Ezra Klein

Justin Logan writes: What I wonder, though, is what it would take for hawks to admit they were wrong. Say, for example, a dirty bomb is set off in Chicago. Say several hundred people die in the melee, there’s billions in economic damage, and intrusive new government powers are enacted. Say that we trace back […]

This is easily the best eulogy I’ve seen for Hunter S. Thompson.

Can we spell recipe-for-total-fucking-disaster? As impressed as I am by retired accountants forming militias to patrol the border, it’s not exactly the best idea. The first time they meet with a coyote expedition and start shooting at the fleeing smugglers will be the last time the gangsters who run the coyote operations forget to bring […]

Some friends and I went by SF MOMA this weekend, the idea being to soak up some culture and decompress from hectic weeks. But I’m not so good at turning off the political part of my brain, and so I found myself browsing the old newspapers strewn about Robert Goder’s superb installation. One of them […]

Can I just say how excited I am to read the critiques of this “wherefore art the female intellectuals” piece? It’s going to be great fun.

Over at The Washington Post, Dan Balz has a slightly alarmist article on the leftward drift that Dean’s chairmanship, and the party’s new reliance on grassroots donors, might provoke. Standard stuf, to be sure, but he makes an interesting strategic point midway through: As Dean takes the helm as party chairman, Democrats now face a […]

You owe it to yourself to read Riverbend’s wrenching post on what the constitutional codification of shari’a law means for Iraqi women: “And is Iran so bad?” He finally asked. Well no, Abu Ammar, I wanted to answer, it’s not bad for *you* – you’re a man… if anything your right to several temporary marriages, […]

Does anybody else think Ben Nelson sounds like he’s one close election away from switching parties? Would you ever consider becoming a Republican? Somebody said not long ago that people don’t always leave the party; the party leaves the people. So, recognizing that you never know what the future’s going to hold, what might happen, […]

Yes, that’s smart Republican strategy — enrage AARP: Taking its cues from the success of last year’s Swift boat veterans’ campaign in the presidential race, a conservative lobbying organization has hired some of the same consultants to orchestrate attacks on one of President Bush’s toughest opponents in the battle to overhaul Social Security. The lobbying […]

As Kevin noticed last week, there are two magazines packed into every issue of The Economist. There’s the smart, savvy magazine that doesn’t let its ideology get in the way of informing you, and then there’s the magazine that talks about George W. Bush. That magazine, in stark contrast to its world-weary housemate, views the […]