Lord knows I am suspicious of Obama and the cult he inspires (just as, in fairness, all other candidates inspire such adulation), but when the likes of National Review’s Bill Bennett writes this sort of nonsense about Obama one can’t help but harbour a certain hope that he will win in November. Defeating clowns capable
Dan Drezner thinks that the Clintons are probably right to suppose that the press has favoured Barack Obama this year. Still, he says, they probably shouldn’t read the UK papers and cites this piece by the Times’ Tim Reid which begins: Seventeen months after she sat regally in her New York living room and calmly
Breaking News: George W Bush is not Henry V. Shocking, I know. According to former General Ricardo Sanchez: Among the anecdotes in “Wiser in Battle: A Soldier’s Story” is an arresting portrait of Bush after four contractors were killed in Fallujah in 2004, triggering a fierce U.S. response that was reportedly egged on by the
An occasional series in which we dare to take a look at what’s actually happening in the Scottish Parliament. Not, I warn you, for the faint of heart or the easily enraged. Now, yes, it’s true that most MSPs are well-intentioned, even kindly, souls concerned with the public good. But this takes them to some
All sorts of speculation as to what Hillary Clinton will do once the primary season ends this evening and even her doughtiest supporters might begin to realise it’s unlikely she’s going to be the Democratic party’s nominee. Some of them doubtless want her to “fight on” all the way to the convention. For what little
Gene Healy draws attention to this Bill Clinton quotation from 1997*:And it’s hard when you’re not threatened by a foreign enemy to whip people up to a fever pitch of common, intense, sustained, disciplined endeavor. But that is what we must do, my fellow Americans. That is what we must do.I don’t mean to pick
The government hasn’t given up on plans to compell us to celebrate our Britishness. Immigration Minister Liam Byrne: is due to make the case for the August Bank Holiday to be a national British day in a wide ranging speech on national identity to New Labour think tank Progress. The immigration minister will say a
Lots of good things come from China, but this is magnificent. Perhaps James Fallows can do a series of posts on counterfeit Chinese whisky? Via, here, here, here, here and here.
The news that ASDA is selling sausages that are, alarmingly, just 34% pork for 2p each naturally brought this classic Yes, Minister moment to mind: [Hat-tip: The Corridor]
The boys at The Daily Mash have the gory details… SMOKERS will have to hold a large piece of card over their face so they cannot look at the cigarette they are smoking, ministers said last night. The ‘smoking mask’ will include a small mouth hole and a handle, though later models may be fitted
Great. Travelling to the United States from western europe (and other countries that are part of the Visa Waiver Programme) just got made more complicated and more of a hassle than it already is. Brace yourselves for horror stories starting in August… Note too that toddlers will also have to register online 72 hours before
At least one person thinks he can still win! This man is on much more comfortable ground discussing his work with overseas politicians, including his contributions to Blair’s 2005 campaign, which include dreaming up the slogan “Forward Not Back”*. “Part of the reason I’ve been so successful in so many different foreign countries,” he says,
Via Cato, comes this report from The Times: They turn out in their hundreds in Stetsons and boots as hits such as the Crazy Foot Mambo and the Cowboy Strut echo around their village halls. They are drawn by a love of American culture – although definitely not American politics – and a passion for
Meanwhile, there’s happier news from New Zealand. Actually, there quite often is. Despite its sleepy reputation, New Zealand is an interesting, even innovative place. Though this is more Will Wilkinson’s bailiwick than mine, NZ always scores well in measurements of global happiness and quality of life surveys. And, in part, I suppose, because of its
Good god, this is insane. PR Week reports: Gordon Brown’s latest comms offensive involves cold-calling members of the public who have written him letters, according to sources close to Downing Street. The initiative is said to be the brainchild of Downing Street chief of strategy Stephen Carter and is intended to ‘humanise’ the Prime Minister
I waited until to check that it wasn’t actually April 2nd today, before posting this. It’s no great surprise to see a piece in the Telegraph begin: Politics is about both measures and men. Labour is over-obsessing about one man instead of asking whether our measures make sense. Any prime minister in office today would
Via Swampland, comes news of this exciting contest to design a new t-shirt for Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Personally, I’d say it’s tough to beat the impact of a slogan such as “She was for universal health care before universal health care was cool” but then again, what the hell do I know? Then again, I
Ezra Klein asks if Jim Webb is “too good for the Vice-Presidency”. And perhaps he is. Or rather, he’d be more useful to Democrats if he remained in the Senate, uninhibited by the restrictions imposed by the Vice-Presidency. And perhaps that too is so. Nonetheless Ezra’s piece also demonstrates the extent to which Webb is
The Boston Globe: “Candidates Unite Against Darfur Genocide” Isn’t it a bit late for that? “Today, we wish to make clear to the Sudanese government that on this moral issue of tremendous importance, there is no divide between us,” the three candidates say. “We stand united and demand that the genocide and violence in Darfur
Americans who despair at $4 a gallon petrol prices at the pump might be cheered by taking a peek at mattters in Britain where petrol now costs roughly £6 a gallon (or approximately $12). Gordon Brown did his best to produce a rabbit out of nowhere today, announcing “measures” to increase North Sea oil production