The Whereabouts of the Imprisoned Polish Memory, Wojciech Przybylski, Eurozine Oct 28, 2009
Hannah Arendt once suggested establishing a unifying narrative between the past and the present as a remedy for a broken historical continuity. So why have we so carelessly broken with our most recent heritage when there is nothing else that has a bigger impact on our lives at present. (Harper's Magazine)
The Propriety of Criticizing Judges Oct 3, 2009
As political philosopher Hannah Arendt stated, there can be no patriotism without permanent opposition and criticism. We have a duty as lawyers to uphold and respect, and yes be patriots of, our profession by voicing our discontent with whatever aspects of it fall short of the aspirational standards we set for ourselves. (Law.com)
Farewell to the Godfather Sep 21, 2009
According to , Irving Kristol once felt intimidated among New York intellectuals when he found himself seated with Mary McCarthy on one side, Hannah Arendt on the other, and Diana Trilling across from him. This standardof intellect, to say nothing of other allureswas very much relaxed by the time he found himself placed next to me at a dinner at the Lehrman Institute in Manhattan in the mid-1980s. (Slate)
Feith Contract Not Renewed Aug 30, 2009
" Feith for his blatant violations of national and international law and his consistent, intentional skewing of vital intelligence to support an obviously illegal invasion and occupation of a nation that had done us no harm is puerile. I assume you are a student at Georgetown, Doug, but I don't think you really appreciate what that means - what the name and reputation of that institution and the few others like it represent to those of us trying to make intelligent sense of the events of our... (The Hoya, Washington DC)
Michael Oakeshott's Conservative Mind Aug 27, 2009
It is striking that those concerned with the reality of politics in that period figures such as Leo Strauss, Eric Voegelin, and Hannah Arendt still speak to us more directly than more recent figures dealing in normative argument. The history of radicalism is encapsulated in the nervous breakdown John Stuart Mill experienced at the age of 20. (The American Conservative)
Dwight Macdonald, America's Orwell Jul 17, 2009
There are useful, albeit unintended, guides to Disgracing Yourself At Your Next B nai B rith Meeting In One Easy Lesson: What was always strange to me [about Norman Podhoretz s attacks upon Hannah Arendt] was that all these people that were leftists and Marxists together with me suddenly turned out to be Jewish nationalists. We wouldn t have spit on that position when we were Marxists. (The American Conservative)
James Howard Kunstler on Michael Jackson as America Jul 2, 2009
The Man in the Mirror - Clusterfuck Nation. Clusterfuck Nation Comment on Current Events by the Author of "The Long Emergency". (Harper's Magazine)
Fear: Our National Pastime May 25, 2009
"Fear," the philosopher Hannah Arendt observed, "is an emotion indispensable for survival." Fear heightens our awareness and impels us to act on threats and danger -- for example, some may contend, the murder of 3,000 civilians in the middle of our nation's financial capital by terrorists. Still, admitting that fear can drive you to smart decisions doesn't mean that the Bush administration's subsequent use of fear led to prudent policy. (Townhall.com)
The Banality of Preening May 2, 2009
Hannah Arendt was wrong. Evil is never banal. (Townhall.com)
* We need dialogue, not a new law Apr 1, 2009
Having experienced the traumas of the first half of the 20th century, in which governments did their utmost to eliminate those who held opposing views, German-born writer Hannah Arendt wrote that the essence of the human spirit is not brotherhood, but friendship, and that friendship is not a relationship between people who are close to begin with, but rather a requirement when discussing public affairs and a necessity when forming a world view. Those politicians who really wish to improve... (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- Sports)
Officials: Waterboarding Foiled No Plot Mar 30, 2009
When torture is pseudo-legal and when those responsible merely deny that it is torture, what dies is what political philosopher Hannah Arendt called "the juridical person in man"; soon enough, victims no longer bother to search for justice, so sure are they of the futility (and danger) of that quest. This impunity is a mass version of what happens inside the torture chamber, when prisoners are told they can scream all they want because no one can hear them and no one is going to save them. (CBS News)
Trial Tweets Through The Ages Mar 14, 2009
Hannah Arendt tweets the 1961 trial of Nazi war criminal Adolph Eichmann. Speaking of the banality of evil, when are they going to put a Starbucks into this Israeli courthouse. (CBS News)
Love Sayings Mar 1, 2009
Love Quotes and Sayings About Romance. They've also been the product of casual, passing remarks, while others have been said in the heat of passionate romance. (Suite101.com)
Between the lines Feb 22, 2009
Travelling in Germany in 1950, Hannah Arendt noted the same thing: "but it is hard to say whether this is due to an international refusal to mourn or whether it is the expression of a genuine emotional incapacity". Is this postwar society unable or unwilling to "read". (The Age, Australia -- Entertainment)
Don't punt on torture Feb 17, 2009
Hannah Arendt, in The Origins of Totalitarianism, identifies torture as the linchpin of total domination. It achieves its absolute power when imposed without regard for the guilt of the victims although these always include real criminals, in order to provide propagandistic cover if not a moral alibi for the torturers. (USA Today)
Will Obama say 'we're sorry'? Feb 13, 2009
German-Jewish political theorist Hannah Arendt was right when she wrote that after 1918, political power, except revolutionary power, is pure operetta. Do the Rockefeller shuffle The shah's banker was David Rockefeller. (Asia Times Online)
