- Archives Home →
- January 2005 Article Archives
Articles
Remember September 11, 2001? I do. Many seem to have forgotten.
We live in a post 9/11 world so let's be direct. The grave reality is that right now thousands of radical Islamic terrorists fully intend, and are very specifically preparing to kill you, your spouse,... More
Today the Iraq election is over and Senator John Kerry is wisely advising that:
No one in the United States should try to over—hype this election... This election is a sort of demarcation point, and what really counts now is the effort to have a legitimate political... More
Weir Thinking About It
As I watched Senator John Kerry on Meet the Press on Sunday I imagined an appropriate scenario for one of Johnny Carson's skits. As 'Carnac the Magnificent,' Johnny puts the envelope to his head and says: 'The answer is, yes and no, pro and... More
Normally I don't like using the first person pronoun in the political screeds that sometimes appear in this space. Today, though, is a significant exception because I would like to tell you about a man who laid down his life so that the brave and jubilant Iraqi people could defy the assassins in... More
Those gun—hating Dems really started to shoot.
Their weapons of choice though leave much to desire
For they're usually off—target and so often misfire.
In his blustering barrages, as everyone knows,
Al Gore is most... More
Watching the ceremonial swearing—in of Secretary of State Rice, I was moved by the occasion, especially by the President's remarks. Faithful readers know that I regard Dr. Rice as an inspirational figure for all Americans, albeit one of special significance for African—Americans... More
A prominent president, one who commands enormous resources and can influence the lives of many women, has recently made disgusting sexist comments.
No, not Lawrence Summers of Harvard, who merely had the temerity to suggest as a possible hypothesis, and in a non—public academic... More
'You do not know, and will never know, who the Remnant are,
nor what they are doing or will do. Two things you do know,
and no more: First, that they exist; second, that they will find you.'
Albert Jay... More
The Presidential election of 1992 was a watershed event in the history of American politics. It was uniquely significant not because of Ross Perot's 19% third—party vote having fatally diluted President Bush's support, not because of Clinton's 43% popular vote total being the smallest... More
[Editor's note: Herbert E. Meyer was awarded National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal, the intelligence community's highest honor, for his service at the CIA during the Reagan Administration, where he managed the production of National Intelligence Estimates and other top secret... More
The words came crashing through the speakers in my car this morning. 'What the hell...Oh no...Oh my God' were about all the words I could muster after hearing this report. The framework for measuring this loss began to take shape in my mind. This is about three fourths of a full rifle... More
In his second inaugural address President George W. Bush said that 'from the day of our founding we have proclaimed that every man and woman on this earth has rights, and dignity, and matchless value, because they bear the image of the maker of heaven and earth.'
Now that last phrase may... More
What do you call a former member of the Ku Klux Klan who tied up the world's oldest deliberative body for 14 hours to oppose the Civil Rights bill of 1964, and voted against the Supreme Court appointments of both Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas? What do you call a man who on Wednesday will... More
It has been bandied about in the media that Islamic fanatics shriek that Allah turned certain Jews into apes and pigs. Is this true?
If it is, where does this harsh polemics come from? Do they get it from the hadith (Muhammad's sayings and deeds outside of the Quran)? From later... More
In the first two and a half months following the bitterly fought 2004 Presidential election, a regular viewer of C—SPAN would have been 'entertained' by countless panels of Democrats, and progressives (liberally sprinkled with the requisite number of Ph.Ds) discussing where their Party... More
Why is it that leftists are always saying they are 'disturbed,' or 'saddened' or 'distressed?' Nothing seems to pass before the eyes of dyed—in—the—wool liberals without causing some sort of disconcertion. Such is again the case in a
If you haven't heard the President's second inaugural speech, or at least read the transcribed version of it by now, chances are you're not very interested in American politics. Either that or you have a very short attention span, and just haven't managed to get through its roughly 2,300 words... More
Lawrence Summers looked out at the august assembly of scholars gathered in a comfy Cambridge seminar room and began a 20 minute speech that may end his career. The former Treasury Secretary in the Clinton Administration and current president of Harvard had the temerity to advance the notion that... More
'All my life I have wanted a pension,' said the retired naval clerk John Dickens to his son Charles in a BBC biopic that ran years ago on PBS. And many Americans agree with him. You put in your 40 years, or 30 years—or even a mere 20 years for some fortunate policemen... More
Even today obstinate, lumbering, big—media dinosaurs inhabit and roam the vast terrain of Paleolithic journalism. Theirs is a rapidly dying breed, having succumbed to stubbornly self—inflicted wounds of poorly camouflaged liberal bias — all this lending credence within... More
It's so easy to say you support the troops, regardless of which side you come down on in the issue of the War in Iraq itself. Yeah, you can send care packages and put yellow ribbon magnets on your car to make you feel all warm and fuzzy that you're doing your own small part. You can do as I do... More
America may soon lose its most trusted ally in the world. Britain is on the verge of surrendering to the European Union. It is an historic moment that should be showing up in blaring headlines ——— but it is slipping in so quietly that only a few people have talked about... More
Although he was unable to figure it out until after the election — and just a day before the second inauguration of President George W. Bush at that — Sen. John Kerry finally hit upon a novel concept Wednesday: meaning what he says and saying what he means by way of a vote that... More
How many of you Liberals does it take to win a war?
