International Law
Andy McCarthy writes: The International Criminal Court Claims Jurisdiction Over the United States… at least for our “torture” and other “war crimes” in Afghanistan. That we have never ratified the Rome Treaty or agreed to submit to the ICC’s authority is irrelevant, according to the chief prosecutor. Though I can understand why that abrogation of sovereignty would trouble Mr. McCarthy, who presumably wants powerful international actors to be legitimate and accountable to the populations subject to its coerc

Thoughts on Patriotism
1) A conversation about what it requires for a country to defend itself would probably be a lot more productive if the word patriotism couldn’t be used by any of those involved. If you want to see what I mean, read Jim Manzi’s wonderful post on the subject. 2) Jonah Goldberg wrote: The Fourth of July, President’s Day, and even Veterans’ and Memorial Day are celebrations of the nation-state created by the American founding. In short, our other holidays are about patri

Will and the flag.
I guess I will be stripped of my passport and moustache-wearing rights, but let me stand up for a second for Jonah Goldberg who, in a slightly touching post on Thanksgiving in Paris (mon Dieu!), had the misfortune to write: A little mystic nationalism is a good and healthy thing because it provides the emotional sinew that helps us hold onto our patriotism. To which Will Wilkinson replied that the “good and healthy” looks like this

A Strange Argument About Political Journalism
In our recent Bloggingheads, I complained to Peter, as I am prone to do, about political writers and commentators who knowingly mislead their audiences. One of his responses was to say that it seemed as though what I want is more earnestness in political discourse. That actually isn’t the case. Earnestness has its place in political discourse, especially when you’re trying to persuade people who are inclined to dismiss your arguments before even considering them. It also characterizes some of my blog posts (perhaps too many, as one can certainly be over-solicitous of folks who are going to focus on what they imagine or tactically assert to be your motivations). But

Hacked Climate Science Emails
A set of very damaging e-mails have apparently been hacked from the Hadley Climate Research Unit; they purportedly show climate scientists there manipulating and deploying historical climate data to reach predetermined conclusions, coordinating messaging, and attempting to control the definition of expertise in order to marginalize those who disagree with them. I have not read the full set of e-mails, nor have I seen authoritative evidence of their provenance, but for the sake of argument let’s assume the allegations are correct. None of this surprises me. I argued over two years ago that: 1) Long-term climate reconstruction was one of the two key trouble spots in climate scie