December 13, 2007

Required Reading: NY Times' Spineless Comments Pages

To get a rousing sense of what people are thinking, get ye to the new comments sections on some articles in the New York Times. Because the site gets a worldwide audience, the stories can get some eye-opening comments.

Case in point: Today the Times threw itself open for comments on the story, "Shootings Test Limits of New Self-Defense Law," about how a man in Texas shot and killed two illegal immigrants robbing a neighbor's home. The story says this:

Continue reading "Required Reading: NY Times' Spineless Comments Pages"

Van | 12/13/07 at 08:02 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

August 19, 2007

Mugged by 9-11 but still apologizing about it

Andrew Anthony has a 3-part memoir in the Observer, drawn from a new book, about his journey from garden-variety liberal Brit (which would make him more of a Lefty here) to . . . I don't know - muscular liberal? Liberal mugged by reality? You'll have to read the book to get Anthony's current description of himself.

Several things stand out for me, reading the excerpts:

An analogy I hadn't heard before but which is perfect:

A midlife crisis did indeed ensue after 9/11. In truth it had been brewing for some time. It wasn't my midlife crisis, however, but that of Western culture at large. No matter what other aims may have motivated this singular act of terrorism, it was beyond question that it was planned as a symbolic, as well as a lethal, attack on 'the West', whether the target was militarism (the Pentagon), capitalism (the WTC), or cosmopolitanism (the heterogeneity of the victims).

The problem was many in the West were not sure that it was worthy of defence. . . . . 'What was the point?' the anti-globalisers seemed to be asking, all we do is buy stuff, turn everywhere into a market, and force McDonald's and Starbucks down other people's throats.....

He illuminates some nuance that even us 9-11 obsessives missed (scathingly, in this case):

Continue reading "Mugged by 9-11 but still apologizing about it"

Judith | 08/19/07 at 10:13 PM | 17 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

July 30, 2007

Liberal Derangement Syndrome

Email to Jonah Goldberg at the Corner:

Since your column the other day, I've been quoting you in my .signature, which as you know is a four-line tag that gets appended to everything I post in Usenet discussion newsgroups (and would get appended to e-mails I send, if I wasn't temporarily using gmail).

The quote:

Continue reading "Liberal Derangement Syndrome"

Judith | 07/30/07 at 10:50 PM | 7 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

May 17, 2007

Rob and Benjamin discuss the merits of Benjamin's novel

Rob and Ben are still going at it in this comment thread, providing this humble blog with its own pale imitation of Buckley vs Vidal in '68.

Judith | 05/17/07 at 11:49 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

May 04, 2007

Podcasting in Jerusalem

I am posting tonight from Aqaba, the Jordanian beach town across the border from Eilat, the Israeli beach town. (Both feature scuba diving in the Red Sea.) Tomorrow we head to Wadi Rum for an overnight tourist tour. We just spent 2 days in Ein Gedi, one of which was probably the only overcast day of the year, and took the scenic route down to Eilat via several of the unique geological formations of the Negev.

Tuesday night we had dinner in the German Colony with Noah Pollak (Azure editor and war zone travel companion of Michael Totten) and Ben Kerstein (Novelist, historian, Kesher Talk co-blogger and proprietor of Diary of an Anti-Chomskyite).

Fausta did a podcast with Noah and Ben, via Mary's cellphone. We looked on while Ben extemporized on Israeli and international politics and the patient restaurant staff tried to close up.

Then Noah picked up as we strolled out onto Beit Lehem road in the cool evening. Catch the interview at Fausta's.

Before leaving Jerusalem the next evening we visited with Dave Bognar and family, who gave us a tour of Efrat (about which more after I get home - I'm still digesting it).

Judith | 05/04/07 at 11:59 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

May 02, 2007

'You're Cursed, Jack': '24' Bounces Back

After an amazing first two episodes -- complete with non-stop bus bombings and a nuclear explosion in Southern California -- "24" slid badly this year. Too many favorite characters had been killed off, pious lectures on civil liberties replaced snappy dialogue, and the comic abilities of character Chloe were replaced by boring anxiety. I couldn't believe that Wayne Palmer was president and the whole effort felt mechanical.

But this past Monday, somehow, showed that "24" has some life in it yet. Is Jack Bauer finally meeting his match? Blogs4Bauer has the complete episode rundown, and here are my thoughts.

