All 44 articles by Pete Karman

• 14 Aug 11

• Act Locally

  Dear ITT Ideologist: Whitey Bulger & Rebekah Brooks Fear the Slammer

  Dear ITT Ideologist, I was enjoying my golden years with my favorite blond in Santa Monica when my... MORE »

• 17 Jul 11

• Act Locally

  Dear ITT Ideologist: NATO’s Nadir, and the FBI’s Rubbish

  Dear ITT Ideologist, As the nation's incoming secretary of defense, I'm seeking counsel from all quarters to assure... MORE »

• 15 May 11

• Act Locally

  Dear ITT Ideologist: Bin Laden’s Neighbor Wants Some Answers

  Dear ITT Ideologist, I am the neighbor of the very nice Bin Laden family. Late Sunday night there... MORE »

• 17 Apr 11

• Act Locally

  Dear Ideologist: America’s New War and Americans’ Selective Outrage

  Dear ITT Ideologist, I see we're at war again, this time in Libya. From Vietnam days, I've worried... MORE »

• 15 Apr 11

• The ITT List

  Slavery and Treason, Really? (Happy Anniversary, Civil War)

  I’m happy to see on this sesquicentennial that some of us are finally admitting that the Civil... MORE »

• 13 Mar 11

• Act Locally

  Dear ITT Ideologist: Cliff Notes on American Democracy

  Dear ITT Ideologist, I am a young Egyptian revolutionary researching the best examples of democracy for my newly... MORE »

• 13 Feb 11

• Act Locally

  Dear ITT Ideologist: Executive Functions and the Search for 2008

  Dear ITT Ideologist, President Barack Obama has been criticized for governing from within a bubble. They say he... MORE »

• 23 Jan 11

• Act Locally

  Dear ITT Ideologist: Good vs. Bad Money

  Dear ITT Ideologist, My tanning oil is streaked with the trail of tears I shed bemoaning our national... MORE »

• 03 Jan 11

• The ITT List

  Psst, Peace

  "President Chavez [of Venezuela] is my new best friend." —President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia We occasionally hear... MORE »

• 12 Dec 10

• Act Locally

  ITT Ideologist: WikiLeaks and Diplomatic Damage Control

  Dear Reader, Your ITT Ideologist has gained access to the damage control messages that Secretary of State Hillary... MORE »

• 02 Dec 10

• The ITT List

  Our Pecuniary Pecking Order

  The other day President Obama announced a freeze on the salaries of fed workers. They’re lucky compared... MORE »

• 14 Nov 10

• Act Locally

  Dear ITT Ideologist: Karzai’s Currency War, and Fearsome Flying Bankers

  Dear ITT Ideologist, I am the debonair but mercurial satrap of a war-ravaged central Asian nation.  Having become... MORE »

• 09 Nov 10

• The ITT List

  The Mendacious Mavens of the Middle

  When the McCain-Palin campaign was looking a for a “leftist terrorist” to pin on Obama, the best they... MORE »

• 17 Oct 10

• Act Locally

  Dear ITT Ideologist: Iran’s Mercurial Mullahs and the Dismal Science

  Dear ITT Ideologist, My morning news show has been headlining Lady Gaga's brisket beret and Lindsay Lohan's toot... MORE »

• 12 Sep 10

• Act Locally

  Dear Ideologist: Abstemious Abnegation and Aging in America

  Dear ITT Ideologist, A controversy has flared up in our town over the decision by a group of... MORE »

• 30 Aug 10

• The ITT List

  Playing ball with UBS: Obama, Swiss Tax Havens and the IRS

  As is my habit, I was avidly reading the business page when I came across this headline:I... MORE »

• 15 Aug 10

• Act Locally

  Dear ITT Ideologist: Interstate Warfare and the Teahadists

  Dear ITT Ideologist, I am a leading candidate for governor of Connecticut. I need an issue novel enough... MORE »

• 06 Aug 10

• The ITT List

  The Great BS Machine

  By Pete Karman The business of public relations, an American invention, is about a century old. One of... MORE »

• 18 Jul 10

• Act Locally

  Dear ITT Ideologist: McChrystal’s Predicament, and an Insecure Israeli

  Dear ITT Ideologist, I'm a recently cashiered general, depressed because I can no longer play pro consul in... MORE »

• 16 Jul 10

• The ITT List

  Two Years After Two Predictions, One Unfortunate Result

  I published the blog below on July 19, 2008. Unfortunately, Scenario 2 appears to have prevailed. I went astray in predicting... MORE »

• 20 Jun 10

• Act Locally

  Dear ITT Ideologist: Libertarian Clubbers and Privacy Violators

  Dear ITT Ideologist, Ever since I was a tyke I've felt entitled to anything I could grab. For... MORE »

