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Pete Spiliakos is a columnist for First Things.

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Drained

From First Thoughts

While the Ryan people were announcing that he wasn’t running for President (sigh), I was out watching FRIGHTNIGHT.  Very enjoyable vampire movie that does a smart job of incorporating some of the anxieties of the Great Recession.  That is tougher to do than it sounds.  The . . . . Continue Reading »

Ryan Studies: A Qualified Yes

From First Thoughts

I think Allahpundit overstates the case against a Paul Ryan presidential campaign.  Whatever else Ryan might be, he wouldn’t be another Tim Pawlenty (or at least not the phony, weaselly, cynical Pawlenty who ran this time around.)  Allahpundit is right that it is tough to see a Ryan . . . . Continue Reading »

Ryan For President: Con And Pro

From First Thoughts

Talk of Paul Ryan maybe running for President seems to be all over Fox News today.  Here are my thoughts: Con: 1. Ryan’s original Roadmap proposal has huge political problems on the taxation side.  He seems to have proposed a middle-class tax increase with sharp tax cuts for . . . . Continue Reading »

Minnesota Studies: Nobody Is Nice

From First Thoughts

Ah, Tim Pawlenty.  He was a governor who, facing divided government and a Democratic-leaning electorate, managed to produce a more or less sustainable budget (overwhelmingly through spending cuts) while maintaining core government services.  That sounds like pretty good preparation for . . . . Continue Reading »

Bachmann Studies: Cynic Schools

From First Thoughts

Too bad it is being buried in a Ta-Nehisi Coates comment thread (and Coates is very much worth reading himself), but this blog comment by Yoni Appelbaum (who writes as Cynic) is a brilliant critique of a certain kind of smug and shallow Bachmann-despising journalism.  Here is a taste: . . . . Continue Reading »