Continue reading "'You're Cursed, Jack': '24' Bounces Back"

Van | 05/02/07 at 06:46 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

April 30, 2007

Eric Flint: A Liberal Hawk Novelist?

Over the weekend I finished reading the alt-history novel "1632" by Eric Flint. About a town in West Virginia that gets hurled back in time to Germany in 1632, the book has spawned sequels, fan sites and a whole sub-culture, as this site shows. The first book was a fast read, sometimes fun, sluggish in other places, reminding me of Stephen King's "The Stand" in that it could benefit from judicious editing. Still, I can't argue with success.

The book also has a strong Jewish angle, involving a Sephardic family with a dark-haired, olive-skinned, spirited lass, Rebecca Abrabanel, who plays a major role in the book.

What really interested me was Flint's "Author's Afterward." He made some points that qualify him as a novelist of the Liberal Hawk persuasion -- in fact, his gun-toting characters would probably enjoy reading Kesher Talk and some of the more Second Amendment-oriented blogs.

Flint wrote,

Part of the reason I chose to write this novel is because I am more than a little sick and tired of two characteristics of most modern fiction, including science fiction.

Continue reading "Eric Flint: A Liberal Hawk Novelist?"

Van | 04/30/07 at 06:28 AM | 5 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

April 12, 2007

Muslim Leftists Love America, Western Leftists Hate America

As I've stressed repeatedly, one of the reasons for my post-9/11 political shift from left to right, and that of many others in the same camp, has been the Western left's attachment to anti-Americanism, even when it lands them on the same side as dictators, Islamists, and terrorists. Blinded by the sort of hatred of their own country and civilization produced by years of indoctrination in what I like to call the postcolonialist, self-loathing school of multiculturalism, today's leftists are incapable of recognizing the true threats to their own existence. Instead, they cling to familiar demons and push reactionary policies.

Continue reading "Muslim Leftists Love America, Western Leftists Hate America"

Cinnamon | 04/12/07 at 01:07 PM | 6 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

April 01, 2007

Psychology Today Prints Asher Abrams' Letter

Late last year, I was interviewed for a Psychology Today article on political ideology and transformation titled "The Ideological Animal," which appeared in the January/February issue.

While I felt that the article treated my story of post-9/11 left-to-right political transformation fairly, I disagreed strongly with the author, Jay Dixit's, take on what inspires such political shifts. In short, Dixit implied that they are motivated purely by "irrational fears," including a fear of death, and he cited several highly suspect and blogosphere-debunked studies to make his point. I blogged about my concerns here, as well as linking to the many other bloggers (and one Pajamas Media "Sanity Squad" podcast) that covered the subject here.

Continue reading "Psychology Today Prints Asher Abrams' Letter"

Cinnamon | 04/01/07 at 11:12 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

March 25, 2007

Cinnamon Stillwell: N. CA Representative for Campus Watch

Having spent the last five years as a political columnist and more recently, a blogger, I've now decided to further my involvement in the battle of ideas. In particular, the one raging on American college campuses and most especially, Mideast studies. At this critical juncture in history, it's imperative that the next generation receive an accurate, unbiased education in this most crucial of subjects. To that end, I'm happy to announce that starting April 1, I'll be the Northern California Representative for Campus Watch.

Continue reading "Cinnamon Stillwell: N. CA Representative for Campus Watch"

Cinnamon | 03/25/07 at 01:06 PM | 5 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

March 20, 2007

Giuliani is the seed crystal

The latests Gallup poll shows Rudy still comfortably out in front of the Republican candidate field. We have been following the Giuliani candidacy since its first stirrings. In fact, we were fantasizing about a Giuliani presidency since the 2004 GOP convention.

Who are we? Good question. Giuliani's popularity has the pundits scratching their heads precisely because they can't label the constituency which is driving it. It is like dark matter in the universe - identifiable by what it is not. Do they call us liberal hawks? Centrists? Neocons? Neo-neocons? Civ-cons? Moderates? What was the label which explained Clinton's election? "Socially liberal, fiscally conservative." Since 2001, add "hawkish on foreign policy."

Whatever they end up calling us - I'm going to mix my science metaphors here - we are a supersaturated solution within the body politic, ready to crystallize around a label of convenience (as they are all), or a person, which will enable us to focus our clout. Rudy is the person, the label is not yet defined and perhaps doesn't need to be.

