Saturday, March 18, 2006
'The stereotypes about manliness': Harvard prof Harvey C. Mansfield's new book 'Manliness' gets quite a trashing in the NYT. Though I suspect without reading the book that it's not all that good, the outright dismissal of Mansfield's arguments by reviewer Walter Kirn reminded me of that old Harvard elephant in the room: Larry Summer's comments about gender differences. ... I guess there are certain topics you're just not supposed to tackle, clumsily or not. Still a lot of readers, one of whom identifies himself as a student of Mansfield, give the book good reviews in the Amazon comments section. ...
Update -- Reader No. 1:
"You guess there are 'certain topics you're just not supposed to tackle?' Also, why do think Mansfield's book is not all that good without having read it? Here's an interesting sampler from a few years back. There's a thoughtful review of Mansfield's book by Janet Daley in today's WSJ of the same title. (Sorry no link, it's paid.) Daley takes the author seriously, unlike Kirn's review, which I would submit as Exhibit A as to why elites aren't taken seriously by folks outside of their circle."
Response -- Sometimes you just have a gut instinct you won't like a book. ... I had a similar gut reaction to 'American Vertigo,' which I hoped would be good but got confirmation pans from people whose opinions I respect (see 'padding out a term paper'). ...
Update -- Reader No. 1:
"You guess there are 'certain topics you're just not supposed to tackle?' Also, why do think Mansfield's book is not all that good without having read it? Here's an interesting sampler from a few years back. There's a thoughtful review of Mansfield's book by Janet Daley in today's WSJ of the same title. (Sorry no link, it's paid.) Daley takes the author seriously, unlike Kirn's review, which I would submit as Exhibit A as to why elites aren't taken seriously by folks outside of their circle."
Response -- Sometimes you just have a gut instinct you won't like a book. ... I had a similar gut reaction to 'American Vertigo,' which I hoped would be good but got confirmation pans from people whose opinions I respect (see 'padding out a term paper'). ...
'To DeWalt, a ponytailed musician ...': That's it. Vermont is out of New England! Granted, I'm no fan of George Bush either. But I need a provocation to launch what I've always dreamed of launching: Establishment of Greater New England. ... Here's the final deal:
-- New England cedes everything west of the Connecticut River (click on map) to New York. OK, so we lose the Berkshires. But we also unload Vermont and western Connecticut (i.e. New Haven) to New York.
-- New England in turn gets the wink-wink nod from New York to invade southern Quebec and finish the job once and for all. We took Montreal once, we can take it again. They'll be throwing flowers in the streets when we get there!
-- New England is also ceded rights to the Canadian Maritime Provinces, as well as possibly Bermuda.
But, of course, all of this is not without dominos-falling peril. Think of it:
-- Pennsylvannia will absolutely freak out when New York takes over western Old New England and, naturally, New Jersey, as is its sphere-of-influence right. So PA will have to strike to take Delaware and Maryland, which are also within its sphere-of-influence rights.
-- But that will galvanize the sleeping southern giant of Virginia, which undoubtably will retake W. VA and perhaps large portions of the Carolinas, in addition to probable hefty parts of Kentucky and Tennessee.
Etc., Etc., Etc. The redrawn Eastern Seaboard map: Greater New England to the north is finally established and the Florida Problem to the south is finally solved by a takeover by Georgia, assuming Georgia wants Florida.
P.S. -- Some people may think I'm mad. But I think this plan makes an awful lot of sense.
-- New England cedes everything west of the Connecticut River (click on map) to New York. OK, so we lose the Berkshires. But we also unload Vermont and western Connecticut (i.e. New Haven) to New York.
-- New England in turn gets the wink-wink nod from New York to invade southern Quebec and finish the job once and for all. We took Montreal once, we can take it again. They'll be throwing flowers in the streets when we get there!
-- New England is also ceded rights to the Canadian Maritime Provinces, as well as possibly Bermuda.
But, of course, all of this is not without dominos-falling peril. Think of it:
-- Pennsylvannia will absolutely freak out when New York takes over western Old New England and, naturally, New Jersey, as is its sphere-of-influence right. So PA will have to strike to take Delaware and Maryland, which are also within its sphere-of-influence rights.
-- But that will galvanize the sleeping southern giant of Virginia, which undoubtably will retake W. VA and perhaps large portions of the Carolinas, in addition to probable hefty parts of Kentucky and Tennessee.
Etc., Etc., Etc. The redrawn Eastern Seaboard map: Greater New England to the north is finally established and the Florida Problem to the south is finally solved by a takeover by Georgia, assuming Georgia wants Florida.
P.S. -- Some people may think I'm mad. But I think this plan makes an awful lot of sense.
Friday, March 17, 2006
World Baseball Classic - A Success: What were the first World Series showdowns like? What about the first World Cup tournaments? I suspect they attracted only modest attention and only grew in popularity over time. I hope the same happens with the World Baseball Classic. I wasn't overwhelmed by the first-ever WBC. But I did enjoy following the games -- and I was impressed with the U.S. team's gracious attitude in defeat. ... I knew the Latin American countries were going to be good. But I've been pleasantly surprised how well the Koreans and Japanese have played. More Asian players in MLB, please! ... And how about them Eagles?
