For further must-read responses to the slandering of Rashid Khalidi, read Barnett Rubin here and here, and Scott Horton here. Writes Horton:
Rashid Khalidi is an American academic of extraordinary ability and sharp insights. He is also deeply committed to stemming violence in the Middle East, promoting a culture that embraces human rights as a fundamental [...]
Archive for October, 2008
Out of Evil, Good Shall Come
Posted in U.S. Politics, tagged anti-Arab bigotry, Rashid Khalidi, smears on October 31, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
How best to respond to the McCain camps sleazy smearing of Rashid Khalidi as an anti-Semite and the equivalent of a “neo-Nazi”? Politically, the Obama campaign is doing the right thing, stating that this issue is distraction from real politics. True enough. But outside electorial politics, it’s important to loudly proclaim that Khalidi is an important [...]
National Review Holds a Purge
Posted in U.S. Politics, tagged Chris Buckley, Jeffrey Hart, National Review, William F. Buckley on October 31, 2008 | 4 Comments »
National Review loves Donald Rumsfeld; doesn’t care for Christopher Buckley or Jeffrey Hart.
Perhaps because so many of its founding editors were erstwhile Stalinists and Trotskyists, the editors of National Review have always had a propensity for purges, ideological house-cleanings that involve black-balling those who don’t follow the party line. Some of these purges have been [...]
Bush the Bolshevik?
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Bush presidency, Great Patriotic War, Red Army, Soviet Union on October 31, 2008 | 2 Comments »
With tongues protruding into their cheeks, many writers have compared the Bush administration to the early Bolsheviks. The points of overlap include ideological rigidity, messianic internationalism, contempt for traditional diplomatic norms and Old Europe, a tolerance for torture camps scattered far and wide, and a propensity to nationalize large industries.
Having said all that, the comparison [...]
Keeping up with Mr. Incursion
Posted in Asia, Foreign affairs, History, U.S. Politics, tagged commandos, incursion, missiles, Pakistan, Syria on October 29, 2008 | 8 Comments »
U.S. special forces attacked a village/building/camp (select one) inside Syria on Sunday, killing eight people, according to Syrian officials. A rationale, given “on background” as all such messages are these days, was soon forthcoming: the area near the Iraqi town of Qaim had long been regarded by the Pentagon as a crossing point into Iraq [...]
McCain’s New Low
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged John McCain, racism, Rashid Khalidi on October 29, 2008 | 1 Comment »
You can say this about the McCain campaign, whenever you think they’ve hit rock bottom they still manage to surprise you by going even lower. Last week there was the email warning that a President Obama could lead to a second Holocaust. Now there is the curious attack on Obama’s friendship with the respected Arab-American [...]
Alan Greenspan Learns a Lesson
Posted in U.S. Politics, tagged Alan Greenspan, Ayn Rand, Milton Friedman, neo-liberalism on October 29, 2008 | 8 Comments »
(Via The Washington Independent, Rand and Greenspan)
When he was young, Alan Greenspan suckled at the bony breasts of Ayn Rand, drinking in as his mother’s milk libertarian and Objectivist thought. After being furthered mentored by Milton Friedman, Greenspan rose to ranks of policy making until he became Federal Reserve chairman. In that position he was the world’s [...]
Just like Ulysses, but about book illustrations
Posted in Arts and Aesthetics, History, tagged BibliOdyssey, Books, illustrations, visual culture on October 24, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Written by Sydney-based “PK” (the P standing for Paul, the K being of unknown origin), Bibliodyssey is a blog devoted to the collection and display of the visual culture locked away in old books and only now being made available digitally by libraries and archives around the world. PK’s range of interests is stimulating and [...]
