Dec

22

2002

Race to the Exit

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MSNBC reports what was behind the scenes:

AFTER A FUTILE two-week struggle to hang on to his job, Lott made the decision to call it quits on Thursday night, after he began receiving call after call from influential Senate Republicans telling him they no longer supported him. One by one, they lined up behind Sen. Bill Frist, the rising star of the Senate and a good friend of President Bush, who had let it be known that he wanted to replace Lott as majority leader. For the record, Bush claimed it was fine with him if Lott kept his position, but no one really believed that Bush meant it, or that Lott could survive for long. Until Friday it seemed that Lott was the only one in the country who hadn’t gotten the message that it was time for him to go. As one Republican strategist told NEWSWEEK: “I don’t know what else we can do short of putting a horse head in his bed.”
I can see it now… “We all know the Republicans’ voting record on animal-rights issues. That Republican strategist just said out loud what we’ve always known. So we at PETA want to know: whose horse did you kill, and what glue factory got the rest of it after Lott got the head? This was no hypothetical – they killed a beautiful animal just for political gain!”

Dec

22

2002

Whither rationality?

Filed Under Politics, Race and Prejudice | Leave a Comment

Believe it or not, this was the Washington Post’s editorial on Saturday:

While neither Mr. Frist nor other possible contenders for Mr. Lott’s position have been accused of making racially charged remarks, most of them have voting records on civil rights issues that track with Mr. Lott’s — a point duly noted by civil rights groups this week. That, however, should not be a political liability for the next majority leader. We do not equate conservatism with racism, and neither should any fair-minded American. It should be possible to hold views and positions that are at variance with those civil rights groups propound and still avoid being branded anti-equal-opportunity or an opponent of civil rights protections. We happen to find ourselves in agreement with many of the positions of civil rights advocates . But that does not mean those holding opposing views may not have an intellectually honest basis for their positions.
Maybe they had a second-stringer in for the weekend, ’cause this sounds awfully reasonable.

Dec

21

2002

It’s Outta Here!

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In more ways than one.

Just visit the site.

And no, I don’t know what it is. Apparently no one does, either. I’ve done several web searches and all I’ve found is the same phrase over and over again. “If you figure it out – please let me know.”

Dec

21

2002

No Religious Test Call

Filed Under Law and Ethics, Religion | Comments Off

Call him “The Anti-Bork”.

According to press reports, St. Thomas More Professor of Law Douglas W. Kmiec is being considered by President Bush for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit. I don’t know what possessed the man to dare even to suggest such a bold idea, but I find it highly exhilarating. You see, Mr. Kmiec isn’t just a strict constructionist, he is unabashedly pro-life and (dare I even say this in public?) he understands the concept of natural law. Worst of all, Mr. Kmiec is one of those disgusting papists. But there is more! Mr. Kmiec has a paper trail, and he’s got the gall to wave it in the face of the Left and shout them down.

Writing in the Wall Street Journal (probably the only newspaper daring enough to accept his column) Kmiec responds to his critics:

I will point out, however, that as Ms. Aron and her counterparts frame the question, it is irrelevant. Transparent moral beliefs and a gratitude for the gift of life may be measures of the quality of a person; they are not, however, the most appropriate or direct yardstick for sizing up a potential federal appellate judge.

Why not an appropriate yardstick? Because disqualifying a person from a federal post on the basis of his religious or moral beliefs cuts deeply against the guarantee of religious freedom secured in the First Amendment; it might even contravene the Article VI admonition that “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” And why not a direct yardstick? Because the job of a federal appellate judge is far more straightforward than these intractable issues–issues that, in the end, must be resolved as best we can within our many communities, informed less by top-down government edict than by bottom-up moral, religious and family belief.

Thanks to his catholicity, Kmiec presents a problem for the Democrats, especially now that he’s defended himself. If he is nominated and they reject him, it may well prove his Religious Test argument. (A side bonus is this would further alienate Catholics from the Democratic Party.) It makes me wonder if Kmiec could them sue the government on the grounds that they are violating Article VI. This entire set-up may be just what’s needed to break the Bork cycle we’re in and return us to the days when a man’s judicial temperment is the issue, and not his religion or ideology.

Dec

20

2002

Have I Not Heard The Chimes?

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I’d heard it before, but now that Lott is leaving as Majority Leader, our friends in the Senate who haven’t heard of a little spat called the Civil War are claiming we – that means they, you and me – have “heard a wake-up call”.

