M.J. please...
No, NY is not harder to govern than the country, because regardless of how large and how diverse NYC is, it is not unlike other major cities in the country. The countervailing forces and interests are NOT as complicated and vicious in cities. He has no landmine filled corridors of opposition to duck and dodge through that is in any comparable to the beltway alleys. City council and community pressure groups can't hold a candle to what he'd face in DC (I know, because I worked in the Chicago mayor's office under Harold Washington. The opposition was organized, mean as snakes and very powerful, but we really didn't have that hard a time outmanouvering them.)

Yes, Bloomberg is a capable big city mayor that governs as a center to center left (for America) dem, but that's all he is.

Posted at June 21, 2007 1:14 PM in response to I Could Vote for Bloomberg

glad to see that all your readers got the point of your piece

Posted at January 2, 2007 12:40 PM in response to Redskins: A Lesson in Failed Political Leadership

Things may be far from clear now, but as a life long Chicagoan (who has also been very active in politics), I have 2 observations:Daley's postion, like many others he has taken, show why he is George Bush's favorite mayor, and; this one is way more fluid than the CW would have you think.
And, BTW, this mayor was Cook County state's attorney when a (now) very well documented police torture ring was operating out of a South Side police precinct. When questions about it were brought to his attention, like Hastert on the emails and Bush on nearly everything, Daley did absolutley nothing to stop it.

Posted at October 2, 2006 11:48 AM in response to Unbelievable: Mayor Daley Calls for Federal Maximum Wage Law

The first response to bradthedad seemed to me to be reflective of the problem.. but...

I have 2 concerns about Israel, and both exist because I'm a strong supporter. First, a geographic analogy from a resident of Cook County Illinois. The square mileage of Israel and Cook County are roughly analogous (I know, not exactly, but close enough for this purpose). The population of Cook County is roughly analogous to the Jewish population of Israel. The citizens of Cook County are surrounded by about as much geography and population as the corresponding area around Israel. Now, imagine if you will, that the vast majority of people and governments that surround Cook County state quite clearly that they want to drive you into Lake Michigan, and don't much give a damn how many people get killed or drowned in the process. So, as far as I'm concerned, I get why folks a bit defensive in Israel.

That said, there is the corresponding concern number 2. Through some of their own actions, and certainly as a result of the idiot-driven policies of the Bush parade of clowns, every Israeli-caused death in this war may ultimately be leading to their own peril.

Frankly, I'm not sure how this mess gets resolved, but it's a dangerous mess that needs resolution. But two more things I know for sure:Israel has every right to defend itself, but it must give real thought to its methods, and; 2)anybodywho ignores my geogrophy analogy and blames Israel either ignores a fundamental reality, or like Bush (albeit from the other end of the ideological spectrum) chooses not to live in a reality based world.

Posted at July 24, 2006 1:44 PM in response to The Silence of the Blogs

Although not well schooled in economics, I will say this analysis grabbed some traction with me. However, I'm a bit less optimistic than everyone else. It's true that elites have finally discovered that the government apparatus has been hijacked by religious and ideological lunatics - many have, after all, started pushing back on GW's slobbering desire to attack Iran (the generals afew weeks ago, George Will's slash-and-burn attack on the smirking punk from the Weekly Standard, last night's remarks by Kissinger on McNeil Leher obliquely questioning whether Bush & Co. have a clue). 

But, but... is it too late? Remember, these idiots running the government are religous and ideological nut cases, and they have three years remaining on their stranglehold on the levers. They are, I think, capable of doing anything to advance their crackpot theories. They will either do something truely grotesque in that time, or the elites will get a heads-up, and try to stop them before they can act; but it may well be too late to do it  in a way that that either legal, or pretty. Either way, I'm beginning to think we are facing a long, dark winter.

Posted at July 19, 2006 12:33 PM in response to The Revolution of the Sphere

I'm having a hard time following this debate with a straight face. We have Beiert et al trying to create a new ideology because they've been found to be wrong, and trying to say that people who disagree with him are leading the party to destruction. Actually, there are levels at which I agree with him on a policy level, as I do with Clark on others. But I really don't believe it's an issue of policy disputes that cause all this confusion - it's the damn chickenshit unwillingness to fight back when Bush, Rove and the other slugs accuse them of the worst. If all of these guys had just stood up, said loudly and forcefully "You're wrong, and here's why" and listed the reasons, we'd all be in a lot better shape these days. They lost because they ran and hid, not because they had no ideas.

