Category: Old Dish

An interesting radio interview for NPR. As on most foreign policy issues, I find myself in close alignment with Bill.

“But speaking here in my capacity as a polished, sophisticated European as well, it seems to me the laugh here is on the polished, sophisticated Europeans. They think Americans are fat, vulgar, greedy, stupid, ambitious and ignorant and so on. And they’ve taken as their own, as their representative American, someone who actually embodies all of those qualities.” – Christopher Hitchens on “Scarborough Country,” last night.

A funeral looks cheap.

Finally, a description of what the administration itself believes has been the goal in Falluja:

“What we’re trying to do is extricate ourselves from Fallujah,” said a senior U.S. official familiar with U.S. strategy who would speak only on the condition of anonymity. “There’s overwhelming pressure with the Coalition Provisional Authority and the White House to deliver a successful Iraq transition, and Iraq is proving uncooperative.”

So the initial goal of removing the insurgents has been abandoned. Meanwhile, the president says: “My resolve is firm. This is an historic moment. The world watches for weakness in our resolve. They will see no weakness. We will answer every challenge.” So is the president telling the truth or is the anonymous “senior administration official”? Or has the administration official declined to inform the president?

IN BOSTON: I’m in Boston today (arrived yesterday). It was fascinating to observe the impact of Monday’s marriage moment. For the most part, it was celebratory. Polls are showing increasing support for equal marriage rights and sliding approval for governor Mitt Romney. The conservative Boston Herald didn’t even put the story on its front page. The major goal of the anti-marriage rights lobby was to provoke hysteria and backlash from the images of weddings for gay couples. But, in fact, the mainstream response has been either positive or neutral. Most people rightly fail to see how these couples’ committing to one another hurts anyone else. And if it doesn’t harm anyone, and brings such joy to so many, why stop it? That’s a powerful argument in a liberal society. Even conservative media were muted:

With neither candidate eager to join the debate, the weddings did not trigger an immediate “culture war” debate among editorial writers or pundits. The CNN “Crossfire” crew sparred over the topic Monday, but not before discussing the Iraqi prisoner scandal, potential running mates for Kerry, and other political matters. Bill O’Reilly tackled the matter on Fox News Channel but waited until the third segment of his show to do so.
Michael Harrison, the publisher of Talkers magazine, monitored conservative-dominated talk radio’s reaction to same-sex weddings and said the topic did not burn up the phone lines. Gay marriage “is still not a big emotional topic,” he said. “It’s not a hot, heated topic. It’s not life and death; it doesn’t affect the economy. . . . I find a lot of conservatives saying, ‘I can’t get too excited about this; my brother’s gay.’ It crosses a lot of lines.”

You can say that again.

“I’m afraid I have to agree with you on this one. I think that Bush’s instincts are sound in the War on Terror, but the man is no leader. God, how I long for someone like Roosevelt, someone who can speak. And the fiscal policy is just a disaster.
Even so, and even as a lifetime Democrat, I am afraid that I will have to vote for Bush. I don’t trust Kerry, and even if he put forth a decent alternative I would have no faith that he was sincere. How did the parties ever come to this, nominating such low quality candidates? There are people who impress me as better prospects: McCain, Giuliani, perhaps Edwards, but they seem to fade out of the picture for reasons I don’t understand.”

Yes, there is some from Iraq. An Aussie puts it all together.

Here’s a fascinating nugget from Edward Wong’s latest report from Karbala:

After American soldiers occupied the Mukhaiyam Mosque, an insurgent stronghold, on May 12, they found some identification cards that an Iraqi interpreter said were Iranian. The military was still examining the cards and other documents found in the mosque to determine their origins, said Captain Noel Gorospe, a spokesman for the First Armored Division. “We’re doing our very best to intercept those people,” General Hertling said of outside fighters.

