Ed Kilgore

Hank Hession/Flickr For decades now, I’ve marveled at the people who tear up as they sing: “I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free.” This implies, of course, that people in other advanced democracies cannot know they are free, an example of American Exceptionalism that is extremely strange unless you […]

So as you might imagine, I’m still suffering a bit from watching my Georgia Bulldogs suffer a defeat of biblical proportions on Saturday, at home, to the Death Star of college football, Alabama. Dawn and I were, however, pleased we did not spend $1500 or so to fly home to Georgia to sit in a […]

Gage Skidmore/Flickr Want to see how wide the chasm is between current GOP rank-and-file sentiments about the 2016 presidential nominating contest and the verities of political science? Check out my much-esteemed friend Jonathan Bernstein’s latest handicapping of that race. He places Rubio and Bush alone in the top tier, followed by John Kasich in the […]

Marc Nozell/Flickr It figures that the penultimate Biden’s Running! story comes from Mike “Win the Morning” Allen of Politico, who begins with the trumpet blare of a scoop: He’s finally close. Confidants of Vice President Joe Biden expect him to make a decision next weekend, or shortly thereafter, on whether to launch an epic battle […]

To the surprise, I suspect, of many observers, a handshake agreement was reached over the weekend on the Trans-Pacific Partnership commercial agreement, a mammoth Asian trade deal extending far beyond tariffs, and accompanied by a host of side agreements involving issues ranging from currency manipulation to labor standards. It will take a few days before […]

Speaking of TV, I’m guessing most readers saw the Hillary Clinton segment in the season premiere of Saturday Night Live either live or subsequently on video. In case you didn’t, here it is: Entertainment writer Kevin Fallon called the segment and indeed the whole show “basically a Hillary Clinton campaign ad,” allowing her to appear […]

I don’t watch the “Sunday shows,” but did find this opening comment from Donald Trump on This Week to represent not just his illogic but that of most Republicans: BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Somehow this has become routine. The reporting is routine. My response here at this podium ends up being routine. […]

Steve Miller was born on this day in 1943. Here’s my favorite song of his, from his early “psychedelic” days: “Your Saving Grace,” which contains my favorite brief definition of Christianity: “Tomorrow’s come a long long way to help you.”

As it happens, one of my doctors is an extremely competent gastrointestinal specialist named “Richard Hell.” He’s the reason I no longer wake up at 2:00 AM every night with acute heartburn. After one consultation, I said to him, “I have to ask, you know…” and he said “Yes, about my name,” and proceeded to […]

There’s a big, meaty new Pew survey out today entitled “Contrasting Partisan Perceptions on Campaign 2016” that we’ll all want to read in some detail, maybe over the weekend. But two things jump off the page. First (h/t David Frum), in the straight presidential preference poll, Jeb Bush is down to 4%. These are the […]