Free Republic

Is Hollywood "out of touch" with the rest of the country? Do starlets have their plastic surgeons on speed dial? One is tempted to say that the only time Hollywooders are sure to be in touch is when they're getting a hot-stone massage in Malibu. George Clooney wants to make a virtue out of being "out of touch," in the same way that Henry David Thoreau made a virtue out of marching to a "different drummer." Accepting his Oscar for "Syriana," Clooney set a defiant tone for the rest of the Academy Awards show: "We are a little bit 'out...

 Working together, the elites of the media and the culture have mostly controlled "Big Art" -- the complex of museums, monuments, and galleries that help to shape the way we think about society, history, even politics. But now, the grip of this gilded oligarchy has been broken in its own back yard: Manhattan. Jim Pinkerton on the significance of the battle over Ground Zero.  The New York Times is hopping mad. And so are the radical chic artiste types. Working together, the elites of the media and the culture have mostly controlled "Big Art" -- the complex of museums,...

Jewish World Review May 20, 2005 / 11 Iyar, 5765 W. is the dark side of new ‘Star Wars’ By James P. Pinkerton http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | The politics of the "Star Wars" movies have twisted around for the past three decades, but now, in the final episode, director-creator George Lucas has made a bid for critical acclaim — even if it costs him commercial success. But that's OK. Lucas, now in his seventh decade, has his billions. What he needs now is absolution for past Jewish World Review May 20, 2005 / 11 Iyar, 5765 click for rest of article

Font Size: Is Google God? By James Pinkerton  Published   12/16/2004  Is Google God? Maybe not, but it's way up there. The company's stock is surging into the empyrean, vaulting up 80 percent since its IPO. And Google has just been blessed, too, with a major legal victory over Geico; the insurance company had sued Google to prevent Geico's inclusion in Google searches, and the case was thrown out of court. And of course, to Google's googolplex of loyal users, the search engine is an endless source of information, even inspiration.  But Google's awe-inspiring quintessence was made manifest by its...

THE ABORTION DEBATE It's the pro-lifers' moment Bush's re-election, the Peterson case and other factors show that the right has gathered steam James P. Pinkerton November 25, 2004 On abortion, the tide has turned. Events in 2004 have heralded the moment when pro-life - or, if one prefers, anti-choice - forces gained decisive momentum. This trend cannot be dismissed merely as a victory of Karl Rove and the Religious Right. Instead, deeper forces are at work: the basic instinct to perpetuate the species. Let's consider the evidence, from just this month. First, George W. Bush, an abortion opponent, won 31...

Font Size: Revolt of the Jacksonians By James Pinkerton  Published   11/05/2004  In the 1828 presidential election, Andrew Jackson led a new coalition of Southerners and Westerners to victory. Old Hickory's populist movement was called the "revolt of the rustics." In 2004, George W. Bush led his own coalition of Southerners and Westerners to victory. Someday, it will be called the "revolt of the Jacksonians." The Jacksonian-Bushian spirit -- blunt, vivid, and bold -- was summed up in the new movie, "Team America: World Police": "America, Fuck Yeah!"  OK, maybe we should back up a little. After all, an understanding...

BROWNSVILLE -- Former President Carter on Thursday called the Bush administration's decision to wage war against Iraq "ill-advised and unnecessary," adding the resulting campaign "has turned out to be a tragedy." The former Democratic president also said Bush's environmental policies are perhaps the worst in the nation's history. Carter made the comments at the Rio R.V. Park after wrapping up a four-day birding trip with his wife, Rosalynn, in the lower Rio Grande Valley. "President Bush's war was ill-advised and unnecessary and based on erroneous statements, and has turned out to be a tragedy," Carter said. "And my prayer has...

Richard Clarke has published a devastating critique of George W. Bush's national security policy. Of course, the allegations might not be the whole story, because lots of other people have their stories too. So it's a good thing that we have an ongoing investigation, in which people could go to jail if they lie. In a bombshell appearance on "60 Minutes" Sunday night, Clarke set forth the three arguments in his new book, "Against All Enemies." First, he asserts that the administration "ignored" the threat from al-Qaida right up to 9/11. Second, he argues that even after the attack from...

Welcome to Iraqifornia By James Pinkerton  Published   03/11/2004   TCS  Editor's note: This is the first of four part series on training for combat.. TIEFORT CITY, Iraqifornia -- This is one tough town, here in the Sunni Triangle. Most of the locals aren't all that hostile to the Americans, but some are extremely hostile -- and they all have guns. In the middle of this divide is the town's 50-something mayor, Sabah Gewarges; he wants simply to keep the peace -- and not get shot by either side, accidentally or on purpose.  Here come the Americans, riding in their Humvees...

CONSERVATIVES and other limited-government types are furious at President George W. Bush for his big-spending ways. One group said the Republican-controlled government is dispensing cash like a “drunken sailor.” But in fact, there’s nothing spontaneous or accidental about the spending spree. What we’re seeing is the sober logic of a changing Republican Party, as well as a changing American psyche, post-9/11 — from peacetime consumerism to wartime welfarism. Those who dislike the trend have been vocal in their opposition. On Jan. 15, six right-leaning groups — including the Club for Growth, the National Taxpayers Union and Citizens Against Government Waste...

