Author: Elspeth Reeve

If There's a War on Men, Who's Winning Exactly?

Wall Street Journal

Wall Street Journal columnist James Taranto is not a rape apologist. He's not a woman hater. He only attacks sexual assault victims to help other women.

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 22, 2013

David Brooks Loves to Capitalize Nouns

The New York Times columnist is wrong about sequestration, and he's somewhat admitted as much. But we can diagnose his wrongness as a compulsive desire to Arbitrarily Capitalize Things. Here are 34 examples from the past 365 days.

Comments | 2,069 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 22, 2013

Fear Is the Answer to the Spendocalypse

We're one week away from the sequester, and Republicans and Democrats are panicking about it actually hitting and over their side having to cave. But fear is a good sign, right? The fiscal cliff proved it can force a deal. Here's the current state of panic.

Comments | 1,207 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 21, 2013

Fake Hagel Fight Finishes: He's Got the Votes in the Senate

There are enough votes in the Senate to confirm Chuck Hagel as Defense Secretary, the Associated Press' Donna Cassata reports, signaling an end to a loud fight that that always seemed a little fake.

Comments | 3,653 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 21, 2013

We Need Armed Guards in Every Oven

The National Rifle Association has no patience for gun-grabbers' anecdotes — yes, one crazy person with a gun can kill a lot of people, but most gun owners are not murderous sociopaths. Instead, what the NRA likes is cold, hard hypotheticals.

Comments | 1,207 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 21, 2013

What Medicaid-Loving GOP Governors Have in Common

Rick Scott is not alone: Of the seven Republican governors who've betrayed the anti-Obamacare cause, four are in states with very large Latino populations. And watch out — some of these bleeding hearts could be "the future of the GOP."

Comments | 3,103 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 21, 2013

What Dred Scott Has to Do with Citizens United (Hint: Nothing)

Democratic Sen. Ed Markey mentioned Citizens United, the 2010 Supreme Court case allowing unlimited political ad spending, in the same breath as the Dred Scott decision, the 1858 Supreme Court keeping slavery legal by saying it was OK for white people to keep black people as their private property. Cue unthinking outrage!

Comments | 2,069 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 21, 2013

Trumpdate! Donald Trump Is Either Hacking Victim or Closet Lil' Wayne Fan

Donald Trump's Twitter account might have been hacked Thursday, or he might have been sincerely quoting Lil' Wayne when he tweeted, "These hoes think they classy, well that's the class I'm skippen." It's so hard to tell with The Donald.

Comments | 2,586 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 21, 2013

Smiling Through the Spendocalypse

Both House Speaker John Boehner and President Barack Obama agree that the sequester will be a disaster for the economy. But Republicans and Democrats aren't allowed to agree on anything, so, with eight days before $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts kick in, a chorus of conservatives have emerged to ask, what's so bad about sequestration? 

Comments | 3,388 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 20, 2013

Florida's Rick Scott Signs on to Obamacare's Medicaid Expansion

The governor announced he will accept federal funds to expand Medicaid, in a major about-face for yet another major opponent of President Obama's plan. "I cannot in good conscience deny Floridians to healthcare," Scott said late Wednesday.

Comments | 1,934 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 20, 2013

Access Is as Access Does

President Obama is giving interviews to eight local TV news reporters to highlight the effect of the sequester on their cities, again snubbing the poor White House correspondents who are routinely denied access to the president, as Politico vividly chronicled earlier this week. And what are these lucky local news reporters doing with their precious access? Tweeting about Bo, the dog.

Comments | 1,207 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 20, 2013

Romney Will Resurface at CPAC

Mitt Romney will give a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in March, his first public speaking appearance since conceding defeat on election night, the National Review's Robert Costa reports.

Comments | 345 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 20, 2013

Senator Had a Secret Son With Pundit Who Praised Him as a Great Dad

Pundit and lobbyist Michelle Laxalt gave an impassioned defense of then-Sen. Pete Domenici on CNN in 2007, saying he was a man of "integrity" who was "supporting no fewer than eight children." That curiously inexact reference makes sense now that Domenici has admitted to fathering a son with her.

Comments | 10,176 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 20, 2013

Koch Brothers Want to Know Why Their Money Was Wasted

The massive amount of outside political spending unleashed by Citizens United did not, as feared, make it easier for rich people to buy an election. Instead, it showed that rich people are pretty dumb about politics. 

Comments | 29,644 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 19, 2013

Marco Rubio Still Can't Slip Away from Obama on Immigration

A lot of people are noticing that Marco Rubio's immigration reform plan has a lot in common with President Obama's immigration reform plan, which Rubio denounced as "half-baked." This is not good for Rubio.

Comments | 843 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 19, 2013

Post-Love Pentagon, John Allen Is Out

President Obama accepted the general's request to retire from the military, instead of going forward with his nomination to be supreme commander of NATO, and now the scandal has ended the careers of two very high-ranking national security officials.

Comments | 345 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 19, 2013

Who Owns the Sequester?

