Emphasis Added

Wednesday, August 06, 2003

She Won't, He Won't, She Will

Kudos to Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) for refusing to validate the legitimacy of the California recall by participating in the constitutional coup d'etat against the lawfully-elected governor.

While it's too bad that Jerry Springer won't be adding some color and attention to next year's Senate race in Ohio, it was refreshing and honorable to see him put the interests of the Ohio electorate ahead of his own ambition. He may know in his heart that he'd have made a good Senator (certainly better than Voinovich), but he bowed to the reality that he would not have been allowed to make his case, considering his recent employment.

Finally, a mixed endorsement for Arianna Huffington, born-again progressive hellraiser, who has decided to mix it up in the California fray. Unlike Feinstein, Huffington doesn't owe Davis or the state Democratic party anything, and this is a low-risk way to get her rather compelling and well-stated message out to the public. Besides, she might win, which, if we have to have this stupid recall election anyway, would be cool.

11:38:35 AM

Emphasize This! []

Vital Linkage

Frances Fukuyama offers an interesting perspective in today�s OpinionJournal, making a reasonable case that Saddam may not have had WMDs after all, at least not since the early 90s. This small fact eluded the world�s intelligence services and the UN arms inspectors because of a complicated web of deception and self-deception practiced by Saddam and his inner circle. Though he leaves the dots unconnected, Fukuyama suggests in this analysis that this particular pretext for the war might not be a lie � just a mega-billion dollar misunderstanding.

Yet more evidence that the National Review�s John Derrbyshire is hopelessly conflicted as a contemporary conservative intellectual. He is obviously a learned and thoughtful person, yet he finds himself defending the distinctly anti-intellectual proposition that reason and analysis are fine as long as they don�t lead to questioning anything we hold fundamental (like the structure of the family, for example). His earlier �Confessions of a Metropolitan Conservative� is a startlingly frank deconstruction of the conflicts between intellectually honest and well-informed political ideology of urban conservative elites and the know-nothing brand of hateful reaction practiced in the �provinces.�

Heidi MacDonald provides some of the very best coverage of this year�s San Diego ComicCon at The Pulse. Check out parts I and II of her analysis. Panel moderator Mark Evanier also shares his thoughts at his site, POVOnline. I�ll post links to other Con reports as I find �em.

Finally, in case you missed it, Salon posted an extensive and generally sympathetic review of Michel Huellebecq�s Plateform last week.

9:20:12 AM

Emphasize This! []