The Weekly Standard, Volume 8, Number 18, January 20, 2003

40 Pages·1.7 MB·English

by  The Weekly Standard

NJOOHRGNTY OHSME COSKC KASOOILORNS EKU•IA T T&H HVEI ECTDIOTR OGRISLINSKY
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JANUARY 20, 2003 $3.95
G
reed
O
ppression
P
atriarchy
What unites the Democrats?
A cartoonish view of Republicans.
by Noemie Emery
The Flame of Freedom
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Time to Reform Head Start
W
hen I was a young parent,I read to my Head Start has no standard curriculum for school
children every day.When walking in the readiness,and the centers receive no guidance about
Diane Ravitch is a neighborhood,we read shop signs. which skills and knowledge to teach.Instead,Head
research professor, They quickly learned letters and new words and were Start prides itself on its extreme decentralization,
good readers by the time they started school.The regardless of its lack of success in preparing children
New York University;
children of parents who read with them regularly begin for school experiences.
distinguished visiting
school with larger vocabularies than those children The Bush administration is trying to change this
fellow,Hoover Institution; whose parents do not have the time or education to situation by proposing that Head Start teachers be
introduce them to literacy. trained in literacy techniques.Remarkably,leaders of
and member,Hoover’s
The Head Start program was created in 1964 to many Head Start centers are opposed to the new
Koret Task Force
give poor children the same kinds of educational emphasis on literacy.Some are even refusing to
on K–12 Education. opportunities that their more-advantaged peers get participate in literacy training.
informally at home.Unfortunately,over the years,the Head Start will never fulfill its original promise
program has abandoned its focus on education in favor until the program recognizes its responsibility to
of an array of social services,including nutrition give disadvantaged children what advantaged
education,and counseling.After nearly forty years children receive every day:immersion in reading,an
and many billions of dollars,Head Start children still enlarged vocabulary,and the joy of learning.Head
begin kindergarten far behind children from middle- Start cannot close the cognitive gaps between
class homes on measures of school readiness. advantaged and disadvantaged children until it has
Most Head Start teachers do not have a college better-educated teachers,better-paid teachers,and
degree and are poorly paid.A large proportion of them a determination to prepare its nearly one million
are parents of Head Start students.As if to echo the students for school.
program's isolation from educational goals,it is located Successful preschools have long demonstrated
in the Department of Health and Human Services,not that learning need not be drudgery.Young children can
Stanford University. i1n9 t9h8e,T Dfhoeeup nlaadrs tttm heaevtna ttlhu oeaf t tiEoydnpu icocafa ltt iheoenn t.perroinggr asmtu,dceonntd cuocutledd ninot bapnela dyt a cwurgehhailttei v legeta tmienraisnn,gnw enore.rwdTsh v,eosyct ocarabienus las,iranyng ad,n dgdaa nlmecaeer,sn piinnag ina tt ,ohaanpdpy
Hoover Institution, ialde teytneeatrisrf,y at han eds ishnaagmdle el el ecathrtneiledr d oc foo tunhlldye eaidllepevhneatinbfy en toe.nwAlyt w tohonere de son.rd tH woefo ad eexdpurceaIsfts ioo tnuhare ls irgo acidpieesta yts h.isa ts deirvioidues cahbioldurte rne douf cdiinffge rtehnet races
Paid for by the Sthteairrt tcehaicldhreerns wweerree nnoott lteeaarcnhiningg t htheesme .skills because aannd e cffleacstsievse, Hweea dm Sustat rmt pereot gtrhaem c.hallenge of redesigning
— Diane Ravitch
Interested in cutting-edge ideas about K–12 education?
Subscribe toEducation Next: A Journal of Opinion and Research.
Visit us on-line at www.educationnext.org or contact us to receive a complimentary copy.
Hoover Institution
…ideas defining a free society
STANFORD UNIVERSITY,Stanford California 94305-6010
Toll-free: 877.466.8374 Fax: [phone]
[email protected] www.hoover.org
Contents
January 20, 2003 • Volume 8, Number 18
2 Scrapbook . . . . Judge Pickering, Arlen Specter, and more. 5 Correspondence. . . . . . Kirstein’s defense, Dr. Mudd, etc.
