In an interesting (political) analysis of the Enron fallout, The New Republic’s Noam Scheiber argues that any campaign finance reform that doesn’t take into account lobbying practices is destined to fail: John McCain, for one, seems well aware of the role of lobbyists in corrupting the political system. On the campaign trail in 2000 the Arizona senator was fond of promising to ‘break the iron triangle of big money, lobbyists

US News and World Reports’ Michael Barone, using the recent “missing lynx*” controversy as his starting point, examines the questionable way some in the media cover environmental stories: The story about the lynx hair fakery was broken in the conservative-leaning Washington Times,** and stories on the subject appeared in the Seattle Times, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Wash., the Columbian in Vancouver, Wash., and the Christian Science Monitor. A

“It’s a bankruptcy of mammoth proportions. Thousands of people could see their life savings wiped out, hundreds of thousands will feel the pain, and tens of millions will have their lives seriously affected.” “Of course,” David Brooks quips in The Weekly Standard, “I’m talking about Kmart’s decision to file Chapter 11.” In “Requiem for a Blue Light,” Brooks argues that, while the Enron story is “interesting,” it is but “a

Congrats to the Pats — the surprise AFC Champions. And condolences to Balloon Juice’s John Cole, whose beloved Steelers Kordell-ed themselves right out of a Superbowl appearance. Somewhere, Barbara Kingsolver rejoices…

“A growing number of black taxpayers are being misled by scams falsely claiming they can get tax credits or refunds as reparations for slavery,” FOXNews reports. “The Internal Revenue Service received about 80,000 tax returns last year claiming $2.7 billion in reparations refunds, up from 13,000 the year before. The majority of claims come from taxpayers in the South, but they have occurred in all parts of the country —

Matt Welch uses his new piece in Reason to…what, exactly? Cry poor, promote his wife’s career, and push his website…? How do I get a gig like this? Matt’s stuff is always enjoyable, but “Censorship on the Gravy Train” appears to be a cobbled-together retread of a lot of his weblog quippery, replete with links to lots of Welchaphernalia. Funny, sure. But Bill Maher bashing? Well, this is Reason, after

The Weekly Standard’s Stephen Hayes looks at the incipient spin issuing from the brainpan of James Brosnahan, the soon-to-be famous chap retained by the Lindh family to act as Johnny bin Walker’s bleating advocate: Brosnahan […] praised America in defense of his client. He saluted the Constitution. He invoked the names of Washington, Jefferson, and Madison. He described the jury system as a ‘great process’ and ‘the American way.’ But

“A suspected Palestinian suicide bomber — possibly a woman — detonated explosives in Jerusalem’s main shopping street on Sunday, killing one person and wounding dozens,” Reuters reports. “The blast on Jaffa Road, the third attack on an Israeli city center in less than a week, raised the specter of fresh Israeli retaliation.” Looks like the Palestinians are ahead of the Mid-East gender-equity curve on this one. Who says women are

“A judge has ordered the marketers behind television psychic Miss Cleo to stop calling customers who have asked not to be contacted and stop pressuring people to pay for calls they are disputing,” The Washington Post reports. “Cambria County Judge Gerard Long signed a preliminary injunction last week against Psychic Readers Network and its in-house billing agent, Access Resource Services, according to the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office. A message left

Under the title, “Frat House,” U.S. News and World Report ran this item in its “Washington Whispers” section this week: Women have top jobs in the White House and as network anchors, but CNN’s No. 3 White House correspondent, Kelly Wallace, says guys still rule. ‘I still feel like I am sometimes fighting against the boys’ club attitude,’ she tells Front and Center, a new show from the University of