Thursday, March 16, 2006
'Is Boston Becoming a Better Place?' Part II:
OK, so it's not a 'local hole-in-the-wall' diner. But a 'franchised hole-in-the wall' IHOP in Harvard Square is better than no late-night drunk hole-in-the-wall in Harvard Square. So maybe there's hope yet for Harvard Square. ... The discussion about whether Boston is becoming a better place partly centers, I think, on the loss of original locally owned stores, restaurants, bars and coffee houses, etc. That's a national -- and even global -- problem. ...
OK, so it's not a 'local hole-in-the-wall' diner. But a 'franchised hole-in-the wall' IHOP in Harvard Square is better than no late-night drunk hole-in-the-wall in Harvard Square. So maybe there's hope yet for Harvard Square. ... The discussion about whether Boston is becoming a better place partly centers, I think, on the loss of original locally owned stores, restaurants, bars and coffee houses, etc. That's a national -- and even global -- problem. ...
'Unflattering spotlight': Mike Brown is back in the news. ... Why do I have this strange feeling he's going to become a reality-TV or radio talk show success? ...
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
'Is Boston Becoming a Better Place?': Chris has an interesting discussion going on over whether Boston is becoming a better place. He thinks not. I tend to agree with him. Boston seems to have hit a stagnation phase of some sort. But putting it into historical context, the city has come so far in the past three decades or so. Perhaps a little stagnation and backsliding is inevitable. ... I like the Florence-Milan comparison. But my own city-to-city formulation (usually used as a club to beat down annoying clowns comparing the Hub to NY) is: Boston is to New York as Edinburgh is to London -- the two shouldn't be compared and I'll take the comparison to Edinburgh any day. ... One thing I'd like to see improved: Our manners. Our Yankee pessimism and testiness can be strangely endearing, but it also seems to have intensified in recent years. ...
Mike Wallace, the human work machine: Mike Wallace is retiring from '60 Minutes.' He's 87 years old. Say what you will about Mike's career or dyed hair, I don't think there's a younger or healthier looking 87 year old around. ... And he's from Brookline. ...
Mike Wallace, the human work machine: Mike Wallace is retiring from '60 Minutes.' He's 87 years old. Say what you will about Mike's career or dyed hair, I don't think there's a younger or healthier looking 87 year old around. ... And he's from Brookline. ...
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
'Among them ...': Maybe Bryon Calame should suggest that Times reporters take crash Conservativism 101 courses from their conservative-beat colleagues. William F. Buckley Jr. is most certainly not a 'neoconservative,' as the story says. ... I found similar problems in George Packer's 'Assassin's Gate,' which admirably tries to explore the intellectual underpinnings of the war in Iraq. While acknowleding more than a few movement zigzags from Jeane Kirkpatrick to William Kristol, Packer still tries to make neoconservativism into a coherent whole that it's not. 'Neoconservative' has to be the most poorly applied label in American politics today. ...
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Not Adam, please not Adam: Perhaps it's a bluff, but the Pats would dearly miss Adam. ... Bill Simmons rediscovers the NBA via Paul Pierce. ...
But was it in the South End?: Another day, another shooting. ... Check out BPD News. How do you stay on top of all these shootings without more cops? Last count: seven in 24 hours.
Whitey, Whitey, Whitey!: Ah, the mysterious third book. It's by Patrick Nee. ... Why all the books now on Whitey? I suspect Nee's and Week's books were deliberately timed for release with Howie's more anticipated 'Brothers Bulger'. No big surprise. Makes publishing sense. ... Pundit Review has Howie on tonight after '60 Minutes.' ...
Reilly recovers?: The poll sounds right in that a Reilly rebound was to be expected. But the size of his lead over Patrick doesn't feel right. Just a hunch. ...
Update -- John Kerry was in New Hampshire yesterday while Mitt allegedly did well in a straw poll designed soley for projecting an image of momentum. Bottom line: It's early. ... Two Bay State presidential candidates. Kind of incredible, early or not. And, yes, Kerry's a candidate because he's been a candidate all his life. ...
Update -- John Kerry was in New Hampshire yesterday while Mitt allegedly did well in a straw poll designed soley for projecting an image of momentum. Bottom line: It's early. ... Two Bay State presidential candidates. Kind of incredible, early or not. And, yes, Kerry's a candidate because he's been a candidate all his life. ...
Hub Blog and the grassy knoll: Yes, I admit it! I briefly used to be a JFK conspiracy buff. I snapped out of it a long time ago, after watching Walter Conkrite and others demolish most conspiracy theoriests' assassination arguments. But I still admire Oliver Stone's 'JFK' movie, which was on TV last night. Artistically, it's an amazing film that flashes back and forth between years, characters, events, acting and newsreels -- and doesn't miss a beat in its storytelling narrative. Say what you will about Oliver Stone, he's a brilliant director (his paranoia and Alexander the Great aside). ...
Speaking of JFK: The Vietnam conference yesterday at the JFK Library held few storyline surprises. 'Looking back, looking forward' seems to have been the inevitable yawn-inducing journalistic narrative, i.e. Vietnam and Iraq. ... And speaking of Iraq, see post below. ...
Update -- More here and here. ...
'Deterrence by doubt': This is a terrific story. But, far be it for humble Hub Blog to say, I think it buried the lede: Saddam telling his shocked generals he didn't have any WMD only months before the war. Many things to take and surmise from this: A.) It appears the regime would have used WMD if they had them, based on the Iraqi generals' morale-shattering disappointment when told the shelves were bare B.) Some of the WMD evidence used by the Bush administration was actually evidence of Saddam cleaning up his WMD. C.) Colin Powell's presentation before the UN was so convincing, that many Iraqi generals who were secretly told there were no WMD actually began to think Saddam was lying about WMD. ... Of course, I fell for the presentation too. ...
