Confessions Of A Political Junkie

www.erickerickson.org

2003-12-13T22:58:00.000-05:00

The new site for Confessions Of A Political Junkie

IT IS DONE

2003-12-09T19:00:00.000-05:00

Begin making your way to www.erickerickson.org

Moving

2003-12-09T18:05:00.000-05:00

Well, I've made progress on getting Movable Type installed on my site. But, I can't view my entries. Any readers have any ideas?

John Edwards

2003-12-09T16:16:00.000-05:00

See, I'm not the only one to think Edwards still has a shot.

Again, Frustrating

2003-12-09T15:57:00.000-05:00

Frustration Sets In

2003-12-09T15:56:00.000-05:00

Well, I have spent more time out of the work day than I should trying to get this transferred over to my website. All to no avail. Any suggestions?

A last shot

2003-12-09T15:39:00.000-05:00

Please ignore these.

Damn

2003-12-09T14:55:00.000-05:00

This thing is starting to piss me off. Any ideas, tips, HELP!!!

trying again

2003-12-09T14:29:00.000-05:00

Alrighty

2003-12-09T14:25:00.000-05:00

I'm going to testing this FTP protocol again. Please stand by.

The Hard Truth

2003-12-09T12:12:00.000-05:00

Let's look at who now has a shot at the Democrat nomination, given the Gore endorsement and othe recent events (people in categories listed from most likely to get nominated to least likely):

Probably: Dean Maybe: Gephardt Edwards (don't underestimate the trial lawyers and southern strategy) Clark No Way In Hell: Kerry Lieberman Marvin the Martian Sharpton Mosely Braun

There you have it. The only way for Dean to get knocked off is for Gephardt, Edwards, or Clark to surge in the Feb. 3rd primaries and make it an establishment race vs. the outsider. Kerry f**ked himself. Lieberman was drifting to begin with and Gore sank that ship. Marvin the Martian may have grandfather time, but that's only one fraudulent vote. The others are jokes.

Andrew Weighs In

2003-12-09T09:51:00.000-05:00

In connection with the Gore endorsement of Dean, you've seen Kristol and Ponnuru, here are Andrew Sullivan's thoughts, which parallel Ramesh's thoughts and mine.

But, Why Dean Probably Won't Win

2003-12-09T09:46:00.000-05:00

By Ramesh Ponnuru over at NRO.

How Dean Could Win

2003-12-09T09:45:00.000-05:00

By Bill Kristol in WaPo.

Max On The World

2003-12-09T09:33:00.000-05:00

Here is a blog some of you might not have been reading. Thank's to Max I shall now refer to Senator Kerry as John F-ing Kerry. Quite appropriate.

Oh Boy

2003-12-09T09:28:00.000-05:00

I might have bitten off more than I can chew on this whole thing.

Another Test

2003-12-09T09:26:00.001-05:00

test again

2003-12-09T09:26:00.000-05:00

here we go again.

Testing

2003-12-09T09:23:00.000-05:00

Okay, I've got the webiste setup, but now I'm clueless. Any tips?

Website

2003-12-08T21:35:00.000-05:00

Well, I have decided to go the route of my own website. Hopefully, by tomorrow night, you will be able to go to www.erickerickson.org to read my blog. I think, based on soooo many recommendations, I may just go to Movable Type too.

More on Gore and Dean (McAwful Watch)

2003-12-08T20:44:00.000-05:00

I've heard the speculation tonight that Gore wants to run in 2008 and this is his first shot at Hillary. I don't know that he wants to run in 2008, but I think it is a shot at the Clintons. I think Gore understands that Bill and Hillary are entrenched in the party. They have McAwful in place, etc. It has traditionally been that the party nominee for President took over the party. That was true even when the President was of the incumbent party. For example, when Bush 42 ran, he assumed control of the party once his nomination was assured, even with Reagan still in the White House. Clinton did not do that. Clinton refused to let go. Gore should be the rightful leader, especially since he won the popular vote, but the Clintons froze him out. I think this is Gore's revenge. Consolidate Dean's position against Clark (and Leiberman) and lauch an interal coup against the Clinton regime by taking out McAwful and his cohorts at the DNC. At the very least, Gore and possibly Bill Richardson could lead a rear guard action against the Clintons and prevent Hillary from getting nominated in 2008. Watch for more public movement by the Clintons against Dean if this really is a Gore assault against them.

Ramesh Ponnuru

2003-12-08T20:31:00.000-05:00

Has a point.

