en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/561074 Comments by Darryl_Harb http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/29/on-ike-skelton/#IDComment742058193 The problem, Max, isn't the "grandstanding" of the "Tea-Party Wing" of the Republican Party, it's the go-along to get-along attitude of the Rino's who want nothing more than to remain players -permanent members of the Governing Class. Like your idol, Grandpappy McCain. Wed, 30 Oct 2013 09:38:19 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/29/on-ike-skelton/#IDComment742058193 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/23/can-john-mccain-win-a-gop-primary-tea-party-2016/#IDComment739929076 If Grandpappy McCain runs again, he'll need to sucker another conservative Republican into balancing the ticket, so that when he crashes and burns he'll have someone to blame. Fri, 25 Oct 2013 08:46:42 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/23/can-john-mccain-win-a-gop-primary-tea-party-2016/#IDComment739929076 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/22/the-morality-of-drone-warfare/#IDComment738828693 Notice that for the Left, the problem is "America's" drone strikes. If a Republican were president, they would be damning the drone strikes under his name. Tue, 22 Oct 2013 20:41:34 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/22/the-morality-of-drone-warfare/#IDComment738828693 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/18/euros-dont-care-pa-steals-their-money-merkel-abbas-aid/#IDComment737371792 The money is not being stolen, because it doesn't matter what the PA does with it. The Eurotrash progressives use it to purchase an imagined moral authority that entitles them to certify victims and oppressors, freeing them from the shame of being rich and white. It's what passes for spirituality in Post-Christian Europe. Sat, 19 Oct 2013 21:44:27 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/18/euros-dont-care-pa-steals-their-money-merkel-abbas-aid/#IDComment737371792 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/15/good-news-for-christie-the-taft-precedent/#IDComment735545484 We are way over due for a truly fat president, and I'm glad Commentary has taken a bold step in this direction by citing the example of our greatest POTUS. At 300+ lbs. of solid chief executive, upholstered in miles of quality tailoring, Taft is iconic for an earlier, more confident America. And he gave us the 7th inning stretch! (What has Obama ever done for baseball?) Plus he had a personal assistant called Archie Butt. Wed, 16 Oct 2013 09:29:20 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/15/good-news-for-christie-the-taft-precedent/#IDComment735545484 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/14/rand-paul-and-the-war-on-christians-islamism-religious-persecution/#IDComment735032675 Islam's abuse of Christians is under-reported because basically, if it doesn't fit into the progressivist narrative -and Christians in general don't fit there- it doesn't exist. Feminists will sometimes wail about the horrors faced by Saudi women drivers, but have nothing to say about Filipina Christian domestic servants regularly and widely abused there. And sometimes progressivists will draw attention to the occasional insult some ultra-Orthodox perpetrate against a Catholic cleric in Israel (Spitting! Call the UN!), as if it's morally equivalent to the rape, burning, shooting and general persecution of Christians in any Muslim-majority country. But that's Israel, and progressivists are all about doing public penance for America's Original Sin, and they'll grasp at anything to do so. Tue, 15 Oct 2013 09:44:08 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/14/rand-paul-and-the-war-on-christians-islamism-religious-persecution/#IDComment735032675 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/06/the-temptation-of-relying-on-anti-terror-raids/#IDComment730796666 Sorry, but this is not a "great article". This is a Max Boot article, full of empty rhetoric and absurd assertions ("saving grace" my @$$) intended to tart up his insipid analysis. Max thinks we can "control" what at best we can only contain. It is hard enough to get a conceptual handle on the large and amorphous social, religious, and political phenomenon he terms "Islamist extremism" (policy makers cannot even determine a common vocabulary). Solipsistic thinking of this sort just leads to bad policy decisions. Mon, 7 Oct 2013 12:43:53 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/06/the-temptation-of-relying-on-anti-terror-raids/#IDComment730796666 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/09/23/syrias-self-fulfilling-prophecy/#IDComment724670767 Well, if Iran is the problem, then hit Iran. That country, as you imply, is making mischief all over the place. And hitting Iran would certainly send messages to all her clients, including Syria. Tue, 24 Sep 2013 09:55:02 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/09/23/syrias-self-fulfilling-prophecy/#IDComment724670767 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/09/15/syria-deal-faces-long-odds/#IDComment721429006 Karma --well, we all know what karma is. Anyway, I have no doubt that --far from being a "solution"-- this thing will come back to bite us all Tue, 17 Sep 2013 13:24:54 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/09/15/syria-deal-faces-long-odds/#IDComment721429006 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/09/15/syria-deal-faces-long-odds/#IDComment721000831 Geez, Louise, lighten up! You seem to think the DoD has to be staffed by a bunch of Jeopardy winners! Who cares about some crappy little town in Europe anyway? Mon, 16 Sep 2013 16:40:12 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/09/15/syria-deal-faces-long-odds/#IDComment721000831 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/09/15/syria-deal-faces-long-odds/#IDComment720948800 "So, why do you worship the Raynds instead of those quiet heroes?" Uh --was that line meant for me? If so, I don't understand it. I've never