From the WSJ Opinion Archives

by JAMES TARANTO
Friday, February 4, 2005 11:46 A.M. EST

Great Moments in Higher Education
We'd never heard of Augsburg College, which turns out to be a Lutheran institution in Minneapolis, until we got wind that it plans a "Nobel Peace Prize Forum" next Friday and Saturday. On the program for Saturday is the following seminar (at bottom of page):

Fighting Terrorism with Empathy: a Model for Peace
Amy Nell Concordia College
The word terrorism strikes a deep nerve among Americans today--having sparked an entire nation to the defense of its country and the subjugation of those who stand in opposition. One of these men who stand in opposition is the man who planned the September 11 attacks. In November 2004, Osama Bin Laden released a tape giving his recipe for a healthy nation. This seminar would dissect his message and use audience participation in doing so. Discussion points would include counterterrorism methods, the possibility of peace, empathy etc. The aim of this seminar would be to help understand the position of Osama Bin Laden as presented in the video and explore in what ways the origins of terrorism are to be found, not in some foreign citizen, but in the actions we take out of fear, hate and retribution.

Notice that these idiots have "empathy" only for mass murderers, never for their victims. Anyway, who is this Amy Nell character who blames America for terrorism, and what are her academic credentials? There are several institutes of higher education called Concordia, including one in Montreal that is known for various anti-Semitic outrages, but Nell seems to be from the one in Moorhead, Minn., where she is--we kid you not--a photographer for the student newspaper.

We're of two minds about nonsense like this. On the one hand, the whole thing is silly and inconsequential. If America can survive "Fahrenheit 9/11," it can withstand the blatherings of Amy Nell. Indeed, one of the great benefits of free speech is that the very exposure of such flapdoodle discredits it--and, if you have a dark sense of humor like we do, often in quite entertaining ways.

On the other hand, higher education is at least arguably a serious and important institution, and inasmuch as a college degree is a necessary credential for many jobs, it is also a powerful institution. In some ways society would be better off if colleges and universities were run by serious people.

Iraqis Fight Back--and Dance
The Australian Broadcast Corp. relays a wonderful story from Iraq:

The Iraqi police have investigated a case in the village of al-Mudhariya, which is just south of Baghdad. The villagers there say that before the election insurgents came and warned them that if they voted in last weekend's election, they would pay.

Now the people of this mixed village of Sunni and Shia Muslims, they ignored the threat and they did turn out to vote.

We understand that last night the insurgents came back to punish the people of al-Mudhariya, but instead of metering [sic] out that punishment the villagers fought back and they killed five of the insurgents and wounded eight. They then burnt the insurgents' car. So the people of that village have certainly had enough of the insurgents.

"It would appear that people are getting sick of the insurgency," says reporter Mark Willacy. "I understand, though, that this is the first report of Iraqis confronting insurgents and actually fighting back in such a way." Let's hope it's not the last. (Blogger Ali Fadhil translates another report on the incident, from Radio Sawa, an Arabic-language service run by the State Department.)

It's quite understandable that Iraqis would be bolder about standing up to the terrorists now than they were last year. Just over three months ago, after all, there was a possibility, no matter how remote, that John Kerry would be elected president, which could have led to an American retreat from Iraq. Iraqis naturally kept their heads down, lest they suffer the same fate as the Vietnamese allies America abandoned at Kerry's urging three decades earlier.

And of course the Iraqi election this week reinforces that freedom is here to stay--something the Iraqis understand, even if not all Americans do. Charles Krauthammer makes the point in his column today:

Why weren't Iraqis dancing in the streets on the day Saddam Hussein fell, critics have asked sneeringly. Some Iraqis, the young and more reckless, did dance. Others, I suspect, were too scared, waiting to see how things turned out. Would the United States leave them hanging as in 1991? Would it leave behind a "moderate" Baathist thug in its place?

Nearly 22 months later, Iraqis seemed convinced that there would indeed be a new day. And that is when the dancing started--voters dancing and singing and celebrating, thrusting into the air their ink-stained fingers, symbol of their initiation into democracy. It was an undeniable, if delayed, feeling of liberation.

