RWN Gets Introduced To The Mainstream Press In Britain

23 Oct, 2002 by John Hawkins

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RWN Gets Introduced To The Mainstream Press In Britain: David Frum, an ex-speechwriter for President Bush and the man widely credited with coming up with the phrase “Axis of Evil,” quoted one of my editorials in the Daily Telegraph today…

“A few weeks ago, a piece by an American internet essayist showed up in my in-basket. It is an arresting statement of a newly familiar thought: “It’s like we’re the guy who ended up being the designated driver for the planet. Sure, we’d love to sit back and drink ourselves into a stupor with the rest of the globe, but we’re responsible for getting as many people safely home as possible.

“Every so often, while we’re sitting around wishing we could kill a few beers like the rest of the planet, a sloppy drunk, drooling Europe comes over to where we’re sitting. Then, they take another swig of vodka straight out of the bottle and tell us not to worry about a thing because they’ll drive everyone home in their ‘international law’ van.

“But we know, if we drink up, that we’ll just get a call at 4am asking us to bring our tow truck and the ‘jaws of life’ to clean up the bloody mess on dead man’s curve. That’s the burden of being an American.”

Unfortunately, Mr. Frum didn’t give me credit for my “Confessions of an Isolationist Wannabe” column but it’s the thought that counts.

Thanks to Moira Breen and Kieran Lyons for emailing me about the mention.

***Update***: Bill Quick weighs in and he has harsh words for Frum.

***Update #2***: David Frum has emailed Instapundit about this one…

“Thanks for the ID on that essay. The one bad thing about the blogger phenom is that things show up in one’s email unattributed – and it’s hard to know even how to begin finding out who the author was. So my hat is off to John Hawkins for his eloquent words – and my apologies to him for not quoting him by name. I’ll see if I can correct at least the electronic version of the Telegraph.”

I appreciate the attempt to get my name added to that article. I certainly wouldn’t mind having a flood of conservative Brits hitting the page from the Telegraph. Either way, thanks to David Frum for making the effort and using my quote in the article.

***Update #3***: Glenn Reynolds sent an email from David Frum that said the following…

“Correction has been made on the Telegraph’s website. Would you be able to forward this to Mr. Hawkins?

David Frum”

Thanks David, I appreciate it!