Our Unserious Leaders

America’s politics are more and more resembling those of the Soviet Union, where very little is at stake, 90% of the issues are off the table and decided by committees of connected elites, and the  theater of politics, including elections, are there mostly to cover up the reality.  Last week we observed vitriolic denunciations and [...]

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Reality Check on Military Tribunals

Military tribunals make perfect sense for members of al Qaeda.  These individuals are non-citizens, their prosecution often depends on sensitive intelligence, and their presence in American courtrooms would be disruptive and a security risk.  In war, military tribunals have been used from the Revolutionary War forward, and their streamlined procedures, ability to hold proceedings in [...]

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Afghanistan: What is Progress?

I’m really amazed, frankly, that for ten years the commanders of US efforts have said that “we’re making progress” as things seem, more or less, not to have changed much after the bulk of al Qaeda fled into Pakistan’s western tribal regions in early 2002. Retired Marine Bing West’s new book looks very interesting.  He [...]

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Hope and Change

There’s a few interesting signs that the western world is awakening from its slumber.  David Cameron, the UK’s prime minister, announces that multiculturalism has failed and that Muslims are not assimilating and it’s their fault as well as the fault of the idiotic multiculturalist philosophy. Certain neoconservatives, typically perhaps but still in a welcome move, [...]

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Paul Krugman’s Blood Libel

Sarah Palin got in some hot water this week for suggesting the left’s rseponse to the Loughner shooting was a “blood libel.”  Way back in the day, when Jews and Christians lived apart from one another in Europe, this was a popular myth of Jewish mendacity:  that they engaged in ritual murder of Christians for [...]

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The New Model Army

DADT will become law soon, passed this week by the lame duck Democratic Senate after earlier passage by the House.  I oppose this law for all the usual reasons. Like the gay rights movement as a whole, this is part of a broader cultural movement:  destruction of the military and other traditional institutions in the [...]

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The Perils of Bipartisanship

The Republicans appear likely to indulge in their worst instincts by agreeing (a) to extend unemployment benefits while (b) signing on to various tax cuts.  While perhaps tax cuts would be valuable, the real driver of our economic troubles is a widespread fiscal disaster among individuals, states and localities, and the federal government.  At all [...]

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Obama’s Time Warp

George Will writes today about Obama’s strange “time warp” focus on the START Treaty with Russia.  Indeed.  If there is one problem not significantly affecting the world, it’s the dormant arm’s race with Russia. But Obama does this often.  He is obsessed with 60s era racial gripes and thus struck out against a Cambridge cop last [...]

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Obama’s Post-Election Rhetoric

I’ve thought for a long time that Obama’s rhetoric has some serious problems.  Earlier in the campaign, he was cajoling his supporters to work for him.   He has insulted middle America, suggesting it is fearful or racist at different times.  In dealing with Congress, he has been imperious and unwilling to adjust his tone and policies [...]

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Obama’s Malaise

Obama is getting beaten up by core supporters, his lies are crumbling, his half-hearted war leadership has been exposed, and his lack of political skills and instincts is more and more apparent. Why is this so surprising?  His campaign was a big lie; the media participated in myth-making and didn’t do their job, from checking [...]

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