No matter what happens with Trump’s dumb travel ban, we’re nearly certain to see another ISIS-inspired attack sometime this year. But that’s not the scary thing. The scary thing is that Trump and Bannon will be absolutely delighted when it happens. It’s been nearly eight months since the last big incident, in which an American citizen killed 49 people in Orlando. Now, the media ignored the Orlando […]
It’s all about
the cowboy hats
I won’t second-guess the acquittal of the Bundys and their fellow travelers. Yes, they did take over a public facility and held it by threatening to kill anybody who tried to interfere. Yes, they did trash the place to the tune of about $1.7 million. Yes, they did dig a 50-foot trench through a protected area so they’d have a place to shit. Yes, they did grievously […]
No words
Any day you have a mass murder is a bad day. This one seems even worse than usual — and not because it’s a new American record for the number of dead. For me, the worst thing about this one is my reaction to it: anger, sorrow, recrimination, and then … resignation. The worst thing is finally accepting that I live in a country where mass murders […]
Heads will roll
Welcome to the Foreign Policy Korner, wherein we assess all that’s wrong in the world and sort it out in a few paragraphs. First, let’s agree on something: There are no good guys anywhere in the Mideast. None. There are surely good people — the families getting maimed and slaughtered as a way for fanatics to keep score — but there are no groups, rebel or government […]
Bin Laden’s neighbors had had enough
Finally, it was the water slide that did in Osama bin Laden. For months, the neighbors in Abbottabad had been grumbling about the construction noise, and the profane workmen who played Aerosmith at top volume and occasionally wandered over to pee on neighboring lawns. Residents were even more incensed when that 18-foot wall went up, obstructing their view of nearby Costellobad. But when they saw the water […]
Consider yourself permanently warned
My feeling about terror alerts is this: If there’s a guy actually in the building with a smoking suitcase or a firearm protruding from his Dockers, then the threat indicator should be pulsating red with a siren of some sort. If not, then the threat level should be normal, meaning everyone needs to shut the hell up and give the friendly TSA guy all your shampoo. Oh, […]
Attempted homicide for the holidays
Kids today. One minute they’re TP-ing your house on Halloween, and the next minute they’re trying to blow up your Christmas tree-lighting ceremony and you with it. Hey, Mohamed Osman Mohamud: You’re grounded, young man. And don’t give me that look. Used to be, an alienated kid would scrawl “F*ck you” in the bathroom stall and maybe shoplift some Twinkies. Now only mass murder will do. I […]