Dean The Centrist

2003-12-08T18:06:00.000-05:00

I have been pondering a long blog on whether Republicans should be worried about Dean. If you look at Rich Lowry's cover story in National Review ODT (on dead tree as opposed to online), you'd see the confidence of the GOP and conservatives. But, I keep hearing from people in the know that Dean really is more centrist than he lets on. So, in pondering a blog entry, I came across this over at Real Clear Politics. I think it is spot on. The majority of the nation doesn't give a flying rat's ass about the Democratic primary right now. But, it's hard to avoid at least some discussion. And, all that is being discussed is how Dean = McGovern. He may not, but perception is what matters. When he scrambles back to the center, some of this leftist supports will crumble and some of the center won't give him the time of day. Republicans and independents, however, will still go vote for Bush.

Gore Endorses Dean

2003-12-08T17:47:00.000-05:00

Excellent

Steve vs. Mike

2003-12-08T11:34:00.000-05:00

As most people who care about the subject know, Steve Jobs and Michael Eisner don't really like each other. Here is part of an interview from Rolling Stone with Steve Jobs. At this point, the reporter is asking about how Apple Computer approached the music industry about iTunes: "When you went to see music executives, was there much comment about Apple's 'Rip. Mix. Burn.' campaign? A lot of them regarded it as an invitation to steal music. The person who assailed us over it was Michael Eisner. But he didn't have any teenage kids living at home, and he didn't have any teenage kids working at Disney whom he talked to, so he thought 'rip' meant 'rip off.' And when somebody actually clued him in to what it meant, he did apologize. " If not just exaggerated, it says a lot about Eisner's mentality and problems at Disney. I, for one, think it is probably the truth. It explains a lot.

Bush As Conservative

2003-12-08T11:24:00.000-05:00

U.S. News: Michael Barone: Choice and accountability(12/15/03): "Bush has redefined conservatism. It is now not the process of cutting government and devolving powers; it is the process of installing choice and accountability into government even at the cost of allowing it to grow. This is an attempt to move government in the same direction as the private sector, which now offers much more in the way of choice and accountability than it did in the 1950s and 1960s, when big corporations and big unions established wage rates, when you worked for one company until age 65 and then depended on that one company and Social Security for your retirement income."

Interesting

2003-12-08T09:43:00.000-05:00

From the Weekly Standard

Trial attorneys are now like the capitalist Robber Barons who sparked the reforms of the Progressive Era. Just as the Robber Barons built America into an industrial giant, so the trial lawyers have made America into a healthier, safer, fairer place to live. That many of them have become billionaires in the process may prove only that they were the first to recognize the need for action. Like their industrial predecessors, however, the new Robber Barons may require public restraint. As Theodore Roosevelt knew, the outsized success of any business endeavor presents problems to the rest of society. If they are to play TR, Republicans will need to begin by granting that Trial Lawyers, Inc., has a critical role to play in promoting health and safety and policing corporate America. Trial lawyers, for their part, will have to begin by recognizing that corporate America is not indestructible and that their litigious successes could end up doing great harm to the nation.

Non-Proliferation

2003-12-08T08:50:00.000-05:00

One of the things the NPR story said is that "Experts" credit the Non-Proliferation Treaty ("NPT") with slowing the spread of nukes. I thought liberals assumed that treaties could stop things . . . not just slow them. I thought the NPT was suppose to prevent the spread of nukes from the U.S. and USSR. What do you know, it didn't work. So, now the spin is that it, at least, slowed the spread. Riggghhhhtttttt. How about just admitting it didn't work.

"Experts Will Be Mobilized"

2003-12-08T08:46:00.000-05:00

I was driving in the work listening to ... horror or horrors ... NPR. They played a segment on "Atoms for Peace," the Eisenhower administration initiative to harness atomic power for peaceful uses. They ran a 1950's radio promo prepared by, I guess, the government. One of the lines said, "Experts Will Be Mobilized." Ain't that just like the government. The mentality hasn't changed. I want a t-shirt with that slogan.

Progressives

2003-12-08T08:44:00.000-05:00

By the way, shouldn't conservatives and libertarians currently be called progressives and not let the liberals and leftists take that definition. See, e.g.: (1) Who wants to change social security? Conservatives & Libertarians (2) Who wants to change medicare? Conservatives & Libertarians (3) Who wants to change regimes (U.S. excluded)? More conservatives & libertarians than any other. The list goes on. Who is standing in the way of change. Hint: It ain't conservatives and libertarians.

