The Weekly Standard

The War Over the War (cont.)

Ron Tang — Mon, 19 May 2008 08:05:00 -0400

There's the war in Iraq and then there is the war over the war in Iraq. The first is about gaining ground against the sectarian militias and terrorists who plague that country. The second is about storytelling.

Advocates of staying and fighting in Iraq are at a distinct disadvantage in the second war. The burden of the Iraq fighting falls on such a small number of military families that it is easy to portray the troops in the field as victims. This has proved an effective strategy for Virginia's junior senator, Jim Webb, a staunch opponent of the surge. Once seen… more

Go For the Bitter Bloc

Ron Tang — Fri, 09 May 2008 10:17:00 -0400

Last week's Pennsylvania primary demonstrated that Barack Obama is not unbeatable. This might sound a strange way to put it. Hasn't it always been true that Obama is beatable?

Well, consider an alternate reality in which Obama had won Pennsylvania. His people certainly thought long and deeply about this alternate reality -- why else spend a staggering $12 million on one state's primary? Hillary Clinton would have dropped out. Obama would have shown that he can win white working-class votes in a big, diverse, populous state. Way back after the Iowa caucuses, he playfully observed that everywhere he goes becomes Obama… more

Sects and the City; The New Urbanists have Forgotten Thousands of Years of History.

Articles — Mon, 02 May 2005 00:00:00 -0400

When Fargo, North Dakota, businessman Howard Dahl boards a plane for the East Coast or flies to Europe and beyond, he is often struck by the views of the people he encounters, especially their preconceptions about his part of the country. "There's a lot of condescension. You'd think no one here ever read a book," Dahl says, "or ever had a thought about anything. They think we're religious fanatics."

To Dahl, a successful international exporter of agricultural technology, this contempt is sometimes hard to understand. A devout Christian who spent three years at a Lutheran seminary, he comes from an… more

A Prescription for Senile Liberalism

Articles — Mon, 14 Mar 2005 00:00:00 -0500

... The sixth age shifts Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon, With spectacles on nose and pouch on side, His youthful hose, well sav'd, a world too wide For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice, Turning again toward childish treble, pipes And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all, That ends this strange eventful history, Is second childishness and mere oblivion, Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything. --"As You Like It," Act II, Scene 7

With the installation of Howard Dean as Democratic party chairman, modern American liberalism enters its dotage. As Jaques says in… more

American Cities of Aspiration...

Articles — Mon, 14 Feb 2005 00:00:00 -0500

For much of the past decade, Darik Volpa labored long and hard in the high-tech vineyards of San Jose and Boston. As an executive in the medical instrument industry, he earned good money, but could not achieve a middle class lifestyle in those pricey locales.

When Volpa decided in 2003 to open his own company, Understand Surgery, he chose to do it in far-more-affordable Reno, Nevada. His reasons--embraced by scores of other fast-growing businesses--ranged from the unfriendly business climates in places like California to the high cost of houses in many prominent cities. The need for affordable… more

Dr. West and Mr. Bin Laden

Articles — Mon, 17 Dec 2001 00:00:00 -0500

In testimony before the Senate last July, Dr. Michael West, president of Advanced Cell Technology and lead scientist on the team that recently cloned the first human embryos, quoted Scripture:

As the Apostle Paul said: "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." (I Cor. 13:11) In the same way, it is absolutely a matter of life and death that policymakers in the United States carefully study the facts of human embryology and stem cells. A child's understanding… more

Cloning, Stem Cells, and Beyond

Articles — Mon, 13 Aug 2001 06:00:00 -0400

Last week's vote in the House to ban human cloning is something to celebrate. It may even be something momentous. The House passed, by 265 to 162, a bill sponsored by representative Dave Weldon of Florida that would ban the creation of all human clones. It rejected an alternative sponsored by Pennsylvania representative James Greenwood, and backed by the biotech lobby, that would have allowed the creation of cloned human embryos to be used for medical research and then destroyed.

The Greenwood forces had corporate money and much of enlightened opinion behind them. They over-promised, misled, and demagogued, claiming,… more

Keeping Up with the Joneses

Articles — Mon, 30 Jul 2001 00:00:00 -0400

There have been two prominent responses to the news that the Jones Institute in Virginia is creating human embryos simply to harvest their stem cells: concern and outrage.

Mark Warner, the Democratic candidate for governor in Virginia, is concerned. Asked in the governor's debate last week if he believes Virginia should ban all in-state research on embryonic stem cells, he replied: "In terms of banning all such research, no. I saw the report from the Jones Institute this week, and it troubled me that they're creating stem cells there. And I've asked for a briefing. I think we need to hear… more

Of Missile Defense and Stem Cells

Articles — Mon, 16 Jul 2001 00:00:00 -0400

Among the issues in American politics that inspire the most ideological fervor these days, stem cells and missile defense are at the top of the list. Missile defense has a long history: To conservative Republicans, it is a fixture of the Reagan legacy, … more

Knock Off the Cloning

Articles — Mon, 18 Jun 2001 00:00:00 -0400

After a failed effort to ban human cloning in 1998, Congress has taken up the issue once again. There have been hearings in both the House and the Senate, testimony from fertility doctors and cult leaders who want to clone human beings, and heavy… more