Meanwhile, support for terrorism and even virulent antisemitism has oozed up in those cess pools of political correctness, American college campuses.

Sixty years after Europe, then under the rule of one Adolf Hitler, tried to put an end to the Jewish people, the European Parliement votes to side with the people who want to finish the job. In my humble opinion, Europeans should lower their heads in shame.

The Franklin Society is posting an online petition to oppose a ban on therapeutic cloning. This is, alas, one issue upon which President Bush is mistaken.

Rand Simberg is posting the news that it is about to be revealed that Juan Gonzales, Elian's dad, requested asylum in the United States when he was over here to get his son and was denied by Janet Reno. If this is true, I hope that there is some way that woman can be indicted. At the very least, the Gonzales family should sue for civil rights violations.

An appreciation of George Mason, the founding father who opposed the Constitution and was the moving force behind the Bill of Rights. He's getting a monument in Washington, remarkable in these PC days for a Dead White Male.

Mason is also the direct ancestor of the Curmudegon's lovely and talented wife.

Shocking news. It seems that the rich in America are paying a higher and higher percentage of taxes. Meanwhile the poor are increasingly not paying any taxes.

Heavens, and to think Daschele and Gephardt keeptelling us that Bush favors the rich.

Terry Eastland asks the question: can a people so inlove with death that they worship martyrdom and approve of suicide bombing actually run a functioning state?

Sadly, I think the answer is no. But the West Bank is too large to turn into one, big insane asylum.

The superb Jonah Goldberg imagines the War on Terror as a big budget, action movie. Along the way he manages to zing all of the Eurotrash fellow traverlers and useful idiots for Palestinian terrorism.

Looks like Sharon is about to throw Dubya a bone by pulling out troops from a couple of West Bank towns where they've completed their operation. I suspect Sharon will not get any credit for this either from the Palestinians, or their Arab supporters, or the fellow travelers and useful idiots for terror in Europe and the US State Department. But maybe Bush will see this as a face saving way to allow himself to stop leaning on the Israelis to "give peace" with psychotic murderers "a chance."

I just had a conversation the implications of which should disturb.

Q. How is it that we can bomb the Hell out of terrorists, but the Israelis have to stop and withdraw just because the Great White Father in Washington says so?

A. Surely you don't think the Administration is serious? They can't be that stupid. No, this is a show to appease the Arabs and their fellow travelers in Europe?

Q. Isn't that the sort of game Clinton used to play?

A. Yeah, but Clinton lied and dissembled to save his own butt. This Administration is doing that for reasons of statecraft.

Q. But that still doesn't look very good. After all, given that scenario, how are we supposed to know when they're being serious and when they're not?

Unfortunately the Curmudgeon had no answer for that. It's a horrible place the Administration has placed its supporters. We either have to believe that they are hypocrits and appeasers or liars and dissemblers. Damn.

Even though certain members of the Nobel committee don't seem to think so, many ordinary people are signing an online petition to revoke Yassir Arafat's Nobel Peace Prize.

John Podhoretz agrees with me that part of Powell's job in the Middle East will be to manage Arafat's surrender and his replacement with "responsible" Palestinian leaders.

Here's the text of Bush's announcement of his intent to send Secretary of State Powell to the Middle East, along with my piffy commentary:

Good morning.

During the course of one week, the situation in the Middle East has deteriorated dramatically. Last Wednesday, my special envoy, Anthony Zinni, reported to me that we were on the verge of a cease-fire agreement that would have spared Palestinian and Israeli lives. That hope fell away when a terrorist attacked a group of innocent people at a Netanya hotel, killing many men and women in what is a mounting toll of terror.

In the days since, the world has watched with growing concern the horror of bombings and burials and the stark picture of tanks in the street. Across the world, people are grieving for Israelis and Palestinians who have lost their lives.

When an 18-year-old Palestinian girl is induced to blow herself up, and in the process kills a 17-year-old Israeli girl, the future itself is dying, the future of the Palestinian people and the future of the Israeli people.

We mourn the dead, and we mourn the damage done to the hope of peace, the hope of Israelis and the Israelis' desire for a Jewish state at peace with its neighbors. The hope of the Palestinian people to build their own independence state.

Terror must be stopped. No nation can negotiate with terrorists, for there is no way to make peace with those whose only goal is death.

Good so far.

This could be a hopeful moment in the Middle East. The proposal of Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, supported by the Arab League, has put a number of countries in the Arab world closer than ever to recognizing Israel's right to exist.

Closer and actually being there is a rather wide gap.

The United States is on record supporting the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people for a Palestinian state. Israel has recognized the goal of a Palestinian state.

The outlines of a just settlement are clear: two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security. This can be a time for hope, but it calls for leadership, not for terror.

Since Sept. 11 I've delivered this message: Everyone must choose. You're either with the civilized world or you're with the terrorists. All in the Middle East also must choose and must move decisively in word and deed against terrorist acts.

The chairman of the Palestinian Authority has not consistently opposed or confronted terrorists.

That's putting it mildly. Arafat has conducted the terrorism. He's a terrorist. Israel has documented proof from Arafat's own financial records.

