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21 Nov 2009 12:41
296 comments
251 comments
Opinion: Why No One Expects a Strong Recovery235 comments
Democrats Gain a Key Vote for Health Bill227 comments
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The Henry Ford of Heart Surgery
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More Stocks May Not Make a Portfolio Safer
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Carmenere: A Great Value
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Ireland Demands: World Cup Rematch!
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A High-Society Closet on a Budget
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Early American Original
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Norah Jones Rocks 'n' Rolls
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Porsche's Sedan as a Sports Car
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Ruins of a Once-Great City
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Oprah, in Tears, Sets End Date for Show
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'Broken Embraces': Wholly Delightful
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The Henry Ford of Heart Surgery
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More Stocks May Not Make a Portfolio Safer
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Carmenere: A Great Value
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Ireland Demands: World Cup Rematch!
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A High-Society Closet on a Budget
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Early American Original
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Norah Jones Rocks 'n' Rolls
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Porsche's Sedan as a Sports Car
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Ruins of a Once-Great City
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Subscriber ContentRead Preview
Oprah, in Tears, Sets End Date for Show
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'Broken Embraces': Wholly Delightful
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Tom Petty: Rock God or Mere Mortal?
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20 Nov 2009 19:24
- NOVEMBER 20, 2009
'Failure Is Not an Option'
Obama and Holder's assault on due process.
On Wednesday we noted that President Obama defended his decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammad as a civilian by declaring that the outcome is preordained: KSM will be convicted and put to death. This appears to be not just bluster but the administration's actual position. Power Line's John Hinderaker notes that Attorney General Eric Holder, testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, made a similar statement under questioning from Sen. Herb Kohl, a Wisconsin Democrat:
Kohl: Mr. Holder, last week you announced that the department will bring to Guantanamo [sic in transcript] detainees accused of planning the 9/11 attacks to trial in federal court in New York, as we've talked about this morning. On Friday you said that you'd not have authorized prosecution if you were not confident that the outcome would be successful. However, many critics have offered their own predictions about how such a trial might well play out.
One concern we have heard from critics of your decision is that the defendants could get off on legal technicalities, in which case these terrorists would walk free. Does this scenario have any merit? If not, why? And in the worst case scenario that the trial does not result in a conviction, what would be your next steps?
Holder: Many of those who have criticized the decision--and not all--but many of those who have criticized the decision have done so, I think, from a position of ignorance. They have not had access to the materials that I have had access to.
They've not had a chance to look at the facts, look at the applicable laws and make the determination as to what our chances of success are. I would not have put these cases in Article III courts if I did not think our chances of success were not good--in fact, if I didn't think our chances of success were enhanced by bringing the cases there. My expectation is that these capable prosecutors from the Justice Department will be successful in the prosecution of these cases.
Kohl: But taking into account that you never know what happens when you walk into a court of law, in the event that for whatever reason they do not get convicted, what would be your next step? I'm sure you must have talked about it.
Holder: What I told the prosecutors and what I will tell you and what I spoke to them about is that failure is not an option. Failure is not an option. This--these are cases that have to be won. I don't expect that we will have a contrary result.
"Failure is not an option"? Is Eric Holder attorney general of the United States or some unctuous motivational speaker?
Kohl's question is highly pertinent, and Holder simply evaded it. No one is suggesting that failure to win and sustain a conviction is an "option," but it is a contingency for which it is shocking that the administration is, or at least claims to be, unprepared.
Further, Obama's and Holder's assurances that KSM will be convicted (and, according to the president, "put to death") make a mockery of due process. Nothing is more fundamental to America's criminal justice system than the presumption of innocence, and if terrorist detainees are to be treated as criminal defendants, they are entitled to that presumption.
For the sake of political expediency, Obama and Holder are refusing even to make a pretense of respect for due process. If KSM & Co. are convicted and put to death, America's critics and enemies will point to Obama and Holder's assurances in arguing that the defendants were subjected to sham justice. Nice work restoring America's moral standing, Mr. President.
'All of a Sudden, We Need Some New Office Buildings' Rep. Louie Gohmert, a conservative Texas Republican, is under fire from Democrats for comments on Fox News Channel concerning the trial of terrorist detainees in civilian court. "You've got millions of New Yorkers who would be put at risk by this," Politico quotes him as telling Neil Cavuto:
"For somebody like me who has put together the logistics of a court trial, you've got weak links all along the way from the jailers, the bailiffs, the clerks, the jurors, the judge, everybody in the courtroom, their families...You've got subways, tunnels, bridges all subject to terrorism."
Then, in an apparent reference to the billions in federal cash that flowed to the city after the Sept. 11 attack, he added: "And unless they're trying to create a new jobs bill by allowing terrorism back in New York then this is insane. And even that would be insane."
That last, sarcastic statement was too much for Rep. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat who serves as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. According to Politico, Van Hollen "thinks the GOP leadership needs to put Gohmert and other flamethrowers on a leash":
"Congressman Louie Gohmert's outrageous comments not only insults the victims of 9/11 and their families but they also offer the latest evidence that the Republican Party has been taken over by right wing extremists. House Republicans should immediately condemn Congressman Gohmert's offensive remarks.
"Whether they're attending 'tea party' rallies featuring Holocaust imagery, comparing health insurance reform to terrorism, or staying silent about plans to burn public officials in effigy, the tenor from House Republicans grows more alarming by the day."
Where might Gohmert have gotten the crazy idea of framing terrorism as a jobs program? Maybe from Paul Krugman, who had this to say on Sept. 14, 2001:
The direct economic impact of the attacks will probably not be that bad. And there will, potentially, be two favorable effects.
First, the driving force behind the economic slowdown has been a plunge in business investment. Now, all of a sudden, we need some new office buildings. As I've already indicated, the destruction isn't big compared with the economy, but rebuilding will generate at least some increase in business spending.
The difference between Gohmert and Krugman is that the latter actually believed that the destruction of property (never mind the murder of thousands) was good for the economy.
What an Enigma ABC News has the latest on the Fort Hood massacre defendant:
United States Army Major Nidal Hasan told a radical cleric considered by authorities to be an al-Qaeda recruiter, "I can't wait to join you" in the afterlife, according to an American official with top secret access to 18 e-mails exchanged between Hasan and the cleric, Anwar al Awlaki, over a six month period between Dec. 2008 and June 2009.
"It sounds like code words," said Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, a military analyst at the Center for Advanced Defense Studies. "That he's actually either offering himself up or that he's already crossed that line in his own mind."
If the Allies could break the German Enigma cipher in World War II, surely they can crack this code and learn what it was that Hasan was up to.
Losing Faith? "Global warming appears to have stalled," reports Der Spiegel. "Climatologists are puzzled as to why average global temperatures have stopped rising over the last 10 years":
At least the weather in Copenhagen is likely to be cooperating. The Danish Meteorological Institute predicts that temperatures in December, when the city will host the United Nations Climate Change Conference, will be one degree above the long-term average.
Otherwise, however, not much is happening with global warming at the moment. The Earth's average temperatures have stopped climbing since the beginning of the millennium, and it even looks as though global warming could come to a standstill this year. . . .
Even though the temperature standstill probably has no effect on the long-term warming trend, it does raise doubts about the predictive value of climate models, and it is also a political issue. For months, climate change skeptics have been gloating over the findings on their Internet forums. This has prompted many a climatologist to treat the temperature data in public with a sense of shame, thereby damaging their own credibility.
"It cannot be denied that this is one of the hottest issues in the scientific community," says Jochem Marotzke, director of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg. "We don't really know why this stagnation is taking place at this point."
Why in the world should one take seriously the claim that "the temperature standstill probably has no effect on the long-term warming trend"? That is presumably no more than a prediction made by the same people whose predictions are currently not panning out. This quote is telling:
The planet's temperature curve rose sharply for almost 30 years, as global temperatures increased by an average of 0.7 degrees Celsius (1.25 degrees Fahrenheit) from the 1970s to the late 1990s. "At present, however, the warming is taking a break," confirms meteorologist Mojib Latif of the Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences in the northern German city of Kiel. Latif, one of Germany's best-known climatologists, says that the temperature curve has reached a plateau. "There can be no argument about that," he says. "We have to face that fact."
If global warming is really the horror it has been made out to be, its absence ought to be a gift to be celebrated, not a "fact" that "we have to face." But global warmism isn't a scientific theory anymore; it is an ideology in which many people, including those who are supposed to be doing science, have invested their prestige and money.
Global Warming Ends, Oprah Hardest Hit "The effects of climate change have driven women in communities in coastal areas in poor countries like the Philippines into dangerous work, and sometimes even the flesh trade"--prostitution--"a United Nations official said," reports GMA News, a Filipino network.
But the absence of global warming has taken its toll on at least one rich woman, Oprah Winfrey, who is quitting her TV show. Deadline Hollywood reports:
She explained to insiders, "Why would anybody stay in Chicago? It's freezing here, and I have a mansion in Montecito that I haven't been able to enjoy."
The report adds that "Oprah and her people have long limited the time she spends in Montecito so she doesn't exceed the number of days mandating her to pay exorbitant taxes as a California resident."
