sign in sign up
<<
Home , Kieran Lalor, National Review, Vets for Freedom

2010_7_19 upc_cover61404-postal.qxd 7/13/2010 7:24 PM Page 1

August 2, 2010 49145 $3.95 DANIEL FOSTER: When the Left Attacks ( Itself)

LESSONS OF THE SPILL A Report from the Gulf Coast MARIO LOYOLA

$3.95 31 PLUS: Stephen Spruiell on the Case for Austerity Christopher Papagianis & on Housing After the Bust

0 74851 08155 6

www.nationalreview.com base_milliken-mar 22.qxd 5/18/2010 12:00 PM Page 1 ÍÍÍ

ÊÊ ÊÊ

Nuclear Energy Produces Reliable (*%- ÊÊ ÊÊ Ê Electricity When You Need it.

3FOFXBCMFFOFSHZTVDIBTXJOEBOETPMBSXJMMCFB Average Operating E ciency* HSPXJOHQBSUPGPVSDPVOUSZTFOFSHZGVUVSF BMPOHXJUI by Source of Electricity MBSHFTDBMFTPVSDFTMJLFOVDMFBSFOFSHZUIBUQSPEVDF Nuclear 92% FMFDUSJDJUZBSPVOEUIFDMPDL Coal 71% /VDMFBSFOFSHZIBTBOBWFSBHFPQFSBUJOHFG¹DJFODZ PG GBSCFUUFSSFMJBCJMJUZUIBOBOZPUIFSTPVSDFPG Natural Gas 42%

FMFDUSJDJUZ8FOFFEFMFDUSJDJUZFWFSZNJOVUFPGFWFSZEBZ Wind 31% UPESJWFPVSFDPOPNZBOETUBOEBSEPGMJWJOH/VDMFBS

Solar 21% Ê Ê Ê Ê Ê Ê Ê Ê ÊÊ ÊÊ Ê FOFSHZ BMPOHXJUISFOFXBCMFFOFSHZTPVSDFT DBOMFBEUIF XBZUPBQPSUGPMJPPGDMFBOFSFOFSHZPQUJPOTUIBUQSPUFDUT 0 755025 100 Sources: Ventyx / U.S. Energy UIFFOWJSPONFOUBOEQSPNPUFTFOFSHZTFDVSJUZ Information Administration, 2008 *Operating efficiency is measured by capacity factor, the ratio of the amount of electricity produced by a plant to the amount of electricity that could have been produced if the plant operated all year at full power.

Nuclear. Clean Air Energy.

7JTJUOFJPSH*2UPMFBSONPSFBOEUBLFPVSPOMJOFRVJ[ toc_QXP-1127940144.qxp 7/14/2010 2:17 PM Page 1 Contents

AUGUST 2, 2010 | VOLUME LXII, NO. 14 | www.nationalreview.com

COVER STORY Page 22 Beyond the Spill on Russian Spies . . . p. 18 Comprehensive energy and climate BOOKS, ARTS legislation has been part of Obama’s & MANNERS green plans ever since he ran for senator, and it’s no surprise that he is 39 A COOL LOOK AT THE COLD using the BP spill as an excuse to renew his Steven F. Hayward reviews The push for it. What is more startling is that, judging Atlantic and Its Enemies: A History of the , by appearances at least, Obama may be trying by Norman Stone. to advance his agenda by intentionally 41 CHURCHILL, CLOSE UP causing a fuel shortage. Mario Loyola reviews Winston’s War: Churchill, 1940–1945, COVER: by Max Hastings.

ARTICLES 42 CULTURE CLASH James V. DeLong reviews The Next 15 PRO-BUSINESS, NOT PRO-BUSINESSMAN by American Civil War: The Republicans should make a stand against corporate welfare. Populist Revolt Against the Liberal Elite, by Lee Harris. 16 CUT TO GROW by Stephen Spruiell Want stimulus? Trim the budget. 44 TRUE WEST Travis Kavulla reviews Prairie 18 RUSSIA’S NESTING DOLLS by Jay Nordlinger Republic: The Political Anna, Vicky, and other spies among us. Culture of Dakota Territory, 1879–1889, by Jon K. Lauck. 20 THE REVOLUTION EATS ITSELF by Daniel Foster Kos and Olby at daggers drawn. 46 FILM: FAMILY PLOT reviews The Kids Are All Right. FEATURES 47 CITY DESK: 22 BEYOND THE SPILL by Mario Loyola THIS CUP IS EMPTY In pursuit of an imaginary green-energy future, Obama is The Mondial invades Richard leading us into an oil shortage. Brookhiser’s New York.

29 OBAMACARE’S POLITICAL FUTURE by James C. Capretta The more voters learn, the darker it gets. SECTIONS

31 WE CAN’T AFFORD THIS HOUSE by Christopher Papagianis & Reihan Salam 2 Letters to the Editor It’s time to end tax benefits and subsidies for homeowners. 4 The Week 37 The Bent Pin ...... Florence King 35 CHANGE OF SERVICE by John J. Miller 38 The Long View ...... Rob Long Hopes for a GOP congressional majority rest in part on a crop 40 Poetry ...... Jennifer Reeser of Afghan and War vets. 48 Athwart ...... Rob Long

NATIONAl ReVIeW (ISSN: 0028-0038) is published bi-weekly, except for the first issue in January, by NATIONAl ReVIeW, Inc., at 215 lexington Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016. Periodicals postage paid at New York, N.Y., and additional mailing offices. © National Review, Inc., 2010. Address all editorial mail, manuscripts, letters to the editor, etc., to editorial Dept., NATIONAl ReVIeW, 215 lexington Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016. Address all subscription mail orders, changes of address, undeliverable copies, etc., to NATIONAl ReVIeW, Circulation Dept., P. O. Box 433015, Palm Coast, Fla. 32143-3015; phone, 386-246-0118, Monday–Friday, 8:00 A.M. to 10:30 P.M. eastern time. Adjustment requests should be accompanied by a current mailing label or facsimile. Direct classified advertising inquiries to: Classifieds Dept., NATIONAl ReVIeW, 215 lexington Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016 or call 212-679- 7330. POSTMASTeR: Send address changes to NATIONAl ReVIeW, Circulation Dept., P. O. Box 433015, Palm Coast, Fla. 32143-3015. Printed in the U.S.A. RATeS: $59.00 a year (24 issues). Add $21.50 for Canada and other foreign subscriptions, per year. (All payments in U.S. currency.) The editors cannot be responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or artwork unless return postage or, better, a stamped self-addressed envelope is enclosed. Opinions expressed in signed articles do not necessarily represent the views of the editors. letters--ready_QXP-1127940387.qxp 7/14/2010 2:17 PM Page 2 Letters

AUGUST 2 ISSUE; PRINTED JULY 15 The Limits of Tolerance

EDITOR Richard Lowry ’s review of New Threats to Freedom (“Free Association,” July 5)

Senior Editors is wrong on at least two counts. / Jay Nordlinger Ramesh Ponnuru / David Pryce-Jones First, he defends Somali taxi drivers who refuse to pick up passengers with Managing Editor Jason Lee Steorts Literary Editor Michael Potemra alcohol or dogs, saying that they are merely “exercising their freedom to run Executive Editor Christopher McEvoy National Correspondent John J. Miller their businesses as they see fit.” But taxis are public accommodations, in which Art Director Luba Kolomytseva Deputy Managing Editors we rightfully forbid many forms of discrimination. If Holiday Inn refused to Fred Schwarz / Kevin D. Williamson Associate Editors admit a Jew or a blind man with a dog, we as a society wouldn’t stand for it. We Helen Rittelmeyer / Robert VerBruggen Research Director Katherine Connell wouldn’t tell the Jew or the blind man, “Just use the next hotel, you only have Research Manager Dorothy McCartney Executive Secretary Frances Bronson to wait a minute.” This case should be no different. Assistant to the Editor Natasha Simons If Somali taxi drivers don’t want to accommodate Contributing Editors Robert H. Bork / people with alcohol or dogs, they can of the Ross Douthat / / Roman Genn / Jim Geraghty / public-accommodation business. Florence King / Lawrence Kudlow / Mark R. Levin / Rob Long / Jim Manzi Second, Sullum says the book should have dealt Andrew C. McCarthy / Kate O’Beirne David B. Rivkin Jr. more with threats to freedom arising from the War on NATIONALREVIEWONLINE Terror. He claims that “the detention powers claimed Editor-at-Large Managing Editor Edward John Craig by the Bush administration” were “so broad that Deputy Managing Editor Duncan Currie Staff Reporter Stephen Spruiell Supreme Court justice , no one’s idea News Editor Daniel Foster Web Developer Nathan Goulding of a bleeding-heart liberal, felt compelled to insist (in Technical Services Russell Jenkins a case involving a U.S. citizen accused of taking up arms for the ) that EDITORS- AT- LARGE Linda Bridges / John O’Sullivan the executive branch cannot unilaterally suspend the writ of habeas corpus.” Contributors Detaining someone who made war against the may be a Hadley Arkes / Baloo / James Bowman / Priscilla L. Buckley unilateral exercise of executive power, but it was never considered even Eliot A. Cohen / Dinesh D’Souza / M. Stanton Evans re markable until Justice Kennedy said so on June 12, 2008, in the Boumediene Chester E. Finn Jr. / Neal B. Freeman James Gardner / David Gelernter v. Bush decision. Justice Kennedy’s reasoning—founding a foreigner’s stand- George Gilder / Kevin A. Hassett / Charles R. Kesler ing and right to habeas relief on “separation-of-powers principles”—is James Jackson Kilpatrick / David Klinghoffer Anthony Lejeune / D. Keith Mano questionable enough. He also departed radically from our history. / Alan Reynolds William A. Rusher / Tracy Lee Simmons Copperheads complained when Lincoln suspended habeas, but no court / Vin Weber suggested that “separation-of-powers principles” were enough to trump the Chief Financial Officer James X. Kilbridge Accounting Manager Galina Veygman suspension clause or order the release of someone who’d been killing Accountant Zofia Baraniak Treasurer Rose Flynn DeMaio Americans in war. As late as 1946, the Ninth Circuit held that we could detain Business Services Alex Batey / Amy Tyler an American who had deserted the Army to fight against the U.S. Nowhere in Circulation Director Erik Zenhausern Circulation Manager Jason Ng the opinion was there any dread of unilateral exercise of executive power; there WORLD WIDE WEB www.nationalreview.com was only a recognition that people who make war against the U.S. need to be MAIN NUMBER 212-679-7330 SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIES 386-246-0118 detained so they don’t kill Americans. WASHINGTON OFFICE 202-543-9226 ADVERTISING SALES 212-679-7330 We need to draw lines. We can’t tolerate hotels that discriminate on the basis Executive Publisher Scott F. Budd Advertising Director Jim Fowler of race; nor can we tolerate people making war on America. Advertising Manager Kevin Longstreet ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Paul Olivett PUBLISHER Ken Jansen Jack Fowler Stafford, Va. CHAIRMANEMERITUS Thomas L. Rhodes

FOUNDER William F. Buckley Jr. Letters may be sub mitted by e-mail to [email protected].

2 | www.nationalreview.com AUGUST 2 , 2 0 1 0 base_milliken-mar 22.qxd 7/13/2010 3:02 PM Page 1

CONSERVATIVE $ # # # GET FOR EACH JOIN 3 BOOKS 1 NOW! HUNDREDS OF EDITOR-REVIEWED TITLES — 100% SATISFACTION GUARANTEED! # # #

$1 $1 $1 $1 $1

Book # C7566 Book # C7610 Book # C7598 Book # C7501 Book # C7545 Retail: $30.00 Retail: $25.00 Retail: $29.95 Retail: $29.99 Retail: $28.99

$1 $1 $1 $1 $1

Book # C7372 Book # C7611 Book # C7343 Book # C7383 Book # C7315 Retail: $26.99 Retail: $24.95 Retail: $25.00 Retail: $27.95 Retail: $27.95 Ê JOIN ONLINE AT KYES! Please enroll me as a member of the Conservative Book Club® under the terms outlined in this ad. Send me the 3 books I’ve indicated and bill me just $3, plus shipping and handling. I then need to WWW.CONSERVATIVEBOOKCLUB.COM buy only four additional books at regularly discounted club prices over the next two years. 100% SATISFACTION GUARANTEED Please write book numbers here: ###C4253-AY INSTANT SAVINGS! Join today and get any 3 of the books pictured in this ad for just $3 plus ship- K YES! I want to take advantage of the New Member Bonus! Please send me a 4th selection as I’ve indi- ping and handling. Then take up to two years to buy four more books at regular low Club prices (20- cated below. I understand I will be billed an additional $7.95, plus shipping and handling. I then need to 50% below retail price) or three books over two years, if you’ve selected the New Member Bonus. After you have paid for your books, your Membership can be ended by you or the Club. Plus you will buy only three additional books at regular club prices over the next two years. also get opportunities to buy from our list of Superbargain books that the Club regularly offers. These C4253-AX books are offered at 70-90% discounts!! (Sorry, Superbargain books don’t count toward your book Please write book number here: # commitment.) Name______SHOP-AT-HOME CONVENIENCE! Up to 16 times a year you will receive the Club Bulletin packed with the kind of books you will want to read and own. Each bulletin will describe a Featured Address ______Selection chosen just for our members. If you want to receive the Featured Selection, do nothing and it will be sent to you. If you don’t want the Featured Selection or you would like an alternate selection, simply indicate your wishes on the handy card enclosed with your Bulletin and return it City ______State ______Zip ______before the deadline date. CBC is an easy way to build your conservative library from the comfort of your own home. E-mail ______

CBC ONLINE! You can now read about and conveniently order CBC books from our website. Same • Prices slightly higher in Canada • Membership subject to approval by the Conservative Book Club discounts apply, of course. And, with our editors’ , you can keep up with the conservative com- Fill out this coupon and mail to: munity on a range of important issues. 100% SATISFACTION GUARANTEED! If you are not completely satisfied with any book, return it and receive a complete credit. Plus you will always have at least ten days to make your decision to receive the Featured Selection. If you ever have less than ten days, simply return the book at Club expense for a full credit. One Membership per household please. 1148 PO Box 97196 • Washington, D.C. 20090-7196 week_QXP-1127940387.qxp 7/14/2010 2:18 PM Page 4 The Week

n Watch out, al-Qaeda: The Obama administration might send See page 10. the Civil Rights Division after you.

n There is increasing talk that Democrats in Congress will attempt to pass what remains of their ambitious agenda in a lame-duck session between the midterm elections and the seat- ing of a new Congress in January. The hope, among liberals, is that after November the Democrats will feel free to vote for unpopular initiatives—cap-and-trade, amnesty, etc.—that they would not feel comfortable endorsing before the election. In this case, the audacity of hope will collide messily with the politics of self-preservation. Are we to believe that those Democrats who don’t lose their seats will be prepared to pur- sue the same agenda that just chewed up and spat out so many of their colleagues? Things will be even trickier in the Senate, where a united minority can put the kibosh on lame-duck mis- chief. Sorry, Democrats: Your policies are likely to be just as unpopular after November as they were before.

n Republican senators wanted to ask a few questions of Donald Berwick, Obama’s nominee to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Who were the contributors to his foundation? What does his fondness for Britain’s system of socialized medi- cine—and, explicitly, for its attendant rationing—portend for the is also chock-full of details. One is this: The masseuse told future of Obamacare? The Democrats never scheduled hearings friends about her encounter with Gore (or so she says). All on the nomination, and then Obama bypassed the Senate by were on the political left, like the masseuse herself, and one giving Berwick a recess appointment. The White House claimed urged her “to just suck it up; otherwise, the world’s going to be it acted to avoid Republican stalling. As justifiably angry as destroyed from global warming.” This falls under the category Republicans are, they should note the Democrats’ fear of a debate “Taking One for the Team.” about health care—and give them one at every opportunity. n There are two things you will not learn about the Democrat n Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National running for governor in Nevada from the “Meet the Candidate” Committee, came out against the war in Afghanistan, for one section of his website: The first is his last name, the second is night anyway. Amateur cameramen at a funder that he received it from the majority leader of the U.S. Senate. caught him describing it as “a war of Obama’s choosing,” and Rory Reid, spawn of Harry, has opted for a Cher/Sting/Hillary- adding that “everyone” who has fought land in Afghan - circa-2000 mononomial approach to campaigning, with the istan “over a thousand years of history has failed.” Steele got slogan: Rory 2010—Nevada First. It’s unfair to punish the son hammered, most notably by Weekly Standard editor William for the sins of the father, but it would be entirely legitimate Kristol, who asked him to resign. rushed to the (essential, in fact) to press Reid fils on the sorry record of scene with a load of fireworks, dismissing Afghanistan as “a Washington, D.C.—even if his father were not one of the three nation of rocks and brigands,” and wondering if the GOP is Democrats running the U.S. government. The younger Mr. Reid now “for all wars.” Steele walked his comments back, express- shares a party and a platform with his father, and that, not the ing support for the war and for General Petraeus. A kerfuffle, 50 percent of his DNA inherited from the Senate boss, is why or a little cloud like a man’s hand? The war in Afghanistan he should be asked to answer for Democratic misgovernment began after 9/11, but it now belongs to Obama, who has built in Washington—before he replicates it in Carson City. it up, throwing more troops into it, and hesitated, setting a deadline for withdrawal. Republicans should support him n , proprietor of the liberal blog , when he is right and instruct him when he is wrong—and not has run into a problem. Moulitsas is the author of the forth- use this, of all things, to score partisan points. coming American Taliban, the latest in a long tradition of com- paring American conservatives to hard-line terrorist groups. n A Portland, Ore., masseuse filed a complaint against Al These comparisons are usually notable for their lack of

ROMAN GENN Gore, and the resulting police report is quite long: 73 pages. It any evi dence, but Moulitsas claimed to have broken from the

4 | www.nationalreview.com AUGUST 2 , 2 0 1 0 base_milliken-mar 22.qxd 7/12/2010 1:26 PM Page 1 Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-64419. Statesman, Orator, Soldier, Leader

Winston Churchill is arguably the greatest leader of the 20th Churchill century. He is proof that a single individual, despite public and Taught by Professor J. Rufus Fears, University of Oklahoma private trials, can change the course of history for the better and make of life a blessed and noble thing. Who exactly was this Lecture Titles extraordinary man? How did he rally the British during World 1. Heritage and Destiny 7. In the Wilderness War II? What legacy did he leave for Western civilization? 2. Young Churchill 8. The Nazi Menace 3. On the Empire’s Frontier 9. Rallying In Churchill, get the answers to these and other powerful 4. Political Beginnings 10. The Tide of War Turns questions as you follow the life of this iconic politician. In 5. Churchill and Controversy 11. Champion of Freedom this course, you encounter Churchill as a resourceful soldier, 6. Post-War Challenges 12. The Legacy of Churchill devoted public servant, and military strategist. You also meet Churchill the gifted painter, doting father, and winner of the Nobel Prize for literature. These 12 illuminating lectures are taught by Professor J. Rufus Fears, three-time winner of the Order Today! University of Oklahoma Professor of the Year award. With his amazing gift for storytelling, he shows you why Churchill ranks Offer expires Friday, October 1, 2010 with Abraham Lincoln and Pericles as one of history’s greatest statesmen. Churchill Course No. No. 807 550 This course is one of The Great Courses®, a noncredit, recorded 12 lectures (30 minutes/lecture) college lecture series from The Teaching Company®. Award- DVDs $69.95 NOW $29.95 winning professors of a wide array of subjects in the sciences + $5 Shipping, Processing, and Lifetime Satisfaction Guarantee and the liberal arts have made more than 300 college-level Audio CD $54.95 NOW $19.95 courses that are available now on our website. + $5 Shipping, Processing, and Lifetime Satisfaction Guarantee

Special price for shipping, processing, and lifetime satisfaction guarantee for this offer only. ACT NOW! Priority Code: 39433 1-800-TEACH-12 www.TEACH12.com/4natr week_QXP-1127940387.qxp 7/14/2010 2:18 PM Page 6

THE WEEK tradition on this point: He said he had polling evidence demon- primary to challenge Sen. Jim DeMint (R., S.C.) this November. strating that American conservatives hold a variety of views Democrats accused GOP tricksters of putting Greene up to it, that comport with those of the Taliban. This claim was always and paying his $10,440 filing fee—which seems not to be the specious, but now it has taken another blow. Some statistical case. Here’s another question: Why is it the case that someone anomalies having been brought to his attention, Moulitsas now has to pay ten grand to run for Senate in South Carolina? Some suspects the outfit commissioned to take the polls, Research states charge no filing fees, some charge small ones. South 2000, of fabricating “some or all of the data” it used, and is Carolina and Florida, at $10,440, charge most. That is grotesque. suing it for fraud. You’ll note that one reason Moulitsas has Many of the Founders were comfortable with property qualifi- the luxury of doing so is that he has not been beheaded by his cations for voting. We no longer are. There should not be prop- critics on the American right. erty qualifications for office-seekers either. Congratulations to Mr. Greene for saving his money and putting it where his mouth n Alvin Greene, as all the world now knows, is the sad-sack vet is. May the next poor, unconnected office-seeker be worthy— with a felony obscenity charge hanging over him who won a and unencumbered by such a burden.

Intemperate Conclusions

’VE been hearing a lot about this new book, Losing Our amount to just one of them. What usually pushes progress I Cool, by Stan Cox (actual ownership of the book still into overdrive is technology. The printing press outranks eludes me). Cox argues that everybody would be bet- any king in historical consequence (which is not to deny ter off if we had never invented air conditioning. that different political conditions might have stopped Being a sci-fi and comic-book aficionado (Spanish for a Gutenberg from applying his genius). Feminism has its “nerd”) as well as a history buff, I’m a big fan of the contra - victories and its failures, but the birth-control pill changed factual, a fertile technique for Ray Bradbury, Philip K. Dick, society more than anything Gloria Steinem ever said or and others. Such questions fascinate: What if the Nazis had did. Vast swaths of feminism are naught but a footnote won World War II? What if Lincoln hadn’t been assassinated? to the internal-combustion engine. What if an alien hadn’t taken the form of Colonel Sanders? These days, this insight is best appreciated not by the Marvel Comics used to have a whole series called “What If ranks of conservatives who’ve largely made peace with . . .” in which characters took the road not taken, as it were. the creative destruction of market innovation, but by the My only problem with this plot device is reactionary Left. Many greens bemoan not that it usually yields to the arrogant thesis merely the Enlightenment, but the invention that we currently live in the best of all pos- of the automobile, the splitting of the atom, sible worlds; our shoulda-coulda-wouldas even the creation of microwavable stuffed- about the past are misguided be cause crust pizza. We’ve come a long way from we made the right calls every time, so of the Marxist dream of turning the loco - course we are capable of doing anything motive into a mechanical messiah. we want now. This is irreconcilable with Losing Our Cool, I gather from articles con servatism and wisdom (but I repeat and interviews, is all about how air con - myself). rests on a meta- ditioning is largely a blight, fueling the physics that acknowledges the centrality advance of civilization into the desert, of error, sin, and caprice in human affairs. It may be true atomizing inner-city communities, and even aiding the that it’s not worth agonizing over What Might Have Been, rise of big government. Cox is right on all of these points. but it is equally true that the road to What Might Have Certainly the swampishness of the nation’s capital all but Been might have been the better one. guaranteed that meddling politicians and bureaucrats Indeed, it’s hard to believe that the world would not would take summers off—until the late 1920s (“coinci- be better-off if Lenin had never made it to Finland Station, dentally” around the time of the 1929 market crash!). And or if the trampy Maria Anna Schicklgruber had stayed how many would live in AZ without AC? unwed, making it quite implausible that her grandson Of course, we should not go to the opposite extreme and Adolf would rise to power against a chorus of Heil lament everything ever done. There are plenty of reasons to Schicklgruber’s. Heck, if World War I hadn’t been han- THE NEW PRESS be happy that Phoenix exists, and thank goodness sweet, , dled so badly, many of us might never have been born, sweet refrigerated air isn’t going anywhere. But it’s wise to but can one really argue that the world wouldn’t be remember that every right turn is also a little wrong, and better off today? every wrong turn can lead to something right. Even from the LOSING OUR COOL Too often, contrafactuals are refracted through the Great vantage of our air-conditioned homes, life is a mixed bag. Men of History prism. Humanity drives along the road of progress using many gears, and the decisions of leaders —JONAH GOLDBERG COVER IMAGE FROM

6 | www.nationalreview.com AUGUST 2 , 2 0 1 0 base_milliken-mar 22.qxd 7/12/2010 1:34 PM Page 1

86*29·7*2/'$7&267 72'$<7KH8QLWHG6WDWHV5DUH&RLQ %XOOLRQ5HVHUYHKDVVFKHGXOHGWKH¿QDOUHOHDVHRI 86*RY¶W,VVXHG*ROG&RLQVSUHYLRXVO\KHOGDWWKH860LQWDW:HVW3RLQW3OHDVHEH DGYLVHG7KHVH*RY¶W,VVXHG*ROG&RLQVDUHEHLQJUHOHDVHGRQD¿UVWFRPH¿UVWVHUYHEDVLV DQGRXU86*RY¶W*ROGLQYHQWRU\SULFHGDWSHUFRLQFRXOGYHU\SRVVLEO\VHOORXW &DOOLPPHGLDWHO\WRDYRLGGLVDSSRLQWPHQW7KLV³DWFRVW´*RY¶W*ROGRIIHUFRXOGEHFDQFHOOHG DWDQ\WLPH'RQRWGHOD\&DOOD6U*ROG6SHFLDOLVWWRGD\

Own Gov’t Issued Gold Coins 0DUNXS)UHH3ULFHRI21/< DUE TO STRICT LIMITED AVAILABILITY, TELEPHONE ORDERS WILL BE ACCEPTED ON A FIRST-COME, FIRST-SERVE BASIS $ 69 ACCORDING TO THE TIME AND DATE OF THE ORDER. 147 ($&+

,I \RX¶YH EHHQ ZDLWLQJ WR ED STA T T I E PRYH \RXU KDUGHDUQHG N S

U

• PRQH\ LQWR SUHFLRXV

•

G

O S PHWDOVWKHWLPHLVQRZWR V’ N I T O FRQVLGHU WUDQVIHUULQJ \RXU G C OLD 86 GROODUV LQWR 8QLWHG 6WDWHV*RYHUQPHQW*ROG7KH*ROGPDUNHW LV RQ WKH PRYH XS PRUH WKDQ  RYHU WKH SDVW  \HDUV  RXWSDFLQJ WKH '2: 1$6'$4DQG6 3&DOOLPPHGLDWHO\WR RUGHU \RXU 8QLWHG 6WDWHV *ROG &RLQV GLUHFW IURPRXU0DLQ9DXOW)DFLOLW\³DWFRVW´IRUWKH DPD]LQJSULFHRIRQO\SHUFRLQ6SH FLDODUUDQJHPHQWVFDQEHPDGHIRU*ROGSXU FKDVHVRYHU2UGHU\RXU*ROGWRGD\

 ± *RY¶W ,VVXHG *ROG &RLQ         ±*RY¶W,VVXHG*ROG&RLQV      ± *RY¶W ,VVXHG *ROG &RLQV   

'XHWRH[WUHPHO\KLJK*ROGGHPDQG*ROGFRLQSULFHVFRXOG FKDQJHEDVHGRQRXUFXUUHQWYDXOWLQYHQWRU\&DOOQRZEHIRUHWKHVH 86*RY¶W*ROG&RLQVFRPSOHWHO\VHOORXW

$7&2672))(5/,0,7('72385&+$6(62)&2,16  3(5 +286(+2/'3/866+,33,1* ,1685$1&(0,1,08025'(5*2/'&2,16

&$//72//)5(( +RXUV$'D\'D\V$:HHN  1-877-814-0922 MASTERCARD • VISA • AMEX • DISCOVER • CHECK

&RLQVHQODUJHG 'LVWULEXWRURI*RYHUQPHQW*ROG1RWDI¿OLDWHGZLWKWKH86*RYHUQPHQW WRVKRZGHWDLO 9DXOW1R15

1RRQHLQFOXGLQJWKH8QLWHG6WDWHV5DUH&RLQDQG%XOOLRQ5HVHUYHFDQJXDUDQWHHD*ROG&RLQ¶VIXWXUHYDOXHZLOOJRXSRUGRZQ‹8QLWHG6WDWHV5DUH&RLQDQG%XOOLRQ5HVHUYH week_QXP-1127940387.qxp 7/14/2010 2:18 PM Page 8

