You cannot honestly describe the formation of Middle East policy without acknowledging that Jews are principals in the establishment, and Jewish wealth is a significant factor in public life.
I just watched the great Lincoln Chafee, formerly a Rhode Island senator, now the author of Against the Tide, on C-Span talking about the war and politics at the Watson Institute last month. He made a few great points. The…
A couple of readers have pointed out that I was unfair to Geoff Garin, Hillary’s top strategist, in my suggestion that he was milking the Rev. Wright controversy on MSNBC Monday. They’re right. Turns out Garin was actually saying it…
Yesterday I heard Geoffrey Garin, Hillary’s new strategist, on MSNBC, using the Rev. Wright controversy to question whether Obama is out of touch. (The link’s not up yet, or I’d quote him). He made similar comments in the Times re…
I’m still caught up in Ambassador Gillerman’s statement that Israel is a “far better” country than most others because it produces scientific and artistic talent. My friend Richard Witty acknowledges that this attitude is unfortunate when he hears it from…
During my parents’ seder on Saturday outside Philly, there was a lot of political talk, and my 7-year-old niece came up to me with a big smile. She said: “Hillary lies.” Her comment was just the cherry on the top…
Last week two Harvard Law School professors had a fascinating debate over the Iraq war and American power. One professor was Duncan Kennedy, a pioneer in critical legal studies–i.e., a leftwinger. The other was a prof barely half his age,…
My friend Michael Massing has a wonderful piece of reporting in the latest New York Review of Books on who is the volunteer army. It is not a statistical hodgepodge, no, he went to Fort Drum in Watertown, N.Y., to…
Values: –Eliot Spitzer grew up on Park Avenue, I gather, the son of a real estate guy. Maybe we’re in a recession, but he could drop $5000 on regular assignations, allegedly. –William Kristol’s column yesterday included the statement, “the bad…