christopher caldwell

The most ominous aspect of the flotilla incident is Turkey's involvement. The flotilla bound for Gaza, in violation of the blockade, was allowed to leave a Turkish port. The main sponsor was a Turkish charity known for ties to jihadist groups. The Turkish diplomatic and governmental apparatus sprung into action at the first sign of trouble -- which of course there was, since the "peace activists" onboard the flotilla were masked and armed with lead pipes and knives.

Madrid

Last Exit to Utopia

The Survival of Socialism
in a Post-Soviet Era
by Jean-François Revel

IN LATE DECEMBER, Mohamed Hussein Fadlallah, spiritual leader of the Lebanese radical organization Hezbollah, released to the Western media a letter in which he complained of a "stripping of liberties from Muslims, even when they have not disobeyed the law," and warned of an emerging climate "hostile to religion and to Muslim citizens." The tone was not unusual for a Hezbollah letter. What was unusual was the addressee.

Paris

IN 1983, around the time NATO was placing medium-range missiles in Europe, ABC aired the made-for-TV movie "The Day After," which concerned what would happen to Lawrence, Kansas, in a nuclear war. The film had been trumpeted for weeks in advance as "unquestionably-the-most-shocking" this and "a-chilling-meditation-upon" that. Who would miss it? "No-American-who-cares-about-the-future," that's who. The message of the larger culture, relayed to us through ABC's sponsors, was that "anyone-with-the-courage-to-face" various something-or-other would tune in. Elie Wiesel, William F.

"IF THERE IS ONE THING non-Californians need to know about this campaign," said veteran GOP strategist Allan Hoffenblum towards the end of the mid-September state Republican convention in Los Angeles, "it's that it's not a 'circus.' It's not a 'spectacle.' It's not a joke." There has been a lot of nationwide bemusement at the campaign to subject Governor Gray Davis to a recall vote one year into his second term.

ON OCTOBER 7, Californians will be offered more than a chance to pick a new governor. They will be asked whether they want to amend the state's constitution to outlaw most public classifications by race. Under Proposition 54--known as the Racial Privacy Initiative to its backers, and as CRECNO (the Classification by Race, Ethnicity, Color, or National Origin Initiative) to the ballot attorneys--the state could not require racial or ethnic information from those applying to college or seeking a job or a loan.

BY EARLY SPRING, journalists and political activists had begun to notice that former Vermont governor Howard Dean had a knack for firing up crowds. He was little known and badly financed, but his issues were unfudged and easy to understand: budget-balancing, civil unions for gays, a middle-of-the-road states-rights position on guns, and implacable opposition to the war in Iraq. Tying them all together was a hostility to George W. Bush that bordered on loathing.

THE OTHER DAY, my e-mail in-box saw an extraordinary convergence of two clear and present dangers: weapons of mass destruction and spam. Specifically, Saddam's secret deal with Niger to build weapons-grade uranium has wound up embedded in the Internet's oldest confidence game.

You've probably seen this con game yourself.