The solution is obvious: Oprah could sell her Montecito mansion and move her show--and herself--to the Philippines, where it's nice and warm. Then she could hire some of the poor Filipino women to staff her show. The one drawback is that most guests would have to travel a lot farther to get to her studio in Manila than in Chicago. But actually, that's a plus. All that air travel would expand their carbon footprint, so that maybe the globe would end up warming again and Oprah could eventually return to Chicago.
Babes in Orbit
- "NASA's Shuttle Atlantis Headed for Delivery Stop at Space Station"--headline, National Aeronautic and Space Administration press release, Nov. 16
- "Astronaut Awaits Word of Baby's Delivery"--headline, CBSNews.com, Nov. 20
Maybe We Should Call it 'RatherCare' Instead of 'ObamaCare'
- "Memos on Bush Are Fake but Accurate, Typist Says"--headline, New York Times, Sept. 15, 2004
- "Mammogram Advice Accurate but Not 'Right' "--headline, MSNBC.com, Nov. 19, 2009
We Didn't Realize She Was Underage "John Kerry: My Daughter Was Not Legally Drunk"--headline, MSNBC.com, Nov. 19
Wouldn't It Be Easier on a Track? "Dobbs: Prez Run on Table"--headline, New York Post, Nov. 20
The Benefits of a High-Fiber Diet for Older Americans "In Minnesota, Favre Has Found a Rhythm With Rice"--headline, Sporting News, Nov. 19
Just Crab Cakes for Us, Please "The Blair 'Shark' or Van Rompuy 'Mackerel'?"--headline, AlJazeera.net., Nov. 18
An Especially Cruel Drive-By Shooting "Woman Disabled by Flu Shot on the Road to Recovery"--headline, FoxNews.com, Nov. 20
Don't Bother to TiVo It Unless You Have an Enormous Hard Drive "Winfrey to Announce Friday Show Will End in 2011"--headline, Associated Press, Nov. 19
Trinidad, Tobago--Wait, Who's the Third? "Miss Trinidad and Tobago 2008 Caught in Threesome Sex Tape Scandal"--headline, Asian News International (India), Nov. 19
Our So-Called Leaders Speak "Sting Claims He Once Confronted a Ghost"--headline, Daily Telegraph (London), Nov. 19
"Green Mountain Coffee and Arctic Cat Drop"--headline, The Wall Street Journal, Nov. 19
- "Fat Movie Monster Found in Bag of Popcorn"--headline, Age (Melbourne, Australia), Nov. 21
- "Researcher Says She Found Text on Shroud of Turin"--headline, , Nov. 20
- "Report: Katie Holmes Under Tom Cruise's Thumb"--headline, Boston Herald
Too Much Information "Pittsburgh Police Want to See Junk in Your Trunk"--headline, WTAE-TV Web site (Pittsburgh), Nov. 19
- "Man Accused of Using Squeegee to Attack Man in Fight Over Who Was First at Arkansas Gas Pump"--headline, Associated Press
- "Demi Moore Loses Part of Her Thigh in Airbrushing Accident"--headline, (London), Nov. 20
- "Sex Has Left the Bedroom"--headline, Toronto Sun
- "Dancer Rita Marcolo to Have Epileptic Fit on Stage"--headline, Times (London), Nov. 20
- "42nd Street Blows Away Theatre-Goer"--headline, Sarnia (Ontario) Observer
- "Organ Donors Key to Transplant Program's Sucess"--headline, CanWest NewsService
- "Texas Man Executed After Clemency Denied"--headline, MSNBC.com, Nov. 20
Breaking News From 1854 "Lincoln Holds Lead Over Potential Senate Opponents"--headline, Zogby.com, Nov. 19
- "Why Is I-66 So Congested? It's a Matter of Supply and Demand"--headline, Web site (Washington), Nov. 19
- "Spray Could Help Men in Bed"--headline, (London), Nov. 19
- "Local Authors Nominated in National Book Awards Don't Win"--headline, Kalamazoo (Mich.) Gazette
- "Panthers Steve Smith Not Hurt in Pre-Game Accident"--headline, WBT-AM Web site (Charlotte, N.C.), Nov. 19
- "Absentee Rate Not Soaring at Schools"--headline, Courier (Findlay, Ohio), Nov. 20
- "Belgians Proud but Concerned Over Van Rompuy Exit"--headline, Reuters, Nov. 20
- "White House Calls Obama's Asian Tour a Success"--headline,
Homer Nods John Kerry is the haughty, French-looking Massachusetts Democrat who by the way served in Vietnam. He promised to release his military records 1,755 days ago. They gave him a hat. He has the hat to this day. He has the hat. Because of a botched joke, a footnote to this effect was omitted in an item yesterday. We made an error. We regret the error to this day.
We regret the error.
(Carol Muller helps compile Best of the Web Today. Thanks to July Linett, Dan Galligan, Jarrett Skorup, Matt Scanlin, Michele Schiesser, Yehuda Spetner, Garth Godsman, Tom Bemis, Terry Holmes, Danny Vetter, Edward Tannen, Joe Fluet, John Bobek, Brendan Schulman, Gerry McCracken, John Light, Bruce Goldman, David Sweeney, Karen Bashore, Tim Willis, Scott Wright, Eli Bear, Marion Dreyfus, John Pinneo, Andrew Koenig, Dan Rittereiser, John Kneeland, Michael Ellard, Dagny Billings, Brian Warner, Lewis Sckolnick, Dave Undis, David Gerstman, John Williamson, Mike Eisner, Dave Heinekamp, Daniel Mullen, Mark Finkelstein, Marc Young, John Sanders, Roger Jones, David Hallstrom, Evan Slatis, Ed Thompson and Mit Spears. If you have a tip, write us at
556 comments
486 comments
House Attacks Fed, Treasury289 comments
277 comments
Democrats Woo Voters With New Benefits245 comments
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20 Nov 2009 01:16
- NOVEMBER 19, 2009
In Praise of Inexperience
A president who knew what he was doing could do lots more damage.
In an apparent effort to accelerate recent trends in its circulation, USA Today yesterday published an interview with John Kerry*, which concluded with the following exchange:
Q: We've talked about many challenges today, but in the current U.S. political system, do we have the ability to make the difficult, long-term choices that come with costs?
A: It takes leadership to change it. The president is offering leadership. But we're witnessing literally the most obstructionist Congress that I've seen in 26 years here. And the pressure that is put on our colleagues on the other side of the aisle not to work with us is just enormous. None of us has cornered the market on virtue, but we can have an honest debate and have a give-and-take. We don't have to lie about things and come up with phony studies that cloud the scene. But that's the nature of the battle, and we just have to keep plugging away.
First of all, remember when they kept telling us how smart Kerry was? The guy doesn't even know how to use the word "literally."
But more substantively, is Congress really "the most obstructionist" it has been during Kerry's tenure? If so, perhaps the answer is to elect more Republicans. The House currently has a 258-177 Democratic majority, which is as many Democrats as it has had at any time during Kerry's congressional tenure except the administration of George H.W. Bush, when the Democratic total reached as high as 267. The Senate Democratic caucus has 60 members, 58 of whom are formally Democrats, making it the most Democratic Senate since Kerry's arrival (the previous high was 57, in 1993-95).
If this Congress is unusually "obstructionist," it is because the president is giving it so much to obstruct. Massachusetts Democrats like Kerry may support a government health-care takeover and massive taxes on energy, but the American people on the whole--including those who elected many of the Democrats in those big majorities--do not. What really frustrates Kerry is not "obstructionism" but democracy.
An exchange at Monday's Intelligence Squared debate, on the proposition "Obama's economic policies are working effectively," provided a timely reminder of how important Congress is as a check on an ideologically blinkered administration. Five of the six debaters were liberal Obama supporters; they disagreed over the effectiveness, not the intent, of his policies. During the Q&A, an Obamist audience member expressed his frustration with the legislative branch:
I think very few people here would disagree that there's more that should be done, in terms of correcting the systemic problems that exist in this country. The question before the group though, is whether Obama's policies are working effectively. Which brings us back to the problem of dealing with Congress. Where you have many people, when you talk about, you know, making more green jobs, you have many people in Congress, far too many who deny that global warming is even a problem. . . . The question is, what would the panelists do, to try to implement the change that they're talking about, dealing with the Congress we presently have?
The question was fielded by the one panelist in favor of the proposition who has actually been part of the administration, Steve Rattner, the former "car czar":
I think this is in all seriousness a huge issue for the country to think about, and, you know, there's this great quote of Jefferson's where he says if I had to choose between a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I would choose newspapers without a government. And I say that not because I'm advocating newspapers but, the whole concept when you get to Washington of realizing what Jefferson had in mind when he designed or was part of designing our system, the Capitol's on the hill, the White House is down at the bottom. Article I of the Constitution is the Congress, it's not the executive branch.
The power that the Congress has is formidable and it was created in an era where we weren't going to be dealing with toxic assets and we weren't going to be dealing with regulatory reform, and we weren't going to be dealing with green jobs, and it's a real problem, I think as I've tried to argue that I think President Obama has done as effective a job as humanly possible in promoting a responsible agenda through Congress. But if you take something like reg reform--financial regulatory reform, not to use the jargon, it is mired in a series of intra-Congressional jurisdictional disputes over who would be in charge of this agency or that agency if you happen to pass something. It is a very broken system.
Allan Meltzer, the debate's lone conservative and a member of the team arguing against the proposition, made an obvious point:
Leadership consists of getting people to do the things that they don't want to do. It doesn't consist of blaming the Congress, and blaming past administrations, for problems that were there, when you came in.
