Ed Kilgore

So the Oregon shooter is dead, but only after he killed twelve and wounded another 20 people with (apparently) four different weapons on what is normally a very peaceful community college campus. The motive is unclear but it seems the killer asked victims about their religions. I’m sure we’ll soon hear that nobody would have […]

I betcha there is a lot of sniggering going on among Senate staffers and on the GOP presidential campaign trail about Mark Salter’s going-medieval column at RealClearPolitics today about Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). Salter, retired from the Senate staff but long the alter ego of John McCain, uses the refusal of any Senator to second […]

In my own post on Pope Francis’ interesting encounter with that well-known American spiritual leader the Clerk of Rowan County, Kentucky, I allowed as how it was possible the Supreme Pontiff got punk’d into a meeting he might not have undertaken had he know the context. Well, Esquire‘s Charlie Pierce has made a full, compelling […]

As we try to unravel the conflicting reports of lethal shootings at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, here’s some reflective music: a Kyrie from a choir in the Republic of Georgia. UPDATE: The best information we have is that 7 to 10 people are dead and another 20 injured. Several reports suggest the shooter […]

Yes, I’m looking out the window right now at wet pavement. It rained. Now we’ll probably get another 100 days of drought before El Nino arrives. Here are some delightfully hydrating midday news/views treats: * Trump pledges to send back refugees to Syria. What a guy. * Linda Greenhouse discusses the loneliness of John Roberts […]

Gage Skidmore/Flickr I noted one report earlier this week that Republican voters in South Carolina didn’t much care whether Carly Fiorina was a successful executive at HP or a rolling disaster. But today Megan McArdle becomes the first pundit I’ve read to say it doesn’t much matter. To be sure, she offers that opinion after […]

Marc Nozell/Flickr I just love the way this stuff is being reported right now: Vice President Joe Biden has extended his window for deciding whether to jump into the 2016 presidential campaign, several Democrats say, allowing the contest to play out even longer before he answers one of the biggest questions hanging over the race […]

Gage Skidmore/Flickr Here we go again. The inclusion criteria for the October 28 Republican presidential debate hosted by CNBC have been released, and the threshold for the “main event” is again national polling data. But this time there is no top-ten cutoff, but simply a 2.5% average standing requirement in clearly identified polls (by NBC, […]

Gage Skidmore/Flickr So as Jackie Calmes of the New York Times reports today, the Trans-Pacific Partnership mega-commercial deal is hanging fire at the final negotiations level, and the powers that be in both U.S. political parties are a bit conflicted about the likely domestic fallout if the deal is signed very soon. This has conventionally […]

In a little noted development last night, 151 House Republicans voted to shut down the federal government. Fortunately, the other 91 House Republicans joined every single House Democrat in supporting a short-term continuing resolution, as did 32 Senate Republicans and all the Senate Democrats. So once again, as is generally the case with legislation necessary […]