Channeling Peggy:

Tony Snow has a "Noonan moment". From his comments on 6 April 2003: (emphasis added)

No religion has a simple or satisfactory answer to the question: How can a loving God let good people die young?

[...]

Who would not wish that war were avoidable, that evil would submit meekly to the counsel of the good? But the world doesn't work that way and so the young march off.

Many of us watch the proceedings with hushed awe, wondering why daily affairs don't conjure such heroism from willing hearts and marveling at the way in which the young become instantly wise; at the fact that searing flashes of danger can make the concepts of right and wrong, good and evil, seem more present, compelling and real than a thousand eloquent sermons.

[...]

By and large, they were better and braver than we are.

[...]

posted by Quiddity at 4/12/2003 07:41:00 AM

The Empire continues to grow:

Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation will purchase DirecTV.


posted by Quiddity at 4/11/2003 11:23:00 AM

A star is born:

http://www.welovetheiraqiinformationminister.com     Site appears to be very busy at the moment.

And a story about his celebrity.

posted by Quiddity at 4/10/2003 03:10:00 PM

The first 100 days (of 2003):

We couldn't help but notice that Andrew Sullivan has been tossing awards (or award nominations) around quite a lot recently. So we decided to examine his archives and count the number of times he's done it so far this year. Turns out April 10 is the 100th day of the year, so it's easy to get a feel for the statistics. Here is a table of all AWARD entries by Clever Andy:

when	what
Thursday, April 10, 2003	VON HOFFMAN AWARD I VON HOFFMAN AWARD II VON HOFFMAN AWARD III VON HOFFMAN AWARD IV VON HOFFMAN AWARD V VON HOFFMAN AWARD VI VON HOFFMAN AWARD VII "Von Hoffman Awards - The Sequel" VON HOFFMAN AWARD I VON HOFFMAN AWARD II VON HOFFMAN AWARD III VON HOFFMAN AWARD IV VON HOFFMAN AWARD V VON HOFFMAN AWARD VI VON HOFFMAN AWARD VII VON HOFFMAN AWARD VIII
Monday, April 07, 2003	VON HOFFMAN AWARD NOMINEE VON HOFFMAN AWARD NOMINEE SONTAG AWARD NOMINEE
Thursday, April 03, 2003	VON HOFFMAN AWARD NOMINEE SONTAG AWARD NOMINEE I SONTAG AWARD NOMINEE II
Wednesday, April 02, 2003	VON HOFFMAN AWARD NOMINEE SONTAG AWARD NOMINEE
Tuesday, April 01, 2003	SONTAG AWARD NOMINEE
Monday, March 24, 2003	RAINES AWARD NOMINEE
Tuesday, March 11, 2003	DERBYSHIRE AWARD NOMINEE SONTAG AWARD NOMINEE
Wednesday, March 05, 2003	BEGALA AWARD NOMINEE
Tuesday, March 04, 2003	VON HOFFMAN AWARD NOMINEE
Monday, February 24, 2003	RAINES AWARD NOMINEE
Saturday, February 22, 2003	BEGALA AWARD NOMINEE
Friday, February 21, 2003	SONTAG AWARD NOMINEE I SONTAG AWARD NOMINEE II
Sunday, February 16, 2003	SONTAG AWARD NOMINEE
Friday, February 07, 2003	DERBYSHIRE AWARD NOMINEE SONTAG AWARD NOMINEE
Wednesday, February 05, 2003	SONTAG AWARD NOMINEE
Monday, February 03, 2003	SONTAG AWARD NOMINEE
Saturday, February 01, 2003	SONTAG AWARD NOMINEE
Wednesday, January 29, 2003	SONTAG AWARD NOMINEE
Friday, January 17, 2003	BEGALA AWARD NOMINEE SONTAG AWARD NOMINEE
Saturday, January 11, 2003	RAINES AWARD NOMINEE
Friday, January 10, 2003	SONTAG AWARD NOMINEE
Tuesday, January 07, 2003	BEGALA AWARD NOMINEE
Sunday, January 05, 2003	SONTAG AWARD NOMINEE
Saturday, January 04, 2003	SONTAG AWARD NOMINEE BEGALA AWARD NOMINEE
Friday, January 03, 2003	BEGALA AWARD NOMINEE
Thursday, January 02, 2003	DERBYSHIRE AWARD NOMINEE BEGALA AWARD NOMINEE

Total number of AWARD entries is 51 - or about one every other day. That Sullivan is compelled to bestow a critical "award" so often tells you something about his character.

