Washington
The Chilcot Inquiry is a pointless endeavour. Tony Blair’s critics will never be satisfied.
I never really saw the point of the Chilcot Inquiry and nothing that has happened in the years since it first sat has persuaded me I was wrong to think… Continue reading
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The Rehabilitation of George W Bush: A Sisyphean Task
Freddy Gray is quite correct: the drive to rehabilitate George W Bush is suspicious. It is also a dog that won’t hunt. It is true that recent opinion polls have… Continue reading
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Hugo Chavez: A Clown Masquerading As A Threat
As would-be dictators go, Hugo Chavez was on the clownish end of the repressive spectrum. By the end, however, the joke was wearing thin. He was, as Rory Carroll aptly… Continue reading
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Europe's defence budgets may not be noble, but they are at least rational
Gideon Rachmann is unhappy that european defence budgets are still falling: Since 2008, in response to the economic downturn, most big European countries have cut defence spending by 10-15 per… Continue reading
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Lessons from Ronnie and Maggie
Ramesh Ponnuru has written a splendid op-ed for today’s New York Times. Splendid, not because it is new or especially original, but because, alas, it’s central message needs repeating until,… Continue reading
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No, Barack Obama has not declared an end to the War on Terror - Spectator Blogs
I see that Con Coughlin is at it again. Apparently, you see, Barack Obama has “taken leave of reality”. How so? By declaring that al-Qaeda is but “a shadow of its former… Continue reading
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Barack Obama's inauguration speech makes the case for Bigger Government - Spectator Blogs
I never quite know what to think about the whole Presidential inauguration thing. One the one hand there is always something stirring about being reminded of the sheer scale of… Continue reading
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EU Shocker: The United States agrees with the British Government! - Spectator Blogs
Good grief. Are we supposed to be surprised that senior officials at the US State Department take the view that Britain should, all things considered, remain a member of the… Continue reading
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Rand Paul: Leader of the US Senate's Tiny Awkward Squad - Spectator Blogs
Speaking of politicians worthy of your support, here’s Senator Rand Paul doing his thing: Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is holding up a vote on the Defense Authorization Act until he… Continue reading
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Amidst Obama's Triumph, America Enjoys A Libertarian Moment - Spectator Blogs
Amidst last night’s Democratic triumph and the confirmation that Obama is, in many respects, Ronald Reagan’s heir let’s not forget that this election was also a triumph for libertarians and… Continue reading
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God, guns,welfare: conspiracy theories about working class Americans
Mitt Romney has been caught saying what he really thinks – or in modern journalistic jargon has committed a ‘gaffe’. Serious American commentators believe that his election challenge is all… Continue reading
13 CommentsObama’s Polish Blunder
In Washington, as Andrew Sullivan reminds us, a gaffe is when a politician inadvertently blurts out what they actually believe. It is always occasion for equal measures of embarrassment and… Continue reading
6 CommentsWashington’s Favourite Unimportant Parlour Game: The Veepstakes
The American presidential campaign is in one of its few fallow periods just now. Which means it is time for a favourite quadrennial pastime: the Veepstakes! Who will Mitt Romney… Continue reading
1 CommentThe Years of Robert Caro
For political types there’s little doubt about the publishing event of the year: the fourth volume of Robert Caro’s mammoth biography of Lyndon Johnson. The New York Times published a… Continue reading
1 CommentWar Games: Syria & Iran Edition
The past is always a different, better place and never more so than when commentators dip into American history to salvage some justification for their favoured approach to any contemporary… Continue reading
3 CommentsIran Hawks Circling
At National Review, Mario Loyola offers a pretty succinct summary of the conservative (that is, American conservative) case for attacking Iran: [I]n an editorial, the Wall Street Journal makes the same… Continue reading
6 CommentsSize Matters: Dysfunctional Government Edition
Via Andrew, Francis Fukuyama has a new gig at Stanford University running a Governance Project. Introducing it, he lobs a hand grenade at one aspect of American Exceptionalism: I… Continue reading
2 CommentsDoes Iran Actually Want the Bomb?
The obvious answer to this is, Yes of course it does. Were I advising the Iranian regime I’d probably be pretty keen on developing a nuclear capability too. At the… Continue reading
6 CommentsSir Simon Jenkins Is Peddling Weapons-Grade Tripe. Again.
Via Norm, I see that Sir Simon Jenkins is up to his old tricks, publishing yet another meretricious column on the Afghan war which, all too conveniently, manages to ignore… Continue reading
9 CommentsThe Difficult Matter of Praising George W Bush
Will Inboden is frustrated that Barack Obama so rarely has anything nice to say about President George W Bush even when his administration has benefitted from US policies Obama inherited… Continue reading
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