Great Writers Don't Make Great Pundits

The passing of Conor Cruise O'Brien is a timely reminder that great writers, which O'Brien certainly was in his early years, do not make great commentators. And as was the case with this Irish iconoclast, certainly not a great politicians.

Timely because Mark Helprin has his head so far up his ass when it comes to rationalizing the Bush administration's use of torture while ruing that the president was not a bigger fascist asshole that it's difficult to believe that he was the creative genius behind Winter's Tale.

Hat tip to Clay Risen at The Plank