Category Archives: Politics

Ok, ok. I’m watching, might as well blog. Voting this morning was easy. We waited until about 10 a.m., no lines, but there had apparently been some earlier in the day and I gather there were some long lines late … Continue reading →

Early in my career, I went to a presentation by a well-known anthropologist whose work I liked a lot. It was a good presentation, but the last quarter of it or so was devoted to a very loose, speculative argument … Continue reading →

I’ll leave calling the horse race to other writers, but I had two small, specific reactions to the chunk of the debate that I watched. 1. When McCain brought up John Lewis’ remarks, here’s what I would have said back … Continue reading →

Is anybody else feeling just kind of totally depressed about the political and economic scene of the moment? And not just for the obvious reasons? As the possibility of an Obama victory becomes more and more tangible, I find myself … Continue reading →

I have very little understanding of the nuts-and-bolts of the current financial crisis. One thing that the media covering the crisis could talk about more clearly (except maybe I think some of them don’t understand this issue and others do … Continue reading →

I once had a student who was a prolific (and not proficient) bluffer ask me if I knew when he had no idea what he was talking about. I said, yes, it’s almost always obvious, even when a student is … Continue reading →

McCain is declining to debate because he’s too busy solving urgent problems, imagining himself as the already-president. This is like Walter Mitty refusing to go to work because he’s too busy doing emergency-room surgery.