More fun here:

"In any event, I don’t see too many Israeli liberals or leftists defending what happened in 1948. At most, they argue that it is a fait accompli like what happened in other settler states, and that Israel now has the right to exist on the same terms as other settler states”

Are the British still transporting Scottish Presbyterians to Ireland?

There’s nothing new about ethnic cleansing. So what? I’m not defending it, am I?
You think the morality of conquest is no longer politically relevant in the United States or the EU!? You equate Israel with New Zealand?
This could turn into an interesting discussion. What’s the difference between monarchist empire and fascist empire, the difference between violent barbarism and violent hypocrisy? Fascism ‘is the pederast from ‘Opus Dei’”, the violent and insecure. The violent and indifferent gave us great crime and great art. The violent and hypocritical gave us Soviet Socialist Realism, Arno Brecker and the bureaucracy of death. Nationalism is the barbarism of tradition. Fascism is the barbarism of ideas. And which one defines the barbarism of Little Israel, the Civilized, Western (even Germanic) mini-state with the bomb?
Barbarians don’t ask for anyone’s approval They do what the have to do to get what they want. I can respect that, even as I oppose them. But I have no respect for those who get upset when I don’t offer my approval of their crimes.
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Recently on Crooked Timber someone responded to a post by Brad DeLong on the language used in the PSATs. I seem to have been the only one who spends any time here who was disgusted by DeLong’s post. Before anything else, we’re stuck with language. We need to learn to use it well. Cookie-cutter technocrats and cookie-cutter club kids are at about the same level of arrested development. it’s the moral philosophy of “neat,” as in “cool.”

There is nothing more important in the world than an an understanding of language and how it is used. What is the difference between the crimes of monarchism and the crimes of fascism. What’s the difference between Albert Speer and Guarino Guarini? Between Bernini and Brecker?
Take it away Brad.
I’m done with politics for now. I’m sticking to art for a while.

I lied, of course:
Jesus fucking christ!.

Humor from Michael Froomkin.
Also here