So the Senate passed a jobs bill today by a vote of 70-28. In policy terms, this isn’t big news. The CBO estimates the bill will cost some $15 billion, a fortune to you and I, but a pittance in Washington terms. In any case, the moneys allocated pale in comparison to the $500-600 billion … Read more
I hope I’m not too late to the party, but I wanted to address Sam and Kathy on Newsweek’s Harvard and religion article. They both agree that Harvard should implement a religion requirement, but a careful look at General Education’s mission reveals no room for such a requirement. In specific, I took issue with Kathy’s … Read more
Harvard Weatherhead fellow Martin Kramer’s recent remarks on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have created some controversy in the blogosphere. Media Matters’ M.J. Rosenberg insinuated in blog posts on The Huffington Post and Talking Points Memo that Kramer was “advocating Palestinian genocide” when he suggested that “the West [should stop] providing pro-natal subsidies for Palestinians with refugee … Read more
In his post “Harvard’s Supposed Crisis of Faith,” Sam Barr criticizes Lisa Miller’s recent Newsweek article about the study of religion at Harvard: “Of course religion is important to study, …even or especially if you’re a nonbeliever. But I also said, or implied, that she was wasting her time with this article, because religion is … Read more
I think Glenn Greenwald is quite right about this. The Democratic Party has spent the last few years more or less conspicuously failing to deliver on every single one of its campaign promises. I count cap-and-trade, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the end of the Iraq War, a restoration of civil liberties, the closing of Guantanamo … Read more
We began The HPRgument with the goal of creating a new space on campus for lively discussion of the things that matter — political, cultural, or Harvardian Since we began three weeks ago, debate on this site has been spirited and engaged: we’ve taken on the racial politics of Avatar, praised Obama’s “shrewd” bank tax, … Read more
HuffPost College, a new offshoot of the budding online media empire, launched today. Like the regular HuffPost, it is a strange but fascinating blend of serious news and opinion (“Majoring in Debt,” “Why Historically Black Colleges Remain Relevant”) and scintillating gossip and tabloid fare (“Camo Condoms to Infiltrate College Campuses,” “Cornell Mistakenly Disposes Animal Remains … Read more
Newsweek’s Lisa Miller spills a lot of ink and raises a lot of dust in her article on “Harvard’s Crisis of Faith.” But her conclusion is small-bore and uncontroversial. Of course Harvard and all other colleges should offer and even require some exposure to religion and its attendant issues and debates. I have seen no … Read more
We’re live tweeting Secretary of the Treasury Hank Paulson’s conversation in the JFK Jr. Forum. Check it out at www.twitter.com/harvardpolitics!
No, I don’t think he’s an anti-semite (see Jonathan Chait on that). But he has been reckless enough with the truth, and obsessed enough with Israel, that much of the recent criticism is spot-on. Take Sullivan’s latest post on CPAC for example. He begins by heralding Ron Paul’s surprise victory in the CPAC straw poll, and ends up with yet … Read more