FALSE FUNDRAISING: Republicans, led by Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe (R.-Okla.), are threatening legal action over a full-page advertisement that ran in the New York Times on March 26 as part of MoveOn.org's campaign to defeat George W. Bush for re-election. The environmentalist special interest group Natural Resources Defense Council - which accepts at least half-a-million in federal grants annually - was also a sponsor of the ad. The advertisement accused President Bush of putting America's children at risk by relaxing mercury standards. In fact, there are no current standards regulating mercury emissions.
The advertisement sought donations to the NRDC, which describes itself as a non-profit charity. "I believe it is bad enough to run a false advertisement, but to solicit charitable contributions based on that false advertisement is especially troubling," said Inhofe. Inhofe is petitioning prosecutors in his home state of Oklahoma to bring criminal charges against MoveOn.org and the NRDC.
WOMEN IN COMBAT: Not only did Pfc. Lynndie England abuse male Iraqi prisoners, but she ended up pregnant by a male U.S. soldier - confirming what so many Americans believe about the foolhardiness of having young men and young women serving closely together in the military, and particularly in combat situations. Even the mainstream media have noticed. "England has emerged as Exhibit A for conservatives who have long opposed women's serving in combat roles, partly on the grounds that pregnancies could hurt military readiness and that sexual relationships among the troops could harm discipline," reported the Baltimore Sun on May 16. "'I keep hearing from the field that there's a lot of, shall we say, cohesion going on,' said Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness, a conservative advocacy group."
The Congressional Committee on Military Training and Gender-Related Issues in 1999 quoted a Navy recruit trainer on the problems with co-ed close quarters: "I think putting males and females on ships and sending them away for six months and asking them not to get together is ridiculous. We put people in no-win situations. We ask 18- and 19-year-olds to march in close confines and do not expect hormones to take over. Please."
THE ONE RING: Fred Smith of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) drew an analogy May 18 between the views of many Republicans and The Lord of the Rings. "The one Ring is the concept of centralized power. And the temptation is to use that power for good," he said. What divides conservatives and "classical liberals" from other supposedly right-leaning Americans, he said, is the attitude toward centralized power - which conservatives are against, as was J.R.R. Tolkien. "Neo-cons and others believe, 'Better or worse, let's grab power and use it for good,'" said Smith.
GAY MILITANCY: Homosexual rights activists took over a marriage license bureau in Cook County, Ill. (Chicago) on May 17. The May 18 Chicago Daily Herald said that after a lesbian couple was denied a marriage license, a "group staged an immediate sit-in, shutting down the Cook County marriage license bureau Monday afternoon. . . . Some occasionally sparred with heterosexual couples who were turned away because of the protest and annoyed by the inconvenience."
WAR TODAY: In a speech to the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) on May 18, President Bush said, "The United States, through most of our history, has been protected by vast oceans to our east and west, and blessed with friendly neighbors to our north and south. Israel has faced a different situation as a small country in a tough neighborhood. The Israeli people have always had enemies at their borders and terrorists close at hand. Again and again, Israel has defended itself with skill and heroism. . . . On Sept. 11, 2001, Americans saw that we are no longer protected by geography from the dangers of the world." Bush also said, "This enemy has left blood on the streets of Jakarta and Jerusalem, Casablanca and Riyadh, Mombasa and Istanbul, Bali, Baghdad and Madrid. They have declared war on the civilized world - and war is what they got." Though Bush did not mention it, Bus 19 from Israel - bombed by Muslims targeting civilians - had been brought to the United States and was on display two floors below.
