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National Review’s Anathema Corner by J.P. Zmirak The spitball bombardiers of the imperialist "right" aren’t satisfied with imposing "democracy" abroad – they also want to stifle it here at home. The most serious attempt in recent weeks to silence discussion in American politics is David Frum’s cover story in the current National Review. If you haven’t slogged through it yet, it’s a compilation of all the most unfortunate things ever said – or almost said, or never said but possibly implied – by thinkers whom the ex-Canadian speechwriter broadly labels "paleoconservative." Rather than refute his charges point by point –...

The War At Home The number of emails I’ve received about my article on antiwar conservatives has just crossed the 350 mark. Of those, fewer than 10 have been negative. The sheer number of the messages prevents me from answering each one, but I’ve read them all and I’m grateful for each and every one of them. With the writers’ permission, I’ll quote a couple more to continue to give readers a sense of the reaction of their fellow-conservatives. “I read your piece on the "paleocons" and I can only imagine the vitriol you are going to take primarily because...

Robert Novak: Wrong, But Still a PatriotBy David KeeneThe Hill | March 26, 2003 Novak may be wrong, but he’s a true patriotWhen a nation is at war, there’s a tendency among those who support it to suspect that those who opposed it before the shooting started did so either because they were secretly biased in favor of the enemy or have somehow come to hate their own country. There is a corollary tendency among those who opposed war before it actually breaks out to rally round the troops, regardless of their real feelings about its wisdom.These tendencies are human...

Novak may be wrong, but he's a true patriot When a nation is at war, there's a tendency among those who support it to suspect that those who opposed it before the shooting started did so either because they were secretly biased in favor of the enemy or have somehow come to hate their own country. There is a corollary tendency among those who opposed war before it actually breaks out to rally round the troops, regardless of their real feelings about its wisdom. These tendencies are human and rational. Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle (S.D.), for example, who was...

Unpatriotic ConservativesBy David FrumNational Review | March 25, 2003 "I respect and admire the French, who have been a far greater nation than we shall ever be, that is, if greatness means anything loftier than money and bombs."— THOMAS FLEMING, "HARD RIGHT," MARCH 13, 2003 rom the very beginning of the War on Terror, there has been dissent, and as the war has proceeded to Iraq, the dissent has grown more radical and more vociferous. Perhaps that was to be expected. But here is what never could have been: Some of the leading figures in this antiwar movement call themselves...

When the shooting starts March 24, 2003 BY ROBERT NOVAK SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST On the day after President Bush delivered his ultimatum, Patrick J. Buchanan stopped debating the war. The former presidential candidate and longtime adversary of the Bushes wrote that ''patriotism commands that when American soldiers face death in the battle, the American people unite behind them.'' On that very day, the country's foremost conservative publication listed Buchanan among ''leading figures in the anti-war movement [who] call themselves 'conservatives' '' but hate their country and want it to lose the war. To my astonishment, I was among them. David Frum,...

"SAFWAN, Iraq. Waving white flags and raising their hands to the sky, hundreds of Iraqi soldiers quickly surrendered to coalition forces in southern Iraq -- and some even tried to give themselves up to Western journalists. One Marine traffic control unit manning an intersection in southern Iraq accepted at least 45 soldiers' surrender by sundown Friday" -- MSNBC, March 21. - - - "American forces shot down at least two of the incoming [Iraqi] missiles" -- Patrick E. Tyler, New York Times, March 21. - - - "The militant Islamic groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad urged Iraqis on Friday to...

Bound By Language – Pragmatic Conservatism Undermined By William A. Mayer In a thought provoking, April 7, 2003 NRO article Unpatriotic Conservatives David Frum includes Justin Raimondo in a list of unpatriotic anti-war conservatives. While I have a beef with many of those included in that list being labeled as conservative – populist throwback P.J. Buchanan among them [what was he thinking making Lenora Fulani his 2000 Campaign Co-Chair?] - I hurl at the mere mention of Justin Raimondo, even in this company. Not because he is incorrectly characterized as being unpatriotic - he most certainly is - but...

Six months ago, Congress authorized a war against Saddam Hussein. Today the legislators will continue debating a resolution to support that war. Strange, no? Democrats are complaining about the “partisanship” of Republicans who force them to declare themselves. They want to keep their options open – like Tom Daschle, who votes for the war and then denounces it, who says he supports the troop but who opposes the job that those troops are doing. Nor is Daschle the only Democrat playing a double game. Nancy Pelosi, the Democrats’ leader in the House, also claims to “support the troops.” But in...

    ArchiveE-mail AuthorSend to a FriendPrint Version   March 19, 2003 9:30 a.m. “Turned Their Backs”How Pat Buchanan et al. came to hate their country.EDITOR'S NOTE: This piece appears in the April 7, 2003, issue of National Review. "I respect and admire the French, who have been a far greater nation than we shall ever be, that is, if greatness means anything loftier than money and bombs." — THOMAS FLEMING, "HARD RIGHT," MARCH 13, 2003rom the very beginning of the War on Terror, there has been dissent, and as the war has proceeded to Iraq, the dissent has...

