Sunday, December 14, 2003

frograbbitmonkey has reviews of a new downtown bar ("Yuppie hellhole") and a nearby diner ("Their meat sauce is better than mine, and that is not a compliment I toss around lightly, if ever.") 12:09:19 PM    comment []

Howard Dean on Saddam's capture, via weblog: "This is a great day for the Iraqi people, the US, and the international community...Now that the dictator is captured, we must also accelerate the transition from occupation to full Iraqi sovereignty." Nothing yet at the blogs of Kerry, Edwards, or Clark. Lieberman's been on TV saying good stuff, but he doesn't have a blog. Bushblog has a pointer to his TV speech -- the blog says noon, nets are saying 12:15. Dean understands this parallel media stuff. Does anyone else, yet? 11:59:35 AM    comment []

The N&R almost never requests that I submit columns on specific topics, but the imminent release of The Return of the King movie was important enough that my editor, Elma Sabo, asked me to write about the enduring appeal of the books. So I did, and my answer is that realism -- especially true-to-life characters and relationships -- is responsible for the success of Tolkien's fantasy. "Very few of us are called upon to save the world, real or imaginary, but all of us face crises, or at least the moral choices of everyday existence. We have to take responsibility and be stronger than we know we are, or care to be." 11:27:01 AM    comment []

Saddam should be tried by the Iraqis. Not by the US, or at The Hague, but by the people he wronged the worst. Justice at the hands of Americans, no matter how fairly administered, would not seem like justice to many in the region we're trying to win over. Ditto the international war-crimes court. Trying him in Iraq would show we are serious about self-rule. It would show faith in the institutions and people of the country. We should provide the bailiffs, though. 11:07:01 AM    comment []