What is interesting about his candidacy is that the more easily definable voters ("conservatives") and us "dark matter" folk share enough serious worries - like terrorism and fiscal discipline - that they don't mind being associated with us. Since we share the same concerns they "get" us better than the pundits, who do not understand either group, since they keep saying let's you and him fight and continue to be surprised when we refuse. Their stereotypes are such that they can't imagine that "traditional values" conservatives might want a president who knows how to be a jerk. They think social conservatives have never seen transvestite clowning in a comedy revue. They forget that Rudy would not be the first Republican president with "blended family" problems. They are surprised by pragmatism in those they had written off as fervently ideological:

Continue reading "Giuliani is the seed crystal"

Judith | 03/20/07 at 12:54 PM | 17 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

March 12, 2007

Litmus Test

Apropos of my agonizing over the term "liberal", Mary responds to Ben's critique of 300:

"Has the Litmus Test truly become "Do you believe our society must be defended with force, if yes. Step to the Right, you are a Conservative, if no, step to the Left, you are Liberal?"

As a public school/gay marriage/welfare supporter who is opposed to imprisonment for drug posession, and who is always characterized by the left as a 'right winger', I'd say the answer to that question is 'yes'.

Which means Rudy Giulani is really going to clean up.

Judith | 03/12/07 at 09:51 PM | 5 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

My Non-Review of 300

From Occasional Kesher Talk Contributor, Ben (from NY):

I haven’t seen the movie.

Some would say this one fact eliminates me from reasonable discussion of it, but on the other hand, no-one alive today has seen the actual Battle of Thermopylae, and plenty of people still discuss it. On the third hand, I’ve seen the trailer. And who’s going to tell me that I can’t form an opinion based on the trailer? That’s why they make trailers- to enable us to form an opinion of a movie; hopefully, “I want to see this one.” My contacts in the movie industry tell me the trailer is a carefully edited, formulated device designed to elicit a very specific opinion, but on the… fifth?... hand, does this mean the rest of the movie isn’t?

What I’ve learned is this: I really don’t need to see 300. Yes, it’s based on an actual historical event, but I know how that one turned out. I know the ending. The good guys lose, but their sacrifice enables other good guys to win. I know somewhat more historical detail than the average American although perhaps less than the average professor of Greek history. I would have wanted to see the Battle of Thermopylae painstakingly researched and recreated, but my preferences are apparently unusual ones. As it is, I know that I will not learn any new facts from 300 because it’s evident from the trailer that the filmmakers were not interested in accurately showing historical detail. The Spartans most definitely did not fight wearing helmets, capes, and Speedos. They wore serious armor. Did they forget the stuff?

I was reminded of a scene from the equally historically inept film Troy. Ancient Greece was renowned for its military engineering prowess, but during “Troy”, while watching hordes of Greek warriors rush towards the city walls, obviously planning to smash down towering stone fortifications with their spears, I was almost certain I heard one of them ad lib: “Oh crap, we forgot the Siege Towers!”.

Continue reading "My Non-Review of 300"

Alcibiades | 03/12/07 at 08:28 PM | 9 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

March 08, 2007

"Liberal" jumps the shark, part II

Re: My bemoaning the changing definitions of "liberal" - looks like John Podhortez is having the same problem.

. . . how can a man who has spoken against banning partial-birth abortion and signed civil-union legislation into law not be a social liberal? Here's why: Because as a matter of practical application, Rudy Giuliani offered the most dramatic example of programmatic conservative governance in recent American history. He didn't mouth platitudes about the need for civil public order in New York City. In the teeth of ferocious opposition from the liberal establishment and the elected political class in the city, he imposed it and he never backed down. Not when he was decried as a racist, not when he was denounced as a violator of civil liberties and free expression, not when he was mocked as a Babbitt.

The man is an anti-liberal, as the word "liberal" has been defined since the late 1960s. That doesn't make him a social conservative. But it makes him an opponent of anything-goes liberalism, which is a position he shares with a great many social conservatives.

Now how do I boil that down enough to put it on the banner of this blog?

