Obama and Hidden Racism

Mike Tomasky believes that, despite the fact that three-quarters of black Americans are middle class and that "[m]ore black and white people go to college together and work together than in probably any other racially mixed society in the world," he thinks we're essentially a segregated society. I haven't been able to find any numbers on this, but here's my educated ...

George Carlin Dies at 71

George Carlin, a comedian known for his combination of raunchy language and intellectual humor, died of heart failure last evening. He was 71. Carlin was an interesting guy, combining brilliant observational humor with political activism. Like too many comics in the HBO era, though, it often seemed that he was vulgar and outrageous simply because he could rather than ...

Males, Females and Religion

The Boston Globe has a story that appears typical of religion in general, not just Judaism: At the Reform movement's seminary, 60 percent of the rabbinical students and 84 percent of those studying to become cantors are female. Girls are outnumbering boys by as much as 2 to 1 among adolescents in youth group programs and summer camps, while women outnumber ...

Age More Important than Race: WaPo-ABC Poll

WaPo fronts a new poll they've commissioned in partnership with ABC News under the headline "3 in 10 Americans Admit to Race Bias Survey Shows Age, Too, May Affect Election Views." While it's somewhat surprising that nearly a third of Americans admit to "at least some feelings of racial prejudice" (30 percent of whites, 34 percent of blacks, ...

Obama Has 15 Point Lead in Newsweek Poll

A Newsweek poll of registered voters shows Barack Obama with a whopping 15-point lead over John McCain, 51 to 36. Newsweek's Michael Hirsh is stoked. Barack finally has his bounce. For weeks many political experts and pollsters have been wondering why the race between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain had stayed so tight, even after the Illinois senator ...

Education Bragging Rights

Is there a statute of limitations on touting college degrees as a measure of achievement? I ask because I've noted quite a bit of chatter about the educational attainments of the presidential candidates and wonder why they matter so much to people all these years later. Barack Obama must be smart, after all he was president of the Harvard Law ...

Obama Loves America — No, Really!

Barack Obama's latest ad spot has him explaining that, no, really, he's an American. And, despite what you might have heard, he likes it here. And he's not a Muslim, either. Here's the video: The transcript: I’m Barack Obama. America is a country of strong families and strong values. My life’s been blessed by both. I was raised by a ...

Tim Russert Dies of Heart Attack

Tim Russert has died of a heart attack at the age of 58. Family members say NBC's Tim Russert has died. They tell The New York Times that Russert died of an apparent heart attack. The host of NBC's "Meet the Press" was 58. Longtime NBC anchor Tom Brokaw has now confirmed Russert's death, in a special report on NBC. Brokaw ...

College For Everyone: A Destructive Myth

A private school professor who is also an adjunct community college English instructor discusses the joys of teaching required composition courses to the latter. Remarkably few of my students can do well in these classes. Students routinely fail; some fail multiple times, and some will never pass, because they cannot write a coherent sentence. In each of my courses, we discuss ...

Caption Contest Winners

The Cash and Kerry Edition OTB Caption ContestTM is now over. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) ✰ THE WINNERS ✰ First(tie): Timmer - Kerry thought bubble: At least it didn't take me 16 months to beat a girl. First(tie): Wyatt Earp - "A lot of Republicans call me a one-trick pony. Well, there's only one horse in this Party ...