THE WEEK n Federal judge Martin Feldman made the right call when he of federal law” he had ever seen. The Panthers had been blocked the Obama administration from imposing a sweeping caught on tape brandishing a weapon and uttering racially moratorium on drilling in the Gulf. Feldman’s ruling was charged epithets to intimidate voters at a Philadelphia polling unequivocal: The administration’s moratorium was “arbitrary station. Obama political appointees directed that charges be and capricious”—exceeding anything the executive branch dropped even though the defendants contemptuously default- was authorized by statute to enact. And costly—an estimated ed and the court was poised to enter judgment in favor of the 150,000 jobs are directly related to offshore drilling in the government. Exacerbating what Adams aptly calls “the cor- Gulf. The administration has issued a new moratorium, sup- rupt nature of the dismissal” was the Holder hierarchy’s order posedly designed to address Judge Feldman’s concerns. But that Adams refuse to comply with lawful subpoenas from the new moratorium does not appear to differ from the old one the Civil Rights Commission investigating the dismissal. in any meaningful way; it merely changes the way “deep- The attorney general famously called the American people water drilling” is defined. At least one operator has had “cowards” when it comes to matters of race. He knows where- enough of the uncertainty and decided to relocate two of its of he speaks. rigs from the Gulf, one to Egypt and the other to the Republic of the Congo. This underscores an important point: Offshore n “It would be outrageous and inhumane to take him against his drilling will happen whether the Obama administration likes will,” said the lawyer for Aziz Abdul Naji, a jihadist at the it or not. If it is banned in the Gulf, production will move to Guantanamo Bay detention camp. But she wasn’t talking about places where they care a lot less about the environment. taking him against his will to Gitmo, where he has been detained for several years. She was talking about taking him back to his n Another federal judge, Joseph Tauro, ruled that laws to country. Naji is one of six Algerians whom the Obama adminis- protect marriage as the union of a man and a woman are the tration is poised to transfer from George W. Bush’s gulag—as a products of irrational bigotry and therefore unconstitutional. few remaining ineducable leftists still like to call it—to Algeria, The specific law in his sights was the Defense of Marriage the Islamic paradise on the Mediterranean’s south shore. The Act, a bipartisan law signed by President Clinton that U.S. has already repatriated ten Algerians, and indications are If offshore drilling is banned in the Gulf, production will move to places where they care a lot less about the environment.

defines marriage in the traditional way for the purposes of that none has been persecuted. Yet the six holdouts claim that federal law. Thus when the courts of Massachusetts decided Gitmo is their only refuge from, yes, torture, and that it would be to redefine marriage, federal programs were not obliged to an unconscionable violation of their human rights to remove give spousal benefits to same-sex partners. Judge Tauro them from the naval base Obama is desperate to close because ruled, incredibly, that the Tenth Amendment blocks the fed- it purportedly stands as a symbol of human-rights abuses. We eral government from adopting its own definitions. In effect, guess times change. then, it gives state judges the power to set federal policy. This concern for state prerogatives is for show: The logic of n The story of the Russian spies—ten agents in place, uncov- Tauro’s decision would authorize federal courts to force ered by the FBI and swapped for four Russians accused of spy- unwilling states to recognize same-sex marriage. But he is ing for us and Britain—has been played mainly for laughs. not the only false actor in this drama. Obama’s Justice Anna Chapman, née Kushchenko, the real-estate-dealing sex- Department—including the Office of the Solicitor General, pot, set the tone, as saucy pictures of her tumbled out. Hold the run at the time by Elena Kagan—“defended” the Defense of mirth. The Russians, like the Soviets before them, well under- Marriage Act by calling it unjust and attacking its strongest stand the value of agents in place. One of the spies, Vicky justification. Liberals in different branches of government Peláez, was a journalist. Who knows whose press secretary she have worked out a tidy division of labor: The executive might have become one day? As for Chapman, women who branch will pretend to support marriage, and the courts will sleep around get around. Think of all the recent American pols pretend to apply the law. who would not have been immune. With the collapse of Soviet Communism, Russia has lost the allure of superpower and n “A lawless hostility toward equal enforcement of the (to some minds) idealism. But it is still in the game. law”: That was how veteran prosecutor J. Christian Adams described the Obama Justice Department’s motivation for its race-driven decision to drop civil-rights charges against three n Turning to our back page, you will notice the New Black Panther Party operatives. Adams was writing in absence of ’s “Happy Warrior” column. to explain his decision to resign after Mark is on leave for the summer. We will be publish- his superiors, who answer directly to Attorney General Eric ing a variety of guest authors in his usual space, begin- Holder, ordered him to dismiss the case—which concerned ning, in this issue, with Rob Long. what he describes as “the simplest and most obvious violation

8 | www.nationalreview.com AUGUST 2 , 2 0 1 0 base_milliken-mar 22.qxd 7/12/2010 1:40 PM Page 1

Limited ExtremelyAvailability “This is a stunning necklace... Buy None… I just keep coming back again and again.. I just love your jewelry. Get One FREE! Everything you do you do with such class... thanks again.” That’s right. The 2-Carat DiamondAura® Sweet Nothing Pendant is our gift to you! — J. from Cleveland, OH t’s official. You no longer have to apologize for showing up Iempty-handed. Ever. For anything. You have no more excuses. It doesn’t matter if you’re talking about birthdays, anniversaries, major holidays or minor celebrations. Surprise her with our 2 ctw DiamondAura® Sweet Nothing Pendant and you’ll feel like a hero. And because you got this spectacular pendant for FREE, you’ll also feel like the smartest person on the planet. Not a bad combination. The DiamondAura® Sweet Nothing Pendant features a knockout combination of 1 ¼-carat round, lab-created A. DiamondAura and 1/3 carat pear-cut DiamondAura surrounded by 32 brilliant rounds set in sterling silver. The total weight tops 2 full carats and packs more fire per facet than most mined stones. Every wink of light is proof that the $6 million invested in developing these spectacular, lab-created stones was worth it. And once you see the pendant up close, I’m sure you’ll agree. Our exclusive DiamondAura retain every jeweler’s specification including cut, color, clarity and carat weight. Each lab-created dazzler was designed to match the brilliance of a “D” flawless diamond... without the outrageously high price. And now that we’ve decided to eliminate the price B. altogether, the brilliance of DiamondAura looks even better! Why would any jeweler give away FREE jewelry? Because we don’t thrive by selling you only one pendant. Our mission at Stauer is to revolutionize the jewelry business and change the way you think about luxury. It doesn’t have C. to cost a fortune and to prove it we’re doing things to fine jewelry FREE Sweet Nothing Pendant prices that have never been done before. We must be doing some- thing right because our business for the first 2500 responders was up 38% last year, while the DiamondAura® Sweet Nothing Collection economy suffered and fellow A. Pendant (2 ctw)—$195 jewelers struggled. For our client-friendly approach, Stauer has Your Cost—FREE — pay shipping & processing only. earned a A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau. B. Ring (3 ¼ ctw)—$295 $145 + S&P Introducing “Better Than FREE” Shipping. Be one of C. Earrings (2 ¾ ctw)—$295 $95 + S&P the first 2500 to respond to this ad and receive 100% off while 18" Rhodium-layered sterling silver chain—$39 + S&P getting a closer look at Stauer’s exclusive selection of fine D. Complete Set—$824 $199 + S&P Save $625 jewelry. Call today to reserve your FREE DiamondAura Sweet Set includes Pendant, ring, chain and earrings. Specify ring whole size 5-10 when ordering. Nothing Pendant (you only pay a shipping & processing fee of Call now to take advantage of this extremely limited offer. $24.95). Of course, if I had my way, we’d ship it to you at no charge. Unfortunately, the rising cost of gas and freight makes that impossible. But what I can do is send you a bonus to 1-800-617-2278 Promotional Code SNP126-01 make up the difference. That’s right, order today and I’ll Please mention this code when you call. include a $25 Stauer Gift Coupon with your FREE Pendant. Due to its outrageous nature, this offer is strictly limited to one Stauer has a Better Business pendant per shipping address. Bureau Rating of A+

JEWELRY SPECS: 14101 Southcross Drive W., stauer.com Dept. SNP126-01 - 2 ctw DiamondAura® pendant - .925 sterling silver settings Stauer Burnsville, Minnesota 55337

Smart Luxuries—Surprising Prices week_QXP-1127940387.qxp 7/14/2010 2:18 PM Page 10

THE WEEK n You may remember Phil Jones, the scientist at the heart of the significant tax increases; a budget that, in Christie’s words, took Climategate scandal. After being removed from his position as Trenton by the ankles and shook out its pockets. That the director of the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Democrat-controlled legislature capitulated on nearly all of the Anglia when the scandal broke, he has now been appointed direc- governor’s priorities is perhaps the result of a cold calculation. tor of research, following a series of reports that exonerated him of Christie has staked the balance of his political capital on evan - scientific wrongdoing. Some of the reports criticized a culture of gelizing for fiscal sanity, and the Democrats are in a position to secrecy and unhelpfulness at the CRU, but they all said that its either share credit or deflect blame, depending on how things researchers did nothing scientifically dishonest. How did the reports play out. But after decades of taxing and borrowing and bureau- reach this conclusion? Simple: They asked Jones and his col- cratic bloat, might it also be that, deep down in places they don’t leagues. Not one of the investigations even bothered to interview talk about at cocktail parties, the Democrats are beginning to see the prime critics—and victims—of Jones’s scientific methods. If that Christie’s path is right—and righteous? We can dream. the courts adopted this procedure, it would cut down on costs.

n Foreign-service veteran Francis J. Ricciardone Jr. is Obama’s n Hawaii’s governor, Republican Linda Lingle, has vetoed a nominee for ambassador to Turkey. It is an odd choice. In his stint bill that was advertised as a civil-unions law but was, in sub- in the admittedly challenging post of American ambassador to stance, a gay-marriage law. Governor Lingle rightly object- Egypt, Ricciardone seemed to work against the Bush administra- ed to the way the bill had been brought out of the legislature, tion’s freedom agenda, citing the as an excuse for the via a suspension of normal parliamentary rules, and wants a Mubarak dictatorship’s continuing crackdown and shamefully referendum on the bill instead. Same-sex marriage has had a praising Mubarak’s abuse-ridden reelection. With the Erdogan complicated history in Hawaii: First, state courts imposed it, government pulling Turkey toward the Islamist column—and and then a constitutional amendment was enacted explicitly Turkey’s new ambassador to the U.S. recommending the inclu- giving the legislature the power to reserve marriage to sion of Hamas in what he pregnantly calls the “final solution” to opposite-sex couples. The legislature instead produced the the Israeli–Palestinian conflict—now is not a good time for an opposite sort of bill, and the governor has vetoed it—democ- American emissary with a reputation for cozying up to repressive racy, in a word. It is a reasonable thing for states to take steps regimes. At least we can be sure that he will not undermine this to enable gay people (and other kinds of people) to arrange president’s policies. their household affairs as they see fit, and laws enabling the management of personal finances, insurance, mortgages, n The Manhattan Institute’s Diana Furchtgott-Roth found a inheritance, and the like are, for the most part, inoffensive. weird thing when flipping through the financial-regulation bill But marriage is not the property of the that’s now before Congress: Section 342. Though this section has state: It is older than the state, and it is gone unnoticed, it would set up at least 20 “Offices of Minority outside the state, and it is not the state’s and Women Inclusion” in government agencies including the to define and redefine as politics de - Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Treasury, and the mands. Lingle was right to check Securities and Exchange Commission. These offices would guar- the legislature in this matter, just as antee, “to the maximum extent possible[,] the fair inclusion” of legislators were right to check the minorities and women in private financial businesses that work overreaching courts with a consti- with the government. This means, according to the bill, that these tutional amendment: That’s why we offices will be policing various “financial institutions, investment have checks and balances. banking firms, mortgage banking firms, asset management firms, brokers, dealers, financial services entities, underwriters, accoun- tants, investment consultants and providers of legal services.” And remember, the federal government has an illogical tendency n What is a NASA administrator’s job? Charles Bolden, the to conflate “fair” with “proportional.” Whenever any group is incumbent, informed Al Jazeera in a recent interview that “underrepresented,” the government simply assumes that dis- President Obama had told him “perhaps [his] foremost” task crimination, rather than personal choices and differences in abil- was to “engage” with “Muslim nations to help them feel good ity (whatever their causes; there are both racial and gender gaps about their historic contribution to science, math, and engineer- on the math SAT, for instance, and employees of these financial ing.” This was greeted with cackles and snorts. What contribu- agencies need to work with numbers) is to blame. We didn’t need tion, since the Middle Ages? And why is it NASA’s business to another reason to oppose the bill, but the Democrats have given sing lullabies to anyone? Then Robert Gibbs uttered a curt us one, albeit surreptitiously. denial: “That was not his task, and that’s not the task of NASA.” So whom do you believe? Suck-ups like Bolden try to know the n On June 29, New Jersey governor sat down at mind of those up to whom they suck. For this administration, a beige folding table in the bay of a firehouse in South River, a Muslims are the new Negroes, occupying the space that black middle-class suburb in traditionally Democratic Middlesex people once held for liberals: totems of deprivation, and touch- County. He was there, before a small crowd of supporters and a stones of one’s own broad-mindedness. Meanwhile, the place

handful of protesters, to sign the state’s $29.4 billion budget. It is of math and science in the Muslim world is peculiar. Islam has AP / a budget passed despite the threats and declamation of the made no advances in the centuries that it has been frozen in bureaucratic class and the unions; a budget that closed a nearly dogma and decadence. On the other hand, young Muslim men

$11 billion deficit by slashing state spending while avoiding are steered to technical subjects like engineering, without moral JOE CAVARETTA

1 0 | www.nationalreview.com AUGUST 2 , 2 0 1 0 base_milliken-mar 22.qxd 7/13/2010 11:27 AM Page 1

Drink in the RED.

Stay in the Black. Only $69.99 valued at $189.99

12 World-Class Reds. Just $69.99. You Save $120. ($19.99 shipping, plus applicable tax.) Normal price $189.99.

• “Best Ever” 2009 Bordeaux Enjoy 12 handcrafted reds from the world’s great estates, Plus FREE GIFT • Heavyweight California Cab delivered to your door. And discover how to pay less for Order now for this • Made-for-Steak Malbec wines of such quality. With this special introduction to the deluxe lever-action WSJwine Discovery Club, you’ll save $120 right away. corkscrew set. • Blockbuster Italian Primitivo Every 3 months we will offer you 12 bottles of our best new • “What true Rioja is all about” $49.99 fi nds. There’s no commitment. With advance notice, you can value • Silky Sonoma Pinot Noir accept, decline, change the mix or delay delivery. All cases • Cherry-Rich Sangiovese will be priced at $139.99 and arrive with full tasting notes and • Extreme Patagonia Cabernet our full money-back guarantee. Give it a try today.

Call 1-877-975-9463 or visit wsjwine.com/2379023 Please quote code 2379023 when ordering. Lines open Mon-Fri 8am-11pm, Sat-Sun 8am-8pm EST.

WSJwine is operated independently of ’s news department. Offer available to fi rst-time WSJwine Discovery Club customers only and limited to one case per household. You must be at least 21 years old to order. All wine orders will be processed and fulfi lled by a licensed retailer in the industry and applicable taxes are paid. Offer may vary. Void where prohibited by law. Please visit our website for complete list of shipping states, terms and conditions. week_QXP-1127940387.qxp 7/14/20102:18PMPage12

OBAMA/NETANYAHU: PABLO MARTINEZ MONSIVAIS/AP AZAD: Z.TOMASZEWSKI/WENN THE WEEK THE as his duty to spread the Word there. He was caught with Bibles: missionary.ofa Hedecided toreturn toNorth Korea, seeing it Chinese border, to see his daughter, who had been left in the care tured almost to death. Released, he sneaked back across the across back sneaked he Released, death. to almost tured doingthis and sent him back tohim North Korea: caught where Chinese he was tor- The defectors. Korean North fellow his wife died. He found Christianity, and began to evangelize among ach until the baby died. Son fled with his family to China. His 2 1 nant,she was seized by the police. Theykicked her in the stom- thing happened: His wife was accused of remarking on the famine on that had spread remarking throughout of the land. Eight accused months preg- was wife His happened: thing spreads beyond the three-mile limit. he servedhethe“presidential in security service.” Butthensome- so, for small favors—and that sometimes domestic politics domestic sometimes that favors—and small for so, ever, leap to return to their Democratic roots? Thank God, even detestation;will AmericanJews, some ofthe stubbornest voters Thebody language of the two men’s handshake showed abiding must make nice. Insincere rapprochements raise their Democratsown shellackingfearingissues:aNovember, in Obama feelshe ever,andthe Left isthemodern locus ofIsrael-hatred. Butwith courseObamadislikes Israel; themostisheleft-wing president Of words.warm andNetanyahugalorecamerasgives Obama guys) and al-Megrahi works on his golf swing. well-head, that with (careful coast Libyan the off operations still those grievingwith for the 270remain dead of Lockerbiesympathies while BP our begins drillingall But so: Possibly interestsdiplomacy.grandtheof in cutbeen havedealsworse circle of civilized nations is worth an al-Megrahi or two, and therethat is a case to be made that coaxing Colonel Qaddafi into the over oil contracts and major Libyan financial investments. Now, prominentBritish-Libyanwasreleasenameinhis negotiations ColonelwithQaddafi’s family,hisemergedhaspriortothat it hasbeendoing thecelebrity circuit overLibyain andpartying three months only to him live. left A year cancer later he prostate seems to al-Megrahi’s be thriving; that and ment) while he govern-Libyanthe by for(paid opinionspecialist offeredthe cancer British a when last August grounds compassionate on life imprisonment in Scotland in 2001. Al-Megrahi was released intelligenceLibyanagent Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, sentenced to Americans.onlypersonTheeverconvicted atrocitythe in was them of 189 people, 270 killed 1988 in Scotland, Lockerbie, lem, but one outside the domain of NASA. maniacs).jihadiprob- Aserious for fodder become also (they or political substance, so they can be turned into trained cretins n n Son Jong Nam was a good, loyal North Korean: For ten years, The terrorist bomb that brought down Pan Am flight 103 over | .nationalre .com o c w. e i ev r l a n o i t a n w. w w Now,when he is soaking wet, while he dined with his Room family. Roosevelt the in him White House meeting, their leaving from cameras barring anyahu with studied contempt: primeminister Ben jaminNet - treatedIsraeliObamaBarack floated,still he whenMarch, derwater in the polls makes. In n What a difference being un - 50. A great man. An evil regime. in North Korea.” Son Jong Nam was at last tortured to death,ture.” age The brother observed, “There are many wayspublicmethod:lesstor- a to switchtoKoreansNorth“to killthe led people save him. According to a news report, the campaign apparently brother,SouthinKorea, launched internationalan campaign to sentencedpublicexecutionhisfiringwassquad.Butto byHe andcharged with spying for the United States and South Korea. atavistic passions of an intolerant faith. to a cloak of invisibility. Alas, there is no magic undisclosedpotionanfledto location—ato stillgood-enough theapproximation bailunder curfewa order. Miss Azad,whois22years old, has releasedonwereManchester,menhometown theirof two the Muslims. After a court appearance in Hinduaman. The AzadsareBritish threatenedher with death for dating brotherphysically assaultedand her and father her when out this found movies, Potter the of four in Patil classmatePadmaof part theplayed ous.has Actress whoAfshan Azad, harmoni less - somewhat is beings human actual of world The ardry. warts School of Witchcraft and Wiz - Hog at classmates Harry’s- among amitytolerant in presentfaiths and isimpeccably diverse, with allraces one shouldbedupedintothinkingotherwise. bogusonspying charges. Cubahasnotreally changed, andno Gross, Alan subcontractor USAID citizen, American an hold tocontinuesregimeCommunist the that note alsoshould We awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George W. Bush.ly includes Dr. Oscar Elías Biscet, the Cuban Mandela, who was several of them are refusing to leave Cuba. This group reported- exileabroad. Accordingbloggersto activists and island,theon Castro’sis escapinggulag for price liberated:The being truly not areprisoners 52 Moreover, Zapata.theOrlandodissident, whose protest fast began after theFariñas, Guillermohunger-strikerself-starvation of near-death the ofby anotherpartly jailed icism of its ghastly human-rights record. It was motivatedstunt atdesigned least to shield Havana from growing international crit- gives heart to freedom-lovers everywhere, this release was a PR science. While the unshackling of peaceful democracy advocatesSpanish government, Cuba agreed to release 52 prisoners of con- Nations. The U.S. governmentUnited utteredthe atnot women’s-rightscommissiona wordthe into objection.elected was every Iranian woman is so lucky. Earlier an thisoutcry, year, Iran hasthe calledIranian off thestate execution “for thesmall moment”; rocks—not not big ones, small ones—until she died.fairly Bowingspecific: to She was to be buried up ture,to herthat neckshe andlater pelted retracted. with The decreed lashes.method Sheof madeexecution a confession was under “duress,” accusationadultery.whichanafterofalready 99given beenhad She is to say tor- widow,themother oftwo, 43years old, wassentenced todeath n n n Castingforthe Harry Potter films Following negotiations with the Catholic Church and the and Church Catholic the with negotiations Following In Iran, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, an impoverished an Ashtiani, Mohammadi Sakineh Iran, In T S U G U A 2 , 0 1 0 2 week_QXP-1127940387.qxp 7/14/2010 2:18 PM Page 13

n Roman Polanski is a free man. The 76-year-old director has Colonel wants to downplay the amount of grease in his secret been wanted in the United States since 1978, when he skipped recipe. NPR wants to show that it has moved beyond radio, town to beat a rap for unlawful sexual intercourse. French cit- sort of like BP (formerly British Petroleum) has moved izenship protected him from extradition so long as he stayed “Beyond Petroleum.” Here’s an idea: Now that the “public” there, but when he ventured to Switzerland to accept an award, has been removed from NPR’s name, how about we remove we tried to nab him. The Swiss decided, on technicalities, not the public from its finances? to extradite him. The law is a collage of technicalities; per- haps the decision was correct. The revival of the case served, n Diageo, like a lot of businesses these days, was however, to recall what Polanski had done: drug and rape a 13- having trouble finding the money to meet its pen- year-old girl during a modeling shoot (he made a deal with the sion obligations. Luckily, the company—which prosecutor to plead guilty only to the single count). This back- owns such brands as Johnnie Walker, Bushmills, lights the artistes (Woody Allen) and art-hounds (French and Lagavulin—found a creative solution: In - culture minister Frédéric Mitterrand) who wanted Polanski stead of cash, fill the pension fund with whiskey. freed because they like Chinatown. Who doesn’t? But great (Don’t laugh; a barrel of maturing Scotch is an scoundrels can be great artists (and bad artists, and followers appreciating asset.) Could state governments of any other line of work). Great artists should not get a free facing their own pension time bombs take a pass. page from Diageo’s playbook? Alas, unlike fine Scottish distilleries, bloated bureaucracies do n In yet further evidence that the cellphone is a very mixed not produce enough of lasting value to pull off blessing, a 54-year-old German man has been arrested for such a scheme. having one of Hitler’s speeches as his ring tone. The speech promised “the destruction of world Jewry” if Germany was n When it comes to “great guyness,” Thomas L. Rhodes— again “dragged” into war. The offending gadget rang several Dusty—has pretty much retired the cup. For many years, he times as its owner was riding a train to Hamburg. Outraged fel- has been the genial spirit of the conservative movement: and low passengers got on their own cellphones, and police were the entrepreneurial spirit and an all-around invaluable spirit. waiting at the next station stop. (The German constitution pro- A Wall Street whiz, he rose to be a partner of Goldman hibits public displays of sympathy for Nazism.) Many of us Sachs. In due course, he wanted to do other things. Like would be happy to see all train-riding cellphone users thus what? Well, as he told WFB, “I want to fight socialism.” And treated, but perhaps the commuters of Lower Saxony should fight it he did. He helped lead the , the look on the bright side. At least it wasn’t one of Fidel Castro’s Manhattan Institute, , the Bradley speeches. Imagine a six-hour ring tone! Foundation. He was Ward Connerly’s partner at the Amer - ican Civil Rights Co alition. He was everywhere, in the ser- n The Boy Scouts of America is celebrating its centenary. We vice of high principle. Most important to us, he has been celebrate with it. In these hundred years, scouting has brought chairman and CEO of NATIONAL REvIEW. Now he is retiring, healthy and harmless fun to untold millions of American boys, and he is at the moment with his glorious wife Gleaves at while imparting solid practical and moral instruction. From their home in Nantucket. Once, before reciting a limerick of the lofty heights of early-21st-century enlightenment, some of his own composition (clean), he referred to himself slyly as that moral instruction looks uncharitable. The more dogmatic “the man from Nantucket.” We are hugely grateful for his of our moralists have even declared the BSA a hate group on service. account of its refusal to countenance openly homosexual scoutmasters. Robert Baden-Powell, who founded scouting (in n , scold, scourge, and one-man band, Britain, a couple of years before W. D. Boyce brought it to the has cut short the book tour for Hitch-22, his memoir in medias U.S.), has himself been much mocked for his snobbery and res, to take chemotherapy for cancer of the esophagus. On imperialism, his political naïveté, his enthusiasm for pastimes many subjects (God, Trotsky) Hitchens is barking mad, but on like pig-sticking and skirt-dancing, and his distressingly un- others (the war against Islamist terrorism) he has been doing, modern attitudes to sexuality. Well, let the mockers mock. he should pardon the expression, the Lord’s work. If spit and Scouting has accomplished wonders in the most difficult of all vinegar count for anything, then Hitchens should come social endeavors: the civilizing of young males. Baden-Powell through. We wish him well. was several times nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. The last nomination, in 1939, lapsed because of WWII. (Baden- n Abu Daoud raised Palestinian terror to some sort of interna- Powell died in 1941.) It’s a pity it can’t be revived. Looking tional peak when he organized the murder of Israeli athletes through the list of subsequent recipients of that award, we see during the Munich Olympic Games in 1972. He had a team of precious few who did as much good in the world as Robert eight members of Black September, one of the several bodies Baden-Powell. that did Yasser Arafat’s dirty work. Storming into the Olympic village, they shot dead two Israelis who resisted and held the n Following in the footsteps of such mighty predecessors as others hostage. A firefight mistimed by the German police left the National Abortion Rights Action League and all the Israelis and five Palestinians dead. Mossad agents even- Fried Chicken, National Public Radio has changed its name to tually accounted for two of the three who got away. Daoud its initials: NPR. NARAL changed its name because it would himself survived an assassination attempt in Warsaw, going on rather talk about “choice” than about abortion, while the to live comfortably in Damascus under his proper name of

1 3 week_QXP-1127940387.qxp 7/14/2010 2:19 PM Page 14

THE WEEK Muhammad Oudeh. Travelling once to Paris, he was detained markets. These policies have two things in common: Dem - briefly, but the French government chose not to bring him to ocrats supported them at the time, and they have done nothing justice. “I regret nothing,” he told German television, although to alter them since. In the case of Fannie and Freddie, the his Munich exploit did much to turn public opinion against Democrats, very much including one Senator Obama, resisted Palestinians. Hearing of Abu Daoud’s death, Mahmoud Abbas, Bush’s attempts at reform. the present Palestinian leader, sent the family a letter of warm We have not emerged from a “decade of spiraling deficits.” condolence. r.I.P. Deficits were declining until the recession and financial crisis hit, and they would begin declining again were recovery to take hold and Washington to enact long-term spending re - POLITICS straint. The president’s policies imperil both conditions. He Backward and Upward has made entitlement reform more difficult by enacting a bogus version of it in his health-care legislation, and he seems T a campaign stop for , President Obama likely to allow taxes on investment to rise dramatically. Obama said that the job losses of the last few years “were all has retained the worst policies of the Bush years and added A the consequence of a decade of misguided economic bad ones of his own. policies.” At another campaign stop, he said that in the When you’re already moving backward, the only way to November elections voters must choose between “the policies go forward is to turn around. that led us into this mess and the policies that are leading us out of this mess.” The president, widely reputed for his thought- fulness and ability to present complex opposing arguments IMMIGRATION fairly, added, “It’s a choice between falling backwards or The Battle of Arizona moving forward.” The president is right about those misguided policies, but FTer the fusillade of abuse that accompanied the pas- they are not the ones he has in mind. President Bush’s tax cuts sage of its new immigration-enforcement law, Arizona were not responsible for the financial crisis—lucky for us, A might wonder: Is this it? The state was accused of since Obama claims to want to keep many of them. Several incipient Nazism, but the Obama administration does not even federal policies during the Bush years led us to our reckoning. mention potential civil-rights violations in its suit against The Fed was too loose. The government promoted home- Arizona. Instead, it challenges the law on the far more tech - ownership too recklessly. Its subsidies encouraged Fannie Mae nical grounds that federal law “preempts” the state statute. and Freddie Mac to gain a dangerous dominance in mortgage even this far less incendiary claim is dubious. The drafters of the Arizona law carefully stayed within the bounds of the federal code and of case law. It’s well established that states may enforce federal immigration law. This is why the Obama administration must argue that the very fact of state-level enforcement interferes with the “balance” of priorities set by the executive branch—i.e., its determination to ignore federal law in crucial respects. embedded in this argument is the contention that it’s not federal law as written by Congress that reigns supreme, but how executive agencies in their discretion decide to interpret it. At the very least, this is a novel claim. Why the urgency in making it? As a practical matter, it’s hard to see how Arizona’s alerting of the federal government to the presence of illegal aliens found within the state—the heart of its law—would undo federal priorities. The feds can still decide how to handle those cases. Bizarrely, the federal government is saying it doesn’t even want—nay, considers unconstitutional—assistance in enforcing its own laws. The impetus for the suit is clearly political. The Obama administration is ideologically opposed to enforcement and is desperate to boost its declining numbers among Latinos—and distract them from the president’s failure to deliver on his promise to get “comprehensive” immigration reform in his first year in office. right before the Arizona suit, Obama gave a speech plugging for “comprehensive” immigration reform and warning against a “patchwork” of different approaches to GETTY immigration across the country. Shortly thereafter, the Justice / Department made the administration’s preference clear—

uniform defiance of the law. ETHAN MILLER

1 4 | www.nationalreview.com AUGUST 2 , 2 0 1 0 3col_QXP-1127940387.qxp 7/13/20109:24PMPage15

