Apr 11, 2009 4
Brooks deals too much in generalization and speculation dressed up as analysis for us rely on him for much more than his felicitous column-writing and his measured, often astute political commentary. Running on a paper’s op-ed page does not relieve him of the responsibility to support his opinion with facts. Who does Brooks think he is, George Will?
Apr 11, 2009 0
Yes, that’s right: at the moment, both the social and economic arms of the American conservative movement are describing themselves and their efforts with terms directly out of gay chatrooms and gays’ bedrooms. Slang anchored in gay male sex is, at least in recent news cycles, the accidentally reigning metaphorical lexicon of the American far right.
Apr 7, 2009 0
Engagement can be seen as a tactic insofar as it helps us accomplish discrete goals, but after eight years of Bush’s Mideast bungling, vigorous engagement itself must be our foreign policy goal. Prior to a policy of concerted and constant engagement, we will be in the dark as to what our policy ought to be, as it will necessarily have to be directed towards positions and shaped by factors that we don’t currently understand. Seeking this understanding, though, is an active process that offers one significant agency and influence. Because our policy is rooted in our evolving understanding, engagement offers us major potential to deeply influence policy long before it’s made. Obama understands the potential to shape policy processes before they begin, and so has made engagement not just a policy, but the policy of the United States.
