Monthly Archives: September 2005

September 23, 2005 — Paul Mirengoff

A strange old respect, Part Two

I have a tough time understanding why some conservative pundits continue to regard E.J. Dionne as something other than a crude, knee-jerk left-wing partisan. Except for the absence of obscene language, most of his columns would be right at home on the Daily Kos or any other vulgar, mindless leftist blog. Today, Dionne tries to compensate for the absence of obscenity by calling the Bush administration’s tax cuts “stupid” — »
September 23, 2005 — Scott Johnson

Today in Arafatistan

The BBC reports: “Palestinians killed in Gaza blast.” Although the BBC seems to think it important to pass on Hamas’s accusation that Israel is a supect in the blast, it also passes on the statement by Daddy Mazen’s Fatah faction that it holds Hamas responsible. The BBC also reports that Islamic jihad militants fired a volley of rockets into Israel in what they said was retaliation after Israel killed three »
September 23, 2005 — Scott Johnson

Bride of Chucky

Yesterday Deborah Orin reported in the New York Post: “Schumer staffers eyed in probe of political ID theft.” Michelle Malkin (here) and Hugh Hewitt (here) have followed up with superb commentary. In response to Hugh’s invitation to submit names for the scandal, I’m naming it Bride of Chucky, pending Hugh’s naming of a winner. »
September 23, 2005 — Scott Johnson

Friday night live with Al Franken

We last covered Al Franken in “Saturday Night Live with Al Franken” when he spoke this past June at a Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party fundraiser. This morning we learned from »
September 23, 2005 — Paul Mirengoff

Colin Powell with clout

We’ve been unhappy lately with some of President Bush’s appointees. Generally, the problem has been lack of relevant experience and, perhaps, cronyism. Today, though, I want to focus on a Bush appointee who makes me unhappy precisely because of his relevant experience. I’m referring to the new ambassador to Israel, Richard Jones. From Diana West, we learn this about Jones: Richard Jones, most recently Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s right-hand »
September 23, 2005 — Scott Johnson

Celebrating Ray Charles

Today is the anniversary of the birth of Ray Charles. It is exceedingly difficult to pay Ray Charles the kind of tribute he truly deserves. As a relatively young man, he virtually invented soul music — the secularized gospel music that exploded into the mainstream of American popular music within a decade of Charles’s initial efforts. When Atlantic got around to issuing a three-disc boxed set of the highlights of »
September 23, 2005 — Scott Johnson

Six Minutes that Shook the World

At the end of last month we observed the fortieth anniversary of Bob Dylan’s seminal “Highway 61 Revisited,” the album that featured “Like A Rolling Stone” in its full six-minute burst of glory. The single of the song had charted at number two in July 1965, but it was cut in half and reduced to playable length for AM radio. I think it’s fair to say that both the single »
September 22, 2005 — Paul Mirengoff

An evening to remember revisited

My post about Senator McCain’s comments on McCain-Feingold and the internet has prompted a reaction from Patterico. Here’s what I wrote: I asked Senator McCain about the impact of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform act on bloggers. He replied that he wanted no government regulation of the internet. I followed-up, politely I hope, by noting that a court decision in litigation undertaken in his name was serving as the basis »
September 22, 2005 — John Hinderaker

Power Line Night at the Movies!

The movie Serenity is opening nationwide on September 30. The people who are promoting the film thought it would be a good idea to offer private screenings to selected bloggers, just as they do with movie critics for newspapers and magazines. The idea is that we’ll watch the movie and review it on this site the following day. So we’re going to have a private screening of the film next »
September 22, 2005 — Paul Mirengoff

The rules of the game

The Senate Judiciary Committee has voted 13-5 in favor of recommending the confirmation of Judge Roberts. The vote among Demoratic members was three in favor (Leahy, Kohl, and Feingold) and five against (Biden, Kennedy, Schumer, Feinstein, and Durbin). The Democratic “no” vote on the 18 member Committee exceeds the number of Republican votes, Senate-wide, against Justice Ginsburg. A majority of the Committee’s Dems now has effectively endorsed the notion that »
September 22, 2005 — Paul Mirengoff

This is feminism?

Senator Feinstein will vote “no” on Judge Roberts. Feinstein likes to remind us that she is the only female on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Perhaps the “weight” of this status induced her to adopt a cartoonishly stereotypical reason for her vote — that Roberts didn’t talk enough about what kind of father and husband he is. Or maybe she reverted to this justification because, as became apparent during her questioning »
September 22, 2005 — Scott Johnson

The right joke

President Bush spoke to the Republican Jewish Coalition in Washington yesterday on the occasion of the group’s twentieth anniversary. The White House has posted his speech here. The speech provides some important insight into the president’s thinking at this time. Apart from the substance of the speech, I want to pause over the special quality of the man making this joke before this audience: At Tulane University, the Director of »
September 22, 2005 — Scott Johnson

Hey, buddy, can you spare me $250?

Brian Maloney has the latest installment of the Air Ameriscam saga: “Panhandling next?” In a message early this morning, Maloney wrote: “Air America’s now resorting to begging for money from listeners. Don’t miss your chance to get an Air America bumper sticker before it shuts down for good!” Maloney’s investigative partner on the Air Ameriscam beat is Michelle Malkin. Michelle also updates the saga today: “Air America: Groveling for cash.” »
September 22, 2005 — Scott Johnson

Tribute to Chrenkoff

Jeff Jacoby devotes his Boston Globe column today to Arthur Chrenkoff and the ending of his “Good News from Iraq” series: “Iraq’s good news chronicle.” (Courtesy of RealClearPolitics.) »
September 22, 2005 — Paul Mirengoff

Go for it

With John Roberts about to be confirmed as Chief Justice, the focus turns to the next nominee. The Washington Times explains why this nomination constitutes a “legacy moment for Bush.” As Senator McCain said last night, the seven Democrats in the “gang of 14” are loath to filibuster the next nominee. Nor are more than five of the 55 Republican members likely to break ranks. Thus, I believe that there »
September 22, 2005 — John Hinderaker

The Right Way to Use Buses

These buses are heading north, out of Galveston, full of people–before the hurricane hits anad the buses get submerged: »
September 21, 2005 — John Hinderaker

A Shocking Moment of Candor

Well, it probably shouldn’t be shocking, since I’ve always heard the Columbia Journalism Review described as “liberal.” Still, this exchange is striking, to say the least. A reader sent an email to Steve Lovelady, managing editor of CJR, forwarding my post on layoffs at newspapers, which speculated that moderating their left-wing politics might help some of these papers stop the bleeding. Here is Lovelady’s response: Yeah, I’m writing about it »