4 Casual. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fred Barnes, bringer of darkness. 9 Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . North Korea Goes South
Articles
12 Rogue State Rollback Don’t appease Pyongyang. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BYJOHNMCCAIN
14 No New Deals With North Korea They never work.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BYHENRYSOKOLSKI& VICTORGILINSKY
16 The Cheney Tax Cut? The hidden role of the vice president and his staff in Bush’s bold plan.. . . . . . . . . BYMAJORGARRETT
18 Mister So-and-So Goes to Washington For the umpteenth time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BYJOHNPODHORETZ
Features
22 Greed, Oppression, Patriarchy
What unites the Democrats? A cartoonish view of Republicans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BYNOEMIEEMERY
27 Still the One
Nixon at 90.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BYANDREWFERGUSON
Cover: Bill Nelson
Books & Arts
31 And So to Bed The extraordinary life of Samuel Pepys.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BYHUGHORMSBY-LENNON
35 The Poet on Poetry James Fenton muses about his craft.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BYBARTONSWAIM
37 Dressing for War Paul Fussell on the history of uniforms.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BYMARTINLEVIN
39 THESTANDARDREADER .. . Briefly Noted: John McWhorter’s essays and Amy Chua’s study of free markets and ethnic strife.
40 Parody. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Oxford chancellor William Jefferson Clinton meets with a student.
William Kristol,Editor Fred Barnes, Executive Editor
David Tell, Opinion Editor David Brooks, Christopher Caldwell, Senior Editors Richard Starr, Claudia Winkler, Managing Editors
J. Bottum, Books & Arts Editor Matt Labash, Senior Writer Stephen F. Hayes, Staff Writer
Victorino Matus, David Skinner, Assistant Managing Editors Lee Bockhorn, Associate Editor Jonathan V. Last, Online Editor
Beth Henary, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Editorial Assistants
Lev Nisnevitch, Art Director
Max Boot, Tucker Carlson, John J. DiIulio Jr., Noemie Emery, Joseph Epstein, Andrew Ferguson, David Frum, David Gelernter, Reuel Marc Gerecht
Brit Hume, Robert Kagan, Charles Krauthammer, Tod Lindberg, P. J. O’Rourke, John Podhoretz, Irwin M. Stelzer, Contributing Editors
Terry Eastland, Publisher David H. Bass, Deputy Publisher
Nicholas H.B. Swezey, Advertising & Marketing Manager John L. Mackall, Advertising Sales Manager Lauren Trotta Husted, Circulation Director
Carolyn Wimmer, Executive Assistant Tina Winston, Finance Director Catherine Titus, Publicity Director
Taybor Cook, Rachel DiCarlo, Staff Assistants
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Clintonus Maximus!
On Sunday, January 5, 82-year-old Oxford and “fun” being virtually syn- excerpts of which—tremendously good
Roy Jenkins died at his home in onymous, of course. Clinton has Oxford fun, we think—follow:
Oxfordshire, England. Jenkins was a connections: He frittered away his late-
great and distinguished man: a Welsh 1960s Rhodes Scholarship there, and his Guilelmus Clinton....In res publi-
miner’s son who became a three-time daughter Chelsea is there right now. cis et civitatis homo erectus stupendus
cabinet minister, founder of the Social Also, Britain’s university system is suf- ut in mens et in corpore. Philosophus
Democratic party, president of the Euro- fering a severe money crunch, and profundus, per exemplo, “Quae quod
pean Commission, author of more than nobody does fundraising like good old significatio verbi ‘est’ est?” Libidensis
20 much admired books of historical Bill. Perfect, no? gigantem....Herba marijuana fumerat
scholarship, a British life peer, and Except for one thing, what you might (sed non inhalerat), legionus Ameri-
member of the Queen’s Order of Merit. call the “Roy Jenkins problem.” Oxford, canus evaderat, cum multibus femi-
Baron Jenkins’s death leaves his final as the Chicago Tribuneputs it, “is the per- nibus dormaverat....Alia Occidentalis
position, chancellor of Oxford Universi- sonification of gravitas and dignity.” Bill Domus Albus laborante, sibi pizza
ty, open. So who on earth could possibly Clinton, on the other hand, is...well, donata est a Monica Lewinsky, puella
take his place? not the personification of gravitas and pulchrissima, sensuosa californicante,
Bizarrely enough, the name on every- dignity. What to do? What, for example, fellatrix superiore. “Non coitus est cum
one’s lips is Bill Clinton. The Timesof would Oxford’s Public Orator say when hac femina,” dixit....Domus Repre-
London calls Clinton “a realistic it came time, at Clinton’s investiture sentatis imperator Clinton defenestrare
prospect” and likely a “hot favorite ceremony, to read the traditional Latin tentavit. Senatus, 50-50 divisa est,
among younger graduates.” Alan Ryan, citation? absolvit. ...Ergo Cancellarius Univer-
a professor at the university’s New Col- Our friends at London’s Financial sitatis Oxoniensi! Mentor feminae juve-
lege, says he’d “love” to see it happen. Times have considered this question, naliae britannicae! Clintonus Maximus!