Speaking of JFK: The Vietnam conference yesterday at the JFK Library held few storyline surprises. 'Looking back, looking forward' seems to have been the inevitable yawn-inducing journalistic narrative, i.e. Vietnam and Iraq. ... And speaking of Iraq, see post below. ...
Update -- More here and here. ...
'Deterrence by doubt': This is a terrific story. But, far be it for humble Hub Blog to say, I think it buried the lede: Saddam telling his shocked generals he didn't have any WMD only months before the war. Many things to take and surmise from this: A.) It appears the regime would have used WMD if they had them, based on the Iraqi generals' morale-shattering disappointment when told the shelves were bare B.) Some of the WMD evidence used by the Bush administration was actually evidence of Saddam cleaning up his WMD. C.) Colin Powell's presentation before the UN was so convincing, that many Iraqi generals who were secretly told there were no WMD actually began to think Saddam was lying about WMD. ... Of course, I fell for the presentation too. ...
Saturday, March 11, 2006
'Children’s lives and stability for dogma': Someone was supposed to blink. It didn't happen. So Catholic Charities is now out of the adoption business (stories here and here). ... Now I certainly don't want to sound like a right-wing nut of the type you see regularly over at Domenico's site, where they actually think Catholic Charities didn't take a tough enough stand and lambaste a priest of the church for not citing the Gospels enough. But a compromise on both sides really could have avoided this tragedy. The church did seek a compromise. The state refused. No counterproposals on either side. None. The word 'immoral' is being slung around a lot. It deserves to be applied to both sides if the word is logically to be used. After all, isn't this all about the kids, as so many of the self-righteous on both sides claim? Well, the kids have lost. Who's to blame? The adults who squabbled and refused to budge from their dogmatic positions. Jeff was largely right on this score. ... P.S. - I have no objection to gays adopting children. I object to the notion there's only one dogmatic side to this issue. .... P.S.P.S. -- Lots of other blog comments and links over at Adam's site.
Friday, March 10, 2006
'The books have to be bad news': It might be easy to dismiss all the attention surrounding the new Whitey books by Kevin and Howie as nothing more than hucksterism. But there is a very serious side to all of this. Take William Weld, who's now running for governor of New York. From an AP story yesterday in Newsday:
" 'The books have to be bad news,' said Maurice Carroll of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. 'I don't think (Weld) is a crook or anything like that, that's silly.
"He said the coverage shouldn't create 'significant trouble ... But it could remind people he's from Massachusetts, who might say, `Why doesn't he go back to Massachusetts?'
"Carroll, a veteran New York political observer, said Massachusetts politics is complex with its occasional intermingling of characters from the political and crime worlds.
"That was the Boston backdrop for one of Weld's novels, 'Mackerel by Moonlight.' It's a 1998 thriller about a federal prosecutor in New York with helpful crime world allies who moves to Boston to run for office."
Ha, ha, ha. 'Occasional intermingling of characters from the political and crime worlds.' Get it? That old Bill Weld. Very clever, isn't he? Bottom line: Weld should have known what was going on when he was U.S. Attorney and later governor, just as surely as he should have known about what was happening at Decker College when he was running that diploma factory. ...
As for Howie, go ahead. Make fun of him. He's selling a book. It's hucksterism. Sure. But when '60 Minutes,' Weld and others in the MSM were yucking it up last decade over Billy's and Whitey's antics, Howie and guys like Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill were digging away. As Chris Lydon once put it:
"Howie is the only writer in Boston with the tenacity to learn the whole Bulger story, and the balls to tell it--not only to relate it in infinite detail (look for Howie's Whitey Watch here) but to laugh in the Bulgers' faces with jokes about The Caucasian, The Corrupt Midget and the Crime Family. These were jokes that he had to know could have cost him his life. The Bulgers had jokes, too, like the word passed from Whitey's liquor store in South Boston that they had a dumpster out back with Howie Carr's name on it."
I think Howie has earned the right to mock Kevin Weeks on the front page. ... But the best part of all of this? Bill Weld isn't laughing anymore. ... BTW: I'm a colleague of Howie at the Herald.
Update -- Sorry. Forgot to link to Howie's front-page blurbed column. It's a classic. He mocks Kevin, dismisses Week's James Bond assassination tale, pokes fun at '60 Minutes,' and shamelessly hawks his book ("available in fine book stores everywhere."). ...
" 'The books have to be bad news,' said Maurice Carroll of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. 'I don't think (Weld) is a crook or anything like that, that's silly.
"He said the coverage shouldn't create 'significant trouble ... But it could remind people he's from Massachusetts, who might say, `Why doesn't he go back to Massachusetts?'
"Carroll, a veteran New York political observer, said Massachusetts politics is complex with its occasional intermingling of characters from the political and crime worlds.
"That was the Boston backdrop for one of Weld's novels, 'Mackerel by Moonlight.' It's a 1998 thriller about a federal prosecutor in New York with helpful crime world allies who moves to Boston to run for office."
Ha, ha, ha. 'Occasional intermingling of characters from the political and crime worlds.' Get it? That old Bill Weld. Very clever, isn't he? Bottom line: Weld should have known what was going on when he was U.S. Attorney and later governor, just as surely as he should have known about what was happening at Decker College when he was running that diploma factory. ...
