Politics
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The Torture Culture
The American people are not its government, but if the American people don’t at some point make the strongest statement to repudiate the policies of these "Bathists" like Cheney who have shaped and implemented Bush administration torture policy, they become co-responsible. The precedents have to be undone, and the only way I can think to
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John Yoo vs. Matthew Diaz
What’s the matter with a country that rewards the former and punishes the latter. Diaz’s story takes your breath away, and makes you ask: What has become of us? Matthew Diaz served his country as a staff judge advocate at Guantánamo. He watched a shameless assault on America’s Constitution and commitment to the rule of
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Why Hillary Appeals to Blue Collar Whites
From an interesting article in today’s NYT Magazine about Obama’s prospects in Levittown, PA. An excerpt: On one of my days in Levittown, I visited with Janet Keyser, a childhood friend from the next street over who is now chairwoman of the local Democratic Party and the director of the water and sewer authority. “There’s
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The Road to 270
From the NBC blog "First Thoughts": Obama vs. McCainBase Obama: CA, CT, DE, DC, HI, IL, ME, MD, MA, NY, RI, VT, WA (168 electoral votes)Lean Obama: NJ, MN, OR, WI (42)Toss-up: CO, IA, MI, MO, NV, NM, NH, OH, PA, VA (112)Lean McCain: AR, FL, GA, LA, MS, MT, NC (81)Base McCain: AL, AK,
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Ending the Mindset
Fear makes us stupid, and its at the heart of Moby Dick Syndrome. When those in the stronger position are in the grip of MDS they fear an enemy who may not like them but has no desire or capability to destroy them. MDS sufferers, however, experience an ungrounded fear that compels them to think
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Moby Dick Syndrome
I don't like what the Clintons stand for. I couldn't bring myself to vote for Bill in his second term, but I did feel that he was unfairly treated by the Republicans and the press in the runup to his impeachment, which was bad political farce from beginning to end. That's when it first became
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Back to Unreality
McCain used to be a relatively sane conservative capable of discriminating between reality and unreality, but to the degree that he has sought the GOP nomination, to that degree has he lost his grip on reality. He’s living off a reputation based on what he was, not on what he has become. It’s hard to
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The Week in Politics
There’s not much to say because it’s rather like watching the tide come in. It’s slow, but inevitable. Or to put it another way, the Clintons are foundering. It’s just a question of time before they sink for good. Their flailing about has been unnecessary, and it makes them look desperate and quite frankly silly,
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Cultural Identity I
And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brothers? And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brothers! For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother. Mark 3:33ff You have heard that
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Class vs. Race
From Sarah Churchwell: Everywhere Obama is praised for "telling the truth about race" — but the success of his "race speech" is incessantly measured along class lines, because Obama actually charted a course through the crisscrossing lines of race and class, a complex social web that he described with great delicacy, but never named. What