Uncategorized
-
AP: Obama, Clinton “appeased” base
The #1 rule of horse race journalism is that all decisions are motivated by politics. The latest example: Associated Press writer Liz Sidoti’s assertions that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama opposed the Iraq war funding bill because they are “[c]ourting the anti-war constituency” and that their votes “appeased the Democratic base”:: Courting the anti-war constituency,
-
NYT botches impeachment again
It’s always surprising to me how few people understand the impeachment process. Under the Constitution, the House impeaches federal officials and then the Senate votes on whether to convict them and remove them from office or not. Impeachment is not equivalent to removal from office. The New York Times made this mistake for the second
-
Ideological affirmative action is bad
After approvingly quoting a Wall Street Journal op-ed (sub. req.) suggesting that political extremists impose externalities on the rest of us, Harvard economist Greg Mankiw makes the misguided suggestion that universities should have ideological affirmative action: To foster tolerance, what we need is more interaction among people with opposite viewpoints. How about a student exchange
-
Sage words from Jeff Sessions
Thank goodness for the members of the “world’s greatest deliberative body.” What would we do without insights like this? Hours before the great immigration debate began in the Senate yesterday, Sen. Jeff Sessions was polishing his arguments at a news conference in a park across from the Capitol. “This bill,” the Alabama Republican told the
-
WSJ dissembles on status of the poor
Time for yet another reminder of why you can never, ever trust the Wall Street Journal editorial page. This is a basic rule for life — the intellectual equivalent of telling children not to talk to strangers. Here’s what the Journal wrote (sub. req.) about a new Congressional Budget Office study (PDF) in an editorial
-
You know you’re in the Bay Area when…
…someone has a personalized license plate that says “Oust GW.”
-
Michael Moore’s “Sicko” PR stunt
Shockingly enough, Michael Moore has managed to stir up controversy in order to promote his new film “Sicko,” but as usual he’s playing dumb (PDF): Well, going quietly to Cannes, I guess, was not to be. For some strange reason, on May 2nd the Bush administration initiated an action against me over how I obtained
-
Wedding break
I’m out west for a wedding; more next week…
-
Supply-side nonsense from Jerry Bowyer
Time to pick up more intellectual garbage from Jerry Bowyer, a National Review Online financial “expert” who can’t reason his way out of a paper bag (see here, here, and here). In his latest effort, Bowyer once again claims that the Laffer curve has been vindicated and that tax cuts increase revenue, a claim that
-
Dartmouth blog panel excerpt
For those who are interested, here’s a clip from the Dartmouth panel where we discuss blog fact-checking (posted with permission of the Rockefeller Center): Other posts about the panel: –Dartmouth panel report (4/19) –Misleading report on Dartmouth blog panel (4/21) –My disembodied voice at Dartmouth panel (4/24)