At Oslo and elsewhere, Chairman Arafat renounced terror as an instrument of his cause, and he agreed to control it. He's not done so.

The situation in which he finds himself today is largely of his own making. He's missed his opportunities and thereby betrayed the hopes of the people he's supposed to lead.

Given his failure, the Israel government feels it must strike at terrorist networks that are killing its citizens. Yet, Israel must understand that its response to these recent attacks is only a temporary measure. All parties have their own responsibilities, and all parties owe it to their own people to act.

We all know today's situation runs the risk of aggravating long-term bitterness and undermining relationships that are critical to any hope of peace.

I call on the Palestinian people and the Palestinian Authority and our friends in the Arab world to join us in delivering a clear message to terrorists: Blowing yourself up does not help the Palestinian cause. To the contrary, suicide-bombing missions could well blow up the best and only hope for a Palestinian state.

All states must keep their promise, made in a vote in the United Nations, to actively oppose terror in all its forms. No nation can pick and choose its terrorist friends.

I call on the Palestinian Authority and all governments in the region to do everything in their power to stop terrorist activities, to disrupt terrorist financing, and to stop inciting violence by glorifying terror in state-owned media or telling suicide bombers they are martyrs.

They're not martyrs. They're murderers. And they undermine the cause of the Palestinian people.

Those governments, like Iraq, that reward parents for the sacrifice of their children are guilty of soliciting murder of the worst kind.

All who care about the Palestinian people should join in condemning and acting against groups like Al-Aqsa, Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and all groups which oppose the peace process and seek the destruction of Israel.

Or else what? We'll continue to admonish them severely?

The recent Arab League support of Crown Prince Abdullah's initiative for peace is promising, is hopeful because it acknowledges Israel's right to exist. And it raises the hope of sustained, constructive Arab involvement in the search for peace.

This builds on a tradition of visionary leadership begun by President Sadat and King Hussein and carried forward by President Mubarak and King Abdullah. Now other Arab states must rise to this occasion and accept Israel as a nation and as a neighbor.

So when is His Majesty the King of the House of Saud going to Jerusalem if he is the new Sadat?

Peace with Israel is the only avenue to prosperity and success for a new Palestinian state. The Palestinian people deserve peace and an opportunity to better their lives.

They need their closest neighbor, Israel, to be an economic partner, not a mortal enemy. They deserve a government that respects human rights and a government that focuses on their needs, education and health care, rather than feeding their resentments.

Rational people would recognize this already. But the Palestinians have never behaved rationally

It is not enough for Arab nations to defend the Palestinian cause. They must truly help the Palestinian people by seeking peace and fighting terror and promoting development.

You mean spend money to help build roads and sewers and what not instead of terrorists?

Israel faces hard choices of its own. Its government has supported the creation of a Palestinian state that is not a haven for terrorism. Yet, Israel also must recognize that such a state needs to be politically and economically viable.


Consistent with the Mitchell plan, Israeli settlement activity in occupied territories must stop, and the occupation must end through withdrawal to secure and recognize boundaries consistent with United Nations Resolutions 242 and 338. Ultimately, this approach should be the basis of agreements between Israel and Syria and Israel and Lebanon.

That's not exactly consistant with King Abdallah's plan which calls for withdraw from all the territories, regardless of whether the borders are secure or not.

Israel should also show a respect--a respect for and concern about the dignity of the Palestinian people who are and will be their neighbors. It is crucial to distinguish between the terrorists and ordinary Palestinians seeking to provide for their own families. The Israeli government should be compassionate at checkpoints and border crossings, sparing innocent Palestinians daily humiliation.


Israel should take immediate action to ease closures and allow peaceful people to go back to work.

But how to distinquish between the peaceful Palestinian and the not so peaceful? I'm not sure there are that many of the latter.

Israel is facing a terrible and serious challenge. For seven days, it has acted to rout out terrorists' nests. America recognizes Israel's right to defend itself from terror.


Yet, to lay the foundations of future peace, I ask Israel to halt incursions into Palestinian-controlled areas and begin the withdrawal from those cities it has recently occupied.

This is going to stick in the craw of a lot of people. But notice, there's no timetable or deadline for doing this. This is a hint that Israel will have time to finish the job she has started before complying.

I speak as a committed friend of Israel. I speak out of a concern for its long-term security, the security that will come with a genuine peace.


As Israel steps back, responsible Palestinian leaders and Israel's Arab neighbors must step forward and show the world that they are truly on the side of peace. The choice and the burden will be theirs.

Hmm. Is that a hint that Arafat has not been "responsible" and needs to be replaced? Could be. I wonder what Zinni will be telling him later today.

The world expects an immediate cease-fire, immediate resumption of security cooperation with Israel against terrorism, and an immediate order to crack down on terrorist networks. I expect better leadership, and I expect results.

Or else what? Again the weak part of this announcement is that Bush hasn't laid out the consequences for failure on the part of the Palestinians and their Arab bretheran to comply.

These are the elements of peace in the Middle East, and now we must build the road to those goals. Decades of bitter experience teach a clear lesson: Progress is impossible when nations emphasize their grievances and ignore their opportunities. The storms of violence cannot go on. Enough is enough.


