First, huge thanks to Spencer for letting me guest-blog again. As he mentioned, I spend most of blog-time at my own joint, but you can also find me hanging around the good folks at .By now, it’s obvious that Evan Bayh is leaving the Senate because he is angry; angry at liberal activists for criticizing him, angry at President Obama for rejecting him, and angry at the Senate for constraining him. But beyond his anger (and pettiness), it’s clear that Bayh has White House ambitions, and there’s a strong chance that he’ll use the next few years to build support for a primary challenge to...…First, huge thanks to Spencer for letting me guest-blog again. As he mentioned, I spend most of blog-time at my own joint, but you can also find me hanging around the good folks at .By now, it’s obvious that Evan Bayh is leaving the Senate because he is angry; angry at liberal activists for criticizing him, angry at President Obama for rejecting him, and angry at the Senate for constraining him. But beyond his anger (and pettiness), it’s clear that Bayh has White House ambitions, and there’s a strong chance that he’ll use the next few years to build support for a primary challenge to...WW…

(Spencer is a little busy this morning, so he’s letting me take over for a bit. Hello again!)Rush Limbaugh as “a civil rights bill” and “reparations.”I’ve , but it’s worth repeating: more so than most issues, health care is something that makes the racist heart especially anxious. American racism is shot through with fears about purity and cleanliness; the “separation of the races,” anti-miscegenation laws, and the “one-drop rule” presuppose that there is something inherently contaminating about blackness. In addition to redistributing wealth to the “undeserving,” health care reform...…(Spencer is a little busy this morning, so he’s letting me take over for a bit. Hello again!)Rush Limbaugh as “a civil rights bill” and “reparations.”I’ve , but it’s worth repeating: more so than most issues, health care is something that makes the racist heart especially anxious. American racism is shot through with fears about purity and cleanliness; the “separation of the races,” anti-miscegenation laws, and the “one-drop rule” presuppose that there is something inherently contaminating about blackness. In addition to redistributing wealth to the “undeserving,” health care reform...WW…

Gerald Seib’s — its problems are merely a symptom of our political system’s larger dysfunction — is mostly spot on, with the exception of this bit:Yet the real issue here isn’t the number of filibusters and cloture votes needed to stop them, but that there is so little common ground between the parties that the tactic is so easily employed.After all, if there is a rough consensus on a matter, spanning the two parties in the center of the ideological spectrum, filibusters are a futile gesture. They are worth mounting only in a highly partisan, highly polarized environment.And that’s...…Gerald Seib’s — its problems are merely a symptom of our political system’s larger dysfunction — is mostly spot on, with the exception of this bit:Yet the real issue here isn’t the number of filibusters and cloture votes needed to stop them, but that there is so little common ground between the parties that the tactic is so easily employed.After all, if there is a rough consensus on a matter, spanning the two parties in the center of the ideological spectrum, filibusters are a futile gesture. They are worth mounting only in a highly partisan, highly polarized environment.And that’s...WW…

AdvertisementAdvertisementSince the end of World War II, an informal rule has existed in American politics: Ex-presidents don’t play partisan against their successors. Truman didn’t campaign against Eisenhower; Eisenhower didn’t speak out against Kennedy; Johnson left the game under Nixon; Carter left Reagan in peace.This continued uninterrupted into the 21st century. at the University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign, former President Barack Obama broke with tradition to criticize the current White House occupant and urge Americans to impose accountability at the ballot box. “In a healthy...…AdvertisementAdvertisementSince the end of World War II, an informal rule has existed in American politics: Ex-presidents don’t play partisan against their successors. Truman didn’t campaign against Eisenhower; Eisenhower didn’t speak out against Kennedy; Johnson left the game under Nixon; Carter left Reagan in peace.This continued uninterrupted into the 21st century. at the University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign, former President Barack Obama broke with tradition to criticize the current White House occupant and urge Americans to impose accountability at the ballot box. “In a healthy...WW…