Commonwealth Commonsense

Move Over, Bechtel

For those who want to simply characterize Hezbollah as a “terrorist group,” it’s clear that it is something far different to the people of Lebanon.

Hezbollah has been the fastest and, without a doubt, most effective organization doling out aid to the shattered towns and villages of southern Lebanon. Aid groups like Mercy Corps — which generally work through local intermediaries — have sometimes struggled to find other ways of helping, and even then, they cannot be sure their aid is not going through Hezbollah.

“You can make a separation between what we do and Hezbollah,” said Khiam’s deputy mayor, Muhammed Abdullah, 45, who is organizing the local efforts, including donations of food and water from Mercy. “But of course there is coordination.”

On Mr. Abdullah’s desk is a paperweight with the logo of “Construction Jihad,” Hezbollah’s building company, and in his anteroom are two posters of Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader.

..As an example of Hezbollah’s hold on everyday life in southern Lebanon, Ali Bazzi, the mayor of Bint Jbail, outlined his big dreams for his half-demolished town as workmen raced past and tractors rumbled.

“We are going to turn this city into a model city,” Mr. Bazzi said, his arm clutching a trademark Hezbollah two-way radio. “There will be streets organized in grids, parks in every neighborhood and apartment blocks.”

Bint Jbail, the main Hezbollah stronghold in southern Lebanon, saw some of the worst bombing and fighting during the monthlong war, in which Hezbollah, which is integrated with the general population, was Israel’s target. But Mr. Bazzi intends to complete the reconstruction without using a single cent from the Lebanese government, much less the United States or the West.

Instead, Mr. Bazzi is counting on Construction Jihad. Just a day after the fighting stopped, Construction Jihad enlisted the volunteer services of 1,700 engineers, electricians, plumbers, architects and geologists who have cleared streets, dug ditches and built temporary bridges.

While the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has just begun organizing committees to study the reconstruction of the country, Construction Jihad has all but completed surveys of southern Lebanese towns.

They say that the best way to combat your enemy is to co-opt him. Maybe we should give Hezbollah the contract for cleaning up New Orleans.

Oui? Non? Incroyable!

Europe without American leadership is a mere tourist destination.

-Richard Cohen

Because we’ve drained the tank and lost our credibility, we have to hope the French would prefer to make peace, not love. Good luck! I’m ready to go back to “freedom fries.”

Presidential Hopefuls Kiss NH’s Arse

Ten presidential hopefuls, proving again that personal ambition trumps party unity, have signed a letter pledging to campaign in the New Hampshire primary even if it is held at a time not approved by the Democratic National Committee.

The DNC this past weekend set up a revised primary schedule, keeping the Iowa caucuses first, followed a week later with caucuses in Nevada and then the NH primary with the South Carolina primary a week later. The plan rightfully tries to give minorities -- Hispanics in Nevada’s case and blacks in SC’s case -- a greater voice in selecting the party’s candidates. Now, if one candidate wins the lily white Iowa and NH races, s/he becomes much harder to beat.

But NH has been whining about this for months and have threatened to reschedule its primary, maybe as early as late-2007.

Among the 10 signers is Virginia’s own Mark Warner, who, being a good Democrat, decided to form a circle with the other candidates, raise his rifle and aim. If the party is stymied by its loyalty to a collection of interests instead of a governing philosophy, it is no less held captive to personal ambition. No surprise here. Just Dems being Dems.

You Say Tomato, I Say Disaster

The headline on the A1 story in The Washington Post:

Bush Says Iraq Pullout Would Be “A Disaster”

Isn’t that what it is now?

"If you think it's bad now, imagine what Iraq would look like if the United States leaves before this government can defend itself and sustain itself," he said.

..."If we[withdraw], there will be horrific sectarian cleansing in the mixed areas, particularly in Baghdad, and civil war," [former ambassador Peter Galbraith] said. "If we stay the course, there will be horrific sectarian cleansing in Baghdad, and civil war."

