Andrew Sullivan's Blog, page 2724

Doth Protest Not Enough?

A reader writes:

One point that keeps getting raised by people who believe Sarah is Trig's mother is that she's not responding because she enjoys using it as another reason to paint herself as a victim.  I think that's possible, but I have serious doubts, mainly because, as far as I can tell, Palin doesn't manifest any particular eagerness to talk about the Trig theory. 

I checked out Going Rogue from the library yesterday and was surprised to find that she only devotes one paragraph - a...

The Estate Tax Debate

Kinsley revives it:

What debate there has been about the estate tax has concentrated on where the line should be drawn between the merely prosperous and the actually rich. The feeling seems to be that only the actual rich should be subject to the estate tax. I think this misunderstands what the estate tax should be about. It is not intended to punish people for having a lot of money. It is intended to raise the money we need to run the government, and to do so as fairly as possible. In 2008...

Race-Grenades

E.D. Kain thinks through the Shirley Sherrod affair:

I'm tired of both sides lobbing these race-grenades. The Tea Party'movement' – whatever that means – is not racist anymore than the NAACPis racist. There are racists in the very fragmented conservativegrassroots movement cobbled together under the title 'Tea Party' justas there are racists in every other big organization. I don't like itwhen cynical political entertainers like Glenn Beck play on this theme.I find it exceptionally...

Mental Health Break

Beatles vs the Rest of the World in this Kleptones mash from Uptime / Downtime - includes Boston, Cypress Hill, Daft Punk, Beasties, Criminal Element Orchestra, Freeez and many many more in this epic extravaganza of a 1,000 dancers by video artists Crumbs Chief.

Can you spot them all?

Daft Punk - Boston - Multimedia - Development Frameworks - Flash

Dissent Of The Day

A reader writes:

You are so quick to pick up any stick to beat Israel with that you may not realize that the concept of rape by deception has found its way into U.S. law, and other Western countries as well. I have a job that does not allow me to spend more that the 30 seconds it took me to find these articles: the first talks about a 2008 proposed Massachusetts statute that would criminalize obtaining consent to sex through by deception, and makes reference to the fact that "rape by...

A Well-Fed Beast; Or The Revenge Of Stockman

Howard Gleckman demonstrates the failure of starve the beast theory, i.e. that the "best way to cut government spending is to cut revenues":

Delinking spending from taxes made all those new programs appear free, thus encouraging more of them. Bill Niskanen, president of the libertarian Cato Institute andformer economic adviser to President Reagan, figured this out yearsago. Bill concluded that if 20 percent of spending is financed bydeficits, people will perceive that government programs cost...

Palin vs The Mosque, Ctd

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10cUnderstanding Real America in Wasillawww.thedailyshow.comDaily Show Full EpisodesPolitical HumorTea Party

A reader writes:

Honestly, I think one thing that is driving me absolutely bonkers aboutthis whole issue is that Palin constantly paints New Yorkers (andeveryone on the eastern seaboard) as not being of "real" America.  Yethere she a) rushes in to defend New York-as-America when she happilythrows the east coast under the bus the rest of...

Yglesias Award Nominee

"The simple reason Andrew Breitbart owes an apology is this: He alone released the edited video - that did not include the rest of Sherrod's story, in which she shows how her original reaction was wrong and how she moved on, and then helped the white farmer as best as she could- thereby indeed saving him from foreclosure and saving his farm. He and his wife have been Sherrod's friends since then. Breitbart now says over and over "They made it about her," as he did on a TV interview. No, HE ma...

The Palin Model, Ctd

The anti-Angle ads will just write themselves won't they?

(Hat tip: TPM)

Hosting - Web Design and Development - Free - Business - Sports Related

Malkin Award Nominee, Ctd

Yglesias gets his hits in:

One gets the sense that Gingrich's reasoning is so weak here because he
actually has no idea why it would make sense to prevent
mosque-construction in Lower Manhattan. He just knows that this has
become a far-right cause celebre and he likes to ride the far-right
wave. If the far-right wants anti-Muslim bigotry, then he'll provide
it. But he's an "ideas guy" so he has to try to think up a reason.

And look who he's following: Palin.

United States - Newt G...