The Hermaphrodite vs the Half-Breed
From our UK edition
The past is another country; they did negativity better there. Behold, the Election of 1800: Bravo, Reason, bravo. Next assignment: one of Aaron Burr's negative ads, please.
Alex Massie
Friday
Israel Notes: The Price of Gilad Shalit
From our UK edition
Gilad Shalit's mother, speaking earlier this summer at a rally demanding his release. At dinner in Tel Aviv last week discussion turned to the strange, awful case of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier captured and held prisoner by Hamas for the past four years. The rumour was that Israel was prepared to offer an extraordinary deal to bring Shalit home and that this would involve releasing hundreds, perhaps even as many as a thousand, prisoners in exchange for the life and liberty of a single Israeli soldier. What, asked our hosts, did we think of this? Would the British government countenance such a deal? No, our visiting troop of journalists thought, it probably would not. It would be seen as a sign of weakness and an invitation to capture and hold hostage other soldiers.
Dimbleby Fail
From our UK edition
I didn't watch Question Time last night, but there seems to be some stushie over David Dimbleby's refusal to allow Nicola Sturgeon to talk about fiscal autonomy. "This is for a UK audience!" squawked our host, shutting down any discussion of a matter that, whatever he may believe (if he knows anything about the subject) is not in fact of merely local, tartan interest. I don't quite agree with everything Joan McAlpine writes here but many of her points are well-made. Dimbleby's attitude - assuming it has been reported correctly - reflects a London-based parochialism that does neither him nor the Corporation any credit.
Thursday
Let Us Now Praise…Conrad Black
From our UK edition
As a general rule, newspapers are owned by ogres. As with the Presidency of the United States, desiring the office or, in this instance, the title, should be considered enough to disqualify anyone from consideration. Nevertheless, it matters what kind of ogre it is. There's a chasm between a Richard Desmond (Express) or a Sam Zell (Tribune Company) and a Rupert Murdoch (half the English-speaking world). Conrad Black, bless him, is in the latter camp. A newspaper proprietor of the proper, old-fashioned brutish school. That is, one who likes newspapers while having a suitably low opinion of both journalism and journalists.
Palin and the Presidency Cont
From our UK edition
Sure, Pete, Palin says she will run for the Presidency "if there's nobody else to do it." But you know what: there are other people to do it! She'll run anyway. Then she'll lose (probably!) and perhaps she won't sell as many magazines or drive as much blog traffic as she does now. As for the Heilemann article positing Mayor Bloomberg splitting the vote and permitting Palin to become President on a mere plurality of the vote, well, I'm surprised that as sage a commentator as Gideon Rachman finds it "frighteningly plausible". (Say what you will about Karl Rove but he's more interested in winning than ideology or policy which may explain why he's become so hostile to Palin. That, of course, is a compliment to her too.
Great Moments in Analysis: Argentine Edition
From our UK edition
I don't really have anything to say about the death of Nestor Kirchner and nor, it seems, do the analysts consulted by the New York Times: His death could either bolster or hurt Mrs. Kirchner’s political prospects, analysts said. Well that clears that up. On the one hand this is typical of the he-said, she-said approach that bedeveils American newspapers; on the other it's a welcome and sadly all-too-unusual admission that, actually, most of the time most people don't know anything and the most honest answer to most political questions is Who the Hell Can Tell?
Labour’s Augustinian Approach to Welfare Reform
From our UK edition
Sometimes you wonder why government ministers ever speak to journalists. Exhibit A: the fool who told Ben Brogan that the coalition's changes to Housing Benefit amount to a modern version of "the Highland Clearances*". Sure enough, Jon Cruddas picks up on this in the New Statesman this week. Reading Cruddas you'd think that capping rent allowances and subsidies will bring about the End of Britain As We Know And Love It. For reals: This brutal social engineering will have profound effects on families across the country.
A New, Improved, Poorer Ireland!
From our UK edition
Writing at Big Questions Online Brian Kaller, an American now living in Kildare, claims that Ireland and the Irish are better-placed to survive the Age of Austerity than their American cousins. Though he's careful to acknowledge that the boom years swept away much that was rotten and repressive in Ireland the piece ends up as another example of that strange beast - the hymn to Authentic and Authentically Irish Poverty. To wit: The most important reason was the Famine, of course, and you can still hear the capital F in today’s Ireland. But that epochal crash was just the worst chapter of a history that emptied the land and made Ireland the world’s most famous exporter of sad songs and refugees. Perhaps no other people but the Jews have been so defined by tragedy and exodus.
Hello Again
From our UK edition
The Judean Desert, above Jericho. So, Israel was interesting. Lots more on that in the coming days. Not the least pleasure of spending a week abroad was missing George Osborne's Spending Review and, indeed, barely keeping up with the news at all. I won't claim that tootling around Israel and the West Bank produced any great sense of optimism concerning what custom demands we call the Peace Process, but avoiding whatever was happening on this rain-sodden isle and, most especially, not troubling myself with the fact that Someone Was Busy Being Wrong on the Internet was as welcome as it was relaxing. Reality and bulging RSS-feeds can only be denied for so long, however. So here we are. Back and ready to be vexed again. What larks.
