Michael Tomasky's Blog, page 71

Michael Tomasky: Palin and 2012

There's a rundown today in Politico of the GOP 2012 hopefuls' various political donations and expenditures, which leads with the idea that Sarah Palin's activity is eye-catching:

Palin's political action committee raised more money in the second quarter of this year – $866,000 – than it had in any previous three-month stretch since Palin formed the group in January 2009.

The committee, SarahPAC, also spent nearly twice as much – $742,000 – as it had in any previous quarter, the lion's share...

Michael Tomasky: Liberals and despair

First of all, Sarah (wife) and I want to thank all of you for your wonderfully kind wishes and advice last Friday. We (and other family members) read through them all and we were deeply touched. Things are proceeding wonderfully so far, and I'll post a picture from time to time without overdoing it, as I'm fully aware that there are few things in life as boring a parent nattering on about the amazing thing their infant did yesterday when in reality it was something pretty much any infant...

In lieu of the Friday quiz, an introduction | Michael Tomasky

As I intimated on Wednesday, I've been a touch preoccupied this week. Now you see why. Margot Julianna Kerr Tomasky made this troubled world a wee bit brighter at 1:52 on Tuesday afternoon, July 6, checking in at 6 lbs, 2 oz. On the celebrity-birthday front, I was hoping she could wait one more day, so that she would share Ringo's birthday and not George W Bush's, but what the hell: someday far into the future maybe they'll note via asterisk that it was Bush who was born on her birthday.

Michael Tomasky: The Blago trial

Very gossipy, Drudge-bait kind of piece in the Politico this morning about the Blago trial, which is packaged around the idea that the White House is terrified of what might come out next week when Blago's legal team starts calling its witnesses.

If you read the article really carefully, you see that absolutely nothing has changed since December 2008. The article kinda-sorta blurs an important distinction, the blurring of which is crucial to giving oxygen to various speculations and...

Michael Tomasky: The feds and Arizona

The Justice department's lawsuit against Arizona over the new immigration law should be resolved soon, writes Politics Daily's Andrew Cohen, and he thinks it's abundantly clear that the law is on the federals' side:

Apart from appeasing our instant-gratification attention spans, and perhaps saving Arizona's law enforcement community the effort of preparing for work it may never have to do, the good news about this fast track is that [District Judge Susan:] Bolton's quick ruling (and the quick...

Michael Tomasky: The retirement age

There's a big debate coming in the states, like the one going on across the Eurozone, about the retirement age. Right now in the US it's 65, and life expectancy is just above 78.

Life expectancy being quite higher than it was when the retirement age of 65 was settled on - that was the 30s, and life expectancy was around 70 - it seems reasonable to me that we should look at this. Most people in the creative classes work beyond 65 anyway. Of course matters are different if you pluck chickens or ...

Michael Tomasky: Already thinking about 2012 convention

I'm perhaps unusually interested in the question of where the parties are going to hold their conventions. First, I guess it's because I tend to go them, and I'd like them to happen in cities I a) haven't been to and b) am interested in seeing. Last year brought a bonanza for me in both cases, because I'd been to Denver (Dems) and St. Paul (Reps) as a child, and both (counting St. Paul as part of the Minneapolis-St. Paul twin cities metroplex) are among America's nicer urban destinations. It ...

Michael Tomasky: US-Israel reset

First of all, sorry about going dark yesterday. I will offer up the explanation soon.

Now back to the news. It does sound as if Obama and Bibi had a decent meeting yesterday. A world of difference from the earlier one, as the New York Times put it today:

Tuesday's much-publicized meeting in the Oval Office was in stark contrast to the frosty reception Mr. Netanyahu received during his last trip to the White House in March, when Mr. Obama left the prime minister waiting in the Roosevelt Room...

Michael Tomasky: The United States of Wal-Mart

Today's a holiday in the US, so I'm going to head off soon after I write this post to do my best imitation of a mad dog or Englishman, but if you read one news story today about the US read this one, from the NYT;s Stephanie Clifford:

Tired of waiting for spending to rebound on its own, retailers are taking matters into their own hands. Stores like Sam's Club, Target, Toys "R" Us, Staples and Office Depot are offering unconventional promotions meant not only to attract visitors to stores, but...

Michael Tomasky: Patriotism

It's the morning of July 4, and I thought a few reflections on patriotism might be in order.

What does patriotism mean to you? I'm interested not only in how you define it intellectually, but how you feel it emotionally. Do you get goose bumps when you see your country's flag, whether it's the Stars and Stripes or the Union Jack or another?

For me on that point, it depends on the context. If the context is some media-manufactured moment on television, a moment when television is trying to...