Current Events

1. Brother Dave sent me a link to what I believe to be the big news of the week. As you will see, this story did not run in an American paper, as one would suppose, but was front page news in Monday's London Times.
   
   In brief, the story discusses an memo given to Prime Minister Tony Blair by British Intelligence prior to the Iraq invasion which reports that "the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy". This is something many on the left have been claiming since the beginning. Here, we have a hard piece of evidence.
   
   And what's the lead story this week? As Gregorious has noted, one could be excused for believing that the allegation that Paula Abdul slept with an American Idol contestant was the lead story.
   
   *Gah*


2. Our Supreme Commander has taken his snake oil show on the international road. First stop: Latvia. Now, why he would want to promote Privatizing Social Security in Europe is beyond me, except that he has been less than successful at home.
   
   What's that you say? He's gone to promote the benefits of democracy? Oh, my bad. However, given the way things are going here (death threats to both judges and the fillibuster) and in Iraq (with attacks every day), it would seem a hard sell.
   
   The cynic could be excused for believing the snake oil show is meant to distract the public from the fact that El Presidente has done little but pad the pockets of his rich friends since he obtained office in 2000. Except for the Iraqization of Iraq which, as noted, has been going just swimingly.
   
   Latvia, huh? Maybe he'll meet Dr. Doom. Everyone knows that "Latveria" is code for "Latvia". And that Dr. Doom is El Presidente's spiritual father.


3. Kenny Baer, guest blogging at Talking Points Memo, reminded us that yesterday was Yom HaShoah , or Holocaust Remembrance Day. Sixty years ago this year, allied troops liberated the death camps, and the world came to learn the full extent of the Final Solution.
   
   Mr. Baer also provides a link to an editorial from the Jewish Anti-defamation League asking us not to trivilize the horror of that time by calling people we disagree with "Nazis" or by comparing "the Terri Schiavo case to a murder at Auschwitz" (as Pat Buchanan did).
   
   It's all to easy to take this tact. Draw the trapezoidal mustache on Mr. B--h or Karl Rove. Call abortion a modern holocaust. Just to pick examples from opposite sides of the political aisle, as they say. But to call someone a Nazi requires little thought. It takes a little more thought to draw parallels, and even more thought to explain why you disagree with a person or program on the merits, rather than making an ad hominem attack.
   
   I was unaware of this anniversary when I started reading Night by Elie Wiesel on Tuesday. This is an account of Mr. Wiesel's time in the concentration camp. It hasn't been a fun read, but it's been a good experience.