September 2002 Archives

Archives of the entries for this month are listed below, by category. You may jump directly to categories using the navigation bar thumbnails. Please keep in mind that links do expire, and that archived links may not still be available.

American Politics

All About Vietnam
(09-30-2002) The end of the Cold War helps explain the resurgence of the Democratic Party in the 90s, as voters were able to concentrate more on their pocketbooks and less on national security. With national security again a concern, Robert Bartley thinks a return to their Vietnam-era antiwar roots could hurt the Dems. (More)

Gore-ing Iraq
(09-27-2002) Al Gore's speech on Iraq, asserts Michael Kelly, "was one no minimally decent politician could have delivered. It was entirely dishonest, cheap, low. It was utterly hollow. It was bereft of policy, of solutions, of constructive ideas, very nearly of facts...." The alpha-male politician is back. (More) (More) (More) (More) (More) (More)

See The Evil, Deny The Evil
(09-27-2002) This week saw the ongoing melodrama of a concurrent series of debates on American foreign policy. One group has largely concluded that the intelligence community should have strung together scant indications that 9/11 was imminent. Another group contends there's hardly enough evidence to deem Iraq a threat. Daniel Henninger comments.

No Empire
(09-24-2002) "Saying we rule the world doesn't make it so, " writes political humorist Jonah Goldberg on the question of American imperialism. "We don't rule the world. We lead the world — this is a huge distinction to people who live outside the intellectual menagerie of an Ivy League English department."

The Sunshine Warrior
(09-23-2002) Paul Wolfowitz has been portrayed by certain media outlets as a crazed hawk with an unhealthy obsession over Iraq. In reality, Wolfowitz's worldview has been informed by figures as diverse as Democrat Scoop Jackson, Republican Ronald Reagan, and political philosopher Allan Bloom. Bill Keller profiles the number two man at DoD.

The Fog Of Peace
(09-21-2002) "If you are a writer setting out to evaluate the Bush foreign policy team and its longstanding worries about Saddam," writes David Brooks, "it would seem reasonable to measure whether or not those fears are justified or exaggerated." Unless you are a member of the anti-war left.

Lefty Angst
(09-19-2002) In March, Lee Bockhorn wrote of Michael Walzer's search for a "decent Left." It's now September, notes Bockhorn, and they're still searching.

To Topple Or Not?
(09-17-2002) Thus far, the Dems have largely sat out the debate on Iraq, and much of the interesting debate has been within conservative circles. Conservative columnist Thomas Bray considers the arguments for and against an American foreign policy of pre-emption. (More)

Blackhawk Down, Squared
(09-17-2002) Over the weekend, many of the people opposed to an American foreign policy of regime change in Iraq began touting a scheme they call "coercive inspections." Defense policy analyst Frank Gaffney contends it's a "hare-brained idea."

The Dems' New Litmus Test
(09-14-2002) There used to be a debate whether there are -- or should be -- litmus tests for federal judges. Ruben Navarrette explains that the Democrats have resolved that debate with the rejection of Priscilla Owen.

Democratic Implosion
(09-12-2002) For several months, it seemed as if the Democrats had seized on a winning November strategy: fight for their domestic agenda while embracing the President's foreign policy initiatives. And then, writes Dick Morris, they blew it. Spectacularly.

Finish The War
(09-12-2002) The debate over whether to go to war with Iraq is mistaken, argues former Senator Bob Kerrey, for the United States has been at war with Iraq for more than a decade. The real debate is whether or not to liberate the country.

Imperial Politics
(09-12-2002) To manage the danger of global terrorism, argues Tony Blankley, American foreign policy "will try to manage the world. It will be intrusive and global." The imperial period of American foreign policy has begun.

On Hallowed Ground
(09-11-2002) On the anniversary of That Day, the best column Dave Barry has ever written seems most appropriate.

Put It To A Vote
(09-10-2002) "I understand, writes political humorist Jonah Goldberg, "that the Democrats want to make this election about how many free pills old people will get; about how many more tax breaks the working poor deserve; and about how mean conservatives are to puppies, kitties, and birds with broken wings." So why, he asks, shouldn't conservatives make the war on terror the main issue?

