the big picture
The Big Picture has some amazing, startling photos up on the protests. Momentum is building. This is certainly not just any protest. This is game-changing. I remain optimistic.
Monthly Archive: June 2009
It’s on the Army & Police Now
A reader writes into Andrew Sullivan saying that the violence in Iran is entirely the work of the Basij (militias) and related paramilitaries, vigilantes, goons, etc. That so far the police and army are...
yes but why so blatantly?
There’s a fairly wide consensus building that the Iranian election results were fraudulent. Much speculation exists regarding the who, why, etc. John Holbo wonders why the apparent fraud was so crudely done. It’s a...
what’s next
It has to be said: we are probably not going to see a democratic revolution in Iran. There is every reason to believe Ahmadinejad will remain in power in the near future. That wouldn’t...
living in another universe
This is what I kept thinking this weekend: if I wasn’t online, an avid blogger and reader of blogs, and if I didn’t frequent the New York Times, I wouldn’t know a damn thing...
Some More (Quick) Thoughts on Iran
The best sites to follow continue to be: Andrew Sullivan, Michal Totten, The Lede @NyTimes, and Nico Pitney (@HuffPo). Today’s events have for the moment swung momentum to the side of the revolution/reform. The...
Blame Congress
So here’s Bill Maher doing this thing and directing it at Obama. I think it’s good that Obama get some real criticism from his left, but still I just have to my roll my...
Sunday Poetry Series
El Hombre by William Carlos Williams It’s a strange courage you give me ancient star: Shine alone in the sunrise toward which you lend no part! Nuances of a Theme by Williams by Wallace...
plea for the green
Please, please let this often well-meaning but always clumsy democracy have the wisdom and the foresight to show restraint, to have the deft touch we have so often lacked. Please. Iran has many, many...
Iranian Election Update
As an update to what I said yesterday, what might be happening in Iran is the first time that the President (on the democratic side of the country’s main power poles) is going for...
co-ops, socialized medicine, and deregulation
Ezra Klein has an interview up with Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota. In it they discuss the Senator’s health care reform proposal to implement federally chartered, non-profit cooperatives to compete against private insurers. ...
Iranian Democracy Is Older Than You Think
I appreciate Andrew Sullivan’s series of links on the Iranian election (both today and over the last week or so). So I don’t want to be too harsh here but this sticks in my...
conservatives for socialized medicine?
I still think taking the health care debate out of politics would be good for conservatism in the long run, even if it did mean one more government entitlement. Then again, I think the...
Making Sense
Partially dissenting from the Paul Krugman column on right-wing hatred, Jon Henke makes some good points about guilt-by-right-or-left-association charges in general. He concludes with “two ironies” that are pretty relevant: The Left strenuously objects...
A Couple of Thoughts On Executive Pay
Via Politico: Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Wednesday that the Obama administration will take several new steps to reform the ways executives are paid on Wall Street — and he argued that pay packages...
the big hate
Paul Krugman worries about the main-streaming of ultra-right-wing nuttery vis-a-vis the likes of Glenn Beck. I mentioned this a while back actually. Things will get worse before they get better.
“duels have been fought for less”
That’s hilzoy, responding to another puerile and really “Malkin-award” worthy statement from Erick Erickson, who wrote:
Rushkoff’s Life Inc.
— Now this is a fairly explosive one, and it should be stated up front that it is just one side of a much much more complicated story which the author is leaving out...
One Pediatrician’s Perspective on Universal Healthcare
by Dan Summers I share E.D.’s skepticism about the private insurance industry, and wanted to chime in a few thoughts from a provider’s perspective. Though the American Medical Association has decided to dig in...
