Advisory Opinion

It Can't Happen Soon Enough

Let them take responsibility for their own defense:

The US is expected to announce on Monday that it is pulling 70,000 troops out of Europe and Asia in the largest restructuring of its global military presence since the second world war.

People briefed on the plan say two-thirds of the reductions will come in Europe, most of them military personnel stationed in Germany who will be sent back to US bases.

An additional 100,000 support staff and military families worldwide will be part of the realignment.

The changes are expected to be announced by President George W. Bush at a speech to the Convention of Veterans of Foreign Wars in Cinncinatti, Ohio, on Monday.

That would be a start to a much more healthy relationship. Europeans can be responisible for themselves and, in turn, appreciate our assistance when they get it -- instead of simultaneously resenting it and taking it for granted.

The Stem Cell Religion

Will Saletan suggests that maybe its the Democrats who are being dogmatic. (Via Bainbridge.)

Reagan Library

Looks like Professor Bainbridge went on a field trip.

Bush's Economic Vision

Tyler Cowen has some great suggestions.

John Kerry and Cambodia

Instapundit has a must-read post on the topic. Be sure to follow the links back, especially the one about the Kerry campaign's backpedaling.

UPDATE: Mark Steyn has more.

John Kerry: War Hero

Bob Novak, the old curmudgeon, had an excellent column yesterday on John Kerry's war record.

Talking Down the Economy

James Glassman has a nice piece on the economy:

Democrats and their allies in the media have been giddy about the latest jobs report. The New York Times said it showed that July "was a sputtering, tepid month"--a boon to Democrats.

John Kerry said Friday's report showed that instead of "turning the corner," as President Bush claims, the report shows the economy was "taking a U-turn." He added, "Millions of good jobs (are being) lost to plant closings and outsourcing." Baloney.

Pessimism about the economy helps Kerry and his friends, but an objective look at the report shows a very different picture. Yes, the number of people employed in July rose only slightly, by 32,000. But the unemployment rate dropped to 5.5 percent--down from 6.3 percent a year ago and the lowest since October 2001, right after the 9/11 attacks.

The rate today is lower than when Bill Clinton was running for re-election in 1996. It's lower than the average unemployment rate in the 1990s--not to mention the 1980s and 1970s. Plant closings are way down from a year ago, and the threat of outsourcing is a figment of Lou Dobbs's imagination.

He thinks the press is talking down the economy for the benefit of the Kerry campaign. Never . . .

Krugman

Don Luskin links to his own National Review article on the O'Reilly-Krugman debate, and responds to those who thought O'Reilly bullied Krugman. Good stuff.

John Kerry: Hero of the Vietnam War

But whose side did he help most?

LOS ANGELES — The John Kerry many Vietnamese-Americans remember is not the hero promoted by the Democratic Party, but the ex-soldier who returned to the United States to denounce the Vietnam War.

"His close association and anti-war activity make him known as Mr. Jane Fonda," said Frank Jao, who fought in the South Vietnamese army against the communist North.

I suspect the anti-Communist Vietnamese -- in other words, our allies -- wouldn't say it was our side.

Normative Theory

The AnalPhilosopher has posted an interesting explanation of consequentialism and deontology.