US Political Columnists

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Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:08:00 GMT

Who You Calling Illegitimate?

I was pretty shocked by this new poll that found that 52 percent of Republican voters think ACORN stole the 2008 presidential election for Obama. I wanted to get some perspective, though, so I looked for polls that assessed voters' feelings about the
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:08:00 GMT

Karzai 1, Holbrooke 0

Holbrooke in that WashPost on Obama's 'reset' with Karzai that Jason ? Note this: 'We've been treating Karzai like [Slobodan] Milosevic,' a senior official said, referring to the former Bosnian Serb leader whom Holbrooke pressured into accepting a peace
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:08:00 GMT

The Final Descent Of John McCain

McCain promises, Obama told his staff, if he wins, hes not going to do anything about it. At the time it struck me as perhaps a bit unfair--McCain had demonstrated what seemed to be genuine understanding of and passion for the issue. But its pretty clear
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:07:00 GMT

Andy Borowitz: Lieberman Exploring New Ways to Be a Dick

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report) - As the healthcare reform bill makes its way through the U.S. Senate, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) said today that he was "actively exploring" new ways to be as big a dick as humanly possible. For Sen. Lieberman,
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:23:00 GMT

Radio Day

TNR’s Seyward Darby, who indexed Going Rogue for us earlier this week, is going to be talking Sarah Palin with Brian Lehrer this morning at 11:40. It’s 93.9 on the dial if you live in New York. If you don’t, check it out here.
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:19:00 GMT

Oprah Packs Up Her Toys

It's all over the news today that Oprah Winfrey will end her syndicated talk show in 2011, after 25 seasons. No need for women--or the book publishing industry--to panic. The assumption is that Oprah will move some version of her gab fest to her
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:17:00 GMT

Views From the Iranian Opposition

As Obama ratchets up the rhetoric against a dithering (heh) Iran, an opposition leader offers this advice: The international spokesman for Iran's main opposition movement called for President Barack Obama to increase his public support for Iranian
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:17:00 GMT

A Devil of a Job for Democrats

(White House/Pete Souza) Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will win his motion to proceed on a health-care reform package that should shave $127 billion off the federal budget deficit over the next decade -- the legislation will come to the floor of the
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:36:00 GMT

Is It Time for Malpractice Reform?

Year after year, Republicans try to pass legislation that would limit medical malpractice awards. Fix the tort system, they argue, and we fix rising health-care costs. And year after year, Democrats resist placing arbitrary caps on awards to people who
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:35:00 GMT

A respectfully respectful greeting in Japan

There was much media chatter about President Obama's deep bow to Emperor Akihito in Japan over the weekend. Critics, especially the overwrought on the Web, even likened it to treason. But the real problem was not the bow. People in Japan bow all the time
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:36:00 GMT

What Geithner Got Right

Timothy F. Geithner, like others on the White House economic team, is pragmatic and responds flexibly to situations, and that approach has paid off during the economic crisis.
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:55:00 GMT

Today At TNR (November 20, 2009)

A Suggestion for Obama in 2014: End the Drug War , by John McWhorter Werner Herzog’s ‘Bad Lieutenant’: Making a Schlocky Movie This Good Is Harder Than it Looks , by Christopher Orr How Can We Start Rebuilding America? Let’s Start With This
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:14:00 GMT

Huff TV: Arianna On Olbermann: Glenn Beck Is "Morally Liable" For His Words "If Violence Ensues From What He Says" (VIDEO)

Arianna Huffington went on MSNBC's Countdown to discuss a new report from the Anti-Defamation League on anti-government rage, that calls Glenn Beck the "Fearmonger-in-Chief." The...
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:57:00 GMT

Travesty in New York

And now its self-proclaimed architect, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, has been given by the Obama administration a civilian trial in New York. Just as the memory fades, 9/11 has been granted a second life -- and KSM, a second act: '9/11, The Director's Cut,'
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:36:00 GMT

Israel Talking With Hamas?

In an interview, Abbas says they're discussing a Palestinian state with temporary borders. Hamas is denying it. But if the talks were secret, that's to be expected. The claim comes, perhaps not coincidentally, a few days after a senior Israeli general
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:10:00 GMT

Going Rogue?

