David Frum has surely not said the stupidest thing about the current crisis in the Middle East, and Egypt in particular. Still. The Obama administration has staked its foreign policy on the assumption that the best way to deal with radical Islam is by engaging with radical Islam, thus splitting the men of violence from…
Author: Alan Vanneman
Pseudo New Yorker
Legal humor here. “Wait’ll he hears my rebuttal. Then he’ll know he’s in Hell.” “He’s good, but he’s no John Scotus Erigina.” “Well, this really isn’t Heaven, per se. It’s his Heaven. We’re just living in it.” “I think they could at least give us chips.” “Life really isn’t eternal up here, but it sure…
Memo to Joe: They don’t “love” us
Time magazine’s Joe Klein appeared on NBC’s “Morning Joe” yesterday and lowered the boom on Bibi Netanyahu (video here, courtesy of Bob Wright at the Atlantic): I don’t think I’ve ever, in the 40 years I’ve been doing this, have heard of another of an American ally trying to push us into war as blatantly…
Teacher, teacher! Listen, I ask the questions, I don’t answer them!
One would want to have sympathy for Adrienne Pine, anthropology professor at American University in Washington, DC, who apparently offended someone by breastfeeding her daughter in her class. One would feel sympathy from just about anyone who received an email from a student reporter like the following (taken from the professor’s lengthy online account): Hello…
The Washington Post really really surprises me! A lot!
I’ve bitched so often about the way Fred Hiatt has turned the Washington Post’s editorial machine into a neo-con slum that I can only pronounce myself totally gobsmacked by this editorial, headlined “Mr. Romney’s rhetoric on embassy attacks is a discredit to his campaign.” Yes, the Mittman’s insistence on his right to lie about President…
George Will, tying himself in knots, yet failing to score a touchdown
I find myself agreeing with George Will more often than I like. We are a one on free trade, for example, as well as campaign “reform” (aka incumbent protection and First Amendment reduction). I also admire his early criticism of President Obama’s decision to expand the war in Afghanistan, although his massive silence on civil…
You always strike your friends
That’s the oldest rule in the public employees union rule book, but the whole labor union thing, and the whole strike thing in particular, has become so moribund that I guess no one can remember it. Slate magazine provides a variety of links here, with the headline “Chicago Teachers Strike Reflects National Debate, Could Affect…
Pseudo New Yorker
Legal humor here. “Now, if these don’t do the trick—well, if these don’t do the trick, I guess that’s that.” “That’s very true, Harrison. Intimations of mortality there be that speak as deeply to the soul as those of immortality. But you’re creeping the rest of my patients out.” “Welcome to ObamaCare, girlfriend.” “Yes, Billy,…
La Comédie humaine—Grey Goose edition
How long has it been since I’ve made fun of Felix Salmon? It’s definitely been awhile. We’ve both been on vacation, but now we’re both back, so let’s have at it. Yesterday, Felix was all over a “big story” by Dan Levy, delivering the pretty much astounding news that last year U.S. consumers spent a…
Cowardice follows murder as Wednesday follows Tuesday
Every Tuesday, President Obama and the boys get together to decide whom they’re going to murder next, via the magic of America’s infamous killer drones. Yesterday, Murder Tuesday was followed by Cowardice Wednesday, as the President ordered the Democratic Convention to surrender to the imperious whines of AIPAC Nation and restore to the Democratic Platform…