“This is an occasion where Sen. Lott and the Republican caucus could do something positive, like passing hate crimes legislation, like going into education programs,” Specter said. “I am going to prepare a whole list for our Republican caucus when we take up this subject in January saying that this is a real wake-up call, not only for Trent Lott and not only for the Republican caucus, but for America,” he said.
On NPR today, Sen. Specter repeated much the same ideas. Who needs a wakeup call at midnight when we’ve (proverbially) been working all day on this issue? And why are we trying to give away perfectly justifiable positions that actually fight the racism of the Left because one idiot who calls himself Republican said something stupid?

Dec

20

2002

The Rubber Meets the Road

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Well, I still don’t know if I’m a neo or traditional, but at least I know what I think of prejudice.

I was arriving in the cafeteria at work which thankfully had a TV tuned to FOXNews coverage of Lott’s not-quite-resignation. As I sat down, I heard a nearby coworker speaking loudly at no one in particular. He was sitting alone at a table quite close to the TV, quite obviously trying to draw attention to his comments. I thought he was a liberal, because when a picture of Rick Santorum appeared at some function where the Senator was flanked by a group of black women, the coworker remarked, “What idiots! Don’t they know they’re just being used?!” It seemed a standard reference to conservatives from a member of the Clarence-Thomas-is-an-Uncle-Tom Left.

But then he asked, “Why don’t (the reporters) just shut up? What’s the big deal anyway?” Though slightly confused, I thought he was being sarcastic, because the Left always assumes FOX is on the right, and that – as the Lecher of Little Rock said yesterday – racism is SOP for the Republicans.

I couldn’t stand it any longer and said, “It’s called racism.”

“This isn’t racism,” he said, to my amazement. “They’re making all this up out of nothing. He was just saying nice things about the old man. He wasn’t even talking about segregation – he was just complimenting the other parts of Thurmond’s platform.”

I groaned inwardly as I realized I wasn’t talking to a liberal, but to a paleo in deep denial. “Thurmond didn’t have a platform outside of segregation,” I tried to inform him, but he persisted in debating me.

Thinking back on his first comment, I realized I’d come closer to the mark when I labelled the incident “racism”. I can’t imagine what else to call someone who can look at a muted image of a white politician flanked by blacks and immediately assumes that the blacks are being used. Could it not be a Martin Luther King Day celebration, where Democrats invited Santorum as a way to seem “bipartisan”, thus making Santorum the one who was used? Could it not have been a meeting of a group of conservative blacks who honestly believe in Santorum and his views, and were asking him to speak to their group as they tried to make the case for recruiting efforts for their organization?

There was no hope for this one, so I finished quickly and walked away. I just hope the old segregationist right isn’t as widespread as the Democrats would like, and Lott and my coworker are rare throwbacks.

Dec

20

2002

The Best of Both Worlds

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Trent Lott has decided not to run for Majority Leader when the Republican Caucus returns on January 6, but has not resigned his seat as Senator. Hopefully, the chastened Mr. Lott will take Peggy Noonan’s advice (linked earlier).

I think he should rewrite the first paragraph of his obituary every day of his life by speaking about the American dilemma as a Southern white man of the 20th century. He should begin his speeches with, “My name is Trent Lott, and I used to be majority leader of the Senate. Let me tell you how I lost my job.” Then he should speak with candor about what he knows and has seen of race in America. Q&A to follow. This could be a real contribution to our country.

After his huge scandal, John Profumo, England’s former secretary of state for war, did something like this. He devoted his life to doing good. And to anyone who was watching, he died a great man.

Amen.

Latest word is Bill Frist is receiving the lion’s share of support from his colleagues. Hopefully, it will be unanimous, a sure sign that the Senate incident is behind us. Through the rest of the country, we must rededicate ourselves to the founding principles – and to one another.

Dec

20

2002

Question and Answer Time

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There are a lot of important things said by Peggy Noonan today – some more important than the quote to follow – so read the linked column. The the first is:

(I)t would be best for the Republican Party–and the country–if Republican senators were utterly brutal and moved to fire him before then. This would be a Christmas present to the country: Jim Crow’s long, gasping death is finally over. If they do not move before Jan. 6 they certainly must fire him as leader on that date. And when they do they should read a brief statement explaining what they did and why they did it. And then they should speak no more, and go back to work.
’nuff said here.

