The following piece by Michael Podhoretz [subscribe here] has gotten a lot of coverage lately and seems to be making an impact. It’s super dense and super fascinating for political junkies. If you are someone who likes to go deep on election analysis and you have a few extra minutes, check it out. I find it persuasive. (But what do I know?) This analysis provides compelling evidence for a very different explanation of the midterm results than what most analysts are offering – an explanation which I have been arguing was possible for more than a year. Even before November 2021 (when Democrats suffered major losses in Virginia and elsewhere), I argued that America is an anti-MAGA majority country when it knows that MAGA is on the ballot. I have consistently underscored that to the extent that Americans understood the stakes of the midterms to be about defeating MAGA, they would once again show up in sufficient numbers to bar the door.
Reading
More than two millennia ago, in the History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides recounted a disastrous conflict Athens waged against Sparta. A masterwork on strategy and war, the book is still taught at the U.S. Army War College and many other military institutions across the world. A passage from it describing an ultimatum Athens gave a weaker power has stayed with me all these years. And here it is, loosely translated from the Greek: “The strong do what they will and the weak suffer as they must.” Recently, I read the latest National Defense Strategy, or NDS, issued in October 2022 by the Pentagon, and Thucydides’s ancient message, a warning as clear as it was undeniable, came to mind again.... Read more
*Way to go, English language
The Opposition leader the Dark Lord Peter Dutton has today launched what he hopes to be the Coalition’s election winning slogan of: ”We’re Not Racist, But….. ”I’d like to start today’s presser by declaring that I am not racist, but,”... Read More ›
Safeguarding democracy worldwide looms as a major task for 2023, requiring global collaboration to succeed. read now...Another Message Board Post comments on any topic. Civil discussion and no coarse language please. Side discussions and idees fixes to the sandpits, please. I’ve moved my irregular email news from Mailchimp to Substack. You can read it here. You can also follow me on Mastodon here I’m also trying out Substack as a blogging […]
Here are a few interesting findings on the new Republican House Majority and its priorities by Navigator Research: It’s going to get worse. Much worse. Wait until they “investigate” the Biden documents and go after the FBI and DOJ for investigating Trump. You can’t be any more obvious.
"Where's my drummer?"
Week-end Wrap – Political Economy – January 15, 2023
by Tony Wikrent
[TW: Dear readers: I was on the road much of this past week, so had limited time and access. If this wrap seems a bit short and abbreviated, it’s because it is. Should be back to normal this coming week.]
[Curiosity Chronicle, via The Big Picture 1-13-2023]
I know, it’s absurd. But it’s important, I guess, to say it. Schiff is not a conspiracy theorist. He suspected that Trump had an odd relationship with Russia just like anyone who had eyes to see and ears to hear. Swalwell had a woman suspected of being affiliated with the Chinese government working in his campaign and when he was told about it he cooperated with the FBI. Here’s the Axios story: That all happened almost a decade ago. I would just remind Boebert that there have been several instances of suspicious Chinese nationals infiltrating and trespassing at Mar-a-Lago. If anyone is a sell-out, conspiracy theorist it’s Donald Trump.
A new artwork I made to celebrate 20K followers on my Mastodon profile (a parody of the famous animation "My Neighbor Totoro").
I switch this artwork under 'fan-art/fair-use' because even if I painted it from scratch, the artwork contains many element of derivation that belong to Ghibli studio. I read recently a blog-post about fair-use and transformative derivation of copyrighted material, and I prefer protect myself about it.
