just keeping track

 
Clearly this isn't a proper weblog, as I have a propensity for going several months without updating. I've changed the name of the blog to reflect that fact.

posted by Peter at 5:05 PM

 
I call it guerilla blogging. Wait until the enemy--I mean reader--starts to relax, then BLAM! BLOG! Then retreat for an unpredictable length of time.

Today we have a theme: Hillary. Because everyone else is talkling about her. Regarding her book, I'd like you to read her interview with Neal Pollack, especially regarding her new book's place in contemporary American literature:

NP: So what is your book about?


HC: ABOUT? What is my book ABOUT? It's about America, jack, and how we live in it despite everything. It's about the big themes, which writers today are too pussy-whipped to address.

Delicious. The rest of the interview is even better, but not nearly quotable on my famously family-friendly site.

Now my readers are saying, "great, Pete, but we really want to know if Hillary would make a good president--preferably using non-satirical sources this time!" I'm nothing if not obliging. Unfortunately, Brad Delong, who's as far as you can get from being a member of the anti-Clinton conspiracies (having worked closely with the early Clinton administration), really doesn't think much of her abilities to lead a country, based on his interactions with her during the health-care fiasco (described here).

Most important, though, is the view of the bettor. What kind of odds are people with serious jack putting on the upcoming Democratic primaries? Check it out at this supposedly-reputable offshore betting site. Non-candidate Hillary's beating the formidable Kucinich/Sharpton/Moseley-Braun trio, but no one's particularly close to John Kerry. (My man Howard Dean isn't faring particularly well.)

posted by Peter at 6:05 PM

 
ALERT: Salam Pax is back online! Haven't waded through his posts yet, but he seems OK; this should provide a fresh perspective on Baghdad life during/post-war.

posted by Peter at 11:05 AM

 
There's only one word for this guy: Badass. Hiking alone in Middle of Nowhere, Utah, he accidentally dislodges a boulder which pins his arm. Days later, stuck and out of supplies, he hacks off his own arm. With a pocketknife. And then hikes to safety. As Frank would say to Marie, "Holy crap!"

Back to depressing politics: Not much new here, but William Saletan over at Slate has a nice little summary of how a rather dishonest President describes our recent war. I mean, it's not as if there aren't some good things that have come out of the war. There were even plausible (if not exactly convincing) arguments for why we should have gone to war in the first place. And still the White House insists on sticking to the disingenuous party line that this was all about Al Qaeda and the imminent threat of Iraqi WMD. Here's a nice little snippet from Saletan's piece:

"This much is certain," he observed in his victory address. "No terrorist network will gain weapons of mass destruction from the Iraqi regime, because the regime is no more."

Well, that's true. No terrorist network will get weapons from Pat Moynihan, either. That doesn't make his death essential to the war on terror.

(thanks to the wondrous Shyni for the ABCNews link)

posted by Peter at 6:09 PM

 
I know I should be writing and linking more--but at the moment there's not too much to say or link. I have added a few links over on the left; there's probably something more entertaining than this over there.

I will point this out, though; the reporter seems quite reasonable to me.


posted by Peter at 2:18 PM

 
Saw this in the lunchroom: Sunday's NY Times joins Salon in praising Jon Stewart. Also, the Times' blurb about the new McSweeney's short story collection isn't exactly glowing, but I'm still looking forward to reading it, 'cuz I'm no tool of the man.

Now that I've expanded my subject matter here, I'm ready to start marketing my website as a "journal of politics and culture." What do you think?

posted by Peter at 2:00 PM

 
So I think I'll add Wyoming to the states of the Deep South on my list of places in America I'm a little scared to set foot in. After all, the people of that great state saw fit to elect the illustrious Barbara Cubin(R) as their sole Congressional Representative.

I first read about her most recent remarks (which I'd like to think would have headlined a slower news cycle) here. The Post's to-the-point editorial makes for a pretty good summary. And just in case you thought this is the first time Rep. Cubin has said something idiotic, disabuse yourself of that notion over at Slate.

But maybe I'm being too hard on Rep. Cubin. Maybe she's just deliberately making over-the-top remarks in a pathetic effort to replace the irreplaceable James Traficant.

posted by Peter at 12:17 PM