"A Caricature, Zombie History"

"I always wondered about the leftist intellectuals who supported Stalin, and those aristocratic sympathizers and peace activists who excused Hitler. Today's Hamas apologists and atrocity-deniers, with their robotic denunciations of 'settler-colonialism,' belong to the same tradition but worse: They have abundant evidence of the slaughter of old people, teenagers, and children, but unlike those fools of the 1930s, who slowly came around to the truth, they have not changed their views an iota. The lack of decency and respect for human life is astonishing: Almost instantly after the Hamas attack, a legion of people emerged who downplayed the slaughter, or denied actual atrocities had even happened, as if Hamas had just carried out a traditional military operation against soldiers. October 7 deniers, like Holocaust deniers, exist in an especially dark place."

Simon Sebag Montefiore at The Atlantic criticizes "the ideology of decolonization."

As does Adam Kirsch at The Wall Street Journal.

"We Can and We Must Pursue a Different Option"

"Neither do we want a foreign policy that is based on the logic that led to those wars and corroded our democracy: a logic that privileges military tools over diplomatic ones, aggressive unilateralism over multilateral engagement, and acquiescence to our undemocratic partners over the pursuit of core interests alongside democratic allies who truly share our values. We have to view the terrorism threat through the proper scope, rather than allowing it to dominate our view of the world. The time has come to envision a new form of American engagement: one in which the United States leads not in war-making but in bringing people together to find shared solutions to our shared concerns. American power should be measured not by our ability to blow things up, but by our ability to build on our common humanity, harnessing our technology and enormous wealth to create a better life for all people."

Bernie Sanders in Foreign Affairs writes that "[t]he American people don't want endless war."

"It Is Getting Harder and Harder to Distinguish the 'Normal' Elements of Conservatism from the 'Kook' Parts"

"The left certainly has illiberal, paranoid modes of thought. The difference is that the left-wing version resides outside the boundaries of two-party politics, because the Democratic Party is fundamentally liberal not radical. Coulter's examples of 'liberal' violence inadvertently bear this out: the Haymarket Square bombers were anarchists, and the Unabomber developed an idiosyncratic hatred of technology that did not connect to other nodes of left-wing politics. The street-fighting cult antifa lies outside of, and is primarily hostile to, Democratic politics. Left-wing violence from the 1960s likewise came out of radical groups who viewed the Democratic Party with contempt.
"The Republican Party, on the other hand, has followed a course that has made its rhetoric amenable to extremism."

Jonathan Chait at New York argues that "Trump's party is a petri dish for diseased minds."

"Disgusting: ISIS Just Released A 2-Star Review Of 'In The Aeroplane Over The Sea'"

"We can only home that someone will soon put a stop to ISIS for good. Until then, only time will tell how far the terrorist group is willing to go."

From Clickhole.

"Americans' Sense of Security Is Tied to Partisan Identification"

"Part of the GOP's concern about security is definitely linked to their distrust of Obama. Maybe even most of it. But Republican voters are reporting enough discomfort to indicate genuine fear. It's that kind of fear that makes people think crime is going up, even when it's going down, or that immigrants threaten national security, when researchers agree they don't."

Andrew McGill at The Atlantic looks at party politics and fears of terrorism.

"Crazy Nut Donald Trump Thinks George W. Bush Was President on 9/11"

"In fact, Trump has not claimed that Bush had specific knowledge of the 9/11 attacks. He said, 'George Bush had the chance, also, and he didn't listen to the advice of his CIA.' That is correct. Bush was given numerous, detailed warnings that Al Qaeda planned an attack. But the Bush administration had, from the beginning, dismissed fears about terrorism as a Clinton preoccupation. Its neoconservative ideology drove the administration to fixate on state-supported dangers—which is why it turned its attention so quickly to Iraq. The Bush administration ignored pleas by the outgoing Clinton administration to focus on Al Qaeda in 2000, and ignored warnings by the CIA to prepare for an upcoming domestic attack. The Bush administration did not want the 9/11 attacks to occur; it was simply too ideological and incompetent to take responsible steps to prevent them."

Jonathan Chait at New York responds to conservative reactions to Donald Trump's description of George W. Bush.

And David Frum at The Atlantic wonders if Republicans are members of "a functional political party."

