And it's about to kill him: America's best-known public-opinion guru hasn't suddenly gone vegan. Luntz—the tubby, rumpled guy who runs the focus groups on Fox News after presidential debates, the political consultant and TV fixture whose word has been law in Republican circles since he helped write the 1994 Contract With America—has always been a …
I Do All the Talking, and He Does All the Thinking
Every New Year's Day, I try to get away from the usual run of topics and tackle something of longer-term interest. Last year it was gun control; the only thing that prevented this from becoming a larger player on our political stage was the ineptitude of the administration that wants to expand it. This year's …
Continue reading "I Do All the Talking, and He Does All the Thinking"
The Budget Deal That Really Doesn't Matter
They think it does: “I am very proud to stand here today with Chairman Ryan to say that we have broken through the gridlock,” said Murray, calling the agreement “an important step in helping to heal some of the wounds here in Congress and show we can do something without another crisis around the corner.” …
Continue reading "The Budget Deal That Really Doesn't Matter"
What Happens When You Want a King
You get one and all of the servitude that goes with it: Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. …
When Bad and Really Bad Cut a Deal
A few months ago, when the Iranians elected themselves a new president, I asked an Iranian friend what he thought of the election. His response was simple: the Iranian people had a choice between bad and really bad in the election and chose only bad. Now that the U.S. and others have chosen to cut …
The World Is Not As Flat as They Thought
Would-be White House photographers learn this the hard way: The nation’s largest news organizations lodged a complaint Thursday against the White House for imposing unprecedented limitations on photojournalists covering President Barack Obama, which they say have harmed the public’s ability to monitor its own government. The organizations accuse the White House of banning photojournalists from …
Should Have Nationalised Medicaid to Start With
Barack Obama would do well to take a hint from the "Duck Dynasty" candidate's victory: Medicaid expansion is popular, even if Obamacare isn't. Riser was a Jindal acolyte in the state legislature who saw first-hand the governor's approval rating dip as he opposed the expansion of Medicaid. That's the dilemma Republicans face: As unpopular as …
Continue reading "Should Have Nationalised Medicaid to Start With"
It's Crunch Time in Chattanooga for Same Sex Benefits
I guess it was inevitable sooner or later, but now we're here: last Tuesday, Chattanooga's City Council approved an ordinance to extend employment benefits for the city to domestic partners and not just those joined by civil marriage. As is the case with many unicameral legislatures, it takes two readings to make this official, and …
Continue reading "It's Crunch Time in Chattanooga for Same Sex Benefits"
Camelot Not Quite: My Reflections on JFK, Fifty Years After
This piece is, in some sense, obligatory. Just about everyone alive and out of the crib then remembers where he or she was when they learned that Jack Kennedy had been assassinated in Dallas on 22 November 1963. Although there have been recent potshots at the Boomers’ obsession with the subject, it’s not a bad …
Continue reading "Camelot Not Quite: My Reflections on JFK, Fifty Years After"
Thinking and Living Bureaucratically in America
National Journal's Ron Fournier is sorry: I'm sorry you campaigned for reelection on the famous false promise: "If you like your health care plan, you'll be able to keep your health care plan. Period." I'm sorry your aides debated whether to tell the full truth (that people could keep their insurance only if it hadn't …
Continue reading "Thinking and Living Bureaucratically in America"
Positive Infinity 