Ezra Klein

Oops Steve Chapman, in today’s Chicago Tribune, writes that the Iraq war may have had the unintended consequence of convincing our foes that they MUST obtain WMD – that Saddam’s mistake was not possessing the weapons in order to defend himself against the invasion. Sounds plausible to me. Uh-oh Chapman’s solution (read: not mine) in […]

Matt Yglesias focuses on Crown Prince Abdullah’s scheme to be written up as “reform-minded” in the Western press while simultaneously ensuring that the same Western press will call for Abdullah to stay in power…the Crown Prince being able to institute such a plan by holding very limited elections practically guaranteeing the Islamists a victory. Read […]

Just out of curiosity, if you could institute or subtract one government policy or law, what would it be? If you can’t reduce it to one, list several. I want this to be as personal of a response as possible so, in order to avoid any powers of suggestion, I’m going to refrain from stating […]

Nothing more aptly applies to the phrase “beating a dead horse” than the legalizing marijuana debate. The common sense arguments for its legalization have been repeated ad nauseam for at least the last 40 years. But I read a Chicago Tribune article last Tuesday (I apologize for not having a link, but really the article […]

In part due to the reaction toward my Indecent Proposal post and in part do to the nature of my next post, I’d like to make a quick point regarding my interpretation of the nature of blogs. Blogs have three major beneficial effects: dissemination of information, a check on the media (as well as a […]

Since it is now official, I’d like to say congratulations to Howard Dean. I supported you for president and I’m glad to see you elected as Chairman. The guy can raise money, energize the base, and connect with television viewers (my grandma absolutely loved him, that is coming from a woman who faithfully votes Republican). […]

Amy Sullivan, of the Washington Monthly, calls attention to this Pro-Choice America letter citing Senator Harry Reid’s Prevention First Act – an act that would make it easier to get birth control and therefore cut down on unwanted pregnancies, unwanted pregnancies being something all people can agree are not good. Of course, the strictest pro-lifers […]

I have no earth-shattering comments on this ABA report stating that the legal representation of indigents is in a state of crisis, but I did want to take a moment to publically vent my frustration. The insurance companies cry, Republicans listen, and all of a sudden medical malpractice is placed on the high priority list […]

The Supreme Court, 1942: There are certain well defined and narrowly limitd classes of speech, [such as the obscene and the libelous, that] are no essential part of any exposition of ideas and are of such slight social value as a step to truth that any benefit that may be derived from them is clearly […]

It is 9 feet high, 21 feet long, 8.5 feet wide, 7 tons, can carry nearly 6 tons in load, and gets 8 miles per gallon…“It” is the new International CXT. In fact, the CXT has a gross vehicle weight rating of 25,999 (compared to the Hummer’s 10,300 lbs.) which is exactly, and purposely, one […]