Monthly Archives: April 2004

Home At Last

I’m home again from a three-week trial; we closed this afternoon and my jury is now out. I’ve been pretty much out of touch, but will spend tomorrow morning scanning the news of the last week in preparation for tomorrow afternoon’s Northern Alliance radio show. It will be good to be back blogging again, but perhaps not for long, as I have to leave for Japan on business a week »

Q. E. D.

We posted a week or two ago on the arrest of al Qaeda plotters in Jordan, armed with chemical weapons which they obtained in Syria; one obvious question is whether the weapons originated in Iraq. Here is the latest on what should be a really big story, unless there is an unpopular vote on American Idol tonight: Under the direction of Abu Musab al Zarqawi — a terrorist chemical-weapons expert »

Gerald Amirault Comes Home

After 18 years in prison in Massachusetts for allegedly raping eight small children while dressed as a clown, Gerald Amirault was released from prison today. The photo below shows him with his wife, right, and daughter, left. Amirault and his family were swept up in the child care sex abuse madness of the 80’s and early 90’s. They were convicted on what appears to be the flimsiest and least reliable »

Kerry’s character

Reader, friend and all-around good-guy Gerry Nolting calls this one “a classic,” brought to you by our friends at the Claremont Institute: “Kerry’s character.” »

From inside the walls

Professor Jon Lauck prefaces his exhaustive update on the Daschle v. Thune Senate race with a quotation from T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land”: “April is the cruellest month.” »

Laughter is the best medicine

Reader Scott Lord has forwarded the item below. »

A mind that changes

Faithful Power Line readers know that we are huge fans of Allen Drury and of Advise and Consent. Some time back we wrote about our admiration for the book (click here and here) and elicited a message from Drury’s nephew, Professor Kenneth Killiany of Catholic University (click here). Professor Killiany is working on a biography of Drury as well as commenting on events for his blog A Mind that Suits. »

Under McDermott

Yesterday we missed the excellent NRO commentary by Victor Philip Munoz on James McDermott’s antics leading the pledge of allegiance in the House of Representatives. The American Enterprise Institute has posted the commentary under the appropriate heading “Under McDermott.” »

Talking back to Brandini

Charles Krauthammer concurs with Brandini that there is a poison at work in the Middle East, but finds that Brandini himself is helping to merchandise it: “The real Mideast ‘poison.'” Clifford May’s column is the perfect complement to Krauthammer’s: “Viva Palestine? With friends like these…” »

Mister Kerrey Regrets

One of the highlights of her Cole Porter Songbook is the supreme rendition by Ella Fitzgerald of “Miss Otis Regrets,” extending a classic apology for an unanticipated scheduling conflict: Miss Otis regrets she’s unable to lunch today, Madam, Miss Otis regrets she’s unable to lunch today. She is sorry to be delayed, But last evening down in Lover’s Lane she strayed. Madam, Miss Otis regrets she’s unable to lunch today. »

Condemning Old Europe’s consensus

David Kaspar’s Davids Medienkritik has posted a must-read piece by Mathias Doepfner, the chief executive of German publisher Axel Springer AG: »

Sophomore

Michelle Malkin has a devastating piece for National Review Online about the most disappointing member of the 9/11 commission, former Senator Bob Kerrey. Kerrey’s conduct during the hearings has been bad enough. However, it is his television appearances, especially his most recent one with Jon Stewart, that have truly earned him the title “Commissioner Buffoon.” When Kerrey was in the Senate, he seemed like a guy who had his moments, »

Echoes and connections

Reader Patricia Ducey forwards us a link to the statement released by the Student Movement Coordination Committee for Democracy in Iran: “Kerry’s main Iranian fund raiser sues the Movement.” Patricia notes: “The connections among Kerry, the mullahs, and money gets even murkier.” »

Laurie Mylroie’s Iraq News…

is a free email service that has provided Power Line some its greatest hits. Sometimes Laurie simply distributes articles of interest on key points related to the subject of Iraq; sometimes she adds her own analysis. It is always of interest. We have received several inquiries from readers about subscriptions to Laurie’s email service. Laurie writes: “It would be great if you could let your Power Line readers know how »

The civil war exit strategy

George Will offers a plausible, if far less than ideal, exit strategy for Iraq: crush the Sunni resistance; hold elections that will bring the majority faction (the Shiites) to power, thereby giving them an incentive to continue to crush the Sunni resistance; and don’t worry too much about whether the final product is a “luminously liberal democracy.” Will acknowledges that this strategy could lead to civil war. But he argues »

Flack’s tour of duty

Alex Beam of the Boston Globe has an interesting column on the role being played by historian Douglas Brinkley as a chronicler of Johh Kerry’s military service: “Historian’s ‘Duty’: PR for Kerry?” We previously noted Chris Suellentrop’s take on Brinkley’s book in “Tour of Duty Condensed” and made a related point in “A Manchurian candidate?” Yesteday Salon published a column partly adapted by Brinkley from his book on Kerry: “Why »

Singer of the century

Thomas Sowell takes time out from his usual beat to pay tribute to Bing Crosby on the occasion of his hundredth birthday on May 2 in his column today: “Bing Crosby: Singer of the century.” Confirming a point made in this column concerning Crosby’s eclecticism, I was surprised to hear Crosby taking a couple turns with blues/jazz singer Louis Jordan (on “My Baby Said ‘Yes'” and “Your Socks Don’t Match”) »