Weekend is over. Back to work. Who is right about Iran, Leon Wieseltier or Fareed Zakaria? The answer later in the week. (The Answer Man) What would be the nature of a Democratic president who was truly a Democrat, pursuing truly Democratic policies, with whom conservatives would genuinely respectfully disagree? Is a female politician who […]
The Future of the Human Rights Movement
Last week was a momentous one for the human rights movement. You may not have noticed it. The movement itself may not realize it. But it was. The New Republic published Benjamin Birnbaum’s Minority Report: Human Rights Watch fights a civil war over Israel. Birnbaum recounts with greater inside detail than we have had before, […]
Two Kinds of Amnesty
I’ve become bogged down with other work today, so I offer these two brief pointers to coverage elsewhere. I plan to write again soon on the fatal drift of Amnesty International away from its original wisdom and spirit. The latest, very great series of misadventures has been covered much more in England, where they have […]
Who Will Watch the Watchers?
Who said, “To err is human, to be defensive about it divinely oblivious”? Oh, that was me. Not exactly the arresting pith of its model, but it begins my point. It is always bracing to observe the response to criticism of those who devote themselves professionally to the analysis and criticism of others. News organizations, […]