Libertarian Leanings

Urban blight in New London?

Up to now I've had nothing to say about the case of Kelo v. New London.  On it's face it would seem to me open and shut in favor of the property owners.  But, according to a source at the law firm of Horton, Shields & Cormier in Hartford, Connecticut, Wesley Horton's brief on behalf of New London was very likely to carry the day.  That assessment has lead me to be somewhat pessimistic about the homeowners' chances.

This column in Reason leads me to think the outlook may not be so bleak.  Jacob Sullum relates these exchanges.

If the prospect of higher tax revenue justifies the forced transfer of property from one owner to another, O'Connor asked, would it be appropriate for a city to decide that a Motel 6 must give way to a Ritz-Carlton?

"Yes, your honor, it would be," replied Wesley Horton, New London's lawyer.

Justice Antonin Scalia sought to clarify the principle guiding the city's use of eminent domain: "Are we saying you can take from A and give to B if B pays more taxes?"

"If they are significantly more," Horton said.

That qualification is comical, since politicians never have trouble predicting whatever benefits are needed to justify taking land on behalf of private developers. Displaced homes and businesses cannot be unbulldozed when the government's estimates prove to be wildly inaccurate.

It's hard for me to imagine that Constitutional guarantees could be subject to arbitrary estimates of dollar value, whether they are estimates of property value or tax revenue.  Let's hope the justices agree.

Stem Cell Research Funding

Granite State's Charlie Bass is proposing legislation to remove limits on funding stem cell research and allow it on any line of embryonic stem cell, "as long as it meets certain medical and ethical standards".

"The congressman feels that this is an area of potentially life-saving research," said Bass spokeswoman Margo Schideler. "He believes that lifting these restrictions would pave the way for medical breakthroughs."...

Supporters of the bill say embryonic stem-cell research holds the key to breakthrough cures and that the government should invest as much as possible in it...

One of the main arguments of FRC and other conservative supporters of the Bush policy is that those promoting embryonic stem-cell research exaggerate its promise. Conservatives say more important results are emerging from adult stem-cell research.

"There's little evidence at this point that embryonic stem cells will make good on the promises for treatment," said David Prentice, FRC's senior counsel for life sciences. "The evidence is all on the side of adult stem cells, which are already treating thousands of patients."

Mr. Prentice said that at least 56 diseases, including heart disease, diabetes and sickle cell anemia, are being treated with adult stem cells, which do not require the destruction of human embryos. By contrast, he said, embryonic stem-cell research has not produced results even in animal tests.

I wonder, what "medical and ethical standards" are we talking about? 

And as an afterthought, why are we rushing to fund research that hasn't shown any promise of results?  Are there other motives here?

Europe warms to Bush

Opinion Journal carries an article that describes an evolving European attitude toward George Bush.

Visits by U.S. Presidents to Europe tend to have a template-making quality: Wilson, the peace maker, in Paris, 1919; Truman, the victor, at Potsdam, 1945; Kennedy, the stalwart, in Berlin, 1963; Reagan, the visionary, in Berlin, 1987. If President Bush's trip this week has some kind of new theme, the word for it is probably conciliation. But our sense is that Mr. Bush is really following in Reagan's footsteps.

Admittedly, this thought is not original: Der Spiegel beat us to it. Still, it says something that the leftish German newsweekly, which two years ago devoted an entire cover story to advancing the "Blood for Oil" thesis about U.S. ambitions in the Middle East, has gingerly raised the question, "Could Bush Be Right?"

"The Germany Reagan was traveling in, much like today's Germany, was very skeptical of the American president and his foreign policy," Der Spiegel writes. "When Reagan stood before the Brandenburg Gate--and the Berlin Wall--and demanded that Gorbachev 'tear down this Wall,' he was lampooned the next day on the editorial pages. He is a dreamer, wrote commentators. . . . But history has shown that it wasn't Reagan who was the dreamer as he voiced his demand. Rather, it was German politicans who were lacking in imagination--a group who in 1987 couldn't imagine that there might be an alternative to a divided Germany."

Quote of the day - not sure which day

Tom Maguire's post today about the rather slow dissapation of fog from the liberal brain, uses the Lefty Gomez quote "I'd rather be lucky than good" for it's title.  But when you follow his link to more of Lefty's pearls you'll come across this gem. 

One rule I had was make your best pitch and back up third base. That relay might get away and you've got another shot at him.

OK, so it's got nothing to do with Tom's topic, but it's a good one anyway.

As a side note, I once got Lefty's autograph.  He lived in Windsor, Connecticut for a while.  One summer evening he turned up to watch a Little League game and he signed the kids gloves after it was over.  I was one of the kids.  I lost the glove a couple of months later.  And I didn't think he was particularly funny that night either.  Kids.  No sense of appreciation.

True confessions?

Alaa the Mesopotamian is reporting that al Iraqia, a local TV network, has been televising the confessions of terrorists captured in Mosul.

Al Iraqia, the local T.V. network has been showing confessions of terrorists captured in Mosul. Truly horrible details are emerging. They are so horrible that I hesitate to recount to you some of what has been said. And Syria seems to have been behind this particular network of terrorists. Watching carefully these confessions, I was trying hard to figure out whether they were genuine or fabricated. After very attentive observation of every gesture and carefully weighing every word, I reached the conclusion that they are most likely genuine.

