The New Republic

by Cass SunsteinIn the aftermath of the disclosure of the terrorist plot in London, many people have been calling for a complete ban on carry-on luggage. For those who want such a ban, it is one way to ensure that Americans are "safe." The editorial writers at The New York Times proclaim, "the surest way to keep dangerous materials out of the cabin is to keep virtually all materials out of the cabin." READ MORE >>

by Bill Stuntz I suspect the kind of cost-benefit analysis Cass suggests would yield the conclusion that banning carry-on luggage is a bad deal: too much cost for too little benefit. It seems interesting to me that such a move would have any significant public support. Does it? If so, I think it's an example of a larger pattern in the law and politics of law enforcement generally: we are surprisingly (to me anyway) tolerant of large READ MORE >>

by John McWhorterRevisiting the topic of series on HBO, my wife and I have been mesmerized by the first three seasons of "The Wire." The show chronicles Baltimore detectives' pursuit of criminals with a richness of detail and nuance that makes the show very much a filmed novel. READ MORE >>

by Sanford LevinsonAn article in today's Washington Post, is tellingly titled "In a Pivotal Year, GOP Plans to Get Personal: Millions to Go to Digging Up Dirt on Democrats." The gist of the article is that Republicans expect to spend millions in highly negative ads for the duration of the campaign, correctly realizing that it would be impossible to win the mid-term elections on the issues and believing, perhaps correctly, that their best chanc READ MORE >>

Joseph C. Wilson and Valerie Plame were one of those Washington couples whose careers had ended on the lower-middle rungs. Of course, this judgment depends on what you call "lower-middle." OK, Wilson did end his State Department career as an ambassador, with the "your excellency" stuff and all that. But his last posting was as envoy to Sao Tome and Principe, two small volcanic islands situated in the equatorial Atlantic, consisting of 386 square miles and populated by 160,000 people. This republic has no yellowcake. It surely is one of those designated diplomatic hardship spots. READ MORE >>

Mike Crowley's September 8 posting on The Plank calls attention to the Republican habit of calling the Democratic Party the "Democrat Party" ... or warning about a "Democrat Congress" or, even worse yet, a "Democrat president." But this tick was a custom that went into disuse for nearly 50 years. Its origins, however, are interesting and were toxic. READ MORE >>

by David Greenberg READ MORE >>

by David A. BellI can't agree enough with David's excellent point about second-guessing the actions of both the Clinton and Bush administrations before 9/11. It is certainly bad history to project our own hyper-sensitivity to threats of terrorism back into the pre-9/11 era. I would add that the ABC docudrama, like so much commentary on the subject of terrorist threats, also seems to rest on a basic misunderstanding of how intelligence gathering works. READ MORE >>

by David GreenbergIn the Times today, Sheryl Gay Stolberg makes an outrageous accusation that somehow slipped by her editors: READ MORE >>

by Jacob T. LevyIsaac Chotiner, over at our sister blog The Plank, notes: READ MORE >>