Michael Tomasky's Blog, page 58

Tally-ho | Michael Tomasky

I was interested to read that Blair's greatest regret was the bill banning fox-hunting. Disrespectful of the traditions and mores of the country folk, he said. If he could do it all again, he wouldn't save more human lives, but end more lupine ones. (Wolf, fox, close enough; it's a good line, you'll grant me that eh?)

This got me curious about the state of the chase in my own country, and somewhat to my surprise, business appears to be thriving. Check out the web site of the MFHA, the Masters ...

If FDR had been elected in 1930 | Michael Tomasky

The FT's Martin Wolf poses an interesting hypothetical in this column (dunno about this link, you may have to register), but he fails to answer it fully. The hypothetical goes like this:

Suppose that the US presidential election of 1932 had, in fact, taken place in 1930, at an early stage in the Great Depression. Suppose, too, that Franklin Delano Roosevelt had won then, though not by the landslide of 1932. How different subsequent events might have been. The president might have watched...

Blair and Iraq and the Duelfer report | Michael Tomasky

To justify the Iraq war, why does Tony Blair cite a 2004 report that said we were 'almost all wrong'?

I cede Tony Blair expertise to many others at this newspaper and doff my cap to Brer Kettle for getting the fascinating interview. But I do have two or three cents of my own to toss in here.

One cannot doubt the sincerity of Blair's statements that he has reflected on and shed tears over those who gave their lives in Iraq because of his decisions. When he writes in his book that "I am now...

Obama's Iraq address | Michael Tomasky

Wait. Didn't this war end once before? It did, at least rhetorically. Can you guess the date on which President George W. Bush, crotch protruding before the eyes of the world, declared the end of major combat operations in Iraq?

It was well before they ended, which was today in fact. But I invoke the image not only to chide Bush but to make a point.

Presidents like to announce the ends of wars that can be put, as we say in America, in the W column. But Tuesday night in his prime-time Oval...

Sickening and shameful | Michael Tomasky

There's no other way to put it. What's happening in Murfreesboro, Tennessee is sickening and shameful. TPM:

The Islamic Center of Murfreesboro reportedly received threats in the week before the fire on its property, according to a local TV station, including one that was recorded on voicemail.

News Channel 5 reports that someone called the Islamic center a few days before the fire and left a message saying, in part, "You need to get out of the country now."...

...Saleh Sbenaty, a member of the...

About that Gallup poll | Michael Tomasky

Everyone is in heat about the new Gallup Poll showing the GOP with a 10-point lead in the generic congressional head-to-head, the largest ever, ever being 1942. This is like porn for Politico:

Indeed, the 51 percent to 41 percent edge Republicans have now on the generic ballot poll represents the largest Republican edge heading into a mid-term election since the poll was first conducted in the 1942 election cycle, giving them greater reason for optimism than in the weeks leading up to their...

Iraq, goodbye for now | Michael Tomasky

There's a lot of big-think, big-picture stuff I could be saying about Iraq today, looking back over the whole arc of the thing, but I'll leave that for another time, or leave it to you all to debate among yourselves.

What I wish to raise this morning is this question: what conditions would have to obtain for the US to have to resume combat operations there one day? Because this is the bottom-line question, right?

We have a society there that, as David Brooks catalogued yesterday, is in much...

Am I paid to come up with this? I think not

Obama leaned on the Reps in Congress today to "end the blockade" and support the small-business bill presently a-festerin'. Here's a bill that would have immediate real-world impact, viz this USA Today report:

Small businesses have put hiring, supply buying and real estate expansion on hold as they wait out the vote on a small-business-aid bill that stalled in the Senate earlier this summer.

The much-debated legislation offers tax breaks and waived loan fees. But it also comes with more...

Burn your books (actually, don't) | MIchael Tomasky

A conversation this weekend got me thinking about book-banning in America. This list on amazon.com purports to be of the 20 most challenged and banned books in the US. You can Google around. Other lists seem similar.

I haven't heard of most of these. They're children's books. Numero uno is called Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, which is a trilogy by a fellow called Alvin Schwartz. Its Wikipedia page cites the issues as being its "religious viewpoint and violence as well as for being...

Obama, Beck and America | Michael Tomasky

I was at a dinner once, about four years ago, at which both liberals and conservatives were gathered to discuss questions of American political and civic life. I was giving a short talk on the question of the Democrats and the common good, which was a theme of mine (and still is, albeit sublimated in these days of constant warfare). I was talking about the struggle involved throughout US history in including all Americans in said common good. Hodding Carter picked up my point and spoke about ...