Hugh’s show prep. 09/01

Big Brother alert: Sorry, but Obama’s planned address to whole nation’s schoolchildren is creepy

W.H. fears liberal war pressure

N.J. Governor Corzine Trails Christie in Two Polls

Gordon Brown did not want Lockerbie bomber to die in jail

Reid: Teddy’s death “going to help us”

Registration deadlines set for contest to fill Kennedy seat

Survivors remember Russia’s Beslan massacre

Virginia Governor’s Race Turns to Gender Politics Over 20-Year-Old Master’s Thesis

Russia and Poland trade insults on 70th anniversary of WWII

Young Life In Russia and the Former Soviet Union

Gary Parsons who leads Young Life in Russia and the former Soviet Union will be stopping by the studio, accompanied by Stan Lazarian of Armenian Gospel Mission for some conversation on how evangelical Christianity is faring in the former lands of Stalin

“Are We A Nation Of Hindus?”

Dr. Albert Mohler provides a surprising answer.

George Will and Afghanistan

I began the discussion of George Will’s column on yesterday’s program, and will continue it today with historian Victor Davis Hanson and, if possible, author Steven Pressfield whose books and videos about Afghanistan are built on years and years of research into the region’s history reaching back to Alexander’s campaign.  Perhaps Max Boot as well if he can be found, or a return from Fred Kagan who was on last week and is just back from Afghanistan.

There are intellectuals whose opinions on Afghanistan I value and the public should value.  Not as much as the opinions of General McChrystal, of course, or General Petraeus, but those are classified.  But in the absence of definitive direction from the Pentagon, the debate among pundits isn’t one in which all voices get an equal amount of credibility on arrival to the debate.  George Will is hugely influential on matters of politics and baseball, American culture and the fortunes of presidents.  He is at the very top rank of talented pundits, always worth reading.

But wether or not to remain in the battle in Afghanistan is a subject that has an all too direct connection to 9/11 and the potential for future mass attacks on the homeland.  Allowing the Taliban to re-establish a sovereign state with the ability to welcome and encourage suicide jihadists is not a subject on which I trust Mr. Will’s judgment.

Note: This is cross-posted at Hughniverse.com, if you wish to comment on it there.