From the WSJ Opinion Archives
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Rove
Drops a Bomb
With 29 days until the election, evil mastermind Karl Rove has arranged for
a distraction from the Democrats' positive agenda of protecting America's boys
from perverted Republican electronic messages. North Korea "announced it
had detonated an atomic weapon in an underground test," the Associated
Press reports. As Mark Foley might say, you can't hug a child with nuclear arms.
The official announcement from Pyongyang is written in Red English, that pompous, stilted dialect peculiar to communist regimes:
The field of scientific research in the DPRK ["Democratic People's Republic of Korea"] successfully conducted an underground nuclear test under secure conditions on October 9, 2006, at a stirring time when all the people of the country are making a great leap forward in the building of a great, prosperous, powerful socialist nation.
It has been confirmed that there was no such danger as radioactive emission in the course of the nuclear test as it was carried out under scientific consideration and careful calculation.
The nuclear test was conducted with indigenous wisdom and technology 100 percent. It marks a historic event as it greatly encouraged and pleased the KPA [Korean "People's" Army] and people that have wished to have powerful self-reliant defense capability.
It will contribute to defending the peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the area around it.
Reuters reports that "the dollar rose to a seven-month high against the yen after the reports but analysts did not expect long-term fallout unless the situation deteriorated further." Ha ha, long-term fallout, we get it! Good one, guys!
On TCSDaily, Josh Manchester argues that the NoKo test is a sign that American policy is working:
Why is North Korea announcing a nuclear test? Because last month the United States made it clear the world over that the measures which have circumscribed North Korean power are only going to be increased and made more painful still.
Consider: did Pakistan or India announce their nuclear tests beforehand back in the 1990s? No. Then why is North Korea? Because Kim [Jong Il] hopes to get something. This is his way of bargaining. Announcing a nuclear test is meant to goad the US into overreaction, split the members of the six-party talks, and bring the entire issue into the front pages of newspapers, gathering publicity for his cause.
Or at least that's what Karl Rove would like you to think!
Who
Knew? Kolbe Did.
"A Republican congressman knew of disgraced former representative Mark
Foley's inappropriate Internet exchanges as far back as 2000 and personally
confronted Foley about his communications," the Washington Post reports:
A spokeswoman for Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.) confirmed yesterday that a former page showed the congressman Internet messages that had made the youth feel uncomfortable with the direction Foley (R-Fla.) was taking their e-mail relationship. . . .
A source with direct knowledge of Kolbe's involvement said the messages shared with Kolbe were sexually explicit, and he read the contents to The Washington Post under the condition that they not be reprinted. But [Kolbe press secretary Korenna] Cline denied the source's characterization, saying only that the messages had made the former page feel uncomfortable. Nevertheless, she said, "corrective action" was taken. Cline said she has not yet determined whether that action went beyond Kolbe's confrontation with Foley.
Kolbe is gay, the only GOP House member to have publicly acknowledged homosexuality. And the revelation got us to thinking: We hear a lot about "homophobia," or fear of homosexuality, but if Foley's fellow Republicans failed to be alarmed by his "overly friendly" emails, maybe it was because of something more like homo-obliviousness. Most people just don't think that much about homosexuality.
When we first read those emails, we found them odd and a bit creepy. But it occurs to us that if a 50-year-old man sent a 16-year-old girl an email asking her to send a picture of herself, that would have set off loud alarm bells and brightly flashing lights. We know how the mind of a heterosexual man works, being in possession of one, and when a guy asks a gal he barely knows for a picture, it means that he has a sexual or romantic interest in her.
When a guy asks another guy for a picture, what does it mean? When we stop to think about it, probably the same thing, but it wasn't obvious to us because it simply isn't part of our experience. We suspect the same was true of Hastert and other House leaders. Kolbe, on the other hand, because he is gay, probably understood better what Foley was up to and that it wasn't good.
Anti-Anti-Foley
Backlash?
It's the off year election in the president's second term, a condition under
which his party historically always loses seats. Further, there's a sex scandal
afoot, which may hurt the president's party even further. We're talking, of
course, about 1998, when Bill Clinton was about to be impeached--and Democrats,
expected to lose big, ended up gaining five House seats and holding their ground
in the Senate.
Could something similar happen this year? The New York Times, reporting from Virginia Beach, Va., offers one hint that it may:
In dozens of interviews here in southeastern Virginia, a conservative Christian stronghold that is a battleground in races for the House and Senate, many said the episode only reinforced their reasons to vote for their two Republican incumbents in neck-and-neck re-election fights, Representative Thelma Drake and Senator George Allen.
"This is Foley's lifestyle," said Ron Gwaltney, a home builder, as he waited with his family outside a Christian rock concert last Thursday in Norfolk. "He tried to keep it quiet from his family and his voters. He is responsible for what he did. He is paying a price for what he did. I am not sure how much farther it needs to go."
