From the WSJ Opinion Archives

by JAMES TARANTO
Friday, July 20, 2007 2:17 P.M. EDT

Best of the Tube This Weekend: Watch James Taranto on "Kudlow & Co.," CNBC, 5-6 p.m. tonight.

Mrs. Clinton's Patriotism Problem
Hillary Clinton has joined the list of Democratic politicians who have publicly raised questions about their own patriotism. ABC News has the story:

[Mrs.] Clinton, D-N.Y., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has since May requested a briefing from Pentagon officials as to whether they have undertaken any serious planning for a future withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

On Thursday she received a response from the Pentagon that she told ABC News was "outrageous and offensive."

The letter from Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Eric Edelman did not mince words. "Premature and public discussion of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq reinforces enemy propaganda that the United States will abandon its allies," he wrote.

"I deeply resent the administration's continuing effort to impugn the patriotism of those of us who are asking hard questions," Clinton told ABC News.

Well, here is the letter; and this is the offending passage:

Premature and public discussion of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq reinforces enemy propaganda that the United States will abandon its allies, much as we are perceived to have done in Vietnam, Lebanon, and Somalia. Such talk understandably unnerves the very same Iraqi allies we are asking to assume enormous personal risks in order to achieve compromises on national reconciliation, amending the Iraqi constitution, and other contentious issues. Fear of a precipitate U.S. withdrawal also exacerbates sectarian trends in Iraqi politics as factions become more concerned with achieving short-term tactical advantages rather than reaching the long-term agreements necessary for a stable and secure Iraq.

There's not a word in there (or anywhere else in the letter) about Mrs. Clinton's patriotism or lack thereof. Edelman only argues that it is harmful for politicians to make public demands for early withdrawal because such demands tend to embolden the enemy. He is making a claim about the wisdom and likely consequences of her actions, not about her motives.

In the early days of the Cold War, before liberal Democrats decided to bug out of Vietnam, there was an adage that "politics ends at the water's edge"--that America's political parties, whatever their differences on domestic policy, were obliged to present a united front to the outside world.

Today's liberal Democrats would invert this principle. They assert the moral right not only to undermine U.S. foreign policy but to do so with impunity--that is, they wish to be immune from criticism for their statements and actions.

We suppose it's nice work if you can get it, but we'll never understand why they think that defensively denying that they lack patriotism is a winning approach.

Obama: Let Genocide Happen
"Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said Thursday the United States cannot use its military to solve humanitarian problems and that preventing a potential genocide in Iraq isn't a good enough reason to keep U.S. forces there," the Associated Press reports from Sunapee, N.H.:

"Well, look, if that's the criteria by which we are making decisions on the deployment of U.S. forces, then by that argument you would have 300,000 troops in the Congo right now--where millions have been slaughtered as a consequence of ethnic strife--which we haven't done," Obama said in an interview with The Associated Press.

"We would be deploying unilaterally and occupying the Sudan, which we haven't done. Those of us who care about Darfur don't think it would be a good idea," he said.

For the sake of argument, let us stipulate that American intervention in Congo or Darfur is a bad idea on prudential grounds and is not going to happen. In Obama's view, this premise leads to the conclusion that genocide in Iraq would be a price worth paying for an American retreat.

Yet there is an obvious difference between taking an action that you believe is likely to bring about genocide (as Obama urges in Iraq) and refraining from taking action to prevent genocide--between omission and commission. An unstated Obama premise is that America, despite having intervened militarily in Iraq for nearly 17 years, has no responsibility to the Iraqis.

Worse, Obama's argument leaves no room for any kind of humanitarian intervention. He comes perilously close to arguing that it is worse to prevent one genocide while failing to prevent others than never to act against genocide at all. To put it kindly, this seems morally obtuse--or maybe just cynical.

Knowing Their Place
The final Harry Potter book hits the shelves tonight, but USA Today reports that some spoilsports have gotten their hands on advance copies and are spreading the word:

"I am a bored, sadistic loser who doesn't play sports, have a job or have a girlfriend, so I posted Harry Potter spoilers," a 17-year-old Pittsburgh high schooler boasted in an interview with USA TODAY. "It was fun for myself at the expense of others." USA TODAY contacted the teenager after it saw his spoiler post on Facebook.