“It would be tremendously good fun,” and have offered one possible answer, Ave! Genuflexamus! ♦
Judge Pickering, Senate GOP leader, the Pickering plot Pickering has worked for decades in
has thickened. Mississippi for racial reconciliation. He
Take Two
Lott blames Bush adviser Karl Rove sent his kids to predominantly black
and Sen. Bill Frist for his demise, but public schools, not white academies,
The battle over the nomination of mostly Frist, his replacement as the new and testified against the Klan.
Judge Charles Pickering to the 5th Senate majority leader. On the Senate It was because of the unfair treatment
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals—more floor last week, Lott hugged his old of Pickering by liberal interest groups
precisely, his renomination—has be- nemesis, Democratic leader Tom and Democratic senators that the White
come a complicated drama. Pickering Daschle, but declined even to shake House insisted on nominating him
was brutally treated in 2002 by the Sen- hands with Frist. Then, when Frist was anew, and doing it early in the new con-
ate Judiciary Committee, then con- asked if he supported the renomination gressional session. Bush didn’t want
trolled by Democrats, and his confirma- of Pickering, he ducked the question. Pickering’s critics to win a victory
tion was voted down. Bush was expected Later, an aide said Frist would back through race-baiting.
to be wary of sending Pickering’s name Pickering. In any event, Lott is no The Republican strategy is to wait
back to Capitol Hill. He wasn’t, adding longer in a position to push the nomina- several months before holding a new
Pickering to a list of 30 new judicial tion through the Senate. hearing on Pickering while the nominee
nominees last week. But now a few Sen- What makes the case of Pickering, and his allies generate support, particu-
ate Republicans are wary. currently a federal district court judge, larly among blacks. In the end, though,
Pickering is a victim of both liberal so touchy is the race issue. This spooks Bush will probably be required to speak
race-baiting and the fall of Senator some Republicans. But in Pickering’s out again in Pickering’s behalf, making
Trent Lott, who had persuaded the case, it shouldn’t. He’s suffered from the it clear to Democrats and queasy Repub-
White House to nominate Pickering in McCarthyism of the 21st century—a licans that, for him, the confirmation of
the first place. Since Lott lost his job as wrongful accusation of racism. In truth, Pickering is a top priority. ♦
2 / THEWEEKLYSTANDARD JANUARY20, 2003
Scrapbook
about unique marketplaces/bazaars, she
is not interested in clones of Western
stores, i.e., skip the Tel Aviv Gucci or
Prada branch etc.”
We couldn’t help wondering if it was
just a coincidence that this short item
showed up in National Journal’s “Hot-
line” last week. Conservative Pennsylva-
nia Rep. Pat Toomey is “strongly consid-
ering” a challenge to Specter, who is up
for reelection in 2004. ♦
Moore Obnoxious
For the last two months, Michael
Moore, arguably the most obnoxious
lefty in America (which is saying a lot),
has been performing in a one-man show
at north London’s Roundhouse theater.
Here he would go on his usual diatribes
about how “America is being led into
war with Iraq by a guy who can’t even
find it on a map.” But the shtick has
worn thin even in London.
