Twitter roundup

	Brendan Nyhan Oct 18, 2010 at 1:20pm From my Twitter feed (10/15-10/18)
	BrendanNyhan Oct 18, 2010 at 1:18pm Andrew Ferguson's excellent takedown of Dinesh D'Souza is also a great meta-analysis of conspiracy theorizing http://j.mp/bqtgbU
	The Roots of Lunacy | The Weekly Standard
	BrendanNyhan Oct 18, 2010 at 1:16pm Former CJR reporter/blogger @gregamarx has helped launch @remappingdebate, an ambitious new policy reporting site: http://j.mp/axiQVu
	Home | Remapping Debate
	BrendanNyhan Oct 18, 2010 at 12:56pm Where is Douthat's evidence that Tea Party is "winning over independents"? http://j.mp/b2XYKO Many are indies who vote GOP but that's diff.
	The New York Times > Log In
	BrendanNyhan Oct 18, 2010 at 11:47am Obama's tactical shifts are symptom (not cause) of unfavorable conditions http://j.mp/92bNYa Beware the tactical fallacy! http://j.mp/aoy0sL
	Flashback: Obama is becoming McCain - POLITICO.com Print View POLITICO covers political news with a focus on national politics, Congress, Capitol Hill, the 2008 presidential race, lobbying, advocacy, and more. POLITICO's in-depth coverage includes video f...
	The tactical fallacy - Brendan Nyhan More and more pundits are jumping on the Democrats/Obama-are-in-trouble-due-to-bad-messaging bandwagon (for recent examples, see here, here, here, and here). What we're observing is a classic ex...
	BrendanNyhan Oct 18, 2010 at 11:15am Palin hypes non-existent threat of Sharia law becoming "the law of the land" in the US http://j.mp/909ar3
	At Newsmax, Palin joins fellow conservatives with false, inflammatory attacks on Obama | Media Matters for America
	BrendanNyhan Oct 18, 2010 at 11:13am Richard Cohen - yet another pundit who falsely attributes Obama's difficulties to messaging http://j.mp/bFE4w3 (via @jamisonfoser)
	Ignoring the obvious | Media Matters for America
	BrendanNyhan Oct 18, 2010 at 10:58am 5 myths about federal taxes from GW's Bob Stoker http://j.mp/bTiShB
	The Monkey Cage: 5 Myths about Federal Taxes
	BrendanNyhan Oct 18, 2010 at 2:09am .@ezraklein suggests Obama should hire a political scientist (via @dandrezner): http://wapo.st/9TkISV
	The five people Obama should hire now By Ezra KleinWashington Post Staff Writer Saturday, October 16, 2010 First, Peter Orszag turned in his ID card. Then Christina Romer went. In short order, Larry Summers and Rahm Emanuel announced their exits. Jim Jones is gone, too. A lot of people are leaving the White House these days. ....read more The five people Obama should hire now
	BrendanNyhan Oct 16, 2010 at 2:10am RT @benfritz Most unfortunate typo on an election ballot ever? http://j.mp/9aXvJL
	Candidate's Name Misspelled as 'Rich Whitey' on Black-District Ballots Poor Illinois Green Party gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney, the victim of an extremely cartoonish "error:" His name has been misspelled as "Rich Whitey" on voting machines in nearly two doze...
	BrendanNyhan Oct 15, 2010 at 2:54pm Useful Kaiser summaries of health care reform law -- http://j.mp/cunl8B (basic) or http://j.mp/cRpzxW (detailed PDF)
	The Basics - Kaiser Health Reform
	http://j.mp/cRpzxW

Comments

[David in Cal]

Media Matters claims to know the future with perfect accuracy, so they can be certain that Sharia law will never apply in the US. The rest of us have to muddle along looking at facts and evidence. The evidence shows:

-- A Supreme Court Justice (Breyer) who has said there might be no right to burn a Koran.

-- Onging efforts by organized groups to get Sharia Law used in Canada and Europe.

-- Islamic law has been officially adopted in Britain, with sharia courts given powers to rule on Muslim civil cases.

-- Italy appears to have applied Sharia Law. Three members of a Brescia-based Maghrebi family (father, mother and eldest son) were accused of beating up and sequestering their daughter/sister Fatima because she wanted to live a "Western" life. In the first trial, the three were sentenced for sequestration and bad treatment. The court acknowledged that the teenager was "brutally beaten up" for having "dated" a non-Muslim and in general for "living a life not conforming with the culture" of her family. But on appeal, the family was acquitted because the court deemed that the young woman was beaten up for "her own good." The Bologna public prosecutor's office then disputed the acquittal of the three accused parties, but the Italian Supreme Court of Cassation dismissed it and ruled in favor of the charged parties.

