Archives for 2008

Ignore the political spin about Hillary righting her ship – complete with a shake-up of her campaign staff – for a (Giuliani-like) last stand in the “big state” primaries of Texas, Ohio (on March 4) and Pennsylvania (on April 22). [Obama extends primary sweep(stakes) up and down Potomac February 13, 2008] When I offered this… Read more.

I thought I was inoculated long ago against being shocked by the things politicians say and do. But Congressman John Lewis (D-GA) proved this week that I am not. Before I assail him, however, I feel obliged to acknowledge that no one is more worthy of respect and honor as a civil rights leader than… Read more.

I am, I fully grant, a phenomenon, but not because of any speed in composition…. I asked myself the other day, `Who else, on so many issues, has been so right so much of the time?’ I couldn’t think of anyone. [William F. Buckley, Jr. in the New York Times Book Review 1986] By today’s… Read more.

Now I could stand up here and say, ‘Let’s just get everybody together. Let’s get unified. The sky will open. The lights will come down. Celestial choirs will be singing and everyone will know we should do the right thing and the world will be perfect.’ Most political pundits inferred that Hillary Clinton was just… Read more.

On Sunday, Raul Castro succeeded his brother Fidel as president of Cuba. And in so doing, he consummated a historic transition that was as predictable and seamless as the night follows the day. Yet to read all of the political analysis and commentary that attended this occasion, you’d think it portended change akin to the… Read more.

I really enjoy cinema. And I appreciate the attention the Oscars often give to good but relatively unseen films like Atonement. Unfortunately, with all due respect to critics and members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the Academy), how much a film makes, not whether it wins an Oscar, is the generally… Read more.

The following are my picks for this year’s Oscars in the only categories anyone really cares about: · Actor in a Leading Role: DANIEL DAY-LEWIS for There Will Be Blood · Actor in a Supporting Role: JAVIER BARDEM for No Country For Old Men · Actress in a Leading Role: JULIE CHRISTIE for Away From… Read more.

Serbs torch US EmbassyOver 150,000 Serbs took to the streets in Belgrade yesterday to protest the US-led recognition of their former province of Kosovo as an independent state. Unfortunately, a few hooligans ended what was a very peaceful march by torching the US and other western embassies. Never mind that they probably have no clue… Read more.

Pakistanis dealt President Pervez Musharraf’s de facto dictatorship a humiliating blow in Monday’s parliamentary elections by voting – in overwhelming numbers – for the opposition parties of two former prime ministers, namely: the late Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N). Moreover, the PPP and PML-N – with 87… Read more.

Notwithstanding all of the hyperventilating political punditry, there is little that is newsworthy about Barack Obama winning today’s presidential primaries in Wisconsin and Hawaii. However, it is noteworthy that he has now beaten Hillary Clinton in ten consecutive primaries. And that this puts him in the best possible position to really challenge her, and perhaps… Read more.