Politics
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Quote of the Day: Tom Frank
…let us pause to contemplate what appears to be the epic dimwittedness on the other side of the battlefield–the years of folly that have allowed the Democrats to wander blithely into the same old snare again and again. The laissez-faire system has just finished giving us a convincing demonstration of its viciousness, but the party
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The Contemporary Crisis in Whiggery
Let's talk about Whigs. When I use the term, I'm concerned more about a mentality or a kind of values constellation than I am about the specific historical Whig Party in Britain and in America. My goal here is to trace the changing party affiliation of the Whig mentality in America to the present day.
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Mythological Thinking
In a debate for the hearts and minds of the American people, Ron Paul will defeat Peter Orszag every time. Michale Lind Lind has an interesting post today at Salon if you're interested in a very ATF explanation for the mindset of the Teapartyers. We are dealing with a mythological mentality, based on simple and
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Quote of the Day
While I agree with your assessment that the former vice president is engaged in a desperate strategy to cover up (and avoid the consequences of) his own official misconduct in authorizing torture, I also believe that he (and the GOP in general) are engaged in a crude political calculation–that since the odds favor another terrorist
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The Reasons for my Concern (repost)
[Ed. I'm re-posting this piece from October 2006, which went up a week after the passing of the Military Commissions Act. I think it's worth reading again as a way to provide some historical context concerning the prospect of losing the house and the senate in November, and why that should give us all a
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Followup Feistiness from Obama (Updates 1, 2)
Maybe the SOTU was in fact a turning point. Maybe he has in fact pivoted to fight off the hyenas: *** UPDATE: One of the most interesting things about Obama's comments was his calling out Republicans on their "the president won't work with us" trope. He made it clear that he knows, as they do,
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SOTU (Updated)
I liked the feisty tone, but let's see if there's walk behind the talk. Otherwise, who cares? *** UPDATE: Maddow and Olbermann are trying to make a big deal about how the Republicans are allowing themselves to be painted into a corner by their sitting on their hands when Obama struck anti-bank and pro-jobs themes.
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Spending Freeze (Updated)
A spending freeze? That’s the brilliant response of the Obama team to their first serious political setback? It’s appalling on every level…. …it’s a betrayal of everything Obama’s supporters thought they were working for. Just like that, Obama has embraced and validated the Republican world-view — and more specifically, he has embraced the policy ideas
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Quote(s) of the Day: Junot Diaz (Update: & Frank Rich)
I’ve been an Obama man all the way. I voted for him in 2008 and I’ll vote for him again in 2012, with far less enthusiasm. But it would help me out so much if he could give me some kind of story to hang onto. At this stage, a scrap would suffice. A President
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Greenwald’s Response to the “Citizen’s United” ruling
Greenwald is making the Libertarian defense of this ruling arguing that money is, in fact, speech, and he's being, IMO, absolutist about the First Amendment. No constitutional right is an absolute, and it's one thing to defend a principle; it's another to go rigidly fundamentalist about it. So again, no value, no matter how sacred,