Later, James K. Galbraith, who is liberal but was on Meltzer's team, faulted the administration for not dealing with Congress more effectively:
Yes, the Congress is an obstacle. I worked for the Congress for 10 years, I know how difficult it can be. I was there though, in 1981 when Ronald Reagan rolled the Congress, and I would like to see once in my professional life, once in my life, for someone on our side to do the same.
This all strikes us as quite revealing. Rattner, it should be noted, is no longer part of the administration and thus is not its official spokesman. But it doesn't seem that much of a stretch to impute to it his view that our constitutional order is "a very broken system" because lawmakers have too much power vis-à-vis the executive branch. This is not an ideological position but an institutional one: Presidents, and those in ideological sympathy with them, tend to think Congress has too much power, which means that when the White House changes parties, people like Rattner and the audience member can be expected to rediscover the virtue of checks on the executive branch.
But Galbraith is right that some presidents are more effective at overcoming congressional opposition than others. In recent times the master was Lyndon B. Johnson, who spent 12 years in the Senate, including 8 as Democratic leader, before becoming vice president in 1961. He persuaded his former colleagues to enact landmark civil rights laws, tax cuts, massive new domestic programs including Medicare and Medicaid, and the Gulf of Tonkin resolution.
The presidents elected since LBJ have served in Congress a total of 14 years (Richard Nixon, four in the House and two in the Senate; George H.W. Bush, four in the House; Obama, four in the Senate). Plenty of legislative veterans have been nominated for president, but all have lost: Hubert Humphrey (16 years), George McGovern (14 years), Gerald Ford (25 years), Walter Mondale (12 years), Bob Dole (35 years), Al Gore (16 years), John Kerry (20 years) and John McCain (26 years). Only in the 1988 presidential election was the winner a former congressman and the loser not.
If you like the Obama agenda, you probably wish he were more like LBJ. If not, you can be thankful (at least when it comes to domestic policy) that he's such a greenhorn. And if you've found yourself in strong disagreement with any president in the past 40 years, consider that there may be a wisdom in electing men who aren't masters of Congress.
Accountability Journalism
An Associated Press dispatch, written by Erica Werner and Richard Alonso-Zaldivar, compares the House and Senate ObamaCare bills. We'd like to compare this dispatch to the AP's dispatch earlier this week "fact checking" Sarah Palin's new book. Here goes:Number of AP reporters assigned to story: ObamaCare bills: 2 Palin book: 11
Number of pages in document being covered: ObamaCare bills: 4,064 Palin book: 432
Number of pages per AP reporter: ObamaCare bill: 2,032 Palin book: 39.3
On a per-page basis, that is, the AP devoted 52 times as much manpower to the memoir of a former Republican officeholder as to a piece of legislation that will cost trillions of dollars and an untold number of lives. That's what they call accountability journalism.
Great Moments in Socialized Medicine If women are discouraged from getting mammograms, as a U.S. government panel recently advised, some will die, but at least others will be spared the discomfort of getting mammograms. There isn't a similar upside to the following decision by Britain's socialized medical system, described by London's Daily Mail:
Liver cancer sufferers are being condemned to an early death by being denied a new drug on the Health Service, campaigners warn.
They criticised draft guidance that will effectively ban the drug sorafenib--which is routinely used in every other country where it is licensed.
Trials show the drug, which costs £36,000 [about $60,000] a year, can increase survival by around six months for patients who have run out of options.
The Government's rationing body, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) said the overall cost was "simply too high" to justify the 'benefit to patients'.
Buck up, liver cancer sufferers! "In Britain, the government itself runs the hospitals and employs the doctors," former Enron adviser Paul Krugman assures you. "We've all heard scare stories about how that works in practice; these stories are false."
Non-Continuity You Can't Disbelieve In "State media heralded President Barack Obama's maiden trip to China as a triumph, but ordinary Chinese were largely shielded by their government from his most critical remarks and activists were disappointed by the measured tone of those they did hear," the Associated Press reports from Beijing.
Here's an example of a headline from the Chinese state media, namely the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "Obama's China Trip Hailed as a Success."
The AP, meanwhile, reports that "one blogger even pined for the tough line taken by former President George W. Bush." Little wonder, given how mealy-mouthed Obama is:
Obama's strongest comments during the town hall were directed at China's Internet controls.
"I'm a big supporter of non-censorship," Obama said. "I recognize that different countries have different traditions. I can tell you that in the United States, the fact that we have free Internet--or unrestricted Internet access--is a source of strength, and I think should be encouraged." . . .
Chinese bloggers who saw it were grateful that he addressed censorship, but many zeroed in on what they considered Obama's waffling language.
"Learn English from Obama: Instead of saying 'I want to eat,' say 'I am a big supporter of non-hunger,' " Wang Pei, a writer based in eastern China's Hangzhou, twittered on Tuesday.
At least Wang Pei hasn't failed at not keeping his sense of non-humor.
Tug a Scarf, Go to Prison The Chicago Sun-Times reports on a "hate crime":
Amal Abusumayah was paying for groceries at the Jewel store at 17117 S. Harlem Ave. in Tinley Park on Nov. 7 when she felt a sharp tug on her headscarf. When she looked at who had pulled her hijab, she saw a woman who moments before had made a derogatory comment about Islam.
On Wednesday, Tinley Park police announced that Valerie Kenney, 54, has been charged with a hate crime, a felony that carries a possible sentence of up to three years in prison and a fine of up to $25,000.
There's no defending Kenney's alleged behavior, which sounds like disorderly conduct at least, but the charge and prospective penalty are grotesquely disproportionate unless there is more to the story. The Sun-Times adds that the Council of American Islamic Relations "has reached out to the FBI to pursue federal charges." Let's hope the FBI promises to get back to them as soon as terrorism and other violent crime have been eliminated.
Other Than That, the Story Was Accurate "An Op-Ed article on Wednesday, about the founders' debates about climate, misstated the status of the United States in the winter of 1783. It was an independent country, not a collection of colonies."--correction, New York Times, Nov. 19
But We Can't Waterboard KSM? "Afghans Want Obama to Hold Karzai's Feet to the Fire"--headline, Los Angeles Times, Nov. 19
Nutcrackers Also Available "Hillary Clinton Corkscrews Into Kabul"--headline, About.com, Nov. 18
Iron My Shirt! "Clinton Presses Karzai on Eve of Inauguration"--headline, New York Times, Nov. 19
It Beats Getting Thrown Into a Volcano "Virgin to Fly Above Global Warming Clouds"--headline, Courier Mail (Brisbane, Australia), Nov. 19
Don't Canadians Name Children at Birth? "Suspect in Killing of 10-Week-Old Northern B.C. Baby Too Young to Be Named"--headline, Province (Vancouver, British Columbia), Nov. 18
Reinventing the Wheel
- "Youths Burned in Science Experiment"--headline, Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, Va.), Oct. 28, 1983
- "8th-Graders Burned in Science Experiment"--headline, , Nov. 18, 2009
Licking and Driving Don't Mix "Five Licking Teens Hurt in Wreck; Two Listed Serious"--headline, Houston Herald, Nov. 15
'You're Really Special, K, but I Just Want to Be Friends'
"Kellogg Gets Lukewarm Response to Tender Offer"--headline, Dow Jones Newswires, Nov. 19
"Penney to Drop 'Big Book' Catalog"--headline, Chicago Tribune, Nov. 18- "Report: CIA 'Black Site' Found in Lithuania"--headline, FoxNews.com
- "Obama Campaign Director Found Among Those Waiting for Sarah Palin 'Going Rogue' Book Signing in Grand Rapids"--headline, Grand Rapids (Mich.) Press
Everything Seemingly Is Spinning Out of Control
- "Metro Flooding Tied to Nationwide Eggo Waffle Shortage"--headline, WXIA-TV Web site (Atlanta), Nov. 18
- " 'Strip Yahtzee' Game Leads to Muncie Woman's Arrest"--headline, Star Press (Muncie, Ind.), Nov. 19
- "Sarah Palin Gives Oprah Her Highest Ratings in Two Years"--headline, NewsBusters.org
- "Skuzzy Bubbles Are Filthy Little Pervs in Method Video"--headline, AdAge.com
- "Liberal Media Start to Criticize Obama's 'Kowtowing' to Dictators"--headline, NationalReview.com
News of the Tautological
- "Ship Is Pirate Target Again"--headline, Philadelphia Inquirer, Nov. 19
- "California Nudists Refuse to Put Clothes On"--headline, AOL Travel, Nov. 18
News You Can Use
- "Va. Officials: Avoid Eating Lake Gaston Walleye"--headline, WTOP-FM Web site (Washington), Nov. 18
- "Women 'Should Bare 40 Per Cent of Their Bodies to Attract Men' "--headline, Daily Telegraph (London), Nov. 17
- "Seinfeld: Marriage Is Like War"--headline, New York Post, Nov. 19
- "10 Reasons to Dislike the Belgians"--headline, Daily Telegraph, Nov. 18
- "Shaun Rogers Won't Confirm or Deny Interest in Lions"--headline, Detroit Free Press, Nov. 19
- "Water, Sewer Rates Unchanged"--headline, , Nov. 19
- "Digital Book Reader, Kindle, Now Available in Canada"--headline, National Post (Canada), Nov. 17
- "Movie Popcorn Still a Nutritional Horror, Study Finds"--headline, Los Angeles Times, Nov. 19
- "Another Obama Nominee Runs Into Tax Problems"--headline, , Nov. 18
Take My Wife--Please
Barbara Ann Radnofsky, a Democratic candidate for attorney general of Texas, is running on an unusual platform. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that she accuses the incumbent, Republican Greg Abbott, of outlawing marriage in the state.It seems that Abbott drafted a 2005 constitutional amendment intended to prevent same-sex marriage:
The amendment, approved by the Texas Legislature and overwhelmingly ratified by Texas voters, declares that "marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman." But the trouble-making phrase, as Radnofsky sees it, is Subsection B, which declares:
"This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage."
