Democracy Despite Itself Available on Kindle Now!

 Posted by Mike  Book Related  No Responses »
Jan 192012
 

Download your copy today. Also, Danny will be giving the first of many author events on this Saturday, Jan 21, at Book Soup in Los Angeles. Check him out if you’re in the area. For a full list of events, please keep an eye on the book’s website.

Iowa Caucus: What Is It Good For?

 Posted by Mike  2012 Election, Book Related  No Responses »
Jan 042012
 

One primary down, fifty-some to go. (Territories get delegates too, although not many on the GOP side of things.) Michelle Bachmann (sixth place) has quit the race, Rick Perry (fifth place) did some soul searching before deciding to carry on, skepticism about New Gingrich (fourth place) is growing, while Ron Paul (third), Rick Santorum (second) and Mitt Romney (first) are all media darlings for the day. And all because 120,000 Republicans took the first steps towards selecting 25 delegates (out of more than 2200 nationwide), whose votes at the national convention are not actually bound by last night’s results. So what’s the big deal?
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A Season of Hope

 Posted by Mike  Book Related  No Responses »
Dec 282011
 

It is pretty easy to be pessimistic about politics these days. Between the bad economy, a government that seems permanently gridlocked, cable news shows that seem to delight in fear-mongering, and political ads that constantly remind us about the worst elements of human nature, optimism is not horribly in vogue.

And yet Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Years are all holidays that, to one degree or another, celebrate hope and renewal. And so I thought it was a good time just to reiterate one of the central themes of Democracy Despite Itself: don’t panic. Democracy tends to work out pretty well. Things look pretty rough right now, but history says that we’ll get through it.

So I wish you all a happy, and optimistic, holiday season.

The Creation of the Palestinian People

 Posted by Mike  2012 Election, Israel and Palestine  No Responses »
Dec 132011
 

The thing I love about Newt Gingrich is that whenever he finds himself with one foot in his mouth, he decides that the best way to maintain his balance is to put the other one there as well. In this particular case, I’m talking about comments he made over the weekend regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Gingrich had previously created a bit of a stir by calling the Palestinians a “invented” people. During the latest GOP debate, Gingrich refused to back down:

“Is what I said factually correct? Yes. Is it historically true? Yes. Are we in a situation where every day rockets are fired into Israel? While the United States, the current administration tries to pressure the Israelis into a peace process… Somebody ought to have the courage to tell the truth. These people are terrorists.”

So, because he asked, let’s look at the history. Continue reading »

What We Don’t Know Can Hurt Us

 Posted by Mike  Book Related  No Responses »
Dec 122011
 

My coauthor sent me article yesterday which does a very good job of giving a real-world example of a couple of the principals we discuss in our book. In the article Daniel Klein, an economics professor at George Mason and a self-proclaimed libertarian, describes how he boldly penned an extremely controversial Wall St Journal op-ed piece based on some research he had done–only to have to retract everything he said a few months later when it became clear that he was flat-out wrong.
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