Judith | 03/08/07 at 10:05 PM | 2 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

In Honor of International Women's Day: Phyllis Chesler Unedited

In honor of International Women's Day, it seems fitting to pay tribute to one my feminist heroes - Phyllis Chesler. A professor, author and tireless activist, Phyllis Chesler is one of the few members of today's feminist movement to tackle the oppression of women endemic to the Muslim world. For doing so, she been ostracized by her fellow Western "feminists," most of whom are too beholden to the anti-American/anti-Israel vagaries of modern multiculturalism to take on Islamism, the greatest threat to women's rights today. But Chesler knows from firsthand experience as the former wife of a Muslim husband who took her to Afghanistan and essentially imprisoned her, that politically correctness only allows barbarity to go unchecked.

Continue reading "In Honor of International Women's Day: Phyllis Chesler Unedited"

Cinnamon | 03/08/07 at 03:55 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

March 07, 2007

The word "liberal" jumps the shark

For some time several of my co-bloggers have been after me to change the subhead on our banner because they see themselves as more conservative than liberal, or even libertarian. I kept the term "liberal" because to me it still . . . more »

Judith | 03/07/07 at 08:59 PM | 10 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

March 02, 2007

Afflicting the comfortable

Damian Penny drew my attention to these two articles about Ayaan Hirsi Ali - I think they are right on target. First Anne Applebaum: Clearly, there is something about Ayaan Hirsi Ali that annoys, rankles, irritates. I am speaking as . . . more »

Judith | 03/02/07 at 11:15 PM | 3 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

February 10, 2007

A global warming conversation: I even wear shoes that match my pontifications

A discussion on my email list about global warming (I missed a few of the exchanges but captured most of it): Mara: I figured this out over the weekend as I was reading articles about global warming. It turns out . . . more »

Judith | 02/10/07 at 08:51 PM | 26 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

January 17, 2007

Blogosphere Roundup on Psychology Today's "Ideological Animal" Article

I posted an item last week regarding Psychology Today's "The Ideological Animal," an article in the current issue that purports to explain those of us who made the post-9/11 political shift from left to right (or somewhere in between). Many . . . more »

Cinnamon | 01/17/07 at 07:22 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

January 13, 2007

Further Thoughts On Psychology Today's "9/11 Effect" Article

Last week, I posted an item about a Psychology Today article titled "The Ideological Animal" (now fully available at the website). The article purports to explain what motivates those of us who made the post-9/11 shift from left to right . . . more »

Cinnamon | 01/13/07 at 01:28 PM | 6 Comments | 2 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

January 04, 2007

Psychology Today on Cinnamon Stillwell and The "9/11 Effect"

Several months ago, I took part in an interview with the magazine Psychology Today for an article on political transformation, particularly in the post-9/11 landscape. My inclusion was based on an SFGate.com article I'd written on the subject, "The Making . . . more »

Cinnamon | 01/04/07 at 03:25 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

December 28, 2006

The MTW Conference: Unofficial activities

Hertzliya, Israel, December 17-18, 2006. All my posts about the conference are collected here, also links to other blogs writing about the conference. You are probably all waiting to hear about the actual panels, but that's harder to write . . . more »

Judith | 12/28/06 at 07:15 AM | 4 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

November 29, 2006

The Bathsheba Deadline: Fiction Straight Out of the Headlines

Political junkies looking for fiction straight out of the headlines should definitely consider gravitating towards Jack Engelhard's serial novel "The Bathsheba Deadline." It's an "Amazon Shorts" novel, which means it's published in installments and touches on real life events as . . . more »

Cinnamon | 11/29/06 at 12:01 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

November 20, 2006

Monday 6:30 PM Actor's Workshop - be there!

If you are in the NYC area this evening (Monday), head down to the Actor's Playhouse on 7th Avenue just south of Sheridan Square, for NEWS TO ME! Doors open at 6:30pm, show starts at 7pm. NEWS TO ME features . . . more »

Judith | 11/20/06 at 04:18 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

November 14, 2006

"Now They Call Me Infidel:" New Book from Nonie Darwish

Nonie Darwish, the compelling Cairo-born writer living in the U.S. since 1978, has a new book debuting on Thursday: "Now They Call Me Infidel: Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel, and the War on Terror." A description on Amazon . . . more »

Van | 11/14/06 at 06:39 AM | 2 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

November 13, 2006

"The first film that takes you to the dark side of the environmental movement."