According to Yasmin Alibhai-Brown
of the Independent, Moore recently “went
into a rant about how the passengers on
the planes on 11 September were
scaredy-cats because they were mostly
white. If the passengers had included
black men, he claimed, those killers,
with their puny bodies and unimpres-
sive small knives, would have been
J. Lo of the Senate Embassy personnel were instructed to crushed.” As if the racist tastelessness
“please have a case or two of Evian water weren’t bad enough, Moore decided to
Arlen Specter set out over the holi- for us to take with us at each embassy.” throw a tantrum over how little the
days to make things right in the And creature comforts? “Bring blankets Roundhouse was paying him. As one
world, or at least in Europe and the Mid- for each of the Specters on the flight, member of the stage crew told the
dle East. And being the senior senator Boca Burgers [veggie burgers] for in- Evening Standard (no relation), “He
from Pennsylvania, he did so in style, flight meals, no flights more than three stormed around all day screaming at
according to an e-mail unearthed by the or four hours, no evening flights [and] everyone, even the £5-an-hour bar staff,
Washington Post’s Al Kamen. The con- no really early flights.” telling them how we were all con men
gressional and diplomatic trip planners Other demands: Specter wants to and useless. Then he went on stage and
operated under one guiding principle: “meet with the head of state...or high- did it in public.” Theater staff refused to
“The key to success here is to note that est ranking official they can muster dur- open the doors the next night until
they [the senator and Mrs. Specter] are ing the holiday season.” Mrs. Specter Moore apologized. The following day he
world travelers and like nice accommo- “will want an escort at each country and left in a huff, not saying a word to any-
dations.” will likely be interested in sightseeing or one. Perhaps the first time in recent
The list of demands makes Specter shopping.” She is “interested in local memory he has ever kept his mouth
sound like the J. Lo of the U.S. Senate. cultural products and [is] discerning shut. ♦
JANUARY20, 2003 THEWEEKLYSTANDARD/ 3
Casual
cost of publishing. The principle—
waste is costly and perhaps even sin-
ful—is the same regarding lights in
L B
IGHT RIGADE
your home or in a government office.
Getting folks to observe this prin-
ciple, however, is a chore. In my case
and I assume in Bush’s, it’s a life’s
No doubt many readers of My father also felt a duty to make work. Those of us who are light-turn-
The Right Man, David sure his children’s genes for clicking ers-off pass through three stages. First
Frum’s engrossing new lights off did not remain dormant. we’re merely aggravated when con-
account of his year as a Day after day, he reminded my sister fronting a light shining for no pur-
White House speechwriter, are and me to turn lights off when we left pose. Then we become counters, as in,
relieved to learn that George W. Bush a room or our home. He thought this “Son, you left six lights on when you
is much smarter than they’d been told was a good life lesson, and he was went to the basketball game.” I’m a
and that political adviser Karl Rove right. Another of his lessons was counter, but not a rigid one. A light
has the brainpower and curiosity of a about feeding birds. He was glad to switch that turns four ceiling lights
true intellectual. I on the other hand feed them—up to a point. But if the on and off—I count that as one light.
was delighted to discover that Bush is birds swarmed back the moment a In stage three, we become crusaders.
obsessed with turning out lights. fresh supply of birdseed was put in I’m there and I suspect Bush is too.
The president, Frum writes, the feeder, It’s a lonely crusade. People tend to
becomes irritated when he wakes up get hostile when they’re reminded to
before sunrise, gazes out at the Execu- turn out the lights. Worse, they don’t
tive Office Building next to the White take the hint and click lights off.
House, and finds it “bright with They say angry things like, “Turn
lights that had been carelessly left them off yourself!” This is not helpful
on.” That’s not all. He’s concerned and it’s quite disrespectful. I’ll bet no
about a single light left burning one at the White House, even Karl
in an empty room. Bush once Rove or Condoleezza Rice, would
pointed to a table lamp left on say that to the president.
after a meeting and asked, Anyway, Frum’s disclo-
“Do you think it’s going to sure about Bush and lights
occur to anybody to turn is extremely good news.
that lamp off when we leave It’s bound to have a
the room?” Answering his positive effect not only
own question, Bush turned in Washington but
the light off himself, Frum across the nation. For in-
says. stance, someone at the Execu-
This is a man after my tive Office of the President is
own heart. There are billions sure to get the assignment of
of people in the world who leave turning out the lights in the
lights on. But there’s only a small my father figured EOB. My only complaint is
band of hardy, sensible, frugal folks they were becoming Darren Gygi that it shouldn’t have taken
who take it upon themselves to turn welfare dependents. By an insider book by an ex-
lights out and urge others to do the putting food out sparingly, he made speechwriter to make this happen.
same. I’m a proud member of that sure they didn’t lose their habit of Meanwhile, at houses everywhere,
group. self-reliance. the lights-off people will be less lone-
Around my house, there are people But I digress. The important thing ly than before. They now have a big-
who think such behavior is weird and about turning out lights is it makes time ally. Perhaps it won’t work, but
very obsessive. Maybe they’ve got a economic sense and represents good I’m going to try the tack of informing
point. But I have an explanation. stewardship of resources. Think those who leave lights on at my
Making sure lights are turned out is about it. Does a lumberyard leave the house—that’s everyone but me—that
genetic. It’s not learned behavior. I power saw on when the business is President Bush is on my side. And he
don’t know where Bush got the lights- closed for the day? Of course not. wants you to turn the lights off when
off gene, but I inherited it from my That would be wasteful. Does a news- you’re not around. If that won’t work,
father. He thought a light left on was a paper keep the presses running once nothing will.
