Monthly Archives: July 2002

As usual, Rocket Man, you

As usual, Rocket Man, you are correct…that’s why I used the weasel-word “seems” in my note on the Hillary article…which itself, of course, was only interested in the Sturm und Drang provided by Hillary behind closed doors… »

I guess, Trunk, but it’s

I guess, Trunk, but it’s hard to tell from that article what Hillary’s point was. It isn’t clear whether she was arguing against the FEC regulations that Feingold is pushing for, or whether she was admitting that McCain/Feingold was itself a bad idea. Either point would be correct, but it’s more interesting if she was pointing out the perils of the statute itself. The Democrats pretended for years that they »

For the first time ever

For the first time ever that I can recall, Hillary Clinton appears to have said something I agree with…too bad it was not in public and is otherwise inconsistent with every other public utterance she has had on the subject. »

The Wall Street Journal is

The Wall Street Journal is one of the few organs of the print media that have noted the abysmal state of the State Department. National Review and its webzine have also published important stories on this subject. Today’s Journal devotes its lead editorial to the subject. As Matt Drudge would say, developing… »

This courtroom scene illustrates the

This courtroom scene illustrates the foolishness of applying the criminal laws to enemy combatants and the wisdom of the Administration’s provision for military tribunals (which, however, have not yet been conducted). It also raises obvious questions about our criminal justice system in general. The handling of Moussaoui’s case is more evidence that we still have not gotten serious about fighting terrorism. »

Here is a typical headline

Here is a typical headline introducing one of the strangest, and perhaps most revealing, post-September 11 stories: “Moussaoui tries to plead guilty”. The description of Moussaoui’s unsuccessful attempt to plead guilty is straight out of Alice in Wonderland: “‘I am a member of Al-Qaida….I pledge [allegiance] to Osama bin Laden,” Moussaoui said. Judge Brinkema responded by “threatening to have deputy marshals remove him so he would not incriminate himself.” She »

Stephen Schwartz is an outstanding

Stephen Schwartz is an outstanding journalist who seems to be something of a polymath. I know very little regarding his personal background. I think I first became aware of him when David Horowitz and Peter Collier published pieces of his in “Heterodoxy” while Schwartz was working at the San Francisco Chronicle. He is the author, among other books, of a history of California, with a special eye on its left-wing »

Edgar Poe was one of

Edgar Poe was one of the seminal figures of modern literature, and it seems that his influence continues to grow. He invented both the horror story and the detective story; it is truly ironic, given the untold wealth that has been mined out of these genres by his successors, that he was dogged by poverty all his life. In addition, he was a first-rate literary critic and the leading theorist »

Three current news stories appear

Three current news stories appear to reflect deep-seated problems in the federal bureaucracy. The first is State Department employees’ calling critics who argue that the Department has made it too easy to get visas “McCarthyites” and “neo-Nazis.” The second is the finding by Congressional investigators that the CIA has failed to change its guidelines prohibiting the use of persons who have criminal records or past human rights abuses as informants, »

Debka File says that the

Debka File says that the recent murders in Israel are being carried out by Hezbollah under the direction of Iran and the leadership of “super terrorist Imad Mughniyeh.” Debka File says “one of his main tasks is to fashion for Yasser Arafat a fresh terrorist apparatus for the West Bank, to replace the one that the IDF has demolished in its two large scale counter-terror offensives in the last three »

An unnamed State Department hand

An unnamed State Department hand in the American Embassy in Saudi Arabia has responded to the July 15 blog (referred to below) by Juan Non-Volokh of the Volokh Conspiracy. According to State Department hand quoted in Senor Non-Volokh’s July 16 blog, the press accounts on which Senor Non-Volokh had relied were “skewed,” although the hand failed to provide any details supporting this assertion. Senor Non-Volokh invites his unnamed State Department »

Alan Greenspan testified today that

Alan Greenspan testified today that reduced federal spending and lower taxes are critical to stimulating economic growth: “I think that we can curtail spending far more than we do. The best way in which the economy can function is to hold spending down and get as low a tax base as you can to enable the economy to expand as rapidly as you can.” Watch for the headline tomorrow in »

I’m not sure whether Professor

I’m not sure whether Professor Volokh’s brain is too full or not, but I think he’s kidding about the umlauts. I say this because 1) “motley crew” is an English phrase with a meaning that is reasonably appropriate for a metal band, but would mean nothing in German; 2) while I could pronounce “motley” with an umlaut, I don’t know how to say “crue” with an umlaut, and although I »

Bob Dylan’s seminal 1966 album

Bob Dylan’s seminal 1966 album “Highway 61 Revisited” has a song with a line in it that I’ve never been able to get out of my mind: “I need a dump truck, baby, to unload my head.” The line registered with me because I feel that way so much of the time. Our fellow Claremonter (that would be our fellow fellow) and fellow blogger Eugene Volokh, proprietor of the Volokh »

Debka File reports that a

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The Washington Post has

The Washington Post has a fascinating account of the activities of the September 11 plotters during the months leading up to the attacks. Among other things, the ease with which they traveled around the world is striking. We hear a lot about the difficulty an open society like the United States has in combatting terrorism, but the same can be said of most of the world. It is also interesting »

Rocket Man is by nature

Rocket Man is by nature an optimist with an indomitable spirit. It hurts to read his dispirited response to the utterly hysterical, gleeful, and phony Democratic assaults on President Bush in the context of the Wall Street meltdown and corporate scandals. I tend to think that Americans have taken their measure of President Bush following 9/11 and that it will take more than the current wave of attacks to alter »