Category: Awards

“When the comparative impulse becomes primary, accounting becomes apologetics. The really striking thing about the ethical texts of the Jews in exile is the extent to which they are silent about the adversity that the writers of these texts were regularly experiencing. For most of two millennia, the Jews had the standing alibi of anti-Semitism, if they wanted to take it up; but they did not want to take it up. They held themselves to the highest standards of conduct and then proceeded to the business of safety. One is not better merely because others are bad. And the better is not the same as the good,” – someone who was once called Leon Wieseltier.

(Hat tip: RWW)

"In this particular instance, the interview was serious and not as Palin portrays it. (The interview can be seen here.) The discussion was fairly substantive. It includes excerpts from previous Paul interviews. And it was not focused on a hypothetical; it was about a landmark piece of social legislation about which Paul had expressed serious reservations. It was legitimate to ask Paul the questions Maddow did. And the “gotcha moment” was caused not by Maddow’s questions but by Paul’s answers. It was no more of a “gotcha moment” than it would be to ask a person running for vice president what specific newspapers and magazines she reads and what Supreme Court decisions she disagrees with," – Pete Wehner.

"[Kagan's] thesis — written from the perspective of an anti-communist scholar who was not in sync with the pro-communist leftism of what by then was a declining New Left — does not reveal that she was an advocate of radical social change. It does reveal an individual who, like the socialists and unionists she was writing about, also wanted to “change America.” It is clear that she found their struggles inspirational and that she empathized with their fight. If she has not changed her views on these issues, it puts her right in the mainstream of what is today’s left-of -center Democratic Party … Some may disagree with the political sympathies that led her to write on this topic, but I believe the thesis itself should serve as no grounds to deny her appointment to the Supreme Court,"- Ron Radosh, Pajamas Media.

"The President scares me. He's been acting a little like a Vatican Observer here. When is he actually going to do something? And I worry; I know he doesn't want to take ownership of it. I know politics. He said the minute he says, 'I'm in charge,' he takes the blame, but somebody has to," – Chris Matthews, on Obama's response to the Gulf spill.

"While Hitler continues to enjoy great personal popularity, there is a growing dissatisfaction with his policies," – Ann Coulter.

Yes, I know. But still …

"Let's compare Bush to Obama in a more serious way. Bush always used to say "We're fighting them over there, so we don't have to fight them over here." And we would all go "Oh, you moron." But that's basically the policy Obama is doing. Obama may call it something different, but doubling down in Afghanistan and sending more troops in there is fighting them over there, so we don't have to fight them here. But I'd like to say, "Memo to the administration: They're already here." So what is the point of us being in Afghanistan?" – Bill Maher, on the Times Square bomb.

"In her fervent opposition to the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell law and the Solomon Amendment, Kagan elevated her own ideological commitment on gay rights above what Congress, acting on the advice of military leaders, had determined best served the interests of national security.  At a time of war, in the face of the grand civilizational challenge that radical Islam poses, Kagan treated military recruiters worse than she treated the high-powered law firms that were donating their expensive legal services to anti-American terrorists," – Ed Whelan, taking Kristol's cue.