And In Other News…WASF

Just got round to Richard Wolff’s Friday column at Guardian.com, and he paints a macrocosmic view of why the US is in such deep trouble — and why it matters in a two party system when (a) both parties draw from essentially similar financial bases of support, and (b) one of those two parties decides [...]

How About A Little xkcd Haute Snark?

Honi soit qui mal y pense: I got the heads up to this from John Sundman, a Twitter buddy, (@jsundmanus) who complains that it “is factually wrong; an astoundingly rare occurrence.”  Guess why.  (Sundman’s answer after the jump.) “discussants are not holding beers.”

The Beast In Me*

I’m still enjoying that special lassitude that comes from trying to persuade my bone marrow to pump out enough red blood cells to deal with the oxygen pressure at 2,600 meters — Hello Bogota!…. …but I’ve been watching this blog go ape over the last few days (in a good way) and feel the need [...]

2 Black 2 B Prez: Palin Hears, Retransmits Dog Whistle

Sometimes, the quote simply speaks for itself: “Well, talk about racism, that was a racist tinged question from David Gregory,” she said. “He made it sound like if you’re black, you are on food stamps and the President is referring to you as being on food stamps. I think that’s racist.” [Sarah Palin speaking to [...]

Attack of the Mutant Ninja Fiscal Conservatives

Oh Noes! Via TPM:  the GOP-led budget insurrection over the six-month spending bill in March actually boosted spending over that period by $3 billion, according to the latest CBO analysis: “Total discretionary outlays in 2011 will be $3.2 billion higher as a result of the legislation, CBO estimates–an increase of $7.5 billion for defense programs, [...]

One More Quick Word Before I Go

I dropped the ball on the debate in the middle of the week on the idea of torture “working” raised by my response to Josh Marshall’s brief post over at TPM. Despite my promises to engage, I learned once again the eternal truth: the last week or so of the school year is, how shall [...]

Did Anyone Actually See David Broder’s Body?

[This is a cross post from Balloon Juice, where it prompted quite a discussion and, this morning, this response from mistermix.  I'm going to tag back later in the day, (promises, promises) but for now, here's where all this started.  (P.S.  Sorry for not getting this up here at the same time as over at [...]

None Dare Say Its Name: “Even the Liberal New York Times” edition.

One reason the Bush got Bin Laden meme is in with a chance is the growing chorus claiming that “enhanced interrogation” was the key to cracking the case.  (Warning:  wingnuttia at that link) This is nonsense, of course, on at least two levels. One, well documented by lots of folks, including, repeatedly, commenters here, is [...]

Who Knew Harvard Had a Soul to Sell? (Random Brain Bubbles edition)

Indulging in my waiting-for-the-shower-to-warm-up email habit (twelve steps are not enough), this subject line caught my eye: Faust delivers Jefferson Lecture Oh!  The possibilities! __ Alas, it turned out to be a story about Harvard President Drew Faust, a Civil War historian, talking about writers and war. But still, it got me thinking.  Pairs of [...]

“The First Thing A Principle Does Is Kill Somebody”

Thus sayeth Lord Peter Wimsey in Dorothy Sayers’ Gaudy Night — and while it offers unmerited dignity to Gov. Mitch Daniels to accuse him of possessing a principled moral judgment, it is still true that his decision to defund Planned Parenthood will kill some number of Indianans. Given that he has foreknowledge (or should, by [...]