As for Howie, go ahead. Make fun of him. He's selling a book. It's hucksterism. Sure. But when '60 Minutes,' Weld and others in the MSM were yucking it up last decade over Billy's and Whitey's antics, Howie and guys like Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill were digging away. As Chris Lydon once put it:
"Howie is the only writer in Boston with the tenacity to learn the whole Bulger story, and the balls to tell it--not only to relate it in infinite detail (look for Howie's Whitey Watch here) but to laugh in the Bulgers' faces with jokes about The Caucasian, The Corrupt Midget and the Crime Family. These were jokes that he had to know could have cost him his life. The Bulgers had jokes, too, like the word passed from Whitey's liquor store in South Boston that they had a dumpster out back with Howie Carr's name on it."
I think Howie has earned the right to mock Kevin Weeks on the front page. ... But the best part of all of this? Bill Weld isn't laughing anymore. ... BTW: I'm a colleague of Howie at the Herald.
Update -- Sorry. Forgot to link to Howie's front-page blurbed column. It's a classic. He mocks Kevin, dismisses Week's James Bond assassination tale, pokes fun at '60 Minutes,' and shamelessly hawks his book ("available in fine book stores everywhere."). ...
Thursday, March 09, 2006
The start and end of history: Vietnam: The aging ‘60s crowd will be in nostalgia heaven starting tomorrow at the JFK Library: They’ll get to discuss Vietnam and JFK all weekend. If this is a scholarly preview of what’s to come, I think I’ll take a pass. Note how it states JFK had the 'outline' of a withdrawal plan from Vietnam – but then again we really can’t know what he would have done if he had lived. … I counted in the piece use of the following slippery words: two ‘suggests’; one ‘seems’; one ‘seemingly’; one ‘appears’ and one ‘sense,’ not to mention four open-ended questions, all designed to fill factual voids in the never-ending quest to distance Camelot and JFK from Vietnam blame. …Hey, I admire Kennedy and have a strong hunch he wouldn’t have screwed up as bad as LBJ if he had lived. But I’m not going to say what he suggested and appeared to have seemingly sensed and intended in Vietnam amounts to hard ‘lessons’ about Iraq.
Dawn Silvia sighting!: Carpundit points out an interesting new blog, Beantowners, whose rather impressive roster of bloggers includes among others Dean Johnson and ... DAWN SILVIA!!! ... Martha Stewart doesn't know what she's talking about. Dawn is most definitely not 'unfit.'
Dawn Silvia sighting!: Carpundit points out an interesting new blog, Beantowners, whose rather impressive roster of bloggers includes among others Dean Johnson and ... DAWN SILVIA!!! ... Martha Stewart doesn't know what she's talking about. Dawn is most definitely not 'unfit.'
Breaking cases: Two suspects in the Dorchester quadruple murder may or may not have been held for questioning in December. But it's now clear there has indeed been two suspects in investigators' crosshairs for a while, as this story and this story now confirm. ... Meanwhile, yet another brutal murder investigation seems to be reaching a dramatic conclusion. ... Police have done a good job in both cases, by the sound of it, though BPD News might want to amplify a bit on its Dec. 18 post on the Dorchester case in light of latest developments. ... BTW: I work for one of the two newspapers in town. Guess which one. ...
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
'Slammed his fist down on the table': While reading George Packer's 'Assassin's Gate,' I've been wondering which excerpt to post to demonstrate the total lack of postwar planning by the administration. I was tempted to use the story about a State Department aide who, in Kuwait only days before the war's outbreak, had to use a Fodor's travel book to indentify and draw up a list of sites that needed protection in the event of looting (the National Museum was high up on the list -- a list that was ignored by higher ups). But I settled on a meeting between Pentagon aide Larry Di Rita and officials from the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance as events unfolded:
"The night Di Rita flew into Kuwait in early April (2003), he was briefed by ORHA's senior officials, and when the deputy leader of the reconstruction pillar, Chris Milligan of USAID, spoke about the need to show early benefits to the Iraqi people, Di Rita slammed his fist down on the table. 'We don't owe the people of Iraq anything,' he said. 'We're giving them their freedom. That's enough.' A few days later, by which time ORHA officials realized that Di Rita had the full confidence of Rumsfeld, the secretary's spokesman stood up at a meeting of about fifty people in the Hilton conference room. The State Department messed up Bosnia and Kosovo, he told his audience (which included many foreign service officers), and the Pentagon wasn't going to let that happen in Iraq. 'We're going to stand up an interim Iraqi government, hand power over to them, and get out of there in three to four months,' Di Rita announced."
Packer relentlessly piles up the evidence -- based on interviews, memos, documents, speeches, Congressional testimony and his own eye-witness accounts -- that the Pentagon systematically sabotaged any effort to come up with a coherent plan for postwar Iraq. In other words: The lack of planning was deliberate. It's mind blowing. ... Packer also clearly shows the lack of planning didn't just lead to civil catastrophe. It was a military blunder of the first order, allowing an enemy to regroup and take advantage of the chaos.
... History will not be kind to Rumsfeld and this administration. ...
