Andrew Sullivan's Blog, page 2798

The "Easy" Social Security Fix, Ctd

Drum's counterpoint:

Contra Megan's headline ("No Easy Way To Fix Social Security"), Social Security is a pretty easy problem to address, and the reason it's easy is that you don'thave to limit yourself to a single big solution. In fact, SocialSecurity reform practically cries out for a basket of small, almostimperceptible changes. You could, for example, partially uncap thepayroll tax or change the tax rate slightly (or a combination of thetwo); gradually increase the retirement age to 68...

Collapsible Thinking

Rob Tisinai vents:

There are plenty of reasons to ban adult/child marriage, reasonsthat have nothing to do with same-sex marriage, reasons that havenothing to do with tradition. I imagine our opponents would agree with those reasons.  But theyconveniently forget them when they claim that altering a traditionmeans anything goes.  And I have to wonder — again —if the case against marriage equality is so strong, why must theyresort to arguments that collapse into repellent chaos with a...

The Daily Wrap

Today on the Dish, Kagan yucked it up with Senators, punted on the Twilight question, and went back on her word. The British government moved on torture, a new study proved that the NYT rarely used the term with the US, and the first hurricane seemed to do some good in the Gulf. Andrew challenged Breitbart on his offer to pay $100K for Journolist.

Prop 8 update here. Drug War coverage here and here, and police state watch here. A reader didn't buy the Palin clone's shtick. More on Palin here ...

The Twilight Litmus Test

DiA one of the dullest confirmation hearings in recent memory (as evidenced by Al Franken's "note taking"):

The public knew littleabout Ms Kagan prior to this week's hearings, and they've learnedlittle new about her during her three days of testimony, at least whenit comes to how she might act as a justice. The hearings have proceededin what has become a predictable fashion. Ms Kagan, a former lawprofessor, has proved to be quick-witted, delivering the most fluidperformance by a...

An Awesomely Bad Sentence

The Bulwer-Lytton award is given annually for the worst first sentence of a novel. Contestants craft deliberately bad opening lines. Molly Ringle took the 2010 prize with this gem:

For the first month of Ricardo and Felicity's affair, they greeted one
another at every stolen rendezvous with a kiss — a lengthy, ravenous
kiss, Ricardo lapping and sucking at Felicity's mouth as if she were a
giant cage-mounted water bottle and he were the world's thirstiest
gerbil.

Edward...

Debating Porn: Where's The Evidence?

A reader writes:

Regarding your post about porn and whether or not it's destroying sexuality, I'm calling bullshit. This entire argument seems ridiculously tired to me. First, these books describing the crisis of sexuality in America often rely on one-on-one interviews with very little qualitative data. I've yet to see any serious studies showing that men or women are enjoying sex less, are less satisfied with their partners, etc. The interview with Gail Dines is one anecdote after another...

Rubber Rooms, Good Riddance

Gene Demby the closing of NYC's holding pens for unfireable teachers unfit to teach. Suspended teachers will now be "reassigned to the city's department of education offices, where they'll work until their cases are resolved":

Designating teachers asunfireable means any serious conversation about good and bad teachers-- of what they look like -- is essentially tabled. The end result isthat the nation's largest public school system essentially gradesall of its teachers "competent,...

Why Does Trig Matter? Ctd

A reader writes:

I am a physician and absolutely do not believe the Palinaccount of Trig's delivery story. But I am also a woman, and your shockthat if she would lie about this is simply a man's perspective. Womenlie about pregnancy/birth/parentage all the time. Women withhold thetruth when they get abortions and don't tell the potential father.Women have babies and lie about who the father really is even when theyknow. So what seems like a terrible lie to you doesn't even come closeto lies...

Quote For The Day IV

"The problem with COIN is not that it can be done better or
worse. Of course their are methods and strategies that are sometimes
successful. The problem is that the very idea of COIN inclines policy
makers to get involved in stretched versions of the national interest
that require astronomical levels of resources to even have a CHANCE at
succeeding," - a commenter at Exum's joint.
















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Face Of The Day

Two Tasmanian Devils eat fresh meat placed inside a fake dead kangaroo designed to look like road kill at Taronga Zoo's new
Tasmanian Devil Breeding Centre in Sydney on June 30, 2010. The centre
will play an important role in helping to save the world's largest
remaining carnivorous marsupial. By Greg Wood/AFP/Getty Images.

Sydney - Taronga Zoo - Tasmanian Devil - Australia - Marsupial