Why did Mitt Romney win Iowa? Not because he is the ideal candidate, but because the Republican faithful will just have to settle. That the turnout was not impressive, despite grassroots exasperation with Barack Obama, is a testament to the lack of enthusiasm with which the Iowa GOP greeted the quirky field of candidates presented […]
Archives for January 2012
Reading in the New Millennium: Cole at Truthdig
My essay, “Reading in the New Millennium: Forward to the Past?” is out at Truthdig. Excerpt: “I have been rereading Ralph Waldo Emerson’s two-volume “Essays” on my iPad via Google Books. His remarks at the opening of the piece on “Politics” are justly renowned but always worth considering again: “In dealing with the State, we […]
Tomgram: Engelhardt, Lessons from Lost Wars in 2012
It was to be the war that would establish empire as an American fact. It would result in a thousand-year Pax Americana. It was to be “mission accomplished” all the way. And then, of course, it wasn’t. And t…
Will his New Sanctions on Iran Cost Obama the Presidency?
A sharp drop in the value of the Iranian currency as a result of new American sanctions may sound like good news to hawks in the US. But actually this development may signal ways in which Americans will also be harmed, and Obama may have put a second term in jeopardy, cutting off his nose […]
Conservative White People’s Primary
What Iowa looks like with regard to ethnicity (2010 Census): What the United States looks like (2010 Census)
Top 5 Foreign Policy Challenges for US, 2012
My list of challenges last year this time more or less nailed it, especially my concerns about the Mubarak era ending in Egypt. Many of the dangers to which I pointed still exist, of course, but a whole host of new difficulties has emerged. 5. The compromise reached in Yemen is unacceptable to many reformers. […]
On the end of Newt Gingrich’s Campaign
“Passion often makes a madman of the cleverest man, and renders the greatest fools clever.” – François de La Rochefoucauld (d. 1680)
Iraqis Celebrate being Free of US Troops, Fear US Meddling
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of Iraq held a rally in a sports stadium on Saturday to celebrate Iraq being free of US troops. He declared a national holiday, and thousands of Iraqis were surprised to receive a text message from him on their cell phones saying “All of us are for Iraq; the glory is […]
New Year’s 2012 in Tahrir Square, Egypt
New Year’s in Tahrir Square, Cairo: The leftist crowd begins by singing the national anthem. Then a woman revolutionary calls out, “Bread, Freedom and social justice!” “A civil state, civil state!” “May the military government fall!” she chants, and the crowd repeats. “Treatment for injured [protesters]!” “Free Egypt, with God’s permission!” “Free Egypt, with God’s […]
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