IT’S THE PROSECUTORS WHO SHOULD BE PROSECUTED
There was anger, anguish and incredulity in the fever swamps this week when Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald make it clear he would not indict White House political guru Karl Rove in his apparently endless investigation of the outing of CIA officer Valerie Plame.
This should remind us the greater threat to our civil liberties comes not from the measures the Bush administration has taken to protect us from terrorists, but from prosecutors who abuse their power for political purposes.
Liberals wanted Rove indicted only because he is a skilled political adversary. The interest among liberals in an indictment of the person who actually told columnist Robert Novak about Ms. Plame (thought to be former deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage) is zero, because there would be no political gain from it.
Their efforts to criminalize policy differences stem from two related beliefs, both inimical to democracy.PUTIN’S ANTI-REAGAN DOCTRINE
The most beautiful women in Europe are not in Paris. They are in a country, as Joel Wade and I discovered to our delight, called Moldova. On every street corner in the capital of Chisinau, Joel and I stood transfixed, watching one spectacularly gorgeous woman after another walk by. Back then, in 1989, the place was stilled called the Soviet Republic of Moldavia. The Principality of Moldova had emerged independent out of the Middle Ages, only to be colonized by the Russian Empire in 1812. During the Russian Revolution in 1917, it broke free and joined Romania for safety. Stalin had his troops seize it in 1944, incorporating it within the Soviet Union as Moldavia. It was an exciting time to be there in 1989, as Moldovans saw the USSR disintegrating and their liberty finally around the corner. By mid-1991, they had declared their independence and Moldova was once again free. But there was a little problem.
BLACKS TO THE RESCUE
Here's the hottest question being asked this week by Republicans in Washington: Would you trade the Hispanic vote for the Black vote? It's not being asked too loudly, of course, but that it's being asked at all shows some smart guys in the GOP have figured it out: Bush's desperate attempts to retain and expand the Hispanic vote (40% for him in ‘04) by refusing to protect our border with Mexico and demands for amnesty for Mexican illegals is a loser. Sure, there are muchas Mexicano-Americans who understand that a border fence shutting down the illegal invasion would be the best thing that could happen to Mexico. If folks have to stay there rather than escape, the pressure for real reform could build irresistibly. Nonetheless, when the question is met with scoffs and denial that blacks will ever vote Republican, the smart guys ask: What do readers of Esquire Magazine and Southern Baptist evangelicals have in common?
DEMOCRAT HELL WEEK
The hit on Zarqawi has been described, quoting Churchill, as "the end of the beginning" towards winning the war in Iraq. What it and so much else also portends is the beginning of the end for the Democrat Party's dream of regaining power in Congress this November. Week before last, the Dems were riding high. Bush's poll numbers were so disastrous Time Magazine ran a cover asking "How low can he go?" The liberal rag followed this with a cover story on the "massacre" of Haditha. Nancy Pelosi went on a speaking tour describing what she'll do as House Speaker next January. Harry Reid told his staff to start planning for when he becomes Senate Majority Leader. Yep, the Dems had the Republicans on the ropes, and were gleefully acknowledging their impending victory to the cheering crowd - when without warning and out of nowhere, the Pubbies unleash a series of such punishing blows the Dems find themselves stunned, dazed, and on the canvas.
THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT AMERICA
[Nothing could better illustrate the Left's depression over George Bush's military killing Zarqawi than this morning's headline in the Washington Post: After Zarqawi, No Clear Path For A Weary Iraq. The media's relentless pessimism has infected America in general. It is about time conservatives stop being suckered by liberal pessimism, and start celebrating what's right with America. Peter Wehner, Deputy Assistant to President Bush at the White House, here provides grounds for doing so. ---JW] Americans hear a great deal about the problems they face. We hear hardly anything about the encouraging developments. So here is an empirical assessment of where we are. Social Indicators: We are witnessing a remarkable cultural renewal in America.
JOURNALISTS AS ENEMY PROPAGANDISTS
The Marine incident, and its aftermath, at Haditha last November tells us much more about the media than it does about the Marines. And what it tells us ought to outrage us to the core.
On every radio and television show I appeared on last week (and all I observed) in which this topic came up, without exception at least one of the media people immediately attempted to implicate not just the still-presumed-innocent Marines, but the American military's leadership and methods in general.
The "Drive By Media" (Rush Limbaugh's scientifically accurate description) has already started to report this story in a manner that is likely do vast damage that may last for several years to the morale (and possibly recruitment) of our military. It will create a propaganda catastrophe of strategic proportions in our mortal struggle with radical Islam and their terrorist spear point.
And all this is being done by journalists who should be considered enemy propagandists.BEATING HOLLYWOOD AT IT’S OWN GAME
Like me, I bet you can't think of more than a handful of movies made in recent years you really liked. Imagine that - there are dozens of movies coming out of Hollywood each year, and most of them are what are called in the business "stinkers."
Somehow it just doesn't seem fair. "Professional" moviemakers who seemingly can only make third-rate films get rich, while we, who are obviously far more talented, aren't even in the picture.
Why, I bet any of us could put together far better films than 95% of the flicks available. If only someone would give us a chance.Well, as a matter of fact, there is a place where you can show off your directing, producing and even acting abilities - and even make money off your work.
WILL CANADA WAKE UP OR CONTINUE TO WIMP OUT?
It was unthinkable, like a plot to kill the Care Bear, Santa Claus, or the Easter Bunny.
Most liberals here and abroad think Islamic terrorists exist primarily to cause embarrassment to the Bush administration.
If a bomb goes off in a marketplace in Baghdad, it's only a reminder of the tragic consequences of Bush's relentless pursuit of oil. If there's a riot at Guantanamo Bay, it's just proof of how wrong it was to establish a prison there in the first place.And most liberals here and abroad think that if people overseas dislike us, it is our fault.
But Canada -- especially in the minds of Canadians -- is the kindest and gentlest of nations, the very model of global citizenship, with none of the rough edges of its neighbor to the south.
So the weekend's developments came as a shock to many in the Great White North.DOWNHILL FOR AL QAEDA, A DOWNER FOR THE LEFT
Zarqawi's death is a huge psychological and political boost to the fledgling Iraqi government. Iraqis danced in the streets. Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki pushed through a parliament giddy at the news his choices for the critical ministries of defense and interior (which is in charge of the police), finally completing formation of his government.
Zarqawi's legendary brutality had made many Iraqis fearful of cooperating with their government. Now that he is dead, what has been a stream of tips could become a river.
Things will now get much worse for al Qaeda. Thanks to leads from "a treasure trove" of documents recovered from the rubble, Coalition forces launched 17 raids in greater Baghdad Thursday.
While Iraqis celebrated, news of the demise of the murderous thug was greeted sourly on the left-liberal blogs Democratic Underground and Daily Kos, where posters feared Zarqawi's death would boost support for President Bush and the Iraq war.
ADVISING IRAQ
A buddy of mine came over to my place tonight to celebrate the take-out of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. He's on his way to Baghdad to be an advisor to Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Malaki. "What advice do you think I should give him, Jack?" he asked me over too much Famous Grouse Scotch. Here's what I told him: "Well, the very first thing he should do is hang Saddam. Get the trial over with tomorrow, take Saddam and every one of his cronies on trial out into the bright Baghdad sunshine and publicly hang the bastards on world-wide television. Then burn the bodies and scatter the ashes to the winds so there's no burial site for his followers. That'll be it for the Baathists. "Then...