The Iowa caucus results show that Democrats -- enough of them, anyway -- are thinking hard about who can actually win a general election. And so while Howard Dean had been the "buzz" candidate for most of the last year, reality caught up with him last night. He was, after all, the ex-governor from a small left-wing state, another George McGovern -- and what chance did he really have in November? So Dean lost to two sitting senators from big states, John Kerry of Massachusetts and John Edwards of North Carolina.  But for Democrats, here's the rub: Kerry and Edwards...

The Conventional Wisdom in Washington is that the capture of Saddam Hussein means that Howard Dean's presidential goose is cooked. And while it's always fun to go against the C.W., it's not always wise. To be sure, Saddam's nabbing might not have changed the military situation in Iraq, but it's apparent that politics has changed here at home. The pundits are near-unanimous: Howard, you have a problem. The Wall Street Journal's Al Hunt declared, "The capture of Saddam Hussein is a shot in the arm politically for President Bush and poses a dicey dilemma" for the Democrats, particularly the ex-Vermont...

Is America Conservative? By James Pinkerton So what are the remains of conservatism these days? What remains to be conserved? Consider, for a moment, the actions of the "conservative" Bush administration in three policy areas -- foreign, domestic, and cultural. First, the administration seeks to guide the Middle East into democracy, an exercise in international social work that dwarfs the Great Society. As President George W. Bush said to Bob Woodward, "I will seize the opportunity to achieve big goals." That's good, because without the cooperation of the world -- UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is more interested in condemning...

Most NRO-ers seem angry about the prescription-drug bill on its way to a presidential signature. And maybe they should be. But they shouldn't be surprised. A prescription-drug benefit is what one should expect when there's so much demand (defined as the elderly and near-elderly dominating the electorate), so much supply (defined as the wealth generated by the U.S. economy growing at a Hong Kong-like 8.2-percent pace), and so little restraint on the American people's social-welfaring appetite (defined as the complete collapse of fiscal conservatism). Add those three factors together, and we get the right-tilting politics of the 21st century, which...

CANCUN, Mexico -- Could the Greens take over the World Trade Organization -- by using concepts from the late 20th century and tactics from the early 20th century? "Sustainable Development," "Sustainable Trade," and "The Precautionary Principle" are the hip buzzwords of anti-WTO-ers, who would like to transform the WTO from within or conquer it from without. But to succeed in their effort, they are relying on tactics that summon up such old-time phrases as "entryism" and "dual unionism." Many decades ago, those tactics guided an earlier left-wing movement, Communism, in its bid for world power. Now we will see how...

In Liberia, will Americans on the ground there be peacekeepers, or targets? And for that matter, do Liberians need us to keep the peace - such as it might be - or do they need us to help the better side win the civil war? As the United States proved way back in 1865, sometimes it's better to settle things through final victory, not temporary compromise. Moreover, the politico-military situation is complicated. There are, in fact, two rebel movements seeking to gain control of the country. So here's a question: If the United States wants Taylor to leave immediately, why...

One day, this Iraq War will be thought of as the Intellectuals' War. That is, it was a war conceived of by people who possessed more books than common sense, let alone actual military experience. Disregarding prudence, precedent and honesty, they went off - or, more precisely, sent others off - tilting at windmills in Iraq, chasing after illusions of Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction and false hope about Iraqi enthusiasm for Americanism, and hoping that reality would somehow catch up with their theory. The problem, of course, is that wars are more about bloodletting than book-learning. Tilting at...

A Culture Gap Complicates U.S. Task in Iraq James P. Pinkerton July 9, 2003 Remember Baghdad Bob? Also known as Comical Ali? That would be Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, the Iraqi information minister under Saddam Hussein, who, in the eyes of Westerners, made a fool of himself by claiming that American forces were defeated when, in fact, they were entering Baghdad. Yet, at the same time, he became a hero to many Arabs, who admired his colorful language, especially his over-the-top insults against the Americans. And that gap in perceptions, Western vs. Arab, is just one specific measure of the gap...

So how 'bout that Rick Santorum? At the moment that Republicans are riding high, he finds a way to bring them down. Consider: in April 2003, George W. Bush has united the Republican Party-and more importantly, the country-around the American military victory in Iraq. Yet at the same time, the President faces huge challenges on the home front, most notably, getting his bold $726 billion tax cut enacted. Surely every Republican pulling for Bush 43's re-election remembers the fate of Bush 41-winner in war, loser on the economy. And the key to avoiding that fate is staying true to the...

Has the left lost it? That's the question posed by veteran British journalist John Lloyd in The Guardian on April 11. "A large part of the British left-and the left elsewhere-has made a fundamental mistake," he writes. "In opposing the invasion of Iraq, it has shown itself incapable of thinking through not only the nature of the world as it is today, but also its own claims to be the leading force in making the world better." Such biting words would be familiar fare from a conservative or libertarian. But Lloyd is neither. He's the former editor of The New...