Month: January 2008

Brooks On Romney

A brilliant column. Money quote:

The leaders of the Republican coalition know Romney will lose. But some would rather remain in control of a party that loses than lose control of a party that wins. Others haven’t yet suffered the agony of defeat, and so are not yet emotionally ready for the trauma of transformation. Others still simply don’t know which way to turn.

He’s an empty vessel, a device not a candidate. McCain is now easily the most viable national candidate for the GOP. He’s this year’s version of John Kerry in 2004 – the guy you marry after you’ve dated everyone else.

Is Juno Pro-Life?

Many dissents from Ross. Matt Zeitlin:

The reason Juno is able to go through with the pregnancy is the same reason she is able to openly contemplate abortion. It’s because everyone close to her is incredibly supportive of whatever choices  she makes.

Oliver Willis concurs. Publius makes a point I’ve long tried to emphasize:

If progressives were convinced that individuals would retain the freedom to make such complex and personal decisions themselves, they would be more open to the arguments of the ‘lonely vigil.’ Once progressives are convinced that teenagers will not be coerced by threat of prosecution to give birth against their will, I think pro-life advocates would be surprised how dramatically progressive attitudes would shift.

Meanwhile, the movie is thriving and expanding to 2000 screens nationwide. I haven’t yet seen it, but hope to soon.

Clinton On Pakistan

D’oh!

In two confident television appearances, on CNN and ABC, Clinton made an elementary error about Pakistani politics: She described President Pervez Musharraf as a "candidate" who would be "on the ballot."

In fact, Musharraf was re-elected to the presidency in October. The upcoming elections are for parliament, and while Musharraf’s party will be facing off against opposition parties, the president himself is not a candidate.

Ready on Day Two, maybe.

Family Reunification – For Some

How US immigration law targets gay couples for discrimination:

On a Sunday morning in early December, 41-year-old Abbie Green stands next to Sandra Veronica Campuzano Trevizo, her partner of eight years, in their one-bedroom rental in Chihuahua, Mexico, saying can-do things in the face of a policy that has sent them from Phoenix to Vancouver, British Columbia, to Chihuahua in order to make a life together, legally, somewhere. Then she cries.

In Glasgow, Scotland, David Black — stopped, detained, turned back at New York’s JFK airport in August — conducts his uprooted life, his strained relationship and much of his Denver real estate business from Glasgow coffee shops that have Wi-Fi service. Back in Denver, his partner, a U.S. citizen, keeps the business they have together running as he begins contemplating options that would mean leaving the U.S.

And in southwestern London, Gordon Stewart stands amid the dust and torn-down drywall of his new flat. After 4 1/2 years of fighting, then lobbying, then accepting that he wouldn’t be returning to the U.S. with his mate anytime soon, the pharmaceutical executive bought this new home.

The important thing, it seems, is to attack our relationships and our families. It makes others feel better about themselves.