Blog: TAPPED

TAP IN THE TIMES. Be sure to check out this charming front page profile today in The New York Times of Supreme Leader Mike Tomasky and the accompanying article about the debate heralded by his May cover story. –The Editors

TIPS FOR SURVIVING A BLOG WAR. I don’t have any particular interest in getting further into the substance of the dispute between Jon Chait and innumerable bloggers, since I had what I have to say about Joe Lieberman and Ned Lamont yesterday, but there have now been enough of these blog wars between various MSM […]

JON CHAIT’S GENERALIZATIONS ARE BENEATH HIM. I have a good deal of respect for Jon Chait, and I hope this time he’ll show me — not to mention his readers — some in return by actually engaging my argument, instead of deliberately oversimplifying it to make it easier to knock down. In response to my […]

THE NEW NEW LEFT? After reading two rather similar complaints from Richard Cohen and Jon Chait about, in essence, people on the internet being mean to them, it occurs to me that it might be worth pointing out that blogosphere luminaries like Duncan Black and Markos Moulitsas don’t actually resemble their online personae Atrios and […]

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 […]

THE REAL LIBERAL LITMUS TEST. Kevin Drum argues that the left blogosphere isn’t actually all that liberal, but rather is politically pragmatic except when it comes to the questions of “the war in Iraq and the almost criminal negligence and incompetence of the Bush administration.” Today’s USA Today/Gallup poll results add some interesting numerical evidence […]

HEH. I’m not much in the habit of regurgitating DCCC press releases, but this quote from Rahm Emanuel is too funny not to pass on: Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Congressman Rahm Emanuel, today released the following statement on President Bush�s �best moment in office�: �Five years after President Bush said he would find Osama […]

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 […]

TRAINING THE IRISH. Following up on Ezra‘s post about the way successive waves of immigrants have been viewed throughout American history, I’d like to toss out this passage from Sarah Josepha Hale‘s 1841 The Good Housekeeper, an early American cookbook I hope to put to good use one day, if only to sample why it […]

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 […]