On November 9, 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte engineered a coup that made him First Consul and ended republican government in France. By the date of the Republican calendar then in effect in France, the date was 18 Brumaire in the year VIII.1 In 1852, Karl Marx wrote The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, commemorating in contempt…
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Charles Krauthammer half full, Charles Krauthammer half empty
In his latest column, Charlie the K bemoans “the refusal of an unbending left to accept the legitimacy of Trump’s victory.” Sighs Charlie, “It’s not just the demonstrators chanting “not my president.” It is leading Democrats pushing one line after another to delegitimize the election, as in: He lost the popular vote, it’s James Comey’s…
Why Donald Trump will be our very worst president, by a very wide margin
Donald Trump will be our very worst president, by a very wide margin, because Donald Trump is the apotheosis of the Tea Party, the culmination of Republican lawlessness—that is to say, an impatience and contempt for “rules” that eventually transforms itself into a delight in their violation—that has been growing stronger and stronger since the…
Vanneman praises Friedman; Heavens sway, just a little
Yes, it’s true. Thomas Friedman—the guy who said we should invade Iraq “because we can”—has written a brilliant column, “Bibi Netanyahu Makes Trump His Chump”, whose first two paragraphs read as follows: “For those of you confused over the latest fight between President Obama and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu of Israel, let me make it…
One for George
I basically called George Will a shithead—or at least a periwighead, which is pretty much the same thing—a couple of days ago. Well, that was then, this is now. Now is George hitting one out of the park, labeling incoming attorney general Jeff Sessions a shithead for his championing of “civil forfeiture”, aka “stealing”—when the…
Hillary Clinton, Loser?
Only in America would a woman who outpolled her opponent by close to three million votes be declared a “loser”. That is to say, only a woman running for president, because in every other election in the U.S.—and there are, of course, thousands—the person with the most votes wins. But because Hillary Clinton was running…
One for Bob
I lambasted, pretty much, Robert Samuelson last week for a dumb-ass column he wrote claiming that we don’t spend enough on defense. Well, this week, Bob gets it right, in a column praising President Obama’s handling of the Great Recession, which was in fact his greatest achievement, though not quite great enough to allow Hillary…
Yes, [INSERT NAME] is an idiot. This week’s winner, Robert Samuelson!
Yes, we do have a winner, as we always do. Bob takes home this week’s trophy for obsequiousness to the Pentagon above and beyond the call of duty, and in the face of all economic sense (his area of expertise, supposedly). After attacking fellow Postman Bob Woodward (for suggesting that the Pentagon could save $25…
Michael V. Hayden, mightily covering ass
Michael V. Hayden, you may be interested to know, is currently a principal at the Chertoff Group and visiting professor at George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government, and was formerly director of the National Security Agency from 1999 to 2005 and the Central Intelligence Agency from 2006 to 2009. He has a…
George F. Will Explains It All For You. Incorrectly.
George “F for Farrreeeky!” Will has a piece up, “Infrastructure projects aren’t jobs programs”, which, all inadvertently, explains why infrastructure projects are jobs programs. Saith St. George, “New Deal public works gave the nation splendidly useful engineering marvels, including the Golden Gate Bridge and the Hoover Dam. It did not, however, significantly reduce unemployment, which…