The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Noonan On Rumsfeld: Really, Woman, Really?

by Smitty Newspapers like the WSJ on the Kindle are a surprise feature. Reading Peggy Noonan’s review/screed against Donald Rumsfeld should have come as no surprise. I did just finish reading “Known and Unknown”, so it’s a twofer both to mention what a valuable read it was and tell Peggy what to do with her […]

James Wolcott: ‘Those Sort of People’

When you turn over a rock, you expect to find creepy-crawly things, but still sometimes … “I don’t think Felker had any way of knowing what was going to happen. Christgau, Goldstein … it was those sort of people who really formed the core of politicizing the Voice and really pushing its cultural coverage to […]

Who Needs Dope When You’ve Got Salon?

by Smitty Anyone wanting to feel a little vicariously stoned is encouraged to sample the world of Thomas Schaller. Why Republicans should run in 2012 — to lose For some ambitious Republicans, President Obama’s improving reelection prospects may not be bad news The Ides of March are almost upon us, but few potential 2012 Republican […]

For The Left, The Tenth Commandment Is As Meaningful As The Tenth Amendment

by Smitty Professor Jacobson: Growing the pie is a concept the Democratic Party doesn’t understand. Instead, it is focused on slicing the pie we have. Which is why the Democratic Party and the Michael Moores of the world hold no promise for our future, they dwell on the past. As Upton Sinclair noted: “It is […]

Repeat After Me: Raaaaacism Is DNA-Based Decision Making

by Smitty I’m shocked, shocked! when I look at the latest doings of Holder’s DOJ while sticking a fork in an electric outlet. The D.O.J. has forced other police departments across the country to lower testing standards, citing once again that not enough black candidates were passing.  Really, Holder? It would be relatively less offensive […]

Computer-Induced Tourette’s Syndrome: Concise Definition and Long Explanation

Spontaneous outbursts of profane, vulgar and obscene epithets caused by a computer malfunction. “Save early, save often” is a maxim I was taught when I first started writing on computers as a new-minted reporter a quarter-century ago. Improvements in technology, however, have made it increasingly easy to ignore that adage — at peril of that rare occasion when […]

Discussions Of Taxation Recall Abortion

by Smitty The notion of some national sales tax or another is tempting in its simplicity. Cowen at Marginal Revolution discusses the VAT at length. However, this is like discussing what to do about abortion. The discussion frequently accepts irresponsible behavior as a given, for all plenty of societies exist where young men manage not […]

Stuff the NY Times Doesn’t Mention

Who promotes racism today? The freaking media, that’s who. It’s their tiptoe-around-unfortunate-facts attitude — this politically-correct worldview whose peculiar biases are never explicitly admitted, but which we must instead attempt to infer by occasional clues — that creates a distinct species of suspicion, because there’s this cone of silence surrounding things people know but can never say out […]

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