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PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG! CLICK HERE TO MAKE A DONATION. Thursday, May 20, 2004 SONTAG AWARD NOMINEE: "Paul Wolfowitz kept crowing last summer about how the US saved the Marsh Arabs from Saddam, but now that many of them have joined the Sadrists in Kut and Amara, Wolfowitz is having the Marsh Arabs killed just as Saddam did, and for the same reasons." - Juan Cole, equating Paul Wolfowitz with Saddam Hussein, in an email to Mickey Kaus. Mickey finds this kind of rhetoric unsettling. I read Cole, because he obviously knows a lot. But his biases are so acute I don't trust him an inch. Anyone who can write that sentence has lost whatever moral bearings he once had. - 7:05:33 PM SELF-PARODY ALERT: My favorite correction from the New York Times in a long time. Almost makes me nostalgic for the Captain Queeg era: An article on Monday about the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling that ended school segregation misstated a word in a paraphrase from President Bush, who attended a ceremony in Topeka, Kan. He called for a continuing battle to end racial inequality — not equality.You couldn't make this up. Speaking of which the cover story in Sunday's New York Times Magazine is a Susan Sontag essay. Yes, she's going to write about Abu Ghraib. And - yes! - the headline is: "The Photographs Are Us." - 4:55:27 PM BUSH GETS IT: It appears he will talk to the American people next week, laying out a detailed strategy for the transfer of sovereignty in Iraq. That's good news - exactly what I was hoping for earlier this week. I hope he also explains what military strategy is in Falluja and Karbala and the south. Many of us are committed to winning this war, whatever it takes. But the endless stream of mistakes and setbacks, when placed in the context of no effective presidential communication, is no recipe for victory. There are three battles right now: the military campaign against the insurgency, the fight for political legitimacy in Iraq itself, and the opinion war in America itself. We have won much of the first, have largely lost the second, and are fast losing the third. We can still turn this around. But Bush has to lead the way. FORTY FUNERALS AND A WEDDING: Thanks for all your furious emails about the wedding party. No, I'm not buying enemy propaganda. I wrote that the details were murky. But no one has disputed the fact of dead women and children. For skepticism about this story, check out the Belmont Club. I'll do my best to stay on the case of what really happened. - 12:03:43 PM IT GETS WORSE: It's very hard to know the facts about the carnage on the Iraq-Syria border, but whatever the occasion, it appears that the U.S. military was responsible for the deaths of several Iraqi women and children. It was almost certainly a mistake - either of target or of provocation. But it's another blow to the prestige of the U.S. military and their ability to avoid the kind of action which will, in fact, make their mission harder rather than easier. There are now many reports of U.S. soldiers feeling so beleaguered and jumpy that their first instinct is to fire, capture or mistreat captives. And so the cycle of distrust in some areas appears to deepen. As to the Iraqi custom of firing into the air in celebration, Zeyad has an interesting post on its history and meaning. MASSACRE IN GAZA: Another blow to the anti-terror war: Israel's military killed more civilian children in the Gaza Strip. Again, the details are murky, but this post (especially the map) is helpful in understanding the situation. TAXING GAS: Tony Blair insists on increasing gas taxes, even in the current climate. In Britain, 74 percent of the price of gas is due to taxes. Just a reminder of how anomalous America's cheap, cheap gas is. EMAIL OF THE DAY I: "I'm a United Church of Christ minister in . . . well, maybe I shouldn't mention the town . . . and that Onion story reminds me of some of the fine ladies in my church. Yes, I have had some of them come to me after a funeral and want to know 'why did the family want THAT music/THOSE flowers/choose THAT casket?' After one of my members died, a woman who had one son, another member made this remark after viewing the open casket: 'If she had a daughter, she'd have some jewelry on. But you can't rely on a man to think of something like that.' Name it, I've probably heard some whining about it. In my experience as a clergyperson, there is no limit to the verbal sniping human beings can level at one another. And, in the interest of full disclosure, funeral directors and clergy are just as capable of it as anyone else." EMAIL OF THE DAY II: "Hitch's quote from the "Scarborough Country" show must have been unconsciously plagiarized from a wonderful scene in the novel Auntie Mame (not the movie or the musical) where Mame confronts the vicious anti-semitism of Claude Upson, the would-be father-in-law to her nephew and narrator of the novel, Patrick Dennis: 'Claude,' she said, 'I've known dozens of Jews in my life and it has also been my sorry experience to have heard quite a few gentiles who have talked about Jews as you do. I know the adjectives--all of them. Jews, you will tell me, are Mean, Pushy, Avaricious, Possessive, Loud, Vulgar, Garish, Bossy people. But I've yet to meet one, from the poorest pushcart vendor on First Avenue to the richest philanthropist on Fifth Avenue, who could ever hold a candle to you when it comes to displaying all of those qualities.'" SLIPPERY, SLIPPERY SLOPE: A helpful piece by Dahlia Lithwick, dissecting some of the most hysterical arguments against marriage rights for gay citizens. - 12:49:12 AM Wednesday, May 19, 2004 KRISTOL AND GROSS: An interesting radio interview for NPR. As on most foreign policy issues, I find myself in close alignment with Bill. - 7:51:19 PM HITCH ON MICHAEL MOORE: "But speaking here in my capacity as a polished, sophisticated European as well, it seems to me the laugh here is on the polished, sophisticated Europeans. They think Americans are fat, vulgar, greedy, stupid, ambitious and ignorant and so on. And they've taken as their own, as their representative American, someone who actually embodies all of those qualities." - Christopher Hitchens on "Scarborough Country," last night. - 5:29:45 PM ONLY IN DEARBORN: A funeral looks cheap. - 3:32:30 PM THE ADMINISTRATION ON FALLUJA: Finally, a description of what the administration itself believes has been the goal in Falluja: "What we're trying to do is extricate ourselves from Fallujah," said a senior U.S. official familiar with U.S. strategy who would speak only on the condition of anonymity. "There's overwhelming pressure with the Coalition Provisional Authority and the White House to deliver a successful Iraq transition, and Iraq is proving uncooperative."So the initial goal of removing the insurgents has been abandoned. Meanwhile, the president says: "My resolve is firm. This is an historic moment. The world watches for weakness in our resolve. They will see no weakness. We will answer every challenge." So is the president telling the truth or is the anonymous "senior administration official"? Or has the administration official declined to inform the president? IN BOSTON: I'm in Boston today (arrived yesterday). It was fascinating to observe the impact of Monday's marriage moment. For the most part, it was celebratory. Polls are showing increasing support for equal marriage rights and sliding approval for governor Mitt Romney. The conservative Boston Herald didn't even put the story on its front page. The major goal of the anti-marriage rights lobby was to provoke hysteria and backlash from the images of weddings for gay couples. But, in fact, the mainstream response has been either positive or neutral. Most people rightly fail to see how these couples' committing to one another hurts anyone else. And if it doesn't harm anyone, and brings such joy to so many, why stop it? That's a powerful argument in a liberal society. Even conservative media were muted: With neither candidate eager to join the debate, the weddings did not trigger an immediate "culture war" debate among editorial writers or pundits. The CNN "Crossfire" crew sparred over the topic Monday, but not before discussing the Iraqi prisoner scandal, potential running mates for Kerry, and other political matters. Bill O'Reilly tackled the matter on Fox News Channel but waited until the third segment of his show to do so.You can say that again. - 2:44:35 PM EMAIL OF THE DAY: "I'm afraid I have to agree with you on this one. I think that Bush's instincts are sound in the War on Terror, but the man is no leader. God, how I long for someone like Roosevelt, someone who can speak. And the fiscal policy is just a disaster. Even so, and even as a lifetime Democrat, I am afraid that I will have to vote for Bush. I don't trust Kerry, and even if he put forth a decent alternative I would have no faith that he was sincere. How did the parties ever come to this, nominating such low quality candidates? There are people who impress me as better prospects: McCain, Giuliani, perhaps Edwards, but they seem to fade out of the picture for reasons I don't understand." - 12:51:00 PM THE GOOD NEWS: Yes, there is some from Iraq. An Aussie puts it all together. - 12:29:25 AM THE IRANIAN ANGLE: Here's a fascinating nugget from Edward Wong's latest report from Karbala: