Category Archives: Political Commentary

Another Political Shift?

I’m hearing that Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) has suffered a stroke. No word yet on how serious it is, and here’s hoping that it’s minimal, and that he recovers soon.

But if it’s serious, and he dies or has to step down for health reasons, Republican Governor Mike Rounds would almost certainly appoint a Republican in his place, giving control of the Senate back to them (or rather, if it happens before new Senators are sworn in in January, allowing them to retain control, since the new leadership hasn’t been elected yet).

[Evening Update]

Good news for the Senator and his family (and yes, incidentally, for the Dems)]

It appears that it wasn’t a stroke. Glad to hear it, Senator. Get well soon.

[Morning update]

Not so good news. Sounds like it was an aneurysm, or some other kind of brain hemmorhage. He just had surgery, which was reportedly successful. No word on the prognosis, but right now he’s in critical condition.

Pinochet Versus Castro

From a surprising source (the WaPo) an editorial about dictators and double standards.

The contrast between Cuba and Chile more than 30 years after Mr. Pinochet’s coup is a reminder of a famous essay written by Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, the provocative and energetic scholar and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who died Thursday. In “Dictatorships and Double Standards,” a work that caught the eye of President Ronald Reagan, Ms. Kirkpatrick argued that right-wing dictators such as Mr. Pinochet were ultimately less malign than communist rulers, in part because their regimes were more likely to pave the way for liberal democracies. She, too, was vilified by the left. Yet by now it should be obvious: She was right.