Category Archives: Uncategorized

martin.wolf@ft.com on the China vs America toxic rivalry: Political Observer comments

This is about the only paragraph of Mr. Wolf’s essay that is not awash in Late Capitalist Utopianism:  ‘Yet that does not make this desirable. When we look at the awful mistakes of the past, we must be struck by … Continue reading

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Janan Ganesh’s column of May 27, 2020 is rendered irrelevant by the March of Time & Events. Political Observer comments

Benjamin Disraeli wrote in praise of “Tory men and Whig measures”. Almost a century and a half since he was Britain’s premier, that mix remains the surest way to electoral glory, and not just there. It is, come to think … Continue reading

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janan.ganesh@ft.com on toxic ‘Period Dramas’ . American Writer comments

Both The Americans and The British love to wallow in the bathos of ‘high toned’ entertainments:  The Pallisers, Upstairs Downstairs, a bit of an anomaly, but still within the nostalgia parameters? And Downton Abbey. Wistful nostalgia for another age, refracted, … Continue reading

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On The Cult of Isaiah Berlin, in sharp decline? Political Observer comments

Nikhil Krishnan reviews three books in the May 15 , 2020 issue of the  Times Literary Supplement: The Philosophy of Isaiah Berlin, The Cambridge Companion to Isaiah Berlin, In Search of Isaiah Berlin: A Literary Adventure After an introductory paragraph … Continue reading

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janan.ganesh@ft.com is a Ptolemaic, rather than a Copernican. Political Observer comments

Does the word quixotic define Mr. Ganesh extended exercise in typing, that comes to rest in this sentence, and two paragraphs, that acts as an indictment of both ‘Right’ and ‘Left’? On their ‘cultural declinism’ presented as ‘stark news‘? Yet the … Continue reading

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The Committee for the Defense of Bret Stephens meets at Politico. Political Observer comments

The defenders of Bret Stephens, in the American Political Gossip sheet Politico, are not just one of the authors of ‘Coddling’, but his fellow travelers, who inveigh against homegrown enemies ,of an enlightened political present, and the political cowardice of … Continue reading

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@FT, Ben Hall, William Drozdiak on the political fate of Emmanuel Macron! Old Socialist comments

M. 37% has an ally in The Financial Times, and its reviewer Ben Hall. Mr Hall presents an argument about the ‘baffling’,  ‘sheer opprobrium’ that French citizens hold for this arrogant little enarque: The sheer opprobrium many French citizens hold … Continue reading

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gideon.rachman@ft.com on the imperative ‘It’s time for a liberal fightback’. Old Socialist comments

The  ‘as if’ of his the latest political/economic intervention with the comic bellicose frame of ‘It’s time for a liberal fightback’ signals the abandonment of Liberalism’s revered rationality? Two books, in the political worldview of Mr. Rachman, do not exist: … Continue reading

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On the fictional valorization of Hillary Clinton, just in time ? American Writer comments

How opportune! As Senile Old Joe marinates in his cognitive decline , sequestered from public view. His campaign, such as it is, carefully managed ‘interviews’ with friendly media, and short videos. Curtis Sittenfeld’s ‘Counter Factual Biography’ of Hillary Clinton, to … Continue reading

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@TheTLS Psychoanalysis still falls under the rubric of ‘Science’! Philosophical Apprentice comments

Freudian ‘Science’ won’t go quietly! Professor Cohen considers  ‘pondering the tastelessly funny, improbably Freudian coincidence of the centennial of Beyond the Pleasure Principle with a deadly global pandemic.’ Josh Cohen is a psychoanalyst in private practice and Professor of Modern Literary … Continue reading

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