FRANCE’S BAD WEEK: I reflect on the failures of Franco-diplomacy over at GlennReynolds.com, where I also suggest that the Bush Administration is playing a diplomatic game that goes well beyond Iraq.

Meanwhile, in response to the letter from 8 European leaders supporting the United States, reader Jim Campbell emails:

After reading the stunning op-ed letter in the WSJ this morning (to see the words “American bravery” in a letter signed by the heads of 8 European nations briefly stopped my heart), I thought of Bush and Chirac and Schroeder, and a movie scene immediately popped into mind – the scene at the end of Twelve Angry Men, where Henry Fonda looks at Lee J. Cobb and says, “You’re alone now.”

I like it.

UPDATE: Here’s an article that provides some insight into what’s going on:

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – A joint letter by eight European leaders backing the United States on the crisis with Iraq highlighted the European Union (news – web sites)’s divisions on Thursday, rubbing salt into the wounds of its stumbling foreign policy. . . .

The move appeared aimed at isolating France and Germany, which had publicly argued against a rush to war, and building a pro-American caucus within the 15-nation EU.

“This looks like Rumsfeld’s Europe,” one EU diplomat said, referring to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s dismissal of France and Germany last week as “old Europe.”

Buwahahahaha!

HERE’S A NICE PIECE ON NANOTECHNOLOGY and Bill Joy’s fears by Freeman Dyson, who invokes Milton’s Areopagitica.

UNILATERALISM, MY ASS! Jim Miller notes that the New York Times and other anti-war papers don’t seem to be giving the European leaders’ letter of support any play.

If the letter had been one of condemnation, want to bet it would have made the front page? I can’t even find it on the page that supposedly provides “complete coverage” of the war with Iraq.

Meanwhile, Juan Volokh is condemning French unilateralism.

THERE WILL BE AN ONLINE FORUM on affirmative action and diversity in higher education at the Chronicle of Higher Education’s website starting at 1 p.m. Eastern time. (The link is here.) I’ll be in class, but perhaps you’ll find it interesting.

TOM DASCHLE DOESN’T WANT YOU DANCING: Dave Kopel and I have a column criticizing the latest, sneaky, iteration of the RAVE Act, over at National Review Online.

UPDATE: TalkLeft has comments.

REGIS PHILBIN, ANTI-IDIOTARIAN? Reader Mark Garbowski emails:

This morning on the Regis and Kelly show, Regis made humorous reference to a news article on the offer of exile to Saddam. Kelly asked why we would pay for that and Regis replied that it’s cheaper than war. Then Kelly said yes, but why do we have to pay for it. We solve everyone’s problems and pay for everything and all the world does is hate us and burn the flag. In as close to verbatim as I can remember, Regis said:

“Yeah. Like South Korea. South Korea wants us out of their country. OK. But who’s gonna keep them safe from that crazy man up north? And the French! The only time the French want us to go to war is when the German army is sitting in Paris sipping coffee.”

Cheers from the studio audience. Go Regis.

First Oprah, now Regis. I told you there was a cultural sea-change underway. No wonder the traditional Vietnam-era left is so grumpy.

UPDATE: Dr. Manhattan emails:

I think the Oprah & Regis moments represent the obverse of the legendary LBJ story where he saw Walter Cronkite opine against Vietnam on his broadcast and asserted: “If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost the country.”

Indeed.

IN LIGHT OF THE AFRICAN AIDS INITIATIVE, producers of NPR-type shows should be aware of this song about AIDS by the Ugandan band Afrigo.

Meanwhile, Susanna Cornett emails:

A caller on the Curtis & Kuby show (WABC 770, NYC) just called in and said he thought Bush was going to give AIDS $$ to Africa because he wants the oil there.

Apparently it’s a one-size-fits-all meme.

Jeez, that guy is so behind the times. Doesn’t he realize it’s all about antigravity?

LET THIS BE A WARNING TO STUDENTS WHO GAME DURING CLASS. . . .

A Norwegian MP has been caught playing games on his handheld computer during a debate in parliament.