Well how the hell can we tell? You won't fight one anymore.
You say that you support the troops, but the truth's plain as your face,
You'd pull us from the battle, march us home in full disgrace.
You've no stomach for the... More
Condoleeza Rice has just endured two days of hostile questioning before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in which she was all but called a liar. Compounding the... More
Reviewing A Patriot's History of the United States: From Columbus's Great Discovery To The War On Terror. Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen. Sentinel/Penguin Group USA, New York, 2004. 825 pages, Notes, Index.
In response to textbooks and... More
[The following is a fantasy response from Condolezza Rice, nominee for Secretary of State, to Barbara Boxer (D—Outer Space ). We join the response... More
Astute political observers such as Bill Kristol have puzzled over President Bush giving top second term priority to Social Security reform. Unlike tax cuts or other possible priorities, the payoff for private Social Security accounts will come many years in the future, when currently young... More
Prior to September 11, 2001, Afghanistan's repressive Taliban regime was known to most of the world only on account of a single controversy involving its decision to destroy two ancient Buddhist statues. Of course reaction to this incident was one of universal outrage, loudly condemned across... More
We've all probably had experiences that made us wonder if we were the butt of a joke on Candid Camera. The last such event in my life occurred while waiting on a security line in a quasi—backwater Mexican airport a couple of years ago. While I expected a '
While barely registering a ripple in the Mainstream Media, several key senior people have been 'resigned' by Kofi Annan in the wake... More
Satire
New York State Attorney General Elliot Spitzer shocked the world today —— as well as the state department and the Bush administration —— with his announcement that he is charging terrorist mastermind and al Qaeda head Osama bin Laden with... More
Twenty years ago, writing The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe worried that his novel about Masters of the Universe bond traders and race hustling reverends in New York City would be received as too over—the—top. Instead, he was roundly criticized for his lack of... More
Last week, three US Senators, Florida's Bill Nelson, Connecticut's Christopher Dodd, and Rhode Island's Lincoln Chafee visited with Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez in Caracas, to try to assess the deteriorating state of US—Venezuelan relations. The three Senators left their... More
Weir thinking about it
On the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, I'm reminded of a dreadful day 37 years ago. April 4, 1968 is a day I'll never forget. I was working the 4 to midnight shift with my partner, Leroy Spivey, in the Bedford—Stuyvesant section of... More
I was watching the classic WW II movie Bataan the other night, and the questions of faith and duty to country depicted in the film are just as relevant to today's War on Terror as they were during those early, dark days of the War in the Pacific.
I had first watched the... More
In these days of liberals attacking Jesusland, and advocating moral relativism with its no right and wrong philosophy, I always hark back to the words of Barbra Streisand. Yes, for real. Actually, they were the words of Neil Simon, spoken by Barbra, in the 1970 comedy movie The Owl and The... More
I am a great admirer of Dennis Prager, the radio talk show host and writer. he is one of the most thoughtful commentators on politics, culture, and current events. And I agree with him that American leftists are entirely too full of hatred for our country, and that their screeds are used to harm... More
Steve Sailer and others have developed lists of factors that appear to correlate fairly strongly with voting patterns in the most recent Presidential election and prior ones (white birth rates, among them). The February 2005 edition... More
There's something about my face I think. I'm sixty—three, a touch introverted , not at all given to small talk and yet at every opportunity perfect strangers reveal to me their most intimate thoughts and hopes.
