Glenn Greenwald defends Alan Simpson — not for what he said about cow teats, but for being the only one on President Obama’s Deficit Reduction Commission to speak to the public. It’s a good, enraging read, but let me skip to the end (not counting Greenwald’s inevitable updates): Leaving aside the fact that Social Security [...]

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As in “blind” and “crazy”: Instead of “the hammer,” in the words of John O. Brennan, President Obama’s top counterterrorism adviser, America will rely on the “scalpel.” In a speech in May, Mr. Brennan, an architect of the White House strategy, used this analogy while pledging a “multigenerational” campaign against Al Qaeda and its extremist [...]

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The Oregonian editors lament the latest round of cuts in education throughout the state of Oregon and puzzle over the absence of outrage among citizens who see their school systems eliminate staff, shorten the school year, and close schools. But the editors hasten to add, lest anyone think they are crazy or something, “We’re not [...]

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ONOZ. Foreign Affairs editor James Hoge on why [McChrystal] must be fired—and how Obama is in danger of becoming a wuss. Not a wuss! At first I thought this choice of words came from the Daily Beast editors, no strangers to crass and reductionist language. For most of the column, Hoge himself takes the long [...]

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Under Bush I recall a lot of talk of “outrage fatigue.” Things were so bad, with news of the administration’s nefarious activities or the out-of-control consequences of its policy decisions hitting the public every day, that anyone not in the Reflexive Apologist Camp felt overwhelmed and almost helpless.1 Thank goodness for elections. Not that people [...]

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