This morning, up the road a ways in Annapolis, MD, the Bush administration is hosting belated Mideast Peace Talks between Israel and Palestine. Maybe this is just a last race to save face for the Bush administration after all it has done to create havoc in the Middle East. But still we all hope for… Continue reading Slouching Toward Annapolis
Category: politics
Ignatieff’s Bad Judgment
In yesterday’s New York Times magazine, Michael Ignatieff, the professor-turned-politician, almost acknowledges that he made a terrible mistaking in supporting the U.S. invasion into Iraq. Recall that Ignatieff was one of the leading liberal intellectuals who bolstered the Bush administration’s case for war. Along with the liberal journalist Christopher Hitchens, he helped lend a veneer… Continue reading Ignatieff’s Bad Judgment
The Bad Boy of Philosophy
Last Friday, at age 75, Richard Rorty died. Yesterday both the New York Times and the Washington Post ran nice obituaries, highlighting his youth in a socialist family and his adulthood as a renegade philosopher who’d splashily divorced analytic philosophy in order to embrace American pragmatism. The break-up began in the 60s. “He was a… Continue reading The Bad Boy of Philosophy
On Torture
Peter Levine has been thinking through ways to rebut consequentialist arguments that might condone torture. John Yoo, who wrote the official memo justifying the use of torture, still thinks that there are situations when torture is acceptable. “Look, death is worse than torture, but everyone except pacifists thinks there are circumstances in which war is… Continue reading On Torture
Karl Rove’s Links
Full disclosure: I have two immediate links to Karl Rove. First, I sat next to him at a meeting in Austin, Texas, in the late 1990s when he was the political mastermind behind Dubya’s governership of Texas. There were about eight people in the room. I don’t remember saying anything but “hello” to him. Second,… Continue reading Karl Rove’s Links
Does policy need democracy?
A friend told me this morning that when he was in graduate school in public policy he mentioned to his advisor that he might opt for the concentration in public policy and democracy. His advisor advised him: “Don’t bother.” “Is that because the school’s offerings in democracy were lame?” I asked. “Or because the idea… Continue reading Does policy need democracy?
The Groundhog Verdict
I think it’s safe to say, this day after Groundhog Day, that summer will be coming soon. In my part of the world, it was cloudy all day yesterday. No groundhog would see its shadow; winter will soon end. More confirmation, this morning’s New York Times screams out, “Science Panel Says Global Warming is ‘Unequivocal’… Continue reading The Groundhog Verdict
D’Souza: Dangerous or Wrong?
In his opinion piece in todays’ Washington Post, conservative author Dinesh D’Souza responds to critics of his new book, The Enemy at Home. Why the onslaught? Just this: In my book, published this month, I argue that the American left bears a measure of responsibility for the volcano of anger from the Muslim world that… Continue reading D’Souza: Dangerous or Wrong?
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