Secretary Of Status Quo
(09-08-2002) The popular press has presented a black-and-white view of the Bush Administration's internal debate over pre-emptive war against Iraq. In reality, the debate is being subtly guided by two consummate inside players, Vice President Cheney and Secretary Powell. Tony Blankley considers their approaches, focusing especially on Powell.

The Objectors
(09-08-2002) The American democratic republic is served well by an informed debate over sending troops to war. But a key part of that informed debate should be the past record of the debators. Mark Levin reflects on the foreign policy views of Tom Daschle, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton. Mona Charen reflects further on Jimmy Carter.

Lacking Depth
(09-02-2002) Missouri Senator Jean Carnahan's campaign is in trouble. After trailing in a close race most of the summer, Jim Talent has pulled slightly ahead of the seemingly bewildered incumbent. As Donald Lambro points out, Talent clearly has the momentum. But will he get the turnout he needs in November?

International

Qusay
(09-30-2002) Serious analysts of Iraq know that Saddam Hussein's son Qusay -- not Uday -- has been the tyrant's right hand man for at least the last five years. This is news to LA Times writer Bob Drogin, who otherwise writes a decent profile of the second most important man in Iraq.

Southeast Asian Terror
(09-27-2002) U.S. officials were delighted when Omar al Faruq confessed that Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiah militant group was connected to Al Qaeda. But others are not so sure that Al Qaeda's reach has spread to southeast Asia. Barry Wain and John McBeth investigate.

Building A Free Afghanistan
(09-22-2002) For those who would deem American liberation of Afghanistan "neo-colonialism" or "neo-imperialism," there is one Afghan woman's answer: "I wanted to know something and help my children . . . . I have no knowledge, and so I am not a useful person. If I can get some knowledge, I can help my children more."

Peace And The UN
(09-20-2002) "The United Nations," writes Mona Charen, "is one of those institutions, like the Women's National Basketball Association, that sails above its failures because it just seems to so many people like a good idea." Good ideas aside, she argues, peace is still maintained by armed force.

Kyoto And Kellogg-Briand
(09-17-2002) In the early twentieth century, the architects of the Kellogg-Briand pact proposed to save the world via international agreement. It didn't quite work out that way. Herbert Inhafer argues that the architects of the Kyoto Treaty are making the same mistake.

An "Apparent" Suicide
(09-10-2002) Reports of Abu Nidal's suicide were curious from the beginning. The fact that he was supposed to have shot himself in the head four times made them even more interesting. Victorino Matus sifts through the various reports and tries to make sense of them.

State Of Emergency
(09-09-2002) For a decade, Alberto Fujimori's war against Shining Path left Peru in a constant state of emergency. New Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's war against FARC seems to be drawing from the Fujimori playbook. Rachel Van Dongen takes a closer look at Uribe's state of emergency.

Qatar Politics
(09-08-2002) Although most Americans can't even pronounce Qatar properly, the small Arab nation will figure prominently in any decision to move against Iraq. Qatar's Al Udeid air base has quietly been upgraded, and currently serves as a staging area for raids in Afghanistan. And unlike much of the Arab world, Qatar actually seems to be pursuing a pro-American foreign policy.

Mexico Heads North
(09-05-2002) Just a few years ago, Mexico's economy was in a shambles. But as monetary deflation and other woes have decimated Argentina's economy, and the contagion has spread across South America, Mexican fiscal and monetary policies coupled with its ties to the U.S. have insulated the nation thus far, and should provide cover for additional reforms.

The Iraqi Opposition
(09-03-2002) Saddam Hussein's security apparatus has long kept Iraq's opposition groups weak and disjointed. But the Bush Administration's rhetoric seems to have energized the disparate groups, who confidently speak of the end of Hussein's rule. The Economist surveys the Iraqi opposition. (More) (More)

Fallout
(09-03-2002) The Soviet nuclear program, like Soviet healthcare and Soviet farming, was one of many aspects of Soviet society lauded by so many left-leaning academic "Sovietologists" in the latter half of the twentieth-century. Those same academics are as silent today as Moscow about the health disaster the Soviet nuclear program left behind. Robert Elegant pays a visit to Kazakhstan (geiger counter in hand).

