Around the World Wide Web 72

1. Caroline Glick argues persuasively that Bush is worse than Clinton in foreign policy. Among her many interesting points is this:

Moscow apparently interpreted Bush's decision to dispatch Burns to kowtow to Jalili as a sign of American weakness. In the wake of Saturday's embarrassing exchange, senior Israeli defense sources told Reuters that Russia is planning to begin shipping its advanced S-300 anti-aircraft systems to Iran in September. The S-300 batteries can track 100 targets simultaneously and fire on planes 120 km. away. Once they are operational, it will be far more difficult for Israel or another military force to attack Iran's scattered, hardened nuclear installations from the air. It is hard to imagine Russia would go through with the controversial deal if Moscow believed that the US would do anything to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

2. Penn and Teller on creationism.

3. John Bolton makes some excellent points about Obama's one world speech.

4. Yaron Brook on Fannie and Freddie.

(HT: Brad Harper)

5. Sounds to me like Barack Obama's brother is the one with all the smarts in the family.

From this piece I get the impression that the brother in China is far more independent and intelligent than Barack.

At a rather tense lunch, Obama quoted “Mark” – his family name is never given away in the book - as saying Kenya was “just another poor African country” to which he felt little attachment.

Mark added: “there’s not much work for a physicist, is there, in a country where the average person doesn’t have a telephone.”

According to Obama’s account, Mark looked him in the eye and said: “You think that somehow I’m cut off from my roots, that sort of thing. Well, you’re right.”

“At a certain point I made the decision not to think about who my real father was. He was dead to me even when he was still alive. I knew that he was a drunk and showed no concern for his wife and children. That’s enough.”

Can we elect Mark as President?

6. John McCain blames the Fannie and Freddie mess on "crony capitalism." But since these institutions were created by the government and are still backed by the government and are thoroughly controlled by government, wouldn't crony socialism be a more fitting term?

John McCain does not understand, as Reagan seemed to, that the problem is government, not freedom. All his efforts to "reform" government will be exactly as effective as Al Gore's project to "reinvent government" was in the 1990's. And you know how effective Al Gore was at cleaning up government.