Monthly Archives: November 2006

November 22, 2006 — John Hinderaker

Last Chance to Vote!

Readers from around the country have weighed in on our What is the worst newspaper in America? poll. So far, more than 7,400 votes have been cast. In what could be a huge upset, the Palm Beach Post has surged into the lead with 25% of the total votes cast. The Seattle Post Intelligencer is holding on in second place, with 21%. Our Washington readers are really weighing in strongly, »
November 22, 2006 — Paul Mirengoff

An “indecent” book by our worst ex-President

Alan Dershowitz at the Huffington Post is troubled that a “decent man has written. . .an indecent book about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” The “decent man” is Jimmy Carter. Dershowitz presents plenty of evidence that Carter’s book is “indecent” — full of bias, misrepresentation, and distortion. Dershowitz presents no evidence that Carter has a record of decency in his political behavior or commentary over the past few decades. It’s difficult to »
November 22, 2006 — John Hinderaker

How Violent Is Iraq?

I’ve written previously on the level of violence in Iraq, comparing it to murder rates in other times and places and to death rates that have been experienced in actual civil wars. See here and here, for example. My impression has been that violence in Iraq has skyrocketed since July, when I found that the murder rate in Iraq was 140 per 100,000 (the usual way in which murder rates »
November 22, 2006 — Paul Mirengoff

I lost at jeopardy, baby

Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings competed on Celebrity Jeopardy. It could have gone better. Credit to Spellings for appearing, though. Hubert Humphrey once appeared on an alumni version of the old GE College Bowl show, representing the University of Minnesota. I believe he was still a Senator, not the Vice President, at the time. The Happy Warrior did rather poorly and was badly outperformed by University of Cincinnati alum Sandy »
November 22, 2006 — Paul Mirengoff

Socialist surrealism

Movie director Robert Altman died yesterday. Scott, our lead art critic, is no Altman fan. He found “McCabe and Mrs. Miller,” generally considered one of Altman’s masterpieces, “droopy.” And he thought that “Gosford Park,” Altman’s last highly acclaimed movie, was “Marxist drek.” There was something Marxist about Altman’s work, which probably helps explain why I liked it so much in the 1970s. But long after I had shed my leftist »
November 22, 2006 — Paul Mirengoff

Give the man straight A’s

Last night I passed along the prescription of “first in his class” politician Barack Obama for dealing with Iraq. Borrowing catch-phrases from virtually every “expert,” Obama proposed a flexible timetable for withdrawal linked to conditions on the ground in Iraq and based on the advice of U.S. commanders. He also called for intensified efforts to train Iraqi security forces, U.S. aid packages tied to Iraqi progress in reducing sectarian violence »
November 22, 2006 — Scott Johnson

Public diplomacy a la President Bush (41)

President George H.W. Bush spoke yesterday in Abu Dhabi, as reported here by the AP. It’s an interesting story. President Bush did a somewhat better job under difficult circumstances than we’ve seen from Edward R. Murrow Award-winner Alberto Fernandez: “We do not respect your son. We do not respect what he’s doing all over the world,” a woman in the audience bluntly told Bush after his speech. Bush, 82, appeared »
November 22, 2006 — Scott Johnson

Another job well done

Alberto Fernandez is the infamous State Department employee whose job it is to appear on behalf of the United States on Arab media outlets. He’s a fluent speaker of Arabic and capable of performing his assigned task, if he adequately represented the United States. He recently condemned American behavior in Iraq for its “arrogance” and “stupidity” on Al Jazeera. He has also expressed his high regard for Yusuf al Qaradawi, »
November 22, 2006 — Scott Johnson

The flying imams: Witnesses speak

The image above is the note that prompted the removal of the six imams traveling from Minneapolis to Phoenix on Monday following the convention of the North American Imams Federation, courtesy of the New York Times. Here is what the Times reports in the way of observations preceding the incident: Detailed accounts of the incident varied. Witnesses, including a number of passengers and US Airways employees, said they heard some »
November 21, 2006 — Paul Mirengoff

First in his class

In theory, one might be partial to a politician bright enough to be “first in his class.” But, as we learned from the politician who spawned a biography of that title, this pedigree has its downside. For one thing, sometimes students become first in the class by learning to spout the pet theories of multiple professors. These politicians tend to impress a range of voters and commentators without really standing »
November 21, 2006 — Scott Johnson

Massive resistance in Michigan: Your ideas wanted

A University of Michigan student has kindly forwarded the following message from university president Mary Sue Coleman and university provost Teresa Sullivan: From: President Mary Sue Coleman and Provost Teresa A. Sullivan [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tue 11/21/2006 12:26 PM To: “University Community” Subject: Diversity Blueprints: Your ideas wanted We know we have a great deal of work to do at the University of Michigan to live up to our ideals of »
November 21, 2006 — John Hinderaker

Forum Post of the Day

To appreciate this, you have to be up to date on the story of the traveling imams. If you’re not, scroll down to catch up. I noted earlier that the imams’ spokesman, who has ties to terror-funding organizations, has called for a boycott of US Air. That prompted this post from Seyont, his (her?) first ever on the Power Line Forum: What a great boycott! If all the airlines would »
November 21, 2006 — John Hinderaker

On the Murder of Pierre Gemayel

At the moment, I don’t have anything to add to Gateway Pundit’s excellent roundup, except to note: I hope James Baker is paying attention. I don’t think the Syrians are any more interested in helping us stabilize Iraq than they are in helping the Lebanese government stabilize that country. PAUL adds: Check out Michael Totten’s take and updates. »
November 21, 2006 — John Hinderaker

How Dare He?!

Sometimes you just have to laugh. The Associated Press is offended, seemingly, by Mitt Romney’s effrontery: “Romney Forges On, Heedless of GOP Losses”. A little preview, I suppose, of how the AP is going to cover Election 2008. »
November 21, 2006 — John Hinderaker

More on the Six Traveling Imams

See our post this morning on the six imams who were taken off a US Airways flight bound for Phoenix, on their way home from an imams’ conference in Minneapolis. Their conduct alarmed passengers, who notified the flight crew, and the decision to remove the imams from the airplane apparently was made by the pilot. The latest is that Omar Shahin, who has acted as the group’s spokesman, is calling »
November 21, 2006 — Paul Mirengoff

Lots of good stuff

at the Claremont Institute’s blog, including a list (via Atlantic Monthly) of the 100 most influential Americans of all time, an uplifting Thanksgiving message, and some positive thoughts about Mitt Romney. »
November 21, 2006 — Paul Mirengoff

Why let the facts stand in the way of a good mantra?

Our blog of the week, Gay Patriot, notes how infrequently the critics of President Bush’s decision to topple Saddam Hussein cite any evidence to support their mantra that Bush lied to or deceived the public. And how infrequently the MSM calls these critics (some of whom include MSM members) on their unsupported attacks. One of the great good things about a free society is that we can criticize our leaders. »