Yeah, I could have said “Ramesh Ponnuru is a disingenuous dipshit”, or “Ramesh Ponnuru is a Jesuitical jive-ass” (because he’s Catholic), but I like to keep it classy. My latest bitch-fest regarding Mr. Ponnuru is occasioned by a recent post of his in Bloomberg, Trump Tax Cut Was Neither Bane Nor Boon, which I was…
Will “Race” Sink the Democrats?
Well, I hope not. But one has to worry. Images of New York, Portland, Minneapolis, and Kenosha burning can have a strong impact on the “I’m no racist, but” crowd, who are not charmed by Trump’s general boorishness but don’t like riots. Smart phones are bringing home the ubiquity of racism in police departments across…
Stout Stories: “A Social Call” and “Truffles To Die For”
A Social Call “I’m afraid that would be impossible.” “I agree entirely. And it’s been my experience that when things are impossible, they don’t happen. Which means that we should just forget about this.” She laughed. “But that would be impossible as well.” “I assure you it wouldn’t, Ms. Harris—nor, in fact, is it. If…
Winston Churchill, Total Homo
Yeah, you read that right. Winston Spencer Leonard Churchill, worshipped by neocons as a monumental, more than human demi-god, had an eye for the lads. Or so says Michael Bloch in his diverting 2015 opus, Closet Queens Some 20th Century British Politicians. Although there’s no good evidence that Sir Winston ever went to bed with…
Yo, Max Boot! Here’s your explanation! Donald Trump is simply the cherry on top of a pre-existing GOP sh*t sundae!
Max Boot is confused. Noting that nothing Donald Trump says or does, not even pissing on those who die for their country, has any effect on the president’s “base”, he wonders Why do Trump supporters even go through the motions of trying to discredit the latest allegations? Their support hasn’t been shaken by all of…
Paul Krugman: A limousine liberal takes a walk
In his latest newsletter, which, as I keep repeating, is in itself a refutation of Friedmanite “No Free Lunch” gospel, Paul Krugman takes us on a walking tour of the Big Apple, beginning with this paragraph: Full disclosure: I’m one of those privileged New Yorkers who decamped to the suburbs during the worst of the…
Twilight of Democracy: Anne Applebaum’s front-row seat to disaster
I have already written with great approval of Anne Applebaum’s recent article for the Atlantic, History Will Judge the Complicit, while snickering at Ramesh Ponnuru’s anguished protest—for surely the dude protested too much—that he was totally not—repeat not—“complicit”. He’s just friends with people who, it so happens, are complicit”.1 Which is like a totally different…
Al Gore, A Touch of Class
Back in the day, I was never an Al Gore guy, though I certainly saw him as preferable to either George Bush or Bill Clinton. Al was Al, a stolid, earnest “idealist”, whose every ideal required a costly, centralized government program to bring it into being. The fact that such “solutions” rarely did much more…
Mike does Stuart: Michael Grunwald holds Stuart Stevens’ turncoat Republican feet to the fire, with interesting results
In a recent—well, “tirade” is probably too strong a word, but “riff” is a bit cute—in a recent post on “conscience Republican” Ross Douthat’s semi-snarky take on Republican with a different conscience Stuart Stevens’ mea culpa It Was All a Lie: How the Republican Party Became Donald Trump, I noted that Stu, unintentionally, I’m sure,…
Yo, Edward Gibbon! Here’s a news flash! Only MAN is “vile”!
Escape from Rome! Would that thou couldst! A number of months ago, I stumbled across Walter Scheidel’s Escape From Rome, which I thought was just the bestest book on Rome ever—the bestest I had ever read, at least—arguing that Rome “fell” in very large part because its creation was an anomaly. Unlike the other “classic”…