Harper's Magazine

WYATT MASON—Weekend Read: “Ayenbite of inwit”

Wyatt Mason — Fri, 16 May 2008 17:22:51 -0400

Wyatt Mason Fri, 16 May 2008 17:22:51 -0400 The week began with the forgotten Josiah Mitchell Morse, (who as of May 14 has been granted his Wikipedia page) and ends with the very few sentences from his typewriter that are remembered online. The first is a bonbon, a letter Morse wrote to the New York Times, in 1989: . . .

KEN SILVERSTEIN—Blogger Roundtable Coordinator: Let’s find people to “carry our water”

Ken Silverstein — Fri, 16 May 2008 13:32:01 -0400

Ken Silverstein Fri, 16 May 2008 13:32:01 -0400 Once more I’m going to return to the topic of those blogger roundtables organized by the Pentagon, which I have discussed several times since last summer and most recently last month. In that last item, I discussed the New York Times story that revealed how the Pentagon worked with retired military officials and prepared them to serve as supposedly independent media “analysts.” That was part of a broader Defense Department media program that included the blogger roundtables, and which looked for “surrogates” to whom Pentagon talking points could be fed. . . .

MR. FISH—A Cartoon

Mr. Fish — Fri, 16 May 2008 11:08:18 -0400

Mr. Fish Fri, 16 May 2008 11:08:18 -0400 . . .

KEN SILVERSTEIN—The G.O.P.’s Summer Collection

Ken Silverstein — Fri, 16 May 2008 10:39:39 -0400

Ken Silverstein Fri, 16 May 2008 10:39:39 -0400 From the Star-Tribune: . . .

KEN SILVERSTEIN—McDonald’s: Baku Hot Spot

Ken Silverstein — Fri, 16 May 2008 07:51:00 -0400

Ken Silverstein Fri, 16 May 2008 07:51:00 -0400 A few weeks back I posted an item about a 2005 Senate trip Barack Obama made to Azerbaijan during which he lobbied dictator Ilham Aliyev on behalf of McDonald’s and complained about obstacles faced by the company in opening restaurants in Baku, the Azeri capital. A Westerner residing in Baku subsequently sent me the following note: . . .

KEN SILVERSTEIN—Disturbing Sex Scandal Involves Swift Boat Family

Ken Silverstein — Thu, 15 May 2008 16:17:18 -0400

Ken Silverstein Thu, 15 May 2008 16:17:18 -0400 Will Perry is the son of Bob Perry, a major funder of the Swift Boat Vets and the G.O.P. Will is also a G.O.P. donor, although he gives less than his father. From the Fort Bend Star: . . .

KEN SILVERSTEIN—On That Hillary–Hitler Video: The verdict is in

Ken Silverstein — Thu, 15 May 2008 10:58:04 -0400

Ken Silverstein Thu, 15 May 2008 10:58:04 -0400 A number of readers complained to me or to Harper’s about that delightful Hillary-as-Hitler video I posted the other day, which was created by comedian James Adomian. But the public has spoken (or rather, clicked), and the critics appear to be in the minority: . . .

KEN SILVERSTEIN—Was U.S. Private Security Firm Spying for Kazakh Government?

Ken Silverstein — Thu, 15 May 2008 09:10:02 -0400

Ken Silverstein Thu, 15 May 2008 09:10:02 -0400 That’s the question raised by this terrific Wall Street Journal story. The firm is GlobalOptions, an extremely well-connected company run by, among others, former FBI and CIA officials. The Kazakh government apparently retained GlobalOptions to monitor, and possibly seek to derail, a Justice Department investigation into James Giffen, an American oilman who is suspected of paying tens of millions of dollars in bribes to President Nursultan Nazarbayev. . . .

KEN SILVERSTEIN—Convicted Scammer is Donor to Clinton Campaign

Ken Silverstein — Thu, 15 May 2008 09:02:26 -0400

Ken Silverstein Thu, 15 May 2008 09:02:26 -0400 I know Hillary Clinton is hard up for dough, but should her campaign really have taken money from a suspected (and subsequently convicted) kickback conspirator? In June of 2007, attorney Melvyn Weiss donated $4,600 to Clinton’s campaign, the legal maximum. By then Weiss was reportedly under investigation for paying kickbacks to people who served as lead plaintiffs in class-action lawsuits that netted his New York law firm hundreds of millions of dollars in fees. . . .

