Redemption and (False) American Idols

There's a movement afoot to support a youngster named Sanjaya Malakar, one of the remaining contestants on Fox's ever-popular American Idol program. Mr. Malakar is 17 years old, and while he's a good-natured fellow, his singing talent is best described as dubious. But he keeps returning week after week thanks to the call-in voters that select the finalists. This continues to baffle the show's producers. "Simon" the acerbic British judge has even threatened to quit if Sanjaya somehow wins the whole samosa, so to speak.

(No, I don't watch the show. But the golden retriever and I are the only males in a house full of females, some of whom are pre-adolescents. As a result we must suffer the indignity of witnessing this bogus TV contest any time we stroll past the entertainment wing of the estate on certain evenings.)

At first my conservative sensibilities were offended: Isn't this ostensibly a singing contest? Are we talking here about another variation of the endless celebration of mediocrity as espoused by the "everyone-is-special" Left? But I can't muster myself to believe that Idol is, after all, anything more than a too-slick marketing effort designed to efficiently squeeze as much profit as possible from the phenomena of pop superstars, with little regard to durable talent.

This is not a show that would be equipped to discover the next Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, or Patsy Cline. The best work always come from outside the machine - and the "arts" (for lack of a better word) have a delightful and confounding way of defying the dynamics of markets. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of fierce and mostly unregulated competition, trade, and commerce - but when it comes to songs, paintings, movies - they are always more ephemeral and lower quality when pushed from the corporations downward, instead of created and shared upwards by networks of passionate individuals.

In this case, with a nod to themes of Easter, let Sanjaya's ascent on this ridiculous TV show be the touchstone of our cultural redemption.

[Via Times Online via Andrew Sullivan ]

The New Bacon Whopper With Kindness

Now that fast food joints have discovered public health - or more accurately, they've discovered that the public wants to lie to itself more convincingly about it's own health - different companies are taking different approaches to the problem.

McDonald's, for instance, has risen to the challenge by introducing a new product, apple slices (which comes with sugary caramel dip), and they've slapped pictures on their packaging of young, athletic people skipping though the air - images taken in the years, I guess, before they were diagnosed with heart disease. Burger King has taken the opposite approach, recognizing that people eat fast food out of a sheer obstinate disregard for healthy behavior. They have introduced the most ludicrous products imaginable - triple Whoppers with bacon, omelets that come with sausage, bacon, ham, cheese and cream gravy - a greasy middle finger thrust skyward in the face of nutrition and common sense. Their commercials feature a creepy plastic Burger "King" - a sadistic figure who snares American eaters with their own gluttonous lack of restraint.

Now Burger King has gone the other way on the issue of animal cruelty. In the months ahead they will be switching to vendors who do not cage the chicken and swine from which the above-mentioned omelet might be created. The sausage once roamed, so to speak, and the chicken which laid your breakfast biscuit sandwich was given a name and treated thoughtfully in the years before it's demise. (Cows, as of this writing, are not on the list.)

Bottom line - the livestock, in many cases, probably received more exercise in it's brief pre-slaughter existence than the tubby American who crammed it down the hatch on his or her way to a sedentary job. It's okay, somehow, to offer products that are the health equivalent of a gastrointestinal atom bomb - but we wouldn't want any our furry pals to suffer in the production of the foodstuff in question. And other fast food companies are bound to get in line with similar plans.

Would you like a side order of irony with that?

Tags: Burger King, Public Health

Of course the British had GPS data to support the true location of their naval vessel - well within international waters. They are right to release this to the public, but should be under no illusions that the Iranian regeime will respond with anything besides denial and obfuscation.

CNN Distorts Fred Thompson

Organizations like CNN still must think they have an undue amount of influence in the minds of what they perceive to be an ignorant public. Otherwise how could they possibly think that anyone would be fooled by the laughable headline: "Law and Order Star Grabs GOP Attention".

