by JAMES TARANTO
Wednesday, December 14, 2005 4:18 P.M. EST

Our Friends the Saudis
In October 2001 Prince Alwaleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia offered to donate $10 million to the Twin Towers Fund. New York's then-mayor, Rudy Giuliani, said no dice, because Alwaleed also released a statement demanding that America "re-examine its policies in the Middle East and adopt a more balanced stance toward the Palestinian cause."

Harvard and Georgetown universities have lower standards than Giuliani. The Washington Post reports that each has enthusiastically accepted a $20 million donation from Alwaleed "for the study of Islam and the Muslim world":

The $20 million gift to Georgetown is the second-largest ever received by the Jesuit-run university, school officials said. It will be used to expand the activities of the university's 12-year-old Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding.

"We are deeply honored by Prince Alwaleed's generosity," said a statement from Georgetown President John J. DeGioia, who met Alwaleed Nov. 7 in a Paris hotel to sign documents formalizing the donation. . . .

Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers expressed gratitude to Alwaleed, saying in a statement yesterday that his gift "will enable us to recruit additional faculty of the highest caliber, adding to our strong team of professors . . . [in] this important area of scholarship."

A New York Sun editorial raises the obvious questions:

It will be illuminating to watch to see whom Harvard selects to fill the new chair that will be known as the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Professor in Contemporary Islamic Thought and Life. Somehow we doubt it'll be a scholar who reckons that Mecca and Medina should be redistributed to the Hashemites and the oil-rich Saudi eastern provinces to the Shiites or who criticizes the Saudis for funding the Hamas terrorist group and for distributing audiotapes in the West Bank describing the Jews as "the sons of monkeys and pigs." Somehow we doubt it will be a scholar who criticizes the Saudi kingdom for obstructing the American investigation into the 1996 Dhahran barracks bombing. It will be interesting to see how the scholar stands on the petition calling on Harvard to divest from Israel and from American companies that sell arms to Israel.

Here's another interesting point: Georgetown's law faculty is a named plaintiff in Rumsfeld v. Forum, a case now before the Supreme Court, in which law schools claim they are entitled to your tax money despite their policy of discriminating against military recruiters. The schools object to the law that prevents the military from allowing open homosexuals to serve--even though a law called the Solomon Amendment requires federally subsidized universities to treat military recruiters the same way as other recruiters. The Harvard Crimson reported in September, meanwhile:

University President Lawrence H. Summers said in a statement tonight that Harvard will file a friend-of-the-court brief tomorrow urging the Supreme Court to invalidate the Solomon Amendment. . . . "The Law School and the University share a deep and enduring commitment to the principles of nondiscrimination and equal opportunity for all persons," Summers said.

How does the Saudi regime regard homosexuality? Well, according to our old pal John Bradley, writing in The New Republic and quoted in About.com, it practices a sort of don't-ask-don't-tell policy:

The government has realized that the thousands of Saudis who have recently returned from the United States because of stricter visa policies, and who are relatively liberal-minded, are unwilling to countenance such harsh anti-gay policies. "I don't feel oppressed at all," said one gay man, a 23-year-old returnee from the United States meeting in one of the coffee shops with a group of gay Saudi friends dressed in Western clothes and speaking fluent English.

Saudi Arabia's domestic reform initiative and the government's eagerness to shed its international reputation for intolerance also have contributed to acceptance of gays and lesbians. In recent months, Crown Prince Abdullah, the kingdom's de facto ruler [now the king], has called for greater intrasocietal debate and more freedom of expression in the press. Consequently, previously taboo subjects are discussed more openly in Saudi society, and some Saudis have begun to question the harsh tactics of the fearsome religious police, who enforce public morals.

But officially, according to SodomyLaws.org, homosexuality is a crime punishable by beheading. Riyadh also engages in invidious discrimination against other groups, including women (not allowed to drive, or to leave the country without a male "guardian's" permission), non-Muslims (not permitted to visit Mecca or Medina) and Jews (who at one point it said were ineligible to visit the country at all).

Assuming that the Supreme Court upholds the Solomon Amendment, it's a safe bet that Harvard and Georgetown will put money over principle, admitting military recruiters rather than forgoing federal funds. (Indeed, Harvard has already done so, as the Crimson article above notes.) How likely is it, then, that they will defy whatever strings are attached--explicitly or not--to Alwaleed's "gift"?