ROMAN GENN O Republicans slammed him.) slammed Republicans ton retracted his comments after other after comments his retracted ton trol.” (What you won’t hear is that Bar - Bar is that hear won’t you (What trol.” Republicansthecon-gainif togetwere you’d whatcandidatesabout local from and president the both from think, I lot, those are the type of things you’ll hear a would govern. they Joe way Barton, John the Boehner, but thinking, are people that’s a perfect window, not into what into not window, perfect a that’s people in the Gulf, but to the CEO. I think CEO of BP by apologizing, not to the to not apologizing, by BP of CEO started his congressional testimony of the Barton, JoeCommittee, Commerce and who’s the ranking member of the Energy ity is, is tantamount to an ant? The guy The ant? an to tantamount is is, ity thinkswhofinancialthatthe,the calam - in to the speakership of the House, a guy in, put towant November:youthis “Do Not Pro-Businessman licans might take the House the take might licans warned thatGibbs Robert the Repub - spokesman House N Republicans should make a stand against corporate welfare et h Press the Meet Pro-Business, U R U N N O P H S E M A R Y B White , ht bm i cetn a lmt that climate a creating is Obama that Winston. He says that people are worried RepublicanpollsterDavidtration,”says the private sector resultaas and thisofadminis- business about change mood a of kind been has therethink “I tactic. appointments are therefore needed. Democraticmore that and guy little the businessover bigfavored has Court the that argue (R.I.) Whitehouse Sheldon Supreme Court, too. the Sens. Al Franken to (Minn.) and nomination Kagan’s Elena overhearings the of center the at power. They have tried to place that issue cally circle back to the topic of corporate return of George W. Bush’s policies typi- the about alarms their and“extremism” Democrats’conservativeTheon attacks rapacity.corporate from have they tion icans that Democrats are the only protec- Amer tell to It’s- secret. a strategy fall Republicans are not worried about this their keeping aren’t Democrats The have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of lot” a “quite or deal” great “a have ous institutions. Only 16 percent say they muchhowconfidence theyvari-havein people asks also Gallup either. of fond ment more than big business, they are not it at preferential rates. portant to fail, and thus get access to cred- im too be tomarket the assumedby be - Those firms: desig financial nated as large systemically important will trench en to - be probably will financial- bill regulation pending the of effect The away. taking resists administration the that privileges special with companies private Mac, Freddie and Mae Fannie did So bailout. a got Chrysler and GM regulations. new of cost the offset will surers will getIn new customers,base. - too, which customer industry’s ceutical pharma-health-caretheexpandwill bill The businesses. various for lot a quite done hasadministration the fact in that staff,justifiablypressthecomplained in Emanuel,Obama’sRahmright.of chief work for them this year. But it is not quite licanscomfortable,are likelyisittoand will flay an anti-business administration. They jobs. no creates business bashing cabinetcannotremedylack,that hisand CEO-free his that business, for American feel no has president turned nizer readysaying—that al thecommunity orga- are - say—they will They business. defending by Democrats the to respond to likely are Republicans mood, porate economic life.” Given the public and cor- of sector every virtually into “reaching it criticized for and regulation excessive Roundtable Business the of head The administration.the disappointmentwith their in vocal more getting been have Obamacare, and cap-and-trade. But CEOs Roundtableness supportedstimulus,the ported his stimulus legislation. sup- The Busi Commerce of - Chamber the groups. Even business from support joyed big labor). ness(and 11 percent worried more about 31 percent worried more about big busi- America’s future than big business. Only sidered big government a bigger threat to foundthatpercent53 of Americanscon- financial crisis, the in Decemberof height 2008,the at GallupEven business. big worried more about decades big government than for have Americans Besides, succeed. to businesses for hard it makes And while Americans fear big govern- Repub which with message - aThat’s en - Obama presidency his in Early 5 1 3col_QXP-1127940387.qxp 7/13/2010 9:24 PM Page 16

confidence in big business. Even Con- nol subsidies are both expensive and gress does slightly better. (Small business bad for the environment. (BP will pocket is much more popular.) Republicans $600 million in ethanol subsidies this Cut to Grow should not be hostile to big business. But year alone.) they would be better off if they could find Republicans should also rethink their Want stimulus? Trim the budget. a way to be hostile to big government opposition to the reimportation of pre- without being seen as devoted to the scription drugs. Many Republicans be - BY STEPHEN SPRUIELL interests of big business. lieve that allowing the importation of “The problem we have had as a party is these drugs would amount to importing HE word “austerity” has achieved we have often confused being pro-market foreign price controls as well. Tim Car - ubiquity in 2010 almost as ra - with being pro-business,” says Rep. Paul ney, a journalistic crusader against corpo- pidly as “stimulus” did in 2009 rate welfare, has the retort: The drug T and “bailout” in 2008. All three Ryan (R., Wis.). When businesses ask for earmarks, too many of his colleagues companies have been pretty successful in were ushered in by “subprime,” 2007’s think that saying yes is the right thing lobbying Washington; let them lobby economic buzzword. “Austerity” implies to do. Ryan believes that Republicans Ottawa too. The result could be that the pain, but all it means is balancing the bud- should run against “crony capitalism,” in companies refuse to sell in countries that get, and most economists would agree which government selects some firms for keep prices too low. If so, global markets that this need not be painful. Their dis- favors. would become more free and American agreement concerns the conditions under Most Republicans already favor a pol- prices would drop as the drug companies which a nation can balance its budget icy of “no more bailouts.” It is a popular recouped their R&D costs from a broad- without causing pain. position. Arthur Brooks, the author of er base of customers. Speculation about The Keynesians, who advocate defi - The Battle, a new book about the cultural how other governments would respond is cit spending for economic stimulus, are dimension of our economic debates, ex - not really much of an argument for limit- lined up on one side of this debate, argu- plains, “Most bailouts are seen as inde- ing Americans’ freedom. Such stalwart ing that the key to avoiding pain is simply fensible morally because they attenuate free-market champions as Cato Institute getting the timing right: They say a accountability.” But to make the Repub- president Ed Crane and Pennsylvania nation should take steps to balance its licans’ slogan credible requires two ad- Senate candidate Pat Toomey have con- budget only once it has emerged from ditional steps. First, they have to push cluded that reimportation should be legal. recession. On the other side, the Hayek - for policies that prevent financial firms More Republicans ought to join them. ian advocates of argue that the key is getting the policy right, regardless of the timing: Austerity Defending the free-enterprise system through spending cuts is always compat- ible with growth; austerity through tax requires first defining what it is— hikes isn’t. This is an old disagreement, dating back to when John Maynard and what it is not. Keynes and F. A. Hayek themselves de - bated the question, and it will keep going from reaching the point at which bailouts A lot of Republicans are convinced long after this latest round. But new evi- are necessary to prevent economy-wide that the free-enterprise system needs a dence has emerged, in the form of a study in stability. Tighter limits on leverage more vigorous defense than it has needed of recent fiscal consolidations, to support should probably be on that list. Second, in many years. Defending it requires first the Hayekian view. they ought to have plans to reprivatize the defining what it is—and what it is not. A Keynesians start from the position that economy: to unwind the government’s welfare system for business is not, and recessions happen because aggregate de - ownership stake in the automakers, for tends to discredit, free enterprise. Support- mand falls below output, causing invento- example. ers of markets must be zealous not only in ries to accumulate and businesses to cut Corporate welfare is also an inviting protecting business from government but back. They argue that deficit spending is target. The Overseas Private Investment in protecting citizens from their improper needed to pick up the resulting slack in the Corporation, the Export-Import Bank, combination. economy. For this view to make econom- the Market Access Program: These fed - If that’s too high-minded for Repub - ic sense, Keynesians must assume that the eral programs are taxpayer subsidies to licans, they should consider something government is borrowing idle cash. If a corporations. If an investment makes else. If they take the House, as looks bank has $1,000, it can hold it in reserve, economic sense, a company should make more likely by the day, they will have to it can loan it to the private sector, or it can it on its own. If it doesn’t, no one should. draw up a budget next spring. That bud- loan it to the government. Holding cash in Tax breaks for corporations should be get, given their campaign promises, their reserve is the least attractive option for a reformed, too, with some extended to all members’ views, and the public mood, bank, because cash generates no profit. companies and some abolished. will have to include sharp cuts. It will go Keynesians argue that in recessions, when Subsidies for agribusiness are a partic- better for them if some of those cuts fall private-sector lending is riskier than ularly harmful type of corporate welfare, on programs that benefit corporations. usual, the government should discourage creating direct economic costs and em - They may as well start making the case cash-hoarding by supplying banks with broiling the U.S. in trade disputes. Etha - now. low-risk government securities in which

1 6 | www.nationalreview.com AUGUST 2 , 2 0 1 0 3col_QXP-1127940387.qxp 7/13/2010 9:24 PM Page 17

to invest. The government can then spend sell aren’t selling, and people who should highly unlikely to slow economic growth. the money (or cut taxes, though you’ll buy are waiting on the sidelines for prices That’s because multiplier effects of rarely hear a Keynesian make that argu- to come down further. Bad debts linger. spending are just as real when it is the pri- ment), thus aiding the economy by creat- The question of what housing is worth— vate sector that spends (or invests) that ing demand. and how big the losses from the bubble’s first dollar, and Keynesian theory is at its This is a nice, tidy theory—with almost bursting are really going to be—remains a weakest when it argues that the private no application to the recession we’re in. major source of uncertainty. sector wouldn’t have spent or invested the The financial crisis of 2008 was not a It is no surprise to any student of reali- dollar if the government hadn’t borrowed typical business-cycle recession. It was a ty that, absent policies to address the un - or taxed it. spectacular blowup of the financial sys- derlying weaknesses in the banking and As mentioned above, this debate has tem, involving the sudden devaluation of housing sectors, stimulus measures have been going on a long time. Perhaps its trillions of dollars of assets as home prices failed to deliver on promises of sustain- best expression took the form of duel - collapsed. To return to the example in the able growth and job creation. On July 10, ing letters to the Times of London, one previous paragraph, the problem was not the Wall Street Journal released an authored by a group of economists includ- that the bank refused to lend its $1,000 to analysis of unemployment trends in ing John Maynard Keynes, the other by a the private sector; it was that the bank eleven countries, concluding: “Manage - group including F. A. Hayek. suddenly lost half its money. Banks strug- able debt burdens and healthy banking The letters, long forgotten but recent - gled to fund their liabilities, and taking systems—areas in which the U.S. doesn’t ly rediscovered by economist Richard on new risk was, for a time, out of the excel—are proving to be crucial factors Ebeling, were written in 1932 and con- question. in creating jobs.” Whether a country cerned the “paradox of thrift,” the idea Democrats and other proponents of Keynesian economics warn that enacting austerity measures now would actually make deficits worse. This is highly unlikely.

This contraction of credit could be responded to the recession with some that saving can be harmful to the econo- counteracted only by some combination form of traditional Keynesian stimulus my. The group led by Keynes argued, “If of liquidating major financial institutions does not appear to have played any role a person with an income of £1,000, the and injecting new capital into the finan- at all. whole of which he would normally spend, cial system; for a variety of reasons, gov- Democrats and other proponents of decides instead to save £500 of it . . . there ernment officials leaned toward the latter, Keynesian economics warn that enacting [isn’t] any assurance that [the savings] less efficient means, and managed to bun- austerity measures now would make will find their way into investment in new gle even that. They protected bank bond- deficits worse, because austerity would capital construction by public or private holders from sharing in the losses when curtail growth and, subsequently, govern- concerns.” Keynes et al. added that “when they should have made bailouts condi- ment revenues. Some go so far as to argue a man economizes in consumption and tional on bondholders’ converting some that government spending pays for itself lets the fruit of his economy pile up in of their debt to equity, in order to recapi- through certain “multiplier” effects: bank balances or even in the purchase talize the banks. Then they made exec- Keynesian models assume that each of existing securities, the released real utive pay a political football, thereby deficit dollar spent on widgets is subse- resources do not find a new home waiting encouraging bank executives, who were quently deployed by the widget maker for them.” eager to escape public scrutiny of their on some other productive activity, thus The group led by Hayek agreed that compensation, to repay bailout money as increasing total output by more than one “hoarding money, whether in cash or soon as their institutions could survive dollar. In conditions of high unemploy- in idle balances, is deflationary in its without it—but before they had enough ment and low growth, they say, this can effects,” and thus not desirable; but they capital to resume normal lending. add up to a substantial bit of additional rightly rejected the idea that investing in Meanwhile, in the broader economy, tax revenue. securities, and thereby providing produc- consumer demand remained relatively Stilts would be embarrassed to be asso- tive enterprises with capital, contributed robust, especially considering that falling ciated with this nonsense. It is akin to the nothing to the economy. home prices meant consumers could no hyperbolic line, taken up by some overen- Further, an investor or institution that longer use their houses as ATMs. But thusiastic supply-siders, that tax cuts pay is truly hoarding cash is not likely to be policymakers botched this side of the for themselves. But while both arguments suddenly persuaded to loan funds to the equation, too. The Democrats launched a are exaggerated, there is an important government simply because Congress de - multi-pronged “foreclosure mitigation” difference: Tax cuts may not generate cides to pass yet another stimulus pack- project, which ended up dragging out a enough growth to be fully self-financing, age. If such a person were inclined to buy natural revaluation in the housing market but tax increases certainly create a drag on government securities, he would find that that should have taken place quickly after growth and reduce government revenues. there already exists an abundance of them the bubble popped. People who should Spending cuts, on the other hand, are from which to choose. Cash-hoarding is

1 7 3col_QXP-1127940387.qxp 7/13/2010 9:24 PM Page 18

rare. It is more likely that the risk-averse who commented on his former students to investor or institution will go with cash the press: Ufuk Ince. equivalents: short-term loans to govern- Russia’s The Russians did not exactly speak like ments and corporations that pay a rela- the guy or girl next door, unless the guy tively low rate of interest. Nesting Dolls or girl is Russian. “Cynthia Murphy,” in The point is that far from being “idle Mont clair, explained to her neighbors why money,” these savings are invested. Anna, Vicky, and other spies she had an accent: She was Belgian. (Nice Hayek’s group argued that this activity among us and vague.) To still other neighbors, she is essential, especially in an economic said she was Scandinavian. (Again, nicely downturn: “We, [contrary to Keynes et BY JAY NORDLINGER vague.) After the arrests, everyone re - al.], believe that one of the main difficul- marked on how lovely her hydrangeas ties of the world today is a deficiency of OU may remember a classic were. investment. . . . Hence we regard a revival scene from a classic movie, By the way, did you read about how the of investment as peculiarly desirable.” My Cousin Vinny—made way Guryevs/Murphys explained to their mas- Nor did the signatories of the Hayek letter Y back in 1992. Vinny and his ters in Moscow why they had bought a support fiscal stimulus to counteract the fiancée Mona Lisa, New Yorkers to the house? In a coded message, they wrote, workings of the market: “At best,” they core, are in a small Alabama town. He “From our perspective, purchase of the wrote, these measures “mortgage the says, “You stick out like a sore thumb house was solely a natural progression of Budgets of the future, and they tend to around here.” She says, “Me? What our prolonged stay here.” And it was a way drive up the rate of interest.” about you?” He says, “I fit in better than to “‘do as the Romans do’ in a society that Keynesians are quick to point out that, you. At least I’m wearing cowboy values home ownership.” Well, a lot of so far, we haven’t seen the kind of interest- boots.” “Oh, yeah,” she says, with weary people overvalued home ownership in the rate pressure that Hayek mentioned in sarcasm, “you blend.” last decade—that’s one reason the Romans his letter. The reason is obvious enough: Those Russian spies recently shipped are hurting right now. With a Democratic Congress swinging its back to the Motherland didn’t especially The sex of the scandal was Anna Chap - wrecking ball through the private econ- blend. They were supposed to be sleep- man—the one who had given her address omy, and with other developed countries ers, blenders—melting with practiced as “99 Fake Street.” “Anna Chapman” was in even worse fiscal messes than ours, skill into American society. Instead, they her real name, actually, because the young Treasury notes look like a safe investment stuck out like sore thumbs, a lot of woman born Anna Kushchenko had once relative to corporate bonds and other them. And they often didn’t try very been married to an Englishman named forms of debt. But low rates on Treasury hard. One spy, in a cellphone shop, gave Alex Chapman. He told the London tabs notes should not be taken as a vote of con- her address as 99 Fake Street. all about their bedroom games—and he fidence in the U.S. government’s fiscal They did a pretty good job choosing had photos to share! The stewardship. Other indicators, such as the “American” names. (I’m mindful that recycled this material under the headline soaring price of gold, reveal a profound Chang and Gonzalez are American names, “‘Spy’ vixen’s kinky sex secrets exposed.” uneasiness with Treasuries, too. The too.) Vladimir and Lydia Guryev, who The Daily News had some info, too: “The Keynes ians are wrong: The time to get set up shop in Montclair, N.J., called wealthy boyfriend of sexy Russian spy our fiscal house in order is now. themselves Richard and Cynthia Murphy. Anna Chapman is being accused in a civil The way we get it in order—the policy Andrei Bezrukov and Elena Vavilova, lawsuit of raping a New Jersey woman and mix we use to rectify our structural another couple, called themselves Donald giving her herpes.” And so it went. Anna deficit—is the thing that matters, and a Heathfield and Tracey Foley. In court, was everyone’s favorite “flame-haired” body of research, including a recent paper Mr. Heathfield said he preferred to be bim, “the spy who loved us.” The Wash - from Harvard economics professors addressed as Mr. Heathfield, still. His ington Post purred that she “could have Alberto Alesina and Silvia Ardagna, indi- wife—Elena/Tracey—opted for “Defen - warmed up any Cold War night.” cates that there is a correct way to balance dant Number 5” (which reminded some On the subject of the Cold War: Do you the budget. After studying more than 100 of us of Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s onetime han- happen to remember Svetlana Ogorod - instances of fiscal consolidation, Alesina dle: “Client Number 9”). nikova, the Soviet spy who seduced an FBI and Ardagna concluded that “spending I like a story told in Cold War days. man named Richard Miller? This was in cuts are much more effective than tax Kon rad Adenauer was introduced to an the mid-1980s. She pleaded with Mike increases in sta bilizing the debt and avoid- Amer ican spook whose name, genuinely, Wallace on , “I’m not a spy. I’m ing economic downturns,” and identified was Smith. “Der Alte” muttered, “‘Smith,’ not Mata Hari. I’m not sexual maniac like “several epi sodes in which spending cuts ‘Smith,’ it’s always ‘Smith’ with you people say about me. Do I look like I’m a adopted to reduce deficits have been asso- people.” sexual maniac?” (Sort of.) ciated with economic expansions rather One of the recent Russian spies, at Back to Anna Chapman for a moment. than recessions.” least, showed a little ethnic imagination. When news broke that we were sending We’ve tried the Keynesian approach, Mikhail Kutsik called himself Michael the spies back to Russia, the New York Post and it hasn’t worked. The question we Zottoli. (His wife, Natalia Pereverzeva, asked, “But can we keep her?” Even Vice have to ask ourselves is whether we want was Patricia Mills.) Speaking of names, I President Biden got in on the act, leering a the economic buzzword for 2011 to be give you that of their advanced-finance bit on The Tonight Show. He said, “Let me “recovery,” or “broke.” instructor at the University of Washington, be clear: It was not my idea to send her

1 8 | www.nationalreview.com AUGUST 2 , 2 0 1 0 3col_QXP-1127940387.qxp 7/13/2010 9:24 PM Page 19

back.” He added, “I thought they’d take .” They certainly would not have taken Joe. A spy who did not love us so much was Vicky Peláez. She was the only one who wasn’t actually Russian, and “Vicky Peláez” was her real and only name. She came from Peru, where she was a flam- boyant TV journalist, and a flaming radi- cal—kind of a red Fallaci. A curious event occurred in 1984 (about the time Svetlana was seducing Dick). She and a cameraman were kidnapped by the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, one of the terrorist armies that have made South America bleed. They were held just a day—and Peláez got an interview out of it: an interview with a terrorist leader. Vicky Peláez: a spy for Russia, a cheerleader for Castro, Guzmán, and the rest of that crowd Curious indeed. These “revolutionary movements” tend not to hold people for Hugo Chávez, Evo Morales, and the other stand that, when you have an axis going, just a day. Recently, I met an incredibly little Castros, too. But she especially loved you aren’t too picky. brave woman named Clara Rojas who was the big Castro. Her columns were carried Lázaro, or Vasenko, proved proudly a hostage of the FARC for six years. People by Granma, the official newspaper of the Russian upon his arrest. It was almost said it looked like Peláez was in on the Cuban state. In one of them, she wrote, touching. He said he would never vio- Túpac Amaru kidnapping, or “kidnap- “Fidel Castro is already immortal! He is a late his loyalty to the Service—meaning, ping.” One of those people was the cam- man who inspired and demonstrated the Russian intelligence—even for the sake of eraman. fertile path of truth for other leaders!” And his son. What about her husband, Juan Lázaro, Castro loved her back, make no mistake. In His son? Yes, Juan Jr., age 17. He is a né Mikhail Vasenko? In Peru, he was a a column of his own, just last May, he cited student of the piano. Vicky has another photographer and a karate instructor: and a piece she had written about Arizona’s son, too, from a previous relationship: he passed himself off as a Peruvian born in new immigration law: “such a well-argued Waldomar Mariscal (beautiful name), age Uruguay. Or tried to. People thought it was document,” he said. 38. He is an architect. Initially, he poured a bit odd that a Uruguayan-born Peruvian Note, too, that Peláez published at scorn on the idea that either Vicky or spoke with a Russian accent. But every- jihadist and jihad-friendly sites, such as Juan had anything to do with Russia or one’s allowed to reinvent himself. And WebIslam. The likes of Vicky Peláez Russians. It was “preposterous,” he told Lázaro did name himself after a man will take their revolution where they can the press. Why, the only thing Russian raised from the dead. get it. about the accused couple was their fond- That Vicky loved Juan, there is little Lázaro did a little teaching: at Baruch ness for Tchaikovsky. It’s unclear how doubt. In a book dedication, she described College, a component of the City Uni - much the sons knew: how much Vicky and him as her “comrade and guide of all versity of New York. He taught a course in Juan had told them. dreams.” Latin American and Caribbean politics. Once the jig was up, the Russian gov- In New York, the couple worked as com- Apparently, he used his time denouncing ernment offered Vicky a deal: Come to mies (openly) and Russian spies (not open- U.S. foreign policy and celebrating Chávez Russia and take free housing, plus $2,000 a ly). She was a columnist for El Diario/La et al. Talk about blending in! He could not month—for life. In addition, all the travel Prensa. On her desk were photos of Che have been more natural in an American you and your kids could want. But Vicky Guevara and Abimael Guzmán—Guzmán classroom. One student said, “He chal- wants to do something else: She wants to being the leader of Shining Path, the in - lenged us intellectually.” Certainly, cer- go back to Peru, where the government sanely murderous Peruvian terror group. tainly. Other students, however, found his said it is happy to have her—or at least She spoke at May Day rallies. That sort of unrelenting anti-Americanism oppressive. willing to have her. She has a ranch there, thing. As for Lázaro, he went to the New After the arrests, some of Vicky and and an adobe. Juan could go with her, pre- School (of course) and became some sort Juan’s friends scratched their heads. The sumably, and they could live happily ever of anthropologist–political scientist. He couple were such devotees of Shining after, in their “adobe hacienda,” as the old once contributed an article to the red jour- Path; but Shining Path, being Maoist, song went. They would surely blend. nal Dialectical Anthropology. It was about always opposed the (as And bear in mind that they’re all for how good Shining Path was in incorporat- too soft), and definitely opposed post- Shining Path, these two—for a terrorist ing women. They got to kill, right along Com munist Russia. How to explain the “revolutionary movement” that seeks to with the men. inconsistency? There are also people who destroy Peruvian democracy, and as many In her writings, Peláez constantly wonder how the Iranian regime, which is Peruvians as necessary. But that’s Lima’s praised the man she loved: not Lázaro, not Shiite, can support Hamas and other Sunni problem now, I suppose. Washington and

AP even Guzmán, but Fidel Castro. She loved terror groups. They seem not to under- Moscow appear through.

