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The world's
first surviving octuplets are in critical but stable condition. They were
born three months premature to a Houston woman Dec. 20. The smallest is 10
ounces. Doctors give them an 85 percent chance of survival. The media swarmed
the story, noting the proliferation of multiple births due to fertility drugs.
The spins: 1) It's a Christmas "miracle." 2) It's a PR bonanza for companies
that are donating diapers and baby formula. 3) It's a technological
breakthrough. 4) It's not a miracle or a breakthrough, it's reckless
self-indulgence, because the kids will either die or suffer lifelong medical
problems, and society can't afford to spend millions of dollars on every
preemie. 5) If women take fertility drugs and develop multiple embryos, they
should abort the extra ones. 6) No, abortion is wrong. 7) If a woman won't
abort the extras (as this woman refused to do on religious grounds), she
shouldn't take the drugs to begin with. (12/23/98)
China
sentenced three political activists to a combined 36 years in prison for
trying to organize a Chinese Democratic Party. The charge is "subverting state
power." These are the latest steps in a crackdown on activists who have
recently tried to form parties or unions, assist pro-democracy magazines, or
run for office outside the Communist Party. The spins: 1) The trials were a
joke. 2) China's democratic pretensions are a joke. 3) China has violated the
treaties it has signed on free speech and political rights. 4) The U.S. policy
of fostering Chinese political reform through trade is a joke. 5) Don't worry,
China's economic liberalization will eventually lead to political
liberalization. 6) Don't worry, China simultaneously released another dissident
into exile and allowed a British balloon to fly over its territory. 7)
Whoop-de-doo. (12/23/98)
Israel's
parliament dissolved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government .
Right-wingers abandoned him, saying he had sold out Israeli security by signing
the Wye peace agreement. Centrists abandoned him, saying he had sabotaged the
agreement. He agreed to hold new elections next spring. The spins: 1) Netanyahu
is finished. 2) That's what pundits foolishly said last time. 3) The
left-leaning Labor Party can't win because it is considered too soft on the
Palestinians. 4) James Carville, who is advising the Labor Party, will fix
that. 5) A centrist general known as the "Israeli Colin Powell" will win. 6)
Israeli politics will fragment, nobody will win, and tiny fringe parties will
be able to blackmail the next government, just as they blackmailed Netanyahu.
7) The election is good for Israeli-Palestinian peace because it will get rid
of Netanyahu's obstructionism. 8) It's bad for peace because it will delay
Israeli implementation of the Wye agreement and trigger Palestinian violence.
9) Netanyahu will win re-election by campaigning against the Palestinian
violence. (12/23/98)
The House
impeached President Clinton . Article 1 (perjury before the grand jury)
passed 228-206, Article 3 (obstruction of justice) passed 221-212, Article 2
(perjury in the Paula Jones deposition) failed 229-205, and Article 4 (abuse of
power) failed 285-148. Five Democrats voted for Article 1, and five Republicans
voted against it, but the media largely agreed with Democrats that it was a
party-line vote. Democrats tried to bring up a censure resolution, but
Republicans ruled that it wasn't germane. Democrats temporarily walked out to
protest the "unfairness" of the proceedings and later staged a rally at the
White House to show their support of Clinton, in deliberate contrast to the
1974 visit to the White House by Republican senators who told President Nixon
they couldn't save him. The sunny spin: Senate moderates are ready to end this
mess if Clinton will just confess to lying and sign a censure deal. The cynical
spin: That's what House moderates were ready to do a month ago.
(12/21/98)
Incoming
House Speaker
Bob Livingston, R-La., is resigning. On Thursday,amid
reports that Hustler magazine was preparing to expose his extramarital
affairs, Livingston confessed that he had strayed from his marriage "on
occasion." On Saturday, he shocked his colleagues by announcing during the
impeachment debate that he would not assume the speakership and would instead
resign from the House. He said he was setting an example for President Clinton,
whom he urged to resign as well. Republicans extolled Livingston's courage,
lamented the loss of a great statesman, and blamed the ouster on White House
dirty tricks. The resignation was also provoked by House Republicans angry at
Livingston for failing to disclose his infidelities when he ran for speaker.
Democrats, too, lamented his downfall, even as they milked it to illustrate why
Clinton shouldn't be made the next victim of the "politics of personal
destruction." Republicans plan to name Rep. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., as the new
speaker. The official spin: Hastert is too clean to have committed adultery.
The unofficial spin: Hastert is too boring to have committed adultery.
(12/21/98)
The United
States and Britain halted the bombing of Iraq . There were no U.S. or
British casualties and minimal Iraqi civilian casualties. U.S. officials claim
to have set back Iraq's missile program by a year. They say the new U.S. policy
is to contain and deter Iraq's weapons programs (possibly through periodic
military strikes), maintain economic sanctions, and foster Iraqi opposition
groups in the hope of deposing Saddam Hussein. The U.S. government spin: We're
protecting the world and backing diplomacy with necessary force. The
criticisms: 1) The U.N. weapons inspections are dead. 2) The Iraqi opposition
groups are a joke. 3) The bombing wasn't as effective as military spokesmen say
it was. 4) President Clinton lacked the stamina to finish the bombing. 5) If we
lack the stamina for four days of bombing, how will we find the stamina for the
years of work it will take to topple Saddam? (For more on international
reactions to the bombings, see "" in
Slate
.)
(12/21/98)
