June 2011
106 posts
4 tags
Gay It Forward
While prominent members in the gay-rights movement are careful to say they are pushing on every front possible, the goal is not to win nationwide piecemeal. The movement just needs enough states to sign on before taking the case to the nation, and New York is a huge leap forward. “We don’t need to go to every state; that’s been the history of civil rights,” says Solomon. “You need to win a...
5 tags
“Sometimes I wish my personal overriding cause were gay rights. Then I could get...”
– Bob Kuttner, “Gay Marriage Envy”
“[T]he real news of the press conference, of course, was the economic, financial,...”
– James Fallows, who is the furthest thing in the journalism world from a dick, nails it. And let it please be the last we ever speak of this episode. (via motherjones)
Got ‘em.
6 tags
Demoting David
A Martian who dropped in to visit us could be forgiven for imagining that our nation is ruled from Virginia, while a president supported by a small staff in Washington merely advises the Pentagon on the views of the citizenry. One of the more pragmatic Republican policy wonks I know let his enthusiasm for Petraeus run so far away with him as to write: “The appointment of David Petraeus as CIA...
4 tags
Putting Occam's Razor to DKS's Balls
One other detail that calls Strauss-Kahn’s judgment into question: McCormicks and Schmicks? Really? This place, suggested by a friend for a meeting, was the site of my only mediocre and overpriced meal in New York. And he’s supposed to be the ultimate French cosmopolitan? Maybe this is even exculpatory. A sophisticated diner confusing a chain restaurant with a decent New York...
3 tags
Republicans are tryna get a five-finger discount.
At face value, it sounds like a fair strategy: when the U.S. hits the debt ceiling, we’ll just prioritize which bills to keep paying and which to let fall into arrears. That’s the plan many Republicans have been pushing for when the August 2nd deadline hits. But in addition to being dangerous (markets will not be happy) and unrealistic (creditors won’t be too pleased either), it may not even be...
4 tags
“I’m not going to make news on that today. Good try, though.”
– President Obama on being asked his views on same-sex marriage during today’s press conference. (via joshsternberg)
3 tags
Republican Judge Supports Socialism →
1 tag
Programming Note
Sorry the lack of tumblr’ing today! Your friendly neighborhood tumblr-girl was taking the GREs this morning and had to let her brain de-fry. As a sign of forgiveness, please accept this offering:
4 tags
“Essentially, [Chief Justice] Roberts and the conservative majority he speaks for...”
– E.J. Montini (via azspot)
seashelllz asked: to follow: azspot, crookedindifference, samspratt, fromme-toyou, nedhepburn, salaamamerica, thedailywhat, flyovercountry, utnereader, egoetschius, earlyonsetofnight, epic, hyenabutter, damlo, tapwaterjackson
4 tags
“The problem is that women are literally less valued than men.”
– “Women’s Empowerment” Does Not Lead to Sex-Selective Abortion, in which Adam Serwer refutes Ross Douthat’s column.
1 tag
Tumblr Tuesday
We’re still fairly new to the Tumblr world — and we’ve got some serious FOMO.
Who should we be following?
Do you love the Prospect? Do you like our stories,... →
4 tags
Video Games Protected by the First Amendment
California’s effort to prevent the sale of violent video games to minors produced some of the most amusing oral arguments at the Supreme Court we’ve ever seen, with Justice Samuel Alito poking fun at the originalism of Justice Antonin Scalia by saying, “I think what Justice Scalia wants to know is what James Madison thought about video games. Did he enjoy them?”
...
3 tags
“There is, in other words, reason for optimism, but it will still be a struggle...”
– Scott Lemeiux, “Don’t Bet On It”
4 tags
3 tags
There Are Worse Things Greece Could Do →
Get it? We made a Grease reference.
3 tags
A More Civil Union
When the history of same-sex marriage is written, New York will be but a footnote; it wasn’t first, and it won’t be the last. This is not to say that passing same-sex marriage in New York — the media capital of the country and one of its most populous states — is no big deal. Hundreds of thousands of gay couples in the state will now be able to pursue fulfillment in the...
3 tags
2 tags
When Republicans Say "Bipartisanship," They Mean... →
“I could kiss you in the mouth.”
– Presented without context, Glenn Beck to Rick Santorum. (link)
3 tags
“Yes, Bachmann is a skilled politician who needs to be taken seriously....”
– What We Talk About When We Talk About Michele Bachmann - by Paul Waldman
5 tags
Thou Shalt Not Pollute
It was just three short years ago that most Republicans with Blue State or national ambitions believed we had to address climate change. Today, the list of Republicans who once tried to woo Democrats and Independents just happens to overlap with the list of Republicans who have recently decided—in the face of consistently worsening extreme weather, no less—that climate change isn’t happening...
3 tags
6 tags
Everyday Cheap Justice
What is striking about Antonin Scalia’s opinion for the Court is its willful naïveté. It is difficult, first of all, to ignore the foolish assertion that “left to their own devices most managers in any corporation … would select sex-neutral, performance-based criteria for hiring and promotion that produce no actionable disparity at all.” The idea that discrimination will rarely coexist with...
5 tags
The Real Housemembers of D.C. →
It’s the newest reality show sweeping the nation!! This week, two Housemembers walk out, slam the door and (implicitly) give the Vice President (and the rest of the country) the big F-U.
4 tags
4 tags
Give Us Some Credit
Today, six in ten employers say that they check the credit histories of some or all prospective employees before making final hiring decisions. This traps many jobseekers in what workplace advocate Nat Lippert describes as a devastating catch-22: They can’t attain employment because of poor credit, yet they can’t pay off bills and improve their credit without income from a job.
When...
4 tags
Unprosecuted Felons
But demanding Vargas or other undocumented immigrants who were brought here as children turn themselves in so they can be shoved out of the only home they’ve ever known sets a standard most reasonable people would be unwilling to meet. And when you have laws that reasonable people would be practically incapable of following, you incentivize lawbreaking. That’s a symptom of a deeply...
3 tags
What Obama Didn't Say →
Because everyone else will tell you what he did say.
1 tag
“Bachmann is a religious zealot whose brain is a raging electrical storm of...”
– A Rolling Stone profile of Michele Bachmann.
1 tag
2 tags
“Question: you ever just been fed up? (Reached) a breaking point? You think,...”
– JON STEWART, on the calamitous situation in Greece, where citizens are protesting over austerity measures that would, among other things, deny them “retirement with 80% pay and benefits at age fifty-three,” on The Daily Show. (via inothernews)
4 tags
Another War We Didn't Want
As we’ve seen this year repeatedly, the U.S. government literally ceases operation without regular congressional agreement to pass various appropriations and debt-ceiling increases. Members of Congress with a genuine desire to influence military policy can use their power over money to extract concessions. Similarly, members of congress regularly derail confirmation of executive branch...
What would you like to see?
A quick question for our Tumblr folks - what would you like to see more of? More Prospect stories? More videos/photos? Less reblogging and Fox News bashing? Want us to open the floor for questions? You tell us!
2 tags
"Bus tour?" said Sarah Palin. "What bus tour? I... →
4 tags
My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant →
soupsoup:
In April 2008, I was part of a Post team that won a Pulitzer Prize for the paper’s coverage of the Virginia Tech shootings a year earlier. Lolo died a year earlier, so it was Lola who called me the day of the announcement. The first thing she said was, “Anong mangyari kung malaman nang tao?”
What will happen if people find out?
I couldn’t say anything. After we got off the phone,...
