Monthly Archives: January 2005

January 26, 2005 — Scott Johnson

Bush doctrine: Theory and practice

Claremont Review of Books editor Charles Kesler takes a thoughtful look at the Bush doctrine, compares it to the Reagan doctrine, and seems to call for refinements in the name of prudence: “Democracy and the Bush Doctrine.” Professor Kesler is one of the leading teachers of statesmanship and political philosophy of the younger generation of political science professors; his essay appears in the new (winter) issue of the CRB (subscribe »
January 26, 2005 — John Hinderaker

East St. Louis Update

Gateway Pundit continues to report on the shameless corruption of the Democratic Party in Illinois: During a press conference in October of 2004, Illinois Treasurer and Republican Party Chairman Judy Baar Topinka said suspicious cases of tracking absentee ballots is an issue about fairness. It also was an issue quickly dismissed by East St. Louis Democrats. “I don’t have any concerns about voter fraud in East St. Louis,” said Charlie »
January 25, 2005 — John Hinderaker

Iraqis Eager to Vote

Haider Ajina passes along a translation of an article in the Arabic newspaper Alsharq Alausat, with the results of a poll conducted by the Iraqi Ministry of Planning: 72.4 % of all of those polled said they would participate in the elections. [Ed.: If so, Iraqi voting will vastly outstrip participation here in the U.S., where 56% of eligible voters contributed to a record turnout in 2004.] 97% of Iraqis »
January 25, 2005 — John Hinderaker

Senate Dems Commit Another Outrage

Today the Democrats got what they wanted–an opportunity to insult Condoleezza Rice. For several hours they went at it, with former Ku Klux Klan member Robert Byrd leading the charge, and Ted Kennedy weighing in in his usual bombastic, ill-informed style. The worst of all, however, was Minnesota’s own Mark Dayton: Minnesota Sen. Mark Dayton said he is voting against Rice to protest what he labeled the administration’s “lying” about »
January 25, 2005 — Scott Johnson

The whole blog catalogue

Michael Schaefer writes: So, a while back, myself and several friends thought we would see what all this BLOG stuff is about. We went googling and searching and soon became frustrated with either bad sites or too many sites, and the established bloggers we heard or read of in “the media” were hard to find unless you went searching each by each. We thought, wouldn’t it be great if there »
January 25, 2005 — Scott Johnson

Good news

In “Advertising in the Rolling Stone,” we made bewildered fun of Rolling Stone magazine when it rejected a HarperCollins ad for a new translation of the Bible. Today’s news brings a happy ending to the story: “Rolling Stone reverses position, accepts ad for new Bible.” »
January 25, 2005 — Scott Johnson

“No pants”

In his Standard Online column, comedian Larry Miller offers a remembrance of his Tonight Show appearance when his missing suit pants arrived as the curtain parted for him: “Johnny.” Best of all, Miller captures Carson’s distinctive attributes as an entertainer in two paragraphs at the beginning and the end of his piece. First this: Well, I loved the guy, and I mean, first, as a fan. I feel sorry for »
January 25, 2005 — Paul Mirengoff

Good morning, Wheeling

Tomorrow morning, I’ll be on the Howard Monroe show on Talkradio 1370 WVLY in Wheeling, West Virginia. I’ll appear just after 9:00 a.m. I’m told that the station has live-streaming at http://www.talkradio1370.com/. »
January 25, 2005 — Paul Mirengoff

President Bush’s higher realism – Part Two

Joshua Muravchik, in the Opinion Journal, explains why, when it comes to foreign policy, “a sober reading of the historical evidence shows that President Bush and his fellow idealists are more realistic than the ‘realists.'” Muravchik marshals the historical evidence that freedom and democracy has spread across borders and cultures. He also notes the recent advancement of freedom and democracy in the one region that, until now, has been left »
January 25, 2005 — Paul Mirengoff

The perennial question

Tom Bevan at Real Clear Politics has a good round-up of commentary on whether we are in the midst of a realignment in favor of the Republicans, plus a few of his own thoughts. I tend to think of the realignment issue a bit like I think of the stock market. You always know if a party’s stock has been going up or down, but it’s mighty difficult to know »
January 25, 2005 — John Hinderaker

Hillary Bats .500

Yesterday, Hillary Clinton addressed a pro-abortion rally in words that were interpreted as signalling a move toward the center on the issue: In a speech to about 1,000 abortion rights supporters near the New York State Capitol, Mrs. Clinton firmly restated her support for the Supreme Court’s ruling in Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion nationwide in 1973. But then she quickly shifted gears, offering warm words to opponents of »
January 25, 2005 — Scott Johnson

Vexed to nightmare

A certain lack of decency can be discerned from the London Sunday Times headline: “Muslims boycott Holocaust remembrance.” And a certain adaptive skill on the part of resident British Muslims in manipulating leftist shibboleths can be discerned from the text: BRITISH Muslims are to boycott this week »
January 25, 2005 — Scott Johnson

The case for self-defense

American constitutionalism and sovereignty are under assault; our friends at the Claremont Institute have made it their mission to restore the principles of the American founding to their rightful, preeminent place in our public life. Foremost among the instruments advancing their mission is my favorite magazine (subscribe here — please), the Claremont Review of Books. Professor Jeremy Rabkin of Cornell University recalls the original understanding of sovereignty held by the »
January 24, 2005 — John Hinderaker

Belated Blizzard Blogging

We arrived home tonight, only an hour or so late despite a blizzard which paralyzed much of the east coast and, to my daughters’ jealous derision, prompted a pre-emptive two-day school cancellation. If you have to be snowbound, Cambridge, and especially the beautiful Charles Hotel, is a great place to be. We ventured out several times during the snowstorm–over two feet fell in Cambridge Saturday night and Sunday–and took pictures »
January 24, 2005 — John Hinderaker

On Accountability

Credibility and accountability were central to the Journalism and Blogging conference I attended Friday and Saturday at the Kennedy School. Today, Hugh Hewitt addressed these concepts in the more practical context of trying to sell books: [O]ne question seemed to me to be on everyone’s minds: “Bloggers aren’t journalists and so they are not accountable, right?” I’ll check a transcript if one is posted when I get back to California, »
January 24, 2005 — Paul Mirengoff

Has Iraq weakened us? Part Two

Yesterday, Trunk linked to a piece by Victor Davis Hanson in the February issue of Commentary. Hanson argues that, far from tying us down, the overthrow of Saddam Hussein and its aftermath have enlarged our strategic options. According to Hanson, “as Iraq comes slowly under control. . .the United States now commands both military and diplomatic options »
January 24, 2005 — John Hinderaker

Al Qaeda Network Rolled Up In Iraq

Another arrest of a key al Qaeda leader has been announced in Iraq: A top lieutenant of al-Zarqawi’s terror group, Sami Mohammed Ali Said al-Jaaf, also known as Abu Omar al-Kurdi, was arrested during a raid in Baghdad on Jan. 15, a government statement said Monday. Al-Jaaf was responsible for 32 car bombings that killed hundreds of Iraqis and was linked to the August 2003 bombing of U.N. headquarters in »