The Pat Tillman who is the centerpiece of Jon Krakauer‘s Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman is a familiar, often admirable, archetype: the ‘warrior’ who wants to fight, to win glory, but who doubts the moral standing of the domain in which he will exercise his courage and skills, and as such,Continue reading “Pat Tillman, The Skeptical ‘Warrior’ And ‘Hero’”
Category Archives: History
Hannah Arendt On The Rehabilitation Of George W. Bush
In Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil (Penguin Classics, New York, p. 144-145, [1963], 2006), Hannah Arendt, making note of Heinrich Himmler‘s ‘change of heart’–as German defeat loomed in the Second World War–with regards to the Final Solution, as he considered suspending the mass killings at Auschwitz, writes: It was aboutContinue reading “Hannah Arendt On The Rehabilitation Of George W. Bush”
The ‘Pundits’ Are Right: Exploiting War Widows Is Presidential
It’s a hoary tradition; it’s what you do. You fight a war; you send men and women to their deaths (after they’ve sent other men and women and children to their deaths); then, at home, you make plans to fight another war, and you beat the war drums and fill up the war chests byContinue reading “The ‘Pundits’ Are Right: Exploiting War Widows Is Presidential”
The Best Little White House In ‘Murica: Carpetbaggin’ Days Are Here Again
The Pentagon and the Secret Service are about to start paying rent–like, you know, taxpayer money–to the US President. The President’s son goes on a business trip to Uruguay, eager to cash in on his new found fame and glory–he needs, besides expensive hotels, an expensive security detail, naturally. (Who wouldn’t want to, even ifContinue reading “The Best Little White House In ‘Murica: Carpetbaggin’ Days Are Here Again”
The Donald Trump Impeachment Fantasy
Wishful thinking is in the air: this presidential incompetence is intolerable, it cannot last. Let us take bets on how long Donald Trump will last before he is evicted from the Oval Office by those who cannot put up with his trigger-happy tweeting, his brazen exploitation of the highest office in the land for personalContinue reading “The Donald Trump Impeachment Fantasy”
The Tethered Eagle And The Refugee Refused Entry
A little over fourteen years ago, in the fall of 2002, shortly after I returned to the US after finishing my post-doctoral fellowship in Australia, I went to see the Yankees play at the old Yankees Stadium. I had arrived in New York City just a couple of weeks earlier; the Yankees were in contentionContinue reading “The Tethered Eagle And The Refugee Refused Entry”
Fascism And The Problems With A ‘Glorious Past’
I grew up in India, a land of considerable antiquity with a long and rich history. All around me, there were monuments to this past; sometimes they were physical, tangible ones, like buildings built many years ago, or books that recounted tales of magnificent civilizations and fantastically accomplished cultures with their philosophy, art, music, sculpture.Continue reading “Fascism And The Problems With A ‘Glorious Past’”
The Dependence Of Autobiography On Biography (And Vice-Versa)
A few weeks ago, I briefly spoke at a conference hosted in honor of my dissertation advisor’s eightieth birthday. In my talk I offered some personal recollections of having worked with Distinguished Professor Rohit Parikh, his intellectual influence on me, and the various lessons–personal, technical, moral–that I learned along the way from him. As IContinue reading “The Dependence Of Autobiography On Biography (And Vice-Versa)”
A Theological Lesson Via Military History
In Hell in a Very Small Place: The Siege of Dien Bien Phu (J. B Lipincott, New York, 1966, p. 85), Bernard B. Fall describes the build-up which foretold the grim military disaster to unfold at Dien Bien Phu–the lack of adequate defenses and ammunition, the poor tactical location etc–making note, along the way, ofContinue reading “A Theological Lesson Via Military History”
V. S. Naipaul On The Supposed ‘Writing Personality’
In The Enigma of Arrival (Random House, New York, 1988, pp. 146-147) V. S. Naipaul writes: It wasn’t only that I was unformed at the age of eighteen or had no idea what I was going to write about. It was that idea given me by my education–and by the more “cultural,” the nicest, part of thatContinue reading “V. S. Naipaul On The Supposed ‘Writing Personality’”
Samir Chopra 