Month: January 2007
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Revisiting a poll on inequality
Last week, I complained about a Wall Street Journal op-ed by Prof. Arthur C. Brooks of Syracuse University (subscription required) that framed social and economic mobility as a “he said”/”she said” issue rather than considering any empirical evidence. Here’s the key passage from his piece: Consider the evidence. While 92% of conservatives believe that hard
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Mike Gallagher: Wishing for another attack
Here’s one of the more vile statements I’ve seen recently. Atrios flags conservative pundit Mike Gallagher — the sixth most popular radio host in the country — wishing for another 9/11 in order to silence left-wing dissent: Seeing Jane Fonda Saturday was enough to make me wish the unthinkable: it will take another terror attack
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McCain versus Clinton: A closer look
Bob Somerby still hasn’t corrected his mistaken post from yesterday claiming Hillary Clinton “has been ahead of McCain for months.” Here’s more evidence he’s wrong. Charles Franklin has compiled the data on McCain-Clinton trial heats. The story is clear — McCain, not Hillary, has been leading for months, though the gap has recently closed (McCain
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The “Hillary is more experienced” meme
During an interview with the New York Times Magazine, Senator Chuck Schumer is the latest person to repeat the meme that Hillary is more experienced than her chief Democratic rivals: Q: Will you be supporting Obama for president? A: I’m supporting Hillary. I’ve worked closer with Hillary and, on experience, I would have to give
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Bush approval: Power Line vs. reality
Power Line’s John Hinderaker has a post with the title “President Bush’s support holding steady” that cites a Rasmussen poll showing Bush’s approval at 42 percent. But if you look at the polls as a whole, as Charles Franklin does, it’s obvious that Bush’s support isn’t holding steady. In fact, his approval numbers have dropped
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Jeb Bush imitates Jon Chait
Jonathan Chait on how conservatives interpret failure, 6/13/06: The liberal author Rick Perlstein once said of the right’s mindset, ‘Conservatism never fails. It is only failed.’ Bush has failed. Therefore, he cannot be a conservative. Jeb Bush, 1/27/07: It’s important for us to realize we lost, and there are significant reasons that happened, but it
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What is Bob Somerby talking about?
Bob Somerby has been an invaluable critic of misleading reporting and commentary at his Daily Howler website, particularly during the 1999-2000 smearing of Al Gore. But today’s post botches a couple of points about Hillary Clinton’s poll numbers. First, Somerby calls Andrew Sullivan “an ardent dumb-ass” for saying Hillary’s polling numbers are “absolutely dead straight-line”:
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Mike Huckabee attacks dissent on MTP
I don’t Huckabee. During an interview on “Meet the Press” yesterday in which he announced the formation of a presidential exploratory committee, the former Arkansas governor became the latest Republican to suggest that opposition to President Bush endangers US troops: MR. RUSSERT: If you were in the Senate or the House, would you vote to
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How bad are things in Iraq?
Very, very bad. Here’s a disturbing fact mentioned in passing during a NPR report that aired on Monday about kidnappings in Iraq: Some people now tattoo telephone numbers on their arms, so if they are killed their families can be contacted. And here’s Vice President Cheney on CNN two days later: Bottom line is that
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Gates: Dissent emboldens the enemy
Sadly, new Defense Secretary Robert Gates has become the latest Republican official to attack dissent as emboldening the enemy: Whatever their intentions, lawmakers pushing for resolutions against President Bush’s troop buildup are encouraging America’s enemies, Defense Secretary Robert Gates says. Gates, in his Pentagon post just over a month, said Friday he was certain supporters