Radnofsky argues that since marriage itself is "identical or similar to marriage," the legal effect of the amendment is to prohibit the state from recognizing marriage.
There's no doubt that this is a clever argument, but we're not so sure it's a wise one. Has it occurred to Radnofsky that there may be a lot of people who favor such a measure but don't dare say so lest their wives find out?
(Carol Muller helps compile Best of the Web Today. Thanks to Evan Slatis, Robert Whittier, Bern Steves, Mark Fitzgerald, Brian Warner, Paul Clark, Bruce Goldman, John Bobek, Tom Wheatley, Walter Taylor, Brendan Schulman, Ray Girouard, Mark Kellner, Tim Carroll, Gregg Geil, Michael Bell, Chuck Hughes, Tim Willis, Steve Grohovsky, Ron Hilburn, Ronald Morris, Michele Schiesser, Doug Black, Abe Beyda, Eli Bear, Adam Flake, John Williamson, Merv Benson, Arlene Ross, Bill Briggs, Ronald Norton and Joe Perez,. If you have a tip, write us at
547 comments
Showdown Set for Health Bill468 comments
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19 Nov 2009 04:32
- NOVEMBER 18, 2009
The 'Diversity' Sham
At New York University, intellect gives way to ritualized emotion.
It has been 6½ years since the U.S. Supreme Court, in Grutter v. Bollinger, upheld the legality of racial discrimination in university admissions for the purpose of realizing "the educational benefits that flow from a diverse student body." Longstanding precedent requires the court to apply "strict scrutiny" to any claim justifying discrimination on the basis of race. Writing for a 5-4 majority, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor asserted that the court's "deference" to the "expertise" of the defendant in this case was sufficiently strict to meet this test.
But there is reason to doubt whether "diversity," as practiced by American higher education today, has any educational benefits at all--never mind whether those benefits are sufficient to justify discrimination. Whatever its benefits in theory, diversity in practice is often anti-intellectual, replacing reasoned debate with ritualized expressions of phony emotion.
A kerfuffle at New York University is a case in point. Last week, as we noted, Tunku Varadarajan of Forbes.com wrote a column meditating on the Fort Hood massacre, which, he noted, appears to have been a religiously motivated "act of messianic violence." (Disclosure: Varadarajan is a friend and former colleague of this columnist.)
In addition to his work in journalism, Varadarajan teaches at NYU's Stern School of Business, and his column set off predictable complaints from Muslim students and alumni. One alum, Haroon Moghul, wrote an essay at ReligionDispatches.org in which he accused Varadarajan of "hate-mongering." He wrote that Varadarajan's column had caused him "pain" and "feelings of marginalization," and the headline and subheadline described him as "shocked" by Varadarajan's writing.
Eventually the university president, John Sexton, was compelled to respond. While he correctly noted that it would be wrong for the university "to punish faculty officially for expressing such ideas," he also issued a declaration of disapproval:
A journalist and NYU clinical faculty member has written a piece for Forbes that many Muslims find offensive. I understand how they feel--I found it offensive, too. I am teaching Muslim students now, and I have taught them in the past; the portrayal of Muslims in the Forbes piece bears no resemblance to my experience; I disagree with the Forbes piece and think it is wrong.
I say all this because as president I have not foresworn the rights I have as a member of the NYU faculty to challenge an idea that I believe is erroneous.
Yesterday Rabbi Yehuda Sarna of NYU's Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life sent an "URGENT Letter" to his email list:
I am writing to urge you to join me today in "A Campaign Against Hate" celebrating diversity at NYU, commemorating the victims of the massacre at Fort Hood and responding to a recent article in Forbes Magazine entitled "Going Muslim". The event, dubbed "Harmonyu," is being spearheaded by the Islamic Center at NYU.
In my opinion, the article, written by an NYU professor, does not deal sensitively enough with the role and place of Muslims in America.
How's that for diversity? NYU's Jews and Muslims are ganging up on a Hindu and accusing him of promoting "hate"--an inflammatory charge anywhere, but especially on a university campus. Yet it's clear that Rabbi Sarna knows the charge is unjustified, since his actual criticism of Varadarajan's work--it "does not deal sensitively enough"--is so tepid.
Likewise, President Sexton's claim to have been offended by Varadarajan's article has no credibility. There's no doubt he was inconvenienced by it, and we expect he's none too happy with Varadarajan for that. But his statement "I found it offensive, too" is a ritualized expression of empathy, not to be mistaken for the real thing. And if you read the entire letter, you will find that in spite of Sexton's statement that he has "not foresworn" his right "to challenge an idea that I believe is erroneous," he offers no substantive argument to rebut Varadarajan's column.
This is how "diversity" works in practice: Intellectual contention is drowned out in a sea of emotion, much of it phony. Members of designated victim groups respond to a serious argument with "pain" and "shock" and accusations of "hate," and university administrators make a show of pretending to care.
At some campuses, administrators and faculty members actually do practice censorship. NYU, at least in this instance, is not the worst offender in this respect. But this sort of emotional frenzy is nonetheless inimical to the spirit of rational inquiry that universities are supposed to encourage. Every incident of this sort makes it clearer how the University of Michigan played Justice O'Connor and her colleagues for fools.
Worse Than Nixon "Americans who are troubled by the decision to send alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to New York for trial will feel better about it when he's put to death, President Barack Obama said Tuesday," Politico reports:
During a round of network television interviews conducted during Obama's visit to China, the president was asked about those who find it offensive that Mohammed will receive all the rights normally accorded to U.S. citizens when they are charged with a crime.
"I don't think it will be offensive at all when he's convicted and when the death penalty is applied to him," Obama told NBC's Chuck Todd.
Compare that with the following report, from Time magazine's Aug. 17, 1970, issue:
It was in Denver's Federal Building that President Nixon committed the startling gaffe of prejudging the case of Charles Manson. While complaining that the press had made Manson a glamorous hero, Nixon said: "Here was a man who was guilty, directly or indirectly, of eight murders without reason." For a lawyer who occasionally delivers homilies on legal propriety, this was a serious breach.
Attorney General John Mitchell, who was standing at Nixon's side, instantly recognized Nixon's error. "This has got to be clarified," he told Presidential Aide John Ehrlichman immediately afterward. Unhappily, what ensued was a series of errors compounded by instant communications. Startled reporters dashed to the pressroom, and within minutes, the bulletins were moving across the land. The statement was filmed and broadcast later on network television, with a clarification appended.
But the damage was already done. It was not until half an hour after Nixon spoke that Press Secretary Ron Ziegler reappeared before the newsmen. After some minutes of verbal fencing, Ziegler agreed that Nixon's words about Manson should be retracted. When Ziegler told Nixon what had happened, the President was surprised: "I said 'charged,' " he replied. During the 3½-hour flight back to Washington, Mitchell persuaded Nixon to put out a statement backing Ziegler up. It read in part: "The last thing I would do is prejudice the legal rights of any person in any circumstances. I do not know and did not intend to speculate as to whether or not the Tate defendants are guilty, in fact, or not."
Obama issued a Nixonian "clarification," as the Politico report notes:
When Todd asked Obama if he was interfering in the trial process by declaring that Mohammed will be executed, Obama, a former constitutional law professor, insisted that he wasn't trying to dictate the result.
"What I said was, people will not be offended if that's the outcome. I'm not pre-judging, I'm not going to be in that courtroom, that's the job of prosecutors, the judge and the jury," Obama said. "What I'm absolutely clear about is that I have complete confidence in the American people and our legal traditions and the prosecutors, the tough prosecutors from New York who specialize in terrorism."
But Obama's statement is considerably worse than Nixon's. Whereas Nixon merely opined that Manson was guilty, Obama prejudged the outcome of the trial and sentencing. Manson and his co-defendants were tried in state court, a venue where the president has no authority. By contrast, the prosecutors who will handle cases of KSM et al. ultimately answer to Obama.
Worse still, Obama was defending his own politically charged decision to try the defendants as civilians by offering the reassurance that the outcome is preordained. The president's claim amounts to an assertion that the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York is a kangaroo tribunal. If this is how the Obama administration views due process, heaven help any American who is charged with a federal crime.
Ghostreaders--II When we were in the eighth grade, a classmate did a book report on "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." But the teacher reduced her grade when, during her oral presentation, she said she "liked the music." He noted that she was supposed to be giving report on a book, not a record album.
