Newsweek Gushes

Posted: Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Few people are fortunate enough to receive the kind of love and tenderness we find in the Newsweek story. It is especially notable for two things. The first is that Obama is portrayed as a near-mythic figure. The second thing we learn is that St. Barack must prepare himself for "the coming mud war" led by those oh-so-mean Republicans.  [Full Story]

The View from the Continent

Posted: Tuesday, May 6, 2008
The widespread view in Europe, as well as among some Americans, is that the U.S. has suffered a huge, almost incalculable, loss of "moral authority." The evidence cited is always the same: Guantanamo Bay, rendition and secret prisons, and waterboarding. They are invoked like an incantation. The effect of this is that you would think that the United States is among the leading violators of human rights in the world.  [Full Story]

Cliffhanger
Wright and political wrongs.
Posted: Thursday, May 1, 2008
The extraordinary public feud between Senator Barack Obama and the Reverend Jeremiah Wright Jr. would be an enormous threat to any candidate running for president, but it is particularly dangerous to Obama. Because Sen. Obama is such a new figure on the American political scene, people's judgment about him can be easily molded and reshaped.  [Full Story]

A Bush Success (not that he gets credit)
The Medicare drug benefit is working better than predicted.
Posted: Friday, April 25, 2008
Now in its third year, the Medicare drug benefit's market-based design is working better than predicted.  Eighty-five percent of beneficiaries are satisfied with their coverage, and costs are now expected to be 40 percent--or $244 billion--less over ten years than originally projected.  [Full Story]

Crooked Analysis
A shallow and uninformed look at Bush economic policy.
Posted: Thursday, April 24, 2008
Clive Crook negelcts to mention the chief reason the nation went from a surplus to a deficit was that President Bush inherited an economy skidding toward recession (it officially began just a few months after he took office). When the dot com bubble burst so did the projected surpluses. In addition, the attacks on September 11th dealt a crippling blow to several important sectors in the economy.  [Full Story]

Democrats Attack
Expanding the Dionne lexicon.
Posted: Tuesday, April 22, 2008
The truth is that both parties have admirable and dishonorable political strategists; neither political party is the exclusive home of knaves or the virtuous. To pretend that the only political "attack machine" belongs to the GOP is wrong and can't withstand a moment's scrutiny.  [Full Story]

Off-the-Record Obama
The Politics of Meaning on steroids.
Posted: Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Early on in this campaign I was impressed with Barack Obama as a thoughtful, inspiring, and admirable (if far too liberal) political figure. As the months have worn on, it's become increasingly apparent that beneath the enormous charm and cool persona of Obama beats the heart of an arrogant man. By his presumptuous demeanor, he suggests that he sees what no one else sees, and can do what no other person can do.  [Full Story]

Dionne's Willful Refusal to Listen to Petraeus and Crocker

Posted: Friday, April 11, 2008
Iraq in 2006 was in a death spiral. That has not only been arrested; it has been reversed. Under the extraordinary leadership of Petraeus and Crocker, we have made more gains than even those of us who were advocates of the surge could have hoped for. And the gains have been on almost every front: security, political, diplomatic, and economic.  [Full Story]

The Klein and the Fury

Posted: Wednesday, April 9, 2008
On Friday I wrote a response to Joe Klein's most recent Time column -- and apparently Joe didn't like it very much. On Sunday he wrote not one but two responses to my posting. They are worth unpacking.  [Full Story]

Missing Michael Kelly
Another great we are now without.
Posted: Friday, April 4, 2008
Michael Kelly, who was killed in Iraq five years ago today, was one of the finest journalists of his era. He is still missed today.  [Full Story]