Category Archives: Political Commentary

Tribes

It’s been a while since Bill Whittle wrote a new essay, but it was worth the wait. Apparently momentous events bring out great thoughts. And let’s face it, Sean Penn (among others) was an irresistible target:

What kind of money could Barbra and Martin and Tim and Susan and Gwenneth and George and Steven and Viggo and Linda and Harvey and Brad and Angelina and Ben and all the rest

A Conspicuous Absence

Stephen Hayes provides more reason to think that we need a commission to investigate the 9/11 Commission:

Why would the 9/11 Commission fail to mention Abdul Rahman Yasin, who admitted his role in the first World Trade Center attack, which killed 6 people, injured more than 1,000, and blew a hole seven stories deep in the North Tower? It’s an odd omission, especially since the commission named no fewer than five of his accomplices.

Why would the 9/11 Commission neglect Ahmed Hikmat Shakir, a man who was photographed assisting a 9/11 hijacker and attended perhaps the most important 9/11 planning meeting?

And why would the 9/11 Commission fail to mention the overlap between the two successful plots to attack the World Trade Center?

The answer is simple: The Iraqi link didn’t fit the commission’s narrative….

…From the evidence now available, it seems clear that Saddam Hussein did not direct the 9/11 attacks. Few people have ever claimed he did. But some four years after the attacks of September 11, 2001, and one year after the 9/11 Commission released its final report, there is much we do not know. The determination of these officials to write out of the history any Iraqi involvement in terrorism against America has contributed mightily to public misperceptions about the former Iraqi regime and the war on terror.

While we’re at it, it would be nice to complete the investigation of the OK City bombing, and find who else was involved besides McVeigh and Nichols.

Another Scoop From Iowahawk

He’s managed to get a copy of Michael Moore’s chronicles from the fat farm. This is almost too cruel to link to. But then again, it is Michael Moore we’re talking about here:

Dear Friends,

You and I have stood strong against Ashcroft’s PATRIOT act and it chilling impact on our liberties. This morning I learned just how fragile those liberties can be. During breakfast weigh-in, Sergio suddenly stopped me — without probable cause, without so much as a warrant — and forced me to empty my pockets on a dining hall table. Without even the most basic judicial review or appeal process, he embargoed 6 of my Snickers energy bars, even after I explained I needed the quick energy boost for AM calisthenics. Dude, where is my country?

An Interesting Idea

Jonah Goldberg proposes a return of a Vatican army:

I’m not saying they should use an army for crusades for new lands or for conversion or anything like that. But why shouldn’t the Catholic Church have peacekeepers of its own? The use of force isn’t forbidden by Catholic law, I know that much. And the Swiss Guards still have weapons even on Vatican property. Why couldn’t the Pope dispatch armed soldiers to restore order, open food supplies, secure humaintarian efforts etc?

It couldn’t be worse than one under the command of the UN.

[Update at 2:21 PM EDT]

How would one amend the Treaty of Westphalia? Other than Great Britain, are the sovereign entities that signed it even in existence any more? Who (other than perhaps Italy) would object, and have legitimate grounds to, if the Vatican decided to build up, and utilize, the Swiss Guard? Of course, given the paucity of real estate they have, their biggest problem would be finding a place to house the Pope’s divisions. Though I hear there are some military bases being freed up in Germany…