Battle For Sudan's Oil
(09-03-2002) The recent peace negotiations notwithstanding, Sudan has been at war for nearly fifty years. The conflict has both ethnolinguistic and geopolitical roots: the government is largely dominated by fundamentalist Muslim Arabs from the north, the rebels by black African pagans and Christians from the south. To make it even more volatile, the rebels are sitting on vast hydrocarbon reserves.

Books and Arts

The Threatening Storm
(09-30-2002) The United States is about to invade Iraq, and will do so for several important reasons. But chief among those, explains Kenneth Pollack in The Threatening Storm, is Saddam Hussein's pursuit of nuclear weapons, and the fear that deterrence will break down. Stanley Kurtz comments. (More)

America With A K
(09-27-2002) Steve Earle's song "Johnny Walker Blues" drew criticism last month from conservatives, and was defended by some music critics. David Skinner finds the recently released full album a "juvenile and morally obtuse reading" of contemporary politics. But as usual, Earle's musical effort is pretty good.

Calculated Anger
(09-24-2002) John McCain's handlers spent much of his unsuccessful Presidential campaign downplaying their man's reputed temper. His memoir Worth The Fighting For, argues Jonathan Karl, makes clear that McCain's temper has actually served him well politically.

No Machiavelli
(09-18-2002) Dick Morris's Power Plays purports to draw lessons in political leadership from history. Roger Fontaine is not impressed: "The writing . . . varies from bland to awful and nearly always is pedestrian and derivative from a handful of secondary sources. There is repetition. There are cliches — on nearly every page."

Orwell And Us
(09-14-2002) George Orwell was one of the seminal thinkers of his time, or any time for that matter. In his latest, Christopher Hitchens contributes to the fight over Orwell's legacy with Why Orwell Matters. David Brooks argues that Hitchens fails to persuade that Orwell matters today.

Racial Profiling
(09-13-2002) To many reviewers, Bernard Goldberg's Bias and William McGowan's Coloring The News are overblown rants about a media bias that doesn't exist. So, John McWhorter wonders, what explains the vastly different treatments of Justice Clarence Thomas and Cornel West in recent Washington Post profiles?

Islamic Studies
(09-13-2002) Edward Said's review of Bernard Lewis's What Went Wrong was predictably strident. But outside of academia, the post-September 11 world hasn't treated Said's pomo/poco rants all that well. Danny Postel notes that even in the academy, intellectuals are coming over to Lewis's approach.

How Deadheads Ruined The Dead
(09-05-2002) Dennis McNally's A Long Strange Trip is a literal tome on the Grateful Dead, a 600-page authorized biography full of detail. Marc Weingarten finds it to be an indictment of the band's fans: "If McNally's book teaches us anything, it's that, for a band with a prodigious drug and alcohol habit, the Deadheads' unquestioning faith was perhaps its most dangerous narcotic."

How Dare He?!
(09-02-2002) In the Atlantic last summer, B.R. Myers created a stir with a provocative essay that blasted much of contemporary American literature. He's now expanded his Reader's Manifesto and released it as a book. Claudia Rosett does not expect glowing praise from the literary establishment.

Texana

It's Still Scamp Walker Time
(09-28-2002) Thirty years after Walker and a handful of Texas musician made Lone Star and Luckenbach household names," writes Jeff Prince, Jerry Jeff Walker still can command a spot on a Texas State Fair playbill that includes the Dixie Chicks and Pat Green. Prince checks in on the legendary singer-songwriter.

Right Side Of The Law
(09-23-2002) Conventional wisdom suggested that Steven Wayne Smith, the man who initiated the case of Hopwood v. Texas, had no chance of beating a moderate Hispanic Republican judicial candidate supported by the GOP establishment. Beth Henary notes where the conventional wisdom went wrong, and where the race is headed.