had much respect for Ayn Rand. Did I somehow give you the opposite impression? By all means, let's hear it for the quiet heroes. Mon, 16 Sep 2013 14:35:51 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/09/15/syria-deal-faces-long-odds/#IDComment720948800 http://dc-web2.commentarymagazine.com/2013/09/15/obama-lost-more-than-style-points-in-syria-iran-russia/#IDComment720863074 Obama is a fool surrounded by sycophants, a problem made worse by their ideological astigmatism. But one wonders: Could a Republican administration --even a steely-eyed and savvy one (if such could be found)-- make any difference by the time it took power? Moreover, for all his resolve and great-power ambitions, Putin is similarly blinkered, and anything he does is liable to have unintended consequences, given the complexities involved. It is more likely that the forces of poverty, population, ethnicity, ignorance, weapons-availability and sheer irreversible bloody-mindedness in this region far exceed the effectiveness of any intervention, however subtle or however ruthless, and that the best that can be hoped for is containment. Mon, 16 Sep 2013 11:19:21 +0000 http://dc-web2.commentarymagazine.com/2013/09/15/obama-lost-more-than-style-points-in-syria-iran-russia/#IDComment720863074 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/09/15/syria-deal-faces-long-odds/#IDComment720846041 "Unlike my recent encounters on the Upper West Side, she never considered the WWII, the Holocaust and antisemitism "charming." " --I would love to hear you expand upon this. And perhaps your friend's hatred of politics and politicians also stemmed from the clarity that comes from being in the immediate path of such duplicity, unlike the American Left, which mostly survived the ideological whiplash of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. Mon, 16 Sep 2013 10:38:50 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/09/15/syria-deal-faces-long-odds/#IDComment720846041 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/09/09/why-im-against-a-military-strike-on-syria/#IDComment717013617 I am reminded that we once signed a bio/chem weapons ban with the USSR, whereupon the Russians nonchalantly continued making them. I imagine that at their meeting, Putin looks upon Obama as the wolf looks upon a rabbit. But in any case, I say cut to the chase --Iran has threaten retaliation if we attack Syria. So, if we must bomb something, bomb Iran; take out their nuclear program to start with, so Israel doesn't have to. Mon, 9 Sep 2013 20:05:59 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/09/09/why-im-against-a-military-strike-on-syria/#IDComment717013617 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/09/01/thinking-through-our-syrian-options/#IDComment712099641 If Zero had any brains or brass (a stretch, I know) he might use this opportunity to scuttle Iran's nuclear-weapons program: a much more important target; a comparatively clear one; one that will send a message to Iran's client, Assad, and undermine him by giving Iran something else to think about. Sun, 1 Sep 2013 16:45:18 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/09/01/thinking-through-our-syrian-options/#IDComment712099641 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/08/30/obama-has-the-authority-to-act-on-syria/#IDComment711957850 Admit it, Max: you have no clue --no more than Obama does-- as to what to target, and what consequences will ensue. When they launch Operation Rodeo Clown (That's the official military name. Honest.) all bets are off. Sun, 1 Sep 2013 09:08:13 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/08/30/obama-has-the-authority-to-act-on-syria/#IDComment711957850 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/08/30/the-me-myself-and-i-president/#IDComment711484165 "Just muscular enough" i.e. it will kill just enough innocent bystanders to let everyone know Obama means business! "The risk that Obama might be mocked is all that counts." Indeed, for Obama, vanity even trumps ideology. Where can I get an Obama mask, and how do I join the rodeo circuit? Sat, 31 Aug 2013 10:24:27 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/08/30/the-me-myself-and-i-president/#IDComment711484165 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/08/30/about-that-special-relationship/#IDComment711479151 "Britain’s capitulation to war-weary public opinion is foremost a personal defeat for Cameron." By "capitulation" you mean, they voted it down. It's what democracies do. And it might be more accurate to call them war-dubious. A "special relationship" is not a suicide pact, and the Brits are well advised to demand clarity from the US president before committing themselves to an undefined course of action whose only clear purpose at this point is to cover Obama's @$$. Sat, 31 Aug 2013 10:13:56 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/08/30/about-that-special-relationship/#IDComment711479151 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/08/28/what-will-the-syria-strikes-accomplish/#IDComment710015432 What targets, exactly? Saddam's --er-- Assad's chemical weapons? Where are they? Assad himself? Define "greatest restraint". Define "success". Sorry for over-analyzing, but like Max, Obama hasn't a clue what exactly can be done or what the consequences will be. And everything with this president is personal; his worldview and approach to policy are entirely solipsistic. Thu, 29 Aug 2013 09:33:24 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/08/28/what-will-the-syria-strikes-accomplish/#IDComment710015432 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/08/23/why-al-gores-warming-fibs-matter-global-warmin/#IDComment706570583 One message usually overlooked in coverage of environmentalist alarmism is the implied one these wealthy anti-human snobs have for people in poor countries, i.e., "just enough of us; way too many of you." Sat, 24 Aug 2013 10:31:13 +0000 http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/08/23/why-al-gores-warming-fibs-matter-global-warmin/#IDComment706570583