Monthly Archives: September 2003

“Iraqi Terrorist Death Rate Rising”

Rob Morton writes about the relentless negativity of the mainstream press on Iraq. He refers us to a New York Times article headlined “Deadly Bombings on Rise in Iraq; 1 Killed in Baghdad Blast.” As Rob points out, you have to read to the end of the article to find this information: “Colonel MacDonald said an informant told American soldiers on Wednesday night about three men planting a roadside bomb »

From partisanship to pathology

Charles Krauthammer is a trained psychiatrist. When he diagnoses mental illness, the diagnosis carries some weight. His column today on Senator Kennedy’s latest comments on President Bush and the war (“This whole thing was a fraud”) therefore warrants special consideration: “From partisanship to pathology.” Krauthammer believes that Kennedy’s comments reflect a wider phenomenon within the Democratic party: “Kennedy’s rant reflects the Democrats’ blinding Bush-hatred, and marks its passage from partisanship »

Advantage: Arnold, Part 2

The Washington Times story on the post-debate state of play in the California free-for-all includes poll results on Wednesday night’s five-way debate: “McClintock pressed to quit race.” The poll results regarding the outcome of the debate track Rocket Man’s assessment immediately after the debate. Here is the article’s summary of the poll results: “A poll conducted by SurveyUSA released yesterday showed that 32 percent of registered voters in California thought »

Turning on Dean

The debate among the Democratic candidates at Pace University yesterday notably included Wesley Clark, whose principal debate partner appears to be himself. Click here for the New York Times account, here for the Washington Post account, and here for a transcript of the debate. Although the first question went to Clark, Clark generally stood to the side while the other serious contenders went after Howard Dean. Here’s how Clark handled »

Edward Said Dies

Professor Edward Said, one of the most honored and influential academics of his generation, died today of leukemia. Said was a bad man. His book Orientalism influenced an entire generation of scholars for the worse. He was both the leading Western advocate for the Palestinian cause, and himself a purported Palestinian refugee. He criticized Yasser Arafat for not being aggressive enough toward the Israelis. He was not just an apologist »

Just because you’re pananoid doesn’t mean people aren’t out to get you elected

Mark Steyn, writing in The Spectator, is sufficiently certain that the Clark campaign won’t be successful to vow that if Clark becomes president in January 2005, “I’ll quit writing about American politics for the entire Clark term, or both of them.” I’m quite confident that this double disaster will not come to pass. However, one of Steyn’s grounds for optimism — that Clark sounds like “a paranoid narcissist” — seems »

Thoughts on Chaitred

Lord High Chamberlain of the Blogosphere Hugh Hewitt links to Power Line in his Daily Standard piece this morning on the Weintraub/Chait affairs: “When editors attack.” In his Standard piece Hugh refers to our comments on Jonathan Chait’s New Republic article: “Mad about you: The case for Bush hatred.” Rocket Man first provides a comprehensive fisking of the Chait piece in “Why do they hate him?” Deacon then contributes “The »

Black-out in Iraq

Jack Kelly in the Washington Times reports on the significant progress being made in Iraq and the mainstream media’s “blackout” on this story. Courtesy of Real Clear Politics. The other blacked-out story is the evidence of a connection between Saddam Hussein’s regime and Al Qaeda. Richard Miniter fills us in, again courtesy of RCP. BIG TRUNK adds: See also federal judge Donald Walter’s excellent New York Post piece “Seeing the »

Bad News on WMDs

The New York Times reports that the draft of David Kay’s report now being prepared will say that his team has not found any unconventional weapons in Iraq. CIA officials are stressing the interim nature of the report, expected by the end of the month, apparently to soften the blow. Apparently the best that Kay’s 1,400-man team has been able to come up with is “evidence of precursors and dual-use »

Ringside at the circus

Mark Steyn in the Jerusalem Post finds even more to amused about in the Democratic presidential sweepstakes now that Wesley Clark has joined the pageant. Steyn finds that the General’s “responses to questions on the war make the French foreign minister sound like a straight-shooter.” Only the Democrats could produce “a four-star general whose general position is that real men don’t have positions unless they’re approved by the French.” Steyn’s »

No fool like an old fool

Former Israeli Prime Minister Simon Peres is about to celebrate his 80th birthday. Caroline Glick of the Jerusalem Post takes the occasion to roast this extradordinarily foolish man. Unlike the Democratic Party in the U.S., Israel’s Labor Party often produces sensible, tough-minded leaders (e.g., Rabin and Barak) whose understandable longing for peace sometimes clouds their judgment. But Peres is criminally feckless. Glick puts it perfectly when she says that Peres »

Advantage: Arnold

The California recall “debate” was surprisingly informative. Here, for what it is worth, is my take on how the candidates did: Gray Davis: Bad news. The implicit premise of the whole event was that he is a goner. Bustamante: Pretty much a cipher. He came across like an accountant; his technique of inserting sotto voce responses to Arnold’s answers was annoying. His effort to defend the status quo and suggest »

Weapons Hunt Coming Up Dry?

I have fervently hoped that the hunt for Saddam’s missing weapons now being headed by David Kay is, in fact, hitting paydirt, and that the administration’s critics will have the limb sawed off behind them. That, unfortunately, is looking increasingly less likely. In Today’s Washington Times, Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough have this rather depressing report: “Chief weapons inspector David Kay has told senators he expects his final report to »

Shelton Rips Clark

This item is on the Drudge Report, so it’s not exactly a scoop. But I thought it was important enough to pass on. General Hugh Shelton is a retired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. On Sept. 11 and 12 he participated in a Foothill College Celebrity Forum on the war against terrorism. During the forum, he was asked what he thought of General Wes Clark. Here is the »

Fashion Frivolities

London is in the midst of its “Fashion Week,” and designer Katharine Hamnett has once again brought politics to the world of high fashion. The Guardian reports: “Katharine Hamnett has spent 20 years attempting to prove that fashion and politics can mix. For this season’s London fashion week, which opens on the Kings Road today, she believes that she has hit upon the most potent formula yet – by adding »

Today’s good news

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty has named our radio hero Hugh Hewitt to the exalted office of Lord High Chamberlain of the Blogosphere. We answer to Mr. Hewitt in his capacity as Commissioner of the Northern Alliance of Blogs — a position that now stands revealed as a steppingstone to higher office. Congratulations are in order. »

If we are in a culture war,

and it seems pretty clear that we are, then I expect that every president from now until that war ends will be hated by the other side. If Howard Dean is elected, and if he delivers the kind of presidency he is promising, then I almost surely will come to hate him, and it probably won’t take long. Before you deny that you will do the same, think about how »