Intellectual Zingers (it tastes like burning)

Consider yourself Zinged to the Nth degree, Mr. Kaplan:

To be sure, there has been previous unrest in Kaplanistan. In 2000, the historian Robert Kagan noted Kaplan’s “cheap pessimism,” his indifference “as to whether societies are governed democratically or tyrannically,” and his “weak” grip on history: “Just about every historical event or political philosopher he discusses he gets at least half-wrong.” In 1993, the Balkans expert Noel Malcolm gutted Kaplan’s Balkan Ghosts for its many errors of fact and judgment; Kaplan’s hapless response earned this rejoinder from Malcolm: “The basic problem, I think, is that Mr. Kaplan cannot read.” Kaplan’s new book, Imperial Grunts, in which one cannot be sure whether the latter word is a noun or a verb, has unleashed a new offensive. Writing in The New Republic, David Rieff takes Kaplan to task for his “boneheaded nonsense.” In the New York Times Book Review, David Lipsky laments that Kaplan “appears to have become someone who is too fond of war.” But these traits have been visible in Kaplan since his first book, as has his love of intellectual shortcuts and invincible humorlessness. Kaplan’s real and growingly evident problem is not his Parkinson’s grip on history, or that he is a bonehead or a warmonger, but rather that he is an incompetent thinker and a miserable writer.

7 Responses to “Intellectual Zingers (it tastes like burning)”

DENTAL PLAN says:
June 22nd, 2006 at 3:15 pm
where are the zingers for Grey Falcon, Black Lamb?
Curzon says:
June 24th, 2006 at 1:48 pm
To recap: what’s to be zinged about? Whenever someone resorts to lame insults (”incompetent thinker and a miserable writer”) in a rebuttal such as this, there is no better indicator that the subject of the criticism is right because the critic cannot effectively articulate a counterargument.

Not that you need to hear more of what I think… but you thought your “zinged” comment clever enough to be its own post??
alec says:
June 25th, 2006 at 12:23 am
Well Curzon, I think you need to be cognisant of my sarcasm. Zinged is a Simpsons reference, and is in no degree a reference to the degree of success of said singed.

Also, have you read some of that McSweeney interview with Bissel?:

As I’ve said before, my ambitions were very modest. I wanted to write a book that everyone who visited Central Asia would want to read, and I wanted to write a book PCVs would want to read. But as the Bush Administration grew more bellicose and its environmental policies grew more idiotic, I realized I was writing my own little plea for a slightly more nuanced understanding of the world, particularly the world that exists far beyond the buoys of democracy and heavy Western investment.

(aka barf)
jimineykbc says:
September 23rd, 2007 at 11:44 pm
Hey, I was wondering if anyone here has a habit of coming up with cool business ideas out of nowhere, but never got around to attempting them.
Here are mine:
consumer generated power
household recycling plants
innovative ringtones (like fart ringtones for young people)
retail approach to recycling
carbon offsets by sms

share yours if you don’t mind revealing your genius.
Call Me Jesse says:
September 24th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
How about Rent-A-Pet…. marketed for nursing homes… cats, dogs, turtles etc…
“Because you can’t put a price on companionship.”
jamiejnbb says:
October 10th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
hey all, I was wondering if anyone experiences with online dating could recomend a good site. If not I was gonna go with singlesnet
best to ask the community before I dive head first…thanks.
CatuffDup says:
December 1st, 2007 at 3:58 pm
Hi all!
all this not it is correct , it is correct only that

jeep lake new placid york

G’night

Intellectual Zingers (it tastes like burning)

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