“All warfare is based on deception”. Sun Tzu, The Art of War Thus, as I struggle with how to bring the lights of truth to an essay on the current strategic situation, Sun Tzu brings me back to earth. Then as I try to work out how to talk about hegemony I discover that the Continue reading »
Australia’s security policy is a mess. We have been betrayed by our national leaders. Without exception, from Prime Minister Gillard on – with Anthony Albanese shaping up to join – the sell-out to America’s war neurosis is complete. Our leaders have been party to the fabrication of China as a military threat to Australia, by Continue reading »
What do we know about the new Israeli government apart from the now much touted ‘the most right wing government in Israel history’? And what does this new government mean for Israel, Palestine and the so called ‘two state solution’? The new government is headed by Netanyahu, who is presently on trial for allegedly accepting Continue reading »
Amidst the despair unfolding in the world, buying Prince Harry’s Spare means you’ve been fooled into taking something seriously instead of discarding it at first sight. The Taliban forbid women to go out alone or attend universities, Israel confirms it is a racist, apartheid state, Rohingya refugees despair, executions continue in Iran, Russia is reducing Continue reading »
It was 1967 in America. I was a student at Drew University and it was my role on the Student Council to invite speakers for the student forums. I wrote to Dr King. Would he come to speak to us? He wrote back to say he would. I booked the auditorium and put the notice Continue reading »
If you believe that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was unprovoked, then perhaps you should read no further. And, if you believe that Vladimir Putin will allow the United States and Europe to bring Ukraine into the Western security orbit, then once again you should read no further. But if you acknowledge the provocations that Continue reading »
Representatives of Ukraine’s neo-Nazi Azov Battalion have been touring Israel to drum up support for the unit’s imprisoned fighters. They have been meeting with Israeli politicians and soldiers. Azov intelligence officer Illia Samoilenko was released in a prisoner exchange with Russia in September. He had been one of the hundreds of Azov fighters who surrendered in May Continue reading »
The U.S., having no need of or gift for statecraft, has long practiced what I’ve taken to calling the diplomacy of no diplomacy. You can’t expect much from bimbos such as Antony Blinken or Wendy Sherman, Blinken’s No. 2 at the State Department. All they can do is roar, even if they are mice next Continue reading »
Say hallelujah: Chuck Todd and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) have had some heated confrontations before. But the pair’s latest clash might be their most contentious yet. In a fiery interview on Meet the Press Sunday, the NBC News political director clashed with the Wisconsin Senator about Hunter Biden — a collision which kicked off in earnest when Todd put a crucial question to Johnson point-blank. “Senator, do you have a crime that you think Hunter Biden committed?” Todd asked. “Because I’ve yet to see anybody explain. It is not a crime to make money off of your last name.” “Chuck, you ought to read the Marco Polo report, where they detail all kinds of potential crimes,” Johnson replied — referring to a 634 page report on the controversy surrounding the president’s son, which was published by a right wing group called Marco Polo. Todd immediately cut Johnson off when he heard the word “potential.” “Let me stop you there,” Todd said. He added, “Potential is innuendo.
Damning words as Professor Philip Banfield says Labour has no clue how GPs or their referrals to specialists work – and aren’t willing to listen or learn Professor Philip Banfield, the chair of the British Medical Association (BMA) has publicly condemned not just the stupidity of Wes Streeting – and by extension his boss Keir […]
DHSC has sick and elderly in its sights – asking public to comment on two options, but option of retaining current system of free prescriptions from age 60 is not on table The government has the sick and frail in their sights. The Tories are getting ready to make sick elderly people – who, like […]
Punished for resisting Russia launched another attack against Ukrainian civilians on Saturday. A missile attack in Dnipro, fomerly thought a safe haven from the violence, brought down an apartment complex, killing dozens, injuring more, and trapping an unknown number in the rubble. A child is among the dead (Washington Post): Russia’s blatant attack on civilians here — the worst to strike this city since Russia invaded Ukraine last February — came just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed his most senior military officer, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, as the new overseer of his relentless war in Ukraine. The strike, which coincided with the Orthodox New Year, served as a grim message that Putin’s close confidant is likely to continue the violent missile strikes on civilian targets that have become a hallmark of Russia’s assault. The bombing, one of a wave of attacks Saturday across Ukraine, may have destroyed as many as 30 apartments in the sprawling complex, said Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, who shared a video of the destruction.
Beltway news outlets and consultants think it’s weird to scrutinize the Transportation Secretary, simply because he could run for office again one day.