That was the link on the homepage. The title on the actual article ("Poll: Thompson Star Rises with GOP") backs away from the notion that Thompson is a actor first an a politician second, but still we have the first paragraph:

He's not even officially running for president, but Fred Thompson, star of NBC's "Law and Order" and a former Tennessee senator, is gaining in the polls among Republican White House hopefuls.

You may find Thompson's politics wonderful or repugnant, but the notion that he is an entertainer who just happens to have done a stint in D.C. is almost pathetically duplicitous. Anyone who wants to be informed should read his actual biography. He had a long and storied career as a U.S. attorney, he played a key role in bringing the case against Nixon during Watergate, and he spent nine years in the United States Senate, putting in time as a key committee chair. He is, by any standard, a grizzled veteran politician.

Certainly his work as an actor is nothing to be ashamed of, but the beginnings of his acting career reveal much about the man: He played himself in a movie about the true scandal involving the sale of pardons for prisoners. Thompson was (in real life, and the movie) the attorney who helped bring down a governor who was, by many accounts, the portrait of cronyism and corruption.

All of which you would never know from reading CNN. Typically, not one word is mentioned about Thompson's policy positions, beyond the usual nugget about his stance on abortion and gay marriage - which has apparently become the most important issue of the day according to the media, which mentions it dutifully in any article about a GOP contender, but of course is nonexistent whenever they make ink about a Democrat.

Failing the Iranian Hostage Test

Iranian-born journalist Amir Taheri, writing in the New York Post, brings a clear historical perspective to bear on the current British hostage situation, and the implications are sobering for those who wish to wave away the importance of incident.

During the past 30 years hostage the mullah regime has availed themselves of other hostage-taking opportunities as either a prelude to an either internal crackdown or a blustery confrontation with international powers. In this case the U.K.-sponsored sanctions at the United Nations are the obvious catalyst.

This is therefore a chance to see how the world reacts, to gauge the firmness of the response, and therefore the tolerance that can be expected for future belligerent actions. Taheri thinks they have their answer:

Western apologists for the Khomeinist regime have already started blaming the United States for having made the mullahs nervous. The argument of the apologists is simple: Don't do anything that makes the mullahs unhappy, or else they will do more mischief.

The truth, however, is that making the mullahs nervous may be the only way of persuading them to end their defiance of the United Nations and stop trying to export Khomeinism to neighboring countries.

But there's little chance of that, unfortunately.

We simply cannot summon the courage. In the United States Left-leaning polticians are so angry at the president (and so anxious to curry favor with their base) that they are actually willing set a calendar date for when al-Qaeda and the Sunni/Shiite militias can divide up the country of Iraq after a mighty bloodbath. They would like this to happen in 2008. They even passed a bill.

And in Europe, including Britain, is possessed by cultural impotence. Multiculturalist paff and the delusions of socialism have rendered them unable to assert that Western liberal (with a little L) traditions such as freedom and democracy are a genuinely more humane ideology than the religious law and resentful Wahabi extremism that is increasingly espoused by a small minority. (Supplemental reading: This 60 Minutes interview with a former Londonistan recruiter.)

The Iranians may release the hostages tomorrow for all we know, but with this latest episode they have won confidence that the West is essentially afraid, and unwilling to respond. Just think how much easier things will be for them when the nukes are finished.

The Network, Hassan Butt Tells Bob Simon Killing In The Name Of Islam Is A "Cancer" - CBS News

The Network, Hassan Butt Tells Bob Simon Killing In The Name Of Islam Is A "Cancer" - CBS News: "moder"

Jim Tarbell and Jail Space

Once again, Cincinnati's Vice Mayor Jim Tarbell has almost been made a victim on the city streets, and once again he has responded by sticking up for himself, unafraid in the face of crime. (Via Cincinnati Blog.)