The DMN Goes Chron
(09-20-2002) Why is powerful Dallas businessman Tom Hicks selling the Dallas Stars? You won't find out in the Dallas Morning News, argues Eric Celeste. (More)

Identity Crisis
(09-10-2002) Former Texas rocker and sometime country crooner Mary Cutrufello recently left Houston to take up residence in Minneapolis. On Houston, she says: "As a music town -- it isn't one. Bits and pieces are there, but it never seems to have congealed. It's too bad -- the city's so huge." John Nova Lomax takes exception, arguing that the ingredients are all in place.

Beyond The Glory
(09-10-2002) Michael Irvin was always larger than life in Dallas. The man whose intensity and work ethic drove the Cowboys to three Super Bowl victories in the 90s always seemed on the verge of destroying himself outside the world of football. It was compelling drama. And remains so, according to Randy Galloway, who comments on Fox's Beyond The Glory profile of Irvin.

Home Style
(09-02-2002) Houston's Sheila Jackson Lee is adept at finding news and C-Span cameras, and she's fairly good at bringing funding to her Congressional district. However, her Congressional office is less adept at constituent casework. Karen Masterson elaborates. (Flashback)

Cracks In The Coming Coalition?
(09-02-2002) Texas Democrats have practically been salivating over changing demographics in the state and the chance to build a majority coalition on the backs of Hispanics and African-Americans. They describe their fall ticket, headlined by Ron Kirk and Tony Sanchez, as their ethnic dream team. But as Ron Nissimov reports, the ethnic coalition may have a few cracks.

Society

The Buffett Of Baseball
(09-24-2002) Conventional wisdom about Major League Baseball suggests that small-market teams have no real chance to compete without significant revenue sharing. Somebody forgot to tell Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane.

Twilight Zone
(09-18-2002) It's hard to imagine that a sci-fi television series would draw praise from both conservatives and from Ayn Rand. But then, Rod Serling's original Twilight Zone episodes were, at their best, challenging moral tales. Jeff Dufour wonders if the third incarnation will more closely resemble the first or second.

The Slow Lane
(09-13-2002) Since 1970, the American population has grown by 40%, the number of registered cars by nearly 100%, and road capacity by only 6%. John Seabrook wonders if anyone can solve the problem of traffic.

Venus
(09-13-2002) Serena Williams says Venus Williams regularly schools her in their practices. Yet Serena has emerged as the most dominant player in women's tennis today, and has defeated big sis several times recently. Ralph Wiley thinks he has an explanation.

Hunting Tiger
(09-10-2002) "The pressure on Tiger Woods is mounting, " writes Jay Nordlinger, "and it has nothing to do with golf: It’s the pressure to blacken up — to be a social activist, a racial spokesman." Nordlinger notes that Woods has indeed been a social activist, for individualism and universalism. And his politically correct critics are not happy.

The Anti-Martha
(09-04-2002) Julia Child is like a favorite batty old aunt that we've invited to putter around in our kitchen. She knows what she's doing, but she's also fun and not at all uptight. "This is the lady," writes Noy Thrupkaew, "who declared that keeping a happy husband involved the three F's: feeding, flattering and … she never specified the last." No doubt Martha would be horrified. (via ALD)

The Plot Thickens
(09-03-2002) Over the last few decades, medical researchers have studied various components of human blood, from triglycerides to salts to cholesterol. The result has been high-powered drugs such as Lipitor and Zocor, and an increased appreciation for the role of nutrition and fitness. Now, the research has turned to blood viscosity. Mary Ellen Egan reports.

