The New Republic

In response to Michelle Cottle’s complaint about Barack Obama’s devotion to golf, Paul Krugman quotes H. L. Mencken’s comment about former Democratic presidential candidate Al Smith: “The Al of today is no longer a politician of the first chop. His association with the rich has apparently wobbled and changed him. He has become a golf player…” READ MORE >>

Barack Obama Has an Idiotic Obsession, and It Is Golf by Michelle Cottle The Amazing Story of How Esperanto Came to Be by Esther Schor READ MORE >>

In response to Ezra Klein's high-profile campaign to encourage an assault on the filibuster, and the invidious development of a de facto 60-vote requirement for passage of legislation in the Senate, the estimable conservative reporter Byron York comes up with a clever but wrong-headed rationalization for past GOP efforts to kill Democratic filibust READ MORE >>

David Levine, who emerged in the '60s as part of the revival of the caricature, passed away today at the age of 83. Back in 1976, TNR profiled the artist. Mary Ann Tighe writes of the Levine style: READ MORE >>

I see various groups are protesting a decision by a California government lawyer to teach a course with you that starts on Jan. 12, claiming he is legitimizing your unethical behavior. At Berkeley, protesting is an everyday activity. I am used to it. I remind myself of West Berlin--West Berlin surrounded by East Germany during the Cold War. READ MORE >>

In his annual Sidney Awards, New York Times columnist David Brooks recognizes the best magazine essays. As he writes, "In an age of zipless, electronic media, the idea is to celebrate (and provide online links to) long-form articles that have narrative drive and social impact." READ MORE >>

At the Atlantic, James Fallows is remembering the passage of a similarly audacious health care program, Medicare, during the 1960s: READ MORE >>

The Year in Foreign Policy: Obama’s Biggest Blunders, Successes, and Strokes of Luck by Michael Crowley Will Health Care Reform Help Republicans at the Polls? Don’t Count on It. by Jonathan Cohn READ MORE >>

The other Jonathan has a great item explaining how implausible it is that Republicans will or could successfully execute Bill Kristol's suggestion that they repeal health care reform. Of course, understanding Kristol's strategic worldview as a coherent whole is always fairly tricky. READ MORE >>

Contributing editor Abbas Milani was asked on to NPR's All Things Considered over the weekend to discuss his recent TNR piece, "The Great Satan Myth." Give the segment a listen; it's fascinating. Here's just a snippet: READ MORE >>