Tarbell witnessed a man verbally assaulting a group of musicians on their way to a gig at Kaldi's in Over-the-Rhine. He broke up the altercation and fisticuffs ensued with the would-be villain, who tried to get away with a cell phone. The police arrived and caught the guy, and you might reasonably expect he would be tried and sent to ...

Jail? Well, that's the problem, isn't it? Tarbell's assailant, Larry Smith, sounds like he's already been there repeatedly. The Enquirer article suggested that he's been arrested over eighty times. The nature of the crimes is unknown - but at least thirty of them are felonies. It boggles the mind that this man is on the streets instead of doing hard time as a multiple repeat offender.

But of course we don't need more jail cells, some say. There's no issue with putting four- and five-time felons (in this case thirty-times) back on the street. Instead we need more understanding, jobs programs and compassionate listening to the reasons why people like Larry Smith are roaming the streets punching people in the face, screaming profanity, and stealing everything that isn't bolted down. What are you, a facist, thinking hardened criminals belong in jail?

Certainly I'm for creative solutions to the crime problem, and I'm even willing to believe that some "root cause" issues can be addressed with kids who are on the bubble, and can still be steered away from crime. But grown men on the streets who have committed upwards of 30 felonies? Unless this guy is some incredible anomaly - and Tarbell has announced he will find out the real story - we need more room in the big house, and we needed it yesterday.

Please spend my tax money on a bigger jail.

Against Secular Socialism

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/20/science/20moral.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Some animals are surprisingly sensitive to the plight of others. Chimpanzees, who cannot swim, have drowned in zoo moats trying to save others. Given the chance to get food by pulling a chain that would also deliver an electric shock to a companion, rhesus monkeys will starve themselves for several days.

Biologists argue that these and other social behaviors are the precursors of human morality. They further believe that if morality grew out of behavioral rules shaped by evolution, it is for biologists, not philosophers or theologians, to say what these rules are.

Reasons You Aren't Rich

Not everyone wants to be rich.

http://www.thestreet.com/_tscrss/newsanalysis/opinion/10345796.html

Spring Break, Family Bloggers, Global Poverty

Blogging lightly, lately.

This is our daughters' Spring break and I have a surplus of vacation days. And my wife has recently returned to work - so a few extra days with Dad helps ease the transition for the three-and-a-half month old. She has concluded that, despite the fact that I don't possess a portable buffet, I ain't that bad after all.

The infant is currently sleeping, with her arms thrown up over her head in an "I am a champion" pose. For more blogging about the new youngster, the challenges of parenthood, and my wife's own unique take on the world, check out Pioneer Spirit and Maternal Anxiety. There's a couple of great pictures of the little nub, not to mention posts from my better half.

And while we are talking about family bloggers: My sister is working at an orphanage in Haiti, and has been blogging about it here. She conveys the experience with stories and striking photographs. Haiti is desperately poor - but the people, the traditions and the island itself seem almost unfathomably beautiful. I'm a very proud brother for the work she has been doing.

There's a lot talk about social justice and the resources that first worlders consume, and how unfair our economy or technology is towards others. Even if there is an element of truth in this strictly material conception of the world - the argument doesn't help the poor. What helps are localized solutions - a fence, a source of clean water, spot delivery power, a sewage system. One by one, in the poorest communities on Earth these need to be built.

It's real work, and it's never glamorous, and it's critical. Read Pwoje Espwa, Theo's Work and Inside the Frame. Here is one place where people are suffering, and others are working to relieve their most immediate concerns.

Cincinnati Gun Project

News item:

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070314/NEWS01/303140023/1056/COL02

BGP/OS Background:
http://www.villagelife.org/news/archives/5-9-97_antigun_initiative.html

Footwear, Indulgences, and Carbon

This story is too ridiculous to ignore. It has some congruity with the old familiar fable - since it involves some very important footwear, royalty, and some last-minute rushing around:

The Duchess of Cornwall had a favourite pair of shoes flown 3,000 miles to Kuwait for a lavish dinner with senior members of the Kuwaiti royal family, it emerged last night.

