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Right-Wing Terror Apologism
Michael J. Totten's blog Via Andrew Northrup I find this nasty little screed about yesterday’s terror attack in Baghdad from Emperor Misha (in his own comments section), who likes to think of himself as an “anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler.” I am not ...
Unhinged in Paris
Michael J. Totten's blog Europeans used to blame Jews when people got sick. That same impulse still thrives on the continent. Howard Fineman in Newsweek: The blame-America attitude gets silly at times. For example, you might have wondered what caused ...
Target: UN
Michael J. Totten's blog The Baathist “resistance” hit the UN headquarters in Baghdad with a truck bomb . The top UN envoy to Iraq was killed. These attacks are not a cry for help. They are committed by Saddam’s goons determined to kill their way ...
The State of Serial Killers
Michael J. Totten's blog In David Fincher’s nightmarish film Seven , Kevin Spacey plays John Doe, mad Bible man and the creepiest on-screen killer since Hannibal Lector. John hated sinners and he set out to kill seven, one victim for each of the ...
One is Enough
Michael J. Totten's blog Andrew Northrup (aka The Poor Man) has a short succinct post explaining why the US doesn’t need an American Guardian . There are a lot of complaints one might make about the American media – there are a lot of complaints one ...
What I Did During the Blackout
Michael J. Totten's blog We didn’t get a blackout here in the Pacific Northwest, but Shelly and I wanted one. So we went “camping” this weekend at a long narrow lake in a canyon in the central Oregon desert. Proper camping is when you hike at least ...
The Lure of Destruction
Michael J. Totten's blog The Washington Post says Mt. Rainier is far more dangerous than we knew. My first reaction: excellent . Only later did I think yikes . I can see the mountain from my office in Portland. It’s bigger than you think. Shelly and ...
Blog Bias
Michael J. Totten's blog The liberal blogger Kevin Drum has a list of who he thinks are interesting conservatives . And the conservative writer Daniel Drezner posts his pick of interesting liberals . Matt Yglesias points out that the people on Kevin ...
Email of the Week
Michael J. Totten's blog George Jong emails: I have to admit, I get a little freaked out by the fact that you keep appearing in the comments of all the blogs I read – Kevin Drum , Jeff Jarvis , Roger Simon , etc. It’s like pulling over to three ...
Which Country Are You?
Michael J. Totten's blog Randy Paul took the Country Quiz and it told him he is India. Apparently, I’m Canada. You’re Canada! People make fun of you a lot, but they’re stupid because you’ve got a much better life than they do. In fact, they’re ...
What’s Up with Arnold
Michael J. Totten's blog Gerard Van der Leun calls me the “Swiss Army Knife of commentators.” Hey. I think I like that. And it seems I inadvertantly helped Gerard figure out what’s up with Arnold. Arnold, Gerard says, is a bi-liberal . (Notice how we ...
Socialism Without the Socialism
Michael J. Totten's blog James Becker emails and points me to an article by Ronald Bailey in Reason about a universal health insurance plan from the New America Foundation . It looks good to me. In fact, I think it’s the best one I’ve seen. Every ...
Democracy Should Be Fun
Michael J. Totten's blog George Will : Truly conservative Californians — you few know who you are — will vote against the recall to protest its plebiscitary cynicism. Oh, lighten up, Will. Look. I changed my mind about the goofball celebrity thing. ...
Final Poll Results
Michael J. Totten's blog John Hawkins at Right-Wing News polled a list of left-wing bloggers, including myself, and asked us who we thought were the 20 worst figures in American history. I posted my list over the weekend. Now John has posted the ...
Taylor is Out
Michael J. Totten's blog Sometimes the threat of force works wonders all by itself, so long as the threat is credible. Charles Taylor has feld Liberia into exile in Nigeria. He wasn’t driven out by years of civil war but by a cocked American gun. ...
20 Worst Americans
Michael J. Totten's blog John Hawkins at Right-Wing News emailed me and several other left-of-center bloggers and asked for a list of who we think are the 20 worst figures in American history. Last week he posted a list compiled by conservative ...
Coulter, McCarthy, and Hitchens
Michael J. Totten's blog Geoff Pynn found this charming photo on Ann Coulter’s Web site . Christopher Hitchens, in a debate with her on Hardball , sums up in a single sentence what’s wrong with her. I’m appalled to see what kind of model citizen you ...
Annoying Arnold
Michael J. Totten's blog James Lileks and Roger L. Simon are kinda sorta in the Arnold Schwarzenegger for Governor of California camp. Of which I have been suspicious. Do we really need more goofball celebrities in charge? I love the Terminator ...
History of the Ba’ath Party
Michael J. Totten's blog Hovig John Heghinian in the Comments section pointed to this article about Michel Aflaq, founder of the Ba’ath Party. It’s not a new article, but it is worth reading anyway since it explains the ideological foundations of ...
What Dreams May Come
Michael J. Totten's blog Sean LaFreniere had a compelling and oddly relevant dream last night. I tried to argue with the villain but he only laughed. I turned the other cheek and he hit it too. Nothing that I did made things better. And throughout ...
