In a recent post, Try harder, Mr. Beinart,1 I subjected Peter Beinart to brief ridicule for perpetuating now ancient myths from John F. Kennedy’s half-forgotten “New Frontier” when he expressed the wish, in a column for the New York Times, that more Republican senators would present “profiles in courage”, so to speak, and vote the…
Tag: Iran
Shorter Trump Administration: “F*ck yeah we’re getting the f*ck out of Afghanistan! Pronto! We’re raring to go!
What if we gave a retreat and nobody noticed? That seems to be the situation in Afghanistan, where Secretary of State Michael Pompeo recently made a flying visit to tell the locals to shape the fuck up before Uncle Sam got pissed, or as the Washington Post put it: “U.S. vows to cut $1 billion…
Qassem Soleimani didn’t kill 600 American soldiers in Iraq; George Bush did
As “conservatives” rally to explain why murdering a high-ranking official of another country is a good thing, one of the most potent—or at least most frequently repeated—arguments is that Iranian General Qassem Soleimani was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American soldiers in Iraq. The Washington Post tells us of “Soleimani’s legacy: The gruesome,…
The four-star general with a two-star mind
Okay, that headline is more euphonious than accurate, not to say meaningful, so here’s the gist of what I’m trying to say: Politico has a story up by Eliana Johnson claiming that Donald Trump held off bombing Iran on the basis of comments on Fox News by retired four star Jack Keane, to wit: “Our…
Can trade wars today lead to shooting wars tomorrow? With Donald Trump in charge, we may not have to wait!
It’s true: Donald Trump is getting awfully bored. The whole Mueller thing, which looked like it was going to be so much fun, has gone flatter than that liter bottle of malt liquor you opened last night and forgot to finish. Where’s the sparkle? Where’s the punch? I got up this morning planning to start…
Donald Trump is sort of doing what Bill Clinton and Barack Obama should have done. Sort of.
Well, he is. Sort of. President Trump is recognizing that NATO has outlived its usefulness, seeing as the “Soviet Menace”, as we used to call it, disappeared, you know, almost thirty years ago, so we don’t have keep paying to defend Europe from a “threat” that doesn’t exist. Of course, cool, calm reflection and “reason’…
Kenneth M. Pollack’s slights of hand
Damn the non-homographic homophones! Damn them to hell! They make fools of us all! Just last week I recounted my struggles with the “summery/summary” slough, and now, over at the National Review, poor Kenneth M. Pollack is having “slight” problems of his own, writing in his piece “Why Push Back On Iran?” “We can all…
Real presidents effectuate regime change
When did “regime change” become the mark of a “real” president? Well, not to keep you in suspense, but it was in the brief reign of George Herbert Walker “Bad Ass” Bush. While still a mere VP, Georgie wanted President Reagan to green light the removal of Panama strongman Manuel Noriega—basically a CIA “asset” gone…
What’s worse than suffering through the faux double entendres in those insufferable Duluth Trading Co. ads? Suffering through the insufferable whining of New York Times “conservatives”
Yes, NYT-approved conservatives Ross Douthat, who has, on occasion, received a hearty thumb’s up from me, and Trump-hatin’ Bret Stephens, whom I’ve basically ignored, have both been actin’ conservative and actin’ out in recent days. First up, and the more dispensable, is Ross, who’s actin’ all Catholic and accusatory, heading off a recent column on…
“Bloomberg View” on the Iran nuclear agreement—It’s Unanimous!
‘Has Trump Fixed the ‘Worst Deal Ever’? Kinda, Sorta’—Tobin Hanshaw ‘Trump’s Iran Plan Does Too Much and Too Little’—Megan L. O’Sullivan ‘Trump’s Tough Talk on Iran Fails to Mask His Inaction’—Eli Lake Short version: “INVADE, ALREADY! INVADE!”