Uncategorized
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Josh Marshall’s evidentiary decline
Josh Marshall has recently fallen into the bad habit of asserting things he can’t prove, including baseless or unsupported assertions like this one (my emphasis in bold): A very revealing moment. For the first time the president was asked, now that all the legal stuff is over and there’s nothing more pending, whether he was
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Greg Mankiw and tax cut rhetoric
I’m quoted in a Harvard Crimson story on Greg Mankiw, the Harvard economics professor and former Bush administration economist: N. Gregory Mankiw is not unfamiliar with the demands that come with being one of the foremost economists in the country. After all, the Beren Professor of Economics survived a stint in the very public domain
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AP’s illogic on Al Qaeda report
Why does the AP suggest that Al Qaeda’s rebuilt operational capacity “could bolster the president’s hand at a moment when support on Capitol Hill for the war is eroding and the administration is struggling to defend its decision for a military buildup in Iraq”? The report is titled “Al-Qaida better positioned to strike the West”
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Moore: “Everything…in ‘Fahrenheit’ was true”
After a mild fact-checking piece on “Sicko” by CNN’s Sanjay Gupta, Michael Moore went on a long rant yesterday in which he claimed that “everything I said in ‘Fahrenheit [9/11]’ was true” (transcript, video): And for me to come on here and have to listen to that kind of crap. I mean, seriously, I haven’t
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Why we need a Federal Reserve for gas taxes
Today, the Wall Street Journal editorial board expresses the common concern that a gas tax increase would not be offset by corresponding tax cuts, but would instead be consumed by increased government spending: Speaking for ourselves, we don’t favor a carbon tax. In theory, such a tax might make sense if it were offset by
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NYT: How can anyone oppose more SCHIP?
New York Times reporter Robert Pear does solid work on the health care beat, but this passage betrays his sympathies in the debate over expanding government financing of health care insurance for children: The fight over a popular health insurance program for children is intensifying, with President Bush now leading efforts to block a major
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The Edwards haircut graphic
I missed the stunning graphic that accompanied the Washington Post’s investigation John Edwards’s haircuts (via Bob Somerby): It’s everything that’s wrong with political journalism in one handy clip ‘n’ save graphic. Keep it in your wallet! Show your friends!
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Ron Paul: More $ than McCain?!
Today’s man-bites-dog headline: ABC News is reporting that Ron Paul has more cash on hand than John McCain. In related news, the Intrade prediction market puts McCain’s probability of winning at 5%, barely higher than Paul, who is (shockingly) at 2.4%.
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newsobserver.com’s biscuit-finding contest
Stupid newspaper website tricks: Yes, the News & Observer (a newspaper based in Raleigh, NC) is trying to encourage readership of newsobserver.com by encouraging visitors to search the site for virtual dog biscuits. Weep for the future of the news media… PS Browzer is a nice complement to my collection of wacky government animal mascots
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Liberals: “Underlying crime” in Libby case
Like several commenters on my original Scooter Libby post, Josh Marshall is assuming the existence of an underlying crime that was protected by Libby’s perjury: Setting aside whether Scooter Libby should spend 0 days in jail for what most people spend from 1 to 3 years in jail, the key here is that it’s inappropriate