We wouldn’t be in this mess if John McCain had won in 2008
We’d probably be in all sorts of other messes if McCain had won the presidential election in 2008, but I think in many ways we’d be in a very different pickle than the one...
Author: Erik Kain
Perry nips at Romney’s heels
I knew that Perry would be Romney’s only credible threat, the only real contender in this race. Palin is too vapid for most center-right non-base voters. Bachmann is a congress-critter, not a governor, and...
Meanwhile at Forbes…
1) I ask whether a faster SWAT response would have saved lives, and suggest that better trained and more effectively deployed SWAT teams is a better response to this tragedy than more invasive government....
Islam, Norway, and the backlash
Thoreau sums up essentially what I’ve been thinking the past couple of days. When the attacks first occurred, I realize I joined many conservative bloggers (as well as just a lot of people who...
Terror
So it turns out the Oslo killings were carried out by a white Norwegian guy who is apparently a white nationalist. I’m quite relieved this wasn’t the work of Islamic terrorists since it would...
Explosions, shootings in Norway
Live coverage of the explosions and shootings going on in Norway. These appear to be jihadist attacks. It looks really, really bad. Post updates if you have them. You can see how nationalist parties...
Mascots, justice, and the role of Harry Potter and Katniss Everdeen
Warning: Spoilers Abound…. Alyssa Rosenberg has a really terrific post on Harry Potter and Katniss Everdeen (the heroine of The Hunger Games trilogy) and how they both function as mascots rather than movement leaders...
On Neoliberalism
First things first: I absolutely loathe the term ‘neoliberal’ and its derivatives. For one thing, neoliberals are much more akin to classical liberals than traditional leftists, and there’s an obvious dissonance between ‘classical’ and...
Breaking: ‘Chronicles of Narnia’ and ‘Lord of the Rings’ Reboots Coming in 2012, 2013
Even though the Chronicles of Narnia is only three films in, filmmakers have decided to reboot the series starting with a new The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe coming to theatres in 2012....
Rumors of the Democratic Party’s Demise Are Greatly Exaggerated
Richard Miniter thinks the Democrats are doomed. I think he’s wrong, but before we get into that let me just say one thing: whenever anyone predicts the downfall of a major political party in...
Bad prices, public spending, and poverty
Matt Yglesias points to this Heritage report that suggests the living standards of the poor have gotten better over the years so poverty isn’t really a big deal anymore. He writes: A serious person...
Harry Potter and the Art of the Epilogue
I still haven’t seen Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Deux yet, but I hear the epilogue is poorly handled. I was sort of agnostic about it in the book. Epilogues are hard....
Harry Potter the Jock
I’m going to write a few posts about Harry Potter in anticipation of seeing the latest, and final, film. Amanda Marcotte has a smart observation about Harry Potter and his band of non-misfits: I...
Harry Potter and the Ministry of Magic
I’m going to write a few posts about Harry Potter in anticipation of seeing the latest, and final, film. Alyssa Rosenberg has a good list of the political lessons found in the Harry Potter...
Welcome aboard!
Longtime commenter Pat Cahalan (aka Patrick) has teamed up with Jaybird over at Mindless Diversions. His intro post is here. Please welcome him to the circus.
Cutting Jobs Instead of Bombs
I don’t understand our political leaders. They’re so interested in cutting spending on healthcare and retirement – even the Democratic president is eager to start hacking away at entitlements – yet almost none of...
Libertarianism & Power
Freddie reads this post by Nick Gillespie on the arrest of a Reason reporter at a D.C. taxi public forum and writes: In a poor, majority-black city with a long history of drugs, crime,...
Map of the Day: The Seven Kingdoms of Westeros
This is pretty awesome: See a larger version here. (Via) I know we have fallen behind in our book club. Time is tight. I’m behind on reading. I figure many of you are as...
The problem with tasers
Let’s have a law and order open thread. Over at Forbes I talk about the latest in police-taser abuses (hat-tip to Patrick at Popehat for that one). It’s one of those stories you wish...
