Month: October 2010

William F. Buckley Jr, a believer in legalization, would be happy. Rob Kampia:

[B]efore a single vote tally is reported, it should be noted that — regardless of any results next week — 2010 might already go down in history as a major turning point in the government’s failed war on marijuana. It was the year when marijuana prohibition became ingrained as a topic of mainstream public discourse, when political strategists first openly encouraged both major parties to embrace marijuana voters, and when – without much national notice or outrage – a Western state (not California) began to enact the first widespread system of legal, licensed, and regulated marijuana stores anywhere in the nation.

The unprecedented levels of mainstream media coverage generated by Prop. 19 and other marijuana issues cannot be overlooked. When virtually every TV news outlet and major print or online publication in the country gives prominent coverage to marijuana policy, it compels millions of Americans to think seriously about this issue for perhaps the first time in their lives. People who for years may have thought regulating marijuana was a “fringe” idea unlikely to ever come to fruition will inevitably reconsider as they see mothers, former police officers, and a former U.S. surgeon general renouncing our current policies live on television.

A search for a single mention of Prop 19 in today's National Review found only this measured piece by Reihan, one of our most illustrious Dish alums. Buckley's days truly are over at his magazine, aren't they?

More class and cultural warfare from the GOP.

A small cultural moment as a Texas baseball reporter broadcasts back to his studio. The reaction in Texas is remarkable for its tolerance as well.

Yglesias looks at the bright side:

[F]rom a social point of view, the fact that the lawyers’ cartel has failed to erect giant barriers to entry is a good thing. Falling real wages for lawyers is an egalitarian, pro-growth measure. And lawyers still earn above-average incomes—it’s not like people are being forced into penury. These are trends that are making legal services more affordable for productive businesses and improving the quality of legal talent the public sector is able to attract without adding to taxpayers’ burden. 

Paul Salopek calls landmines a war crime. Tom Ricks admits that landmines "are awful little things" and that especially "evil are the simple little ones, no bigger than a can of tuna fish, [that] last for decades, and blow up kids, dogs, sheep and photographers." But he still thinks they have their uses:

[W]hy do I have even one good word to say about land mines? Because those that are built to self-destruct after a set period — say six months — can still be useful. For example, if Pakistan descended into total chaos, it might be a very good idea to air-drop land mines around the bunkers holding its nuclear warheads, just to keep them from falling into terrorist hands while the situation is sorted out. Considering that the alternative could be a nuclear 9/11, in New York, Bombay, Madrid, Paris, or London, suddenly land mines don't seem so bad. This is of course an extreme situation, but it tells me there are some instances where an argument can be made for certain kinds of land mines. 

Today on the Dish, Andrew parsed the NYT poll on the sometimes schizophrenic opinion of voters. He also picked apart Obama's waxing and waning support for marriage equality, went another round in debating Israel-Palestine, and chastised the NYT on their double standard for torture. Andrew opened up about coming out and the remarkable Dan Choi recounted how he met his partner.

Mike Pence pledged "no compromise" with the Democrats and an ad supporting Angle's campaign proclaimed "us vs them." Chait explained the endless loop of spending and tax cuts for Republicans. Justin Wolfer hedged his bets against everyone else's bets, while admitting no one would remember either way. Rove waged war on Palin, who may have waged war on herself in her own backyard with Miller in Alaska. Obama was still the least unpopular of the Republican frontrunners, Joe Miller Halloweened Murkowski, and we tracked Sabato and Silver on the horserace here and here.

Bernstein proposed that Fox News is part of the Republican party, and readers responded to Andrew on whether liberals should appear on the channel at all. Tea Party members were not fans of Islam, according to one of their founders. Yglesias defined climate hawks, terrorists could turn to cyber offense, and Mark Lynch feared open war talks with Iran. Megan looked at a future without Warren Buffet, and Prop 19 got a polling reality check just as the national numbers were improving.

Dyed beards can be sexy, readers didn't want to do away with snow days, and a country singer serenaded weed. Ben Goldacre informed us on how we read newspapers wrong, Kevin Costner outperformed Captain Hindsight, and Annie Lowry asked if there were too many lawyers. MHB here, FOTD here, email of the day here, quote for the day here, Malkin award here, VFYW here, and GIF fun here.

–Z.P.

From a Sharron Angle flyer (via the Reid campaign):

Priapic graphs. So sue me.

A reader writes:

This is a terrible idea.  I cannot remember a single snow day that did not come with at least the threat of a power outage, as snow laden trees took out the power lines leading to my semi-rural house.  And if your Internet comes via satellite, good luck getting reception when the snow is coming down.  Not to mention having a sister with whom I would have had to share my family's only computer; who would have gotten computer priority and gotten to be "present" at school?

Plus, I can't remember anything better in childhood than the games of tackle football made gentle by piles of snow limiting our running speed, and the sheer joy of tackling your neighbor into two feet of snow.  And my mom made some badass hot cocoa to warm us back up when we were all exhausted.

Another:

I actually found that one of the more profound results of Snow Days as a child was that I could expect, without fail, my father to raise me out of bed early to help shovel the front walk, driveway, and all the pathway to the door on the side of our garage.  And I could generally expect to have to re-shovel the sidewalk every hour or two, if the snow was coming down hard.

Granted, the intermittent and menial labor of shoveling was a welcome replacement for a day at school. But the larger point is that Snow Days, for my siblings and me, were not just a free day off.  It was actually one of my first big life lessons.  Since my parents still had to get to work, and our hands were free, the least we could do is spend some of our unexpected day off mitigating Mother Nature's effects on our homestead.  It instilled in me a sense of duty to my family.

I obviously didn't analyze it like that at the time.  Obviously the last thing I wanted to do on my Snow Day was shovel.  But many of the best lessons of our youth are taught to us in moments where we are completely oblivious to the lesson we're being taught.

So I agree with you.  Don't do away with Snow Days.  If not for the fond memories you cited, then for the opportunity for growth and learning that they presented to people like me.

(Photo by Flickrite Sebastian Cartes)

Justin Wolfers capitalizes on partisan demand by predicting that "Democrats will retain control of the House and the Senate." His reasoning:

If I’m right?  Well you can bet that I’ll beat the drums loudly and tell everyone in sight that I called it.  I’ll blog it all week.  I’ll write an op-ed explaining my insights. I’ll go on to Jon Stewart’s show to explain the fine art of psephology.  Hopefully you’ll be calling me the Nouriel Roubini of political punditry.  I’ll go on to a new life of lucrative speaking engagements and big book advances, while I beat back my coterie of devoted followers.

And if I’m wrong?  We both know there won’t be any real consequences. 

I’ll be sure to sell some clever story.  You know, there was weather on election day (hot or cold, wet or dry — it all works!) and this messed with turnout.  Or perhaps, This Time Was Different, and my excellent forecast was knocked off course by our first black president, by rising cellphone penetration or a candidate who may not be a witch.  I’ll remind you how I nailed previous elections.  (Follow the links, you’ll see I’m doing it already!)  I’ll bluster and use long words like sociotropic, or perhaps heteroskedastic.  And I’ll remind you that my first name is Professor, and I went to a prestigious school.  More to the point, if I’m wrong, I’m sure we’ll all have forgotten by the time the 2012 election rolls around.  Shhhh… I won’t tell if you won’t.

(Hat tip: Sides)