Monday, August 02, 2004

Ancient Evenings Among other things, today's commentary by Juan Cole elucidates the composition of the Christian population of Iraq. For those of us less learned than Professor Cole, it's startling to discover that Assyrians and Chaldeans still walk the Earth, and that the latter still worship in Aramaic, the language of Jesus Christ and Mel Gibson. After such revelations, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Iraq also teems with Sumerians and Hittites, that a Phoenician flotilla has just sailed into the port of Um Qasr, and that Osama bin Laden continues to elude capture by communicating with his minions in cuneiform.  1:38:51 PM

De Profundis The Democrats followed the recommendations of their pollsters and presented a four-day festival of mindless optimism and minimal Bush-bashing. Now the Republicans have to up the ante, painting rosy scenarios for the future while at the same time scaring the hell out of voters so that they'll choose Bush to protect them from evildoers. In that respect, Bush rose to the occasion this morning during the Q & A session of his press conference announcing his endorsement of the 9/11 commission's recommendation to establish a new national intelligence director (excerpt transcribed by me from a live NPR broadcast): "I believe this system will serve our country well, as we head into the depths of the 21st century." Bush has once again shown that he has more depth than his critics give him credit for.  He should never be misunderestimated. 11:13:47 AM