World

I suppose one should probably read Jonah Goldberg’s book Liberal Fascism before criticising it. On the other hand, why do the dreary work when Spencer Ackerman’s prepared to highlight the juicy bits for one? For instance, Spencer draws my attention to this: Indeed, it is my argument that during World War I, America became a fascist country, albeit temporarily. The first appearance of modern totalitarianism in the Western world wasn’t in Italy or Germany but in the United States of America. How else would you describe a country where the world’s first modern propaganda ministry was established; political prisoners by the thousands were harassed, beaten, spied upon, and thrown in

Christmas in Helmand Province, Afghanistan can’t be the bonniest gig on the planet. Hence this contest amongst the Royal Marines of 40 Commando: who can grow the spiffiest moustache. Best, however, is Major Alex Murray’s reminder that this takes us back to the days of the great Harry Flashman: “Generations of our forefathers have been marching around these hills with the most splendid array of facial hair,” he says. “We found throughout history, the upper lip has been stiffened with a good moustache. “Some aspects of warfare are timeless, and in this case the requirement for impressive facial hair is as important today as it was for our forefathers working

And while we’re on the subject of cricket, here’s the latest madness from the United States: Cuba have been blocked from playing in their first ever international cricket tournament because of a US embargo. Cuba had been invited to take part in the Stanford 20/20 tournament, which features 20 Caribbean teams. But the competition is backed by US businessman Allen Stanford, who by law must ask permission to engage in commercial activity with Cuba. Texan billionaire Stanford said on Tuesday that his application had been denied by the US government. “We have been anxious to include the entire Caribbean in the Stanford 20/20 Cricket Tournament and I am extremely disappointed

David Corn reads a book Mike Huckabee wrote in 1998 so you don’t have to: It is now difficult to keep track of the vast array of publicly endorsed and institutionally supported aberrations—from homosexuality and pedophilia to sadomasochism and necrophilia. It saddens me, I guess, that I missed the public – and institutional! – endorsement of necrophilia.

Bonus Andy  McCarthy! Since 9/11, when the problem of interoperability of first-responder communications systems became starkly apparent, NYC, NY state and the Department of Homeland Security have all spent goo-gobs of money addressing it, thus far with questionable success, mainly due to its technological complexity.  Giuliani was mayor for eight years before 9/11, during which time interoperability, to the extent it was an issue at all, had to compete with various other budgetary demands… …Ramesh says Giuliani should have solved it before 9/11, when there was no 9/11 to use as an example for why it was so important.  OK, but if it was that easy, why has it proved

Daniel Larison points out an extraordinary passage from Bill Clinton’s appearance on The Charlie Rose Show on Friday. Bafflingly, Clinton seems to believe that the Northern Irish peace process qualifies his wife to be President: Clinton:…The only way to overcome our differences is not basically to try to erase the past, it’s to get used to working together. I mean it’s kind of a metaphor for the Hillary argument. If you look at last Monday, the… Charlie Rose: You are people are pushing me, so it’s not my — Bill Clinton: The new leaders of Northern Ireland came to Washington to see the president. They — it represents a stunning

Comes from poor Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe’s governing party has endorsed Robert Mugabe as its candidate for next year’s presidential elections. The vote by delegates at the Zanu-PF conference in the capital, Harare, allows the 83-year-old president to seek a sixth term in office in March…. Mr Mugabe’s selection was by open acclamation and all 10 of Zanu-PF’s provincial bodies backed him. “I did not hear any dissenting voices,” John Nkomo, the Zanu-PF chairman said, according to the French news agency. “It means this congress has fully and unreservedly declared Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe as the presidential candidate for next year’s presidential elections.” Killer quote (literally): “Every one of them matters to

Good grief. The Washington Post reports: Still looking for that last-minute Christmas gift for White House press secretary Dana Perino? May we recommend a gift certificate for the forthcoming book on the Cuban Missile Crisis by our colleague Michael Dobbs, “One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War,” due out next summer? Appearing on National Public Radio’s light-hearted quiz show “Wait, Wait . . . Don’t Tell Me,” which aired over the weekend, Perino got into the spirit of things and told a story about herself that she had previously shared only in private: During a White House briefing, a reporter referred to the

So, the New York Times has not even mentioned tonight’s Hatton-Mayweather fight, far less run a piece on it. Not even in a Sport in Brief column. Doubtless some people will argue that this confirms boxing’s eclipse; I’d suggest it’s evidence of the New York Times’ irrelevance. Sure, I’d also say that the Times is failing the average, casual sports fan (but then its sports section does that on a daily basis anyway, so why be surprised?) but that’s a question for the Times not me. But it’s not really a problem: Google News aggregates all the fight news you could hope for, including views from more than a dozen