Liberals, Libertarians, and Leftists

2003-12-08T08:42:00.000-05:00

I have been asked my definitions for the above. They probably are not original, but as far as I know they are: Liberal: One who believes anything goes and the government should subsidize the activity. Libertarians: One who believes anything goes and the government should stay the hell away. Leftist: A liberal who believes anything goes, but only if especially permitted by the government and overseen by a self-selected group of other leftists. I'll throw in Conservative: One who is like a libertarian, but believes there are certain things that should not be done because they've never been done and there's probably a good reason for that, whether or not the reason is known. Therefore, if the thing is done, it should be done cautiously and slowly. Yeah, I think it is almost harder to define a conservative than any other. Most would say a conservative likes the status quo, or wants no change. That's not true. But, when change occurs, there should be (1) a reason and (2) slow movement toward the change.

Why No Posts, Erick?

2003-12-08T08:36:00.000-05:00

Well, I tried to get into Blogger all weekend and could only get in once.

Being All Things To All People

2003-12-06T21:19:00.000-05:00

Bruce Bartlett makes some great points about Bush and the dollar. I think Bush's economic ideas, outside of tax cuts, stink. He needs to focus on being conservative, not being all things to all people.

Holiday Snowglobe

2003-12-05T17:09:00.000-05:00

You Have Got To See

2003-12-05T16:53:00.000-05:00

This. Hat tip to Radley Balko and Andrew Stuttaford. Heh Heh Heh

Yeah!

2003-12-04T12:05:00.000-05:00

It looks like Howard is headed toward victory. I hope this doesn't come back to bite Republicans in the ass.

Copyright and the Court's Right

2003-12-03T17:59:00.000-05:00

This is a very good article by Jerry Brito on the current copyright case before the Supreme Court. Before you non-lawyers move on, I think you should read it. This case makes for a good political read on the issue of original intent vs. the living constitution. Plus, we'll have Ted Olson going up against a former Scalia clerk.

Depressing

2003-12-03T17:49:00.000-05:00

The Iowa Dinner

2003-12-03T17:47:00.000-05:00

Tim Carney, writing for AFF's Brainwash gives us this bit of delightful humor:

Dennis Kucinich took the stage. Kucinich, as usual, was the most exciting speaker. He brought the crowd to its feet promising FDR-style make-work programs for farmers. When the moderator asked him what Iowa would look like after eight years of a Kucinich Administration—a phrase strange enough to make even the candidate flinch—things got downright unreal. He talked about his first trip around the Hawkeye State, the one where he realized the White House was his destiny, and how the mist was rising up from the fields after a rain. The former boy-mayor of Cleveland then saw something he had never seen before: “Rainbows, dancing from field to field. Rainbow Farms!” He got weirder from there and ended by promising that under President Kucinich, we’d all see the dancing rainbows. No other candidate went so far as to promise such a federal hallucinatory-drug benefit program, but they all promised to complete the farmer’s welfare state with new subsidies and anti-competition rules.

I bet Dorothy and Toto would vote for Dennis a/k/a Marvin the Martian.

More on Samarra

2003-12-03T17:22:00.000-05:00

Awesome Stuff

2003-12-03T16:48:00.000-05:00

Here: "The G5 is the world's first 64-bit desktop computer. Pentium 4s are 32-bit processors. The difference looks small but is in fact huge. The Pentium's dynamic range is two to the power of 32, or 4.3 billion. The G5's is two to the power of 64, or 18 billion billion - supercomputer stuff."

Whew!

2003-12-03T15:00:00.000-05:00

Sorry for practically no posts. I had to meet a deadline. I'm writing a section in the Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court and forgot today was the deadline. Yeah, I had calendared it. But, for a variety of technical reasons relating to syncing my PalmPilot and someone checking "handheld overrides PC," it got erased.

Good News

2003-12-03T13:07:00.000-05:00

Kate O'Beirne on the National Education Association on National Review Online

Zell Miller

2003-12-02T20:28:00.000-05:00

Being the attorney for the publisher of Zell's book has its advantages. I just got back from a dinner and book signing for Zell. The room was all old Macon (think of your local country club aristocrats) who are mostly Democrat, but with a good number of Republicans. All agreed with him that the Dems have headed off into left field. He has been signing books like mad. The local Dems are saying that the dagger next to his book on the New York Times list shows that people like Richard Mellon Schaife are buying his book in bulk. Actually, I have it on very good authority that book sellers are buying in bulk because the demand caught them by surprise. For example, here at the local Barnes 7 Noble, Zell showed up for a two hour book signing and two hours after that was still there signing books for a line of people that wrapped around the building. Granted, it's Georgia and he is a local folk hero. But, Zell and the publisher are headed back on the road out of state because the demand has grown.