But not everyone is a bored, sadistic loser who doesn't play sports, have a job or have a girlfriend:

Major news outlets continued to avoid reporting spoilers available on the Web. "It's not exactly national security we're talking about," says NBC News vice president Phil Griffin, who oversees MSNBC. "I don't think it's our place to spoil the enjoyment."

What's troubling here, of course, is the implication that it is the place of journalists to undermine national security.

Hit the Road, Val
The Associated Press reports on yet another anticlimax in the never-ending Valerie Plame kerfuffle:

Plame lost a lawsuit Thursday that demanded money from Bush administration officials whom she blamed for leaking her agency identity. . . .

U.S. District Judge John D. Bates dismissed the case on jurisdictional grounds and said he would not express an opinion on the constitutional arguments.

Though we've never been able to figure out what she sees in him, Plame's lesser half, Joe Wilson, says he's appealing:

"This case is not just about what top government officials did to Valerie and me." Wilson said in a statement. "We brought this suit because we strongly believe that politicizing intelligence ultimately serves only to undermine the security of our nation."

We agree that politicizing intelligence undermines national security. So why'd Wilson do it?

Blowing Off Steam
On Wednesday there was an explosion near Grand Central Terminal, a few blocks from where we live. Turns out it was a steam pipe. As the Associated Press reports, some such incidents are inevitable:

The steam conduit that exploded beneath a Manhattan street at the height of rush hour Wednesday, just a block from Grand Central Terminal, was laid when Calvin Coolidge was president, and was part of a system that began providing energy to city buildings in 1882.

Investigators are still trying to determine what caused the explosion, but some experts said the age of the city's infrastructure was a possible factor. Pipes don't last forever.

"This may be a warning sign for this very old network of pipe that we have," said Anil Agrawal, a professor of civil engineering at the City College of New York. "We should not be looking at this incident as an isolated one."

This is the sort of problem that is amenable to technocratic solution, but that hasn't stopped some ideologues from seizing upon it to make bizarre points. This is from a blogger identified only as "Jonathan" from the Northwest Progressive Institute, based near Seattle:

Regrettable accidents like this could be prevented if we spent our money on actual needs--like maintaining and enhancing our infrastructure instead of launching preemptive attacks against other countries and overextending the military force that is supposed to protect the people of this country, not incite more angry feelings toward America by serving as the de facto police force in another nation whose people do not want us there.

Of course the failure to launch "preemptive attacks against other countries" led to 9/11, which was several orders of magnitude worse than the steam explosion--but perhaps Seattle is so far that all New York problems look alike.

Another blogger, identifying himself only as "Digby" and writing at Salon.com, blames the steam mishap on tax cuts. He quotes another blogger who complains that "New York had a Republican mayor, in fact, who now spends his days boasting that he cut taxes 23 times. Cut spending, too, he's proud to say"--a reference to Rudy Giuliani. Digby continues:

This is the legacy of the past 25 years of neglect. We shouldn't be relieved when we see a huge cloud of smoke and dust and find that it isn't "terrorism." It's a warning as important as a magenta terror alert or the rumblings of Michael Chertoff's gut. There is a price to pay for this free lunch the conservatives have been selling for the past 30 years and the bill is coming due.

Of course, "the past 25 years of neglect" includes eight years of a tax-hiking Democratic president, four years of a tax-hiking Republican president, almost 15 years in which Democrats controlled at least one house of Congress; and in New York, 17 years under Democratic or tax-hiking Republican mayors and all 25 years in which the City Council was overwhelmingly under Democratic control.

Anyway, we've lived in New York for a while, and we have to say: For all the city's problems, too-low taxes are not among them.

Michael Moore, Call Your Office
"One of the 256 terrorists slated for release Friday as part of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's "good will" gesture to the Palestinian Authority has said "Thanks, but no thanks" to the offer. The prisoner chose to remain in an Israeli prison, according to Pardons Department director Emmy Palmor, because he prefers to continue receiving free medication for arthritis."--Arutz Sheva, July 19

Poverty, Crime Unrelated, It Turns Out
The Stamford Advocate reports on a new study that finds Connecticut has a large racial disparity in incarceration rates:

Connecticut imprisons about 211 of every 100,000 white residents, compared with a national average of 412, the report found.

Only four states and the District of Columbia jail whites at a lower rate, the report found.

Connecticut incarcerates about 2,500 of every 100,000 black residents, which is just above the national average of 2,290.

