Rand Paul and the Imperial Presidency
Rand Paul has, so far, been pretty good on issues of national security. Maybe not quite as staunchly anti-war as his father, but that remains to be seen. Via Sullivan, however, this really terrific...
Tagged: barack obama
Zeal of a Convert
I mentioned a month or so ago that since my engagement, I’ve sort of re-channeled the views I usually apply to politics into everyday living. “Re-channeled” might be a bit much – I can...
Obama’s pep talk
From the SOTU: Many people watching tonight can probably remember a time when finding a good job meant showing up at a nearby factory or a business downtown. You didn’t always need a degree,...
Some thoughts on Obama’s memorial service remarks
About halfway through Obama’s speech on Wednesday – I think it was just after he used the phrase “moral imagination” – I turned to my fiancé and said, “You think Palin is thinking, ‘wow,...
Dealing With Political Blind Spots
Ezra Klein had a great rundown yesterday on a psychological phenomenon called motivated skepticism: On the simplest level, American politics presents us with an incentives problem: McConnell — like most minority leaders — is an...
Secret Socialism
In high school, I was a self-described socialist. What this meant at the time, God only knows. Now I vacillate between agreeing with our smarter, more prolific blog contributors. If you go back through...
Making Sense of Public Opinion
by E.C. Gach Last winter I was struck by a Jacob Weisberg piece over at Slate. The thrust of the article was the following: all of our political troubles are the result of…well…ourselves! People just...
The day I found common ground with Michael Gerson
It’s not often that I find myself in agreement with Michael Gerson, but I thought there was some truth in his column today. He starts off quoting Obama: “Part of the reason that our...
Questioning educational patriotism
I’m a bit late to the great education debate, which is unfortunate because I did have a few thoughts on it. My own take isn’t really connected to the need to create a more...
From the Homeland
Instead of a Revolution Not long ago, and not for the first time, I noted that Barack Obama asserts powers far greater than those of George III. “And we all know what we did...
Baffling
I’d been repeatedly urged to read Dinesh D’Souza’s Forbes article about President Obama’s ideology. “It’s really weird,” I was told. I had put it off, convinced it couldn’t be all that. Well, it was....
Rule of Three
This poll analysis confirms a lot of things that have been fairly obvious for quite some time: 1) young voters are liberal on social issues and lack a go-to ideology on economic issues; 2)...
Liberaltarian Envy
I’m fascinated by the liberaltarian conversations here and elsewhere and, as an outsider, more than a little bit jealous. Whether or not the potential movement will be realized in the short term is still...
Beck and Obama’s radically different theologies
[updated] It is perhaps a little ironic that Beck is invoking theology so often and especially in order to demonize Obama further. Ironic because conservative and evangelical Christians probably have more in common theologically...
Managed Ignorance Watch, Continued
The Washington Post this morning notes that increasing numbers of Americans incorrectly believe that Barack Obama is a Muslim: The number of Americans who believe — wrongly — that President Obama is a Muslim...
The Outsider Elite
Interesting article about the “grassroots” nature of Obama’s Organizing for America: [Organizing for America] also holds online strategy sessions, offering supporters the chance to “join the discussion,” “interact,” and “ask questions.” But amid the...
The Alito Brouhaha
I’m fairly annoyed by the brouhaha that has erupted over President Obama’s deeply inaccurate attack on the Citizens United decision. One of the weird aspects of my annoyance, though, is that I find myself...
Personal Politics
Since the wattage of Palin-mania is currently at full blast, causing rolling blog brown outs, I think it’s worth stepping back for a second and discussing what is and isn’t valuable information when studying...
The Evolution of Blogging: An Interview with Charles Johnson
Few bloggers have had quite as controversial a career as Little Green Football’s Charles Johnson. Johnson began blogging in earnest back in 2001 after the attacks on the twin towers, and continues putting out content...
Shooting at Ft. Hood Army Base
The numbers of dead and wounded are different according to the source, but it looks like American soldiers opened fire on other soldiers at a Texas Army base. According to the New York Times:
