Monthly Archives: February 2003

“Pop” foreign policy commentary

My daughter Laura, a freshman at William & Mary, pointed me to this attack on President Bush’s foreign policy by »

Celiberals

Reader C.S. has written to advise us of a timely new Web site: Celiberals. He says that we all know “celiberals have become the voice and face of the Democratic Party.” He quotes the following introductory message from Celiberals: “I know what you’re thinking, ‘This is just another right-wing, conservative, liberal-bashing website.’ Technically yes, there is serious liberal-bashing going on here. But we don’t actually do the bashing; we let »

Wanted: Human shields for Israel

Reader James Smith of the Institute for Scientific Research in Fairmont, West Virginia writes us as follows: “Human Shields for Israel! How about it? What, no takers? I have been hearing and reading one media account after the other regarding the many people who are offering themselves as ‘human shields’ to protect the regime of Saddam, the madman. I have yet to hear or read about the first plane load »

Imminent terrorist attack?

The invaluable Middle East Media Research Institute has posted a special warning of a possibly imminent terrorist attack in the United States: “Islamist Website: An Imminent Terrorist Attack (Possibly by Al-Qa’ida) Within ‘About Ten Days’ (Apparently in the U.S.).” National Review Online has a good set of columns on President Bush’s speech at the American Enterprise Instititute last night. David Frum views the speech as historic in nature, but the »

Against rats, for squirrels

William Safire has an affecting remembrance of his old Nixon administration colleague Ron Ziegler, who died last week: “Of rats and squirrels.” »

Liberate Iraq

Some weeks ago, we posted on the former military officer in Minnesota who is distributing “Liberate Iraq” lawn signs. Since then, his effort has expanded, and his group has distributed 5,000 lawn signs in the last two weeks. They have set up a regular schedule for distribution at various points in the Twin Cities. Great work, and I hope similar efforts are being made around the country. »

Just When You Think the Absurdity Has Peaked…

…former rock star George Michael (of “Wham!” fame) is “begging pop stars to abandon plans for an anti-war charity record because he says they do not know enough about politics.” Michael says current pop celebrities like Kylie Minogue, Justin Timberlake and Pink just don’t measure up to the days when he and other pop musicians performed “Do They Know It’s Christmas” in 1984. Not to mention, of course, the protest »

Human Shields in Danger

Here are a group of “human shields” standing next to their “London to Baghdad” bus. We have followed their journey, but this is the first photo I’ve seen of them. I didn’t realize they had t-shirts. Maybe when their “Human Shield” t-shirts go in the wash, they can get some of those “Saddam Hussein–We Support of You” t-shirts from the Indonesian vendor in yesterday’s post. General Tommy Franks said that »

Pawlenty Rides High

We have several times expressed our admiration for Minnesota’s new Governor, Tim Pawlenty. Like most states, Minnesota is facing a substantial budget shortfall. Pawlenty was the only one of four candidates for Governor who pledged to solve the state’s budget problems without raising taxes. Since taking office he has held firm to that pledge, and survey data indicate he has the support of a clear majority of Minnesotans. Today’s Minneapolis »

20,000 voltz of reason

Dr. Jal Hampson is the proprietor of an excellent Web log he calls the Idiotarian, inspired by Charles Johnson’s outstanding Little Green Footballs. He has a particularly nice page of links with capsule descriptions of the links, on which he includes Power Line with the tag “20,000 voltz of reason.” We are grateful for the compliment and think his Idiotarian links page is worth a look in addition to his »

President Bush on the Future of the Middle East

I haven’t yet seen the complete text of President Bush’s speech on Iraq, but here are excerpts released by the White House. We have been saying for some time that the Administration must pursue, and is pursuing, a bold vision: the liberation of the Arab world. Nothing less is required, in my view, to assure a reasonable level of security against terrorism. President Bush’s speech today made that case in »

War Support Unchanged

The latest ABC-Washington Post poll shows that support for disarming Iraq by force is holding steady, despite the recent torrent of antiwar publicity. The poll is based on sampling done from Feb. 19-23. »

Bake Sales Oppose Affirmative Action

At several universities, anti-race discrimination students have dramatized the injustice of affirmative action by holding bake sales where the price of the baked goods depends on the ethnic background and gender of the buyer. The photo below shows such a bake sale in progress at the University of California. Three students are reacting to the prices; as Asians, they would be required to pay a premium. »

Today is the 10th Anniversary…

…of the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993, which killed six and injured more than one thousand. Arab terrorists tried, but failed, to bring down the entire complex with a truck bomb. Eight years later they succeeded, using airplanes. The first World Trade Center attack was treated as a relatively routine criminal matter by the Clinton Administration; some of the perpetrators were caught and convicted, and nothing further was »

Kucinich Kisses the Ring

Dennis Kucinich, recently announced long-shot Democratic candidate for President, has been a consistent anti-abortion voter throughout his career in the House. Today, however, Kucinich announced that “his thinking has evolved and he firmly supports a woman’s right to choose.” »

Yankees, come here

The Washington Post’s Anne Applebaum has a day-brightener of a column on the locales where America is popular and supported: “Yankees, come here.” »

Taking Davy Crockett down

In 1956 my parents bought me a Davy Crockett costume complete with powder horn and coonskin cap. I idolized the character Fess Parker brought to life in the thrilling movies Disney made in 1955 and 1956. It hurts like hell to read Hugh Hewitt’s WorldNetDaily column about what Disney is doing to Davy in its remake of the wonderful “Davy Crockett” movies and television episodes: “Disney remembers a different Alamo.” »