It mystifies me why so many Americans – even those blessedly untouched by any tedious Yankee Brideshead fetish – still seem to view the Oxford Union as a barometer of all that is sweet and holy upon this sceptered isle. I would suggest that, with all due respect to those friends of mine who have
Just because I’ve not been posting much this month doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten how ghastly Mitt Romney is. The gruesome Mitt was at it again recently as this report makes only too clear: As he posed for a picture with a group of young people, the typically old-fashioned Romney was relaxed enough to quote from
Currently lurking in the Scottish Borders; blogging hiatus likely to continue for a few more days. Trust y’all are flourishing and making the most of the New Year.
No more than 10% of Iowans registered as either Republicans or Democrats are likely to turn out for Thursday’s caucuses. So The American Spectator’s Philip Klein is quite right to call foul: DES MOINES — Every four years, politicians and the media swarm this small Midwestern state and shower its voters with attention and compliments,
In my sourer moments I find myself persuaded that Bertie Wooster’s verdict on aunts also applies to politicians: “It is no use telling me that there are bad aunts and good aunts. At the core, they are all alike. Sooner or later, out pops the cloven hoof.” Never is this more the case than during
I shall be seeing the New Year in at 30,000 feet en route to Edinburgh (pictured below) from Washington. I trust Aer Lingus will put on a decent spread… Meanwhile, I trust readers will resist the temptation to wrap themselves in melancholy and recrimination this evening and hope that 2008 brings y’all every joy and
Some things I will miss about America: Appalachia: music, people, landscapeThe WireAmerican libertarianism: not an entirely lost causeThanksgiving: America’s best, most civilised, holidayAmtrak sleeping cars and trans-America travel in general (except by air)The classic American diner – especially in small towns where the waitress will always call you “Hon”.Skipping work for afternoon baseball (even in
I have already mentioned my suspicion that few PG Wodehouse fans are likely to endorse Hillary Clinton. It is unhealthy for a Presidential candidate to remind one of Honoria Glossop or Florence Craye so. Miss Glossop, you will remember, always wanted to mold a chap, “I think” she said “I shall be able to make
Of course, one is supposed to despair at this sort of negative campaigning even when, as in this case, it is directed against a candidate one loathes. But, really, I take my hat off to whomever came up with the idea to send South Carolina Republicans fake Christmas cards purporting to be from Mitt Romney.
The Clintons: a ghastliness that keeps on giving. Here’s Toby Harnden reporting from Iowa Speaking of Chelsea Clinton, it seems there’s no way she’s going to talk to journalists. “I’m sorry, I don’t talk to the press and that applies to you, unfortunately,” Chelsea said tartly when asked a question about her father Bill as
It’s a big ask, but someone has to write the worst article on the presidential election. Daniel Pipes steps up to demonstrate why the Republican party deserves to lose next year. This is how his faux-concerned piece on Barack Obama for Front Page begins: “If I were a Muslim I would let you know,” Barack
For the love of god… When will these clowns learn that the only way to ensure total security is to prevent people from getting on the plane in the first place? If you don’t want to lose your spare lithium batteries for your camera, notebook or cell phone, you might want to pack carefully for
This being Hogmanay it’s appropriate to post a New Year’s address from the one and only Reverend I.M Jolly. For anyone who grew up in 1980s Scotland, the late, great Rikki Fulton’s annual appearance on Scotch & Wry was an annual highlight.
Hurrah! In addition to her blogging at Hit & Run the estimable Kerry Howley now has a blog of her own too. Which reminds me that I’ve been meaning to suggest you also scurry over to Will Wilkinson’s longer-established place too. Lots of good stuff on immigration an guest workers at both blogs with, I
All good things come to an end. As some readers know, I’m leaving Washington DC this week (tomorrow in fact!) to return to Caledonia, stern and wild. Bittersweet reflections on some times in America will doubtless follow in due course, but in general blogging will be light for the next few days as I adjust
Via Andrew, here’s Huckabee on Benazir Bhutto’s murder: “We ought to have an immediate, very clear monitoring of our borders and particularly to make sure if there’s any unusual activity of Pakistanis coming into the country. We just need to be very, very thorough in looking at every aspect of our own security internally because,
John Edwards on trade: After growing up in Carolina mill towns, John Edwards understands the devastating impact trade can have on workers and communities. That’s why he favours protectionist policies that would reduce trade and throw workers out onto the street. Trade kills, you know. Also: why does Edwards hate poor people in poor countries
Most Depressing Political Argument of the Year: Whether the United States should be in the business of torturing people or not. Opera: Washington National Opera’s superb production of Janacek’s Jenufa was the operatic highlight of the year for me. Terrificly dark and pitiless and gloomy: just the sort of emotionally knackering experience you want from
The King Williams College annual quiz is perhaps the daddy of all such end-of-year brain-wreckers. The 2007 edition is here. Good luck! UPDATE: After a first (and Google-free!) run through the questions I am reasonably confident about the answers to about 25 of the 180 questions and have an idea about a couple of dozen
Sad news. Hugh Massingberd, the man who did more to bring obituaries to life than anyone else, is dead. He qualifies as one of the great journalists of our age. My poor, old (not so old actually) and now dead Uncle David was one of his contributors and I recall answering the phone, aged 12