Open Thread

15 Comments

1. 

   BooMan on March 22, 2014 at 6:22 pm

   Jelani Cobb’s effort is stunningly good.  

   • 

     BooMan on March 22, 2014 at 6:46 pm

     Such a gulf between that piece and George Will’s.  

2. 

   aarrgghh on March 22, 2014 at 7:34 pm

   all you need to know about bill comes from my favorite kristol anecdote:

   So how did [Bill Kristol] end up with such a sweet gig? (Especially given that the Times already employed an incomparably more talented conservative columnist in the person of David Brooks.)

   The answer goes back to Farley’s observation about the extreme nepotism of the contemporary right-wing media machine. Kristol may be an utter mediocrity, but he’s an extraordinarily well-connected utter mediocrity. (Indeed, as this column went to press it was announced that the Washington Post Writers Group had hired Kristol.)

   Which brings me to this charming vignette, courtesy of blog commenter Harry Hopkins:

   “I remember back in the late 1990s, when Ira Katznelson, an eminent political scientist at Columbia, came to deliver a guest lecture. Prof. Katznelson described a lunch he had with Irving Kristol during the first Bush administration.

   “The talk turned to William Kristol, then Dan Quayle’s chief of staff, and how he got his start in politics. Irving recalled how he talked to his friend Harvey Mansfield at Harvard, who secured William a place there as both an undergrad and graduate student; how he talked to Pat Moynihan, then Nixon’s domestic policy adviser, and got William an internship at the White House; how he talked to friends at the RNC [Republican National Committee] and secured a job for William after he got his Harvard Ph.D.; and how he arranged with still more friends for William to teach at Penn and the Kennedy School of Government.

   “With that, Prof. Katznelson recalled, he then asked Irving what he thought of affirmative action. I oppose it,’ Irving replied. It subverts meritocracy.’ “

3. 

   marindenver on March 22, 2014 at 7:41 pm

   Snowing here in Denver.  Springtime in the Rockies &c.

4. 

   Brendan Skwire on March 22, 2014 at 7:53 pm

   On my mind…

   -Wiped out from a double gig last night. As a result I

   -Slept in most of the afternoon and missed a lot of the good weather. So be it. But, during the time I was out and about, I

   -Signed up for health care today. It’s looking like $244/month for a Silver including a truly offensive $27/month subsidy. But I’m doing my taxes Monday, and then adjusting the reported income to increase the subsidy. Looks like I can deduct about $4000-$5000 in business expenses, so that could make a real difference.

5. 

   Marie2 on March 22, 2014 at 9:27 pm

   Beautiful voices.  Twenty Feet from Stardom is filled with them (even if it’s not a great documentary).

   Then there’s Mahalia:

   • 

     Marie2 on March 22, 2014 at 10:01 pm

     And the sweet – Sweet Honey in the Rock

6. 

   MNPundit on March 22, 2014 at 10:15 pm

   My chronic GI issues. 2 damn months but nothing can be found medically wrong.

   • 

     n1cholas on March 22, 2014 at 10:24 pm

     I’m assuming you’ve tried drastically changing your diet?

     Cut out non-vegetable carbohydrates for a month.

     • 

       MNPundit on March 23, 2014 at 12:43 pm

        Allergies or intolerances are next to test but my specialist and I don’t get along so its rough going.

       • 

         n1cholas on March 23, 2014 at 6:07 pm

         Seriously, just cut out non-vegetable carbohydrates. I know it isn’t fun to drastically change your diet, but,

         1. It ain’t gonna hurt to eat more vegetables and basically cut out all grains/starch.

         2. If it works, you now know. If not, you now know.

   • 

     Marie2 on March 23, 2014 at 12:53 pm

     If it’s heartburn type GI issues, be sure they don’t overlook the gall bladder.  Have known a few people that suffered for a few months under medical supervision before they got around to recognizing the problem.

7. 

   Marie2 on March 22, 2014 at 11:11 pm

   It’s a Small World celebrates 59 years of giving people a penetrating earworm.

   From National Lampoon’s 1964 High School Yearbook

   The high point of the trip was, of course, the 1964 World’s Fair held at Flushing Meadows, New York.  There they inhaled many heady sights and sounds such as the Pepsi Cola Pavilion, with its many wonderful and interesting Disney- animated mechanical foreigners who sang “It’s a Small World After All” over and over and over again. (“I never knew anybody could sing the same song so many times,” reported Kanga rambler Wendy Ann Dempler, “not even robots. The mechanical sidewalk broke down and we had to listen to it over and over again. Gilbert counted we listened to it 302 times until he lost count on account of his real bad nosebleed. It was kind of creepy.”)

8. 

   Geov Parrish on March 22, 2014 at 11:52 pm

   driftglass is correct that it’s impossible to humiliate, shame, or otherwise humble a narcissist like Kristol. But, as I’ve mentioned before, Pierce didn’t write his jeremiad for Kristol.

   The audience is, or at least should be, the rest of the national media commentariat, as a demonstration of the proper scorn in which to hold Kristol and his ilk. As such, it’s a pithy masterpiece.

9. 

   pattasrinivas on March 29, 2014 at 12:14 pm

   I love This Post great info thank u
   facebook amazon paypal hackers
   gudtricks