A couple of things that caught my attention today.
Dear Steven Moffat: The Husbands of River Song – At work yesterday, a coworker asked me what I thought of the Doctor Who Christmas special. I found myself struggling for words. The ending worked for me, even though I recognized how emotionally manipulative it was. The chemistry between Peter Capaldi and Alex Kingston was solid, and I wouldn’t mind seeing River return for more hijinks. But everything else about the story was either bewilderingly dumb, as though it were an unfunny Douglas Adams story, or the characterizations, like River’s especially, didn’t work. Then I read this review of the episode, and it pretty much nailed all of my issues with the Christmas episode. Opinionoid
Bill Kristol is ‘semi-serious’ about launching a new third party. That’s a bad idea. – The Washington Post – Let’s suppose, hypothetically speaking, that Donald Trump is the Republican presidential nominee come August 2016. What happens? Well, if you’re Bill Kristol, maybe you think about starting up a third party. Which would be a silly idea. Pundits have been musing for years on the possibility of a Republican crack-up — the evangelicals and libertarians going one way, the Wall Street crowd going another. But it’s not going to happen. For one thing, if Bill Kristol doesn’t want Hillary Clinton in the White House, a third party challenge to Trump would all but guarantee it. For another, the Republican Party apparatus — and it is significant — would be at Trump’s disposal, not at the disposal of Kristol’s new third party. Don’t discount the power that the institution of the Republican Party has at its command. The Republican elite may not like Trump, but if they were stuck with him as their candidate, they would have no choice but to back him. To sum this up, Bill Kristol is bloviating nonsense, per usual. The Washington Post
O’Malley Struggling in Iowa After Early Start – I’ve made no secret of my interest in former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley as a presidential contender. I’ve even given money to his campaign. On paper, I think O’Malley brings a strong resume and has the requisite chops. However, his campaign is pretty much on its last legs. I’ve sometimes wondered why O’Malley is continuing in his quixotic quest, and I suspect he’s really angling for Vice President. Today, in Iowa, he had a campaign event. One person showed up. New York Magazine
Settling in: SNP making its voice heard at Westminster – Six months after the Scottish National Party’s near sweep in the Parliamentary elections — they took 56 of the 59 seats allotted to Scotland in Westminster — the BBC takes a look at what the SNP is doing in Westminster. Nothing profound here, just something interesting to me. BBC News
The Administration’s Crocodile Tears Over Yemen – For several months, I’ve said that the United States is directly responsible for the bloodshed in Yemen’s civil war. We’re providing arms and tactical help to the Saudis, who are using those arms and that information to wage a destructive bombing campaign on indiscriminate targets. (For instance, in the last twenty-four hours, the Saudis destroyed a Coca-Cola bottling plant. Of what possible military use is that?) I agree with Daniel Larison here, including his grim conclusion: “If the administration were interested in responding seriously to the grim news coming out of Yemen, it would cut off its support for the war and apply as much pressure as it could to get the blockade lifted, but it isn’t going to do any of that.” The American Conservative
There was one other thing that caught my attention, but I plan on writing about that separately.