A Day of Ending
When I started this site two years ago, nearly to the day -- the big anniversary was this past 4th, in case you missed it, and was coronated nationwide with large fireworks displays, barbecues, and parades. It was lovely, and quite touching. My thanks to all who showed their appreciation for what transpires here by participating -- I was a frustrated grad student disheartened by the state of debate and analysis of the pressing political issues in the country. 9/11 was three years down the road, the war in Iraq was nearing its first "mission accomplished" accolade, and the tight presidential...
A Matter of Faith
In yesterday's Times magazine there is an interesting article on Britain's current dilemma of how to deal with its sizeable Muslim population and the threat its more zealous individuals may pose to the UK and others abroad. Written by Christopher Caldwell, it details a society that is grappling to come to terms with this issue in the wake of last July's transit bombings as they try to strike a balance between the protection of civil liberties and religious freedoms with increased security for the wider population. For a location that is as geographically small, highly populated, and...
The Man Who Would Be King
An article in the latest NY Review of Books, "Power Grab" by Elizabeth Drew, has convinced me to revisit a topic we've touched on several times here, that of the presidential signing statement. As mentioned before, our president, the Great Decider, has a historically unique penchant for these statements, both for how pronounced they are in their power and how proficient he is at their issuance.
Delivered in near or complete silence for an unprecedented 750 items (according to the Boston Globe report referenced in my May 14th post), these statements seem to know no limits in their scope or...
The Myth of Betrayal and the Power of Emotion
There is an interesting article in the latest NY Review of Books on Israel and an academic paper from a pair of professors whose treatment of the subject has caused a bit of a stir amongst cognoscenti and pundits alike. The paper, written by a pair of Harvard and University of Chicago professors -- Stephen Walt for the former and John Mearsheimer the latter -- posits that "the centerpiece of US policy in the Middle East has been its unwavering support for Israel, and that this has not been in America's best interest."
Seems plausible enough. And yet this simple, rather obvious assertion,...
