Arthur Waldron’s article (unfortunately no longer available free online) in the September issue of Commentary is worth reading. Waldron argues that the Hong Kong democracy movement’s surge in popularity, as exemplified by the huge anti-Article 23 demonstration on July 1, puts the mainland government in an existential bind. It would prefer to finesse the situation with minimal reforms and other half-measures, as it has attempted to do in the past. However, Waldron thinks the HK populace is unlikely now to accept such palliatives and that these measures will therefore not defuse the crisis.
Jonathan
Photos
I have posted a small gallery of mostly new photos, including some juicy mushroom porn. . . [remainder snipped — see below]
UPDATE: Most of these photos are now on my photoblog.
Arnold Will Win
Forget the LA Times controversy. That was a ginned-up deal and only mattered because lefty journalists, who don’t want Schwarzenegger to win, wanted it to matter. Look instead at Tradesports.com (click on “RECALL.ARNOLD”), where Arnold’s odds have been rising since mid-September and are now around 75%. That’s always been the real story. He’ll win and probably win big.
“It Doesn’t Work, So Keep Doing It”
A brilliant post by Val on one of the world’s great political ironies: voters elect irresponsible leftist/populist spendthrifts who wreck their local economies, leading to mass emigration. The cycle repeats as the emigres foul their new civic nests by again voting for leftist/populist spendthrifts. Every libertarian or conservative resident of the U.S. sunbelt knows what Val is talking about. Lex probably has a learned explanation for this phenomenon, but I feel the same way about it as I do about Jews who are basically conservative yet always vote for Democrats: how can they have so little insight into the contradictions of their own behavior? Beats me.
Is “War on Terror” the Wrong Way to Frame the Issue?
Val Dorta has a long and thoughtful post about conceptual flaws in our “war on terror.” I agree that we aren’t dealing openly with the problems posed by Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. However, unlike Val I think that our behavior in this regard is probably more a function of our trying to finesse these situations, and if possible avoid war, than of any unwillingness on our part to face the truth. But I may be wrong, and Val makes the contrary case well.