December 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

Dem Tax-Cut Fears
(12-29-2002) Democrats will ultimately couch their opposition to a tax cut on dividends in terms of "helping the rich." But their real fear, writes Alan Reynolds, is that the 85-million-strong investor class will reward the GOP for such a policy.

The Cult Of JFK
(12-29-2002) Despite the media uproar over recent revelations in the Atlantic, historians have long known about JFK's poor health. But what of the sexual escapades of Camelot's King? Thomas C. Reeves writes that the cult of Kennedy will likely continue to stall on that topic.

A Conservative Foreign Policy
(12-29-2002) The foreign policy of the Bush Administration, much like the foreign policy of the Reagan Administration, is hardly the narrow realism advocated by Henry Kissinger and associates. Rather, notes Francis Fukuyama, it is a foreign policy that is prudently idealistic. (More)

Of Calhoun Or Lincoln?
(12-17-2002) Over the years, Trent Lott has espoused an understanding of American conservatism grounded in the language of "states' rights" not unlike that of John C. Calhoun. Indeed, many Southern/paleoconservative types have long embraced Calhoun. The Party of Lincoln, suggests Mac Owens, should be wary.

All These Problems
(12-16-2002) As Paul Greenberg notes, there was a time in American history when the code words "all these problems" were used by polite folks in the segregated South to avoid talking about the race issue directly. And that's one reason it was so horrifying to hear those words come out of the Senate Majority Leader's mouth at Strom Thurmond's birthday. (More)

The MBA Presidency
(12-15-2002) Much has been made of President Bush and his MBA presidency, not all of it flattering. But by any objective measure, it's been a successful presidency so far. Daniel Henninger suggests it has something to do with the method of the MBA President's staffing decisions.

Give 'Em Hell George
(12-13-2002) The 2002 elections, argues Steven Hayward, signal the beginnings of a significant political realignment. The author of The Age of Reagan looks back to 1948 to put the most recent election in context, and forecasts difficult times ahead for the Democrat Party. (More)

Vacant Lott
(12-13-2002) "Trent Lott must resign as Senate majority leader," writes Charles Krauthammer. "It's not just that no one who has said this can lead an American political party. It's that no one who could say something like this should be an American leader." (Charen) (Clegg) (Fund) (George) (Goldberg) (Hayes) (Jacoby) (Murdock) (Noonan) (Sowell)

No Tears For O'Neill
(12-09-2002) Liberals and Keynesians have spun the Paul O'Neill firing as evidence that the Bush economic policies are a failure. But as Larry Kudlow points out, O'Neill was fired because his demand-side Keynesianism was never really a good fit for this administration, and he was increasingly dismissed by Wall Street and Capitol Hill.

Missing The Point
(12-06-2002) The reporting on the return of Elliott Abrams to a Republican administration completely missed the real significance. As Fred Barnes points out, Abrams will be a strong voice on Israel and the Palestinians, and a strong counterweight to Colin Powell and the State Department's Arabists.

Stealth Trip To China
(12-06-2002) Al Gore's operatives are fond of portraying George Bush as way too cozy with Texas energy firms and "big business." Sam Dealey finds it interesting that those same operatives don't really want to talk about the former Vice President's trip to China.

From Stockman to DiIulio
(12-04-2002) A certain respect for "objectivity" holds liberal journalists at least somewhat in line when they have to cover conservative administrations. But nothing excites them quite like a perceived defector. David Stockman is the premier example, and George Neumayr has found this year's Stockman Award winner. (More)

War Drums
(12-04-2002) President Bush and his Secretary of Defense continue to insist in public appearances that Saddam Hussein possesses weapons of mass destruction. If Iraq fails to admit as much by the UN's 8 December deadline, Joel Mowbray argues that Bush's War Cabinet may have to declare a material breach. (More)

Debating America's Soul
(12-03-2002) What were the original principles of the American Constitution? Are those principles true? University of Dallas political theorist Thomas G. West takes up those questions, in the context of the debate between Harry Jaffa and Harvey Mansfield.

Will Dems Look South?
(12-02-2002) The last Northern Democrat President to win a majority of the Southern vote was FDR in 1944. Since then, notes Claremont Professor John J. Pitney, the best Dem hope has been to run a Southern candidate for President. Unfortunately for the Dems, their two Southern possibilities for 2004 are Al Gore and John Edwards.