After discovering to her horror that a pair of her killer heels had been forgotten by careless aides, a member of staff is said to have been ordered to find them at the couple's Highgrove home and get them to her within 48 hours because they matched an outfit she had chosen for a gala event.

But astonishingly after the pair were flown over in the nick of time, Camilla decided not to wear them after all.

(Camilla Parker-Bowles, for the benefit of the congenitally uninformed, is Prince Charles' number one lady these days.)

But here's the truly delightful part of the story: This special-delivery has caused all of the enviro-weenies to get their panties in a bunch over the "carbon footprint" of the airplane travel necessary to retrieve the crucial royal footwear. Nevermind that Prince Charles' handlers have suggested that there were other items delivered on the same flight, Camilla's fashion faux pas was wasteful and unnecessary - so say the high clergy of Green virtue.

The solution, of course - aside from a better job packing the regal luggage - is for Charles and family to atone for their eco-sins by purchasing carbon credits. It's a complicated, Byzantine system that allows Leftists to pay for their gaseous emissions by giving companies money to plant trees, harness sun power, and destroy cow flatulence - activities that theoretically "offset" the 20 tons of carbon that each human produces by such everyday activities as exhaling and visiting Grandma each year.

There are no standards governing this secular equivalent of indulgences, of course - as one Vermont psychotherapist discovered recently (see previous link). But it's endorsed by Al Gore. And any business model that relies on liberal guilt, no-see-ums, and average American's understanding of science sounds like a dream franchise, from a strictly capitalist point of view. By golly I want to meet the sales rep who sells the Duchess a million carbon credits, held against any future air travel as a dignitary of state - and any potential future last-minute special deliveries.

To-do list: Incoporate several Utah-based shell coporations and web domains with 'carbon' or 'green' names. Also hire the BFA working at local coffee shop to create sensitive graphics. Contract database/marketing person to scrub list of Gore donors for mail campaign with plans for summer rollout.

For and Against the President

Required reading for conservatives are the editorials today and yesterday from the Wall Street Journal concerning George W. Bush. (Both seem to be online.)

Joseph Bottum asserts that no branch of conservatism has done well under Bush, be they fiscal-, social-, or neo. The federal government is still bloated with unrestrained spending, the social issues that so animate fundamentalists inevitable devolve into shouting, and the project of spreading liberty has stalled (and discredited) with the War in Iraq. Aside from tax cuts and a couple of decent SOTU appointments, Bush's tenure has been right ideology, but complete incompetence when it comes to git-her-done politics.

Michael Novak counters this argument by claiming that the standard here is ridiculous. He asserts that it's still possible for Iraq to turn the corner, but it doesn't help when the (bent liberal) media has the narrative pre-written in favor of failure. And he (somewhat curiously, but not incorrectly, in my opinion) claims this years State of the Union was a really impressive example of politics in action.

But read these editorials for yourself - I'm paraphrasing, and both offer strenuous detail.

For my money I am more persuaded by the 'incompetence' analysis, unfortunately - and I'm quite tired of hearing how it's the media's fault that Bush appears to never gain political traction. Certainly CNN, for example, slants the news - I don't dispute this. But it's still the president's obligation to persuade, reassure and even go against (at times) the voting public, in an ongoing basis, on the issues that matter, especially in a time of war. An administration has to get things done and communicate constantly and convincingly with the public about why they were necessary for the betterment of the Republic - in spite of barriers that may exist because of an intransigent media. That's what leaders are obligated to do on behalf of the citizenry

In 2008 we stand a good chance of electing a president who is the antidote to this frustrating political cement-headedness. Most of the contenders in the GOP field are trying to forge a channel of communication that seems honest, and the focus is on competence - Giuliani's tenure as mayor, Romney's stint at the helm of Taxachusetts. Even one Democrat (Obama) comprehends quite clearly what the public is longing for in a new alternative - though his actual politics, as previously noted, are a cipher, and he will enjoy a doting, enraptured media coverage. The good news is the next presidency will be defined in opposition to the shortcomings of Bush - let's just hope that smaller, sensible government, strength in foreign affairs and genuine respect for individual liberty are still the prevailing ideas at the heart of the new administration.

