I was recently at a rest stop on an interstate, one of the large ones that contain half a dozen fast food outfits, and even a Starbucks for us la-di-da types. The place was swarming with young people, at least a hundred of them, almost all of them white and all of them wearing blue…
Search Results for: military spending
Yo, “conservatives”! Donald Trump is destroying the rule of law, and you didn’t even notice!
It is a long-running rap of Trump apologists that while the Donald may be a little rough around the edges, substantively (which is what counts, of course) he’s done little more than enact the standard Republican menu of tax cuts, increased defense spending, and, best of all, conservative judges! Well, we can pass over (for…
Daniel Drezner and the Darkening Detritus of Doom
A few months ago, WashPost columnist Daniel Drezner blossomed forth with a series of articles on the future lying before us whose tone was so gloomy that I may start wishing I won’t live long enough to see it. His biggest “big picture” picture appeared in Reason last April, titled “Will Today’s Global Trade Wars…
Robert Kagan writes an interesting essay, with some stretchers, and not a few omissions
In one way, Robert Kagan’s recent “long-form” (7,000 words) essay in the Washington Post, “The strongmen strike back”, is an honest, intelligent examination of the rise of illiberalism in the modern world, a phenomenon as incontestable as it is dispiriting. In another way, Bob’s latest and longest is a bit of a con job, and…
Who’s dumber, Trump or the “Intelligence Community”?
I won’t keep you in suspense. IT’S TRUMP! The bad news—or, I guess, the worse news—is, it’s a close contest. And the worst news—for now—is that it’s not just funny dumb but, all too likely, disastrous dumb. Because the real objective for both sides—though they’re choosing different routes—is a new Cold War, with ever-tightening tensions,…
Sweeping up a few Republican crumbs
Okay, that’s a bit harsh, even though, let’s face it, a lot of Republicans are crumbs. A week or two ago, I ran a piece, “John McCain, Paul Ryan, and the Myth of the Virtuous Republican”, in the course of which I quoted fairly extensively from two often interesting “I’m outta here” books by (more…
Meanwhile, the war continues
That’s the war to start war, you understand, because the Weekly Standard thinks we’re just not killing enough people. The “Editors”, meaning Bad Boy Billy Kristol, demand that we “Stop Calling Russia a Competitor”! You know what Russia does? “Putin’s government invades neighboring states, murders its opponents with impunity on foreign soil, undermines the elections…
Daniel Drezner, harrumphing audibly, but not (alas!) intelligibly
Okay, whole lotta’ unpackin’ goin’ on here, whole lotta’ unpackin’ goin’ on. A couple of weeks ago, WashPost guy Dan Drezner, whom I (sometimes) like, uncorked a whole lotta nonsense due to the death of Princeton professor of international affairs Robert Gilpin, writing in praise of Gilpin in a column bearing the pungent subhead “It’s…
Republicans have a god but no honor, Steve Chapman discovers
Steve Chapman is confused. God-fearing Republicans used to hate communism. Now they love it! What’s the deal? The deal is, Donald told them so. “For communist dictators such as Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Un, Trump exudes admiration and amity. To the anti-Western Russian President Vladimir Putin, he offered congratulations for winning a rigged election.”…
Those Mean Old Disestablishment Blues: Why it’s so hard to put Humpty-Dumpty together again
Dreary old Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump by almost three million votes, despite being deeply loathed by millions of voters, many of whom held their noses and voted for snatch snatchin’ Don. Post election, Trump’s poll ratings have never reached the 45% mark, despite a booming stock market and a steadily expanding economy. So why…