Bernie Sanders cannot win the general election. He is unelectable. He will not win Ohio, Virginia, or Florida. The Republicans will eat him–a self-proclaimed socialist who keeps talking about ‘revolution’ and ‘economic inequality’–alive. The most interesting of these several proclamations–all speaking to the hopeless, Quixotic, quest that calls itself the Bernie Sanders campaign–is, by far,Continue reading “Writing On The Bernie Sanders Campaign: The Denial Of Agency”
Tag Archives: Republicans
ISIS, US Policy, And Feeding The Bogeyman
In ‘The Unbearable Lightness of America’s War Against the Islamic State‘ Stephen Walt supplies us the following pull-quote: What is needed is not a single presidential speech, but rather a sustained, all-out effort by top U.S. officials to remind their fellow citizens how safe they actually are. One often hears that fear is inherently irrationalContinue reading “ISIS, US Policy, And Feeding The Bogeyman”
Donald Trump, Sabbatai Zevi, And The Unchastened Devotee
I have made note, here, of a habit of mine intended to prompt writing: Sometimes I scribble little notes to myself…prompted by observations while walking…by a passage read in a book…a scene in a movie. Sometimes they make sense when I return to them…and an expanded thought based on them finds its way into myContinue reading “Donald Trump, Sabbatai Zevi, And The Unchastened Devotee”
Ross Douthat is Feeling Sorry for Bigots
Ross Douthat doth protest too much: I am being descriptive here, rather than self-pitying. I have news for you, Ross: you are being self-pitying. This bemoaning a straightforward victory for common-sense–the vetoing of Arizona’s benighted SB1062–is a particularly pathetic exercise . An entire Op-Ed to tell us bigots are on the run, and will be ‘forced’Continue reading “Ross Douthat is Feeling Sorry for Bigots”
Ross Douthat the Slippery
Ross Douthat is a very slippery customer. There is just no getting around it. It’s this slipperiness, no doubt, that earns him the appellation of being a ‘thoughtful conservative’ i.e., not a foaming-at-the-mouth wingnut. His latest Op-Ed is a classic instance of this well-greased slipperiness. It is ostensibly a critique of Republican tactics in theContinue reading “Ross Douthat the Slippery”
Tales of Three Morning Afters
The 2004 Presidential election was my first. I had not voted in the 2000 election because my naturalization came a few weeks too late for me to participate; I had observed the election itself from afar, in Brazil, and watched, amazed by the Supreme Court’s intervention, as the final, lame denouement came about. In 2004,Continue reading “Tales of Three Morning Afters”
Flippin’ Channels to the Debate and Stayin’ Right There
A few days ago, I posted a note here saying I would not deign to pay attention to the debates. Last night, after a dinner date with my Brooklyn College colleague, Corey Robin, during the course of which I remarked, ‘Debates are to you what sports are to me’, I returned home, intending to watchContinue reading “Flippin’ Channels to the Debate and Stayin’ Right There”
‘But Already It Was Impossible To Say Which Was Which’
It is almost accepted wisdom among political punditry that in recent times, American political and cultural life is characterized by two revolutions: the Fiscal Rectitude one and the Cultural License one. The former was won by the Republican party: it is committed to austere deficit reduction and budget balancing by attenuating social programs and tax cutsContinue reading “‘But Already It Was Impossible To Say Which Was Which’”
Clint Eastwood Could Make Our Day Yet
A couple of days ago, I wrote a post about the necessity of not paying attention to political conventions in this day and age. Two days and an ageing Hollywood star and his bizarre talking-to-a-chair and invisible president-routine later, I am going to disdain the usual I-told-you-so’s and move on. But to where? Not to theContinue reading “Clint Eastwood Could Make Our Day Yet”
Political Conventions Begone
Cometh the political convention and cometh the dreary return of speculative commentary about their usefulness, their substantiveness, their relevance. Cometh too, the sight of perfectly reasonable, sensible folks tuning in to them, wasting their time in the hope of picking up meaningful political lessons. (I’ve been told that some folks tune in for the comedicContinue reading “Political Conventions Begone”
Samir Chopra 