Trond Helleland didn’t know television cameras had zoomed in on him during a debate about Norwegians fighting in Afghanistan.

The Conservative MP says he had been meaning to check his schedule on his personal digital assistant, but couldn’t resist a round of the war game Metalion.

Personally, I’m just glad to hear that there’s someone in the Norwegian parliament who doesn’t sniffily disapprove of war games.

UPDATE: Norwegian blogger Fredrik Norman has links to pictures, and notes: “Who said Norwegian politicians were all doves? In the virtual year of 2252, they’re laser-firing hawks!”

“IT AIN’T DEAD YET:” DefenseTech warns that the TIA program hasn’t been killed, despite the contrary impression held by many.

Get a bigger stick, and whack it again.

“BLIX HANDED THE ADMINISTRATION THE SMOKING GUN:” Josh Marshall has a lengthy and very interesting interview with Kenneth Pollack up on his site.

ARNOLD KLING has a column on “Economic Idiotarianism” — and, yes, that’s the actual title.

“EUROPE’S STUMBLING FOREIGN POLICY:”

This week, an attempt by the EU’s foreign ministers to renew sanctions against Zimbabwe collapsed because France wanted an exemption from the travel ban to enable President Robert Mugabe to attend a Franco-African summit in Paris.

The EU’s whole relationship with Africa was thrown into confusion, with an EU-Africa summit to be hosted by Portugal in April under threat. If France was allowed to receive Mugabe, the Portuguese wanted the same right.

But the leaders of the UK, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands and Spain are all likely to boycott a summit attended by Mugabe, which would transform the event into an embarrassing display of European disunity.

There’s much, much more. I think that in the disunity of Europe here, and especially in the letter supporting the U.S. on Iraq released by eight European heads of state that I mentioned earlier, we’re seeing some very effective diplomacy by the United States. With an unwitting assist by France. I’ll have more on that later today.

UNILATERALISM: “Activists” are criticizing Bush’s $15 billion AIDS plan for Africa as unilateralism because he’s not passing the money through, um, “activist” groups. Puhleez.

MORE ON THE WELFARE-TERRORISM CONNECTION: Mickey Kaus, call your office!

AXIS OF WEASELS MERCHANDISE? But of course!

OIL? YOU PATHETIC SAP. It’ really all about antigravity.

BLOGS AND MONEY: Here’s an interesting article that talks about Nick Denton and Henry Copeland, among others who plan to make money off of weblogs by methods other than mentioning their Amazon and Paypal donation-buttons. Though Andrew Sullivan’s “Pledge Week” does get a mention.

IT’S NOT YOUR FATHER’S BULGARIA, apparently.

WHAT? YOU HAVEN’T SUBSCRIBED to the new Welch / Layne paper yet? Why the hell not?

UPDATE: Here’s a review of the prototype issue, from the Christian Science Monitor.

AUSTIN BAY has some important observations on why beating Iraq will likely be a deathblow to an already weakened Al Qaeda.

STEVE VERDON (permalinks not working) notices something I hadn’t — my traffic for this month has already surpassed its previous monthly high. This will no doubt disappoint some, who seemed to be hoping that InstaPundit had passed its peak.

Of course, traffic here won’t keep growing forever, and I wouldn’t be terribly surprised (or, for that matter, all that disappointed) to see it level off or even decline as the blogosphere grows. This is the Internet, and nothing is forever. (Which isn’t to say that I don’t enjoy disappointing those folks this time; I’m only human.)

It’s especially interesting, though, in light of this figure from this OJR piece, showing big-media traffic trends. What’s interesting is that they look a lot like mine, only with a few more zeros. I wouldn’t have guessed that.

ARTHUR SILBER is mad as hell about Bush’s AIDS proposal.

HERE’S OSAMA BIN LADEN’S STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS. I give it an A.

AHEAD OF BUSH: Orrin Judd notes that John Kerry is crying “material breach.”

GEORGE CLOONEY: The Rachel Lucas interview — but how did she get him to open up like that?