Monthly Archives: August 2002

August 18, 2002 — John Hinderaker

Charles Krauthammer skewers the New

Charles Krauthammer skewers the New York Times for its mis-reporting of opposition to war in Iraq, particularly its effort to portray Henry Kissinger as part of that opposition. If you’re looking for factual accuracy, you’d be better off reading National Enquirer than the Times. At least in the Inquirer, you can tell which stories are intended to be true and which ones are jokes. »
August 17, 2002 — John Hinderaker

William Kristol, in this superb

William Kristol, in this superb essay titled “The Axis of Appeasement”, identifies the intellectual and political sources of opposition to the President’s Iraq policy. »
August 16, 2002 — John Hinderaker

I just want to say

I just want to say a word on behalf of Charlton Heston, who, after a life of great achievement and dedication to large causes, has now been afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease and will fade from public view. I don’t know whether Mr. Heston was a great actor, but he was indisputably a movie star. As Moses and as Ben-Hur, among other roles, he created images of heroism that still resonate. »
August 16, 2002 — Scott Johnson

Our faithful reader Ed Patton

Our faithful reader Ed Patton likes humor with his political commentary, and nobody does it better than Mark Steyn. Steyn’s column today lacks politics but has more fun than should be legal honoring the twenty-fifth anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley. Steyn mentions that at the time of his death Elvis had ballooned to weigh more than 250 pounds, “which, believe it or not, was considered large in 1977.” »
August 16, 2002 — Scott Johnson

Michelle Malkin is an obscure

Michelle Malkin is an obscure but excellent young conservative columnist. I don’t know of a single newspaper that carries her column. Malkin’s column today reports a story I have seen nowhere else regarding the murder of a National Park Service ranger in a shootout with Mexican fugitives near the border. How is it possible that the mainstream media have failed to report this timely and important story? How is it »
August 16, 2002 — John Hinderaker

Mickey Kaus points out the

Mickey Kaus points out the latest embarrassing New York Times correction. The Times has become the worst newspaper in America. They happily allege facts that are the opposite of the truth; e.g., as in this case, that the stock market went down when it actually went up. This kind of thing is not done accidentally; the problem here is deliberate lying, not incompetence. »
August 15, 2002 — John Hinderaker

This macabre story details the

This macabre story details the death of a Hamas leader, Naser Jarrar, in a shoot-out with Israeli troops. The Post relates that Jarrar had no legs and only one arm; he used his last remaining hand to fire at the Israelis. He lost his other limbs a year ago when a bomb intended for a terrorist attack exploded prematurely. The Post doesn’t report it, but other stories have said that »
August 15, 2002 — Scott Johnson

Since 9/11, many conservatives have

Since 9/11, many conservatives have reviewed the immigration-related issues raised by the attack on the United States and asked why we do not undertake the easy first steps to defend ourselves from the most obvious sources of danger. We wonder how it is that no serious political discussion regarding the national security issues implicit in continuing Muslim Arab immigration and travel to the United States has occurred. Much food for »
August 15, 2002 — John Hinderaker

Despite the fact that I

Despite the fact that I do it for a living, I have very limited faith in the ability of litigation to bring about justice or, in general, improve the world. In particular, I am pretty universally opposed to litigation that is intended to advance a cause or act as a surrogate for legislation, or serve any other purpose beyond seeking money on behalf of the plaintiff. The just-announced lawsuit by »
August 15, 2002 — John Hinderaker

By the way, I saw

By the way, I saw a few of Hitler’s watercolors some years ago when I was in Austria. I thought they were pretty good. Coincidentally, Churchill and Eisenhower were also pretty good watercolorists. If this fact has any particular significance, it escapes me. Maybe it says something about the lack of any necessary connection between art and morality. »
August 15, 2002 — John Hinderaker

It’s been said that if

It’s been said that if you’re a hammer, the whole world looks like a nail. Likewise, it appears that if you’re an art critic, the whole world looks like a painting. There has been a lot of comment on the Williams College Art Museum’s Hitler exhibit. Generally, the theme of the exhibit is that Hitler was at bottom an aesthete, and his political actions can be largely accounted for by »
August 14, 2002 — Scott Johnson

Mackubin Thomas Owens (his friends

Mackubin Thomas Owens (his friends call him “Cubby”) is a Vietnam vet and a learned student of military affairs. Today’s National Review Online carries an extremely sobering essay by Owens on military issues in the coming war. Don’t miss it. Equally worth reading today is Eliot Cohen’s opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal regarding civilian-military relations in the Bush administration. The piece is not yet available on the Journal’s »
August 14, 2002 — Scott Johnson

National Review Online carries a

National Review Online carries a piece today by Daniel Doron entitled “Palestinian Lies & Western Complicity.” It discusses the difficulty Israelis have in conveying the truth regarding the war being waged on them in the face of Arab spokesmen who are both skillful and conscienceless liars. Doron’s piece notes this problem and sorts out the underlying facts, but it does not provide advice about how to debate successfully with liars–the »
August 14, 2002 — Scott Johnson

Both Tony Blankleyand Michael Kelly

Both Tony Blankleyand Michael Kelly have important columns this morning about our coming war with Iraq. Reading the tea leaves like the astute Washington insider he used to be, Blankley describes the coming war as “imminent.” Kelly tells us why the naysayers are wrong and why we should fight. »
August 13, 2002 — John Hinderaker

Most Power Line readers probably

Most Power Line readers probably also read InstaPundit, so you know that Glenn Reynolds has been on the warpath about airport security. Prof. Reynolds says, and I have to agree, that it combines the worst of both worlds: obnoxiousness and ineffectiveness. No common sense whatever is applied to the task of ferreting out possible terrorists. I fly somewhere nearly every week, and I can’t count the times I’ve seen old »
August 13, 2002 — John Hinderaker

On a more sombre note,

On a more sombre note, Robert Locke has a pretty depressing analysis of the implications of current immigration patterns on the political process. Notwithstanding the war, the stock market and all, it is probably true that immigration will prove to be the great issue of our time in America, as it has been for a while in Europe. So far we have been proceeding on blind faith that today’s immigrants »
August 13, 2002 — John Hinderaker

Since today was pretty much

Since today was pretty much news-free, here is a link to an entertaining column by Calvin Trillin on the subject of whether wine connoisseurs can tell the difference between red and white wine in a blind test. I actually find this rather hard to believe–I admit that I couldn’t tell Coke from Pepsi, but red wine from white wine? You gotta be kidding. Even if they’re both warm. If you »