Dec

20

2002

Wonder Land Being a former

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Being a former New Yorker, I’ve taken a special interest how the Lower Manhattan Development Corp.’s plans are progressing for Ground Zero. Several of the proposals struck my fancy, and two in particular made me much more optimistic than the previous proposals. Daniel Henninger is kind enough to throw cold water on that optimism in the Wall Street Journal.

Let’s get something straight: There is no chance that any of these out-sized buildings will ever be realized, and these architects surely know it, though just as obviously their plans had to include signature buildings that reflected their reputational eminence. No New York tenant will lease space at those heights, and therefore no developer will build, not even the Port Authority. That mistake was made once, with the World Trade Center. You may see one of these buildings some day in Shanghai’s Pudong Development Zone, but not here.
Regretably, he may be right that America’s ignorant brashness is over when it comes to tall buildings. But then I realized that what got my attention in the proposals wasn’t about the buildings. I don’t care what is built around the site, though I don’t want an intentional whimpering reflection of what-used-to-be. Most important, I care what we do to memorialize the site.

Daniel Libeskind suggests building at odd geometric angles around the “footprints” of the old towers. No, this isn’t some bizarre cubist vision: if his plan is enacted, the footprints will always be bathed in sunlight between the time of day the first tower was struck until the time it fell, shortly after its twin. The odd angles of the buildings were calculated to permit no shadows to fall inside the former footprints during those hours. The idea is nothing short of breathtaking.

The other plan that caught my eye was designed by the THINK team. It features two latticework frames reminiscent of the Eiffel Tower that somewhat resemble the majesty of the old Twins, without actually putting buildings there and permitting the footprints to remain sacred. Even Henninger seems taken with the idea, asking, “The city’s shorn skyline? Go ahead, put up teamTHINK’s amazing, absurd, light-filled latticework tube.” Henninger gets it – and though I’ve put my own little spin on his remarks, don’t misunderstand – he gets it in the first paragraph of his column when he quotes the email of reader Jack Smith of Monticello, MN.

“This is Gettysburg, the Alamo, the Arizona Memorial. Sorry, Manhattan, but Ground Zero doesn’t belong to you anymore. It belongs to all of us.”
Jack, ya hit me where I live, saying it that way.

Dec

19

2002

Lott fiasco exposes conservative split

Filed Under Race and Prejudice | Leave a Comment

Of course, Emery was quoting Krauthammer, who today said:

Having thus staked their ground for decades on colorblindness and a reverence for the civil rights movement as originally defined, neoconservatives were particularly appalled by Lott’s endorsement of its antithesis, Thurmond segregationism. Not to denounce it–on grounds not of politics but of principle–would be to lose all moral standing on matters of race.
The whole column – as usual for Krauthammer – is brilliant, especially when he sums up in answer to Lott’s threat to resign his seat if he’s ousted.
So be it. There is a principle at stake here. Better to lose the Senate than to lose your soul. New elections come around every two years. Souls are scarcer.
I couldn’t have said it better myself.

But this led me to study a little conservology – I’d never bothered to figure out the details of paleo vs. traditional vs. neo, and wondered where I fit in. SelectSmart.com has one answer (more traditional than neo) but in the process I tripped over Richard Poe:

I approach the question of race much as I approach ecology. We don�t really know whether clear-cutting every major forest on the planet will fatally deplete the earth�s oxygen supply. Maybe it won�t. But why run such a dangerous experiment?

Likewise, it is possible that the neocons are right. Maybe America will survive the extinction of its Anglo-Saxon creators. But who, in his right mind, wants to put this theory to the test?

I would argue that, for me, it depends who the other lab rat is.

Dec

19

2002

The Dirty Little Secret

Filed Under Race and Prejudice | Leave a Comment

James Taranto pinpoints the emerging issue of the day (and Trent Lott is merely in a supporting role) by quoting The Weekly Standard’s Noemie Emery, then asking:

Could it be that the cycle is playing itself out again, with the Democrats as the minority party hobbled by racial politics? For all the talk of Republicans’ “coded” racial appeals, it is actually Democrats who play the race card with abandon. The 2000 presidential campaign, for instance, saw a pro-Democratic ad that sought to blame George W. Bush for the racist murder of James Byrd–even though, in Bush’s Texas, the killers were sentenced to death.
Merely the most high-profile example there. Democrats do more than play the race card – they live it, and one must wonder just how much of it is simply political opportunism and how much is really a racist view intended to keep the black population as undereducated and impoverished – and beholden to them and the Congressional Black Caucus – as possible. If you don’t believe so, ask the Democrats where all their black Senators, Governors, and Presidential candiates are. That would be a little too close to letting the house slave tell the massa what to think.

