A TURNING POINT?

The Timothy McVeigh news could surely be a pivotal moment in our consideration of the death penalty. Here we have the highest profile case imaginable, federal authorities running the show, rather than some local sheriff, a smart, white defendant, good lawyers … and they still screw it up! What chance a poor black guy with a state defender? I’ve always opposed the death penalty on moral grounds. But it seems to me the prudential grounds are getting overwhelming as well. To my mind, it would be a wonderful irony if this hideous and evil crime eventually turned into something good: an end to capital punishment in America.

HATE MAIL: Here’s a good one: “Mr. Sullivan, I wish you all the best and hope for your continued good health. I must tell you – you all too often come across as a WHITE BOY- a smug white boy at that. Wait – smug white boy – that’s redundant.” Do you think the writer of that email has even considered that this might be an example of simple racism? The guy’s a liberal from the rest of his email. It seems to me to be increasingly common that anti-racism has now become almost indistinguishable from racism itself. And therein lies a lot of liberalism’s current dilemma.

THE TIMES SCRAPES A BARREL: You’ve got to hand it to the op-ed page of the New York Times. They’ve now run almost a piece a day since January against any kind of tax-cut, and now they’ve run a piece saying it will actually increase traffic jams! No, I’m not kidding. Check out Robert Frank’s op-ed today. It has some interesting points about income inequality and traffic but the tax cut twist is almost self-parody.

EUWWWW: You thought China was a problem? Check out what Gerhard Schroeder is planning for a European federal state. My take is posted opposite – in the new TRB.

NOSTRADAMUS AWARD: “Ah, but the details. The Krugmans and the Chaits will shortly have a cow, if not a whole herd of them.” – TRB, The New Republic, last week.
“The Bush Tax Cut Is A Lie – Part I” – by Paul Krugman, The New Republic, this week.
“The Bush Tax Cut Is A Lie – Part II” – by Jonathan Chait, The New Republic, same issue.
Honest, I had no idea when I wrote my piece.