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False Equivalence: The Master Class
False equivalence. My heart sinks, as does yours, at the mere sight of these words. But just when I was ready to post a picture of a great new beer -- from Utah! -- plus some interesting/alarming...
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Paleolithic Origins of False Equivalence, Starring James Carville
For anyone with the slightest interest in modern politics, the full two-minutes-plus of this clip from The War Room will be an irresistibly rewarding glimpse back at life two decades ago. But the...
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Out of Afghanistan: William Polk Answers a Critic
In response the three-part series on Afghanistan by William R. Polk -- parts one, two, and three --Â a reader who served as a U.S. military officer during the Iraq-Afghanistan era sends this...
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Let's Talk Beer
Because it often seems that the American beer scene is the only reliable supply of "hey, things really are getting better" news.Dateline Houston:Â I was a big fan of Houston when I was based in Austin...
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Let's Talk Beer
Because it often seems that the American beer scene is the only reliable supply of "hey, things really are getting better" news.Dateline Houston:Â I was a big fan of Houston when I was based in Austin...
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When I Get Bored With Flying Airplanes
I may try flying a board. I have to say that this looks extremely dangerous but even more extremely fun.Getting on a "real" airplane now for the 14-hour haul to Beijing. For a reminder of Beijing's and...
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As We Near the 10th Anniversary of the Iraq War
Here is something other than The Sequester to think about at the beginning of March:This month marks ten years since the U.S. launched its invasion of Iraq. In my view this was the biggest strategic...
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From a Young Man About to be Sequestered
Someone now working for an executive-branch department writes:As a government employee who will almost certainly be furloughed in the coming months, I have followed the sequester with a sort of horrid...
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On Threat Inflation and Liberal Hawks
In response to a post yesterday, arguing that it's time for another look at the fateful decision ten years ago to invade Iraq, these reader messages.1. Threat inflation. I said that nearly all the...
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False Equivalence: The Pictorial Version
From a reader in Seattle, the front page of the Seattle Times on Saturday: It's way late here in China, and the Internet is so hobbled* that I have to try a new VPN ruse every three or four minutes,...
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Who Says We Never Hear Any Good News About Journalism?
Beijing is all aflutter over the liang hui, or 两会, right now. These are the simultaneous dual meetings of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. It'a...
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Threat Inflation, Threat Deflation, the Bushes, and Robert Byrd
Following this post on the impending tenth anniversary of the start of the Iraq War, and this argument from a "liberal hawk" on why he had been proud to support the war, a few reader reactions. I am...
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'Beautiful Journalists': The BS-Detector Angle
Two days ago I mentioned the venerable and Onion-esque Chinese media practice of featuring various "beautiful journalists" who are covering the big-deal political conferences underway now in Beijing. A...
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On George W. Bush: The 'Decider' Who Didn't Decide?
No real-world human being brings to the U.S. presidency the range of attributes necessary for full success in the job. In principle a president should be great at: formal oratory before vast audiences;...
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Shanghai vs. Beijing, in One Image
My wife and I have spent the past several nights at a hotel in Beijing, and we've just arrived at one in Shanghai. Both of the hotels are very nice and welcoming, and on check-in each of them provided...
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Good for Rand Paul
The abuse of "filibuster threats" over the past six years has inured us all to the power -- and legitimacy -- of a "real" filibuster.I am no fan of the way routine minority obstructionism has made 60...
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Today's Chinese Air-Emergency Info Source
There's no longer any surprise in noting that China has grave environmental problems. For the record, I am sticking with my claim that the simultaneous degradation of air quality, water quality, water...
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Where Are They Now? Atlantic Guest-Blog Alums Make Good
Two years ago I was holed up for a few months in Beijing, finishing the writing of China Airborne. For a ten-week stretch I was fortunate to turn this space over to a series of guest bloggers, who...
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Threat Inflation and Deflation, Cont.
For the rest of this month, I think I'll roll out a home-made logo, at right, to mark a range of discussion on what we've learned, forgotten, misconstrued, and never understood about the combat...
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Winning In China: Henry Winter's Story
On our China Channel, Eli Bildner posted an eloquent appreciation of Henry Winter, an American who had made a big impression in China before his death last year, from a cerebral hemorrhage, at age 43....
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