"Pomposity Is Not Leadership"

"I know part of this may sound like pooh-poohing, or perhaps downplaying the suffering of the people who are killed in these horrific attacks. Right now I'm listening to the extended press conference held by the San Bernardino County officials describing for the first time, out of the crisis of the moment, just what happened. It is heartbreaking and powerful. It has a particular resonance for me since I grew up in San Bernardino County. All these names of little towns you're hearing about are ones I grew up with, places I know well. We can ennoble and honor and protect ourselves without slipping into conceit and pomposity. Because these have consequences. Let's step back and remember that at the end of the day it was as a result of the 9/11 terrorist attacks that we invaded Iraq. And that decision was a complete fucking disaster, the consequences of which we are still living with, no less than in the existence of ISIS itself. We need to remember that."

Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo responds to Jeb Bush's response to President Obama's speech on San Bernardino.

"One might chalk up anger at 'Asians' to bygone generational ignorance. But the same debate lingers today. Conservatives routinely flay President Obama for targeting his rhetoric against ISIS too narrowly, and refusing to frame the conflict as a 'civilizational' struggle between the West and Islam. There are practical reasons not to allow the U.S. to be identified as hostile to Islam as a whole, but also a more basic moral argument: just as most of Japan's victims were Asians, the most common victims of ISIS are Muslims."

Jonathan Chait at New York explains how Pearl Harbor Day has "some interesting relevance to the current debate over terrorism."

"Trump Gives Muslim On Fence About Radicalizing Just The Push He Needed"

From The Onion.

"We Stand With 14 Families Whose Hearts Are Broken"

"Today in San Bernardino, investigators are searching for answers. Across our country, our law enforcement professionals are tireless. They're working around the clock—as always—to protect our communities. As President, my highest priority is the security and safety of the American people. This is work that should unite us all—as Americans—so that we’re doing everything in our power to defend our country. That's how we can honor the lives we lost in San Bernardino. That's how we can send a message to all those who would try to hurt us. We are Americans. We will uphold our values—a free and open society. We are strong. And we are resilient. And we will not be terrorized."

Eurasia Review presents a transcript of President Obama's speech about the San Bernardino massacre.

"Now More Than Ever, This Is What the Republican Party Needs to Hear"

"'America counts millions of Muslims amongst our citizens, and Muslims make an incredibly valuable contribution to our country,' said Bush in his remarks at the Islamic Center in September 2001. 'Muslims are doctors, lawyers, law professors, members of the military, entrepreneurs, shopkeepers, moms and dads. And they need to be treated with respect. In our anger and emotion, our fellow Americans must treat each other with respect.'"

Jamelle Bouie in Slate argues that only George W. Bush can stop Republican "anti-Muslim sentiment."

"Refuse to Give in to Fear"

"Take, for example, Jeb Bush's declaration that 'this is an organized attempt to destroy Western civilization.' No, it isn't. It's an organized attempt to sow panic, which isn't at all the same thing. And remarks like that, which blur that distinction and make terrorists seem more powerful than they are, just help the jihadists' cause."

Paul Krugman in The New York Times warns that "the biggest danger terrorism poses to our society comes not from the direct harm inflicted, but from the wrong-headed responses it can inspire."

Rollback or Containment?

"Rather than assuming an offensive posture, the West should revert to a defensive one. Instead of attempting to impose its will on the Greater Middle East, it should erect barriers to protect itself from the violence emanating from that quarter. Such barriers will necessarily be imperfect, but they will produce greater security at a more affordable cost than is gained by engaging in futile, open-ended armed conflicts. Rather than vainly attempting to police or control, this revised strategy should seek to contain.
"Such an approach posits that, confronted with the responsibility to do so, the peoples of the Greater Middle East will prove better equipped to solve their problems than are policy makers back in Washington, London, or Paris. It rejects as presumptuous any claim that the West can untangle problems of vast historical and religious complexity to which Western folly contributed. It rests on this core principle: Do no (further) harm."

Andrew J. Bacevich in The Boston Globe argues that American and European leaders "have enmeshed the West in a war that it cannot win and should not perpetuate."

"One of the City's Most Legendary Clubs"

"'It was in the great European tradition of funky music halls,' says Rosanne Cash, who played the Bataclan in 1990. Tucked away in the city's 11th arrondissement, north and east of the major tourist thoroughfares, the venue opened in 1864. It was originally called the Grand Café Chinois in honor of architect Charles Duval's design–a multi-colored imitation pagoda that topped off the building. Eventually renamed after the French operetta Ba-ta-clan, the space presented the famous singer Piaf in some of her earliest performances.