Going Rogue,' grouping the event in with Lieberman's threat to filibuster the health care bill if it includes a public option, announcement that he would campaign for Republican candidates in 2010, and his intention to use the Committee to investigate
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:10:00 GMT

Rudy Don't Wanna Run Nothing But His Mouth

Just to follow up on Crowley's post, now that Giuliani's abandoned Senate and Gubernatorial runs, I think it's past time that we repurposed Marion Barry's old line about Jesse Jackson. Update: Oops, looks like I channeled my inner-Marion Barry too soon.
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:10:00 GMT

Just When You tought It Was Safe to Go Back to the Multiplex

No, it's not another Michael Bay movie, but rather a new report from the Center for Science in the Public Interest on the (anti)nutritional content of movie theater popcorn: Regal medium popcorn -- 20 cups -- contains 1,200 calories, 60 grams of
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:40:00 GMT

Giuliani Not Running for NY Governor

For an explanation of what the whole Rudy boomlet may have been about, check out the piece I wrote about Giuliani for New York magazine last month. The Times story linked here mentions recent talk that Rudy could challenge incumbent Democratic Senator
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:29:00 GMT

Barack Obama and Foreign Policy by Biography

The Washington Post writes today about the limits of Obama's biography in foreign policy. The paper's story notes that Obama talked extensively about his biography and personal experiences in Asia, then asks: But is his biography-as-diplomacy approach
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:38:00 GMT

Another Hasan Problem

Putting aside the whole was-he-a-terrorist debate, there's another troubling question about Nidal Hasan: namely, how did he manage to keep his job as an Army psychiatrist? This NPR report, about a memo written by a psychiatrist supervising Hasan's
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:38:00 GMT

Obama in Seoul: My Problem with Foreign News

Problem With Foreign News The New Republic How Democrats Could Insert a Little Theater Into the Debate Senior Editor November 19, 2009 9:37 am Related Articles More From this Author I used to be the foreign editor of In These in . I didnt particularly
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:38:00 GMT

Arianna Huffington: HuffPost Game Changers: Your Picks for the Ultimate 10

Three months ago, we asked for your help in picking the HuffPost Game Changers -- 100 innovators, visionaries, and leaders who are harnessing the power of new media to reshape their fields and change the world. You responded with a host of great
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:13:00 GMT

The Breast Brouhaha

Describing the last 10 years as the Terror Era sounds too much like a downer. How about the Decade of Medical Backtracking? Member ID orE-Mail Address: Password: Remember me on this computer.
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:44:00 GMT

Today at TNR (November 19, 2009)

Washington Diarist: Obama Has No ‘Magic’ Overseas by Leon Wieseltier Why We Need a Federal Agency That Actually Protects Consumers by Martha Coakley and Elizabeth Warren Five Ways the Recession Has Turned Immigration Upside-Down (#1: Mexicans Are
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:24:00 GMT

The Most Frustrating Body

WASHINGTON--Normal human beings--let's call them real Americans--cannot understand why, 10 months after President Obama's inauguration, Congress is still tied down in a procedural torture chamber trying to pass the health care bill Obama promised in his
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:25:00 GMT

Sarah Palin and the conservative descent

The 19th century American writer Henry Adams said the descent of American presidents from George Washington to Ulysses S. Grant was enough to discredit the theory of evolution. The same could be said of the pantheon of conservative political heroes,
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:12:00 GMT

The GOP's no-exit strategy

Last year, the voters gave him the largest popular-vote margin won by a presidential candidate in 20 years. They gave Democrats their largest Senate majority since 1976 and their largest House majority since 1992. Obama didn't just offer bromides about
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:34:00 GMT

George F. Will on health reform's constitutional problems

In 2006, long before there was an Obama administration determined to impose a command-and-control federal health-care system, a young orthopedic surgeon walked into the Goldwater Institute here with an idea. The institute, America's most potent advocate
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:29:00 GMT

Obama's China Quandary

I haven't said much about Obama's China visit trip, in part because I'm no expert on Sino-American policy. But what Peter Beinart says here rings quite true for me: So it’s all well and good for the Obama administration to pay more attention to China.
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:27:00 GMT