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Clayton Cramer's BLOG |
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Clayton's commentary on news and events of the day. Broadly speaking, I'm a conservative with libertarian sympathies (getting more conservative as my children get older).
 Never forget! I'm running for Idaho state senate I've written a number of history books, as well as scholarly and popular articles, (see my web page).
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Friday, October 04, 2002
Off to Do Research at the University of Idaho Library This Weekend... So it will be very quiet here until Sunday evening. Interesting Article About British Plans to Deal With German Invaders In the Express & Star, a British paper that I don't recognize, is an article about British plans to use civilian clothes snipers to deal death and destruction to German occupation forces. Why Would Al-Qaida Attack American Universities? The Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough column in the Washington Times has this odd little mention: U.S. intelligence agencies received reports this week indicating Islamic terrorists have targeted American schools for attack, intelligence officials said. Now, at this point you are probably scratching your heads. Elementary schools? Yeah, that would cause terror, and genocide by exterminating the next generation is very efficient. But many colleges and universities (at least in the faculty lounge) are hotbeds of antiwar, pro-Palestinian support. What rational basis would there be to attack the natural support base for al-Qaida? This shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the apocalyptic thinking of al-Qaida. If you think that Islam's spiritual strength is so much more important than U.S. military and economic power, then you want the war to start, with the American population strongly behind it. Then, when al-Qaida brings the U.S. to its knees, the magnitude of this David vs. Goliath victory will be all the more impressive. (Okay, David was a Jew; bad analogy!) In some ways, the al-Qaida delusion that their spiritual strength will make up for what they lack in military and economic power is a modern version of the Ghost Dancer Indians of the late 19th century Midwest, and the Boxers of late 19th century China. In both cases, these cults believed that their spiritual purity would make them immune to bullets--the ultimate repudiation of materialism. In both cases, materialism repudiated these pitiful delusions. Labels: terrorism Thursday, October 03, 2002
Islamophobe: The Newest Term of Derision Professor Volokh has some critical words for the Rev. Jerry Falwell. While I usually find myself wondering what Falwell was thinking (if anything at all), I have also learned over the years that for every two stupid things Falwell says, there is at least one stupid thing he said that he didn't say: misrepresentations and misquotes of Falwell by the national media run rampant, of which the "gay Teletubby" was the most blatant. But buried in the article about Falwell's remarks (which are so ignorant of the Old Testatment that I suspect Falwell is being quoted out of context, or getting senile) is this gem: "How can these elected representatives legitimize this kind of hate speech by appearing on the same platform with Islamophobes and Muslim-bashers?" Hooper asked. Hmmm. First we had the term "homophobe" used to refer to anyone who disapproved of homosexuality, with the implication that disapproval of it meant that you were irrationally afraid of it (which is what "phobia" indicates in a clinical sense). Now we have "Islamophobia." "Muslim-basher" is used here to refer to someone who disapproves of Islam and expresses it verbally. A "gay-basher" is a person who engages in a violent criminal assault on a homosexual (or someone they perceive as homosexual--not necessarily the same thing), or at least it should be in any sensible use of the word "bash." But Falwell hasn't been down at the mosque, whacking Muslims with baseball bats, unless there's a bit more news that isn't making it into this story than I thought. This subtle manipulation of language was destructive when it was used to marginalize those who disapprove of homosexuality, and it isn't made any more respectable replacing "gay" with "Muslim." The use of these highly loaded terms is intended to marginalize by creating perceptions that operate at an emotional level, not an intellectual level. When I was in high school and college, anyone to the right of George McGovern was a "fascist"--showing a profound ignorance of fascism. (On the other hand, "Islamofascist" to describe those Muslims who seek to impose sharia law on non-Muslims accurately describes a fascist notion of govermental structure and policy.) For a decade or so, the word "racist" was enough to marginalize someone; from then on, it was like a cone of silence had descended over them. Nothing else that they said