The Democratic Party is "the party that is tolerant of, maybe more so than Republicans, that lifestyle," Mr. Gwaltney said, referring to homosexuality.
Most of the evangelical Christians interviewed said that so far they saw Mr. Foley's behavior as a matter of personal morality, not institutional dysfunction.
The Foley scandal is actually quite similar to the Monica Lewinsky scandal. In both cases, sexually immature middle-aged men used their positions of responsibility to pursue younger people, who were also sexually immature, but had a right to be on account of their youth.
The difference is that the Republicans washed their hands of Foley as soon as they figured out what was going on, whereas the Democrats' attitude toward Clinton is--well, we'll let Missouri Senate candidate Claire McCaskill, in an interview with Tim Russert on "Meet the Press," explain:
Russert: You're having Bill Clinton come in to raise money for you. Do you think Bill Clinton was a great president?
McCaskill: I do. I think--I have a lot of problems with some of his, his, his personal issues. I said at--
Russert: But do you--
McCaskill: I said at the time, "I think he's been a great leader, but I don't want my daughter near him."
What a ringing endorsement! And hey, say what you will about Mark Foley, at least you can trust him with your daughter!
The
Great Equalizer
Time magazine reports on the latest speculation about Cuba's dictator:
U.S. officials tell Time that many in the U.S. government are now convinced that Castro, 80, has terminal cancer and will never return to power. "Certainly we have heard this, that this guy has terminal cancer," said one U.S. official.
Communism was supposed to bring equality; instead, wherever it has been tried, it has brought widespread poverty and misery, and concentrated great power and wealth in the hands of a few thugs like Castro. But in death we are all equal; cancer doesn't discriminate between a monster like Castro and a sweet man like our uncle Salvador.
Reuters, however, reports that Castro's brother says the dictator is so healthy he is able to gab on the phone:
"Fidel is doing well. He has a telephone and is using it more and more," Raul Castro told a congress of primary and junior high school students in Havana.
"He is not dying as some press in Miami report, but constantly improving. But as he himself has said it will take time," Raul said.
If Fidel isn't dying, he is the only person in the world of whom this is true. The Associated Press, meanwhile, reports that a group of "pioneers"--communist slave children--issued a statement: "To Bush and his followers, we say stop being foolish, and that they are truly a bunch of cockroaches."
Of course, if Bush and his supporters are cockroaches, they'll be around forever, which is more than you can say for Fidel Castro.
But
They Support the Troops!
The Los Angeles Times publishes three letters in response to an article
celebrating a Marine hero who perished in Iraq. The Times readers are not impressed.
We'll go in reverse order:
I was repulsed by the tone of The Times' article. How dare you glorify the obscenity of killing, with descriptions of gurgling blood. Maybe the so-called Iraqi insurgents are not the enemy but in fact are freedom fighters, valiantly attempting to rid their country of a repugnant foreign presence fighting not for freedom and democracy but for America's insatiable appetite for oil. The United States must end this senseless war, sooner rather than later, and articles like this espousing flag-waving patriotism are only perpetuating the myth that modern war, and this one in particular, can be won.
RUSS RODDERBACK
Las VegasReading about Adlesperger's valor, while compelling, left me with an overwhelming sadness. We are apparently hard-wired to kill each other over land or oil or our gods. Imagine what a man with the passion of Adlesperger could have done for his family and for the world in the next 60 years had he lived. I admire his bravery and loyalty to his friends. But I condemn those who required this of him and more than 2,000 of his brothers. I only wish his bravery could have been spent as a firefighter or a police officer, at home, where we need him more than ever.
GEORGE WATERS
PasadenaIf an individual were to kill 11 people in house-to-house gang warfare in South Los Angeles, we wouldn't call him a hero; we'd call him a bloodthirsty, homicidal maniac. We would fear for the future of our city. . . .
The 11 people we dismiss as insurgents are mourned by their own families, some of whom consider their actions a logical response to a foreign power occupying their land, while others grieve at the senselessness of it all.
The Times has shown its support for the troops, like we're all expected to do. But if Marine Pfc. Christopher Adlesperger had been a street gang member, we would have been subjected to articles explaining how we needed to provide alternatives to murderous organizations that provide a sense of belonging to its members.
T.C. PETERSON
Los Angeles
And if Christopher Columbus had been a genocidal thug, today wouldn't be a holiday. The San Francisco Chronicle has a letter (the penultimate one) along similar lines:
A year ago, during Fleet week with the overwhelming roar of military aircraft above us, a co-worker of mine made the following observation:
"For some people, this is the last sound they hear. And to think, here we are, celebrating it."
JOE COLLINS
San Francisco
Good thing they support the troops!