It is starting to look less likely that Congress will reach a deal that prevents automatic spending cuts from taking effect March 1, so politicians are finding the strength to accept the things they cannot change, and change the things they cannot accept. That means accepting the sequester but changing who gets blamed for it.

Comments | 4,286 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 18, 2013

Will Conservatives Love Rubio's Plan Just Because He Hates Obama's?

Although Sen. Marco Rubio trashed President Obama's immigration plan, it is not clear what the major differences are between the two proposals, especially for one of Rubio's most important audiences, conservatives.

Comments | 1,822 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 15, 2013

The GOP Primary: Where Are They Now?

During the 2012 Republican primary, several candidates were criticized as unserious hustlers who cared less about America's problems than getting more famous into order to sell books — or get a Fox News contract like the one Herman Cain landed on Friday. Well, it's a year later. How did everyone do? 

Comments | 9,621 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 15, 2013

Don't Say Hillary Clinton Is Running for President

Yesterday The Atlantic Wire published a post titled "Hillary Clinton Is Running for President, OK?" suggesting that the traditional campaign kabuki, in which we all pretend there is reasonable doubt that someone is running for president right up until the moment the words "I'm running" leave a candidate's mouth, is needless.

Comments | 3,966 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 15, 2013

Fact Check: Obama Still Able to Make Small Children Smile

When President Obama played with pre-school children in Decatur, Georgia on Valentine's Day, one "brave" little girl was not impressed by the president, or so Daily Intel's Dan Amira would have you believe.

Comments | 4,099 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 15, 2013

The Emerging Pro-Weed Majority

Marijuana could be the next gay marriage -- a contentious social issue that suddenly picks up broad, bipartisan support for change.

Comments | 9,698 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 15, 2013

Senate Reaches Rare Bipartisan Agreement on Ted Cruz

Less than six weeks into his term, a remarkable number of both Republicans and Democrats have come forward to say that they think Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, is kind of a jerk.

Comments | 26,323 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 14, 2013

Don't Call It a Filibuster: Why Hagel Stalled in the Senate

Republican senators filibustered Secretary of Defense nominee Chuck Hagel on Thursday (though they'd rather you didn't call it that) for one reason, but they're hoping the delay gives them enough time to find another reason to block his nomination.

Comments | 2,759 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 14, 2013

Can Obama Sell Universal Preschool to the GOP?

In a speech to promote his State of the Union education plan, President Obama framed it in a way to appeal to Republicans: It saves money. But the question is not whether it's a good idea so much as whether it can pass the Republican-controlled House.

Comments | 2,356 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 14, 2013

John Boehner Is on a Sex-Joke Rampage

John Boehner can't stop making jokes that show how he earned his high school nickname, and his sexual innuendo campaign went there today — on sweet and innocent Valentine's Day, no less.

Comments | 7,924 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 14, 2013

Hillary Clinton Is Running for President, OK?

Bill Clinton confirmed Hillary Clinton is running for president in 2016, according to Angelo Tsakopoulos, a "real-estate honcho" who's a major donor to Clinton campaigns, the New York Post reports. No kidding?

Comments | 51,305 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 14, 2013

What Is the GOP Grassroots?

"GOP grassroots" can mean thousands of activists, drawn from Christian conservatives and Tea Partiers, gathering because they feel the the country and culture is drifting dangerously off course, or it can mean the paid consultants, like FreedomWorks, who think a video in which two female interns, one dressed as a panda and the other as Hillary Clinton, simulated oral sex, is hilarious.

Comments | 862 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 13, 2013

Wayne LaPierre's Shooting Into the Wind

Americans don't just need guns to fight criminals anymore, says the National Rifle Association's Wayne LaPierre, Americans need more guns to fight the weather.

Comments | 2,074 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 13, 2013

Rubio's Trying to Sell the House He Bragged About Living In

Rubio defended the Republicans against charges "they only care about rich people" in his State of the Union response Tuesday night by pointing to his residency: "Mr. President, I still live in the same working class neighborhood I grew up in." What he did not mention is that he'd like to move out of that neighborhood as soon as possible.

Comments | 517 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 13, 2013

What Actually Happens When You Raise the Minimum Wage

Insisting that raising the federal minimum wage to $9 an hour would cost jobs, House Speaker John Boehner has already rejected President Obama's State of the Union call to bring it up from $7.25. Here's research that says otherwise.

Comments | 11,485 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 13, 2013

Why Obama Can Only Hope for a Vote on Gun Control

The president's gun request in the State of the Union was memorable, but it was also just that — a very, very modest request for Congress to vote, amidst a wish list that otherwise called for an ambitious agenda. Why just a vote? Because the deeper conversation has changed.

Comments | 1,290 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 12, 2013

Marco Rubio's Awkward Drink of Water: A Deconstruction

This was a very consequential sip of water, given that Rubio's lines about "big government" were quite familiar, as was his biography. Let's break down the one moment America may remember about Tuesday night more than Obama's gun refrain.

