Blake Hounshell

THE OTHER WAR. There’s been lots of coverage about John Abizaid’s recent statements to Congress; not so much about the comments of Lt. Gen. Michael D. Maples, Director of the DIA: In Afghanistan the Taliban-led insurgency, aided by al-Qaida, is incapable of directly threatening the central government and expanding its resilient support networks and areas […]

MILTON FRIEDMAN, RIP. The Nobel Prize-winning economist and ardent advocate of unfettered markets died today at the ripe old age at 94. I can’t say that I agreed with his cold economic philosophy (expressed most succintly in Capitalism and Freedom), but I respected his intellect and influence. –Blake Hounshell

MORE MURTHA. Clearly my voice doesn’t matter one iota to the final outcome, but I would like to reiterate my concerns about Jack Murtha’s bid to be Majority Leader. There is a lot of netroots support for Murtha based on his call to end the Iraq War sooner, and the optics of having a Vietnam […]

NO TO MURTHA. Let me add to Matt Yglesias’ doubts about the wisdom of choosing Jack Murtha as House Majority Leader. Forget about left/right: just like Pelosi, the guy is representing his district, where he is wildly popular. He’s got two major problems, from my perspective. One: pork. The guy believes his job is to […]

BEYOND IRAQ. A nice piece by Matthew Stannard in the San Francisco Chronicle lets panda-hugger Thomas Barnett raise a point hitherto overlooked in excitement at Rumsfeld’s departure: his leaving heralds a positive change of direction on China policy. Says Barnett: “The fixation on China, which was strong with this administration when it came in and […]

GENTLEMEN, START YOUR GOOGLING. I’m actually fairly confident that Bush nominee Robert Gates will make it through a stiffened Senate gauntlet. Still, he doesn’t necessarily have clean hands, as the index from the Walsh report on Iran-Contra indicates: Gates, Robert M. — chapter on, 223-232; 8, 16, 19, 22, 23, 46, 73, 109, 115, 130, […]

THE COMING CONSTITUTIONAL SHOWDOWN. I didn’t manage to get in on yesterday’s orgy of electoral predictions, but I do agree with AEI’s most honest analyst, Norman Ornstein, as to what will happen when Democrats take the House: a showdown between the White House and Congress over executive privilege. Dick Cheney has already said he would […]

JAPAN! My favorite salmon-colored newspaper, the Financial Times, has a special report on Japan that focuses on ways that new premier Shinzo Abe is different from his more Gere-like predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi. Although Koizumi had more charisma and a fondness for playing dress-up, Abe appears to be much brighter when it comes to foreign policy: […]

WHO READS THE RIGHT? I must admit that, unlike many of my Tapped colleagues, I don’t generally read right-wing blogs anymore. I used to consider it important to engage with the opposition, but most have become too detached from reality. I especially do not read the dreaded Corner. My time and patience are limited. Am […]