Zilch regrets
An article in the New York Times caught the Diarys eye this week.
With Dubyas 2003 State of the Union speech approaching, the Times asks, "Will the president repeat the combustible phrase that administration critics say caused a year of troubles? Or on the eve of what could be military action against Iraq, will he offer up a new, perhaps hotter formulation?"
"What phrase is that then?" those of you just back from Mars ask. Answer: the "axis of evil".
"Like Ronald Reagans description of the former Soviet Union as an "evil empire," the axis of evil is a leitmotif that will follow Bush beyond his presidency", the NYT predicts.
So whats next from the Bushmeister? The taxes of evil?
"Tune in," says Ari Fleischer, portentously.
Georgeography, from www.russmo.com
The presidential address will come only twenty-four hours after the UN weapons inspectors present their report to the Security Council. Expect the occasional reference to Iraq, says the NYT.
Administration officials have let the Times know that if the inspectors ask for more time to continue inspecting "Bush would probably use the State of the Union to rebut the inspectors in a "broad, geostrategic speech"." Not surprisingly, "It would leave many of the details for later".
"Zilch," says Fleischer when asked if the White House has any regrets about using the "axis of evil" formulation. "Just as Ronald Reagan was accurate in calling the Soviet Union the evil empire, its important to people inside those three countries who want to be free to know that the United States has not forgotten their cause."
Meanwhile, a separate Times article sniffs discontent in the moderate ranks of the Republican party.
"Bush hardly lets a day go by without pleasing his supporters on the Republican right," the Times judges.
"We believe our party is on a collision course with the electorate, and as Republicans that concerns us greatly," says Jennifer Blei Stockman, national co-chairwoman of the Republican Pro-Choice Coalition. "While the party is feeling very strong after the 2002 elections, that could be the last gasp before the reality of what theyve been doing with the right-wing of the party really hits."
Still, as the Times says, Bush has been trying "to show a concern for lower income people by staging events like this one this month that brought to the White House women who had succeeded in moving off welfare and into the work force."
So thats OK then. A $670 billion tax cut for the rich, but "staging events" to "show a concern" for the poor.
Compassionate conservatism? Youd better believe it. Re-election? No problemo.
State of the Union
Business as usual at the European Convention. Evidence of a "United Europe" is as scarce as ever.
"Its taking more time than expected," said Guiliano Amato, vice president of the convention, after the session ended what the International Herald Tribune called "two days of acrimonious debate".
There was no clear consensus.
At the eye of the storm was the controversial Franco-German proposal for the Union to be headed by not one, but two presidents. Many delegates, not to mention nations, were not impressed.
"Europe does not lack presidents," said Gijs de Vries, the Dutch delegate. "It lacks decision-making capacity."
"They have tarnished their own image and their own union by putting up a proposal that has been overwhelmingly rejected by the convention," said Lamberto Dini, former Italian foreign minister and delegate to the convention. "Inevitably there would be a clash."
And this is the charge: that the French and Germans have not only undermined the current system and its rotating presidency (which allows smaller countries to take the lead when their turn comes), but have envisaged a system that would lead to (even more) rivalry and conflict.
French foreign minister, Dominique de Villepin, rejects the accusation. "The time has come for each of us, on the basis of our distinct sensitivities, to move toward each other as France and Germany have done," he suggested.
German foreign minister Joschka Fischer was more muted in his defence of a proposal he is said to be disappointed by, calling it a "compromise solution".
"Nothing is ideal in this world," Fischer said.
Thats for sure.
Worlds apart
Two contrasting stories from the media world this week.
First, to Afghanistan where cable TV has been suspended in Kabul on the orders of Fazel Hadi Shinwari, the countrys chief justice.
Shinwari said he was not happy with the content of the cable programmes, and had received "dozens of complaints about un-Islamic programmes."
"People who filed complaints to the Supreme Court said they were airing half-naked singers and obscene scenes from movies," he said. "We are Afghans, we are Muslims, we have Islamic laws and values in our country. As a responsible official I cannot allow a cable TV in any part of Afghanistan."
The ruling follows a ban in mid-December of the sole cable operator in Jalalabad, when the broadcasting of foreign films, mostly from India, was denounced as "totally against Islam and Afghan culture."
The banned operator was responsible for the broadcast of CNN and al-Jazeera.
Meanwhile, a million miles away, in the US, a fifty-year-old university lecturer is suing the producers of the American Idol TV talent show.
