Alex Massie

Alex Massie

Sunday

Alex Massie

This Country Needs More Yacht-fondling

From our UK edition

There are a few things that could be said about this snippet from Mr d'Ancona's Sunday Telegraph column: More to the point, they [the Broonocracy] believe – as an article of faith, of irreducible conviction – that the Cameroons are bad people whose wickedness expresses itself in the slashing of the state. One of the words Brown uses most often in private to describe the Tory leader is "libertarian": a word that conveys his belief that Cameron's "compassionate conservatism" is mere window-dressing, but also hints at a decadent strain of Tory libertinage, drug-taking and yacht-fondling. 1. Gordon Brown clearly has a very limited understanding of libertariansm. 2. If only Dave Cameron were a libertarian. 3. Yacht-fondling should be encouraged.

Alex Massie

Blogging the Revolution

From our UK edition

I was playing cricket* yesterday, so wasn't able to follow events in Iran too closely. Happily, Andrew Sullivan's blog means that it's easy to catch-up. Andrew, of course, has been at his considerable best these past few days, but yesterday's marathon live-blog was something else. Newspapers, at least in this instance, are now the second draft of history; blogs, Youtube, camera phones and Twitter are the first. Reading Andrew's live-blog - a compendium of tweets from Iran, video footage, stills photography, commentary and links to other sources of information around the web - is a pretty draining experience; producing it must have exhausted Andrew and his brace of helpers, Chris Bodenner and Patrick Appel. It really is living history.

Saturday

Alex Massie

Saturday Morning Country: The Man in Black

From our UK edition

Yes, I know this isn't his greatest song. And nor is it anything like as haunting as his final, extraordinary albums. But how can you have a wee country music series without the Man in Black? One's almost, but not quite, spoiled for choice when it comes to Johnny Cash stuff that's live and available on Youtube. But what there is merits everything good you might feel like saying... So here is the great man. This time singing at San Quentin...

Friday

Alex Massie

When Bad History Meets Warmongering

From our UK edition

I should probably be inured to articles arguing that even though europe endured "two twentieth-century apocalypses that left it depopulated and permanently traumatized" it is wrong for europeans to have drawn any conclusions, or learnt any lessons, from the First and Second World Wars. And yet, I'm afraid, I continue to be irritated by such pieces, not least because they invariably demand that europeans prove their moral seriousness by going to war more frequently, regardless of the cost or even the cause involved. Equally, it's startling quite how many people never met a war they couldn't embrace and champion. Michael Oren, historian and prospective Israeli ambassador to Washington, seems to be one such chap.

Alex Massie

The Oldest Man in the World

From our UK edition

Henry Allingham, Britain`s oldest man and oldest surviving First World War veteran celebrates his 113th birthday at HMS President at St Katherine`s Dock, London, on June 6, 2009. To commemorate such a historic milestone the Royal Navy is helping their oldest member to celebrate in style. A birthday cake and card signed by the First Sea Lord will be delivered by fast raiding craft of the Royal Marines, and a decanter of Pussers Rum, Henry's favourite tipple, will be presented on behalf of the Fleet Air Arm by Rear Admiral Charlier. Photo: Geoff Caddick/AFP/Getty Images Henry Allingham isn't merely Britain's oldest man; he's now the oldest man on earth, outlasting Japan's Tomoji Tanabe.

Alex Massie

Are Smokers Dumber than George Will?

From our UK edition

In a word, no. Though George Will thinks they are: Someday the ashtray may be as anachronistic as the spittoon, but fear of death may be a milder deterrent to smoking than is the fact that smoking is dumb and déclassé. Dumb? Would you hire a smoker, who must be either weak-willed or impervious to evidence? The rest of Will's column is a reasonable, if hardly surprising, run through the contradictions and absurdities that abound whenever the US government turn its mind to tobacco policy. The latest example of this: decision to further restrict tobacco companies' freedoms via  a bill passed with the enthusiastic support* of Philip Morris who know fine well that it entrenches their position as market leader.

Thursday

Alex Massie

Is Congressman Pete Hoekstra Alan Partridge in Disguise?

