Category: The Dish

Clinton broadcasts a fake "news" story. At some point, the kitchen sink does inflict wounds.

"As far as I can tell, there is more than enough stupidity out there to go round. When it’s a writer with a dumb idea for a column, the idea is that an editor will exercise better judgement. I’m not an oversensitive feminist. But as a rule, "women are really stupid" columns aren’t funny even when written by women," – Lisa Schiffren, NRO.

A reader writes:

Voted this morning (West side of Columbus).  No lines at all, and precious few voters.  The weather is absolutely awful.

Who knows what that means?

Wages are creeping up:

As the 1:3 cost structure becomes 1:1.5, it will soon become inefficient to use Indian labor. Why not Oklahoma or British Columbia? For many Europeans, Eastern Europe has already become more compelling than India. The pure labor arbitrage equation will no longer balance.

The press turns on Obama. It was always going to happen. Would have been better to happen next week – because you never want to be on the defensive like this before major primaries. But it’s a good thing for the candidate and the country to keep the heat on all of them. The NAFTA thing, while pretty trivial in the grand scheme of things, is a perfectly legitimate story, and reveals a certain naivete on the art of Golsbee.

As in: why have you still not released your tax returns, Mrs Clinton? After all these years, one candidate remains unvetted. Or do they not want the voters of Ohio to realize just how fabulously rich the Clintons have become?

I think it has to do with his charisma, but more importantly, with a lot of conservatives, it has to do with his civility and manners and temperament. His success in moving racial divides forward is also a factor. Then, like Kennedy, there’s a certain charm:

The survey determined that a quarter of self-identified Republicans rated Mr. McCain most likable, but nearly as many — 23 percent — chose Mr. Obama as most likable. And among all adults surveyed, Mr. Obama was rated likable by more people than Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Mr. McCain combined, underscoring the Illinois senator’s appeal to voters across the political spectrum.

Why so little uproar over Hagee? Doesn’t the answer have to be about race?

How one blogger exposed the latest ethical high-point of the Christianists:

Reporting in one minute, writing in one hour, a whole career undone in one day.

A small incipient sign of a pricing revolution?

David Corn on Clinton, Obama, and double standards on Afghanistan:

It’s true that Obama has convened no meetings of the subcommittee, but his camp counters that he became chair of the subcommittee early last year, just as he was starting his presidential campaign. Clinton is technically correct that Obama could have used the subcommittee to conduct oversight of actions and policies related to Afghanistan. But the full foreign relations committee, under the guidance of Senator Joe Biden, has held several hearings on Afghanistan that covered NATO’s role there. It’s not as if the foreign relations committee did nothing on Afghanistan because Obama did not take on the mission. Also, as happens with many committees, the chair of the full committee reserves the right to handle the big issues him- or herself, and Afghanistan counts as a big issue.

Clinton ought to be careful about hurling stones in this area.

As she always tells campaign crowds, she is a member of the Senate armed services committee. In February the committee held two hearings on Afghanistan. On February 8, it focused on appropriations for U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates was a witness. Eight days later, the committee zeroed in on U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, holding a two-part hearing examining recent reports on Afghanistan. Key witnesses included senior officials from the State Department and the Pentagon responsible for the administration’s Afghanistan policy.

Clinton attended neither of these hearings. She was on the campaign trail.