This particular gang was lead by a Syrian intelligence officer; they were engaged in all kinds of bombings and murders, including many of the beheadings in Mosul.

The National Guards and the Governor and Police chief of the region are doing a fine job, probably the best at the moment. I shall probably tell you more about these horrendous confessions.

I wonder if we're going to see more of a turn in sentiment against the "insurgents" as they are so romantically called. And another thing. This makes at least two Iraqi bloggers with encouraging things to say about the Iraqi forces.

Update:  The Washington Times is carrying the story of the confessions, but there's still no corroboration of it. 

BAGHDAD — Iraqi state television aired a video yesterday showing what the U.S.-funded channel said was the confession of a captured Syrian officer, who said he trained Iraqi terrorists to behead people and build car bombs to attack American and Iraqi troops.

He also said the terrorists practiced beheading animals to train for decapitating hostages.

Later, Al Iraqiya aired another round of interviews with men it said were Sudanese and Egyptians who also trained in Syria to carry out attacks in Iraq...

The State Department said they were looking into the report, but as of late yesterday, they could neither confirm nor deny the veracity of the broadcast or that a Syrian intelligence officer had been captured.

Carnival of the Vanities

Pundit Guy is hosting the 127th Carnival of the Vanities.  There's a lot of good stuff this week, so stop by and browse around.

Hammorabi sounds an optimistic note

Hammorabi has often vented his frustration in descriptions of bombings and murder inflicted on his countrymen.  Security has been a sore spot for him, and he's often complained about interim government's inability to stop the insurgents he calls "cockroaches".

This post is different.  In this post he can see improvement in the ability of the Iraqi forces to handle the insurgency.

The success of the Iraqi forces to keep the security during the tenth of Moharam in Najaf and Karbala was an excellent achievement. It proved that the Iraqi forces are capable of keeping the security even during the difficult time. The security plan in the holy cities was fully Iraqi based without help from the multi-national forces...

In Kadhimiyah in Baghdad Iraqi volunteers arrested 5 terrorists bobby-trapped with explosive belts and handed them to the police. Two of them were women. One of these women cockroaches pretends that she is pregnant...

Lastly today the Iraqi forces received the complete patrolling and security in the centre of Baghdad from the US forces.

I think this is pretty big.  He's telling us about a significant turning point.

The Plame Game

Valerie, Valerie, bo Balerie...

The game has changed.  Not so long ago we heard the outcry for a special prosecutor to investigate the Bush Administration.  The crime:  disclosing the identity of an undercover agent.  When Valerie Plame was outed, the press were convinced it was the evil Karl Rove in a fit of revenge who was behind the revelation, and reporters thought it was pretty important to follow up. The Hartford Courant's David Lightman explained why in an article he wrote in October of 2003.

Rep. Rob Simmons left the CIA 24 years ago, but he still won't talk about what he did in the Far East for 10 years…

…when he sees reports of claims by former diplomat Joseph C. Wilson IV that the Bush administration leaked the name of his wife, a CIA agent, Simmons winces. While many others see political capital to be won and lost, Simmons, one of two former CIA agents in the House, sees lives at risk…

He remembers clearly Philip Agee, the onetime CIA agent who vowed "to expose CIA agents" and drive them out of the countries where they were operating. He still remembers vividly the Covert Action Information Bulletin, which listed hundreds of names, including that of Richard Kinsman. Kinsman, who worked in Jamaica, would be killed in 1980 when his home was attacked with a submachine gun and an explosive device…

His voice drops when he recalls what he regards as the fallout of this frenzy, how Athens station chief Richard S. Welch was gunned down in 1975 in front of his house when he returned from a Christmas party, a month after he was identified as an agent.

A little background for those late to the game.  It all started when CIA operative Valerie Plame sent her husband Joseph Wilson off on an eight day trip to Niger in hopes that he would come back to report that George Bush was lying about Iraqi attempts to procure uranium in Africa. This was confusing because he also reported that an Iraqi official had been sent to Niger to discuss possibilities of expanded trade, which Joe's report said was thought to be for the purpose of acquiring uranium. Joe revealed later in a book he wrote, that Baghdad Bob was the Iraqi official who was making the overtures.  Joe's accusation that George Bush was lying was said to be the motive for revealing that Valerie was a spy.  You really had to want to believe the accusation in order to buy into it as a motive.  And then...

In the midst of all the uproar Valerie and husband Joe posed for a cover shot on Vanity Fair.  Follow the link and scroll down for the picture.  Valerie's the one in the sunglasses.  Hmmm.  How under cover could she be?  And the picture was taken after this dramatic statement from husband Joe on Meet the Press where he revelled in his celebrity status.

Russert: Will you yourself seek political office?

