TORAH VS. TYRANNY
It's hard to think of a more dreadful action against the Almighty than the orgy around the golden calf, while Moses received the tablets of the Law. No wonder, then, that Moses ordered the Levites to draw their swords and kill all the idolators. Yet, as our rabbi reminded us last Sabbath, many Jewish scholars believe the Israelites en route to the Holy Land performed an even greater sin when they believed ten of their twelve spies who said that the inhabitants of the land of Canaan were too strong, and that any effort to conquer them was doomed to failure. The other two, Joshua and Caleb, said that victory was possible.
PUTIN’S GREAT LEAP BACKWARD
"Vladimir - I call him Vladimir", explained President George W. Bush, "you should not fear the missile defense system... the Cold War is over. Why don't you cooperate with us on the missile defense system? Why don't you participate with us?" The answer is: because Cold War is over for some, but not for others. And because Russia does not trust the United States and feels psychologically more comfortable in confrontation with it. When Jan Grzebski, the Polish rail worker, awoke on June 1st from being in a coma for 19 years, two things he noticed, which did not change since 1988. The name of the US President is still George Bush, and Russia is still talking Cold War. It feels sometimes like Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin did not exist.
MONGOLS FROM BYZANTIUM
Here's one key in unlocking the mystery of Putin and Russia continuing to pick fights with the West instead of accepting the invitation to join it in a post Cold War world. Pope John Paul II traveled to dozens of countries around the world, yet never Russia. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Vatican made numerous attempts to persuade the revived Russian Orthodox Church to invite him. The attempts were always rebuffed. Yes, you have a gangster-KGB elite running the country and the economy. Yeltsin's biggest mistake was not breaking the KGB's power when he had the chance in the early/mid 90s. So it took over with a KGB colonel (Putin) in charge. That's how we have the richest mafiacracy in history, with Putin The World's Richest and Most Dangerous Gangster having amassed a personal fortune in excess of $20 billion. Yet the KGB-ification of the Russian government doesn't fully explain the more fundamental cultural disparity between Russia and the West. That lies in the Russians being Mongols from Byzantium.
DOLLAR VS. THE EURO
Do you think the U.S. dollar will continue to fall against the euro? First-quarter economic growth in the U.S. was just revised down to only 0.6 percent while the euro area grew 3.1 percent, and the U.S. dollar reached an all-time low against the euro in April. (In July 2001, it only took 84 U.S. cents to buy one euro; last week it took $1.34 to buy that same euro.)
Those who have been pessimistic about the U.S. economy (some from the time Ronald Reagan was elected) crow they are right, given the first-quarter number. But, before counting out the U.S., it would be wise to look at the data. Changes in economic growth rates most often are due to changes in tax, regulatory, trade, government spending and central bank policies, much like a runner's speed will decrease if he gains weight and increase if he slims down.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Europe was lean and hungry and ran quickly to rebuild its war-ravaged economies. By the 1970s, it had begun to put on the fat of higher taxes, government spending and regulation. As a result, its growth rates fell and for the last quarter-century, Europe has grown more slowly than the U.S.
But then, not to be outdone, the Washington political establishment did some really dumb things over the last few years, which have taken away much of the benefit of the Bush tax cuts.THE SILVER LINING OF BUSH’S DARK CLOUD
President Bush has cast a huge, dark cloud over the Republican party. But in that cloud's very size there may be a silver lining for the GOP. Most of those Americans who don't think President Bush made a mistake by going to war in Iraq are appalled by how clumsily the war has been conducted. The president's strong backing for the "comprehensive" immigration reform bill now before the Senate, compounded by his attack on the character and motives of those who oppose it have split the GOP. "Using advanced, hi-tech tools, Karl Rove has found the last pocket of support for Bush and destroyed it with laser-like efficiency," said Democratic Web logger Mickey Kaus of the illegal immigration controversy. If present trends continue, Mr. Bush may be fortunate that his dog, Barney, can't tell pollsters what he really thinks. But in Mr. Bush's uncanny ability to alienate Republicans nearly as much as he does Democrats may lie the GOP's salvation.
