Andrew Sullivan's Blog, page 2776

The Scripting Of Bristol And Levi

Gail Collins notes the creepiness of the joint statements by the parents of Tripp Johnston:

Johnston also told People that he hoped that the Palins would "forgive my youthful indiscretion." This does not really sound like something that would come from a high-school dropout who gave his son the middle name of Easton because that is his favorite hockey equipment company ... Bristol responded to her ex-boyfriend's statement with one of her own, saying that "part of co-parenting is creating...

Those Dancing IDF Soldiers

It sure was a fun video. But a little context makes it less so. The street in Hebron they were dancing on is restricted to Jewish settlers, who make up just one percent of the town's population. The Palestinians who live on the street cannot leave their homes through the front doors because the Israeli occupiers welded their doors shut in 2000. Here's a video from B-Tselem showing how one woman has to clamber across a rooftop just to leave her house. She also claims she is the object of relen...

Silver vs Zogby

A pollster dust-up.
















John Zogby - Random House - American Dream - United States - Web Design and Development

Obama And Afghanistan: Pragmatism Or Amoralism?

Andy Bacevich pulls no punches:

Obama's supporters were counting on him to bring to the White House
an enlightened moral sensibility: He would govern differently not only
because he was smarter than his predecessor but because he responded to a
different—and truer—inner compass.
Events have demolished such expectations. Today, when they look at
Washington, Americans see a cool, dispassionate, calculating president
whose administration lacks a moral core.

The case for pragmatism...

"Moms Just Know When There's Something Wrong"

A entirely content-free, argument-free, slogan-dominated, identity-politics-driven movement is afoot. Palin is leading it, as her new web ad demonstrates, even as Washington continues to deny that she has any larger political ambitions:

She has now neutralized the main threat to her, Levi. She has already neutralized the terrified press corps, who cannot and will not withstand far right bullying to expose the fraudulence and danger of this populist just-make-shit-up maven. In fact, they're...

If California Legalizes Marijuana ...

Will the price go down?
















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The Policing Of The Discourse

Froomkin was fired for opposing torture a little too passionately; Weigel was forced out because his private emails revealed he was not acceptable to the partisan right; Frum is cut off from conservative blogads funding; Moulitsas is barred from MSNBC for criticizing Joe Scarborough; and Octavia Nasr is fired for offending the pro-Israel lobby over a tweet expressing sadness at the death of a Hezbollah leader. Nasr subsequently elaborated on her tweet in a nuanced piece that ran on...

The Real Afghanistan Debate?

Exum sketches it:

Despite all the anger and emotion in current debates over U.S. and
allied Afghanistan strategy, few are arguing for a complete and rapid
withdrawal. Michael Cohen, one of the current strategy's critics,
linked to several alternate strategies for Afghanistan
on his blog the other day, and none argue for a complete withdrawal.
The real debate, in other words, revolves around how quickly we can
transition to a lighter footprint.

Afghanistan - United States - Asia -...

Taxing The Sugary Stuff? Ctd

Drum isn't convinced by this study:

Even assuming that all the assumptions in the report are correct, all it does is show that our net calorie intake from beverages
would, on average, go down. But if you switch to diet soda, it's pretty
likely that you'll just make up the calories somewhere else. In fact, if this study is correct, it's possible that you might increase your total calorie intake.

Weight loss - Health - Calorie - Diet soda - Shopping

The Daily Wrap

Today on the Dish, the Iranian government was set to stone a woman to death, the Uganda beheading turned out to be a hoax, the Hawaiian governor vetoed civil unions, the Louisiana governor called for guns in churches, and raising the retirement age looked more likely. Andrew and Beinart felt that the president further caved to the Israeli prime minister, Andrew confronted Chait over the gulf between Congress and the American public on Israel, and the US inroads into Arab PR continued to...