Ed Kilgore

Gage Skidmore/Flickr Perhaps the least surprising revelation of the presidential cycle so far can be found in David Corn’s piece today on Dr. Ben Carson’s enthusiasm for the famous Bircher crank W. Cleon Skousen, best known as a formative shaper of the world-view of Glenn Beck. Carson swears by Skousen, who died in 2006. In […]

Marc Bolan was born on this day in 1947. Here’s T. Rex performing “Mambo Sun” on German television in 1972. As some of you may recall, this song became a hit for the new wave group The Bongos a decade later.

I first heard Koko Taylor (among other great acts) in the mid-1980s sitting in traffic on I-20 in Atlanta morning after morning and listening to a blues show on WRFG. Made life in the state government bureaucracy a lot more bearable. Here are some remains of the day: * HRC proposes repealing the Obamacare Cadillac […]

Gee, sure glad I spent so much time mastering Twitter’s 140 character format. Here’s the shocking news from recode.net: Twitter is building a new product that will allow users to share tweets that are longer than the company’s 140-character limit, according to multiple people familiar with the company’s plans. It’s unclear what the product will […]

Part of the convoluted dance that movement conservative types are performing with respect to Donald Trump’s campaign is to attribute his success to the righteous rage of “the base” over being fooled repeatedly by Republican elites, and then pivot to a prediction that said “base” will figure out Trump’s fooling them, too. That’s not the […]

Michael Vadon/Wikimedia Commons The New York Times‘ Ashley Parker has a piece today that will amuse campaign operatives from all over the spectrum about the inveterate habit of political donors to want to offer some advice to candidates along with their checks. Sometimes it’s just a matter of rich people having a high opinion of […]

Hard to believe it’s nearly October. Back home at about this time Georgia Bulldog fans put on bright orange t-shirts festooned with the logos of the Florida Gators, Clemson Tigers, Auburn Tigers and Tennessee Vols and the legend: “In the Fall, Rednecks Turn Orange.” We should talk! Here are some seasonal midday news/views treats: * […]

Ann Friedman has written a piece for TNR that will be of great interest to all of us who have had to grapple with the idea of a personal “brand.” It’s an occupational hazard for bloggers, clearly, though back in the day, before corporate models completely conquered journalism, it was called a “voice.” But as […]

Gage Skidmore/Flickr So even as laurels continue to be thrown towards John Boehner on the theory that he’s sacrificed his career to prevent a government shutdown–and hey! maybe save Eximbank and the Highway Bill!–a more serious look at what’s likely to happen next is far less inspiring. The premier budget wizard, Stan Collender, issued this […]

Gage Skidmore/Flickr Today’s much-needed chuckle comes from an interview National Journal‘s Tim Alberta conducted with RNC Chairman Reince Priebus in which the party honcho whose grip over the GOP has not looked all that secure is talking tough about what might be done to the early-state nominating contest oligopoly after the current cycle is over. […]