WYATT MASON—“Afraid To Go To the Toilet”

Wyatt Mason — Wed, 14 May 2008 22:37:30 -0400

Wyatt Mason Wed, 14 May 2008 22:37:30 -0400 Some readers of Martin Amis’s new collection of essays, The Second Plane: Terror and Boredom (Alfred A. Knopf), have found the marriage of nouns in its subtitle a consternation, an inglorious instance of Martin Aimless. “[H]e repeatedly draws a nonsensical analogy between terrorism and boredom,” wrote Michiko Kakutani, . . .

Replies

Wed, 14 May 2008 11:57:08 -0400

Wed, 14 May 2008 11:57:08 -0400 From: Gary McCardell Subject: Exclusive Video: Hillary in the Führerbunker, by Ken Silverstein, May 12, 2008 . . .

KEN SILVERSTEIN—Major G.O.P. and Democratic Donor Questioned in Israeli Corruption Probe

Ken Silverstein — Wed, 14 May 2008 11:16:58 -0400

Ken Silverstein Wed, 14 May 2008 11:16:58 -0400 The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports that Sheldon Adlelson, a major donor to the G.O.P., has been questioned by police as part of a corruption probe. S. Daniel Abraham of Slim-Fast, a big Democratic donor, is also being questioned. Worth reading. . . .

KEN SILVERSTEIN—Tip to McCain: To promote reform, bag your national finance co-chair

Ken Silverstein — Wed, 14 May 2008 10:17:51 -0400

Ken Silverstein Wed, 14 May 2008 10:17:51 -0400 The Washington Post reports today that Barack Obama and John McCain are both working to . . .

WYATT MASON—Inherently Subversive

Wyatt Mason — Tue, 13 May 2008 12:03:41 -0400

Wyatt Mason Tue, 13 May 2008 12:03:41 -0400 Josiah Mitchell Morse was blessed, by birth, with a beautiful American name, but such luck hasn’t been enough to ensure him and his work a place in the cultural memory. As of this morning, for example, a Wikipedia search assures us of Morse’s insignificance, offering only a grim ‘there is no page titled…’ alert. Using an earlier measure of a culture’s indifference to the strenuous exertions of its members, we might gauge Morse’s irrelevance, thus: none of his serious, funny, learned, angry, angering books has remained in print. . . .

SCOTT HORTON—Six Questions for Sidney Blumenthal, Author of The Strange Death of Republican America

Scott Horton — Tue, 13 May 2008 11:56:07 -0400

Scott Horton Tue, 13 May 2008 11:56:07 -0400 Sidney Blumenthal has written for The New Republic, the Washington Post, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, and most recently served as Washington editor to Salon.com and as a contributor to The Guardian. He is one of America’s foremost political commentators, and also has a noteworthy track-record of political engagement. He served as an assistant and senior advisor to President Bill Clinton and is currently a senior advisor to Hillary Clinton. He was also executive producer for the Oscar Award-winning documentary Taxi to the Dark Side. Blumenthal has just published a collection of essays entitled The Strange Death of Republican America. I put six questions to him on the subject of his current book. . . .

KEN SILVERSTEIN—Obama, Hamas, and “Nuance”

Ken Silverstein — Tue, 13 May 2008 08:27:21 -0400

Ken Silverstein Tue, 13 May 2008 08:27:21 -0400 Barack Obama recently severed all links with Robert Malley, an informal Middle East policy adviser, after the latter “confessed” that he had met with the Palestinian group Hamas. And in a recent interview, Obama said, “We don’t do nuance well in politics and especially don’t do it well on Middle East policy…It’s conceivable that there are those in the Arab world who say to themselves, ‘This is a guy who spent some time in the Muslim world, has a middle name of Hussein, and appears more worldly and has called for talks with people, and so he’s not going to be engaging in the same sort of cowboy diplomacy as George Bush,’ and that’s something they’re hopeful about. I think that’s a perfectly legitimate perception as long as they’re not confused about my unyielding support for Israel’s security.” . . .