A certain haughty, French-looking Massachusetts Democrat, who by the way delivered weapons to the Khmer Rouge, responded by fretting that someone might "try to overhype this election."

"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."--Nietzsche

Speaking of Which . . .
Pathetically enough, Kerry is actually still trying to undermine American success in Iraq. This is an excerpt that picks up midanswer in his interview with Tim Russert on "Meet the Press" Sunday (we promise, this is the last time this week we'll cite the interview):

Kerry: I agree with Sen. Kennedy that we have become the target and part of the problem today, if not the problem. Now, obviously, you've got to provide security and stability in order to be able to turn this over to the Iraqis and to be able to withdraw our troops, so I wouldn't do a specific timetable, but I certainly agree with him in principle that the goal must be to withdraw American troops.

Now, I wouldn't be surprised if the new government, as soon as it's possible, begins to negotiate some modality like that. And I wouldn't be surprised if they even asked us to leave in some way over a period of time. I wouldn't be surprised if the administration privately, behind closed doors, asked them to ask us to leave. I think there are plenty of ways to skin this cat. But the most important thing is that you've got to have stability. . . .

Russert: Do you have any information that the Bush administration is privately requesting the new Iraqi government to ask us to leave?

Kerry: No.

So Kerry is theorizing--baselessly, by his own admission--that the administration is looking for a way to cut and run. Thank goodness Kerry is as powerless as he is irresponsible.

Reader Bernard Levine, meanwhile, offers this amusing observation on the State of the Union:

All the networks shared the same video feed (with a two-second delay, in case of . . . what? Barbara Boxer baring something or other?) except C-Span, which has its own permanent camera positions in the House and ran its own real-time feed. One little sideshow was only visible on C-Span. When the senators were ambling into the House, that gorgeously coiffed French-lookin' dude from Upnorthbackeastachusetts stopped to embrace--embrace!--that now-forgotten space alien from Ohio, Rip-Rap-Rep. Dennis Kucinich, one of the few creatures in the solar system whose mere presence can, and last summer often did, make John Kerry appear almost human by comparison.

Scrappleface.com imitates life: "In an effort to capitalize on the emotional power of the now-famous hug during the president's state of the union address, Congressional Democrats today will stage a warm embrace of their own."

Fun With the Taliban
"A senior U.S. Marine Corps general who said it was 'fun to shoot some people' should have chosen his words more carefully but will not be disciplined," Reuters reports:

Lt. Gen. James Mattis, who led troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, made the comments at a conference Tuesday in San Diego.

"Actually it's quite fun to fight 'em, you know. It's a hell of a hoot. It's fun to shoot some people. I'll be right up front with you, I like brawling," said Mattis.

"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil," Mattis said during a panel discussion. "You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them."

We guess we have to agree, reluctantly, that "fun to shoot them" is slightly over the top (though doubtless true). But damned if he hasn't got the rest of this exactly right. Susan Sontag might not have agreed, but guys who slap women around are cowardly and contemptible, and good for Mattis for saying so. The National Organization of Women should give him a medal.

What Would We Do Without Officials?
"Missing Afghan Plane May Have Crashed, Official Says"--headline, Reuters, Feb. 4

A.G. the AG
The Senate has finally confirmed Alberto Gonzales as attorney general. The vote was 60-36, with only six Democrats voting "aye": Ken Salazar of Colorado, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, and three of the four remaining Southern Dems (Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Bill Nelson of Florida and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana). It boggles the mind that 36 Democrats would vote against the first Hispanic attorney general out of tender concern for the well-being of terrorists, but there you are.

Slow Newsday
Reporter Collin Nash does some groundbreaking reporting in a State of the Union follow-up for Long Island's Newsday:

For some area residents, President George W. Bush's State of the Union address Wednesday night wasn't exactly must-see television.

Most of about a dozen people interviewed Thursday across Long Island said they didn't watch it. "It's just meant to appease people," said Chandra Wymer, 24, a Hofstra law student from Carle Place. . . .

