Author Archives: stephenkmacksd

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About stephenkmacksd

Rootless cosmopolitan,down at heels intellectual;would be writer. 'Polemic is a discourse of conflict, whose effect depends on a delicate balance between the requirements of truth and the enticements of anger, the duty to argue and the zest to inflame. Its rhetoric allows, even enforces, a certain figurative licence. Like epitaphs in Johnson’s adage, it is not under oath.' https://www.lrb.co.uk/v15/n20/perry-anderson/diary

@FT on Obama’s Biden Endorsement. Political Observer comments

This reads like a Press Release from the Biden Campaign. Trump has it wrong its not ‘Sleepy Joe’ but ‘Cognitive Deficit Old Joe’ ! The only real question is when and how will the New Democrats unload Biden? All carefully, … Continue reading →

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James Stavridis on ‘Trump’s retreat from Germany’. Philosophical Apprentice

Reading Mr. Stavridis’ CV, condensed by Bloomberg editors, is revelatory, to understate the case:  James Stavridis is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is a retired U.S. Navy admiral and former supreme allied commander of NATO, and dean emeritus of the … Continue reading →

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Gideon Rachman on the India/China ‘clashes’. Political Observer comments

The reader of Mr. Rachman’s latest essay is first confronted by an editorial cartoon, depicting the American Eagle and an Indian Tiger, both noble and resolute, facing off with a demonic red  Chinese Dragon, with smoke coming from its nostrils. … Continue reading →

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Niall Ferguson on The Pandemic & other pressing questions. Political Observer comments

I came here from The Financial Times. Just looking at Gideon Rachman’s latest essay, made me a bit queasy: Headline: India picks a side in the new cold war Sub-headline: It is folly for China to drive its rival into … Continue reading →

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The Neo-Conservatives, episode MCLVII: Bret Stephens, Anne Applebaum & John Bolton. Political Observer comments

How should Neo-Conservatism be described? How might it be defined? by its political/philosophical myth-making, its relentless mendacity and its political schisms?Bret Stephens, in his latest essay in the New York Times, comments upon John Bolton’s Trump Tell-All. I read the … Continue reading →

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Andy Divine is the Walmart of Public Moralists. Political Observer comments

Andy Divine will never obtain what he most desires, a Red Hat, and the opportunity to sit in The College of Cardinals. Although his vestments could never outshine the Pope’s finery. Andy will just have to settle, like the rest … Continue reading →

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Ricardo Hausmann speaks for Human Rights @FT? Political Observer comments

Headline:Opponents of more IMF lending may have blood on their hands Sub-headline: If that sounds dramatic, it is nothing compared with the death and suffering that can still be avoided When it come to the manufacture of Economic Metaphysics Mr. … Continue reading →

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janan.ganesh@ft.com on Biden and NATO. Political Observer comments

How telling that Mr. Ganesh has missed this essay by Ian Brzezinski , son of Zbigniew, for the propaganda arm of NATO, The Atlantic Council. It was published on June 1, 2020, and presents his conception of NATO’s role, in … Continue reading →

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@FT: Macron in search of renewed reformist zeal?

From “you have to applaud the caregivers at 8 pm, they are heroes” to “you can drag them to the ground by their hair and violate them even if they claim their ventoline” really fast. Headline: Emmanuel Macron in search … Continue reading →

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Macron Apologetics @FT. Political Observer comments

What other newspaper, specializing in Capitalist Apologetics/Advocacy, the reader can reverse the order of these terms at will, would print this encomium to M. 37% ? The days of the utterly bloated/pretentious ‘Jupertarian Politics’, is now long forgotten in the … Continue reading →

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