1 9 3col_QXP-1127940387.qxp 7/13/2010 9:24 PM Page 20

one of his pals at NBC. Something to the used to read a lot about how people effect that their anger was pre-planned here would “always have my back.” The because ‘beating up on the president has . . . Now I get to read how we pre- been good for ratings.’” planned our anger because “beating Revolution “I haven’t checked,” the commenter up on the President has been good for continued. “But I’m hearing that Olber - ratings.” . . . To accuse me, after five years of risk- mann slammed the speech on Twitter Eats Itself ing what I have to present the truth as I before it even started.” see it, of staging something for effect, is Kos and Olby at daggers drawn That this was an essentially anony- deeply offensive to me and is an indi - mous remark, buried in a sea of com- cation of what has happened here. . . . ments, on a site whose raison d’être is to If you want this site the way it was BY DANIEL FOSTER coalesce agitated partisans—and that it even a year ago, let me know and I’ll be was chock-a-block with can’t verify’s, back. SNBC and the blog Daily haven’t checked’s, and hearsay (for the Kos are arguably the two record, Olbermann hadn’t preemptive - Here the reader will be permitted to axes along which pop ly “tweeted” a negative take on the fetch a fresh handkerchief . . . M progressivism maneuvers. speech)—ensured that an even-tempered Right, then. If this had been the last Forged in the crucible of impotent lib- man would give it nary a second thought. of it, one might well chalk it up to the eral rage that was the post-Iraq Bush But Olbermann, like Russia, can have caprice of a notoriously tempestuous administration, by the 2008 election sea- only enemies and vassals at his borders, and thin-skinned television personality. son the pair had evolved into the pistons and so he struck back. But as it turns out, there was a Concord of a well-oiled political noise machine. In a farewell entry at Daily Kos titled to this Lexington. Kos’s guerrilla bloggers and MSNBC’s “Check, Please,” Olbermann, in injured It came some weeks later, in early July, talking heads digested and regurgitated and embattled tones, announced his when Kos founder Markos Moulitsas—a the messaging of base-agitators such as summary departure from diarist duties frequent MSNBC contributor whose gift MoveOn.org, making it fit for (relative- until such time as commenters ceased to for fifth-grade ad hominems matches or ly) mass consumption en route to the indulge in “conspiracy theories.” exceeds Olbermann’s—took to his site to docket of the Democratic congressional Olby wrote: announce that he had been “blacklisted” caucus. by the network. But ever since MSNBC and Kos saw For years, from the Katrina days on - Indeed, Phil Griffin, whom Moulitsas ward, whenever I stuck my neck out, I their man installed in Washington, referred to as the “alleged” president of usually visited here as the cliched guy they’ve found their message competing in the desert stopping by the oasis. I MSNBC, confirmed that he had “asked for time with the tea parties, and increas- never got universal support, and never the [MSNBC] teams to take a break ingly at odds with the White House and expected it, nor wanted it (who wants from booking [Moulitsas] on our shows” a skittish legislative majority wary of an automatic “Yes” machine?). But I after he learned of an impromptu Internet being trapped to the left of the American public. The strain is starting to show— most recently in a public and petulant Gone cannibal exchange of fire between the Kos kids and the cable-news middleweight. The first volley was, unsurprisingly, fired by MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann— the man holds grudges like Beijing holds Treasury bills. It started when Olber - mann, and the rest of the ratiocinating world, panned President Obama’s June 15 remarks on the Gulf oil spill. Olber - mann called the Oval Office address “a great speech if you were on another planet for the last 57 days.” This let slip the dogs of Kos. That similarly negative reviews from fellow MSNBCers Chris Matthews and Rachel Maddow accompanied Olbermann’s was too much for one conspiratorial com- menter at Daily Kos, where Olbermann had long kept a blog “diary.” “Can’t verify, of course,” the com- menter said, “but a friend in the news biz

ROMAN GENN tells me he got a damaging e-mail from

2 0 | www.nationalreview.com AUGUST 2 , 2 0 1 0

3col_QXP-1127940387.qxp 7/13/2010 9:24 PM Page 21

smear campaign against MSNBC’s Joe jetsam, a place for a bored and self- Scarborough, launched by Moulitsas in indulgent generation to share its trivia May. 140 characters at a time—the Internet’s The forum was the “micro-blogging” equivalent of reality television. But for website Twitter, which—whatever else relatively small, relatively incestuous it does—affords the punditocracy and groups like the Left’s “new media,” their legion of followers a platform from Twitter and Daily Kos are like a high- which to sling mud at one another. school cafeteria—and we’ve just wit- I M P O R T A N T Scarborough had taken to the tweets nessed a public fight between the star to bemoan the mainstream media’s quarterback and the prom queen. N O T I C E credulous coverage of the Sestak affair, For better or worse, Boss Tweet now in which the White House had appar- matters. Remember, it was an ill- to all National Review ently offered a government job to a advised tweet mourning the passing of Democratic Senate candidate in Penn - a terrorist that cost a CNN subscribers! sylvania to avoid a messy primary senior editor her job this month. And battle. Moulitsas, who never met an in - with both the establishment and the nuendo he didn’t like, took the tweets as grassroots branches of the Right rapidly an opportunity to remind his follow- closing their technology gap with the ers—and Scarborough’s—that when Left, these are mistakes worth learning       We are moving our the latter was a Florida congressman, from. a young female staffer of his had died Second, it illustrates that if the coher- subscription-fulfillment      under mysterious circumstances. Not ence of a movement is dependent on    office from a whiff of suspicion ever attached to emotive, paranoid, and self-obsessed Scarborough, but that didn’t stop Mar- personalities such as Olbermann and Mount   Morris, Ill. kos from suggesting that the media’s Moulitsas, that movement is ever at risk    to Palm Coast, Fla. negligence in the Sestak affair was of a of incoherence. Olbermann has now Please continue piece with their failure to adequately entered what The New Yorker’s Nicholas    cover the “story of a certain dead Lemann, writing about Bill O’Reilly, to be vigilant: intern.” dubbed the “Baroque period” of the      There are fraudulent Scarborough, quite naturally, was political-talk-show host, when a focus outraged, warning via his own Twitter on substantial issues is replaced by agencies   soliciting feed that anyone who gave airtime to “self-references, obsessions, and elab - your    National Review Moulitsas was “extending . . . credibil ity orations” about the many perceived to someone who regularly suggests that slights and injustices our besieged hero subscription !  renewal I’m a murderer.” That sentiment appar- endures. Moulitsas, who has never been without    our authorization. ently found its way up the food chain, good at anything but cheap name-calling Please reply only to and MSNBC stalwarts have been denied and false equivalencies (his impending   the grace of Moulitsas’s emotive eye- book about conservatives is, after all, National Review brows and squeaky voice. called “American Taliban”), is no longer    renewal notices or On cue and with the reflexivity of a content to reserve for the Right his frus-     knee joint, Moulitsas blamed the Right trations at the president’s failure to bills—make sure the for his banishment. “This was not about hasten the arrival of social democracy in     return address is criticizing some random MSNBC host,” America. he wrote. “But about criticizing the net- Finally, it reaffirms that nothing     Palm Coast, Fla. work’s token conservative.” unites a movement like opposition. Ignore   all requests for What to make of all this? It’d be When the Kos and Olbermann crowds renewal that are not dangerous to over-interpret—after all, were animated by their hatred for the     directly payable Olbermann slouched back to his Daily hobgoblin they’d made of the Bush ad -     Kos diary in a matter of days, and ministration, they enjoyed their widest to National Review. Mou litsas will surely return to appear- popularity and greatest political suc-     ing on programs that are regularly out- cesses—electing a Democratic majority If you receive any mail or rated by the Cartoon Network. But the to Congress and to the telephone     offer that makes MSNBC–Kos tiff seems to suggest three White House.    you suspicious contact lessons about the nature of the dubious But now that hope and change have movement they lead. met debt and doubt, and the Left has [email protected]@nationalreview.com.. First, it reveals that the very instru- been asked to swallow bitter compro- Your cooperation ments that birthed the “netroots” might mise on everything from Guantanamo     now be broadcasting its crackup. When Bay to the public option, movement lib-      is greatly appreciated. most non-users think of Twitter, if they eralism is getting antsy, and perhaps think of it at all, they think of flotsam and cannibalistic.

2 1

   2col_QXP-1127940309.qxp 7/13/2010 9:54 PM Page 22

Beyond the Spill In pursuit of an imaginary green-energy future, Obama is leading us into an oil shortage

BY MARIO LOYOLA

Pensacola, Fla. F Americans don’t start eating seafood again,” Frank Patti loan to the Coast Guard), but the business has grown to over tells me, “we’re lost.” His massive warehouse-size mar- $15 million in annual sales. Between restrictions on net-fishing ket on the edge of Pensacola Bay in the Florida panhan- close to U.S. shores and modern technology that enables fisher- ‘I dle is packed with fish and shellfish, but customers just men to freeze their catch on board and transport it anywhere in aren’t showing up. Despite his many assurances that the mer- the world, Joe Patti’s no longer fishes most of what it sells. chandise is safe (here and there little tags proclaim “All shrimp Instead, it buys the bulk of its stock from international brokers from Caribbean and East Coast”), sales are down 50 percent while the catch is still far out at sea. compared with this time last year. I had a chance to visit with Captain Frank (as locals call him) Joe Patti’s Seafood is a Pensacola institution. Started by Frank’s just a few days after part of an oil slick washed up on Pensacola father, a Sicilian fisherman, and his wife in the depths of the Beach—the BP spill’s first landfall in Florida. By the time I got Great Depression, this mom-and-pop business once sold only to Pensacola, the beach had already been cleaned, and not a local seafood, much of it caught with the company’s own vessels. speck of oil was visible on the sand or in the water. Yet although “When that fella from Georgia was president—what the hell was this gargantuan spill had barely touched Florida, it was already his name?—we had 18 super-trawlers in this fleet,” croaks Patti, devastating the state’s economy. thumping his desk for emphasis. The fate of businesses like Patti’s could have far-reaching legal Now Patti’s fleet has just one trawler (which is currently on implications. Frank Patti has filed a claim for economic damages against BP under the federal Oil Pollution Act, but it is far from Mr. Loyola, former counsel to the U.S. Senate Republican Policy Committee, clear that his claim is legally valid. Claims for lost income are AP is policy analyst at the Armstrong Center for Energy and Environment at the compensable only when the loss “results from” some particular / Texas Public Policy Foundation. He is a frequent contributor to damage to property or natural resources as a result of an oil spill.

NATIONAL REVIEW and lives in Austin. Read narrowly, the law would not cover most of the claims in DAVE MARTIN

2 2 | www.nationalreview.com AUGUST 2 , 2 0 1 0 2col_QXP-1127940309.qxp 7/13/2010 9:54 PM Page 23

Florida, because Flor i da has so far suffered very little physical Inconclusive tests on the stability of the cement were ignored. A damage. Read broad ly, the law could extend BP’s liability to the backup cement plug was skipped. What combination of these ill- ends of the earth. considered decisions contributed to the accident may never be The uncertainty surrounding BP’s liability is just one conse- known. quence of the flawed regulatory scheme that was in place when What we do know is that shortly after sunset on April 20, the the disaster struck. Now President Obama faces two challenges: massive blowout preventer resting on the ocean floor failed to stop He needs to get the emergency response right, and he needs to fix a dangerous gas leak, and seconds later, seawater and mud began the legal framework that governs offshore drilling. On both fronts, spewing violently from the top of the drill rig. Workers rushed he has paid close attention to immediate political expedience; but to prevent a calamitous blowout, but a short while later the gas on the emergency response, he conveys little sense of command, ignited and a massive explosion engulfed the rig. Eleven rig work- while on the policy front, he shows scant appreciation of practical ers were killed, and 17 injured. consequences, immediate or long-term. That is worrisome, be - Emergency responders fought the fire for two days, to no avail. cause the long-term impact of the BP spill is increasingly up to On April 22 the charred rig collapsed through its pontoons, sink- Obama. Even if BP’s latest attempt to cap the well, which was ing all the way to the bottom of the sea. The mile-long “riser” pipe, being tested at press time, is a success, these issues will remain. which had connected the top of the subsea blowout preventer with the floating rig, now lay in a crumpled tangle on the ocean floor, leaking oil and gas in three places. N January 2010, the semi-submersible Deepwater Horizon As it dawned on the White House that a catastrophic spill was rig took over drilling in the Macondo field, about 50 miles occurring, the National Contingency Plan swung into action. In I southeast of Grand Isle, La., after another rig was damaged in response to the Exxon Valdez spill off the Alaska coast in 1989, a hurricane and had to be towed away. Drilling around the clock Congress had passed the Oil Pollution Act, which required the into sheer rock, it finally reached a massive reservoir of porous Coast Guard to lead the development of various regional contin- sediment, saturated with oil and natural gas, three miles below the gency plans for oil spills in coastal waters, coordinating with state ocean floor in the middle of April. At this point, the workers had and local authorities. Unfortunately, while the Coast Guard’s just one more task to accomplish: cementing the well. “incident commander” trumps state and local authorities, When a rig drills down toward an oil reservoir, the drill bit there is little guidance on resolving interagency conflicts at the creates a ragged hole somewhat wider than the drill pipe. While fed eral level—for example, between the Coast Guard and the this is happening, a special fluid (known as “mud” in industry jar- Environ mental Protection Agency, which has incident jurisdiction gon) is pushed down through the pipe to cool and lubricate the for inland zones and issues permits for response operations. The drill bit and carry away drill cuttings. The mud rises back to the absence of a single central authority produced agonizing delays surface along the outside of the well pipe. Once the reservoir is and conflicting decisions. reached and the drilling is complete, cement is poured down to the In Louisiana, Gov. Bobby Jindal’s early appeals—to declare a bottom of the well, and follows the drilling mud back up the out- fisheries failure, permit dredging for massive sand berms to pro- side of the pipe. The cement is then allowed to set, permanently tect coastal islands, and provide desperately needed equip- encasing the well pipe, with a cement plug at the bottom that will ment—went unanswered by federal bureaucrats for weeks. After be drilled through when the production rig comes along to start President Obama intervened in early June, the Army Corps of pumping oil and gas. Engineers quickly approved Louisiana’s dredging plan, but it had Even for the deepest wells, cementing takes only a few hours, already been three weeks since the state’s initial permit appli - but it is the trickiest phase in the life cycle of a well. Oil and gas cation. Moreover, just a few weeks later, with oil slicks assail - deposits in a reservoir miles below the surface are typically under ing more than 150 miles of Louisiana coastline, the Corps of enormous pressure, at temperatures reaching several hundred Engineers revoked the permit and halted the operation, apparent- degrees Fahrenheit. During the months of drilling, there is virtu- ly because of misplaced concerns about the exact location of the ally no danger of an accidental spill, because you’re drilling into dredging, soil erosion on islands that were already submerged, sheer rock. During the years (and often decades) of production, and the habitat of birds that had not nested in the area for years. there is also little danger of a spill, because the production well is The federal response has also been warped by the Obama designed to relieve the pressure in the reservoir by allowing gas administration’s desire to please political constituencies. Bowing and oil to rise to the surface, where it is collected. to his labor-union base, President Obama still has not waived the But during the cementing phase, it is necessary to counteract the Jones Act, which bars ships with non-American crews from pressure in the reservoir, and the exact pressure cannot be known. coastal shipping, despite the significant assistance that foreign Engineers have invented a series of fail-safes to ensure that ships could provide if they were temporarily allowed to ply our nothing goes wrong, and those safety measures have always coastal waters. In the space of two weeks in May, the Environ - worked—in more than 42,000 offshore wells drilled in American mental Protection Agency granted BP permission to use a power- waters in the Gulf of Mexico, including thousands of deep-sea ful chemical dispersant on the spill, then revoked it at the behest wells, there has never been an oil spill when all safety procedures of environmentalists, and then granted it again. It has even refused were followed. to modify pollution standards that prohibit many skimmers from The Deepwater Horizon, however, had started behind schedule, participating in the cleanup because their discharged water isn’t so BP decided to use a riskier single-bore drill pipe to drill faster. pristine enough. And when cementing finally began at the Macondo field, the Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal is nearly apoplectic at what corner-cutting continued. Some safety procedures were not he sees as a lack of urgency in the federal response. After a recent followed exactly, while others were followed but failed to work. visit by Vice President , I catch up with Jindal at a

2 3 2col_QXP-1127940309.qxp 7/13/2010 10:10 PM Page 24

hastily called press conference on the outskirts of New Orleans. to renew his push for it, particularly the cap-and-trade scheme. He reels off a lengthy catalogue of grievances as if he were speed- What is more startling is that, judging by appearances at least, reading aloud. “We’re fighting for our way of life,” he concludes, Obama may be trying to advance his agenda by intentionally caus- almost breathless. The federal government needs to get into “this ing a fuel shortage. The moratorium on offshore drilling; the war” to win it. browbeating of BP into disgorging assets regardless of actual Jindal’s frustrations with the federal authorities continue. He is liability; the EPA’s unjustifiable quashing of licenses for most of now pushing for permits to lay rock barriers at strategic points to the refineries in Texas, supposedly over air-pollution concerns; protect the coast. The federal agencies are blocking the plan out the Interior Department’s failure to process license renewals for a of environmental concerns that Jindal has called misguided and slew of shallow-water wells, which are much less tricky than misinformed. He points out that the feds have a pattern of pre- those in deep water—all these actions bespeak a desire to create a venting state moves without proposing alternatives. hostile regulatory environment for oil extraction. At the Coast Guard’s command post in Houma, an hour south Many of Obama’s supporters—those at the Brookings of New Orleans, Capt. Roger Laferriere, the incident commander Institution, for example—seem to think that a severe oil shortage for the Louisiana sector, seems a bit unsettled by the political is precisely what we need to save the environment and kick-start crossfire but quite at home in the tactical operations of an emer- the transition to green energy. Governor Jindal tells me that when gency spill response. Laferriere, a veteran of numerous oil spills, he complained to Obama about the impact of the offshore-drilling explains that there are three main weapons for dealing with the moratorium on Louisiana’s jobs and businesses, the president Gulf spill: skimmers, fire-booming (also called “in situ burning”), suggested, apparently in all seriousness, that the losses caused by and chemical dispersants. I ask him to explain the apparent his moratorium could be compensated from the $20 billion BP contradiction between using skimmers and booms, which seek to spill-liability fund that he had just seized control of. capture and dispose of oil at the ocean surface, and dispersants, “We don’t want handouts in Louisiana,” says Jindal. “Louisi - which (as the name suggests) seek to break the oil up into droplets, anans are hard workers. We want to get back to work.” He calls which then mix with the Gulf’s waters. the moratorium a “second man-made disaster.” One reason for “Ah,” he says, smiling at the chance to discuss something tech- Jindal’s complaint is that the moratorium is completely undis- nical. The answer lies in the highly heterogeneous composition of criminating in its sweep. Among other things, it halted ongoing the spill. He directs me to a satellite map in the command center. exploratory drilling on 100 existing deep-sea projects (defining Nearly all of what looks like the Gulf spill to a satellite is actually “deep sea” as anything below 500 feet, though the spill occurred just an oily sheen less than one-tenth of a millimeter thick. Oil in more than 5,000 feet of water), prohibited all new drilling spread out to such microscopic thinness is already in a rapid below 500 feet, and suspended the planned lease-sales for major process of degradation, by sunlight, water movement, oil-eating new oil fields near and in the western Gulf. bacteria, and natural miscibility—and oil thinly spread out over The moratorium was thrown out of federal district court in June, great expanses of ocean really can’t be cleaned up. a ruling that has been upheld on appeal by the Fifth Circuit, and So the Coast Guard focuses its resources on the worst part of the with good reason: There is simply no scientific justification for problem: the congealed slicks of thick oil. Often several miles halting drilling on all existing and future projects without consid- long, hundreds of yards wide, and several feet thick, these float- ering their stage of completion. During the months that a deep-sea ing islands of viscous crude, which typically have the consistency rig spends drilling into sheer rock, before it has reached the poten- of peanut butter, are a severe threat to coastal environments. When tial reservoir of oil and gas, there is virtually no danger of a such an oil slick starts approaching landfall, the Coast Guard blowout triggering an oil spill. If the administration were focused attacks with everything it’s got, breaking up whatever oil it can’t on safety, it would let drilling proceed to the steps just before com- remove. pletion and then let the well be capped if need be. Despite these efforts, oil slicks have washed up onshore in four But for the time being, the legality of the moratorium is aca - states. Perhaps a cataclysm of this magnitude would have over- demic. The administration has issued a new moratorium that whelmed even the smartest and best-executed strategy, given the replaces the arbitrary 500-foot limit on permissible drill ing with a resources available. But the president gives little sense of having ban on all floating drill rigs. This actually expands the moratori- a handle on the situation; he is nowhere to be seen, except in brief um, because floating rigs are almost universally used for drilling photo-ops, and neither he nor anybody else appears to be in actu- in waters more than 300 feet deep. In any case, given all this un- al command of the overall federal response. When Coast Guard certainty, drilling will remain suspended. The administration has admiral James Watson was recently relieved of his post as federal effectively shut down offshore drilling, and there isn’t a thing any on-scene coordinator, no explanation was given, but the expla - court can do about it until the litigation fully runs its course next nation may not be hard to divine: No “coordinator” can suffice year. And every day that a drilling rig sits idle costs its operator where a commander is needed. between $250,000 and $1 million. Many of the exploration and production companies that have leased drilling rigs have already invoked force majeure clauses in HILE Obama has been mostly absent from the site of their contracts to get out of the leases. The moratorium will there- the emergency, he has been dangerously busy on the fore hit particular slices of the oil industry disproportionately: The W policy front. As he said in his Oval Office address, the big oil companies that actually develop the wells will be spared, crisis is an incentive to end “America’s century-long addiction to while owners of drilling rigs, and contractors that service drilling fossil fuels.” Comprehensive energy and climate legislation has operations, could soon be facing bankruptcy. Many drilling assets been part of Obama’s green policy ever since he ran for senator, will move to other parts of the world, perhaps permanently; rigs and it’s no surprise that he is using the BP spill as an excuse have already left the Gulf for Egypt and Congo. In the words of

2 4 | www.nationalreview.com AUGUST 2 , 2 0 1 0 2col_QXP-1127940309.qxp 7/13/2010 9:54 PM Page 25

a former Shell CFO, “You are beginning to destroy the infrastruc- that BP was grossly negligent in causing the spill, in which case ture of offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.” the $75 million cap doesn’t apply to it anyway. The main effect of such measures is to undermine confidence in our legal system. One fatal problem with the Oil Pollution Act’s liability scheme, THIrd of America’s domestic crude oil—and most of the says Epstein, is that the U.S. government is not liable for damages Gulf’s oil—comes from wells that are “deep water,” arising from its own involvement, including those that result from A using the administration’s definition. The moratorium a failure to act. “The difficulty you get with these government does not affect existing wells, but by freezing out virtually all new actions is that they don’t take into account the losses they could offshore wells, it will prevent some 200,000 barrels per day of out- have prevented but didn’t,” he says. The government has little put next year, and perhaps 340,000 barrels per day—20 percent of incentive to minimize BP’s losses, since if the government makes total U.S. production—by 2015, with the amount increasing every mistakes, BP pays for them. Admittedly, the government has a year after that. strong political incentive to fix the problem, but in cases where the This turn in U.S. energy policy could not have come at a worse damage is not conspicuous (e.g., secondary economic effects as time. decades of underinvestment in production, tanker, and opposed to tar balls on a beach), or where the government can refining capacity, followed by years of surging demand from shift the blame or write off a particular region, that incentive is emerging markets such as China and India, have created a dan- weaker. gerously volatile situation in the world oil market. demand for oil Then there’s the question of who is entitled to claim compen - shows very little elasticity along a wide range of prices—in other sation, and for what losses. The Oil Pollution Act appears to define words, people will buy it even if it gets very expensive. Combine the categories of liability narrowly. The most potentially con- that with the frightfully small amount of spare capacity—in pro- tentious category is the one that covers “loss of profits or impair- duction, tankers, and refineries—and what you have is a recipe ment of earning capacity due to the injury, destruction, or loss of” for “marginal scarcity pricing,” in which tiny swings in demand property or natural resources, regardless of who owns those or supply can have a catastrophic impact on prices. This explains resources. Among the few decisions that have interpreted this pro- why a modest increase in global energy demand starting in 2002 vision is Taira Lynn Marine v. Jays Seafood, Inc. (2006), in which caused gasoline prices to quadruple by 2008. the Fifth Circuit ruled against liability because of the claimant’s Left to their own devices, American oil companies tend to failure to link his lost income to specific, identifiable property or dampen these fluctuations. There is little love lost between them natural resources that had been damaged in a spill. But the law is and OPEC, and when prices rise, they move quickly to invest in vague enough to permit a number of interpretations, and it is not expanding production, thereby helping to lower world oil prices. hard to imagine a more liberal court construing the provision As prices fall, the members of OPEC face a strong temptation to far more broadly, to include Frank Patti’s losses and even the increase production to keep the cash rolling in, so cartel discipline economic losses of his suppliers around the world. collapses, further pushing down prices. This is what kept prices Ken Feinberg, the capable lawyer chosen by President Obama low during the 1980s and 1990s. The world’s private oil compa- to run the Gulf Spill Independent Claims Fund, has already sug- nies—of which a majority are American—are the greatest obsta- gested that not all of the losses that Gulf Coast residents and busi- cles to the cartel discipline that OPEC needs in order to maximize nesses have suffered are compensable under the law. Yet however profits by reducing supply. reasonable Feinberg intends to be, his masters in Washington Unfortunately, Obama’s policies—along with the perennial seem to be in quite a different mood, and given Obama’s flexible democratic calls for windfall-profit taxes—create a great disin- approach, the extent of BP’s ultimate liability is likely to bear centive for companies to expand production. Their effect will be little relation to what the Oil Pollution Act says. So potential to increase America’s reliance on foreign sources of oil, already at investors in the U.S. offshore-oil industry, who already face a 60 percent (which is especially ironic from an environmental high degree of regulatory risk, will take note that their rights and point of view, since much more oil has been spilled by tankers obligations under federal law may not be worth the paper they’re than by oil rigs). So “if you’re talking to a Saudi friend in the oil printed on. business,” says the former Shell executive, “he’s pretty happy Wealth is an epiphenomenon of the efficient allocation of with Obama right now.” But perhaps the most unintended conse- human and material resources through transactions that show a quence of all is that rising oil prices will lead to dramatically positive return on investment. When commercial law doesn’t increased profits for the oil companies—including BP. establish reliably enforceable rights and obligations, transaction determining the scope of BP’s liability is another major prob- risk becomes prohibitive for all parties, and entire categories of lem. On one hand, University of Chicago law professor richard potentially profitable transactions simply don’t occur. That is the Epstein is almost certainly right to argue that oil-drilling compa- most basic reason poor countries remain poor. Over the years, nies don’t deserve caps on liability, because such caps distort the America’s stable system of laws has made an important contribu- economics of the actual risks involved. On the other, this isn’t tion to keeping this country prosperous. Whatever regulatory Venezuela, and the president can’t just toss out the law of the land regime emerges from the Gulf spill must be one that industry and whenever it suits his fancy. government can and will stick to. Sen. Bob Menendez recently secured Senate passage of a bill to It should also increase freedom and push back the constant and lift the $75 million cap on liability—retroactive to April 15, 2010, oppressive expansion of the federal government. “The govern- a week before the Deepwater Horizon sank. This brazen ex post ment has gotten so complicated,” says Captain Patti, “that, what it facto alteration of vested private rights is open to all sorts of con- was intended to do . . .” His voice trails off as he shakes his head. stitutional challenge, not least the prohibition on bills of attainder. “They have lost their way. And I don’t think it will ever be found, But the Menendez measure is superfluous: It seems fairly clear not in my lifetime. Maybe in yours.”

2 5 carribian 5 cabins_no appl_carribian 2p+application.qxd 7/13/2010 2:50 PM Page 2

NATIONAL REVIEW’S 2010 Sailing November 14–21 on Holland America’s M S Nieuw Amsterdam PPoosstt--EElleeccttiioonn CCrruuiissee Join , BERNARD LEWIS, , , , TONY BLANKLEY, SCOTT RASMUSSEN, GREG GUTFELD, CAL THOMAS, BERNIE GOLDBERG, JONAH GOLDBERG, ANDREW McCARTHY, ALAN REYNOLDS, JIM GERAGHTY, DANIEL HANNAN, KATHRYN JEAN LOPEZ, , VIN WEBER, JAY NORDLINGER, KATE O’BEIRNE, RAMESH PONNURU, JOHN O’SULLIVAN, ROMAN GENN, MICHAEL NOVAK, ROB LONG, EDWARD WHELAN, KEVIN WILLIAMSON, ROBERT COSTA, and PETER SCHRAMM

as we visit the beautiful ports of Grand Turk, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Half Moon Cay, and Ft. Lauderdale his is your special opportunity to participate in one of the and Cal Thomas, Red Eye host Greg Gutfeld, terrorism expert most exciting seafaring adventures you will ever experi- Andrew McCarthy, GOP strategist Vin Weber, scholar Michael T ence: the National Review 2010 “Post-Election” Novak, conservative economist Alan Reynolds, New Criterion edi- Caribbean Cruise. Featuring a cast of all-star conservative speak- tor Roger Kimball, acclaimed pollster Scott Rasmussen, European ers (that will expand in coming weeks), this affordable Parliament Tory star Daniel Hannan, Ethics and Public Policy trip—prices start at only $1,899 a person!—will take place Center president Ed Whelan, conservative scholar Peter Schramm; November 14–21, 2010, aboard Holland America Line’s MS and from NR: Liberal Fascism author Jonah Goldberg, “The Long Nieuw Amsterdam, the beautiful new ship of one of the world’s View” columnist Rob Long, NRO editor-at-large Kathryn Lopez, most highly regarded cruise lines. NR Institute president Kate O’Beirne, senior editors Jay Nordlinger Fast forward to November 3—the morning after the elections. and Ramesh Ponnuru, Campaign Spot blogger Jim Geraghty, for- Whether you find yourself bemoaning another two years of mer editor John O’Sullivan, reporter Bob Costa, deputy managing Democrat control of Capitol Hill, or whether you’re flabbergasted editor Kevin Williamson, and acclaimed NR artist Roman Genn. by massive GOP pick-ups in the House and Senate (and in state- NR trips are marked by riveting political shoptalk, wonderful houses), or whether the results are as mixed as a tossed salad, make socializing, intimate dining with our editors and speakers, making sure you’re packing your luggage and preparing for the Nieuw new friends, rekindling old friendships, and, of course, grand cruis- Amsterdam, your floating luxury getaway for scintillating discus- ing. That’s what’s in store for you on our 2010 sojourn. sion of the elections and their consequences—and on all other There are countless reasons to come, but none are better than major current events and trends. the luminaries who will be aboard this luxury trip. This truly extra- You could spend the week of November 14 raking leaves. ordinary gathering is one of the best ensembles we’ve ever had on Instead, opt for seven sunny days and cool nights sailing the balmy an NR cruise, which guarantees that our seminar sessions (featur- tropics, mixing and mingling with the exemplary speakers we’ve ing ample audience “Q & A”) will be fascinating. assembled to make sense of electoral matters and the day’s top aWatch Karl Rove, ex-congressman Vin Weber, and ace issues. Confirmed speakers for NR’s “Post-Election” Cruise include columnist Tony Blankley provide expert analyses of the elections, former top Bush-43 White House aide Karl Rove, historian Victor their consequences, and the state of the Republican party. Davis Hanson, Islam scholar Bernard Lewis, conservative icon aSome of our primo past cruise experiences have been the Phyllis Schlafly, conservative web guru Andrew Breitbart, liberal- informed interchanges between Bernard Lewis and Victor Davis media critic Bernie Goldberg, leading columnists Tony Blankley Hanson on the brutal revival of the age-old struggle between Islam and the West. These academ- J O I N U S F O R S E V E N B A L M Y D A Y S A N D C O O L C O N S E R V A T I V E N I G H T S ic giants, and terrorism expert DAY/DATE PORT ARRIVE DEPART SPECIAL EVENT Andy McCarthy, will provide their razor-sharp insights on America’s SUN/Nov. 14 Ft. Lauderdale, FL 5:00PM evening cocktail reception dealings in the Middle East and the MON/Nov. 15 Half Moon Cay 8:00AM 4:00PM afternoon seminar Muslim world. “Night Owl” session aCan you find more insightful TUE/Nov. 16 Grand Turk 12:00PM 6:00PM morning seminar social commentary than from the late-night smoker likes of Phyllis Schlafly, New WED/Nov. 17 AT SEA morning/afternoon seminars Criterion editor Roger Kimball, evening cocktail reception columnist Cal Thomas, and scholars THU/Nov. 18 Grand Cayman 8:00AM 4:00PM afternoon seminar Michael Novak and Peter Schramm (or from esteemed artist Roman FRI/Nov. 19 Cozumel 10:00AM 11:00PM afternoon seminar Genn)? A more perceptive dissec- “Night Owl” session tion of the liberal media than from SAT/Nov. 20 AT SEA morning/afternoon seminars Bernie Goldberg, Greg Gutfeld, Rob evening cocktail reception Long, and Andrew Breitbart, or a SUN/Nov. 21 Ft. Lauderdale, FL 7:00AM clearer take on the national econo- my than from Alan Reynolds? Or on carribian 5 cabins_no appl_carribian 2p+application.qxd 7/13/2010 2:53 PM Page 3

Sailing November 14–21 on Holland America’s M S Nieuw Amsterdam

OVER 300 CABINS BOOKED! PRICES START AT JUST $1,899!

