What's Really Behind Leftist Attacks on the Kochs?

August 25, 2010

[tweetmeme] When I posted about The New Yorker hit-piece on the Koch brothers yesterday, I noted that it was odd to see leftists rush to attack the concept of ideological philanthropy given that 1) as the piece concedes, the Kochs have personally given millions to non-political causes, including $150 million to MIT and cancer research, […]

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The Death of American Manhood

August 24, 2010

[tweetmeme] I’m not all doom and gloom about American manhood — I think the appeal is timeless, and never really goes away no matter how many waifish effeminate teens dominate the pop culture scene — but this story in the Wall Street Journal today has me reconsidering my stubborn optimism. It’s from a fluffy little […]

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Lee Smith and the Clash of Arab Civilizations

August 24, 2010

Lee Smith, the author of The Strong Horse: Power, Politics, and the Clash of Arab Civilizations and a columnist for Tablet, advances an interesting and convincing argument, based both on history and his own experiences in the Middle East, which offers an alternative view to what you’ll read in the vast majority of newspapers and books today.

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Who Are The Koch Brothers?

August 24, 2010

[tweetmeme] Jane Mayer’s piece in The New Yorker this week is yet another New Yorker snorefest, using a dozen words where two would suffice. It’s almost impossible to get through the whole thing, but if you do, you’ll have a picture of Charles and David Koch which is rather inaccurate, but which will be waved […]

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Farewell, Kenny Edwards

August 22, 2010

[tweetmeme] The talented and under-appreciated Kenny Edwards, a great American singer/songwriter, passed away this week. Edwards wasn’t a recognizable name for a lot of folks, but you’d recognize his music and his style if you heard it — in fact, you probably already have. Two years ago, I heard a snatch of music played over […]

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The Individual Mandate and Severability

August 17, 2010

[tweetmeme] Several state legislators have reached out to me recently with questions about the nature of severability and Obamacare. Since some folks seem to have questions as well, I thought I’d explain a bit about what this means. Most laws of large size and scope have something called a “severability clause” attached to them. Essentially, […]

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Why Pictures of Pretty Ladies Go Viral

August 17, 2010

[tweetmeme] Elizabeth Dwoskin writes at CJR on “an experience that is a dream for many journalists” — when “a story I wrote went viral”: The story, which ran on the cover of the Village Voice, where I am a staff writer, was about a gorgeous woman, a low-level banker named Debrahlee Lorenzana. She was fired […]

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Why Bob Gates is the Winston Wolfe of Defense Budgeting

August 17, 2010

[tweetmeme] My latest post is at RealClearWorld: In the context of the news this week – surprising to few who know him well – of his intention to retire in 2011, it’s clear that reforming the defense budget is what Gates sees as his legacy. His activity on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are […]

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The Government has a Role in Mortgage Market, We Just Don't Know What It Is

August 17, 2010

“The U.S. government will likely continue to play a role in guaranteeing mortgages, but policy makers must figure out how to design a system that doesn’t lead to a rerun of the collapse of mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told attendees at a housing summit convened on Tuesday.”

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Obama's Descent into Incoherence

August 17, 2010

Incoherence abounds: “Communicating as a law professor does not work as president,” Morey said. “While many poked fun at former President George W. Bush for mispronouncing words and stumbling through sentences, observers note that he rarely had to backtrack on his answers because he employed a simple and direct messaging approach.”

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