Flickr/Gage Skidmore Well that sure was fast. At the beginning of this week, Mitt Romney 3.0 was the talk of the political world, and while it’s certainly unusual for a candidate to lose a general election and then come right back and run again, it didn’t seem absurd. I myself wrote a column titled “Why […]
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Posted inBooks, Arts and Culture
Photo of the Day, Sports Proletariat Edition
View image | gettyimages.com Michael Russell competing in the qualifying rounds of the Australian Open. Qualifying is a tournament-before-the-tournament, where players not highly ranked enough to get automatic berths compete for the last few spots in the main draw. Russell, a 36-year-old American starting his 18th year on the tour, is currently ranked 156th in […]
Posted inLaw and Justice
Are the French Free Expression Hypocrites?
Last week, I suggested that while the outpouring of support and unity in the wake of the horrific murders of staff members of Charlie Hebdo in France seems to be about free expression in the abstract and not about defending particular kinds of expression, we might be misleading ourselves a bit on that score. Many […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Awful Poll Question of the Day, Courtesy of Pew
As a general matter, the Pew Research Center probably produces the best publicly available polls-they’re methodologically sound, carefully executed, and often ask better questions than other organizations exploring the same topics. But I have a real problem with this one, which comes from a new report released today. When you ask, “Do you think Barack […]
Posted inAmerica and the World
Why the Paris Attacks Didn’t Happen Here
We’ve been hearing a lot from certain people that the terrorist attacks in Paris just show how weak Barack Obama is, and we’re probably going to get hit with this kind of attack here, because the terrorist are emboldened or something. In my post this morning at the Plum Line, I looked at some things […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
GOP Tees Up Another Humiliating Defeat On Immigration
Later on today, the House of Representatives is expected to pass a bill funding the Department of Homeland Security and also reversing President Obama’s executive actions temporarily exempting certain undocumented immigrants from deportation. We’ve been on this merry-go-round before, and here’s what’s so remarkable about this: Republicans still believe, even after all this time, that […]
Posted inEducation in America
Today’s Chart
Since President Obama is now proposing to make community college free for anyone who wants to go, I thought it would be a good time to look at the rather extraordinary change in Americans’ level of education that has occurred over the last 75 years. I made this chart using census data; note that the […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Mitt Romney and the Republican Challenge On the Economy
Like many liberal bloggers, I can barely contain my glee at the prospect of yet another Mitt Romney presidential campaign. I say that not because I look forward to mocking him (though I’m not going to deny that), but because I genuinely find him to be a fascinating character, and I know there will be […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Can Elizabeth Warren Lead the Left to Greater Influence?
View image | gettyimages.com Every president ends up having a few appointments he has to withdraw after controversy erupts. Sometimes it’s because the nominee wrote something shocking years before, or because she had a nanny she didn’t pay Social Security taxes on; sometimes it’s because he was a drunk. And sometimes it’s because the president’s […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
On Obama’s Absence From the Paris March
As you may know, in addition to my work here for the Prospect I write a piece every day for The Plum Line at the Washington Post. Today’s is about the criticism the Obama administration is getting for the fact that the highest-ranking American official present at the march yesterday in Paris was the American […]
