The Left
Afghanistan and Obama’s base
There’s a notion gaining ground that President Obama, by opting for a troop increase in Afghanistan, is somehow faltering on campaign promises and thus “betraying his base.” What nonsense. Obama never said he’d withdraw troops from Afghanistan. If anything, he said the opposite. This CNN report is from July 21, 2008, before he had even secured the Democratic nomination: “The
A note to Dennis Kucinich
Fresh from his sanctimonious vote against health care reform in congress, Dennis Kucinich of Ohio appeared on “Hardball” tonight to rail against President Obama’s impending announcement on troops to Afghanistan. I’m not taking a position in advance of Obama’s address next Tuesday. But I do want to object to Kucinich’s statement (I paraphrase) that “we owe a debt to Afghan
Political odds, ends
I didn’t vote for him on November 3, but Mike Bloomberg has done the country a service and I wanted to acknowledge it. In stark contrast to his predecessor, the insufferable demagogue Rudy Giuliani, Bloomberg has voiced support for Eric Holder’s decision to try KSM and other 9/11 defendants in a civilian court here in New York. One now sees
Obama hails Yoani
Via NYT’s The Lede, President Obama has directly addressed questions posed by courageous Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez, who was recently harassed and roughed up by Cuban security officials for the great crime of blogging. The NYT post also remarks on a new Human Rights Watch report titled “New Castro, Same Cuba,” the thrust of which I don’t need to spell
Authoritarian bedfellows
Not the ones you’d think, but bedfellows just the same. Johann Hari demolishes Ayn Rand (nee Alisa Rosenbaum), who remains a right-wing saint despite her mediocrity (not to mention her forthright celebration of child rape and murder). And Alan Johnson rips into Slavoj Zizek, equally a star among the academic far left (subscriber link only). Zizek finds Hermann Goering’s view
For NYC mayor
Next Tuesday we go to the polls to elect New York’s next mayor. Although Mike Bloomberg is not nearly as odious a figure as torture advocate and police brutality enabler Rudy Giuliani, I’ll be voting for Bill Thompson. I’m posting because I, along with all my fellow registered voters, have received a fairly comprehensive voter guide in the mail from
“As a Jew”
Three words that have come to make my hair stand on end. Here is Mary-Kay Wilmers, editor of the London Review of Books (via Norm): “I’m unambiguously hostile to Israel because it’s a mendacious state. They do things that are just so immoral and counterproductive and, as a Jew, especially as a Jew, you can’t justify that.” And then, this:
Polanski and etc.
“Do successful artists get a pass for their moral failings or crimes?” asks the NYT Room for Debate blog in regard to the Roman Polanski affair. Gee, ya think? Not only do they get a pass for their moral failings — they’re often celebrated for their moral failings, which are too easily mistaken for virtues. At the most recent Oscars,