Realigning Elections
(12-02-2002) The term "realignment" is frequently bandied about (incorrectly) by pundits, few of whom have probably ever heard of Walter Dean Burnham. On the other hand, David Hogberg thinks that 2002 may indeed have seen a realigning election, in the classical sense as outlined by Burnham. (More) (More)

Nostalgia For Deterrence
(12-02-2002) Left-wing politicians such as Ted Kennedy were not big fans of deterrence, properly understood, during the Cold War, instead advocating disarmament and arms control. It's even more laughable now, notes Charles Krauthammer, that they are misapplying the Cold-War concept to President Bush's conduct of the war on terror.

Terrorism And The Limits Of Law
(12-02-2002) "[M]ost of the steps taken by government officials since the terrorist attacks have been reasonable efforts to reconcile competing values, " writes legal scholar Michael Glennon, "and if government has been slow to 'say that, the reason may be that hastily writing these balances into law would not be a good way to protect cherished freedoms over the long term." (More)

International

Schemer In Shadows
(12-30-2002) President Bush loathes him. Those who survive his gulag tell horror stories. It's thought that he uses international aid to finance his weapons program. And he has atrocious fashion sense. Beyond that, notes Marc Lerner, we know little about Kim Jong-il.

Korean Axis
(12-29-2002) Some pundits were highly critical of George Bush for including North Korea in his "Axis of Evil" grouping. Now that Pyongyang is about to expel UN nuclear inspectors, the American president is looking highly prescient.

Financing Al Qaeda
(12-29-2002) In what reads like a spy thriller, Douglas Farah reports that Al Qaeda's financial network is smart (very smart!), in cohorts with tyrants around the world, and adept at procuring weapons. And that's only what we've figured out so far.

NAFTA Refutes Its Critics
(12-29-2002) Ten years ago, the U.S., Canada, and Mexico signed the North American Free Trade Agreement. As Daniel Griswold notes, NAFTA's critics were just as wrong then as critics of the U.S.-Chile trade agreement are today.

The Christian Predicament
(12-26-2002) Under administration of the Palestinian Authority, Bethlehem has become a terror zone that Christian pilgrims visit only at great peril. It's even more perilous still to be a Palestinian Christian.

Regime Change?
(12-13-2002) Paraguay's ruling Colorado Party has been in power since 1947. Their record is one of corruption, mismanagement, and ineptitude. Are they about to go the way of Mexico's PRI?

On Palestinian Freedom Fighters
(12-08-2002) "Palestinian terrorists are not 'freedom fighters, ' writes Louis Rene Beres. "They are hostes mumani generic, 'Common Enemies of Mankind.' Any further linguistic association of murderers with 'freedom' will surely undermine the very structure of civilized international relations."

Asia Minor
(12-06-2002) For years, businessmen and politicians alike have fussed and fretted over the Chinese economic miracle. Joshua Kurlantzick ask: What if they were wrong?

The Iraq Mess
(12-03-2002) On Monday, UN weapons inspectors in Iraq got lost on their way to a "secret" inspection and had to ask directions of the Iraqi spies trailing them. Their leader increasingly resembles Inspector Clouseau. Nonetheless, John Podhoretz argues that hawks should not worry about the UN bumbling in Iraq.

Trans-Atlantic Conservatism
(12-02-2002) "Anti-Americanism is mostly a phenomenon of the left, whether on this or the opposite side of the Atlantic Ocean," writes Helle Dale. "European criticism often sounds like the editorial pages of the New York Times." On the other hand, conservatives on both sides of the pond tend to sound rather more alike.

Books and Arts

Voluntary Service
(12-30-2002) Should literature be about changing the world? Who knows? "I do know," writes author Philip Pullman, "that there is a joy in responsibility, in the knowledge that what we're doing on earth, while we live, is being done to the best of our ability, and in the light of everything we know about what is good and true." (via ALD)

Christianity And Philosophy
(12-26-2002) In What Is Ancient Philosophy?, Pierre Hadot argues that at the root of the decline of classical philosophy was Christianity, which appropriated Greek thought for theological ends, slowly breaking it down. Benjamin Balint critiques the argument, suggesting a more fruitful line of inquiry.

Defining Culture
(12-15-2002) In earlier times, "culture" once distinguished some societies from barbarians in terms of achievement. Anthropologists (nay, virtually all contemporary social scientists) use the term to describe habits and customs of specific populations. As Steven Menashi explains in his review of The Survival Of Culture, it's not a minor distinction.

