tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-191629822011-06-08T02:48:25.821-04:00Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.comBlogger1321100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-34006012395833789952008-02-23T16:48:00.002-05:002008-02-23T16:52:39.572-05:00

For my latest Politico column, I throw out an idea for solving the Democrats' superdelegate dilemma: hold a super convention. You can find the full piece here.

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-53546403261795864642008-02-05T10:14:00.000-05:002008-02-05T10:28:35.888-05:00

Dan Balz of the Washington Post has another smart "Eight Questions" story out today previewing Super Tuesday and helping readers divine the import of the results. I was asked again to share my thoughts/answers, so here they are (with as usual a few small grammatical fixes).1) Will either race end on Tuesday?No. For the Republicans, there’s a high likelihood that McCain will emerge in a

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-79038672790577639032008-01-22T17:24:00.000-05:002008-01-22T17:27:38.624-05:00

After taking a break for the holiday season, I have resumed writing my regular column for the Politico. You can find my first piece of the new year, which looks at the mirage of Democratic unity in the presidential campaign, here.

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-68196839527443259902008-01-03T07:35:00.001-05:002008-01-03T07:56:08.305-05:00

Washington Post crack political reporter Dan Balz has an enlightening piece out today forecasting the Iowa caucuses, in which he asked several political strategists from both parties (including yours truly) to answer eight critical questions about today's big vote. You can find the article (and a quote from me) here.The last time Balz asked me to contribute to a Q&A story like this, I decided to

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-83251655625490965832007-12-03T09:16:00.000-05:002007-12-03T09:33:23.063-05:00

The Wall Street Journal asked me to write an op-ed on the Democratic presidential primary contest, through the lens of the celebrity surrogate showdown between Oprah Winfrey (Team Obama) and Barbra Streisand (Team Clinton). My take, which was published in today's edition, follows below.The Oprah FactorBy DAN GERSTEINDecember 3, 2007; Page A21It's tempting to write off the celebrity-endorsement

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-20525456900639520182007-10-28T11:30:00.000-04:002007-10-28T11:34:48.401-04:00

My latest column, which looks at the Republicans' emerging strategy to tar Hillary Clinton as a big spender, is up on the Politico website this morning.

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-11909049053613331312007-09-19T17:28:00.000-04:002007-09-19T17:39:46.032-04:00

One of the more insightful responses I got from Politico column today was this note from a progressive intellectual friend of mine who does not work in politics but follows it closely:My sense is that this debate is roiling around because people have fundamental beliefs that they are not presenting honestly. While there appears to be a majority of Americans who hate this war and recognize it as

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-57851296998662959982007-09-19T08:17:00.000-04:002007-09-19T08:22:40.025-04:00

After taking a little late summer siesta from my Politico column, I have a new piece up today analyzing why the anti-war movement has failed to make any real progress in Congress.This one is sure to raise some hackles, and I suspect I will be back here some time soon to respond to some of the counter arguments. So stay tuned.

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-90508544540046712342007-09-04T06:17:00.000-04:002007-09-04T07:00:04.308-04:00

With the presidential primary campaign expected to amp up dramatically after Labor Day, the Washington Post's lead political reporter Dan Balz did a state of the race piece for Sunday's paper in which he asked strategists from both parties to answer seven key questions. I happened to be among those queried and quoted -- Balz used my line about both parties being generally braid dead when it

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-66762162213359789822007-08-19T10:20:00.000-04:002007-08-19T10:37:02.913-04:00

Looks like the move to impeach Attorney General Alberto Gonzales (the subject of my last Politico column) is gaining currency. Today's New York Times carries an insightful commentary by Adam Scott arguing that Gonzales's many offenses are "just the sort" of malfeasance the Founders had in mind when they gave Congress the power to remove executive branch officials.Congress has heard extensive

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-78398508726406662442007-08-02T12:46:00.000-04:002007-08-02T13:27:52.705-04:00

My follow-up column on impeachment is now up on Politico. In it, I make the case that regardless of the relative merits of the case against Bush, it would be a colossal strategic mistake to try to evict him from office. Instead, fed-up Democrats would be wise to channel their frustration into impeaching the President's incompetent and uncredible Attorney General.A few other points I wanted to

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-67595716884068141192007-07-27T15:03:00.000-04:002007-07-27T15:13:12.557-04:00

Of all the obnoxious emails from random critics I have gotten after doing TV or radio interviews, this one may be my favorite yet:Just saw you on FSTV with Gail Sheehan. . .It's unbelievable what kind of morons the democratsare hiring for advice.In my opinion, you're in the wrong business.David SmithI politely informed Mr. Smith that was CINDY Sheehan, one of the most famous women in politics

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-49854270433466981052007-07-26T16:18:00.000-04:002007-07-26T23:25:31.440-04:00

FYI, I will be appearing on the nationally-syndicated radio program "Democracy Now" on Friday morning with Cindy Sheehan to talk about the pros and cons of trying to impeach President Bush, following up on my Politico column from earlier this week. If you are interested, you can listen (or watch the TV simulcast) live at 8 a.m. or catch a taped version of the show on the DN website.Also, I will

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-92142142390924304022007-07-23T09:13:00.000-04:002007-07-23T09:21:40.514-04:00

