Tag Archives: politics

Demogogue

“Are you now, or have you ever been, a Muslim?” (Photo: New York Times) Rep. Peter King (R-NY), IRA supporter, didn’t say that, as far as I know. But that’s what I “heard” at his “hearing” on home-grown Muslim terrorism (supposedly … Continue reading

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Rallying

In October I attended two very different rallies in Washington, DC. And I did not attend a third, which was different in a different way. The third rally was actually the first, chronologically: Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” shindig in August. … Continue reading

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Gadsden

Not content to wrap themselves in the Stars and Bars Stripes, the “Tea Party” people are grabbing other nice flags from our great confused history. I always liked the Gadsden flag: “Don’t tread on me” (although—in a fit of revolutionary … Continue reading

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Birthright

Bob Somerby, in his Daily Howler, is as hard on “liberal” reporters and commentators as he is on right-wingers. He hates sloppy thinking and writing, wherever it comes from, and knee-jerk reactions from legs of any political stripe drive him … Continue reading

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Escalator

Exactly a month ago, while drawing up Obama’s first-quarter report card, I wrote: “Still to be scored is his approach to Afghanistan—he is currently deliberating, and the hope arises he will ditch the simpleminded bellicosity displayed in his campaign and … Continue reading

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Threads

Picking up a few loose ones … Armenia Back in August we heard about the incipient rapprochement between Armenia and Turkey that was to culminate in an imminent restoration of diplomatic relations. On October 10, after a last-minute dispute over … Continue reading

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Won’t

Jacob Weisberg has offered an early, tentative assessment of Barack Obama as president. The first “theme” he isolates is that Obama “sees the middle ground as the high ground.” Candidates who talk about bringing people together or changing the tone … Continue reading

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Chrysostom

We all knew, from the day he burst on the scene, that Barack Obama is a great talker. And great talk can sometimes accomplish a lot. But there’s a reason why we talk about “walking the walk.” And, for better … Continue reading

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Autobiograffiti

Not only am I getting tired of Facebook (after a mere 13 months of use), I’ve started wondering how much time I’ve already wasted there. It didn’t take very long for me to get fed up and shut down all … Continue reading

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Wasabi

I was looking forward to “crazy” on Tuesday, but didn’t expect so much of teh stupid. Up until late Monday, Laura and I planned to head down to the Mall at a not-too-unreasonable hour and see what we could see … Continue reading

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