Monthly Archives: June 2004

June 22, 2004 — John Hinderaker

Good News, Part 4

The indispensable Arthur Chrenkoff weighs in with his fourth edition of Good News From Iraq. Here are just a few paragraphs, a tiny percentage of the whole: IRAQI SOCIETY: The preparations for the democratic transition are on the way: Iraqi officials organizing elections as the U.S.-led occupation hands over power have turned to Mexico, a country with its own history of cleaning up a bad electoral system. Authorities from Mexico »
June 22, 2004 — John Hinderaker

Coming Soon to Theaters Near You

This morning I agreed to appear in a documentary about blogging. The filmmaker happens to live in the Twin Cities, and apparently he just figured out that this is a hotbed of conservative bloggers. Until now, he has interviewed only lefties, and he told me that he is a lefty himself. I was undeterred, of course. Truth be told, I, like Deacon and the Trunk, was also once a lefty, »
June 22, 2004 — Paul Mirengoff

The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat

Have you ever seen an athlete score a game-winning goal (or run, or touchdown, or basket) and then break down in tears of anguish? It happened today in a soccer match between Italy and Bulgaria at the European Championship tournament. Italy’s Antonio Cassano scored the winning goal in the dying moments of the match. He then ran to sideline in ecstasy only to learn that, minutes earlier, Sweden had tied »
June 22, 2004 — John Hinderaker

If the Ears Fit…

…wear them. Here is Senator Carl Levin, wearing a pair of Mickey Mouse ears. It’s the result, apparently, of Levin’s bet with California’s Democratic Senators on the NBA finals. But wait…Levin’s team, the Pistons, won. I hate to think what he would have done if he lost. The mouse ears are sadly appropriate for Sen. Levin. »
June 22, 2004 — John Hinderaker

KIM SUN-IL, R.I.P.

What is there to say? Kill the bastards. Here’s a start. South Korea’s President said more, actually; he apologized to his country: “I am very sorry and deeply regretful that this tragedy happened, although all the people and the government wished and prayed for the safe return of Mr. Kim Sun-il,” Roh said in a brief speech carried live on television. The president also condemned terrorism as a “crime against »
June 22, 2004 — John Hinderaker

The AP Spins Out of Control

Today the administration declassified, and made available to reporters, a number of documents intended to show that President Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld did not authorize torturing al Qaeda prisoners. The Associated Press, perhaps the number one source of media bias, reports on the documents, in an article titled “Bush Claimed Right to Waive Torture Laws.” The AP article begins: President Bush claimed the right to waive anti-torture »
June 22, 2004 — Paul Mirengoff

Regarding the Washington Post poll

mentioned by Rocket Man, Joshua Sharf says that, on the headline question of who is trusted more in the war on terrorism, the Post weighs Democrats 9 points more heavily than Republicans, 38-29. Joshua’s other observations on the poll are worth reading too. »
June 22, 2004 — John Hinderaker

Administration Discounts Shakir Link

An unidentified administration official has expressed skepticism over reports that a Lt. Col. in the Saddam Fedayeen, Hikmat Shakir, attended the key September 11 planning meeting in Malaysia. The spokesman says that there may be a confusion between two similar, but not identical names. It is reported further that: [T]he CIA and U.S. Army obtained the lists of members of the Fedayeen shortly after the invasion of Iraq last year. »
June 22, 2004 — John Hinderaker

So Much for the Reagan Bounce

John Kerry has now led President Bush by three points for the past two days in the Rasmussen Tracking Poll. I don’t attach any particular significance to this, other than to conclude that whatever benefit Bush may have received from the funeral of President Reagan has dissipated. It’s intersting, though, how any poll that reflects badly on Bush instantly becomes front-page news. Like the ridiculous L.A. Times poll of a »
June 22, 2004 — Scott Johnson

A jeremiad against Michael Moore

Christopher Hitchens has not only sat through Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11,” he has patiently dissected its incoherence and dishonesty: “Unfahrenheit 9/11.” He arrives at the following judgment and substantiates it in detail: To describe this film as dishonest and demagogic would almost be to promote those terms to the level of respectability. To describe this film as a piece of crap would be to run the risk of a discourse »
June 21, 2004 — Paul Mirengoff

Ben-Veniste understands

Earlier today we posted this story from the Washington Times reporting on 9/11 commission member John Lehman’s statement that “there is at least one officer of Saddam’s Fedayeen, a lieutenant colonel, who was a very prominent member of al Qaeda.” The Times also reports that Richard Ben-Veniste, the Democrats’ pit-bull on the commission, says he hopes the panel will get intelligence “with respect to the individual that John Lehman has »
June 21, 2004 — Paul Mirengoff

Injudicious

The New York Sun reports that federal judge Guido Calabresi told a conference of lawyers that President Bush »
June 21, 2004 — John Hinderaker

Summer’s Here

Even in the Upper Midwest, sort of. So I switched the Power Line Store photo from a sweatshirt to a tee-shirt. For a better photo of a Power Line tee-shirt, actually in use, see the picture below. It seems like they’re popping up everywhere! Shop the Power Line store for caps, bumper stickers, coffee mugs, shirts and boxer shorts. (I don’t think anyone has actually bought any boxer shorts yet, »
June 21, 2004 — Scott Johnson

UNreconstructed

Today the United Nations convened a conference on “Confronting Anti-Semitism: Education for Tolerance and Understanding,” sponsored by the UN Department of Information. The conference was the subject of Melissa Radler’s Jerusalem Post article: “UN to hold first-ever conference on anti-Semitism.” From the Jerusalem Post article we learn today’s conference is scheduled to be the first of a series of “unlearning intolerance” conferences, that the next “unlearning intolerance conference” would apparently »
June 21, 2004 — Paul Mirengoff

The 60 million pound boy

England have reached the quarter-finals of the European soccer championships by defeating Croatia 4-2. 18 year-old Everton star Wayne Rooney scored two goals and assisted on a third with a brilliant headed pass. Rooney was a good bet to be snatched away from Everton even before the tournament started. Now his departure seems almost certain, the only question being how much Everton will get for him. Before this match the »
June 21, 2004 — Paul Mirengoff

The establishment strikes back

Last month, I was fortunate enough to hear Clifford May, president of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, speak to a haddasah chapter in Northern Virginia. Haddasah is a woman’s zionist and charitable organization. May devoted a Sunday afternoon to speak without compensation at a fundraising luncheon. His speech confirmed what his writing demonstrates — that his is an indispensable voice in the war on terrorism. For further confirmation, »
June 21, 2004 — John Hinderaker

The Strib Reads Power Line

On Friday, we pointed out that an upcoming “Cabaret for Kerry” fundraiser categorized its ticket prices as follows: TROUBLED: $50+ ANGRY: $100+ LIVID: $200+ FURIOUS: $400+ MAD AS HELL: $500+ BALLISTIC: $1000+ We concluded: Democrats seem to think it is a good idea to present themselves to the public as the party that has gone nuts…But I seriously doubt that a party that defines itself by hate and anger can »