Why embracing “Abolish ICE” and Medicare-for-all won’t doom the Democrats.
Outside of truly extreme proposals, there’s basically no plausible position a politician or political party can endorse or enact that will have a meaningful impact on their likelihood of retaking political power. The US has for decades had a stable system where liberal and conservative policy coalitions (which have sorted out under the Democratic and Republican parties, respectively) semi-regularly alternate in power, with long periods of divided rule and gridlock in the middle. Dramatic shifts in the ideological makeup of both parties during that same period did not upset that alternation of power. It continued apace.
Dylan Matthews
31 July 2018
30 July 2018
A simple analogy for understanding Trump’s Putin meeting
Think about what it means to be a vaccine skeptic. There’s no real evidence that vaccines “cause” autism, and there’s an overwhelming scientific consensus that they are vital to preventing the spread of serious diseases. Trump’s argument that vaccines are dangerous is founded in basic ignorance about how effective they’ve been in eradicating diseases, and a misplaced confidence in his own mastery of vaccine science.
Political scientist Matt Glassman sees Trump’s skepticism about NATO in a similar light. There is a huge amount of evidence that the Western alliance has played an important role in deterring conflict on the European continent, much in the same way that vaccines have helped eradicate diseases: War in Western Europe today seems about as unthinkable as a polio outbreak in Manhattan.
Zack Beauchamp
Political scientist Matt Glassman sees Trump’s skepticism about NATO in a similar light. There is a huge amount of evidence that the Western alliance has played an important role in deterring conflict on the European continent, much in the same way that vaccines have helped eradicate diseases: War in Western Europe today seems about as unthinkable as a polio outbreak in Manhattan.
Zack Beauchamp
27 July 2018
It’s Resignation Time
Trump’s performance in Helsinki was a disgrace. Any member of his national security team who sticks with him now is doing a disservice to America.
Fred Kaplan
Fred Kaplan
26 July 2018
What Robert Mueller Knows—and 9 Areas He'll Pursue Next
The special counsel has collected a mountain of evidence in the Trump-Russia investigation, but so far only a tiny amount of it has been revealed in official indictments. Here are nine areas where we should expect answers as the inquiry unfolds.
23 July 2018
Trump’s administration is full of kooks and crooks because it’s led by Donald Trump
It’s party time for grifters in today’s GOP.It’s party time for grifters in today’s GOP.It’s party time for grifters in today’s GOP.It’s party time for grifters in today’s GOP.It’s party time for grifters in today’s GOP.
Matthew Yglesias
Matthew Yglesias
20 July 2018
What Jonathan Chait Gets Right About Trump and Russia
Thirty years of contacts with Russia are hard to dismiss as a series of disconnected events.
Tom Nichols
Tom Nichols
19 July 2018
The Liberal Case for Kavanaugh Is Complete Crap
This tradition may have once made some sense when there was still some fragile agreement about handling Supreme Court nominations in a bipartisan manner. But in the post Merrick Garland era, in which nominations are clearly about pure power politics and little else, a piece like Amar's at worst reeks of the amoral Ivy League clubbiness that still defines the upper reaches of the legal world and at best is simply naive.
Jordan Weissmann
Jordan Weissmann
18 July 2018
“Law and order” politics often undermines the rule of law
“Law and order politics” regularly entails government officials breaking the law. Examples abound: from unconstitutional racial profiling under Joe Arpaio in his time as an Arizona sheriff; to extrajudicial executions of suspected drug abusers under President Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines; to assassination of pro-democracy activists following dictator Augusto Pinochet’s coup in Chile. When individual rights protections stand in the way of policy goals, advocates of “law and order” politics are often more than willing to ignore laws, constitutions, and even the democratic order.
So what is “law and order” politics really about, then? “Law and order politics” is not about the law. Instead, it is all about order.
Amy Erica Smith
So what is “law and order” politics really about, then? “Law and order politics” is not about the law. Instead, it is all about order.
Amy Erica Smith
17 July 2018
16 July 2018
Hey Democrats, Fighting Fair Is for Suckers
Court-packing! Puerto Rican statehood! Votes for felons! Why—and how—the next Democratic majority should play dirty.
Democrats should plan to treat political norms, when and if they’re in charge of a unified government, the way Trump and the Republicans do. They should be readying a program of systematic norm-breaking for partisan advantage—but only if they are willing and able to follow it through to its conclusion.
Rob Goodman
Democrats should plan to treat political norms, when and if they’re in charge of a unified government, the way Trump and the Republicans do. They should be readying a program of systematic norm-breaking for partisan advantage—but only if they are willing and able to follow it through to its conclusion.
Rob Goodman
13 July 2018
Why capitalism won’t survive without socialism
“We think of capitalism as being locked in an ideological battle with socialism, but we never really saw that capitalism might be defeated by its own child — technology.”
Eric Weinstein with Sean Illing
Eric Weinstein with Sean Illing
11 July 2018
10 July 2018
09 July 2018
06 July 2018
Cowards and Traders
Trade wars don't directly kill people. But like real wars, they're often unnecessary, expensive, and stupid. When an unnecessary war goes bad, and the costs pile up, the smart thing to do is pull out. The cynical thing to do is play the patriotism card, telling your citizens that their pain is heroic and that if they don't stand with you, they're traitors. The most cynical thing of all is to prosecute your stupid war, and play the patriotism card, while mocking your predecessor for doing the same.
05 July 2018
White People Are Cowards
Inequality and racism exist not because of evil but because the unaffected majority put their interests above all others, and their inaction allows inequality to flourish. That is why I believe that silence in the presence of injustice is as bad as injustice itself. White people who are quiet about racism might not plant the seed, but their silence is sunlight.
04 July 2018
03 July 2018
02 July 2018
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)