Sam Rosenfeld

THE COLBERT QUESTION: MADAM LEADER SPEAKS. TNR is to be commended for reviving the epic Stephen Colbert funniness debate for another week. But as James Wood puts it, “[i]t is time — it is always time — for some literary criticism.” Wood’s take is insufficiently pro-Colbert by my standards but insightful nonetheless. (See this post […]

AUTHENTICITY IS STUPID. It’s worth adding a more general point to Greg‘s post on today’s awesome David Broder–Joe Klein twofer: Authenticity is a pointless thing to care about in politics. Obsessing over the personal motivations and supposed core beings of individual political actors is, in fact, close to the opposite of what politics is actually […]

TODAY IN CORRUPTION. The New York Times‘ big piece on the FBI’s myriad public corruption investigations makes the interesting observation that 9-11 actually helped to shift the bureau’s focus more toward public integrity, as it was an area for which the FBI had almost exclusive authority and provided the agency an opportunity to maximize impact […]

THE ULTIMATE. I was relieved to see that, amidst the current rehashing of Richard Cohen‘s greatest hits, Digby had the presence of mind to mention what is, without a doubt, the most insanely Cohen-esque Cohen column of them all. I mean, I don’t think its preeminence is seriously disputable. It inspires in me something genuinely […]

HAYDEN AGONISTES. On the question of how a more John Negroponte-influenced CIA under Michael Hayden influences the struggle over intelligence resources between that agency and the Defense Department, reports still differ fairly dramatically. (It’s somewhat remarkable how uncertain the press’s accounting still is for basic issues surrounding Porter Goss‘s departure and the likely future direction […]

GOSS LINKS. Spencer Ackerman offers some useful thoughts on Porter Goss‘ resignation, drawing parallels between his experience and that of his predecessor, George Tenet, in attempting simultaneously to lead a fiercely turf-conscious bureaucracy while also carrying out Bush administration prerogatives inimical to that bureaucracy. Meanwhile, via Matt, National Review helpfully articulates the maximally pro-politicization line […]

THE W. CENTER FOR POLICY EXPERTISE. Elisabeth Bumiller reports that George W. Bush wants to start a think tank along with his presidential library after he leaves office. I’ll let commenters supply the appropriate jokes here as I finish my coffee. –Sam Rosenfeld

THE POLITICAL IS POLITICAL. This Time column by Caitlin Flanagan is, indeed, all kinds of bad. Amidst all the usual tropes common to the unfortunate “the party left me, I didn’t leave the party” op-ed subgenre, there’s a particular claim by Flanagan in here that’s really comically disingenuous. Flanagan says her new collection of essays, […]

ROZEN HEARS THINGS. Folks will want to be checking out Laura Rozen‘s blog right about now for the latest on Porter Goss. She’s hearing things. –Sam Rosenfeld

WHERE’S THE BEEF? There is a lot of good material in The New Republic‘s Darfur package and I don’t want to sound churlish. But one of Mark‘s points deserves some emphasizing. In eight articles dedicated to the subject and collectively dedicated to building the case for armed American action in Darfur, not one of them […]