That headline comes from the voice-over from the website for the film "Mine Your Own Business," a documentary by Irish filmmakers Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney. I learned about the film and McAleer through a newspaper piece he wrote last . . . more »

Van | 11/13/06 at 06:17 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

November 03, 2006

Congressional Candidate Steve Beren: Another Ex-Lefty

I make it a point to try and keep track of fellow former lefties, whether pre-9/11 or, as in my own case, post-9/11. And some of them have gravitated towards the online discussion group I started for this purpose, the . . . more »

Cinnamon | 11/03/06 at 09:53 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

November 01, 2006

Comic Relief

It seems John "Effing" Kerry has stepped in it once again with his recent comments indicating that the U.S. military is comprised of a bunch of uneducated idiots. Well, those (in actuality) enterprising soldiers serving in Iraq came up with . . . more »

Cinnamon | 11/01/06 at 04:54 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

October 31, 2006

The Elephant in the Room, cont.

I emailed the author of The Elephant in the Room. Dear Ms. Kornblut, I blogged your article in the Times yesterday, and generated many comments and links from other bloggers. In short, those of us who are disaffected from or . . . more »

Judith | 10/31/06 at 02:15 PM | 3 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

October 30, 2006

The Elephant in the Room

Everyone is buzzing about this article in yesterday's NYTimes which tells it like it is for me and all my Liberal Hawk/disgruntled Democrat/Republican/conservative friends. Everything we had been complaining about since 2003, acknowledged in ink on newsprint, by the former . . . more »

Judith | 10/30/06 at 12:49 PM | 52 Comments | 14 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

October 17, 2006

It's Hunting Season For Democrats

UPDATE: According to Red State this outing is payback for not voting against Alito at the confirmation hearings, before which time Mike Rogers threatened to out a closeted United States Senator at a politically opportune time tif he voted for . . . more »

Alcibiades | 10/17/06 at 11:49 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

October 11, 2006

Ceremony at Police Memorial in Battery Park City

I received the following message from a 9/11 Neocons member and I thought I'd pass it on to some New Yorkers.... There will be a ceremony at the police memorial in Battery Park City on October 13. The names of . . . more »

Cinnamon | 10/11/06 at 01:34 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

Hollywood Director David Zucker: Another 9/11 Republican

As a self-proclaimed 9/11 Republican who started an online discussion group for people like myself called the 9/11 Neocons (as in new conservatives), I've been following the various additions to our ranks with great interest. And Hollywood has been the . . . more »

Cinnamon | 10/11/06 at 01:20 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

October 10, 2006

The Prehistoric Blogger: Columbus Day, 1976

In the fall of 1976, I was a freshman at Princeton University, fresh off the turnip truck from Mission, Texas, and ready for new experiences. I celebrated Columbus Day 1976 with the University Democrats as we attended a Columbus Day . . . more »

Van | 10/10/06 at 03:26 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

October 04, 2006

Cinnamon Stillwell on Blogging, Liberal Hawks and 9/11 Neocons

[ Welcome to Kesher Talk, Cinnamon Stillwell! I asked Cinn to co-blog on Kesher Talk after meeting her last month. We got to know each other online because we both started email lists/social groups on opposite coasts for "disaffected liberals . . . more »

Cinnamon | 10/04/06 at 02:10 AM | 5 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

September 12, 2006

Totten's take on the NYC blogger dinner

Michael Totten posted his account and photos of the Labor Day dinner party. Pay no attention to that horrible photo of me. I don't really look like a flesh-eating zombie. . . . more »

Judith | 09/12/06 at 09:45 PM | 12 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

The U.N. and Beyond: United Democratic Nations

"The U.N. and Beyond: United Democratic Nations" was a symposium presented by The Hudson Institute and its subsidiary, Eye on the UN. Why has the UN failed to live up to its founding ideals of defending democracy and freedom on . . . more »

Judith | 09/12/06 at 08:10 AM | 0 Comments | 7 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

September 06, 2006

Michael Totten blogger bash

We had a rockin' party Monday night. Michael Totten asked me to round up some local fans for a dinner party while he was here, so we both publicized this on our blogs and the emails came pouring in. Michael . . . more »

Judith | 09/06/06 at 03:54 PM | 4 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

September 02, 2006

Warmongering

-----Original Message----- From: Judith Weiss [mailto:judith@yehudit.org] Sent: Thursday, August 31, 2006 10:06 AM To: XXXXX Subject: One for your collection A military photo you will like. From here. On Aug 31, 2006, at 2:27 PM, xxxxx wrote: It would be . . . more »

