Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Whaaa?

For a sign of how much disarray the New York Times is in, look no further than the headlines of today's op-ed pieces:

What's going on?

Whose team am I on?

Krugman's is worth reading; Brooks brings more fluff. Specifically, the former touches on religious extremism and the Schiavo case specifically. It ties in nicely with Andrew Sullivan's recent quote:

The important point is that religious zealotry cannot be incorporated into conservatism. It is the nemesis of conservatism. And it has to be purged in order for conservatism to be revived.

Sunday, March 27, 2005

Lebanon and Iraq

The always excellent Dexter Filkins has a piece in the Sunday NYT drawing contrasts between the situations in Lebanon and Iraq, and pointing out how the view of Lebanon being a domino toppled by the Iraq war is too simplistic.

Sunday, March 13, 2005

Fatwa

Well this is nice.

Saturday, March 12, 2005

Brooks

Is this the most inane NYT op-ed ever? What happened to David Brooks?

Sunday, March 06, 2005

Cedar

The last week or so has seen some enormous stories that I would normally be writing a lot on, and my silence shouldn't be seen as significant beyond just meaning that I have been very busy. Hopefully Harmony and Jeff will start making some more appearances too.

The recent developments in the Middle East are stunning, so much so that I would say they are not receiving as much media attention as they deserve (at least not in the British press). Not that Lebanon's or Egypt's slow movements to democracy are being ignored, but if these trends continue then it is just as big of a deal as the fall of the Berlin Wall.

I am skeptical, however, of those who would attribute the protests in Beirut to the liberation of Iraq. I think that the correct summation of the situation is that Lebanese protesters are emboldened by the Bush administration's words of support and presence in the region, but it is much too simplistic to say that the Iraq election was the first domino in the region. From the NYT article linked to above:

Another factor, pressure from the Bush administration, has emboldened demonstrators, who believe that their governments will be more hesitant to act against them with Washington linking its security to greater freedom after the Sept. 11 attacks. The United States says it will no longer support repressive governments, and young Arabs, while hardly enamored of American policy in the region, want to test that promise.

Wednesday, March 02, 2005

John Tierney

I was a bit surprised that the NYT did not snag a bigger name for Safire's replacement, but anyway, Editor and Publisher has the goods on John Tierney.