But maybe he deserves that too. Hear me out. Right now, Republicans get the best of both worlds. They get tens of millions of social conservatives marching to the polls to vote for them every two years but, because key points of the social-conservative agenda never gets enacted, they suffer hardly any political consequences for their positions.
Now, suppose Bush does appoint a couple [of] justices. Maybe they will overturn Roe vs. Wade. If Roe falls, presumably states would decide how to deal with the abortion issue, and a reinvigorated pro-choice, center-left majority would be able to protect abortion rights in most places. In fact, the fear of a backlash would probably cause Bush's justices to chicken out and uphold Roe anyway. Then how would Republicans persuade social conservatives to keep supporting them?
Well, of course, three justices appointed by Presidents Reagan and Bush père already "chickened out" and upheld Roe, but antiabortion voters still stick with the Republicans. But Chait is mostly right about what would happen if Roe fell. It would return abortion to the democratic process, forcing both sides to compromise: Pro-life lawmakers might settle for restrictions short of an outright ban, while pro-choice ones would be less apt to defend monstrous practices like partial-birth abortion.
As a result, the polarization over abortion that Roe created would slowly fade away--and with it, so would much of the Roe effect, at least as it implicates partisan politics. Someone who places the interests of the Republican Party above all else would support the retention of Roe v. Wade so as to maintain this GOP-friendly polarization.
'The Poor Guy'
Nicole Brodeur, a columnist for the Seattle Times, landed an interview with Teresa Heinz Kerry the other day, and took the opportunity to ask the opinionated ketchup heiress and philanthropist some highly substantive questions:
If I was 80 cents short at the grocery store, and John Kerry was behind me in line, would he cover me, or pity me?
"Before me, he probably would have asked you out for a cup of coffee and paid the bill," Heinz Kerry said. "Today, I don't know what he would do, he doesn't even go shopping anymore, the poor guy."
Would he help if my car was broken down on the side of the road?
"Sure. He volunteered to go to war. That shows a sense of being aware of his place in the world."
John Kerry "volunteered to go to war"? We'd like to know more. Which war? When? Did he win any medals? But Brodeur lacks the intellectual curiosity to ask any follow-up questions about Teresa's claim.
He's Rich, He Can Afford It
"News Analysis: Kerry May Pay for His Religious Privacy"--headline, New York Times (Paris edition), Oct. 7
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Peach State Turnabout
Rep. Johnny Isakson of Georgia, a Republican who is heavily favored to win the Senate seat of the retiring Zell Miller, recently issued a press release listing Democrats who are endorsing him instead of their party's nominee, Rep. Denise Majette, the Atlanta Journal-Constituiton reports (second item):
Within four hours, the Majette campaign responded with a withering, point-by-point critique of all 30 Democrats: "former Democrats from the disco era, insiders, scandal-ridden politicians who haven't been heard from in decades, Bush supporters, and other assorted dinosaurs."
State Rep. Alan Powell of Hartwell was raked over for his participation in a 1995 lobbyist-paid excursion to Daufuskie Island, S.C., that included four strip-club dancers. State Rep. Mickey Channell of Greensboro was accused of casting a vote for the early release of convicted felons. State Rep. Jeanette Jamieson of Toccoa was jammed for allegedly failing to pay her taxes and for calling the state parole board on behalf of "three different child molesters."
An amazed Isakson noted that it was a rare case in which a campaign's opposition research team was turned on the campaign's own party. Powell doesn't have opposition in November, but Channell and Jamieson do -- and no doubt their Republican opponents will make good use of the Majette tirade.
The state Democratic chairman, Bobby Kahn, "spent much of Thursday fielding calls from angry lawmakers accusing Majette of trying to drag the Legislature down with her."
Don't Count Out the Tortoise
"Senate Majority Likely to Be Won by a Hair"--headline, FoxNews.com, Oct. 8
Pa, Brother Take My Ice Cream!
"Review: Ma, Fleming Open Carnegie Season"--headline, Associated Press, Oct. 8
Not Too Brite--CXLVIII
"Indian peasants burned alive a man accused of stealing a gas canister in the latest outbreak of mob justice in Peru's remote southern Andes," Reuters reports from Lima.
Oddly Enough!
(For an explanation of the "Not Too Brite" series, click here.)
Raising the Steaks
The Associated Press reports a Philadelphia restaurant has introduced a $100 cheesesteak sandwich:
Served with a small bottle of champagne, Barclay Prime's cheesesteak is made of sliced Kobe beef, melted Taleggio cheese, shaved truffles, sauteed foie gras, caramelized onions and heirloom shaved tomatoes on a homemade brioche roll brushed with truffle butter and squirted with homemade mustard.
The standard $4 cheesesteak, available at hundreds of sandwich shops, pizzerias and burger joints around the city, is made with thin-sliced ribeye on an Italian roll with American or provolone cheese--or Cheez Whiz at Pat's King of Steaks, the South Philadelphia landmark that claims to have invented the steak sandwich in 1930.
Finally, a cheesesteak John Kerry can appreciate! |
