Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Unreliable Accounts, Unlibertarian Options, “Unknown Pleasures”


Today at 10am at the American Enterprise Institute, they’re having an entire panel of ex-CIA and pro-CIA guys gauge the accuracy of Zero Dark Thirty – and a panel that homogeneous, as I’ve said before, seems to me as much an exercise for the gullible as listening to Hillary Clinton explain Benghazi. 

The bright side of Clinton’s performance was that we got to see her clash with Sen. Rand Paul (son of retiring Ron), who just might end up being her Republican opponent in the 2016 presidential race.  That would be the ultimate political showdown by my standards, pitting (A) a former Goldwater girl (I swear) who strayed from the faith against (B) the man who appears to be one of the only remaining elected standard-bearers for the cause of limited-government conservatism – despite the ever-more-shrill cries from the pundits, some of them Republicans, about how there’s nothing left in the GOP but “extremists.” 

Oh, please.  Even Rand Paul isn’t strictly speaking a libertarian (he says he isn’t – and twisted the knife a bit by calling himself a “crunchy conservative” instead – and I think it best we take him at his word to avoid very painful disappointment).  Close enough to get some great things accomplished in an imperfect world, though, I’d say.  Fingers crossed. 

In the meantime, tonight (Tue.) at 7pm, former Joy Division bassist Peter Hook talks about his book on the band, Unknown Pleasures, at the Strand, and I plan to go (join me and/or despair).  If that band’s name were the only element of our culture inspired by fascism, we’d be doing all right.  (Since, clearly, it isn’t, the time has come for new steps to be taken.  I will unveil the new order of things soon.)

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