Other Headlines

Cote d'Ivoire Braces For Civil War

Shlaes: Freedom For Lebanon

Rifkin: Life Continues In A War Zone

Fear And Loathing In Kuwait

Plastic Pods For Biological Attacks

Diehl: Bush's Foreign Policy First

Greenberg: Gore's Profound Misreading

York: The Bush-Dem Popularity Contest

In Saddam We Trust

War Talk Shapes Fall Elections

Hitchens: Taking Sides

Turks Seize Smuggled Uranium

Baghdad Babs

Iraq Rejects Aggressive Inspections

Pruden: No Politics, Please (We're Campaigning)

Lewis: Time For Toppling

Bennett: Al Gore's Political Suicide

Caldwell: The Angry Adolescent Of Europe

Tell: The Dems' Tantrum

Hezbollah Missile Buildup In Lebanon

Neumayr: Cheap Dem Emotionalism

Pleszczynski: Vintage Gore

Tyrrell: Greene Goo

Dollarization In Latin America: El Salvador

Hanson: Iraq Redux

Podhoretz: Daschle's Breakdown

York: GOP Judicial Nominee Ambushed (Again)

Schulz: Buchanan's America

Kling: (Musical) Progress And Displacement

Marshall: Motive For Massacre

DuPont: Liberal Multilateralism, RIP

Hayes: War Is Hell, For Dems

Last: The Dems' Fine Whine

Jack: Backwards Belarus

Blankley: The Conservative Contrarian

Adney: Neutered Nukes

Lieberman v. Gore

Blanford: Even Kuwait's Islamists Welcome U.S.

Turkey Warns Against Kurdish State

U.S. Launches Review Of Ukraine Policy

Pipes: Bureaucratic Leftism

Podhoretz: Israel's Gift To Arafat

Zakaria: Message To The Foot Draggers

Russia Keeps Stalin Locked In Past

Babbin: Bad Week For Jane Fonda Dems

Hayward: Speech Mess

Hermann: Slovakia's Road Westward

Spertzel: Iraq's Faux Capitulation

Smith: Law And Orderlies

Franks: Containment Won't Work

Charen: Homeland Insecurity

Eastland: Unsettling Roe

Al Gore's Ambivalence

Haselkorn: Deterrence Does Not Apply To Iraq

Lambro: Democrats Line Up

Islamist Militant Seized

Hannaford: Inspection v. Assertive Disarmament

Ron Kirk Confounded

Owens: Wartime Policymaking

Kurtz: Balancing The Academy

Miller: Just A Tough Crowd

Support For Leftist Grows In Brazil

Terrorist Targeted Oregon For Training Camps

Iraq Redefines "Unconditional"

Venezuela Approaches The Brink

Goldberg: The German Problem

Krupnick: Ongoing English Department Culture Wars

Ackerman: Rumsfeld's Adventure In Epistemology

Hayes: Ritter Of Arabia

Messenger: Literature And War

Steinberg: The Moral Power Of Democracy

Nicaragua Assembly Divided Over Aleman

Podhoretz: Blame The People

Bush's National Security Strategy

Asian Islamists Seek Regional Islamic State

Babbin: Lessons Of Task Force Hawk

Daschle's Tirade

Schauble: Berlin's Isolation

Safire: The German Problem

Avery: Don't Blame U.S. For Muslim Dictatorships

Shiflet: SUV Heaven

Hanson: Answering (The Usual) Questions On Iraq

Barry: Tobacco Wars

Canto: Greenspan Keeps Getting It Wrong

Levin: Sleepers Play Soccer

Lizza: Two Tone

Henninger: Restoring Civics

Noonan: Hippocratic Oafs

Brooks: Demography As Destiny

Barnes: Power Play

Africa's Oil

Dems Endorse Iraq Vote

Martinovich: Root Cause Of Terrorism?

The Bizarre Odyssey Of Scott Ritter

Blitz: Politics And Intellectuals

Kmiec: Judiciary Committee As Political Killer

Pipes: The War On Campus

Lowry: Inspections Questions

Perritt: Dems Must Say No To War

O'Beirne: Can The GOP Hold The House?

