Comments on: Compare and contrast

By: Crooked Timber » » Lieven on neo-cons

Crooked Timber » » Lieven on neo-cons — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 06:11:53 +0000

[...] There’s lots that I don’t agree with in Anatol Lieven’s reformulation of realism, but this quote from his LRB review of books on the Cold War (behind the subscriber wall) really has the number of the more rubble less trouble mob. [...]

By: zedaker

zedaker — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 03:48:54 +0000

“Does he contradict himself? Very well then he contradicts himself, (he is large, he contains multitudes.)

Posted by Steve LaBonne · November 6th, 2006 at 4:03 pm”

So does a paranoid schizoprenic. ;)

By: Steve LaBonne

Steve LaBonne — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 21:43:33 +0000

Crooked Timber is losing it’s value as a academic blog.

Quoted for punctuation and grammar. Priceless, given the content.

By: aaron

aaron — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 18:49:18 +0000

Crooked Timber is losing it’s value as a academic blog.

Despite all it’s biases and flaws, in the past it atleast provided interesting and relevant perspectives and good information. It has not done so for much of the past several months. I hope to see it regain some of it’s objectivity. (You might want to ditch Henry and Quiggin.)

By: brooksfoe

brooksfoe — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 17:16:56 +0000

I think you’re all being too harsh on Glenn. In 2003 there wasn’t yet any objective evidence of Iraqis’ innate inferiority and unsuitability for democratic self-rule. But now, having been offered the luscious fruits of American democracy and laissez-faire capitalism on a silver platter, and having handed said platter back to us with our heads on it, they can be objectively described as sub-human beasts fit only for liquefaction via white phosphorus. Glenn’s no racist; he’s just a crazed, bloodthirsty would-be mass murderer.

By: BruceR

BruceR — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 06:07:13 +0000

Slocum, you’ve got to read “more rubble, less trouble” in context with the “Wretchard’s Three Conjectures” that the jingosphere is praising at the moment.

The shorter version of the Conjectures is that the threat of a massive WMD attack on the United States is increasing so rapidly (some compare it to a Fibonacci sequence) that an automatic resort to massive force against any Muslim or other pariah state, safely before they can develop a nuclear capability will be ever-increasingly required. “Keeping them in line” is assumed to no longer be sufficient, so the current line is that the rubble of future years will have to be much more extensive than the rubble of Clinton’s day to achieve the same protective effect for Americans. We’re no longer talking about precision strikes: this is essentially a Unilaterally Assured Destruction policy that is being promulgated among rightist bloggers now.

When Reynolds is using the catchphrase, he’s effectively referring his fans to that line of argument without the potential pitfall of stating it explicitly for his more casual readers. If he’s not being deliberately genocidal (which I also somewhat doubt), he’s certainly being a wilfully sloppy thinker and reckless public voice, whose sotto voce mouthing of an extremist slogan will be taken in many quarters as approval.

By: Joel

Joel — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 00:17:58 +0000

Reynolds is basically a passive/aggressive version of The Corner. The only reason I read him these days is to keep up with the latest obsessions of right wing bloggers. Easier than scrolling around and reading the latest from Captain Ed, Malkin, the Corner, etc.

By: nick s

nick s — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 21:27:59 +0000

Remember when Instapundit used to be interesting?

No. I also don’t remember the days when nymphs and shepherds disported in splendour, though lots of people have written about those times.

The ‘exterminate all the brutes’ stage of the 101st Fighting Keyboarders is notable, though.

By: bryan

bryan — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 18:47:29 +0000

Obviously 2003 Glenn is totally consistent in hating 2006 Glenn, no way 2003 Glenn would ever accept a defeatist liberal like 2006 Glenn.

By: JONATHAN

JONATHAN — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 17:53:50 +0000

Shorter Glenn Reynolds: Kill them all; God will recognize his own.

By: TS

TS — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 17:21:44 +0000

Oh, Henry. Keep this up, and you’ll never be taken seriously as a scholar of the blogosphere!

By: Lee A. Arnold

Lee A. Arnold — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 16:53:47 +0000

In addition to the other intellectual shortcomings, notice that we have moved into a world where “more rubble, less trouble” will not work as a long-term strategy, anyway. This is emotionalism, charading as thought.

By: dmm

dmm — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 16:35:52 +0000

For some time now, part of Dubya’s stump speech has been that “some” don’t think that Ay-rabs are ready for democracy, but nobody has ever been able to figure out who these “some” are. Now it turns out that he was talking about Instapundit!

I wonder how Glenn Reynolds feels about having the President talk smack about him like that? (“Please sir, may I have another?” most likely.)

By: Walt

Walt — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 16:02:03 +0000

If you summon them, John, the only way to get rid of them is to get them to say their name three times backwards, which is hard to do unless it appears in a Republican blast fax.

By: John Emerson

John Emerson — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 14:52:58 +0000

Slocum! Slocum! Slocum!

Where’s Jet? Where’s Sebastian? I need my fix!