TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2008

•   We reported here last night that Saudi Arabia has been shaken to its foundations, or at least its sand, by a surge of feminism.  Saudi women will be permitted in hotels without a male escort, as long as the police are informed.

Now there comes word of an even greater breakthrough.  According to London's Telegraph, Saudi women will soon be allowed to drive.  A Saudi official was quoted as saying that "there is change on the way. I think the fair view is that one can be against it but one does not have the right to prevent it."  

In other words, you can be against it before you're for it.  Haven't I heard something like that before?

This is a revolution.  This is the storming of the Bastille.  Question:  Will Saudi women soon be in good hands with Allstate?  Just the thought of it...

I don't know what comes next.  Maybe there'll be an edition of "Saudi Idol," where a Saudi woman in a modern dress comes out and sings, "Let us get rid of the Zionist entity and throw its illegal squatters into the sea."  Well, the dress would be progress.

•   Look, maybe all this sudden Saudi feminism has a dark plot behind it.  Maybe the boys in the top family realize there may be a worldwide recession, and that the women could bring in some extra coin.  You know, workplace equality.  What a concept if oil goes down.  These chaps watch the markets. 

Speaking of markets, they're bumpy this morning, as expected.  The Asian markets are taking the worst hits.  Europe is down, but earlier losses are being pared.  But look for the silver lining.  If the chic crowd has less money, there'll be fewer wine and Brie "Obama for President - Relieve the Guilt" parties.

And The New York Times is telling us that, given economic uncertainties, some shoppers are hesitating about that four-hundred-dollar handbag.  I know this is most upsetting.  But look, if the above-mentioned Obama party is cancelled, who needs the bag?  It all fits together.   

•   There's been an important report written by five senior Western military officers and strategists, saying the West must be prepared to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike to prevent the imminent spread of weapons of mass destruction.  Only one of the authors is an American.  The others are European.

The report, well summarized in, of all, places, The Guardian, says that "the West's values and way of life are under threat, but the West is struggling to summon the will to defend them."  That was the message of President Bush's first term, lost somewhere under a pile of State Department memos.

The new report lists the great threats to our civilization.  First on the list is "political fanaticism and religious fundamentalism."  That one apparently got lost in Washington as well.  Mention it on college campuses and you're collared for hate speech.

Since four out of the five authors of this stark report are European, we can conclude that at least some in Europe are beginning to realize that the dangers described during Mr. Bush's first term are not a joke, a neo-con conspiracy, or a fiction of the Israel lobby.  There are some signs, but only some, that Europeans are showing more concern about international dangers than are Americans.


•   The Democratic presidential debate last night was particularly ugly, and delightfully mean, as reported by The New York Sun.  It's the kind of thing you'd expect of, well, those nasty Republicans with their military friends and shined shoes.  The debate was held before a largely African-American audience, and Senator Clinton was booed at one point after she attacked Senator Obama.  The increasingly racial nature of this campaign is producing deep divisions in the party, a party that, at least before the late sixties, was known for racial division, and the damage won't be easy to repair.  The plaque saying "America's first black president" is undoubtedly being popped off some Bill Clinton statue somewhere in these United States.  

If Clinton is the nominee, a well-run GOP campaign might be able to siphon off some traditionally Democratic black votes, assuming the candidate and message are right.  That's not a pipe dream.  Steven Malanga, senior editor at the conservative City Journal, points out that there is considerable anger in the African-American community over illegal immigration.  Illegal immigrants can threaten black gains.  Are Republicans listening?  

•   Some conspirators in New York City, ever mindful of their obligation to make us live to 100, are trying to revive a regulation to have fast-food restaurants list the calories of their selections.  The AP story includes this gem:

City officials hope the rule would curb obesity by making people aware of the thousands of calories that can be packed into some of the meals. Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden said Monday he hoped the chains would also respond by offering healthier options.

''I don't think we're going to see the 2,700-calorie appetizers that we see now,'' Frieden said.

My old boss, Johnny Carson, once defined a naive man as someone who walked into a massage parlor and asked for a massage.  Why do I think we've just found this man?

Look, I'm sure Mr. Friedan is a dedicated public servant.  All praise to him.  But people who are lined up for a Big Mac, chocolate malt and extra fries are not pausing for a snack on their way to Weight Watchers.

If this rule is instituted, though, I want then to see Mayor Bloomberg run for president and explain it to a NASCAR crowd.

Posted on January 22, 2008.