In every election campaign, candidates assure voters that despite their fancy suits and smooth talk, they come from the humblest of origins. We were poor, they say. No running water! My mother made our clothes from old rice sacks! Dinner was one slice of bread to share between my siblings and me! And if that […]
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Posted inEnergy and the Environment
Photo of the Day, Mindless Tech Slavery Edition
View image | gettyimages.com Attention, my subjects. Behold this watch. You will buy it. Is it because you want it? Silly question-I have presented it unto you, and therefore you want it as much as you have ever wanted anything, even if it doesn’t actually do much that the device in your pocket doesn’t already […]
Posted inCivil Rights in America
Obama in Selma, and the Definition of America
View image | gettyimages.com I wanted to say a bit about President Obama’s speech on Saturday in Selma, which I think will (and should) stand as a key document in one of the central arguments of the Obama years. That argument is this: What is America? It’s an argument as old as the nation itself, […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
An Open Letter to Hillary Clinton
Dear Secretary Clinton: Watching the story of your State Department emails emerge last week, liberals were possessed by an old familiar feeling. It’s the one that makes them say two things at once: “This seems ridiculously overblown,” and “What the hell is wrong with her?” It was like reliving a trauma, one they got through […]
Posted inBooks, Arts and Culture
Photo of the Day, Crushing the Wonder of Childhood Edition
View image | gettyimages.com This innocent tot is inspecting a “fairy door” in Somerset woods in England. Here’s the caption from Getty: Over the past few years more than 100 fairy doors have appeared delighting local children and adults alike who come to see homes of the fairies and leave gifts and messages. However, the […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
The End of the Siege of Obama
White House photo by Pete Souza This is an auspicious week, because it saw the first real controversy of Hillary Clinton’s campaign (there were a couple of “She said what?!?” mini-stories, but those don’t count). And why is that so important? I explain in my Plum Line post today: Mark the first week of March […]
Posted inLaw and Justice
What Do the GOP Candidates Think of State ‘Conscience Clause’ Legislation?
Flickr/Gexydaf There’s an interesting/horrifying piece in today’s New York Times about a trend across the country, but mostly in the South, to enact “conscience” legislation at the state level that would allow businesses to discriminate against gay people if they can justify it on the basis of their religion. One interesting facet of this issue […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Every Clinton Scandal Is Exactly the Same
View image | gettyimages.com We don’t yet know whether there will actually turn out to be something nefarious in the emails that Hillary Clinton somewhat belatedly passed on to the State Department, but I feel confident in predicting that this Clinton scandal will likely play out just like every other Clinton scandal. For those of […]
Posted inBooks, Arts and Culture
The Conservative Information Bubble Lives On, Stoked By Juiced Fox News Polls
View image | gettyimages.com After the debacle of 2012, in which conservatives at all levels were gobsmacked that Barack Obama beat Mitt Romney, some of them began to question the information bubble in which they had ensconced themselves. It’s reassuring to think that everything is always going your way, but does it really serve you […]
Posted inBooks, Arts and Culture
Photo of the Day, Traditional Marriage Edition
View image | gettyimages.com 3,500 couples marry in a Unification Church ceremony in South Korea, just as God always intended. No Adam and Steves here, you can bet on that.
