Ed Kilgore

Guess I’m going to have to read Dr. Ben Carson’s new book assuming his presidential candidacy doesn’t fold pretty soon. On an almost daily basis, the wiggy dude is making strange arguments that he says he explains and documents fully in A More Perfect Union, his longform prescription for uniting Americans by getting rid of […]

In a parallel meditation on Paul Ryan as the potential savior of the House GOP, New York‘s Jonathan Chait makes a persuasive argument that Ryan’s ideological bona fides is so strong that he and only he can convince restive and angry conservatives to delay ideological gratification until that great gittin’ up morning when Republicans control […]

By COB today, we are with increasing unanimity being told by the Republican-watchers in Washington, the agony of the House GOP in the wake of Kevin McCarthy’s abrupt abandonment of his campaign for the Speakership will turn into the party-wide ecstasy of Paul Ryan accepting the gig, which will apparently be given to him by […]

It’s the day when Jackson Browne and John Entwistle and O.V. Wright were born, but they share the birthday with John Lennon, born on this day seventy-five years ago. Here’s the Beatles with one of Lennon’s early songs, reflecting his departure from the happy love song meme, with “I’m a Loser,” performed in Paris in […]

It’s been one of those days that make me nostalgic for the excitement of hearing GS-13s trade rumors on the Orange Line. Yes, I’m kidding. Here are some remains of the day: * HRC releases new plan for regulating Wall Street in advance of next week’s debate. * Interesting polling mystery: Kasich loses over half […]

I suppose it’s as good a time as any to recall that under the rules of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Speaker does not have to be a Member. And so, you get this entirely non-humorous tweet from a Washington Examiner reporter: .@newtgingrich says he’d consider interim speakership http://t.co/Zx27iR8qSH pic.twitter.com/sLxKzOSeZd — Al Weaver (@alweaver22) […]

Now and then Politico–which I’ll say again as I’ve said before serves an important function in our system so long as they don’t overthink what they are doing–becomes kind of a parody of itself, and that’s what’s happening this afternoon as the site’s reporters careen around Washington with wildly speculative and conflicting takes on why […]

Greg Sargent has rather emphatically joined my campaign to convince the vice president to put an end to the weird and destructive speculation about his presidential plans–or the lack thereof–as soon as possible: Mr. Vice President, enough is enough. The first Democratic presidential debate is in five days. Tell us what you’re going to do […]

As we await further word on why Kevin McCarthy’s no longer running for House Speaker, here are some more conventional midday news/views treats: * At the Prospect, Adele Stan reminds us of Joe Biden’s shortcomings as a presidential candidate in 1988 and 2008. * For what it’s worth: Dennis Ross offers a negative “insider account” […]

In breaking news, just prior to a scheduled House GOP conference vote on the party’s nominee for the speakership that most of us figured was just a preliminary skirmish before the real bargaining with disgruntled conservatives began, Rep. Kevin McCarthy took himself out of the running, reportedly saying he was “not the one to unify […]