Blog: TAPPED

BILLIONS SQUANDERED IN IRAQ AREN’T JUST AN ABSTRACTION. A commenter to this post below takes issue with the argument that Dems should oppose Iran by pointing out that Bush‘s wars could cost more than Vietnam. M.J. writes: “arguing that we shouldn’t take military action in Iran because it’s too expensive” won’t “resonate with the American […]

OUT OF THE RED, AND INTO THE BLUE. In the current issue of Rolling Stone, Neil Strauss writes that Bruce Springsteen gets a �Neil Young pass� for Springsteen�s quirky homage to classic folk, We Shall Overcome: The Pete Seeger Session. Now, I consider myself a huge Neil Young fan. To me, albums do not get […]

RIGHTS-BASED LIBERALISM RUN AMOK. Some serious and trenchant criticisms of Mike‘s “common good” essay are starting to stream in, and are worth a look. Somewhat less seriously, but in the spirit of pushing back against the Bossman’s critique of identity politics and group-rights liberalism — and maybe even of pushing the envelope of rights-based liberalism […]

THIRD PARTY WOES. As Dave Weigel smartly notes, the Rasmussen poll showing a xenophobic, border-enforcing third party would nearly win the 2006 elections should only be served with a heapin’ helping of salt. “Americans,” Dave writes, “have had the chance to vote for a candidate for wanted to build a border wall and make immigration […]

BUSH’S WARS: MORE EXPENSIVE THAN VIETNAM. Now here’s a way Dems can argue against a possible war with Iran. Not long ago, during this site’s informal debate about how Dems should handle the Iran question, Ezra rightly suggested that Dems level with Americans about the cost — human and monetary — of Iraq and potentially […]

FAKES, FRAUDS, AND SO FORTH. This is brilliant. Dennis Hastert and a couple other Republican politicians held a press conference at a local gas station to protest, or pander, or otherwise mention the rise in gas prices. As part of the optics, they drove away in hydrogen powered cars — conservation is king! A few […]

BIG TROUBLE IN PUERTO RICO. Has anyone noticed that Puerto Rico is going out of business? I haven�t been following this very closely, but apparently the Puerto Rican government has been unable to agree on a budget since 2004, so they�ve been using the 2004 budget while the debt keeps increasing. On Monday, the commonwealth […]

BROTHER, CAN YOU SPARE $4 BILLION? This article on revised Congressional Research Service estimates of spending on the Iraq War is pretty dull until the end, but then it starts to get interesting. The report apparently contains such phrases as “These factors, however, are not enough to explain a 50-percent increase of over $20 billion […]

WHOSE ECONOMY? There are reports out this morning of some high-powered economic numbers this quarter, including a 4.8% rise in the GDP. It’s just so awesome! I’m always a bit impressed — or maybe depressed — by the superficiality of economic reporting though. To hear the Washington Post tell it, the economic numbers this quarter […]

“AUTHENTICITY” ACT PROVIDES COVER FOR PANDERING TO THE RIGHT. Kevin Drum aptly observes that the press corps shouldn’t allow itself to be snookered by George Allen‘s authenticity schtick the way it got snowed by John McCain‘s rendition of the same act back in 2000. Let me add another point about this. The key to this […]