Ah, but then we get into that old definition of a “civil war.” Last week I ridiculed the debate. But it turns out I wasn’t far off.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld argued that Iraq would not have civil war until the Confederates attack Fort Sumter. "It seems to me that it is not a classic civil war at this stage," Professor Rumsfeld argued. "It certainly isn't like our civil war."

No, so to help us keep things straight in our mind, let’s ask Sen. George Allen if he could lend his confederate flag to one side in the conflict. Then we’ll know who to root for -- and who he’ll root for.

Footnote: From today’s stories in The Post, it’s clear we have achieved a nexus.

Several prominent Democrats rejected Bush's call for staying the course in Iraq, saying the problem there is not a lack of will but lack of a winning strategy (emphasis added).

...ABC News's Martha Raddatz was not satisfied [with Bush’s defense of the war]. "The violence has gotten worse in certain areas," she reminded him. "Is it not time for a new strategy?" (emphasis added)

When the press and one political party ask the same question, it’s safe to say the other political party is in deep doo-doo, as W’s father might say..

Black, White and Gray

In what can only be described as a mc-article in USA Today last week, the writer tells us,

Smith sports a growing TV fashion: a coat of moral gray.

The new CBS drama follows a band of master thieves and is the latest series to feature a lead character of questionable virtue, joining The Sopranos, The Shield and Rescue Me. With Smith, the trend gets a stronger foothold in broadcast TV. It also is an intriguing choice for CBS because the network's lineup of crime procedurals has helped make it the most-watched network.

I will admit that I’m a Sopranos fan, so I’m living in a glass house here. But it’s not that I object on some moral basis. But I find the implied justification curious.

Smith, a law-enforcement term for an unknown suspect, raises the moral stakes in its opening episode with an art heist that results in the death of a museum guard. Characters will face consequences both direct and indirect, Wells says.

But [lead characters] Bobby and Hope aren't caricatures. They're a loving couple raising two kids. Bobby, who coaches Little League and has a day job as a salesman, even has thoughts of giving up the criminal life.

Those aspects may help viewers relate to the characters, CBS entertainment chief Nina Tassler says. "The thing that's so unique about what John Wells is doing is that he's placing these characters in real life. To that end, you get a chance to see them going to PTA meetings, raising their kids, going to 9-to-5 jobs."

[Actor Ray] Liotta is drawn to his character's contrasts. "Hope is the girl of my dreams. I'm not a philanderer. I love my wife and kids. I just also love to steal."

Just wondering: What are the chances we’d see a series about young black kids who commit crimes, yet are portrayed sympathetically as part of a stable home, but maybe “love to steal”? My guess is there would be a hue and cry about the glorification of the criminal culture.

By the way, though not cited in the column, apparently Al Sharpton’s plea reverberated with Juan Williams. He's not glorifying anything.

Iraq…No, Terrorism…No, the Economy

A few months ago, Karl Rove told us the GOP would win the Congressional elections on the strength of the Iraq War. He said voters would back the president. When the war would not diverge from its downward spiral and the terrorist plot in Great Britain was foiled, we were told that the war against terror would win the day. But when polls showed that the president didn’t get a rebound after the arrests, it’s time to again change strategies.

"If I were a candidate ... I'd say, 'Look at what the economy has done. It's strong. We've created a lot of jobs. ... I'd be telling people that the Democrats will raise your taxes. That's what they said. I'd be reminding people that tax cuts have worked in terms of stimulating the economy," Bush told reporters at a news conference.

Of course, there’s a slight problem with this approach, too.

The economy has slowed in recent months, in part because of the slump in the housing market. Recent economic indicators showed a 4.8 percent jobless rate in July and 4 percent annual economic growth rate through the first half of the year.

The Labor Department recently said employers added just 113,000 new jobs in July, down from 124,000 in June.

Only 37 percent of Americans support Bush's handling of the economy, according to the Associated Press-Ipsos poll in early August.

Thirty-seven percent? Well, it’s probably better than support for his war and nobody really believes that Iraq is related to the war on terror, although I’m not really sure what that it. His overall support is back down in the 33% range, so 37% is better than that.

Next thing you know, Bush will be telling Republicans to invoke the name Terri Schiavo in their campaigns. What’s sad is that at this point, it can only help.