Monthly Archives: December 2004

Duke University hosts pro-terror organization’s conference

The January issue of Commentary is out, and it contains a disturbing piece by two Duke University graduate students, Eric Adler and Jack Langer called “The Intifada Comes to Duke.” The authors are referring to Duke’s recent hosting of the annual conference of the Palestine Solidarity Movement (PSM). One of PSM’s stated principles is that it refuses to denounce any terrorist act committed by Palestinians. But that doesn’t mean PSM »

Troops Support War

Check out this Military Times poll: Among active duty military, 63% approve of President Bush’s handling of the war in Iraq. Two-thirds of combat vets think the war is worth fighting. A whopping 87% are satisfied with their jobs. And one of my favorites: “60% blame Congress for the shortage of body armor in the combat zone.” None of this is a surprise to those who have been paying attention. »

Trading places?

Tom Friedman’s pop quiz, which Rocket Man debunked so masterfully, was not the only piece in yesterday’s New York Times arguing that the U.S. is on the wrong track and heading for trouble. Fred Kaplan had a similar piece called “China Expands, Europe Rises, and the United States. . .” The title leaves it for the reader to fill in the blank, but the article strongly suggests that the missing »

They might be giants

Martin Gilbert, the great historian of Winston Churchill, argues that President Bush and Prime Minister Blair may one day be viewed as akin to Roosevelt and Churchill. If Bush and Blair succeed in their ambitious joint foreign policy agenda (a big “if” to be sure), it seems clear to me that an objective rendering of history would certainly find the comparison compelling. »

Ready to make a difference

The Washington Times profiles John Thune, who will replace Tom Daschle as Senator from South Dakota next month. At the age of 43, and already possessing six years of experience as a member of the House, Thune seems ideally situated to make a significant mark in the Senate, both in the short term and for years to come. »

Al Gore’s Legacy

Al Gore’s decision to try to win the 2000 Presidential election in the courts after multiple recounts had confirmed President Bush’s victory in Florida continues to have baleful effects. Today Victor Yanukovich said that he would contest the result of yesterday’s election in the Ukrainian Supreme Court, notwithstanding what would appear to be a clear, eight-point victory for Yushchenko. Al Gore’s elevation of personal interest and partisanship above the national »

Media Alert

I’ll be on the Kudlow & Cramer show on CNBC this afternoon, starting around 5:50 Eastern time. »

Soldiers Speak On Mosul

Mudville Gazette has rounded up the blog commentary on the Mosul bombing by soldiers in Iraq, some of whom were eyewitnesses. »

They stopped thinking about tomorrow

Michael Barone looks back on the 2004 election and is “struck by how many of the constituencies supporting Democratic candidates oppose, rather than seek, change — how they are motivated not by ideas about how to change the future, but by something like nostalgia for the past.” The Democratic party, he argues, is defined by 1930 era views on social security, 60s views on the state of race relations and »

Merry Christmas, Baby

Diana West pays tribute to the evergreen popularity of Bing Crosby’s version of Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas” in her column “The enduring legacy of Bing’s ‘Christmas.'” West recounts the success of the song and plays Crosby off against Elvis Presley in a tale of pop versus rock. She conveys Rosemary Clooney’s lament that “Elvis is still a presence in the American consciousness, while only aficionados still make an icon of »

Here he stands

UCLA Law School Professor Richard Sander has published a lengthy empirical study of the costs and benefits of affirmative action as practiced in the elite law schools ruled by academic liberals. Judged solely from the perspective of the black students it was intended to help, Sander concludes, affirmative action has been a disaster. We previewed Sander’s findings here. (Click here for the Wall Street Journal article summarizing the academic attack »

All together now

Who needs fat Wayne Rooney When we have Marcus Bent? That’s the question Everton fans are asking after today’s 2-1 victory over Manchester City. Wayne Rooney is the 18 year-old superstar forward Everton was forced to sell to Manchester United for around $50 million at the start of this year’s season. Marcus Bent is the journeyman forward we purchased this summer for less than $1 million. Today, Bent scored Everton’s »

Almost local guy makes good

Steven Lee of the Grand Forks Herald called me for an interview last week in connection with Power Line’s appearance in the current issue of Time. Steve asked me a variety of thoughtful questions in the course of three interviews that took me all the way back to my experience as a student of Mrs. Mullenbein at the Temple Beth El nursery school in Fargo, North Dakota. The interview will »

Hawaiian punch

Anne Malone of the Palm Tree Pundit emails us from Kailua, Hawaii regarding Rocket Man’s post below on Tom Friedman: I laughed out loud at Tom Friedman’s complaints about the size of the defense budget and wanting us to give more foreign aid. He must not be aware that our military often provides foreign aid — right out of that huge defense budget! Example: My husband (a LCDR in the »

Reggie White, RIP

Reggie White joined with Brett Favre in leading the Green Bay Packers to two Super Bowls and one championship. While making his mark as the dominant defensive lineman of the modern era, he became an ordained minister and pastor. As a public spokesman for his religious beliefs, he combined decency and strength. “It is wonderful to have a giant’s strength,” Shakespeare writes in Measure for Measure, “but tyrannous to use »

A guided tour of the blogosphere

The discerning Pejman Yousefzadeh of Pejmanesque has updated his blogroll and annotated it in this post. »

Misinformation at the Times

The New York Times’ web site says that today’s most emailed article was Tom Friedman’s column titled Sunday News Quiz. Friedman writes: I’ll give you 10 news stories from the past few weeks and you tell me what they all have in common. Friedman than recapitulates, in a sentence or two, ten recent news stories, all of which are intended to reflect badly on the Bush administration; the general theme–reminiscent »