Monthly Archives: October 2003

October 27, 2003 — Paul Mirengoff

“The event of the age”

Victor Davis Hanson sees Iraq as “the deciding issue of our time.” A free Iraq, he argues, “will place a terrible dilemma on the governments and elites of these closed Arab societies who must explain to their own poor and oppressed how satellite pictures of voting Iraqis, Internet cafes, and raucous debates on television are really fabricated images concocted by the American-Zionist international consortium. There is a time bomb ticking »
October 27, 2003 — John Hinderaker

GOP to Join Judicial Battle?

Robert Novak says that Republican Senators are finally, and apprently reluctantly, planning a strategy to counter the Democrats’ filibusters of President Bush’s judicial nominees. The three-part plan outlined by Novak, which he attributes to Majority Leader Bill Frist, doesn’t seem particularly aggressive to me. It begins by seeking cloture votes on a number of nominees. The important point, if I understand the procedure correctly, is that the Democrats be required »
October 27, 2003 — Scott Johnson

Teachers against schools

I can’t remember the last time I read something by Joe Klein that impressed me as being anything other than in the tank, but he tells a bona fide tale for our time in “How the unions killed a dream.” (Courtesy of RealClearPolitics.) DEACON adds: I know what you mean, Trunk. The last thing Joe Klein wrote that I recall agreeing with was Primary Colors. »
October 26, 2003 — Paul Mirengoff

Islam’s true roadmap

Before we close the books on Malaysian autocrat Mahathir’s anti-semitic speech to the Islamic Summit Conference, consider this piece by Caroline Glick of the Jerusalem Post. Glick argues that Mahathir’s comments represent mainstream Islamic thinking, and given the standing ovation he received, it’s difficult to disagree with this assessment. Indeed, Egypt’s foreign minister has called Mahathir’s statements a “very important roadmap” that he hopes Islamic countries will follow. Where does »
October 26, 2003 — Paul Mirengoff

Honor among thieves

The Jerusalem Post reports that a group of Palestinian legislators are demanding an investigation into the whereabouts of huge amounts of money belonging to the Palestinians. It seems finally to have dawned on some Palestinians that Yasser Arafat may be — how can I say this without offending the Saudis — less than entirely scrupulous when it comes to money. The Palestinian legislators believe that Arafat’s adviser on economic affairs, »
October 26, 2003 — Scott Johnson

An after-action report

The Jerusalem Post has an extremely interesting report on the Israeli strike on the terrorist training camp just north of Damascus three weeks ago: “Anatomy of an air force raid into Syria.” On a related note, the Telegraph reports the threats of Syria’s foreign minister in the event Israel disturbs those lovely terrorist training camps again: “Syria threatens to attack Golan settlers if Israel strikes again.” »
October 26, 2003 — Scott Johnson

Prelude to genocide

Daniel Pipes devotes his New York Post column to the frenzy of anti-Semitism that grips the Muslim world: “Deadly denial.” Pipes takes off from the comments of the moonbat prime minister of Malaysia Mahathir Mohamad. Pipes notes that the comments represent the ubiquitous sentiment of the Muslim world. He writes: “In its attitudes toward Jews, the Muslim world today resembles Germany of the 1930s – a time when state-sponsored insults, »
October 26, 2003 — Scott Johnson

Captain Ed’s review

Edward Morrissey of Eagan, Minnesota is the proprietor of the excellent blog Captain’s Quarters. Ed has a perceptive note on the discussion of the Minnesota racial profiling report that I participated in on “Face to Face” this morning. Click here for Ed’s take on the show. »
October 26, 2003 — John Hinderaker

“Onward, Christian Soldier!”

That’s the title of David Gelernter’s Weekly Standard piece on General William Boykin: “Some journalists are all in favor of General Boykin’s right to say and believe what he chooses–so long as Secretary Rumsfeld fires him. They are working under the theory that it is unacceptable for a DoD official to say that Christianity is true and that other religions are, therefore, false. The general also stands accused of calling »
October 26, 2003 — Scott Johnson

The imperative of staying on offense

Secretary Rumsfeld’s Washington Post column today on the war seems prescient in light of yesterday’s attack on Paul Wolfowitz’s hotel in Baghdad: “Take the fight to the terrorists.” The column begins with a consideration of the 1983 attack on the Marine barracks in Beirut: “The attack occurred when a truck loaded with explosives drove into the U.S. Marine barracks near the Beirut airport. The logical response was to put cement »
October 26, 2003 — John Hinderaker

Self-Delusion at the Times

James Traub, in this morning’s New York Times Magazine, takes up the question of why liberals are so full of hate for President Bush. His answer? Bush deserves it. Well, to be fair, Traub fingers a second villain: Newt Gingrich: “Our political culture has not been infected by some virus from outer space, or from TV. The carrier was Newt Gingrich. Now, I know perfectly well that Democrats like Teddy »
October 26, 2003 — Scott Johnson

Somebody say amen

The Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Jon Bream went to see Simon and Garfunkel in Auburn Hills, Michigan last week. His report is a good warm-up for their appearance tonight and tomorrow at St. Paul’s Xcel Center: “Is Simon & Garfunkel’s reunion about money or friendship?” Inspirational quote: “Wayne Chapman, 46, of Fort Wayne, Ind., said the concert was worth the money and the four-hour drive. ‘It was the thrill of my »
October 26, 2003 — John Hinderaker

More Information on al Qaeda’s Cyber Attacks

This article in yesterday’s Newsday has the latest on the denial of service attacks that temporarily shut down Power Line and many other sites last week: “Law enforcement officials are probing a ‘significant’ series of computer attacks launched in the last week, including one that took down some of the most popular web logs, or ‘blogs,’ on the Internet, an AT&T spokesman said yesterday. “…sites were taken out when unknown »
October 25, 2003 — Paul Mirengoff

Galloway expelled

The Guardian reports that the British Labour party has expelled the notorious George Galloway after finding him guilty of four charges of bringing the party into disrepute. Among the charges are encouraging Arabs to fight British soldiers in Iraq and urging British troops not to obey “illegal orders” after stating that the war in Iraq is illegal. None of the charges relates to a story that Galloway received large payments »
October 25, 2003 — John Hinderaker

Anti-War Protests Fizzle

There were pathetically small “anti-war” protests on both coasts today, with the least tiny one in Washington. The AP reports: “Organizers estimated that 100,000 people turned out for the [Washington] demonstration, but police at the scene put the number much lower, from 10,000 to 20,000. Police no longer issue official crowd estimates, so the size of the protest could not be verified. “Waving signs reading ‘Make Jobs Not War’ and »
October 25, 2003 — Scott Johnson

Face to face with Myron Orfield

Tomorrow I will appear on the Twin Cities public television program “Face to Face,” a local version of CNN’s “Crossfire.” The show was taped Thursday to air on channel 2 tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. The subject was the recent racial profiling report on Minnesota law enforcement about which we previously wrote in “Myths of racial profiling.” I appear on the show with Democratic former state senator Myron Orfield, now a »
October 25, 2003 — Scott Johnson

Face to face with Lynne Stewart

The national convention of the National Lawyers Guild took place starting Wednesday October 22 in Minneapolis. It concluded on October 26. On Thursday Minneapolis Star Tribune columnist Doug Grow noted the event in a column on Guild star Lynne Stewart: “Singing tunes a little to the left” (now inaccessible online). Stewart is the attorney for “the blind sheik,” Omar Abdul Rahman. Rahman was the spiritual leader of a cell that »