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Depressing And Disturbing Reading

I can’t figure out what is the worst thing to come out of this Washington Post article on the new book by former Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Let me mention several candidates for worst news:1. It basically confirms Carl Scott’s suspicion (in this long-ago No Left Turns thread). . . . . Continue Reading »

Happy New Year

Happy new year and here is why we have had ever happier new years in the lifetimes of anyone alive today.  Regardless of the politics of nations, or the decline of social standards, or anything else we might deplore or fear, the living standards of people all over the world improve.  . . . . Continue Reading »

Escapism

I can’t help but notice it here, notice it there, notice it everywhere.  A few days ago, I read Steve Hayward, on Powerline , asking, ” So When Can We Expect Obama’s Malaise Speech? “  This does feel familiar, a sense of dread, a hopelessness.  Well, in the . . . . Continue Reading »

Notes On Natalism, Respect And Syria

1. My wife is in the late stages of pregnancy with our second child, so blogging is going to be light-to-nonexistent for a while. 2. I have some On The Square thoughts about how some kinds of respect for Obama’s words and the concerns of some Obama supporters could be used to defeat . . . . Continue Reading »

Stray Thoughts On Syria

So I spent about an hour listening to John Kerry talking to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about President Obama’s proposed strike. Here are some thoughts: 1. Kerry argued that the refugee crisis from the Syrian civil war was destabilizing Jordan. That strikes me as more of an . . . . Continue Reading »

A Pause To Reflect

Good for President Obama for seeking congressional authorization for a strike on Syria. Among other things, it will give the administration more time to come up with a coherent strategy that has a plausible chance of advancing American interests. The current strategy of focusing outrage on Syrian . . . . Continue Reading »

On Syria

I think Ramesh Ponnuru has it right.   Maybe the Obama administration has a plan to use military force in a decisive way, but they haven’t made the case for a large and sustained military operation if it comes to that. A military attack that is not decisive opens the possibility that the . . . . Continue Reading »

Syria and What is Good

I thought John Kerry did a beautiful job, a presidential job, trying to convince the American people and the world that we ought to go to war against Syria.  Really brilliant, save one problem, that we would be siding with Al Qaeda in the conflict.  Or rather, not siding with them as much . . . . Continue Reading »

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