In the festival of great power politics, Britain and Europe are nowhere near the main stage; for all the shouty antics, both are being drowned out by the big acts.
Joe Biden
Regardless of whether the lab leak thesis is remotely plausible, the liberal moral panic about Trump clearly had a chilling effect not just on public debate, but also on research agendas.
Source Direct: The Lab Leak Hypothesis
“Continuing to agitate that the genocide be recognised further challenges those who make themselves complicit in a historical crime by abetting its denial. This, for now, includes the UK Government.”
Sean Bell: To remember the Armenian Genocide remains an act of defiance
It’s interesting to compare Starmer’s lethargic opposition with events across the Atlantic. Joe Biden (nicknamed “Sleepy Joe”) is Starmer’s spiritual counterpart in more ways than one. But while Britain’s centre-left has snoozed through its alarms, Sleepy Joe has jolted awake.
Source Direct: Slothful Starmer and Sleepy Joe
It’s no great insight to say that liberal politics today is built on elaborate gestures and performative displays of virtue. The Obama era exemplified its pathology: oodles of empathy, zero underlying change.
Source Direct: Land of the Free
“How did US citizens, all supposedly libertarian somewhere deep down, learn to love Federal bucks, and what does it mean for us?”
Analysis: We are all for ‘Big Government’ now, but what does that mean?
The Trump bogeyman has allowed new space for revisionism about recent foreign policy failures. George W Bush has been effectively rehabilitated, specifically by the liberal press. Some are even wondering: was the Iraq War really so bad?
Source Direct: Bellicose Journalist
While everyone needs a cheer right now, impeachment distracts from the huge political realignments needed to confront successive global crises. That’s why, insofar as we enjoy the spectacle, we will always have that dirty feeling.
Source Direct: Trump Derangement Syndrome
“No matter how dire the crisis has become, [the Saudi coalition] have been able to count on the uncritical political and military support of the UK government. That support must end, and so must have the arms sales that have done so much damage.”
Source Direct: The World’s Other Worst Disaster?
Joe Biden’s inauguration yesterday thus had the feeling of a global event, with all of us vicariously participating. Much of the media, including our state broadcaster, put objectivity to bed and resorted to fawning, like Nicholas Witchell narrating the birth of a Royal baby.