Superior service, gourmet cuisine, elegant accommodations, and great entertainment await you on the beautiful new mS Nieuw Amsterdam. Prices are per-person, based on double occupancy, and include port fees, taxes, gratuities, transfers (for those booking airfare through Holland America), all meals, entertainment, and admittance to and participation in all NR functions. Per-person rates for third/fourth person in cabin: Ages 6 months to 2: $482 Ages 2 to 17: $582 NEW SPEAKERS: legal expert ED WHELAN Ages 18 and over: $1,139 and NR editor/writer KEVIN WILLIAMSON DELUXE SUITE Magnificent luxury quarters (528 sq. ft.) feature use of exclusive Neptune Lounge our courts from Ed Whelan? Picture Daniel Hannan and John and personal concierge, as well as compli- O’Sullivan discussing the fate of Euro-American relations. mentary laundry, pressing, and dry-cleaningT L I S aAnd they’ll be joined in all the elucidating and analyzing of service. LargeW privateA I T verandah, king-size bed (convertible to 2 twins), whirlpool the 2010 elections by NR’s editorial heavyweights, including Jonah bath/shower, dressing room, large sit- Goldberg, Jay Nordlinger, Ramesh Ponnuru, Kathryn Jean Lopez, ting area, DVD, mini-bar, and refrigerator. Jim Geraghty, Bob Costa, Kevin Williamson, and Kate O’Beirne. Category SA Then there’s the ship: The just-launched Nieuw Amsterdam DOUBLE OCCUPANCY RATE: $ 4,499 P/P offers spacious staterooms, countless amenities, and affordable SINGLE OCCUPANCY RATE: $ 6,999 rate—prices start as low as $1,899 a person. No matter what cabin meets your tastes and circumstances, you can be assured that the SUPERIOR SUITE Grand stateroom (392 sq. ft.) features private verandah, queen-size bed Nieuw Amsterdam and its stellar staff will offer you unsurpassed T service, sumptuous cuisine, roomy accommodations, and luxury. (convertible to 2 twin Tbeds), L IwhirlpoolS bath/shower,W largeA sittingI area, DVD, mini- And don’t forget the fantastic itinerary: Grand Cayman, Grand bar, refrigerator, floor-to-ceiling windows, Turk, Cozumel, and Holland America’s private island, Half Moon and much more. Cay (with a must-see-it-to-believe-it blue lagoon!). Category SS The National Review 2010 “Post-Election” Caribbean Cruise DOUBLE OCCUPANCY RATE: $ 3,499 P/P will be remarkable—but then every NR sojourn is. Our winning SINGLE OCCUPANCY RATE: $ 5,799 program of seminars (we’ll have eight), cocktail parties (three are scheduled—they’re great opportunities to chat and have photos DELUXE OUTSIDE Spacious cabin (241 sq. ft.) taken with your favorite conservatives), a late-night poolside features private verandah, queen-size bed (con- smoker (featuring world-class H. Upmann cigars and cognac), and vertible to 2 twin beds), bath with shower, sitting dining with our editors and speakers (on two nights)—it’s all area, mini-bar, tv, refrigerator, and floor-to-ceil- something you really must experience. ing windows. Sign up now: Use the application form on the following page, or Categories VA / VB / VC reserve your stateroom (securely!) at www.nrcruise.com. Or call DOUBLE OCCUPANCY RATE: $ 2,899 P/P the travel experts at The Cruise Authorithy at 1-800-707-1634. SINGLE OCCUPANCY RATE: $ 4,399 Take the trip of a lifetime with some of America’s preeminent intellectuals, policy analysts, and political experts—Karl Rove, LARGE OCEAN VIEW Comfortable quarters (190 sq. Victor Davis Hanson, Bernard Lewis, Phyllis Schlafly, Andrew ft.) feature queen-size bed (convertible to 2 twin Breitbart, Scott Rasmussen, Andrew McCarthy, Bernie Goldberg, beds), bathtub with shower, sitting area, tv, large Greg Gutfeld, Daniel Hannan, Cal Thomas, Tony Blankley, Vin ocean-view windows. E F T E W L Weber, Alan Reynolds, Roger Kimball, Jonah Goldberg, Kathryn Category D F Jean Lopez, Jim Geraghty, Kate O’Beirne, Jay Nordlinger, Ramesh DOUBLE OCCUPANCY RATE: $ 2,399 P/P Ponnuru, John O’Sullivan, Michael Novak, Ed Whelan, Rob SINGLE OCCUPANCY RATE: $ 2,999 Long, Kevin Williamson, Bob Costa, Roman Genn, and Peter Schramm—on the National Review 2010 LARGE INSIDE Cozy but ample cabin quarters (185 sq. ft.) “Post-Election” Caribbean Cruise. feature queen-size bed (convertible to 2 twin beds), bathtub with shower, sitting area, tv. T L E F REGISTER NOW Category K F E W DOUBLE OCCUPANCY RATE: $ 1,899 P/P AT WWW.NRCRUISE.COM. SINGLE OCCUPANCY RATE: $ 2,499 OR WWW.POSTELECTIONCRUISE.COM. CALL 800-707-1634 FOR MORE INFORMATION. NEED A CABIN ‘SHARE’? WE’LL FIND YOU ONE! 2010+application page_carribian 2p+application_jack.qxd 4/28/2010 12:40 PM Page 1

National Review 2010 Post-Election Cruise Application Mail to: National Review Cruise, The Cruise Authority, 1760 Powers Ferry Rd., Marietta, GA 30067 or Fax to 770-953-1228

Please fill out application completely and mail with deposit check or fax with credit-card information. One application per cabin. If you want more than one cabin, make copies of this application. For questions call The Cruise Authority at 800-707-1634.

Personal MAILING AND CONTACT INFORMATION

GUEST #1: Name as listed on Passport Date of Birth Mailing address

Passport Number Expiration Date Citizenship Size: S-XXL City / State / Zip Are you a past Holland America cruiser? o Yes o No

Email Address GUEST #2: Name as listed on Passport Date of Birth

Daytime Phone Cell phone Passport Number Expiration Date Citizenship Size: S-XXL Be assured that National Review and The Cruise Authority retain this information for Are you a past Holland America cruiser? o Yes o No internal use, and do not release or distribute your personal information to third parties. CREDENTIALS Your legal first and last name are required for travel documentation. If you have an informal name you would like reflected on your name badge, please indicate it here: GUEST #3: Name as listed on Passport Date of Birth Guest #1 ______Guest #2 ______Passport Number Expiration Date Citizenship Size: S-XXL Guest #3 ______Are you a past Holland America cruiser? o Yes o No Cabins, Air Travel, & Other IV. AIR/TRANSFER PACKAGES o We will provide our own roundtrip air and transfers to and from Ft. Lauderdale All rates are per person, double occupancy, and include all port charges and taxes, all gratuities, meals, entertainment, and National Review activities. Cruise-only rates include (arriving there on 11/14/10 by noon and departing 11/21/10 after 11a.m.). all of above except airfare and transfers. Failure to appear for embarkation for any rea- o We would like The Cruise Authority to customize roundtrip air from son constitutes a cancellation subject to full penalties. Personal items not included. ______Coach First Class Air PLEASE CHECK ALL APPLICAbLE bOXES! o o Arrival date: ______I. CAbIN CATEGORY (see list and prices on previous page) Departure date: ______First cabin category choice:______Second cabin category choice:______Preferred carrier: ______Bedding: Beds made up as Twin King/Queen o o (Please note that The Cruise Authority does not have control over the flight schedule BooKING SINGLE? Please try to match me with a roommate. (My age: ____) o or carrier assigned by the cruise line. Times and connections may not always be ideal.) II. DINING w/ FRIENDS/FAMILY: I wish to dine with ______V. MEDICAL / DIETARY / SPECIAL REQUESTS o Every Night o 3-4 times o 2 times o once Please enter in the box below any medical, dietary, or special needs or requests we should know about any of the members of your party: III. PRE- AND POST-CRUISE TOUR PACKAGES o Please send me information on pre-/post-cruise packages in Ft. Lauderdale. Payment, Cancellation, & Insurance o The card’s billing address is indicated above. o The card’s billing address is: Deposit of $500 per person is due with this application. If paid by credit card, the bal- ______ance will be charged to the same card on 8/16/10 unless otherwise directed. If appli- cation is received after 8/16/10, the full amount of the cruise will be charged. CANCELLATION PENALTY SCHEDULE: (cancellations must be received in writing by the date indicated): PRIoR to June 16, 2010 cancellation penalty is $100 per person; June o My deposit of $500 per person is included. 16 to August 16, 2010 cancellation penalty is $500 per person, AFTER August 16, 2010 can- (Make checks payable to “National Review Cruise”) cellation penalty is 100% of cruise/package.

o Charge my deposit to: AmEx o Visa o MasterCard o Discover o CANCELLATION / MEDICAL INSURANCE is available and recommended for this cruise (and package). Costs are Age 0–49: 6% of total price; Age 50–59: 7% of total price; Age 60–69: 8% of total price; Age 70+: 10% of total price. The exact amount will appear on your oooooooooooooooo cruise statement. Purchase will be immediate upon your acceptance and is non-refundable.

Expiration Date oo/ oo Security Code oooo o YES I/we wish to purchase the Trip Cancellation & Medical Insurance coverage. Additions to the cruise package will increase my insurance premium. Month Year Amex 4 digits on front, others 3 digits on back o NO I/we are declining to purchase the Trip Cancellation & Medical Insurance coverage and understand that I/we will be subject to applicable cancellation penalties. Authorized Signature of Cardholder Name of Cardholder (please print)

PASSPORT REQUIRED! Everyone cruising, including children, will be required to bring a valid passport. Important! Current passports must be valid through May 14, 2011. Failure to do so will result in being denied boarding of the Nieuw Amsterdam. RESPONSIbILITY: Notice is hereby given that the cruise advertised herein, including all tickets, vouchers and coupons issued and all arrangements for transportation or conveyance or for hotel or lodging or for sightseeing/shore tour services are made by H20 Ltd. d/b/a The Cruise Authority (TCA) on behalf of National Review (NR), as agency for Holland America Line (HAL), and/or service providers and/or suppliers providing services necessary for operation of the tour upon the express condition that TCA shall not be liable for injury, acts of terrorism, acts of war, damage, loss, accident, delay or irregularity to any tour participant or his or her property that may result from any act or omission of any company, contractor or employee thereof providing services in connection with the tour, including but not limited to transportation, lodging, food and beverage, entertainment, sightseeing, luggage handling and tour guiding. Furthermore, TCA shall not be responsible for delays or costs incurred resulting from weather, road connections, breakdowns, acts of war-declared or undeclared, acts of terrorism, strikes, riots, acts of God, authority of law or other circumstances beyond its control. In the event that a participant be entitled to a refund of monies paid, TCA will not be liable in excess of amount paid. TCA reserves the right to decline any persons as a tour participant at any time. TCA shall not be held financially or otherwise responsible should NR cease to exist and this cruise not go forth as planned. In the event of the demise of NR, and guest(s) elect not to sail on this cruise, every effort will be put forth to refund as much of the payment as possible dependently solely on the cruise lines cancellation terms. TCA is not responsible for price increases imposed by HAL and/or service providers. TCA is not responsible for breach of contract or any intentional or careless actions or omissions on the part of HAL and/or service providers, such as suppli- ers of tours or other services used or obtained on or at the time of the cruise or shore excursions, which result in any loss, damage, delay or injury to you or your travel companions or group members. TCA does not guarantee any of such suppliers rates, booking or reservations and TCA shall not be responsible for any social or labor unrest, mechanical or construction difficulties, diseases, local laws, climate conditions, acts of war-declared or undeclared, acts of terrorism, abnormal conditions or developments or any other actions, omissions or conditions outside of TCA’s control. TCA, nor NR, shall be responsible for the acces- sibility, appearance, actions or decisions of those individuals promoted for this cruise. By embarking upon his or her travel, the traveler voluntarily assumes all risks, and is advised to obtain appropriate insurance coverage against them. Retention of tickets, reservations, or package after issuance shall constitute a consent to the above and an agreement on your part to convey the contents hereof to your travel companions. 2col_QXP-1127940309.qxp 7/13/2010 9:54 PM Page 29

skeptical about the program immediately after enactment. By 2006, however, things had changed. Most seniors were Obamacare’s enrolled in one of the new drug-coverage plans, and they liked what these plans were providing for them. The insur- ance protection was real, and the drug plans were securing POLITICAL FUTURE such deep discounts in the prices paid for prescription med- ications that everyone, beneficiaries especially, was saving The more voters learn, the darker it gets money. Public attitudes shifted quickly soon thereafter, followed inevitably by a shift in political tactics by national Democratic politicians. By the 2008 election, the prescription- BY JAMES C. CAPRETTA drug benefit was hardly mentioned by Democratic candidates on the campaign trail. uly 1 was a milestone of sorts for Obamacare: It was It is certainly possible that the same basic political dynam- the 100th day since the president signed the sweeping ic could play out with Obamacare. But there are several rea- legislation into law. The Democrats who pushed it sons to think that the opposite is more likely to occur, and that J through to enactment in the most polarizing debate in opposition will not recede but intensify in coming months. years are hoping that the passage of time will be their salva- While it is true that the program is a massive entitlement, tion. Memories are short, they surmise, and so perhaps voters specifically designed to get the American middle class fully won’t dwell on the heavy-handed and highly partisan manner hooked on another expansive government benefit, Obamacare by which President Obama and the Democratic congressional also—unlike the Medicare drug benefit—creates millions of leadership muscled the bill through its final legislative stages losers. Democrats riddled it with budget gimmicks and when they go to the polls this November. And if that’s the sleights of hand to create the illusion of a fully financed pro- case, perhaps Democratic candidates for the House and gram; but what it really does is redistribute resources within Senate won’t get punished as severely as many now expect the health sector away from those who have good coverage they will. today. As millions of today’s happily insured citizens begin to For its part, the Obama administration isn’t just sitting by find out that their current arrangements have been disrupted, and hoping such a shift in public sentiment will occur all on and, in some cases, terminated, to pay for the Obama ad - its own. It plans to help the process along with a massive, ministration’s government-centric takeover, their views of $125 million public-relations campaign leading up to this Obama care will only sour further. year’s midterm election, financed by big donors from the Democratic political orbit. In addition, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has embarked on its own, He problems will start this fall, well before the taxpayer-financed advertising campaign aimed at convincing midterm elections, when millions of seniors enrolled various segments of the population that the new law isn’t so T in Medicare Advantage (MA) insurance plans start to bad after all, starting first with seniors. The nation’s Medicare get bad news in the mail about their coverage. The president beneficiaries recently received a mailer from HHS enumerat- and congressional Democrats despise the MA program ing the supposed benefits of the new law for them—without because it is private, not government-run, insurance. They mentioning that Obamacare will cut Medicare by nearly $500 have wanted to cut it for years, and their supposed desire billion over ten years. to find offsetting savings for another entitlement expansion Obamacare’s supporters are also hoping that the law’s provided the perfect cover to get out the axe. Over the next “early benefits”—those that come into effect this year, includ- ten years, Obamacare’s cuts to MA payment rates will reach ing the requirement that insurance plans cover children up to nearly $120 billion, according to the Congressional Budget age 26 on their parents’ policies by this September—will Office. begin to sway voters before November. Certainly the main- In 2009, about 10.6 million Medicare beneficiaries—nearly stream press has helped in this regard, by shamelessly hyping one in four—signed up for MA insurance. Prior to Obama - these relatively minor regulatory changes—without, however, care, that number was set to rise to nearly 14 million later in noting their costs, or the very small number of Americans who this decade. But no longer. With the cuts, MA insurance plans will actually benefit from them. will have no choice but to dramatically scale back their offer- There is precedent for increasing public acceptance of ings and benefits. enrollment will plummet, falling by 35 a previously controversial entitlement expansion. In Novem - percent compared with where it would have been without ber 2003, Congress passed a new prescription-drug benefit Obamacare. About 2 million seniors who are now in MA will for Medicare, and most congressional Democrats viewed it get pushed out of their current coverage. What’s worse, all with great disdain because of its private-insurance orienta- 10.6 million Medicare beneficiaries now enrolled in MA plans tion, and because they thought of the benefit as too meager will face deep cuts in their benefits even if they get to stay in and the choices facing beneficiaries as too complex. The their plan, since virtually all MA plans, to stay in business, rancor with which it was enacted poisoned the well of public will be forced to charge higher premiums or cut back on what opinion, and polls showed that many Americans were greatly they offer. By 2019, the average cut in benefits will reach $800 per year per MA beneficiary. Mr. Capretta is a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. He was an The Democrats’ antipathy toward MA is entirely ideologi- associate director of the Office of Management and Budget from 2001 to 2004. cal. They argue that MA plans are overpaid by today’s formula,

2 9 2col_QXP-1127940309.qxp 7/13/2010 9:54 PM Page 30

and claim to want only a fair competition between fee-for- purpose of the MA cuts is not to improve Medicare’s financial service (the traditional Medicare model) and the private- outlook or to reduce the budget deficit, but to pay for an insurance approaches offered to Medicare enrollees—but that expensive new entitlement for others. is plainly not the case. In 1999, the Clinton administration killed the recommendations of the bipartisan Medicare Com - mission to move Medicare toward a level playing field pre- f course, the Medicare cuts in Obamacare go well cisely because it feared that fee-for-service’s expensive and beyond MA. The new law also cuts payments to hos- bureaucratic structure could not compete with the more effi- O pitals, nursing homes, clinics, and hospice facilities. cient models the private sector would develop. Indeed, every The Democrats claim these reductions are part of a grand plan time a proposal has been floated for Medicare to include a truly to reform the “delivery system” and force new efficiencies on competitive system of payment for private insurance and fee- those providing services. But this kind of top-down cost cut- for-service, the Democrats have attacked and killed the idea. ting has been tried many times before in Medicare, and has They don’t want genuine consumer choice, because that would never worked. Sometimes, the cuts have been reversed in mean an erosion of political control over the health system. response to political pressure from groups that represent They prefer instead Medicare fee-for-service’s command- providers of health care to seniors. Other times, the cuts and-control payment regulations, which maximize power for remained in force, but service providers found ways to work politicians and regulators and artificially lower costs for fee- around them and get paid just as much as they were paid for-service coverage. before, often by increasing the number of claims they filed. Their solution—embodied now in Obamacare—is to tie On paper, the CBO estimates that Obamacare has cut MA rates to fee-for-service’s payment systems. The result will Medicare’s annual growth from about 4 percent per benefici - be a massive exodus of plans and enrollees from the MA pro- ary (above economy-wide inflation) to about 2 percent. That’s gram, and unjustified regional disparities in the incidence of how the Democrats magically turn a trillion-dollar entitlement the cuts. for instance, high-cost and fraud-ridden South into a deficit-reduction plan. But there’s no real change of The implementation of Obamacare is going to be a rude awakening for many Americans now in employer-sponsored insurance—which happens to be most of the working-age population.

florida has fee-for-service costs that are 70 percent higher direction for Medicare in the new law. It’s just across-the- than those of Portland, Ore., yet Portland would face a much board cost cutting, using the very payment-rate regulations steeper MA cut under the revised MA formula. Under Obama - that have never worked before to “address” the problem of ris- care’s perverse incentives, profligacy is rewarded and cost ing costs. When it turns out that the problem has not been cutting is punished. addressed, and Medicare has in fact become more dysfunc- Obamacare’s MA cuts will also hit low-income seniors tional with the additional price distortions, the financial justi- disproportionately. Most retirees view the Medicare benefit fication for Obamacare will have vanished. as inadequate because its cost-sharing requirements can feel The implementation of Obamacare is also going to be a expensive to someone on a fixed income. Those who worked rude awakening for many Americans now in employer- for large corporations and/or the government (at any level) sponsored insurance—which happens to be most of the tend to have additional insurance as a retirement benefit working-age population. The president promised repeatedly from their former employer. Those with relatively high that his approach to reforming health care would “build upon” incomes but without a retiree plan usually buy Medigap today’s job-based system and leave those in employer plans supplementary insurance. It’s only low-income seniors who alone. But the perverse incentives embedded in the legislation don’t have that option—which is why they often sign up are likely to set in motion the unwinding of large parts of that with MA plans that have lower copayments and deductibles system. than fee-for-service. They will suffer the most in the coming The problem is the parallel structure of insurance coverage MA bloodbath. provided through the so-called exchanges. Under Obamacare, It’s hard to imagine Medicare’s beneficiaries accepting the states will be required to set up these exchanges for anyone loss of hundreds of dollars in their current benefits without a not getting coverage through an employer. Workers with fight. The last time Congress embarked on an ideological cru- incomes below four times the federal poverty line will get sade to kill private insurance in Medicare, in 1997, seniors federal assistance with their premium payments. who were facing large benefit cuts forced their elected repre- Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former director of the CBO and sentatives to reverse them in very short order. There’s no rea- now president of American Action forum (AAf), and son to expect things will be different this time around. Indeed, Cameron Smith, also of AAf, have analyzed the new law and the outrage is likely to be even more intense, because the found that it establishes strong incentives for employers to

3 0 | www.nationalreview.com AUGUST 2 , 2 0 1 0 2col_QXP-1127940309.qxp 7/13/2010 9:54 PM Page 31

dump their current coverage, especially if they have a high proportion of low-wage workers. the law’s architects think they have prevented such dumping by forcing employers to We Can’t Afford make an all-or-nothing choice: they provide either for every- one, or for no one, including their higher-salaried workforce. But firms can work their way around the bureaucratic rules by reorganizing themselves into multiple companies with inde- THIS HOUSE pendent health arrangements. One way or another, employers It’s time to end tax benefits and subsidies will find a way to maximize their bottom line, even if that means terminating their health-insurance offerings. Holtz- for homeowners Eakin and Smith estimate that some 35 million people will get dumped by their employers into the government-managed BY CHRISTOPHER PAPAGIANIS insurance exchanges—which, in turn, would put the ten-year costs of Obamacare $500 billion above CBO’s projection. & REIHAN SALAM More important, it would force millions of people into the government-managed program, whether they wanted to be t the end of June, the House of Representatives voted to there or not, and would signal the beginning of a slow march extend the $8,000 homebuyers’ tax credit, by an extra- toward an entirely government-run insurance system. ordinary margin of 409–5. the Senate approved the A measure on a voice vote. At a polarized political mo - ment, this near unanimity was noteworthy in itself. Conservative BAMACARE passed a second milestone of sorts in July: Republicans and liberal Democrats, from cities and suburbs and the 14th might be called the great Obamacare awak- small towns across the country, joined together to shower a bit O ening. One year ago on that date, House Democratic more taxpayer largesse on one of America’s favorite industries: leaders unveiled the actual legislative language they were real estate. But there’s a problem with this bipartisan idyll. planning to pass. Until then, the public debate hadn’t gotten though the homebuyers’ credit was sold as a stimulus mea- beyond the president’s platitudes and generalities about sure, we have no reason to believe that it is anything other than coverage for everyone and a magical bending of the cost another wealth transfer to a large and powerful industry, one curve. But overnight the conversation changed, from the with allies conveniently situated in every congressional district. vague and meaningless to the concrete. Casey Mulligan of the University of Chicago has suggested that And it didn’t take long for the public to size up and figure out the credit had almost no economic impact. As Harvard econo- what was going on. they had been promised a painless reform mist Edward Glaeser observed, it did little more than create an that would lower their costs and not disrupt what they already incentive for “mindless house swapping.” It didn’t even have a had. But the original House bill exposed a very different reali- meaningful impact on the behavior of first-time homebuyers— ty—a reality that carried through every version that was subse- people already planning to make purchases simply moved them quently introduced in the legislative process. It was very plainly forward a few months. Yet this is where we find a consensus in a liberal’s dream, with massive tax hikes, costly and job-killing policymaking: We can’t agree on balancing the budget or re - regulatory burdens, and runaway government spending. Voters forming entitlements or the tax code, but we can agree to churn concluded that the program the president and his congressional the housing market so that a handful of real-estate agents can allies were pushing was more an ideological obsession with make a buck on commissions while the economy crumbles. government-run health care than practical problem-solving, Across the world, governments have spent vast sums on and that it was likely to cost them dearly for many years. doomed industrial policies. We often hear about the occasion- the result was a spontaneous nationwide uprising at last al success of efforts in East Asia to nurture shipbuilding and summer’s town-hall meetings. Citizens confronted their elect- automobile manufacture and electronics. But we don’t hear ed leaders and demanded that they change course. the in - about the countless failures, in which cronies of the party in tensity of the public opposition was the only reason the power receive endless subsidies and concessions, getting rich- Dem ocrats didn’t jam the bill through Congress sooner than er at the expense of the economy as a whole. they did, as most of the business interests in Washington had In the United States, our industrial policy for most of the last already raised the white flag of surrender. century has been centered on housing. tax subsidies and the the administration is now betting that the strength of the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and opposition will dissipate. But as Obamacare’s onerous and ris- Freddie Mac have helped channel hundreds of billions of dollars ing costs are imposed on Medicare beneficiaries and tax - into housing. there was a certain logic, however flawed, behind payers, and as employers begin signaling their plans to dump this policy. As opportunities for less-skilled workers declined, costs into the government’s lap, all of the fears that were on construction jobs provided a much-needed income boost to many display last August will be validated. Obamacare was destined working- and middle-class households. But like any arrangement to become a costly government takeover of American health built on government favoritism, this one was bound to fall apart. care, and voters knew it as soon as they were given a chance to see it in black and white. Wishful thinking notwithstanding, Mr. Papagianis is the managing director of Economics21, a nonpartisan policy- they are all but certain to hold those responsible for imposing research institute, and previously was special assistant for domestic policy to this colossal mistake on the country accountable for what they Pres. George W. Bush. Mr. Salam is a policy adviser at Economics21 and have done. at agenda.nationalreview.com.

