Excellent interview with Christopher Hitchens

AndrewSullivan.com links to an interview with Christopher Hitchens, pointing out who we really need to be afraid of:

[Hitchens] explains that he believes the moment the left's bankruptcy became clear was on 9/11. "The United States was attacked by theocratic fascists who represents all the most reactionary elements on earth. They stand for liquidating everything the left has fought for: women's rights, democracy? And how did much of the left respond? By affecting a kind of neutrality between America and the theocratic fascists." He cites the cover of one of Tariq Ali's books as the perfect example. It shows Bush and Bin Laden morphed into one on its cover. "It's explicitly saying they are equally bad. However bad the American Empire has been, it is not as bad as this. It is not the Taliban, and anybody - any movement - that cannot see the difference has lost all moral bearings."

It's amazing how deluded the left is. As Sullivan would say, "it beggars belief."

Rupture in Episcopal Church

An interesting article in the NY Times about the schism in the Episcopal church over the ordination of Gene Robinson, a gay man. The parishes mentioned in the article are now following bishops in foreign countries, primarily in Africa, Asia and Latin America who are Anglican and more conservative. A very disappointing trend - one would think we have room for everyone.

...shopping for bishops threatens the polity of the Episcopal Church, say church officials. Bishop Bruno said, "The churches' leaving is similar to, say, the U.S. making a decision on desegregation, and states that don't like it, like Alabama or Mississippi, leaving to join South Africa."

But conservatives argue that the American church has flouted scriptural teachings on human sexuality and that aligning with a foreign bishop allows dissidents to remain in the Anglican communion. "Look at it this way: If a child is running away from home, the first question that must be asked is, why is he running away?" said Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi of Uganda, a vocal critic of the Episcopal Church, in a telephone interview. "We didn't look for them or hunt for them. We are responding to a need."

Fundamental Frights

Cathy Seipp was a guest on Dennis Miller's CNBC show last night, which was recorded Thursday night meaning his panelists only saw 30 minutes of the debate. Cathy was worried that the left would go apoplectic over President Bush's opening comment: "...our prayers are with the good people of this state, who've suffered a lot." To which the left would say, "Oh he's catering to the Christian Right."

Cathy said, "the great divide is that people fear the Christian right more than Islamic fundamentalists." (I couldn't find a transcript of the show and am quoting from memory.)

What a great way to look at it. How can we be more afraid of people who live and work along side of us? Fear them more than Islamic fundamentalists with a mission to kill as many Americans as they can?

What a conservative says:
Prayers

What a liberal hears:
Right-wing fundamentalists who've taken over the Republican party and will take away our right to choose, our privacy, our jobs, etc.

Not for Long

Drudge has the siren up - Newsweek Poll: Bush Lead Gone.


Update from Powerline:
Drudge is headlining a Newsweek poll purporting to show that President Bush's lead has completely disappeared in the wake of the drubbing he ostensibly took from John Kerry Thursday night. We knew this was coming; the media story line for the next 30 days is Kerry's comeback, which has the effect of wiping the slate clean and avoiding discussion of how he got behind in the first place.

The Kerry Doctrine

Or the Global Test:

In the debate Senator Kerry said something revealing when he laid out the Kerry
Doctrine. He said America has to pass a 'global test' before we can use American
troops to defend ourselves.

Once again, is the test in French? English?

Excellent Kerry Analysis

Victor Davis Hanson on the Great Flip-Flopper:

The volatility on the part of Kerry's handlers descends even to the superficial — we do not know whether the candidate will appear pale, tan, or now orange. His hair may be black, gray, or salt-and-pepper, his lines smoothed or creased — radical changes in appearance that transcend even the wear and tear of the campaign and become a metaphor for his fluctuating message. Windsurfing, orange dye on the epidermis, whitened teeth, hair tint, and teenager runabout clothes — these are not the things that captivate auto workers, farmers, miners, and welders. So everything else Kerry has done in this disastrous campaign has only added to the image that he is an undisciplined and contradictory thinker without either strong beliefs or the moral courage to risk offending critics in pursuing his ideals.

NYT: Corruption, France and the UN

Interesting article from the New York Times:

Congressional investigators say that France, Russia and China systematically sabotaged the former United Nations oil-for-food program in Iraq by preventing the United States and Britain from investigating whether Saddam Hussein was diverting billions of dollars.

In a briefing paper given yesterday to members of the House subcommittee investigating the program, the investigators said their review of the minutes of a United Nations Security Council subcommittee meeting showed that the three nations "continually refused to support the U.S. and U.K. efforts to maintain the integrity" of the program.

Maybe Kerry can convene a summit?

Draftanoia from the Left

The draft issue is getting entirely too much attention and is yet another scare tactic from the left.

Reported by the Dayton Daily News (site requires registration):

Edward's speech earned high marks from the obviously partisan crowd who attended the campaign event. "I've got a 18-year-old son and a 68-year-old father. I'm out here because they both need these guys in office," said Kriss Gang, 45, of Centerville.

Gang fears his son will be drafted if Bush is re-elected and worries his father faces steep increases in health care costs that Kerry's plan could help offset.

Allow us to put those fears to rest with a little assistance from FactCheck.org:

The Scare Story

A different -- and misleading -- story is being circulated by e-mail and posted on any number of mostly left-leaning websites, claiming that the Bush administration is "quietly trying" to pass legislation to reactivate the draft, and that $28 million has been added to the Selective Service budget this year to prepare for a military draft that could start "as early as June 15, 2005."

The message is false or misleading on several counts.

--The bills are not being pushed. It's quite true that the two bills mentioned would require both men and women aged 18 through 25 to perform a two-year period of "national service," which incidentally could be either military or non-military service. But the bills are sponsored only by Democrats, and there's not the slightest evidence that the Bush administration is pushing for them, quietly or otherwise.

One bill is HR 163 , whose principal sponsor is Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel of New York.

It has 14 co-sponsors, all of them Democrats in a Congress controlled by Republicans. The bill was dead on arrival: it sits in a House subcommittee with no hearings or votes scheduled and no action expected.

In fact, Rangel told FactCheck.org through his spokesman Emile Milne that even he isn't pushing for passage, let alone Bush (emphasis added):

Rep. Rangel: I'm not pushing this bill . It's up to the President to come to me when he needs it.

The identical Senate bill, S. 89 , introduced by Democratic Sen. Ernest Hollings, and also was DOA. Not one other senator has co-sponsored it. It also sits in committee with no action scheduled or expected.