TWO MOVIES
Just a reminder not to miss Charlie Wilson’s War. And now – also based on a
true story – The Great Debaters. I’d tell you more, but my favorite thing is
to go to a movie and NOT know what it’s about.
IMPARTIALITY
John Bakke: “The Corrente essay you linked to Friday is an interesting read,
albeit
unpersuasive. But it really appears to me as though
you are pointing readers to it under entirely false pretenses,
‘enthusiastically neutral’ notwithstanding. It’s equivalent to push-
polling.”
F You’re right. It was an error in judgment. I linked to it because I thought it was really interesting. But – as it does, clearly, have a point of
view that disfavors one of the candidates – I shouldn’t have done it. (And have removed it.) I remain enthusiastically neutral among all
our fine Democratic candidates.
Speaking of whom . . .
AN ENCOURAGING WAY
TO LOOK AT IOWA
James Musters and
others:
Total Iowa Voter Turnout (approximate) 356,000
Percentage of total vote:
24.5% Obama
20.5% Edwards
19.8% Clinton
11.4% Huckabee
S/HE WHO GETS THE
MOST VOTES WINS?
Now, THERE’S a
Novel Idea
There’s one good thing about the Electoral College. Imagine a recount – tough enough to do for a
single state, but imagine, in a very close election, having to do it for the
entire nation. Not a trivial concern, I
think, especially when we still haven’t secured our voting machines (see yesterday’s
Sunday Times Magazine cover
story).
Still, Maryland
just passed a law that would – once enough other states to total 270 electoral
votes had passed similar legislation – assign its votes in the Electoral
College to the candidate who won the national popular vote. A clever end run around the
current system. Click here
for details.
KRISTOL
James Hickel: “Slate offers this
article advertised as, ‘The Left Needs to Shut Up About
Bill Kristol’s New Column.’ In my opinion, the willingness of the New York Times to hire one of its own
worst critics as a columnist is one of the reasons why it is probably the
greatest newspaper in the English-speaking world.”