Monthly Archives: September 2008

One of Ours to Hospital, One of Theirs to Morgue?

Posted on September 11, 2008 by Timothy Burke

The usual fratricidal conversations between Democrats, liberals, and so on are now in full swing, as one faction argues that the right answer to Republican mudslinging is to answer every dirty, trivializing, nonsense charge with an equally dirty, trivializing response. … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 18 Comments

From the Gut

Posted on September 10, 2008 by Timothy Burke

If you like, you can read my long intellectualized response to the struggle over intellectuals and culture below. I also have a much more visceral, personal response to the kind of anti-intellectual populism that’s been more visibly present in American … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Domestic Life | 19 Comments

Horn of Africa Redux

Posted on September 10, 2008 by Timothy Burke

Matthew Yglesias has a polite “I told you so” up regarding the current situation in Somalia and Ethiopia. I’ll have one of what he’s having, bartender.

Posted in Africa | Comments Off on Horn of Africa Redux

The Why of Culture War

Posted on September 10, 2008 by Timothy Burke

One of the arguments I understand Rick Perlstein to be making in Nixonland is that American political life has been increasingly shaped by a public culture war since the 1960s because that was the distinctive political response crafted by Nixon … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Blogging, Politics | 6 Comments

Spore Needs More (and Less)

Posted on September 9, 2008 by Timothy Burke

Will Wright’s The Sims is the best-selling digital game of all time, and probably one of the games most disliked by people who play a lot of digital games. Wright’s new game Spore seems to be producing a very similarly … Continue reading →

Posted in Games and Gaming | 2 Comments

At Last

Posted on September 2, 2008 by Timothy Burke

Ok, so “Hare We Go” is not on DVD. But. Finally. Disney is releasing a DVD edition of The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh. Easily my favorite thing ever on the Wonderful World of Disney when I was a kid. Speaking … Continue reading →

Posted in Popular Culture | Comments Off on At Last

It’s a-Flat Like Your Head

Posted on September 2, 2008 by Timothy Burke

When I first taught my course The Production of History at Swarthmore, I wanted to show the Bugs Bunny cartoon “Hare We Go”, in which Bugs Bunny helps and then antagonizes Christopher Columbus on his first voyage. I was thinking … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Popular Culture, Production of History, Swarthmore | 11 Comments

Impulse Control

Posted on September 2, 2008 by Timothy Burke

What does matter about Palin? What it tells you about McCain. Here I’m echoing an emerging consensus, but I think it’s basically right on. First, there are reports appearing now that McCain himself, as well as Lindsay Graham, had been … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 2 Comments

A Small Thought on Palin

Posted on September 1, 2008 by Timothy Burke

Leaving aside any of her merits and demerits as a candidate for the office of Vice-President, I’d say that opponents of the McCain ticket would be wise to steer a million miles clear of her daughter’s pregnancy, as Obama already … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 7 Comments

St.Paul or Beijing?

Posted on September 1, 2008 by Timothy Burke

One thing that has become a tiresome part of major American conventions and gatherings that have some expected controversial dimension is the extent to which many municipal, county or state governments subcontract out some portion of their police force to … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 2 Comments