Last July, President Obama took a fundraising trip to Texas and, to the feigned outrage of conservatives, did not go visit the border. Passing up the opportunity to stand next to a border patrol agent gesturing off into the distance, or to walk thoughtfully along a section of border fence, just showed how unserious Obama […]
Paul Waldman
Paul Waldman is a weekly columnist and senior writer for The American Prospect. He also writes for the Plum Line blog at The Washington Post and The Week and is the author of Being Right Is Not Enough: What Progressives Must Learn From Conservative Success.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Jeb Bush to Continue Family Tradition of Pretending to Be a Reg’lar Fella
View image | gettyimages.com Just a few ordinary guys, hangin’ out. It’s presidential campaign time, which means that I will have ample opportunity to fulminate against my many pet peeves of political rhetoric in the months to come. There are few higher on that list than the repeated claim politicians make that they aren’t really […]
Posted inBooks, Arts and Culture
Photo of the Day, Starstruck Washington Edition
View image | gettyimages.com The Capitol Hill media were absolutely captivated by this hearing about foreign aid to Africa, which surely had nothing to do with the presence of an extremely wealthy man and an extremely handsome man.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
What Happened to Chris Christie?
View image | gettyimages.com Remember when Republicans were over the moon for Chris Christie? There was a period when YouTube videos of him shouting down some uppity teacher or other constituent were gleefully forwarded from conservative to conservative; here was a guy who knew how to put liberals in their place! He was a tough-talking […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
How Rand Paul Is Losing His Distinctiveness
View image | gettyimages.com As the 2016 presidential race has swung into motion in the last couple of months, we’ve heard a lot about Jeb Bush, and Scott Walker, and even Ted Cruz. But there hasn’t been a lot of news about Rand Paul, whom many people considered the most interesting candidate in the race. […]
Posted inBooks, Arts and Culture
Photo of the Day, Everybody Needs a Hobby Edition
View image | gettyimages.com This is Volker Kraft of Saalfeld, German, with the apple tree he and his wife have decorated with 10,000 Easter eggs. It’s his thing, I guess. You may think this is silly, but what’s your thing? Forwarding stupid Vines to your stupid friends? If you bring as much pleasure into the […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Jeb Bush and the Two Types of Electability Arguments
View image | gettyimages.com Not that it matters much now, with all the fascinating campaigning still to come, but I still think that Jeb Bush is the most likely Republican nominee, for reasons I outlined here. Josh Kraushaar of the National Journal, however, says that one of the cornerstones of Jeb’s appeal to Republican primary […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Judging Candidates By Their Fake Musical Tastes
This is how you do it right. (White House photo by Pete Souza) The first rule an aspiring writer learns in any fiction workshop is, “Don’t tell me, show me.” You can’t create compelling characters just by saying, “Bob was mean” or “Alice was generous.” You have to show it, through the the things those […]
Posted inAmerica and the World
Photo of the Day, Dogs of War Edition
View image | gettyimages.com That’s Books, a bomb-sniffer dog, enjoying some snuggle time with his Marine buddy in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
They’re All Steve Forbes Now
View image | gettyimages.com In his speech announcing his presidential campaign yesterday, Ted Cruz repeated his advocacy for “a simple flat tax that allows every American to fill out his or her taxes on a postcard.” While a flat tax hasn’t gotten a lot of attention lately, in recent years it’s become something most Republicans […]
