One fallacy I often encounter during online discussions of presidential election politics is what I’ll tentatively term, “appeal to precedent.” It goes something like this: People who think of themselves as very savvy and knowledgeable about this subject will eye-roll and sigh at predictions of how, say, Jim Webb could topple Hillary Clinton in the… Continue reading Stop Making Predictions About Presidential Politics, Because You Don’t Know What You’re Talking About
Yet another international “crisis” has been sparked by none other than Jeffrey Goldberg, a confirmed fraud whose propagandistic browbeating in favor of the Iraq War should’ve decimated any remnant of journalistic credibility he ever had, but instead further bolstered his influence and stature. Because as we all know, the incentive structures of elite journalism are… Continue reading Jeffrey Goldberg Strikes Again Despite Being A Confirmed Fraud
On November 2, 2012, professional political pundit Michael Barone announced that he was “going out on a limb” to predict that Mitt Romney would win that year’s presidential election by a landslide. Barone didn’t make a prediction that turned out to be incorrect, but might at least be considered reasonable. He “went out on a… Continue reading Why Does Michael Barone Still Have A Job Commenting On Politics
Jonathan Chait, one of America’s foremost trolls, and hence one of America’s most influential political analysts, has written a widely-recommended apologia about football. Chait played as a young man, you see, and can speak from personal experience about football’s virtues. According to Chait, football provides boys with a means by which to channel their masculine… Continue reading Another Brief Note On The Idioicy Of Pro-Football Arguments
MT: I think the major reason I was more appalled by the Democratic Convention was because at least with the Republicans, you know what you’re getting. RN: Oh yeah — everything was scripted, censored. It was like the Commissars were in charge. All the speakers had to be — to use the terrible term —… Continue reading Ralph Nader on Middle East Turmoil, Ron/Rand Paul, Netanyahu, DNC Militarism, and More
There are two general species of conservative who, astonishingly, defended Mitt Romney yesterday — notwithstanding the candidate’s manifestly depraved comments with respect to the attacks on U.S. Diplomatic Posts in Libya and Egypt. The first species: Movement Conservatives, long ideologically-committed to the election of Mitt Romney, and totally untethered to principle. Doubtless Romney himself has made friendly… Continue reading In Time of Crisis, Movement Conservatism Exposes Itself
An under-discussed chilling effect on freedom of journalistic expression is the petty tyranny of media credentialing. It took me approximately five hours yesterday to retrieve my duly-assigned credential for the Democratic National Convention. Partly this was my own fault; journalists were instructed to arrive between 10am and 1pm to get their pass, and I showed… Continue reading I Had To Wait Five Hours To Get My Media Credential At The DNC
A few extraneous items that didn’t make it into my Salon piece on Gingrich’s campaign appearance in Staten Island this past weekend.
Yesterday I stopped by @OccupyNewark for the start of its encampment in Military Park. Police had informed demonstrators that the park’s 9pm curfew was going to be enforced, and that they’d “do whatever they had to do.” It should be noted that curfews are just about never enforced at this park, where homeless and mentally… Continue reading What Happened at Occupy Newark Last Night?
Longtime observers of NYPD tactics at events associated with Occupy Wall Street may recognize TARU officer Ray Rivera. Short for Technical Assistance Response Unit, TARU officers have been present at nearly every major Occupy event, wielding handheld camcorders to document all the action, and Rivera has always been at the fore.