New Update: Salon, New Republic, Irish Times

It’s time for another update of assorted articles from recent months.

Judging from the reaction it received on Salon’s website, I suspect this profile of former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson may be the most-read article I’ve written in quite a while. Although the profile appeared back in May, The Atlantic’s Conor Friedersdorf gave his own take on Johnson, keying off the Salon article, last week.

Also for Salon, I looked at how Louisiana Senator David Vitter has remained in a strong position, despite being tainted by scandal. Soon afterwards, I added another, shorter piece, suggesting that the excitement being expressed by Vitter’s foes about the last-minute entrance of Chet Traylor into the Republican primary was overdone.

Keeping the focus on the Republican Party, another piece for Salon asked the question: what does South Carolina senator Jim DeMint want — for himself and for his party?

I published my first piece in The New Republic last month. In it, I argued that Barack Obama’s tendency to downplay race is ill-suited to discussions about the HIV/AIDS issue.

Finally, just this past weekend, I wrote about the so-called Ground Zero Mosque controversy for The Irish Times.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Recent articles: Salon, Daily Beast, Guardian

I have a piece up on The Daily Beast today seeking to explain the appeal of Nick Clegg, the leader of Britain’s Liberal Democrats, to an American readership. The article’s appearance reminded me that I have written several pieces for U.S. media in recent months, and not referenced them here.
For Salon, I wrote about Charlie [...]

New Year, New Update

I updated the website for the first time in a while today, with a selection of articles from the last months of 2009. It is impossible within the site’s current framework to post everything I write, so, under the “Most Recent” heading on the Print page, I have posted a general grab-bag, including: an Irish [...]

The Case For Obama’s Nobel Prize

The committee has a tradition of selecting winners as much as an act of encouragement towards their goal as a celebration of the miles already travelled.

Nick Hornby book review (WSJ)

“Juliet, Naked” is a rich and perceptive novel, with a keen sense of the lives led by the trio at its core.

Going Rogue book review (SBP)

It should, in theory, be possible to separate out one’s opinion of a book from one’s opinion of its author. But, in Sarah Palin’s case, it is hard to maintain the wall of separation.
Part of the issue is Palin herself. She has a good claim to the title of America’s most divisive politician. After all, [...]