Andrew Sullivan's Blog, page 2585

About My Job: The Scientist

by Conor Friedersdorf

A reader writes:

Science is one of the most misunderstood professions in America.  There are several reasons for this:

1. No one really understands the science itself.  Science is hard and unless someone is a dedicated science enthusiast (nerd), they're not going to take the time to understand the subtleties of emerging scientific discoveries. This leads to a lot of sketchy reporting on science by the media (see my favorite comic on this topic) and complete...

A Defense Of Sweatshops

by Patrick Appel

From Benjamin Powell, who is writing a new book, No Sweat: How Sweatshops Improve Lives and Economic Growth:

When workers voluntarily take a job they demonstrate that they believe the job is the best alternative available to them – even when that job is unsafe and the pay is very low compared to wages in the United States. That's why economists with political views as divergent as Paul Krugman and Walter Williams have both written in defense of sweatshops.

Sweatshop jobs are...

Karroubi Under Attack

by Chris Bodenner

One of our Iranian readers alerts us:

They are trying to kill Karroubi tonight. His house is under attack by the government mobs and they have gone from throwing rocks to shooting live ammunition into his house. This is all ahead of his pledge to attend the Palestine rally with Greens tomorrow (Friday).  His wife told the BBC as it was happening that they are coming for our lives.

The footage above is fresh off YouTube (52 views).

YouTube - Government - ...

Dissent Of The Day II

by Chris Bodenner

A reader writes:

It's posts like this that make me depressed about the state of this country.  Not only am I tired of the MSM calling the president weak, I'm sick and tired of people calling him an idiot. That is what Chris Matthews, you, and everyone else complaining about a stupid teleprompter are doing.  Obama took down a room full of Republicans without a teleprompter, he gave debates without a teleprompter, took questions at town halls without a teleprompter, gave...

Why Vitrol Matters

by Patrick Appel

Susan Herbst new book takes a hard look at incivility in politics. Molly Worthen finds a weak link in Herbst's argument:

The real danger—and the real cunning—of "incivility" such as Palin's is that it exempts her from dealing with complicated issues head-on. Her healthcare rhetoric shut down serious debate of the issue before it could begin, and implanted in her followers' minds an immutable image of a threat that does not exist (compounding the already considerable confusion...

What Can We Believe About Palin? Ctd

by Chris Bodenner

Michael Joseph Gross responds to criticism of his Vanity Fair piece:

The worst stuff isn't even in there. I couldn't believe these stories either when I first heard them, and I started this story with a prejudice in her favor. I have a lot in common with this woman. I'm a small-town person, I'm a Christian, I think that a lot of her criticisms of the media actually have something to them. And I think she got a bum ride, but everybody close to her tells the same story. .....

Real America

by Patrick Appel

Will Wilkinson slaps down Jonah Goldberg for defending Glenn Beck:

I guess I don't think it's entirely preposterous for Americans to see themselves as a people. But any conception of the American creed sufficiently general to encompass most widespread American conceptions of individual freedom, equality, tolerance and so on is going to be so general that it will do very little to distinguish American identity from, say, Canadian identity. And that's clearly not what Glenn Beck...

Mental Health Break

by Chris Bodenner

(Hat tip: TDW)

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How Many Defeats Will It Take?

by Patrick Appel

Drum suspects that the Republicans will mellow eventually:

Parties rarely move to the center immediately after a big defeat. Usually it takes two or three before they finally get the message, and on that metric Republicans aren't due for a move to the center until sometime after 2012. As for the tea parties, they're nothing new. We've seen similar conservative movements flower like clockwork during previous Democratic administrations, and they always burn themselves out after...

Don't Move The Mosque; Modify It

by Chris Bodenner

Yossi Klein Halevi, writing to Imam Rauf as a "well-wisher and friend," suggests a solution to the Cordoba controversy:

I believe that you intend to create a center of Islamic moderation near Ground Zero. And it is precisely for that reason that I am turning to you with a plea to reconsider your plans to build the center in its current form. Instead, I urge you to consider turning the site into a center for interfaith encounter. Build the mosque—but do so together with a...