We were reminded of this by Ana Marie Cox's "review" of Sarah Palin's new book, "Going Rogue," in yesterday's Washington Post, which includes this astonishing disclosure:
I cannot claim to have completely read "Going Rogue"--I had to skim the last 150 pages (or more than one-third). I only got the thing into my hands late Monday afternoon with a deadline of early evening. It's terrible, I know, but if I didn't read it all, neither can Sarah Palin claim to have completely written it.
Unless he's still alive, our eighth-grade English teacher is surely turning in his grave at the revelation that you no longer have to read a book to review it for one of the country's top newspapers.
Meanwhile, the reports that "the Associated Press laid off an undisclosed number of news employees Tuesday as part of the cooperative's yearlong plan to cut worldwide payroll expenses by 10 percent." Wait, the Associated Press didn't disclose to the Associated Press how many employees it fired? But it's a good thing they waited till yesterday or they might have had to make do with eight or nine reporters to "fact check" Palin's book.
Look for the Union Label Here's an inspiring story from the Morning Call of Allentown, Pa.:
In pursuit of an Eagle Scout badge, Kevin Anderson, 17, has toiled for more than 200 hours hours over several weeks to clear a walking path in an east Allentown park.
Little did the do-gooder know that his altruistic act would put him in the cross hairs of the city's largest municipal union.
Nick Balzano, president of the local Service Employees International Union, told Allentown City Council Tuesday that the union is considering filing a grievance against the city for allowing Anderson to clear a 1,000-foot walking and biking path at Kimmets Lock Park.
"We'll be looking into the Cub Scout or Boy Scout who did the trails," Balzano told the council.
Balzano said Saturday he isn't targeting Boy Scouts. But given the city's decision in July to lay off 39 SEIU members, Balzano said "there's to be no volunteers." No one except union members may pick up a hoe or shovel, plant a flower or clear a walking path.
Maybe if the SEIU joins forces with the gay-rights extremists, they can finally defeat the scourge of scouting.
Eat Your Heart Out, King Solomon The BBC reports that Honduran lawmakers have come up with an imaginative solution to a political problem:
Congress in Honduras will not vote on whether to restore ousted President Manuel Zelaya until after elections this month, a senior lawmaker said.
Congressional president Jose Alvedro Saavedra said Congress would meet in early December to decide if Mr Zelaya will be allowed to serve out his term.
Zelaya, who was legally removed from office in June for violating the country's constitution, is not eligible to run in the election. "His" term ends in January, so a December vote could put him back in office briefly as a lame duck, but to avoid any problems, perhaps the action could be made effective Feb. 1.
The Rich Are Not Americans "Americans don't want to shoulder the cost of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul themselves. They think the rich should pay for it."--Associated Press, Nov. 17
Life Imitates the Onion
- "No One Seems to Care That Area Man's Bike Was Stolen"--headline, Onion, Aug. 16, 2000
- "Indianapolis Man Shuns Family Car for Bicycle"--headline, Indianapolis Star, Nov. 18
The Onion Imitates Life
- "News Story: New Conservative Bible Will Eliminate 'Liberal' Text"--headline, Tennessean, Oct. 18
- "Area Man Passionate Defender of What He Imagines Constitution to Be"--headline, Onion, Nov. 14
And We Thought Seattle Slew "Washington, D.C., Wins V.D. Triple Crown--Leads Nation in Syphilis, Gonorrhea and Chlamydia Rates"--headline, CNSNews.com, Nov. 17
Talk About Setting Low Expectations "Obama: Job Creation Not Goal of Dec. 3 Jobs Forum"--headline, Associated Press, Nov. 18
And if You Believe That, She Can Get You a Deal on the Brooklyn Bridge "Devon to Sell Gulf of Mexico, International Assets, Expects Proceeds Up to $7.5B"--headline, Canadian Press, Nov. 16
Maybe They Should Give Bing a Try "In Amazon, a Frustrated Search for Cancer Cures"--headline, Reuters, Nov. 17
Questions Nobody Is Asking
- "Are Female Mountain Goats Sexually Conflicted Over Size of Mate?"--headline, University of Alberta press release, Nov. 17
- "R U a 'Sucker' 4 Edwards or Do U Howl 4 Jacob?"--headline, MSNBC.com
- "Has It Made You Happy, Being White?"--headline, Miami Herald, Nov. 18
Look Out Below! "College Drops Family Apartments"--headline, Billings (Mont.) Gazette, Nov. 18
- "Rare Crocs Found Hiding in Plain Sight in Cambodia"--headline, , Nov. 18
- "Woman Finds Cow in Pool"--headline, , Nov. 18
- "Heart Disease Found in Egyptian Mummies"--headline, The Wall Street Journal, Nov. 19
- "Colo. Man Comes Home, Finds Squatter in Underwear"--headline, Billings (Mont.) Gazette
"China Spanking Obama Is Health Care's Only Cure"--headline, New York Post, Nov. 17
Breaking News From 1968 "Black Power Has Arrived--With Some New Challenges"--headline, Associated Press, Nov. 18
Breaking News From 1978 "John Paul II Hopes to Make History"--headline, Tallahassee Democrat, Nov. 18
Breaking News From 1998 "White House Officials: Clinton Embarrassing Us"--headline, Arutz Sheva (Israel), Nov. 18
News Youths Can Use "Shooting Victim Urges Youths to 'Think First' "--headline, Indianapolis Star, Nov. 17
- "Midfielder Clark Unlikely to Re-Sign With Dynamo"--headline, Houston Chronicle
- "UNL Administrator Not Going to Illinois"--headline, Lincoln (Neb.) Journal Star
- "Americans Have Lackluster View of Government"--headline, NationalJournal.com, Nov. 17
- "Defense Says Killer Had Tough Childhood"--headline, El Paso Times, Nov. 17
Do Newspapers Need a Bailout? "Investigators in New York City raided circulation offices at some of the nation's largest newspapers Tuesday as part of a union corruption probe," the Associated Press reports:
Police officers working with the Manhattan district attorney's office searched circulation offices of The New York Times in Queens, the New York Post and the Daily News in Manhattan, and El Diario in Brooklyn, the official said, speaking to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
The reader who sent us this tip found this line funny: "Calls to the newspapers seeking information on whether the news operations were involved were not returned."
But c'mon, if you had one phone call, would you use it for that?
(Carol Muller helps compile Best of the Web Today. Thanks to Kasey Libby, Mark Van Der Molen, Anil Adyanthaya, John Sanders, Henry de Fiebre, Mikael van Loon, Ray Burnham, Bruce Goldman, Ed Lasky, Michele Schiesser, Jack Archer, Dan Stirling, Joe Perez, Curtis Almond, Ray Walton, Trey Miller, Don Stewart, Christopher Bellotti, Rod Pennington, Evan Slatis, Mordecai Bobrowsky, Ed Elverud, Marc Young, Chris Fountain, Abe Beyda, Ronald Morris, Doug Black, Jon Wolter, Steve Grohovsky, Thomas Mayer, Rob Slocum, Bob Sanchez, Merv Benson, John Minnick, John Williamson and John Light. If you have a tip, write us at
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17 Nov 2009 18:41
- NOVEMBER 17, 2009
The Fix Was In
If the White House decided months ago to move KSM to New York, why didn't we find out till last week?
New York's Gov. David Paterson is not happy with the White House's decision to bring Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other enemy combatants to New York for civilian trials, reports WCBS-TV:
"This is not a decision that I would have made. I think terrorism isn't just attack, it's anxiety and I think you feel the anxiety and frustration of New Yorkers who took the bullet for the rest of the country," he said.
Paterson's comments break with Democrats, who generally support the President's decision.
"Our country was attacked on its own soil on September 11, 2001 and New York was very much the epicenter of that attack. Over 2,700 lives were lost," he said. "It's very painful. We're still having trouble getting over it. We still have been unable to rebuild that site and having those terrorists so close to the attack is gonna be an encumbrance on all New Yorkers."
Paterson also said that the White House warned him six months ago this very situation would happen.
Whoa, hold on a second, Governor? The White House told you six months ago that they were going to put your constituents through this? Gee, thanks for letting us know.
Here's a question: If the White House made up its mind about this six months ago--that would be in May, roughly four months after President Obama's inauguration--why did it wait until last week to make the announcement? That it was the week after an election is bound to raise suspicions that the timing was politically motivated.
On Top of Everything Else, He Was an Unethical Doctor ABC News has a fascinating new detail on the investigation of Maj. Nidal Hasan, the alleged Fort Hood gunman:
Investigators believe Hasan's frustration over the failure of the Army to pursue what he regarded as criminal acts by U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan may have helped to trigger the shootings.
"The Army may not want to admit it, and you may not hear much about it, but it was very big for him," said one of the federal investigators on the task force collecting evidence of the crime.
His last effort to get the attention of military investigators came on Nov. 2, three days before his alleged shooting spree, according to the reports.
Colonel Anthony Febbo at Fort Hood reportedly told investigators he was twice contacted by Hasan, on Nov. 2 and a week earlier in October, about the question of whether he could legally provide information on "war crimes" he had learned in the course of psychiatric counseling he provided soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Col. Febbo told ABC News he could not comment because of the on-going investigation.
His supervisor in the Department of Psychiatry, Captain Naomi Surman, told investigators that Hasan raised similar issues with her in conversations in October, according to documents reviewed by ABC News.