YET AGAIN THE NEW YORK TIMES ON THE SIDE OF TERRORISTS
The FBI announced Saturday three Moslem men have been arrested for plotting to blow up fuel tanks and pipelines at John F. Kennedy international airport. The New York Times ran a story about the plot in Sunday's paper. On page 30. The front page was reserved for a sympathetic story about Omar Ahmed Khadr, a suspected al Qaeda terrorist being held at Guantanamo Bay. We learned early in that story that Mr. Khadr was only 15 when he was arrested in Afghanistan in 2002; that he is "nearly blind in one eye" from the firefight in which he killed one American soldier and maimed another, and that he "doesn't trust Americans." Only much deeper in the story does reporter William Glaberson mention that young Mr. Khadr's father was a senior deputy to Osama bin Laden.
THE GREAT-SOULED MAN 2007
This was written the day of the passing of President Ronald Reagan on June 5, 2004. We run it every year in honor of the greatest American of the 20th century. In October of 1965, Ronald Reagan came to speak at UCLA. I was a senior, and it was a depressing time to be a College Republican. Barry Goldwater had been thrashed the previous year, and my professors were so left-wing that I took one to court because of her biased grading. The UCLA Student Union was packed, SRO. There was a buzz that Reagan was considering running for governor against the entrenched Democrat, Pat Brown. My buddy and fellow CR Bill Anthony and I sat expectantly in the audience. As Reagan began to speak, he filled the room with an energy that was both exciting and soothing, and the thousand-plus students were entranced. Then he caught us by surprise.
THE FORGOTTEN LESSONS OF THE SIX DAY WAR
On June 5th the world will commemorate the fortieth anniversary of Israel's victory in the Six Day War. This was one of the most convincing conventional military accomplishments of the twentieth century, one which removed the threat of annihilation from the Jewish State for the following four decades. During May 1967, Egypt's dictator Gamal Abdel Nasser and the leaders of Syria, apparently misled by carefully fed Soviet disinformation, mobilized their armies, and kicked out UN peacekeepers from Sinai. Nasser proclaimed that "the Jews would be thrown into the Mediterranean." "Our basic objective will be to destroy Israel," he vowed on May 26. Against all odds, tiny Israel triumphed over the combined armed forces of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan. The key to Israel's victory was recognition that the survival of the nation was at stake. This led to full mobilization of the state and the people; and creation of a government of national unity. Both the people and its leaders had no choice but to become heroes overnight. Israel's continued existence depends on its leaders remembering and not forgetting the lessons of the Six Day War.
THE TTP SUMMER SCHEDULE
Fall, winter, spring, we at To The Point endeavor to have the TTP Weekly Report issued like clockwork - every Friday by noon. (So it's always pretty crazy Thursdays and Friday mornings!) Summers are different, this summer especially. By the time you get this, I'll be off to run a safari in the Serengeti, then to various remote islands in the Indian Ocean. The good news about this is that you'll learn all kinds of fascinating things about some of the world's weirder places. The not-so-good news is that many of these places don't have an internet connection. Which means there's no way to have a regular Weekly Report schedule. So here's what we'll do: post articles and columns whenever and as soon as we can throughout each week. I normally edit every single item posted on TTP - but in my absence, our back-up editors will step up to the plate. I'll also launch a new feature for To The Point called The Potpourri.
WANT TO REALLY SUPPORT OUR TROOPS IN IRAQ?
Everyone says they "support our troops" fighting in Iraq. Liberals just pretend they do - while conservatives are sincere but may not know how to for real. The first step in really supporting our soldiers is to understand they believe in what they are doing. Hundreds of thousands of the finest young Americans our country possesses have served in Iraq or are there right now. All but the tiniest fraction not only believe in the morality of this war but that it can be won. How can you directly support them? Let me introduce you to Major Eric England, an Air Force intelligence officer who has been deployed in Saudi Arabia (where he was on 9/11), Bosnia, Colombia, Afghanistan, and in Iraq for eight months of combat duty. Maj. England is developing a very interesting way for regular folks to give soldiers in Iraq what they actually need. He calls it Online Troop Sponsorship Registries. Here's how it works.