BrendanNyhan Jonah Goldberg amusingly struggles to distinguish his offensive smear book from Kos's http://j.mp/b1wKCS
Judging Books by Their Covers - The Corner - National Review Online Jonah Goldberg writes on NRO: Okay, so about Kos’s cover. I think it’s hilarious, though not really for the reasons Kos probably does. Herewith some thoughts in response to a lot of different e-mail. First and foremost, it shows you how much Liberal Fascism got under the skin of the netrootsy Left. That’s worth a chuckle. Second, . . .- BrendanNyhan He said/she said reporting in New Jersey on "death panels" http://j.mp/aaTTMGNorthJersey.com: Accusations fly during Pascrell’s senior forum Pascrell’s Republican opponent ‘accosted’ by Pascrell staffe
- BrendanNyhan Rare slip: Executive director of RGA tells NPR government "provides too many services" (not just waste/fraud/etc) http://j.mp/boL9xkThe Challenges Of Electing Republican Governors : NPR A record number of governors' seats are up for grabs this year. Two dozen of those seats are open and not contested by an incumbent. NPR's Michele Norris talks to Nick Ayers, executive director of the Republican Governors Association. On Thursday, we'll hear from the Democratic Governors Association.
- BrendanNyhan Ben Quayle needs to do some reading on James Buchanan and Warren Harding http://j.mp/99EPw3Quayle son: Obama 'worst president in history' - Ben Smith - POLITICO.com Ben Smith's POLITICO.com blog on politics. Includes new political coverage of the White House and elections around the country.
- BrendanNyhan Drudge nonsense on Obama: "While 43% of voters approve, 55% of media coverage has been positive." They have to be equal? http://j.mp/a4cZfc
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August 12, 2010
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About Me
I am Professor of Public Policy in the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. I received my Ph.D. from the Department of Political Science at Duke University and served as a RWJ Scholar in Health Policy Research and a faculty member in the Department of Government at Dartmouth College before coming to the Ford School. I also tweet at @BrendanNyhan, contribute to The Upshot at The New York Times, and am a co-organizer of Bright Line Watch. Previously, I served as a media critic for Columbia Journalism Review, co-edited Spinsanity, a non-partisan watchdog of political spin, and co-authored All the President's Spin. For more, see my Michigan website.
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Brendan regards as a slip the comment by the executive director of the Republican Governors Association that "we have a government that has grown too large, that taxes too much, that provides too many services," apparently because Brendan thinks it's impolitic to suggest the government provides too many services.
For a good liberal, there's no service government provides that's dispensable. For a great many in this country, however, there's plenty of downsizing that could take place in government without doing harm to the polity.
In my own county, we've got 23 pages of government services (though there is some duplication in the list), including such critical programs as the Asian American Health Initiative, the Business Incubator Network, the Gilchrist Diversity Center, Hearts N' [sic] Parks, the Latino Health Initiative, and the Radio, Television and Appliance Installation and Repair Registration.
In my neighborhood, the County is spending millions creating the Josiah Henson Historic Site. Josiah Henson was a slave whose autobiography inspired Uncle Tom's Cabin. Two walls of his cabin are part of the recreation room of a modern house, which has now been acquired by the County, along with an adjacent property, to create the Historic Site, which will be manned and operated by the County at a considerable expense each year.
No doubt there are dozens of programs that would be pleasant to fund if the government has plenty of resources. When the government is out of resources, however, re-examining the services that government provides is not only good government, it's good politics as well.
Posted by: Rob | August 12, 2010 at 11:00 AM
Brendan -
I guess such judgments are subjective, but Goldberg didn't seem to be "struggling" in his post. He seems amused more than anything else.
It appears that you believe simply the idea or cover or title of his book is an offensive smear? Interesting... would Jonathan Swift have passed the Nyhan smear threshold?
MartyB
Posted by: MartyB | August 12, 2010 at 02:20 PM
Goldberg's article seemed to be more of a pat on the back for himself.
I think I'll read the book anyway, but I hope he does a better job of explaining the historical context of fascism.
It is not, as Maher put it, "when corporations become the government."
Posted by: metrichead.blogspot.com | August 13, 2010 at 06:38 PM