Around the nation, there is much talk of Donald Trump firing the special prosecutor Robert Mueller, whose charge is the so-called ‘Russia investigation,’ and whose acquisitions of ‘top criminal lawyers’ has resulted in him putting together a prosecution ‘dream team.’ These are merely rumors for the time being–and strange rumors for liberals and progressives to beContinue reading “Nation To Republican Party: Fool Me Twice, Shame On…Oh, Forget It.”
Tag Archives: Bill Clinton
Historical Amnesia And Stasis In Political Action
Over on his blog, and on his Facebook page, in response to a series of repeated claims stressing the uniquely dysfunctional and authoritarian nature of the present administration¹, Corey Robin has often made remarks which echo the sentiments expressed in the following: We have a culture in this country that is relentlessly, furiously, ferociously, anti-historical.Continue reading “Historical Amnesia And Stasis In Political Action”
Presidential Elections, Marks, And Con Men
On the night of 15 October 1992, I watched a live telecast of the second presidential debate between George Bush Sr., Bill Clinton, and Ross Perot. As I watched three men in business suits–walking back and forth on a ‘town-hall’ stage–explain how they would run the nation, manage its economy, and conduct its international affairs,Continue reading “Presidential Elections, Marks, And Con Men”
Hillary Clinton Prepares The Inaugural Ball’s Invitee List
This is an election season about the rich, the richer, and the richest. As it should be, since multimillionaires are running for election, and on their way to the presidency, hanging out with the folks who will have the most access to them after the coronation. In this regard, just like in the election polls,Continue reading “Hillary Clinton Prepares The Inaugural Ball’s Invitee List”
Contra Paul Starr, Presidential Elections Are Not Just About Electing Presidents
Paul Starr kicks off the latest production from the ‘Bernie Sanders is not a real candidate, merely a symbolic one’ brigade with the following assertions: I have a strange idea about presidential primaries and elections: The purpose is to elect a president. And I have a strange thought about primary voters: They have a choice betweenContinue reading “Contra Paul Starr, Presidential Elections Are Not Just About Electing Presidents”
Rebecca Traister On ‘The New, Old, Hillary Clinton’
At The New Republic, Rebecca Traister writes of the ‘New, Old, Hillary’ Clinton, of the woman who started out as the kind of politician-cum-activist the left would love to have as president, but who became an opportunistic ‘contortionist’, one only too willing to compromise to be accepted, to hold on to power and exercise it:Continue reading “Rebecca Traister On ‘The New, Old, Hillary Clinton’”
Sam Harris Should Read Bernard Williams
In Shame and Necessity (Sather Classical Lectures, University of California Press, 2nd ed., 2008, pp. 68-69) writing on the ancient Greeks’ conceptions of responsibility and human agency via the tale of Oedipus, Bernard Williams writes: [T]here is another aspect to responsibility, which comes out if we start on the question not from the response that the publicContinue reading “Sam Harris Should Read Bernard Williams”
Susan Sontag’s Paragraphed Interview Answers
In his introduction to Susan Sontag: The Complete Rolling Stones Interview, Jonathan Cott writes: In one of her journal entries from 1965, Susan avowed: To give no interviews until I can sound as clear + authoritative + direct as Lillian Hellman in Paris Review.” ….as I listened to her clear, authoritative, and direct responses to myContinue reading “Susan Sontag’s Paragraphed Interview Answers”
The ‘Historic’ Statue Toppling That Wasn’t
In his essay ‘The Toppling: How the media inflated a minor moment in a long war‘ (The New Yorker, January 20, 2011), Peter Maass provides, by way of context and background, a useful deflationary account of the famous toppling of the statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad’s Firdos Square on April 9, 2003. The statue’sContinue reading “The ‘Historic’ Statue Toppling That Wasn’t”
Samir Chopra 