After American soldiers occupied the Mukhaiyam Mosque, an insurgent stronghold, on May 12, they found some identification cards that an Iraqi interpreter said were Iranian. The military was still examining the cards and other documents found in the mosque to determine their origins, said Captain Noel Gorospe, a spokesman for the First Armored Division. "We're doing our very best to intercept those people," General Hertling said of outside fighters.It seems pretty obvious to me that the insurgency in Iraq is composed of Sunni dead-enders and Shiite radicals, but also an array of enterprising terrorists, as well as Iranian-backed thugs and trouble-makers. What we have, in fact, is a regional war, in which many pro-terror and pro-Islamist and pro-autocracy elements are determined to prevent a democratic transition in Iraq. This alliance is both active (Iran) and passive (Jordan). America's favorite autocrat, King Abdullah of Jordan, after all, is rightly afraid of Iraqi democracy. (I mean, who elected him?) And all of that points to one simple conclusion: this war is just beginning. The Arab establishment was not too fazed by the removal of Saddam. (He wasn't too popular with his neighbors, either.) But they're terrified of Iraqis actually determining their own future. And they will do everything and anything they can to stop it. That means that the terror attacks will continue for years. They are now directed at the infidel; but they will soon be directed more squarely at any elected Baghdad government. Do we have the stomach to hang in there if a future Baghdad government asks us to? That's the question. BUSH'S FAILURE: And the answer cannot be the president's crude and simple rhetorical tropes. What Bush doesn't seem to understand is that in any war, people need to be reminded constantly of what is going on, what is at stake, what our immediate, medium-term and ultimate objectives are. The president has said nothing cogent about Karbala; nothing apposite about al Sadr; nothing specific about what our strategy is in Falluja. Events transpire and are interpreted by critics and the anti-war media and by everyone on the planet but the president. All the president says is a broad and crude reiteration of valid but superfluous boilerplate. This is not war-leadership; it's the abdication of war-leadership. We are at a critical juncture. With some perspective, we have achieved much in Iraq, with relatively low casualties. But it will all go to hell if we lose our nerve now. It's long past time that people can be asked simply to trust the president. After the WMD intelligence debacle and the Abu Ghraib disgrace, he has run out of that capital. He has to tell us how we will win, what we are doing, how it all holds together, why the infrastructure repair is still in disarray, and how a political solution is possible. I'm not sure any more that this president has the skills or competence to pull it off. But I am sure that he has very little time to persuade us he can. - 12:23:30 AM THE RESOURCE FOR THE MARRIAGE DEBATE: From Plato to Ann Landers, from George W. Bush to John Kerry, from Loving vs Virginia to the Goodridge decision, my new book, "Same-Sex Marriage, Pro and Con: A Reader," is the most comprehensive resource available. If you're a student, a journalist, or just a citizen, and want to make up your own mind about the battle over civil marriage for gays, take a look.  purchase at amazon.com [USA] purchase at amazon.ca [Canada] purchase at amazon.co.uk [Europe] QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I am a proud Republican. I'm a Barry Goldwater Republican. I revere Ronald Reagan and his party of limited government. Sadly, that party is no longer. The current version of the Republican party is engaged in an outrageous spending binge and they're being steadied and encouraged by the Democrats... Ten years ago, in 1994, Republicans won control of both Houses of Congress. For one brief shining moment, we employed true fiscal restraint and eventually managed to balance the budget and even attain that which had seemed unattainable - a surplus! Now, at a time of national crisis, we have thrown caution to the wind and continue to spend, and spend, and spend - all the while cutting taxes. The perfect evidence of this is the number of Congressional earmarks found in the 13 annual appropriations bills. In 1994 there were 4,126 earmarks - this year there were 14,040 earmarks. Where are our priorities?" - Senator John McCain. I couldn't put it better myself. The Republican party is now committed to chronic fiscal irresponsibility, the micro-managing of people's private lives, the subjugation of political to religious discourse, and the politicization of