"The night Di Rita flew into Kuwait in early April (2003), he was briefed by ORHA's senior officials, and when the deputy leader of the reconstruction pillar, Chris Milligan of USAID, spoke about the need to show early benefits to the Iraqi people, Di Rita slammed his fist down on the table. 'We don't owe the people of Iraq anything,' he said. 'We're giving them their freedom. That's enough.' A few days later, by which time ORHA officials realized that Di Rita had the full confidence of Rumsfeld, the secretary's spokesman stood up at a meeting of about fifty people in the Hilton conference room. The State Department messed up Bosnia and Kosovo, he told his audience (which included many foreign service officers), and the Pentagon wasn't going to let that happen in Iraq. 'We're going to stand up an interim Iraqi government, hand power over to them, and get out of there in three to four months,' Di Rita announced."
Packer relentlessly piles up the evidence -- based on interviews, memos, documents, speeches, Congressional testimony and his own eye-witness accounts -- that the Pentagon systematically sabotaged any effort to come up with a coherent plan for postwar Iraq. In other words: The lack of planning was deliberate. It's mind blowing. ... Packer also clearly shows the lack of planning didn't just lead to civil catastrophe. It was a military blunder of the first order, allowing an enemy to regroup and take advantage of the chaos.
... History will not be kind to Rumsfeld and this administration. ...
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
I've got it!: How to achieve my dream life is slowly coming into focus. I shall inherit an English manor and pay for it via blogger payola. ...
'Mihos’s numbers match those ...': Christy Mihos is running a solid third at 22 percent -- and Reilly is still only barely beating Healey? The poll can't be encouraging to either one of them. ... But Christy is all pumped up, meaning maybe he won't take a hint and drop out soon. ...
Update -- Wait a second. I'm taking Jon Keller's new blog off my blogroll right now due to the inevitability of him one day saying something I find offensive. (You don't have a blogroll. - Who are you? - The God of your conscience.)
Update -- Wait a second. I'm taking Jon Keller's new blog off my blogroll right now due to the inevitability of him one day saying something I find offensive. (You don't have a blogroll. - Who are you? - The God of your conscience.)
'I'm removing your site from my blogroll': Oooooo. Joe has removed Carpundit from his blogroll due to Carpundit's comments about what was said at the Catholic 'men's conference' this past weekend. ... Joe, Joe, Joe. You've got the whole victimhood terminology wrong. You're supposed to say you're 'offended' and await the arrival of the Stoughton No Place for Hate Committee. C'mon, get it right. ... Am I being anti-Catholic as a Catholic if I say I agreed with Carpundit, which I do? (You'd be excommunicated, that's all. - Who are you? - The God of your conscience..) ...
Friday, March 03, 2006
'Lunging to the right ...,' Part II: Kerry Healey does indeed have a Republican running against her in the GOP primary: Mitt. ... So Kerry has had to distance herself from him on abortion and stem cells and gay adoptions -- all in one week and all because he's using Massachusetts social issues as quicky resume enhancers. The trick for Healey is not to come across as performing a reverse pander to the far left on the social issues. ... P.S. - She also can't criticize Mitt too much. She's not entitled to be his heir apparent. Perhaps Mitt will calm down in a month or two after he's gone over his presidential check list, realizing that helping a fellow Republican win election might be perceived as the classy thing to do. He might also cynically realize that a fellow Republican in the corner office, with a small army of door knockers and stamp lickers, could be useful to him in New Hampshire. ...
Thursday, March 02, 2006
'Nothing is going to change me': I had a hard time figuring out how to slug this post. It could have been: 'Mutiny within his campaign team.' ... Or: 'Impossible to manage.' ... I settled on 'Nothing is going to change me' because, well, it's so true. ... It could have also been slugged: 'Gov. Reilly? Or Gov. Patrick?' ...
Update -- Reader No. 1: "At the risk of sounding like a dreaded Political Professional (PPs), I think Christy's candidacy will be short-lived. PPs and reporters they talk to love 'political disarray' stories and judging by TV and press response to Christy's appearance/announcement last night, there will be no shortage of these. Too bad, I have had a lot of respect for Mihos to this point. ... The main issue is going to be whether/how much his presence damages the Healy campaign. Given the Commonwealth's demographic changes over the last 25 years, I don't think the Progressive-Hack alliance can pull Reilly or Patrick over the top."
Update II -- David over at Blue Mass. Group also thinks Mihos' campaign might be short-lived. ...
'Lunging to the right ...': OK, so it's a little late. But remember: It's an evolution of Mitt's beliefs, not politics. ... The funny part is thinking how the state Democrats can -- and probably will - screw up these God-given advantages. ... Oh, to be a fly on the campaign wall of Kerry Healey's camp this glorious day. ...
Update -- And Reader No. 1 again: "I can't disagree with Joan today (Romney column) that flip-flopping is infuriating. But if it were a disqualifier for national leadership, our history would be very different - see Novak for another current example."
Update -- Reader No. 1: "At the risk of sounding like a dreaded Political Professional (PPs), I think Christy's candidacy will be short-lived. PPs and reporters they talk to love 'political disarray' stories and judging by TV and press response to Christy's appearance/announcement last night, there will be no shortage of these. Too bad, I have had a lot of respect for Mihos to this point. ... The main issue is going to be whether/how much his presence damages the Healy campaign. Given the Commonwealth's demographic changes over the last 25 years, I don't think the Progressive-Hack alliance can pull Reilly or Patrick over the top."
Update II -- David over at Blue Mass. Group also thinks Mihos' campaign might be short-lived. ...
'Lunging to the right ...': OK, so it's a little late. But remember: It's an evolution of Mitt's beliefs, not politics. ... The funny part is thinking how the state Democrats can -- and probably will - screw up these God-given advantages. ... Oh, to be a fly on the campaign wall of Kerry Healey's camp this glorious day. ...
