Dr. Seuss and Genius and Field Dominance
I read a lot of children’s literature these days (b/c this), which means that I’ve long been mulling over this precise sentiment: As any parent will attest, Dr Seuss was not only the greatest...
Author: Conor P. Williams
Should the Left Fear (Or Hate) Its Wonks?
If I am notorious for anything in the blogosphere—other than being that guy who won that thing at the Washington Post that one time—it’s probably my persistent (if gentle) criticism of “The Wonky Left.”[1]...
Friday Jukebox: What Cultural Pluralism Sounds Like
So much of modern pluralist politics in the USA boils down to a fight over what America means. That’s as good a cause as any to fight culture wars. As Pat Buchanan once put it,...
Barack Obama 2.0 = the Left’s Mitch McConnell
(Alternate Title: “Trolling the Republicans: Obama’s Elephant Gambit”) It’s 2013, just days before a presidential reinauguration. Do you know who your president is? The blogosphere contains myriad cottage industries inspired by Barack Obama’s supposed...
Excusing the NRA, Remembering Ourselves
Now that the fiscal cliff fight is over, (for a spell) now that the inauguration is almost upon us, we’re finally ready to have the national conversation about guns (maybe, unless fighting over Chuck...
On the Limits and Possibilities of Acknowledging Human Tragedy
It’s one of the great mistakes of contemporary political discourse that the doctrine of original sin is almost exclusively used to justify inaction. The usual argument goes as follows: humans are profoundly, tragically sinful....
Romney Logic
Mitt Romney believes that he lost the presidential election because many voters (as many as 47%, maybe more!) who benefit from government programs were incapable of basing their votes on anything other than their interest in maintaining...
Faulty Polls and Self-Offsetting Tax Cuts
After a Twitter exchange with Tod today, I decided to finally pull the trigger on a post I’ve been considering for a few days. Read on! — As nigh-on every denizen of the political blogosphere...
Was Mitt Romney “Juicing?”
In case you hadn’t noticed, American lefties have been having a bit of fun at Karl Rove’s expense. Their bête noire imploded on live TV Tuesday night; Fox’s Megyn Kelly had to talk him...
Election 2012 Recap: Getting the Triumphalism Right
Democrats awoke today awash in the smug warmth that comes with electoral success. Rightly so, given last night’s results. Jon Tester and Claire McCaskill are still Senators? Tammy Baldwin will be the first openly...
What If It’s the OTHER Reality?
Though I’ve made my view of the electoral situation pretty clear, I’m well aware that Tuesday’s election will be damned close. I’m well aware that as encouraging as Nate Silver’s model/conclusions are, he still predicts...
Nate Silver Himself Is the Entity to Be Analyzed
I love Nate Silver. I love his steady analysis of staggering reams of data. I love his measured treatment of complicated electoral possibilities. I love that he talks in terms of probabilities instead of...
Baseball and Providence
It all starts far, far from any stadium. There are no diamonds and no throngs of adoring fans—just a crackling radio hissing through a stale summer garage into air as golden-tinged as the dead,...
Statistics and Narratives
Like most deeply patriotic American progressives, I love baseball above nearly all other things—mom and apple pie excepted, of course. I grew up a Detroit Tigers fan and was profoundly wounded by the experience....
Teacher Hatred and Class Warfare
(There’s a fairly lengthy thought-piece introduction here. If you’re simply trawling for education policy arguments, make like a choose-your-own-adventure reader and turn directly to Section II.) I. One of the best parts about being...
Mugged By Their Own Narrative
As Team Romney continues the process of self-immolation, various journalists have discerned a pattern in conservative reactions to his collapse. Echoing Richard Cohen’s column from several days ago, Fareed Zakaria notices that Romney is...
Progressivism’s American-ness
Over my last few posts on progressivism (here and here), I’ve made a fairly straightforward argument with three big claims: 1. Today’s conservatives consider progressives to be not just political opponents, but also un-American....
A Proposal, and a Second Take On Progressivism, American-ness, and Conservative Rhetoric
I’ve read the comments on my recent post on progressivism with equal parts exasperation and disappointment. I complained that …today’s conservatives are obsessed with maintaining semantic control over The American Idea: What sort of country...
What Progressivism Is (Updated)
Back in 2010, Paul Ryan told Glenn Beck: …what I’ve been trying to do is indict the entire vision of progressivism because I see progressivism as the source, the intellectual source for the big...