Looking Borkward
The Legal Times reports that "liberal interest groups are staking their campaign against Samuel Alito Jr. on a simple strategy: Transform Alito into Robert Bork by any means possible--whether the shoe fits or not":

"There are many similarities," notes People For the American Way's Ralph Neas, who led the coalition opposed to Bork and is helping lead the effort against Alito. Not least of these is that Alito, like Bork, is a conservative judge picked to replace a moderate swing justice. For Bork, it was Lewis Powell; for Alito, it is Sandra Day O'Connor. "This is a rare moment in history," adds Neas.

Of course, there are also many differences, the most salient of which are these:

• In 1987, Democrats held a 54-46 Senate majority. Today the Senate is 55-45 Republican.
  
  
• Bork had opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and as a consequence 15 of 16 Southern Democrats voted against him. In 1964 Alito was 14, and in 2005 there are only four Southern Democrats in the Senate.
  
  
• Bork had a gruff demeanor and eccentric looks. Alito by all accounts is mild-mannered, if nerdy.

More broadly, though, it's worth noting that "borking"--that is, trying to paint a judicial nominee as an "extremist"--is a strategy that has been fully successful only in the case of Bork himself. They tried it on Clarence Thomas, and when it failed, they resorted to the politics of personal destruction (which failed as well). They tried it a bit on John Roberts. They tried it on Janice Rogers Brown, Priscilla Owen and Bill Pryor, and all now sit on appeals courts. The best they've been able to do is drive a few appeals court nominees (Miguel Estrada, Charles Pickering) to withdraw their nominations. Ralph Neas and his allies--extremists themselves--are increasingly looking like the boy who cried wolf.

Then again, check out this story from today's Harvard Crimson:

Only six students attended the introductory meeting for the Harvard chapter of Law Students Against Alito last night--but the chapter's leaders say they have ambitious plans both to help defeat Samuel A. Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court and to help promote a progressive judicial philosophy on campus.

The students said they will use a variety of tactics to bring about their goals. These will include drafting a model letter for law students to send to their home state congressmen, writing to newspapers, encouraging students to sign an online petition against Alito, and contributing to an online blog run by the national Law Students Against Alito organization.

"[Alito]'s going down," said second-year Harvard Law School (HLS) student Julie Straus to encourage her peers at the outset of the meeting. "We can do it."

Look out Alito, Julie Straus gonna gitcha!

Katrina Killed Richard Pryor!
Back in September we noted that some twisted souls on the Angry Left were hoping for an enormous death toll from Hurricane Katrina, because they thought that would hurt President Bush politically and diminish the 9/11 attacks and the threat of terrorism more generally. The actual death toll turned out to be in the low four figures--a terrible tragedy to normal people, but a disappointment for the aforementioned lefto sickos.

A story in the Associated Press, however, suggests that some people want to inflate the Katrina death toll. "Even as the official toll continues to rise when more bodies are found in once-flooded homes, the real total may never be known," the AP says. "The victims are scattered far and wide, and the connections of their deaths to the storm are not necessarily obvious."

Examples include "13-month-old Destiny McNeese, who rolled onto her stomach and suffocated on an air mattress after her family fled from Kentwood [La.] to Kentucky":

The toddler had been tightly wrapped in a blanket and propped, sitting up, against a pillow on a half-inflated air mattress in the apartment where her mother, the mother's boyfriend and four other members of his family were staying. She was left alone and the mattress was so soft she couldn't raise her face after she turned over. . . .

The storm didn't kill Destiny directly. But if she hadn't been an evacuee she would have been safe in her crib at home instead of on that air mattress.

Another example is Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, a jazz singer who "was 81 and already seriously ill when he fled the area ahead of Hurricane Katrina":

"Gatemouth Brown" had been fighting lung cancer for a year before his death Sept. 10 in Orange, Texas. He also had emphysema and heart problems.

He died shortly after his release from a hospital following an emergency procedure to clear a blockage near his heart, Brown's agent Lance Cowan said. But Cowan is sure that Brown's death was hastened by the storm.

It's obviously ridiculous to blame Katrina for the death of a sick old man who would have died soon in the normal course of events. There is a causal chain linking Katrina to Destiny's death, but the proximate cause was a freak accident--and absent Katrina freak accidents would have claimed the lives of some people in the storm zone who instead are safely living elsewhere. Couldn't the AP have interviewed a New Orleans evacuee who wasn't murdered in what, prestorm, was one of the most violent cities in America?