Based on the scant details they were privy to, many interviewed Thursday said they would prefer that Social Security be left alone.

Some even doubted Bush's assertion that Social Security is destined for bankruptcy without overhaul.

"I'm more concerned about the huge federal deficit," Wymer said.

The article is titled "Bush's Vision Isn't Shared by All"--a scoop if ever there was one. Will Collin Nash win a Pulitzer for this? Only if there is justice in the world.

New Frontiers in Pettiness
Ronald Reagan would have been 94 this Sunday, and in St. Paul, Minn., his birthday is the occasion for partisan bickering, the Associated Press reports:

A resolution honoring the former Republican president's birthday caused partisan friction in the state Senate Thursday and passed only after it was retooled to mention the fact he never won Minnesota and tax increases that occurred under his watch.

The Democratic-controlled Senate spent more than 30 minutes debating the Republican-offered resolution, which recognizes Reagan's Feb. 6 birthday. . . .

Democrats criticized the original resolution as ideologically skewed. It said, among other things, that Reagan "worked in a bipartisan manner to enact his bold agenda of restoring accountability and common sense to government which led to an unprecedented economic expansion and opportunity for millions of Americans."

The revised version ends that sentence with "not paralleled until the Clinton presidency," a nod to the two-term Democratic president. Democrats also added lines about tax increases under Reagan and hold up his presidency as "a lesson to the current administration in the areas of bipartisanship, economic recovery, and the need for world support in foreign initiatives."

Republican senators went along with the Bush-bashing for the sake of honoring Reagan. The pettiness of the Dems here is really something to behold; Reagan, after all, hasn't been president for 16 years, hasn't made a public statement in over a decade, and hasn't breathed in 10 months. Why can't the Reagan-haters just be happy he's dead and leave it at that?

Homer Nods
Several readers wrote to tell us that our item yesterday on the Democrats' response to the State of the Union reversed the names of Harry Pelosi and Nancy Reid. We regret the error but will probably make it again.

An anonymous reader offers an interesting etymological perspective: "Pelo in Italian means hair, and peloso (or -i in the plural) means hairy. Nancy in the U.K. means foppish. Your mix-up of the names of Nancy and Harry gives us Foppish Reid and Harry Hairy. Or we could just leave it at Foppish Hairy, what the heck."

And reader Sandra Drake makes a good point about the disagreeable Dems in general:

When I looked at the headline of Thomas Friedman's column on the op-ed page of today's Columbus Dispatch--"Major Errors and Squabbles Aside, Iraq Is Nearing Consensual Governance"--I was reminded of scenes from childhood. Nearly all of us have a parent or grandparent or other relative who, when shown a report card with all A's save one B, would only say, "What's the story on this B?" We are not drawn to those folks; no wonder America's citizens are increasingly attracted to the positive messages of conservatives today, versus the doomsday/critical message of liberals.

Air America Update
"Crazy Radio Gives Patients Voice"--headline, BBC Web site, Jan. 31

Homelessness Rediscovery Watch

"If George W. Bush becomes president, the armies of the homeless, hundreds of thousands strong, will once again be used to illustrate the opposition's arguments about welfare, the economy, and taxation."--Mark Helprin, Oct. 31, 2000

"Homeless Census Surpasses Estimates"--headline, San Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 28, 2005

"Homeless Funding Needed"--headline, Boston Globe editorial, Feb. 1

"Newspaper Helps Washington Homeless Gain Self Respect"--headline, Reuters, Feb. 3

Good Thing He's Still in the Cabinet
"Snow Didn't Deter January Shopping"--headline, MarketWatch.com, Feb. 3

Who Knew Manatees Were Democrats?
"Red Tide Threatens Migrating Manatees"--headline, WKMG-TV Web site (Orlando, Fla.), Feb. 3

Not Too Brite--CLXXXI
"A Texas woman has been indicted for criminally negligent homicide for causing her husband's death by giving him a sherry enema," Reuters reports from Houston.

Oddly Enough!

(For an explanation of the "Not Too Brite" series, click here.)

