Poor Gordon Brown, he has suffered more humiliation in the international media lately than any British prime minister in recent history. Perhaps you’ve seen the viral video of him being dressed down by British Member of the European Parliament Daniel Hannan – who ended his tongue lashing by calling Brown “the devalued prime minister of… Read more.
Archives for 2009
It seems the Iranians prefer a “maybe” option to reply to Obama’s offer of friendship
John Hope Franklin, distinguished historian, is dead
For me, it was a profound indictment of American education that only one of my (white) professional colleagues had ever heard of John Hope Franklin before President Bill Clinton appointed him in 1997 to chair the President’s Initiative on Race. After all, these were all practicing attorneys who graduated from prestigious liberal arts universities. Never… Read more.
Creating mischief to undermine British authority in TCI
[Author’s note: I am mindful that the unfolding political drama in my home country has been the subject of many of my commentaries lately. But we are experiencing a constitutional crisis there that is the equivalent of the impeachments of Nixon and Clinton combined. So please bear with me as I do whatever I can… Read more.
Is Obama’s familiarity breeding contempt…?
Evidently, researchers have determined that President Obama has made more media appearances at this point in his presidency than any of his predecessors. In fact, some critics can be forgiven the impression that he’s doing more to compete with the likes of the “Octomom” and Lindsay Lohan for media coverage than to fix the ailing… Read more.
South Africa bans Dalai Lama from peace conference to appease China…?!
Westerns are incredulous by South Africa’s decision to ban the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader, from attending a peace conference for Nobel laureates that is scheduled to convene in Johannesburg on Friday. But nobody familiar with recent developments in South African politics should be. A few years ago, communists and other left-wing factions in the… Read more.
The Pope instructs Africans to risk their lives to save their souls
For decades now, the traditional teachings of the Catholic Church on things like birth control, pre-marital sex and abortion have been falling among thorns in the developed world. As a result, millions of Catholics remain affiliated with the church in name only. And of course millions more have become disaffected in recent years because of… Read more.
Obama apologizes for gaffe about bowling like a kid at the Special Olympics
The invariably politically correct Obama made this gaffe on Thursday when he made an unprecedented appearance for a sitting US president on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Of course nobody believes President Obama harbors any prejudice against children with disabilities. But this gaffe betrays an ignorance that I suspect is as embarrassing for him as… Read more.
Nevermind AIG: America has a hallowed tradition of rewarding corporate executives for abject failure: remember golden parachutes…?
Putting concerns about British intervention in TCI into perspective
There’s no denying that the vast majority of people in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) cheered with national relief when the British intervened this week to oust our hopelessly dysfunctional and terminally corrupt government. Not surprisingly, our ousted premier jeered with selfish grief: The British still think that there are none among us who… Read more.