Ryan Cooper

From the New York Times: Consider the case of Chris Williams, the subject of this Op-Doc video, who opened a marijuana grow house in Montana after the state legalized medical cannabis. Mr. Williams was eventually arrested by federal agents despite Montana’s medical marijuana law, and he may spend the rest of his life behind bars. […]

In case you haven’t seen it, I found this clip of the president losing his famous cool a little quite interesting: Obama is often compared to Spock in his near-total unflappability. But stress, lack of sleep, and the emotional release of victory can erode that control and make a person expose their humanity a little. […]

In a little-noticed vote last night, after many failed attempts, Puerto Rico voted to officially join the United States as a full state: The two-part referendum asked whether the island wanted to change its 114-year relationship with the United States. Nearly 54 percent, or 922,374 people, sought to change it, while 46 percent, or 786,749 […]

Let me assent to these posts by Tim Noah, David Dayen, and Paul Waldman. Even if President Obama gets another term by winning the electoral college and losing the popular vote, moving to a national popular vote system will still be the right policy. First, even if we grant that scenario, there is still a […]

That’s it for me today. As always, thanks for reading and commenting. Here are some links for this afternoon: 1. Iraq records huge increase in birth defects. Apparently linked to military action. 2. A review of David Nutt’s latest book, Drugs without the Hot Air. Alcohol doesn’t come off well. 3. Terrible story by a […]

I was talking to a colleague in the office the other day, critiquing the first presidential debate. He was talking about how Romney’s responses were all organized around the theme of jobs, and Obama needed to calibrate his answers similarly. He suggested the lack of maintenance of the Bush years as a theme, something along […]

The Times: George McGovern, the United States senator who won the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 1972 as an opponent of the war in Vietnam and a champion of liberal causes, and who was then trounced by President Richard M. Nixon in the general election, died early Sunday in Sioux Falls, S.D. He was 90. […]

This came out yesterday, but in case you missed it, some important pieces of the Benghazi puzzle came to light yesterday. The first, from David Ignatius, somewhat exonerates UN Ambassador Susan Rice and her infamous tour of the Sunday shows: “Talking points” prepared by the CIA on Sept. 15, the same day that Rice taped […]

A rare mild spot of good news from the Middle East: The United States and Iran have agreed in principle for the first time to one-on-one negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, according to Obama administration officials, setting the stage for what could be a last-ditch diplomatic effort to avert a military strike on Iran. This, […]