SAM STARK—Weekly Review

Sam Stark — Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Sam Stark Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400 The military junta in Myanmar put the official death toll from last week's Cyclone Nargis (Urdu for “daffodil”) at 28,458, while foreign observers, taking into account that heavy rains were expected to continue, with malaria, tuberculosis, cholera, typhoid, and dysentery to follow, expected that as many as 100,000 people would die. Before distributing foreign-aid packages, the junta re-labeled them with the names of its generals; a referendum on a new constitution that will perpetuate the junta's rule was not delayed. “Let's go cast a vote,” sang two female pop vocalists on state-run television. “With sincere thoughts for happy days, let's go cast a vote.” Reuters India The New York Times Irrawaddy US State Dept. The Christian Science Monitor BBC The New York Times Der Spiegel BBC Popular Science John Goodyear, whom Senator John McCain had chosen to manage this year's Republican convention and who once managed public relations for the Myanmar junta, stepped down, and one in four Republicans voted against McCain in primaries in North Carolina and Indiana. Newsweek Politico Senator Barack Obama crushed Senator Hillary Clinton in the North Carolina Democratic primary, lost by a small margin in Indiana, and then took the lead in pledged superdelegates. Clinton pointed out that she still enjoys support from hard workers and white people. “A woman is like a teabag,” she said, quoting Eleanor Roosevelt. “You never know how strong she is until she's in hot water.” New Yorker via MSNBC USA Today ABC The Los Angeles Times The Washington Post The Hill Chicago Tribune The New York Times One hundred seventy-eight House Republicans voted against a resolution “celebrating the role of mothers in the United States,.” The Washington Post and Yup'ik-speaking voters in Alaska demanded better bilingual election materials, citing a 2002 ballot in which “natural gas” had been rendered as “this gas in the stomach.” Anchorage Daily News . . .

KEN SILVERSTEIN—Exclusive Video: Hillary in the Führerbunker

Ken Silverstein — Mon, 12 May 2008 16:13:34 -0400

Ken Silverstein Mon, 12 May 2008 16:13:34 -0400 Well, I may be soft on Hillary, but this is very funny. (Not safe for work or for the easily offended.) . . .

KEN SILVERSTEIN—McCain’s Burma Connection

Ken Silverstein — Mon, 12 May 2008 09:16:57 -0400

Ken Silverstein Mon, 12 May 2008 09:16:57 -0400 Doug Goodyear, who had been picked by John McCain’s campaign to run the G.O.P. convention this summer, resigned over the weekend after Newsweek reported that a lobbying firm he heads once represented Burma. The DCI Group–Goodyear is its CEO–“was paid $348,000 in 2002 to represent Burma’s military junta, which had been strongly condemned by the State Department for its human-rights record and remains in power today,” said Newsweek. . . .

Machiavelli—On Communing with Greatness

Sun, 11 May 2008 09:13:59 -0400

Sun, 11 May 2008 09:13:59 -0400 Venuta la sera, mi ritorno a casa ed entro nel mio scrittoio; e in sull’uscio mi spoglio quella veste cotidiana, piena di fango e di loto, e mi metto panni reali e curiali; e rivestito condecentemente, entro nelle antique corti delli antiqui huomini, dove, da loro ricevuto amorevolmente, mi pasco di quel cibo che solum è mio e ch’io nacqui per lui; dove io non mi vergogno parlare con loro e domandarli della ragione delle loro azioni; e quelli per loro humanità mi rispondono; e non sento per quattro hore di tempo alcuna noia, sdimentico ogni affanno, non temo la povertà, non mi sbigottisce la morte: tutto mi transferisco in loro. . . .

Akhmatova—For the Memory of a Friend

Sun, 11 May 2008 08:48:50 -0400

Sun, 11 May 2008 08:48:50 -0400 И в День Победы, нежный и туманный, Когда заря, как зарево, красна, Вдовою у могилы безымянной Хлопочет запоздалая весна. Она с колен подняться не спешит, Дохнет на почку, и траву погладит, И бабочку с плеча на землю ссадит, И первый одуванчик распушит. . . .

SCOTT HORTON—Taxi to the Dark Side at Princeton on Saturday Afternoon

Scott Horton — Fri, 09 May 2008 10:26:55 -0400

Scott Horton Fri, 09 May 2008 10:26:55 -0400 Saturday May 10th 2:30PM: You are invited to a free screening of the 2008 Academy Award winning documentary Taxi to the Dark Side at Princeton University, 100 Robertson Hall, Princeton, New Jersey. The screening will be followed by a discussion with: . . .

MR. FISH—A Cartoon

Mr. Fish — Fri, 09 May 2008 07:37:01 -0400

Mr. Fish Fri, 09 May 2008 07:37:01 -0400 . . .

