“Caro’s LBJ” - Alan Jacobs, Snakes and Ladders
I couldn’t pass up this intersection of two writers I love. Alan Jacobs recently read Robert Caro’s magisterial biography of Lyndon Johnson. For the last 40 years, Caro has been working on his five-volume biography of Johnson, with the fifth volume currently in the works. Even having written such a long work, Caro’s gifting as a writer and storyteller comes through in every chapter. Jacobs reflects on Caro’s style as a writer and the fascinating story of Johnson’s rise and bringing power to the Texas hill country.
“You Ask Questions Like an Investigator” - Susanne Koelbl, Der Spiegel
Welcome to bizarro world. This interview with the leader of the Haqqani network and an advisor in the Taliban government is as fascinating as it is confusing. The 28-year-old Anas Haqqani was born and raised in one of the Islamic world's most prominent and violent families. He sees himself as a righteous warrior for the cause of Islam against the injustices committed by the West. When asked about the violent attacks he has planned and participated in, he responds, “You seem to have forgotten that we ourselves were attacked by the U.S. under the pretext of human rights. Yet we are the true flag-bearers of human rights. Human rights are part of our faith.”
Credit to the interviewer who consistently cuts through the blatantly false responses with real events and rebuttals, “But the realities are quite different. Women are arrested and humiliated when they demonstrate for their right to education and employment. Women and girls are now as good as banned from public life.” It’s not often that someone like Haqqani sits for an interview, but reading this offers a glimpse into a totally different world, one of fanaticism and propaganda, violence and revenge.
“U.S. Restraint Has Created an Unstable and Dangerous World” - H.R. McMaster and Gabriel Scheinmann, Foreign Policy
It’s not American aggression that has principally shaped the world; “Deterrence, however, does not disintegrate overnight. Contrary to the narrative of U.S. belligerence and imperialism that has been impressed on countless university students, the United States has, since the end of World War II, largely pursued a policy of restraint despite its considerable military power.”
While the U.S. has modeled restraint by spending billions of dollars aiding other countries, taking no new territories, and self-imposing limitations on its economic dominance, other powers, mainly China and Russia, have not. McMaster and Scheinmann offer an interesting look at the shaky attrition in the world right now and what the future may hold.
“Biden Has Put the Forced-Birth Advocates on Notice” - Jennifer Rubin, The Washington Post
Sometimes you come across an article that perfectly crystalizes so many strands of American discourse. This article from (former “conservative”) Jennifer Rubin is a snapshot of our national commentariat. Note the dystopian language of “forced birth” and “expendable incubators.” Take a moment to think about the ethical underpinnings that would lead someone to call a ruling that simply delivered decisions about abortion to the states as “cruel efforts to impose abortion bans” or a “theocratic crusade.”
Rubin’s argument rests on two assumptions. First, the levies statistics to say that the Supreme Court was wrong about
Dobbs. But
Dobbs did not take a position on abortion, nor is the Supreme Court evaluated by popularity. If the statistics are as clear as Rubin makes them out to be, we’ll see abortion protections pop up in states across the U.S. In reality, support for rape and incest exceptions do not translate into support for abortion to the moment of birth, which the Democrats in Congress and the White House have adopted as their position on state laws.
Second, her claim that the only reason to oppose abortion is Christian nationalist religious crusading is simply and observable false. You don’t have to be Christian to see the moral atrocity in killing babies. Nor did I notice any mention of these same “zealots” who overwhelmingly support and staff pregnancy centers and family care agencies.
One upshot of the
Dobbs decision has been the unmasking of the liberal/progressive stranglehold on the mainstream media and the underlying anger directed at Christians who believe something as simple as “babies are people who should not be killed.” Take note of the language, the worldview, and the underlying currents powering the nation’s media and newspapers.
“Boris Johnson’s Classic Fall” - Ed West, The Spectator
Of the many Boris Johnson think pieces, Ed West’s meditation on “Fortuna” might be my favorite. Johnson “was the most amusing prime minister in living memory, but also the most historically aware.” Having read classics at Oxford, Johnson would be impossible in America, yet he evokes a long tradition in Britain. He danced with Fortune, experiencing the highest highs and now the inevitable lows. He delivered Brexit and pushed for reforms but fell short in his policy goals. His attempt to turn the country in a new direction was stifled by his own disregard for rules, norms, and ethics. I disagree with West that Johnson will be remembered as a failure - or a great figure who might have been but wasn’t - but agree that he fell short of his grand aspirations. The most interesting question is what “Fortuna” might have next for Johnson.
If you’re following the storyline, here are a few articles of interest:
“After the Fall: The Legacy of Boris Johnson” - George Parker, The Financial Times
“The Last Days of Boris Johnson” - Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook, The Rest Is History Podcast
“The Rise and Fall of Boris Johnson” - The Wall Street Journal
