Read this excellent essay on French torture in Algeria. You’ll need to watch an ad in order to get to it. I’ve always been a little bit twitchy about torture; it must serve some purpose to authorities, because it’s been around forever (functionalism alarm). Rejali makes the point that torture does not work by increasing available […]
I think Mickey Kaus might actually be on to something. Can the terrorists both want Bush defeated and want Bush reelected? Sure, if they’re different groups of terrorists. The Zarqawi terrorist
Great story by Kos about Nader’s so-far failed attempt to get on the ballot in Arizona. 90% of his signatures have come from Republicans–no surprise there. The means by which he tried to g
Since this question was brought up in comments as well, I thought I’d add my two cents about Klein/Chafetz/Frank: 1)I haven’t read Frank’s book, but I have read the Harper’s essay. I will concede that Frank sometimes has a false consciousness problem, assuming that people who disagree with him are therefore irrational. On the other hand, […]
I’ve got no expectations one way or another on Thomas Frank’s new book, What’s the Matter With Kansas? It may be a rather vulgar Marxist oversimplification, or it may shed some ligh
Saturday’s NYT op-eds make a interesting pairing. First, we have the always insightful and never insufferable David Brooks. His whinefest today is about how Kerry seems to be embracing what is
****: A Walk in the Clouds *** 1/2: Godfather Part III, Absolute Power ***: Godfather Part II, Tomb Raider II, Cop and a Half *: Blue Velvet Amazing, isn’t it? I’m inclined to think The Godfather Part II is the best movie released in the 70s, but admittedly Ebert’s choice (Taxi Driver) is more than defensible. And Part III isn’t the terrible movie […]
The attempts to parse the comments of Administration officials to prove that they didn’t technically lie are pointless, because of course the chief basis of the Administration’s case was t
It’s not exactly news that Garfield is a commercial and critical bomb (and I thought Bill Murray was slumming when he did that elephant thing!) Apparently the film rights to Hi and Lois were t
A magnificent post by Belle Waring at Crooked Timber mocking the “ticking time bomb” scenario constantly used by torture/Bush Administration apologists. To state the obvious, 1)of course torture is morally justified even if illegal under a “ticking time bomb” scenario, and 2)it’s a bullshit argument. The problem is, the scenario requires an omniscience that renders […]
With respect to my recent post on conservative vanity candidate Ralph Nader, some response to the many intelligent comments are in order. First, fine commentary from The Poor Man and Nathan Newman.
On Hardball last night, political grandstander, liberal media agitator and suspected socialist John Lehman suggested that part of the problem with our domestic air response was due to a “jihad