Middle East

The President gave a fine speech in Cincinnati on Monday night. He is doing the right thing and, as far as I can tell, the right way. It is important that he continue to act like a cowboy: his threat of invasion has to be taken seriously by the bad guys. If it is taken seriously, there is a chance that there will be no war because Iraq will disarm. The Congress will vote this week and I predict that about seventy percent (at a minimum) of the Senators and Congressmen will approve the resolution. Then things will break wide open at the U.N. Here is Bush’s speech. John Podhoretz reflects on the President’s excellent speech in Cincinnati, and why the major networks didn’t cover it.

Here is Tim Russert’s conversation with Daschle last Sunday. Russert pressed him on the differences between the 1998 resolution (which Daschle supported) and the current one and found the Senator to be babbling. Well done, Russert!

This is a clear article from Arab News explaining the support we are getting from Arab countries, some of it public, some private, most of it duplicitous, all of it useful, and hardly reported in our press.

It looks more and more as if the French tanker off the coast of Yemen was hit by terrorists. Mark Steyn asks Europeans to spend more on the military. He is not an optimist. Paul Marshall reflects on our new (and better) relationship with some West African countries, and hopes that Nigeria doesn’t become the next hotbed in Islamic radicalism. And this interview with Jeffrey Goldberg is interesting. He claims that Hezbollah is more dangerous than al Queda.

This is an article about a letter that a father of a suicide bomber sent to the London-based Arabic language daily Al-Hayat. Note the courage of the last paragraph, especially.

Politics

Robert Alt makes a modest proposal, not lacking in wit, on why Giuliani should run for the Senate in New Jersey, and do it now, not in six years. It’s perfectly OK since Forrester is behind in the polls! Must read.

Fred Barnes has a quick glance at the competitive Senate races. They’re still toss-ups. And here is Stuart Rothenberg’s take on some of the open Senate seats. This is Time magazine’s contribution to the discussion.

Dick Morris slams The New York Times for the recent push-poll they conducted and why it was slanted.

Mark Steyn on the Demos unraveling. Very funny. And Democratic Senator Zell Miller writes this thoughtful piece showing that the Democratic Party is re-playing the 1970’s. How come this guy is still a Democrat? David Broder adds his two cents on the the Democratic Party’s malaise and why they are unable to give the public any idea of where they stand on pressing issues of the day and what it has to do with their Vietnam memories. Noemie Emery explains why Bush drives the Democrats crazy.

If you want a perfectly clear (and shocking) explanation and interpretation of the New Jersey Supreme Court ruling on the Torricelli case, see this great Robert Alt piece. And George Will argues persuasively that the Democratic Party should be punished nationally for this travesty.

Etcetera

Linda Chavez explains the best way to help Spanish-speaking students: immerse them in English. This isn’t rocket science. Only willful ideology would oppose this.

This news story from the London Telegraph reflects on the divisions that have opened up in Hollywood on Bush’s Iraq policy. Note especially one actor’s reference to Barbara Streisand’s "hummingbird size" brain. I like it.

This is a report on the origin of gray Thoroughbred horses. They all come from one founding stallion called Allcock’s Arabian, born in 1720.

Miss America is being bullied into not talking about abstinence! She seems to be resisting the pressure. Good for her.

Oh, let’s have one more gaudy note and cite this from a student newspaper in the state of Washington: They were trying to be multicultural and oh-so-perfectly-politically-correct when the editors not only committed plagiarism but also mistranslated. Instead of identifying the ship as “Our Lady of Good Hope” they said she was called “The Big Ass Spanish Boat.” This should kindle your spirit of mirth!

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