Update -- And Reader No. 1 again: "I can't disagree with Joan today (Romney column) that flip-flopping is infuriating. But if it were a disqualifier for national leadership, our history would be very different - see Novak for another current example."
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
News bulletin!!!: Manny has arrived in camp. ...
'Chill out': An utterly fascinating video that turns upside down the virtue of obeying a law (via Instapundit). ... What would happen if every law was indeed obeyed by everyone?
Update -- Carpundit effectively turns the argument around by noting that the Atlanta students probably had to disobey a law in order to show how obeying the law can create illogical mayhem. ... One thought: If the students kept the far left lane open for passing cars while hogging the other right lanes, they still would have created a backup of some sort -- and still prompted motorists to pass them in the left lane at illegal speeds. Their point is still valid. I think. I'm getting dizzy. ...
'Chill out': An utterly fascinating video that turns upside down the virtue of obeying a law (via Instapundit). ... What would happen if every law was indeed obeyed by everyone?
Update -- Carpundit effectively turns the argument around by noting that the Atlanta students probably had to disobey a law in order to show how obeying the law can create illogical mayhem. ... One thought: If the students kept the far left lane open for passing cars while hogging the other right lanes, they still would have created a backup of some sort -- and still prompted motorists to pass them in the left lane at illegal speeds. Their point is still valid. I think. I'm getting dizzy. ...
Monday, February 27, 2006
George Bush, lame duck: When prez-wannabe Mitt Romney dares to lob minor criticism at the mighty leader's handling of the war, you know lame-duckism is setting in. ...
Sunday, February 26, 2006
'Craigslist has made it much easier': I don't know. I thought it was a good story simply executed with old-fashioned gum-shoe reporting about how craigslist makes it easier for prostitutes to ply their trade. Others disagree.. ... Of course yesterday I was calling for a little slack on enforcing laws. Others disagreed. ... Unlike we bloggers, at least the cops are consistent. They want laws on the books enforced on both counts. ... FYI: I'm a Herald business reporter.
Update -- Carpundit seems to have gotten what he craved: attention. ... So when craigslist comes out with a variation of his much hyped community journalism, we're all supposed to react, "Ha! Community journalism has already been here! Weekly papers have been around for 200 years!!!" ...
Update -- Carpundit seems to have gotten what he craved: attention. ... So when craigslist comes out with a variation of his much hyped community journalism, we're all supposed to react, "Ha! Community journalism has already been here! Weekly papers have been around for 200 years!!!" ...
'It would be better if any future despot ...': Stumbled across two great articles in The Times of London, for those trying to sort out the mess resulting from last week's bombing of the Shiite shrine in Iraq. The first raises the prospect of a new Saddam 'strongman' emerging in Iraq -- with a still hopeful but realistic top U.S. official acknowledging the possibility. The second looks into Al-Qaeda's possible game plan in Iraq and how the fanatical Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who loathes Shiites almost as much as he does Americans, is determined to turn Iraq into another Yugoslavia. He's doing a good job of it so far, unfortunately. (FYI: Plenty of chicken-before-the-egg speculative fodder for both the pro-war and anti-war camps in the second article. The author maintains Saddam did ally his regime with Al-Qaeda -- but only after the Taliban fell and Saddam knew he was next on the Americans' hit list.) ... Of course there's this article on the fanatical Shiite clerics and militias mucking up any and all plans. ...
All of which brings me to William F. Buckley's assertion that it's time to admit defeat. Even I, as a Wobbly Warrior, am not prepared to go there. Zalmay Khalilzad, the American ambassador in Iraq, is doing a remarkable job and may yet 'pull a rabbit out of a hat,' as one U.S. official now puts it in the first link. Yet it's clearly time to start managing all the setbacks and get back-up plans in place ASAP. But that would require planning -- something history shows this administration is not very good at. ...
Update -- Khalilzad seems to have pulled a rabbit out of the hat this weekend by helping avoid an immediate outbreak of civil war. How many more rabbits does he have?
All of which brings me to William F. Buckley's assertion that it's time to admit defeat. Even I, as a Wobbly Warrior, am not prepared to go there. Zalmay Khalilzad, the American ambassador in Iraq, is doing a remarkable job and may yet 'pull a rabbit out of a hat,' as one U.S. official now puts it in the first link. Yet it's clearly time to start managing all the setbacks and get back-up plans in place ASAP. But that would require planning -- something history shows this administration is not very good at. ...
Update -- Khalilzad seems to have pulled a rabbit out of the hat this weekend by helping avoid an immediate outbreak of civil war. How many more rabbits does he have?
Saturday, February 25, 2006
'Atrocities on Ice': It's official: "There's something very bad going on in figure skating." ...
Update -- The next Olympic sport. Why not? ...
Update -- The next Olympic sport. Why not? ...
'It is disgusting and embarrassing': One would think federal officials have better things to do than to jail a nanny. What next? A nationwide au pair round-up? ... I sympathize with the local authorities on the street. They're just doing their jobs. Perhaps in this individual case the nanny isn't so sweet and innocent. But our immigration policy certainly appears to be in a shambles, with the administration winking at illegal immigrants streaming across the border to the south while cracking down illogically in other areas. The 'colossal waste' just might be the time spent enforcing a flawed policy. ...
