Forget the small fact of my place of birth. I just ordered three vanilla petite scones at Starbucks. If that doesn’t make me an elite snooty pansy-ass un-American commie terrorist-lover, what would?
The Death Toll Rises
George Packer on the situation in Burma:
Burma used to be the world’s largest exporter of rice; after decades of military misrule, it now has trouble feeding itself. When I was there in February, I heard that some peasants were surviving on one meal a day, and a knowledgeable woman spoke of the conditions that might lead to famine. Now the danger is far more real—thousands of villagers have no food or water, and reports of hunger are widespread. So the already unimaginable death toll could increase considerably with starvation and disease.
More here.
Hanging On
Laura McClure sorts through dispatches from Burma, while Robert Kaplan wonders if the disaster makes overthrowing Burma’s military regime any more likely.
Moon Struck
A legal argument supporting lunar property rights.
Unfriendly Territories
Larison argues that Obama can’t make inroads in either West Virginia or Kentucky and says Obama should act like those primaries aren’t happening. I don’t agree. The last thing Obama needs now is overconfidence or arrogance. The Clintons are always at their most dangerous when on the ropes.
Home, Sweet Home
The bluebells are blooming in the Sussex woodlands around my home-town in England. I grew up in this dank beauty, and my dad took some photos today to remind me of what was my childhood playground:
Enjoying Failure
How to run a doomed campaign.
Drip, Drip
"The race is close to over. If Mrs Clinton chooses to drag it out, it is hard to see how she could continue later than May 20th. By then, three more states will have voted: Kentucky, West Virginia and Oregon. The first two are strong for her, the last for him, but they are all too small to matter now," – The Economist.
Will On Obama
Obama’s rhetorical cotton candy lacks Reagan’s ideological nourishment, but he is Reaganesque in two important senses: People like listening to him, and his manner lulls his adversaries into underestimating his sheer toughness — the tempered steel beneath the sleek suits.
Omen Of The Day
From a DNC memo on the astonishing turnout for the Dems this primary season:
In seven counties in Ohio—Putnam, Brown, Shelby, Belmont, Warren, Delaware, and Clarmont—the vote totals for our two Democratic candidates in the 2008 primary exceeded the votes for John Kerry in the general election in each of those counties.
