Monthly Archives: March 2020

martin.wolf@ft.com on ‘The tragedy of two failing superpowers’. Political Observer comments

Headline: The tragedy of two failing superpowers Sub-headline: To address the pandemic, China and the US must not only function. They must function together https://www.ft.com/content/ea1563e8-725f-11ea-ad98-044200cb277f Just to focus on one paragraph of Mr. Wolf’s latest encyclical heavily garnished with graphs/charts. … Continue reading

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janan.ganesh@ft.com : The Pandemic re-writes ‘The Social Contract’ via Dickens & Orwell. Old Socialist comments

Mr. Ganesh’s literary overlay, Dickens vs. Orwell provides that frame, on power of The Pandemic is stylistically – I can’t compare it to Tom Wolfe’ s ‘snap, crackle, pop’ -for it is too sophisticated, in its way. And reaches an … Continue reading

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@EdwardGLuce on the Coronavirus, Trump and the fate of the Hegemon. Political Observer comments

The panic of ‘The Elites’ is just reaching a slow simmer: Headline: Coronavirus ‘medicine’ could trigger social breakdown Sub-headline: Jacob Wallenberg tells governments to consider economic threat from crisis ‘Jacob Wallenberg has warned governments to weigh the economic threat from … Continue reading

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janan.ganesh@ft.com on Trump’s ‘mysterious resilience’ . Political Observer comments

Never has Political Melodrama, cliche and understatement been so successfully wedded? Mr. Ganesh’s opening paragraph:  Addressing a traumatised nation, the US president fumbled. His Oval Office speech lacked command and old doubts resurfaced about his fitness for the role. Much … Continue reading

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gideon.rachman@ft.com ‘The Myth of Globalism Under Threat’ . Political Observer extemporizes on a theme.

Title Mr. Rachman’s latest essay  ‘The Myth of Globalism Under Threat’. When all else fails melodrama! Not forgetting that Rachman’s faith in ‘Globalism’, recalls to me the long forgotten Eric Hoffer, and his book ‘The True Believer’.  ‘Globalization’ is, in … Continue reading

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edward.luce@ft.com faint praise for Steven Mnuchin. Political Observer comments

Headline: The crushing burden on Mnuchin’s shoulders Sub-headline: Treasury secretary enters war against Covid-19 with handicaps, but he’s all America has got First the melodramatic headline and sub-headline, and then this bit of political kitsch: No one has ever thought … Continue reading

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janan.ganesh@ft.com on ‘Bernie Sanders without Bernie Sanders’. Political Observer comments

Barry Goldwater, who won his first election contest, in a Mayor’s race, based upon the lie of the infiltration of ‘gangsters’ into civic life! This is the best that Mr. Ganesh can muster? He tries to mask his ignorance of … Continue reading

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@MrWalterShapiro: The Theodore H. White of the American Corporate Press? Old Socialist

Headline: The Political Media’s Blurred Reality Sub-headline:How market pressures and professional hubris have undone campaign journalism Mr. Shapiro manages to make American Politics as practiced in 2020, sing like a Pop Tune, at the bottom of the charts, of another … Continue reading

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Don’t miss Andy Divine on The New Plague, Rishi Sunak & The New York Time’s ‘1619 Project’ . Old Socialist selectively reads his latest triptych.

Headline: Reality Arrives to the Trump Era Andy Divine reads Camus’ ‘The Plague’: ‘Plagues routinely start with denial. In his great novel, The Plague, Albert Camus describes a scene at the very beginning, after several rats in a town started … Continue reading

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@MrWalterShapiro comes to bury Bernie Sanders! Old Socialist comments

Note the headline and sub-headline of Mr. Shapiro’s essay: The Gauzy Myth of the Sanders Campaign If there were ever hidden armies of Democratic voters yearning for a  visionary presidential nominee, then they remain well camouflaged. Besides the highfalutin headline, … Continue reading

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