Dec

19

2002

Flu sickens hundreds on USS Roosevelt

Filed Under Lies, Corruption and Scandals | Leave a Comment

CNN Asia quotes U.S. Navy officials saying, “Hundreds of sailors aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt have caught the flu as the virus hit the aircraft carrier during exercises in the Atlantic.”

When the virus peaked about four days ago, it affected at least 300 of the more than 5,000 crew members stationed aboard the ship.
Okay, so let’s take a poll. Who thinks all these sudden outbreaks of flu aren’t natural? Of those that do think it’s natural, is it possible this is another case of “shark attacks”, where the media thinks something is unusual and plays up the story simply because they like to stir the pot?

Dec

19

2002

Frist Emerges as Potential Lott Successor

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Thank you, Lord. I’ll put in a little extra in the collection plate if you’ll assign that messenger to overtime.

Sen. Bill Frist, a transplant surgeon turned politician who is on good terms with the White House — and might want to live there some day — on Thursday became the first Republican to openly declare interest in becoming the next U.S. Senate Majority Leader.
Cool beans! In case you’ve forgotten, Bill Frist is best known for several high-profile situations when his other profession became particularly useful:
He dashed to offer assistance after the Capitol anthrax attacks in 2001, and raced to help the occasional visitor to Congress suffering a heart attack.

When a deranged gunman in July 1998 killed two Capitol policeman and was then critically injured himself, Frist rode in the ambulance, keeping the wounded attacker’s airways open and heart pumping.

He was most recently the Chair of the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, who (with a little help from Karl Rove) was instrumental in the astounding victories of the recent mid-term election. Some Senators are apparently rankled that he isn’t very “independent” from the White House, which I consider a very good thing. The good-ol-boy collegality of the Senate is the only thing keeping “Tourette’s syndrome” Trent in office as it is.

There’s an added bonus: the Dems don’t like the prospect.

Democrats acknowledge they are worried about Frist being the public face of the Republican party. Articulate and telegenic, he has the political equivalent of a good bedside manner, coming across as more moderate than many prominent Republicans, even though his voting record is fairly conservative.

It would be hard to attack a Princeton, Harvard and Stanford doctor surgeon who runs marathons and has done medical missionary work in the Sudan.

“He’d have a long honeymoon,” sighed one Democratic aide. “It’s hard to attack a heart-lung-transplant surgeon.”

Poor babies!

Dec

19

2002

Where the Shadows lie

Filed Under Entertainment and Sports | Leave a Comment

I didn’t have time to post yesterday since I was attending an opening-night showing of The Two Towers. My initial reaction (similar to my first impression of Fellowship of the Ring) is that they butchered the book. But if history is any guide, I’ll be singing the praises of Peter Jackson in two weeks, after I’ve seen it a few more times.

Dec

17

2002

Empty Lott

Filed Under Lies, Corruption and Scandals, Race and Prejudice | Leave a Comment

James Taranto is materful in his Best of the Web column today. The short version:

So along comes Trent Lott with what actually was a pro-racist remark, his retrospective endorsement of Strom Thurmond’s 1948 campaign. And how does he propose to make amends for a sentiment that has outraged liberals and conservatives alike? By embracing the entire liberal agenda on race. In doing so he implicitly endorses the smear that the only way not to be a “racist” is to embrace “affirmative action” and other such policies. Lott probably hasn’t thought any of this through and is merely thrashing about trying to find a way of surviving politically. But his betrayal of conservative principles is one more reason he deserves to be voted out of the Senate leadership by his Republican colleagues.
And don’t let the door hit your butt on the way out, neither!

On a more personal note, I sent my two Democrat Senators emails early last week about the Lott affair. Bob Graham’s office immediately sent back the stock answer of “I voted for so-and-so” that had nothing to do with my missive. Bill Nelson, on the other hand, replied thus:

I believe he should resign his leadership post because of the racially divisive comments he made at the party for Senator Strom Thurmond, but that decision is up to President Bush and Republican senators who can hold a new election for majority leader.
I wonder if they’d be able to hold up a judicial appointment with a fillibuster if it generated them this much political advantage….

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