Uncategorized
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James Taranto raises the level of discourse
The nasty tactic of comparing domestic political opponents to terrorists, Saddam Hussein, and other hated figures in order to create a negative association between them has cropped up again and again since 9/11. We wrote about it constantly on Spinsanity. Now here’s OpinionJournal.com’s James Taranto doing it again: [Howard] Dean isn’t the only Democratic leader
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Tom Tomorrow on a Coulterized world
A week or two ago, I decried what Newsmax described as Bill O’Reilly’s “fantasy” about terrorists beheading Michael Kinsley: This is the Coulter-ization of political discourse. It’s not normal — or acceptable — to “joke” about the murder of your political opponents. When will we cast these people out of public life? The often brilliant
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Why third-party candidates don’t win: Mickey Kaus rebuttal edition
Slate’s Mickey Kaus didn’t like my post criticizing his claim that John McCain can win the presidency as a third-party candidate: Backfill: Ron Brownstein’s made the McCain/Perot point before. I’ve blogged Brownstein before. And Brendan Nyhan’s unconvincingly and condescendingly attacked Brownstein before. Nyhan does it again today. His big argument is Duverger’s Law, which says
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Bill says Hillary shouldn’t make a pledge
Bill Clinton, who broke his pledge to serve a full term as governor in Arkansas so he could run for president, argued on Larry King Wednesday night that Hillary shouldn’t have to make the same type of pledge in her re-election campaign. Why? Well, because she might have to break it: [Mr. Clinton] said Mrs.
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Lazy journalism alert: Laura M. Holson edition
Ben Fritz, my friend and former Spinsanity collaborator, has a great post on his blog about this New York Times article on the alleged decline in the movie business: There are two major problems with this piece: 1. The problem it identifies doesn’t really exist (and to the extend that it does, it hardly matters)
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Howard Dean: A little too much “straight talk”
Martha Burk notes the apparent influence of George Lakoff on Howard Dean’s language during last week’s “Meet the Press.” But she doesn’t discuss my favorite part — Dean’s unintentionally revealing slip: Absolutely. I’m not advocating we change our position. I believe that a woman has a right to make up her own mind about what
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The media notices that Bush is unpopular
Finally, the big picture starts to dawn on the DC establishment: Two days after winning reelection last fall, President Bush declared that he had earned plenty of “political capital, and now I intend to spend it.” Six months later, according to Republicans and Democrats alike, his bank account has been significantly drained. In the past
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Krugman v. Okrent – round 2
After Daniel Okrent, former public editor of the New York Times, took a substance-free cheap shot at Paul Krugman in his final column, Krugman fired back with a letter denouncing Okrent. Now they’re battling it out on the new public editor’s website. Not sure I have the time or desire to wade through all the
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Ron Brownstein’s belated disclosure
This blog gets results! I wrote a post a couple of weeks ago noting the apparent conflict of interest in LA Times columnist Ron Brownstein writing an article touting John McCain’s chances as a third-party presidential candidate in 2008 shortly before marrying McCain’s communication director. The post, which was linked on the media insider site