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Politics

The Long View 2004-03-05: Power; Decadence; Blackmun & the Terror War

Cold fusion is one of those ideas that just won't die. Sure, I'd love it to be real too, but when something seems too good to be true, it usually is. Especially in a field that has failed so spectacularly so many times. Sonoluminescence, the phenomenon

The Long View 2004-03-02: Reforms; Diversity; Red-Brown-Green

John has a tongue-in-cheek suggestion here that perennial basket-case countries like Haiti might be better served by a form of government like the city manager model of medium-sized American municipalities. I think he is on to something. There is an unfortunate belief in the US that majoritarian democracy is identical

The Long View 2004-02-25: The Marriage Amendment; Inflation; O'Rourke

As it turns out, Obergefell v. Hodges was decided on equal protection grounds. Again, while the Left decisively won the Culture War, I think the Right will continue to resist for a long time. Roe v. Wade was 43 years ago now, and the Right has very much not given

The Long View 2004-02-13: Scandals; Legislative Tactics; Creeping Doom

It is kind of fun to relive past presidential elections through John's blog when another one is going on. It is much easier to gain perspective on manufactured scandals when you see them again twelve years later. For example, who now remembers the alleged sex scandal involving John

The Long View 2004-02-04: When the Vampire Speaks

Bill Clinton's visit to U.S.-Islamic World Forum in 2004 is a good reminder that there isn't really that much difference between the two American parties on foreign policy. [Bill Clinton] told his audience that had he been president when the September 11 attacks occurred,

LinkFest 2016-05-06

The 'white squatter camps' of post Apartheid South Africa The South African apartheid regime was memorably described as "socialism for the Afrikaners, capitalism for the English-speaking whites and Indians, and fascism for the blacks." Now that the boot is on the other foot, the Afrikaners and

The Long View 2004-01-21: The Iowa Caucuses and the State of the Union

What happened to Howard Dean in 2004 is what a lot of knowledgeable observers such as Nate Silver and Ross Douthat expected to happen to Donald Trump in 2015-16. What seems to have changed since 2004 is the Bushes lost control of the Republican party apparatus, and the Clintons have