Americans Too Free?
While I'm socially conservative on most issues, I'm by no stretch a Social Conservative. Yet I agree with Rod Dreher's rebuttal to those who argue that the salvation of the Republican Party will come from expelling the Religious Right: John McCain didn't get his clock cleaned because of his ardent advocacy for unborn life or his stout defense of traditional ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on December 2, 2008 11:59
Wire Politics
Jonah Goldberg argues that conservatives should have embraced "The Wire" more than we did. This is a Democratic city, run almost uniformly by liberals. While many of the problems most prominently on display can certainly be traced back to racism, racism itself is not a central issue in The Wire (nor is racism an inherently or historically conservative phenomena). These drug ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on December 1, 2008 14:20
Conservative Policy Solutions
Kevin Drum seconds my concerns about conservative public intellectuals and offers two example where the Right isn't offering useful policy alternatives. Conservatives on Global Warming Take global warming. Here's the rough conservative reaction to it starting in the early 90s: It doesn't exist. It exists but it isn't manmade. It's manmade, but it's too expensive to do anything about. Even this is a generous assessment. ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 24, 2008 15:44
Brit Happy Hour Ban
It seems our cousins across the Pond are considering drastic action: Britain is considering a ban on "happy hour" discounts at bars and restaurants to curb drinking, a spokesman said Saturday, as health advocates warned that a rise in liver-related deaths among young people may signal a future epidemic. Health officials will decide on whether to ban the happy hours — designated ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 24, 2008 14:42
Right Needs New Public Intellectuals
In Saturday's post "Talk Radio Killed Conservativism?" I observed parenthetically that "most of the best analytical blogs are on the center-left" and promised to elaborate. It's something that has struck me for quite some time (see, for example, February's "Rational Conservative Blogs") and that was brought to mind again with two links at Matt Yglesias' place Thursday. BRIGHT YOUNG BLOGGERS First, an ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 24, 2008 09:10
Obama Targeted Federal Workers
Then-candidate Barack Obama sent letters to federal employees promising them big gains if he got elected, Carol Leonnig writes in a front page story in today's WaPo. The letters, sent to employees at seven agencies, describe Obama's intention to scale back on contracts to private firms doing government work, to remove censorship from scientific research, and to champion tougher industry regulation ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 17, 2008 11:55
Obama Job Seeker Vetting Process
John McCain has caught quite a bit of flak for his rather cursory vetting process for his vice presidential selection. Barack Obama is going to the other extreme, requiring applicants for even low level appointments in his administration to fill out a seven page, 63 question document covering every conceivable base. The questionnaire includes 63 requests for personal and professional records, ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 13, 2008 07:58
Not Buying Troubled Assets After All
Remember that emergency bailout, wherein the world would come to a complete halt if the government didn't buy up all the bad loans? Hank Paulson says "Never mind." [caption id="attachment_27369" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, AP/YahooNews Photo"][/caption] Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson says that the $700 billion government rescue program will not be used to purchase troubled assets as originally planned. Paulson ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 12, 2008 10:55
Taking Separation of Powers Seriously
Glenn Greenwald, reacting to reports that Barack Obama has told Harry Reid that Joe Lieberman should not be stripped of his committee chairmanship and thus making it very difficult for him to do so, has written a long and passionate plea for a return to vigorous separation of powers with strong institutional jealousies. [W]hatever the outcome here is, it's vital that ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 11, 2008 15:12
Republican Party’s Future
My Palin Derangement Syndrome post got a number of thoughtful responses, especially for a weekend post. My fellow Jacksonville State alumnus Stacy McCain, a Palin fan, thinks the internal debate on her role in last week's defeat and her future as a Republican Party standard bearer is one we should have. He objects strenuously, though, to the tone of some of ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 10, 2008 07:15
