Newley Purnell

I’ve changed colors/fonts again. Still having trouble with some of the links. Please bear with me…

I’m still making some tweaks. Normal postings will resume shortly.

As you can see, I’m experimenting with a new look for this page. Some of the links might not work, but I’m hoping to de-bug everything soon. Your patience is appreciated.

The radical left’s response to September 11th was wrong-headed: they regarded the terrorist attacks as the legitimate political expression of the victims of American imperialism.

While the US unquestionably meddles excessively in the business of other nations–and always has–that argument didn’t hold water. The men who flew jetliners into the World Trade Center weren’t activists. They were terrorists. And terrorism can never been seen as an acceptable form of political discourse: you surrender your credibility when you employ suicide bombers.

As Geoffrey Wheatcroft writes in “Two years of gibberish: The garbled utterances of the left after 9/11 merely flattered the arguments of warmongers,”

One after another, literary luminaries and academic pundits felt unable to condemn the killing, express sympathy, and leave it at that. They had to say, “Butwhatabout” US imperialism, what about globalisation, what about Palestine? Rana Kabbani’s reaction was to howl that “All must kowtow to the Pentagon and the almighty dollar, or be blown to smithereens,” and she described the murder of thousands of ordinary New Yorkers as “a painful lesson that Americans have had to learn.”

More on Wesley Clark
Analysis of General Wesley Clark’s potential presidential campaign.

Michael Moore Changes “Bowling for Columbine” DVD
Spinsanity reports: “Moore alters ‘Bowling’ DVD in response to criticism.”

As I’ve said before, Moore plays fast and loose with the facts. And while I agree with many of his positions, I find him extremely unpleasant and self-righteous. He’s steadily losing the public’s confidence–as a documentarian, he can’t afford to place more importance on his ego than on the truth. And that’s what he did in “Bowling for Columbine.”

Two Funny Photos
1) Jeff Bezos is fascinated with Anna Kournikova, and 2) a pint-sized suspected Islamic millitant is detained in India.

“True Tales from a Bridesmaid”
My friend Erika F. has published an entertaining look at the follies of being a bridesmaid. Part 1 is here (column on right), and part 2 is here (column on left).