Monthly Archives: April 2005

April 21, 2005 — John Hinderaker

There Is One Obvious Difference…

Reader Joel Loeschman makes a good point: With all the huffing and puffing of Democrats over whether John Bolton threatened a civil servant’s job, I have to ask…What exactly happened with Hillary Clinton and the White House travel office a few years ago? Does this disqualify Bill and/or Hillary from ever working @ the U.N.? There is one obvious difference between what Hillary (with help from Bill) undoubtedly did, and »
April 21, 2005 — John Hinderaker

The Gift That Keeps On Giving

If you haven’t already seen it, the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s account of Howard Dean’s appearance at a fundraiser for the ACLU in Minneapolis last night is astonishing–or would be, if it weren’t so typical: Dean regaled an appreciative audience for nearly 90 minutes without once raising his voice, as he did after last year’s Iowa primary election. But he did draw howls of laughter by mimicking a drug-snorting Rush Limbaugh. »
April 21, 2005 — John Hinderaker

Showdown on Judges Draws Closer

This morning, the Senate Judiciary Committee sent the nominations of Judges Priscilla Owen and Janice Rogers Brown to the full Senate on 10-8 party line votes. This sets the stage, presumably, for a showdown on the Constitutional option, but the timing is still uncertain. Republicans are said to believe that Owen and Brown are the nominees who put the Democrats in the worst position if they try to filibuster. I »
April 21, 2005 — John Hinderaker

Poll Data Delaying Constitutional Restoration?

Reader Sean Rushton pointed out this disquieting article in The Hill: Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), a leading advocate of the »
April 21, 2005 — Scott Johnson

Dylan and the Hag in Newark

Not what you’re thinking! Last night Bob Dylan shared the bill with Merle Haggard at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark. Jon Pareles reports in today’s New York Times: “Dylan’s in a dark mood, and Haggard offers no relief.” Could the dark mood have had anything to do with Newark? (Just kidding. And thanks to reader Dr. Charles Gardner of Maggie’s Farm.) »
April 21, 2005 — Scott Johnson

Clinton case mystery

The New York Sun seems to be eating the lunch of its competition in Josh Gerstein’s fascinating article: “Clinton case mystery.” JOHN adds: The most interesting paragraphs in the story are, I think, these: In the documents reviewed by the Sun, the name of the FBI informant is not disclosed. However, the records offer intriguing clues that suggest the mystery witness operated at the highest echelon of Democratic politics. “The »
April 21, 2005 — Scott Johnson

A familiar melody

In its editorial on “The Bolton mugging,” the Wall Street Journal cuts through much of the smoke that shrouds what has happened. The discordant Melody who was the last card played by the Democrats — a leading figure in Mothers Opposing Bush, the woman who failed to come forward with her story in 2001 when Bolton was appointed to his current position because she was “raising her children” — makes »
April 21, 2005 — Scott Johnson

The right to a noun

My favorite magazine is the Claremont Review of Books. It is a quarterly that is the flagship publication of the Claremont Institute, the think tank whose mission is to restore the principles of the American Founding to their rightful, preeminent authority in our national life. Each issue of the CRB is full of essays and book reviews by outstanding scholars and intellectuals who are sympathetic to the institute’s mission. (Subscriptions »
April 20, 2005 — John Hinderaker

Reuters’ Revised History of the Catholic Church

Reader Brian Knotts called our attention to this remarkable Reuters photo caption: Military honor guard enter the Buenos Aires’ Cathedral past graffiti left by unknown assailants that reads: ‘Universal Nazi Church’ and ‘Benedict addict XVI’ on April 20, 2005. The choice of conservative German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as the new Pope divides Latin America, a region where he battled leftist priests and whose poor and hungry often cannot afford to »
April 20, 2005 — Paul Mirengoff

A big tent means a few clowns

The National Review editors are on the money in their discussion of Senator Voinovich’s pathetic performance (or lack thereof) during the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s consideration of the Bolton nomination. Inevitably, as frustration mounts over Bolton and the stalled judicial nominees, we’re also starting to hear criticism of Majority Leader Frist. I don’t know whether Frist failed to take measures that could have prevented Voinovich from acting as he did, »
April 20, 2005 — John Hinderaker

Only In America

Condoleezza Rice is in Russia; it is hard to imagine a better representative for our country. Figaro reports that Russians call her the Black Panther, and it is easy to imagine the impression she makes. Watching America has a translation of a question and answer session she did with listeners on a Moscow radio station. Her answers were uniformly crisp and informative; I especially liked her response to a question »
April 20, 2005 — Paul Mirengoff

That’s what legends do

Duncan Ferguson is an Everton legend. Wayne Rooney might have become an Everton legend, but he decided to leave the club for Manchester United. Today, Everton gutted out a critical victory against Man U. Wayne Rooney played some fine football, but Duncan Ferguson scored the only goal. It was the first time in ten years that Everton has defeated the Mancs in league play. Big Dunc scored the winner in »
April 20, 2005 — Scott Johnson

Scenes from the class struggle at Yale

Yale’s downtrodden graduate teaching assistants have gone on strike for recognition of their union: “GESO strikers hold teach-ins on campus.” The graduate students’ association (GESO) has set itself some familiar objectives: “GESO is seeking union recognition that would allow it to bargain with Yale President Richard Levin for a third-party grievance procedure, full health coverage for dependents, affordable child care and pay equity for all graduate teachers.” The levels of »
April 20, 2005 — Scott Johnson

Radical un-chic

Yale Daily News columnist Keith Urbahn decries fashion statements stupidly proclaiming the hipness and ignorance of their wearers: “Radical un-chic.” Mr. Urbahn earns my admiration for the forthrightness of his condemnation: Marxism was a dark — perhaps the darkest — chapter in human history. Those who still admire the ideology are sullied by the black stain of 85 million deaths. Those who — ignorant of the story behind their beloved »
April 20, 2005 — John Hinderaker

Oil-For-Food Investigators Resign

Roger Simon had this story first: two top investigators for Paul Volcker’s U.N.-sponsored inquiry into the U.N.’s Oil-For-Food program have resigned because they thought the initial Volcker report was too easy on Kofi Annan. “You follow a trail and you want to see people pick it up,” a spokesman for Volcker’s team said. The committee “told the story” that the investigators presented, he added, “but we made different conclusions than »
April 20, 2005 — John Hinderaker

Planet of the Apes

This AP headline caught my eye: Expert: Apes May Be Key to Human Nature. This strikes me as odd. I would think that humans provide better clues to human nature than apes, and we have thousands of years of human history, not to mention six billion or so living humans, to draw on for information about human nature. But the idea of drawing conclusions about humans from observations of apes »
April 20, 2005 — Scott Johnson

South Park Conservatives

South Park Conservatives: The Revolt Against Liberal Media Bias by City Journal managing editor Brian Anderson has just been published. We hope to be posting an interview with Brian on the book soon. In the meantime, take a look at this brief review by Erich Eichman in today’s Wall Street Journal: “The battle is joined.” »