Best of the Web Today
by JAMES TARANTO
Tuesday, May 1, 2007 3:32 p.m. EDT
Who Is Jeremiah Wright?
He is pastor of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ and the man who led Barack Obama "from skeptic to self-described Christian," reports the New York Times. And he has some ideas and history many Americans will find troubling:
In 1984, he traveled to Cuba to teach Christians about the value of nonviolent protest and to Libya to visit Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, along with the Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. Mr. Wright said his visits implied no endorsement of their views. . . .
Mr. Wright preached black liberation theology, which interprets the Bible as the story of the struggles of black people, who by virtue of their oppression are better able to understand Scripture than those who have suffered less. That message can sound different to white audiences, said Dwight Hopkins, a professor at University of Chicago Divinity School and a Trinity member. "Some white people hear it as racism in reverse," Dr. Hopkins said, while blacks hear, "Yes, we are somebody, we're also made in God's image."
It was a 1988 sermon called "The Audacity to Hope" that turned Mr. Obama, in his late 20s, from spiritual outsider to enthusiastic churchgoer. . . .
While Mr. Obama stated his opposition to the Iraq war in conventional terms, Mr. Wright issued a "War on Iraq I.Q. Test," with questions like, "Which country do you think poses the greatest threat to global peace: Iraq or the U.S.?" . . .
Mr. Wright's political statements may be more controversial than his theological ones. He has said that Zionism has an element of "white racism." (For its part, the Anti-Defamation League says it has no evidence of any anti-Semitism by Mr. Wright.)
On the Sunday after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Mr. Wright said the attacks were a consequence of violent American policies. Four years later he wrote that the attacks had proved that "people of color had not gone away, faded into the woodwork or just 'disappeared' as the Great White West went on its merry way of ignoring Black concerns."
Obama doesn't agree entirely with these sentiments; he says, "The violence of 9/11 was inexcusable and without justification," and explains away his mentor's comments to the contrary as "trying to be provocative."
The piece ends with this revealing quote:
"If Barack gets past the primary, he might have to publicly distance himself from me," Mr. Wright said with a shrug. "I said it to Barack personally, and he said yeah, that might have to happen."
So you see, the real danger here isn't racist or anti-American views. It's cynicism.
Rip Van Wilcher
Here's an odd story from the Associated Press:
Something in the crowd made Shirley Wilcher wonder. As a college graduate in the early 1970s, her black classmates were like herself--born in the United States, to American parents. But at an alumni reunion at Mount Holyoke College last year, she saw something different and asked for admissions data to prove it.
"My suspicions were confirmed," said Wilcher, now the executive director of the American Association for Affirmative Action. She found a rise in the number of black students from Africa and the Caribbean, and a downturn in admissions of native blacks like her.
A study released this year put numbers on the trend. Among students at 28 top U.S. universities, the representation of black students of first- and second-generation immigrant origin (27 percent) was about twice their representation in the national population of blacks their age (13 percent). Within the Ivy League, immigrant-origin students made up 41 percent of black freshmen.
Wilcher would like to know why. She asks if her cause has lost its way on U.S. campuses, with the goal of correcting American racial injustices replaced by a softer ideal of diversity--as if any black student will do.
Where has Wilcher been for the past 30 years? Under U.S. Supreme Court precedent going back to 1978, diversity is the only rationale under which racial preferences in public institutions of higher education is constitutionally permissible.
What Was He Doing There?
Iraqi officials say the leader of the group Democrats call AQWHNTDWIIIWHNTDWAQ* is believed to have been "killed in a battle between insurgents north of Baghdad":
The United States ambassador to Iraq and the U.S. military said they could not confirm Abu Ayyub al-Masri had been killed.
Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani said "primary information" showed Masri was dead, telling a news conference that details would soon be released to the media.
"Some good news was received about the killing of Abu Ayyub al-Masri. . . . The reliability of this information is high," Bolani said alongside Defense Minister General Abdel Qader Jassim, who also said Masri was believed killed.
Does this mean Iraq does have something to do with the war against terrorists?
* Al Qaeda Which Has Nothing to Do With Iraq in Iraq Which Has Nothing to Do With al Qaeda.
Bush League No More?
"Republican presidential candidate John McCain envisions a 'League of Democracies' as part of a more cooperative foreign policy with U.S. allies," the Associated Press reports:
McCain is careful to note that his proposed multinational organization would not be like Woodrow Wilson's failed "League of Nations." Rather, McCain says the organization would be far more similar to what Theodore Roosevelt favored--a group of "like-minded nations working together in the cause of peace."
"It could act where the U.N. fails to act," McCain says.
Seems to us we already have something like this, and it's called NATO. Granted, it has acted where the U.N. failed, in the case of the Balkans. But in Iraq it proved as useless as the U.N.
The Glib Reaper
From Tim Russert's interview with Sen. Joe Biden on Sunday's "Meet the Press":
Russert: Let me ask you about something you said at Al Sharpton's National Action Network on April 19. Here it is, and let's come back and talk about it.
Biden: To paraphrase a line from the Bible, you reap what you sow. And ladies and gentlemen, we are reaping what we have sown, the seeds of destruction and the seeds of malcontention that we've sown. I would argue, since 1994 with the Gingrich revolution, ladies and gentlemen, just take a look at Iraq, Venezuela, Katrina, what's gone down in Virginia Tech, Darfur, Imus. Take a look. This didn't happen accidentally, all of these things. Since 1994, from the Gingrich revolution to Karl Rove and President Bush, we have wallowed, wallowed in the politics of polarization.
Russert: Explain that logic. How does Virginia Tech or Don Imus, relate to the Gingrich revolution or Karl Rove or George Bush?
