All That Is Necessary…
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A Surprise: Hitchens Endorses Obama
Christopher Hitchens, by far the biggest Iraq War hawk on the nominal Left, has endorsed Obama for President. I have to say I was stunned to see it. Three weeks ago, Hitch’s Slate column was headlined: “Is Obama Another Dukakis? Why is Obama So Vapid, Hesitant and Gutless?” Does Hitchens now plan to wear a […]
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The Allure of Going Nuclear in the Late Innings
Losing the Presidential race has to be even worse than losing the World Series. If you lose the World Series, you at least get to put up a banner proclaiming that you were the League Champion for the year. Your hometown throws you a consolation rally, and you start talking about the future (“hey, we’re […]
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In Defense of "Wall Street Greed"
The titans of Wall Street gathered this morning at the NYSE to discuss the ongoing crisis. The writeup of the gathering in the WSJ Deal Journal blog is well worth reading, once you get past the inexplicable opening links to poetry and “Error 404”. (Blogging famously involves publishing without an editor, and here we see […]
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McCain’s Town Hall "Advantage"
Before the debate, we heard a lot about how good McCain is in a town hall format. There wasn’t much evidence of that last night. Time’s Swampland does a good job of explaining why: In the classic McCain town hall, differences of opinion are expressed, and McCain works to build a conversation, so that everyone […]
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What I Learned from Tonight’s Debate
Senator Obama and Senator McCain are both left-handed. McCain, God bless him, looks older than he is, especially when he walks around. Moderating a debate is a no-win proposition. Brokaw (whom I mostly like) just seemed like a scold about the format and the clock. Both candidates did fine. I can see either one of […]
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Notes on the Palin-Palin Debate
Here are some observations on last night’s debate that resonate with me. Time’s report card on Palin (both candidates got an overall “B”): By the standards of those Americans conditioned by the late night comics to think of Palin as an inarticulate idiot, incapable of putting coherent sentences together or understanding basic policy questions, she […]
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My Main Takeaway from the Vice Presidential Debate
Whew!
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Ya Gotta Bereave
For the second straight year the Mets are eliminated by the Marlins on the final day of the season, after leading the division late in September. I was hoping they would make the playoffs, but I didn’t have high hopes for them IN the playoffs, where pitching is even more important than in the regular […]
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Bailout Wisdom from Various Sources
Bill Whittle recently had a very painful medical mishap, which inspired him to refer to “the $700 billion kidney stone the economy is trying to pass.” He prescribes some therapeutic pain: Every decision we make is based on a risk/reward calculation. If we take away the consequences of risky behavior, we will see more of […]
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Playing Politics by Suspending Campaign? Of Course.
Is McCain’s call to suspend the campaign over the financial crisis an example of leadership? Is it a political ploy? Yes. Neo-neocon (I like her blog, but I LOVE her blog’s name) sums it up pretty well: Just because there is some political posturing does not mean there’s not also some sincerity. Each candidate is […]
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