KEN SILVERSTEIN—More on Hillary the Bloodthirsty Monster

Ken Silverstein — Fri, 09 May 2008 07:13:48 -0400

Ken Silverstein Fri, 09 May 2008 07:13:48 -0400 A number of readers emailed about yesterday’s post on why, for reasons I myself find baffling, I’ve started feeling sympathetic toward Hillary Clinton. None of the emails were friendly, but they raised a lot of good points. (I would note here that I said I sympathized with Hillary for certain reasons—mostly because the media, in general, hate her. I didn’t say I preferred her to Obama. Even though I’m not sold on Obama, his politics are far more interesting than Hillary’s, and the latter’s 2002 vote on Iraq was unforgivable, as I’ve written before. Beyond that, the idea of Bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton is too much to bear.) Below, I include a particularly interesting note, from a reader who wished to remain anonymous, that makes a strong case against Clinton and for Obama. . . .

KEN SILVERSTEIN—Why I Like Hillary: She’s a bloodthirsty monster

Ken Silverstein — Thu, 08 May 2008 08:02:31 -0400

Ken Silverstein Thu, 08 May 2008 08:02:31 -0400 I’ve received quite a few complaints in recent months from readers who think I’m pro–Hillary Clinton and anti–Barack Obama. In fact, I believe Obama has better politics than Clinton, is personally more honorable, and that his victory would represent an important generational shift in American politics. . . .

KEN SILVERSTEIN—Kurt Andersen and the Media’s Obama Crush

Ken Silverstein — Wed, 07 May 2008 09:14:55 -0400

Ken Silverstein Wed, 07 May 2008 09:14:55 -0400 The most honest and insightful piece yet on the media’s love affair with Obama: . . .

KEN SILVERSTEIN—Africa’s Worst Dictator: No, it’s not Mugabe

Ken Silverstein — Wed, 07 May 2008 08:29:47 -0400

Ken Silverstein Wed, 07 May 2008 08:29:47 -0400 The situation in Zimbabwe is an outrage and I can understand why the Bush Administration, and the entire Western world, is appalled by President Robert Mugabe’s anti-democratic depredations. As has been widely reported by the American media, opposition parties won control of the national assembly in a March balloting, and Mugabe finished second behind an opposition leader in presidential voting, triggering a run-off as neither candidate won an absolute majority. The opposition is threatening to boycott the run-off, since it says that its candidate won the first-round election outright and “has ended Mugabe’s 28-year rule over the once prosperous country whose economy is in ruins.” . . .

GEMMA SIEFF—Weekly Review

Gemma Sieff — Tue, 06 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Gemma Sieff Tue, 06 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400 Cyclone Nargis tore off roofs, shredded trees, overturned cars, and killed more than 10,000 people in Myanmar. Local 6 Tens of thousands of Somalis rioted in Mogadishu over the high cost of food, CNN President Bush pledged $770 million in international food aid, BBC and an inmate awaiting trial for murder sued an Arkansas county jail for underfeeding him after he shed 105 pounds from his 413-pound frame. “About an hour after each meal,” he stated in a complaint, “my stomach starts to hurt and growl [and] I feel hungry again. We are literally being starved to death.” CBS The sister-in-law of Josef Fritzl, the Austrian electrician accused of locking his daughter in a basement dungeon for 24 years and fathering seven children with her, told the Associated Press that Fritzl hadn't had sex with his wife in many years: “I believe it was because my sister had been getting bigger,” she said. “He never liked fat women.” AP via Google Police in Germany discovered the bodies of three dead babies stored in a freezer in the cellar of a family home, after two of the family's older children went rummaging for a frozen pizza, CNN and a former Mr Gay UK charged with murder was accused of carving up, dicing, cooking, and eating his victim's leg. BBC Telegraph UK Philipp Freiherr von Boeselager, believed to be the last surviving member of the circle of plotters who attempted to kill Adolf Hitler with a briefcase bomb, died at the age of 90. CNN . . .

SCOTT HORTON—Dirty Money

Scott Horton — Mon, 05 May 2008 13:50:17 -0400

Scott Horton Mon, 05 May 2008 13:50:17 -0400 Can a lawyer be indicted for issuing a bad legal opinion? This evening, Philippe Sands and I will be discussing this issue at NYU Law School, in Lipton Hall, from 6—8 p.m. However, Alice Fisher, the head of the Bush Justice Department’s Criminal Division—whose resignation was just announced—apparently believes the answer is “yes,” because she signed the charges against Miami lawyer Ben Kuehne. Among other things, Kuehne had previously advised Vice President Al Gore in the 2000 Florida recount litigation. Read my analysis of the case in the current issue of the American Lawyer, just out. . . .

SCOTT HORTON—Loser Take All

Scott Horton — Mon, 05 May 2008 13:39:07 -0400

Scott Horton Mon, 05 May 2008 13:39:07 -0400 You are cordially invited to a presentation . . .