Uncategorized
-
McClatchy: Iran evidence lacking
There’s a reason I keep touting the McClatchy Washington bureau — they keep writing excellent stories like this one, which states unequivocally in its lede that “experts in and out of government say there’s no conclusive evidence that Tehran has an active nuclear-weapons program.” (The accompanying FAQ is also very useful.) There’s a reason these
-
Obama takes goo-goo to new levels?
I’ve repeatedly bashed Barack Obama’s goo-goo tendencies, but this is ridiculous. An email (PDF) sent to supporters on Friday contains this bizarre promise (my emphasis): Barack believes that when the government makes a decision that affects your life, you deserve to know about it. When government officials meet with corporate lobbyists, you should be able
-
The WSJ’s obsession with scare quotes
As TNR’s Jon Chait has noted, the Wall Street Journal editorial board has an amusing penchant for putting terms it questions in scare quotes even when doing so makes no sense. Here’s Chait on the WSJ back in 2003 (via TNR’s Isaac Chotiner): “President Bush’s tax cut is running into trouble in the Senate, with
-
Obama on cousin Cheney
This was Obama’s best line from his speech in Durham: “It doesn’t help when my cousin Dick Cheney is put in charge of energy policy,” he said, laughing. “I’ve been hiding this for a long time. Everybody’s got a black sheep in the family…. But I’m not going on that family hunting trip anytime soon.”
-
Obama at NC Central in Durham
Ah, the promise — and the frustration — of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. I saw him speak at North Carolina Central University this afternoon to a multi-ethnic crowd of several thousand people who paid $15-$25 just to hear him speak. And he delivered — as expected, Obama is funny, dynamic, and moving on the stump.
-
FactCheck.org event in Washington
For those who are interested, FactCheck.org is holding an event at the National Press Club a week from Friday where they will release data on an apparent increase in media fact-checking: FactCheck.org and the Annenberg Public Policy Center Present: Pants on Fire Political Mendacity and the Rise of the Media Fact-Checkers Why do candidates lie
-
Obama’s process critique of Hillary
Once a goo-goo, always a goo-goo? As I wrote back in March, Barack Obama’s campaign is based on the false hope that we can all get along. As a result, he’s been frustratingly reluctant to go negative on Hillary Clinton. Even when he did start to criticize her directly a few days ago, he focused
-
Symposium on politics and propaganda
This event might be interesting if you’re interested in the state of public debate today — I hope someone points out the damage that Luntz, Lakoff, and Westen are doing to contemporary discourse: On Wednesday, November 7, a major public conference will feature philanthropist George Soros; political consultants Frank Luntz, George Lakoff, and Drew Westen;
-
Pete DuPont: Supply-sider
The Wall Street Journal’s Pete DuPont offers more supply-side nonsense that even Bush administration economists reject: Tax rate reductions increase tax revenues. This truth has been proved at both state and federal levels, including by President Bush’s 2003 tax cuts on income, capital gains and dividends. Those reductions have raised federal tax receipts by $785
-
The WSJ mocks torture
I know the Wall Street Journal has a blithe attitude about torture, a word it often puts in scare quotes, but did their editorial complaining about the attorney general nominee’s treatment in Congress really need to be headlined “Torturing Mukasey”?