"This was the voice of moderation until 13 Sept, 2025"
by hilzoy Business Week: “This ad asserts a McCain campaign talking-point that Obama wouldn’t make time for wounded troops unless cameras were allowed to follow him, but did make time to work out at a gym. This, of course, is a lie. It’s a blatant lie. Steve Schmidt, a disciple of Karl Rove’s who worked … Read more
by Eric Martin If John McCain were a woman, the pundits would incessantly discuss his unseemly ambition, his lust for power, his cold, calculating willingness to say and do whatever it takes, to compromise any principle, in order to win. Maureen Dowd would have still one more muse to cheer up her sad little existence. … Read more
by publius David Ignatius: McCain’s triumph, finally, was that he got over Vietnam. He didn’t fulminate against antiwar activists. . . . That healing gift is what McCain, at his best, brings to the presidential race — not the brass marching band of military valor but the tolerance of someone who has truly suffered. John … Read more
by Eric Martin More like this please. When they hit you, hit them back harder: You know, I might just end up going bankrupt, but this fool is willing to put his money on the proposition that the American people have had enough exposure to the tactics of Karl Rove that they’re just not buying … Read more
by publius Using the title “Celebrity Skin” to discuss the McCain ad, Michael Crowley offers a timid half-hearted compliment of Hole: Terrible video [Hole’s “Celebrity Skin”] but this album actually had its moments. “Had its moments” — please. Don’t make out with Courtney on Saturday night and deny her on Sunday. Unlike the cowardly Crowley, … Read more
by Eric Martin A couple of insights from Matt Duss illustrate the key components of John McCain’s gameplan for lightening the load of the Iraq war albatross dangling from his neck. First: frame the issue as hinging on the magical Surge, not the decision to invade itself. Second: blur the distinctions between the candidates’ positions … Read more
by publius Good for the Post — this is what the press should do. No one’s asking the media to pick sides — we’re just asking them to call BS to (1) create incentives to tell the truth and (2) inform a busy public who doesn’t always have time to investigate the truth. If the … Read more
by publius I think we can all agree now that the Bush administration’s politicization of DOJ was a disgrace. I didn’t think anything about DOJ could surprise me anymore, but the Goodling emails were so bad that they did. It’s just an all-around disgrace. But the entire sordid affair got me thinking about Steven Teles’s … Read more
by Eric Martin Apropos* of a recent post on this site which sparked a discussion of the conservative vs. liberal approaches to "family values" issues, this from TAPPED is worth taking note of: Contraception: It works! Here’s a sobering fact: 30 percent of teenage girls in the U.S. become pregnant. But Brookings researchers report that … Read more
by Eric Martin Michael Totten joins the chorus of Iraq war supporters gathering confetti for the impending victory parade. Says Totten: The civil war between Sunni and Shia militias likewise is over. We know that now because we can look back in hindsight. Not one single person was killed in ethno-sectarian conflict in May or … Read more