Jonathan Bernstein wonders if Sarah Palin, with a national profile and an enthusiastic base, could run for the presidential nomination successfully without playing by the normal rules: Of course, Sarah Palin sits at this point of the campaign with total name recognition and terrific enthusiasm from a not insignificant number of GOP primary and caucus votes. Those assets may mean that she can wait until longer than usual to start following the normal rules of how one runs for president. Or, perhaps, she\’ll try to capture the nomination without doing those things. Is it possible? Well, we...
Continue reading...Poplicola
New York Times Columnist Line of the Day
If you’re one of the four-or-so frequent readers of this here blog, chances are you also occasionally check out the New York Times op-ed page. You may even know the names: Thomas “Friedman’s Just Another Word For Nothing Left to Lose” Friedman, Gail “The Colander” Collins, Nicholas “The Dark Crystal” Kristof, &c. This is a daily feature dedicated to these folks: one line that is either awesome, funny, insightful, intelligent, ridiculous, or utterly divorced from reality. I hope you enjoy. Today\’s is from Thomas \”Tommy Two-Tone\” Friedman, who in his column \”Too Many Hamburgers?\” writes: There is...
Continue reading...OMG there were disagreements in the White House
Bob Woodward has a new book about the Obama administration, and it seems that the “big reveal” of it is that there have been some big disagreements among the top-level staffers and military leaders. This barely deserves comment, but it appears to be the “story of the day,” so I’ll let Andrew take take this one: I have only read the excerpts, but I have to say that the notion that there was serious debate, some rancor, plenty of disagreements, occasional bursts of temper (have you ever met Holbrooke, arguably the most arrogant asshole in DC?), an...
Continue reading...Morning Constitutional – Wednesday, 22 September 2010
Good morning, folks. Wyclef Jean has given up trying to become the president of Haiti so he can promote his new album. Now, your morning constitutional: A defense authorization bill failed in the Senate yesterday that contained a repeal of the \”don\’t ask, don\’t tell\” policy, the DREAM Act, as well as a pay raise for military personnel. Lawrence Summers, President Obama\’s top economic adviser, is set to leave the administration by the end of the year. Should be noted that this was planned, and that Harvard has a two-year rule of absence after which tenure ends....
Continue reading...Fed keeps on keepin' on
The Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee met today, and it seems they’re keepin’ on keepin’ on. At least according to their release: The Committee will maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent and continues to anticipate that economic conditions, including low rates of resource utilization, subdued inflation trends, and stable inflation expectations, are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate for an extended period. The Committee also will maintain its existing policy of reinvesting principal payments from its securities holdings. Now, this is despite recognizing that...
Continue reading...Social conservatives and irrelevant solutions
Well, David Boaz at Cato and I may share very few opinions, but I always appreciate a good smack-down: Social conservatives talk about real problems but offer irrelevant solutions. They act like the man who searched for his keys under the streetlight because the light was better there. Social conservatives tend to talk about issues like abortion and gay rights, stem-cell research and the role of religion “in the public square”: “Those who would have us ignore the battle being fought over life, marriage and religious liberty have forgotten the lessons of history,”said Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.)...
Continue reading..."I believe the Lord would have you be real."
So, we’ve been paying a lot of attention lately to Christine O’Donnell and Sharron Angle, the Neo-Palinists (a cursory Google search leads me to hope that I coined that term), but Michael Gross at Vanity Fair brings us something pretty spectacular from the Original Gangster herself that is pretty incredible. It comes in the form of an e-mail sent by pastor and right-wing political activist (pre-tea party) Lou Engle (no relation to Friedrich Engels) to Sarah right before her vice presidential debate with then-Sen. Joe Biden:* The e-mail was written by Lou Engle, a right-wing pastor and...
Continue reading...Morning Constitutional – Tuesday, 21 September 2010
Good morning, folks. Planet Michael, a virtual world devoted to Michael Jackson\’s life, is being developed. Now, your morning constitutional: The Senate will take up a Defense Authorization Act today that includes a repeal of the \”don\’t ask, don\’t tell\” policy forbidding gays and lesbians from serving in the military. Letting all the Bush tax cuts expire could come close to balancing the budget. House Republicans plan to unveil a campaign blueprint later this week, which they hope will show that Republicans have an agenda to govern beyond merely stopping the White House. Adults under 30 are...
Continue reading...She turned me into a newt
Good grief. So, Republican nominee for Senate Christine O’Donnell claimed back in (maybe) 1999 on Bill Maher\’s infamous Politically Incorrect to have dabbled in witchcraft (but never joined a coven), and had one her first dates on a Satanic altar (after seeing a movie, of course). May be a cliché, but this is seriously some shit that you really just can’t make up.
Continue reading...Irish Taoiseach Brian Cowen probably hammered right now
Breaking News: The Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of the Republic of Ireland gets drunk. Quite a bit. In fact, he’s probably rat-arsed right now. According, at least, to an alarming exposé by none other than that bastion of journalistic excellence, the Daily Mail: But a review of Mr Cowen’s public behaviour and his own admissions, coupled with extensive interviews of people who have witnessed the Taoiseach’s excessive consumption, reveals a habit of drinking that has been well known in Leinster House for more than a decade. This is a man who has designated Wednesday nights as ‘drinking nights’...
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