terrible waste of electricity. Besides, it the day’s paper has been printed? No.
cost money. That would needlessly drive up the FREDBARNES
4 / THEWEEKLYSTANDARD JANUARY20, 2003
Correspppondence
KIRSTEINSTRIKESBACK cars, barracks, and other vital infrastruc-
tures. We exclude the press from combat
JEDBABBINISDESCRIBEDby U.S. News & photography and frontline reporting for
World Report as an “old tough guy fear that DoD propaganda and disinfor-
columnist.” He certainly lived up to that mation might be exposed by a David
Washington
characterization in the December 2 issue Halberstam or a Seymour Hersh. Can’t
of THE WEEKLY STANDARD with his let a My Lai and No Gun Ri become pub-
Apples
denunciation of my e-mail misadventure lic knowledge. It might create a recrude-
with Air Force Academy cadet Robert scence of protest against the armies of the
From
Kurpiel (“When Professors Attack”). night.
While he labeled the inflammatory e- Babbin and thousands of others have
mail as “barely literate,” he might have tried to silence me and remove me from Nevada?
been more favorably impressed by my the classroom for being patriotically
anti-military expertise had he quoted it incorrect. I suspect the undersecretary
correctly. I wrote, “No war, no air force equates patriotism with blind obedience,
cowards who bomb countries without reverence for the military, and always
AAA,” not “with AAA.” I was referring “supporting the troops” without ques-
to the indiscriminate use of high-altitude tioning the policy where their unrivalled
bombing and the incapacity of our so- power enables them to kill other parents’
called enemies to seriously challenge our children with near impunity.
airpower. It would be rather difficult to I assure you no one defines for me
bomb a nation with AAA since anti-air- what patriotism is and whether it is even
craft artillery is a defensive weapon that I always desirable, as those of us on the
presume a former undersecretary of pacifist, antiwar left strive for a more
defense would be familiar with. peaceful, integrated global environment
I suspect that the undersecretary was that eschews nationalism and undimin-
not primarily enraged with the obvious ished state sovereignty.
lack of decorum and respect in my mis- As a realist I am deeply concerned
sive with the cadet, but that I would so with America’s loss of prestige in the
harshly and passionately attack the sacro- world and the growing resentment of its
sanct military establishment that has power, unilateralism, and contempt for
brought so much devastation and misery international law and comity. Our
for so many peoples throughout the national security depends not merely
world. As a son of an army captain who upon wars against terrorism, wars against
served in the Aleutians with bravery and Islam, and wars against the next imagi-
honor in World War II and as a veteran of nary enemy, but a redirection of our for-
the United States Army Reserves during eign policy away from power maximizing
the Vietnam era, I am not quite the and imperial hegemony toward treating
stereotypical leftist professor that Babbin other peoples and cultures who dare
so obviously loathes. diverge from our own with respect and
Interesting, isn’t it? We fight zero- patience.
casualty wars for American troops that I am grateful to Undersecretary
invariably lead to excessive noncombat- Babbin for one thing. Perhaps his dia-
ant deaths among the innocent. We tribe contributed to my receiving the
cravenly refuse to publish KIA or WIA andrewsullivan.com Sontag Award
estimates of “enemy” troop or civilian (Honorable Mention). That and my sus-
deaths, for fear the public would become pension I wear as a “Red Badge of
disenchanted that America’s wars are not Courage.”
so honorable as they generate untold PETERN. KIRSTEIN
numbers of orphans, widows, and quadri- Chicago, IL
plegic children. We claim our Joint
Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) and
new-fangled evil weaponry are “smart,” YOURNAMEIS...PRICE?
with unprecedented precision, as if the
decision to kill people in distant lands is ANDREW FERGUSON’S well-written
not the most immoral and indefensible article “The Last Battle of the Civil
human activity. We show videos of smart War” (Dec. 30/Jan. 6) debunks an old
bombs and missiles destroying bridges, myth surrounding my family. My grand-
JANUARY20, 2003
Correspondence
father liked to tell a story about how his malignant military regime, but they have WILLIAMJAMESONKARMA
grandfather, who was a Charles County, no right to take liberties with Maryland’s
Maryland, physician named Price, lived past to ease their pain. ITOOKGREATPLEASUREINLEARNINGin
quite near to Dr. Mudd, but closer to JOYCEBENNETT “The Book of James” by Joseph
Washington. The story has it that, find- Leonardtown, MD Loconte (Dec. 30/Jan. 6) that “numerous
ing Dr. Price not home that evening, reflections on William James’s work have
Booth went on to Mudd’s house. My appeared this year.” James has long been
grandfather was fond of saying that the PETPEEVE my favorite philosopher/psychologist.