Sunday
Housekeeping | 17 October 2010
From our UK edition
Yarrow. Things could be pretty quiet around here these next few days. This week, I'm visiting Israel (for the first time) and while there may be Holy Land blogging there may not be too much of it. I'm looking forward to it and though the trip is being organised by the good and kind people at BICOM I have three or four days after that to explore other things. If any readers have recommendations for mustn't miss stuff in those parts then let me know what I should see...
Sunday Morning Country: Steve Earle
From our UK edition
He's been back with us for a while now after his troubles, but it's still worth cherishing Steve Earle. And he should also be honoured for his work spreading the good word about Townes.
Friday
The Long Arm of the Global Financial Crisis
From our UK edition
It reaches everywhere. This from a guy just released having serving two years for armed robbery: I joked to my cell mate on the first day that at least the GFC [Global Financial Crisis,] couldn't fuck us inside. He'd been done for assaulting a cop when his house got taken by the bank. But within months 'GFC Nigger' became the standard reply to any query as to how black market prices were suddenly going through the roof. The price of a deck of smokes tripled. There was an actual economic reason about this. I went away in Michigan, where a lot of people lost their houses, mostly poor people already. When they had to move away from the prison, it meant they couldn't bring their loved ones as much contraband group, which meant the price of what there was sky rocketed....
Thursday
Sarah Palin’s Hubris: Thatcher Edition
From our UK edition
Good grief, Sarah Palin is a piece of work: A very happy birthday to Baroness Thatcher! There are so many lessons we can learn from her excellent example. She once said, “If you lead a country like Britain, a strong country, a country which has taken a lead in world affairs in good times and in bad, a country that is always reliable, then you have to have a touch of iron about you.” She sure did. Like her friend Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher had a steel spine. Her excellent defense of the free market is as relevant and true today as it was two decades ago. I encourage people to visit her foundation’s website and listen or read her speeches. There is a wealth of inspiration in the timeless truths she lived and led by. All true!
Wednesday
Campaign Ad of the Week: Puppy Slaying Edition
From our UK edition
I don't much care who wins the Illinois gubernatorial election and agree with Nick Gillespie that we need more ads like this: Politifact scores the ad "half-true" which, actually, means I'd be happy to see Brady lose even though he's dropped his sponsorship of the bill and the issue is, anyway, "moot".Relatedly: Mitt Romney's record of dog-abuse might be thought enough to disqualify him from the Presidency.
Peter Cook on Mining
From our UK edition
Busy elsewhere this afternoon but since miners are all the rage today, here's Peter Cook on mining: [Thanks to DAG].
The 33
From our UK edition
No doubting the feel-good story of the year: the rescue of the 33 Chilean miners trapped 2000 feet beneath the surface for 69 days. Extraordinary scenes this morning as the first miner, Florencio Avalos, was safely winched to fresh air and his waiting family. It has been an epic of endurance, perseverence, courage, hope and faith all now rewarded in the most astonishing fashion. Who can fail to be moved by this? Let's just hope neither Oliver Stone nor Spielberg direct the movie.
The Strange Case of Woodrow Wilson
From our UK edition
Contra Jill Lepore in the New York Times, you don't need to watch Glenn Beck to dislike Woodrow Wilson. Nor do you need think there's any connection between one "professor-President" and the chap currently occupying the Oval Office. Radley Balko lays out the standard libertarian case against Wilson here and, frankly, it makes a pretty convincing argument that, even by the lofty standards of the field, Wilson was one of the most unpleasant men ever to hold the Presidency. And that's before you consider Jim Crow and his penchant for launching extra-constitutional wars... Lepore is correct that some of these libertarian objections are actually points of similarity between Wilson and modern conservatives. But I think a more interesting question than Why does the right hate Wilson?
Families Against National Debt
From our UK edition
Actually, it seems to be just one family right now. But perhaps others will join? Anyway FAND asks a good question: Servicing the national debt is costing the average worker – not a graduate – £27.69 a week. Under [Lord] Browne’s plan [for reforming university funding], a graduate would have to earn £37k before repaying the same weekly sum towards their fees. Why are we angry about the prospect of better-off people paying money in the future for a valuable education, but not angry about worse-off people paying the same amount of money now for nothing whatsoever? FAND is not impressed by Alan Johnson either but is impressed, though not in a good way, by the ever rising public debt that, as Spectator readers know, will surpass £1.
The Big Society vs A Culture of Hopelessness
From our UK edition
As we all know, Dave has had some problems defining his Big Society idea. It's more conducive to thumb-sucking pieces than snazzy tabloid headlines. Sometimes, however, it might be easier to sell in terms of what it's not. Consider this story, warning that there might be lots of snow this winter: Council chiefs have sparked outrage after proposing residents dig themselves out of the snow as Britain braces itself for another winter of Arctic conditions. As long-range forecasts suggest the country will be hit by blizzards and temperatures plummeting to -20c, bosses at Camden Council prepared to hand out spades.
Sunday
More Mail Fail: Clegg Edition
From our UK edition
Apparently the print edition of the Mail on Sunday screams "Hypocrisy" because Nick Clegg, though not a believer himself, is not averse to sending his eldest child to be educated at the (catholic) London Oratory. Like you, dearest reader, I look forward to the Mail opposing school choice. The online version of this nonsense does its best to be faux-outraged with "Why is atheist Nick Clegg considering sending his son to the same exclusive school as the Blairs?" It is not clear whether the atheism or the Blair connection is the more pernicious. Never mind that Clegg's wife is catholic and the children are being brought up as catholics.