Captain Surman told investigators that Hasan had formally contacted military prosecutors to report patients he was evaluating, according to people briefed on the exchange. She said Hasan signed his e-mails with "Praise Be to Allah." Legal analysts say psychiatrists are strictly bound by the rules of patient confidentiality except in cases where they might become aware of crimes about to be committed.
Put aside the Muslim stuff, a red flag that military personnel seem to have been carefully trained to ignore. Put aside even the bizarre accusations of "war crimes," which are the sort of thing that in an earlier age could have gotten you elected to the Senate from Massachusetts and even nominated as president by the Democrats. If Surman's report is accurate, a physician under her supervision was blatantly violating medical ethics. Why in the world didn't she report him for that before he allegedly went on his murder spree?
Death Panels Already? ObamaCare itself is still just a nightmare, but already questions are being raised--by Reuters, no less--about the possibility of patients' being denied care for political reasons:
Cancer experts fear new U.S. breast imaging guidelines that recommend against routine screening mammograms for women in their 40s may have their roots in the current drive in Washington to reform healthcare.
Critics of the guidelines, issued on Monday by the U.S. Services Task Force, an independent panel sponsored by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Quality, say the new guidelines are a step backward and will lead to more cancer deaths.
Len Lichtenfeld of the American Cancer society says his group still recommends mammograms for 40-something women:
But he is worried that women will become so confused by the conflicting recommendations they will stop getting mammograms altogether. "Frankly, from our point of view that would be the worst possible outcome," Lichtenfeld said in a telephone interview.
Lichtenfeld and other doctors are worried that insurance companies and government insurers will seize on the recommendations as a way to control rising health costs.
"What is going to happen is insurers are going to say, 'The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force doesn't support screening. We're not going to pay for it,'" said Dr Daniel Kopans, professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School and a senior radiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
"There were no new data to assess. One has to wonder why these new guidelines are being promulgated at a time when healthcare is under discussion and I am afraid their decision is related to saving money rather than saving lives," Kopans said.
If the new advice is medically unsound and motivated by cost-cutting, it's especially insidious, because it's our understanding that mammograms are not pleasant, so that many women presumably will be happy to avoid them. (As a female friend quips, "They couldn't have told me this nine years ago to spare me from all those years of unnatural squeezing?")
One of the advantages of a market-based medical system is that countervailing interests keep one another honest. Sure, the insurance companies want to cut costs, but providers of medical goods and services have incentives that militate in the opposite direction--and, one hopes, disinterested government regulators keep everyone honest. In a socialized health-care system, by contrast, the government is all those special interests, and you can forget about counting on it to keep itself honest.
Speaking of which, check out this report in the Los Angeles Times:
Congressional Democrats' intensifying efforts to pay for their healthcare overhaul and provide more relief for consumers are threatening to unravel a White House deal with the pharmaceutical industry and turn one of Washington's most powerful lobbies against the legislation.
Drug makers, which have already spent $110 million lobbying Congress this year, are preparing to make a stand in the Senate, where Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is working to unveil a healthcare bill this week.
And senior administration officials, including White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, are warning members of Congress not to antagonize the deep-pocketed industry at a time when a major victory appears to be within reach, according to Democratic aides.
Do you trust your health to the Obama administration? To the drug companies? If you answered "yes" to both these questions, you're even crazier than if you answered "yes" to one of them.
Big Three Card Monte The headline on the New York Times piece linked atop this item originally read, "G.M., Citing Progress, Reports Loss of $1.15 Billion." Perhaps aghast at the notion that this might bring a modicum of joy into readers' lives, some editor changed it to "G.M. Shows Signs of Recovery Despite New Loss":
G.M. said Monday that while it was still losing money, it had stabilized enough that it could take an important symbolic step and begin returning some of the $50 billion that the federal government provided to help give it a second chance.
The Times acknowledges that "paying back government loans hardly constitutes a clean bill of health for G.M. The money it is returning to the government is simply part of the loan that the company does not need." That explanation is tautological, but the elaborates:
The repayment of government loans will begin with a $1.2 billion installment in December. GM said it plans to repay the debt over the next two years and possibly as early as next year.
That money will come from a $16.4 billion contingency fund set up by the U.S. government in case sales worsened or other problems cropped up. The seemingly circular payment plan was already stirring controversy in Congress.
"What is the logic in repaying government loans with taxpayer dollars?" asked Brooke Buchanan, a spokeswoman for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
But hang on a second. Who exactly is paying the money back? "The government owns 61 percent of the company," the AP notes. So the government is paying back a loan from the government with money lent to it by the government. It seems like a zero-sum game, but we suspect the taxpayers are going to end up footing the bill somehow.
- "In terms of the burden that I feel, I am extraordinarily honored to be put in the position of President. And as my wife always reminds me when I complain that I'm working too hard, she says, you volunteered for this job. And so you--there's a saying--I don't know if there's a similar saying in China--we have a saying: 'You made your bed, now you have to sleep in it.' And it basically means you have to be careful what you ask for because you might get it."--President Obama, speaking to communist students in China
- "I'm telling you, these folks, they got a lot of nerve. They leave this big mess and suddenly they're complaining about how fast we're cleaning it up."--President Obama, speaking to New Jersey Democrats, Oct. 21
"Russian Cruise Ship Carrying 100 Tourists Stuck in Antarctic Ice"--headline, FoxNews.com, Nov. 17
57 States Are Enough "Obama: US Not to Contain China"--headline, China Daily, Nov. 16
In Another Amazing Coincidence, Lou Gehrig Died of Lou Gehrig's Disease "Survey: Israel Best Country for Israelis"--headline, Jerusalem Post, Nov. 16
First Vitter, Then Spitzer, Now This "Breaking: Biden Escort Involved in Wreck"--headline, Albuquerque Journal, Nov. 16
'And Why Am I Wearing This Funny Uniform?' "Police See Burglars Loot Store but Don't Know Who They Are"--headline, Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, Va.), Nov. 17
'Hier, Oleksandr, Haben Sie Einige Schnitzel mit Ihre Hühnchen Kiew' "Austria Ready to Support Enlargement of Ukrainians to Receive Free EU Visas"--headline, Kyiv Post, Nov. 17
Does He Have Prince Albert in a Can? "Body Discovered in Prince George's Trash Compactor"--headline, Washington Post, Nov. 17
Man Bites Parrot, Parrot Kills Man--Now "Police: Parrot Bites Man, Man Kills Parrot"--headline, Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune, Nov. 14
"Man Found Elsewhere After Police Standoff"--headline, Arizona Daily Star (Tucson), Nov. 17
- "Venezuelan Drugs Boeing Crashed in Mali: UN"--headline, Agence France-Presse
- "Rally at Cleveland Bodies House Thanks Coroner"--headline, , Nov. 17
"Rotting Deer Carcasses in Pa. Yard Raise Stink"--headline, Associated Press, Nov. 17
Breaking News From 1969 "AP NewsBreak: Mass. Senator Driven Home by Cops"--headline, Associated Press, Nov. 16
Breaking News From 1976 "US Supreme Court Rules Killer Can Be Executed"--headline, Arizona Daily Star (Tucson), Nov. 17
- "Priceline.com Says Airfares Vary Around Holidays"--headline,
- "Recession Solution: Just Pretend World Ends in 2012"--headline, Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, Va.), Nov. 14
- "How to Make a Hermaphrodite"--headline,
- "Another Cigarette Tax Hike in Ky. Unlikely"--headline, Lexington Herald-Leader
- "UAlbany Mascot Costume Swiped"--headline, Times Union (Albany, N.Y.), Nov. 16
- "Hoffman 'Unconcedes' in N.Y.-23 House Race"--headline, TheHill.com
- "Breast Cancer Survivors Back Mammograms"--headline, ABCNews.com, Nov. 17
- "Atlantis Carries Canadian Trees Into Space"--headline, CBC.ca, Nov. 17
The Education of Roger Cohen Remember when Roger Cohen of the New York Times had the sudden insight that the mad mullahs who run Iran were a bunch of theocratic thugs? This after he had been busy sneering at those of us who figured it out 30 years ago.
Well, Cohen has learned another lesson! Back in March, in a column called "The Fierce Urgency of Peace," he urged President Obama to "recast the failed American approach to Israel-Palestine." He cited a report by a group of mostly anti-Israel "foreign policy mandarins," which he said "should become an essential template," although Cohen faulted the mandarins for being less pro-Hamas than he was.
In a column today, "A Mideast Truce," Cohen suddenly turns realistic:
I've grown so pessimistic about Israel-Palestine that I find myself agreeing with Israel's hard-line foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman: "Anyone who says that within the next few years an agreement can be reached ending the conflict simply doesn't understand the situation and spreads delusions."
That's the lesson of early Obama. The president tried to rekindle peace talks by confronting Israel on settlements, coaxing Palestinians to resume negotiations, and reaching out to the Muslim world. The effort has failed.
A simpler way of formulating this lesson would be: Don't listen to Roger Cohen. Though we must say, we find this advice perversely attractive:
Obama, who has his Nobel already, should ratchet expectations downward. Stop talking about peace.
Not a bad idea, and it would have the added benefit of serving the Norwegian Nobel Committee right.