UPDATE: We originally posted this table early on April 10 - when the total number of awards was 43. Sometime later that day Sullivan handed out an additional 8 VON HOFFMAN AWARDS ("The Sequel"). The table has been updated to reflect the change.

posted by Quiddity at 4/10/2003 10:45:00 AM

November 2004?



NOTE: Statue constructed by the firm Noonan & Sullivan LLC.

posted by Quiddity at 4/10/2003 07:30:00 AM

You can only err on the side of toughness:

Talk Left discusses Tom Feeney's Amendment to the Child Abduction Prevention Act - the one that limits judges' ability to reduce sentences. We took a look at the Congressman's website, where he has this to say: [emphasis added]

On April 4, 2003 the soft on crime editorial board of the Washington Post commented on Congressman Tom Feeney's Amendment to the Child Abduction Prevention Act. The amendment that was overwhelmingly passed by the House of Representatives, by a vote of 357 to 58, on March 27th was also opposed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Criminal Defense Lawyers.

[then he posts a Washington Post editorial, which we excerpt]

The Feeney amendment would ban nearly all downward departures not requested by the government while leaving in place judges' power to make sentences harsher. .... To make matters worse, it would require the Justice Department to report to Congress each time a judge makes a downward departure -- so that judges everywhere could expect congressional scrutiny whenever they showed mercy.

posted by Quiddity at 4/09/2003 07:47:00 PM

This just in:

Alabama Attorney General William Pryor	who believes the sale of vibrators should remain outlawed	has been nominated by the White House	to be a United States Circuit Judge for the Eleventh Circuit

posted by Quiddity at 4/09/2003 03:19:00 PM

We object!

From Reuters:

The White House urged congressional negotiators on Tuesday to limit any aid to struggling airlines to losses related to the Iraq war, and did not support extending jobless benefits for unemployed industry workers. ...

Big airlines have eliminated 10,000 jobs and thousands of flights since the start of the war. That came on top of the 100,000 jobs and wholesale schedule and fleet cuts the industry imposed after the 2001 hijack attacks on New York and Washington. Two big carriers have also declared bankruptcy. ...

What the White House said it would not support was a proposed 26-week extension of jobless benefits that would cost $225 million. Daniels said the government has already done this nationwide and to now single out a specific industry for extra help would be wrong.

"The conferees are urged to drop this objectionable provision," Daniels said.

Wait a minute. 10,000 jobs have been lost since the start of the war. The White House only wants aid for losses related to the war. But it doesn't want aid for airline workers who have lost jobs because of the war.

posted by Quiddity at 4/09/2003 10:24:00 AM

Peggy Noonan's world view:



Questions:

• What's "sophistication" doing on the right?
  
  
• Which America is logical, rational, and educated?
  
  
• Which America would you go to if you needed medical attention?
  
  
• Which America is anchored in the past?
  
  
• Which America do you inhabit?

posted by Quiddity at 4/09/2003 09:46:00 AM

Even the liberal New Republic:

Heard on the Charlie Rose show of 8 April 2003:

David Brooks: If you go to The New Republic website, you read this fantastic diary the Iraqi intellectual Makiya is writing. One of the things he talks about are the wounds that psychologically these people have suffered. They've suffered incredible deprivation ...

Tony Judt: I hate to agree with you David. This is going to undermine your reputation at the Weekly Standard and elsewhere. But I do agree. However ...

Charlie Rose: He's already done that by quoting The New Republic.

Tony Judt: That's true.   [pause]   Well, not so much these days.

posted by Quiddity at 4/09/2003 08:35:00 AM

Long term plan?

The Christian Science Monitor has an article called Tracing the roots of America's war in Iraq. Much will be familiar, but we didn't know about this item:

Within days of the [September 11] attacks, former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu crisscrossed official Washington with a broad plan to deal with terrorism: "There is no international terrorism without the support of sovereign states," he said, referring to a position paper drafted for him in 1996 by Mssers. Perle and Feith. The attacks, he said, present a historic opportunity for the US to dismantle the regimes that support terrorism, including those in Syria, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, and the leadership of the Palestinian territories.

Sudan?

posted by Quiddity at 4/08/2003 04:02:00 PM