Exclusive: Spike Lee wants US soccer team to wear “BP Sucks” shirts vs. England
I did not attend last night’s Brooklyn Blogfest event (my invitation must have got caught in my spam filter). But my spy tells me that film director Spike Lee, the keynote presenter, took the occasion to bash the British about the Gulf oil spill. In doing so, Lee joined a ...
Criticism of Israel gives Washington cover to intervene more in Middle East
Leaders of the European powers were forthright in criticizing Israel’s raid on the Gaza-bound flotilla. French President Nicholas Sarkozy condemned “the disproportionate use of force,” and British Prime Minister David Cameron called the raid “completely unacceptable”. In contrast, President Obama’s response was more circumspect. A White House statement called the ...
This week’s articles of note
“Obama’s youth brigade burns out,” Daily Beast, by Dayo Olopade
“The Tea Party movement isn’t racist,” The New Republic, by John B. Judis
“The beholden state: how public-sector unions broke California,” City Journal, by Steven Malanga
“Happy now?: what’s at stake in America’s battle over free enterprise,” National Review, ...
Finding scandal where there isn’t
First, it was revealed that the White House orchestrated a job offer to senate candidate Joe Sestak, in the hope that he would stand down from the Pennsylvania primary. Now, there are reports that White House deputy chief of staff Jim Messina encouraged Colorado Democrat Andrew Romanoff to pursue ...
The human element in baseball
It was the perfect game – ...
Roubini on financial reform
Here is Nouriel Roubini speaking recently about financial industry reform.
Reasonable, and goes further than the legislation currently being proposed. However, I think we need to be ...
Will eurozone crisis go global?
Interesting BBC discussion on the potential global implications of the eurozone crisis, with British economist Philippe Legrain, Italian politician Emma Bonino and Irwin Steltzer of the Hudson Institute. ...
US economy’s artificial growth
James Bianco has an interesting post over at The Big Picture, entitled, “How much economic growth is ‘artificial’?” The answer: a lot.
Bianco highlights the findings from the recent Congressional Budget Office report, Estimated Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on Employment and Economic Output from ...
Obama and emotional correctness
When it comes to assessing President Obama’s response to the Gulf oil spill, many pundits are asking whether the president is being sufficiently emotional in his response.
In the New York Times, Charles M. Blow writes: “There are many things at which the president is extraordinarily gifted. Emoting isn’t one ...
The unreliability of memory
In his latest novel, the mostly hopeful story of a dying man trying to make sense of his life, Paul Auster ditches his usual formalism in favour of creating engaging characters.
Read my review of Invisible, by Paul Auster, ...
ABOUT SEAN COLLINS
I write about American current affairs for Spiked, the online magazine. I am a native New Yorker, and I divide my time between New York City and upstate New York.
In addition to articles for Spiked, The Australian and other publications, I contributed an essay, "BDS: Demonizing Israel, Destroying Free Speech," for the book Unsafe Space: The Crisis of Free Speech on Campus (2016). I also wrote a chapter on New York City's economy for the book London After Recession: A Fictitious Capital? (2012).
My writings have been cited in American Conservative, Arts & Letters Daily, the Financial Times, Fox News, the Huffington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, the New York Times, Real Clear Politics, and the Times of London, among other media.
For more about The American Situation site, go here.
