May 2008

Rimbaud – What’s It to Us?

by Scott Horton,

Qu’est-ce pour nous, mon cœur, que les nappes de sang Et de braise, et mille meurtres, et les longs cris De rage, sanglots de tout enfer renversant Tout ordre ;…

Camus on the Accountability of Leaders

by Scott Horton,

Mon admiration pour mes héros, Kaliayev et Dora, est entière. J’ai seulement voulu montrer que l’action elle-même avait des limites. Il n’est de bonne et de juste action que celle…

Bob Dole: King of erectile dysfunction hits McClellan for selling out

by Ken Silverstein,

Politico reports that former Senator Bob Dole “sent a scalding email to Scott McClellan, excoriating the former White House spokesman as a ‘miserable creature’.” Dole, said the story, used his…

Worst Shill of Year? Six Flags and high gas prices

by Ken Silverstein,

Not long after the 9/11 attacks, lobbyist Howard Marlowe sought help for the American Shore & Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA). A letter to Congress his firm helped prepare said that…

Weekend Read: A series of small dawns

by Wyatt Mason,

Joseph O’Neill’s new novel Netherland has been fêted for its many uncommon and careful virtues. The novel is barely underway before O’Neill steamrolls the reader with descriptive writing so vivid…

Waxman, Uncensored: What’s a steroid?

by Ken Silverstein,

Congressman Henry Waxman of California has been the mastermind behind congressional investigations into steroid use among baseball players. However, based on this promotional clip from the new movie Bigger Stronger…

Let Them Eat Biofuels: Bush Official Sees Hope in Hunger

by Ken Silverstein,

From the Baltimore Sun: U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer, who travels to a world food security conference in Rome next week, laid out the Bush administration’s strategy today for meeting…

High Priest of Journalism Ethics Knee-Deep in Moral Quicksand, Again

by Ken Silverstein,

From the New York Times: When Howard Kurtz invited Kimberly Dozier, the CBS journalist wounded in Iraq, onto his program, “Reliable Sources,” on CNN on Sunday, he was not a…

A Clinton Reader Catches Obama’s Shifting Views on Ethanol

by Ken Silverstein,

The lavishly-subsidized federal ethanol program is one of the biggest corporate boondoggles of recent times. Eileen O’Connor, a Clinton-supporter based in California, wrote a letter (published below) which charts Obama’s…

Lost Among the Inward Parts

by Wyatt Mason,

The old apothegm: bad books make good movies, good books make bad movies, is, like most backdoor commandments, there to be broken. Today’s New York Times brings a report from…

Explained: Why McCain favors long presence in Iraq

by Ken Silverstein,

From MSNBC: A little-noticed civil lawsuit in Florida is shining a light on an unusual but hugely profitable Pentagon contract to ship millions of gallons of aviation fuel to U.S.…

Weekly Review

by Paul Ford,

President George W. Bush gave a radio address for Memorial Day weekend, invoking the sacrifice of 4,071 U.S. soldiers in Iraq and 432 in Afghanistan. Later, for the last time…

Are Politicians Failing Our Lobbyists?

by Ken Silverstein,

The Onion reports.

Curt Weldon Transfers Campaign Money to Legal Defense Fund

by Ken Silverstein,

Remember former Congressman Curt Weldon? He’s the one currently under federal investigation for allegedly steering business to a lobbying firm headed by his daughter. And now running an international consulting…

Cindy McCain: Like Hubby, Not So Charitable

by Ken Silverstein,

Senator John McCain’s charitable works don’t appear to be terribly impressive. As I reported here a few months back, he has essentially been the sole contributor to the John and…

Media Makes Shocking Discovery: McCain Surrounded by Lobbyists

by Ken Silverstein,

Over the past few weeks, the media has finally begun reporting the fairly obvious fact that there are a whole bunch of lobbyists working closely with the campaign of Senator…

Wanted to Swap

by Wyatt Mason,

“Feeling that a style is natural and inevitable,” wrote Guy Davenport in his The Geography of the Imagination, “is like being among people with whom we share tradition and prejudices.”…

