Assassination Nation

Pakistan, the original Islamic State, has never had a peaceful or even orderly transition of power. It’s like government by soccer hooligans, trying to shake down the stadium and get a bigger body count. Their usual feel-good unifying movement involves war with India, another nuclear state.

For some reason, all this brings to mind Cormac McCarthy’s latest novel, “The Road,” a grisly story of nuclear winter in Texas.

I saw an interview with McCarthy where he said that he doesn’t enjoy the company of artists, but rather, prefers to live around scientists. Here’s hoping that he’s not prescient with his choice of subject matter.

By the way, the Coen brother’s film of McCarthy’s “No Country for Old Men” is in theatres now. Also set in Texas, I expect it to be a fine film, for those that have the stomach for it.