What To Do About Bad Art?
(12-13-2002) "While the sacred, public, and social art of earlier periods served as a means of elevation and the discernment of real meaning in the world," writes Mark Wegierski, "today’s highbrow art often serves as a means for ever intensifying deconstruction." But what can be done about it?

Left, Right, Left
(12-13-2002) It's always a little troubling, notes Brian Doherty, when a magazine's executive editor "is obligated to announce to the Washington Times even before the first issue appears that the magazine's positions 'are not intended as anti-Semitic.'" Then again, it's Pat Buchanan's American Conservative. (More)

Myth At The Multiplex
(12-06-2002) In the past, Christians have appropriated pagan traditions for their own ends. But in his Lord of the Rings trilogy, J.R.R. Tolkien reverses the process (as explored in Bradley J. Birzer's forthcoming J. R. R. Tolkien's Sanctifying Myth). What's most amazing, notes John J. Miller, is that the director of the movies seems to understand.

Gossip From The War Room
(12-02-2002) Bob Woodward's latest gossip journal, Bush At War, is even worse than his usual standard. "Because he knows little of their substance and cares less," concludes noted strategist Edward Luttwak, "Woodward's reporting of the difficult and nuanced discussions that drive the decisions of war and diplomacy is not only incomplete but also badly distorted."

Implosion Of American Federalism
(12-02-2002) The Supreme Court is today viewed as the ultimate guarantor of rights and interpreter of the Constitution. The Founders would have found such a notion abhorrent, writes Claremont Professor Michael Uhlmann. Robert Nagel's Implosion Of American Federalism describes how Progressive constitutionalism has reconfigured American federalism.

The Strange Truth About Our Souls
(12-02-2002) Some Straussians have examined contemporary American culture through the prism of political philsoophy, and most recently Francis Fukuyama has focused on the nature of man in relation to technology. In Aliens In America, writes Damon Linker, political theorist Peter Lawler covers similar ground, but from a Christian perspective.

The Anti-Roark, II
(12-02-2002) Philip Johnson has been on the cutting edge of virtually every architectural trend to hit America, including many bad ones. He has done beautiful work (including prominent parts of the Houston skyline), and built dreadful postmodernist heaps. Tom Lewis sympathetically reviews The Architecture Of Philip Johnson.

Texana

Man Of The Year?
(12-29-2002) "A whistleblower," writes Dan Ackman, "is someone who spots a criminal inside a bank and alerts the police." And then there's Enron's Sherron Watkins, Time's Man Of The Year, who "wr[o]te a memo to the bank robber (Mr. Lay) suggesting he was about to be caught and warning him to watch out."

A Delicate Balance
(12-16-2002) "Many museums these days look their best before any art is installed in them," writes Paul Goldberger. But Tadao Ando's new Fort Worth Modern Art Museum "is the first great museum building in a generation that gets even better when art is added."

Junction Boy
(12-15-2002) Paul "Bear" Bryant's legendary 1954 Junction training camp has inspired a book and a recent movie. Ray Buck catches up with one of Bryant's premiere "Junction Boys," Gene Stallings, who survived Junction, coached under Bryant, won Super Bowls as an assistant under Tom Landry, and later won a National Championship heading Alabama.

Racism As Diversity
(12-08-2002) When a federal court ruled in 1996 that the University of Texas could not use race in admissions decisions (the so-called Hopwood case), Rice University attorneys concluded the ruling applied to Rice also. So one of the most prestigious universities in Texas set out to subvert the decision. (via Courrèges)

Internal Distress
(12-06-2002) Conservatives have long suggested that the Houston Chronicle has pushed a pro-rail agenda that blends news with editorializing. As Richard Connelly notes, the conservatives recently got strong evidence they're right.

Border Wars
(12-03-2002) What's the difference between Mexican and Tex-Mex food? Aside from rice and beans, pretty much everything. Dave Faries explains.

Society

Two Selfish Men
(12-30-2002) Cardinal Law is a terribly selfish man. So is Trent Lott. Larry Miller explains that it was their undoing.

The New Puritans
(12-29-2002) Europeans and Americans are going to the gym more than ever. We're also fatter than ever. The Economist considers the appeal of the gym cult.

Kwanzaa, In Principle
(12-29-2002) "There are no hyphenated Tanzanians," writes Matt Hamel. "This is a principle that all Americans might reflect on this Kwanzaa."

