Left Behind, pp. 8-9 Here in reality, the "road map" peace plan is stumbling and staggering and likely to fall apart. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat seem determined to undermine the plan in any way possible. Its two-state solution, and its stated goal of an independent Palestinian state in what is now the occupied West Bank by the year 2005, seems highly optimistic. Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins don't believe in the road map peace... Read more
Jimmy Breslin, God bless him, isn't just a great newspaperman, he's a pretty good theologian too. Breslin writes of a tragedy — an infant strangled in the night in a fall from a bunk bed. Part of the reason that Breslin has been so good for so long is that he writes with an expansive compassion — a love for New York and all the people who live there. He provides a moving portrait of a struggling family barely coping... Read more
Harper's, James Pinkerton and Slate's Fred Kaplan all noted the disturbing historical precedent that President Bush cited in his speech in the Philippines. From Harper's "Weekly Review": President George W. Bush traveled to Asia and gave a speech in Manila comparing Iraq to the Philippines, a former U.S. colony that was "liberated" from Spain in 1898 and occupied for 48 years. Bush said that the Philippines, which he called "the oldest democracy in Asia," should be seen as the model... Read more
Left Behind, pp. 6-8 Buck Williams is, as mentioned, the Greatest Investigative Reporter of All Time: At thirty, Cameron Williams was the youngest ever senior writer for the prestigious Global Weekly. The envy of the rest of the veteran staff, he either scooped them on or was assigned to the best stories in the world. “Global Weekly” is, apparently, like TIME or Newsweek — except with a reputation for top-notch journalism. As the GIRAT, Williams is assigned to write GW’s... Read more
Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern is, like Joseph Wilson, both in a position to know the whole truth and brave enough to tell it to anybody who'll listen. On Sunday, McGovern spoke to a community group in Rochester, N.Y.: The Bush administration lied to Congress to pave the way for war with Iraq, alleged a former CIA analyst who visited Rochester on Sunday. … “Never have I seen such a cynically orchestrated campaign over a year and a half,’’ he... Read more
Atrios brings us this delightful observation from Barbara Bush, the queen mother: "Why should we hear about body bags and deaths and how many, what day it's going to happen, and how many this or what do you suppose? Oh, I mean, it's, not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?" (Via Notes from Atlanta. Bush's comment was made in an interview with Diane Sawyer on "Good Morning America," March 18 — see here.)... Read more
Left Behind, pp. 6&7 It's a dangerous thing for a writer to introduce a fictional character who is, the reader is told, the Greatest Investigative Reporter of All Time. The pitfall here is the same as if you introduce a character by telling readers he is "the absolute funniest person who ever lived." You can get away with this, somewhat, if you're writing about a great painter or musician. There you can get away with simply piling on the superlatives,... Read more
Congratulations to David Brooks of The New York Times who Saturday became the 100,000th pundit to submit a column titled "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." Times staffers gathered for a special ceremony commemorating the event, at which Clint Eastwood presented Brooks with a plaque marking the occasion. "When we were shooting this film, we knew we had something special," Eastwood said. "A classic Western in the grand tradition. But we didn't realize then that something else was happening,... Read more
Thanks to "david" in Atrios' comments, I found this essay by Joan Didion in The New York Review of Books. Didion's frightening question is how much the kind of thinking found in the Left Behind books influences the decisions of President George W. Bush, proud evangelical Christian, doubter of Darwin, and courter of the fundamentalist Christian right. She cuts through to the scary political implications of these books having a fanbase of 55 million: We understand immediately: this will be... Read more
Left Behind, pg. 6 Here we meet LaHaye and Jenkins' second protagonist: Buck Williams. I grew up in Jersey, so I'm a long-time admirer of Buck Williams. The man was a rebounding machine — dominating the NBA boards for a decade, pulling down more than 13,000 rebounds (No. 12 on the all-time list). Williams is still the Nets all-time leading scorer and rebounder. So who did they get for him in the trade with Portland? Freaking Sam Bowie. Great trade... Read more
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