In the clip posted above, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) elegantly rips Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL) a new one—which he clearly needs, for the dude is seriously full of it—for his flatulent non-apology apology, after accosting her on the Capitol steps for having dared to say something he didn’t like, calling her “disgusting” and accusing her…
Political Science: It isn’t rocket science
Over at New York magazine, pretty smart guy Eric Levitz (unless I’m confusing him with someone else, and I don’t think I am) interviews pretty smart guy David Shor, recently defenestrated from his position at Civis Analytics for, you know, analyzing stuff—i.e., posting a link to a study suggesting that violent demonstrations are, shockingly enough,…
“Free Speech” letter bad because it was signed by people who should not be allowed to speak, critics say
That’s the basic takeaway from a recent piece, “The Harper’s ‘Letter,’ cancel culture and the summer that drove a lot of smart people mad”, by Sarah Ellison and Elahe Izadi that appeared in the Washington Post yesterday. Ellison and Izadi naturally corralled a variety of talking heads, including, rather curiously, aging paleo-lib Robert Reich,1 who…
The Silence of the “Right” is Deafening. And Contemptible.
Recently, President Donald Trump was asked to comment on the arrest of Ghislaine Maxwell for charges of procuring underage women for notorious sexual abuser Jeffrey Epstein back in the 1990s and, more recently, in 2017, for perjuring herself when testifying about the matter. Quoth1 the Donald I just wish her well, frankly. I’ve met her…
The Monk Project—“Let’s Cool One”
Yeah, I have been awfully lazy when it comes to the jazz portion of Literature R Us. Well, blame it on the coronavirus, or the damn heat, or my damn laziness. This track is sans video, from an outstanding album released in 2012, The Monk Project, a session organized by Jimmy Owens. The superb lineup…
Pinch Me, I’m Dreaming! Politico runs two—two!—articles calling for REDUCED Pentagon spending!
Yes, you read that right. Middle of the road just the facts, ma’am, Politico actually ran two articles, one “liberal” and one “conservative”, calling for Congress to stop spending so gosh darn much on defense. Both pieces are waaay too timid by my standards, but to hear two voices speak up in what has been…
Of course we’re in denial! We’re REPUBLICANS!
Over at the anti-Trumpy Dispatch, Christian Schneider explains why even anti-Trump conservatives like himself would be cawazzy to wish for Republicans to lose the Senate as well as the presidency in 2020: “Why Are Some Conservatives Rooting for the GOP to Lose the Senate? Yes, many Republican politicians have behaved badly. But a Biden presidency…
When Bari Left the Times
Now that Bari Weiss has left the New York Times (“scorching” resignation letter here), the Times will almost assuredly be both woker and broker—not “broker” in the sense of financially poorer, but intellectually so. The Times is almost guaranteed to be more predictably “correct” in its coverage of the passing scene and—okay, this is going…
Daniel Drezner, you shall not escape my wrath!
Well, you won’t, Dan. Just because I’m painfully slow and stumbling off the mark, and not much better down the stretch, you thought you could slip a few fast ones by me, but nuh-uh. I’m onto your game, and you’ll pay the price. The first of Dan’s “curve balls” (to vary the metaphor) came a…
Hey! Unimportant people believe in free speech too!
Damn straight we do! Well, some of us, anyway, and some of us, like me, are very, very unimportant! I say this, of course, because there has been considerable blowback to the now notorious letter published in Harper’s magazine, signed by a large number of cultural icons and/or irritants, to the irritation of many who…