Other examles could be provided. The point is, efforts are being made to have Sharia law apply in the west. These efforts are succeeding to a degree. It's reasonable and prudent for a political leader to recommend steps to fight these efforts.

Media Matters' version of "truth" is what the rest of us would call "denial."

P.S. Sharia Law's ugly treatment of women is comparable to Jim Crow's treatment of blacks. It should be vigorously fought, particularly by liberals who claim to support women's rights.

[David in Cal]

Douthat didn't quite say the Tea Party is "winning over independents". He said they were "winning over independents in a way that movements like the Birchers rarely did." I think it's obvious that the Tea Party is more popular among indies than the Birchers were.

[bnyhan]

I don't know much about the Birchers, but it's important to remember that the rise of the independent voter has created large pools of independents who consistently vote for one party or the other. This group was much smaller in the 1950s and 1960s, so it's hard to compare across eras.

[David in Cal]

I well recall the John Birch Society from the 1960's. They were regarded as kooks, even by most Republicans. They were noted for a few billboards, which said in big letters, "IMPEACH EARL WARREN." A popular satirical song about the John Birch Society had the line, "If your Mommy is a Commie, then you have to turn her in."

In short, the Birchers were considered so kooky, that when Douthit said the Tea Parties were winning indies better than the Birchers, he was saying almost nothing.

[David in Cal]

Interesting article about Sharia law today.

The UAE's highest judicial body says a man can beat his wife and young children as long as the beating leaves no physical marks.

The decision by the Federal Supreme Court shows the strong influence of Islamic law in the Emirates despite its international appeal in which foreign residents greatly outnumber the local population. http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/10/18/husband-hit-wife-children-marks-left-uae-court-rules/

I might add that through some combination of fear and political correctness, almost our entire mainstream media is following Sharia law in refusing to show images of Mohammad, even though they (properly) have no problem reprinting Piss Christ. E.g., the Philadelphia Inquirer was the only major newspaper to reprint the controversial Danish cartoons.

[Rob]

Without attempting a point by point discussion, let it be noted that Bob Stoker's correction of myths about taxation bears more than a passing resemblance to Bram Stoker's Dracula: it sinks its fangs into fictional victims and cries out to be dispatched with a stake through the heart.

The "myths" Stoker attacks are not only tendentious but often straw men of his own devising. For example, has anyone seriously suggested that people at the top of the income distribution pay more than half of their incomes in federal taxes--unless you're including the estate taxes on what's left of their after-tax income, in which event the myth may be true for many? Meanwhile, Stoker's rebuttal of Federal taxes being higher than ever examines taxes (including individual income taxes, corporate taxes, Social Security taxes and estate taxes) as a percentage of GDP without noting that 2009 and 2010 are anomalous because of stimulus rebates and absence of estate tax this year, and without noting that the very CBO figures he cites show taxes as a percentage of GDP rising to an unprecedented 21% in 2020--and that assumes a GDP denominator that grows at unrealistically high levels (CBO projected a 3% growth in GDP in 2010 and 3.3% in 2011, neither of which will remotely be achieved, and an annual average growth rate through 2020 of 4.5%).

Economics may be the dismal science, but Bob Stoker keeps us laughing.

[MartyB]

Re: Tax Myths

Note in the comments of the cited article the author basically admits thye "myths" cited were straw men of their own building.

"The general reaction to Mankiw's piece just got Bob thinking about the topic, and I suggested a more general primer. As is clear in the post, neither Bob nor I am making any claims about Mankiw per se."

Pretty funny!

[MartyB]

Brendan -

It seems you define independents as mostly partisans who just call themsleves something else, i.e. true independents are basically non-existent. How do you expect Douthat to provide any evidence given that definition?

[MartyB]

Andrew Ferguson's meta-analysis decrying D’Souza's meta-analysis...

'nuf said....

[bnyhan]

Surveys distinguish between "leaners" (independents who tend to identify with one party) and true independents (those who do not). See http://www.themonkeycage.org/2009/12/three_myths_about_political_in.html

[David in Cal]

Tomorrow's Tea Party Conference at Berkeley should be amusing, given the lineup of sponsors and speakers. A movement that's straightforwardly against expansion of governmental powers and increases in taxes will no doubt look quite different after this group of far-leftists finishes their analyses.

I'll make two predictions (based on Abraham Maslow's Law of the Instrument ): The Gender and Women's Studies Dept. will find that Tea Parties are sexist; the Center for Race and Gender will find that Tea Parties are racist.