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Who “lost” the Middle East? That should be one of the main issues that needs be addressed during this election campaign. As I discussed in my new Bush Visits His “New” Middle East, the implementation of President Bush’s neo-conservative agenda in the Middle East — the bizarre fusion of crude imperialism and democracy promotion, what [...]
Filed under: Foreign policy
No, not that nomination, I’m talking about the Libertarian Party nomination, which will be decided in Denver this weekend. Bob Barr and Mike Gravel are both in contention for it. So are several LP veterans and libertarian activists less well known to the public but who still have a serious chance (Mary Ruwart, George Phillies, [...]
Filed under: libertarianism, Politics
At the London Spectator, Mary Wakefield–a TAC contributor, I am pleased to say–has written a very entertaining interview with that ancient ego, Gore Vidal. It is hard to warm to Vidal, but there is something admirably eternal about him. And he’s more fun than Mayor Bloomberg, on the Spec’s cover, who wants to celebrate the [...]
Filed under: Culture
In the UK, David Cameron has pronounced the “end of New Labour” after his Conservative Party achieved impressive by-election victories in Crewe and Nantwich. The results–the first Conservative parliamentary gain since 1982–strike another major blow against Gordon Brown’s failing administration. It can’t be long before his government is thrown out. This new Conservative triumph is [...]
Filed under: Conservatism, Politics
Jim Webb and Barrack Obama are crossover candidates, with Webb winning black and Scots-Irish voters, while Obama’s coalition includes poor blacks and white Yuppies. I’m not sure whether Obama will select Webb to run on his ticket; it’s also not clear whether the duo could bring the Scots-Irish voters into the Democratic coalition. But here [...]
Filed under: Election
At the Guardian, Michael Tomasky sensitively writes, I want to refrain from writing about Ted Kennedy in the past tense, an error some well-meaning commentators have already committed. All well and good, Mr Tomasky, but easier said than done, especially if you want to write a lengthy blog about the life of Senator Kennedy. A [...]
Filed under: Culture
To piggyback on Scott’s last post on Sen. Jim Webb, I’d like to note that not only does his life story and worldview single him out as one of the most refreshing characters to grace the Democratic Big Tent in recent times, but he is learning how to get the job done on Capitol Hill [...]
Filed under: Politics, Uncategorized
The prolific Jeremy Lott has a fun little piece about the race for the Libertarian nomination and points to one of the curious facts about the LP, its purity testing: This ideological rigidity has drawn a self-selected group of freedom’s bitter-enders who hate the Federal Reserve and fear the Post Office. They win a handful [...]
Filed under: Election, libertarianism
Noah Millman and Ross Douthat disagree on how much of an effect Barr is likely to have on the general election. Douthat thinks he’ll do as well as Pat Buchanan in 2000 — by which he means, not well at all. (Aw, come on, what about those Buchanan voters in Palm Beach who almost determined [...]
With regard to my earlier post, an astute reader notes that there’s a benefit to the U.S. not being knee-deep in Mideast peace deals. Fair point. Of course the U.S. has to be intransigent re: negotiations. Our position for centuries has been such that those who aren’t our allies are effectively dehumanized and are represented [...]
Filed under: Foreign policy