the Constitution. In so many ways, it is an insult to the word "conservative." A STEM CELL BANK: Britain goes the extra mile and sets up the world's first stem-cell bank. - 12:22:50 AM Tuesday, May 18, 2004 A HISTORIC DAY: And, of course, a blogger best describes the atmosphere: Aaron grabbed my hand and we walked forward up the steps.It is indeed a new day. EMAIL OF THE DAY: "Today is a day that had to happen. Somewhere, somehow, sometime it had to happen. It has. We have crossed the line (and not all of us are gay). We are all more free. I've watched the ceremony. I've watched the love and commitment. I've watched, not a celebration of political victory or queer pride but the triumph of committed human beings in love. Indeed the triumph of basic humanity. Gandhi believed that non-violence was successful because of its ability to graphically demonstrate the difference between right and wrong. Today has. It feels good. I'm glad to be on their side. Thank you for helping sort out my opinions and prejudices. Without your blog, I would not be here. Thank you for enabling me to share in the victory of humanity." I'm still reeling. I've dreamed of this day for so long, felt its arrival with such trepidation, and spent the day in a media blur. But now it's over, I cannot but express one simple emotion: joy. I hope that, even if you differ, you can see why yesterday was such an extraordinary day for so many of us. ON THE ROAD: Bewildering day yesterday. Five media interviews and a book signing/reading. The crowd at Barnes and Noble was big and friendly. Thanks to all of you who came. Anderson Cooper asked the best questions. I've actually known Anderson for well over a decade - we used to work out in the old Washington YMCA together. But that was before he was a mega-star. He's still the same, though, engaging, funny, smart as a whip. One small note about media bias: it seems, sadly, that Fox News Channel won't have me on at all. They like their gays, as Homer did: easily characterized as left-wing and flaming. Oh well. QUOTE FOR THE DAY: "The decision in Brown versus Board of Education did not end all segregation; did not even end school segregation for many years. The civil rights movement was still waiting on other heroes and cases and laws. Yet, all sides of the equation knew that on May 17th, 1954, a line had been crossed in American history. The system of racial oppression in our country had lost its claim to legitimacy, and the rising demand for justice would not be denied." - President George W. Bush. Yes, Mr president. And we just crossed another line. What a shame you are on the wrong side of it. It's so easy to be a moral leader in hindsight. But history judges a president by how he deals with the civil rights issues of his own time, not of a generation before. - 1:33:51 AM GIVING BUSH CREDIT: On AIDS, it remains true that he has done more in three years than Bill Clinton did in eight. It also remains true that he will be given no credit for it from AIDS and gay groups. That's a shame. Praising Bush when he does the right thing is just as important as criticizing when he does the wrong thing - such as endorsing the anti-gay federal amendment. BOWDEN ON ABU GHRAIB: I was waiting for him to weigh in. Now he has. CICADAS KILL: The grim truth comes out. REPUBLICANS FOR MARRIAGE: In a sign of the future, some of the young supporters of the first gay couples to exercise their civil rights were Republicans and Christians: The crowd of supporters included seven members of the Harvard Republican Club (HRC), with two executive board members among them.Me too. - 1:32:48 AM Monday, May 17, 2004 INTEGRATION DAY: What marriage rights are ultimately about: an end to emotional segregation. COMMUNION WARS: How politicized will the Eucharist become? My latest column for Time. - 11:32:43 AM JUST MARRIED: I never believed I would live to write this sentence, but gay couples now have the right to marry in America. Congratulations to all those, gay and straight, who can now exercise their civil rights. There will be time for the inevitable reaction and renewed debate. But for a moment, I just want to wish all those embarking on a new life of love and commitment a happy life together. THE BOOK: Blogging will be light this week as I'm on a week-long tour for my new book, "Same-Sex Marriage, Pro and Con: A Reader." purchase at amazon.com [USA] purchase at amazon.ca [Canada] purchase at amazon.co.uk [Europe] The word "new" is stretching it a bit, since a large part of the book is unchanged from the first edition, brought out a few years ago. It's an anthology of writing on the issue of marriage rights for gays, from every conceivable perspective. I did my best to include all