DEAN BARNETT HERE, spanning the globe:

1)      A VICTORY LAP FOR ABE – Abe Foxman is the head of the Anti-Defamation League, a group dedicated to Jewish interests.  Over at Soxblog, I had some harsh words for Foxman as he squandered his organization’s once considerable prestige on things like protesting school bullies and vilifying Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ.”  I thought with Israel being surrounded by some pretty passionate folks dedicated to its annihilation, America’s ranking Jewish organization would have bigger fish to fry than schoolyard miscreants and a purportedly offensive movie (which I as a Jew didn’t find offensive).  When virtually the whole country went to see Gibson’s supposedly incendiary film and not a single pogrom ensued, I felt entitled to say I told you so and took a virtual victory lap at Abe’s expense.

Now that Mel Gibson has revealed himself as an anti-Semitic kook, it’s admittedly Abe’s turn to take a victory lap.  While Gibson’s DUI arrest and subsequent rantings don’t necessarily reflect on the films he made (any more than Woody Allen’s schtuping of his step-daughter makes “Annie Hall” any less brilliant), they certainly make me feel like a Grade A schmuck for defending him.

Gibson’s actions are indeed indefensible.  Thus, I won’t be taking a crack at defending them.

(Actually, it’s been a good week for Foxman all the way around.  His full-throated and unnuanced defense of Israel the past fortnight has also impressed.)

2)      DID SOMEBODY MENTION NUANCE?  - There can only be one reason why I have nuance on the noodle – the spectacularly nuanced mind of John Kerry was on display this morning in the Boston Globe making the case for universal health care coverage. 

Kerry’s op-ed consists of the typically soporific prose that we have come to expect from the Senator.   Take this bracing passage as indicative of the entire effort:  “Doctors follow the motto ‘First do no harm.’ So should Washington. We don’t want to reinvent the wheel on healthcare; we need to take what’s already working for those of us who are lucky and make it work for the millions of Americans being passed by. And we need to improve quality and lower costs for those with coverage today.”

I beseech you, do not follow the link to Kerry’s piece. If you disregard my advice on this matter, at the very least do not attempt to operate heavy machinery after having done so.

3)      THAT’S GOT TO STING – Far more amusing is the AP’s coverage of Kerry’s increasingly pathetic effort to stay in the public eye:

“Whatever his criticism, Kerry faces the reality that the governor of his home state Republican Mitt Romney, himself a potential 2008 presidential candidate has not only talked about but enacted a sweeping health care overhaul designed to bring universal coverage to Massachusetts. Last week, Michael Leavitt, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human services, called the program ‘a model’ for the nation.

“Romney negotiated the plan with a Democratic Legislature, and in cooperation with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., Kerry’s senior colleague.”

4)      JOHN EDWARDS, CALL YOUR OFFICE…  The New York Times has an interesting article on post-middle-aged men who have removed themselves from the workplace because they can’t find a job that is “neither demeaning nor underpaid.” 

53 year old Alan Beggerow is typical.  Rather than demean himself with a poorly paying job that lacks adequate prestige, Beggerow leads a quietly dignified life “writing unpublished Western potboilers in the Louis L’Amour style” and “stay(ing) up late and sleep(ing) until 11 a.m.”

The article is interesting reading.  On the one hand, you’d have to have a heart of stone to not feel sympathy for people whose lives have been upended by economic reversals.  On the other hand, you can’t help but think there’s a more admirable (and less French) way of handling such disappointments than spending the next few years sleeping almost until noon, curled up in your own sense of victim-hood.

Anyway, the piece is definitely worth checking out.

5)      THE VERSATILE LEFT WING BLOGGER/best selling author Glenn Greenwald doesn’t seem to like neo-cons like me:

“(They have a) thirst for endless war… The neoconservative extremists are ridiculed on an almost daily basis, because the extent of their ever-increasing lunacy is truly difficult to fathom. But that mindset is not merely some fringe radicalism but, instead, has been driving our foreign policy for the last five years. And it still is, because the individual who happens to be the President, along with the omnipotent Vice President, are full-fledged adherents to this approach, and while scores of people marvel at how increasingly deranged the Bill Kristols and Richard Perles of the world seem to be, those who occupy the White House believe they speak great wisdom and are listening intently to (and outright echoing) what they have to say.”

What I really admire about Greenwald is the way he wrestles with the views of others of a different ideological bent with such intellectual honesty and vigor while eschewing mindless name-calling.  May he long serve as a model for the left!!

6)      THE PERSONIFICATION OF ALL THINGS EVIL IN THE SPORTS WORLD, the New York Yankees, acquired two players who seem likely to help their quixotic quest to wrest the American League East from the iron-clad grip of the Boston Red Sox.  Title-less for six years and battling the Curse of A-Rod, the Yankees are obviously getting desperate.  Nonetheless, if you’re not a Red Sox fan you can’t imagine the panic that these Yankee machinations trigger in the Hub amongst a fandom still haunted by ghosts even though Boston is this decade’s City of Champions.

Fortunately, the Red Sox begin a series tonight against the overmatched Cleveland Indians, and all should soon be calm in Red Sox Nation.

7)      MOST IMPORTANTLY…Ehud Olmert committed his nation to victory today, and did so rightly promising that there would be hardships along the way. 

“The fighting continues. There is no ceasefire and there will not be any ceasefire in the coming days… We will stop the war when the [rocket] threat is removed...our captive soldiers return home in peace, and you are able to live in safety and security. We should be ready for pain, tears and blood. Missiles and rockets will still land in Israel in the coming days.”

Okay, the rhetoric isn’t quite Churchillian, but the sentiment definitely is.

8)      WAS OLMERT READING THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER?  - The Examiner had an editorial on the Israel-Hezbollah war today that was 100% spot-on:

“Editorial: How about ‘We win, they lose’ for U.S. strategy in the Middle East? Now there’s a strategic vision for the 21st century. It worked for President Reagan in winning the Cold War against the Soviet Union and it will work for President Bush and his successors in the White House in winning the war against terrorism.”

The Examiner’s editorial gets my first “read the whole thing” prize during my tenure at Hugh’s place.

(By the way, I can tell what you’re thinking: A lot of this “Spanning the Globe” exercise seems reminiscent of what James Taranto does at OpinionJournal.com and a “read the whole thing” prize certainly seems to be borrowed from Professor Reynolds.  I prefer to think of these things as homages rather than rip-offs, a case of me standing on the shoulders of giants if you will.

Besides when I did this at Soxblog, I illustrated these lists with funny pictures.  Those will be coming soon.)

Compliments or complaints?  Please contact me at Soxblog@aol.com.