Wilson: I am a resident of the District of Columbia. We have no representation. Any goodwill that has come my way, and there has been an overwhelming support from Republicans who are highly indignant about this as well as some Democrats, but any goodwill accrues to my wife. Not to me. And my wife has made it very clear that—she has authorized me to say this—she would rather chop off her right arm than say anything to the press and she will not allow herself to be photographed. So while I believe she would make a wonderful politician, it is tough to run a campaign if you’re not talking to the press and you’re not being photographed.

You can't tell from the picture if she has both her arms, but I think it would have made the news if she didn't.  Suffice it to say, the game took a turn on this picture.  Wilson's credibility, which was on shaky ground to begin with, went right down the tubes.  A faint hope remains that Valerie was truly under cover and that a crime has been committed, but as the special prosecutor churns through the evidence, the likelihood that the Plame case will cost President Bush his political scalp is fainter. 

So, now the game is really different.  Now Judith Miller and Matthew Cooper face jail time unless they tell the special prosecutor who told them about Valerie Plame.  They are two of the journalist who were contacted and given the information.  The press have been clamoring for the administration to tell who it was that revealed Mrs. Wilson's identity.  Something the press very obviously already know but would rather not say, themselves.

Now, we all may as well just forget about it and go home. Dan Thomasson of Scripps Howard News Service says:

As most everyone knows, Valerie Plame was outed as a spy in contravention of an obscure, misguided and highly controversial 1982 law meant to stop that sort of thing even at the risk of criminalizing free speech...

Now it's "misguided and highly controversial" to protect the lives of under cover CIA agents by making it a criminal offense to reveal who they are.  I guess the CIA tenure as honorary good guys is over.  If they can't torpedo Bush, what good are they.  Since no administration heads are likely to roll, the game is becoming tiresome.  Mr. Thomasson just thinks it's time to quit and play something else. 

  Mr. Thomasson says,

There certainly are instances when reporters can't hide behind their First Amendment privileges, times when they must be citizens first and reporters second. 

Odd that this isn't one of those times.  I wonder why not.  I wonder what crime might be under investigation at this point.  According to Mr. Thomasson the special prosecutor already knows who contacted Judith Miller, and is now only looking for corroboration.

He doesn't need her testimony to identify the person but only to try to compare, apparently for perjury purposes, that source's statement to the federal grand jury with what Miller says she was told.  She won't play his dishonest game and she shouldn't.

Spoken like a true Dan Rather or Eason Jordan.  Somebody might be lying to the grand jury, so it's the special prosecutor, he says, who plays the dishonest game.  Perhaps we'll find out soon.  It's been a fascinating and highly entertaining story.  But again, maybe it's some other crime we're talking about now.  Maybe as he's worked his way through this weird story, the special prosecutor has uncovered a real crime.

Sunnis on the election

This morning's Washington Times carries an article about a new Iraqi/U.S. offensive against the insurgents.  A couple of surprising quotes are to be found therein...

The actions followed a wave of suicide attacks on Saturday that killed 55 persons as Iraqi Shi'ites commemorated the seventh-century death of a leader of their Muslim sect. Similar attacks Friday killed 36 persons and injured dozens.

A powerful Sunni organization thought to have ties with the insurgency condemned the attacks, saying all Iraqis should unite "against those who are trying to incite hatred between us."

"We won't remain silent over those crimes which target the Iraqi people — Sunnis or Shi'ites, Islamic or non-Islamic," Sheik Harith al-Dhari of the Association of Muslim Scholars said.

About 70 Sunni tribal leaders met in a central Baghdad hotel to devise a strategy for participation in a future government even though Sunnis won only a handful of seats in the new National Assembly.

"We made a big mistake when we didn't vote," said Sheik Hathal Younis Yahiya, 49, a representative from northern Nineveh where — as in other Sunni areas — the turnout in the Jan. 30 elections was very low. "Our votes were very important."

He said threats from terrorists — not a boycott called by Sunni religious leaders — kept most Sunnis from voting.

Sunni minority status might be the ingredient that makes the Iraqi constitutional convention a roaring success.  The Shi'ites are reaching out to involve them in the process.  Grand Ayatollah al Sistani has repeatedly said religious clerics should not govern, rather they should advise.  As Sunnis lobby a receptive Shi'ite majority for protections and a role in the new government, they might just wind up with a solid bill of rights. 

A convincing argument

This week the Kyoto Protocol went into effect and Global Warmists worldwide celebrated that it happened and castigated the U.S. for not joining in.  Today's Opinion Journal provides what may be the most convincing argument I've heard in support of the Global Warming theory.

American geoscientist Michael Mann published a chart that purported to show average surface temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere over the past 1,000 years. The chart showed relatively minor fluctuations in temperature over the first 900 years, then a sharp and continuous rise over the past century, giving it a hockey-stick shape...

Mr. Mann's chart was both a scientific and political sensation. It contradicted a body of scientific work suggesting a warm period early in the second millennium, followed by a "Little Ice Age" starting in the 14th century...

Yet there were doubts about Mr. Mann's methods and analysis from the start. In 1998, Willie Soon and Sallie Baliunas of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics published a paper in the journal Climate Research, arguing that there really had been a Medieval warm period. The result: Messrs. Soon and Baliunas were treated as heretics and six editors at Climate Research were made to resign.

Pretty strong argument, wouldn't you say?