the strongest pieces from the anti-gay marriage advocates, as well as the best arguments in favor. So if you want to read Stanley Kurtz, Antonin Scalia, Maggie Gallagher, Dennis Prager, Bill Bennett or Charles Krauthammer, then this anthology has them all on great form. But this is also the best collection of pro-marriage articles I could find, from Jonathan Rauch to Evan Wolfson, Doug Ireland and E.J. Graff. There's also a wealth of factual material: accounts of same-sex marriages in sixteenth century Italy, native American America, Byzantine Europe, and seventeenth century China. The book includes all the relevant, religious arguments and passages from Leviticus, St Paul and other Biblical sources, as well as theological commentary (from Jean Elshtain to John Shelby Spong and Rabbi Yoel Kahn); all the pertinent legal decisions from the Hawaii case through Lawrence vs Texas and the Massachusetts Goodridge decision (edited so you don't have to slog through the entire opinions to read the critical passages); a whole chapter on the polygamy question; another chapter collecting all the data on child-rearing; conservative voices in favor of equality, including Richard Posner, Jonathan Rauch, the Economist, and David Brooks; and even left-wing voices against. Then there are a few entries that defy categorization - from Camille Paglia to Hannah Arendt, Sonny Bono, Plato and Ann Landers. Both George W. Bush and John Kerry are included. So, of course, are a few of my own essays, from my 1989 New Republic piece that helped kick off this debate to my most recent Time magazine column, "The 'M-Word.'" I've also written an introduction and new preface. It is, I think, the best and most comprehensive resource on the whole topic, from every imaginable angle, in a cheap paperback, perfect for teachers, students, and anyone who simply wants to think this subject through. Have I sold you on it yet? You can buy it here at Amazon. Please do. - 12:27:22 AM THE REVIEWS: "No matter which side one supports on this issue, this anthology will enable both an intellectual support of one's own beliefs and a better, fuller understanding of the contrary position." - Amazon.com. "Succeeds in framing the major religious, legal, moral and personal issues ... and in showing why the debate cuts to the core of Americans' beliefs about themselves." - Philadelphia Inquirer. "For smaller collections that may need only one title on the subject, Sullivan's work is by far the better choice, given the depth and breadth of its coverage." - Library Journal. MEDIA HO UPDATE: Every day this week, I'll be on TV or radio somewhere, as well as speaking at three live events. The live events are tonight at the Barnes and Noble in Chelsea, New York City, at 7 pm, Wednesday at 7 pm at the Charles Hotel in Harvard Square, courtesy of Wordsworth Books, and Friday at 6.30 pm at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. The final event will be a debate between me and others, including Robert Bork and Gary Bauer (C-SPAN will broadcast). As for media, I'll be on the radio this morning on WNYC in New York for the Brian Lehrer show at 10.30 am, and on TV on the Anderson Cooper CNN show tomorrow evening, as well as Headline News and MSNBC's "Scarborough Country". Later this week, I'll be on Bill Moyers' PBS show. All these media gigs can and probably will change, if experience is any guide, but this is my best guess as of now. If you're in the media and want an interview, my publicist is Fernando Montero at Random House, 212 572 2420. My apologies for the light blogging this week, but book tours suck all the energy and time from a human being, and I'm leery of trying to write completely exhausted. I tend to get my Jacksons and Jeffersons, let alone my Zarqawis and Zawahiris, muddled up. But I will try and check in as much as I can. INSIDE DISH: The Inside Dish will return next weekend, when I catch my breath. EMAIL OF THE DAY: "So Kerry could finish the job in Iraq better than Bush by giving the job to John McCain, assuming, of course, that he would relinquish his job as Commander-in-Chief. But what is there to insure that John McCain's counsel would be heeded even after their supposed victory? McCain is to Cheney as Kerry is to ... sorry, not Bush. It is more likely, I think, that the two would soon be at odds, which is not by definition a bad thing, but may not be what you had in mind. On the other hand, I can't imagine a better recipe than a Kerry-McCain ticket for increasing Ralph Nader's percentage." - more feedback on the Letters Page. - 12:22:23 AM  For past Daily Dish entries, view the Daily Dish archives.  copyright © 2004 Andrew Sullivan |
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