The Right Thing to Do

David Letterman was right to apologize to Sarah Palin for the crude joke he cracked about her daughter. I don't care if Gov. Palin makes an exhibition of her family, I don't care if her daughter makes an exhibition of herself, I don't care if Sarah Palin as never apologized for the bile she spewed throughout the election campaign. There is no excuse for making young children (and an 18-year old is barely an adult) the target of lewd jokes. Come on, Letterman, there's lots of other material out there.

Pakistan On Edge

Far more than the hysterical hand-wringing of the western press on the future of Pakistan, I trust the judgement of this Pakistani scientist. It is reasoned, calm, cool, unflinchingly critical of the criminal elite of the Pakistan, and has a more realistic assessment of the short-term future of the Pakistani state. I am not one of those who is much enamored of the mess that is Pakistan, but I am relieved to find someone who can both articulate the problems of that country and can outline political scenarios that don't involve missing nuclear weapons and marauding jihadis swooping down from the hills into Lahore and Amritsar.