Over at the New York Times’ “Room for Debate” page, Ramesh Ponnuru tries to explain how Todd Akin ran off the rails: Akin’s position on abortion inspired some of the controversy, of course. So did his clear implication that some rapes are not real rapes. He managed, however, to add more toxic ingredients to the…
Tag: Republican idiots
Republicans, so not walking on water
Well, what would you do if you were walking by the Sea of Galilee? Cut loose! Foot loose! And trousers loose too, if you were Kansas Republican Kevin Yoder, who jumped nude into the sea, along with about 20 more inhibited Republicans, according the latest mega-scoop from Politico. For some reason, the FBI took it…
David Rieff, assigning blame where blame is due, some of the time
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…
Peggy Noonan is brilliant, if she does say so herself
Yes, Peggy Noonan is brilliant, and she does say so herself, frequently. In a recent column, which is 90 percent windup and 10 percent pitch—or 90 percent windup and 10 percent jive, depending on how you score it—Peggy bemoans the lack of “passion” in the current campaign. Naturally, she has an idea—almost an epiphany, as…
Joe Walsh, probably not a true hero
Freshman Republican Congressman Joe Walsh (IL) has a problem. His Democratic opponent is Tammy Duckworth, former lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, who retired after losing both legs when her helicopter was hit by an RPG in Iraq, while Joe never served. What to do? Attack the colonel for having a big mouth! “Understand something…
Fast and Furious and Phony
Over at Fortune, a magazine that I used to take more seriously than I do now, Katherine Eban has a fantastic takedown of the Fast and Furious “scandal,” giving me more proof than I could have imagined that Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Cal) and the rest of the Republican wolfpack are in fact entirely without principle….
It’s Even Worse Than It Looks—fairly short, fairly sweet
Recently, Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein got an enormous amount of play with an opinion piece in the Washington Post, “Let’s just say it: The Republicans are the problem.” Now they’re back with a “book,” It’s Even Worse Than It Looks, which may not be much more than an extended opinion piece, but is worth…
What Would Romney Do?
Increasingly, it looks like we’re going to find out. Europe continues to kick the can down the road, and kick us along with it. As for the U.S., there seems to be zero enthusiasm for an aggressive policy to stimulate economic growth. Republicans want the economy to get worse, the President says that, when times…
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…
“Santorum Sweeps Two States”: Does the NYT love Rick?
How do you “sweep” two states?* Especially since Rick “God Hates Homos” Santorum barely won a third of the votes in Alabama, and less than a third in Mississippi, beating Newt “Just a Fat Prick from Georgia” Gingrich by less than 2 percent of the votes. But, hey, I’ll take it, and so will the…