mattered. "Homophobe" in California works that same way today--much of the population hears those words, and nothing else that a "homophobe" says, matters. ("Fundamentalist Christian" isn't quite as effective as a marginalizing tool because perhaps 15% of Californians identify themselves to themselves and to others as "fundamentalist Christians.") This use of "Islamophobe" and "Muslim-basher" is that same sort of marginalization. Be on your guard for this attempt to shut down intelligent debate. What Elephant in the Bathtub? The Oklahoma City/Iraqi Connection Yet another reasonably respectable newspaper, the Philadelphia Inquirer, carries a story about the number of serious people who believe that Iraq played some part in the Oklahoma City Bombing--and that our government covered it up. Who are the serious people making this claim? Jayna Davis, a reporter from Oklahoma City; Larry Johnson, ex-deputy director of the State Department's office of counterterrorism, and Patrick Lang, Mideast expert formerly of the Defense Intelligence Agency. Of course, it was much more convenient for the Clinton Administration to nail this to homegrown "right-wing militia" sorts, rather than confront the possibility of Iraqi involvement. So why is the Bush Administration doing nothing with this? North Korea Needs to Learn to Lie Better This BBC story is about the increasingly unbelievable explanations of North Korean concerning Japanese citizens it admits it kidnapped in the 1970s. It makes you wonder if the North Korean bureaucrats take stupid pills every morning, or if living in the most completely totalitarian state makes them unable to recognize how obvious a stupid lie is. At least 13 Japanese were abducted in the 1970s and 80s to help train North Korean spies in Japanese customs and language. And this unlikely set of coincidences: The family members of eight people that North Korea says are dead now believe their loved ones may be alive after all. As much as liberals don't like to admit it, there are evil people in the world who are not Republicans. Wednesday, October 02, 2002
What Michael Bellesiles Needs To Get A Job After Emory University Fires Him... Instapundit linked over to Catherine Seipp's article about the almost unnoticed collapse of Ms. magazine. One interesting quote gave me an idea for Professor Bellesiles's job opportunities: One of the last bursts of publicity the magazine got came a few years ago, when it hired the disgraced columnist Patricia Smith, who had been forced to resign from The Boston Globe after she admitted making up sources and quotes. All it takes is a sex change, Michael, and with the skills you demonstrated writing Arming America, you're ready! Oh Boy! I Get To Do Some Fisking! Instapundit turned me on to a New Statesman article about the rise of blogging, and as I expect of the left, there are some...problems with it. Blogs are becoming the medium of choice for politically attuned members of the digital generation. Like talk radio, they are dominated by the political right. Why has the left ceded this potentially influential medium without a fight? "[C]eded" makes it sound as though the left was dominant, or at least present, and crawled off with their tails between their legs, probably after the right engaged in human rights violations to scare them off. It is actually because "politically attuned members of the digital generation" tend to be conservative, libertarian, or like myself, somewhere on the boundary between them.
They are democratic dynamite: private networks of information, unchecked by sensible debate. As distinguished from the New York Times, where at best the letters column or the occasional conservative opinion piece appears? As a percentage of content, I would guess that George Will columns and letters to the editor in the New York Times are about the same volume as the "comment" blocks in most blogs. Instead, the New Statesman article sees this as a matter of the right getting here first: Importantly, they got there first. Sullivan had an established following for his journalism, and took his chance when the first blogs appeared. The medium lends itself to short, sharp, witty commentary of the sort often associated with raging libertarians. But although polemicists of the left - Robert Reich, James Carville, Al Franken, John Pilger and others - may have websites, they have stayed out of the blog fight. The right would argue that it had nowhere else to go. It sees itself as the victim of a vast, left-wing media conspiracy. Because it is barred from the mainstream print media (not true, but play along), it seeks "underground" new media. Yeah, we got here first, but at least we didn't have to oppress any indigenous peoples to do it! And what's holding up the left? An inability to engage in "short, sharp, witty commentary"? (Insults and vulgarity are not the same as "witty commentary.") I suppose only to the New Statesman would mainstream American print media seem open to conservative