The redesigned and intellectually-rejuvenated New Republic looks terrific. This issue has an excellent article on William Buckley, subtitled “How William F. Buckley turned against the war–and his own movement”.
The paragraph that will get the most attention is this one, in which Buckley brings up the i-word with regards to our Worst President Ever:
Buckley recognizes, as [...]
Last week I said that I didn’t know what to think about getting rid of the Chief. But now that it’s happened, I know exactly what I think. It may be time for him to go, and it may be the right decision, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. I can’t watch [...]
I’ve been meaning to respond to this post at Doc’s Home, which sets up a thought experiment about torture, morality, and justified immorality, based on my earlier screed about 24:
Is it more moral to stand on the high ground knowing that it may allow the bombs to go off, or is it more moral to [...]
Madison’s favorite non-partisan law professor disdains the political attribute of inspiration:
I just want to vote for the most competent person and let him do his job well.
Any non-fantastical component of said competence is left as an exercise for the reader.
Our president only knows how to give one speech, which he modifies slightly to fit any occasion:
President Bush honored the 275th birthday of the nation’s first president on Monday, likening George Washington’s long struggle that gave birth to a nation to the war on global terrorism.
Can you guess what the similarity is? Can you? The [...]
I had assumed that today was Presidents Day, and I was going to write a post complaining about the name, and its inferiority to the more specific holiday honoring George Washington. But I discovered that the official name of the holiday is still Washington’s Birthday.
So thank goodness for that. Presidents Day is an awful name [...]
It looks like my alma mater is going to retire Chief Illiniwek today. It’s been a few weeks in the making, after the Executive Committee of the Oglala Sioux tribe last month asked that the university return the chief’s regalia.
I don’t know what I think about this. I never thought Chief Illiniwek was even remotely [...]
Jonah Goldberg makes a point about positive portrayals of torture in our culture:
I agree with Klein that the cavalier use of torture on 24 is getting to be a bit disturbing. But I think Peter’s right that this isn’t nearly as new a trend as Ezra Klein is making it out to be. [ed - [...]
Led Zeppelin’s Ramble On is clearly a better song than Truckin’ by the Grateful Dead. No disrepect to the Dead — sometimes, you just gotta mellow slow — but Ramble On creates atmosphere, in addition to being a great song.
Leaves are falling all around, It’s time I was on my way. / Thanks to [...]
Jon Chait over at the Plank argues that the Edwards “controversy” (*) will make it harder for bloggers to get hired by political campaigns:
But will this open doors to bloggers being hired by campaigns? My guess is, just the opposite. What this episode demonstrated is that, if you’re a candidate, hiring a blogger may [...]
Thanks to the miracle of DVR, I’m hooked. Prison Break is the best show on television right now — it’s better by far than the (also good) 24, which airs immediately afterwards. It’s over-the-top and completely ridiculous, but because the actors act as if it’s a believable world, (and because we’ve come to care about [...]
Scientists offered cash to dispute climate study:
Scientists and economists have been offered $10,000 each by a lobby group funded by one of the world’s largest oil companies to undermine a major climate change report due to be published today.
Letters sent by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), an ExxonMobil-funded thinktank with close links to the Bush [...]
Senator Obama gave an important speech on health care last week. He announced that “the time has come for universal health care in America”, and promised to accomplish this long-sought goal by the time he runs for re-election (or as he quaintly put it, “by the end of the next president’s first term”).
Plans that tinker [...]
That was Senator Webb, promising that the Democrats will lead where George Bush and the Republicans have failed, both when it comes to economic policy, and when it comes to Iraq. It was also the best line of the night. (The other star of the night was the New Yorker who jumped in front of [...]
Since MacWorld bingo was something of a bust this year, why not give State of the Union bingo a try.
“Madam Speaker!”
“stay the course”
“terrism”
an outright lie
a half-truth
“nukular”
“stand down as the Iraqis stand up”
“cut and run”
“I’m sorry for starting this war”
“I will resign the presidency, effective noon tomorrow”
the fallacy of the excluded middle
“confront evil”
FREE SPACE
“light of freedom”, [...]