I suspect David Horowitz will be very disappointed to hear it, but Paul Krugman explains that Islamofascism isn’t a real phenomenon. [T]here isn’t actually any such thing as Islamofascism — it’s not an ideology; it’s a figment of the neocon imagination. The term came into vogue only because it was a way for Iraq hawks […]
The last time a Melinda Henneberger piece shook up the political world, it was back in June, when she argued, unpersuasively, that Democrats would be better off politically if they opposed abortion rights. Today, Henneberger’s at it again, with a new series at Slate on the presidential candidates’ marriages. Digby, who received the same email […]
The legendary Studs Terkel has a fascinating NYT op-ed today, noting the trend over the last several generations about the way that “politically active Americans view their relationship with government” — and the way the government views politically active Americans. In 1920, during my youth, I recall the Palmer raids in which more than 10,000 […]
As everyone no doubt heard last week, FEMA held a press conference on Tuesday about the agency’s response to the wildfires in Southern California. Vice Adm. Harvey Johnson, the deputy administrator of FEMA, fielded one softball question after another, not because the reporters were lazy, but because the questions didn’t come from reporters at all […]
Not all endorsements are welcome. A couple of weeks ago, the WaPo’s Charles Krauthammer suggested Hillary Clinton, unlike the other Democratic presidential candidates, is someone he “could live with,” in part because she is “always leaving room for expediency over ideology.” Given Krauthammer’s far-right bent, Clinton wasn’t trying to win him over, and his back-handed […]
The WaPo’s George Will argues in his latest column that Americans need not base their presidential vote on Supreme Court justices and upholding Roe v. Wade. Will concedes, of course, that the “next president probably will have an opportunity to significantly shape the court,” but concludes it doesn’t really matter when it comes to reproductive […]
Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers: * News consumers who feel like Hillary Clinton is dominating the media’s coverage of the presidential campaign happen to be right: “Hillary Clinton has drawn nearly twice as much media coverage as any […]
Maybe it was just me, but I thought this WaPo article, which ran on page A2 yesterday, was a good example of what’s wrong with most campaign coverage. Independents will make all the difference in New Hampshire. That bloc, which encompasses more than 40 percent of registered voters in the state, exercises huge influence in […]
One can make a very reasonable case that Iowa’s unique role in the presidential nominating process is excessive and unwarranted. Indeed, Paul Waldman recently did just that. The state has too much power and too much influence, and as Kevin Drum noted not too long ago, it’s actually getting worse. That said, given the media’s […]
The exodus continues. The latest House Republican incumbent to announce his or her retirement is none other than everyone’s favorite far-right xenophobe, Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.). Even if he loses his long-shot bid for the White House, Rep. Tom Tancredo will be leaving the U.S. House of Representatives at the end of 2008. Tancredo, 61 […]