"The Daily Show" Does the Speaker's Race February 4, 2011 – Look, I enjoy making fun of Texas Republicans as much as the next libr’l citizen of the People’s Republic of Austin. but this is a long stretch for a joke. Several points: 1) Joe Strauss had to fight for re-election primarily because he is not as conservative as the Tea Party red meaters he now serves with, and because he has not ruled with an iron fist. In other words, a few people saw a guy they didn’t like anyway and added his religion to the baggage they believed…
Month: February 2011
Republicans Vote To Repeal Obama-Backed Bill That Would Destroy … (The Onion) February 2, 2011 Search begins for new head of NPR News February 2, 2011 – Pick me. Pick me. Architecture speak: An essay on the ridiculous way architects talk. February 2, 2011 – I once served on a city board with a bunch of architects. I didn’t get the jargon thing so much as a sort of weird mixture of professional poise and artsy spaciness. Architects, especially in a group, are weird.
Tea Party Democrats? Claire McCaskill and other senators get bullish on the deficit. February 2, 2011 – McCaskill is a genuine reformer; has been since she got elected. She’s been working on reform of the military contracting proces, systemic campaign finance reform, and a meaningful process for cutting the deficit and the debt. Reid is doing the Dem version of the kind of political line-drawing that Republicans have used so effectively to establish their conservative bonafides. Even in the few cases that McCaskill has taken positions I don’t personally agree with, I have found her to be much less prone…
Narcissus Regards a Book – The Chronicle Review – The Chronicle of Higher Education February 1, 2011 Shelly’s Podcast: 1-31-11 (voicemail: 512-394-4624) January 31, 2011 8 Essential Longform Reads About Egypt January 30, 2011 Fernet For Life January 27, 2011