The Plank
What Did We Do To Deserve Quentin Tarantino?
A small TNR contigent spent Friday night at the movies. Specifically, we went to see the new Quentin Tarantino flick, Inglorious Basterds. I think I can speak for my colleagues when I say that despite some good writing and fine acting, the film is one of the most morally repulsive movies of the past decade. While that debate can wait for another day, I did want to comment on Quentin Tarantino's appearance on Charlie Rose the same evening. READ MORE >>
The Schiavo Saga and "Death Panels"
At HuffPo today, Sam Stein explores an irony that I've also been thinking about: many of the very conservatives who are ventilating claims that health care reform will interject the federal government into end-of-life decisions--with or without "death panels"--were hell-bent on Congress dictating an end-of-life decision in the infamous Terri Schiavo case in 2005: READ MORE >>
From the Son of a Millworker . . .
. . . to the husband of a furniture-store owner. I'm not quite sure why, but this local TV news report on the opening of Elizabeth Edwards's new furniture store in Chapel Hill left me very depressed. READ MORE >>
Is Obama Over?
How Not To Write About Culture
From a new review of three Woodstock books in The Weekly Standard, courtesy of the endlessly charming P.J. O'Rourke: No social phenomenon can be completely analyzed, thoroughly critiqued, and given its full philosophical due in just one word. Except Woodstock. Altamont. READ MORE >>
About That Krugman Piece
From Paul Krugman's column today, which is about the left losing faith in Obama: And then there’s the matter of the banks. READ MORE >>
Independents' Cock-Eyed Optimism
This bit from The Note about Obama's health care struggles caught my eye: Can partisan war make it work? "There's also a limit to how effective this strategy can be," ABC's George Stephanopoulos reported on "Good Morning America" Friday. "Independents liked Obama because they thought he was going to break this partisan gridlock -- not intensify it." READ MORE >>
The Art of Reinvention
Ever wonder what happened to NYT plagiarist/fabulist Jayson Blair? Turns out he moved back home to the Northern Virginia suburbs where he now works as a life coach. READ MORE >>
Frances Townsend, Mind Reader
Frances Townsend, the former Homeland Security Adivser to the Bush administration, took to the airwaves this morning to dispute Tom Ridge's claim that some administration officials wanted to raise the terrorism threat level before the 2004 election for political reasons. READ MORE >>
