Over at Foreign Affairs, David Rieff has a rather portentous, even penumbral, take on world events, notably the concurrent U.S. disasters in Iraq and Afghanistan, taking a few pokes at the liberal optimism that brought these about. Dave’s nut graph, or perhaps “money shot,” is quite prolonged, but, well, in for a penny, in for…
Tag: idiot republicans
Is it “I Hate Condoleezza Rice Week” already?
How time flies! But the calendar doesn’t lie, does it? And neither do Daniel “Rice Is a Uniquely Poor Choice for VP” Larison or Jennifer “The silliest VP suggestion of them all” Rubin, not to mention Bret “Anyone But Condi” Stephens. One can almost feel sorry for Condi, but not really. She spent the first…
Good pitch, bad windup
Over at the New York Times “Opinionator,” Ezekiel J. Emanuel* makes an excellent pitch for increasing the age of eligibility for Social Security according to income. But in his setup he tells us that “When it comes to Social Security and Medicare, Republicans emphasize cuts and privatization, while Democrats strongly oppose both approaches.” Zeke, Democrats…
The Ryan-Boehner, Boehner-Ryan Shell Game
Rep. Paul Ryan has a great idea for getting the U.S. budget in shape. He’ll cut tax rates, and Democrats will decide which tax write-offs to eliminate. “Everything will be on the table,” Rep. Paul says, and he means everything. If the Democrats want to eliminate deductability of health insurance costs, home mortgages, tuition, he’ll…