Excellent

2003-12-02T10:46:00.000-05:00

If President Bush carries the same states in 2004 that he won in 2000, he will win seven more electoral votes. That change, a result of a population shift to Republican-friendly states in the South and West in the last several years, means the Republicans have a slight margin of error in 2004 while the Democrats will have to scramble just to pull even. In 2000, after Florida's 25 electoral votes were awarded to Mr. Bush, he won the presidency with 271 — 5 more than Al Gore's 266. Since then 18 states have either won or lost electoral votes, with 7 states that Mr. Bush won last time gaining a total of 11 electoral votes: Florida picked up 2, as did Texas, Georgia and Arizona. North Carolina, Nevada and Colorado each gained 1. The gain of 11 electoral votes was offset by a loss of 4 from four other Bush states, leaving Mr. Bush with a net gain of 7. The Democrats lost eight electoral votes in six states that went for Mr. Gore and gained one in another, for their net loss of seven. The shift in the electoral map means that the Republicans have a crucial cushion going into the 2004 presidential campaign. Mr. Bush could hold all the states he won in 2000 except for, say, West Virginia and its five electoral votes, and still win in 2004. The Democrats have no such room for error. They must hold all the states Mr. Gore won and add to them to make up the difference. "Before a vote is cast, we've increased our margin," Matthew Dowd, chief strategist for Mr. Bush's campaign, said. "In a race that's very close, those small readjustments in the electoral map will have significance."

Why Dean can't win in '04 election

2003-12-02T10:27:00.000-05:00

Answer is here

Dean has run a fantastic campaign by tapping into a very real anger that exists among many Democrats, including this one. I believe Dean when he says he wants to be the candidate for everybody, even guys with Confederate flags on the backs of their pickup trucks. Unfortunately, the reality is that Dean can only be the candidate for people with Darwin fishes on the backs of their Volvos and rainbow decals on the backs of their Jettas. He's not a bad guy, but if he's our standard bearer, Democrats are in deep poop.

[emphasis added Big Hat Tip To The Note. I love that last sentence.

Orin Hatch Is A Weenie

2003-12-02T09:38:00.000-05:00

I have always respected Orin Hatch, but he strikes me as a weenie. He is an accomodationist who refuses to recognize that the Democrats are playing dirty. He gives in to their demands thinking they will do the same. They don't. He does it again thinking the same thing. The Democrats still don't. Then this story comes along. The press refuses to report it. Hatch boots a staffer and lets the Dems look at the Republicans' files. He's a weenie. Here's what I'm talking about:

A young man in Washington is in danger of losing his job because of something The Wall Street Journal's editorial page published, which prompts me to say, in his defense: He didn't do it. The young man works on the Republican staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee, where I hope Orrin Hatch is reading this. Sen. Hatch, the GOP chairman, is investigating the leak of Democratic strategy memos on President Bush's blocked nominees to the federal appeals courts. The staff memos document the extraordinary influence of liberal special-interest groups on Democratic members of Judiciary. The Journal published excerpts on Nov. 14. (The full memos are available on the Web site of the Coalition for a Fair Judiciary.)

[emphasis added] If the blogosphere wants to prove itself, this is a story that we can't allow to die.

Hopeful News:

2003-12-02T09:29:00.000-05:00

Iraqis are overwhelmingly pleased by the fall of Saddam Hussein. More than 40% described the fall of his regime as the best thing to have happened to them all year; less than 1% (0.2%, if you take such over-precise percentages seriously) describe the fall of the regime as a bad thing. Few Iraqis list the end of the occupation as an important priority for them; security and economic improvement are the two top wishes. Most Iraqis report that they are basically content with their lives and expect the future to be even better than the present. While the Muslim clergy are the single most trusted force in the country, 70% of Iraqis reject the idea that government should enforce religion. A large majority believes that democracy would be the best form of government for Iraq.

Wesley Clark's Conspiracy Theory

2003-12-02T09:12:00.000-05:00

Read about it here.

Liberal Talk Radio

2003-12-02T08:58:00.000-05:00

Byron York has a great article on the advancement of liberal talk radio, which the owners now want to be called "centrist" radio. If you have to hide from what you are, maybe what you are is wrong. Calling yourself "centrist," "moderate," or "progressive" doesn't make you any less of a leftist thug.

Dang The President Too [yeah, I know I used "damn" with the last post, but I can't bring myself to do it here. He is the President.

2003-12-01T22:11:00.000-05:00

And I sure do support and admire him.] I love the President. I will do whatever I can to get him re-elected. But I want to vomit over all this spending. He has shown no desire to hault the whoring in Congress and has refused to veto anything. He cannot be principled and sell out to the highest bidder. George, tell Congress to stop it's spending ways. I can't give any more money to your campaign because everything I got back in the tax cut is going to pay for this new medicare entitlement. Who needs Democrats when you have Compassionate Conservatives. Who cares what I think when they know I'll vote Republican anyway.

