For me there’s just one thing to say about Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Slaughterhouse-Five. It’s astonishing, it’s everything a novel could be. I keep it near my desk and can reread that opening chapter a zillion times and never get tired…
Speaking to VP Cheney and others at American Enterprise Institute the other night, Bernard Lewis did what he does best: warns that we are involved in the Crusades with jihadists whether we like it or not. Masking hysteria in (impressive)…
The fourth round of the Masters starts in an hour or so and Tiger is right where he wants to be, a stroke off the lead. Meantime Obama is stalking Hillary in the money race. The prominence of these two…
There have been a lot of comments on my Michael Walzer post. I want to deal with one right off. Realistic Dove has taken me on, saying that the “far left” has a problem with Jewish identity, and accusing me…
Last night in an Iraq panel at Barnard arranged by the Working Families Party, Rep. Jerrold Nadler said that WMD was merely an “excuse” for the Bush Administration to invade Iraq. The real reason was “simple” and “psychological.” I could…
The other night at Columbia, student groups including Lionpac, Columbiaâs version of Aipac (the Israel lobby), held a panel on âWhat to do about Iran?â They invited three experts. One was a fullblown neoconservative, Herbert London, the ruddy-faced former mayoral…
Sen. Joe Biden’s refrain these days is that the violence in Iraq requires a “political solution.” I.e., it’s not religious fanaticism, it’s not Islamofascism, it’s not a clash of civilizations, it’s not a war on terror; suicide bombers are motivated…
I’m surprised that I’ve seen no coverage of political theorist Michael Walzerâs lecture at Yivo Institute last month on the issue of Jewish identity: “Are We a People?” Surprised because it was such a strong lecture, and such a disturbing…
M.J. Rosenberg of the Israel Policy Forum has a fine piece this week about Hebron (all but endorsing my view that the situation in the West Bank is worse than apartheid). This week 200 settlers in Hebron grabbed another building…