Monthly Archives: March 2007

March 25, 2007 — Scott Johnson

I think it’s gonna be a long, long time

Along with a few of Neil Diamond’s hits, Elton John’s “Rocket Man” is one of my guilty musical pleasures. I love the melody, but the lyrics are also a kick. “Mars ain’t the kind of place to raise your kids/In fact it’s cold as hell.” The Ananova article’s headline — “Rocketman takes to the skies” — caught my eye with its allusion to John’s song. It’s an interesting article with »
March 25, 2007 — Scott Johnson

Ain’t nobody here but us chickens

The Wall Street Journal has made Katherine Kersten’s Cross Coutry column “Shariah in Minnesota?” freely available. We noted Kathy’s column here yesterday. Kathy is a twice-weekly columnist for the Star Tribune. In her columns, Kathy has stood virtually alone in asking why it is that Minneapolis, of all places in the United States, faces the eruption of controversies over Sharia law. The Journal column knits together much of the substance »
March 24, 2007 — Paul Mirengoff

What country does Zbigniew Brzezinski live in?

Zbigniew Brzezinski was the national security adviser to Jimmy Carter. Given the disastrous foreign policy of those harrowing years, you wonder how anyone can take him seriously, and it’s questionable whether, for decades, many people did. These days, however, Brzezinski is attempting rather successfully to ride hatred of President Bush back into the national debate. In his latest contribution, Brzezinski claims that our nation is “terrorized” by the war on »
March 24, 2007 — Paul Mirengoff

The columnist who cried “hypocrisy”

E.J. Dionne issues another hypocrisy alert. This time, he notes that Republicans, including Tony Snow, criticized President Clinton for hiding behind executive privilege back in 1998. As I’ve written, the proper balancing of executive privilege claims and claims by Congress that it needs information depends on the facts of a given case. In the world we live in, partisanship also tends to play a part in where one strikes the »
March 24, 2007 — Paul Mirengoff

The latest on Alberto Gonzales

The Washington Post reports on a newly released email showing that Alberto Gonzales attended a meeting with senior aides to review plans to fire U.S. attorneys. There’s nothing wrong with attending such a meeting, of course; indeed, one would hope that Gonzales did review and discuss such plans. However, according to the Post, the email conflicts with a statement Gonzales made at a press conference about his involvement in this »
March 24, 2007 — John Hinderaker

Florida Denies Jeb Bush Honorary Degree

In an act that was petty even by university standards, the Faculty Senate at the University of Florida has refused to award former governor Jeb Bush an honorary degree. Bush was recommended for the award by the Honorary Degrees, Distinguished Alumnus Awards and Memorials Committee, but the full Senate rejected the committee’s recommendation on a 38-28 vote. The University’s president, Bernie Machen, was dismayed by the vote, which he said »
March 24, 2007 — John Hinderaker

Military Prepares for Dem Cutbacks

With the Democrats now in controll of Congress, the U.S. military can see the handwriting on the wall. So they’re preparing for the inevitable cutbacks. I don’t know who created these photos, which are posted at the Forum, but they’re pretty good. Here is a sample; click to enlarge: »
March 24, 2007 — Scott Johnson

Bob McNaney, problem reporter: A case study

On Thursday evening KSTP Eyewitness News ran a hit piece (accessible here) on the March 9 investiture ceremony for my friend Rachel Paulose, Minnesota’s United States Attorney. I wrote about Rachel’s confirmation this past December in “After midnight” and about Rachel’s investiture in “Ms. Paulose moves into the gap.” In her remarks at the investiture, Rachel paid tribute to the United States: This day and my civic service are my »
March 24, 2007 — Scott Johnson

Sharia in Minnesota?

Why is it that Minneapolis, of all places in the United States, faces the eruption of controversies over Sharia law? From the Somali taxi drivers who refuse to transport passengers carrying alcohol to the Target cashiers who refuse to ring up pork products and the flying imams testing airport security, something’s happening here. In today’s Wall Street Journal Cross Country column, Star Tribune columnist Katherine Kersten draws the connections (subscription »
March 23, 2007 — Scott Johnson

The trial of Conrad Black

I noted Mark Steyn’s MacLeans article on the then upcoming trial of Conrad Black in “How to harry a millionaire.” The trial opened in federal district court in Chicago this week and Mark Steyn is blogging it for MacLeans from opening statements to verdict here. It is a great way to get a daily dose of Mark Steyn. In today’s Wall Street Journal, Emily Steel and Douglas Belkin provide the »
March 23, 2007 — Paul Mirengoff

The President strikes the right balance

Beth Nolan, a top government lawyer in the Clinton administration, published an op-ed in today’s Washington Post in which she argued that “the White House is taking [the executive] privilege too far” by refusing to produce top aides like Karl Rove for formal testimony before Congress regarding the decision to replace eight U.S. attorneys. But Nolan forgot to explain why. When the assertion of executive privilege impedes a congressional investigation, »
March 23, 2007 — John Hinderaker

Bush Hammers the Democrats

President Bush laid it on the line today, denouncing the Democrats’ shameful conduct in the House of Representatives: The purpose of the emergency war spending bill I requested was to provide our troops with vital funding. Instead, Democrats in the House, in an act of political theater, voted to substitute their judgment for that of our military commanders on the ground in Iraq. They set rigid restrictions that will require »
March 23, 2007 — Scott Johnson

Protecting John Doe, part 3

Introducing H.R. 1640 (Protecting Americans Fighting Terrorism Act) on the floor of the House, Rep. Stevan Pearce had the following comments: It is a sad day in America when our own institutions of freedom are being used against us in the battle against terrorism. When I first heard about the lawsuit brought by the ‘imams’ in Minnesota, it was clear to me that this was an injustice against Americans who »
March 23, 2007 — Scott Johnson

Representing John Doe, part 3

Patrick Gallagher writes: The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is the only law firm dedicated to protecting the free expression of all religious traditions. We were appalled by the behavior of the attorney in the »
March 23, 2007 — Paul Mirengoff

“Mere religious worship” doesn’t cut it

Quin Hillyer in the Examiner comments on a bizarre decision by the ultra-liberal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that singles out what that court calls “mere religious worship” for exclusion from a forum used by community and cultural groups. A district court had issued a preliminary injunction ordering a library in Northern California to allow a religious organization to use library meeting rooms that Democratic Party groups and community organizations »
March 23, 2007 — John Hinderaker

A Man Who Deserves to be Heard

We’ve been reporting on developments relating to the Traveling Imams’ lawsuit against U.S. Airways and, potentially, the “John Doe” passengers who expressed concerns about their activities to the flight crew. One very bright spot in the story comes from an Arizona group called the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, which says that it will raise a defense fund for any passengers who are sued by the imams and their Manhattan »
March 23, 2007 — John Hinderaker

Democrats Eke Out Pork/Defeat Bill

The Democrats’ House leadership was able to hold its members pretty much in line today, and managed a narrow 218-212 passage of its supplemental funding bill. We’ll check out the roll call vote later on. Some observers wondered why the Republicans did not make a motion to recommit the bill. Minority Leader Boehner sends this explanation: Republicans could have proposed a motion-to-recommit designed to cut both the Murtha-inspired “timeline for »