No American Shogun: Here's a review of L. Paul Bremer III's new book about Iraq. ... By pure coincidence, I'm reading former British MP Robert Harvey's 'American Shogun,' about the interacting lives of Emperor Hirohito and Gen. Douglas MacArthur. ... Bottom line: Bremer was no American Shogun. ... Say what you will about MacArthur (and he really was one brilliant prick), his occupation policies in post-war Japan were enlightened, sensitive, shrewd and, above all, effective. ...
No American Shogun: Here's a review of L. Paul Bremer III's new book about Iraq. ... By pure coincidence, I'm reading former British MP Robert Harvey's 'American Shogun,' about the interacting lives of Emperor Hirohito and Gen. Douglas MacArthur. ... Bottom line: Bremer was no American Shogun. ... Say what you will about MacArthur (and he really was one brilliant prick), his occupation policies in post-war Japan were enlightened, sensitive, shrewd and, above all, effective. ...
Friday, February 24, 2006
'Wrong, Bill!': I can't make sense of this feud. But it involves Bill O'Reilly and Al Franken and Boston's Brian Maloney and Waltham's Alliance for Democracy and more get-a-life commentators than you can ever imagine (see first link). ... Yet another reminder of this basic truth: "The extreme right and left are merely mirror images of each other battling within their owned warped universe. ... Foretold in Season 3, Episode 15: 'Let That Be Your Last Battlefield.'" ... Don't ask me how I found the first link. I used to think I had a life. ...
'Tight-lipped policy on news': Sox fans are now clinging to every word they're not saying. ... Picture the possible headlines 57 days from now: 'Sox management still tight lipped.' And we'd still lap up every word of it. ...
'A good chicken is a free chicken': I know that the French love their fowl and that avian flu is serious. So a little obsessive behavior is quite understandable. But a 'national identity crisis'? ...
'I’ve made my share of mistakes': Violation No. 1 of my no-more-Harvard-posts pledge: Can you imagine Summers' most ardent critics on the faculty admitting 'mistakes'? I honestly can't. ... Lots of thoughtful comments and links over at LCL on the matter. Combined with conversations I've had with people in the know about Summers, I'm officially distancing myself a bit more from the views of Alan Dershowitz. Of course there was left-wing ideology at the core of the opposition to Summers. Are we to dismiss the entire Innate Differences 'crisis' as anything but ideological? Would Summers have been forced to resign this week if his comments about women -- and other third-rail PC controversies, i.e. Cornell West and affirmative action, Israel divestment etc. -- had not occurred? I think not. But that doesn't mean Summers didn't and wouldn't have caused other troubles for himself. He alienated too many other faculty members via his erratic and sometimes autocratic management style. When their support wavered, Summers' days were numbered. ... FYI: I have a hunch that Summers' 'long good-bye' tour -- if handled correctly, as it was yesterday -- might play into the Corporation's hands, assuming board members still want to make major changes at Harvard. Summers is reaching out to students and coming across as reasonable in defeat, regaining legitimacy for his vision in the process. The Corporation can use that legitimacy by hiring someone with similar views as Summers but with better management skills. They then can present the candidate to the public and basically say, 'You faculty members say this was all about management? Fine. Here's a good manager. Now what?' I'm not sure some on the Arts and Sciences faculty appreciate their support is thin among alumni, students and faculty members at other schools.
Update -- Here's a A&S faculty member who hopes the next president indeed retains aspects of Summers' goals and style. ...
Update -- Here's a A&S faculty member who hopes the next president indeed retains aspects of Summers' goals and style. ...
Thursday, February 23, 2006
'Hired to kick some Harvard butt': OK, last post for now on Harvard: James Traub, a Summers admirer, explores Larry's quirky management style and, convincingly, compares his situation to Tina Brown's takeover of the New Yorker magazine. Traub's conclusion:
"I, for one, will miss Summers, since university presidents who have something to say that is worth hearing are as rare as hen's teeth. And I worry that an emboldened faculty will push the Harvard Corporation to choose as his successor the reincarnation of Neil Rudenstine. Summers had a worthy cause; I hope he hasn't wound up discrediting it." ... We already have the resurrection of Derek Bok. A reincarnation of Neil Rudenstine may not be far behind. ...
"I, for one, will miss Summers, since university presidents who have something to say that is worth hearing are as rare as hen's teeth. And I worry that an emboldened faculty will push the Harvard Corporation to choose as his successor the reincarnation of Neil Rudenstine. Summers had a worthy cause; I hope he hasn't wound up discrediting it." ... We already have the resurrection of Derek Bok. A reincarnation of Neil Rudenstine may not be far behind. ...
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
'An academic coup d'etat': Alan Dershowitz may be a little harsh in his assessment of the Summers resignation. But he's not wrong to say that the core opposition was comprised of 100 percent pure-octane lefties living in their own self-dramatized world. ... Harvard is going back to the future: Derek Bok, Harvard’s president from 1971 to 1991, is resurrecting his role of academic pooper scooper for the '60s generation. ... The reaction of some students: “Stay, Summers, stay!” ... All of this is not to say Summers was a good manager. He had pretty lousy "people skills," as they say and as I once discovered in a minor run-in with the guy. But look at the "people skills" of some of the faculty members and you understand why the Corporation originally hired him and hoped he could make changes. He accomplished a lot. But ...