It seems pretty obvious to me that the insurgency in Iraq is composed of Sunni dead-enders and Shiite radicals, but also an array of enterprising terrorists, as well as Iranian-backed thugs and trouble-makers. What we have, in fact, is a regional war, in which many pro-terror and pro-Islamist and pro-autocracy elements are determined to prevent a democratic transition in Iraq. This alliance is both active (Iran) and passive (Jordan). America’s favorite autocrat, King Abdullah of Jordan, after all, is rightly afraid of Iraqi democracy. (I mean, who elected him?) And all of that points to one simple conclusion: this war is just beginning. The Arab establishment was not too fazed by the removal of Saddam. (He wasn’t too popular with his neighbors, either.) But they’re terrified of Iraqis actually determining their own future. And they will do everything and anything they can to stop it. That means that the terror attacks will continue for years. They are now directed at the infidel; but they will soon be directed more squarely at any elected Baghdad government. Do we have the stomach to hang in there if a future Baghdad government asks us to? That’s the question.

BUSH’S FAILURE: And the answer cannot be the president’s crude and simple rhetorical tropes. What Bush doesn’t seem to understand is that in any war, people need to be reminded constantly of what is going on, what is at stake, what our immediate, medium-term and ultimate objectives are. The president has said nothing cogent about Karbala; nothing apposite about al Sadr; nothing specific about what our strategy is in Falluja. Events transpire and are interpreted by critics and the anti-war media and by everyone on the planet but the president. All the president says is a broad and crude reiteration of valid but superfluous boilerplate. This is not war-leadership; it’s the abdication of war-leadership. We are at a critical juncture. With some perspective, we have achieved much in Iraq, with relatively low casualties. But it will all go to hell if we lose our nerve now. It’s long past time that people can be asked simply to trust the president. After the WMD intelligence debacle and the Abu Ghraib disgrace, he has run out of that capital. He has to tell us how we will win, what we are doing, how it all holds together, why the infrastructure repair is still in disarray, and how a political solution is possible. I’m not sure any more that this president has the skills or competence to pull it off. But I am sure that he has very little time to persuade us he can.

From Plato to Ann Landers, from George W. Bush to John Kerry, from Loving vs Virginia to the Goodridge decision, my new book, “Same-Sex Marriage, Pro and Con: A Reader,” is the most comprehensive resource available. If you’re a student, a journalist, or just a citizen, and want to make up your own mind about the battle over civil marriage for gays, take a look.

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purchase at amazon.co.uk [Europe]

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I am a proud Republican. I’m a Barry Goldwater Republican. I revere Ronald Reagan and his party of limited government. Sadly, that party is no longer. The current version of the Republican party is engaged in an outrageous spending binge and they’re being steadied and encouraged by the Democrats… Ten years ago, in 1994, Republicans won control of both Houses of Congress. For one brief shining moment, we employed true fiscal restraint and eventually managed to balance the budget and even attain that which had seemed unattainable – a surplus! Now, at a time of national crisis, we have thrown caution to the wind and continue to spend, and spend, and spend – all the while cutting taxes. The perfect evidence of this is the number of Congressional earmarks found in the 13 annual appropriations bills. In 1994 there were 4,126 earmarks – this year there were 14,040 earmarks. Where are our priorities?” – Senator John McCain. I couldn’t put it better myself. The Republican party is now committed to chronic fiscal irresponsibility, the micro-managing of people’s private lives, the subjugation of political to religious discourse, and the politicization of the Constitution. In so many ways, it is an insult to the word “conservative.”

A STEM CELL BANK: Britain goes the extra mile and sets up the world’s first stem-cell bank.

And, of course, a blogger best describes the atmosphere:

Aaron grabbed my hand and we walked forward up the steps.
Off to my side someone said, “Look, here goes someone else!”
Suddenly a roar erupted all around us. Things began to move more slowly. I grabbed Aaron’s hand tighter and started running forward up the steps. Everything was a blur. I lost his grip briefly as he stopped close to the entrance to accept a rose from someone in the crowd. I paused at the top of the steps, and turned to wait for him.
I’ve been in front of some large, happy, and cheering crowds before, but only on a stage — never with a throng pressing in from all sides, with clapping hands outstretched, cameras flashing, and a deafening roar.
I stood there facing the crowd as Aaron walked towards me with a sparkle-encrusted yellow rose and a huge grin on his face. As he reached me, I put my hand around his waist and waved to the crowd. I tried to look at all the people, but my eyes couldn’t focus.
We turned and walked into City Hall. My head spun. The lights seemed blinding after coming in from the street. A man in a tuxedo sat at a table and said something like “What are your intentions”, through it was probably more like “Are you here to declare your intentions?” A reporter stood behind him pointing a microphone connected to a minidisc recorder at us. People and press thronged around.
I looked at Aaron. He shrugged.
“Um, we’re here for a marriage license…?” I said.