The New Exurban Crime Wave

There's a large group of folks that do a brisk trade in some neat coclusions about city life. Every news story about a shooting in a lousy neighborhood - between folks who almost always knew each other and had some connection with drugs - is seen as further evidence of a city that is entirely out of control. White flight needs validation long after it's flown - and for some reason it seems impossible for these folks to conclude that both city and exurbs have their own distinct benefits.

What to make, then, of the apparent crime wave in Butler and Warren Counties - the land booming with strip malls and subdevelopments to the north of Cincinnati? In the past few days we've seen cop shootings and massive drug busts - big time

ATM Shame

From my sister in law, currently living in Japan:


This picture was taken at an ATM. Apparently this is the image that appears when the user either does something wrong or does not have enough money for a withdrawal. The bank is embarrassed by the transaction, and wishes to convey the sentiment.

Very Japanese. Then again, we could learn a thing or two here in America. Given our debt-ridden, hyper-extended culture - I think awkward shame needs to make a comeback.

The Autumn of Civilization

Okay, that's an over-the-top title for a blog post, especially for a day when the temperature finally cracked 50 and the women downtown are (I confirmed on my lunchtime stroll) finally showing some leg. But I'm feeling gloomy about two venerable conservative institutions that are fading out faster than Tolkien's elves.

The first is the unreconstructed myth of the 100 Acre Wood: James Lileks, via Instapundit, has the news (emphasis mine):

In any case, Christopher Robin is dead; he perished in 1996. But the idea of Christopher Robin is dead as well; the very notion of a thin little English boy as a relevant instructive model is old-fashioned, and you might be pleased to learn he has been replaced. This year the new Pooh series will introduce a six-year old girl in Christopher’s stead. I’m sure she’s spunky and adventurous and kind and empowered, and I’m just as sure my daughter will find her boring, because kids can smell pedantic condescending twaddle nine miles off. (It’s one of the reasons many girls love Arthur – his little sister is sixty-five pounds of smart, devious, narcissistic, naughty sass.) Here’s the part that makes me truly sad:

The little girl wears a bike helmet.

Words fail to express my disappointment with this choice by the folks at Disney. For years my daughter has adored Pooh and company, never stopping for a second to consider why her gender wasn't "represented". While the Milne estate almost certainly has zero legal influence on the matter, I sincerely hope his living heirs issue a stiffly worded statement. Only for the sake of the children will I not be feeding our family's Disney DVD collection, one by one, into the shredder. I'd like to think that Steve Jobs is enough of a brilliant businessman to curtail this, but he is a gibbering hippie on social issues, after all.

The second news item for which conservatives should mourn is the passing of an un-elected House of Lords in the British Parliament - the rough equivalent of the American Senate. They were usually white and older than Methuselah, and prone to wearing outrageously camp wigs - but they were also unpaid and elected for life - indifferent to the winds of political fancy. (There's a great, unlinkable piece in today's WSJ.) The British have always had some direct representation in the prime minister and the House of Commons, but the Lords were the last vestige tail of gnarly old autocracy at it's finest.

Now the flailing, ignorant masses have been given complete reign over the instruments of power, and all I can do is sit back here on the Spacetropic estate, and raise a glass of Speyside Single Malt to times gone by, and to old, once-upon-a-time Christopher Robin.

Bush and Latin America

According to the Associated Press, George W.'s five day trip to Latin America is about reversing the perception of neglect and promoting the spread of democracy. The rise of clownish socialist Hugo Chavez seems to indicate that some nations may be backsliding, thinking perhaps that dictators and colossal governments are somehow the route to prosperity.

