Month: May 2002

The unprecedented farce that unfolded at the Hague Inquisition’s "courtroom" last week transcended shocking, pushed the limits of even this kangaroo court’s credibility, and perfectly exemplified the past decade in the former Yugoslavia. What it has shown, and what most people don’t seem to understand, is that Imperial military, political, and economic interventions were just … Continue reading “Charlatans In Charge”

We are now hearing calls for a national "blue ribbon" commission to investigate what really happened on 9/11, and answer the question "what went wrong?" Don’t fall for it. An investigation is the prerogative and responsibility of our elected representatives, and Congress must not shirk its duty. No body, other than Congress, has the legal … Continue reading “Investigate 9/11”

I hope my colleagues who believe that the current war on terrorism justifies violating the liberty of millions of young men by reinstating a military draft will consider the eloquent argument against conscription in the attached speech by Daniel Webster. Then-representative Webster delivered his remarks on the floor of the House in opposition to a … Continue reading “Say No to Conscription”

Howard Kurtz characterized the abruptness of the sea-change that has taken place regarding the great mystery of 9/11. "In a single day," he wrote in Friday’s Washington Post, "the capital’s media climate has been transformed," going from wide-eyed acceptance of whatever guff government officials had to dish out to relentless disdain for their every utterance: … Continue reading “America Awakes”

It is sometimes all too easy to see why the British left are so adamantine in their assumption of moral superiority. Take for example the absence of right wing opposition to ‘Gypsy’ Jack Straw’s Immigration and Asylum Bill in the last parliament. This truly terrible bill had as one of its many odious ingredients the … Continue reading “Let Them In”

In my last column, I told some of the story of Cold War liberalism. Today, I want to look at a similar phenomenon, one which might be considered a forerunner of Cold War liberalism. That phenomenon is liberal imperialism. The fact that there is such an historical category already suggests that “liberalism” was, from a … Continue reading “John Stuart Mill and Liberal Imperialism”

The Israeli Taliban had its national convention the other day, and the nutballs won out: the Likud party went on record as declaring that it would never accept the legitimacy of a Palestinian state. In a stemwinder of a speech, ultra-rightist Benjamin Netanyahu gave voice to what has been, up to now, a largely unspoken … Continue reading “Israel’s Taliban”

Next to the ever-present irony and all-pervading lies, hypocrisy is a major fixture of the Balkans nowadays. Besides the usual discrepancy between words and deeds common to politics, there is also a frequent discrepancy between words themselves, a sure sign that those who speak them have as much commitment to principles as a windsock.Like Master, … Continue reading “Empire in the Balkans: Hypocrisy Rampant”

Israel’s internet amen corner is going ape-sh*t this morning [May 12], with James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal’s "Best of the Web" and his blogger-clone, Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit, both taking out after the Israeli "art students" story – and, of course, poor little me. Oh, what fun – it’s a hoot seeing these … Continue reading “Spinning a Spy Scandal”

  Behind Enemy Lines:Fact or Fiction? by Stella L. Jatras 5/14/02 Behind Enemy Lines is being released on VHS and DVD by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment after an unsuccessful box office showing and less than favorable reviews.  The war film was released two months earlier than scheduled in theaters throughout the country in order … Continue reading “Behind Enemy Lines: Fact or Fiction?”