Comments | 37,899 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 12, 2013

Obama's State of the Union Recap, in GIFs

The most powerful moment of the State of the Union on Tuesday night came when President Obama said the victims of gun violence — people like Gabby Giffords and the family of Hadiya Pendleton — deserve a vote on gun control measures. But there were many more moments and issues than that. Re-live them all here.

Comments | 15,999 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 12, 2013

How Obama Will Disappoint Liberals

You can bet on two things from President Obama's State of the Union: post-speech hype about how he's making an aggressive case for liberal policies, followed by liberal disappointment at Obama's policies.

Comments | 1,724 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 12, 2013

Who Wants to Be a State of the Union Rebutter?

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio will give the Republican response to President Obama's State of the Union speech tonight, and while it will give Rubio a chance to be seen by millions of Americans, recent history says it will be no help to his 2016 presidential candidacy.

Comments | 1,035 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 12, 2013

Actually, the Guy Who Shot Bin Laden Can Get Free Health Care

The Navy SEAL who shot Osama bin Laden "IS SCREWED" blares Esquire's new cover. But he's not quite as screwed as the much discussed story makes him out to be.

Comments | 7,115 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 11, 2013

The State of Our Union Is Always Strong

We already know how President Obama will describe the state of our union in his State of the Union address Tuesday: strong. Here's how the traditional line became a cliché. 

Comments | 2,266 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 11, 2013

Bob Menendez Is a Great Friend

"Nobody has bought me, No. 1. Nobody. Never," New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez told Univision last week. But if you survey the kind of things Menedez has done for opthamologist Salomon E. Melgen in the last 20 years, Menedez sure is a great friend.

Comments | 690 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 11, 2013

What to Expect in Obama's More Liberal State on the Union

President Obama will unveil a set of concrete proposals in his State of the Union speech Tuesday, and as in his inaugural address last month, he's expected to sound pretty liberal.

Comments | 1,035 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 8, 2013

Bush's Art Forces Liberals to Contemplate Bush's Soul

The Washington Free Beacon gives a glowing review to George W. Bush's hacked-and-leaked self-portraits, declaring, "Greatest Living President is Also Fantastic Painter."  Sadly, it appears to be a joke.

Comments | 13,741 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 8, 2013

The Sequester Disaster for Partisan Fun and Electoral Profit

There is broad agreement that allowing the sequester -- automatic spending cuts set to go into effect March 1 -- to go into effect would be disastrous. And yet, like fresh growth after a forest fire, both parties see a way to benefit from all the economic destruction.

Comments | 690 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 8, 2013

Would We Call Chris Christie Fat So Often If He Were a Woman?

If only Chris Christie were a woman, his weight, and his ability to make jokes about his weight, would make him a folk hero. But the New Jersey governor is s dude, so his fat is a liability.

Comments | 2,286 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 7, 2013

Brennan Hearing Barely Touches Drones

In the week before John Brennan's confirmation hearing, the conversation about the nominee to be CIA director was almost entirely about drones. The hearing itself mostly wasn't.

Comments

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 7, 2013

Brennan Walks the Line

Early into the John Brennan's confirmation hearing to be CIA director, his most difficult to believe statement is his claim, "I never believed it's better to kill a terrorist than to detain them." The Obama administration's drone program has, since 2008, incinerated not-even-high-ranking Al Qaeda members in thousands of drone strikes.

Comments | 674 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 7, 2013

Obama Addresses the Disappointment Wing of the Democratic Party

President Obama previewed the disappointment that members of his party are almost destined to eventually feel in a speech at the House Democratic Issues Conference on Thursday in Leesburg, Virginia.

Comments | 689 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 7, 2013

Cranks, Haters, Bigots No Longer Welcome in the GOP

Fox News and the Republican Party, while still technically distinct entities, are moving to purge figures who are so controversial they're damaging the conservative brand. Even Dick Morris says he was wrong.

Comments | 3,372 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 6, 2013

The Scope of America's World War Drone

The CIA drone program sure feels like a war, and if you look at the reach of the targeted killing — now that everyone seems to be looking at the reach of the targeted killing — well, it's nearly worldwide. Here's a map to catch you up before Brennan's hearing.

Comments | 3,104 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 6, 2013

Dick Morris Has Fallen on the Sword of Pundit Accountability

Yes, it is possible for a pundit to lose his job for being very, very wrong. Dick Morris, one of the most spectacularly wrong pundits of the 2012 election, has been fired by Fox News.

Comments | 2,586 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 6, 2013

The Anti-Immigration Coalition Is Shrinking

At a hearing on immigration Tuesday, Republican Rep. Robert Goodlatte tried to define a proposal to eventually grant illegal immigrants citizenship as extreme. If that's true, then some of his most conservative fellow Republicans are liberal extremists.

Comments | 517 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 6, 2013

Karl Rove's War with the Tea Party Is On

Karl Rove said on Fox News Tuesday night, "This is not Tea Party versus the establishment... I don’t want a fight." It looks like he's too late.

Comments | 3,449 Views

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