A week or too ago I took an entirely justified crack at poor old Jonah Goldberg, deservedly lumping him together with the likes of Ross Douthat, Jack Shafer, Daniel Drezner and Ramesh Ponnuru as pussy-footing semi-Never Trumpers for acknowledging that the Big Guy himself was entirely unacceptable while denying that he constituted a real threat…
Johannes Mössinger New York Trio—“Brilliant Corners”
Another sound only, taken from the 2002 CD shown above. I can’t get a fix on the personnel, other than what’s shown on the cover. Johannes Mössinger plays the piano, and Joe Lovano plays sax. Posted by Johannes Mössinger
Colin Powell, a four-star disappointment
The death of Colin Powell at age 84 has brought forth lots of eulogies and a few accurate criticisms, like this one, posted at Forever Wars by Spencer Ackerman, author of Reign of Terror How The 9/11 Era Destabilized America And Produced Trump. Ackerman focuses almost exclusively on what one might call the “mysterious incident…
Sandra Oh and “The Chair”: Sorry, I can’t see the plot for the clichés!
I have not been “on campus” for (checks notes) 49 years, for which I thank God on my knees every fucking day—and that ain’t no lie. So I am not the best person to review The Chair, a Netflix mini-series that has gotten props for taking a reasonably honest look at political correctness, sexism, racism,…
Jeff Tain Watts—“Brilliant Corners”
Jeff Tain Watts, drums, David Budway, piano, Troy Roberts, sax, Neal Caine, bass. Again, no video, but too good to pass up. From the album Blue Vol. 1. Posted by Israel B
Political Notes from All Over
George F. Will, critical race theorist par excellance There was a time when I made a virtual albeit entirely unpaid cottage industry out of making fun of George F. Will, working up such labored funnies as Two-parent families iz da bomb, says Ramblin’ George Will, snickering at the twice married, frequently adulterous when married and…
Chuck Grassley to semi-Never Trumpers: Suck my aging, wrinkled, disgusting, shriveled dick!
Who are the semi-Never Trumpers? Perhaps the most famous/infamous is Ross Douthat, who recently spent a column, The Once and Future Threat of Trump, desperately trying to explain away the fact that his previous writings on Trump, both before the January 6 riot and after, were politely yet accurately skewered by Robert Kagan in his…
Colin Gordon—“Brilliant Corners”
Colin on sax, with Julian Garvue, piano, Tyrone Allen, bass, and Aaron Staebell, drums. Performed at Hatch Recital Hall at The Eastman School of Music on February 8, 2016. Posted by Colin
Iron Dome Phonus Balonus: The New York Times hopes its readers are stupid—and damn well wants them to stay that way!
By now you may have heard about the ruckus in the House of Representatives about two weeks ago over funding for the Israeli anti-missile “Iron Dome” program, which eventually passed, after protests from the Democrats’ “progressive” (sometimes) wing disrupted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s attempt to slip $1 billion in funding for the Dome into an…
Dan and Jack refuted; Kagan expanded
Are Dan Drezner and Jack Shafer Brothers of the Asp? Because they certainly are Queens of Denial. Both Dan How scared should we be about 2024? and Jack Why the Fear of Trump May Be Overblown cast a cold eye if not cold water on Robert Kagan’s widely discussed and damn well verging on magisterial…