THE WANDERER, FEBRUARY 15, 2007
JOSEPH SOBRAN'S
WASHINGTON WATCH
The Long Race
In keeping with modern journalistic tradition, the
media gave much heavier coverage to the recent antiwar
rally here than to the annual March for Life. Guess which
one featured more celebrities. Jane Fonda was back for
the first time in ages, that is, for the first time since
the Vietnam War. Dear old Jane, pushing 70 -- didn't she
win an Academy Award once? Now she only reminds us how
old we're getting. The things we used to be passionate
about!
The absence of the military draft no doubt accounts
for the relative smallness of today's antiwar movement,
even though today's antiwar sentiment seems more
widespread and mainstream than the last time, when it was
much more leftist in tone. With Communism in eclipse,
even conservatives are aboard now.
But the Republicans don't know what to do, except to
"stay the course" without actually using the phrase;
maybe they could try to pacify Baghdad with enterprise
zones. Every day the mayhem gets worse. The place may be
in ruins, economically and otherwise, but the Iraqis can
still afford such luxury items as explosives. Iran is
said to be "meddling in Iraq." The United States can
invade Panama because it's "in our backyard," or Iraq
because it threatens "our vital interests," but Iran must
ignore its next-door neighbor or it's a "rogue nation."
It's all complicated by the never-ending
presidential campaign, with Hillary Clinton still trying
to position herself prudently. If she is elected, will
the Marine Band be playing "Hail to the Squaw"?
Meanwhile, John Edwards, denouncing the Iraq War at
home, has gone to Israel to suggest nuking Iran. Of all
the many candidates in the race, Edwards is undoubtedly
the most slippery and least trustworthy, though his
character has escaped the scrutiny it deserves. So help
me, I'd rather see Hillary in the White House. (It wasn't
easy to type those words. But I mean them.)
The endless campaign was very briefly interrupted by
Joe Biden's latest campaign, which did end -- the same
day he announced it. He got off on the wrong foot, which
he put in its usual place: his mouth.
Trying to be nice, he remarked that Barack Obama was
not only black, but also "articulate" and "clean." This
brought angry responses, so Biden had to swallow what
little dignity he still has and do another grovel. His
presidential prospects appear dim. I thought it was a
little unfair: Obama is much more well-spoken than, say,
Jesse Jackson, and by "clean" I think Biden was referring
not to personal hygiene, but to the fact that Obama
doesn't keep money in his freezer. Regardless, Biden
won't be having his finger on the nuclear trigger now.
Our loss.
Rudy Giuliani, officially a candidate at last, now
seems to be the Republican front-runner, passing John
McCain in the latest polls, and, seeing the hawkish
McCain slipping, he's trying to say as little as possible
about the war. Winning the GOP nomination is going to
take some fancy footwork as well as a lot of money.
Giuliani's appeal eludes me; he's a hawkish liberal, or
maybe an ambiguous neocon, whom I expect to be eliminated
when Republicans start asking themselves why they should
vote for a crass New Yorker who is both pro-war and
pro-abortion.
Giuliani and McCain both rode the 9/11 panic for a
while, but the threat of terrorism already seems nearly
as passe as the threat of Communism that shaped American
politics for a full generation. George W. Bush has
drained it of its political potency, leaving all the
candidates somewhat off balance; what seemed winning
positions only two years ago are liabilities now. The day
of the hawk is over. Obama has supplanted Osama on the
covers of magazines.
Only two years ago Fred Barnes of THE WEEKLY
STANDARD could visit Iraq and call the American invasion
"the greatest act of benevolence one nation has ever done
for another." How times have changed. Fred, one of Bush's
most enthusiastic encomiasts, has had to change his tune.
He also credited Bush with "redefining" American
conservatism -- for the better. How would you like that
crow, Fred -- fried or roasted?
Does it really matter who the president is anymore?
The office and the entire executive branch are so
overblown that it may only matter for the worse. After
Bush, we should be especially wary of messianic leaders,
including "big government conservatives."
Contrary to everything we hear, a weak president,
opposed by Congress, unable to "get things done," may be
the best we can hope for. Let's pray that the next one
will know how to use the veto. And will have occasion to
use it often.
Thanks, Coach
My hero this week -- and I think I speak for many --
is Tony Dungy, coach of the Super Bowl champion
Indianapolis Colts. For weeks the media had been hyping
the "historic" fact that both coaches in the game (the
other being Dungy's old friend Lovie Smith, coach of the
Chicago Bears) were black.
Personally, I found this trivial. Does it matter
that both quarterbacks were white? I'd be more impressed
if both coaches in the Stanley Cup finals were black, but
I don't expect to see that soon.
After his victory, Dungy commented that that was
nice, all right, but what mattered more was that both
coaches were Christians. This may not be what the media
call a historic first, but it showed that Dungy had a
proper sense of proportion.
A generation ago, when Don Shula coached the great
Miami Dolphins to a perfect season, culminating in a
triumph in the Super Bowl, I read a long profile of him,
of which only one detail stuck in my memory: Shula was a
daily communicant.
When I met him at a big Catholic banquet in New York
many years later, I told the audience how that had
impressed me at a time when I'd drifted away from the
Church, and I turned to him and said, "Thanks, coach."
Football is a brutal sport, but sometimes the Lord
works through the NFL.
The Wrong Stuff
Now that the lid has been ripped off the sordid
reality of the space program, maybe we can stop blaming
President Bush for everything that goes wrong.
This was a weird country long before he took charge.
+ + +
"Except when the Pope dies, religious news isn't
considered news." REGIME CHANGE BEGINS AT HOME -- a new
selection of my Confessions of a Reactionary Utopian --
will brighten your odd moments.
If you have not seen my monthly newsletter,
SOBRAN'S, yet, give my office a call at 800-513-5053 and
request a free sample, or better yet, subscribe for two
years for just $85. New subscribers get two gifts with
their subscription. More details can be found at the
Subscription page of my website, www.sobran.com.
Already a subscriber? Consider a gift subscription
for a priest, friend, or relative.
--- Joseph Sobran
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Read this column on-line at
"http://www.sobran.com/wanderer/w2007/w070215.shtml".
This column copyright (c) 2007 by THE WANDERER, the
National Catholic Weekly founded in 1867,
www.thewandererpress.com. Reprinted with permission.
This column may not be published in print or Internet
publications without express permission of THE WANDERER.
You may forward it to interested individuals if you use
this entire page, including the following disclaimer:
"THE WANDERER is available by subscription. Write
subscription@thewandererpress.com for information.
Subscription price: $50 per year; $30 for six months.
Checks can be sent to The WANDERER, 201 Ohio Street,
Dept. JS, St. Paul, MN 55107.
"SOBRAN'S and Joe Sobran's syndicated columns are
available by e-mail subscription. For details and
samples, see http://www.sobran.com/e-mail.shtml, write
PR@griffnews.com, or call 800-513-5053."
This page copyright (c) 2007 by THE VERE COMPANY.