(Carol Muller helps compile Best of the Web Today. Thanks to Al Dubinsky, Nathan Wirtschafter, Michele Schiesser, Rosie Dorce, Michael Segal, John Hoh, John Bobek, Peter Sprigg, Matt Irving, Rob Slocum, James Croak, Eric Stewart, Daniel Foty, Doug Jeffreys, Michael Throop, Brian Warner, Eli Bear, Arthur Steinmetz, Jim Criswell, Ronald Morris, Skip King, Doug Black, Peter Huntsman, John Williamson, Lewis Sckolnick, Laurance VanMeter, Chris Wenzler, Moses Lambert, Paul Gross, Ethel Fenig, John Lord, Ed Lasky, Jared Silverman and James Dooley. If you have a tip, write us at
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Firms Get Creative in Hiring
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In RV Market, Thor Bests Rivals
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'The Americans' Revisited
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Percussion Moves to Center Stage
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Exit Plan Critical to Afghan Buildup
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Rise in Office Robberies Worries Workers
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America's Newest Land Baron: FDIC
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In Palin Tour, No Sign of 2012 Run
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Ten Questions on the Housing Market
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Smokers Quit With Computer's Help
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Chicago's Camera System Is Everywhere
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Firms Get Creative in Hiring
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In RV Market, Thor Bests Rivals
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Review: Sarah Palin's 'Going Rogue'
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17 Nov 2009 03:04
- NOVEMBER 16, 2009
How Code Pink Supports the Troops
A "peace" group appeals to the authority of a mass murderer.
"We support our troops when they shoot their officers," read a banner held aloft by some "antiwar" protesters back in the spring of 2003. Well, jejune anarchists have as much right to free speech as the rest of us, and anyway, surely they were just being provocative. They don't really believe that, do they?
Don't be so sure. On Veterans Day, six days after the Fort Hood massacre, a group that styles itself Code Pink: Women for Peace issued a statement urging President Obama not to send more troops to Afghanistan. It began as follows:
This Veterans Day, our hearts ache for the soldiers and their families affected by the recent shootings at Ft. Hood. Our hearts also ache for the soldiers and their families who continue to be affected by war in Iraq and Afghanistan on a daily basis. Now more than ever, CODEPINK is committed to helping to heal the hearts of those touched by war, and doing whatever we can to bring our troops home.
(Hat tip: BigGovernment.com.)
It's bad enough to draw a moral equivalence between professional soldiers, who volunteer to risk their lives in defense of their country, and murder victims. But it gets much worse:
Our soldiers clearly need more care; the last thing they need is to be put into more harm's way. Even US military officers think so--Matthew Hoh resigned from the Foreign Service in protest of the lack of clear mission and achievable results in Afghanistan, and of course the Ft. Hood shooter was a Major who did not wish to be deployed to Afghanistan.
We have read a lot about the background of the alleged killer, Nidal Hasan, and we don't know of any basis on which to think he agreed with Code Pink's stated position that "our soldiers clearly need more care." In any case, mowing them down in cold blood would seem an odd way to give voice to such a view. Yet the Code Pink ladies are eager to have us believe that the killer is a kindred spirit. They think that imputing their opinions to him strengthens their case via an appeal to authority: "Even US military officers think so."
This isn't precisely the same as the banner we cited atop this item. But Code Pink's motto could be: "Our officers support Code Pink when they shoot their troops."
The Return of 9/11 "Giuliani to Run for President of 9/11," read a February 2007 headline in the Onion. Rudy Giuliani did run for the Republican presidential nomination, was eliminated quickly, and has hardly been heard from since last year's Republican National convention. Until this weekend, that is, when, as Politico notes, he was a guest on three of the Sunday morning talk shows.
You have to wonder if the Obama administration and its supporters bothered to think through the implications of their decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other enemy combatants as civilians. An immediate effect, and one that will only be strengthened by an actual trial or trials, is to bring 9/11 back into the public consciousness. That can't be good for President Obama.
How likely is it that someone with Obama's inexperience and cushiony views on foreign policy would have won a presidential election held shortly after 9/11, or even in 2004? The public is willing to tolerate Obama's gentler approach to terrorism and his focus on domestic policy at the expense of national security only because the memory of 9/11 has come to seem distant--so distant, in fact, that Jacob Heilbrunn, writing in the New York Times, calls it a "myth."
For this complacency, somewhat ironically, Obama owes the Bush administration credit: for successfully preventing any major attack on U.S. soil between Sept. 12, 2001, and Jan. 20, 2009, and also for keeping terrorists at Guantanamo, where they have been out of sight and largely out of mind.
In addition, the more dramatically the Obama administration departs from past antiterror policies, the more the public will be inclined to blame it should there be another terrorist attack--especially if, God forbid, terrorists use the trial as an occasion to hit New York. The Wall Street Journal reports that former attorney general Michael Mukasey, who presided over the criminal trial in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, warned of such a possibility at a Federalist Society talk last week.
The decision to try KSM & Co. as civilians drew predictable applause from the American Civil Liberties Union and other civil libertarians. But they should be careful what they wish for. From a criminal-justice standpoint, there are many irregularities about these cases, not least the fact that the government concedes (wrongly in our view, but that and a dollar will buy you a cup of coffee) that some of the defendants, including KSM, were "tortured" by its agents.
Yet the political pressure for a conviction will be immense. "Anything short of slamdunk convictions will empower the president's critics," opines Devlin Barrett of the Associated Press. Not only that, but an acquittal would put the administration in the position of having either to free a dangerous terrorist or to hold indefinitely someone who has been acquitted--either way, a disastrous failure for the administration's antiterror policies.
The judiciary will not be immune to these pressures. No trial judge will want to be known as the Lance Ito of 9/11. More importantly, appeals judges--including Supreme Court justices--will surely hesitate to let KSM off on a technicality.
But one man's technicality is another's violation of due process; and the corollary of treating KSM like ordinary criminals is treating ordinary criminals like KSM. This column approves of aggressive interrogation to gather intelligence from terrorists, but there is little doubt that some of the methods that were used would have been abusive had they been applied by law-enforcement agents to domestic criminal suspects.
When appellate courts decide questions of law, they set precedents for future cases. If they make allowances for the exigencies of the war on terror in order to uphold convictions of KSM and his associates, it could end up diminishing the rights of ordinary criminal defendants. That's why the smart civil-libertarian position is to oppose trying terrorists as civilians.
GhostreadersIt's said that Sarah Palin had help writing her new book, "Going Rogue." Not nearly as much help, though, as the Associated Press's Calvin Woodward had reading it. Woodward's byline appears on a Friday dispatch titled "FACT CHECK: Palin's Book Goes Rogue on Some Facts," but at the bottom we find the following:
AP writers Matt Apuzzo, Sharon Theimer, Tom Raum, Rita Beamish, Beth Fouhy, H. Josef Hebert, Justin D. Pritchard, Garance Burke, Dan Joling and Lewis Shaine contributed to this report.
Woodward, Apuzzo, Theimer, Raum, Beamish, Fouhy, Hebert, Pritchard, Burke, Joling and Shaine manage to find a grand total of six "errors," but some of them aren't errors at all. Example:
PALIN: Says she made frugality a point when traveling on state business as Alaska governor, asking "only" for reasonably priced rooms and not "often" going for the "high-end, robe-and-slippers" hotels.
THE FACTS: Although she usually opted for less-pricey hotels while governor, Palin and daughter Bristol stayed five days and four nights at the $707.29-per-night Essex House luxury hotel (robes and slippers come standard) for a five-hour women's leadership conference in New York in October 2007. With air fare, the cost to Alaska was well over $3,000.
So they begin by conceding the point that "she usually opted for less-pricey hotels," then come up with exactly one example to the contrary--which would have contradicted an assertion that she "never" stays in pricey hotels but is entirely consistent with the claim that she didn't do so "often."
Here's another example of Woodward, Apuzzo, Theimer, Raum, Beamish, Fouhy, Hebert, Pritchard, Burke, Joling and Shaine's work:
PALIN: Welcomes last year's Supreme Court decision deciding punitive damages for victims of the nation's largest oil spill tragedy, the Exxon Valdez disaster, stating it had taken 20 years to achieve victory. As governor, she says, she'd had the state argue in favor of the victims, and she says the court's ruling went "in favor of the people."
THE FACTS: That response is at odds with her reaction at the time to the ruling, which resolved the case by reducing punitive damages for victims to $500 million from $2.5 billion. Palin said then she was "extremely disappointed" and it was "tragic" so many fishermen and families put their lives on hold waiting for the decision.
Again, what's the contradiction? She was pleased that the decision finally came and that the plaintiffs got some relief but unhappy that it took so long and that the award wasn't greater.
The only case in which Woodward, Apuzzo, Theimer, Raum, Beamish, Fouhy, Hebert, Pritchard, Burke, Joling and Shaine's version of "THE FACTS" facially contradicts Palin's is the one in which she claimed to have "ended all such arrangements between lobbyists for an oil-pipeline deal and the governor's office," when according to Woodward, Apuzzo, Theimer, Raum, Beamish, Fouhy, Hebert, Pritchard, Burke, Joling and Shaine, "the leader of her own pipeline team was a former lobbyist for a subsidiary of TransCanada, the company that ended up winning the rights to build the pipeline."
Our favorite, though, is this one:
PALIN: "Was it ambition? I didn't think so. Ambition drives; purpose beckons." Throughout the book, Palin cites altruistic reasons for running for office, and for leaving early as Alaska governor.
