Good morning, folks. Sarah has a reality show she wants to tell you about, Reese has a new beau, and Joan Jett has some advice for Lady Gaga. And we have a morning constitutional: President Obama signing the health care reform bill into law today, as Republicans vow to continue doing everything they can to kill it. Sen. Judd Gregg hopes to bring back some of that town hall anger. Tories in Britain struggle with appearances of elitism with election coming up. Princeton researchers find that high-fructose corn syrup causes rats to gain more weight, and show...
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Photoblogging the Revolution
It was a really nice day on Saturday here in D.C, so Estes and I decided to take a jaunt around town and enjoy the sun. Apparently, a number of Tea Party activists had the same idea, so we decided to take some pictures. Below is a photo-journal of sorts of our walk around the Capitol building, where the Tea Partiers had decided to scream about the government. Approaching the rally. Estes gets a little hesitant. I say, “We didn’t bring the ring to Mordor to not enter.” I appreciate this man’s work in defending our freedoms....
Continue reading...New York Times Columnist Line of the Day – 22 March 2010
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, Gail Collins, Nicholas Kristoff, &c. Well, I’ve decided to devote a daily feature to these folks, by daily pointing out one line that is either awesome, funny, insightful, intelligent, ridiculous, or utterly divorced from reality. I hope you enjoy. Today’s comes from Paul Krugman’s excellent column entitled “Fear Strikes Out,” in which he compares the opposition to health care reform to its advocates. Instead,...
Continue reading...Morning Constitutional – Monday, 22 March 2010
Good morning, everybody. Borat got married, Rosie wants to come back, and there’s going to be a new Shel Silverstein book. Now, on to your morning constitutional: “We proved that this government—a government of the people and by the people—still works for the people,” President Obama said last night, as the House of Representatives, in a 219-212 vote, passed the Senate health care reform bill. In a separate 220-211 vote, they additionally sent a package of changes to the Senate. The Times has some details on the contents of the bill. Reuters weighs in as well. The...
Continue reading...New York Times Columnist Line of the Day – 19 March 2010
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, Gail Collins, Nicholas Kristoff, &c. Well, I’ve decided to devote a daily feature to these folks, by daily pointing out one line that is either awesome, funny, insightful, intelligent, ridiculous, or utterly divorced from reality. I hope you enjoy. Despite Brooks sounding like a Communist version of Bernie Sanders today, today’s Line of the Day (TM) comes from Roger Cohen, who in today’s column...
Continue reading...Morning Constitutional – Friday, 19 March 2010
Happy Friday, everyone. John Stewart is Glenn Beck, upsets apparently abound and if you needed any more, here’s your morning constitutional: Who knew that a move from ‘This Week’ to ‘Good Morning America’ was a promotion? Rep. Steve Cohen with a touching tribute to Alex Chilton. “Oh, I keep the beer in the other fridge.” Tony Judt on Obama, the EU and Transatlanticism. Finally, this is perfect for a beautiful day.
Continue reading...Here's to the state of Richard Nixon
President George W. Bush famously hoped that history would vindicate his—er—less popular decisions. Well, it seems that history is beginning to vindicate another president that fell in disgrace in his own era. His bigotry, racism, foul mouth and criminal actions notwithstanding, President Richard Milhouse Nixon, in hindsight, is starting to look downright palatable. The filibuster has been, as of late, a thorn in the side of the Senate’s ability to accomplish anything. “Consider the history,” Bruce Ackerman writes at The American Prospect: It now takes 60 Senators (three-fifths) to end a filibuster, but for most of the...
Continue reading...New York Times Columnist Line of the Day – 18 March 2010
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, Gail Collins, Nicholas Kristoff, &c. Well, I’ve decided to devote a daily feature to these folks, by daily pointing out one line that is either awesome, funny, insightful, intelligent, ridiculous, or utterly divorced from reality. I hope you enjoy. Today’s is from Gail Collins, who in today’s column entitled “Sex Scandals to Learn By,” referring to the recent GQ interview with Rielle Hunter, John...
Continue reading...Morning Constitutional – Thursday, 18 March 2010
Good morning, folks. Conan might be going to Fox, Tebow’s throwing some balls around, and Jennifer Love Hewitt isn’t that excited about being single. Basketball starts this afternoon, so let’s get on with our morning constitutional: Whoo: Jobs bill passes Senate with 11 Republican votes. Paul Volcker, a former chairman of the Federal Reserve, is mad tall, has an office in the White House but hardly ever uses it, loves fly-fishing and cheap cigars. And he might be the key to solving the world’s financial problems. The Awl with a great piece on life in post-Castro Cuba:...
Continue reading...Ownership of the means of production
It is both disheartening and convenient when you are struggling to write an essay, forcibly putting words together that do not work, trying ideas that make almost no sense, and working in a direction that isn’t clear, and finding an essay that says what you are trying to say more clearly and cogently than your efforts could lead you. I was trying to write such an essay recently, when today I came across the following essay by Ken Lowery Eugene Ahn at The Bureau Chiefs. It is a response to Rachael Maddux’s cover story for Paste, “Is...
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