Zero-Tolerance Watch
"A Kansas City student is being punished for what he thought was a good deed," reports Internet Broadcasting Systems:

Tuesday morning, a boy waiting for the bus to Oakwood Manor Elementary School, in the North Kansas City School District, dug up what he thought was a gun in the ground.

Frasier wouldn't find out it was a toy until later. He said when he first found it, he wanted to make sure nobody got hurt. Just before the bus arrived at the corner, he put the gun in his backpack so that he could give it to school officials.

"I was thinking, 'I'll give it to the principal, she'll know what to do,'" Frasier said.

What she did was sentence him to "in-school disciplinary action," which we guess is what used to be called detention.

At R.E. Lee High in Staunton, Va., honors student Sam Dungan is in hot water, reports the News Virginian of Waynesboro:

A drug-sniffing police dog apparently was convinced Jan. 26 that Dungan had marijuana in his car.

" 'Dude, they're searching your car,' " Dungan says, relating what he heard from students in the hallway.

Actually, it was his father's car, an old Volvo station wagon. Dungan was driving the Volvo because his car needed repairs, his father says.

There was no pot in the car. "Something else was found, however: a weapon and alcohol, actually a rusting Boy Scout pocketknife with a 4-inch blade and a bottle of Baileys Irish Cream liqueur." The punishment: Dungan "was suspended for five days, banned 30 days from extracurricular activities and ordered to attend several alcohol-counseling sessions."

And the fashion police are on the march at Hardwick Elementary in Lubbock, Texas, as we learn from KCBD-TV:

45 of the 73 students in the sixth grade class wore red t-shirts, those pulled aside were sent home with [a] letter from the principal. . . .

In the letter, the school principal says Hardwick has dealt with a gang that wore solid white t-shirts. He said the day before the red t-shirt incident, he had talked to a group of boys and girls who wore solid white t-shirts. The principal then said those students "proceeded to tell their friends in the sixth grade to wear red t-shirts the next day as a sign of defiance." The principal says this was the reason 45 students wore red shirts on Thursday.

Haven't these youngsters heard of Tinker v. Des Moines? If only they'd worn black armbands, they'd be in the clear. (Hat tip: ZeroIntelligence.net.)

Oh, the Humanity!
The Associated Press brings us this harrowing tale of violence from right here in America--Prattville, Ala., to be exact:

A fight broke out in the stands of a girls high school basketball game, prompting police to fire Tasers to stop it and clear the gym, authorities said. Nine people face charges.

Witnesses said Tuesday night's melee, involving dozens of fans, began in an upper deck and spilled onto the floor. It was apparently sparked by an earlier dispute between students of the two rival schools, Prattville and Stanhope Elmore. . . .

"People were screaming and running," Prattville cheerleader Cherish Cartee said. "Girls lost their cell phones. Keys got lost. It's something I will never forget."

This is the kind of trauma that can leave you scarred for life. And if girls lost their cell phones, they won't even be able to call for an appointment with a posttraumatic stress disorder counselor.

(Carol Muller helps compile Best of the Web Today. Thanks to Julie Swiler, Eric Ivers, Jim Orheim, Ed Lasky, Israel Pickholtz, Daniel Peterson, Mike Owens, Cliff Thier, Bill King, Ethel Fenig, Mark Van Der Molen, John Lord, Aaron Ammerman, Philip Purrington, James Perry, Fred Medero, Arthur Chrenkoff, Ron Ackert, John Hartness, Kathy Judson, Anne McCaughey, Craig Steiner, Vijay Dandapani, Thomas Sandidge, Ron Maynard, Jim Hobden, Jim Criswell, C.E. Dobkin, Jim Trager, John Sanders, Steve Bunten, Jance Borawick, William Schultz, Paul Dyck, Charles Gregory, Thomas Dillon, Charles Brown, Tim McClellan, Glen Wolfrom, John Harris, John Lott, Dan Draney, Michael Needham, Greg Nelson and David Berry. If you have a tip, write us at opinionjournal@wsj.com, and please include the URL.)

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