Isn’t it telling that the Bush administration wants McCain, Arnold and Giuliani as prime-timers for the convention? They’re the three Republicans least in sync with the Bush administration. McCain is as close to a dissident as you can find. And Arnold keeps Bush at arm’s length. A more representative selection would be: Santorum, DeLay, Ashcroft. And then you see why the Bushies won’t let them hog the limelight. Too much honesty could wreck the campaign.
NO THIRD WAY: Britain’s experiment in keeping marijuana illegal but refusing to police it is making life impossible for the police. How are they supposed to respond when stoners blow smoke in their faces? The answer, of course, is full legalization of what is a far less harmful drug than alcohol.
BORING UPWARD: Kerry’s stealth strategy: to win by default. Again.
FEDERALISM AND MARRIAGE: How can I believe that marriage is a fundamental civil right and yet allow for each state to decide for itself? It’s not an easy balance. But here’s my best shot at explaining the conflict.
BOOKS FOR SUMMER: I’ve been reading two great books these past couple weeks. I’m a little biased because they’re both written by old friends from Oxford days but that doesn’t mean they’re not worth checking out. John Micklethwait’s and Adrian Wooldridge’s “The Right Nation” is a really helpful, crisp, smart look at the conservative movement in America. I have a feeling that the phenomenon is past its peak but the past few decades are still worth remembering in lucid Economist-style prose. Then there’s Niall Ferguson’s latest, “Colossus,” an examination of the necessity and impossibility of American empire. Challenging, smart and essential. Everything Niall writes is.
The Dish 