Damn Them

2003-12-01T22:09:00.000-05:00

I have been meaning to blog this since last Thursday. If you did not read Robert Novak's Thanksgiving Day column, read it here. This is disgusting. In 1994, the Republicans ran against Democrat excess and arrogance. What the Republicans did is nothing short of a Jim Wright/Tom Foley bastardization of the process. To threaten and bully their own to get a Democrat style welfare package adopted is sick. Republicans should hault them. I'm not a big fan of John McCain or Chuck Hagel, but they've made the most sense on this issue. We should all contribute some money to Pat Toomey and support Free Market Republican oriented organizations like Club For Growth. We'd be better off with more of them.

White House Christmas Card

2003-12-01T20:31:00.000-05:00

Ours arrived today. I don't care for the picture this year too much, but it's nice to get something from the RNC without a solicitation for money in it. It's refreshing to have a President who isn't afraid to use scripture in his Christmas card (though I detest the lack of the word Christmas in the card, but we can't expect much in this multi-culti world of ours). Anyway, I think the message in the card was very personal from the President. The scripture is "You have granted me life and loving kindness; and your care has preserved my spirit." Job 10:12 (NASB)

Jonah's Take

2003-12-01T17:47:00.000-05:00

I hadn't read Jonah Goldberg's column on the FMA. As I said a while back, it is not really a huge issue for me right now -- partly because I don't have a postion on it. But, I do agree with this quote and its sentiments: "I'd probably be in favor of an amendment codifying the principle of the Defense of Marriage Act - which allows states to refuse to recognize the same-sex marriages of other states - the FMA goes much further than that."

It's Too Late George

2003-12-01T17:39:00.000-05:00

By now you know that George will has come out in opposition to the Federal Marriage Amendment - something I'm still not sure of and on which I am wavering back and forth. His column is here. In part, George Will states that

Amending the Constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman would be unwise for two reasons. Constitutionalizing social policy is generally a misuse of fundamental law. And it would be especially imprudent to end state responsibility for marriage law at a moment when we require evidence of the sort that can be generated by allowing the states to be laboratories of social policy.

Is that not, however, what the courts have already done in reverse? Haven't the courts "amend[ed] the Constitution to define marriage as between" any two consenting adults regardless of gender -- despite thousands of years of law and religion holding otherwise? Haven't the courts been "constitutionalizing social policy" since, at least, the 70's? It would be "especially imprudent to end state responsiblity for marriage law," but it seems a bit late for that. The courts have already constitutionalized social policy by interjecting themselves into the debate. I have no doubt that the Defense of Marriage Act will be struck down by the Courts and this 4-3 ruling in Massachusetts will become the law of all 50 states. It will not have been done democratically -- but by fiat. It will be impossible to "allow[] the states to be laboratories of social policy" when they will all be forced to recognize gay marriage. At least the FMA will be decided in a Constitutional and democratic process. If 2/3 of each house of Congress and 3/4 of the states agree the FMA is okay, couldn't that be seen, at a minimum, as the people democratically agreeing with George Will that social policy should not be constitutionalized, as the courts have chosen to do? I hope Ramesh Ponnuru weighs in on Will's column.

Happy Thanksgiving

2003-12-01T17:15:00.000-05:00

By the way, as I dig out from the stack of stuff on my desk, I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable holiday. Mine was great, but long. I drove from Macon, GA to Clinton, MS on Wednesday night (8 hours). From Clinton to Jackson, LA on Thursday (2.5 hours), from Jackson, LA to BTR to Clinton, MS on Saturday (4 hours), back to Macon on Sunday (8 hours). 22.5 hours to driving total. Okay, my wife drove the last two hours on Sunday.

Heh Heh Heh

2003-12-01T17:13:00.000-05:00

On Economics

2003-12-01T12:54:00.000-05:00

Econopundit has this post on the national debt. He makes from great points about it, most of which I was ignorant of until I read his post. I'm definitely no economist. The one thing I will say is that I do agree with Hagel and McCain that the Republicans are doing a piss poor job of controlling spending.

My kind of diplomat

2003-12-01T11:51:00.000-05:00

USA Today offers this profile of Josh Bolton.

At the State Department, Bolton, 55, is viewed as something of an exotic specimen: a committed, argumentative, conservative ideologue who relishes being blunt. Diplomats traditionally view the world as a place where a web of international organizations and treaties preserve the peace. Bolton sees a more dangerous realm where agreements are unreliable and survival of the fittest rules. He is mistrustful of a treaty-based approach to arms control. He is suspicious of world bodies such as the United Nations. ''The (U.N.) Secretariat building in New York has 38 stories. If it lost ten stories, it wouldn't make a bit of difference,'' he once said.