3 1 2col_QXP-1127940309.qxp 7/13/2010 9:54 PM Page 32

Long-term unemployment has skyrocketed in no small part “negative amortization” loan, in which payments are so low that because of the evaporation of construction jobs that date from the they do not even keep up with the interest, leaving homeowners overbuilding that occurred during the bubble years. more indebted, rather than less, each month. By 2006, more What we need now is to turn away from this disastrous policy than one-third of subprime mortgages had amorti zation sched- and find new, sustainable sources of jobs and economic growth. ules longer than 30 years, nearly half of Alt-A mortgages That will require a series of painful steps—among them, phasing were interest-only, and more than one-fourth were negative- out the mortgage-interest deduction and eliminating the GSes— amortization loans. that will minimize the privileges housing enjoys relative to One effect was to reduce the social benefits of homeownership, investments in other industries. By shifting resources from hous- because the benefits are a product of equity and not of the mere ing to more productive sectors, we will have higher and more fact that a contract has been signed and a mortgage taken out. The sustainable growth. With trillions of dollars and the health of the relationship between homeownership and social goods had been economy at stake, the question isn’t whether we must do it, but misunderstood: The traits that enabled households to build up the whether we will do it now or wait until our economy is in even savings necessary for significant down payments—hard work and worse shape. the deferral of gratification—were misattributed to homeowner- ship itself. Paying a mortgage did nothing to improve children’s educational outcomes; instead, the factors that gave rise to home- he basic argument for housing subsidies is that homeown- ownership also led parents to raise children in a manner that led ership allows Americans of modest means to accumulate to greater educational attainment. T wealth. From the on, the federal government Without substantial down payments and conservative amorti- has played a decisive role in the mortgage marketplace. As jour- zation schedules, the entire proposition of homeownership as a nalist Alyssa Katz recounts in her 2009 study of the housing social good is turned on its head. Think of a homeowner with a industry, Our Lot: How Real Estate Came to Own Us, home - zero-down, negative-amortization mortgage: The balance would ownership was far less common in the United States of the 1920s equal at least 100 percent of the value of the house at origination than it is today. Borrowers had to make down payments that and would steadily grow, putting him ever deeper in debt unless approached half the purchase price of a house to secure a three- the market value of the house grew at an even faster rate. Rather to five-year mortgage. For families without enough savings, there than being a source of wealth, the mortgage would actually reduce was a market in second mortgages to finance down payments, at the net worth of this homeowner below what it would have been startlingly high interest rates. As housing prices collapsed with the had he rented. onset of the Great Depression, millions found themselves under- Rather than providing a social benefit, then, homeownership water, and this created intense pressure for what we might rea- without equity imposes costs. Andrew Oswald of the University sonably call a government takeover of the mortgage industry. of Warwick has argued that such homeownership can exacerbate The political case for federal intervention was strong. Amer - unemployment by making workers less likely to move from one icans had come to believe that homeownership was essential to labor market to another. Labor mobility is badly undermined economic security and that it made for better citizens. Research when homeowners in a depressed market can’t sell their property had found that housing was a particularly important component of for anything approaching the principal balance of the mortgage total wealth accumulation for lower-income households and sug- they originally took out to buy it. gested that it led to improved educational outcomes. The portion The macroeconomic consequences of this shift toward low- of the monthly mortgage payment that pays down the principal equity homeownership are visible in research from the Federal constituted a source of savings for households that were unlikely Reserve that examines the assets and liabilities of U.S. house- to have other significant savings or investments. holds. In the first quarter of 2001, U.S. households’ home equity The high down payments and short-term mortgages meant that stood at $7.7 trillion, or 61 percent of the value of all residential households all over the country held a significant amount of equi- real estate. By the third quarter of 2008, it had declined to $7.6 tril- ty in their homes just a few years after buying them. In some cases, lion, even as outstanding mortgage debt increased by $5.6 trillion the value of this equity grew as the value of the home appreciat- over the same period. By the first quarter of 2009, home equity ed. These capital gains, in conjunction with the forced savings of was $1.35 trillion lower than it had been in 2001. Put another way: mortgage payments, meant that millions of families had assets Despite the housing boom, the portion of residential real estate they could pass on to future generations. The New Dealers actually owned by households declined. This means that the believed this was the path industrial workers could take to reach increase in homeownership rates (and the subsequent rise in the independence once associated with prosperous ranchers and housing prices) was entirely debt-financed. farmers in the American West. The formula, however, changed dramatically at the end of the 20th century. From 1994 to 2005, the homeownership rate reached heSe developments provide important lessons for policy- record highs, thanks largely to innovations in the mortgage-finance makers. First, subsidies designed to turn renters into market that reduced down payments and minimized equity. This T homeowners likely did harm to many households, given shifted the basic wealth-building proposition of homeownership that home equity declined over the 2001–09 period. Second, there away from savings to an almost exclusive focus on capital gains. was a reduction in real mortgage rates, thanks to the subsidies pro- Average down payments fell, reducing the savings required to vided by the GSes, the Federal housing Administration (FhA), “get in the door.” More significant was the rise of mortgages that and the tax code. By increasing households’ purchasing power, involved no forced savings: the interest-only loan, in which no such measures drive up the prices of homes—over the period in equity is built because the principal is never paid down, and the question, by as much as 25 percent—without doing anything to

3 2 | www.nationalreview.com AUGUST 2 , 2 0 1 0 base_milliken-mar 22.qxd 7/12/2010 1:48 PM Page 1 2col_QXP-1127940309.qxp 7/13/2010 9:54 PM Page 34

encourage real affordability. This is why homeownership rates in home but would not provide a larger incentive for people who buy Canada and in European countries that do not offer a mortgage- bigger homes or take on outsized debts. The size of the credit could interest deduction are roughly the same as in the United states. be reduced over time. Under this sort of policy, the federal govern- While ending these subsidies would probably not alter homeown- ment could aid middle- and working-class homebuyers at a small ership rates, it would likely shift capital away from artificially bid- fraction of the cost of the current mortgage-interest deduction. up residential real estate to more productive uses. admittedly, ending the subsidies would probably depress hous- ing prices overall. since most homebuyers base their purchase ismanTling the gsEs is a more difficult proposition. decisions on the monthly after-tax cost of housing, reducing the Taxpayers have already committed roughly $150 billion deduction for mortgage interest would mean that the same month- D to the bailout of Fannie and Freddie. The Congressional ly payment would buy “less house.” For example, a 25 percent Budget Office projects that losses could balloon to $400 billion deduction for mortgage interest allows buyers with a 6 percent over time, while other analysts suggest the taxpayer hit could be mortgage to spend an extra $30,000 on a house without seeing any closer to $1 trillion if default and foreclosure rates stay high. The increase in their monthly payments. similarly, an increase in reason these estimates vary so much is that taxpayers can expect down-payment requirements from the current 3.5 percent to 20 three different kinds of losses from the gsEs: those linked to the percent would mean that $20,000 of savings could be used to buy $5 trillion of mortgage-backed securities and loan guarantees that only a $100,000 house, rather than one priced at $570,000. they are responsible for; those that will continue to occur as a a general decline in housing prices would constitute a one-time result of regular, ongoing operations in a declining housing mar- wealth transfer from current homeowners to future ones—but this ket; and those that may result from their being used as de facto would be well worth it if phased in over a period of years. in 2007 government agencies, subsidizing foreclosure-prevention efforts. (the last year of the bubble), households’ primary residences Fannie and Freddie function today as off-balance-sheet con- accounted for only 31.8 percent of total family assets. While pri- duits for taxpayer spending on housing, and there is no mech - mary residences make up a larger share of the assets of lower- anism in place to end this practice. What’s particularly income than of higher-income households, housing subsidies are dis ap pointing is that Congress is on the verge of sending the pres- less significant for the former because their tax rates are lower, ident a sweeping financial-reform bill that doesn’t account for which makes the value of deductions smaller. Because the value Fannie and Freddie, the most expensive part of the bailouts. of subsidies provided by the FHa and the gsEs accrues to the a lot of thoughtful proposals for reforming Fannie and Freddie borrower on a per-dollar-of-debt basis, their reduction is unlikely have been issued over the past year. in late may, Donald marron to be felt as strongly by lower-income households. The well-off and Phillip swagel of georgetown University put forth one of the take out bigger mortgages, pay more interest, and have bigger more balanced and straightforward plans. The crux of it is to income-tax bills against which to apply a deduction: The median make the gsE guarantees explicit rather than implicit, and to house value for households in the 40th through the 59th income charge an appropriate fee for them. marron-swagel would turn percentiles is just $150,000, compared with $500,000 for house- Fannie and Freddie into private companies and force them to holds in the top income decile. compete with other firms. These new businesses would have a according to the Office of management and Budget (OmB), the narrow mission: to buy conforming mortgages and bundle them mortgage-interest deduction is expected to cost $637 billion over into securities that are eligible for government backing. The key the five years ending in 2015. The exclusion of capital gains on is that the federal guarantee would be transparent, and offered primary residences is expected to cost another $215 billion over the only in exchange for the firms’ paying the government an same five years, with the deductibility of state and local property actuarially fair price for what would amount to insurance. taxes on owner-occupied homes adding $151 billion. in total, these an explicit government backstop might seem an unwarranted subsidies will reduce federal revenue by well over $1 trillion over interference in housing markets, but recent experience suggests a decade during which the federal government is expected to run that it is unrealistic to believe that the government will stand aside a $9 trillion deficit. a gradual phase-out of these subsidies is next time. some government backstop will always be implicit; bet- therefore not only smart economics, but a fiscal necessity. ter to make it explicit and price it. Once a price is established under Over the years, tax experts have also zeroed in on how some of the marron-swagel plan, the government would have the option of these subsidies are distributed. Under the status quo, 80 percent of raising it, thereby reducing its support for the market, slowly and the benefits from the mortgage-interest deduction go to the top 20 over time. The government could also reduce its footprint in the percent of households in terms of income. The deduction helps housing market by putting a ceiling on the size of the mortgages only those taxpayers who itemize deductions on their tax returns, eligible to be packaged into government-backed securities. if the which is much more common among high earners, and the value loan limit were capped in nominal terms, then future inflation and of the subsidy rises as one moves up the tax brackets. Further, as house-price increases would, over the course of several years, Joseph gyourko and Todd sinai of the University of Pennsylvania work to reduce the government’s presence in the marketplace. have documented, the subsidies are unevenly concentrated, with likewise, other subsidies, such as the mortgage-interest deduc- net benefits going to only 20 percent of states and 10 percent of tion, can and should be gradually eliminated. metropolitan areas. not surprisingly, over 75 percent of these Reforming the housing sector won’t miraculously restore benefits go to three high-cost metropolitan areas: new York robust economic growth. it will, however, help stanch the bleed- City–northern new Jersey, los angeles–Riverside–Orange ing of productive resources into a sector that has been distorted County, and san Francisco–Oakland–san Jose. for decades by misguided government subsidies. and over time, a better approach would be to provide a flat tax credit to all that will give workers and entrepreneurs the tools they need to homebuyers. This would preserve an incentive for people to buy a build a stronger and more sustainable economy.

3 4 | www.nationalreview.com AUGUST 2 , 2 0 1 0 2col_QXP-1127940309.qxp 7/13/2010 9:54 PM Page 35

an idea on the minds of a few Pentagon planners, Democrats devised their own strategy for turning soldiers into politicians. Change of Service In 2002 and 2004, Bush and the GOP had pounded Democratic candidates as weak on national security. So in 2006, Demo - Hopes for a GOP congressional majority crats started to recruit veterans to run for Congress. Jim Webb of Virginia, a decorated Marine who served in Vietnam, was rest in part on a crop of Afghan and probably their biggest catch. He went on to defeat GOP senator vets George Allen, a non-veteran. In the House, Democratic congressman Rahm Emanuel of BY JOHN J. MILLER Illinois (who is now President Obama’s chief of staff) coordinated a similar effort through the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which he then chaired. About 50 veterans ran for ONCE scraped paint off the floor of this ship,” says Ilario Congress as Democrats—a higher number than the GOP put Pantano. He stands inside a cavernous hangar within the forth, which was unusual. Many were long shots who didn’t make USS Intrepid, the decommissioned aircraft carrier that it out of their primaries, but a handful survived, and ultimately ‘I sits in the Hudson River as a floating museum. The floor four were elected. Each captured a seat that a Republican had held. and walls that he knows so well are covered in a dull industrial Three came from Pennsylvania, including Joe Sestak, a retired gray. But on June 21, Pantano also finds himself surrounded by Navy admiral who is now running for the Senate, and Patrick the red, white, and blue décor of a campaign fundraiser sponsored Murphy, who had recently served in Iraq. Emanuel credited his by Iraq Veterans for Congress, a political-action committee. non-traditional slate with gaining control of the House. “We Pantano, a Republican who fought in Fallujah, is a beneficiary: expanded the field,” he crowed the elections. Two He’s running for the House of Representatives in North Carolina’s years later, Democrats achieved more district-flipping victories 7th district. with veterans in Idaho, Michigan, and Ohio. Yet the event was something of a homecoming for Pantano. He Although Republicans nominated war hero John McCain for grew up about ten blocks away from the Intrepid, in the Hell’s president in 2008, party leaders made no special effort to recruit Kitchen section of Manhattan. His old apartment building is visi- veterans as candidates for Congress. They haven’t done it this ble from the flight deck. As a boy in the 1980s, Pantano belonged year, either—but dozens of veterans, including a number who saw to a program for kids who had an interest in joining the Marines. action in Iraq and Afghanistan, are stepping forward on their own. It certainly didn’t glamorize military service. Instead, it put “I came home from Afghanistan just in time to see the health-care Pantano to work chipping paint from the carrier’s bowels. bill pass Congress,” says Rocky Raczkowski, a major in the Army Today, Pantano is one of the GOP’s great hopes for wresting Reserve. “My congressman voted for it, and that frustrated me so control of the House away from the Democrats. North Carolina’s much, I just had to run for his seat.” Raczkowski, a former major- 7th district, which includes Wilmington and its environs, prefers ity leader in the Michigan legislature, is seeking the Republican Republican presidential candidates. John McCain took it with nomination in his state’s 9th district, which was a GOP stronghold 52 percent and George W. Bush took it with more. Since 1996, in suburban Detroit until the Democrats seized it two years ago— however, the area’s voters have sent blue-dog Democrat Mike with Naval Reserve lieutenant commander Gary Peters. Brian McIntyre to Washington, often with commanding majorities Rooney, a Michigan Republican who saw action in Iraq, says the against token opposition. Pantano insists that he’ll deliver a dif- lessons he learned in the military are behind his own candidacy: ferent result in 2010: “When I saw that Scott Brown could win a “I want to make Michigan business-friendly again—and the atti- Senate race in Massachusetts, I knew I could win here.” tude in the Marines is that if you want something done right, you The GOP is sure to gain strength in November’s mid-term elec- do it yourself.” He’s running in the 7th district. tions, but ousting Nancy Pelosi as speaker of the House will Veterans may be ideally positioned for the anti-incumbent pol- require switching at least 39 seats from Democratic blue to itics of 2010. “Voters don’t trust candidates on either side of the Republican red. To meet this goal, Republicans will have to win a aisle,” says Justin Bernier, a Navy Reserve intelligence officer series of toss-up races—and they’ll be rooting hard for Pantano who was stationed in Kabul and is now a candidate in Connec - and a platoon of other citizen soldiers who are trying to become ticut’s 5th district. “At the same time, voters believe they can trust citizen legislators. “We’re taking off our boots and fatigues, veterans because they know veterans have volunteered for a mis- putting on our suits and ties, and continuing to serve,” says Allen sion—they’ve sacrificed for their country.” Huge majorities of West, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who was a battalion com- Americans equate military service with patriotism, as Karlyn mander in Iraq and a military trainer in Afghanistan. He’s now Bowman and Andrew Rugg of the American Enterprise Institute running for Congress as a Republican in South Florida. point out in a June 30 polling analysis. Candidates who are veter- Only two Republican congressmen have served in the wars of ans gain a slight edge over opponents who aren’t. the post-9/11 period: Mike Coffman of Colorado and Duncan If North Carolina’s Pantano wins in November, he will owe Hunter of California. “I believe we’re going to have double digits his victory in large measure to his identity as a Marine. Pantano’s next year,” says Kieran Lalor of Iraq Veterans for Congress. story is simply remarkable. After attending an expensive New Hopes for a GOP majority may rest on the shoulders of Iraq and York prep school on scholarship, he astonished his teachers and Afghanistan veterans who are seeking office in Arizona, Arkan - classmates by deciding to enlist in the Marines rather than go to sas, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, and elsewhere. Call them college. He went to sniper school and took part in the first Gulf the Surge Republicans. War. At the end of his four years in 1993, he enrolled at New York Four years ago, when President Bush’s surge in Iraq was just University. After graduation, Pantano took a job at Goldman

3 5 2col_QXP-1127940309.qxp 7/13/2010 9:54 PM Page 36

Sachs and later started his own consulting business. His future Several political-action committees have emerged to help these looked bright. On the morning of 9/11, however, Pantano was on candidates. Iraq Veterans for Congress and Combat Veterans for the streets of Manhattan when the terrorists struck. “I saw the Congress have endorsed dozens of candidates. Both are explicitly Towers burn,” he says. “I knew we were at war.” Hours later, he conservative. Another group, Vets for Freedom, has targeted ten went to a barber shop and ordered a “high and tight”—i.e., a mil- races that feature veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. itary buzz cut. Then, at the age of 30, he rejoined the Marines. This (All are Republicans, but in the past, Vets for Freedom has backed time he went to officer school and received a commission as a sec- Democratic congressman Jim Marshall of Georgia as well as the ond lieutenant. independent candidacy of Connecticut senator .) In 2004, Pantano was fighting insurgents in Iraq. Near the town The efforts of these organizations often overlap, but not always. In of Mahmudiyah, he shot two men. One of the soldiers in the pla- Arizona’s 8th district, they’ve split between Jesse Kelly, a 6'8" toon, possibly disgruntled because Pantano had demoted him, Marine combat veteran, and Jonathan Paton, an Army intelligence accused his superior officer of murder. The case drew national officer. Both men served in Iraq and now seek the GOP nomina- attention, and Pantano suffered through an agonizing year of accu- tion in a primary scheduled for August 24. The winner will face sation and investigation. But all of the charges against him even- second-term Democrat Gabrielle Giffords in a border region that tually were dropped. Pantano received his second honorable both Bush and McCain carried. “The difference between fighting discharge from the Marines and wrote Warlord, a book about his insurgents in Iraq and running for Congress is that when you run experiences. Last year, living in North Carolina—his family had for Congress, the bullets come from all sides,” jokes Kelly. Veterans who become politicians can expect to face intense scrutiny. Already this year, two Senate candidates—Democrat Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Republican Mark Kirk of Illinois—have come under fire for embellishing their military records. Criticizing veterans is risky, but the tactic has paid off handsomely in the past. Just ask former Democratic presiden - tial nominee John Kerry. In 2004, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth questioned his performance as a naval officer in Vietnam and made a scandal of his anti-war activism at home. He never recovered from these attacks. Whatever the strengths and weaknesses of veterans on the cam- paign trail, they are genuine assets in Congress. “It’s difficult for those who haven’t served to understand military culture—you can understand it intellectually, but it’s different when you’ve lived it,” says John Kline, a congressman from Minnesota whose quarter century of service in the Marines spanned from Vietnam to Somalia. This isn’t a partisan talking point for Republican candi- dates. “Being a veteran gives an added perspective as Congress evaluates strategies and provides resources,” says John Boccieri, Ilario Pantano and family a first-term Democratic congressman from Ohio who has flown planes in Iraq and Afghanistan as a member of the Air Force settled there because of Camp Lejeune—Pantano became upset Reserve. His Army-vet colleague Walt Minnick, an Idaho Dem - when Attorney General Eric Holder appointed a special prosecu- ocrat, points to a recent House vote to fund a second engine for the tor to investigate CIA operatives. “That was the tipping point for F-35 fighter jet. “I was a quartermaster, so I know when we’re me,” he says. He started to think seriously about running for throwing money away,” he says. “Voting for a military project Congress. On May 4, he became the 7th district’s GOP nominee. doesn’t always strengthen the military. We also need to make bal- The backgrounds of other Republican veterans aren’t as color- anced, cost-efficient decisions. If we had a Congress with more ful—and their platforms don’t necessarily emphasize their service veterans in both parties, that vote might have the other way.” overseas. In many ways, they sound like conventional right-of- Today, however, the number of veterans in Congress has hit a center candidates who happen to have worn their country’s uni- historic low. Just 22 percent of senators and House members have form. “My two main issues are private-sector job creation and our worn their county’s uniform, according to the Military Officers country’s fiscal health,” says , the GOP candidate in Association of America. That’s down from about 70 percent in the the 2nd district of Arkansas as well as a major in the Army Reserve 1970s. “We need more veterans in Congress because they have who served in Iraq. In Nevada’s 3rd district, Army Reserve doc- reference points that others lack,” says Mike Coffman, a first-term tor Joe Heck, who returned from Iraq after a tour in 2008, decid- Republican who resigned as Colorado’s treasurer in 2005 to join ed to run because of the economy. “I was struggling to keep my the Marines. “I was involved in counterinsurgency operations in business afloat,” he says. “The stimulus sure wasn’t doing any- Anbar, so I know how hard it is to convince people that they’ll thing.” Steve Stivers, an Ohio Army National Guard lieutenant have our support if they put their lives on the line—and I know colonel who spent a year in Kuwait and Iraq, connects the dots how destructive the current administration has been in putting between deficits and defense: “We’re spending ourselves into out a deadline for withdrawal in Afghanistan.” oblivion, and that’s a national-security threat. Just look at Greece. The candidates in the GOP’s band of brothers now hope to It has no ability to provide for a military because its economy is force a withdrawal of their own—a hasty retreat of Democrats

PANTANO FOR CONGRESS a wreck.” He’s the GOP nominee in Ohio’s 15th district. on Election Day.

3 6 | www.nationalreview.com AUGUST 2 , 2 0 1 0 florence--READY_QXP-1127940387.qxp 7/13/2010 8:27 PM Page 37

The Bent Pin BY FLORENCE KING Tony the Terrible

HE American WASP is back, as loathed and re- now as popular as Morris the cat, and Travelocity’s roaming sented as ever. Newscasters are not yet calling us gnome, even though we had not previously known what an WASPs because the acronym for white Anglo- English garden gnome was. T Saxon Protestant more or less faded away after To me our latter-day Anglophilia is indebted to Judi the ethnic-awareness movement of the ’70s and millions of Dench, Helen Mirren, and the witty raconteur Quentin younger Americans may not know what it means, so the cable Crisp (he called himself “the last of the stately homos of cabal have found a suitable substitute: A WASP is the “blue- England”), but the hands-down winner, I’m sorry to say, eyed blond” who would not be stopped by Arizona state was Princess Diana, who forged a Special Relationship all troopers looking for illegal aliens. her own when she developed so many neuroses and eating References to this blue-eyed blond have become ubiqui- problems that she in effect became an American. With the tous lately but they have nothing to do with our border prob- deft slyness of a certifiable nutcase she managed to trans- lems. I know a code word when I hear one and this one is fer all the old stereotypes of English stuffiness onto the spilling Anglophobia the way BP is spilling oil. The differ- shoulders of her husband, freeing up her countrymen to be ence is that the oil spill was a joint effort in human error, but emotion-wracked hysterics and her sons to be regular guys. the Anglophobia is the effortless single-handed work of Now that Prince Charles is out and Tony “Stuff It” Tony “The Twit” Hayward. Or, Tony “Supercilious Is His Hayward is in, we need to find a rationale for the abrupt return Middle Name” Hayward. Or, Tony “To Know Him Is to to Anglophobia he has generated, something that explains Hate Him” Hayward. Or, to really nail it down: Tony “I’m how and why he is the way he is. Comparing him to a mon- Even More Repulsive than Heckuva-Job-Brownie” Hay- ster of English history won’t work because there really ward. And, just for the heckuvit, he looks exactly like the weren’t any, not in the Ivan the Terrible sense. King John, actor who played Tony Blair in The Queen. who murdered his nephew, posed huge political problems but Hayward’s insufferable Englishness reminds us of the otherwise the two are nothing alike; John was a dirty-minded cultural conditions that ignited the ethnic-awareness move- loudmouth who picked his nose. George III also infuriated ment. Those were the days when WASPs were called “real Americans but not for his personal qualities; nobody knew Americans” and everyone else was called a “dirty little” what they were because nobody had ever seen him. As for something or other and ordered to “melt.” Every top banana Oliver Cromwell, he was a prig but not a snob. wanted a secretary with an English accent to intimidate My candidate is James II (1685–88) who, thanks to bot- callers and John Houseman did his investment-house com- tomless reserves of tone-deafness, took only three years to mercials while eating a boiled egg from a tiny eggcup. It was bring about what became known as the “Glorious Revo - Englishness that counted, not mere Britishness: Scots-Irish lution.” The younger brother of the heirless Charles II, James and Welsh need not apply. Stuart was the polar opposite of the popular, easygoing, prag- Much of the Anglophobia WASPs endured was deserved, matic Charles. Both were Roman Catholics but Charles, bow- or at least understandable, and happily, when ethnic aware- ing to what was by then a Protestant majority, was content to ness had run its course and everyone settled down, we entered practice Catholicism in secret. By contrast, James “I Want My an era of good feeling that saw the emergence of Anglo - Back” Stuart announced his Catholicism and phobia’s flip side: Anglophilia. refused to let his heiress presumptive, Princess Mary, be con- The genial Alistair Cooke was a big help. A cross-section of firmed in the Church of England. Charles intervened and she America watched Masterpiece Theatre’s Upstairs, Down - was confirmed anyway, leaving James “I Want My Daughter stairs, but the H-dropping servants got equal (or even better) Back” Stuart to his favorite activity: sulking. Now a widow- billing, and everyone’s favorite was Ruby the kitchen maid. er, he married an Italian Catholic princess who gave him a son Nobody ever expected the English to win plaudits for after he succeeded his brother as king. The specter of a new emotional warmth, least of all from Americans, but it hap- Catholic line was too much for Parliament. James “I Want pened. When public TV ran the BBC comedy Keeping Up My Throne Back” II was exiled to France, where he spent Appearances, London-centered Americans became aware the rest of his life infuriating the court of Louis XIV with his of the North of England, specifically their affectionate cus- finger-in-the-eye personality, eventually becoming the grand- tom of putting the word “our” in front of the names of kin- father of English history’s most overrated public-relations folk. The characters call each other “our Rose,” “our Daisy,” darling: Bonnie Prince Charlie. and even “our Hyacinth,” though no one can stand her. The To find the closest approximation to our antihero, how - last North Country character to make Americans cry was ever, we must look not to fact but to fiction, and we don’t Lassie, but the region became Ground Zero in our relentless have to look far. Who brought disaster to a family by the hunt for . Huggable-lovable-adorable English sea? Who was David Copperfield’s idolized friend at people were in—even in commercials, like Geico’s gecko, school? The suave, handsome, polished English gentleman incarnate? None other than Tony “Just Call Me Steerforth” Florence King can be reached at P.O. Box 7113, Fredericksburg, VA 22404. Hayward.