DiCarlo: The End Of Camelot

Eastland: Bush's Relevance

Ritter Draws Frowns

Snell: Whittled Away

Safire: Relying On Saddam

Running Against History

Bandow: Al Gore's Selective Amnesia

Samples: Lessons Unlearned In Florida

Mangu-Ward: Leahy's Paranoia

Olson: In Memoriam

Hoagland: Making The Case

Will: It's Not Too Late

Hunting For Moderate Democrats

Making Sense Of Florida Voting

Goldberg: Blogs And Journalism

Hayes: Dems In A Box

Barnes: Bush Indicts Saddam

Iraq's Arsenal

Podhoretz: The Dems' War Plan

Neumayr: Mandela Mendacity

What About Iraq's Oil?

York: Will Dems Kill Again?

Ehrenfeld: Arafat's Purse

Marlowe: Going To Work

Krauthammer: The Anti-Saddam Coalition

Charen: Remember The Cassandras

Goldberg: Nixing Metaphors

Hayes: The New Yorker Bests The CIA

The UN Challenged

May: The West-West Divide

Nichols: An Anti-American Election

Malone: Bob Smith, Long Gone

Democratic Bystanders

Lizza: Coercive Inspections

Tyrrell: The Scrupling Few

Kimball: September Sentimentality

Hanson: The Wages Of 11 September

Pryce-Jones: Behind The Hate

U.S. Central Command Headed To Qatar

Fukuyama: Us v. Them

Netanyahu, Hussein Communicated Secretly In 1998

Kanfer: Jimmy Carter Still Doesn't Get It

Bozell: ABC's Anti-American Anchor?

Babbin: The EU's War On NATO

Dems Supported War On Iraq In 1998

Blair: Thank You, New York

Eastland: Renominate Owen

Glenn Loury Steps Back From Conservatism

The Problem Of Incomplete Intelligence And Iraq

Peters: The War So Far

New Oil Frontiers

Ledeen: Iran, Afghanistan, And Us

Cramer: The Making Of A Hawk

Lemann: The War On What?

Who's Next At The Fed?

Russia Views US As New Hydrocarbon Market

The End Of One Party Rule In Maryland?

Frist Sees GOP Senate

O'Grady: Does Castro Have Nuclear Weapons?

Airport Politics v. Security

Eberstadt: Population Sense And Nonsense

Barnes: The Uncandidate

Nickel Creek's This Side Reviewed

Pipes: Death To America

Bray: Jimmy Carter's Inordinate Fear Of Hussein

Tell: The Hunting Of Steven Hatfill

Schröder to enlist Chirac against US strategy

Schultz: Remove Saddam Now

America's Return To Central Asia

Lawrence: Will Jiang Go?

Kudlow: Take Out Al-Qaeda In Iraq

Moore: Red, White, And Blown Out

Hayes: Democrats For Regime Change

Colin Powell's Finest Hour

Judah: The Silent Majority

Mann: No Problems With Leadership At State

Gaffney: Time For Regime Change At State?

Fumento: The Feds' Fib About Fat

Inaction On Iraq "Not An Option"

Blacklisting Steven Hatfill

Morris: Twin Towers Of Election '02

Tyrrell: Inert Europols

Lerner: Scowcroft's (Arab) World

Mowbray: The O'Reilly (Saudi) Factor

Perry: Baseball's Bogus Settlement

Murray: Behind Books, Not Bars

Olasky: Learning From Chile

Charles Lichenstein, 1926-2002

Zacharia: Stealth Bomber

Peters: Affordable Housing Crunch?

Saunders: Alan Kors And Academia's Swindle

Zakaria: Radical Islam In Retreat

Bartlett: Budget Blowhards

Ledeen: The NYTimes Misreports Iran (Again)

Rubin: Small Arms

Bray: The Backlash That Wasn't

Schweikart: History To The Left Of Us

Safire: Like Father, Unlike Son

Smith: Beware Of Bingo Narcs

Axtman: Police Tactics In Melting-Pot Cities

Boyer: Kirk v. Cornyn

Tumulty: Kirk v. Cornyn

Keown: Strike Out

Decter: Crying Peace When There Is No Peace

How Soviet Spooks Shaped US Policy

York: Hope For Priscilla Owen?

Krauthammer: Year One

Hayes: The State Department v. Bush