Brendan Nyhan

Uncategorized

  • Group blogs suck

    Josh Marshall’s announcement that he’s starting a group blog with a bunch of high-profile contributors made me realize something: I hate most group blogs. So I have to say I’m not hopeful that this one will be any good. The problem is that most group blogs are either chaotic and choppy due to too many

    read more

  • The hysteria of the anti-judicial backlash

    Ruth Marcus nails a point I neglected in my post yesterday: What’s perhaps most astonishing is that this anger is being directed at a federal judiciary in general, and a Supreme Court in particular, that is far more conservative than the liberal bench that once provoked similar complaints. Consider the distance traveled: What started as

    read more

  • A good puzzle: Movie theater pricing

    Here’s a question Mike Munger offered in class recently: why do movie tickets cost the same for every movie when some are vastly more popular than others? The prices of plane tickets, hotels and other services are adjusted based on demand, so why not movies? We came up with a couple of possible answers. First,

    read more

  • The clawback part 2: Bush’s stealth tax increase

    It doesn’t seem like anyone in the blogosphere noticed

    read more

  • Ari Fleischer’s book bombs

    Like its author, Ari Fleischer’s Taking Heat has been condemned for being simultaneously dishonest and stupefyingly boring. So I’m heartened to see that it’s getting the rejection it so richly deserves. Let us rejoice this once in the good taste of the American people: GETTING ICE-COLD? Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer received a

    read more

  • Dangerous attacks on the separation of powers

    Attacks on the judiciary are turning ugly. In the last few weeks, we’ve seen a number of prominent conservatives advocate lawless disregard for judicial rulings, attack the rule of law as “judicial tyranny,” and call for the mass impeachment of judges Senator John Cornyn of Texas went so far as to excuse violent attacks against

    read more

  • Bill Frist in 2008: huh?

    From the Nyhan mailbag: a fundraising letter for Bill Frist’s leadership PAC. I guess he’s running for president. I don’t know who thinks this guy can overcome the strikes against him: 1) He killed stray cats 2) He looks like a guy who would kill stray cats (or a mortician) 3) He’s a terribly stiff

    read more

  • Bill Sammon is a hack

    From his story in the Washington Times on President Bush supposedly soliciting advice from Bill Clinton: The president also praised one of Mr. Clinton’s domestic policies — trying to reform Social Security. Both men have proposed personal savings accounts as part of the solution, an idea that is vociferously opposed by congressional Democrats. As Ron

    read more

  • The campaign of the Pirate Captain

    In a comment on my post about the Duke student government elections, Ken Waight of Lying in Ponds points us to a hilarious story about the leading candidate for NC State student body president — the Pirate Captain. I have to quote this one at length — it reads like a story from the Onion:

    read more

  • The anti-middle school movement

    Amen! Educators are realizing that middle school is a bad idea (link requires WSJ subscription): One of the longstanding rites of passage in American childhood is on the wane: middle school. That traditional precursor to high school that usually encompasses grades six through eight can be an exciting and challenging transition for preteen kids. But

    read more