For my latest Politico column, which was posted yesterday, I explored the looming clash between Cindy Sheehan and Nancy Pelosi over impeachment and the tricky challenge this fight will pose for national Democratic leaders. Later this week I will be writing a follow-up piece looking at the issue of impeachment itself and outlining why I think it would be a strategic mistake for Democrats to

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-31364254208122320292007-07-09T10:42:00.000-04:002007-07-09T10:56:29.644-04:00

Seems like John Edwards is really finding his legs (and maybe even legislation) on the hedge fund tax issue I wrote about in my Politico column last week. The Wall Street Journal reports today that Edwards is now prepared not only to close the loophole that allows hedge fund and private equity managers to have their income taxed at the much lower capital gains rate of 15 percent, but to take on

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-53182420550420869142007-07-06T12:08:00.000-04:002007-07-06T12:52:51.163-04:00

How's this for an interesting coincidence? Yesterday morning The Politico posted my latest column, which explored the hard choice that a small arcane tax bill moving in the House will soon force John Edwards and his leading Democratic presidential rivals to make between the two Americas they have to straddle (i.e. big money donors and progressive primary voters).I argued that the neopopulist

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-38121233280328903092007-06-21T13:08:00.000-04:002007-06-22T14:59:53.532-04:00

In the latest round of my online conversation with Ric Caric, a progressive blogger from Kentucky, Ric responded to my detailed explanation of why I am not a conservative (and why that distinction matters) by saying he was unpersuaded.After sorting through Ric's reasoning, I realize that pretty much nothing I say is going to sway him on this specific point -- he's pretty locked into his own

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-2523312012189315102007-06-15T12:45:00.001-04:002007-06-15T13:46:04.931-04:00

I recently came across a diary on MyDD about another blog-insult controversy that incidentally and without qualification labeled me a conservative. I thought that was particulary odd, because I can't imagine being judged a conservative by any reasonable or conventional standard. So just for the heck of it I sent a note to the author, a professor at Morehead State University in Kentucky named

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-32531664458248363622007-06-12T14:18:00.000-04:002007-06-12T14:36:26.728-04:00

In my latest Politico column, which was posted earlier today, I flesh out an idea I first raised a couple weeks ago -- how Democrats can take advantage of the Republicans' regressive tendencies to begin building a Modern Majority.A small clarification (which I just posted in the comment section for the column): A good friend of mine who went through the 1995 budget battle (on the losing side)

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-41524830480937446992007-05-30T12:14:00.000-04:002007-05-30T12:28:57.120-04:00

Just as I was getting back into the blogswing of things I went and broke my wrist playing basketball over the holiday weekend. That's going to put me on the disabled list for a little while -- typing with my off hand not really conducive to long-form blogging. But hope to be back waxing polemic in a couple weeks.

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-32569517178312270892007-05-21T13:30:00.000-04:002007-05-21T13:47:25.975-04:00

One of the highlights of last Friday's Personal Democracy Forum Conference, which brings together many of the nation's most innovative thinkers and practitioners in online politics, was getting to hear Stanford Law Professor Lawrence Lessig talk about his latest mission to make video of the presidential debates free to use for everyone over the Internet.Lessig is regarded as one of the nation's

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-45608809243876027602007-05-19T17:55:00.000-04:002007-05-19T18:00:31.262-04:00

Just a quick note to let folks know that as of this week, I have signed on as a regular columnist for The Politico.For those of you not familiar with it, The Politico is a Washington-based publication dedicated to covering national politics — from Capitol Hill to the White House to the presidential campaign trail — with “enterprise, style, and impact.”Launched in January and led by some of the

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-61096315358675508562007-05-15T11:56:00.000-04:002007-05-15T12:25:29.650-04:00

A few weeks ago I wrote a piece for the New York Post on Rudy Giuliani's presidential prospects, arguing that pundits and many of my fellow Democrats were making a mistake to automatically rule out the possibility of Rudy winning the Republican nomination next year just because of his liberal views on social issues.Veteran political reporter Tom Edsall takes this argument to a whole other level

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-40162408537029303032007-05-14T07:48:00.000-04:002007-05-14T08:10:15.109-04:00

I was interviewed by Wall Street Journal Editorial Page Editor Paul Gigot on Fox News' "Journal Editorial Report" over the weekend on the Netroots' rising power within the Democratic Party. If you are interested, you can find the transcript here.Also, if you have a chance, I would highly recommend reading the New Republic cover story on the same subject (which I reference briefly in my

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-88652774289098304282007-05-11T07:53:00.000-04:002007-05-11T07:26:53.200-04:00

(Cross-posted from Political Insider. . .)Many pundits proclaimed Mitt Romney the victor in last week's Republican debate cattle call at the Reagan Library, but it seems Romney's performance did not win over many primary voters.A USA Today/Gallup Poll taken in the three days after the May 3rd debate and released Tuesday showed Romney claiming 7 percent of Republican voters, which is a two-point

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-78610290033594711082007-05-10T09:55:00.000-04:002007-06-12T08:55:15.662-04:00

As you may have noticed, I took a break from writing the last few weeks, mostly to deal with the social (and psychic) demands of my 40th birthday. The party is over, literally speaking, so it's back to the mindstone.During my time off pondering my mortality, I enjoyed a fair measure of comedic relief from reading in the blogosphere about the latest transgressions of my fictional digital alter

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-21776198169253008572007-04-09T10:23:00.000-04:002007-04-09T10:48:15.511-04:00

Rudy Giuliani may be leading the Republican presidential field in the polls now, but most people seem to think it's a matter of time before the pro-choice, pro-gun control, pro-gay rights New Yorker either fades away or blows up. That may prove to be the case, I would not be so quick to count Rudy out. To see why, check out this column I wrote for Sunday's New York Post.

