European friends send me news photographs of women  in Afghanistan voting for the first time, emphasizing they are wearing traditional blue burkas. And these photos supposedly prove that Afghanistan's... More

Chicken John
 
Yes now we know how low they'll go,
These Johns who want to lead us.
Desiring to pander, they slickly slander
While contrived compassion they feed us.
She is 'Fair Game' that Cheney dame;
Yes, that's Miz Cahill's call.
So why feel shock at their sordid... More

In 2000, Florida's 25 Electoral College votes were decided by a mere 537 votes out of over 6 million. The Florida election was close for one primary reason: what I will call the Lieberman love factor among Jewish voters in southeast Florida.  Jewish Floridians, who account for as much as 7%... More

This movie, the latest product of South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, is vulgar, juvenile, crude, offensive, and sometimes repulsive. And I loved it.

If gutter language, marionettes engaging in explicit sex acts,... More

With pride and gladness and optimism, I shall vote again for George W. Bush. I admit that I voted for him the first time out of gut reactions. I sensed an integrity and decency in him and in Mrs. Bush. That seemed to be just what we needed at a time when cresting economic growth and careening... More

The Fifth Estate is a newsmagazine program that airs on CBC TV, (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), a taxpayer—subsidized television station. Their season debut in mid—October was an More

Verbal facility is one of God's great gifts. A few among us are born with the capacity to charm or even inspire others with words. To be sure, it is a capacity which can be cultivated, but as with athletic abilities, intelligence, and a sense of humor, some are more favored than others,... More

Can you imagine what the reaction would have been if Dan Quayle had ever claimed that electing Bush 41 in 1988 or 1992 would lead to paralyzed Americans getting out of wheelchairs and walking? The media and late—night comics nearly gave themselves aneurysms when Quayle made a spelling... More

Wherein we hear from Bertie Wooster, Jeeves, denizens of the Drones Club, and some of the regulars at the Angler's Rest holding forth on the 123rd anniversary of the birth of The Master. 

I had recently returned to the old metrop after a spot of golf in Scotland, while... More

Do you remember 9/11? Unlike World War II, where 'Remember Pearl Harbor!' was a constantly—enunciated slogan, meant to inspire and motivate warriors and home—fronters alike, we barely ever see or hear any references to the worst—ever attack on the American... More

Don't believe the 'flash polls' and network news commentators who are spinning that last night's presidential debate was a draw or even a Kerry... More

Given the global significance of Columbus Day, it is astonishing how many ways there are to corrupt it. The great linking of West with East, through the bridge of the newly—discovered Americas, is truly the world's coming of age story.
 
But in the places where its significance... More

There were several reports published on October 12, about the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) throwing another fit about the state of affairs at Saddam's former nuclear research center at Al—Tuwaitha.  In my last More

George W. Bush stands accused of being a unilateralist, oreven worse, an 'ideologue,' by the dominant Neville Chamberlain wing of the Democratic Party  This is a milder, less inflammatory charge than the 'fascist' or 'theocrat' labels applied by the radicals and Hollywood elites, but it is... More

Marrying money is an old tradition in all societies —— especially for women.  And in John F. Kerry's ancestral aristocratic Europe, power marriages to consolidate empires were quite common.

If political empire—building was a reason for Kerry's current or... More

Hugo Chavez's left wing, Castroite Venezuelan government has proposed to give  to New Jersey an island, formerly used by the Venezuelan state oil company, for use as a bald eagle preserve.

What red—blooded... More

From the mainstream press and even from scholars, we have heard that Islam is the religion of peace. They point out that the three—consonant Arabic word root s—l—m is found in both Islam, which means surrender or submission, and salam, which... More

Our European friends love to castigate conservative American presidents for pursuing "cowboy diplomacy." It's a mystery to me why they consider this a putdown. A century ago our first cowboy president found his way onto Mount Rushmore. Theodore Roosevelt took enormous pride in his cowboy status.... More

This past week Americans were hit with the one—two story punch of L. Paul Bremer's speechifying about troop strength in Iraq, and the findings of Charles Duelfer's Iraq Survey Group on weapons of mass destruction.

Major media outlets churned these stories for several 24/7 news... More

John Kerry seems to be adopting a consistent theme on our involvement in Iraq. Briefly stated, it is that Iraq is a diversion from our war against al Qaeda. He sometime seems to feel that we should have devoted those resources to Afghanistan. This is nonsense. And it illustrates his complete... More

In states that export terrorists, tyrants in moribund certainty know there's no need to be accountable to citizens so long as they hold power.

But not so in the West, where leaders are put to the electoral test. It's particularly poignant for the Coalition of the Willing, all three of... More

Here's a question for the presidential candidates as they prepare for their last debate: How will you approach China—Taiwan relations?

This isn't an abstract question: Our next president could well have to deal with a war in the Taiwan Strait. China is building a commanding... More

Weir Thinking About It
O.J. Simpson to the contrary notwithstanding, you simply cannot get away with murdering someone you are closely connected with, especially if it's your spouse. Every time I look at the facts of the Laci Peterson murder case, I have to believe one of two... More

'I know it's controversial to say it, but don't think for one second that if George Bush gets re—elected and we have some other conflict in some other theater of the world, we're going to have to reinstitute the draft.' Read the sentence again, this time very slowly. There are no typos.... More

The recent Operation Baton Rouge by the 1st Infantry Division has thrown the ever—moving Iraq media spotlight on Samarra; a golden dome glinting in the sun contrasted with the black smoke of violence rising into a hot blue sky.  Baton Rouge was a success, with American and Iraqi... More

What a pair! John Forbes Kerry and Teresa Heinz Kerry would be an utterly new kind of team, running the wartime federal government. Make no mistake, Teresa has no intention of 'making tea and baking cookies,' as Hillary snidely caricatured the traditional First Lady role. There is strong reason... More

Ask "who won" the first presidential debate and people will give the undefined question a meaning. Most likely, it will be something relatively trivial like "Who was the better performer or actor?" rather than the weightier... More

Kevin Horrigan is St. Louis' resident Molly Ivins wanna—be. An outsider. A rebel with a word processor and crazy, nonconformist liberal views. St. Louis, like most other big cities, is down to one major newspaper and one alternative weekly. Both make Mao's Little Red Book look... More

Part I: The tactical fight for Iraq

Operations in Iraq are again taking center stage in both the legacy and new media outlets.  Understandably, supporters of the war and President Bush worry about the ultimate outcome and his desire to remain steadfast (he will) in the face of a... More

The Baehr Essentials

It appears that the first Presidential debate, is now seen as a decisive defeat for the President. Repeating a story over and over in all the mainstream media seems to have taken a toll on many people who did not even watch the debate. Instead of the... More

The great challenge for the aspiring pundit is to discover something that can be said after the debate that could not have been said before it. Usually—almost invariably—one is reduced to stylistic comments: so—and—so looked tired; the other guy's hair, like that of... More

George Soros seems to have pulled a pretty interesting fast one, following Tuesday's vice—presidential debate. At that event, Vice President Dick Cheney... More

The French have been up to their old tricks, all around the world these days. Anyone who thinks their UN Oil for Food bribery scandal involving its corporations is the beginning and end of it is a hopeless naif. French corruption, particularly through multilateral bureaucracies, has spread to... More

[When available, hyperlinks to the original articles are included.
Keep in mind that the information, obviously, is not 100% reliable. Nonetheless, it is vital to have access to it. We do not agree at all, to say the least, with most of the op—ed pieces but it is worthwhile... More