The Gingrich Appeal
It's all about anger.
In a press conference late last week, Speaker Nancy Pelosi addressed legislation before the House to extend unemployment benefits until November 30. Asked if the extension would serve as a “disincentive for people to look for work,” Pelosi dismissed the argument as a “misrepresentation of the motivation for people to be on unemployment insurance” and an “insult to the working ... Read More
Consider yourself enlightened. In The Times this week: Buried deep in the health care legislation that President Obama signed on Tuesday is a new requirement that will affect any American who walks into a McDonald’s, Starbucks or Burger King. Every big restaurant chain in the nation will now be required to put calorie information on their menus and drive-through signs. Now ... Read More
Valerie Jarrett wowed the JFK Jr. Forum tonight. More than a few told me that it was their favorite Forum of the year, no small feat in a year of big names: Newt Gingrich, David Axelrod, and Nancy Pelosi. But, it’s not all about political stardom. The senior adviser to the President charmed us with class and smooth talked our ... Read More
Jay Cost has a passionate response to recent liberal criticisms of the filibuster. In his view, it’s a good thing to pass legislation that has broad (and perhaps bipartisan) support, rather than to pass legislation with increasingly partisan “simple majorities.” But there are several little problems with Cost’s argument that need to be pointed out, and I think they add ... Read More
The U.S. government is probing the death of Bill Sparkman, a census worker in rural Kentucky. He was found hanged in the woods with the word “FED” scrawled on his chest. I doubt Glenn Beck means to goad his viewers into violence when he tells them the federal government is trying to destroy American democracy, but he probably shouldn’t be ... Read More
I don’t know how many of you saw this interesting article in Politico yesterday about Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. For those who didn’t, the crucial paragraph is this: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) and his deputy, Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D.-Ill.) were called to Pelosi’s office late Thursday night and ultimately prevailed in their argument that Democrats should ... Read More
Oliver Stone sets his eyes on Bush
Republicans lately seem to be trying harder to be funny than ever before. And in many cases, they’re actually succeeding—albeit in a a “Charlie Cook thinks we’re screwed anyway, so we might as well stop pretending to take ourselves seriously” kind of way. First there was this web ad put out July 29 by the RNC right after Barack ... Read More