John McCormack, destroyer of campaigns
By • Jan 13,2010

On political readings of film

In my various discussions of Avatar, I’ve tried to stay away from the obvious political aspects of the film — it’s a mass of hoary liberal cliches about big business...

By • Jan 13,2010

Obama: Wimp or warrior?

The NY Times has stirred the pot by asking this question on the front page of its latest Week in Review. Bob Stein suggests this is just a tread-worn conservative...

By • Jan 12,2010

Oliver Stone's a fool

Let’s play a game: “Which one of these doesn’t belong?” “Stalin, Hitler, Mao, McCarthy — these people have been vilified pretty thoroughly by history,” Stone told reporters at the Television...

By • Jan 12,2010

Bloodbath in Pakistan

Before today, I never heard of the Pak Institute for Peace Studies, or PIPS. This week, PIPS released a report (PDF) that totaled up the number of violent deaths in...

By • Jan 12,2010

The Reality of North Korea

I can’t even excerpt the post without simply ripping it off wholesale, but you must read Jeffrey Goldberg’s biting rejoinder to some jackass who compared the United States’ treatment of...