Friday, March 14, 2003

Under Fire, Moran Quits House Democratic Post. At the urging of the top House of Representatives Democrat, Rep. James Moran of Virginia has resigned from a Democratic organizational post as the party distanced itself from his comments Jews were behind the buildup for war with Iraq. [Yahoo News] Apparently, the Democrats have more honor than the Republicans. It took considerable arm-twisting to get the Republicans to take action against Trent Lott, and apparently no amount of arm-twisting will get them to do anything about Howard Coble. But the Democrats have taken quick action to not only condemn Representative Moran for his racist comments, but also to force him to resign from his leadership position. The Republicans have made their position on racism clear: they simply don't care. I suppose we can only hope that the voters will make them care in 2004 by throwing them out of power.   1:04:36 PM

Intellectual Left's Doves Take on Role of Hawks. "It's something of a scandal in my eyes that hundreds of thousands of people are not marching in support of the oppressed Iraqis," said Paul Berman, a New York writer and cultural critic, whose forthcoming book, "Terror and Liberalism," advocates aggressive intervention to promote democratic ideals. [New York Times] I'm not quite as much of a hawk as some of the folks interviewed in this article, but I do agree with their central premise: it is outrageous that the anti-war left has not done more to speak out against Saddam. "No war" is only a valid argument if it is coupled a valid alternative. Unfortunately, the anti-war camp's only alternative at this point seems to be to let Saddam do what he likes, regardless of the consequences for the Iraqi people and the future of the world.   11:26:55 AM