Fascinating

2003-12-01T11:45:00.000-05:00

This is a must read for political junkies.

TCS on the Calblog Controversy

2003-11-26T09:06:00.000-05:00

Here is a good write up on the issue of liability for bloggers. It takes off from Justene's problems over at Calblog with the "fine" folks at Infotel. No doubt Justene will kick their ass. And she should.

Real World Rape

2003-11-26T08:47:00.000-05:00

This may be a good reason to finally put the Real World out of its misery.

While I'm Thinking About It

2003-11-25T23:07:00.000-05:00

Christy and I are headed to Louisiana tomorrow. Rural Louisiana -- as in more cows than people. So, probably no blogging until Monday. Maybe a bit in the morning, but otherwise don't count on it.

Further Confirmation That Bush Will Win Re-Election

2003-11-25T15:09:00.000-05:00

Is here.

The U.S. economy grew at an 8.2 percent annual rate in the third quarter, faster than the government initially estimated as companies boosted inventories in September to meet the surge in demand. The nation's gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced, grew from July through September at the fastest pace since the first three months of 1984, when Ronald Reagan was president. The Commerce Department previously reported a 7.2 percent third-quarter growth rate, following a 3.3 percent pace in the second quarter. ``Growth is now super-super strong compared to super strong,'' said Joseph LaVorgna, senior U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank Securities, whose forecast of 8.3 percent was the highest in a Bloomberg News survey.

More on The Economist

2003-11-25T09:06:00.000-05:00

A few days ago I posted a link to the Economist's article about the growing divergence between the U.S. and Europe. David Brooks follows up on this in the New York Timeshere. Here's a look:

As we settle down to the Thanksgiving table in a few days, we might remind ourselves that whatever other problems grip our country, lack of vitality is not one of them. In fact, we may look back on the period beginning in the middle of the 1980's as the Great Rejuvenation. American life has improved in almost every measurable way, and far from regressing toward the mean, the U.S. has become a more exceptional nation. The drop in crime rates over the past decade is nothing short of a miracle. Teenage pregnancy and abortion rates rose in the early 1970's and 1980's, then leveled off and now are dropping. Child poverty rates have declined since the welfare reform of the mid-1990's. The black poverty rate dropped 'to the lowest rate ever recorded,' according to a 2002 study by the National Urban League. The barren South Bronx neighborhood that Ronald Reagan visited in 1980 to illustrate urban blight is now a thriving area, with, inevitably, a Starbucks. The U.S. economy has enjoyed two long booms in the past two decades, interrupted by two shallow recessions, and perhaps now we're at the start of a third boom. More nations have become democratic in the past two decades than at any other time in history.

[Note: I finally figured out the block quote feature in HTML. Cool!]

Egypt Prefers Saddam to Democracy

2003-11-24T16:40:00.000-05:00

Add this report from our friends at Little Green Footballs to the mix.

Another Thing

2003-11-24T16:37:00.000-05:00

We should not forget that Palestinians are, to a large degree, considered 2nd class citizens in most of the Middle East. My father says that Jordan, Egypt, Syria, and Saudi Arabia keep the Jew hatred flames alive to keep the Palestinians focused on Insrael instead of the horrible treatment the Palestinians endured at the hands of fellow Arabs.

That Jew Problem

2003-11-24T16:36:00.000-05:00

The headline catch your attention? Here's something I've been meaning to comment on. A lot of you realize that there are issues (to put it mildly) between Arabs and Jews. But, because we all believe in getting along, a good number of fair minded and reasonable people think that both sides must share blame. In favor of that is the fact that Israel wins no friends when it levels entire villages to seek revenge. However, in this fair minded balancing, consider this. As regular readers know, I grew up in Dubai, on the Persian Gulf. Perhaps the most free and most modern Arab states. I went to an American school with American teachers. But, in our textbooks the word Israel was blotted out. If it couldn't be blotted out, the eastern Mediterranean would be cut out of the book. Whole sections of the history books covering the 6 day war, etc. would be redacted or simply torn out. My classmates and I use to play a game at the beginning of each quarter (we used those instead of semesters) of racing through our books to see who could find the redacted material first. In 7th grade geography, government ministers expressly forbade the school from teaching us about Israel (our teacher told us). In fact, in that book, the book publisher had a specially printed world map that had Palestine on it instead of Israel. So, for all of you who think both sides are to blame, you may be partially right. But, do you really think a country like Israel can fairly reason with a group of people who refuse to acknowledge the existence of the Jewish state.