WASHINGTON - President Bush has paid a heavy price for Tony Blair's insistence on a second United Nations resolution on Iraq -- and the last installment came due just yesterday. On Friday morning, President Bush stepped into the Rose Garden at the White House to announce the United States would join the United Nations, the European Union, and Russia to press Israel to create a Palestinian state by 2005. This latest statement restated Bush's demand that the Palestinians cease acts of terrorism. And it reaffirmed his insistence that the Palestinian Authority reform itself to be more democratic and less corrupt....

At his press conference Thursday night, President Bush offered his much-anticipated ultimatum ... to France. The news from the question-and-answer session was Bush's announcement that the United States and Britain would proceed with another Security Council resolution authorizing force despite French warnings of a veto. "No matter what the whip count is, we're calling for a vote. We want to see people stand up and say what their opinion is about Saddam Hussein and the utility of the United Nations Security Council ... It's time for people to show their cards and to let the world know where they stand...

Last weekend, as you may have heard, antiwar actors and actresses across the country staged readings from Aristophanes’ play Lysistrata . You’ll remember the story: the women of Athens go on a sex strike to try to end the Pelopennesian War. The project did little to refute the negative stereotypes about thespian brains. The Village Voice quotes one of the leaders of the Lysistrata project, Linda Chapman, associate artistic director of New York Theater Workshop: "We're tapping into a long and honorable tradition that goes back to the Greeks, when the Senate was mirrored by the theater." Alas of course...

MAR. 3, 2003: DECISIVE DAYS Guts ... ... President Bush sure doesn’t lack them. As if an impending war in Iraq were not enough, the Bush Administration is expected to announce today a detailed framework for Medicare reform. The latest version will be more generous than some earlier drafts: It will add drug coverage to existing Medicare (albeit with a large deductible) – and will offer seniors even more comprehensive drug coverage if they enter newer Medicare plans that cost the taxpayer less. Haggle over the details if you like – proposing this plan at this time is still an...

In his new book on the Bush presidency, "The Right Man," former Bush speechwriter David Frum offers an analysis of "compassionate conservatism" that includes a nice throwaway line about liberals. "Bush described himself as a 'compassionate conservative,' " Frum writes, "which sounded less like a philosophy than a marketing slogan: Love conservatism but hate arguing about abortion? Try our new compassionate conservatism -- great ideological taste, now with less controversy." Then came Frum's line on liberals: "Conservatives disliked the 'compassionate conservative' label in the same way that people on the left would dislike it if a Democratic candidate for president...

WASHINGTON - Over the coming weeks, there will be at least three investigations into the Columbia disaster. NASA's own engineers, a team of outside experts, and finally a congressional committee will painstakingly examine all that was known -- and all that should have been known -- about the doomed shuttle. The country and the world will insist on knowing: How could the disaster have been prevented? How can we make sure that such a thing will never happen again. Tomorrow, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell will address the UN Security Council. He too will present the results of a...

WASHINGTON - Tony Blair is spending the weekend with President Bush at Camp David, arguing that the United States ought to return to the United Nations for a second anti-Iraq resolution. Blair's views are being repeated and amplified by other U.S. allies, by Democratic politicians in the U.S., and of course by many journalists. But Blair's views raise this other question: Why is two the magic number? Why not three? Or five? Or 28? On Nov. 8, the UN Security Council voted unanimously in favour of Resolution 1441, which demanded that Iraq readmit arms inspectors into its territory. That resolution...

David Frum was an odd choice for a White House speechwriter. For one thing, the Canadian-born writer wasn't even a U.S. citizen when he was hired in 2001. (He is now.)In his 1994 book, "Dead Right," he criticized leaders for not being conservative enough. He left the White House last year a firm believer in President Bush.Frum, who coined the phrase "axis of evil" in last year's State of the Union speech, spoke recently with IBD about his memoir, "The Right Man: The Surprise Presidency of George W. Bush."IBD: What do you mean by "the right man"? Frum: I mean...

WASHINGTON - I'm getting a little choked up at the thought of President Bush's State of the Union address tonight: It will be the first of these big addresses that I won't have worked on myself. Bush's 2001 State of the Union address was delivered at the end of February 2001. Such first speeches are not formally known as "States of the Union" at all: The theory is that a president who has been in office barely six weeks isn't yet ready to give a report. Instead, they are titled "Economic Messages," and they focus on the first budget the...

The Book On Bush By Jason Maoz, Senior Editor David Frum, the former White House speechwriter who coined the "Axis of Evil" phrase for President Bush`s 2002 State of the Union address, is out with an engaging behind-the-scenes look at his time in the White House. Of particular interest to the Monitor, Frum devotes a full chapter in The Right Man: The Surprise Presidency of George W. Bush to the president`s relationship with Israel. From the outset Frum acknowledges the extraordinary level of popularity that Bush`s predecessor, Bill Clinton, enjoyed in the American Jewish community, noting that Clinton`s "most trusted...