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-13535526126177930072007-04-06T10:29:00.000-04:002007-04-06T10:30:34.807-04:00

Obama's spectacular first-quarter fundraising performance has clearly shaken the Clinton camp, but it may not just be for the obvious reason.According to a well-connected Democratic operative, Team Hillary is less threatened by Obama than by the possible entry of Al Gore into the race.That's the real reason why the putative frontrunner's strategy has been geared toward bulldozing the field early

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-53445070839412921182007-04-05T06:16:00.000-04:002007-04-05T06:42:17.271-04:00

My latest column for The Politico, "The Accidental Strategist," looks at how Bush strategist Matthew Dowd's break with the President he helped elect twice could potentially impact the Republican race for 2008. At a minimum, Dowd has unwittingly done the GOP an enormous favor by calling out the elephant of all elephants in the room and potentially opening up a frank intra-party discussion about

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-40155221539226977852007-03-30T11:25:00.000-04:002007-03-30T12:26:34.725-04:00

Time Magazine released a new poll today with the "surprising" finding that the top Republican presidential candidates are still beating the top Democratic contenders, despite the clear unpopularity of the war in Iraq, President Bush's dismal approval ratings, and the growing air of doom and gloom on the right about 2008.According to the Time poll, Hillary Clinton loses to John McCain, 42%-48%,

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-30527034587815358352007-03-28T17:37:00.000-04:002007-03-28T17:57:50.879-04:00

My apologies to friends and family and random political junkies who occasionally stop by here for the long gap between posts. I've been bogged down with work and then was on the road all last week, mostly on vacation.I will resume my more regular musings soon. But for now, I thought I would recommend this brilliant piece of analysis by Ron Brownstein in Sunday's Los Angeles Times about the

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-30151990377303975222007-03-13T22:34:00.000-04:002007-03-14T11:57:17.399-04:00

The Politico published another commentary of mine on Tuesday, this one looking at the Democratic family fight over the proposed Fox-sponsored presidential debate in Nevada and the folly of the Netroots' campaign to kill it.To offer a different perspective, The Politico editors paired my piece with a counterpoint from Matt Stoller of MyDD. Stoller makes a strong case for the Netroots' vendetta

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-38538878607069001692007-03-09T11:46:00.000-05:002007-03-09T12:25:22.176-05:00

Today I am going to invoke a point of personal privilege, put on my Lieberman partisan hat, and share with you an excellent National Journal story on my former boss and current client. [NOTE: for you full-disclosure purists, I worked for Lieberman for 10 years in the Senate, on his 2006 general election campaign, and continue today as a paid advisor.] This piece provides some much-needed outside

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-28244493611015725122007-03-08T07:37:00.000-05:002007-03-08T09:23:51.826-05:00

Last night was my first appearance on Fox News' "Hannity and Colmes Show," and I had one of those TV moments commentators often dread. I got bulled into saying something dumb and, even worse, that I don't believe. The damage is done, but one of the beauties of a blog is it at least gives you a chance to clean up your own messes, and this one warrants some sanitizing.My segment was supposed to

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-75566889903211356982007-03-07T12:09:00.000-05:002007-03-07T13:08:48.057-05:00

It's time to stop the silly speculation over whether Hillary Clinton will ever apologize for her vote to start the war in Iraq -- that's just not happening (much to Hillary's credit). A far more relevant and unsettled question is what would Al Gore do to end it?I know, Gore is not currently a candidate, but the fact is he is hovering over the race, the demand for his entry is growing, and as the

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-45684062690555146022007-03-06T12:00:00.000-05:002007-03-06T13:59:56.125-05:00

The Ann Coulter f-word flap has come and mostly gone, but it has left some interesting questions to ponder/pundit. Among them:Why did the mainstream media covering the CPAC conference mostly ignore Coulter's inflammatory comments about John Edward in their initial coverage? Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz has a revealing piece today exploring that issue, and there seems to be no good

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-13341869317034817222007-02-28T17:05:00.000-05:002007-02-28T17:45:33.526-05:00

This is not something you see everyday: Politico editor John Harris posted a column today acknowledging his error in using the phrase "slow bleed" to brand John Murtha's plan for stopping the Bush troop surge in Iraq.After reading Harris's confession, you could either see the glass of spilt milk as half full or half empty. You could give some Harris some credit for personally owning up to the

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-44023153401260401662007-02-28T11:56:00.000-05:002007-02-28T12:18:52.830-05:00

For those interested in how technology is changing politics, I would encourage you to check out a new site called techPresident.com. An offshoot of the Personal Democracy Forum, techPresident.com bills itself as a new group blog that covers how the 2008 presidential candidates are using the web, and vice versa, how content generated by voters is affecting the campaign. Per the founders: The