old saying “your name is Mudd” would As Loconte says, James did ignore
have been “your name is Price” (which FOR SOME REASON, THE WEEKLY creeds and doctrines, but for me one of
just doesn’t work in any case) if Dr. Price STANDARD seems incapable of refer- the most revealing passages in The
had been home. ring to the 26th president as anything Varieties of Religious Experience concern-
It seems clear from just about anyone’s other than “Teddy” Roosevelt, and not ing his own religious affiliation is as fol-
perspective that Booth was known to the name by which he was known to his lows: “I am ignorant of Buddhism and
Mudd and that Booth knew exactly family, friends, colleagues, and contem- speak under correction in order the bet-
where he was going the night of the mur- poraries, and to all historians and biogra- ter to describe my point of view; but as I
der of President Lincoln. phers: Theodore. This week the offender apprehend the Buddistic doctrine of
J. MITCHELLKEARNEY is Alvey S. Felzenberg (“A Cabinet at Karma, I agree in principle with that.”
Owings Mills, MD The idea that judgment and execution
go together was to James what weakened
IWASSURPRISEDby Andrew Ferguson’s most traditional faiths. Elsewhere in his
fairly accurate description of events writings this pragmatist states that only
and sympathies in Maryland during the Karma seemed, for him, to explain the
Civil War (Dec. 30/Jan. 6). For such an many inequities of human destiny.
“unremarkable” little state (as Matt NANCYANNHOLTZ
Labash calls it in “The Next Kennedy,” Beverly, MA
Aug. 5), it seems that everyone wishes to
rewrite her history these days. I disagreed
only with Ferguson’s contention that SWEARINGIN
“Maryland was with the Union in the
Civil War.” To the contrary, Maryland EACH TIME I SEE AND HEAR Adel al-
was invaded and occupied in the Spring Jubeir on television I end up scream-
of 1861 by Yankee troops and remained ing, “You lying sonofabitch!” at which
under brutal occupation until the early point my wife usually responds with
1870s. Ferguson’s choice of words implies something on the order of: “If others
a willingness on the part of the state to heard you, they would say you are crazy.
submit to the despot Lincoln’s tyranny. You don’t just call someone like Mr. al-
Concerning the late Dr. Dick: He was Jubeir ‘a lying sonofabitch,’ do you?” Do
a very fine gentleman, but he was a revi- you?
sionist. Having lived too long in the cold, Only if you are THE WEEKLY
snowy northwoods, he was ashamed of War,” Dec. 30/Jan. 6) but it might just as STANDARD, and God bless you for having
his southern heritage. Revising history to easily be Davey Brooks or Billy Kristol or the courage to do so (“The Sultan of
his own ends, he always insisted that his Bobby Kagan. Spin,” Dec. 16).
grandfather could not have been a God knows the origins of this annoy- JOHNN. THOMAS
Confederate sympathizer because ing editorial tic, but in Roosevelt’s life- Altus, OK
Maryland was a Union state. time, “Teddy” was what his detractors
When historian James O. Hall’s tended to call him. The childish nick-
acquaintance gently confronted Dr. Dick name was meant to deflate his abundant • • •
with the truth, he was unable to respond. ego, or better yet, transform him into the
He could not acknowledge that his buffoonish character in Arsenic and Old THEWEEKLYSTANDARD
grandfather was a patriotic southerner Lace. Perhaps I may appeal to THE welcomes letters to the editor.
All letters should be addressed:
who bit off more than he could chew, who WEEKLYSTANDARD’s sensibilities by sug-
Correspondence Editor
was no murderer but who in all likeli- gesting that its modern equivalent would
THEWEEKLYSTANDARD
hood had dealings of some kind with be to refer habitually to another president
1150 17th St., NW, Suite 505
Booth. The Mudds might be embar- as Ronnie Reagan, or “the B-movie actor
Washington, DC 20036.
rassed by the facts and their family might who succeeded Jimmy Carter.”
have suffered through the years because PHILIP“PHIL” TERZIAN You may also fax letters: [phone]
of the harsh treatment of Mudd by a Oakton, VA or e-mail: [email protected].
6 / THEWEEKLYSTANDARD JANUARY20, 2003