Monthly Archives: January 2003

January 23, 2003 — Paul Mirengoff

The National Review editorial posted

The National Review editorial posted below has this to say about the Texas ten-percent solution to promoting racial diversity (offering admission to anyone who finishes in the top ten percent of his or her high school class): “As a policy matter, the Texas solution is no solution at all. It undermines merit more than preferences do. At least a preferential policy allowed colleges to apply meritocratic standards within each race. »
January 23, 2003 — John Hinderaker

There you have it, folks.

There you have it, folks. On this issue, Deacon’s comments are definitive. On a happier note, the Washington Post reports that Colin Powell is now a hawk on Iraq. The truth, I think, is that while Powell is in several ways a very impressive man, he is above all a consummate bureaucrat. He can see which way the wind is blowing, and doesn’t want to be left out at the »
January 23, 2003 — Paul Mirengoff

Trunk, it will come as

Trunk, it will come as no surprise that I agree almost completely with Christoper Caldwell’s analysis of the Administration’s briefs. As to Frum’s analysis, I recommend the rebuttal contained in this National Review editorial. Frum defends the Adminstration’s briefs on the theory that they present the “nuanced” analysis (“muddled” is the word I would have chosen) necessary to sway the two key Justices, O’Connor and Kennedy. The NR editors respond »
January 23, 2003 — John Hinderaker

Shhhh! Deacon doesn’t know about

Shhhh! Deacon doesn’t know about the slush fund. He thinks we’re doing this for free! »
January 23, 2003 — Scott Johnson

This evening Rocket Man and

This evening Rocket Man and I attended a fundraiser in St. Paul at which Hugh Hewitt, our favorite talk show host, was the guest of honor. Hugh is an extraordinarily talented guy, but the most striking thing about him is his magnanimity. He is the only person I have ever met in his position who expends effort to lift up others around him. We are grateful for the many readers »
January 23, 2003 — Scott Johnson

David Frum has an interesting

David Frum has an interesting article on the Bush administration’s briefs in the University of Michigan cases: “Not what they say, but what they do.” Whatever solace one takes from Frum’s article will be dashed by Christopher Caldwell’s “No action.” (Courtesy of No Left Turns). Deacon will grade the articles. »
January 23, 2003 — Scott Johnson

Mark Steyn’s latest column does

Mark Steyn’s latest column does a nice job of following up on Rocket Man’s investigations into the sponsors of last weekend’s antiwar marches by memorializing a few of the antiwar events: “One woman bore a picture of some female genitalia »
January 23, 2003 — Paul Mirengoff

Courtesy of our friends at

Courtesy of our friends at Real Clear Politics, here is Robert Novak’s take on the politics behind the Bush Adminstration briefs in the Michigan cases. We at Power Line don’t completely trust Novak and his sources. When Novak says that Alberto Gonzales might have blown his shot at a Supreme Court nomination, Novak may mean that he or one of his sources hopes that Gonzales has blown his shot. In »
January 23, 2003 — John Hinderaker

To anyone looking for our

To anyone looking for our coverage of the anti-American demonstrations last weekend, and the Stalinists who organized them, just link to our most recent archives on the left and scroll down. »
January 23, 2003 — Paul Mirengoff

Byron York of National Review

Byron York of National Review Online on the Communists who organized the anti-war protests. Much of York’s material has already appeared on Power Line, but the article is worthwhile in its discussion of the refusal of other anti-war factions to condemn Brian Becker and his fellow Workers World Party activitsts. The typical reaction seems to be “Good for them for having the wherewithal to call the domonstrations” and “This is »
January 23, 2003 — Scott Johnson

Last November 5 was the

Last November 5 was the worst election day Minnesota’s Democratic party had seen since 1978, the year of the so-called “Minnesota massacre.” Today’s Star Tribune carries a story about the soul-searching going on among party ranks: “Dejected DFL picks up pieces, tries to regroup.” One of the party activists quoted in the piece recalls this inspirational bit of advice provided by the late Senator Paul Wellstone: “OK, we gotta figure »
January 23, 2003 — Scott Johnson

The politics of “affirmative action,”

The politics of “affirmative action,” i.e., racial preferences, remains substantially more straightforward than the legal argument about it: “Polls show public sides with Bush in race case.” »
January 23, 2003 — Scott Johnson

William Safire’s column this morning

William Safire’s column this morning clarifies the meaning of the Franco/German diplomatic maneuvering that is complicating the removal of Saddam Hussein, and provides some humor along with the analysis: “Bad Herr Dye.” Read the column for its analysis of the maneuvering, but query how we missed this revealing story about Germany’s execrable Gerhard Schroder (forgive the missing umlaut): “The image-obsessed politician is extraordinarily sensitive to personal criticism. Last year, when »
January 22, 2003 — Paul Mirengoff

Today’s Washington Times carries this

Today’s Washington Times carries this review by Phillip Gold of a book called Everything but the Burden: What White People Are Taking from Black Culture. The title of the book, and Gold’s largely favorable review, has me thinking again about the University of Michigan cases and the Bush Administration briefs. In the briefs, two possible justifications for race-preferences in college admissions mingle. One is “experiential diversity,” through which white students »
January 22, 2003 — John Hinderaker

When I was a kid,

When I was a kid, I read a great many books, but there were only a few that I pored over obsessively. One of my favorites was Up Front, by Bill Mauldin. My father was a WWII veteran and a Mauldin fan; I found this book of his cartoons, which were originally published in Stars and Stripes, lying around the house, and was hooked. I knew all of the cartoons »
January 22, 2003 — Paul Mirengoff

Rocket Man, are you sure

Rocket Man, are you sure that you and Trunk haven’t been holding out on me when it comes to those Claremont Institute proceeds? »
January 22, 2003 — John Hinderaker

It must be true, as

It must be true, as Hugh Hewitt says, that we are a “growing force in the Blogosphere.” I say this because we have been attacked, for the first time as far as we know, by a left-wing blog called Soundbitten. Soundbitten didn’t like our speculation about who funds A.N.S.W.E.R., the Communist front group that ran the anti-American demonstrations last weekend. So they responded with some speculation about who funds–I’m not »