Month: January 2005
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AP takes a stand on Social Security and race
Good for the Associated Press — rather than writing another “he said”/”she said” article that fails to educate readers, national writer Matt Crenson has published a story that takes a clear stand on the facts. Contrary to President Bush’s claims, Crenson finds, Social Security experts believe that the program is not a bad deal for
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The Gonzales/RFK contradiction
Democrats who oppose Alberto Gonzales’ nomination to be Attorney General are frequently citing the talking point that he’s not independent enough, as in this McClatchy Newspapers story: “By refusing to voice his own values and understanding of the law, he has failed to demonstrate the independent leadership he will need as the nation’s chief law
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Fred Barnes on the dissent-silencing beat
Andrew Sullivan catches the Weekly Standard’s Fred Barnes pushing the White House to try to silence dissenters on Iraq: BARNES ON DISSENT: Fred Barnes is fighting mad that the Dems may be getting tougher in obstructing the president’s agenda. He thinks the tactic will backfire and will prompt the Dems to lose more seats in
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Yesterday in Iraq
I want to briefly note the bravery of the Iraqi people yesterday. When we study political science in academia, it’s easy to lose sight of the magic and power of democracy. The fact that so many Iraqis risked their lives to exercise a right we take for granted is simply incredible. The question now is
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The problems with blog triumphalism
Reynolds’ post illustrates two of the biggest problems with the blog triumphalism being peddled by various acolytes: Blog factionalization – The ecosystem of blogs is increasingly balkanized. It’s hard work to push against your own ideological inclinations, and most people don’t do it very often, especially after writing a blog for a long time. In
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Correction watch
The LA Times is running a correction in the middle of the online article where the original error appeared. Good for them. Slate’s the only other major publication I’ve seen doing this as a general practice – that needs to change. Meanwhile, even though it published articles using two conflicting definitions of the term, the
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Insta-stereotypes
After discussing a Colorado professor who compared 9/11 victims to Adolf Eichmann, Glenn Reynolds lets the stereotypes and misinformation fly: When Ted Kennedy can make an absurd and borderline-traitorous speech on the war, when Michael Moore shares a VIP box with the last Democratic President but one, when Barbara Boxer endorses a Democratic consultant/blogger whose
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Bad coverage of Boxer v. Rice
When Senator Barbara Boxer said to Secretary of State nominee Condoleezza Rice on January 18 that “I personally believe — this is my personal view — that your loyalty to the mission you were given, to sell this war, overwhelmed your respect for the truth,” a statement that made quite a bit of news, you
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“Anarchy, State, and Rent Control”
I just read Robert Nozick’s Anarchy, State and Utopia for the first time for a seminar on liberal democracy, and while I’m a non-libertarian who disagrees with most of his positive arguments, it’s brilliant. Nozick was also a wonderful writer (a special delight after slogging through John Rawls’ A Theory of Justice), and the combination
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Call for more troops
A bipartisan letter to the Congressional leadership in the Weekly Standard calling for a major expansion of the military – amen! (link via Kevin Drum). The key passage: The United States military is too small for the responsibilities we are asking it to assume. Those responsibilities are real and important. They are not going away.