Category Archives: Current Events

Frank Rich writes about what it was like to work for Rupert Murdoch.

Bruce Bartlett on why Barack Obama, despite the right's attempts to portray him as a rabid Socialist, is actually a lot more Conservative than they'll ever admit.

David Frum on what Barack Obama might have done that warrants blaming him for the current economy. Answer: Darn near nothing.

Fred Kaplan, who I think is the only person in America who ever actually reads the military budget, explains what it would mean to cut the military budget.

At any given time, there always seems to be one pending piece of legislation that would annihilate your right to privacy in the alleged service of some greater good. I'm as against child pornography as anyone on this planet but dealing with it does seem to be among the all-purpose excuses when someone wants to take away civil rights. Conor Friedersdorf writes about a new proposal that would track and record your every move on the Internet on the dubious (I think) premise that this would snag a few folks who traffic in kiddie porn.

The G.O.P. is spending a lot of money to try and shift blame for the current financial mess from themselves (and that Bush guy) to Obama. As David Case explains, that's a lie.

It's kinda hard sometimes to grasp the size of the U.S. deficit. How about if we all look at some pictures of it?

Kevin Drum looks at the big picture on the deficit and how it's being manipulated for political gain.

David Brooks, who is ostensibly the New York Times House Conservative, tells us exactly what is wrong these days with the Republican party and how they could have raked in a lot more marbles than they're going to get out of the whole Debt Ceiling issue. I really think a lot of the problem is that having rallied their toops by so demonizing Obama, these guys have painted themselves into a corner. You can't sell your base on the idea that the president is the Anti-Christ and then turn around and make a compromise deal with the Anti-Christ. Anyway, read this essay.

Fred Kaplan paints a portrait of what's going on in Afghanistan. Not a pretty picture.

Hey, you know how you're supposed to drink eight glasses of water a day? Well, Kevin Drum says you're not. I mean, you can if you want to…and I certainly do. But Kevin says that's a questionable fact based on no research whatsoever.

Prosecutor Donald Heller was once one of the nation's strongest voices on behalf of the Death Penalty. Now, he's changed his mind. Here's an interview where he explains why.

Garry Wills explains why this whole notion of getting our elected officials to sign "pledges" is a bad one.

Somewhere on the 'net, I read (but forgot to bookmark or link to) an article that explained why the Grover Norquist "I will never raise taxes for any reason, even if you're about to detonate a nuclear weapon in Pittsburgh" pledge actually contributed to higher taxation. It had to do with taking off the table a small tax increase in one area that would lead to a large tax cut in another…or with not paying off debts which, as any credit card holder knows, are sometimes prudent to pay off.

If I were Jon Stewart, I think I'd send my correspondents around Washington and try to get as many lawmakers (or candidates for those positions) as possible to sign a pledge not to sign pledges.

Bruce Bartlett notes that every single poll says that the American people by a wide margin want the deficit addressed with a combination of revenue increases (i.e., tax increases) and spending cuts…and in most cases, it isn't even a close call. Which seems odd to me because the Republican leadership keeps insisting that the American people overwhemingly don't want revenue increases (i.e., tax increases). What could possibly account for this seeming discrepancy?

Ezra Klein tells us where we're at with this deficit reduction thing.

The problem's getting clearer and clearer. The Republican platform is that Obama is evil, he's Satan, he's Hitler and he's out to destroy America and everything we hold dear…so the G.O.P. has to stop him from doing anything. And this includes making a deal that gives the Republicans most of what they want.