Thursday Miscellany and Open Thread

- This is a very good piece by Paul Waldman about why it is that Mark Halperin is a dick and how he is emblematic of two phenomena in the Washington Press corps that do huge amounts of damage to the political debate in this country and contribute to the fact that the electorate knows next to nothing about the substance of what is happening and what is at stake -- 1) an absolute boredom with policy qua policy; and 2) a revulsion towards actual political passion about issues and the sense that politics has a meaningful impact on people's lives.  Halperin represents the ultimate in the amoral observation of politics as a mere power game, one that is completely disconnected from meaningful policy outcomes.  He is hardly the only one who falls into this category, but he seems to represent it in its purest, most odious form. 

- And another really well done piece by Hendrik Hertzberg on Obama's position on gay marriage and its "evolution."  I think this description of how Obama's tactical political position from 2007 on the issue has been outstripped by events, and how he, in the process, boxed himself in on the issue is pretty much dead on: 

As a Presidential candidate, Obama took a “tactical” position on marriage equality because he thought that his “real” position would be politically fatal to him (and, therefore, damaging to gay rights). Over the last few months, though, it became obvious that his real position had become more politically advantageous than the tactical one he adopted in 2007. The kind of people who abhor gay marriage are not likely to vote for him next year in any case, while a significant segment of his liberal base would be energized were he to embrace it.

My guess is that once the shift in public opinion became unmistakable, a stubborn pride kept him from switching. He didn’t want to look as if he were changing purely out of selfish political calculation—as if he were just following the polls. Since that very calculation had been part of the motivation behind his tactical position, his pride was made brittle by a touch of shame.

- Speaking of Obama, this piece by Jonathan Chait captures my own fears regarding the ongoing debt ceiling negotiations and the President's instincts with respect to those talks. I guess we will see what the day brings.  It occurs to me that the Republicans may just be crazy enough not to accept a deal in which the President is giving away the store, which may then enable him to fight the battle for public opinion from a very strong place.  But I remain concerned -- accepting Social Security and Medicare cuts as part of these negotiations strikes me as a pretty horrible precedent.

- Nicholas Kristof has a good column describing the favorable tax treatment of "carried interest" for hedge fund managers -- a loophole that permits them to have their compensation taxed at the capital gains rate of 15%, rather than as "ordinary income" on which they would pay the much higher personal income tax rates.  It is, as Kristof describes it, the "most unconscionable tax loophole." 

- There are many repulsive figures in contemporary American politics, but I wonder if anyone is more appalling that Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona. 

- I make it a point to avoid tabloid treatment of criminal cases like the plague, but must admit I was a little shocked to hear of the Casey Anthony acquittal.  This juror, however, describes the jury's thinking, and it seems to me correct -- they did not think Anthony innocent, but they felt the prosecution had not proved the necessary elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.  A central aspect of the American criminal justice system is that it is better to free a guilty person than imprison an innocent one -- a sentiment often only honored in the breach, but this is a good illustration of that principle, even if our initial reaction is a bit of a shudder.

- And lastly, this case involving Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation strikes me as deeply troubling -- the arrogance and recklessness of these people is amazing.  Hopefully, a few of these folks will end up in jail.

Update:  I guess the News Corp. people see the seriousness a bit at this point -- the News of the World, one of its repulsive tabloids, is set to close on Sunday.  That was quick.