Politics

There is much to do about nothing again from the chattering classes about the difficulties within the Democratic Party in finding a nominee for president. Gore's performance in Florida two weeks ago was not impressive (nor was that of any of the other putative candidates) so there is now talk about McCain running as a Democrat. The New Republic is pushing McCain for president as a Democrat. My view is that McCain (or his overly ambitious staffers) will want to run anyway he can: it will certainly not be as a Republican (he just keeps moving left); he will be unable to do it as an Independent (a la Perot in '92), nor will he be able to do it as a Democrat (because he can't move that far left, and if he tries the Demo base will not believe him). Which means that the Democrats will have to find the least boring leader they have and give him a shot. That candidate will lose in '04, Hillary will become increasingly popular between now and '06, and she will run in the primaries in '08 and will be nominated. In the meantime I note in passing that it is almost certainly the case that Condoleezza Rice will be on the Republican ticket in '08, by then having become Secretary of State, if not Vice President under the second George W. Bush term. The Democrats are hurting.

Here is Robert Kuttner, a liberal, on how everything, oh! just everything, is going conservative nowadays. The once liberal press is now moderate, he claims, and then there is FOX News! Life is rough for Kuttner and his friends, but to some, liberal whine tastes sweet.

The news reports continue, as in this piece from the Washington Post, about how the conservatives are beating up on Bush and the White House for leaning too hard on Israel, not dealing with Arafat as a terrorist, and so on. It strikes me that the conservatives started backing off a few days ago, so this is outdated "news." Now these stories are becoming a cover for Democrats to begin to publicly attack Bush's foreign policy generally (which they have not been able to do until now). See the Senator Lieberman quote at the end of the article. The media is creating an opening that shouldn't be there.

Middle East

Bill Kristol and Robert Kagan of The Weekly Standard now claim that what is the clear result of Powell's trip is that Bush is back on track: Bush is once again upholding the Bush doctrine. Bush is once again supporting anti-terrorist policies, i.e., Israel's. I think they have it backwards. Bush has never been off track. It was The Weekly Standard that got off track for about a week or so and now they are back on the right track. I'm glad. I like those guys. Welcome back. Next time, they should try to distinguish between the President's necessary public rhetoric and what he is really up to: pay attention to what he does, and less to what he says. And on Iraq, give Bush a break. He said there would be a change of regimes. Let Bush set his own timetable. I think this Bush knows what prudence means. In the meantime see a perfectly clear analysis by Benjamin Netanyahu of the connection between tyranny and terrorism, means and ends. "Those who fight as terrorists rule as terrorists." Note that he makes up a new country, "Arafatistan." It's the size of a couple of rooms, with one master and a couple of dozen subjects, and it is surrounded by good guys with big guns. The piece by Mark Steyn is very clear on the difference between fantasy and reality in the Middle East. European anti-Semites take notice. It is powerful. Also note what Eric Hoffer said in 1967; he is quoted in the Steyn article.

This is a revealing interview with Clinton's chief Middle East negotiator, Dennis Ross, on why Arafat turned down the great offer worked out at the last few weeks of the Clinton administration: Arafat would have had to agree to end the conflict, and he could not. Ross said: "For him (Arafat) to end the conflict is to end himself."

The always thoughtful and felicitous Victor Davis Hanson lays out a future in which Europe becomes irrelevant and the day of the Arab tyrant is coming to an end. No one foresaw the fall of communism, and no one foresees the fall of radical Islam. Is that future now?

This is a fine characterization of Sharon as a warrior, how indispensable he is in a crisis, how he will be cast aside when its over, and how peace will be easier because of what he is and what he has done. The comparisons are with Sherman, Patton, Le May and Ajax. Victor Davis Hanson at his best.

And see this by Rich Lowry if you are tempted in any way to bend toward kindness to Saudi Arabia. These people are living in their own world, but reality will catch up and the place will go the way of all other cruel tyrannies soon enough, I predict.

This paean to a suicide bomber is written by a professor of history at Kent State. I find it amazing and shocking. He's a block, a knave, a fool, a villain, and I don't care what his religion is!

Just when you think things are complicated enough there is this AP story on the ever-increasing connection between China and Iran. This will get interesting but only if Iran doesn't begin to topple after Iraq falls.

Culture

That cloning is an important issue goes without saying. It is deeply charged with moral and political significance. This lengthy article by Charles Krauthammer is perhaps the clearest I have read both on what cloning is and how to think about it. As you'll see, it is in two parts.

Ward Connerly has succeeded in getting enough signatures to put a measure on the ballot that would block California and local governments from classifying people by their race. This is good mischief. Fundamental questions will have to be raised in the conversation leading up to the election. Even the UC Berkeley student newspaper, in an editorial, endorses the plan set forward by Connerly. This is progress.

This article by David Brooks on our children's character formation in a society that, although not without problems, has the great virtue of stressing merit, is worth reading. It is arguably too optimistic, but it is thoughtful.

It is a good sign that members of a popular singing group, Destiny's Child, are able to make distinctions between sexy and nasty, both in their demeanor and the content of their songs.

Bill Bennett is calling for Cardinal Bernard Law to be removed, citing canon law. Bennett is right. This is serious.

Europe

The fact that Jean-Marie Le Pen will be in the runoff election in France is another indication (among other things) of an anti-European Union sentiment in many countries now shifting right (including Italy, Spain, and Denmark). Although Le Pen is not a good guy (and he will not be elected president of France) this movement to the right may be a good sign that many sensible Europeans are becoming increasingly skeptical of EU as a socialist super-bureaucracy. This analysis by Christopher Caldwell is the best so far of what Le Pen's good showing may mean and how it came about. Also see this short report on Le Pen and immigration.

The results from the elections in Hungary are not good. The Socialists (former communists) have removed the conservatives from power. Not good news. So far no former communist East European country has been able to elect a non-socialist government back to back.