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-60948026718458295142007-02-27T15:09:00.000-05:002007-02-27T18:07:46.625-05:00

Over at Talking Points Memo today, Greg Sargent did his best to try to manufacture a minor controversy about a column I recently wrote for The Politico about the Edwards blogger scandal. Usually I would not respond to this kind of trivial stuff, but because TPM is one of the most widely-read and respected liberal blogs on the block, I want to take a moment to clear up any confusion Sargent's

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-70591275087928878012007-02-21T11:37:00.000-05:002007-02-21T12:11:54.640-05:00

Washington Post political blogger Chris Cillizza has quite a revealing deconstruction of a new poll on Republican attitudes about Iraq and the implications for the 2008 Republican presidential primary race. Most notably, Cillizza says, the poll makes clear why Romney and Giuliani are joining McCain in backing the surge and not backing away from the war in general, something most Democrats are

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-24787559946708257742007-02-19T08:50:00.000-05:002007-02-19T11:57:34.537-05:00

According to many political analysts, a big reason the Democrats were able to retake control of Congress was their effective wielding of the "culture of corruption" club against the crony-cozying House Republican leadership. And a big reason this charge stuck was because of the dictatorial, banana-republican way Hastert, DeLay and company ran the place, preventing Democrats from offering

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-12875963161134428862007-02-18T18:25:00.000-05:002007-02-18T18:50:18.629-05:00

I was pretty tough on the Netroots' wagon-circling response to the Edwards blogger scandal in my Politico column on Friday. So it's only fair, in terms of giving credit where credit is due, that I call attention to this standout post by Matt Stoller on MyDD yesterday.Matt and I disagree on a lot of things -- he was one of Lieberman's fiercest antagonists during the campaign -- but I was

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-37332349466642187392007-02-17T11:20:00.000-05:002007-02-17T12:51:02.969-05:00

I just got a chance to read Salon Editor Joan Walsh's post-mortem on the Edwards blogger scandal, and while she comes at it from a slightly different perspective, I was struck by the thoughtful, challenging questions she raises. I was particularly interested in her accounting of Salon's initial report that the offending Edwards bloggers had been fired -- which the Edwards campaign vigorously

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-16943153619517926872007-02-16T10:57:00.000-05:002007-02-16T12:04:36.361-05:00

This morning the Politico published a post-mortem I wrote on the John Edwards blogger fiasco, which looks at the response of the liberal blogosphere to this recent mini-scandal and what it says about their maturity, credibility, and upward mobility within the Democratic Party. You can find the article here.For what it's worth, my hope is that this piece will provoke at least some meaningful

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-47822473528966915972007-02-15T17:35:00.000-05:002007-02-15T17:48:51.379-05:00

Roger Simon's latest column, in which he gets Terry McAuliffe to open up about Hillary's likeability problem, provides some interesting insights.Two anecdotes in particular stand out. First, this one from Maureen Dowd: "I had traveled with Dukakis really early, maybe his first campaign trip to Iowa," she recalled, "and I asked him what I always ask people: 'What do you do for fun?' "And he

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-72761679262068309712007-02-15T15:39:00.000-05:002007-02-15T16:16:19.067-05:00

Maybe I am overreacting because I have had some horrible airline experiences, but this Jet Blue story is one of the most outrageous things I have ever heard. I have been a fan of Jet Blue up to this point. But trapping people on a plane on the tarmac for 10 hours -- and then canceling the flight? There is just no excuse for that -- legal, economical, or practical. Or for Jet Blue's

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-32452072525051612162007-02-13T06:33:00.000-05:002007-02-13T06:56:32.627-05:00

To my friends in the liberal blogosphere who have trouble recognizing anti-Semitism in their ranks, I would recommend reading this article by Bret Stephens on The New Republic websiteStephens, an editorial writer for the Wall Street Journal, reviews the growing public debate about whether the charge of anti-Semitism is being leveled too loosely in our politics today (re: the controversial

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-11383006193040492602007-02-10T08:52:00.000-05:002007-02-10T09:11:26.724-05:00

Is the media frenzy over Anna Nicole Smith's death a sign of the apocalypse?Los Angeles Times media writer Tim Rutten tends to think so:"Who knew? This is the way the world ends — neither with a bang nor a whimper but with cleavage."The rest of Cullen's column is almost as good as that snappy line in its dissection of today's celebrity culture and the news media's role in creating it.

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-29138762356257118092007-02-09T15:40:00.000-05:002007-02-09T23:07:21.109-05:00

I rarely respond to the personal attacks and trivial distortions of my words and work that frequently pop up in the liberal blogosphere, for the obvious reasons. But sometimes the shots are so wildly inaccurate that they are actually instructive, in so far as what they reveal about the direction the angry left is moving the Democratic Party, and as such warrant some examination.Take Marty

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-29055838109525869472007-02-05T16:16:00.000-05:002007-02-05T16:22:01.130-05:00

Guess baby needed more than a new pair of shoes. . .(CBS/AP) ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. An Atlantic City woman playing the penny slots Saturday morning left the Resorts Atlantic City casino with her own little jackpot -- a new baby boy.Thirty-two-year-old Nyree Thompson was eight months pregnant when she went into labor on the casino floor.At first, she said she mistook the labor pains for gas.(MORE