3 7 longview--ready_QXP-1127940387.qxp 7/13/2010 8:25 PM Page 38

The Long View BY ROB LONG

AL GORE: I don’t know anyone else to are we watching the game or are we call. I don’t know anyone else who’s talking on the mobile? been accused of this kind of thing : Sorry, Mick. Just help- before. ing out an old colleague. NATIONAL BILL CLINTON: Is that your creepy way AL GORE: Is that Mick Jagger? Can I SECURITY AGENCY of trying to flatter me? talk to him? AL GORE: I need some advice. BILL CLINTON: We’re sort of busy right SATELLITE BILL CLINTON: Oh, so now you want now. Look, here are the guys I used. MONITOR my advice? Look, my advice is the Greg Craig and David Boies. Craig’s same it’s always been. Go for the great, but he’s a snake. Totally dis loyal. DOCUMENT EXTRACT: plump ones. They’re grateful for the Backed Obama against Hillary, a real CELLPHONE attention. The hotties just make trou- backstabber. Boies is terrific, and will CONVERSATION ble. get the job done. AL GORE: Thanks, but I just need the AL GORE: Do you have Craig’s num- Static. Ringing. name of a good lawyer— ber? UNIDENTIFIED MALE VOICE #1: Hello? BILL CLINTON: And don’t ever call one BILL CLINTON: I’ll text it to you. Background noise. Note: no available of those escort services! What were AL GORE: Thanks. means to isolate and remove noise. you thinking? BILL CLINTON: Anything else I can Best guess: vuvuzela. AL GORE: I didn’t. I didn’t do anything. help you with? I’d like to get back to UNIDENTIFIED MALE VOICE #2: Um, hi, I was tense. I had a sore neck. I just . . . the game. I’d offer up the name of a Bill. It’s me. I would never, you know, pay for that good divorce attorney, but I don’t UNIDENTIFIED MALE VOICE #1: Me? kind of thing. know any. Never needed one. Hillary Gotta do better than that, pal. I’m aw - BILL CLINTON: Listen, bud, everybody and I are pretty rock-solid. Yeah, fully busy here. pays for it. In one way or another. amazing how great a long-term part- UNIDENTIFIED MALE VOICE #3: Bill, are AL GORE: God, this is so embarrassing. nership can be, isn’t it? Marriage you watching this, mate? You have no idea how humiliating this really is the glue that holds society UNIDENTIFIED MALE VOICE #1: Trying is for me, calling you. together. You wrote a book about that, to, Mick. Let me just dump this call BILL CLINTON: Wow. More flattery. didn’t you? and— You’re good with people, Al. Can’t AL GORE: Could you just send me the UNIDENTIFIED MALE VOICE #2: Bill, it’s think why people found you so off- number? me. It’s Al. putting and weird. BILL CLINTON: Two books, actually, if UNIDENTIFIED MALE VOICE #1: Al. Al, AL GORE: I won the popular vote. memory serves. I guess “irony” is the as in . . .? BILL CLINTON: I’ll never really figure word, huh? UNIDENTIFIED MALE VOICE #2: Al that out. AL GORE: Please spare me the lectures. Gore. It’s Al Gore. AL GORE: Are you going to help me BILL CLINTON: Again, coming from Static. Vuvuzela. or not? you, irony. AL GORE: Hello? BILL CLINTON: Yes, yes. Of course I’ll Ding. BILL CLINTON: I’m here. help you. I’m sort of tied up right now AL GORE: Just got the text. Thank you. AL GORE: This is awkward. with the World Cup. You follow the BILL CLINTON: Any time, Al. I’m here BILL CLINTON: Mick, you are never World Cup, Al? for you. going to believe who this is. AL GORE: Well, yes, of course. I’ve AL GORE: I appreciate your help. I AL GORE: Can you not . . . can we just always believed that our country has a really do. I know I may have said . . . myopic view of sport. We need a more some things, publicly, in the past, BILL CLINTON: In the first place, how global perspective. Football—and I about you that might have come off did you get this number? use that term, as it’s the world’s most as . . . AL GORE: It’s an iPhone. I’m an Apple popular sport—is a game that— BILL CLINTON: Nasty? Smug? Pom - board member. It’s one of the perks. BILL CLINTON: Al? I’m hanging up the pous? BILL CLINTON: You’ve been getting a phone, now. AL GORE: . . . judgmental. And for that lot of perks lately, from what I read in AL GORE: Wait. Sorry. I’m sorry. I apologize. With all of this stuff hap- the papers. BILL CLINTON: You just carry those lit- pening to me right now . . . I mean, I’ve AL GORE: This is hard enough for me, tle speeches around in your head all the just got to get out from under this okay? Can you not make it harder? time, don’t you? ridiculous thing. BILL CLINTON: That’s what— AL GORE: I’m a visionary world leader. BILL CLINTON: That’s what she said. AL GORE: Please! I’m having a crisis. It’s what I do. AL GORE: Goodbye, Bill. BILL CLINTON: And you called me? UNIDENTIFIED MALE VOICE #3: Bill, Static. End transmission.

3 8 | www.nationalreview.com AUGUST 2 , 2 0 1 0 books8-2_QXP-1127940387.qxp 7/13/2010 8:20 PM Page 39 Books, Arts & Manners

requiring concentration on the part of the Today the “european project” of eco- reader. he omits a lot of familiar greatest nomic and political integration is taken A Cool Look hits: Where are Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” for granted, even if the euro, first contem- speech, Kennan’s “long telegram” and plated in the Marshall Plan days, looks a At the doctrine, Reagan’s “evil little shaky at the moment. In addition to empire” speech, the Strategic Defense his fine-grained details of the reconstruc- Cold War Initiative, and the climactic stare-down tion of basic industries, the stabilization with Gorbachev at Reykjavik? Stone of currencies, and the revival of trade STEVEN F. HAYWARD down plays the ideological dimension of between european nations, Stone reminds the east–West conflict, and does not us that making Germany respectable spend much time noting the Left’s sym- again was the key to the european project pathy for Communism. The “enemies of and the creation of the NATO alliance. the Atlantic” referenced in the title were The success of modern Germany was by not so much mendacious as idiotic. Yet it no means assured in the late 1940s, and is precisely Stone’s departures from the Stone singles out Ludwig erhard’s mar - standard political-diplomatic themes that ket liberalization, as well as that of the enable him to offer a fresh and provoca- framers of West Germany’s post-war tive perspective on events we might have political structure—“wise men of the thought thoroughly familiar. Philadelphia class,” Stone judges. By The Atlantic and Its Enemies is per - con trast, east Germany’s status, culmi- haps best described as an economic and nating in the Berlin Wall, was a perpetual The Atlantic and Its Enemies: A History cultural history of the Cold War from a embarrassment to Communism—“a slow- of the Cold War, by Norman Stone eurocentric perspective. Although he sets acting embolism in the entire arterial sys- (Basic, 712 pp., $35) up his narrative by suggesting the Cold tem of european Communism. In that War ought to be understood as “the War sense the West had won,” even though it he Cold War is rapidly receding of the British Succession” (which super- took more than a generation to consum- in the rear-view mirror of his - power would inherit the worldwide Brit- mate the victory. tory, with the current war (if ish empire?) and gives his due to the Despite the creation of a stable eur - T you are a conservative) or “long United States (“the United States, in it all, ope with a durable anti-Soviet alliance twilight struggle” (if you are a liberal) was the great creative force”), his main in the space of a few years after the war, against radical Islam having replaced it as focus throughout is on europe and some the Soviets had reason for their surging the preoccupation of political leaders and of the peripheral nations of the develop- confidence in the 1950s and 1960s, after intellectuals. The Left isn’t as interested ing world, such as egypt, Turkey, and Khrushchev succeeded Stalin. “Khrush - in disputing or revising our understand - Chile. Although he is properly respectful chev was of just the generation to think ing of the Cold War as it once was. All of , Stone’s three leading that Communism would triumph, world- the basic elements of the Cold War story heroes are , Charles de wide,” Stone observes, even if it was are now well known; barring the unlikely Gaulle, and helmut Schmidt. hated in most places where it ruled and revelation from a still-secret American or The focus on europe is a useful com- required tyranny to maintain its hold on Russian source, there is seemingly not plement to the bipolar approach to the power. Soviet high culture seemed richer much new to say about the matter. Cold War more familiar to American read- than Western culture, and the Soviets Given this state of affairs, is there room ers. Stone takes us back to the hard winter were rushing to fill the vacuum in the or need for Norman Stone’s new history of 1946–47, when the economy of europe Third World where Western empire was of the Cold War? The answer is a sur - was still very weak and tenuous, with crumbling. For a time the Soviets seemed prisingly strong yes. Stone, the veteran near-starvation conditions in Germany. more technologically dynamic: Sputnik British journalist and historian, has pro- The U.S., this time willing to step up to “was the calling card of Communism.” duced an original interpretative narrative the challenge of holding europe together, Although the U.S. rose to the challenge that is idiosyncratic and downright odd stepped in with the Marshall Plan, which of Sputnik, the space race was about the in places. (The British edition of the book Stone judges was “enormously success- only arena in the 1960s and 1970s where bears a different and more suggestive ful.” Whereas most narratives of the Mar - the U.S. bested the Soviet Union. Stone subtitle: “A Personal history of the Cold shall Plan tend to portray it as merely gives a mordant survey of the rot that War.”) his chronology jumps around, a giant Keynesian welfare-stimulus pro- beset the West in that period, notably the gram, Stone’s narrative gets into the American failure in Vietnam. But as in the Mr. Hayward is a resident scholar at the American details of how the Marshall Plan was inte- early chapters, Stone is at his best in Enterprise Institute, and the author of The Age of grated into the larger project of restoring describing the economic rot, as the U.S. Reagan: The Conservative Counter- europe’s economic foundations, creating let inflation run away and the dollar’s sta- Revolution, 1980–1989. the “european Phoenix” out of the ashes. bility collapse, with baleful consequences

3 9 books8-2_QXP-1127940387.qxp 7/13/2010 8:20 PM Page 40

BOOKS, ARTS & MANNERS worldwide. Stone blames the hubris of was desperately well-meaning. It jogged; challenge the Soviet Union directly, but liberal economists: “Economists of the it held hands everywhere it went with its Stone goes astray in understanding younger generation were convinced that scrawny wife; it prayed, Baptist-fashion; Reagan as “a Nixon with charm.” Stone’s they were legislators for mankind, and it banned smoking where it could; it sent overall reading of the 1980s is pitch- even that they had abolished all problems. bossy women to preach human rights in perfect, rebutting the liberal slogan about . . . The essence of the Sixties was the places where bossy women were regarded a “decade of greed.” Although Stone belief that there were easy answers, so as an affront to them.” The Carter admin- judges that both the “Reagan revolution” long as grumbling old men got out of the istration invited mostly contempt because and the “Thatcher revolution” were way.” Carter “was rather stupid.” (Stone obvi- “something of an illusion,” as govern- One of the beguiling charms of Stone’s ously isn’t a member of the Nobel Prize ment taxes and spending continued to narrative is the way in which his cool, committee.) grow despite the two leaders’ intention to understated prose bursts from the page But even as matters continued to dete- reverse this, he concludes that “no two at piquant moments, especially when riorate in the U.S., both the U.S. and the decades could have been more different describing the defects of political leaders U.K. were experiencing “tissue regenera- [than the 1970s and the 1980s]. . . . The of the 1960s and 1970s. He dismisses tion under all of this,” culminating in the Eighties had been a magnificent counter- John F. Kennedy as “a hairdresser’s Har - elections of Thatcher (who “meant busi- attack: Just when the enemy thought it vard man,” and is scarcely more im - ness, at last”) and Reagan a year later. had won, its ammunition dump had pressed with Lyndon Johnson or Richard Stone clearly esteems Thatcher the high- exploded.” Nixon. The unraveling of America (what er of the two, calling her the most able Stone thinks “the most interesting ques- elsewhere called “Amer - prime minister since David Lloyd tion about 1981 is why it did not foresee ica’s suicide attempt”) that commenced George, with the ability to know “when 1989,” though, throughout, he notes the under Johnson and Nixon left America “at to be Circe and when to be the nanny intellectual inertia of Western Soviet- its witches-of-Salem weirdest.” The less from hell.” His reading of Reagan is watchers, himself included. (He makes said about Britain’s Edward Heath the fuzzier. Stone credits Reagan with having several mea culpas in this regard.) Stone better. Stone’s most splendidly contemp- correct perception of the political and thinks the Afghan invasion of 1979 was tuous prose is reserved for Jimmy Carter: economic crisis of the moment, and the beginning of the end for the Soviet “Carter’s regime symbolized the era. It with the insight and determination to Union, a bookend of sorts with the Brit - ish decision in 1947 to quit Greece, which “was the pebble, announcing an avalanche.” He is unimpressed with DEEPWATER HORIZON OIL SPILL Gorbachev, whom he calls “the last useful IN THE GULF OF MEXICO idiot,” and though “obviously a decent man,” not really a revolutionary figure as Each day, by twenty thousand cruder counts everyone liked to claim. He thinks even of oil, our gulf becomes a new Black Sea less of Boris Yeltsin, calling him “another alike to state and science, who pronounce of those sinister clowns whom Russian this eruption our worst well in history. history throws up.” If Stone’s narrative eschews some of What algebraic voodoo now may we the rhetorical triumphalism of other summon by some drilling of the moon, Cold War narratives, he nonetheless to choke the concupiscence of a zombie, thinks the end of the Cold War “was a real, real creature of a black lagoon? an Atlantic hour” and “was quite well managed,” making the 1980s “the most I feel I and my statesmen must exist interesting, by far, of the post-war dec - in order to provide our country’s neighbors ades.” Here and there are hints and fore- with more of substance, so the optimist shadowings of the present condition of the Atlantic world, raising the implicit may live with more content in boring labors; question of whether our current leaders are equal in strength or ideas to those or sate a hungering for the dramatic, of the Reagan-Thatcher-Schmidt era. perhaps safe space in which to ruminate. There are many other subplots (includ- Storms and blasts have left a vapid attic ing a rollicking account of Stone’s own for our recovery, a room’s-full to abate brief imprisonment in Czechoslovakia in 1968) and themes, such as the self- this jerking—as if we are side-stepping crabs inflicted debasement of European high- in iridescent pools of lifeless shrimp, er education, that further distinguish through currents like retractable morgue slabs, Stone’s approach and make The Atlantic beach agues where the grouse and egret limp. and Its Enemies a worthy addition to the essential Cold War canon. Add it to your —JENNIFER REESER shelf.

4 0 | www.nationalreview.com AUGUST 2 , 2 0 1 0 books8-2_QXP-1127940387.qxp 7/13/2010 8:20 PM Page 41

history, and especially its complicated the right way home.” (This presaged relations with the United states. There harold Macmillan’s comment, 15 years Churchill, has been a long-running tug-of-war later, that Anglo-American relations between Churchill and Roosevelt his - were like those between the Greek Close Up torians about the comparative merits and Roman empires.) The best line of of the two as policymakers. Churchill the Tehran Conference was actually CONRAD BLACK opened up a tremendous lead in this Churchill’s “The truth deserves a body- race, because he survived Roosevelt by guard of lies.” in this case, he certainly 20 years, carried out his own promise gave it one. to write the history himself (for which Roosevelt had cautioned Churchill at he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Tehran about improving social services, Literature), and engaged in ambitious moving india and other parts of the revisionism. Empire to self-governing Common - it suited the whole constellation of the wealth status, dismantling part of the U.s. government’s post-war enemies to class system, and taking the lead in orga- heap abuse on Roosevelt for having nizing Western Europe, to give the pub- been swindled by stalin into handing lic the confidence that they had been over Eastern Europe to be trampled by fighting for reform and their own better- stalin’s Red Army. Disgruntled British ment, and not just against Nazis and for Winston’s War: Churchill, 1940–1945, imperialists, grumpy about the inex- an empire. it was all good advice from an by Max Hastings (Knopf, orable and not always suavely gracious invincible democratic politician. 576 pp., $35) rise of America, rallied around the view There was never one word of truth to of historian Arthur Bryant that Roosevelt the Yalta Myth: That conference guaran- his is an interesting and im - was a sap, out of his depth with stalin teed independence and democracy for portant book by a very capable and envious of Churchill. (This was a Eastern Europe. it was Churchill who historian. (Max hastings and little hard to take from Bryant, who sev- signed away hungary, Romania, and T i worked quite cordially to - eral months after the outbreak of World Bulgaria to stalin in Moscow in October gether for a number of years in the 1990s War ii published Unfinished Victory, 1944, calling “the naughty document” a at the Daily Telegraph in London, but admiringly referring to hitler’s coming “temporary arrangement,” as if he did have had no contact for some years.) triumph, traceable in part to the Führer’s not know whom he was dealing with. Winston’s War does not bring, nor pre- “Cromwellian qualities.”) The Euro Max hastings describes this as an act of tend to bring, a great deal that is new socDems who wished to appease Russia desperation. Perhaps it was, but why did to the well-known story of Churchill’s and give equivocation a chance in the he do it? war leadership. But it offers an insight Cold War—the Willy Brandts and Pierre hastings does recount Churchill’s op - into his foibles, his attitudes and attach- Trudeaus, and even, for a time, Denis position to the cross-Channel invasion ments to people, and the humane, decent, healey—claimed that Roosevelt low- of France, his terror that it would be a and tender aspects of his intimate na - ered and legitimized the iron Curtain. De failure; but he leaves out the conviction ture that only the most omnivorous Gaulle and his followers took up the of the chief of the general staff, Alan Churchillian reader would not find very same cry, to show that only they, and Brooke, that stalin supported it only revealing. not the Anglo-saxons, could defend West - because he thought it would be a failure, The book also makes clear the evolu- ern Europe. And, most damaging, the like Gallipoli, Narvik, Dunkirk, Greece, tion that has taken place in the received bedraggled Flat Earth society of the U.s. Crete, and Dieppe. And he omits the historical view of its subject. The vin - Republican Right—at the worst, Joseph R. lengths Roosevelt went to, staying in the dicated prophet and galvanizer of the McCarthy (who accused Truman, Mar - soviet legation in Tehran (where he Finest hour of 1940–41 remains, and shall, and Eisenhower of being Commies knew his suite was bugged) to pre- always will. But the evocator and voice too)—defamed Roosevelt as a stalin arrange stalin’s support of the French in the wilderness of the new resistance dupe. landings, rather than Churchill’s pro- against soviet Communism has yielded Churchill avoided any direct criticism posed mad dash up the Adriatic. to the humanitarian eccentric and poly- of FDR, but mischievously poured gaso- Churchill loved conferences, affecting math, who proves more admirable and line on the fire with the woeful tale of the a military uniform, and clearly enjoyed loveable than infallible and under- world caught between a physically and them a good deal more than Roosevelt heeded. mentally decrepit Roosevelt and a com- and stalin did. (They were not parlia- This evolution is tangled in the pletely inexperienced Truman. For good mentarians, and were not much accus- British people’s learned and popular measure, he produced, after the Tehran tomed to conferring or debating.) And conceptions of their country’s modern Conference, what hastings calls “one of with Roosevelt he will always remain [his] great sallies, no less pleasing for its the co-author of the astounding achieve- Mr. Black is the author of Franklin Delano misplaced self-belief”: he said that he ment of leaving it to Russia between Roosevelt: Champion of Freedom and was the “little English donkey” between 1941 and 1945, to take, among the Big Richard M. Nixon: A Life in Full. He can “the Russian bear and the American buf- Three, 90 percent of the casualties of war be reached at [email protected]. falo” but was “the only one who knew and end up with a temporary and squalid

4 1 books8-2_QXP-1127940387.qxp 7/13/2010 8:20 PM Page 42

BOOKS, ARTS & MANNERS squattership in Poland and the Balkans, launch the Ardennes offensive. The while FDR and WSC brought Germany, European Advisory Commission (EAC) Italy, and Japan in, and France back into, is also not mentioned. The EAC set the Culture the West as democratic and soon pros- German occupation zones, and the perous allies. These are impregnable his- British voted with the Russians to put Clash toric accomplishments. Berlin in the American zone, because If the Churchillians had clung to the they could thus get a larger occupation JAMES V. DELONG Yalta Myth, his reputation would have zone than their divisional strength war- started to unravel. Max Hastings has laid ranted. Roosevelt didn’t want the zones down the real bridge for Churchill to demarcated because he correctly fore- hold—his inspiring leadership in the saw that once Eisenhower’s armies early years of the war—and builds his crossed the Rhine, the Germans would further standing on his splendid person- collapse in the West, but fight to the last ality rather than on false disparagements cartridge against the Russians. of others. But this book is only incidentally Of course, Churchill has long been intended to be about such things. It is admired as a wit, and rivaled in that really a close-up look at a great man and among British prime ministers only by statesman. Churchill was fallible after Disraeli, and as a magnanimous winner all, but he was a humane and artistic and gracious loser throughout his life. romantic and adventurer, the stylish The Next American Civil War: (“If the people want Clem Attlee, let and amiable repository of the virtues The Populist Revolt Against the Liberal Elite, them have him. That’s why we fought of a civilizing empire. His greatness by Lee Harris (Palgrave Macmillan, and won the war.” The corresponding remains as the mighty single-combat 256 pp., $27) statement from Roosevelt, after his warrior of the early war, whose person- unheard-of fourth presidential victory, al courage, as Stalin said at his 69th EE HARRIS always has interest- about his opponent, Thomas E. Dewey, birthday celebration during the Tehran ing things to say. He first came to general attention with his L 2002 essay in titled “Al Qaeda’s Fantasy Ideology: Churchill had a readier sense of humor War Without Clausewitz,” in which he than Roosevelt, Stalin, and de Gaulle, compared American difficulties in un - derstanding 9/11 to those of the Aztecs and an irresistible sense of fun. This who first confronted Cortez, a being book gives much evidence of that. operating so far out of their norms of motivation and behavior as to be utterly alien. was “I still think he’s a son-of-a-bitch.”) Conference, had changed the world; as His point, at a time when most of us Churchill had a readier sense of humor the original co-captain of the winning assumed that al-Qaeda had a Prussian- than Roosevelt, Stalin, and de Gaulle, side in the war, and in the Cold War; and style general staff hiding away to plot its and an irresistible sense of fun. This as the most human, compelling, and next campaign, was that 9/11 was not a book gives much evidence of that. diverse of the great 20th-century na- strategic move akin to Pearl Harbor. The When he was very tired and discour- tional leaders. Twin Towers were “gigantic props in a aged in 1944, when the conduct of the Max Hastings is uniquely qualified grandiose spectacle in which the collec- war was really in the hands of his allies, for the task he has undertaken: a quick- tive fantasy of radical Islam was brought he told his wife, the magnificent Clem - starting, energetic former war cor res - vividly to life: A mere handful of Mus - entine, how exhausted and fed up he pondent and editor, and an ac com plished lims, men whose will was absolutely was. She replied cheerfully: “Don’t be; military historian who writes with un - pure as proven by their martyrdom, think of how Hitler and Mussolini are embellished force, precision, and a won- brought down the haughty towers erect- feeling.” He instantly replied: “No, Mus - derfully detached appreciation of the ed by the Great Satan. What better proof solini has had the pleasure of executing humorous (such as an American offi- could there possibly be that God was on his son-in-law.” His mood quickly re- cer’s phobia about anyone with “a red the side of radical Islam?” He named the sponded to this self-help. moustache, a swagger stick, and a Brit - phenomenon the “fantasy ideology” and There are a few gaps in Hastings’s ish accent”). He brings to the study of linked it historically to such events as the book. Market Garden, Montgomery’s Churchill the man, husband, father, Italian conquest of Ethiopia, undertaken play for the Western Front breakthrough friend, and employer, the sensitivity of not because Ethiopia had any value but that ended with the bridge too far and left a powerful man who has also lived because Italy had to conquer somebody the Canadian army squatting on Dutch intensely in all those roles. This is an rooftops after German flooding, is not excellent and timely portrait of an always Mr. DeLong is vice president of the Convergence Law mentioned. Americans generally blame fascinating character, by a thorough, rig- Institute, and visiting fellow at the Digital Society, Market Garden for the German ability to orous, and elegant writer. both in Washington, D.C.

4 2 | www.nationalreview.com AUGUST 2 , 2 0 1 0 books8-2_QXP-1127940387.qxp 7/13/2010 8:20 PM Page 43

to fulfill its fantasy of being the New have been taught to think for themselves, finally becomes a bit clearer. He sees the Rome. but evidence that they have been pro- current populist revolt as the latest in this Harris’s powerful essay, which bears grammed to think alike.” long line of uprisings in the name of lib- annual rereading, provided a useful cor- He touches on, but develops only erty, and as in many ways a fantasy ide- rective, and he was described by Daniel slightly, the fascinating theme that much ology (though he does not use the term Pipes, no slouch himself, as “America’s of the political debate of the last half cen- here) akin to those he has written about reigning philosopher of 9/11.” tury and more can be viewed as a debate elsewhere. But these uprisings against Harris followed this up with Civili­- over the existence and nature of free will. modernity fail, in the end, because actu- zation­and­Its­Enemies:­The­Next­Stage Much liberal theology is premised on the ally of­History (2004), a book incorporating idea that, since people are slaves to one and extending the al-Qaeda essay, and thing or another, there is no moral bar to the threat to liberty does not come from The­Suicide­of­Reason:­Radical­Islam’s compelling them to a different course, the sinister machinations of power-hungry Threat­to­the­West (2007), which contin- for the better fulfillment of their true socialists. It comes from the very nature ued the consideration of the problems of interests. Harris takes up the conflict of modern advanced civilization, from impersonal forces operating be yond the a civilized society facing fanatic barbar- between the New Deal determination to control of any individual or set of indi- ians, and with a series of articles in the improve people and the traditional con- viduals. . . . The American meritocracy journals of intellectual conservatism. cepts of individual liberty harbored by has provided us, in abundance, with so His latest, The­Next­American­Civil people who don’t think that banning many of the blessings of civilization War, seems in some ways a drastic guns or NASCAR is an improvement. that we have come to take for granted. departure from the earlier clash-of- This part of the book demonstrates one This same meritocracy, how ever, has civilizations works, linked only by the of the best characteristics of Harris’s the potential to create a new ruling elite Lee Harris continues to be fascinated by the abrasive interfaces of cultures that have a difficult time understanding each other.

somewhat apocalyptic title. On the other work—he strikes sparks in the reader’s as indifferent to the needs and anxiety of hand, there is an underlying unity of mind, and you wish he were in the room the average person as the various ruling theme, in that Harris continues to be so you could talk to him about the points elites . . . in the past. fascinated by the abrasive interfaces of he is making, ask for some expansions, The current populist revolt against cultures that have a difficult time under - and quibble here and there. the meritocracy could well have a standing each other, a concern that is Then, after laying some interesting healthy effect on our society . . . but this revolt also contains the seeds of poten- captured in the subtitle, “The Populist groundwork with these ideas, the book tial catastrophe as long as there are pop- Revolt against the Liberal Elite.” (Ignore ceases to provide any framework, and ulist demagogues. the main title, which seems a bit of over- the second half becomes an “X cities in hype; there is no serious foreshadowing Y days” tour of concepts of populist lib- The last few pages are worthy of Rod - of Obama’s calling out the SEIU to put erty through the ages, touching down in ney King: Both populists and meritocrats down what Lincoln called “combina- America in the Age of Jackson, picking have some good points and are neces- tions too powerful to be suppressed by up on social ordering in the ’49er mining sary, and we should all try harder to the ordinary course of judicial proceed- camps of California, examining the Sons respect one another’s viewpoints and get ings.”) of Liberty and the Stamp Act rebellion of along. My reaction to this second half of But it is an odd book, especially for 1765, joining the barons at Runnymede the book is that I want the kidnappers to those who admire Harris’s earlier work. (1215), and watching Wat Tyler’s head return the real Lee Harris, because I have It starts out well enough, with some in - go up on a pike on London Bridge in some questions for him. For example: teresting points about both populists and 1381, where it replaced that of the Arch- Am I right in my conclusion that he liberal elites, a.k.a. “meritocrats.” Harris bishop of Canterbury. regards the populist rebels as embracing is more aphoristic than systematic, but Along the way, we learn that the 19th- a fantasy ideology of a simpler world, that is no sin, especially because many of century populist movement in the U.S. and thus classifies them as akin to other the aphorisms are good. For example: “If was in many ways a rebellion against primitives who resist the demands of religion is the opiate of the people, utopi- the increasing complexity required by civilization? anism is the methamphetamine of the industrial civilization, that even the pop- Does he regard the growth of gov - intellectual. . . . It offers . . . a vision of ulists would concede that meritocrats are ernment as irrelevant to his discussion the world in which they are omnipotent.” needed to actually run things, but that the of meritocracy? Governments dispose And: “One can argue that the so-called quality of being “ornery” in defense of directly of almost 40 percent of the GDP, education gap is really an ‘indoctrination one’s own self can also be a salutary and compel or direct, what, 20 to 30 per- gap.’ The wide consensus among the bet- check on the pretensions of power. cent more via regulatory activity? Is ter educated . . . is not proof that they After this meandering, Harris’s stance it possible that the populists see the