Can't we just leave them alone, and let them (for the umpteenth time) figure out what a losing proposition these "popular" ultra-Left revolutions ultimately become? I know, I know - I'm sure there are plenty of folks in Latin America who would much prefer open markets, equal opportunities, and free speech, and we should completely abandon them to banana-pot socialism, but they really need to get the ball moving first themselves.

And how helpful is this, really (from the article):

"The trip is to remind people that we care," Bush said in an interview Wednesday with CNN En Espanol. "I do worry about the fact that some say, 'Well, the United States hasn't paid enough attention to us,' or 'The United States really isn't anything more than worried about terrorism.' And when, in fact, the record has been a strong record."

Don't forget - we care!

Okay, fine - we do care. The countries of Latin America are our hemispheric neighbors, and once and a while you have to talk over the fence, just to stay in touch and keep the lines of communication open. There are some vaguely positive PR items on the president's itinerary, such as ethanol agreements with Brazil, and American assistance programs - including a Navy medical ship that's in the region treating up to 85,000 patients at various ports of call.

Sure as rain, however, no matter how many vecinos are vaccinated on Uncle Sam's dime (because we actually do care, even though it's tedious) - the nightly news will cover the inevitable protestors that will materialize in comparatively small numbers along the president's travel route. That news story is already being written.

Update: Erstwhile musician and investment guru Justin Jeffre sticks up for Chavez, pumping his signature 'Democracy Now' linkage. But Steve Fritch from the Cincinnati Standard comes back with a comprehensive takedown of Jeffre's position- replete with links, citations, and sources.

On one hand this seems like a lot of fuss over me calling the guy a 'clownish socialist'. Goodness me, plenty of sensible Democrats agree with that assessment, and have even said as much. How Ultra Left do you have to be to defend Hugo Chavez? But I suppose it's really more about George W. Bush - who I was hardly even endorsing - but who can drive some people completely, insensibly, crackers.

Fear and Precious Cargo

Would you trust me to drive your children to school? You don't know me. The news is filled with creepy people, unseen dangers, seemingly normal men and women who snap one day and feed their spouses limb by limb into the wood chipper - or drive all night wearing a diaper to avenge their scorned astronaut love.

Our society has been beaten into submission with 20/20 news specials about horrible things happening out of the blue - to the point where we have no earthly conception how real these dangers are - and how frequently they occur. A country that spends $36 billion dollars every year in Las Vegas is filled with people who can't do math, don't undersand odds and risk.

It's the "common man" test. Is the average person off the street good enough (decent, responsible, and safe) that, for example, they could be entrusted with the most beloved things in our lives, our children? The answer is, of course, no way in hell - back off, I've got a licensed handgun, and if you get near my family I will exercise my Second Amendment rights. Bottom line - we Americans are decent folks, but like the settlers in old Western movies we draw our guns first when strangers come on the property, then afterwards invite the travelers to dinner.

Recently I was forced to deal with a parent from the exurbs of Cincinnati about a carpooling issue with children. I suppose I am so used to working with other parents from my local Catholic parish - who have, almost to a person, proven themselves trustworthy - that I forgot that the default setting for most parents is "fear".

This may or may not have been compounded by the fact that I live within the city limits - an item that was met with obvious distrust when they figured out that the name of our neighborhood was not the name of a subdevelopment (hardly the first time that has happened). And it might have been exaggerated by the fact that this mother seemed genuinely confused by a father calling to coordinate the activities of his daughter. I'd say something sarcastic - like, welcome to Ohio, where it's still 1951 - but I suppose this is common even in sophisticated Blue States.

Moms usually run the show - and this is even the case in my family - but I happened to be the guy on the phone, and although I'm a dude I'm not a potted plant when it comes to my kids and their activities.

