WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2022Imitations of discourse: Like Jesus, the analysts wept.They'd watched the opening 34 minutes of today's Morning Joe. You can watch eleven minutes of the longer fandango just by clicking here.Sad! The uninterrupted segment was largely devoted to the task of … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, MAY 3, 2022Plus, was Roe correctly decided? Presumably, American politics will turn on a dime if Roe is overturned.Such a ruling would create a rare situation, in which our blue tribe's position on a major dispute would conceivably boast a substantial majority in the re … | Continue reading
MONDAY, MAY 2, 2022For now, try this instead: Over the weekend, we said that we would be resuming normal services today.We're going to delay a bit more. Last week, we underwent what some would describe as a "medical procedure," and we're still getting our energy back. Believe it … | Continue reading
SATURDAY, APRIL 30, 2022Services to resume: After unexpected delay, we've returned to our sprawling, award-winning campus. On Monday, services resume. | Continue reading
MONDAY, APRIL 25, 2022That mission of national import: You may recall the mission of national import to which we referred last Thursday.That mission got pushed ahead to today. Also, we don't expect to post tomorrow, although we can't be sure.As we depart on that mission, we'll r … | Continue reading
SATURDAY, APRIL 23, 2022What happens at times of heightened conflict: What happens at times of heightened tribal conflict?Today, we'll take a look at what can happen, at such times, within the journalistic context, even at the highest levels of the elite national press. We'll sta … | Continue reading
FRIDAY, APRIL 22, 2022What happens at times of war: What happens at times of tribal war? As a general matter, something of the following type will routinely occur:Tribal Group A will make a reasonably reasonable point—but uh-oh! As it makes this reasonably reasonable point, Triba … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022No additional fish at this time: We're off on that mission of national import. We won't have further fish today. Quite possibly, no fish tomorrow as well.In the meantime, we'll recommend this new post by Kevin Drum—a post in which Drum explores the return … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2022Sympathy for Cassandra: As it turns out, we shouldn't have started a week-long report this week.As it turns out, we've been called away from our sprawling campus on a mission of national import. For that reason, we won't be able to finish this week's repo … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 2022Also, the razor blade wars and the several tomatoes: In his most recent column, Charles Blow outlines the possibility of a "Biden blood bath."We leap at the chance to recommend Blow. This is observed without comment:BLOW (4/18/22): There was another worriso … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 2022... her assailants were disappeared: It's very depressing to consider discussing The Disappeared.What makes the prospect so daunting? Anthropologists explain the matter in the following way:If we try to discuss The Disappeared, we're forced to confront the … | Continue reading
MONDAY, APRIL 18, 2022"The Trayvon Generation:" Elizabeth Alexander is a well-known poet. She's also a good, decent person.She was interviewed yesterday in the Washington Post Magazine. At the start of the feature, this is the way she was profiled:Elizabeth Alexander, 59, is a po … | Continue reading
SUNDAY, APRIL 17, 2022Joined now by White House contenders: How dumb does our upper-end discourse get?It gets amazingly dumb! If you aren't able to grasp that fact, you can't see the world we all live in.How dumb does it get at the top of the pile? Consider the MOST READ article … | Continue reading
FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2022...and tackles Gifted and Talented: We'll recommend two fascinating articles about two public school issues. In this morning's New York Times, a news report describes Mayor Adams' "plan to expand [New York City's] gifted and talented classes for elementary s … | Continue reading
FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2022Seeing the glass very empty: When Storyline crawls upon the land, few embellishments get left behind.The story must be made better—or possibly worse. Consider a throw-away characterization found in a front-page report in the New York Times about Ketanji Brow … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2022CNN, uncomprehending: Commentary on the Jackson confirmation hearings was just pitifully bad. It was largely composed of embellishment along with the reading of script. It was Storyline all the way down. For ourselves, we were disappointed in Jackson's wid … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2022No disservice left behind: Judge Jackson has been universally acclaimed by the people who know her. This seems to date to her high school days—even to junior high school. Soon after her nomination by President Biden, the Washington Post published an extens … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2022This inspired life: Remarkably, your incomparable Daily Howler keeps banging out those results.Late last week, then over the weekend, MSNBC went into action catching up on its transcripts. We have no idea why "the slacker channel" decided to take this ste … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2022...to ponder the case of Tim Scott: "Is it possible that our imploding national culture has reached an inflection point?"We turned to the analysts and posed that question after scanning The Atlantic's web site this morning. Starting with the site's featur … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2022Non-explanation appears: Who or what lost Iowa? Over at New York magazine, Ed Kilgore quite sensibly wants to find out.Headline included, Kilgore's analysis starts like this. He's asking a very good question:The Decline and Fall of Iowa DemocratsNot so very … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2022Disinterest in low-income kids: There's absolutely nothing automatically wrong with being a double Harvard. Indeed, there isn't even anything wrong with being a triple Harvard, which the recent, plainly qualified nominee was and still is. You aren't require … | Continue reading
MONDAY, APRIL11, 2022Just that it's been said: We aren't saying that this is true.We're just saying that it has now been said.We refer to the message being delivered in The Atlantic's new cover essay. The headline above it says this:WHY THE PAST 10 YEARS OF AMERICAN LIFE HAVE BEE … | Continue reading
MONDAY, APRIL11, 2022...as opposed to the kids left behind: We've begun to think that David Brooks has been receiving instruction from the same disconsolate major experts who have been instructing us in the past five or six years.We refer, of course, to Future Anthropologists Hud … | Continue reading
FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2022As quoted by The Beast: We should have posted the quotation yesterday—yesterday, when we saw it.That said, we took a little time off. We watched Tiger Woods in the Masters. We watched the Senate vote which confirmed the soon-to-be Justice Jackson.We thought w … | Continue reading
FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2022The public was never told: Yesterday, we forgave you. We forgave you if you hadn't heard about the suddenly heralded improvement, over the course of the past two decades, in the Los Angeles public schools (the LAUSD).All of a sudden, the L.A. schools have bee … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2022Are these really "schools that work?" Had you heard about the improvement in the Los Angeles public schools?If not, you can be forgiven. We don't think we'd heard about it either. Topics like that don't get discussed within our highly Potemkin American pseu … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2022Possibly takes a wrong turn: In yesterday's column in the New York Times, Michelle Goldberg pretty much started where we left off last Thursday.We humans believe the darnedest things! Headline included, Goldberg started as shown:GOLDBERG (4/5/22): Why Are … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2022Triggered by the claim: What did Professor Fuller say about the Los Angeles schools?We'd call that an excellent question. Also, there's this:In his recent column in the Washington Post, what did Jay Mathews say that Professor Fuller has said about those em … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2022These legal experts today: Last night, Lawrence O'Donnell began and ended his Last Word program with segments about the impending confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve on the Supreme Court.In his final segment, he spoke with two MSNBC legal co … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2022Absolutely nobody cares: Long ago and far away, the Los Angeles public schools—the Los Angeles Unified School District—was in a world of hurt.By "long ago," we specifically mean in the year 2003. Consider the average scores the giant school district—the LAUS … | Continue reading
MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2022William F. Buckley / Black Lives Matter: New York Magazine seems to be having a big day.On the one hand, Jonathan Chait writes about Matthew Continetti's slashing new history, The Right: The Hundred Year War for American Conservatism. Chait is surprised by "h … | Continue reading
MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2022The question was quite straightforward: A headline in Sunday's New York Times took us where the rubber meets the road.The headline appeared in the Book Review section. The headline in question said this:Can We Empathize With Our Enemies? One Author Wants Us t … | Continue reading
SATURDAY, APRIL 2, 2022Lock them all up, we proclaim: Over the course of the past month, Russia's invasion of Ukraine had knocked us off our game.We were discussing Ukraine around the clock. The need to lock The Others up was suddenly getting short shrift.Within the past week, al … | Continue reading
FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2022A very strange corporate channel: We thought we'd use this initial Friday in April to nail down a bit of book-keeping. We refer to MSNBC's most recent (apparent) decision to stop providing transcripts of its primetime "cable news" shows.For the record, TV new … | Continue reading
FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2022Journalist Kane is nuts: Based on many published reports, Senator Cruz (R-Texas) isn't especially well liked.That's even true among the people who know the senator best. There are a variety of jokes floating round which run on this general theme:If Ted Cruz w … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2022Nebraska state solon gone wild: A small but instructive news event appeared this Monday in the Washington Post.It involved a state senator in the state of Nebraska. Nothing will turn on this news event, and yet it's highly instructive.Jaclyn Peiser penned … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2022The scripting of one of our worlds: It was Tuesday morning, March 22, in the year 2022. As the Senate committee took its first break, five senators—out of 22 in all!—had questioned Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Biden's nominee to sit on the Suprem … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2022So proclaims The Atlantic: Here in our self-impressed, self-assured town, there's nothing quite like a distraction. At Slate, and at The Daily Beast, they've pretty much mastered the artform:R. ERIC THOMAS / MARCH 30, 2022 / 6:00 AMHelp! I Faked Having CO … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2022Planet of the chimps: It happens every once in a while. By that, we mean "extremely rarely."Every once in a while, in the 5 A.M. hour, we receive a tiny glimpse of the ultimate anthropology. It happened early this morning, as we executed our standard pre- … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, MARCH 29, 2022Today, tomorrow, forever: On Sunday evening, in Tinseltown, Chris Rock was conducting a somewhat typical "middle school"-style roast. Amy Schumer had already told at least one very good joke. As we noted yesterday, her very good joke went like this:This yea … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, MARCH 29, 2022Delivering script to one world: Last night, we watched the thirty minutes all over again. We even jotted down notes.We were watching for maybe the third or fourth time. In truth, we saw nothing which struck us as shocking. We saw nothing which even came clo … | Continue reading
MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2022Transcript on demand: There was at least one great joke at the Oscars last night. It came early in the opening monologue, when we were still watching:Amy Schumer: This year, the academy hired three women to host because it’s cheaper than hiring one man.By an … | Continue reading
MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2022Graham's shocking attack: Last Tuesday, the actual questioning began just after 10:40 A.M. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson had been nominated to serve on the United States Supreme Court. A sprawling, 22-member Senate committee was now pretending to engage in the … | Continue reading
SATURDAY, MARCH 26, 2022A potent instructional moment: Why was Wesley Hawkins, 19 years of age at the time, sentenced to (only) three months in prison back in 2013?This became a leading question in this week's confirmation hearings for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. Judge Jackson h … | Continue reading
FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2022Lost Child, invested with power: We start today with text messages sent by Ginni Thomas in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential campaign.Ginni Thomas is the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. There seems to be no doubt about the authenticity of … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2022"Not clinical," experts say: We're fascinated by the way the Jackson hearings have been discussed. We expect to touch on that topic in the next few days.For today, we'll return to Ukraine. We can't tell you why this is, but all of a sudden, Aleksandr Dugi … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2022The shrieking proceeded from there: Last evening, for a few brief shining moments, Tucker Carlson got to be pretty much right.At least on a purely political basis, Carlson got to be pretty much right with respect to transgender swimmer Lia Thomas—and we'll … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 2022In search of Putin's dream: Based on current tabulations, it's currently the fourth MOST READ piece in the whole of the Washington Post.We recommend it strongly. It's David Von Drehle's profile of Aleksandr Dugin, the man who is apparently known as "Putin … | Continue reading