Coulterphobia
The New York Times reports on an interesting kerfuffle involving our friends
at Reuters:
On Tuesday, Joe Maguire, one of two editors in charge of markets coverage at Reuters, handed his bosses the galleys of his new book, "Brainless: The Lies and Lunacy of Ann Coulter." On Wednesday, Mr. Maguire discovered he would have plenty of free time to promote his book, which comes out this week. Neither side in this dispute would say that he was fired.
"There was a difference of opinion about the approval I received to write this book," Mr. Maguire said. "I thought I had met the conditions, and proceeded accordingly. As a result, I no longer work there."
Something doesn't ring true about this whole project. If Maguire thinks Coulter is "brainless," why is she worthy of a whole book? Note too that he is aping her style, at least in the title. Her last book was "Godless," his is "Brainless." Her next one, we hear, is "Cordless: How to Talk on the Phone to a Liberal (if You Must)." We can't help wondering if Coulterphobia isn't analogous to homophobia--a reaction formation that masks one's own uncomfortable impulses, in this case Maguire's Ann-drogynous tendencies.
Anyway, Reuters' decision to let Maguire go suggests an admirable lack of bias, although some of the "news" service's own employees are doing their best to undermine this message:
A Reuters employee who insisted on anonymity out of concern at angering management said that the 20 or so employees at the markets desk where Mr. Maguire had been one of two editors in charge "took a group coffee break" in solidarity on Thursday.
Joe? Say it ain't so!
An
Anxious Nation Holds Its Breath
"Kerry's Barnstorming Sparks Talk of a Run"--headline, Boston Globe,
Oct. 9
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 Men Are Aging on the Streets"--headline, Associated Press, Oct. 7, 2006
What
Would We Expect Without Experts?
"Expert Says to Expect the Unexpected"--headline, Toledo Blade, Oct. 8
What
Would Men Do Without Experts?
"Experts: Men Have Body Image Worries Too"--headline, Associated Press,
Oct. 6
Condiments
for Cannibals at the New Yankee Rodeo
"Bucking Norm, Some Relish Big Families"--headline, Associated Press,
Oct. 8
'Weren't
Those Burgers at the Company Picnic Great?'
"Iowa Company Recalls Ground Beef Products"--headline, Associated
Press, Oct. 7
'I'll
Call You, or Maybe I Won't'
"T-Mobile to Launch Mixed-Signal Phone"--headline, Associated Press,
Oct. 6
Oxymoron
Alert
"Domestic Violence Plagues Women Worldwide, Study Says"--headline,
San Francisco Chronicle, Oct. 6
We
Blame San Andreas
"Underground Movement Catches On in Napa"--headline, Associated Press,
Oct. 7
All
You Need Is Love
"Love Wins PGA Event in Greensboro"--headline, Associated Press, Oct. 8
Thanks
for the Tip!--CIX
"Health Tip: Alcohol and Many Medications Don't Mix"--headline, HealthDay.com,
Oct. 9
Bottom Stories of the Day
- "Climate Change Risk to Leek Shows"--headline, BBC
Web site, Oct. 5
- "Olbermann News Commentaries Target Bush"--headline, Associated
Press, Oct. 8
- "Kerry Vows Tougher Stance on Group That Questioned War Service"--headline,
Associated
Press, Oct. 8
- "Lesbian Couple Weds in Massachusetts"--headline, Associated Press, Oct. 8
Eugene
Robinson, Call Your Office--II
The following headline appeared in yesterday's Seattle Times:
Tavis Smiley: Articulate, Curious and on a Mission
We don't much care for Tavis Smiley--until we hear some commentator describe him as, quote, articulate, which is code for a black person who speaks standard English. Excuse us, you were expecting a successful talk-show host to be inarticulate?
(Carol Muller helps compile Best of the Web Today. Thanks to Ethel Fenig, Rod Pennington, Michael Segal, Jake Oakman, Ed Lasky, Chris Scibelli, Brian O'Rourke, Mark Van Der Molen, Charlie Gaylord, R.J. Sorce, Roger Carpenter, Charles Sykes, Patrick Keel, Fran McDonald, Tim Graham, Peter Iorio, Gary Petersen, Samuel Walker, Dennis Powell, Mark Finkelstein, W.C. Varones, Stuart Sibley, Ruth Papazian, Dan Benton, Chip Abbadessa, Todd Edmunds and Stefan Sharkansky. If you have a tip, write us at opinionjournal@wsj.com, and please include the URL.)
Today on OpinionJournal:
- Review & Outlook: Iraqis have to make compromises to limit incentives to violence.
- John Fund: How bloated congressional staffs enabled the Foley scandal.
- The Journal Editorial Report: A transcript of the weekend's program on the FOX News Channel.
