Category Archives: Politics: US

Spot the Difference

Posted on January 24, 2008 by Michael Froomkin

Democratic idea of bipartisan cooperation:

House Democrats will postpone votes on criminal contempt citations against White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers, while congressional leaders work with President Bush on a bipartisan stimulus package to fend off an economic downturn, according to party leaders and leadership aides.

“Senior Democrats have decided that holding a controversial vote on the contempt citations, which have already been approved by the House Judiciary Committee as part of its investigation into the firing of nine U.S. attorneys, would 'step on their message' of bipartisan unity in the midst of the stimulus package talks.

One day later — Bush idea of bipartisanship:

Justice Nomination Seen as Snub to Democrats

The Justice Department lawyer who wrote a series of classified legal opinions in 2005 authorizing harsh C.I.A. interrogation techniques was renominated by the White House on Wednesday to a senior department post, a move that was seen as a snub to Senate Democrats who have long opposed his appointment.

Judging by the results, one has to admit that the White House plays this game much better than the hapless Democrats, who cave time and time again. How did they become such sniveling cowards, and on what possible theory of politics do they think this serves their — much less the nation's — interests?

It seems all too likely that we're going to see a worse example of cowardice today, as leading democrats have been signaling that they'd love to cave in on FISA. Senator Dodd will filibuster, but the question is who if anyone will join him.

Posted in Politics: US | 2 Comments

Still Going Strong

Posted on December 11, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

It's been too long since I recommended that people read the Daily Howler. Today's, Daily Howler: Parents should show their children the Post—and tell them they mustn't be like that, is a real classic.

Posted in Politics: US | Comments Off on Still Going Strong

Euphemism Watch

Posted on December 7, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

Enhanced Interrogation Technique: Torture

Intelligent Design: Creationism

Regime Change : Coups

Add yours.

Posted in Politics: US | 8 Comments

A Finding With Many Implications

Posted on October 22, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

Is a photo worth a thousand votes?:

People asked to rate the competence of an individual based on a quick glance at a photo predicted the outcome of elections more than two-thirds of the time.

Nearly 300 students at Princeton University were asked to look at pairs of photographs for as little as one-tenth of a second and pick the individual they felt was more competent, psychologist Alexander Todorov reports in Tuesday's issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The participants were shown photos of leading candidates for governor or senator in other parts of the country, but they were not told they were evaluating candidates. Those who recognized any of the photos were not counted.

When the elections took place two weeks later, the researchers found that the competency snap judgments predicted the winners in 72.4 percent of the senatorial races and 68.6 percent of the gubernatorial races.

It seems to me that this finding, if valid, has many implications.

  • National political parties should focus group photos before deciding who to recruit or support in primaries
  • I'll bet it's a very sexist test — this may explain part of how elections disadvantage female candidates.
  • I wonder if this works for law schools? Would student satisfaction be higher when taught by professors whose looks signaled competence? Can we focus group potential hires via their photos? Can we do it without disadvantaging anyone who's not a white male of a certain age?
  • Might it be that dress sends signals of competence? If so, is it important to dress up (or down?) for the first day of class?
  • “Lookist” takes on a new meaning
  • Do I sense the makings of a new suspect class? Are people who don't look competent to others a “discrete and insular minority”? Certainly their disability affect electability, thus undermining their political power, which is one of the tests….

And, how do I look?

Posted in Law School, Politics: US, Science/Medicine | 3 Comments

Base Arguments

Posted on October 11, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

Political discourse continues to be further and further debased.

We get the government we deserve? A frightening thought.

Posted in Politics: US, The Media | Comments Off on Base Arguments

Down We Go

Posted on September 29, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

Glenn Greenwald, who seems from his writing to be both shrewd and decent, argues that at present there is no alternative to the politics of the lowest common denominator:

as the MoveOn vote demonstrated, we have the opposite of a healthy political system, and it is thus far preferable — for reasons I I set forth here — to ensure that a corrupt standard is applied equally rather than allow it to be applied by one political faction against another. Taking the corrupt political tactics wielded by the war-hungry Right and applying those same tactics to them (rather than ineffectively protesting the unfairness of the tactics) is the only way to ensure they cease.

Please persuade me he's not right.

Posted in Politics: US | Comments Off on Down We Go