Times change, of course. It wasn’t so long ago that the American left wondered why Democrats in Congress couldn’t “stand up” to the Bush administration in the way that, say, France and Germany opposed the American-led War in Iraq. Now that the worm has turned in Washington, of course, everything is different. Why won’t those
At the New Republic Mike Crowley picks up where this post left off and lays-out the familiar arguments on US recognition of the Armenian genocide. It’s tough for the Armenians: all they have on their side is principle (and Obama’s campaign promises) while, as Crowley points out, the Turks have realpolitik and a well-oiled lobbying
At the Washington Independent Dave Weigel – Delaware’s finest* – has an entertaining piece on some of the differences between the British and American attitudes to journalism. The occasion for this rumination is the departure from DC of Tim Shipman**, formerly the Sunday Telegraph’s man in Washington, who is returning to Blighty to be Deputy
I’d been thinking that there’s no need to pile on further and that at some point the proper criticism the Prime Minister is receiving – wherever in the world he travels – starts to look mean-spirited and ends up being not much more than a pretty brutal case of schoolyard bullying. Happily – since scorn,
Tom Harris didn’t much care for Dan Hannan’s speech setting about Gordon Brown. Fair enough, as a Labour MP you wouldn’t expect him to find it a hoot. But then he says this: What was truly repugnant about his speech was the total absence of any sense of patriotism. Some Tories on the extreme right
It’s not just Gordon Brown who wants the rest of europe to splash some cash to get us out of the mess we’re in. There are plenty of commentators on the American left – Paul Krugman for one – who also fret that unless european countries join the massive stimulus bandwagon they threaten to delay,
Exhibit A: From the Daily Mail, November 8th 2008. Man caught in £30,000 benefit fraud: After the case, employment and welfare reform minister Tony McNulty said: “Lying to the DWP to get money you aren’t entitled to is a crime. Expecting to get away with it is criminally stupid. This man thought he could live
Bartle Bull thinks he has! Already! His article in Prospect is a curious thing indeed. Part of it, perfectly reasonably, is deeply concerned by Obama’s economic agenda. When the numbers are mentioned in trillions, not billions it’s sensible to be sceptical of some of the more grandiose and sweeping promises the new administration is making.
Apparently the BBC is finally going to show The Wire. Hurrah. Previously it’s only been available on FX in Britain. Well that’s all fine and dandy. But it’s not as though the series was a mystery. It debuted in 2002 and has received rave reviews form critics for at least the last three years. And
So El Gordo is in New York today, ostensibly to drum up support for his G20 gabfest. According to the Telegraph’s report: At a breakfast for business leaders, Mr Brown said that values such as “honesty, integrity and working hard” may have been absent from the financial system in recent years. One might agree about
Brian Cowen: Frightening when clothed; terrifying when naked. Photo: JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images Meanwhile in Ireland there’s much hilarity over the story of a Banksy-style prankster who hung portraits of the Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, at the Royal Hibernian Academy and the National Gallery of Ireland. It turns out Mr Cowen is indeed an oil painting. Or
There was the pretence that all government spending is “investment” and there was some familiar-sounding talk of “bubble and bust” but most of all Barack Obama’s press conference was designed to send the message that, look, “I’m a pretty straight kind of guy”. As we know, that’s what Tony Blair said once upon a time
That seems to be the message from the Obama administration anyway. Mind you, that was the message from the Bush administration too as the War on Drugs – so successful in Colombia and, for that matter, Afghanistan – was expanded to Mexico. Hillary Clinton is in Mexico City today, just as her boss announces that
It wasn’t a great championship this year, though few in Ireland can be expected to give a damn about that. And while there are plenty of folk who might think that Ireland’s Grand Slam (sixty one years in the waiting) was hardly vintage stuff, that’s often been the case with Grand Slam winning sides. The
Twilight, looking west up the Yarrow Valley, Selkirkshire.
I think James and Danny Finkelstein are correct. Political considerations trump the need to satisfy the Conservative party’s right-wing. And that means that, regrettably, George Osbourne is probably right not to promise to abolish the new 45% income tax band for the rich. At the very least this should be an aspiration not an immediate
Dan Drezner asks his “realist colleagues” if they can think of any reason why Iran should or would give up its nuclear ambitions. Stephen Walt offers some reasons why, unlikely as it might seem, Iran should consider doing so for its own advantage. I think Walt makes some good points but that they may not
The news that England hope to host the IPL is as unsurprising as it is depressing. After all, what better way to start an Ashes summer than with the distracting influence of a cricketing circus? Never underestimate the greed of those charged with looking after the game, howver. As soon as the Indian government declined
Place your bets, please, if you think this is actually likely to happen: The fastest, most frequent train service in the world could run between London and the North within 12 years, according to the chairman of the government-owned company planning the high-speed link. Double-deck trains travelling at 225mph (360km/h) and carrying up to 800
This seems an idea worth copying, doesn’t it? Hungary’s Prime Minister said today he is resigning because of his government’s low popularity amid a worsening financial crisis. Ferenc Gyurcsany, of the ruling Socialists, told the party’s congress that he considered himself a hindrance to further economic and social reforms. Alas, I can’t imagine Brown being