From our UK edition

The Michigan Republican is owed our thanks for producing what must be the most absurd reaction to the Iranian drama yet and, let it be said, a welcome moment of light relief. The other day he made the mistake of Twittering that "Iranian twitter activity similar to what we did in House last year when Republicans were shut down in the House." For real. This being the internets, it's no surprise that a blog was born gently chiding Mr Hoekstra. (As pictured) People can be so cruel. But that's the intertubes for you. Doubtless readers will want to make their own suggestions, blending the mundane with the historic to produce something that, say, Alan Partridge would be proud of...

Alex Massie

Are You Smarter than a French Teenager?

From our UK edition

The Bac began today with, as is traditional, the philosophy paper. Via Charles Bremner and Art Goldhammer, here are some of the essay questions our French friends had to answer: For the Literature Stream: 1) Does objectivity in history suppose impartiality in the historian? 2) Does language betray thought ? For the Science Stream: 1) Is it absurd to desire the impossible? 2) Are there questions which no science can answer? Well, is it absurd to desire the impossible? Have at it, Spectator readers...

Alex Massie

What matters more: the Iranian bomb or Persian political reform?

From our UK edition

In his cover story for this week's edition of the magazine James is, quite characteristically, honest enough to acknowledge that the consequences of attacking Iran would be "horrendous" and, of course, he is also right to argue that there are any number of terrible possibilities if Iran does acquire nuclear weapons. He sums them up: It would spark an arms race across the Middle East. Many in the intelligence community are convinced that Saudi Arabia has a deal with Pakistan to buy a bomb off the shelf if Iran goes nuclear: a Shiite bomb must be countered with a Sunni one. Iran would also step up its support for disruptive, violent groups across the region — Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Shiite extremists in Iraq, and Hamas in Israel/Palestine.

Alex Massie

The BNP Has No Future – Unless the Tories and Labour Decide to Help Them

From our UK edition

It's hardly breaking news that the British [sic] National Party are a bunch of racist goons. But it's a little unsettling to see a Tory MP such as Eric Pickles* suggest that "They are going to be a very serious force in British politics and the mainstream political parties have got to get their act together and start confronting them." On that latter point, we can agree. But, again, the suggestion that the BNP are going to become a force, let alone a serious one, in British politics gives these clowns much more credit than they merit and does a grave disservice to the collective wisdom and decency of the electorate.

Alex Massie

The Ridiculous Glibness of National Review

From our UK edition

Could American conservatives be any more glib? Here's Rich Lowry, editor of National Review, in a post titled Obama Throughout History: On the Sack of Rome: "Any time a major urban area is plundered so quickly, it is concerning to us. We are sure the Gauls and Chieftain Brennus understand Roman worries about the utter devastation of their city." On the Blitz: "Any time a city is bombed for 57 straight nights, we take notice. That is something that interests us. We hope all national air forces involved in this dismaying conflict behave responsibly." On the creation of the Berlin Wall: "Any time a barrier divides people we get worried, and perhaps even chagrined. We hope all Germans can work this out amicably, and agree on construction standards and building materials going forward.

Alex Massie

The People Who Are Not Marching Through Tehran Matter Too

From our UK edition

How best to help the Iranian dissidents? George Packer suggests that they need our aid and encouragement and that, despite what many people think, we shouldn't worry too much about any putative backlash. In one sense this is fair enough, given that the regime is blaming outside interests for whipping up dissent anyway. But, well, first here's what Packer has to say: A number of writers seem to know exactly what the Iranians in the streets want from us, and what they want is for us to stay out of it. I wonder how many Iranians these writers have talked to. But even if you don’t have Iranian contacts, you can still try to imagine your way into the situation of the protesters.

Wednesday

Alex Massie

Mousavi and the South African Example

From our UK edition

Democracy in America goes back to pre-election profiles of Mir Hossein Mousavi and finds a "cautious, pragmatic, vague and increasingly shrewd politician." This seems a fair verdict and, as we know, Mousavi can hardly be the perfect poster-boy for liberals since, if he were, he wouldn't have been permitted to stand in the first place. But that was then and this is now. The movement is bigger than Mousavi now and it's hard to see how much of it he and his advisers really control anyway. What can be said is that reform is a process, not an event. Furthermore, I would hazard that the regime faces a pretty bleak choice: manage change now or risk demands for reform in the future that you cannot manage, control or put out.

