Brendan Nyhan

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  • Jerry Bowyer’s analytical problems

    Josh Marshall has posted a Fox News clip in which National Review Online’s Jerry Bowyer tells Neil Cavuto that the United Kingdom’s state-run health care system has made them vulnerable to terrorist infiltration: In a followup post, he asks for details about Bowyer: Can anyone tell me more about Jerry Bowyer from National Review Online?

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  • Worst online poll ever

    This latimes.com online poll might be the least scientific ever: Do you agree with Pres. Bush that 30 months in federal prison is excessive for telling a lie? There’s, um, a crucial fact missing: Libby was convicted of lying under oath. (Note to the LAT: Lying is not a federal crime.)

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  • Washington Post wins the haircut Pulitzer

    Today, the Washington Post’s John Solomon devotes 1200+ words to an interview with John Edwards’s hair stylist. The Founders would be so proud.

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  • The return of incoherent Clinton hatred

    Bill and Hillary Clinton’s joint campaign swing through Iowa is inspiring both pathological press coverage and the incoherent hatred that made the Clinton years so special: Mr. Clinton’s presence was mostly but not universally welcomed here. While the couple drew cheers from hundreds at the parade — homemade “Hillary 2008” signs adorned front porches and

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  • Independents on independents

    Writing on Talking Points Memo, Steve Benen bashes self-described independents who told the Washington Post that they wouldn’t seriously consider supporting an independent presidential candidate: There was, however, one piece of information from the report that struck me as odd. While these independents swung substantially to the Democratic side in 2006, 77 percent of them

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  • Alberto Gonzales: Best AG ever!

    According to the Congressional testimony of Paul Charlton, the former US Attorney for Arizona, Alberto Gonzales supported the death penalty for a crime in which DOJ was too cheap to actually dig up the body and examine it for forensic evidence (but Scooter Libby’s sentence was excessive!): The facts underlying the case of United States

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  • Annoying Bill & Hillary coverage

    The decision by Bill and Hillary Clinton to campaign together has prompted a predictable onslaught of annoying press coverage. The New York Times referred to Bill as Hillary’s “helpmate”; the AP broke out “Billary”; and Maureen Dowd has returned to her late-1990s schtick of making up dialogue between them. I don’t know if I can

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  • Is the Post inconsistent on Alito/Roberts?

    Matthew Yglesias and Ezra Klein are upset with the Washington Post editorial page. Here’s Yglesias: The Washington Post endorsed the confirmation of John Roberts. The Washington Post endorsed the confirmation of Samuel Alito. Now, The Washington Post has gone an excoriated the recent spate of 5-4 decisions in which Roberts and Alito, predictably, joined with

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  • Glenn Beck reads “Mexinol” ad

    Media Matters reports on the conservative talk radio host Glenn Beck (who also has a CNN Headline News show) promoting a listener-created satirical ad for a company that makes fuel from the bodies of illegal Mexican immigrants: On the June 28 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Glenn Beck commented on a mock ad

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  • Cognitive dissonance on Libby commutation

    President Bush’s commutation of Scooter Libby’s prison sentence has unleashed a predictable series of simple-minded reactions. Liberals and Bush opponents are, of course, outraged. Joe Wilson and Atrios (here and here) are claiming that the commutation is “obstruction of justice” — a nonsensical claim on its face (the president’s pardon power is absolute except for

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