That, in capsule form, seems to be the state of the humanities in the world of academia, U.S.A. edition, judging from a singularly depressing piece up at New York magazine, “This Is What a Modern-Day Witch Hunt Looks Like” by Jesse Singal, regarding what happened when Rebecca Tuval, assistant professor at Rhodes College in Memphis,…
Enter Megan McArdle. Cue the faux head-shaking.
O Democrats! O Republicans! They’re both so cwaazzzy! So quoth Bloomsberg babe Megan McArdle, in a recent piece over the low-intensity but long-continuing furor over the inheritance tax/death tax. Sure, Republicans are a bit wacky for getting so sentimental over the supposed heartlessness of taxing multi-million-dollar inheritances, says Megan, but you know something? Those Democrats…
You have to talk to those people in a language they can understand—that is to say, Spanish
“The message has been received that President Trump is, to coin a phrase, a bad hombre,” the ethically and ethnically challenged Rich Lowry informs us, gloating over the decline in illegal border crossings since the advent of Herr Donald. Granted, Trump’s wild and vicious threats during the campaign—to build a “great wall” and force Mexico…
Donald Trump is FABULOUS!
That’s the word from the New York Times, determined to elbow David Ignatius out of the front of the line of the Donald Trump Suck-Up Brigade. “Covering the Trump White House can be exhilarating, maddening, exhausting — but never boring,” sigh starry-eyed Times’s White House Correspondents Mark Landler, Julie Hirschfeld Davis, Glenn Thrush, Maggie Haberman,…
The blimps are back, baby!
In the unlikely event that you frequent this blog often, you may remember that I’ve been running a sporadic, very largely tongue in cheek series of articles about blimps,1 revolving around the fact that people keep bringing them “back” despite the fact that they never work. About a year ago, modern blimps hit first a…
If you’re reading this, that proves Trump isn’t so bad
You aren’t dead yet, are you? So what are you bitching about? That’s the gist of the latest posts from right-wing double-domes Eli Lake and Ross Douthat, who sound pathetically grateful that they haven’t yet suffered personal beatdowns from the Donald. “If we’re nice he probably won’t hit us.” No president has ever told as…
Pseudo New Yorker
“I’m sure it’s great. I mean, who wouldn’t want a cave bear as a landlord?” “Plus, they’re windy as hell.” “It’s great if you like looking at rock all day.” “You own the hole. The cave owns you. That’s the difference.” “Sure they’re cozy. Just you and a million bats.” “So what is he supposed…
Republicans wising up, one at a time
Today’s Politico has a piece by Rachel Bade and John Breshnahan, Ryan on the hot seat to deliver for Trump that features a “hot” quote from one “congressional source” regarding House Speaker Paul Ryan: “Everyone has always said he’s this policy genius, who is the future of the party when it’s, ‘Actually, you gave us…
Thelonious Monk—“Rhythm-a-ning”
Monk on the BBC once more, with Charlie Rouse on tenor, Larry Gales on bass, and & Ben Riley on drums. Posted by OopBopShBam
The New York Times, furiously beating the drums of war
Did you see video of that big military parade in North Korea last week? Those huge missile carriers, designed to hold an ICBM capable of reaching the U.S.? Did it ever occur to you that those carriers might be empty, that the parade was a huge bluff, that the North Koreans have never tested an…