On the more substantive issue below, I’m very impressed that Barack Obama stood up at an AIPAC conference and made a point of talking about Palestinian suffering. The reaction, of course, was predictable. “It’s just clumsy of him to say that on the eve of the Aipac conference,” said one attendee. “His inexperience is showing.” […]
Ezra Klein
Ezra Klein is a former Prospect writer and current editor-in-chief at Vox. His work has appeared in the LA Times, The Guardian, The Washington Monthly, The New Republic, Slate, and The Columbia Journalism Review. He’s been a commentator on MSNBC, CNN, NPR, and more.
Posted inArticle
Conversations About The Conversation
Sort of related to The American Conservative article linked below, this Joe Klein post offers an interesting example of how blogs open up the discussion on topics like, but not limited to, Israel. Given the limitations of a print magazine, where you only have X number of pages a year and need to choose them […]
Posted inArticle
Wrong, Wrong, Wrong
Matt’s wrong. This article is largely about me and how awesome I am, and also about you guys and how awesome you are.
Posted inArticle
Midnight Basketball
I’ll add to Chris and say that substantively, midnight basketball always struck me as a very good idea. Not only would it keep scary black kids off the street, which white people like, but it would also make for better basketball players, which white people also like. And hell, it was even one of George […]
Posted inArticle
NATIONAL INTERESTS. …
NATIONAL INTERESTS. In the DLC’s latest New Dem Dispatch on Iran, they lay out some guiding principles for America’s relationship with Iran. One of them calls for: Effective diplomacy backed by the credible threat of force, which the United States must supply as a substitute for what will otherwise be a perpetually on-the-brink-of-war conflict between […]
Posted inArticle
300 Lies
Oh boy. Here’s what 300 didn’t tell you: We know little of King Leonidas, so creating a fictitious backstory for him is understandable. Spartan children were, indeed, taken from their mothers and given a martial education called the agoge. They were indeed toughened by beatings and dispatched into the countryside, forced to walk shoeless in […]
Posted inArticle
CARBON NEUTRAL CAMPAIGNING….
CARBON NEUTRAL CAMPAIGNING. This is sort of cool; I just got a press release from the John Edwards campaign declaring that they were going to make their campaign carbon neutral through conservation and purchasing carbon offsets. I’d expect to see the other campaigns follow suit, too. Currently, it’s understood that all merchandise from a Democratic […]
Posted inArticle
Pre-Gonzo Study Guide
So Alberto Gonzales will give a presser in a few minutes to answer allegations about improperly firing prosecutors as a form of political payback. Classy! For those who haven’t been following the case closely, Echidne has a good guide to the shifting, disintegrating rationales that have brought us to this point. Thw whole thing just […]
Posted inArticle
Unity Again
I’m basically out of things to say on the topic of neoliberalism, but Paul Glastris’s post on the subject is probably the pick of the litter. Unlike the other participants, Paul actually is/was a neoliberal, and while he’s moved left in recent years, it’s unclear if that drift is an enduring reevaluation or a temporary […]
Posted inArticle
THE NEW RULES….
THE NEW RULES. All props to Addie, who really did call the Miers thing. There needs to be some sort of rule for the Bush administration’s tendency to eventually, inevitably justify the most intensely cynical interpretation of their actions. If Tappers want to propose names and formulations for the rule in the comments section, I’ll […]