Posted at June 6, 2006 1:37 PM in response to Put Out More Flags

Matt, you posit that the 3rd party types say
"why can't there be a party that has exactly all my views on precisely that set of issues that are most important to me?". I'd suggest that there's another narrative thread that runs through this kind of thinking, often found in focus groups, which is, in effect "Why can't we find the candidate who will also provide everything I want in roads, free tuition, and everything else I want that costs money, but promises me I won't have to pay for it?" I know that's a little wise-ass, but you do, after all, see a lot of that kind dumbass stuff going around.

But I digress. Actually, this latest 3rd party whoop-de doo is being presented by 2 or 3 washed up hacks, supported by a number of starry-eyed college children (see the web page if you doubt). I think that all of us have fallen into a nasty trap: we've actually spent a few valuable minutes of our time thinking about this stupid idea as if it contained anything worth considering.

Posted at June 5, 2006 1:38 PM in response to Politics as Egoism

There are many wisecracks one can make about learning from the mistakes in history. One of my favorites is the coralary to the old cliche; "And those who learn from the mistakes in history are doomed to repeat them."

I mention it because Beinart and his allies remind me a lot of Jean Kirkpatrick and all the other Jackson (that's "Scoop", the Wash. senator, not Jesse)war dems in the 60s and 70s, who ended up having to invent a new ideology to cover their tracks after being proven to be profoundly wrong about Viet Nam. According to them, it wasn't the dumb ass policy, the blood drenched cynicism, or the constant lying to us, and even worse, to themselves that made us look bad - it was our willingness to say it was stupid, and that we should stop it.

Much the same is taking place now. Afghanistan made sense, and in my opinion, was a proper response. Iraq was not just dumb, not just dumber than Viet Nam, it was crimanally irresponsible.It was obvious to anyone with half a brain that this war would drive a wedge between us and the rest of the world, but dad-gummit, the hick from Texas and the pond scum surrounding him knew better. Of course, a good many dems got dragged along with stupid crap, and now, rather than have the decency say, damn, I was wrong as hell about that one, a bunch of them are suggesting that we continue acting stupid in some similar way, or the NASCAR Dads, or whatever version of southern or rural white men, or the Peggy Noonans of the world will see us for the pussies we are (sorry about that, but that's word these guys really want to use, but don't have the guts to say it).

Well, I'm an old fat white guy who served in Viet Nam, knows how to shoot a rifle, and didn't graduate from college, and I think the Beinarts of the world are full of crap. And I think that any elected dem official who knows they were wrong on their vote on the war (Kerry and Hillary, are you listening?), and refuse to apologize, deserves no place on the national stage. I think that anyone who thinks you can go around talking swaggeringly about "stamping out Islamic tyranny" and thinks that such wise ass remarks will solve our problems, is an idiot.

But hey, what do I know? I'm not a NASCAR Pop

Posted at May 19, 2006 12:49 PM in response to NASCAR Man Hits a Chicane

no need to let yourself get trapped in the real;ity based world, eh?

Posted at May 17, 2006 1:12 PM in response to The Eternal Recurrence of Tom Friedman

You guys can hash out the economics of all this - I'm more interested in the the connections. It seems to me that Weisberg's shilling for Reubin is just one more example of a lot of the beltway crowd being more interested in growing their own portfolios by hanging onto power than they are about policy.

The Clinton crowd are the most obvious practioners of this, and it's why they are so hell bent on attacking bloggers and Dean's direction of the national party. Now, don't get me wrong, I've been in and around this business for 30 years, and I recognize Dean's and the bloggers' weaknesses as well as their strengths. But when this crowd (also supported in other ways by Emanuel and Schumer other parts of the Congressional power structure)launches these attacks on Phillips, Dean, Kos, and by broad-brush implication, this site, they are attacking in order to defend their positions on the food chain. I find it more than a little interesting that many are also perfectly willing to work at cleaning up WalMart's reputation for large sums of money.

These people, Hillary included, can not be trusted to do right: I don't know who can, but it ain't these guys.

Posted at May 17, 2006 1:04 PM in response to Jefferson, Jackson and Robert Rubin’s Hamilton Project