Author Archives: stephenkmacksd
In reply to WhatAreTheCivilianApplications
It’s about a newspaper pundit, a would be Technocrat, wringing his hands over Afghanistan, as if the British and the Soviets abandoning their Colonial Projects were not the starkest kind of objects lessons? Not to speak of Reagan’s presenting the … Continue reading
Thatcherite @RColvile exhumes Ronald Reagan to attack ‘the British civil service’, and other political bad actors. Political Observer offers some selected quotations, and her comments.
Mr. Colvile opens his polemic with this paragraph. Yet note the last sentence’s attempt at Oxbridger ‘humor’ of a kind? It’s often said that the British civil service is incapable of acting at speed. That is horrendously unfair. When their … Continue reading
The Macron Melodrama in two keys: academic Sudhir Hazareesingh & The Financial Times’ hireling Victor Mallet ‘report’? Committed Observer comments.
What to think of writes, reporters, academics who fail to point out that Macron, was not the ‘clear winner’ but a ‘marginal winner’ in 2017. With an abstention and spoiled ballots rate in the mid 30’s percentile range. Sudhir Hazareesingh … Continue reading
janan.ganesh@ft.com on ‘To curse social media’ and it’s political context. Political Observer comments.
The reach of Mr. Ganesh’s latest essay, from ‘Social Media’ , ‘The Contract With America’, Frank Capra, to the fate of ‘mature democracies’, might cause the reader to wonder how he will construct this rhetorical being? Mr. Ganesh’s cynicism about … Continue reading
Excerpts from the Diary of a Neo-Con Observer: Bret Stephens’ political romance with Eric Adams, in The New York Times.
Like his enthusiasm for Emmanuel Macron, Mr. Stephens has found a new politician, that appeals to alleviating his fears of a Leftward tilt to politics, in America and the World. But note that its all very clubby in its opening … Continue reading
gideon.rachman@ft.com shifts from the standard hysterical tropes about China? Political Observer comments
The Rachman’s strategy, here, is to shift from the standard hysterical tropes about China, to jejune speculation and conjecture as in: Does China want to be a superpower? Mr. Rachman invites the reduction to anthropomorphism, that renders ‘China’ into a … Continue reading
janan.ganesh@ft.com exhumation of Straussian Allen Bloom, as intellectual bauble, to his Political Metaphysics . Philosophical Apprentice comments.
This jejune observation by Mr. Ganesh: opens his latest essay: Nowhere in Europe are universities as central to national life as in the US. Time-hogging is part of it: four rather than largely three year degrees, two as opposed to … Continue reading
Surprise: The Editorial Board of The Financial Times enthusiastically endorses Eric Adams. Leftist Thinker comments.
Here is the concluding paragraph of The Editorial Board of The Financial Times comparing Eric Adams to ‘Mike’ Bloomberg: Adams appealed less to progressives, but strong execution and effective administration can help sway voters. That is what made Michael Bloomberg … Continue reading
The Perils of Andy Divine: episode ?. Queer Atheist provides the cast of characters, but lets the reader come to her own conclusions.
Here is Andy’s opening salvo: “What happened to you?” It’s a question I get a lot on Twitter. “When did you become so far right?” “Why have you become a white supremacist, transphobic, misogynistic eugenicist?” Or, of course: “See! I … Continue reading
janan.ganesh@ft.com denatures the ‘War’ in Afghanistan. Political Dissident comments.
Headline: Afghanistan: the war that film forgot Sub-headline: The screen’s neglect of the conflict illustrates the modern incapacity for despair François Truffaut denied the very possibility of an antiwar film. Put telegenic actors in uniform and you are halfway to … Continue reading
