Pakistani Islamo-fascists fight back; recession could be mildest ever; ABC disses Ted Koppel; the Queen breeds a tri-color corgi.
THE DEMOCRATS TAKE ON THE WAR: Now, it’s official. I don’t think it’s an accident that the Democrats have launched an attack on the war’s direction the day it becomes clear that the recession, even if it existed in the first place, is now history. Enron didn’t stick; no one cares about the GAO vs. Cheney; Bush has neutralized the education issue. Daschle figures he has no choice but to risk everything to undermine the war in order to gain some political traction against the president. So far, it’s been under-stated – the usual Daschle-like mealy-mouthed worries about future conflicts. But the shift in tactics is real. Liberal opinion leaders are egging the Dems on. Take a look at this piece in the Washington Monthly, or this piece by Anna Quindlen, or this piece from “Crazy Bob” Kuttner. Get the picture? The anti-war left is back with a vengeance. And the battle to protect this country has only just begun.
SONTAG AWARD NOMINEE: “Who wouldn’t have handled things the way he handled them after September 11? I mean come on. It’s pretty cut and dry. Any president would have handled it the same way. I think he’s a treacherous motherfucker, frankly, and not to be trusted. … I don’t care for him, and certainly the gay community – or anyone who cares about human rights – shouldn’t care for him. He shouldn’t be there, he wasn’t elected by us – they stole the election. That’s the seed level of this administration. They shouldn’t have been there from the beginning.” – Sandra Bernhard, “comedian,” in Metro Weekly, D.C. (The magazine is not online.)
A NEW LOW IN MEDIA BIAS: A new documentary on the Clinton scandals – brought to you by Joe Conason, and funded by Harry Thomason. All that’s needed is for CBS to broadcast it.
STEYN NAILS IT: “In Saturday’s Independent, [Robert] Fisk reflected on the death of the man [Daniel Pearl] described as his friend: “But why was he killed? Because he was a Westerner, a ‘Kaffir’? Because he was an American? Or because he was a journalist?” Anyone spot the missing category? It’s the one Omar Sheikh used, and the one acknowledged by Daniel Pearl in his last words: “Yes, I am a Jew …” Fisk can’t bring himself to use the word in the entire column.” – from Mark Steyn’s latest column. Steyn is onto something here. When I was in England, I listened to the BBC a lot to hear how they were reporting the war. In every case I heard when the story obviously required recognition that pathological anti-Semitism was behind some action in the Muslim world – Iran’s refusal to accept a new British ambassador because he was a Jew, Daniel Pearl’s capture and murder because he was a Jew – the BBC either ignored it, or buried it. Of course well-meaning journalists did exactly the same thing in the 1930s. But we know better now, don’t we?
DUBYA IN DRAG: Well, Giuliani did it. But he didn’t look half as good as this.
I LOVE MY iPOD: But I never realized they were God’s gift to thieves.
THE NEXT BOOK CLUB SELECTION IS …: Don’t forget to check in on Monday to find out. It’ll be quite a change of pace.
The Dish 