"Have you no sense of irony, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of irony?"

I've been busy on three different jobs, but I've found time to make a few comments here, and here. 

DeLong still amazes me sometimes. And the Timberites and their readers are really not that far behind. 

From the NYRB. Scroll down and read the paragraphs by the physicist Steven Weinberg. How someone can be so logical, so willing to struggle for objectivity, and then be so willing to throw it all away.

After all this [a seven paragraph attack on the Bush record and agenda, especially on the dangers of nuclear proliferation], you would think that I would have no doubt about my vote in November, but I have one remaining concern that might keep me from voting for Kerry. Somehow there has grown up a correlation between liberalism and anti-Zionism in both Europe and America: a tendency for the same politicians, academics, performers, and journalists who take a liberal stand on domestic issues reflexively to take the Arab side in disputes between Arabs and Israelis. Kerry's statements and voting record show no signs of anti-Zionism, with just one exception known to me, his speech at the Council on Foreign Relations naming James Baker of all people as someone he might send to make peace between Israel and the Palestinians—a possibility he subsequently rejected. 

Nevertheless, I can't help worrying about the foreign policy of a liberal administration if Kerry is elected. This concern is deepened by the fear that, as radical Islamic terrorism continues to plague us, there will be a growing temptation to appease Muslims either by withdrawing support for Israel, or by making complete withdrawal from the West Bank a condition for this support, leaving Israel vulnerable to the sort of attack launched by Arab states in 1948, 1967, and 1973. Yielding to this temptation would weaken the cause of secular democracy, and permanently stain our country's honor. But I probably will vote for Kerry anyway, for on this issue I don't trust Bush either.

And on his to-do list, along with "spend[ing] more on searching for nuclear weapons in container ships", he adds that we should be subsidizing "secular education in Islamic countries." 

Just think for a minute.