Comes from that wise bird, Tyler Cowen: 11. If someone is pushing conclusions and not identifying the potential weak points in his or her arguments, be suspicious. Also beware of anyone pretending to offer you simple answers. He’s referring to the current finanical crisis, but of course this is broadly true of any public policy
Dedication. Humanity. Good Sense. Fine virtues all. But enough to win an election? Jimmy Carter hopes so in 1980. But, dash it, there’s something a little forlorn about this ad:
Ben Brogan suspects the financial crisis is an advantage for Gordon Brown. Perhaps it is. In the short-term. Make that in the very short-term. But in the medium to long-term it’s another millstone dragging him to the bottom. Danny Finkelstein is, I believe, correct: This election will not be fought in the middle of a
Radley Balko is right. If this story isn’t the sort of cheery goodness you’ve been craving in these troubling, turbulent times then, well, what the hell’s wrong with you? It’s the sort of tale that restores your faith in the power of free enterprise and, frankly, the United States of America. To wit: State attorneys
This time we’re going back to 1956 and this short, but to the point, Adlai Stevenson advert. More than anything else, it reminds one of how long Richard Nixon was at the centre of affairs. He’s the dominant political personality between FDR and Reagan. Nixonland indeed.
I really don’t know enough to tell whether it was a good thing that the bailout plan failed yesterday or not. Mebbes aye, mebbes naw as a great man was fond of putting it. But the absurdity of a dozen Republicans changing their votes because wee Nancy Pelosi was mean about their daddy can only
I wish they still made ads like this one for Gerald Ford in 1976. Check out the jaunty music and the fab 70s kitsch of it all. Not a bad message either.
Notice what’s missing from this Guardian scoop? A third runway at Heathrow airport would be scrapped by a Tory government that would instead build a £20bn TGV-style high speed rail link between London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds. In one of David Cameron’s boldest moves on the environment, the party will today unveil plans to cut
Via, Mr Eugenides, I see that, despite what you may think, it’s not all doom and gloom. Just occasionally good and wholesome news slips through the clouds, spreading sweetness and sunshine all around: Every person flying into Britain will be offered a free cup of tea and a biscuit in an ambitious, if eccentric, plan
Well, here we go again campers. And this time it might even matter, though without the presence of Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul, Tom Tancredo, Dennis Kucinich, John Edwards and Joe Biden it’s not likely to be as much fun – ie, witless – as the primary debate season. Competence kills these things. So
So who won? And does it matter? Only up to a point. John Kerry won the first of his debates with George W Bush and won it handsomely. That is to say, he won in conventional terms, demonstrating a keener grasp of the issues and, indeed, the complexities of being President. But in another, perhaps
The contrast between this jaunty, jolly ad and what we know of Richard Nixon’s character and temperament is quite striking. “Nixon Now”, from 1972, is mesmerising. Amazing stuff.
The Yorkshire Ranter explains why this matters and why we should all be grateful to this Soviet Air Force colonel.
Well, yesterday actually. Sheep graze under an oak tree at twilight. Looking east towards Selkirk.
No-one ever accused LBJ of being a soft touch. This ad, “Confessions of a Republican” from 1964 is brutal. And brilliant. Four hideous minutes for Barry Goldwater. Yet it still seems almost quanit, viewed from the perspective of 2008. Of course, it also assumes the voters have an attention span of more than 12 seconds.
Norm has the details, of course: Why do you blog? > To lay bare the economic law of motion of modern society. (1) What has been your best blogging experience? > Have just finished correcting the last sheet (49th) of the book [Volume I of Capital]… So, this volume is finished. I owe it to
So, no deal in Washington. NYT account here; WaPo here. Politico’s story contains this detail that, unsurprisingly, has been making waves: According to one GOP lawmaker, some House Republicans are saying privately that they’d rather “let the markets crash” than sign on to a massive bailout. “For the sake of the altar of the free
Some additions to the blogroll. So, welcome to: Charles Crawford’s Blogoir SNP Tactical Voting Scottish Unionist Ta-Nehisi Coates John Schwenkler The Confabulum Deep Glamour Tom Harris MP
Sure, his conference speech tried to meld elements from both the McCain and Obama campaigns, but the Prime Minister’s micro-management and control-freakery is more reminiscent of the poor old Georgian peanut farmer. Consider this telling anecdote from Martin Kettle’s column in the Guardian today: And then there’s the dysfunctionality in Downing Street itself. The briefing
Amusing comment left on this post that dared to observe that Sarah Palin’s interview with Katie Couric was less than wholly impressive: what do you know. english marxist hates palin. she did better than biden. Well, it’s a point of view. What’s more interesting is the question why Palin has been so poor. The easy