Blog: TAPPED

KARL ROVE’S IMMINENT FROG-MARCH? Atrios and Think Progress have both noted that the Plame grand jury met this morning, and a frisson of excitement has rippled through the liberal blogosphere at the prospect that Karl Rove might be indicted. In that regard, a few things are worth keeping in mind: 1) Rove had motive to […]

HOLY IMPATIENCE. Yesterday, we buried Reverend William Sloane Coffin, Jr. One year ago, I read his biography, Holy Impatience, and it gave me what I haven�t gotten from the left in my lifetime — in the words of Johnny Cash, �gravel in your gut and spit in your eye.� Rev. Coffin challenged those who misused […]

KLEIN V. KLEIN. You’ve really got to read Digby‘s excerpts from Hugh Hewitt‘s interview with Joe Klein. Klein desires — aches really — for Hewitt’s approval, and it leaves him a quivering mass of eager-to-please. The interview primarily consists of Klein parading all his points of agreement with George W. Bush and proudly bragging about […]

COMPARE AND CONTRAST. Joe Klein thinks the “left wing of the Democratic Party” doesn’t “respect the military sufficiently.” Meanwhile, in recent weeks a lot of generals have put forward the idea that America’s current military policies are serving the country poorly. Uber-hawk columnist Charles Krauthammer accuses them of laying the groundwork for a coup d’�tat […]

FEAR THIS DEFICIENCY WE HAVE CREATED. Like Matt, I haven’t finished John Halpin and Ruy Teixera‘s article. And like Matt, I’m going to comment anyway. And like Matt, I think progressives disagree on a bunch of stuff, and it’s tough to achieve clarity of message when you’re tangled in disagreement. Or at least it should […]

BUT DO WE KNOW? My first thought was that I shouldn’t comment on “The Politics of Definition” until it was, you know, fully published so that I could actually read the whole thing. But on second thought, this is a blog so who needs due diligence. I have concerns about the idea that the essay’s […]

TIMING IS EVERYTHING. Buried deep in some bureaucratic catacomb, some pencil pusher has a smile on his face today. Yesterday, the FDA rejected claims of marijuana’s medicinal usefulness, courageously contradicting a major study by the Institute of Medicine, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, the highest scientific body in the nation. You show […]

WHEN CROOKS GO DOWN. This hasn’t gotten much attention, but Silvio Berlusconi is refusing to admit defeat in the Italian election. In this, he has the support of seemingly none of the relevant legal institutions in Italy. What’s more, all of the democratic world’s left-of-center governments have already congratulated Romani Prodi on his victory. Then […]

MORE COMMON GOOD! Over at TAP Online, we�ve posted the first portion of a major study by John Halpin and Ruy Teixeira of the Center for American Progress Action Fund (and other affiliations, in Ruy�s case) called �The Politics of Definition.� The authors have written this paper as a sort of 2006 version of the […]

WAR IS PEACE! Whoah . . . there’s some crazy stuff lurking behind that TimesSelect subscription wall, notably Paul Kane‘s notion that “President Bush and Congress should reinstitute selective service under a lottery without any deferments.” Why? Well, because if we do, “Iran’s leaders and public will see that the United States is serious about […]