Here’s a topic I’ve pondered over for a while. I’m not even sure which side I’d pick. Let’s say you had a choice between your party controlling the White House but having an opposition Congress, or your party controlling Congress but having a president of the opposite party. Which would you choose? Why? Discuss.
Guest post by Ed Stephan George Will wrote a Fourth-of-July column praising David McCullough’s “1776”. To introduce his paean, he set up a sort of straw man in the form of “historicism”: What is history? The study of it — and the making of it, meaning politics — changed for the worse when, in the […]
Guest post by Ed Stephan We seldom notice our own aging. The day-by-day, year-by-year changes are there, but we don’t usually think of them until they become an “event” – though we age continously, we’re suddenly old enough to go to school, drive a car, vote, marry, begin a career, retire. In the abstract, quantitative […]
Guest post by Ed Stephan In several of my Carpetbagger comments I have linked to an excellent article by the editors of Seattle’s offbeat paper, The Stranger, titled “The Urban Archipelago” (subtitled “It’s the Cities, Stupid”). It moves well beyond what has become the standard “red-state blue-state” characterization of American politics. A county-by-county red-blue 2004 […]
Guest post by Ed Stephan How about bringing back the “Fairness Doctrine“? Except for Air America virtually all radio and much of TV — though federally licensed to broadcast over public airwaves — seems to be little more than a propaganda arm for the GOP. For many years, television and radio stations were required to […]
As Morbo mentioned last week, he’s in France this week and won’t be sharing his words of wisdom today. He will be returning for his usual stint next Saturday. But never fear, I’ve found a very capable sub for today. Ed Stephan, whom you all know and love from the comments section, has graciously agreed […]
The thin ice upon which Karl Rove walks cracked a little more today with a key Washington Post article about his role in the Valerie Plame scandal. As the Post’s Dan Balz explained, prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald may have put Judith Miller in jail this week, but he’s clearly still interested in Rove. A fast-moving series […]
Maybe I don’t travel in conservative circles enough, but I had no idea that the right looks lack on the failed 1987 nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court as an example of right-wing martyrdom. Apparently, it’s the case. To the right, “Borking” has become a verb to describe a practice whereby ideologically-rigid Dems […]
I realize that the constitutional amendment banning flag burning has been pushed to the back burner in light of recent events, but it’s still coming up and I wanted to note that a leading Republican opponent of the measure has offered a viable alternative. U.S. Sen. Bob Bennett, a longtime opponent of amending the Constitution […]
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: * Former Rep. Tim Roemer (D-Ind.), after flirting with the idea for a few weeks, announced yesterday that he will not take on incumbent Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) next year. Roemer said a […]