Sometimes writing for a weekly newsmagazine means being willing to ask a dumb question. Writing Time‘s cover story this week on the sexual trespasses of Arnold Schwarzeneggar, Dominique Strauss-Kahn and other powerful who did not happen to specifically get into trouble this week, Nancy Gibbs, one of the best to ever write in this format, …
Rep. Paul Ryan‘s plan to replace Medicare with a voucher plan was killed by the Senate the otehr day when five GOP Senators voted against Ryan’s idea. On most political occasions, this blow would put an end to Ryan’s fifteen minutes of political fame, except for two things: one, the Democrats will now want to …
“What are we fighting for?” Country Joe and the Fish memorably queried. The question we need to ask today is “What are spending for?” In Slate, Fred Kaplan writes about Robert Gates, the departing Secretary of Defense, and a man who deserves his country’s gratitude for the thoughtful and professional way he has conducted his …
The American economy remains listless, unemployment remains appallingly high, our wars–wars!–meander on their bloody way, and a significant portion of the electorate doesn’t like the president and is angry about his leadership. At eighteen months away from an election, these elements would usually provide more than enough parts for the opposition party to think feel …
Donald Trump‘s presidential publicity stunt reached its natural and entirely predictable denouement yesterday when, boosted by press coverage generated by yet another pretend flirtation with a political campaign, his reality television show was renewed by a hit-starved NBC. For a good example of the news media’s maddeningly narcissistic role in our national political life, see …
Apparently Newt Gingrich is going to announce today that he is forming a presidential exploratory committee (or its equivalent). Many people on the left scoff at the notion of Gingrich being able to mount a serious campaign, pointing to his embarrassed departure from the speakership in 1998, his messy private life, and the sickbed divorces. …
It has always shocked me that it took nearly four years after the Crash of 1929 for the famous Pecora hearings to take place. One cannot believe that all that time passed before the Senate held hearings that exposed the corrupt and short-sighted practices that ruined the economy. Well, here we are, coming up on …
Ezra Klein has a smart, sobering piece in The Washington Post today, evaluating the strategy of Osama bin Laden, and how he has almost succeeded in attaining his goals. Klein speaks to a counterterrorism and al-Qaeda expert named Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, whose view is that “bin Laden has been enormously successful” using a strategy that the …
Terrific article, amazing photos in the New York Times about President Obama‘s vantage on the killing of Osama bin Laden: “On Sunday afternoon, as the helicopters raced over Pakistani territory, the president and his advisers gathered in the Situation Room of the White House to monitor the operation as it unfolded. Much of the time …
Is this the end of The Global War on Terror? asks Jim Fallows on theatlantic.com. “For years anti-terrorism experts have stressed the decentralized, self-sustaining nature of al Qaeda and related terrorist organizations around the world. The elimination of the celebrated symbol and inspiration of the movement will certainly not mean the end of terrorist threats, …