Smoke and Mirrors

2003-11-24T11:04:00.000-05:00

According to Matt Drudge, the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms has seized several computer servers to see who leaked memos from the Judiciary Committee. It seems the Dems are trying to distract from the fact that the memos contain damaging information about how they are discriminating based on race. I think I could design a powerful 15 second spot for latino television markets about the discrimination of Estrada. It could help the GOP big time.

On Gay Marriage

2003-11-24T09:05:00.000-05:00

This is a debate I do not desire to enter. Needless to say, I am against the proposition that homosexual marriage should be permissible. For a very good article, see this over at Commentary. Worth cutting and pasting is this: "Marriage, to say it for the last time, is what connects us with our nature and with our animal origins, with how all of us, heterosexual and homosexual alike, came to be. It exists not because of custom, or because of a conspiracy (whether patriarchal or matriarchal), but because, through marriage, the world exists. Marriage is how we are connected backward in time, through the generations, to our Creator (or, if you insist, to the primal soup), and forward to the future beyond the scope of our own lifespan. It is, to say the least, bigger than two hearts beating as one. "Severing this connection by defining it out of existence—cutting it down to size, transforming it into a mere contract between chums—sunders the natural laws that prevent concubinage and incest. Unless we resist, we will find ourselves entering on the path to the abolition of the human. The gods move very fast when they bring ruin on misguided men."

Three Cheers for John McCain

2003-11-24T08:51:00.000-05:00

Rich Galen

2003-11-24T08:49:00.000-05:00

Rich is in Iraq working with the Coalition. He has a great column with good insights on Iraq. You can read his postings here. To save you some time, here is his most recent one. It covers the rocket attacks in Baghdad using donkey carts. Here is a key paragraph: "[Y]ou can't blame the press corps. The bad guys planned this attack to have the greatest publicity impact; even though, according to the military folks, the attacks were tactically insignificant. "

Unfortunate Progress

2003-11-23T22:06:00.000-05:00

More senators coming on board for the Medicare plan. For once, I support Kennedy. Filibuster the damn thing.

C. S. Lewis

2003-11-23T22:04:00.000-05:00

I didn' realize, and it was nice of Tony Snow to point it out, but in all this hype over the 40th anniversary of Kennedy's assassination, it is also the 40th anniversary of C.S. Lewis' death. Also Aldous Huxley for that matter. Two great men of English and the American President, all three die on the same day. Kennedy may have brought us Camelot, but Lewis gave us something stronger -- renewed faith in an almighty God.

Maybe They're Getting It

2003-11-23T20:15:00.000-05:00

F.B.I. Scrutinizes Antiwar Rallies the New York Times reports. It's about time. For those of you familiar with a lot of these globalization marches, you know who the organizers are. More often than not, it is left wing groups like ANSWER -- communist (yeah, I know, but it really is) backed and trained. They teach lots of civil disobedience tecniques including how to make malotav cocktails, how to vandalize, how to destroy, and how to combat police defenses. These are not pacificist protesters. No doubt the libertarians will be upset, but they shouldn't be. While the headline is disturbing, the fact is that these groups pose a latent danger. While the media gives them a certain amount of credibility, the backers and leaders (though not necessarily hippie kid from UCLA who wanted to skip class and protest) are enemies of democracy and supporters of totalitarian regimes like Cuba, North Korea, China, Burma, and Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

In the spirit of Instapundit

2003-11-23T20:08:00.000-05:00

Indeed.

It Worked

2003-11-23T15:16:00.000-05:00

Okay, it looks like it worked.

Testing

2003-11-23T15:15:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm wondering if I've screwed up my blog. This post is to test it.

Apache Server

2003-11-23T15:11:00.000-05:00

Does anyone out there know where I can get some info on the Apache Server that comes with my iMac?

Paul Marshall

2003-11-23T12:40:00.000-05:00

I haven't seen Paul Marshall's article at the Weekly Standard yet, but Jonah Goldberg has this review of it. Sounds interesting and accurate.

An Administration of One

2003-11-22T11:11:00.000-05:00

Robert Kagan and Bill Kristol, as usual, have this great piece on the President and Iraq: "The president made great progress this week explaining his vision and strategy to the world. He has placed himself at the level of Reagan and Truman, both of whom were also treated with derision by their opponents. Bush's great task now will be to explain his strategy to his own cabinet and commanders and insist that they begin implementing it."

Gay Marriage

2003-11-22T11:05:00.000-05:00

I'm no proponent, but this does make for a good laugh.

Bar Dues

2003-11-22T11:03:00.000-05:00

Gee, you mean the Georgia Bar isn't the only one to do this?!

Why I Think Howard Dean Gets Nominated

2003-11-22T10:52:00.000-05:00

First, see this post of my views of anecdotal evidence. Now that you know how I view it, let me share with you several conversations I have had with a lot of people from a lot of different backgrounds. There are two camps of Dean supporters I've decided based on these conversations. First are those who think Dean is fantastic, he will clobber George Bush with the voices of the "shut out" of the "poor" of those "yearning to breath free in GWB's fascist state." The other camp consists of those who understand that GWB won't be beaten in 2004, but believe the Clinton's have ruined their party, Dean speaks for those who have been ignored, and he is the most articulate non-Democrat establishment candidate to take on GWB and revitalize/re-energize the Democratic base. These two groups have one thing in common: they think Dean is the one person running as a Democrat who can speak for tradition dems in a powerful, forceful way without being tied down to a Washington insider mentality. I think that is why governors and folks outside the beltway have a historic tendency to win. They don't talk about xyz bill, they talk about people. I think that is why Dean has this in the bag.

Blegging

2003-11-22T10:35:00.000-05:00

I'm going to try this blegging thing out. I need to know if a Qualified Subsidiary S corp, wholly owned by another S Corp, has to pay taxes. I, at first, thought they would. But, the more I read I'm fairly confident that the QSub S will not pay taxes only the holding S will. Do any of my few and far between readers have any experience in this? If so, email me here.

I Doubt This Will Work

2003-11-22T10:33:00.000-05:00

I just don't think this spam ban law will work. How on earth will we really track them down?

McAwful Watch

2003-11-21T17:47:00.000-05:00

He's still at the DNC. Interesting thing today -- word is that Bill Richardson has endorsed Dean. We know he has future presidential ambitions, possibly in 2008 against Hillary. Nice to see he's taking an anti-Clinton stand. What makes it more interesting is that he will chair their convention next year, a position in which he was expected to remain neutral.

McAuliffe Watch

2003-11-21T17:46:00.000-05:00

Well, I think I will start saying McAwful. I've noticed Rush doing that since he's been back. I think it sums it up.

Dammit, I will not surrender, I will not give up, I will not give in.

2003-11-21T17:43:00.000-05:00

See Sullivan's second post on this link.

President Bush in London

2003-11-21T14:00:00.000-05:00

I haven't written too much about this. I'm glad the visit went well. I agree with Frederick Forsyth. The British Left only march against lovers of freedom. Here is the Economist's review of the visit.

A big payoff in Iowa

2003-11-21T12:04:00.000-05:00

Susan Estrick writes this interesting op-ed today about Dean spending in Iowa. (Hat tip: Rick Hasen)

Why I Like John Derbyshire

2003-11-20T17:38:00.000-05:00

Read a collection of his quotes and you'll see why.

AAR GO P (in the lake) (Get it?!)

2003-11-20T16:34:00.000-05:00

Ramesh Ponnuru adds his typically refreshing perspective to this AAR(GO)P Medicare reform bill.

Canada's political transition

2003-11-20T16:26:00.000-05:00

This is an interesting profile from the Economist about the incoming Prime Minister in Canada. Perhaps relations with the US will improve.

The Agitator

2003-11-20T09:51:00.000-05:00

I was reading Radley's column over at TCS and noticed on his bio that he had this blog. It's good. Check it out.

Progress

2003-11-20T09:45:00.000-05:00

Johnson County High to sponsor first prom since integration

AARP

2003-11-20T09:31:00.000-05:00

Christy (my wife) and I were watching "West Wing" last night and saw the new AARP commercial calling on Congress to pass the medicare reform bill. Powerful. Keep your eyes out for it. I can't believe they put it together so fast and so well.

Interesting

2003-11-20T09:27:00.000-05:00

See here: "[B]elief in the afterlife, heaven and hell are good for economic growth."

New York Times

2003-11-20T09:19:00.000-05:00

What I think is news in and of itself is that the memo was leaked to the Weekly Standard. But, I guess because this leak helps the adminstration it will be ignored in favor of the Valeria Plame leak, which arguably hurts the administration. (Really, Plame doesn't because no one understands it and her husband is an arrogant ass.)

Don't You Just Love This

2003-11-20T09:17:00.000-05:00

The New York Times, seeking to dismiss the Feith memo now that it is being attacked for failing to report it, is hiding behind the "old news" line. See here: "Government officials with knowledge of intelligence on Iraq said that the reports cited by Mr. Feith were indeed authentic. But they also said they were not new, that some were not credible and that all had been weighed in the preparation of intelligence reports that concluded that the relationship between Iraq and Al Qaeda remained ambiguous at best."