Liberal Talk Radio

Good Tom Friedman column today. He’s right to say that there’s no need for our relationship with Iran to be as confrontational as it is. The more we keep antagonizing them, the harder we make the situation. This goes back at least as far as 1953, when the CIA overthrew their democratically [...]

It’s like John Locke come to life:
Burning Man — the artsy, anarchic, nouveau-hippie, free-love, communal be-in — isn’t exactly living up to its ideals.
With the filing of a federal lawsuit Monday, all three founders of the increasingly popular Nevada desert party now are at each other’s throats.
The battle is focused on who controls [...]

Not only has the youth of America been turned into semi-permanent Democrats by George W. Bush, but they’re also volunteering at an unprecedented rate.
“We are encouraged that emerging studies consistently show increased volunteering by young Americans. If supported properly, we may be on the cusp of a new civic generation,” said Robert Grimm, director of [...]

It’s not just the whiny underemployed — the high cost of health care may be stifling America’s entrepreneurial spirit:
Entrepreneurs have plenty of things to keep them awake at night worrying: payroll, inventory, pricing, competition. For Jere Smith and her husband, Don Lueders, the main thing is health insurance.
Many small-business owners struggle with the high cost [...]

Offer it, and they will accept it:
Thirty thousand Ford Motor Company workers — nearly half of the automaker’s unionized work force — have agreed to leave their jobs in exchange for a buyout or a package of early retirement benefits, the company said this morning.
All of the 75,000 Ford employees represented by the United Automobile [...]

A statement from the president on Governor Richards’ passing:
Ann loved Texas, and Texans loved her. As a public servant she earned respect and admiration. Ann became a national role model, and her charm, wit, and candor brought a refreshing vitality to public life. We extend our sympathies to Ann’s family and friends. [...]

Anheuser-Busch is basically saying what you were always thinking but couldn’t say out loud because for whatever reason people really like this swill — Rolling Rock is now part of the Anheuser-Busch family of beers:
One small town in western Pennsylvania has long provided trivia buffs with two obscure questions that share an answer: Where was [...]

This is as good a time as any to remind you that if you invite former New York City Mayor Ed Koch to your next dinner party, you shouldn’t take his politics for granted. After all, he might just say something provocative:
There are those who wishfully conclude that if Israel turns the other cheek and [...]

Excellent analysis of the limits of bombing raids in today’s WaPo, courtesy of Philip Gordon of Brookings:
Far from bringing about the intended softening of the opposition, bombing tends to rally people behind their own leaders and cause them to dig in against outsiders who, whatever the justification, are destroying their homeland.
Further on down Gordon rehashes [...]

Lest you think that all the good things that have happened domestically since the mid-1990s were the result of some “moral reawakening” in the populace, the inimitable Bruce Reed reminds thus that behind every good statistic, there’s an effective liberal domestic policy:
But the main reason Americans aren’t giving the Bush administration credit for good news [...]