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-69755766895227726532007-02-02T11:04:00.000-05:002007-02-02T13:40:57.101-05:00

In all the harrumphing about Joe ("Live by the Mouth, Die by the Mouth") Biden's scandalous gaffe this week, it's been striking to see how relatively little has been said about the actual content of his comments -- and what they reveal about racial attitudes in the America of 2007.The fact is, whatever Biden meant to convey, his actual uncoded words expressed something significant that many white

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-69638876320648359302007-01-30T12:51:00.000-05:002007-01-30T17:43:41.454-05:00

Mickey Kaus today slyly deconstructs the mainstream media's (and by extension the liberal blogosphere's) recent hero-worshipping of Republican Anti-Warrior Chuck Hagel, by asking this provocative question about the Nebraskan's much-hyped bravery:Why, exactly, is Sen. Chuck Hagel showing "courage" in conspicuously denouncing the Iraq War now that virtually the entire American establishment has

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-74799148916726788102007-01-25T08:14:00.000-05:002007-01-25T12:30:27.597-05:00

Read of the day: Andrew Rasiej and Micah Sifry, the minds behind the Personal Democracy Forum and two of the country's top experts on how technology is changing our politics, debut their new column on Politico.com today called Politics 2.0.To show that the Netroots is much more diverse (and effective) than the angry blogger caricature suggests, and lay the context for columns to come, Rasiej and

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-63233418207887895872007-01-24T17:00:00.000-05:002007-01-24T17:03:07.078-05:00

Tonight brings the last of Hillary Clinton's much-hyped trio of post-announcement webchats. So far the questions have been far more fluff than tough. Democratic viewers would be much better served -- and so would Candidate Clinton -- if she got confronted with more substantive and challenging questions like these:1) How will you persuade the anti-war base of the party to support the use of

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-51793728790055154512007-01-23T17:15:00.000-05:002007-01-23T17:37:46.380-05:00

The latest fix-provider to America's political junkies, The Politico, launched today. Positioned as a competitor to both the Capitol Hill newspapers (Roll Call, the Hill) as well other Beltway fixtures like the Washington Post, the Politico has a lot of top-flight talent and an innovative (at least on the surface) multi-media model going for it. Should be interesting to watch whether it

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-86582369901883853172007-01-22T07:39:00.000-05:002007-01-22T09:00:06.674-05:00

Per my post yesterday on the state of online politics, the Washington Post has an interesting piece today looking at the high-profile use of Web video in the early stages of the 2008 presidential campaign by Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and others. Post reporter Dan Balz declares:[I]f last year was the year of the rogue videographers, the already-underway 2008 presidential campaign is likely

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1315636362318750182007-01-21T12:25:00.000-05:002007-01-21T15:51:06.188-05:00

Ever wonder who in tarnation is actually reading the growing legion of political blogs (other than our family members)?Here is some fascinating data on the subject, courtesy of my friend and fellow politico Donnie Fowler, culled from a blogads.com survey.2006 Political Blog Readers May Not Be Who You Think They Are...ALL POLITICAL BLOG READERSNot Young: 62% are 40-years old and older (16% under

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-30940852447665865272007-01-19T16:19:00.000-05:002007-01-19T16:21:49.005-05:00

I can't tell whether this news about McDonalds in China represents a triumph of freedom or today's latest sign of the apocalypse. Could quite possibly be both.

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-21205553271008273682007-01-18T18:40:00.000-05:002007-01-18T19:15:14.255-05:00

You are not going to find a better deconstruction of the media elite's cultural bias than this analysis by the Columbia Journalism Review, looking at the New York Times trend story on unmarried women that I did a post on earlier this week.As you may recall, the Times reported that, according to new census data, unmarried women now outnumber married women for the first time in American history.

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-4480383132276399442007-01-18T10:07:00.000-05:002007-01-18T10:56:23.969-05:00

Some clips this morning that caught my eye:1) The Wall Street Journal editorial page surveys the bustling Democratic presidential field and concludes that it is still Hillary versus the world. It's always interesting and often instructive to see things from the other side -- something many liberal party purists don't seem to get. One graph in the Journal editorial in particular stood out to

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-73331973705066151492007-01-18T07:47:00.000-05:002007-01-18T08:44:52.300-05:00

The New York Post asked me yesterday to write a short column advising Hillary Clinton how to respond to Barack Obama's entry into the 2008 presidential race. Below is the piece as it ran in today's paper. Some additional thoughts that got squeezed out in the editing process for space reasons follow.THE ONE CLINTON MUST BEAT IS HERSELFBy DAN GERSTEINJanuary 18, 2007 -- BARACK OBAMA may prove in

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-85478619621304120982007-01-17T09:28:00.000-05:002007-01-18T08:45:48.135-05:00

The cultural development of the day: MySpace announces it will be offering free monitoring software to parents. The Wall Street Journal has a detailed take on the teen-tottering news.One has to ask, is this new feature designed to actually make kids safer -- or just make parents feel better? We shall see.The more immediate and politically salient question is, will this step be enough to stave

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-38898329820340669272007-01-16T14:04:00.000-05:002007-01-16T14:08:48.524-05:00

I'll have more to say on the Obama news later, but for the time being, here is the video on the Obama website announcing his decision to form an exploratory committee for the 2008 presidential race.

