Monthly Archives: April 2004

Get me rewrite!

A reader writes us as follows: The linked screenshots show significant editing of the DBunker post on Kerry »

Flip-flop, incoming!

Mickey Kaus detects a Kerry flip-flop incoming on the PATRIOT Act in his 3:05 a.m. post this morning: “Today’s Kerry ‘Uh-Oh’ moment.” Mr. Kaus’s Kerry flip-flop detector is marvelously alert at all hours, as it must be. (Courtesy of Instapundit.) »

Saluting Whiskey

Captain Wendy “Whiskey” Whitt advises us that she has her fine site JAG Wire back up and running after taking the weekend off. She has a number of interesting items, including one on the debut of the new Air Force uniform, of which she’s not a fan. »

I am “The times they are a-changin'”

In this link, Professor Norman Geras of Normblog has steered us to the poll asking: “Which Bob Dylan song are you?” The poll is created by Technochick, who suggests that she is “My Back Pages.” By the clues on her link, she’s a Commie who thinks she’s smarter now than in her pre-Commie days. As Norm implies, and as might be inferred from her apparent politics, the poll is stronger »

Jihad calling

In an article with the joint byline of Patrick Tyler and Don Van Natta, Jr. the New York Times brings today’s bad news, but attention must be paid. The religion of peace is flaunting its calls for war on its host countries in Europe: “Militants in Europe openly call for jihad and the rule of Islam in Europe.” Tyler and Van Natta write: The call to jihad is rising in »

Today’s good news

In this morning’s Washington Times Donald Lambro has an interesting review of the lay of the land at present in the battleground states: “Battleground states in play for Bush camp.” Minnesota is notable for its absence in the article. »

Not your average finance minister

French finance minister Nicolas Sarkozy was in Washington last week. Until recently, Sarkozy was the minister of interior. In that post, he gained a significant following as a result of his dynamic and forceful anti-terrorism policies. In addition, Sarkozy, who has Jewish origins, attempted to step up the battle against anti-semitism in France. Sarkozy’s high profile made him a rival to both Jacques Chirac and his pet minister and protege, »

The EU gives democracy a bad name

This piece by Anders Aslund in the Washington Post provides an interesting twist to one of my pet topics — the decline of Europe. The EU is set to admit 10 new members, most of them former communist countries. This year the 15 preexisting EU members are expected to post an economic growth rate of less than 2 percent, compared to 4.5 percent for the U.S. And the new EU »

“Flabergasted”: A note on WSC

A British reader who describes himself as “Flabergasted” [sic] writes: I must confess that this is the first time a website has created a negative impression and feel compelled to e-mail you. I am sure that you are all wonderful people, but as an Englishman I find your quote by the great Sir Winston Churchill to be deeply offensive and incorrect. Your quote by him is right under a comment »

What the world needs now…

is Jackie DeShannon. She is of course the heartthrob who brought the quintessential Hal David-Burt Bacharach composition “What the World Needs Now” to unforgettable life in 1965. Listening to the song on the radio this morning, it struck me, as always, as deeply moving, ever timely. What had not previoulsy struck me was how the song follows the form of a prayer or a sermon, a little in the style »

A Man of (one) principle

Vincent Carroll, editor of the editorial page of the Rocky Mountain News, wonders why John Kerry was unable to repudiate his 1971 statements about alleged American atrocities in Vietnam when given the opportunity to do so on Meet the Press. Why, Carroll asks, “would [Kerry] want to maintain a thesis that slanders tens of thousands of potential voters who served in Vietnam,” especially when the thesis has largely been discredited? »

The Sickness That Has Destroyed the Left

If you want to see just how depraved the American Left has become, check out the comments on this IndyMedia story: “Dumb Jock Killed In Afghanistan.” »

Hamilton’s honor

Ron Chernow has a background in business journalism, but left journalism to write biography full time. I met him when he came through Minneapolis to promote his biography of John D. Rockefeller, Titan. In that book it seemed to me that Chernow wedded the skills of a journalist, a historian and a born storyteller to bring a wooden legend to life. Among other striking facts, Chernow demonstrated Rockefeller’s genius for »

Brandini!!!

Who is the man John Kerry occasionally refers to as Brandini? The man whose assistance the United States has enlisted to escape from our Iraqi handcuffs? David Warren provides a sobering answer in his current essay. (Courtesy of Alan Macomber’s site Blogosapien.) Mark Steyn’s Telegraph column is appropraite supplementary reading: “The last thing Iraq needs is the cheats of the UN.” »

Self-Parody at the Times

You couldn’t make this stuff up. The New York Times’ “ethicist” answers a question that, I suspect, has never occurred to most of our readers: My partner and I have discussed marriage — one of us wants to marry; the other has issues with the institution, specifically the fight over homosexual marriage (we are heterosexual). We believe that gays and lesbians should have the same rights as heterosexuals. Why should »

A Multi-Sport Geek

Last month, during John Kerry’s snowboarding vacation, we noted his most characteristic fashion statement: the flower power zipper pull. It wasn’t just the zipper pull, however; the geekiness of the entire look was striking. Today Kerry went biking in Cambridge, where he again cut quite a figure: Note the extent of Kerry’s color coordination, extraordinary for a guy: yellow and orange bike; yellow and orange helmet; yellow and orange tee-shirt »

With the masses

It’s a beautiful day here in Washington, so I took a stroll at lunchtime. At Connecticut Avenue and M Street, I found myself in the middle of several hundred noisy, mostly unattractive people who were marching in protest. The protest was an eclectic event. Here are some of the things the protesters were against, in order of seeming importance: the IMF, Halliburton, Bechtel, capitalism, putting dams on rivers, the war »