Blog: TAPPED

SINCERELY DISAPPOINTED. When the venerable, D.C.-based public radio talk show host Diane Rehm takes on an issue, I like to pay attention. Rehm asks pointed questions in a non-threatening way, evoking some of the most thoughtful conversations one is likely to hear on radio. But today, in taking on the issue of Don Imus‘s extraordinarily […]

A BETTER GALLON OF MILK. I think Ezra was right the other day — it�s silly to expect Rudy Giuliani to know the price of a gallon of milk. For one thing, he�s an empty-nester who might not even buy milk. For another, if he does, he or Judy undoubtedly buys it at a Korean […]

THE BLOGOSPHERE’S VERY OWN GENDER CONTROVERSY. Feministe is irate that Markos is so blas� about Kathy Sierra‘s accounts of online death threats. Not hard to see that one coming. UPDATE: Jessica Valenti also comes out with guns blazing: it’s one thing to argue–as Markos does–that a blogger code of conduct would be ineffective. Fine. But […]

WORKING FOR THE MAN. Naresh at Asia Burning has an interesting post about the Afghan government, pointing out that it seems to understand that its primary responsibility is to its foreign backers, rather than to the Afghan people. This is hardly surprising, given that the Karzai government is utterly dependent on international backing for its […]

GET THIS MAN A MAGAZINE! Yesterday Kevin Drum was handing out health care story assignments, today he’s asking us to stop using the word “smart” as a descriptor for articles. Sounds to me like someone’s in the market for an editorship… –Ezra Klein

MCCAIN AND THE MEDIA. Greg Sargent points us to the McCain camp’s latest get-your-game-face-on claim about the negative press coverage of his hilarious Baghdad stroll. Says The New York Times, “some recent critical reporting by newspapers and television networks of Mr. McCain�s trip to Baghdad last week has paradoxically been clearly welcomed in the McCain […]

REENACTMENT. Via Dana, it looks like the New York Times has discovered the wacky phenomenon of historical reenactors. But this time, they’re in Europe! “In Belgium, a country of 10 million, there are at least two dozen groups re-enacting the Middle Ages, rubbing stones together to make fire, eating their dinners out of caldrons, re-enacting […]

MMM… MINIMAL CREDIBLE DETERRENT. Via Defense News (subscription required), India just carried out the first successful test of an intermediate range ballistic missile capable of hitting Shanghai and Beijing. It’ll be some time, of course, before India really does achieve minimal credible deterrence against China, as it will need enough missiles (and enough nuclear weapons) […]

EDWARDS WHIFFS ON IMUS. Coming off of a strong round of pushing back against right-wing media by refusing to participate in either the Nevada Democratic Party or Congressional Black Caucus Institute presidential debates hosted by Fox News, John Edwards stepped in it yesterday with his weak, cautious response to Don Imus‘s outrageous remarks. Where Hillary […]

GETTING INTO THE GREEN ZONE. The bombing inside the Iraqi parliament building is worrisome news indeed. As Spencer says, No confirmation yet, but the initial reports from AP suggest it was a suicide bomber. If so — and even if the bomb was planted and detonated remotely — that means someone in a uniform had […]