The Other McCain

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

Reading ‘Trotsky’

For the past few days, my bedtime reading has been Robert Service’s Trotsky: A Biography. It is my boast that I’ve read more Marx than most Marxists and, as an amateur student of Communism, I’ve long been fascinated by Leon Trotsky. Trotsky was an early comrade of Lenin, but spent more than a dozen years […]

And You Thought You Were Bummed Out

Struggling with feelings of despair? Count your blessings: Rick Perry’s shaky debate performances have hurt his poll numbers and, apparently, the market for quickie books about the Texas governor. “I had a deal,” grouses . . . reporter R.G. Ratcliffe, “and Perry blew it.” I Love You Phillip Morris author Steve McVicker says interest in his proposed […]

New Polls Confirm Presidential Surge of Best-Selling Author Herman Cain

Three national polls published since the Florida straw poll on Sept. 24: ABC News/Wash Post (9/29 – 10/2) Romney 25% … Cain 17% … Perry 17% Quinnipiac (9/27 – 10/3) Romney 22% … Cain 17% … Perry 14% FOX News (9/25 – 9/27) Romney 22% … Cain 17% … Perry 19% Furthermore, the liberal polling firm PPP […]

Not a ‘Threat’: Palin Lawyer Gives McGinniss, Random House Legal Notice

This headline at ABC News is misleading: Sarah Palin Threatens to Sue ‘Rogue’ Book Publisher It is misleading, because there is no “threat” in the letter. Rather, as Governor Palin’s lawyer John Tiemessen clearly states, the legal prerequisite for a defamation suit under Alaska law: “[S]ince both your company, and the author, clearly knew the statements were […]

Politics as Show Biz

“Hours before last week’s presidential debate in Orlando, [Fox News] anchors sat in a cavernous back room, hunched over laptops, and plotted how to trap the candidates. Chris Wallace said he would aim squarely at Rick Perry’s weakness: ‘How do you feel about being criticized by some of your rivals as being too soft on […]

The Joe McGinniss Method

Big Government has a statement from Sarah Palin’s brother, Chuck Heath Jr., in which he calls Joe McGinniss’s book as “one lie after another.” What intrigued me was Heath’s description of how McGinniss “included in his book comments falsely attributed to me by one of his unnamed sources” and didn’t even ask Heath if he’d actually […]

The Avoidance of Responsibility: Liberals Exculpate Themselves for Obama’s Failure

Nothing is more important to liberals than avoiding responsiblity for the failures of liberalism, and the debacle that is the Obama administration thus requires extraordinary efforts at blameshifting and scapegoating. Fortunately for liberals, there is Ron Suskind’s Confidence Men, a new book that tells them what they want to hear. You can read Dave Weigel’s […]

Creepy Joe: ‘Sarah Incites Hatred’

Joe McGinniss on NBC’s Today show, June 1, 2010 “On the other side of a tall fence that Todd built to protect what remains of his family’s privacy is a rental home currently occupied by Joe McGinniss, a journalist with a contract for a book about Palin. When McGinniss moved in and the Palins complained […]

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