Returning from Los Angeles last month, I sat next to a charming young man... More
The commission tasked with finding WMD's in Iraq has now officially terminated its search, issuing its statement that such weapons will probably never be found. Not that they never existed, but that the likelihood of actually finding stockpiles of WMD's in Iraq is so low as be not worth the... More
If a global society forms during the Twenty—first Century, will it necessarily be a contract society, built upon reciprocal trade and agreement, as many people think? Or could it be constructed upon other principles, for instance the left's dream of universal sharing, nonviolence,... More
One of the most important political issues that will be debated this year is how to prevent the inevitable insolvency of our Social Security system. Although it is difficult to know which "experts" to believe when it comes to applying a date to the event, the majority of credible sources I've... More
The people of Kirkuk, Diyala, Salah Ad Din and Sulamaniyah will not soon forget.
The Iraqis living in the cities and villages of those north—central provinces will long remember the contributions to their security and stability, to their daily lives, made by the Soldiers of the 1st... More
I recently had an opportunity to discuss some religious issues with the Reverend Ray Dubuque, a retired Methodist minister who now spreads the word of the Lord largely over the Internet. As I researched the Reverend, his background, and his perspectives in preparation for our appearance... More
On his website, Andrew Sullivan takes President George W. Bush to task for some comments he made during an
A new storm is forming, one which could prove to be detrimental to peace and stability in the Western Hemisphere, and particularly damaging to the United States. It is a tempest of human origin, which has visited us before: Guatemala (1951); Cuba (1959); Grenada (1979); Nicaragua... More
So you think Dan Rather and CBS Nightly News are bad? Well, the fabled BBC, once the voice of British decency and reason, is about to air a 3—hour TV special casting doubt on the reality of Al Qaida. Millions of viewers in Britain
President Bush is constantly being attacked, second—guessed, and criticized. It comes with the job. As the importance of the Chief Executive in our Republic continues to grow, the attention focused on the Presidency and his policies grows with it. This is altogether proper. Most criticisms... More
CBS News is undoubtedly hoping that release of the Thornburgh/Boccardi Report, with its embarrassing admissions, will satisfy critics enough that the Rathergate scandal will be allowed to disappear into dim memory. They... More
I, who never watch CBS News, spent yesterday afternoon, reading the lengthy Thornburgh/Boccardi Report. Within its considerable limitations, it is a fine, well—detailed view of the CBS TANG memo scandal. While it could have asked other questions, and utilized other investigative... More
According to certain self—proclaimed leaders in the House of Representatives, if you are black, hold a political office, and have a healthy respect for carrying out your constitutional duties in spite of what that might mean for the electoral fortunes of the Democratic Party, you are a... More
Venezuela's Marxist dictator, Hugo Chavez, has begun confiscating farms and ranches, a violent act worthy of Zimbabwe's ethinc cleansing, marauding socialist tyrant... More
Saturday is not normally the worst day of the week to read the New York Times. On Friday, one has to suffer through Paul Krugman's screeds blaming all the world's ills except for the tsunami on President Bush. Sunday brings Maureen Dowd and her special keyboard where R has been... More
The campaign to oust Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld continues unabated at The Weekly Standard, with the latest salvo being fired by Frederick Kagan in his article Fighting the Wrong... More
The book of Genesis tells us that God made the heavens and the earth, and that on the sixth day He made man. Christians believe that God infuses man with a soul, making him singular among creatures. For he is not just flesh, but spirit. He is not merely a thing or even just a... More
Weir thinking about it
In the movie, A Few Good Men, Jack Nicholson, played the role of a marine colonel and commanding officer of a base in Guantanamo, Cuba. While being questioned on the stand about tactics used by his men, the colonel was sternly prodded... More
Muslim apologists frequently quote Matthew 10:34, which mentions a sword, drawing a parallel between Christianity and Islam: Jesus and Muhammad both endorse jihad, so why would Christians today complain about it in Islam?
However, this parallel is deadly flawed.
