Monthly Archives: December 2010

via harpers.org

via nybooks.com

Definition: George F. Will = In the weedy field of The American Republic stands the singular effloresce that is Mr. Will. He presents himself as the channeled spirit of Edmund Burke, the great English parliamentarian. Burke was a man and … Continue reading →

Definition: Neo-Conservative = The realization of a Platonic political vision, The Republic, founded on an active and deceitful paternalism, wedded to an unalloyed authoritarianism: Violent and murderous, without apology, willing and able to defend its exceptionalism as political wisdom, prima … Continue reading →

Definition: Obamaism = A case of overwhelming political timidity or utter lack of faith in your own political vision or simple opportunism. One can parse this adjective in so many ways, it is a truly elastic concept. It encompasses Clinton, … Continue reading →

Definition: New Democrat =  A conscious decision to forget the New Deal as the authentic ‘Third Way’ and for reasons of personal political ambition, to court the oligarchs, the plutocrats and the kleptocrats. All the while propagandizing your virtue as … Continue reading →

Definition: Reaganism = The self-willed forgetting of the suffering of others and the political power to make that suffering irrelevant to  the America’s civic endeavor.

via thenation.com

via flickr.com For all you who think I’m a Christmas hater.

Richard Holbrooke never walked away from a global hot spot which defied easy solution — he thrived on the hard, gritty diplomatic challenges that, to put it bluntly, either led to war or peace.