It dawned on me that my first reaction was to trust this other parent, her first was to do the opposite. Am I the the fool for not assuming that she could be the crazy person? Or is it simply a matter of making sure other people "check out" first, at least to some degree?

On different occasions in the past few years I've had to drive my daughter and several of her friends in a minivan to a girl scout activity or birthday party, and it was the most sobering experience once I realized that I was in charge of the precious cargo from five or six families at once. It was a good feeling to know these other vigilant parents trusted me, but I have never been so nervous, driving one mile per hour below the speed limit and checking my blind spot several times before changing lanes.

There is some irony in the fact that people move to "the exurbs" to be safe, but from everything I've observed the sprawl and the anonymity don't draw them any closer, and don't help calm their paralyzing neurosis about the dangers that are "out there", and more paradoxically present than in a more busy "city" neighborhood. But don't we want to live in communities where people can be trusted? More importantly, how do we get there?

iBoob: Visualize Baby Peace

Our three-month old daughter seems to have a special fondness for delivering smiles and coos towards her father - except when she's hungry -- in which case I get a crinkle-browed, angry expression. She knows I don't have the goods, and so far there's no acceptable substitute for the two-course buffet that is Momma.

But over the weekend, while attempting to soothe my little girl through one of these discomforting moments (my wife was at the store) - I discovered something that does the trick. It should work on most babies: Park the infant on your knee in front of the computer, fire up Apple's iTunes, select an appropriate musical choice and turn on the "visualizer", full screen.

The swirl of colors, changing patterns, and contrasts has a incredible effect on the newborn brain. The facial expression that ensues is best described as a "David Bowman" - agape wonder mixed with fear - as seen on the face of the astronaut during the final moments of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey when the mysteries of the universe are revealed in psychedelic intensity.

For about an hour on Saturday my infant daughter did a Bowman in front of iTunes, all the while forgetting whatever had made her cry. Somebody should market this - an LCD encased in high impact plastic that can be affixed near the crib which illuminated with swirling patterns at the click of a button. I'd like to think it grows brain cells at a rapid pace, but maybe it just turns them into little stoners. (Some doctor will need to look into it.)

What's the perfect music? My choice was Stereolab, and in particular "Le Boob Oscillator" - for obvious reasons, but also because it's a dose of rhythmic, Moog-inflected progressive pop music - sung in French, no less.

McCain, Noonanized For Your Safety

In her typical, airy and somewhat arch style (Phyllis Schlafly meets Faith Popcorn) - Peggy Noonan deconstructs the presidential potentiality of Senator John McCain, 2007 edition, in today's Journal. She is impressed by a fresh look at his biography, but frets a little about his mercurial temperament. Finally she concludes:

And there is Iraq. The war was generally popular from 2002 through roughly 2006, and Mr. McCain won broad credit from conservatives for standing with the president. But now that support, heightened by the surge debate, is costing him, not only with the general public but in a subtle way, I think, with Republicans.

Republicans don't abandon a Republican president in time of war, and they have a special relationship with this president, a simple admiration for who he is. At the same time, they don't precisely want another W. for president, another man who seems just as convinced, stubborn, single-minded, invested.

But there's two basic flavors of stubborn (although they can often intermingle) one which comes from an ornery sense of defiance for the hell of it - and another which is simply a matter of being unmoved because of foundational principles. Even honest haters concede that Bush is essentially acting according to his convictions, no matter how misbegotten and confused they might be. McCain sometimes seems to belong to the former group, getting all uppity and defiant on issues (such as McCain Feingold) that put the hammer on his own party supporters.

And he's doing little to dispel that fateful "Potomac Dinner Party" effect - the notion that he'll nod along with the Fourth Estate and their liberal convictions whenever it comes to blithe pronouncements about the war. Noonan doesn't mention the fact that he called American lives "wasted" on Letterman, then subsequently apologized - but unfortunately that's the only item that the conservative base will remember about the appearance.