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-52758015376219303602007-01-16T12:58:00.000-05:002007-01-16T13:04:14.004-05:00

Also from today's Times, this census-driven story about women and marrigage highlights a fascinating trend with all kinds of political implications. It will be interesting to track the analysis and intepretation by sociologists and family policy experts in the days and weeks ahead.

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1168957105204304702007-01-16T09:02:00.000-05:002007-01-16T09:18:25.283-05:00

I can't wait to see what the Kossacks have to say about this front-page article in today's Times detailing how the new Democratic leadership intends to govern from the center, particularly on divisive social issues.My two cents: This is a triumph of common sense and an encouraging sign that Democratic leaders are on the path to building a more inclusive party and a sustainable majority. I was

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1168624765315317752007-01-12T09:59:00.001-05:002007-01-12T12:59:25.316-05:00

For those of us hoping that the discipline the Democrats showed in the fall campaign would carry over to their governing in Congress, and that there would be fewer botched jokes and less precision self-foot-shooting in the majority, today was not an encouraging news day.First, there was this story in the Washington Times suggesting that the Nancy Pelosi carved out a special exemption from the

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1168581310907705512007-01-11T17:53:00.000-05:002007-01-12T00:55:10.950-05:00

After chewing over the reactions to and analyses of President Bush's Iraq speech throughout the day, I was struck by how much was said about the Democrats and the Iraqis as potential stumbling blocks for the President's new strategy -- and how little was said about the Republicans.The conventional wisdom that emerged Thursday, perhaps best summed up by the Wall Street Journal's lead story, posits

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1168524654616664372007-01-11T07:53:00.000-05:002007-01-11T09:10:54.673-05:00

My other home state Senator, Chris Dodd, officially announced he was running for president this morning on the Imus in the Morning show. Here is the Hartford Courant's initial take on the news and Dodd's prospects.As the Courant story makes clear, Dodd has many challenges to surmount before he can become a credible candidate, let alone seriously contend for the nomination. To me, the biggest

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1168433124223419002007-01-10T06:45:00.000-05:002007-01-10T08:22:50.700-05:00

Now that I have fully recovered from the Lieberman campaign -- not to mention six months worth of bookkeeping -- I am ready to jump back into the shallow end of the blogging pool.Over the next few weeks I intend to sprinkle in some reflections/observations on my time in Connecticut along with my usual political and cultural commentary. It's tempting to just move on, given what a bruising

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1154442714796597962006-08-01T09:38:00.000-04:002006-08-01T10:31:55.066-04:00

I am spending the closing days of the Lieberman-Lamont primary race volunteering for my old boss at the Lieberman campaign headquarters in lovely Rocky Hill, Connecticut. So ends my tenure as a contributor to the pro-Joe Lieberman blog Lieberdem, which is independent of the campaign. But when I have a free moment in between the madness over the next eight days, I do intend to post some news and

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1154180033080666902006-07-29T09:29:00.000-04:002006-07-29T09:33:53.096-04:00

I have a post up on Lieberdem that aims to puncture the myth that Joe Lieberman supported the Alito nomination to the Supreme Court. While you are there, check out the post my partner Matt Smith put up that exposes several other myths that the Lieberman-haters have been peddling.

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1153067640889067192006-07-16T11:39:00.000-04:002006-07-16T12:34:01.006-04:00

The New York Times has a rather disturbing front-page article today about the proliferation of prescription drugs -- in particular, behavior modification meds -- being dispensed to children at summer sleepaway camps. Sort of reads like another obituary for childhood innocence in America.Now, I am in no position to judge how many kids are being helped versus harmed by the growing use of

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1152996065775336072006-07-15T16:31:00.000-04:002006-07-15T16:41:05.826-04:00

This story out of Tennessee offers so many bad pun possibilities my head is about to explode. Let's just say that maybe for once we know exactly why the chicken crossed the road.Oh, and for any campaign manager thinking about using the old chicken suit debate ploy, this incident may encourage you to think again. Saturday, 07/15/06Corker worker, man in chicken suit have run-inPolice investigate

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1152848057778834972006-07-13T23:11:00.000-04:002006-07-13T23:42:37.203-04:00

Earlier today I put up a post on the new pro-Joe Lieberman blog (Lieberdem) that was meant to rebut recent commentaries from Democratic blogger David Sirota and Washington Post columnist Harold Meyerson.Among other things, I challenged Sirota's credibility by revealing that he had interviewed for jobs in Lieberman's Senate office and presidential campaign not long before he began viciously

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1152796853560578122006-07-13T08:47:00.000-04:002006-07-13T09:20:53.660-04:00

I made my debut post today on Lieberdem, the pro-Joe Lieberman blog that launched last week as a counterpoint of sanity to the deranged purge campaign that is being waged online against my former boss. I plan on being a regular contributor to the site, and will cross link my Lieberdem posts here. But check out the site when you get a chance for a different perspective on this defining race.