Drew Cummings, a lecturer in film, is accusing the producers of age discrimination after he was told he was too old to croon when he turned up at an audition in Miami Beach.
Cummings argues that the rules of the contest contravene American laws against age discrimination. The contest is restricted to contestants aged between sixteen and twenty-four.
"Age discrimination runs rampant in the entertainment industry and corporate America," says Cummings. "Its time that someone did something about it."
The BBC reports that "The 50-year-old professor says he is happy to become a "poster child" for the rights of the post-war generation and other ageing people."
You wont see any of those posters hanging in Kabul.
Ubinaf-sishaji (or privatisation) rap
"Im singing about privatisation... its about... to cooperate with the government just to let people know what privatisation is... what privatisation really is... I mean what has to be done to improve our economy."
No, not the latest karaoke set from George W. Bush, but a hit song from star Tanzanian rapper Mr. Ebbo extolling the virtues of privatisation on his nations economy.
Mr. Ebbo has been recruited by the Tanzanian government to give a boost to their privatisation campaign. Aims to sell-off the national railways are proving controversial, and Ebbo, described as a Maasai warrior/rapper, has been brought in due to his wide appeal, and, according to the BBC, his "political, social and economic conscience".
The rap star asks his listeners whether it is best to allow the railways to crumble into non-existence or let in the private investors.
Says John Rubambe, chairman of the ominous sounding Parastatal Sector Reform Commission (the body overseeing the privatisation process), "One has got to deal with the notion that privatisation is not about selling the family sector."
What would Harold MacMillan, the British ex-prime minister who described privatisation as "selling the family silver", think?
Smokeless fuel
Finally, to Bhutan, which could become the first nation on earth to ban smoking (thereby scuppering the plans of the Californian lobby in Washington).
Just listen to draconian Health Minister Sangay Ngedup: "The great saint who brought us Buddhism, Padmasambhava or Guru Rimpoche he also said smoking was bad and no follower of Lord Buddha should smoke. He may have been referring to opium, but we feel very comfortable extending his concerns to tobacco."
But the government insist this is no Stalinist diktat. It is the regions and the people who want this, they say.
"The local business community, teachers, ordinary people, they all came to me and asked me to ban tobacco," claims Pem L. Dorji, district governor of Thimpu, where tobacco is banned. "I said, its not up to me, its your decision."
In Daniel Laks BBC report from Bhutan, he quotes fruit seller Chiran Subba, who is smoking as he speaks. "I want them to ban these things," Subba says, "then I could quit its a filthy habit." Next to him, his wife laughs and nods her agreement.
Others are not so sure. "Its my health," says a man at shooting some pool at Jaycees hall, "if I want to ruin it, its my business."
Quotes of the week
"We see no justification for intervention, since the inspectors are able to do their work. We could not support unilateral action ... It is important that Europe speak on this issue with a single voice. We are mobilised, we believe war can be avoided."
French foreign minister Dominique de Villepin on the potential war with Iraq.
"Surely our friends have learned lessons from the past ... You know, how much time do we need to see clearly that [Saddams] not disarming? As I said, this looks like a rerun of a bad movie and Im not interested in watching it."
President George W. Bush
"To put spine into the United Nations and the rest of the international community."
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, explaining the aims of President Bush to reporters.
"I tell you and the little Bush, whose father is a bigger dog than him and was not able to remove Saddam Hussein, the younger will be crushed and defeated and the whole world will laugh at him."
Ali Hassan Majid, an aide and cousin of Saddam, briefing reporters in Beirut.
"I fall asleep as soon as I put my head on the pillow."
Saddam Hussein, attempting to show the world how calm he is.
"We definitely dont have regime change or sending Saddam into exile on our agenda."
Turkish Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis announcing the regional peace meeting Thursday in Istanbul, to be attended by the foreign ministers of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran, Egypt, and Jordan.
"Germany has been a problem and France has been a problem ... You're thinking of Europe as Germany and France. I don't. I think that's old Europe."
US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
"This 'old Europe' has resilience, and is capable of bouncing back."
Francis Mer, French Finance Minister, responding to Rumsfeld
Figure of the week
37 million
The number of Hispanics in the US as of July 2001. The 4.7 per cent rise in the Latino population means that Hispanics have now surpassed blacks as the largest minority group in the United States.
Contact the Diary Editor: Dominic.Hilton@openDemocracy.net