That shows the disparities may be more between the rich and the poor, said state Rep. Mike Lawlor, D-East Haven, co-chairman of the legislature's Judiciary Committee.

Connecticut's white population is unusually rich, meaning more white offenders can afford the best attorneys and avoid prison than minority defendants, Lawlor said.

"We don't have a lot of poor white people compared with other states," he said.

Still, Lawlor said the state must close the racial and ethnic gaps.

"It's unfair and unjustifiable," he said.

Now this is fascinating. For years it's been a liberal article of faith that poverty "causes" crime. If this is the case, and if (as in Connecticut) the black population is much poorer than the white population, then you'd expect blacks to commit more crimes than whites--and, if the criminal justice system is working effectively, to be incarcerated at a higher rate.

But this is a politically incorrect conclusion, so Lawlor cannot reach it. Instead, he has to abandon the poverty-crime nexus and posit a wealth-acquittal one.

And there is no doubt some truth to it: If, say, a rich kid gets caught with drugs, it's more likely that his parents will be able to get him out of trouble by hiring good defense lawyers, importuning the authorities for leniency, etc.

But is there anything the government can do about this? Surely the past 40 years have illustrated that bureaucrats writing welfare checks are a poor substitute for parents. It is the height of unrealism to expect the government to provide for poor children as well as rich parents provide for their own kids.

The 110% Solution
"Most U.S. voters think the country is on the wrong track and remain deeply unhappy with President George W. Bush and Congress," Reuters reports. But on the economic front, voters are happier:

While 14 percent rated their personal financial situation as excellent and 10 percent as poor, the vast majority found themselves in the middle. About 43 percent rated their finances as good, and 43 percent as fair.

Though that adds up to 110%, which suggests there is a problem with inflation.

Life Imitates 'South Park'

  • "After Representatives from the anti-smoking campaign do their song and dance for the children of South Park Elementary, the boys take up the nasty habit."--episode summary, "Butt Out," originally aired Dec. 3, 2003

  • "The more exposure middle school students have to anti-smoking ads, the more likely they are to smoke, according to a new University of Georgia study."--Atlanta Journal-Constitution, July 19, 2007

Isn't There a Doctor in the House?
"Cheney to Be in Charge During Bush Colonoscopy"--headline, CNN.com, July 20

'Nice Fries. Are They Real?'
"Fast Food Leads to Counterfeiting Busts"--headline, Associated Press, July 19

Of Course He Has Tenure
"Grad Student Finds 'Pre-Dinosaur' "--headline, Chicago Sun-Times, July 20

What Rimes With 'Cyprus'?
"Ancient Mariner Tools Found in Cyprus"--headline, Associated Press, July 19

Breaking News From 1991
"Castro Engrossed With Pan Am Games"--headline, Associated Press, July 17

News You Can Use

  • "Flush and Forget? That's Not an Option"--headline, Baltimore Sun, July 20

  • "Tiny Brain No Problem for French Tax Official"--headline, Der Spiegel, July 20

Bottom Stories of the Day

It's the Entomonymy, Stupid
This story, from the Glenwood Springs (Colo.) Post Independent, is a bit gross, but the payoff is worth it:

For five weeks, five botflies found a home in Aaron Dallas' head. . . .

In June, Dallas became host to five botfly larvae near the top of his skull. He had visited Belize, in Central America, while assisting with a mountain bike race.

"I had these large strange bumps on the back of my head that were bleeding and oozing," he said. "I went to the doctor and he said it was probably just a fly bite that got worse."

The worst was yet to come.

"I saw a specialist in Denver and he said it was shingles," Dallas said.

But shingles--a painful skin rash caused by the same virus as chickenpox--it was not.

"The pain involved was like someone knuckling the back of my head, but really hard," he said. "Then it turned into a needle. Then a nail."

Dallas, and his wife, Midge, visit Belize often because they own a rental beach house there called Casa Beya.

His wife is named Midge? The only thing that would make this better is if he were named Buzz.

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Today on OpinionJournal:

And on the Taste page:

  • Steve Moore: Drinking, smoking, shooting and sticking it to bureaucrats.
  • Julia Vitullo-Martin: Detroit's riots destroyed the city's music scene and its black middle class.
  • Naomi Riley: Democrats try to squeeze secular and religious voters under one tent.

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