Dana Milbank comes to appreciate Bush’s under-rated political skills. UNI-MULTI-LATERALISM: The Financial Times’ Gerard Baker elaborates on the point I was trying to make yesterday. And does it better. WHAT WONDERFUL ROADS!: A reader sent me this priceless Robert Fisk piece in 1993 – on Osama bin Laden. Puff piece doesn’t begin to describe it. … Continue reading HOW THE HEDGEHOG DOES IT
After almost two years of regular writing with only a few scattered weeks off here and there, I’m going to take the rest of August off the blog. I have a couple of pieces to write and much headspace to clear. But fear not: the Dish will be back with bells on after Labor Day. … Continue reading INTO THE HAMMOCK
The Guardian seems alarmed by the possibility of an early, 50,000 troop initiative to rid the world of Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction. I find it encouraging. Meanwhile, in the latest leak, the “inside-out” strategy appears to be a serious one. Or is this a bluff? Either way, it’s good news. It suggests we’re … Continue reading SOONER RATHER THAN LATER?
This poem in praise of Colin Powell – he’s brilliant, such a great guy, a traditional conservative (as opposed to knuckle-dragging right-wing loonies), widely loved, adored even, a rock star abroad, a civil rights icon, and on and on and on – must surely be self-parody. There’s nothing new in it. The Times even almost … Continue reading THE MOTHER OF ALL POWELL PUFF PIECES
Anthony Lane writes like a dream and reviews intelligently. I point out this last paragraph of his latest review merely to observe the heterosexism of many alleged opponents of pedophilia. Lane is reviewing the hot new movie, “Tadpole,” in which a fifteen-year old boy is molested by older women. The law describes this as criminal … Continue reading PEDOPHILIA – “AS GOOD AS IT GETS”
I’ve been asked why I haven’t blogged much on the current attempt to inflict political damage on president Bush because of the accounting and business scandals of the last few months. I haven’t written anything because I don’t think I have anything interesting to say. (Yeah, I know that’s no excuse for a hack. But … Continue reading BUSH AND THE MARKETS
James Bennet’s horrifying story on the banalization of Islamikaze murderers in Israel contains the following quote: “The bottleneck on the Palestinian side is not the suicide attacker,” said a senior Israeli security official. “It’s the bomb.” We are on the verge of having an entire society acting psychotically. And they’re coming here next. That’s why … Continue reading COMING TO THE WEST SOON
The bad news is that we still have the same roster of bishops and cardinals. But we’ll see. My bet is that some of these delinquents will find a way to leave their august offices soon. But the good news was far more striking. The Gregory statement clearly indicated that the Church hierarchy grasped the … Continue reading AFTER DALLAS
I know I’ll be excoriated as a Bush toady for saying this, but I don’t actually get the notion that the Bush administration has done a palpable U-turn on global warming. Check out this story. “Last year, the White House described climate change as a serious issue after seeking opinions of the National Academy of … Continue reading WHAT U-TURN?
If you’ve spent much time around the newly graduated, you’ll find something striking about this younger generation. They have a new religion. It’s called “sensitivity.” There are plenty of things wrong in human conduct, but by far the greatest sin is “insensitivity.” Anything that could faintly unsettle, upset, disturb, unnerve or discombobulate another person according … Continue reading THE CASE FOR INSENSITIVITY
