Daily Office: Thursday
¶ Matins: Andrew Sullivan, still a loyal Tory, abandons the GOP. The list of his objections to right-wing outlook, concludes with denunciations of Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck, and a rejection of sole-superpower militarism.
As thinking people abandon the Republican Party to virtual fascists, the need for a Center Party intensifies. There must be a viable political alternative to leftism, if only for the sake of the latter’s health. (Daily Dish)
¶ Lauds: Ingrid Rowland writes richly (if with a rambling touch) about an important new book about Andrea Palladio, Francesco Borromini, and a modern Roman who has studied them both, Paolo Portoghesi. Ms Rowland also laments “the contemporary state of things” called Italietta. (NYRB)
¶ Prime: Thanks to Tyler Cowen, we’ve discovered a blog that looks to be congenial: Economists For Firing Larry Summers. We like the subtitle very much: “This blog is devoted to seeing to it that Larry Summers gets to spend more time with his family.” As Mr Cowen notes, however, the pseudonymous author has turned his attention to Ben Bernanke. (via Marginal Revolution)
¶ Tierce: Geoffrey Fowler, writing at the Wall Street Journal, joins the still-hushed chorus of e-reader skeptics: “Books are having their iPod moment this holiday season. But buyer beware: It could also turn out to be an eight-track moment.” (via Arts Journal)
¶ Sext: Eric Patton concludes his account of a recent trip to Rome and to Sicily with a characteristical hopeful melancholy. (SORE AFRAID)
¶ Nones: South Africa rejoins the communion of the sensible with a reality-based anti-AIDS program, thus overturning the notorious misrule of former leader Thabo Mbeki on this point. (NYT)
¶ Vespers: By placing a disk over the crime itself, Brooks Peters reveals the richly-detailed corolla that emanates from the so-called “crime of the century” — the Leopold-Loeb case — which Mr Peters rightly labels “an inept fiasco.” Who knew, though, that Leopold was eventually released on parole, and thanks to the efforts of none other than Perry Mason’s creator? And that Erle Stanley Gardner left behind a correspondence with the murderer that our Mr Peters may have been the first to remark upon? (An Open Book)
¶ Compline: Tony Horwitz traces fascinating parallels between 12/1/59 and 9/11/01. On the earlier date, abolitionist and insurrectionist John Brown was hanged. (NYT)