Kathleen Geier

I woke up this morning to the horrible news that George Zimmerman has gotten away with murder. Sadly, this verdict was not unexpected. At the beginning of the trial, I allowed myself to hope against hope that maybe, for once in America’s history, some simulacrum of justice would be served, in a case where a […]

Someone on the internets recently reminded me of what a great album the soundtrack of The Harder They Come is. So I listened to it again, and that verdict was confirmed. In solidarity with the grieving loved ones of Trayvon Martin, and outraged lovers of justice everywhere.

Over at the New York Review of Books, progressive Catholic icon and public intellectual extraordinaire Garry Wills has written a a terrific blog post about the politics of canonization in the Catholic Church — i.e., the process by which the Church declares someone a saint. In it, Wills includes some fascinating history and analysis, such […]

Former Democratic governor of Montana Brian Schweitzer announced today that he won’t run for the state’s open U.S. senate seat, current held by retiring Democrat Max Baucus. Schweitzer has long been a huge mancrush of certain bro-progressive bloggers ( *cough* Kos *cough*). I’ve been less than impressed; Schweitzer is ardently opposed to even the most […]

Megan McArdle: As it happens, I like the filibuster. I’m fine with its broad use against as many laws as the minority likes. I like minorities being able to hold the majority back. Good to know! Of course, in the very next sentence she contradicts herself, by tsk tsking over how the Republicans are using […]

As expected, late last night the Texas state senate voted to approve the state’s draconian abortion bill. Governor Rick Perry will soon sign it into law. It will become one of the most punitive, oppressive, anti-women pieces of legislation anywhere in the country. Among other things, it bans abortion after 20 weeks, even for victims […]

This YouTube has been on the internets for a while now, but it’s well worth sharing again, for those who haven’t seen it yet. For one thing, there is the pure pop bliss that is ABBA — a group that brings to mind one of my favorite quotes, that line from Noel Cowards’s Private Lives: […]

Right now, the prospects of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) bill currently before Congress are looking cloudy at best. As Dave Weigel explains here, many Republicans have done the electoral math, and believe, not without reason, that opposing immigration bill is in their interest, at least over the short term. Arguments opposing immigration reform from […]

By all accounts, Hillary Clinton has a robust sense of humor. She’s a big fan of the instant classic Texts from Hillary tumblr, for example. That’s all to the good, because clearly, humor has been a helpful tool in enabling her to deal with the tsunami of absurd BS that has come her way throughout […]

Spam is an aspect of modern life that is ubiquitous yet oddly underdiscussed. Partly that’s because most email programs do a decent job of blocking it these days. In fact, for me, by far the most annoying thing about spam is when I realize I missed an important email message because, for some reason, it […]