Happily for the rest of us. The would-be-flag-burners and the would-be-flag-burner-banners cancel each other out. Except in the Senate. Unhappily.

Despite the best efforts of Frist, Feinstein et al, the US narrowly avoids joining the ranks of Iran, China, Cuba and other countries that ban flag burning. Scott Adams says it best . His idea for a company that makes … Continue reading →

The NY Times says that Chief Executives should be outsourced. I don’t think we’ll really have a realistic debate about globalization until journalism and politics are outsourced too.

Andrew Sullivan et al have been using the No True Scotsman defense of conservatism. Today’s  is just the latest in a long series of blogs that attempts to draw a distinction between what a True Conservative believes and what the … Continue reading →

Did the same Andrew Sullivan who wrote this… My own view is that conservatism is fundamentally rooted in skepticism about the human mind and its capacity to change society. So it’s basically resistant to large-scale change, but, on the rare … Continue reading →

You won’t catch me quoting Arianna Huffington too often, I hope, but here goes… Whether Al Gore ends up running in 2008 or not, he is modeling the way our public figures, and especially our would-be presidents, should be operating … Continue reading →

Bertrand Russell says that “The essence of the liberal outlook lies not in what opinions are held but in how they are held: instead of being held dogmatically, they are held tentatively, and with a consciousness that new evidence may … Continue reading →

Platform 7 addresses misunderstandings over this paragraph in the manifesto. … the proper concern of genuine liberals and members of the Left should have been the battle to put in place in Iraq a democratic political order and to rebuild … Continue reading →

I hadn’t previously realized that platforms 1 to 8 were written by multiple people each authors of and with slightly different takes on the Euston Manifesto. Platform 5 is particularly good and addresses many of the misperceptions about the manifesto. … Continue reading →

I find it frustrating that, in the US, the two party system is so firmly entrenched that other voices are only reluctantly heard and then only every four years. It leads to unholy alliances such as the one between the … Continue reading →