Alex Massie

Neocons in a Persian Wonderland

From our UK edition

Apparently black is white and up is down when it comes to some people's analysis of events in Iran. Here, for instance, is our old friend Stephen Hayes: Obama says he doesn't want to be seen as "meddling" given the long history of US-Iranian relations. Leave aside the question of whether simply stating the obvious is "meddling." If the majority of Iranians believe that Ahmadinejad's re-election is not legitimate, isn't it more likely that Obama's silence in the face of a stolen election will be viewed as another chapter in that long history rather than the end of it? There's a simple answer to this: no it is not likely that the Iranian people, to the extent they give a damn about the American president, will see his circumspection as "meddling".

Alex Massie

Obama’s Alliance with the Iranian Regime? Really?

From our UK edition

Remember how in the months before the Iraq war, anyone who doubted the wisdom of military intervention was accused of being "objectively" on Saddam Hussein's side. I do, not least because I was quite happy to so label folk. Sad times. Anyway, I see Robert Kagan has returned to that theme in his column today. It's just like the good old days... It would be surprising if Obama departed from this realist strategy now, and he hasn't. His extremely guarded response to the outburst of popular anger at the regime has been widely misinterpreted as reflecting concern that too overt an American embrace of the opposition will hurt it, or that he wants to avoid American "moralizing." (Obama himself claimed yesterday that he didn't want the United States to appear to be "meddling.

Alex Massie

The Cynical Case Arguing that Mousavi Doesn’t Matter At All

From our UK edition

Beneath the headline Iran's Brave Revolutionaries Can Change Nothing But the Faces Con Coughlin sighs, lights a cigar, pours himself another brandy and explains to those folk foolish enough to believe that anything can change for the better in Iran just why they're not much more than a bunch of naive, though charmingly well-intentioned, fools: For the past 30 years, Mr Mousavi and his supporters have demonstrated their unswerving dedication to the cause of revolutionary Islam. Under his premiership in the late 1980s, Iran came close to all-out war with the US and its allies during the death throes of the Iran-Iraq war.

Tuesday

Alex Massie

Police Brutality in Nottingham

From our UK edition

Meanwhile, in dear old Britain the paramilitarisation of our police continues. The Home Office has announced an extra £8m to help provide police forces in England with Tasers. It's only a matter of time before someone is killed by one of these weapons. Watch this footage of a police arrest in Nottingham and tell me if you think the police actions are appropriate and proportionate. Granted, some context is missing from this film. The BBC reports that the man being tasered had, it is said, assaulted a police officer. Nonetheless, when he is tasered he is a) lying on the ground and b) there are two and then four police officers on the scene to deal with him. The suspect is then tasered for a second time. We then see an officer punch the tasered man in the head. Three times.

Alex Massie

Is the Iranian Regime More Irrational Than it was Last Week?

From our UK edition

Ezra Klein has copped some stick for his observation that: There are a couple things to say about this, all of them depressing. First, those of us who have long argued for the fundamental rationality of the Iranian regime have seen our case fundamentally weakened. A rational regime might have stolen the election. But they would not have stolen it like this, where there is no doubt of the theft. I a) disagree with Ezra and b) think he's being too hard on himself. That is, there is a difference between the rationality of the Iranian regime's foreign policy and its attitude towards domestic dissent.

Monday

Alex Massie

Is this 1989 in Poland or 1989 in China?

From our UK edition

That's a gross simplification, of course, but it's also, in the broadest terms, the question. Or one of them, anyway*. The death - no, murder - of a protestor increases the stakes still further. Meanwhile, what's happening in the provinces? Photo: AFP/Getty Images Iranians carry a wounded protestor after gunmen opened fire during an opposition rally in Tehran on June 15, 2009. One protestor was shot dead and several were wounded during a rally in Tehran staged by hundreds of thousands of people demonstrating against the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a local Iranian photographer told AFP.

Alex Massie

Iran Coverage: New Media vs MSM

From our UK edition

I agree with James's view that this New York Times' blog is doing an excellent job of keeping one up-to-date on the turmoil in Iran. I'd also recommend Andrew Sullivan's site. What happens next is, frankly, anyone's guess. But something is happening and the situation is so fluid that it's difficult for newspapers to keep up. That is, the internet and technology - Youtube, Twitter, blogs etc - is transforming the way we follow breaking news and permitting one to have a better, if still necessarily imperfect, understanding of what may or many not be going on. It's sometimes said that the internet rewards certainty at the expense of nuance or curiosity; rumour at the expense of fact. And there's something in that.