Yesterday, when I was responding to Ross Douthat, I wrote that “there is a distinct difference between what is socially acceptable and what is right, and we often fail to distinguish one from the other.” The use of extreme isolation strikes me as one of those things. As Glenn Greenwald points out in his original […]
Adam Serwer
Adam Serwer is a writing fellow at The American Prospect and a graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He also blogs at Jack and Jill Politics and has written for The Village Voice, The Washington Post, The Root, and the Daily News. Follow @adamserwer
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Scalia’s Escape Hatch, Ctd.
Libertarian lawyer Randy Barnett, the attorney who represented the plaintiff in Gonzales v. Raich, on Judge Henry E. Hudson‘s distinction between “activity” and “inactivity” in his ruling striking down the individual mandate. Does anyone want to bet serious money on whether Justice Scalia, the father of this newly minted Necessary & Proper Clause doctrine, won’t […]
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Charging Assange.
Charlie Savage reports that the Department of Justice is planning on charging Julian Assange with conspiracy, which is about the least terrible path for the government to take having made the bad decision to prosecute him in connection with his publication of said material at all. Justice Department officials are trying to find out whether […]
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Holbrooke, Ctd.
Matthew Yglesias gets what I was trying to say when I wrote of Richard Holbrooke, “After years of watching the Beltway develop a belief in the infallibility of America’s warrior scholars, it’s refreshing to see political elites celebrate someone whose job it was to prevent and end wars rather than simply win them.” More disturbing […]
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Gen. Amos Is Wrong On The Internet.
I explain why Marine Commandant Gen. James Amos‘s concerns about gays and lesbians serving openly becoming a “distraction” that would lead to battlefield casualties is unfounded over at Greg‘s place: There are gay Marines serving under Gen. Amos as we speak — they’re simply not doing so openly. Those Marines aren’t going to lose control […]
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The Republican Argument On Earmarks.
1. Earmarks are a waste of taxpayer money. 2. Therefore, we are opposing this spending bill full of earmarks we requested.
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The Republican Argument Against Extending The Lame Duck.
1. Even though there’s a separation between church and state, it’s sacrilegious for senators to work around Christmas like every other normal human being in the country. 2. Therefore, it’s important to use delaying tactics to make sure the lame-duck session lasts as long as possible.
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Bradley Manning, Enemy Combatant.
Glenn Greenwald does some reporting about the conditions that Army Private Bradley Manning, who is suspected of leaking files to WikiLeaks, is being held under at the brig in Quantico, Virginia, for the last five months: From the beginning of his detention, Manning has been held in intensive solitary confinement. For 23 out of 24 […]
Posted inEducation in America
Closing The Graduation Gap.
Because de jure racism is largely a thing of the past, the ways in which race and racism impact opportunity are a bit harder to quantify. That’s partly because it’s actually much easier to simply abdicate empirical study by asserting that lingering racial disparities are entirely the result of intractable cultural pathology that can’t be […]
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Fox News’ Minority Outreach Fail.
Jorge Rivas at Colorlines shows us that Fox News, the communications arm of the Republican Party, is as good at minority outreach as the side that runs candidates for office: Rivas notes that Fox News Latino is meant to be aimed at a Latino audience. I’m trying to imagine what a Fox News site ostensibly […]