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1152757133453351822006-07-12T22:16:00.000-04:002006-07-12T22:18:53.466-04:00

Introducing the granddaddy of all drug dealing schemes.....Pa. Man, 80, Admits Dealing Crack for SexJul 12 5:33 PM US/EasternPITTSBURGH (AP) -- An 80-year-old man acknowledged Wednesday that he dealt drugs at his house in return for sex with prostitutes. Felix Cocco of Pittsburgh pleaded guilty to charges of possession of a controlled substance, possession with intent to deliver and possession of

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1152719155573066402006-07-12T09:45:00.000-04:002006-07-12T11:45:55.786-04:00

There has been a lot of Huffington and puffing in recent days about the Bush Administration's cynical smear campaign against the New York Times and the rest of the news media, and rightly so. But sadly, most of the denunciations have provided far more heat than light and done little to help people put this story in a larger context and understand why it is so pernicious.One exception is New

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1152204020787282192006-07-06T12:39:00.000-04:002006-07-06T13:51:38.340-04:00

It has long been a mystery to me how the Democratic Party's activist base could target so much venom at my old boss Joe Lieberman for his deviations from party orthodoxy while ignoring the damaging deeds of Montana's Max Baucus, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee.Even if you stipulate that Lieberman has undermined the party, which is a debatable proposition, nothing he has said or

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1152044648330756032006-07-04T16:12:00.000-04:002006-07-05T09:09:14.903-04:00

If you are looking for way to honor the spirit of July 4th, take a few minutes to read Barack Obama's inspiring speech from last week on the meaning of one of our most cherished freedoms, the freedom of religion.E.J. Dionne's column Friday called it the most important speech about faith and politics since John F. Kennedy's famous address in Houston during the 1960 campaign declaring his

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1151357882235685792006-06-26T14:32:00.000-04:002006-06-27T09:35:56.526-04:00

It seems that my friends over at Daily Kos -- the leading light of the liberal blogosphere -- are learning the hard way that what is good for the goose is good for the slander.After spending the last few years throwing rhetorical bombs at the political establishment and the mainstream media with gleeful abandon, and without much scrutiny, Kos and some of his compatriots are beginning to be put

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1151332382358625462006-06-26T10:10:00.000-04:002006-06-26T10:33:02.536-04:00

I made my debut as a book reviewer in Sunday's New York Post, with a look at former New Republic Editor Peter Beinart's new book on the War on Terror and liberalism, The Good Fight. You can check it out below. And check out Beinart's book -- it's quite an informative and insightful book, and despite my minor quibbles with it, a must read for Democrats, progressives and moderates

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1149630928512893862006-06-06T17:49:00.000-04:002006-06-06T17:55:28.523-04:00

The political chuckle of the week comes from Wonkette, which has a priceless picture of clueless DNC worker hustling for volunteers outside the famed Camelot strip club in downtown D.C. I guess Howard Dean's efforts to court values voters are officially dead.

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1149550393542828512006-06-05T19:26:00.000-04:002006-06-06T12:38:16.426-04:00

The Democratic Leadership Council put out an important statement yesterday about the rising tide of ideological fundamentalism within the Democratic Party and the threat it poses to our hopes of becoming a majority party again.The whole piece is worth reading. But I was particularly struck by the following quote from progressive rock star Barack Obama, which was taken from a much-noted post he

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1149435518960260882006-06-04T11:38:00.000-04:002006-06-09T15:43:19.096-04:00

The Jewish Week here in New York ran a fascinating story last week unraveling the Iranian Jewish badge hoax, which is well worth reading despite my tardiness in posting it.The National Post in Canada started an international firestorm last month by reporting, via a column by Iranian ex-pat Amir Taheri, that Iran's parliament had passed a national dress code that would require Jews to wear a

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1149349806614203672006-06-03T11:45:00.000-04:002006-06-03T11:50:06.626-04:00

This one comes courtesy of my friend Greg Krakower:Cops: Couple ordered hit on grandkidsWanted to stop testimony at son's rape trial, police sayFriday, June 2, 2006; Posted: 12:35 p.m. EDTTAVARES, Florida (AP) -- A couple tried to hire a hit man to kill their three grandchildren and daughter-in-law to stop them from testifying against their son in his rape trial, authorities said.The couple, ages

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1149282228668447732006-06-02T16:26:00.000-04:002006-06-02T17:03:53.116-04:00

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0602061dew1.htmlThis comes courtesy of The Smoking Gun. A classic case of life imitating art imitating art.Dosing The DewCops: Teen understudy put Clorox in lead actress's sodaJUNE 2--A Texas teenager angling for the lead role in a school play is facing charges that she spiked a competing actress's drink with Clorox. Katherine Smith, 18, was arrested this

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1148590051089589502006-05-25T16:16:00.000-04:002006-05-25T16:47:31.196-04:00

In the better late than never department, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi yesterday finally did something specific and visible to express her disapproval of scandal-plagued Rep. Bill Jefferson (D-LA). She sent a letter to Jefferson, who is accused of accepting a bribe from a Tennessee businessman, asking him to step down as a member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee until the Justice

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1148414975671588432006-05-23T16:00:00.000-04:002006-05-23T16:09:35.713-04:00

Former DNC Chair Don Fowler has issued a fairly compelling defense of Howard Dean's 50-state strategy for rebuilding the party's infrastructure and competing coast-to-coast and everywhere in between. Check it out on the Huffington Post, courtesy of his son Donnie.I can understand the concerns of the congressional campaign committees, whose priority is to win now. But the more I hear from both

