Blog: TAPPED

MORE TNR DARFUR, FEWER KUDOS. One of my favorite public intellectuals, Samantha Power, also pens an excellent essay which raises a crucial point that will likely make some of the Iraq war hawks who roam the halls of TNR rather uncomfortable. Thanks to the war in Iraq, sending a sizable U.S. force to Darfur is […]

KUDOS TO KATZ. Marisa Katz�s contribution to The New Republic�s Darfur issue stands out as the issue’s must-read piece. She writes an update of a trend in the Bush administration�s Sudan policy that I identified in the Prospect a year ago. Back then, the administration was hastily working to ensure that the Comprehensive Peace Accord […]

MIXED MESSAGES. It would seem that the U.S. military’s new mockery campaign against Abu Musab al-Zarqawi cuts two ways. (See the outtakes the military released, showing Zarqawi looking all bumbling and incompetent trying to fire a gun, here.) They unrolled the new footage at a Baghdad press conference, and to the extent this is actually […]

TRUNCATE OFTEN? Charles Krauthammer wants us to believe that if Iran builds a nuclear bomb, it will launch an unprovoked nuclear attack on Israel. As his evidence, he cites the fact that Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani once observed that “the use of a nuclear bomb in Israel will leave nothing on the ground, whereas it […]

BETTER COVERUPS NEEDED. Just a brief remark on the Patrick Kennedy situation: Since when did “I was wacked out on pills” become an acceptable cover story? Why is that better than just being drunk? –Matthew Yglesias

THE NAME GAME. Some commenters, in response to this post on George Allen‘s turn as a Confederate officer in a 2003 movie, are alleging that Allen’s child Forrest Allen was named after Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate cavalry officer who was a founder of the Ku Klux Klan after the war and whose name remains […]

WHEN CHICKENHAWKS CLUCK. Annoyed by complaints of chickenhawkery, Warren Bell posts an email from Greg Pollowitz who complains: “I got called a chickenhawk the other day. I think one of the greatest missed opportunities since 9/11 is that the govt. didn’t create a way for 30+ year old guys who want to help, but really […]

POSSIBLE GOOD NEWS. According to this latest dispatch from Abuja, Nigeria, both the Sudanese government and the disparate Darfuri rebel factions have agreed to sign the peace accord. The details of the accord are not yet available, but presumably the agreement entails the absorption of rebel fighters into the Sudanese armed forces and some sort […]

THE CULTURAL CONTRADICTIONS OF CAPITALISM. This sure is weird. Even weirder, while it looks like a parody ad, as best I can tell it’s totally real. Where are the indecency police when you need them? Surely Big Razor isn’t the most powerful lobby in town. –Matthew Yglesias

BUILDING A BRIDGE TO THE 19TH CENTURY. Boy, George Allen is really into this wanna-be Southern secessionist thing. A tipster informs me that the junior senator from California, I mean Virginia, didn’t just cotton to the rebel flag, he’s also dressed up in the uniform of the old slave states in film. According to this […]