Jonathan Zasloff

The Orwellian “Defense of Marriage Act” seems to have had a bad day with the Supremes, which is a good thing. Let’s assume that the Court strikes down section 3, which bans federal benefits for same-sex couples, and does what the plaintiff wants, namely, make one’s marital status depend upon which state the couple is […]

I’m a little surprised that Mark Kleiman hasn’t beaten me to the punch on this: a helluva speech by the President. My personal favorite moment was when he noted that defending Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid “does not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country […]

There is much bemoaning in Blue Blogistan that by agreeing to the fiscal cliff deal, President Obama relinquished his leverage of the sunsetting Bush tax cuts. (Markos says that the higher tax rates are the President’s “ONLY leverage.”). Even those who aren’t angry think that somehow he has little leverage left. I don’t think that […]

Or gals. Either way, some political anthropology is in order. Via Drum, Dave Weigel objects to the media narrative about the supposed new Republican flexibility on raising taxes on those making more than $250,000: When I carp about Meet the Pressistan, this is what I’m talking about — a mobius strip conversation among the same […]

All Republicans know that President Obama is an anti-Semitic Islamist Marxist who wants to throw Israel into the sea; after all, Bill Kristol has been saying so for years. So it is quite amazing that the Wall Street Journal reported this the other day, concerning Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system. The Bush Administration rejected the […]

Kevin Drum notes that Republicans insist on something called “entitlement reform,” but have no actual ideas about what this reform might mean (aside from getting rid of Medicare). So now they are insisting that President Obama make the first offer, which is a laughable position. The also insist on “putting Obamacare on the table”, which […]

Okay, this is just getting stupid. Even after the CIA explained that Susan Rice was using intelligence-approved talking points, and briefed Senators on the fake-Benghazi scandal, the Nuevo Three Amigos (plus Amiga Nueva) are still not satisfied. Kelly Ayotte, in an attempt to “burnish” her foreign policy cred in preparation for 2016, has announced that […]

At this writing, Middle East watchers are, well, watching to see if Israel and Hamas can reach a cease-fire. Signs are good, but pessimists are rarely disproved in the Middle East. There is little doubt that Jerusalem would like a genuine cease-fire. Even though the Israeli public strongly supports Operation Pillar of Defense, it is […]

For the last 20 years, the Right has worked hard to convert support for Israel from an area of bipartisan consensus into a topic for Republicans to beat Democrats with. Even Washington’s most tepid disagreement with the Israeli government will be lept upon by right-wingers as an indication that the US is selling out the […]