or libertarian ideas. Certainly, our ideas get more play than they did 20 years ago, but our mainstream print media are conservative only relative to Europe, where ideas recognizably conservative or libertarian to an American would be outside the pale of acceptable thought. The journalist Stephen Pollard, the only British political blogger on the left, notes: "There are plenty of new British political blogs. And they are all - all - on the right." Hmmm. We go from "only British political blogger on the left" to "they are all - all - on the right." And then the author of the article's tagline mentions two British blogs of his own, one of which is clearly on the left. Someone needs to work on their understanding of that word "all." The Growth of Christianity in China Eugene Volokh points to a recent claim that the growth of Christianity in China is quite dramatic, and we may well see a nation with a large Christian minority in a few more decades--or perhaps a Christian majority. Professor Volokh points to the dangers of extrapolation with the famous Mark Twain quote about the length of the Mississippi River, and yes, this is true. But there are some points worth considering on this: 1. There has been a dramatic evangelism effort underway in China for generations, and even under the darkest clouds of the Communist government there. It is not surprising that it is bearing fruit. (Yes, I know some of my readers are probably saying, "poisonous fruit.") 2. Much of this expansion seems to have taken place when religions of all sorts were persecuted, and Christianity, as a symbol of the Western colonial past, especially so. Let me recommend Nien Chieng's Life and Death in Shanghai, a memoir of a Christian surviving the persecution of the Cultural Revolution, and the suicide--or perhaps murder--of her daughter by the Red Guards. You can click here to buy it from Amazon. Of course, sometimes growth takes place because of persecution. The Japanese government attempted to suppress Christianity with a very public crucifixion of 26 priests and laymen in 1597. The example of how they died had a profound impact on those who saw it, much as happened with many of the Christians thrown to wild animals by the Roman government. 3. We may also be seeing an increase in self-identified Christians in China simply because the persecution today is far less severe than it was when China was truly a Communist government, as opposed to today's kleptocracy pretending to be Communist. Something similar happened after U.S. occupation of Japan at the end of World War II, when large numbers of Christians underground since 1597 were prepared to be publicly identified as Christians. I do think that if 30% of China became Christians, it would represent a major threat to the existing political structure--a government that still officially teaches that religion is the opiate of the masses. It's 1928 Again Instapundit brought my attention to an interesting piece by David Gelernter about the striking parallels in attitude between the world situation of today and the 1920s: Once upon a time we thought of appeasement as a particular approach to Hitler. We have long since come to see that it is a Weltanschauung, an entire philosophical worldview that teaches the blood-guilt of Western man, the moral bankruptcy of the West, and the outrageousness of Western civilization's attempting to impose its values on anyone else. World War II and its aftermath clouded the issue, but self-hatred has long since reestablished itself as a dominant force in Europe and (less often and not yet decisively) the United States. The article has a very strong opening, but peters out a little after the half-way point. I must confess that I am not impressed with the organization of the article, but there are some interesting ideas and points scattered throughout it. Tuesday, October 01, 2002
Marketing Survey One of the problems that I am running into is that I need to make a persuasive case that there is a significant market for this book of mine that blows a hole in Bellesiles's fraud. Obviously, the price matters. So, what I would like is for you to email me if you think it likely that you would purchase my book (tentative title: _Armed America: Gun Ownership and Hunting in the Early United States_) if it were priced at: $25 $40 $55 Email me with one of the following on your subject line: book: $25 book: $40 book: $55 I will gather up this information, and use it to demonstratethe size of the market that I believe exists to the publisher that may be interested in it . I expect that the final book will be about 250-280 pages, including some graphs and probably some photographs (this is a flintlock, this is an arquebus, sorts of pictures). I also expect that once we get this beast printing, they will use that email to contact potential buyers. More Evidence That Rep. Lynne Woolsey's Mouth May Be Moving Without Brain In Gear See here for an update about Saudi Arabia's "ratification" of CEDAW that Woolsey thinks is an argument for us getting on the train by ratifying it. This Should Scare You Silly National Review Online has an article about the U.S. Army's assessment of al-Qaida training tapes captured in Afghanistan. It suggests that we have a lot to worry about here in the United States. Free and open societies really aren't all that competent to deal with threats like this, and that's one of the reasons that terrorists do their best to make us into closed and paranoid societies (much like most Arab nations are). If I didn't live in the middle of a wilderness (compared to Los Angeles, New York, and the other megalopolises of the U.S.), I would be carrying anytime I left the house. International Arms Control As Stability A number of bloggers are ripping Kofi Annan for his latest delusion that international arms control will lead to stablity. This isn't the first time that this has been tried, of course. Back around 1919, a number of the colonial powers signed an Arms Convention that prohibited sales of ammunition or firearms to black Africa and the Middle East. (See Parliamentary Debates, House of Lords, new series, 39:1028-9, for the Earl of Onslow's explanation of why gun control in Britain was required to prevent guns from ending up in the hands of the fuzzy-wuzzies.) See how well it worked? Decline and Fall of American Civilization, Part 3,530 Really, really depressing article about feral children beating a man until brain-dead. Yes, he probably shouldn't have confronted them about their boorish behavior, but the level of violence involved from children is really, really scary. One woman did say about 20 teenage boys had been gathering in the neighborhood since 8 p.m. Sunday and acting "hyped." Hmmm. Meth, perhaps? From The Same Region That Gave Us The American Taliban I couldn't make up a story this silly about the high school Satanism club in San Mateo County. (That's two counties south of Marin.) Monday, September 30, 2002
Did You Know Comedian Buddy Hackett Has a Concealed Handgun Permit in New York City? Those hecklers in night clubs can be rough! Interesting article about who is special enough to get a carry permit in New York City. Hint: being a celebrity like Robert De Niro helps; working for the mayor helps; being rich and transporting lots of cash helps; being a poor person trying to protect herself from rape just won't cut it. More Evidence That Rep. Lynne Woolsey (D-CA) is a Raving Idiot! The Weekly Standard is reporting that Rep. Lynne Woolsey is asking her colleagues to push for U.S. ratification of "CEDAW--the United Nations' Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women." And what is one of Rep. Woolsey's arguments for why we need to ratify this treaty to improve the equality of women? Because Saudi Arabia has ratified it--a country where women aren't allowed to drive, and must keep themselves covered up in public. Saudi women aren't required to go quite as far as the Taliban's burkas, but still a reminder that to the Saudis, women are the temptresses that will drive men into temptations that they can't control if their faces are visible. Oh yes, I believe that Rep. Woolsey represents John Walker Lindh, the American Taliban. Is there something in the water there causing this problem? UPDATE: It appears that Saudi Arabia ratified CEDAW with a rather important reservation. According to this report over at the Heritage Foundation: A further complication requires a second review. The Senate may choose to add reservations to the treaty, such as the reservation added by Saudi Arabia to follow sharia—or Islamic law—regarding treatment of women when sharia conflicts with CEDAW. This, of course, renders the treaty mostly meaningless there. More Reminders That Reality is Optional to the Hollywood Crowd From an article about the upcoming murder trial of fugitive hippie guru Ira Einhorn: Einhorn's lawyers may call celebrities such as Ellen Burstyn and Peter Gabriel as character witnesses. His New Age philosophy had gained him a following among the rich and influential in the 1970s. I can see why the CIA might want to keep successful mind-control experiments a secret. But if they worked, why did Einhorn flee the country? Why didn't the CIA just beam the signal, "Kill yourself" into Einhorn's brain? There are plausible excuses that Einhorn might make for fleeing the country, but this suggests that he and his Hollywood admirers need more reality in their diets. Splendid Demonstration Why Iraq Must Be Disarmed Now See this short and pungent article by Professor Eugene Volokh about why relying on deterrence isn't going to work--and assuming that it will is profoundly dangerous. It's Always Nice To See What Fine Upstanding People Associate Themselves With Bill Clinton See this article about the legal troubles of "Ed Mezvinsky and his wife, Marjorie" both former Congresscritters, and Friends of Bill. It's good to know that business corruption is just a