Diary
I was impressed with Peggy Noonan when she—although a Republican partisan—called Sarah Palin’s nomination ridiculous. Her commitment to truth and integrity made her write this scathing review of Donald Rumsfeld memoirs in the WSJ. I like Donald Rumsfeld. I’ve always thought he was a hard-working, intelligent man. I respected his life in public service at the highest and most demanding levels. So it was with some surprise that I found myself flinging his book against a wall in hopes I would break its stupid little spine.Peggy Noonan executes Don Rumsfeld
The One That Got Away
Memoirist Rumsfeld seems to forget why we went to Afghanistan.
Diary
David Brooks continues to lay out in the NY Times his argument for a new humanism that tries to understand how human beings flourish collectively. Over the course of my career, I’ve covered a number of policy failures. When the Soviet Union fell, we sent in teams of economists, oblivious to the lack of social trust that marred that society. While invading Iraq, the nation’s leaders were unprepared for the cultural complexities of the place and the psychological aftershocks of Saddam’s terror. We had a financial regime based on the notion that bankers are rational creatures who wouldn’t do anything stupid en masse. For the past 30 years we’ve tried many different ways to restructure our educational system—trying big schools and little schools, charters and vouchers—that, for years, skirted the core issue: the relationship between a teacher and a student.The New Humanism
Diary
Want to know what the average American is up to in terms of his or her sexual patterns, here you can find out. David Brown reports in the Washington post on a new A sweeping survey of Americans’ sexual behavior Evan Hughes provides a thoughtful review in TNR of Premarital Sex in America: How Young Americans Meet, Mate, and Think about Marrying by Mark Regnerus and Jeremy Uecker.Sex in America
Diary
Lawrence Wright spent over a year assembling evidence that makes it quite clear that Scientology is a cult rather than a religion. At the center of the story is, Paul Haggis, one of Hollywood’s most creative writers and producers, who spent 35 years climbing up the ladders of scientology. Haggis is the proverbial “smoking gun.” In the end, Haggis loyalty to his gay daughter proved stronger than the brainwashing of Scientology. He quit Scientology and is now battling the “church” with all that he has got. I cancelled my evening plans to be able to read this article from beginning to end in one sitting. Read the fascinating story in the New Yorker. It is the New Yorker at its very best. You don’t want to miss this report about how Scientology to date recruited and retained so successfully Hollywood celebrities. I am quite sure more federal law enforcement agencies will look more vigorously into the practices of Scientology after this expose.The Apostate: Paul Haggis vs. the Church of Scientology
Diary
NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF files this dramatic report from Cairo for the NY Times. Watching Thugs With Razors and Clubs at Tahrir Sq. Pro-government thugs at Tahrir Square used clubs, machetes, swords and straight razors on Wednesday to try to crush Egypt’s democracy movement, but, for me, the most memorable moment of a sickening day was one of inspiration: watching two women stand up to a mob.Democracy Watch: In the Middle of the Struggle in Egypt
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