Ignatieff -- weird name, huh?

You should read this excellent article on Michael Ignatieff's bid to become a politician instead of a mere theorist. The last line is priceless and admirable:

Passages were dug up from his book on nationalism, Blood and Belonging, in which he suggested the Ukrainian version conjured up "images of embroidered peasant shirts" and "the nasal whine of ethnic instruments". In the book, it is more nuanced, almost a lampoon of his own views, as the grandson of a Russian count.
It was clever on paper. It does not sound so clever in the cut and thrust of politics, and if Ignatieff continues to climb Canada's greasy pole, there will be a lifetime of reportage and writing to examine and defend. But, as he continually insists, he can take it. "This is politics" he grins. "I'm not complaining."

It's good to see a political theorist who was not at all surprised by the nastiness of contemporary politics. I think most would have responded in the same way, but it is still nice to have my belief that the philosopher comes from tough stock confirmed. I didn't really like his Lesser Evil when I skimmed it before Friedman's "Social and Political Philosophy" class, but perhaps I'll take another look. It was probably the class' fault, not the book's.