The (New) Quiet American

For those of who in days gone by found your winding way to The Quiet American at its old digs (aldenpyle.blogspot.com), welcome the hell back. For those of you who are joining TQA for the very first time, well then, make yourselves at home. Not much to read yet, I admit, but I’m working on that side of things, and you should see the results shortly.

You may be wondering where The Quiet American has been, and why it’s now resurfacing at a new address with a catchy, “What is the Matrix”-type vibe. After all, the last significant issue I blogged on, if memory serves, was the notorious incident in which our Vice President shot a companion in the face while out hunting pheasant in the Texas scrubland. Remember that? Been a long year since then, I suppose (and it has been nearly a year, now that I think of it). Recap? Not the time or the place, as here at TQA we hold fast to the Faulknerian axiom that “the past isn’t dead; it isn’t even past,” even as we fix an unfettered gaze on the future. So anno domini 2006 was a pretty interesting one for me personally and of course by any rational calculation a calamitous one for our nation. Returning TQA readers will know well to expect me to focus more on the latter, and withhold on the former; my intent has always been for TQA to be a news blog with personal asides, and not the other way around.

So what’s on The Quiet American’s agenda? Expect to see commentary on the Hong Kong political situation, at least until mid-year, when I take my final bows and exit stage left (as Hanna-Barbara mainstay Snagglepuss used to say), to God knows where. By the same token, expect to see TQA taking on the “rise of China” meta-story and other news emanating from the Far East. The truth, however, is that I’m far more a political generalist than I am a regionalist, so expect to hear quite a bit about the biggest international stories as they are shaping up for 2007: endgame in Iraq, our impending confrontation with Iran, and America on the military, economic, and ideological defensive across the globe. There will be heroes and villains aplenty, and a whole lot of people just trying to get by. Finally, you know it wouldn’t be The Quiet American without a look back across the Pacific to the strange, rich pageant of American politics, where we find the 2008 presidential race already off to a hot start in the final, obsolescent years of the Bush era.

You can bet I’m excited to get started again. The Quiet American welcomes your comments and feedback (okay, so I’m practically begging for it), so leave a note and let me know what’s on your mind.

Consider all of the above the bottle of champagne broken on the bow of The Quiet American as it sets sail once more for points largely unknown. Godspeed, then. Now let’s get down to business…

-Mark-