Ariosto’s Man Who Broke the Mold

by Scott Horton,

Vedi tra duo unicorni il gran leone, che la spada d’argento ha ne la zampa: quell’è del re di Scozia il gonfalone; il suo figliol Zerbino ivi s’accampa. Non è…

Castiglione’s Renaissance Cool

by Scott Horton,

Ma avendo io già più volte pensato meco onde nasca questa grazia, lasciando quelli che dalle stelle l’hanno, trovo una regula universalissima, la qual mi par valer circa questo in…

An Egg in Return, Part III: “My special islands”

by Wyatt Mason,

(See: Part I, Part II.) “I think the worst phenomenon, the most upsetting thing nowadays,” Jonathan Franzen said in conversation with James Wood at Harvard, “is the feeling that there’s…

Weekend Read: “A critical mass of critics”

by Wyatt Mason,

Quite a few serious readers and writers are worried that we are suffering, as a culture, from an absence of intellectually engaged critical writing on fiction. Under the umbrella title…

Replies

by Harper’s Magazine,

From: Steven Matz, Chicago Subject: The Case for Political Rudeness, by Ken Silverstein, May 23, 2008 You make a great case for the effectiveness of rudeness, or ahem, direct language.…

A Cartoon

by Mr. Fish,

A Cartoon

by Mr. Fish,

The Case for Political Rudeness

by Ken Silverstein,

Mark Slouka has a terrific piece in the June issue of the magazine that convincingly argues against political politeness. “In the long term, it is [the] tilt toward deference, this…

Did McCain Camp Receive Illegal Contribution?

by Ken Silverstein,

Very interesting story in National Journal: John McCain’s presidential campaign has finally paid off its debt to 3eDC, a private Web company linked to campaign manager Rick Davis and his…

The Clintons: It’s only just beginning

by Ken Silverstein,

From CNN’s website: Is politics in Chelsea Clinton’s future? Bill Clinton says maybe. In an interview with People Magazine, the former president said he thinks his daughter is a natural…

An Egg in Return, Part II: “There’s no proving it”

by Wyatt Mason,

A few weeks ago, as I wrote in my most recent post, Jonathan Franzen was speaking with James Wood at Harvard. I asked Franzen what role, if any, reviews and…

Lebanon: Another Bush foreign policy defeat

by Ken Silverstein,

Augustus Richard Norton, a professor at Boston University and expert on the Middle East, sends this note about the latest developments from Lebanon: Lebanese politicians reached agreement last night in…

Archive: May 2008

From the Archive

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Rimbaud – What’s It to Us?

Camus on the Accountability of Leaders

A Cartoon

Bob Dole: King of erectile dysfunction hits McClellan for selling out

Worst Shill of Year? Six Flags and high gas prices

Weekend Read: A series of small dawns

Waxman, Uncensored: What’s a steroid?

Let Them Eat Biofuels: Bush Official Sees Hope in Hunger

High Priest of Journalism Ethics Knee-Deep in Moral Quicksand, Again

A Clinton Reader Catches Obama’s Shifting Views on Ethanol

Lost Among the Inward Parts

Explained: Why McCain favors long presence in Iraq

Weekly Review

Are Politicians Failing Our Lobbyists?

Curt Weldon Transfers Campaign Money to Legal Defense Fund

Cindy McCain: Like Hubby, Not So Charitable

Media Makes Shocking Discovery: McCain Surrounded by Lobbyists

Wanted to Swap

Ariosto’s Man Who Broke the Mold

Castiglione’s Renaissance Cool

An Egg in Return, Part III: “My special islands”

Weekend Read: “A critical mass of critics”

Replies

A Cartoon

A Cartoon

The Case for Political Rudeness

Did McCain Camp Receive Illegal Contribution?

The Clintons: It’s only just beginning

An Egg in Return, Part II: “There’s no proving it”

Lebanon: Another Bush foreign policy defeat

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