Andrew Sullivan discovers that Bill Kristol once favored the “anti-Israel” appeaser as George W. Bush’s vice president. Gak!
From Cliff to Ceiling
The relentlessly sane Michael Tomasky shows why the next silly Washington crisis is manufactured, synthetic baloney.
Barney Frank for Senate?
I’ve known Barney for more than 40 years and he’s been a terrific public servant, with one exception: his non-oversight of FNMA (Fannie-Mae) as House Banking Committee chair. That should eliminate him from consideration as even a temporary Senator.
Obama v. Neoconservatives
This week’s print column: whether or not the President appoints Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense next week, he’s going to be facing a foreign policy fight over Israel and Iran with the neoconservatives.
CNN 2013
We decided to ring the New Year in with CNN–obviously, Swamp spouse and I are wild party beasts–and we saw this. Oh my.
Best Books 2012
This is not a list of the best books published in 2012, just the best I’ve read in the past year:
Hagel Still Twisting
Tom Friedman weighs in on the Chuck Hagel non-nomination, with some very clear thinking. But the Obama Administration is still silent–which remains deeply unfair to Hagel, and deeply satisfying to the extremists who oppose his nomination.
Kerry, Absolutely. But What About Hagel?
John Kerry will make a fine Secretary of State. He knows the world, and is easy in it. But I’m worried about the Obama Administration hanging Chuck Hagel–Kerry’s good friend and fellow Vietnam veteran–out to dry.
Hell Freezes Over
Krauthammer is right about the three components of our culture of violence.
The Teddy Awards 2012
It isn’t easy to find examples of political courage in an election, but I give it a shot in my annual column.
The Real Gun Violence Discussion
Pete Wehner, with whom I’ve been known to disagree, has some wise things to say about the facile moral posturing that has attended much of the commentary about the Newtown massacre. We’ve been too focused on the need for gun control and spent too little time talking about the far more difficult part of the problem: mental health.
The Anti-Hagel Campaign Begins
The 2012 election was not a wonderful experience for neoconservatives–and it was a disaster for their beloved hero, Bibi Netanyahu, a foreign leader who tried to influence the American presidential campaign. Indeed, they’ve been proven conclusively ridiculous over the past dozen years, but still they persist. Now they’re after former …
Petraeus, Yin and Yang
We have new evaluations of David Petraeus this week, in New York Magazine and the New Yorker. The New Yorker piece is by the great war correspondent and author, Dexter Filkins. The New York piece is by former theater critic Frank Rich. They couldn’t be more different.