It turns out that in some cases the official toll actually is inflated by the inclusion of deaths not proximately caused by Katrina: "Louisiana counts evacuee deaths from heart attacks or strokes before Oct. 1 as storm deaths."

Out of Africa
From a Baltimore Sun article on Anthony Brown, who is running for Maryland's lieutenant governor on a ticket with Martin O'Malley:

He chose a partner who reflects some of the diversity of Maryland. Brown is the product of the marriage between a Cuban father raised in Jamaica and a Swiss mother.

"It does not hurt that he is an African-American," [Rep. Elijah] Cummings said. "African-Americans in the Democratic Party want to see somebody on that level representing them, coming from that community."

OK, here's a trivia question. Which of the following countries is in Africa?

a. Cuba
b. Jamaica
c. Switzerland

Actually, as far as we know, the answer is d. none of the above.

Alex Prevails
Posthumous congratulations to Alex Scott, the brave little girl who died of cancer and who, thanks in large part to you, our readers, has been named a finalist in Beliefnet.com's "Most Inspiring Person of the Year" contest. On Sunday, as we noted Monday, one blogger urged his readers to vote against Alex. Within 18 hours or so, her lead, which had been 52% to 48%, had dwindled to 51% to 49%. But we urged you to vote for Alex, and four hours later, she had 65%. The editors of Beliefnet will now choose from among Alex and two other worthies, Victoria Ruvolo and Capt. David Rozelle. May the best man, woman or little girl win.

Homer Nods
Dori Monson of Seattle's KIRO-AM is a man. Flummoxed by the I at the end of his first name (he tells us it's Icelandic), we erroneously referred to him as a "hostess" in an item Monday (since corrected).

Aren't Minorities Supposed to Be Hardest Hit?
"Hispanic Influx Hits Schools Hardest"--headline, Carolina Journal, Dec. 13

The Lone Ranger Needs a New Horse
"Silver Backs Off Under Fire"--headline, New York Post, Dec. 13

'I'm Warning You, That Rabbit's a Killer!'
"Policemen Destroy Desk After Python Scare"--headline, Associated Press, Dec. 13

Michael J. Fox Is 'Stuart Little'
"Brain Researchers Put a Little Man Into Mice"--headline, Sydney Morning Herald, Dec. 14

Trial by Fire
"Dow Corning CEO Burns to Become Chairman"--headline, Associated Press, Dec. 14

They'll Keep Wearing Those Stupid Berets
"France Refuses to Budget on CAP Reform"--headline, Guardian (London), Dec. 13

They Must Have an Easy Time Sneaking Into Bars
"Millions of Children 'Invisible': UNICEF"--headline, Reuters, Dec. 14

Thanks for the Tip?--XXV
"Health Tip: Worried About Anxiety Disorders?"--headline, HealthDayNews, Dec. 14

Bottom Story of the Day
"The Sweater, That Staple Holiday Gift, May Be Losing Its Allure"--headline, New York Times, Dec. 13

She Fell Fetus First
The Associated Press recounts from Siloam Springs, Ark., what starts out as a heartwarming human-interest story that turns horrible:

Shayna Richardson was making her first solo skydiving jump when she had trouble with her parachutes and, while falling at about 50 mph, hit face first in a parking lot. Although badly hurt, she survived--and doctors treating her injuries discovered she was pregnant. Four surgeries and two months later, Richardson said she and the fetus are doing fine.

"Just this last week we went and saw the doctor and we've got arms, we've got legs. We've got a full face. The baby is moving around just fine. The heart rate looks good. So not only did God save me but he spared this baby," she said.

This just goes to show how the religious right controls the media in America. Shayna Richardson isn't "doing fine"; she's having hallucinations. Everyone knows it's scientifically proven that a fetus is just a clump of tissue, but she imagines she's seeing "arms," "legs," even a "face." Absurdly enough, she talks as if she has an actual "baby" inside of her! Well, Shayna, you antichoice extremist, keep your laws off our body!

Speaking of antichoice extremists, check out the Florida Health Department's Web page for a program called WIC. "For a pregnant woman," the page states, "each unborn baby counts as 1 extra person in the household size." First Jeb Bush stole the 2000 election by discarding pregnant chads, now he's stealing the right to choose from pregnant women.

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Today on OpinionJournal:

• Michael Rubin: Iraq's message to the Arab world: Democracy works.
• Claudia Rosett: My conversations with the latest victim of Syrian terror.
• Melik Kaylan: Why throw museum curators in prison when there's a better way?