Matthew Yglesias

WORLD CUP MORAL CLARITY. Zach Roth, echoing several commenters, defends the President’s weak statement on the American World Cup squad by arguing that Bush‘s assessment is essentially accurate. That’s besides the point. He’s the President of the United States and he’s supposed to support the team. Before any big sporting event, the relevant local politicians […]

BUSH LIED, FISH DIED? I’d heard questions raised as to whether it was really possible for the President’s finest hour to have been catching a 7.5 pound perch in light of the fact that American perch don’t get that big. According to the White House, however, this is a complete misunderstanding — he was being […]

THE HAYDEN CHOICE. Bush‘s choice to run the CIA, General Michael Hayden, is provoking some Republican opposition from members of both congressional Intelligence committees who don’t want to see a military officer put in charge of the agency. If there’s anything that can provoke GOP congresspeople to buck the administration, it’s probably squabbling over turf, […]

THE SUBSTANCE FACTOR. Prog blog king Markos Moulitsas had a Washington Post Style section article raising some doubts about Hillary Clinton‘s presidential aspirations over the weekend. Ed Kilgore‘s penned a response that I think is effective on some scores. I feel like Markos’ efforts at critique were somewhat hobbled by the way the activist blogger […]

IT’S ONLY CORRECT IF IT’S TRUE. Well, no, I wasn’t really kidding about not seeing why commercial sex adds wrongfulness to allegations of corruption. Stipulating that taking bribes is bad; I don’t see why taking bribes in the form of free hookers is worse than taking bribes in the form of money. Nor do I […]

HOOKERGATE’S FIRST VICTIM! I have absolutely no evidence to support this, other than the fact that it involves the CIA, but since everyone else is speculating that Porter Goss‘s resignation has something to do with the Wade/Wilkes/Cunningham/Foggo/limos/hookers nexus, why shouldn’t I join the party, too? But instead of all this unwarranted speculation, how about tossing […]

TRUNCATE OFTEN? Charles Krauthammer wants us to believe that if Iran builds a nuclear bomb, it will launch an unprovoked nuclear attack on Israel. As his evidence, he cites the fact that Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani once observed that “the use of a nuclear bomb in Israel will leave nothing on the ground, whereas it […]

BETTER COVERUPS NEEDED. Just a brief remark on the Patrick Kennedy situation: Since when did “I was wacked out on pills” become an acceptable cover story? Why is that better than just being drunk? –Matthew Yglesias

WHEN CHICKENHAWKS CLUCK. Annoyed by complaints of chickenhawkery, Warren Bell posts an email from Greg Pollowitz who complains: “I got called a chickenhawk the other day. I think one of the greatest missed opportunities since 9/11 is that the govt. didn’t create a way for 30+ year old guys who want to help, but really […]

THE CULTURAL CONTRADICTIONS OF CAPITALISM. This sure is weird. Even weirder, while it looks like a parody ad, as best I can tell it’s totally real. Where are the indecency police when you need them? Surely Big Razor isn’t the most powerful lobby in town. –Matthew Yglesias