"The venue started booking rock acts in the early 1970s. In 1972, what was intended to be a Cale solo gig turned into a Velvet Underground reunion when Cale invited Reed and Nico to join him for unplugged but thrilling versions of 'Heroin,' 'The Black Angel's Death Song' and 'Femme Fatale,' along with solo Cale and Reed songs."

David Browne at Rolling Stone discusses the history of Paris' La Bataclan, "the site of the worst massacre in rock history."

"FBI Counterterrorism Agent Wistfully Recalls Watching 20-Year-Old Muslim-American Grow Up"

"'Sometimes it feels like it was just yesterday that I was watching little 12-year-old Omar get on the bus and head off to seventh grade, but I guess time really flies,' said the FBI agent, expressing amazement at how a middle-schooler who had seemed so shy when talking to girls on the phone could become so confident and self-assured in his conversations as an adult. 'God, I remember seeing him on his first date, just this scrawny teenager at a 7 p.m. showing of Captain America trying to work up the courage to put his arm around a girl. Look at him now—handsome, popular, and getting straights A's in his junior year at Michigan Tech.'
"And to think we've been right there with him every step of the way,' Tierney added."

From The Onion.

The End of Jeb!?

"Donald Trump is not noble. Jeb Bush is going to be questioned on this and he's going to need a better answer than saying his brother kept the country safe. He didn't. And he didn't do any better in the aftermath. He made some good speeches and, to his credit, he cautioned Americans not to blame Muslims in general for the attacks (which may be the best thing he did). Other than that, it's not a good record, no matter how you look at it. In fact, it's astonishing that Jeb ever thought he could run without having to answer for it. Trump is going to make sure he does."

Heather Digby Parton in Salon looks at how "the Donald finally pushed a button that was too much for Jeb to bear."

"Should Obama Pardon Bush?"

"ACLU director Anthony Romero offered a different approach: instead of prosecuting, Obama could pardon a highly visible group of Bush administration officials - including former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and Bush and Cheney themselves. Romero mentions three important instances of 'preemptive pardoning,' when presidents have issued pardons in order to heal a national division: Lincoln and Andrew Johnson's pardons of Confederate soldiers, Ford's pardon of Nixon, and Carter's pardon of Vietnam draft-dodgers. The latter two are widely seen as having been politically costly, and Ford's pardon of Nixon even as a serious lapse in executive accountability. Writing last year about the political use of pardons, Leon Neyfakh suggests that a number of twentieth century presidents have used pardons to signal disagreement with existing policies."


Julia Azari at The Washington Monthly explores the question.

"The Resemblance Is Characterological and Ideological"

"President Obama scaled back some of the Bush administration’s anti-terror policies—torture, warrantless wiretapping—but kept in place others. One could make the case that he did not change enough, but that is not a Greenwald sort of argument. He insists that Obama is worse than Bush. Obama’s health-care reform was not just a step along the way to Greenwald’s ideal, it was a monstrous sellout that probably did no good at all ('there is a reasonable debate to be had among reform advocates over whether this bill is a net benefit or a net harm.').

"This way of looking at the world naturally places one in conflict with most liberals, who are willing to distinguish between gradations of success or failure."

Jonathan Chait at New York compares Glenn Greenwald to Ralph Nader.

"To Understand Edward Snowden's Motivations, Look to Aaron Swartz"

"Snowden’s mindset seems similar to me. He told The Guardian that, as a teenager, he considered the Internet 'the most important invention in all of human history' because it connected him to 'people with all sorts of views that I would never have encountered on my own.' But, as an adult, he increasingly worried that surveillance was destroying the Web. The same invention he believed could liberate mankind was becoming a tool of oppression."

Noam Scheiber at The New Republic reacts to the National Security Agency leaks.

And Alec MacGillis "welcomes the uproar."

"Self-Radicalizing in a Western Environment"

"No, they want to make headlines. That’s the point. They want to become a hero. It’s why I compare them with many of the guys who did the Columbine sort of terrorist attacks against a school. They were very young guys, probably loners and slightly suicidal. They want to end in beauty, they want to do something extraordinary."

John J. Judis in The New Republic interviews Oliver Roy about the Boston bombers.

Switched to Overload

"I can’t help but wonder about Eric Harris, Dylan Klebold, Seung-Hui Cho and Adam Lanza. If they had been born in Gaza or the West Bank, shaped by terrorist organizations’ hateful propaganda, would they have strapped bombs around their waists and blown themselves up? I’m afraid the answer is yes."

Adam Lankford in The New York Times compares rampage shooters to suicide terrorists.