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Nora Ephron’s wacky observations on email
Here’s a quiz — Nora Ephron’s New York Times op-ed about the idiosyncrasies of email (it’s a new medium! I get a lot of spam! I have too many messages in my inbox!), which could been published in 1999, is: (a) A column Ephron submitted to the Times that they held for a decade or
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The latest on Bush’s unpopularity
How bad is the political landscape for President Bush? Really, really bad: No modern president has experienced such a sustained rejection by the American public. Bush’s approval rating slipped below 50 percent in Washington Post-ABC News polls in January 2005 and has not topped that level in the 30 months since. The last president mired
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Daniel Larison on Fred Thompson
Writing at The American Scene, Daniel Larison offers the appropriate response to conservatives’ newfound love for the persona on the unimpressive Fred Thompson: I liked James’ post on Fred. We need only refer to him as Fred from now on. His last name is no longer necessary (and likely to confuse him with Tommy Thompson in
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The leadership of Joe Biden
Attention Democratic primary voters — Joe Biden has the courage to make tough choices as president: Coming soon: Joe Biden loves puppies.
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George W. Bush: Master diplomat
In just one speech at the Naval War College yesterday, the President managed to suggest that Israel is a good model for Iraq and to appear to make light of the possible death of Fidel Castro. Here’s the Associated Press on the Israel comparison (via Josh Marshall): Bush cites Israel as model for Iraq NEWPORT,
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Chris Mooney’s Storm World arrives
In the mail: my friend Chris Mooney’s new book Storm World: Hurricanes, Politics, and the Battle Over Global Warming. I’ll have more to say once I’ve read it, but the initial reviews are superb — here’s a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly: Having witnessed Katrina’s devastation of his mother’s New Orleans house, science writer Mooney
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Bloombergs for everyone!
I’m no fan of the Wall Street Journal editorial page, but we agree completely on the pathologies of the campaign finance system, which reduces competition rather than promoting it: We don’t begrudge Mr. Bloomberg a cent of his money, and he should be free to spend all of it on politics if he wishes, including
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The GOP’s animal problem
What is it with top Republicans and animals? First, we found out that former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist used to “bring cats home from animal shelters and dissect them” while he was in medical school. Now, Mitt Romney is in trouble for stuffing his poor dog into a carrier on his station wagon’s roof
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“Stab in the back” and Nazi analogies
Matthew Yglesias is defending his use of the phrase “stab in the back” against criticism from Jonah Goldberg: Jonah seems upset that when I complain that American conservatives are perpetuating a “stab in the back” theory of the war in Iraq to explain away their own hideous errors of strategic judgment without bothering “to make
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NYT correction: Latest “Die Hard” illogical
I love this correction from the New York Times today: Because of a transmission error, a film review yesterday about “Live Free or Die Hard” misstated the critic’s description of the plot. It should have been described as “logic-defying,” not “logic-defined.” (Go to Article) By definition, the plot of a Hollywood blockbuster cannot be defined