TPMEditors' Blog Opinions, Context & Ideas from TPM Editors

Reckoning

A TPM Reader takes stock of the week and what it means ...

As someone who defended "Jackie" and the story all week, I felt let down, and then realized with some disgust I was disappointed that she had not been raped. In thinking further about my reaction, it seems what this really is about - and Ferguson and the countless other deaths of young Black teens - is balance of power. And the reason I, and others, are quick to defend the victims in these cases is because it confirms a version of the world we already believe: that young women and African-Americans are often disenfranchised in our culture, specifically with regard to large and traditional bastions of power where the loudest, richest, highest-status voices tend to drown out minority perspectives.

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Who Do You Hate?

I wanted to flag your attention to this piece we published today by Laura Kipnis on Hillary Clinton and the men who hate her. It might not be exactly what you'd expect from the title. It's a fascinating piece and I highly recommend it. One point of interest of mine is this issue of hating more generally and how it applies to iconic figures in our political culture. I've twice come close to writing a book - got an agent engaged, started doing research and more - and then pulled back. The first time was in the late 90s and the subject was Clinton-hating.

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Breaking Expectations

Here's an interesting look at what likely strikes many of us as expected: over the last four months, prosecutors in South Carolina have secured indictments against three white police officers who shot unarmed black men. "As prosecutors, you are well aware of that stereotype and so you go that extra mile to make sure justice is done," said state Rep. Tommy Pope (R), who served 13 years as a chief prosecutor.

The End of TNR

When I was a kid The New Republic was a thing. To me, a big thing. I subscribed, even though I probably had it more than I read it. But I definitely read it. And I still think of the cast of characters, now all in their 50s or 60s or 70s, who were the core staff back then.

Then when I got to college I did my work study job as a research assistant for Daniel Rodgers, a peerless historian, who ended up being my undergraduate advisor. Once I showed I was trustworthy enough, he put me to work doing preliminary research for a book he was writing. And the bulk of the research - 25 years ago - was reading microfiche editions of The New Republic from its first decade of publication, through World War I and into the early post-war era.

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Trent Lott, Now Force for Sanity?

Trent Lott said today that if the Supreme Court invalidates Obamacare subsidies over a technicality, Republicans should work with Democrats to fix the text of the bill so as not to totally screw millions of Americans.

Mitch McConnell recently said that if the Court tries to hijack the bill, mass suffering and disruption should be allowed to ensue in order to allow a total scrapping of the bill.