Back in the day, conservative health care maven Avik Roy put the wood to House Speaker Paul Ryan’s Obamacare replacement legislation, remarking after Paulie “improved” the bill to meet Republican criticism, “it’s curious that extending tax cuts was a higher priority for the House than addressing the fact that the bill will make insurance unaffordable…
Author: Alan Vanneman
Shorter Krauthammer: Comey, Schmomey! Let’s talk about Israel!
I think I’ve gotten into the habit of saying nice things about Charles Krauthammer. In my most recent post relating to Charlie, I went so far as to exclaim “Thank God for Charles Krauthammer! Pretty much.”. Well, that was then. Time to get nasty. In his post that prompted my exclamation of “Thank God for…
The silence of the Donald, the pusillanimity of the Republicans
Okay, Donald Trump hasn’t been entirely silent. “Trump proposes a law that’s existed for 20 years”, snickers USA Today with well-earned glee, reporting on our president’s proposed crackdown on free-loading legal immigrants, who, naturally, aren’t free loading at all. Then there’s his epic links “faux pas”—running his golf cart onto a green because he’s too…
Ross Douthat, Lee Drutman, and Karen Handel explain it all for you
Scatter much? The Democrats sure don’t, if you can read the fine print of this graph, appearing in a report, Political Divisions in 2016 and Beyond, prepared by the folks at “Voterstudygroup” and written by Lee Drutman, linked to by the not always to be ridiculed and scorned by me Ross Douthat. As Ross points…
Pseudo New Yorker
“‘School’? I’d say you need some schooling. This is a flock!” “Sorry, dude. The first Robin of Spring tops the first Mackerel of Spring any day.” “It doesn’t matter if it’s ‘Birds gotta swim, fish gotta fly’ or the other way round. One of us is doing it wrong.” “Okay, you’re a perch. I get…
Andrew Dickeson & Simon Barker—“Trinkle Tinkle”
Nice! Sydney Conservatorium, May 4, 2015. Posted by Andrew Dickeson Also good! Mostly Monk
The wreck of the Fitzgerald: Responsibility, anyone?
It’s taken a while, but people are starting to wonder if the startling collision between the American destroyer Fitzgerald and the ACX Crystal that killed seven American sailors might have been, you know, someone’s fault. Jonathan Soble, writing for the New York Times, manages to find a captain—not a U.S. Navy captain, of course—who’s willing…
Tim Whalen Trio—“Trinkle Tinkle”
Tim Whalen, piano; Norm Damschroder, bass; Jonathan Ovalle, drums. Recorded live at the University of Toledo in November 2009. Posted by TimothyWhalenMusic Need more Monk? Of course you do! Head on over to Mostly Monk. You’ll be glad you did.
Doubtin’ on Downton
Back in the day, when Downton Abbey first reared its ugly head, I vowed that Literature R Us would not print one word on this misbegotten progeny of a thousand (rough count) previous Merchant-Ivory monstrosities. Well, I kept my word throughout the show’s six-season run, never viewing a single episode. Then Donald Trump became president….
Who is worse, Donald Trump or the Republican Congress?
Sounds like a no-brainer, right? Do Republican members of Congress tweet absurd, scurrilous, and/or libelous messages that frequently contradict or disrupt the Administration’s own policies, to the extent that the Administration rarely pursues a course of action over a measurable period of time with enough self-consistency to be called a policy? Do they tell grotesque…