Truman
Are Liberals Too Tough on Obama? Two Views.
Last night I wrote that liberals show too little appreciation for Obama's accomplishments in office. Reader drofnats1 disagrees: READ MORE >>
Cleared With Sidney
When Franklin Roosevelt decided at the end of his third term to dump Henry Wallace as vice president, he of course had to choose someone else to run with him in 1944. He had more or less decided on Harry Truman but felt he needed his choice to be okayed by someone else. He told his aides, “Clear it with Sidney.” And clear it they did. READ MORE >>
What Are Nukes Good For?
The nuclear order seems to be falling apart. Gone is the uneasy balance between the cold war superpowers. We now face a slew of new nuclear actors. North Korea has reprocessed enough plutonium for perhaps ten bombs, in addition to the two it has already tested. Iran’s centrifuge program seems poised to produce weapons-grade uranium. And Syria was apparently constructing a clandestine nuclear facility, before it was destroyed by Israeli air strikes in 2007. READ MORE >>
Lincoln, Lincoln, I've Been Thinkin'
Yesterday I wondered why progressives are supporting a primary challenger against Blanche Lincoln who, after all, voted for health care reform and hails from a very conservative state. Matthew Yglesias replies that the answer is, because they can: READ MORE >>
Kalt's Law Of Presidential Facial Hair
Brian Kalt, a law professor and former college classmate of mine, has developed his own law of presidential facial hair: READ MORE >>
Saying the Hard Thing on the Public Option
Harold Pollack is the Helen Ross Professor of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago and a Special Correspondent for The Treatment. READ MORE >>
A Lonely Kind of Courage
Would Obama Have Nuked Japan?
At a press conference in Tokyo today, a Japanese reporter asked Obama whether Harry Truman made "the right decision" to drop nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Obama dodged the question (easy to do because it was a multi-parter. Note to reporters: Multi-part questions usually ensure non-answers to the toughest bits). I wonder what he really thinks. It seems likely that, like the overwhelming majority of Americans, Obama thinks the bombs had to be used. READ MORE >>