4 3 books8-2_QXP-1127940387.qxp 7/13/2010 8:20 PM Page 44

BOOKS, ARTS & MANNERS meritocrats as nest featherers rather than and more newspapers were published defenders of civilization? And that they there, per capita, than almost anywhere are right? True else in America. How can he speak of one “merito- The ignorant, gun-slinging, oligarch- cracy” and then attribute to it the attain- West controlled West is not what Dakota ment of civilization? I can think of quite looked like. The settlers named their a few different meritocracies—the TRAVIS KAVULLA towns after Virgil and Seneca. They read English Lit majors of Cambridge are Tennyson, Pope, Byron. Such classical a long way from the tech barons of Sili- education did not, as today, destine con Valley—and I would give varying young Dakotans for a life in academia. amounts of credit to the different classes. No, this was preparation for a life that Is this really a revolt against inevitable took seriously the hard toil of the farm complexity, or is it a revolt against those and the grave work of self-government. who make things overly complex so that Government is such a behemoth in they can levy a toll for pretending to the modern United States that the vast solve the problems ( majority of citizens expect all of its insti- comes to mind)? tutions to work smoothly without their How would Harris respond to the mundane attentions. Today, more than argument that he has it backward—that ever, “self-government” has come to we are indeed undergoing an assault on Prairie Republic: The Political Culture of Dakota mean merely that we are a people who civilization, but that the populists and tea Territory, 1879–1889, by Jon K. Lauck vote and elect whom we care to. The def- partiers are actually the defenders, and (Oklahoma, 256 pp., $32.95) inition was much broader and more de - the so-called meritocrats have the role of manding in Dakota Territory. There, destructive barbarians? Put us on a plat- HAT happens when hun- self-government meant something closer form, and this is the side of the debate dreds of thousands of to what Tocqueville had observed in the that I will defend. people flush into a mas- Ohio River Valley, which was in many Finally, there is the question of a W sive open prairie in the respects repackaged by the historian meritocracy that has separated itself course of a decade, transforming a place Frederick Jackson Turner, who spoke of from the people. At Harvard a couple of the size of Ireland into farmland carved the yeoman farmer as cultivating not just months ago for an occasion related to up into parcels about ten city blocks a small landholding but a civil society one of the two degrees that I hold from wide and long? One would think social on which he and his neighbors relied. To that institution (don’t play liberal-elite discord and economic domination by a be sure, self-government included the one-upmanship with me, buddy!), I clique—and that, for a long time, has secret ballot, but it was more than that. It saw the plaque for Everett Peabody, been the view of “progressive” histori- meant living “the strenuous life” and Class of 1849, one of the 136 Harvard ans on the matter. cobbling together a society from scratch, men who died for the Union. After col- In his enterprising new scholarly according to no less than Teddy Roose - lege, he went west, became a railroad work, Jon Lauck invites us to question velt, a Dakota rancher for a time before builder and engineer by apprenticeship, the stereotype of the lawless, corrupt, he returned to New York. which was how it was done then, and hang-’em-high “Wild West,” and instead Self-government began at home, pro- lived the rough, itinerant life of the rail- paints a picture of a healthy, energetic, ceeded to the church, and rounded itself road man. With war, he became the quintessentially Jeffersonian Prairie Re - out at the Odd Fellows or Masonic colonel of a Missouri regiment. At public. lodges. In the absence of a state gov - Shiloh, he saved the Union army, and Even before Congress deigned to ernment, and with only stooges of the perhaps the war, by preparing for attack recognize Dakota as two states—with interior secretary exercising codified when his superiors, including Sherman, the north the more barren, railroad- political authority, self-government had said the Rebs were nowhere near, and dominated locale—a vibrant civic soci- very little to do with formal government with his life bought the time for the ety had developed in what became South institutions. Even so, Lauck writes, army to regroup and stand. Now, that is Dakota. It was a place dominated by Dako tans governed themselves tem - a meritocrat, but his like is not to be small landholders who distrusted Wash - perately. There was little of the vigilante found wandering the halls of the in- ington and hated the territorial spoils justice of the South or Far West. fluence peddlers of D.C., and the tea system, who were devoted to their The newly minted Dakotans were seri- partiers know it. churches and civic organizations, and ous people living in a serious time. Most In any case, Harris has maintained his who obsessed about synthesizing “the of the male settlers had been soldiers for practice of making the reader wish he organic law” of the soon-to-be state. By the Union, and in their journey west they were in the room so that the argument the late 1880s, Dakota Territory had less never lost their devotion to the United could be continued. And his point that illiteracy than any New England state, States, indivisible, and their commitment the conflict grows sharper is valid, so to making the sacrifices necessary to it will be interesting to read what he has Mr. Kavulla, a former associate editor of NR, is a keep it whole. They were not, unlike the to say next time. So someone pay the writer in Montana and the Republican nominee for “copperhead” southerners who moved ransom. public service commissioner for the state. farther west to mining camps after the

4 4 | www.nationalreview.com AUGUST 2 , 2 0 1 0 books8-2_QXP-1127940387.qxp 7/13/2010 8:21 PM Page 45

Civil War, trying to escape the aegis of influence of England’s long parliamen- neighbors, still working with their hands, American political culture. Dakotans tary tradition everywhere in countries still with enough passion for democracy were embracing it, and consciously ex - influenced by English colonization. that voter turnout in some rural counties panding it westward. Lauck notes that Others have pointed out that Indi - exceeds 80 percent. Lauck notes that some territories declared what amounted ans and Africans routinely petitioned Robert Putnam, author of Bowling to unilateral statehood, appointing offi- their faraway central government using Alone, found that tiny Miner County, cers of a state government at their consti- English concepts of republicanism S.D., scored highest on Putnam’s mea- tutional conventions. The leaders of the against their superiors. Similarly, Dako - surement of social cohesion. Dakota conventions, even while resent- tans at the cusp of statehood viciously Yet those days, both Lauck and this ful of a Democrat-controlled Congress, denounced their “colonial status,” reviewer fear, are almost over. In my were mindful of the importance of the which quashed their ability to carve out own state, Montana, populations in Union and the authority of Congress on a self-governing republic even after ter- rural counties have fallen dramatically. the matter. ritories with far smaller populations, In the past decade, farming and ranch- A century after the American Revo - such as Nevada, had been granted state- ing counties with populations under lution, the opening of Dakota and its hood. 10,000 people have seen their popula- prospects for statehood gave settlers The powerful current of political tions shrink by double-digit percent- repeated chances at constitutional con- republicanism that coursed throughout ages. In many communities, Lauck ventions. Dakotans held four in a seven- the Anglo world has been taken lightly observes, funerals outnumber baptisms year period—each a bonanza of civic by previous historians, who in such by a 2–1 margin. The reason is relative- activity, each resulting in a state consti- “colonial” and “frontier” situations tend ly simple: Farm work today requires tution approved by Dakota’s voters but to have a Marxist bent and a myopic less manpower and more capital invest- turned down by Congress, until the last focus on perceived class conflict. But the ment, which means larger landholdings convention in 1889 finally yielded state- political republicanism enshrined by and a people less and less familiar with hood. At the conventions, which despite England’s Glorious Revolution of 1688 the closely knit social institutions of small- being held in rapid succession had a has found salience countless times town America. Some once-productive turnover of 70 percent in their member- across the globe—in Philadelphia in land is simply being taken out of pro- ship, the delegates meticulously read 1776, Dakota in the 1880s, and the ductive use altogether, put into conser- America’s founding documents. They British colonial world after World War vation easements, wilderness areas, or adopted many of the republican ele - II, to name just a few examples. For - du biously conceived million-acre na - ments of one in particular: the often- mative historical actors of these places tional monuments. This trend towards overlooked Northwest Ordinance, one all wrote and spoke about how important fallow cuts away at schools’ and other of the four “organic laws” of the Conti - this kernel of republican ideology was; local governments’ tax base and further nental Congress, which set provisions it was a platform for them to point out reduces the likelihood that some of for the settlement of the Ohio Valley, the hypocrisy of the metropole, and to America’s small towns will survive including the banning of slavery and demand their God-given rights. Those another decade. It is no overstatement primogeniture. In Dakota, as a hun- claims deserve to be taken seriously by to say that the West is on the verge of a dred years previously in Philadelphia, historians and, at least in some quarters, new era of ghost towns. convention delegates “pledged their finally are. Is that a threat to our democracy? sacred honor” to one another in uphold- Lauck is a senior adviser to South Well, if voter turnout is an indicator of a ing the government they had just con- Dakota senator , and in his healthy democracy, if church attendance ceived. moving epilogue, he takes us to the mod- and participation in civic organizations Like the Founders, most Dakota set- ern day. He notes that many counties in are measures, then yes, the depopulation tlers were Episcopalians or Congrega - South Dakota are far less populous today of rural America is a profound threat. tionalists. Foreign-born Lutherans were than they were a century ago. What little It undermines the premises of Jefferso - a large minority. To all of them, it was a population remains is devoted to the old nian agrarian democracy on which tenet of faith that obedience to Rome traditions of civic society: still gathering Tocqueville’s and Turner’s theses rested. meant disloyalty to the legitimate secular in church basements for community din- In this theory of American government, government. Replying to the popular ners, still on a first-name basis with their Lauck writes, “farmers who owned their suspicions, Catholic bishop Martin land and enjoyed an independence Marty protested that “the children of the denied to industrial workers” were the Church stand foremost as the faithful engine of a vibrant republican govern- supporters, as in the hour of danger they ment. were the enthusiastic defenders of the Prairie Republic is one of those rare American Republic.” Everyone was scholarly works that are neither a denun- eager to speak the language of repub - ciation nor a “critical” (which is to say licanism. Marxist or postmodernist) interpreta - Lauck’s work fits into a wider body tion of American culture. It is a passion- of recent scholarship that takes serious- ate story about little Dakota’s seminal ly the role of republican political thought “There ain’t no such thing decade, of which we as a nation can be in world history. Indeed, one sees the as free-range beer.” proud.

4 5 books8-2_QXP-1127940387.qxp 7/13/2010 8:21 PM Page 46

BOOKS, ARTS & MANNERS But if you’re inclined to raise an eye - to play), Paul rides a motorcycle and Film brow at families conceived by fathers runs a farm-to-table restaurant, where he who have a number rather than a name, canoodles with the waitresses and dodges The Kids Are All Right might end up anything resembling a real emotional Family confirm ing some of your skepticism. Just commitment. But the sudden chance to as its admirers say, this is a movie about connect with children he never knew ex - Plot the ways in which such families resemble isted awakens an unexpected yearning for the old-fashioned mom-and-dad variety. a different kind of lifestyle—the sort of ROSS DOUTHAT But it’s also a movie about all the ways settled, parental, bourgeois way of life they don’t. he’s spent his entire adulthood avoiding. s it possible for Hollywood to make The mommies in question are Nic It awakens something in the women he a movie about lesbian motherhood (Annette Bening) and Jules (Julianne impregnated as well. Nic reacts to his and sperm-donor fatherhood that Moore), who inhabit a prosperous Golden appearance with bristling hostility: she’s I isn’t just a preachy ode to the magic state suburb with their two children, at once protective of her family unit of alternative family structures? If you Joni (Mia Wasikowska) and Laser (Josh and horrified that her carefully selected skim the rapturous reviews that have Hutcherson). Nic is a tightly wound, donor turned out to be a laid-back college greeted The Kids Are All Right, a Cali - slightly alcoholic doctor with a smother- dropout. (“Did you always know you fornian comedy of manners in which a ing parenting style, while Jules is laid- wanted to be in the food-services indus- lesbian couple copes with the sudden back and crunchy, with years as a try?” she asks him frostily.) Jules, on the intrusion of their children’s biological stay-at-home mom behind her and vague other hand, is drawn to him—and drawn father into their domestic universe, you’d hopes of a career in landscape architec- erotically, eventually, her lesbianism not - probably be inclined to answer in the neg- ture ahead. Their children are teenage withstanding. she feels suffocated and ative. There’s a palpable smugness to the and restless: Joni (Nic’s biological child) underappreciated by her high-strung praise that Lisa Cholodenko’s film is gar- is a slightly repressed alpha student on spouse, and when Paul invites her to help nering: Explicitly or implicitly, many of the verge of vanishing to college, while landscape his backyard, it’s only a matter the movie’s admirers seem convinced that the younger Laser (birthed by Jules) is of time before their very different kinds of its portrait of an American family proves, athletic and moody, with a thuggish best mid-life angst send them tumbling into once and for all, that all you need is friend and an obvious yearning for a male bed together. love—that parenthood is parenthood no authority figure. Meanwhile, their kids are struggling to matter how you put it all together. His yearning is sharpened by the arrival make sense of the whole mess. I saw The Happily, the film itself is more multi- of Joni’s 18th birthday, which gives her Kids Are All Right just after delving into layered than the critics make it sound, and the legal right to put out feelers to the the Institute for American Values’s recent less preachy. The Kids Are All Right is the anonymous sperm-donor father they study on the inner lives of sperm-donor rare film about a hot-button cultural issue share. After much pleading from her children, and it’s striking how closely that that shows rather than tells, complicates brother, she consents, and the next thing study’s findings track with the anxieties instead of oversimplifies, and plays as a you know Mark Ruffalo’s Paul is cruising that Joni and (especially) Laser seem to Rorschach test rather than a sermon. If into their life. Achingly hip and effortless- harbor: the sense of familial incomplete- you’re inclined to celebrate donor dads ly sexy, well-meaning but fundamentally ness, the fearful curiosity about their and dual-mommy parenting, you won’t untrustworthy (which is to say, the kind origins, the insecurity that comes with be disappointed by Cholodenko’s movie. of character that Ruffalo always seems having a commercial transaction at the root of your existence. And the way Cholodenko (a lesbian parent herself) has the adults’ dysfunctions play out seems equally psychologically acute. The Paul- Jules ménage, in particular, captures the way confusion can beget confusion, when impulses that are supposed to pull together find themselves working at cross-purposes. The Kids Are All Right ends with restoration, not dissolution: Despite the threads of chaos running through the story, things come out (mostly) okay. In the closing scenes, the movie labors to put a period at the end of its title—to make that “all right” feel sincere and persua- sive, rather than bitter or ironic. But it’s to Cholodenko’s immense artistic credit that her story often seems to put a question

Annette Bening and Julianne Moore in The Kids Are All Right mark at the end of it instead. FOCUS FEATURES

4 6 | www.nationalreview.com AUGUST 2 , 2 0 1 0 books8-2_QXP-1127940387.qxp 7/13/2010 8:21 PM Page 47

devoted to sports pedantry, as intricate Ninety minutes of something almost City Desk as negotiating throw-weights during but never happening. We kick the ball, we the Cold war. Our governor calls in as kick the ball with our heads, now we are Dave from Harlem. Our sports stars are running, ola! We shoot! But the man of This Cup full-fledged celebrities, ingesting drugs, them kick the ball thirty yard the other copulating with actresses, brokering way, we run back. repeat eighty times, Is Empty multimillion-dollar salaries, endorse- with faked injuries. this is what we are ments, and alimonies. So is what we need supposed to inflict on ourselves? above all, even more than national health One of our very favorite places is not care or the incorporation of gun rights via that far from the old soccer bars, though the due-process clause, David Beckham it seems miles away. Like all the best and Posh Spice? Ola! Ola! places it draws a nook around itself. it is it is not as if we were uncosmopolitan. an italian restaurant, not a made-man Half our baseball players are from the place with heavy cutlery and red sauce, Dominican republic; if there is an am- but sleek and chic, with brick-oven pizza bulatory seven-footer in a yurt some- crust thin as paper. the owner wears where, the NBA will find him. Diversity, open-necked shirts, slacks, and trim c’est nous. Nor is it true that soccer is shoes, each the color of a different flavor RICHARD BROOKHISER the world’s sport. Look at Asia: east, of sorbet. His tables spill onto the side- south, and Soviet. they all field teams, walk and look, across the narrow street, wAiter i know is a Copt, so i suppose, but their real sports are, re- at a row of ginkgo trees and their shiver- i am disposed to like him; spectively, gambling, cricket, and alco- ing leaves, behind them a playground he already has enough prob- holism. But for all those Americans who with a hoop and a wall where the resi- A lems. But he asked me if i won’t be happy until beer and gas are dents of this mini-country shoot baskets would be following “the mondial.” i served in liters, the rest of us cannot or hit tennis balls. in the midst of the didn’t know what he meant, so he ex - demonstrate our humanity until we em - Mondial we went for an evening of ease plained: the world Cup. i felt my affec- brace soccer. We kick the ball so fast, we and found the bar surmounted by a tele- tion draining away. run, we run. vision, a monstrous shouting toad, before this year the world Cup took over the city. there was always a nest of soccer- friendly bars on lower west Broadway, We kick the ball so fast, we run, where the tunnel people cross it on their return to Jersey. But this year bar owners we run. Ola! Ola! and restaurateurs citywide caught on to the good thing. which of course was a Maybe it would be better if something which were ranged the owner, his staff, bad thing. Door and windows open to the ever happened. there is constant activity, and their customers, listening to the dis- early summer air. television blaring onto but nothing ever happens, does it? An old tant morons tooting and yelling while the the street, as if it were the street’s busi- friend of mine, unfortunately a soccer homunculi ran and kicked. we turned our ness. the foreign flags, like little U.N. pod person—though her son plays tennis, backs and flexed our necks and traps and Plazas, or some hellacious nautical dis- so she is not lost utterly—tried explaining stared glumly at the now-meaningless tress signal. the cheers, for the continu- once why nothing ever happens. the street. Paradise lost. Ola! ous burst of non-events. the drunks. this italians, it seems, invented a technique of this is my country. the pitcher holds was the year the Mondial came to New defense in the Fifties that means . . . noth- off the late-inning rally; the stadium York. Ola ola! ing ever happens. it sounded to me as if roars; he pays no mind, he tends to the i actually like the flag of Brazil (except she were saying that the sport was really task at hand. Plumes of breath, torn away for its mark-of-the-beast slogan, Ordem e interesting until it stopped being. We toot in the wind; swollen opposed shoulders, Progresso): the cooling palette, the glob- the vuvuzela! almost touching, as if conferring; the last al night sky. i like the flag of Brazil— Faking injuries: that is interesting. I game of the year, the goal-line stand. the except, this is not Brazil. We run so fast, ran across your shoelace, but I have fall- red horse makes his move, it’s as if all we kick the ball! en on my omoplate, it hurts so. See how the others had stopped, his jockey tucks it is not as if we lacked for sports of our many minutes of time it takes me to get the whip in, unused. Scraping reeboks, own. it’s not as if we were bushmen or up. i know, i know—hockey brawls and shouted syllables; the pick-up teams play Benedictines or Buddhist monks and we spitballs and steroids and all the rest of it. for the chance to play again; along the needed a little vicarious exercise and sub- where there are sports, there must be wire fence another team waits to replace limated war-making in our diet. we have sportsmanship, because there will be vio- one or the other. My trainer’s son made Yankees and Mets, football (real football) lence and cheating. is it that the cheap an interception, it is the first in the histo- in the Meadowlands, basketball and melodrama of soccer cheating somehow ry of the league, they didn’t play football hockey at the Garden, tennis at Flushing matches the hysteria of the rhythm of in the islands where my trainer grew up, Meadows, the horses at Aqueduct. we play? We toot the vuvuzelas all together! he is thrilled. have tV channels and radio stations Blow, blow! No Ola! from me.

4 7 backpage_QXP-1127940387.qxp 7/14/2010 2:18 PM Page 48

Athwart BY ROB LONG Gross Profits

RECENTLY finished Hollywood Economics, a book by finally there’s something called “Advertising and Pub - a brilliant mathematician named Arthur De Vany. I say licity,” which in many cases is another opportunity for a “finished” instead of “read” because it’s filled with a movie studio to buy spots on a network that it owns. I lot of complicated graphs and tables and words like Nice work, right? “Gaussian curve” and “fractal,” which resulted in my turn- The goal here, for the studio, is to embed enough money ing a lot of pages in eye-watering stupefaction. But I got the holes—like expandable fees—and enough profit centers— gist. like interest payments and advertising expenses—into each The gist is, the entertainment industry, where I toil cease- production that it makes money no matter what. They’re lessly in an effort to earn my little monthly pie, is a business free, when making actor deals and director deals, to offer up of uncertainty and randomness, and whenever we try to vast tranches of net-profit participation because, as Harry hedge our bets—spending a lot of money on marketing, say, Potter and the Disappearing G.A.A.P. teaches us, there are or paying a lot for a star-filled cast—we’re at most barely no net profits. Ever. improving our chances of having a hit. You don’t have to be Dumbledore to turn a cash mountain In fact, according to De Vany, when studios dump piles of of One Billion Dollars into a loss of $167 million. And you money on stars and TV campaigns and McDonald’s Happy don’t have to be a slick studio accountant. You can be, say, Meal tie-ins, they’re making a terrible business mistake by Nancy Pelosi, who orchestrated a slick accounting move of spending scarce resources on things that don’t change the her own when the House of Representatives failed to vote bottom line, rather than things that do. on a new budget, but instead “deemed” it to have passed and Like making more movies. It’s a cliché, I know, to say that began spending money immediately. Pelosi waggled her studios would be better off, and a lot more profitable, by magic wand—Waddiwasi! Or you can be former Obama making more movies for less money—but Arthur De Vany budget director Peter Orszag, who shouted Engorgio! at his actually proves it. At least, I think he does. It’s a complicated health-care-reform savings projections until they grew large book. And I failed calculus. enough to talk about. I thought of this last week, when it was revealed that the When studios cheat, they cheat their net-profit par- blockbuster film Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, ticipants—actors and directors and other coddled show- produced by Warner Bros., has grossed something like business dunderheads. I mean, boo hoo, right? But when $938.2 million to date. Since I’ve already stipulated my Pelosi & Co., An Accountancy Corporation, LLC, cheat, math skills, let’s just call that One Billion Dollars. they cheat their net-profit participants, and that’s us. All of So what do you think is the net profit on One Billion us. And worse, unlike the hapless net-profit participants of Dollars? Harry Potter, we’re actually on the hook for the bit that’s in Well, it’s a trick question, because according to Warner the red. Bros., there is no net profit on Harry Potter and the Order It’s tempting to shake our heads, of course, and say that of the Phoenix. Warner Bros. accountants, like Harry Potter the system is crazy, but it’s really not. himself, apparently have the ability to make things disap- What Arthur De Vany and a host of other smart, rational pear. According to them, the One Billion Dollars that the observers miss is that the point of these enterprises—block- movie has taken in so far has resulted, somehow, in a loss of buster moviemaking, blockbuster government-growing— $167 million. isn’t to make money, it’s to generate ongoing fees. It isn’t I know what you’re asking. How do they get away with really to own anything or start anything or make anything, this? it’s to create a new stream of income that sluices money, The same way Congress does. By simply redefining unfettered, towards its masters. So they don’t care if a movie words—like “profit” and “net” and “loss” and “gross”—that never makes any money, in the generally accepted, not- in any other business, for any one of us, have rather concrete insane meaning of that term. It’s just an excuse to create meanings. some more fee-generating product. Hidden in the quarterly profit statement that every studio When Warner Bros. creates a budget for a film, they bury puts out for every movie—they call it a “Distribution Re - all of those fees and charges deep in the document. When port,” as if there were ever any money about to be distrib- House Democrats create new programs and entitlements, uted—are the tricks of the trade. There’s something called they do the same. The federal budget, like the movie-studio the “Distribution Fee,” which a studio pays to the distribu- Distribution Report, is a nonsense document, filled with tor (surprise! the studio owns the distributor!) for releasing swindles and lies and hidden fees. and marketing the picture. This isn’t a set fee, by the way— So the failure of the House Democrats to pass a budget, it gets fatter as the movie takes in more cash. Then there’s when you really think about it, is the one honest thing interest, which the studio pays to itself for the “cost” of using they’ve ever done. They have at least one click more integ - its money to make the movie in the first place. Meaning, the rity than your average movie-studio accountant. And that’s studio charges itself for being in the studio business. And nice to know.

4 8 | www.nationalreview.com AUGUST 2 , 2 0 1 0 base_milliken-mar 22.qxd 7/12/2010 1:50 PM Page 1

-/2'!.3),6%2$/,,!23 '/,$3),6%2!2%5."%!4!",%!3h#2)3)3v-/.%9 7(99/52'/,$%.9%!23#/5,$"%9/52",!#+%349%!23 "5&&!,/3),6%22/5.$3 '/,$).$)!.3

%ACHsROLL ,)-)4#/).3 -!44%02//&&).)3(&).%052%3),6%2 %ACH ,)-)42/,,3s0,533( /RDER7ITH0ERSONAL#HECK 'ET&2%%3()00).' /RDER#OINS 3AVE0ER#OINˆ3AVE /RDER7ITH0ERSONAL#HECK3AVE0ER2OLL /RDER#OINS 3AVE0ER#OINˆ3AVE /RDER2OLLS 'ET&REE3HIPPING&REE2ED"OOK 'ET&2%%2%$"//+7ITH&2%%3()00).' #LIENTSWHOTOOKOURADVICELASTYEARAREDOINGWELLˆASYOUCAN 4HETHREATOF(YPER INmATIONISASREALASAHEARTATTACKANDWILL SEEFROMTHEGRAPHBELOWˆOURRECOMMENDATIONWASRIGHTONTHE CONTINUETORAISEYOURCOSTOFLIVINGEVERYYEAR4HERETIREMENTYOU MONEY PLANNEDFORISGONEIFYOUDONTDOSOMETHINGABOUTITRIGHTNOW 7ITHTHEBAILOUTSYOUNEEDTOPAYFORANDTHEHYPERINmATIONTHAT 3ILVER'OLDCANPROTECTYOU#ALL.OW4HEEUROISDOOMED LIES AHEAD YOUR GOLDEN YEARS ARE lX INTO ANDAHARDMONEYLESSONLIESAHEAD BE YOUR BLACKEST YEARS 7AKE UP 4HIS 0RUDENT RESPONSIBLE !MERICANS THAT SAVED lNANCIALHURRICANEISROLLINGSTRAIGHTATYOU THEIR MONEY PAID THEIR BILLS AND LIVE ANDALLOF!MERICA,OOKAT'REECE4HISIS WITHINTHEIRMEANSAREOUTRIGHTPUNISHEDBY JUSTTHEBEGINNINGOFA%UROPEANlNANCIAL HAVINGTOPAYFOR"AIL/UTS(YPERINmATION !RMAGEDDON(OWSTUPIDMUST'REECEBE WILL DECIMATE YOUR SAVINGS BECAUSE YOU TOTHINKYOUCANlXlNANCIALCOLLAPSEAND HAVE TO "AIL /UT IRRESPONSIBLE BANKS AND BANKRUPTCYWITHMOREDEBT 4HE"AIL/UT BORROWERS 0ROGRAMHASITSOWN3PECIAL0ROSECUTORFOR 4HE3TOCK-ARKETISPRIMEDFORASUPERCRASH ALLTHEFRAUDTHEGOVERNMENTEXPECTS4HEY WHICH WILL EXPLODE INTEREST RATES -ANY BUILD THE FRAUD INTO THE NUMBERS #AN !MERICANS HAVE TO LIVE THE WORST OF THE YOURUNYOURLIFELIKETHAT /FCOURSENOT WORST LIFE SHATTERING RETIREMENT NIGHTMARE !MERICANSAREBEINGEATENALIVEJUSTLIKEA WHICHISLOSINGMILLIONSOFDOLLARSINMARKET CANCERBYTHEHIDDENTAXKNOWNASINmATION!MERICASlNANCIAL CRASHES )2!+MELTDOWNS SCHEMESANDSCAMS4HEREIS FUTUREWILLBEANIGHTMAREFORAWHILEˆWHATYOUDONTWANTISTO NOTHINGMORESOLIDTHANSILVERGOLD9OUWILLALWAYSHAVEYOUR WAKEUPSCREAMINGDURINGTHISNIGHTMAREWITHNOPLANORPROTECTION SILVERGOLD UNLIKESTOCKSTHATGOTONOTHING3ILVERGOLDIS IN PLACE "ECAUSE FRIEND WHEN A TORNADO STRIKES IT STRIKES WITH A SAFESECUREHARDMONEY VENGEANCE THISISAlNANCIALTORNADO!REYOUREADY )FNOT YOU 3O THE REAL QUESTION IS WILL YOU KEEP TRUSTING /BAMA AND HIS BETTERGETREADYANDORDERALLTHESILVERANDGOLDYOUCANHANDLE POSSE WITH YOUR RETIREMENT 7ILL YOU BE SO FOOLISH AS TO TRUST )NmATIONWILLPUNISH!MERICA ITTOTHE7ALL3TREETBANDOFTHIEVES #ALLNOWANDINSUREYOUR /BAMAISMAKINGSUREYOUOUTLIVEYOURMONEYBECAUSEHEHASEVERY MONEYWITHSILVERGOLDTHEONLYREALDOLLARSTOCKMARKET PLANHECANMUSTERTORELIEVEYOUOFYOURMONEY7ITHOUTOWNING CRASHINSURANCE SILVERGOLDNOWYOUWILLRUNOUTOFMONEYONAREALSADNOTE 9OUWORKEDALLYOURLIFE PROTECTYOURMONEYNOWINSILVERANDGOLD 7)4(&2%%3()00).' 9/5'%4&2%%2%$"//+ BEFOREITMELTSAWAYLIKEANICECUBEINYOURHAND     ,)6% 0ROUD3UPPORTER /2$%2/.,).%!4WWWAMGOLDTRUSTCOM 0RICESSUBJECTTOCHANGEBASEDONGOLDANDSILVERMARKETPRICES 9EARS %XPERIENCE 3INCE /Ê“iÀˆV>˜Ê-ˆÛiÀÊEÊœ`Ê Ê 0/"/8s!534). 4%8!3s /RDER7ITH#ONlDENCE3ATISFACTION'UARANTEED 5NCONDITIONAL  $AY .O 2ISK-ONEY"ACK'UARANTEE &ULLREFUNDIFYOUARENOTCOMPLETELY 9/520%23/.!, SATISlEDWITHYOURORDER #(%#+)37%,#/-% base_milliken-mar 22.qxd 7/12/2010 2:05 PM Page 1