Republican problem. :-) The headline says it all: "Democratic power couple's lives unravel over $10 million fraud"--nice! Torricelli's Ethics Problems Cause New Jersey Voters to Dislike Him? Well I am surprised. Perhaps it is just a prejudice that I have against New Jersey, a state that for some reason I always associate with the Mafia and cynical brutality, but it is really encouraging that Torricelli's ethical failures have caused him to go from 14 points up on his Republican challenger to 13 points behind. "a poster child for liberal, valueless, middle-class America" Time has a fairly detailed article about John Walker Lindh, American Taliban and now jailbird. A family friend is quoted: People who don't know Lindh's parents have certainly heard a lot about them: reports typically characterize them as the hippie liberals from Marin County so tolerant of a child's quest to find himself that he ultimately found himself with a bullet in his leg in an Afghan jail. But people who knew the family, grew up with them, first in Maryland and later in California, are often fiercely protective and quick to defend them. "I don't want to see one more bit of pain on this family or on this young man," says Bill Gilcher, a former neighbor in Maryland. "I think it's really too soon to make him a poster child for liberal, valueless, middle-class America." Sorry, but the article does describe a family that fits that just about perfectly: Years later, after Lindh's arrest in Afghanistan, quiet, affluent San Anselmo would be described sneeringly as a place for overindulgent hot-tubbers who let their kids do whatever they want. Locals prefer to call themselves tolerant. So when folks at, say, Bubba's Diner on San Anselmo Avenue would see the tall, awkward, teenage John strolling the streets in Islamic dress, they did not get especially worked up. It was just another kid experimenting with his life, with his spiritual side, certainly nothing to fear or loathe. "He actually looked very lonely," recalls Elaine Scheeter, who owns Paper Ships, Books & Crystals, a store for spiritual pursuits. "I got the impression that he did not fit in." I don't mean this as an attack on the religions of the American Indians, but this "we're Roman Catholic but we find American Indian religion so attractive that we dabble in it" is so quintessentially Marin County. When we lived in Sonoma County (the one just north of there), we were constantly amazed at the number of people whose eclectic religious beliefs combined Judaism, Buddhism, animism, Gaea worship, and whatever little sprinkles of Christianity made them feel like they were being diverse. Let me be really clear on this: Judaism (except as a cultural identity) is not compatible with Buddhism. Christianity is not compatible with Buddhism. Animism is not compatible with Judaism, or Christianity, and as near as I can tell, makes very little sense blended with Buddhism. This mishmosh sort of "spirituality" is a way for flakes to have a religion that lets them justify whatever their current selfishness is, without having to actually have it mean anything. Life at home, he soon discovered, had undergone a dramatic change. In late 1998 Frank said he was gay and moved out. On June 30, 1999, not long after Lindh's return, Frank filed for divorce from Marilyn. Three days later the Lindhs sold their home in San Anselmo at a profit of approximately $270,000. How did Lindh afford to travel to the Middle East to get involved with this nonsense? For his part, Suleyman Lindh shunned his fellow expatriates and, after five weeks at the YLC—even though his parents had already paid half the $6,000 annual tuition—dropped out of the secular center. More signs that Lindh's ideology came from Marin County millionaire radicalism, not from immersion in Islamofascism in the Middle East: A language teacher says Lindh came from the U.S. already hating America. And Lindh's correspondence from Yemen evinces an ambivalence toward the U.S. In a letter to his mother dated Sept. 23, 1998, he refers to the bombing of the U.S. embassies in Africa the previous month, saying the attacks "seem far more likely to have been carried out by the American government than by any Muslims." I feel very sorry for John Walker Lindh. He was an impressionable kid, soaked in the ideological and spiritual poison that is Marin County. Can anyone claim to be surprised that, coming from the San Francisco Bay Area, we learn this about what happened when he became involved in the radical Islamic movement? He helped Hayat at his store, a prosperous business dealing in powdered milk. Hayat, who has a wife and four children, says he had sex with Lindh. "He was liking me very much. All the time he wants to be with me," says Hayat, who has a good though not colloquial command of English. "I was loving him. Because love begets love, you know." Lindh's lawyers deny that their client engaged in homosexual relationships. UPDATE: The businessman quoted in the |
