A Thinking Reed

  • Prospects for conservatives, “left” and otherwise

    Russell Arben Fox has a thoughtful meditation on the prospects for his brand of “left conservatism” in a bluer America. Hard to believe that we were talking about a permanent Republican majority four years ago. All the more reason to be wary of overconfident (or dire, depending on your view) pronouncements about the triumph of…

  • Change, hope, and all that good stuff

    Like most of the people in my immediate social circle I’m somewhere between delighted and ecstatic about Obama’s victory, both because of what it means for our immediate future as a country and for overcoming, to some extent, the sins of our past (recent as well as more remote ones). Over the course of the…

  • A good night for American chickens, sows, and calves too

    Proposition 2 passes by about a 2/3 margin! Yay!

  • PA represents!

    11 o’clock Eastern time: Well, looks like it’s all over but the crying. No significant election blogging for me, but I just want to give a shout-out to my home state of Pennsylvania. All those people who said that awful Appalachian rednecks would tip the state to McCain will be eating their words tomorrow. I…

  • CA voters – don’t forget Prop 2!

    Just a friendly request to any readers in California to consider voting “yes” on Proposition 2 tomorrow, which would make modest–but significant–improvements in the lives of millions of farmed animals. Yes on Prop 2 California Voter’s Guide to Prop 2 And, just for balance, here’s an argument against proposition 2. Yes, we here at ATR…

  • Wanted: Augustinian liberals

    Jason Byassee reviews two promising-sounding books that try to reappropriate Augustine for a political theology that steers between Niebuhrian realism and Hauerwasian sectarianism. Sounds good to me.

  • Last word

    For what it’s worth (not much at this point, presumably), my top three reasons for supporting Obama: —A saner foreign policy. Hard core peaceniks and non-interventionists (among whom I count myself) will, I suspect, find much to dislike about an Obama foreign policy, but there’s no doubt in my mind that it will be far…

  • One party (non-)state

    All the hoopla of the presidential contest aside, voting as a DC resident is a pretty unexciting prospect. First off, there’s no doubt that DC’s 3 electoral votes will go to Obama. Democrats enjoy third world dictator-levels of support in the District, and last I checked Obama was polling above 80% here. You could vote…

  • Friday metal – All Hallow’s Eve edition

    Well, there was really no choice here:

  • The reason for the season

    An important discussion.