THE FACTS: Few politicians own up to wanting high office for the power and prestige of it, and in this respect, Palin fits the conventional mold. But "Going Rogue" has all the characteristics of a pre-campaign manifesto, the requisite autobiography of the future candidate.
To be sure, the suspicion that Palin is more ambitious than she admits is an entirely reasonable one. But it's only a suspicion, not a FACT, unless the AP sent its reporters inside Palin's brain. And if Palin's brain is big enough to house Woodward, Apuzzo, Theimer, Raum, Beamish, Fouhy, Hebert, Pritchard, Burke, Joling and Shaine, she's a lot smarter than anyone knew.
For a less partisan take on Palin's book, see Melanie Kirkpatrick's review in The Wall Street Journal.
Afghan April Fool President Obama has finally made up his mind, delivering the following statement at the White House this morning:
Today, I'm announcing a comprehensive, new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan. And this marks the conclusion of a careful policy review, led by Bruce, that I ordered as soon as I took office. My administration has heard from our military commanders, as well as our diplomats. We've consulted with the Afghan and Pakistani governments, with our partners and our NATO allies, and with other donors and international organizations. We've also worked closely with members of Congress here at home. And now I'd like to speak clearly and candidly to the American people.
Psych! Obama did say this, but not this morning. Rather, it was on March 27, just four days before April Fool's Day. Back in the present, he's still voting "present."
Is There Anything He Can't Do? "In First Visit to China, Obama Walks a Tightrope"--headline, Associated Press, Nov. 15
Two Papers in One!
- "The argument against unions--that they unduly burden employers with unreasonable demands--is one that corporate America makes in good times and bad. . . . The real issue is whether enhanced unionizing would worsen the recession, and there is no evidence that it would. There is a strong argument that the slack labor market of a recession actually makes unions all the more important."--editorial, New York Times, Dec. 29, 2008
- "The New York Times News Service will lay off at least 25 editorial employees next year and will move the editing of the service to a Florida newspaper owned by The New York Times Company. . . . The plan for the news service calls for The Gainesville Sun, whose newsroom is not unionized and has lower salaries, to take over editing and page design."--news story, New York Times, Nov. 13, 2009
(Hat tip: .)
Two Presidents in One!
- "Mr. Obama used the forum at Shanghai's Museum of Science and Technology to make a plea for a free flow of information, saying it makes societies stronger and holds political leaders accountable. People in positions of power may bristle at criticism, he said, but open criticism 'makes our democracy stronger, and it makes me a better leader because it forces me to hear opinions that I don't want to hear.' "--The Wall Street Journal, Nov. 16
- "Speaking privately at the White House on Monday with a group of mostly liberal columnists and commentators, including Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann of MSNBC and Maureen Dowd, Frank Rich and Bob Herbert of The New York Times, Mr. Obama himself gave vent to sentiments about [Fox News Channel], according to people briefed on the conversation."--, Oct. 23
Life Imitates 'South Park'
- "Cartman and Jimmy come up with the funniest joke of all time."--episode description, "Fishsticks," aired April 8
- "Joe Biden Serves Fish Sticks to Homeless"--headline, FreeRepublic.com
We're Glad He Landed on His Feet
- "Lou Dobbs to Quit CNN"--headline, New York Times Web site, Nov. 11
- "Dobbs Takes Center Stage in Navy's Victory"--headline, Washington Times, Nov. 15
We Blame Global Warming "Global Warming Is Not Our Fault, Say Most Voters in Times Poll"--headline, Times (London), Nov. 14
Be Careful on Thanksgiving "Turkey 'Could Store Iran Uranium' "--headline, BBC Web site, Nov. 14
Hang Down Your Head, Tom Dooley "Kingston Trio Bound Over to Circuit Court in Racial Beating Case"--headline, Bay City (Mich.) Times, Nov. 13
Here's a New One
- "Detroit Lions Running Out of Ways to Lose"--headline, Bleacher Report
- "No Proof of Lions in Wahoo Area"--headline, Omaha World-Herald, Nov. 15
Unpromising Methods for Deterring Crime
- "Ugandan Official Suggests Caning Dead Bodies"--headline, , Nov. 14
- "Rape Counseling Threatened"--headline, Boston Herald, Nov. 15
Still Amazing That It Survived the Jump "Horse Shot in Head, Left to Die Near Parachute"--headline, Denver Post, Nov. 13
Woman Bites Shark--Now "Woman Bitten by Shark While Surfing"--headline, South Florida Sun Sentinel, Nov. 13
Blind Dog Searches for Family--Now "Rochester Family Searching for Blind Dog"--headline, State Journal-Register (Springfield, Ill.), Nov. 13
Pig Abuses Employees--Now That Would Be News "Undercover Video Shows Pig Farm Employees Allegedly Abusing Pigs"--headline, FoxNews.com, Nov. 16
"Can Oprah Winfrey and Sarah Palin Save Each Other?"--headline, Politico.com, Nov. 16
"LeBron to Drop Number for Jordan"--headline, Sports Illustrated Web site, Nov. 13
It's Always in the Last Place You Look "Found 3000 Year Old Sword by the Roadside"--headline, Norway Post, Nov. 16
- "Ryan Miller Stands Tell for Sabres in Shootout"--headline, Detroit News, Nov. 14
- "Hot Line for Those Who Fled Ohio Bodies Suspect"--headline, , Nov. 16
- "Insurance Options Change a Must"--headline, Omaha World-Herald, Nov. 16
- "Putin Wins Respect at Hip-Hop Party"--headline, Reuters, Nov. 13
- "How the Nazis Stole Christmas"--headline, Der Spiegel, Nov. 13
- "Humans Still Evolving as Our Brains Shrink"--headline, LiveScience.com, Nov. 13
- "Hidden Danger Lurks in Glass Topped Tables"--headline, KIRO-TV Web site (Seattle), Nov. 13
- "The New Wave of Female Firebrands Striking Fear Into Liberal America"--headline, Observer (London), Nov. 15
- " 'Butchered Man Used for Kebabs' "--headline, Sun (London), Nov. 15
- "Global Warming Brightens the Outlook for British Wine"--headline, Der Spiegel, Nov. 13
"Burner May Have Caused Kitchen Fire"--headline, Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Nov. 15
- "Sorry, Darling, I Can't Do the Vacuuming. It Might Damage My Sperm Count: The Best Excuse Yet for Men Not to Do the Housework . . ."--headline, Daily Mail (London), Nov. 15
- "In Mating Season, How to Avoid a Date With a Deer"--headline, Baltimore Sun, Nov. 16
- " 'You Can Eat an Extra Cheeseburger a Day'--Say Diet Experts"--headline, Daily Mail, Nov. 15
- "McDonald's Advertises for Staff to Work at Guantanamo Bay"--headline,
- "Losing a Job Could Never Be Sweeter"--headline, Warwick (R.I.) Beacon, Nov. 12
- "Water Utility Has No Plans to Increase Rates"--headline, El Paso Times, Nov. 16
- "Geeky 'Tweeters' to Report on Space Shuttle Launch"--headline, Associated Press, Nov. 15
- "Newspaper: Stimulus Brings Few Private-Sector Jobs"--headline, Associated Press, Nov. 15
- "Obama's Swelling Ego"--headline, Boston Globe, Nov. 14
It Ain't Over Till It's Ova The New York Times reports that the "latest casualties" of "global warming" are leatherback turtles from Costa Rica. But it turns out what's really endangering them is the metric system:
Sea turtles are sensitive to numerous effects of warming. They feed on reefs, which are dying in hotter, more acidic seas. They lay eggs on beaches that are being inundated by rising seas and more violent storm surges.
More uniquely, their gender [sic] is determined not by genes but by the egg's temperature during development. . . .
If the sand around the eggs hits 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit), the gender balance shifts to females, Mr. Drews said, and at about 32 degrees (89.6 Fahrenheit) they are all female. Above 34 (93), "you get boiled eggs," he said. . . .
Today egg collecting is illegal in Costa Rica, but poaching is still common in many towns.
Whereas every American knows the boiling point is 212 degrees, apparently in Costa Rica, which still uses the metric system, confused cooks try to boil eggs at either 34 or 93 degrees, either of which is far too cold. No wonder they give up and resort to poaching.
(Carol Muller helps compile Best of the Web Today. Thanks to Curtis Frantz, Brian Lee, David Gerstman, Jim Beach, Tim Cook, Derek Rishmawy, Jeffrey Sadow, Evan Slatis, Danny Vetter, John Sarna, Kyle Kyllan, Brian Warner, Chuck Sperling, Don Stewart, James Foster, Jeff Meling, Ed Lasky, Nick Kasoff, Andrew Pietila, Bruce Goldman, Terry Holmes, Graham Storey, Stan Dluzin, Moses Lambert, Lewis Sckolnick, John Bobek, Kevin Bloom, David Panzer, Jose Siry, Thomas Ryan, Michele Schiesser, Daniel Foty, Bill Briggs, Rob Slocum, Robert Elworth, John Alder, Jack Archer, Robert Godwin, Michael Ellard, Daniel Mullen, Thomas Mayer, Bob Walsh, Karh Ahnell, Ryan Larkin, Joseph Spillman, Ross Firestone, Stan Obenhaus, John Williamson, Monty Krieger, Michael Segal and Dennis Powell. If you have a tip, write us at
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