Quote of the Day: The Case Against Washington Conspiracies

Ezra Klein on why Washington scheming fails:

That’s the main thing I’ve learned working as a reporter and political observer in Washington: No one can carry out complicated plans. All parties and groups are fractious and bumbling. But everyone always thinks everyone else is efficiently and ruthlessly carrying out complicated plans. Partisans are very good at recognizing disarray and incompetence on their side of the aisle, but they tend to think the other side is intimidatingly capable and unburdened by scruples or normal human vulnerabilities. And there’s so much press interest in Svengali political consultants like Karl Rove or David Plouffe, all of whom get built up in the press as infallible tacticians, that the place just looks a lot more sophisticated than it really is.

In Defense of Michelle Obama at the Oscars

That’s the topic of this week’s Philly Post column.

By the way, I made an error, which I caught right before submission, and fixed. But if I hadn’t fixed it, it might have led to the following correction:

An earlier version of this column stated that radio host Mark Levin, after Michelle Obama’s Oscar appearance Sunday, compared the First Lady to Eva Peron. In fact, Levin’s Michelle-as-Eva quote was from several months before the Oscars, and was in reference to the First Lady’s proposed school lunch standards.

Blade Runner, Steroids and Scandal

In this week’s Philly Post column, I look at the Oscar Pistorious case and why the media just doesn’t understand much about steroids.

Yippie Ki Yay, Chubby Checker Penis App

I have two new pieces on EntertainmentTell the last two days- a review of the new “A Good Day to Die Hard,” and a story about that weird lawsuit involving Chubby Checker and a “penis-measuring app.”

“Friends of Hamas”

I mean, come on.

A pro-tip for news consumers: If you see a news story, and the word “Breitbart” is anywhere in the URL, it’s probably based partially or entirely on a lie.

The First Heel Turn in Sports

This week saw a Minnesota high school hockey moment that I wouldn’t normally associate with Minnesota Nice:

 Farmington, Minn., High School senior goalie Austin Krause purposely scored a goal for into his own net, then showed his middle finger in the direction of the coaching staff and gave a salute before leaving the ice in the third period Tuesday night in Farmington.

I think this is the one thing we’ve never seen in sports: A full-on, pro wrestling-style heel turn, in which a player actually turns on his own team mid-game and helps the other team, to a chorus of boos. Sure, players have shown weak effort or quit. But we’ve somehow never seen a guy actually turn heel on his teammates. Until now.

This Week’s New Writings

Three new columns/essays this week:

– At Philly Post, I wrote about the Eagles, their decision to raise ticket prices and why unpopular as it is, people will pay the new prices. Come of the column and stay for the new picture.

– And at EntertainmentTell, I look at the arrival of Dish’s Hopper with Sling, and at a plot line shared by Girls and The Mindy Project.

Love and Theft

I review two movies I didn’t particularly like- “Identity Thief” and “Side Effects”– at EntertainmentTell. I should have one more review up tomorrow.

John Kerry and Andy Milonakis

I write about the John Kerry confirmation and the decline of boomer influence at the Philly Post, and I write about the tenth anniversary of “The Super Bowl is Gay” at EntertainmentTell. Stay tuned on the latter site tomorrow for two new movie reviews.