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1148058909119888482006-05-19T13:12:00.000-04:002006-05-19T16:24:52.813-04:00

It's not often that I get to praise Nancy Pelosi, but I will happily do so today. As the New Republic noted in an editorial that came out today, the House Democratic leader wisely and definitively put her foot down to squelch the Republican rumor-mongering that her caucus will move to impeach President Bush should they take over the majority.Nancy Pelosi, dare we say, did something smart last

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1147895898505474172006-05-17T15:12:00.000-04:002006-05-17T15:58:18.560-04:00

My friends over at Kos are having a spirited conversation today about a new Gallup poll showing that most Americans -- 76 percent in fact -- believe that the corruption scandals in Washington involve both parties equally. This is, as the Kossacks rightly claim, a load of bunk. I also think they are right to put some of the blame for this misperception on the news media, which through its

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1147817984390160442006-05-17T11:40:00.000-04:002006-05-17T17:20:04.800-04:00

Of all the reactions/analysis of the President's speech on immigration Monday night, the best I've seen so far is from Times columnist John Tierney, one of my favorite right-leaning columnists. I can't link to it, since the Times hides Tierney behind its select-o-wall, so I am pasting in the whole text of his column from yesterday below.As you will see, Tierney uses wit and common-sense to

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1147813059385527942006-05-16T16:47:00.000-04:002006-05-16T16:57:39.536-04:00

As I predicted last week (see "Jeffersonian Virtues" post below), the Democrats' lack of courage in confronting corruption within their own ranks is beginning to undermine their credibility on the issue. Witness this story from Bloomberg News today, which is likely to be the tip of an integrity iceberg for the Party, unless the party poohbahs (especially Leader Pelosi) break out of their

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1147643591590677122006-05-14T17:08:00.000-04:002006-05-14T17:53:11.650-04:00

This morning I called my mom to wish her a happy Mother's Day. She was extremely appreciative and we had a nice chat. But being a Jewish mother, she could not resist one small nag -- what happened to my blog? (A nag, I might point out, only a pundit could love.)In all seriousness, it's a fair question, one I have heard from a few friends as well. The honest answer is that I am still getting

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1147199041079352682006-05-09T14:14:00.000-04:002006-05-09T14:24:01.126-04:00

My friend and fellow consultant/blogger Kirsten Powers launched her new column on the American Prospect wesbite with a sharp-edged meditation on the mommy wars and the controversial new book on the subject by Caitlan Flanagan, To Hell with All That: Loving and Loathing Our Inner Housewife. Check it out -- and also watch for Kirsten on the O'Reilly Factor and other Fox News shows, where she is a

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1146763813669688342006-05-08T10:33:00.000-04:002006-05-08T10:25:36.773-04:00

The latest turn in the Bill Jefferson bribery scandal presents Democrats with a critical challenge: are we going to treat this case as an embarrassment to deny, as the other side persistently did with Jack Abramoff, or as an opportunity to seize in bolstering our credibility as critics of Republican corruption. Sadly, it seems ducking is winning so far.As was widely reported last week, the

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1145465971743157852006-04-19T11:56:00.000-04:002006-04-19T12:59:32.273-04:00

In today's New York Post, columnist Ralph Peters, who unlike most pundits actually knows something about the military, provides some useful insights into the general on general violence that Rumsfeld has triggered. Rather than rehashing the evidence of Rumsfeld's sins yet again, Peters looks at the make-up and motivations of the SecDef's multi-starred critics and defenders, and finds that the

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1144962224348405042006-04-13T16:28:00.000-04:002006-04-14T13:55:10.440-04:00

Like a lot of my fellow Democrats, I have been wondering for some time where the heck the party is headed, what is our strategy for becoming a majority party again is, whether any of our leaders are even thinking in these terms, etc. I have also been quite open with my deep reservations about Howard Dean's fitness to be DNC chairman. But judging from an article out this week by New Republic

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1144271693493230372006-04-05T16:38:00.000-04:002006-04-05T17:43:32.410-04:00

One of the fringe benefits of having a retired, tech-savvy professor for a father is you get lots of interesting articles and commentaries electronically pushed your way. One of the best pieces my dad sent me recently was a column by Fareed Zakaria in Monday's Washington Post, which provides a rather unique and refreshingly trope-free perspective on the immigration brouhaha that is gripping the

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1144265990642557982006-04-05T15:32:00.000-04:002006-04-05T15:39:50.656-04:00

Sign of cultural decay? Who knows. But if this keeps up, the writers at the Onion might soon be out of a job. . .3 Arrested at Mass. Baby Shower BrawlApr 05 1:17 PM US/EasternSPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) -- A baby shower erupted into a fight among guests in which one man was shot and several other people, including the seven-months-pregnant guest of honor, were beaten with a stick, police say.Three

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162982.post-1144173871092909512006-04-04T13:47:00.000-04:002006-04-05T10:26:13.033-04:00

I have gotten some very thoughtful responses to my post on the growing disconnection of black men in America and the state of black leadership today. One in particular I wanted to share was from an African-American friend of mine from college named Jerome Maddox, who is now a distinguished professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania. He raises some important questions,

Gotham Ghostwritershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763863284206933224noreply@blogger.com2