Ezra Klein

So Republicans are complaining that Times piece on Chile’s privatize Social Security system was biased against privatization. They’re shrieking about robocalls telling constituents that so-and-so wants to privatize Social Security. They’re picking up, abandoning and then demonizing terms so quick that copy editors are left in the corner with a martini and tears. Does it […]

Jerome Corsi, coauthor of the SwiftVets book, is moving to Massachusetts to challenge Kerry in 2008. And I can’t imagine how sweet it will feel for Kerry when he electorally crushes this lying carpetbagger.

Evan Bayh voted against Rice? Seriously? He might as well have printed up “Bayh ’08!” stickers and plastered the Senate podium with them. You know who’s not running? Lieberman. His argument that Rice’s great virtue is “the world knows she has the President’s trust and confidence” is severely lacking in Joementu . What if we […]

I agree with Justin that Israel’s brinksmanship towards Iran has some US backing behind it. We’re a bit tied up at the moment, so they’re providing the promise of force that our people, and resources, won’t allow. But the Bush Administration is making the same mistake with Iran that they’ve made everywhere else. Bush himself, […]

The Washington Post has a great article on Democracy training in Iraq. While most commentary is focused on macro issues like ethnic tensions, tribal loyalties and the whims of the insurgency, it’s easy to forget about the basic glitches, like the fact that none of these candidates have ever run for office before. And it’s […]

The Times, unwilling to buy Bush’s idealization of Chile, has run a stake through the heart of that comparison. The article on the failings of Chile’s privatization system is excellent all around, but this is the money quote: “It is evident the system requires reform,” the minister of labor and social security, Ricardo Scolari, said […]

Via Kriston, I see Doubleday is taking fire for their decision to publish an al-Qa’eda Reader. The book would consist of translations of tracts penned by the organization’s leaders with all profits going to charity. Of course, the usual outcry is emerging, and it’s only a matter of time till O’Reilly pops a blood vessel […]

Michael nails this one nicely. Generally, the US government works off a speak no evil policy where, if they’re not talking about a problem, it doesn’t exist. It’s quite convenient, actually, appearing as less an oligarch’s callousness than a child’s sweet, blissful ignorance. The government couldn’t have done anything, they didn’t even know! Which brings […]

I love this post. It’s perfect.

Nicholas Thompson’s case for Chief Justice Scalia is persuasive, but a tad optimistic. While I agree that, given Scalia’s predictability, intelligence, and symbolic value to the right, we’d benefit from a trade that put him in Rehnquist’s place and filled his vacancy with a moderate, what in Bush’s history or character makes Nick think such […]