View image | gettyimages.com One of the competitors at next week’s Westminster Kennel Club show meets the paparrazi. His (her?) name is Ugo, which is a pretty cool name, even if that’s just ridiculous hair for any animal to have. But here’s a tip: If you’re a dog person and you haven’t been to a […]
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Posted inAmerica and the World
The War Authorization Farce
View image | gettyimages.com Every parent has had this experience: You catch your kids doing something problematic. They say, “Is it OK if I do this?” You reply, “How can you ask me permission? You’re already doing it.” They respond, “Yeah, but is it OK?” That’s kind of what Barack Obama did yesterday, by sending […]
Posted inPaul Waldman
Photo of the Day, Robot Pod Edition
View image | gettyimages.com The British government announced today that it will be allowing driverless vehicles in some limited pedestrian areas. The cute little number above is the Lutz, which will take British pensioners on a wondrous journey to the Soylent Green factory for their final processing.
Posted inBooks, Arts and Culture
On Swashbuckling, Tall Tale-Telling News Anchors
My column in The Week today is (probably) the last thing I’ll have to say about Brian Williams, in which I ask whether the whole problem stemmed from his apparent need to get out in the field where the action was, which really isn’t something we need from a network news anchor: But even when […]
Posted inBooks, Arts and Culture
Charts of the Day, Decline of Network News Edition
Now that Brian Williams has been suspended by NBC for six months-and I’d be really surprised if he gets his job back at the end of that-my younger readers might be wondering why this is a big deal. After all, isn’t he just some guy who reads the news to your grandparents in between ads […]
Posted inPaul Waldman
Photo of the Day, Snowbound Edition
View image | gettyimages.com A woman digs out her car in Cambridge, MA. It should be obvious by now that Höðr, the Norse god of winter, is angry with the Northeast and will not release its puny denizens from his grip until they give unto him a glorious offering, preferably some kind of companion hewn […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
On Obama’s ‘Evolution’ on Same-Sex Marriage
View image | gettyimages.com In Obama adviser David Axelrod’s new book, he reveals that in 2008 the future president did indeed believe in marriage equality, but he was persuaded by Axelrod and others that it would be too risky to say publicly. So he took the standard Democratic position at the time, in favor of […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Is Polarization Barack Obama’s Fault?
View image | gettyimages.com Yesterday, Vox published its interview with President Obama, in which Ezra Klein asked him about partisan polarization and whether any president can bridge the divide between the parties. While few deny the existence of polarization, Republicans often assert that it is Obama’s fault: the politician who came into office pledging to […]
Posted inBooks, Arts and Culture
Photo of the Day, Cosplay Edition
View image | gettyimages.com From the Carnival in Venice. Interestingly enough, this is exactly the outfit I wore to my junior prom. As we slow-danced to the strains of Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight,” my date wondered whether it would be necessary to move to another state, or if a different town would be sufficient.
Posted inLaw and Justice
George Wallace’s Ghost
View image | gettyimages.com My post at the Plum Line today is about a brewing states’-rights battle in Alabama, where the chief justice of the state Supreme Court, Roy Moore, has ordered probate court judges in the state not to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in defiance of a federal court’s order, because Moore […]