Update -- From Reader No. 1:
"Good column by Alan Dershowitz. (But is he a secret Right Wing Nut? Don't tell the Faculty of Arts and Sciences about his next book.) Dershowitz described a Harvard that is not so special, but behaves just like all liberal American institutions since 1968: it caves into extremists. Steve Bailey is right in one sense when he says no 'one person' can govern such a place. When everybody has a veto, nothing gets done.
"Actually, I can think of one person who could 'govern' Harvard, at least in the sense of keeping Peace in the Valley among the perpetually embittered, and Crimson in the Headlines. He doesn't have strong Harvard ties (other than a couple of wilderness years at the Kennedy School) but he's sure got star power. And today at Harvard, Star Power means more than leadership (see paragraph 3 as an example). For Harvard's new President, why not the best?."
'Not a Lampoon Hoax ...' Part III: Cambridge Common reported late yesterday that there would be a report about his reports of reports of reports. ... And he was right -- again. ... FYI: He's not claiming he broke the Summers story. He is claiming he broke the story about the breaking stories. ... The Matt Drudge of Cambridge! ...
Update -- From Reader No. 1:
"Good column by Alan Dershowitz. (But is he a secret Right Wing Nut? Don't tell the Faculty of Arts and Sciences about his next book.) Dershowitz described a Harvard that is not so special, but behaves just like all liberal American institutions since 1968: it caves into extremists. Steve Bailey is right in one sense when he says no 'one person' can govern such a place. When everybody has a veto, nothing gets done.
"Actually, I can think of one person who could 'govern' Harvard, at least in the sense of keeping Peace in the Valley among the perpetually embittered, and Crimson in the Headlines. He doesn't have strong Harvard ties (other than a couple of wilderness years at the Kennedy School) but he's sure got star power. And today at Harvard, Star Power means more than leadership (see paragraph 3 as an example). For Harvard's new President, why not the best?."
'Not a Lampoon Hoax ...' Part III: Cambridge Common reported late yesterday that there would be a report about his reports of reports of reports. ... And he was right -- again. ... FYI: He's not claiming he broke the Summers story. He is claiming he broke the story about the breaking stories. ... The Matt Drudge of Cambridge! ...
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
'Not a Lampoon Hoax ...' Part II: Cambridge Common: "I will continue to report on reports of other people's reports." ... Bottom line: The blog's sources were accurate last night. Cambridge Common literally broke news of pending breaking news. Very impressive. ... Repeat again: It's not your father's media anymore. ...
Update -- No rumor. Just official fact: Larry resigns effective July 1. ... Reaction over at Cambridge Common.
'Not a Lampoon Hoax ...': How we get the news today: Wake up, make coffee, flick on computer, check emails, scan newspapers and blogs and see Instapundit has a post from late last night on rumors/reports of imminent resignation by Harvard's Larry Summers. Follow Instapundit's link to Cambridge Common which has lots of late-night rumors/reports about Summer's probable resignation based on sources within The Crimson who say they're doing a story on it for next morning ("apparently the Crimson is leaking like a sieve.") Go to Crimson site: Sure enough, as Cambridge Common reported, the student newspaper has a story this morning on Larry's possible resignation, based on a report in the WSJ, a story also mentioned and speculated about last night on Cambridge Common (WJR story is sub. req. but the headline is indeed posted on its front page this morning). ... It's not your father's media anymore, in case you didn't notice. ...
P.S. -- Things move so fast now that web commentators have already said what you wish you could have been the first to say, i.e. See first 10:38 p.m. comment at Cambridge Common -- that was going to be my view! ...
P.S. P.S -- The blogger slaughter continues. Cambridge Common also reports: "Some members of The Crimson are apparently livid with their leakers (which are, I assure you, numerous)." ... So now blogs are not only reporting what's going to be reported, but they're reporting how reporters are upset with reports of their upcoming reports. ... Repeat: It's not your father's media anymore. ...
Update -- No rumor. Just official fact: Larry resigns effective July 1. ... Reaction over at Cambridge Common.
'Not a Lampoon Hoax ...': How we get the news today: Wake up, make coffee, flick on computer, check emails, scan newspapers and blogs and see Instapundit has a post from late last night on rumors/reports of imminent resignation by Harvard's Larry Summers. Follow Instapundit's link to Cambridge Common which has lots of late-night rumors/reports about Summer's probable resignation based on sources within The Crimson who say they're doing a story on it for next morning ("apparently the Crimson is leaking like a sieve.") Go to Crimson site: Sure enough, as Cambridge Common reported, the student newspaper has a story this morning on Larry's possible resignation, based on a report in the WSJ, a story also mentioned and speculated about last night on Cambridge Common (WJR story is sub. req. but the headline is indeed posted on its front page this morning). ... It's not your father's media anymore, in case you didn't notice. ...
P.S. -- Things move so fast now that web commentators have already said what you wish you could have been the first to say, i.e. See first 10:38 p.m. comment at Cambridge Common -- that was going to be my view! ...
P.S. P.S -- The blogger slaughter continues. Cambridge Common also reports: "Some members of The Crimson are apparently livid with their leakers (which are, I assure you, numerous)." ... So now blogs are not only reporting what's going to be reported, but they're reporting how reporters are upset with reports of their upcoming reports. ... Repeat: It's not your father's media anymore. ...
Sunday, February 19, 2006
'The Vice President is standing by his decision': Here's a postage-stamp video of the Daily Show's coverage of the Cheney shooting mishap (click on video-qt). Rob Corddry is simply hilarious. ... Via Geoff Arnold.
