The great gig in the sky

Christopher Hitchens, RIP.

And Paul Campos captures the irony beautifully.

That Christopher Hitchens died on the very day that marked the official end of the U.S. war in Iraq is the kind of coincidence that would have led the ever-ironical Argentine to remark upon the mysterious ways of the God with whom Hitchens so famously quarreled.

Read the whole thing about Hitchens' meeting with Jorge Luis Borges.

Palin, Bush, and the GOP establishment

Bill Kristol asks a philosophical question.

In any case, this is the same GOP establishment that rallied behind first-term governor George W. Bush in 1997-98 and then propelled him to the nomination in 1999-2000. Had Bush accomplished more than Palin at that point?

Yes, yes it is. And look where that got us.

Laugh, laugh

Worries for civilians

President George W. Bush:

Mr. Bush referred particularly to attacks spreading beyond South Ossetia, a reference to the Russian airstrikes in parts of Georgia itself. “The attacks are occurring in regions of Georgia far from the zone of conflict in South Ossetia,” he said. “They mark a dangerous escalation in the crisis. The violence is endangering regional peace, civilian lives are being lost, and others are in danger.”