From Reason, an interview with Virginia Postrel on the economics of health care and the intersection of glamour and politics. The Obama Avatar: What do Barack Obama and James Cameron have in common? A review of A Presidency in Peril: The Inside Story of Obama’s Promise, Wall Street’s Power, and the Struggle to Control Our Economic Future by Robert Kuttner. It’s time for the president to realize he is the one we’ve been waiting for, but it’s not clear he cares all that deeply about leading his party — that’s the real wild card in the midterm elections. Peter Ferrara predicts President Obama will resign in discredited disgrace before the fall of 2012. Obamasfailures.com is a miserable failure. John Sides on explaining the origins of the Tea Party: A rebuttal of Mark Lilla (and more by the New School's JM Bernstein and more at the Mises Institute). Frances Fox Piven on how she ended up in Glenn Beck’s line-of-fire and why it matters. Why conservatives hate you: Our politics relies on creating disgust for opponents. Saint Sarah: To white evangelical women, Sarah Palin is a modern-day prophet, preaching God, flag, and family — while remaking the religious right in her own image. Laissez-Faire meets the oil spill: Sarah Palin is trying to outflank Obama to the left. Suddenly, Republicans want an active federal government. If Americans don’t want the dubious comforts of a full-fledged nanny state, then they can’t come running for comprehensive succor when some milk, or oil, spills. From militias to white supremacists, right-wing groups are using social networking to organize and spread propaganda — should the government do something? A review of Beyond the Echo Chamber: How a Networked Progressive Media Can Reshape American Politics by Jessica Clark and Tracy Van Slyke.
