Monthly Archives: October 2005

October 25, 2005 — Paul Mirengoff

Conservatives launch anti-Miers ad campaign

Americans for Better Justice is launching an ad campaign urging President Bush to withdraw the Harriet Miers nomination. The group’s founding member, David Frum, will appear on The Laura Ingraham Show to announce the campaign. A series of ads will run on Special Report with Brit Hume, Fox & Friends, and Hannity & Colmes over the week of October 26 – November 1. There will also be some radio and »
October 25, 2005 — Scott Johnson

Autophagy of the Times, take 2

John Podhoretz devotes his New York Post column to the bizarre attack by the New York Times on reporter Judith Miller: “Times trashfest.” »
October 25, 2005 — Scott Johnson

Rosa Parks, RIP

LaShawn Barber remembers Rosa Parks and rounds up the commentary: “Rosa Parks, 1913-2005.” »
October 25, 2005 — Scott Johnson

A canticle for Wellstone

I met Paul Wellstone only one time, but it was memorable to me. It was the day after the Jewish new year six or seven years ago. We had just had my family over for the holiday, including the brother (Alan E.) of a cousin-in-law who had worked as an aide to the senator in Washington. He told me at length how much he liked the senator and how much »
October 25, 2005 — Scott Johnson

Another staged attack

I’ve noted here several times that Al Franken hasn’t been funny since the expiration of the Al Franken decade. And I know how much it bothers Franken, because my opinion that he hasn’t been funny since 1990 was all Franken asked John about when he lured John to appear on his Air America show; he had invited John on the show purportedly to discuss Nick Coleman’s attack on us in »
October 24, 2005 — Paul Mirengoff

Deja vu all over again?

Hugh Hewitt has written a lengthy and thoughtful piece in defense of the Miers nomination. His piece is well worth reading. As our readers might suspect, I concur in part and dissent in part, and lack the time and energy to respond in full. In fact I’ll confine myself to one point. Hugh writes: Some anti-Miers writers have argued that it is always wrong to take gender into account when »
October 24, 2005 — Paul Mirengoff

Cheerleading, Washington Post style

With the prospect of indictments looming in the Valerie Plame matter, this Washington Post piece by Peter Slevin and Carol Leonnig attempts to lionize special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald. The subtitle of the piece is “A Tough Investigation Is Also Praised as Nonpartisan.” However, I couldn’t find any evidence in the article that anyone had praised the investigation in those terms. A federal judge termed it “exhaustive” and President Bush called »
October 24, 2005 — John Hinderaker

More Evidence Surfaces on Galloway and Saddam

This morning, the staff of Senator Norm Coleman’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations gave a press briefing to preview a new report on George Galloway’s testimony before the subcommittee last May. The announcement of the press briefing said: The briefing will provide a detailed analysis of Galloway’s sworn testimony as it relates to significant new information in the form of interviews, documents, bank account information, and Iraqi documents uncovered by the »
October 24, 2005 — Paul Mirengoff

How we got here

John Fund gives a less neutral, and probably more appropriate, title to his report on the Bush administration’s selection of Harriet Miers, and the aftermath to date. The image of Fund using his checkbook (in a “jocular” fashion) to try to find someone who remembers engaging in “serious discussion about politics or judicial philosophy with Ms. Miers” speaks volumes about the strangeness of this potential train wreck. Fund’s piece tends »
October 24, 2005 — Paul Mirengoff

Americans for Better Justice

A group of conservatives has formed an organization called Americans for Better Justice for the purpose of opposing the nomination of Harriet Miers. The advisory board includes David Frum, Mona Charen, and Linda Chavez. There’s also a list of recommended blogs. We didn’t make it, presumably because not all of us oppose this nomination. John and I agree that, as things stand now, conservative Senators should not vote against Miers. »
October 24, 2005 — Scott Johnson

The Times crackup

Don’t miss the New York Sun editorial on the bizarre attacks by the Times editor and others on Judith Miller this past weekend: “Autophagy of the Times.” Although the context makes the meaning clear, you may want to know that “autophagy” is the biological process of self-consumption. I just looked it up. UPDATE: See also Judith Miller’s response here and Andrew McCarthy’s NRO column “Phony baloney.” “Phony baloney” — you »
October 24, 2005 — Scott Johnson

A vote to confirm

The Standard has posted John’s column in support of the Miers nomination: “The long game.” On a related note, Danny Glover takes a look at the impact of the conservative side of the blogosphere on the debate over the Miers nomination in his National Journal Beltway Blogroll column : “A back seat for bloggers.” The Miers nomination has divided John, Paul and me two-and-a-half or three ways. That must be »
October 23, 2005 — Scott Johnson

The empire strikes back, take 2

Joe Malchow reports that the petition candidates lost the Dartmouth alumni association election in Hanover this afternoon. »
October 23, 2005 — John Hinderaker

Twilight of the Bow-Ties

Far be it from me to slight George Will’s contributions to the conservative movement, but it’s time to recognize, I think, that the torch has passed to a new generation. Tonight, somewhat ironically, it’s Dafydd ab Hugh’s Big Lizards that commits Will’s latest polemic to the trash heap of history. (Somehow, a lot of these phrases are sounding familiar). It’s ironic, in that Big Lizards is dedicated to extinct saurases, »
October 23, 2005 — Scott Johnson

Condi’s homecoming

At Gateway Pundit Jim Hoft has a terrific round-up with photographs and video of Secretary Rice’s trip to Alabama this weekend. Among yesterday’s highlights were Secretary Rice’s visit to the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham that was bombed in September 1963 after the March on Washington and her speech at the dedication of a memorial plaque to the four girls killed in the bombing. Jim links to the story »
October 22, 2005 — Paul Mirengoff

One out of two ain’t good

The Washington Post reports that Harriet Miers backed “racial and gender set-asides” for the legal profession when she headed the Texas bar association. This phrase is strking in a Washington Post story — the paper normally speaks of such preferences as “affirmative action” or “goals,” not as “set-asides.” But there’s no reason to sugar-coat when you’re trying to embarrass a Republican president. Despite the breathless tone of the article, there’s »
October 22, 2005 — Paul Mirengoff

Is this the beginning of the end?

The Washington Times speculates about the prospect that Harriet Miers’ nomination will be withdrawn. President Bush is not one to back down, that’s one of the reasons I like him, but Miers herself may decide she wants out. Alternatively, if a few key Republican Senators do what Barry Goldwater did during the Watergate era, that might signal the end. I wouldn’t expect that to happen prior to the hearings, though. »