It is indeed a new day.

EMAIL OF THE DAY: “Today is a day that had to happen. Somewhere, somehow, sometime it had to happen.
It has.
We have crossed the line (and not all of us are gay). We are all more free.
I’ve watched the ceremony. I’ve watched the love and commitment. I’ve watched, not a celebration of political victory or queer pride but the triumph of committed human beings in love. Indeed the triumph of basic humanity.
Gandhi believed that non-violence was successful because of its ability to graphically demonstrate the difference between right and wrong.
Today has.
It feels good. I’m glad to be on their side. Thank you for helping sort out my opinions and prejudices. Without your blog, I would not be here.
Thank you for enabling me to share in the victory of humanity.” I’m still reeling. I’ve dreamed of this day for so long, felt its arrival with such trepidation, and spent the day in a media blur. But now it’s over, I cannot but express one simple emotion: joy. I hope that, even if you differ, you can see why yesterday was such an extraordinary day for so many of us.

ON THE ROAD: Bewildering day yesterday. Five media interviews and a book signing/reading. The crowd at Barnes and Noble was big and friendly. Thanks to all of you who came. Anderson Cooper asked the best questions. I’ve actually known Anderson for well over a decade – we used to work out in the old Washington YMCA together. But that was before he was a mega-star. He’s still the same, though, engaging, funny, smart as a whip. One small note about media bias: it seems, sadly, that Fox News Channel won’t have me on at all. They like their gays, as Homer did: easily characterized as left-wing and flaming. Oh well.

QUOTE FOR THE DAY: “The decision in Brown versus Board of Education did not end all segregation; did not even end school segregation for many years. The civil rights movement was still waiting on other heroes and cases and laws. Yet, all sides of the equation knew that on May 17th, 1954, a line had been crossed in American history. The system of racial oppression in our country had lost its claim to legitimacy, and the rising demand for justice would not be denied.” – President George W. Bush. Yes, Mr president. And we just crossed another line. What a shame you are on the wrong side of it. It’s so easy to be a moral leader in hindsight. But history judges a president by how he deals with the civil rights issues of his own time, not of a generation before.

On AIDS, it remains true that he has done more in three years than Bill Clinton did in eight. It also remains true that he will be given no credit for it from AIDS and gay groups. That’s a shame. Praising Bush when he does the right thing is just as important as criticizing when he does the wrong thing – such as endorsing the anti-gay federal amendment.

BOWDEN ON ABU GHRAIB: I was waiting for him to weigh in. Now he has.

CICADAS KILL: The grim truth comes out.

REPUBLICANS FOR MARRIAGE: In a sign of the future, some of the young supporters of the first gay couples to exercise their civil rights were Republicans and Christians:

The crowd of supporters included seven members of the Harvard Republican Club (HRC), with two executive board members among them.
One of the HRC members, Joshua A. Barro ’05, appealed earlier to the club’s open-list for Republicans to show that the “next generation of Republicans is tolerant and inclusive” by joining in the march.
“It’s not an official club-sanctioned event, but we are coming to show that there are Republicans who support gay marriage,” said Barro, wearing his blue HRC T-shirt. “I think this is the direction the Republican Party is heading.”
Members of the Harvard Christian Fellowship also participated in the procession, though not as an official contingent of the Harvard student group.
“We’re coming out as individual Christians to show our support for the gays and lesbians who are getting married tonight,” said Stephen E. Dewey ’07. “We are very happy for them.”

Me too.