To explain more... More
To look at the soft—focus propaganda pictures of Venezuela's Castroite Chavez government, you'd think Venezuela's state oil company was not about producing oil, but rather rehabilitating life's down—and—outers. The Venezuela... More
The recent disparagement of American aid efforts to help tsunami victims as 'stingy' by Jan Egeland, Under—Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs at the United Nations, is merely the latest in a series of anti—American words and actions by Norway and Norwegians. While one might... More
What Happens When Science and Feminism Become Bedfellows
One curious thing about scientific pronouncements is that they often seem to accord more with the spirit of the age than fact and reason. Thus, a Nazi researcher in 1930's Germany would analyze data from only one... More
The other evening, while awaiting my table in a local restaurant, I overheard a Republican and Democrat agreeing with one another about the elimination of the Electoral College. It's one area where many Liberals and some uninformed Republicans can reach common ground — a public... More
Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution relates that
"He [The President] shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of... More
Noam Chomsky, long—time Professor of Linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an idol of leftist academics and journalists everywhere, has created hundreds of anti—Israel books, articles, recorded interviews and lectures—all his own. Chomsky repeats every... More
In the immediate aftermath of the Asian tsunami, the early words of the New York Times and Washington Post were not a plea to Americans to open up their pocket books and be generous to the afflicted. No, the tragedy was viewed as an immediate opportunity to criticize President... More
If public school systems were genuinely interested in improving American history departments that increasingly seem unable to teach students the difference between the Battle of the Bulge and the Battle of Bull Run, while simultaneously diminishing or ignoring the achievements and aims of our... More
Are you tired of all the Social Security discussions that have been flooding the air and print waves the past two weeks? Having a hard time understanding the plethora of opinions —— some good, some bad —— being thrown at you from all directions by people who seem to... More
Disaster strikes a world away
We get the call, what do we say?
We move at once, to ease their plight,
To aid them through their darkest night.
But come shrill cries from carping press,
"That's not enough to fix this mess."
We know that, fools,... More
I am not writing to quarrel with your judgment about the war in Iraq. Rather, I am writing to protest your attitude toward the war. And the point I want to make is this: sometimes, you have to choose between proving yourself to have been right, or helping make a project succeed... More
How do you unite 500 million people who have fought each other for a thousand years? That is the biggest question for Europe today. In spite of endless denials, the answer is beginning to look a lot like old—fashioned nationalism. In Europe, nationalism has a black reputation... More
After spending Christmas Day in a liberal home I can report that this was not a happy holiday for liberals. There was at least one thing to celebrate,... More
Weir thinking about it
For some people, and some countries, the US can do no right. In the wake of the tsunami and earthquakes in South Asia, critics wasted no time in referring to US aid as "stingy" and "delayed." Even though the US began with an initial aid package of... More
Like most people with even a passing interest in matters relating to business, I have been reading articles in financial periodicals and have heard the prognostications of many economists concerning a looming 'Real Estate Bubble' for at least the past three years. Regardless of the logical... More
France has found a new tale of good and evil about which to make clever conversation. As usual the villains are capitalism and America, and 'globalization' is the bogeyman combining the two malign forces which have, in their paranoid vision, conspired to diminish la France. Ho... More
Iran is developing a nuclear program, ostensibly for energy, but likely also for acquiring a nuclear weapon. Seyyed Ali... More
The media latched on to the story like a pit—bull to a poodle — It's been a perfect obsession. Coverage of the case has saturated the airwaves for over two years, with the Fox News Channel taking the lead...OK Greta, on the record, we get it — enough already! ... More
One of the terrible tragedies of communist Cuba is the dead silence of Cubans who must voicelessly live on that island. Unless we have Cuban relatives, we don't know a thing about those people, who might as well be living in the blacked—out Iraq of Saddam Hussein, or on the far side of the... More
My wife, Batya, and I have been wine lovers for over 40 years. I was also an amateur wine maker for about five of those years. My own wine was not very good, primarily because I could never get good grapes living where I do, but it was still fun making it. So it was a natural reaction,... More
If I had faith just the size of a mustard seed,
Mountains would move at my command,
And my walk with God would be as on concrete,
And not the unsure footing of sand.
But where there's flesh and fallen nature,
Doubt is never far behind;
Fed by the seductions of this... More
