TCS Daily

Two aging Baby Boomers meet for a walk in the woods -- a rambly joint stroll at an undisclosed location. The two men have long been recognized as the godfathers of their respective political parties; they share the same mystique -- one a Democrat, the other a Republican -- and they have become somewhat friendly over the years, sharing tips that each will use to burnish his influence inside his respective party. These secret conversations are strictly off the record, but this being Washington, nothing stays secret forever.

TORONTO -- Remember the 60s song, I fought the law and the law won? Forty years after the tune came out, people are still humming it, at least I am -- although I’ve changed the lyrics a bit to sum up the political consequences of this AIDS conference. I’m not sure that the 24,000 delegates would like the new lyric I’ve thought up for them, but here goes, anyway: I fought AIDS and the Right won.

What does that mean? Well, let’s consider three true statements about the last 25 years:

Joe Lieberman is a heretic. Please don’t get me wrong. Nobody, not even Lieberman’s enemies, questions the Connecticut Senator’s abiding Orthodox Jewish religious faith. But as Tuesday’s primary election shows, a majority of Nutmeg State Democrats see their senator as disloyal to the party line, which is increasingly dovish on Iraq. And a heretic, of course, is much worse than an infidel.

"Whither Deterrence?" That’s an interesting question to ask at a time when undeterrable missiles, thousands of them, have been raining down on Israel from Lebanon. Of course, the question of deterrence -- or not -- has, shall we say, implications for Americans, too. Surely it would be better for any country if incoming missiles could be intercepted. And if I can be allowed a personal point, I will note that more than five years ago I wrote -- here in TCS no less -- that the civilized nations of the world needed to get together, as an international alliance, to thwart this threat.

So is it World War Three yet? One of the smartest figures in American politics says that it’s here -- the Big One. "This is World War III," Newt Gingrich told The Seattle Times last week. As they say in the South, that puts the hay down where the horse can get it.

One Pill to Heal Them All. Those words -- apologies to J.R.R. Tolkien's "one ring to rule them all" -- kept going through my mind as I attended Wednesday's press conference spearheaded by acting Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, at which the federal government announced its approval of Atripla, a new three-in-one AIDS medicine.

The British are coming! And so are the Arabs, the Chinese, the French, and the Russians. In fact, the age of the SOMSM is upon us. The what? Perhaps I should explain.

Here's a question: Why do Roger Cardinal Mahony of Los Angeles, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the American Civil Liberties Union, and The Wall Street Journal editorial page have such similar views on immigration?

The hottest movie coming out of Hollywood, The Anthony Pellicano Story, hasn't actually been filmed yet. Nonetheless, it's real; the action is taking place right now in corporate suites and law offices -- and jail cells -- all over Los Angeles. Perhaps I should explain.

Alan Duncan, a Conservative MP, is your typical British politician. Which is to say, if he were an American he'd be atypical. He reads a lot, writes a lot, thinks a lot; he seems motivated by ideas, as opposed to just personal ambition. And he has ideas aplenty, on the future of the British Conservative Party, on the future of the conservative movement worldwide, and on the future of freedom in general.