HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH VERSUS THE UNKNOWN LOBBY. This post by Alan Dershowitz, arguing that human rights groups’ criticisms of Israel should be dismissed, overwhelmingly focuses on Amnesty International, but does offer up a token attack on Human Rights Watch: The two principal “human rights” organizations are in a race to the bottom to see which […]
Matthew Yglesias
Matthew Yglesias is a senior editor at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, a former Prospect staff writer, and the author of Heads in the Sand: How the Republicans Screw Up Foreign Policy and Foreign Policy Screws Up the Democrats.
Follow @mattyglesias
Posted inArticle
TIMES CHANGE.
TIMES CHANGE. Jonah Goldberg has an interesting column on the somewhat random subject of efforts to wield Barry Goldwater‘s views as a cudgel against social conservatives. Roughly speaking, Jonah’s argument is that Goldwater became more libertarian over time, but that at the time Goldwater was leading the nascent New Right movement, he was, in fact, […]
Posted inArticle
THE RAIN IN AMERICA FALLS RARELY ON THE PLAIN.
THE RAIN IN AMERICA FALLS RARELY ON THE PLAIN. An amusing conclusion to today’s “Today’s Papers”: Finally, the NYT reefers a big piece on arid conditions in the Great Plains, which have left “farmers and ranchers with conditions that they compare to those of the Dust Bowl of the 1930’s.” It’s the worst drought since […]
Posted inArticle
HE FORGOT ABOUT AZERBAIJAN!
HE FORGOT ABOUT AZERBAIJAN! Mahmoud Ahmadinejad proposes a televised debate between himself and George W. Bush only to see the Bush administration spurn the idea in a humorless manner with a statement from spokeswoman Dana Perino: “I’d refer you back to what the president, Secretary Rice, and others have said about the Iranian regime knowing […]
Posted inArticle
WHEN IS A SUPERPOWER NOT A SUPERPOWER?
WHEN IS A SUPERPOWER NOT A SUPERPOWER? Mark Steyn offers up a classic example of the right’s oddly metaphorical view of national strength: This country has acquired the habit either of losing wars or of ending them inconclusively. A similar result in the Middle East would lead not just the Chinese, Russians, and Iranians but […]
Posted inArticle
Fear of a Ninth Planet
News is scarce in late August, so journalists, at a minimum, owe a debt of gratitude to the world’s astronomers, who conveniently scheduled their decision to rescind Pluto’s planet status for the low point of the yearly news cycle. Others around the world have less reason to be grateful. Mnemonic devices will […]
Posted inArticle
THE NEW IMPERIALISM.
THE NEW IMPERIALISM. Via Robert Farley, William Stuntz explains in The Weekly Standard why we must continue occupying Iraq: On the other hand, if American forces were to leave Iraq now, the likely result would be an escalating civil war that would radicalize Iraq’s Shiites, leaving Sadr and his ilk in control of either the […]
Posted inArticle
THE SHRINKING SOUTH.
THE SHRINKING SOUTH. Ben Adler and Jason Zengerle both note Joe Biden‘s odd theory as to why he can do well in the South as a presidential candidate: You don’t know my state. My state was a slave state. My state is a border state. My state has the eighth-largest black population in the country. […]
Posted inArticle
MORE ECCODITTO.
MORE ECCODITTO. GFR makes some good points below regarding EccoDitto, the company’s founder, and John McCain. That said, I don’t think my non-Mele friends at the firm would forgive me if I didn’t draw attention to this post on the company’s blog from Chief Operating Officer Harish Rao: Nicco’s recent post about his support for […]
Posted inArticle
SWEET, SWEET ITALY-BASHING.
SWEET, SWEET ITALY-BASHING. All last week, on IM, I’ve been chatting with TAPPED alum and current UN Dispatcher Fast Leon Goldberg, mocking the idea of an Italian-led peacekeeping mission in Lebanon. Italy, after all, has what’s got to be the western world’s least distinguished military record, managing to get stomped by the disintegrated Austro-Hungarian Empire […]
