“In fact, Andrew McKelvey’s network [Americans for Gun Safety] kind of operates and sounds a lot like Osama bin Laden and the al Qaeda. A billionaire with an extremist political agenda, subverting honest diplomacy, using personal wealth to train and deploy activists, looking for vulnerabilities to attack, fomenting fear for political gain, funding an ongoing campaign to hijack your freedom and take a box-cutter to the Constitution. That’s political terrorism, and it’s a far greater threat to your freedom than any foreign force.” – Wayne LaPierre, at the NRA Convention last Saturday, according to Americans for Gun Safety, cited also in the Hotline.
ANTI-SEMITISM WATCH: At Berkeley, no less, simply horrifying posters comparing Israelis to the Ku Klux Klan and with the slogan “Kill Jews” written over them. I never thought I’d see this in my lifetime in America. Good for blogger Angry Clam for posting them.
ISN’T IT RICH? A reader points out something quite revealing about where liberalism has come in the last few decades. Last Saturday, Frank Rich sharply criticized attorney-general John Ashcroft for daring to say publicly that, “We are a nation called to defend freedom–a freedom that is not the grant of any government or documents, but is our endowment from God.” Rich commented, “So much, then, for that trifling document that defines our freedoms, a k a the Constitution. By wrapping himself in sanctimony as surely as he wrapped the Justice Department’s statue of Justice in a blue curtain, our attorney general is trying to supersede civil law on the grounds that he’s exercising the Lord’s will whatever he does.” Now, I’m no fan of John Ashcroft, although it seems only fair to point out that his record as attorney-general has been far from what some liberal interest groups predicted during his nomination fight. But what he was saying is simply what the Founders clearly believed and what modern liberalism was founded on: the notion that some rights are inalienable, and that the source of their inalienability is God-given. It’s possible to defend those rights without believing in God, but it’s not illegitimate or somehow counter to the notion of the separation of church and state to give voice to this original belief. Here, after all, is what John F. Kennedy said in his inaugural address: “And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe–the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.” Does Frank Rich believe that Kennedy was a would-be Torquemada? Or is the point here not a defense of secularism but a partisan shot at the left’s designated enemy number one?
PRO AND ANTI-ISRAEL: Bob Wright complains, with some reason, that opponents of Ariel Sharon’s policies shouldn’t be deemed “anti-Israel.” They may believe, as Bob does, that alternative policies are in Israel’s best interests. Fair enough. But I think he misses a pretty important point here. Israel is currently at war with groups and countries who clearly want to see it not merely defeated but extinguished. Very large majorities of Israelis support fighting this war, which is Sharon’s current (and quite successful) strategy. In that war context, isn’t telling Israel to stand pat while its citizens are murdered a little more than loyal criticism? Bob says in response that this isn’t a war:
[T]here are two problems with finding precedent for the current “pro-Israel” usage in wars like World War II. For one thing, Ariel Sharon himself would insist that the West Bank incursion isn’t a war since calling it a war would imply that the occupied territories belong to the Palestinians. In Sharon’s view, this is just a policing exercise. And the New York Times and Washington Post don’t equate support of a nation’s policing policies with support of the nation. Neither paper would call foreign politicians “pro-America” or “anti-America” depending on whether they think John Ashcroft is too zealous in rounding up Arab immigrants.
Sorry, Bob, but Sharon doesn’t think of this crisis as a police action. As he said on March 31, “Citizens of Israel: the state of Israel is at war, a war against terror.” And when some commentators demand that Israel tolerate terror in ways that they would never expect of other nations (including this one), and when the terror is evidently designed to bring about Israel’s extinction, then one can understand using the term anti-Israel to describe them. I’m not saying Bob is anti-Israel. But wars polarize. Sides must be taken. I know which one I’m on.
DISTRESSING COLLUSION: “You note the “distressing collusion of interests between the anti-Jewish Muslim fascists and the left-leaning intellectual classes for whom criticism of anything from the Third World is unthinkable,” an unprincipled collusion that is all the more remarkable because it has happened before. The Iranian revolution was an amalgam of Communism and Islam, working together to expel Western influences. Once the Revolution was secure, the Mullahs began ridding themselves of the Communists. From VS Naipaul, Beyond Belief, pp. 146-147, “Mehrdad remembered that at the beginning of the revolution the cry was the communist one of ‘Nun, Kar, Azadi,’ ‘Bread, Work, Freedom.’ Within a year it had changed to ‘Bread, Work, and an Islamic Republic.'” – this, a defense of Indian intellectuals, and Father Maciel, all on the Letters Page.
BEAGLE UPDATE: In a worrying sign of emotional attachment, I’ve called her Euclid, from the street near where she was found. She ate a small bowl of puppy food last night, and then proved that she either has some temporary bowel/bladder problems or has never been house-trained. Nothing like waking up to pee and poop everywhere. But she is a sweet-tempered little thing, very quiet and mellow, and when I opened up her crate this evening, her little tail thumped rhythmically against the side. I took her to the vet today: her worst problem is an acute case of whip-worm and hook-worm, which is partly why her ribs are poking out from her sides. Also: an ear infection, a common beagle malady. I’ve started her on worm medicine, which should improve her food intake and therefore health immensely. The vet says she’s probably five or six, and may have had several litters. Her distended teats and age make her highly unlikely to be adopted. I’ve contacted the Beagle Rescue Education and Welfare group, and, with any luck, may find her a home. Thanks for your many helpful leads and suggestions. I’m going to get her health better before any more decisions (as I write this, I can hear her snoring). Dusty has been saintly, by the way. No tantrums, although when I took Euclid to the vet alone, Dusty howled badly. Understandable.
HOME NEWS: Traffic for the month of April was a total of 242,000 unique visitors for a total of 898,000 visits. In a short month, when I was preoccupied with the stage for a couple of weeks, this was still a record. Thanks so much. And keep spreading the word.
The Dish 