All decent people should read Paul Waldman's blistering takedown of Tim Russert in today's Prospect. It's too good, and too important, to miss. For my part, whenever I see Russert on the teevee, I always feel like I'm watching archival footage from the 70s. The guy just looks anachronistic. And his questions are terrible. These lightning rounds, the "yes or no" demands Russert/Matthews/etc pull -- an honest answer and a monosyllabic answer are related things, but they are not, crucially, the same thing. An honest opinion may be complicated, and even layered. Issues aren't binary. And if Clinton believes that Spitzer's decision to give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants is a necessary, if regrettable, stopgap that should only exist in the absence of comprehensive reform, and that highlights the need for comprehensive reform, saying that, rather than saying "yes," is a much more illuminating answer.
