Week in review

Recent links of note:

“Westminster, D.C.?”
David Brady, Commentary
In the wake of an economic collapse spurred by federal housing policy, a series of military mishaps in the Middle East, and an unraveling national health care system, countless commentators have nonetheless managed to find cause to call for a  still-more-active government. Naturally, parliamentary systems have become the darling of these journalists and academics, who believe that the built-in harmony between the legislature and executive would give our government the nimbleness it needs to “get stuff done.” Not content to dismiss these arguments as merely fanciful, David Brady of the Hoover Institution took to the pages of Commentary to defend the American system of governance based on its track record. Brady’s essay compares the American response to the global economic crack-up of 2008 to the actions taken by parliamentary states, and shows that the divided composition of American government helped restrain Washington from a dangerous overreaction. Those who favor centralization will always look longingly at our parliamentary neighbors, but for now there’s ample evidence that the grass is a bit greener on our own side of the fence.

“How Do You Say Goodbye to a Painting?”
Thomas Micchelli, Hyperallergic
The Sunday before Labor Day will mark the close of “Unfinished: Thoughts Left Visible,” a collection of unfinished and “aesthetically unresolved” works at The Met Breuer. Despite the broad scope of the exhibition, which includes loans by Da Vinci, Rubens, and Rembrandt, Hyperallergic’s Thomas Micchelli was drawn in by just one painting during his visit: Titian’s The Flaying of Marsyas, which the artist labored over through his dying days. In his write-up of the viewing, Micchelli dwells on his own engrossment in the painting and the unlikelihood of his ever finding the chance to view it again at its home in a discrete Czech village after the exhibition’s close. The detailed description of Titian’s creation of the work and its proto-impressionistic technique offer readers enough to imagine why Micchelli was left so openly smitten.

From our pages:

“Jazz Age for a better age”
James Panero
On the eleventh annual Jazz Age Lawn Party on Governors Island.