• 04 Jun 10

• The ITT List

  Israel at Sea

  In that same day, the Lord made a covenant with Abraham, saying, unto thy seed have I given... MORE »

• 23 May 10

• Act Locally

  Dear ITT Ideologist: American Exceptionalism and GOP Bondage

  Dear ITT Ideologist, My policies are being savaged by people who believe the government is too big. Do... MORE »

• 21 May 10

• The ITT List

  Killing Through the Centuries: From the Peace of Westphalia to the Drones of Obama

  By Pete Karman In Catch 22, General Dreedle, annoyed by Major Danby’s moaning, orders that he be taken... MORE »

• 14 May 10

• The ITT List

  Debt in Delphi

  The Cannes Film Festival--happening right now--has long served as one of our gaudiest exemplars of excess. Quaffing kirs... MORE »

• 07 May 10

• The ITT List

  Nothing Sells Like Nothing

  “...a product of pure intellectual masturbation, the type of thing which you invent telling yourself: Well, what if... MORE »

• 25 Apr 10

• Act Locally

  Dear ITT Ideologist: Plutocrats and Endangered Leftists

  Dear ITT Ideologist, I was disheartened by news that the richest person in the world is no longer... MORE »

• 15 Apr 10

• The ITT List

  The Real Death Panels

  By Pete Karman In fact our government does have them. But they have nothing to do with health... MORE »

• 28 Mar 10

• Act Locally

  Dear ITT Ideologist: Tea-Timers and Conservocrats in Debit City

  Dear ITT Ideologist, What is it with Americans? I'm shy nearly a bil. My casinos are tapped out.... MORE »

• 26 Mar 10

• The ITT List

  Socialism: Oui ou Non?

  Consider this anomaly: The yahoos are giving themselves conniptions because Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi are supposedly inflicting... MORE »

• 21 Feb 10

• Act Locally

  Dear ITT Ideologist: Fundamentalist Real Estate and Corporate Sex

  Dear ITT Ideologist, I'm a pedestrian Presbyterian entering my golden years. I've been considering adding pizazz to my... MORE »

• 10 Feb 10

• The ITT List

  Conflict As Commodity

  "Welcome to the world of strategic analysis where we develop weapons that don’t work to meet threats... MORE »

• 24 Jan 10

• Act Locally

  Dear ITT Ideologist: Hot Products and ATM Inspiration

  Dear ITT Ideologist, As we enter a new year and decade, I wonder if you could put aside... MORE »

• 13 Jan 10

• The ITT List

  The Poverty of Punditry: Sarah and Osama

  A new political tell-all book reiterates that Sarah Palin knows as much about the world as George W's... MORE »

• 27 Dec 09

• Act Locally

  Dear ITT Ideologist: Law, Order and Angry Atheists

  Dear ITT Ideologist, Naturally, our plan at Law and Order for the forthcoming 9/11 Manhattan terror trial is to... MORE »

• 01 Dec 09

• The ITT List

  The Decade in Review: Checking Out Our Big Ideas

  Our leaders have come up with some big ideas in recent years. Virtually all have been bought by... MORE »

• 29 Nov 09

• Act Locally

  Dear ITT Ideologist: Vexatious Nations and Komunists

  Dear ITT Ideologist, As an informed citizen, I keep a list of vexatious nations so that, in the... MORE »

• 13 Nov 09

• The ITT List

  Crusade of the Crazies (It Worked So Well the Last Time)

  Good sense is good sense, but stupidity is infinite in its variety. As soon as you think a... MORE »

• 23 Oct 09

• The ITT List

  Why Republicans Have More Fun

  If you’ve noticed, Republicans allow themselves a lot more space for self-expression than do Democrats. Reps can... MORE »

• 09 Oct 09

• The ITT List

  From Scandal-navia, a Not-So-Noble Nobel

  I heard this morning that Barack Obama will have to take time out from strategizing wars in Iraq,... MORE »

• 02 Oct 09

• The ITT List

  Mullahs and Morons: Even Our Wars Are Dumbed Down

  Remember the Cold War? It was about the future. It was about which modern system of organizing society,... MORE »

• 17 Sep 09

• The ITT List

  Barack Goes Un-Ballistic

  Zeus only knows how many zillions of our tax tributes have already been spent on the European Space... MORE »

• 30 Jul 09

• The ITT List

  Nothing Personal, Mr. President

  I didn’t vote for Barack Obama--but it was nothing personal. I’m a Green and a lefty... MORE »

• 10 Jul 09

• The ITT List

  Hypocrisy on Honduras

  Back in May 2007, the Venezuelan government declined to renew the expiring broadcast license of television station RCT for,... MORE »