The New Republic

While doing research for a piece, I came across this 1990 gem in the Washington Post: He's a bookworm who looks like Pat Paulsen. His idea of excitement is a long hike in the woods. He does impressions, for God's sake. He wears extremely bad ties. READ MORE >>

People are rushing to denounce Wesley Clark for asking whether McCain's POW experience taught him what he needs to know as Commander-in-Chief. That's fine from a political standpoint, but as a voter, I think this should actually be a legitimate line of inquiry. McCain's POW experience is clearly central to his worldview. We should be asking what lessons he draws from that experience, and whether they're appropriate to managing the current situation our country faces. READ MORE >>

Is Charlie Black right? A few writers are now saying the idea that terrorist attacks help Republicans is merely a social construct. READ MORE >>

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North Korea just blew up the cooling tower on its own Yongbyon reactor, as part of an ongoing dismantlement deal with the United States. This is a momentous step because it's largely irreversible: North Korea will never again be able to kick out inspectors and start reprocessing plutonium in a matter of days, as it did in 2003. READ MORE >>

Sally Quinn, co-founder of the Washington Post's On Faith website and pillar of the Georgetown community, recently wrote about taking Communion at Tim Russert's funeral Mass. The Catholic League took offense and put out this enraged press release: SALLY QUINN'S NARCISSISM READ MORE >>

The near-simultaneous publication of Rick Perlstein's Nixonland and Sean Wilentz's The Age of Reagan has stirred up a lot of controversy among the GOP history set. Basically, the question boils down to, "Is conservatism all Nixon, or all Reagan?" READ MORE >>

There are few things Washington loves more than a tell-all memoir from a former Bush administration official. Purchased en masse, mined for damning quotes, then placed on a shelf, they adorn the city's offices and apartments like so many empty soda cans. But how do all those apostate memoirists stack up against each other? In this week's issue of TNR, Josh Patashnik ranks them (on two axes!) with scientific rigor: READ MORE >>

The more right-wing cronyism changes, it seems, the more it stays the same. Last night's episode of Nightline revealed that the DOJ's juvenile justice office has been awarding massive federal grants--meant to help seriously at-risk children--to a circus of right-wing groups with the "right" connections, abstinence campaigns, and the like. (Video here.) READ MORE >>

While Cass Sunstein is right to caution against groupthink in the President's inner circle, I'd warn against holding up the Reagan administration as an ideal alternative. READ MORE >>