Monthly Archives: December 2006

December 19, 2006 — Paul Mirengoff

Gates gets it

Robert Gates was sworn in yesterday. The new Secretary of Defense used the occasion to state that “failure in Iraq at this juncture would be a calamity that would haunt our nation, impair our credibility and endanger Americans for decades to come.” He added that “the next two years will determine whether Iraq, Afghanistan and other nations at a crossroads will pursue paths of gradual progress towards sustainable governments which »
December 19, 2006 — John Hinderaker

Zucker on Baker and the ISG

We have put up a couple of David Zucker’s videos; they are entertaining and generally make good political points. Here is Zucker’s latest, on James Baker and the Iraq Study Group. Feel free to copy the embed code if you’d like to put the video up on your web site. »
December 19, 2006 — Paul Mirengoff

Sad but familiar

You know that Durham prosecutor Mike Nifong has big problems when Susan Estrich says he should resign. Estrich is a feminist law professor who, if I recall correctly, once wrote a law review article about her own rape. She is also the author of Real Rape. Meanwhile, Joe Malchow notes “the dissension the Duke administration has sewn by appearing to have deserted its own students.” Says Joe, “College administrators often »
December 19, 2006 — Scott Johnson

Coming home

Lowell Brown is the Los Angeles attorney and proprietor of the Hedgehog Blog. Lowell has posted the moving first-hand account by a man who served as military escort for a fallen soldier: “Second Lieutenant Scott Lundell, RIP: A story about coming home.” Lt. Lundell “gave his life in Afghanistan on November 25, 2006 while participating in Operation Enduring Freedom.” (The related Deseret News coverage is here.) Lowell found the story »
December 19, 2006 — Scott Johnson

The significance of Iran’s elections

Ed Lasky of American Thinker has kindly drawn our attention to this informed preview of Iran’s elections by Mehdi Kalaji of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. American Thinker has posted Ed’s must-read commentary on the Iraq Study Group: “Personnel is policy: The case of the ISG.” UPDATE: AEI fellow Michael Rubin alerts us to the December 12 AEI discussion of the elections that he moderated and that included »
December 19, 2006 — Scott Johnson

A word from Col. Waddell

We posted messages from Army Reserve Col. Rick Waddell this past February here and here. Col. Waddell is off active duty and writes this morning from Sao Paolo, Brazil: Dear Power Line: A year ago I was with the 101st near Tikrit, as you might remember. I watched the 15 December elections from up close, and it was an awesome display of a people’s desire for something better – 11 »
December 19, 2006 — Scott Johnson

Santorum’s exit interview

The Pittsburgh Tribune Review’s Salena Zito calls it Senator Santorum’s “exit interview.” Her column summarizing it is here, the full transcript here. I’m sure we’ll be hearing from Senator Santorum soon after he leaves office. In the meantime he is, as always, worth attending to. »
December 18, 2006 — John Hinderaker

You Think You Know About Vietnam? Think Again

I never expected, ten years ago, that Vietnam would once again play an important role in the news. But it does, and that makes the interview that we did with Triumph Forsaken, which covers the war from 1954 to 1965. We interviewed Mark Moyar on our radio show, and to say that his account of Vietnam is revisionist would be putting it mildly. You thought David Halberstam was a hero? »
December 18, 2006 — Paul Mirengoff

Con job

Adrian Dantley’s mother once referred to Isiah Thomas as “that little con-artist.” This was after Thomas had run Dantley off of the Detroit Pistons so they could bring in Thomas’ buddy Mark Aguirre, and claimed to have played no part in the affair. Since retiring as a player, Thomas has conned several NBA owners into letting him coach or manage their clubs with terrible results. Meanwhile, Thomas’ old running mate »
December 18, 2006 — Paul Mirengoff

Romney leaves the door open

It’s not even 2007 and he’s not even an official candidate yet, but Mitt Romney is getting hammered for his past statements about gay rights, abortion, stem cell research, and Ronald Reagan. Here is Byron York’s report. The gay stuff strikes me as much ado about very little. As I’ve said, I don’t perceive a big gap between what Romney said 12 years ago and what he’s saying now. And »
December 18, 2006 — Paul Mirengoff

Losing the Fourth Circuit

I’ve written several times about how bungling by the Bush administration has led to a situation wherein the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals seems poised to drift to the left. Now the Washington Post has noticed. It’s not the administration’s fault that two of its nominees, Terrence Boyle and Jim Haynes, have been bottled up in the Senate. Lindsey Graham gets the “credit” in the case of Haynes. But it’s »
December 18, 2006 — John Hinderaker

Man of the Year: The Last Word

From Pikkumatti at the Forum: Groucho: I wouldn »
December 18, 2006 — Paul Mirengoff

Speaking of Keith Olbermann

The Media Research Center hands out awards every year for the worst reporting of the year, as exemplified by unhinged quotations. C-SPAN normally carries the awards ceremony. It’s kind of an Academy Awards style program that “honors” over-the-top liberal blather. This year, I participated as a judge. The MRC has announced its winners. First place went to New York Times Publisher Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. for the following “apology” to graduates »
December 18, 2006 — John Hinderaker

Insanity Sells

Keith Olbermann has turned into a raving lunatic, but apparently there is method to his madness. Broadcasting & Cable reports: Olbermann and MSNBC are knocking heads over a new contract. The controversial host of Countdown With Keith Olbermann is said to be seeking “north of $4 million” a year, according to an industry source, to re-up on his pact that comes due in April. That would represent roughly a four-fold »
December 18, 2006 — Paul Mirengoff

A kinder, gentler Jesse Jackson?

Although novelist Nora Ephron has pronounced herself “ready for Barack Obama” regardless of whether Obama is ready to be president, John Fund points out that the rest of the country may not be in such an expansive mood. And many voters may become downright unready for Obama once they discovery how liberal he is. As Fund notes, Only for so long will Mr. Obama’s sparkling personality help him avoid troubling »
December 18, 2006 — John Hinderaker

“Moderate Conservatives” Running Well In Iran

This Associated Press report on local elections currently going on in Iran is interesting, and should be read together with Scott’s post below. I don’t know a lot about Iran’s political structure, nor am I clear on whether votes are counted honestly enough for election results to be meaningful. In any case, however, the reported results are of interest: Opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad held an early lead in key »
December 18, 2006 — Scott Johnson

Revisiting the Holocaust

CBS News has posted last night’s 60 Minutes story “Revisiting the horrors of the Holocaust,” about three survivors who reviewed records referring to themselves in the Nazi archives in Bad Arolsen. »