Link Round-Up: December 14

I am inaugurating a new blog feature — a mostly-daily link round-up of things I read and found interesting. It’s primarily as much for my benefit as it is yours, the reader’s. I see something, I have thoughts, and then I forget about it or, worse, post a Tweet with the link and then neverContinue reading “Link Round-Up: December 14”

Marco Rubio, Marriage, and the Supreme Court

The composition of the Supreme Court, in my view, is the major issue of the 2016 presidential election. It’s possible that the next president will nominate between 2 and 4 justices. The conservative-leaning court we have now could, by 2020, lean liberal or be strongly conservative, based on who the next president is. This, ofContinue reading “Marco Rubio, Marriage, and the Supreme Court”

A Brokered Convention and the GOP’s Unforced Error

I don’t know what’s more insane — that the GOP establishment is contemplating schemes to deny Donald Trump the GOP presidential nomination or that they’re talking openly about those schemes eight months before the convention (and before any states have selected delegates to said convention). If this were coming from the media, I wouldn’t beContinue reading “A Brokered Convention and the GOP’s Unforced Error”

War with Jihadists and the Republican Outrage

Friday night, shortly after I got home from work, my mom called me. She wanted to know what was happening in Paris. My sister had called her, and since she was out and away from any news source, she thought I would know. I gave her a quick rundown of what I knew at theContinue reading “War with Jihadists and the Republican Outrage”

Joe Biden’s Window Closes

I admit, I’m disappointed that Joe Biden isn’t running for president. His speech yesterday in the Rose Garden, with his wife Jill to one side and the president to the other, was pure Joe Biden — funny, warm, forceful, and a little bitrandom. His window closed, and maybe it was never open, but I’ll missContinue reading “Joe Biden’s Window Closes”

The Religious Bigotry of Ben Carson, Candidate

Let me state upfront that Ben Carson has disqualified himself to be the next president of the United States with his statement about how a Muslim cannot be president, a statement that prompted Ta-Nahesi Coates to label him a “bigot” in a piece for The Atlantic this morning. But I want to dig down intoContinue reading “The Religious Bigotry of Ben Carson, Candidate”

Jeb Bush and Reckoning with the Iraq War

Now that the Iraq War — and why it happened — has been put back on the radar thanks to Jeb Bush, we need to keep an important fact in mind about how it happened. The whole “if we knew then what we know now” formulation that various Republicans are trying to flaot is besideContinue reading “Jeb Bush and Reckoning with the Iraq War”

The Republican Veneration of the Undead Reagan

Over the weekend, a reporter for CNN asked several actual and potential GOP presidential candidates a simple question — Who is the greatest living president? Let’s look at our choices. Which former presidents are still living? Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush. Who did Bobby Jindal, Ted Cruz, and Donald TrumpContinue reading “The Republican Veneration of the Undead Reagan”

More on Frum and the GOP in 2016

On Saturday, I wrote about a piece David Frum wrote for The Atlantic in whihc he discussed the lessons the can learn from David Cameron and the Tories. I called Frum’s piece “misguided,” as it seems to have been written in complete disregard for who today’s Republican Party is. “It’s as though Frum has neverContinue reading “More on Frum and the GOP in 2016”

David Frum on David Cameron and the GOP

David Frum, the former George W. Bush speechwriter, wrote a piece for The Atlantic about David Cameron’s general election victory and the lessons today’s GOP can take from it. I found the article misguided and unintentionally funny. Frum’s argument is that the GOP needs to make peace with Obamacare, reject politics of racial resentment, pursueContinue reading “David Frum on David Cameron and the GOP”