Author: Elias Isquith

Just to supplement a bit the central argument of this great post from Shawn, I’d like to point your attention towards the following from The Monkey Cage. In the post, Eric Schickler, “a political...

In a response to my latest, Kevin Drum goes into greater detail as to why he finds the criticism and advice doled out by Westen (among others) unconvincing. I think he makes some good...

I’ve always been a big fan of Dr. Drew Westen’s work — in fact, it baffles me that his fundamental message, to tell a story, and tell it with emotion, is news enough to...

The tide has been rising steadily for weeks if not months now, but with this latest love note from MSNBC, it seems that we’re about to hit the zenith of hype for Perry 2012:...

I’d long heard about how desperately we need to reform patent law in this country, but it wasn’t until I listened to this outstanding episode of “This American Life” that I truly understood just...

I don’t know about y’all, but it’s been a long time since I’ve had to exert myself so fully towards fighting off my natural inclinations towards pessimism and dread. And on that note: yay!...

While there are some minor things sprinkled throughout the post with which I disagree, I think E.D.’s latest entry into the burgeoning (not-for-profit) blogging cottage industry that is the ongoing leftist/left-neoliberal debate is a...

Is it wrong to say that the subtext of this entire genre of intra-leftist debate is support for unions?

I tend not to buy too much into the whole “the Republicans are just so fiendishly brilliant at playing politics — that’s why the Dems never win (except when they do)!” meme. Maybe it’s...

I spent about 20 minutes today going back-and-forth with the girlfriend as to what Geithner and the President could be talking about when they speak of restoring confidence to the markets. We’re more or...

As the political media has increasingly come to focus exclusively and obsessively on the latest twists and turns of the debt ceiling crisis, I find myself more alienated from and disgusted with politics than...

Read the story, then read the story behind the story. Then comment.

In a lengthy, passionate, and strident new essay on Slate.com, Stephen Metcalf cites the example of Harvard professor Robert Nozick’s transformation from libertarian champion-in-chief to apostate as proof of the ideology’s inherent inability to protect...

From a recent — and typically funny, snotty and merciless — Christopher Hitchens review of David Mamet’s new book, I came across this essay from F.A., which I’d never even heard of before, much...

That’s the question Andrew Sullivan’s asking his readers in response to an E.J. Dionne article in which the Washington Post columnist says Weinergate was, for him, the point of no return, when he realized our...

Some random thoughts: * Michele Bachmann was woefully under-used. Maybe my expectations were too high, but I was hoping — nay, praying — that tonight would be the taking-off point for Bachmentum 2012. No...

Responding to a recent paper examining public opinion on healthcare reform, John Sides writes: This article comports with an intuition I’ve had about the Affordable Care Act.  I’ve heard commentators opine on whether people’s...

While I don’t consider the legal debate over abortion rights to be particularly interesting — though it will infringe on women’s rights and freedom, outlawing abortions won’t make them go away — I had...