RSS

Sam Boyd

Sam Boyd is a former assistant web editor at the Prospect. 

Recent Articles

ELIZABETH EDWARDS SLINGS SOME MUD.

Sam BoydJul 18, 2007

ELIZABETH EDWARDS SLINGS SOME MUD. In a recent Salon interview (via Marc Ambinder) Elizabeth Edwards unloads some really harsh and, to my mind, mostly unfair criticisms of Hillary Clinton and, to a lesser extent, Barack Obama:

I'LL TAKE THAT BET.

Sam BoydJul 16, 2007

I'LL TAKE THAT BET. Bill Kristol may or may not actually believe that Bush will be judged as a successful president, as Ezra points out, but in order to appear at least somewhat credible he has to at least pretend to believe it. The one sure way to find out if someone really believes something is whether they're willing to bet on it. I would, for instance, be very willing to bet any sum of money at any set of odds that the sun will come up tomorrow.

WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH RICK PERLSTEIN'S ESSAY?

Sam BoydJul 13, 2007

WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH RICK PERLSTEIN'S ESSAY? Rick Perlstein is one of my favorite journalists, and I read his excellent blog religiously. So I was excited when I found out that he had written an article for the New York Times Magazine about the university I currently attend. Unfortunately, I found the article itself deeply disappointing. Maybe the title, "What's the Matter With College," should have been my first clue.

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER SIGN OF GROWING INEQUALITY.

Sam BoydJul 11, 2007

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER SIGN OF GROWING INEQUALITY. The New York Times reports today that, contrary to what we've been told in recent months, the housing market is actually doing fine. Unfortunately, this is only the case if you happen to own a very expensive home:

WELL DEVELOPED SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND A BOTTLE OF RUM.

Sam BoydJul 10, 2007

WELL DEVELOPED SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND A BOTTLE OF RUM. Forget Scandinavia, the people we should take tips from on building a fairer society are... pirates! According to a recent New Yorker piece by James Surowiecki, high-seas marauders had a functioning constitutional system:

Pirate ships were governed by what amounted to simple constitutions that, in greater or lesser detail, laid out the rights and duties of crewmen, rules for the handling of disputes, and incentive and insurance payments to insure that crewmen would act bravely in battle.

Pages