Ben
When Did Oliver Stone Lose His Spark of Big Ambition?
Savages is trashy, vulgar, preposterous, cruel—and maybe the most interesting and entertaining film Oliver Stone has made since Nixon. What more do you want when the country is burning, gridlocked, and practicing ballet on the brink? Don’t say the movies lack instincts about where we’re headed.
The Republican Diet: Lots of Ice Cream
A string of recent statements by Republican elected officials have offered multiple insights into the party's priorities. For the moment, though, consider what those statements reveal--or, I should say, confirm--about the party's supposed commitment to fiscal responsibility. To review the relevant history: Early in the year, leaders of the Democratic Party called for a new stimulus program--a combination of public works spending, aid to states, and other measures that, they said, would create jobs and strengthen the weak recovery.
Steele Trap
Ordinarily, a witness who changes her story in a way that makes herself an object of ridicule or disgrace is viewed as more credible rather than more suspicious: the law of evidence calls this a statement against interest.