Biden: Well, by the way, they're, they're, they're not directly responsible for any of those things, but the atmosphere--look, think of it this way, how many shock jocks did we have in 1970s and the 1980s? What happened when we concluded that when Newt Gingrich said the way to win the House is to burn the House down? When all of the sudden we went from--I served, for example, I got here and a lot of old segregationists were still here. Yet, we did not engage in arguments about motive, we engaged in arguments about policy. And all of a sudden, in the, in the mid '90s, it became "If you're not with us, you're not a good Christian. If you're not with us, you're not moral. If you share a view, you are unpatriotic." The whole nature of the debate changed.
"All of a sudden . . . in the mid '90s"? You could get into a chicken-and-egg debate over which party got nasty first, but let's cite at least one example that predates the 1990s, a quote from a Biden colleague:
"Robert Bork's America is a land in which women would be forced into back alley abortions, blacks would sit in segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens' doors in midnight raids, schoolchildren could not be taught about evolution, writers and artists could be censored at the whim of government, and the doors of the federal courts would be shut on the fingers of million of citizens."--Ted Kennedy, July 1, 1987
Biden never said anything quite so vicious about Bork, but he did preside over the Judiciary Committee and was at least a willing participant in the Kennedy-led smear campaign that kept Bork off the court.
What Would We Do Without Experts?
"Some Nations Tried Gun Control After Killings: Lesson for U.S.? Experts say it depends"--headline and subheadline, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, April 26
The Taming of the Shrew
"Scientists are developing a pill which could boost women's libido and reduce their appetite. The hormone-releasing pill has so far only been given to female monkeys and shrews who displayed more mating behaviour and ate less."--BBC, April 30
Breaking News From 1865
"Arrest Made in Connection With Lincoln Slaying"--headline, KETV Web site (Omaha, Neb.), May 1
It's the Lack of Sugar
"Secret to Bad-Tasting Diet Soda Found"--headline, LiveScience.com, April 30
He Thought He Was Going to Tokyo
"Blind Pilot Flies From London to Sydney"--headline, Associated Press, April 30
Well, It Is More of a Visual Medium
"Strip Club Hearing Largely Ignored"--headline, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, April 30
At Least We Know You Can't Get Blood From a Stone
"Woman Not Sure Rock Fathered Her Son"--headline, Associated Press, May 1
'Dude, I'm Gonna Be on TV!'
"Joint Maker to Star on Discovery Channel"--headline, Indianapolis Star, May 1
News You Can Use
* "Doctors: Pot Triggers Psychotic Symptoms"--headline, Associated Press, April 30
* "Bruce Willis: It's Weird to Be Famous"--headline, Associated Press, April 30
* "Duck Penises Show 'Arms Race' Between Sexes: Study"--headline, Reuters, May 1
Bottom Stories of the Day
* "Gore Calls Canada Climate Plan a 'Fraud' "--headline, Associated Press, April 29
* "Nader Attacks Big Business"--headline, Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City), April 28
* "Mormon Prom a Modest Good Time: Skimpy evening gowns, dirty dancing not fashionable for this teen celebration"--headline, Chicago Tribune, April 30
* "No Castro Appearance at May Day Parade"--headline, Associated Press, May 1
* "Female Locks Self in Bathroom Stall"--headline, Dayton Daily News, May 1
* "Ex-Teamster Official Faces Prison, Fine"--headline, New York Sun, May 1
No Blood for Mickey!
Yesterday we raised the question: Why the hell would Disney want to go to war in Iraq? We thought the question was rhetorical, but Sean Magee, a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve, has an answer:
While flying from Baghdad to Tikrit for an oil pipeline security meeting in early 2005, the conversation over the headsets turned to what could be done with all the miles and miles of vast wasteland in even that, the generally fertile part of Iraq. One pilot wondered aloud about casinos, to which I opined golf courses. As much room as you could ever imagine for golf courses.
But when you brought up the Disney-ABC news conspiracy it finally made sense. A new world-class cartoon based theme park! We already have them in other conquered countries, France and Japan. Yes I know France was "Liberated" but isn't that also what we like to say about Iraq?
Yes, now it all makes sense. "Magic Kingdom Mesopotamia"--that's been the plan all along.
Meanwhile, the Star-News of Wilmington, N.C., reports that "a 17-year-old Swansboro High School student was in jail Friday on $1 million bond after being charged with having a weapon of mass destruction--an assault rifle--on the school's campus."
If an "assault rifle" is a weapon of mass destruction, it seems likely that Saddam Hussein had them.
(Carol Muller helps compile Best of the Web Today. Thanks to Ed Lasky, Danny Tesvich, Don Hubschmann, Michael Segal, Mark Van Der Molen, Ron Ackert, Jim Orheim, Jake Oakman, Christian Peck, Alan Ridgeway, John Williamson, Kenneth Vincent, Anne McCaughey, Mark Johnston, Bruce Goldman, Andrew Robinson, Doug Black, Graham Storey, Jay Povlin, Alan Utter, Dan Calabrese, John Forsberg, Alex Miller, Daniel Hoopman, William Gallagher, Marion Dreyfus, R.J. Sorce, John Mozena, Mingwei Guan, Brooke Ruzek, Dan Kelly, Jerry Rhoden, Ethel Fenig, Samuel Boyce, John Nernoff, Tucker Goodrich, David Schmidt, Philip Zukowski, Brian Rom and Yehuda Hilewitz. If you have a tip, write us at opinionjournal@wsj.com, and please include the URL.)
Today on OpinionJournal:
* Joel Mowbray: U.S. taxpayers subsidize terrorist propaganda and Holocaust denial in the Arab world.
* Bret Stephens: How ethical are Paul Wolfowitz's detractors?
* Christopher Orlet (from The American Spectator): A sectarian split among atheists. |