Charlie's Latest Hustle
(12-16-2002) Pete Rose and his supporters have very nearly badgered commissioner Bud Selig into reinstating him. And Paul Beston says if Selig gives in, he'll "become baseball's Cardinal Law." (More)

Pumped Up Hysteria
(12-13-2002) Notwithstanding the recent confessions of Ken Caminiti and Jose Canseco, Major League Baseball's "steroid problem" may have been hugely exaggerated. Dayn Perry explains.

How Green Is BP?
(12-09-2002) BP is on the verge of completing a two-year, $200 million advertising campaign to blur exactly what it is that the company does (drill for oil and gas all over the world) with vague statemetns about "Beyond Petroleum." Darcy Frey investigates just how genuine BP is about its new slogans.

Assault On Salt
(12-02-2002) Everyone knows that reducing sodium intake reduces blood pressure, thereby reducing one's risk for heart disease, right? Not so fast, argues Steven Milloy. Indeed, low-salt diets may even have some risks of their own.

Other Headlines

Benhabib: Taking Ideas Seriously

Sartwell: Hell Hath No Fury

Morris: Hillary's Big Mouth

Gerson & Motley: Is Saudia Arabia Tough Enough On Terrorism?

Klinkenborg: Mencken's Permanent Opposition

TomPaine.com's Special Interest

Studying The Suicide Bombers

Fried: The Unconstitutionality Of McCain-Feingold

Saudis Deny Report On American Use Of Bases

Boot: What Is A NeoCon?

Greenberg: Poor Trent Lott

Edward Skidelsky Reviews Aspects Of Hobbes

Oppel: Limiting Lawsuits, The Texas Way

Kenya's Longtime Ruling Party Defeated

Burns: A Cadillac And Other Plunder

Intestinal Journey

Sinai: Extremism, Terror Lists, Root Cause

Tyrrell: Byrd Most Foul

Newmayr: Neo-Objectivity

Cottle: The Strange Return Of Gary Hart

Saudis Will Allow Use Of Bases

Walker: The Radical 'Burbs

War Names

Who Is John Kerry?

Hezbollah Increasingly Anti-American

Podhoretz: Arafat's Vote Snub

Lomborg & Rubin: Limits To Growth

Gerecht: Democracy For Muslims

Palestinians "Postpone" Elections, Blame Israel

Thomasson: Machiavellian Orchestration

Steele: Of Race And Imagination

Kristol: Our Coy Republicans

Hayward: Reagan, Lott, and Race-Baiting

Conservatives Led The Way In Lott Criticism

Trouble In Nepal

Kling: Phase Out Medicare

Gore Won't Run In 2004

Nickles Calls For New Majority-Leader Election

Thomas: Habitual Offender

McWhorter: Not Fit To Lead

Hayes: A Very Sorry Majority Leader

Dale: Snow Job In The Desert

Cottle: Lott's Gaffes, and the GOP's

George: Vacant Lott

Babbin: The Whores Of UNMOVIC

Pleszczynski: The Conason Prize

Nordlinger: Impromptus (12-10-02)

U.S. Reacts To Blix "Curveball"

The Lure Of African Oil

Packer: The Liberal Quandary Over Iraq

Lambro: Slouching Towards Tax Cuts

Stelzer: Oil After Iraq

Toobin: Average Joe?

Elias: What Makes People Happy

Escalating Tensions In Venezuela

Europe's New Face?

Will: United, It Fails

Emerie: Al Gore's Scarred Psyche

Light-Rail Problems In Dallas

Stein: Roadway Pharisees

Ledeen: Tom Friedman's Reformation

Goldberg: The Crippling Fear Of Being Taken Seriously

Isaacson: Kissinger, History Student

Scheiber: John Kerry's Foreign Policy Quagmire

Hayes: Wolfowitz Talks Turkey

Skinner: No More Idealism On The Left

Treasury Secretary Announces Resignation

London: We're All "Unstable Vets" Now

Glassman: Mutual Failure

Prager: "Morally Neutral" Reporting Is Dishonest

Lochery: Israel's Dream Ticket

Novak: Rocky Democrat Road

Pipes: A Christian Boom

Fineman: The Hammer Strikes

Review: What's Normal? A Look At Asperger Syndrome

Israel Losing Military Edge

Colson: Terrorists Behind Bars

Pryce-Jones: The Man Who Would Be Stalin

Schwartz: The Princess And Her 'Charities'

Berkowitz: John Rawls And The Liberal Faith