And to those who would try to use the current crisis as an opportunity to widen the conflict, stay out. Iran's arms shipments and support for terror fuel the fire of conflict in the Middle East, and it must stop. Syria has spoken out against al Qaeda. We expect it to act against Hamas and Hezbollah, as well.


It's time for Iran to focus on meeting its own people's aspirations for freedom and for Syria to decide which side of the war against terror it is on.

Again, or else what?

The world finds itself at a critical moment. This is a conflict that can widen or an opportunity we can seize.


And so, I've decided to send Secretary of State Powell to the region next week, to seek broad international support for the vision I've outlayed today.


As a step in this process, he will work to implement United Nations Resolution 1402--an immediate and meaningful cease-fire, an end to terror and violence and incitement; withdrawal of Israel troops from Palestinian cities, including Ramallah; implementation of the already-agreed-upon Tenet and Mitchell plans, which will lead to a political settlement.

Notice that Powell isn't going over there immediately.

I have no illusions--we have no illusions--about the difficulty of the issues that lay ahead. Yet our nation's resolve is strong. America is committed to ending this conflict and beginning an era of peace.


We know this is possible, because in our lifetimes, we have seen an end to conflicts that no one thought could end. We've seen fierce enemies let go of long histories of strife and anger. America itself counts former adversaries as trusted friends--Germany and Japan and now Russia.


Conflict is not inevitable. Distrust need not be permanent. Peace is possible when we break free of old patterns and habits of hatred.


The violence and grief that trouble the holy land have been among the great tragedies of our time. The Middle East has often been left behind in the political and economic advancement of the world. That is the history of the region, but it need not--and must not--be its fate.


The Middle East could write a new story of trade and development and democracy. And we stand ready to help.


Yet this progress can only come in an atmosphere of peace. And the United States will work for all the children of Abraham to know the benefits of peace.


Thank you very much.

Oh, I do pray Dubya knows what he's doing. A lot of people will think he's caving, but there's a lot more verbage admonishing the Palestinians than there is giving the Israelis their marching orders. My hope is that Powell's main task over there will be to manage Arafat's surrender and subsequent departure.

One of the big lies in the media is that in the end we have to deal with Yassir Arafat because there's no one else. But actually there are a lot of candidates waiting in the wings to replace him as Supreme Leader of the Palestinians. And most of them seem more reasonable and willing to deal.

George Will, as usual, cuts through the BS and provides a neat historic contex for the current mess in the Middle East.

I particularly love his suggestion of exiling Arafat to France. If we decide not to send Arafat up the tall ladder and down the short rope, then France is just the place for him. In my opinion he and the Froggies deserve each other.

Looks like the Israelis have gotten documented proof that Arafat is behind the terrorism.

I say, the hell with exiling him. Israel should capture Arafat and place him on trial for crimes against humanity.

More proof, as if any were needed, that Bill Clinton is the American most responsible for the attack on 9/11.

Here's some news for April 1, 2002.

Jerusalem. The stand off in Ramallah came to a bizzare end today when, in the early morning hours, Yassir Arafat suddenly burst from his hiding place and started running toward Israeli positions with a bomb strapped to his waist. Yelling, "Hello, Allah, here I come!" He got about twenty yards before he tripped and fell, detonating the bomb before the shocked Israeli soldiers. Twelve people were killed and about twenty wounded, including a number of European peace activists who were attempting to form a human shield around the Palestinian leader as he charged Israeli positions. There were no Israeli casulaties.

Washington. Senator John McCain has announced plans to push for "Campaign Finance Reform Phase Two." Under the provisions of his proposed bill, it would become illegal to spend money, hard, soft, or in between to criticize a United States Senator within 365 days of an election or primary. "Now is the time to get both money and controversy out of politics," Senator McCain said as he played with a handfull of steel balls.

Bakersfield. The latest Osama Bin Laden sighting was reported at a convenience store just outside of Bakersfield, California. FBI sources refuse to comment.

Des Moines. Senator Tom Daschele, speaking before a Demcratic audience, continued his quest for an issue to attack President George W. Bush on. He criticized the President's preference for "expense, silk ties" which "obviously represents a bias toward the rich." Daschele also suggested that the President was against public health, as he probibly opposed federal sin taxes on barbeque and TexMex food.

Hollywood. The film rights to Children of Apollo by Mark Whittington has been sold for an undisclosed sum. Ron Howard is slated to direct after he finishes his Alamo project. Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, and Julia Roberts will star. Budget is set at nearly three hundred million dollars.

A California State Senator wants to slap a tax on bullets to pay for hospital trauma centers. This idea is not quite as evil as it sounds. If passed, such a tax would be an incentive to lift bans on semi-automatic and automatic weapons. The more rounds a gun owner is allow to expend while shooting a deer or an intruder. the more tax the State collects.

Mayor Curtis Milteer of Suffolk, Virginia is the great grandson of slaves. Yet he believes so much in embracing and understanding history, that he has signed a proclamation to declare April Confederate History Month.

Naturally the NAACP is very annoyed.