Judith | 09/02/06 at 10:26 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

August 23, 2006

Kesher Talk and Benjamin Kirstein go way back

I am very pleased to invite Benjamin Kerstein to post here. (He is not to be confused with another Ben who has posting privileges but has been a bit intimidated by the blogging process, and whose emails I have occasionally . . . more »

Judith | 08/23/06 at 12:46 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

August 14, 2006

Why are Jews liberal? A response to Dennis Prager. (Part 1 of 2)

In an earlier post on my blog I promised a full response to a column by Dennis Prager, "Why are Jews liberal?". Here it is. Dennis Prager's column makes six assertions about Jews and liberalism, which I'll take in order. . . . more »

Asher Abrams | 08/14/06 at 01:58 AM | 3 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

July 23, 2006

Hawkish women

[ UPDATE: Ilya Somin sees this as a split within the libertarian movement. ] Since 9-11, I have noticed a counter-intuitive trend: Of couples I know, the husband is usually more dovish or more assured of the efficacy of diplomacy, . . . more »

Judith | 07/23/06 at 12:27 AM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

July 11, 2006

I Am a Jew and My Father Was A Jew

Many thanks to Judith for inviting me to post on Kesher Talk. My father described his father as mildly anti-Semitic, "not an Archie Bunker type" but not without his prejudices either. Dad was born in 1920 and grew up in . . . more »

Asher Abrams | 07/11/06 at 03:09 AM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

July 05, 2006

Stop the Stop the ACLU Coalition

[ UPDATE: Jay updated his post. Glenn Greenwald gives an impassioned tour of " The thug and intimidation tactics of the Far Right," but doesn't mention any leftwing bloggers doing the same. I wish I could respect him too. ] . . . more »

Judith | 07/05/06 at 09:06 PM | 11 Comments | 4 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

Return of the Dissident Frogman

Yo, look who's back! Only the best visual designer in the blogosphere. (I had him in my defunct blog folder, so I had no idea he was contributing to the Motoon propaganda effort.) . . . more »

Judith | 07/05/06 at 12:36 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

June 18, 2006

Hitchens, Margolis, and McGann explain it all to you

Mary wrote up our recent foray into geopolitical theorizing, which included bloggers "Alcibiades" and Pamela, as well as several friends. We ran into Michael Weiss (no relation), the instigator of the NYC Solidarity with Denmark rally, and two friends, who . . . more »

Judith | 06/18/06 at 11:56 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

June 16, 2006

Must read

Go to Solomonia, start at the top and read everything. . . . more »

Judith | 06/16/06 at 03:44 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

June 08, 2006

Attention, Angry Gay Confederate Militants: Have We Got a Flag For You!

One of my favorite blogs is Classical Values, where Eric Scheie takes a libertarian view on politics, culture and other matters, with delightful if infrequent forays into ancient civilizations and Latin grammar. In a discussion of new findings on the . . . more »

Van | 06/08/06 at 03:10 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

May 30, 2006

The Lost City

From a friend who has a friend who attended a premier of Andy Garcia's new film about Cuba: I forwarded the K Lo review to a Cuban friend. He was born in the late 1940s, but his family fled to . . . more »

Judith | 05/30/06 at 09:50 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

May 06, 2006

My email list is too much fun

Ben: Sometime last week, I encountered for what must have been the one millionth time the tiresome complaint that our president ignores dissent. I like to dissect and analyse, so I got to thinking, what does it actually mean, to . . . more »

Judith | 05/06/06 at 09:14 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

April 30, 2006

United 93: Two kinds of numb

All entries on United 93 here. There's a roundup of blogger reviews at Hot Air, both of the movie and critiques of the MSM critics. It was interesting that many spoke of being numbed by the movie (as in . . . more »

Judith | 04/30/06 at 12:22 AM | 0 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

April 16, 2006

Liberal Hawk Sighted at NY's Easter Parade!

