| Fringe Blog – Writing on Film, Culture, and Things on the Fringe

Blair: This Historic Struggle

By jelewis8 ⋅ April 12, 2004 ⋅ Post a comment

Go read this piece by Tony Blair right now. As Common Sense and Wonder notes, he’s sounding more and more like Winston Churchill ever time he speaks. Here’s an excerpt: The tragedy is that outside of the violence which dominated the coverage of Iraq, there are incredible possibilities of progress. There is a huge amount [...]

Ashcroft’s Anti-Porn Crusade A Mistake

By jelewis8 ⋅ April 8, 2004 ⋅ Post a comment

The Administration is now declaring war on pornography. As much as I am in favour of the moral aspects of such an endeavor, I disagree with it wholeheartedly on a political/secular level. Morality, as much as we might want, can’t be legislated, at least not to the extent that Ashcroft and Co. are currently attempting. [...]

Spanish Elections Key to Terrorist Agenda

By jelewis8 ⋅ March 15, 2004 ⋅ One comment

Is anyone really surprised at the lashback at Spain’s conservative government in this year’s elections following the Madrid bombing? I’m not. It’s Europe; it’s the old guard still worried about what other people think of them. Other people being mindless, irrational Al Quaeda thugs. Interesting that. Remember when people cried foul over Bush’s claims that [...]

Don’t Blame Bush

By jelewis8 ⋅ February 25, 2004 ⋅ 2 comments

Do I really need to point out my views on this whole gay marriage debacle? Seriously. My personal views are pretty well publicized, but in light of all the current developments, I will say this. If this Amendment gets passed, and let’s say that it (by some fantastic stretch of a tin-foil imagination) also outlaws [...]

Nader In

By jelewis8 ⋅ February 23, 2004 ⋅ Post a comment

Yes, Nader is again running for Pres. Democrats are unhappy. They should be. But not with Nader. Nader is simply the highlighter that reveals the myriad problems with the Democratic party so easily hidden in the plain ink whitewash of media suppression and bias. Nader represents, for many people, an alternative to the shuck-n-jive politics [...]

Bush and the Grand Strategy

By jelewis8 ⋅ February 11, 2004 ⋅ Post a comment

John Gladdis argues that George W. Bush is one of the Presidency’s grand strategists, along with John Quincy Adams and Franklin Roosevelt. Gladdis cites historical precedent for the Bush doctrine, and shows how it mirrors 19th century policies of preemption and American unilateralism/hegemony. He believes Bush’s strategy is too often dismissed by critics as simplistic [...]

Saddam and the Death Penalty

By jelewis8 ⋅ December 22, 2003 ⋅ Post a comment

Stephen Pollard argues that the case for sentencing Saddam Hussein to death is also the case for capital punishment for any convicted murderer. Much as I have tried to escape this conclusion, I cannot: there are no sensible grounds on which one can argue that it is morally right to execute Saddam but not Ian [...]

Dean ’04 = McGovern ’72?

By jelewis8 ⋅ December 16, 2003 ⋅ Post a comment

James Pinkerton’s column comparing Howard Dean to George McGovern, using the Saddam capture as the political skewer upon which Dean’s campaign is being roasted, is quite interesting.

Lileks on Saddam Capture

By jelewis8 ⋅ December 15, 2003 ⋅ Post a comment

Lileks has banged out another winner. I’m posting the whole thing here, since it won’t be archived. But truly, try and visit his site at least once a week. He’s got Important Things to Say without ever really being snarky or Important Sounding. Here’s the read: They got him! Or so they suggested, back in [...]

Politics of Anti-Semitism, Part 2