Fascinating little article in the Early America Review about Thomas Jefferson’s response to terrorism and piracy in the Middle East in the early nineteenth century. It looks a lot like George W. Bush’s. Notice particularly how the Europeans and British were more content to pay tribute and bribes to Barbary Coast pirates and murderers than the more “naxefve” Americans. But guess who actually put a stop to the terrorism. Some things don’t change much, do they?
A BOOK RECOMMMENDATION: Many of you may already have checked out Bjorn Lomberg’s devastating insider rebuttal of many of the lies of the current environmentalist movement. It’s called The Skeptical Environmentalist. It makes no real difference to anything, but I felt a little less beleaguered by the discovery that this brave and smart individual is also openly gay. Just one more reason for some conservatives to revisit their assumptions about gay writers and thinkers. Yes, there are still many protected left-wing maniacs, who haven’t had an original thought since 1976. But there are many many young, bright free-thinking gays and lesbians challenging the lock-step leftism of the gay establishment. If you haven’t checked the Independent Gay Forum (I’ve played a small part in its origins and functioning), give it a whirl. From Jonathan Rauch to Walter Olson to Camille Paglia and Bjorn Lomberg (to name just a few), many non-conformist gay thinkers are actually making a difference. Perhaps the gay establishment, instead of wasting energy demonizing and vilifying us, will one day see us as productive contributors to many debates. Then again, pigs might fly.
CARTOONED: Yep, it’s happened. This cartoon is the first to lampoon me (kinda) since college days. Enjoy.
THE TALIBAN VERSUS CIVILIZATION: Forget for a moment the pictures of liberated Afghanis. Perhaps the most telling evidence to come out of Afghanistan these past few days is documentation of brutality and philistinism on a massive scale. Here’s a gut-wrenching story on what the Taliban did to ancient treasures in Afghanistan’s national museum. They went through almost 3,000 objects of beauty and Islamic civilization with sledge-hammers and axes: “One Buddhist statue was among the most precious. It was a clay image of a bodhisattva, a Buddhist who seeks complete enlightenment, made 1,600 years ago. ‘Before, when we needed to move the bodhisattva, we were afraid it would break and didn’t touch it,’ Mr. Mohebzadah said. ‘So it was difficult for me to see it being smashed with an ax.’ ‘I was crying,’ he continued, and tears welled up in his eyes all over again. “One of the Taliban saw me, and I pretended that my hand was hurt, and that I was cold. They asked me if I was crying, and I said, ‘No.'” The next time a non-violent Buddhist friend tells me that violence is not a solution to anything, I’ll just give them the URL for this story. It probably won’t do any good. People who take “Conversations With God” seriously are usually beyond any rational dialogue. But it will make me feel a little better.
AND WHAT EXACTLY WOULD THOSE ‘RECENT EVENTS’ BE?: “‘Recent events have finally opened the door to a restoration of the rights of Afghan women,’ Mary Diaz, the executive director of the women’s commission, said at a news conference. ‘It would be a tragic loss if this opportunity were not fully supported by the international community and women were once again forced to hide behind the burka out of fear for their safety.'” – New York Times. I think she means U.S. bombing.
RFK AND MUSLIM TERRORISM: Good point by Jake Tapper (sorry, it’s a Salon Premium story) on why perhaps RFK, unlike some members of his family today, might actually be supporting Bush’s and Ashcroft’s war on terrorism. Wasn’t RFK one of the first victims of Islamo-terrorism? He was killed by Sirhan Sirhan, and one of the motives for this Palestinian assassin was Kennedy’s support for Israel. “During a trip to Israel,” Tapper points out, “in January 2001, Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Kennedy’s oldest child, said that her father ‘was always a great supporter of Israel, and for that support he died.'” The Fatah organization, big buddies with Yassir Arafat, also urged Sirhan’s release years later. I have no doubt that RFK would have been even tougher than Bush and Ashcroft right now, which is why GWB, shrewd as ever, smartly understands the real Kennedy legacy, before it was highjacked by the bleeding hearts of the far left.
VIDAL SUPPORTS BRIBING BIN LADEN: Gore Vidal has become such a fool it’s hard to be shocked by what he says any more. And being shocked is part of what this perpetual adolescent wants. Still, here’s a Reuters interview that struck me as peculiarly dumb. In it, Vidal supports the notion that America is as bad if not worse than bin Laden. According to Vidal, America is a terroristic and totalitarian country: “I’ve listed in this little book about four hundred strikes that the government has made on other countries. War, undeclared. Generally with the excuse that they were harbouring communists. You keep attacking people for such a long time, one of them is going to get you back,” Vidal opines. Then there’s his belief that we should simply buy off bin Laden rather than confront him with force: “What Osama did is not a war. It can’t be a war because Osama is not a nation. He is a gang. It is like being hit by the mafia. You don’t declare war on Sicily because the mafia happen to live in Sicily. You don’t bomb Palermo. You get the international police and you track him down. And if you are a really great nation you buy him. That’s the way every empire from Julius Caesar on has done it.” I’m confused here. Isn’t Vidal supposed to be against America acting as an imperial power? Or is his hatred of America muddling even his twisted coherence?
ARAB ANTI-SEMITISM WATCH: Interesting news from Abu Dhabi, where a new satirical show making fun of Ariel Sharon has been launched to coincide with Ramadan. Fair enough, of course. If any culture needs more satire right now, it’s Arab-Muslim culture. Alas, according to Gulf News, the show recycles the now-familiar Jewish blood libel: “One of the scenes shows Sharon waving with a bottle filled with the blood of Arab children, quenching his thirst with each sip. In another scene, a character playing Dracula sucks blood from Sharon’s neck but drops dead because of the infected blood.” Altogether now: ha ha ha. One Kuwaiti argues that such scenes aren’t even satire. They are “a reflection of reality and are not fictional.”
The Dish 