Here and there

Deviant apologetics at the L. A. Times

Tabloid Baby has the sordid details.

We already know that Hollywood embraces criminals and deviates. But what about the LA Times? Will the paper ever lose its attempt at hip distance and take a stand on practices within its hometown industry? We don't think so. Not as long as great artists like Roman Polanski, Woody Allen, Bryan Singer and Victor Salva agree to give them exclusive interviews in fancy eateries.

Defending Ann Coulter

I'm not a big fan of Coulter. But Dafydd at Big Lizards makes a strong defense of her in this post. After reading it, I have to say that he makes her case better than se does.


Defending James Webb

I am a big fan of James Webb. His primary opponent has tried to portray him as anti-semitic. Some in the blogosphere have fallen for it. Outside the Beltway shows why they are wrong.


Richard Hofstadter

Slate has an article on the historian. As a graduate student I was subjected to a diet heavy in Hofstadter. Unlike others on the menu, his work does not call for re-reading. Greenberg admits that "many of his major ideas are just plain wrong."

It makes sense that Slate would run a warm appreciation of Hofstadter. They share many qualities: good prose, a weakness for striking aphorisms, unacknowledged political agendas, and a taste for daring conclusions at the expense of superficiality and obstinate error.