Feisty protester takes a stand among the cross-dressing finery on New York's smart Fifth Avenue. You go, girlfriend. . . . more »

Van | 04/16/06 at 06:19 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

March 29, 2006

My Life as a Reformed Gringo

[The raging, welcome debate on immigration deals with mass numbers: aliens in the U.S., economic disruptions, public money expended. This essay gives a different view of the Latin influence, through my changing eyes as a border native.] For most parents, . . . more »

Van | 03/29/06 at 06:40 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

February 11, 2006

The only Democrat I can vote for

Calling all RINO/DINOs: Here's an interview by Sean Hannity of Joe Lieberman. Here's some discombobulation by the people who posted it. (The Playtagger function isn't working right so use the link instead.) . . . more »

Judith | 02/11/06 at 08:28 PM | 4 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

February 06, 2006

Hypocrisy watch

Heh. Not that Atrios' comment threads weren't already filled with hate on many topics . . . . . . . more »

Judith | 02/06/06 at 08:50 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

February 02, 2006

Where is the American Kadima?

I heard someone speak about "Israeli politics after Sharon" at the Limmud conference. He said that Sharon's new Kadima party was so immediately popular because there was an invisible center in the Israeli electorate that wasn't satisfied with their previous . . . more »

Judith | 02/02/06 at 12:28 AM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

January 11, 2006

Essence of RINO

What he said. (For those who keep labelling Glenn Reynolds as a "conservative" or "right-winger") What he said too. . . . more »

Judith | 01/11/06 at 08:39 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

January 01, 2006

Introducing a New Van for a New Year

I'm pleased to be a new contributor to Kesher Talk, and I thank my fellow Texan Judith for inviting me to join the fray. I find the discussions intriguing and I hope to contribute in my own way. I bring . . . more »

Van | 01/01/06 at 01:49 PM | 3 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

December 24, 2005

Welcome to a new co-blogger!

Please give a hearty welcome to our newest contributor, Van Wallach. Van is a professional journalist who has been publishing on the web for some time. His first piece for Kesher Talk was a report on a Jewish Policy Center . . . more »

Judith | 12/24/05 at 06:08 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

December 21, 2005

Some reassurance on Cameron

David Cameron, elected last month in Britain to head the Tory party, has been seen to this point as pretty much of a blank slate. Here's some reassuring news about his views on Foreign Policy, from Brendan Simms, writing in . . . more »

Alcibiades | 12/21/05 at 10:14 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

December 19, 2005

Reform Jews talk back, part II

We posted about the first stirrings of disagreement with the resolution against the Iraq war presented at the annual conference of the Jewish Reform Denomination. That disagreement is boiling over. [Republican Jewish Coalition] executive director Matthew Brooks, a member of . . . more »

Judith | 12/19/05 at 02:58 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

Welcome to the RINO Carnival

Welcome to the 20th RINO Sightings Carnival! (RINO sightings is cancelled for Christmas/Hanukkah week, and returns January 2nd at Louisiana Libertarian.) (You can check out other carnivals at the uber-carnival site, and submit posts to any of them at . . . more »

Judith | 12/19/05 at 09:31 AM | 6 Comments | 12 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

November 07, 2005

Slightly frazzled

I've got a lot on my plate right now, but blogging will be back to normal sometime this week. In the meantime . . . I saved this quote in draft for several months, and right now I need some . . . more »

Judith | 11/07/05 at 11:02 AM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

October 14, 2005

Political Correctness

[ UPDATE: Rightwingnuthouse agrees with Roger and me about Harold Pinter and art in general. (Roger and me - wasn't that a movie . . . .? ] Roger Simon was asked what he thought of Harold Pinter being awarded . . . more »

Judith | 10/14/05 at 12:33 PM | 1 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

October 06, 2005

Hawkish networking

Remember Mr X? He wrote last October for the NY Sun about being a closeted Republican on the Upper West Side. His essay prompted an excited outpouring of letters from similarly afflicted folk. The Sun printed an entire tabloid page . . . more »

Judith | 10/06/05 at 11:40 AM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

September 28, 2005

Just Got Back From Seeing Serenity...

...And much of the Blogosphere seems to be talking about Tom DeLay. Since I don't have anything to say about that one way or another, I'll say instead go out and see Serenity. What a great film! It manages to . . . more »

Alcibiades | 09/28/05 at 10:06 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: Liberal hawks and friends

September 16, 2005

Post-Mortemizing The Rumble

Well I never got around to doing my full write up of the debate, just filled in some odds and ends. But here are two excellent articles on the Hitch-Galloway grapple that do it for me. So now I don't . . . more »

Alcibiades |