Additions to the Blogroll
Michael J. Totten's blog Norman Geras , Oliver Kamm , and Randy Paul’s Beautiful Horizons have been added to the blog roll. ...
The View from the Center-Left
Michael J. Totten's blog Joe Katzman writes about what he calls Mogadishu Democrats , Democrats who are trying to look serious about foreign policy but end up posturing instead. Memo to Democrats: kindly get a grip. America was attacked. The public ...
Polyamory and the State
Michael J. Totten's blog Anti-gay marriage activist Stanley Kurtz says of Andrew Sullivan: In my recent piece, I also noted Sullivan’s failure to take up the real challenge of the slippery slope argument as it relates to polyamory. In fact, I don’t ...
Another Reason to Oppose the UN
Michael J. Totten's blog The United Nations is not Star Trek’s “Federation of Planets.” Okay? The Ba’ath Party was founded by Nazis in Damascus during World War II. And for the month of August the Ba’ath Party is in charge of the UN Security Council. ...
Idiocy Watch
Michael J. Totten's blog It [having kids] is the reason for marriage. It’s not to affirm the love of two people. I mean, that’s not what marriage is about. Rick Santorum , Republican senator from Pennsylvania I wanted a reminder of that day when we ...
Enemies of the Future
Michael J. Totten's blog It looks like the Republican Congress is seriously considering a constitutional ammendment to ban gay marriage forever . I’m in favor of gay marriage for all the usual reasons . I understand that when societies redefine ...
Off the Deep End
Michael J. Totten's blog What the hell ? She knew her new name might finally stick when she got a phone message recently: “Hi, GoVeg.com. This is your mother. Please call me.” It might sound more than a little odd — but it’s true. A young animal ...
Workshop Drama
Michael J. Totten's blog Fantasy writer Gene Wolfe taught a writer’s workshop and some of his students complained that he was mean . (This means he didn’t pat them on the head and treat them like grade-schoolers, but actually tried to teach them ...
Barbarism
Michael J. Totten's blog So many women in Bangladesh are attacked with acid that an Acid Survivor’s Foundation is necessary. From their Web site: Acid attacks have traumatic consequences – physically, psychologically, and socially. Nitric and ...
Bad Drinking Scene
Michael J. Totten's blog Sometimes the little things are the most telling. Here’s a just-discovered interview with Michael Kelly just before he was killed on assignment in Iraq. Give me a sense of Baghdad as a tourist. Is it different from Amman or ...
Discrediting the ICC
Michael J. Totten's blog I’m a big fan of bringing dictators to justice. And so in principle I should wholeheartedly endorse the new International Criminal Court in the Hague. Some of the conservative arguments against it don’t wash, as Randy Paul ...
Another Left Hawk
Michael J. Totten's blog Norman Geras has already been linked by Andrew Sullivan so he hardly needs any help from me. But in case you missed the plug, I’ll second it . Norman is on the right side in the terror war, and I don’t mean “right” as in ...
The City in Mind
Michael J. Totten's blog Tonight is date night with Shelly so you won’t get a new essay on my shiny new Web site just yet. But here’s a great interview with James Howard Kunstler for you. He writes novels and also the best books about American cities ...
The Poisoned Fruit of Anti-Americanism
Michael J. Totten's blog No more do I want to hear that Europeans are more sophisticated than Americans. Here’s the latest. BERLIN, July 23 (Reuters) – Almost one in three Germans below the age of 30 believes the U.S. government may have sponsored ...
The New Digs
Michael J. Totten's blog Welcome to the new site. As you can see, I now have a Comments section so you can flail me in public instead of only by email. The site is brand-new so let me know if you see any kinks that need to be ironed out. I spent all ...
Why the Hitch Beats the Rest
Michael J. Totten's blog Here’s a snip from an interview with Christopher Hitchens , just back from Iraq. CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS, VANITY FAIR: Well, I had been there earlier this year in late March, in fact, on the southern border, briefly. And I ...
Egypt Loves Sharon?
Michael J. Totten's blog I wonder what backroom pressure led to this . CAIRO – Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said on Saturday Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was the only Israeli politician capable of forging peace between Israel and the ...
The Two Faces of American Liberalism
Michael J. Totten's blog Bill Whittle : Two of the most malignant and cruel mass murderers, rapists and torturers to ever walk the earth have departed the planet — and the left sneers . [I added this link. -MT] There was a time — I can remember it ...
Enemy Propaganda
Michael J. Totten's blog During the Iraq war I raised the eyebrows of some of my friends when I bluntly described the Arabic language TV station Al Jazeera as “enemy propaganda.” Here’s what Iraqi blogger Salam Pax says about Al Jazeera today. I ...
The Globalization of Gaza
Michael J. Totten's blog I have a new Tech Central Station article up today: The Globalization of Gaza . Middle East Palestine ...
Quote of the Day
Michael J. Totten's blog From Merde in France who blogs from, well, France of course. Remember Americans, you are hated here. Hated more than the worst terrorists and murderers. Europe and Central Asia France Terrorism ...
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