Jonah Goldbeg's Slant

When it comes to understatements, “the Germans have made some mistakes” is in a class by itself. But one thing they’re great at is words. They’ve got the best words, particularly for feelings of angst or woe. Most everyone knows schadenfreude, the feeling of joy one has at another’s misfor .. submitted 05/22/12

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"That's all right, all of you know who I am," President Obama joked last week when the presidential seal fell off his podium during a speech in Pittsburgh. Even though the incident made headlines for no discernible journalistic reason, it was noteworthy as a succinct example of Obama's arrogance .. submitted 05/22/12

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On the political-gimmickry scale, the GOP’s new “Pledge to America” is worse than some, better than others. Let’s say it falls somewhere between the Federalist Papers and a Harry Reid press release — which, admittedly, pins it down as much as saying you lost a cufflink somewhere between Bu .. submitted 05/22/12

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That was the talk on the Sunday shows and blogosphere last week. The conservative "establishment" had backed Mike Castle in the Delaware primary over the "tea party" favorite, Christine O'Donnell. O'Donnell won, but only after being wounded by the likes of Karl Rove, Charles Krauthammer and the folk .. submitted 05/22/12

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Jimmy Carter's presidency failed and his coalition dissipated because you can't hold a coalition together with charisma alone. You need to govern in a way that satisfies your constituency. Perhaps Obama should take note. "Surely the Lord sent Jimmy Carter," the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s fathe .. submitted 05/22/12

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Democrats have said this at one point or another about every Republican president since, well, Herbert Hoover. That’s because Democrats have been waiting for the resurrection of FDR like a cargo cult waiting for one last plane that never comes. Such wishful thinking rarely pays off. History .. submitted 05/22/12

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There's been a lot of talk about Bush nostalgia lately. At Martha's Vineyard, the Obama-bilia wasn't moving like it was during the Obamas' previous visit there. The big seller was a T-shirt depicting a smiling George W. Bush with the tagline "Miss Me Yet?" In response to President Obama's vacillat .. submitted 05/22/12

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The race card is maxed out.” That was the punch line for a recent hilarious exchange on The Daily Show in which Larry Wilmore, the faux news program’s “senior black correspondent,” reported that the race card is not only over its credit limit but is in fact “void during a black presidency .. submitted 05/22/12

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Let us compare the Volks wagen and the "Voltswa gen." The original Volkswagen was intended as the "people's car" (that's what "Volkswagen" means). The idea of a cheap, safe, reliable car for the working man was popular before Adolf Hitler embraced it, but as a self-proclaimed man of the people, he m .. submitted 05/22/12

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Something bigger than politics as usual is at work. When Rome was “falling,” did it feel like it? When all of the tasty, leafy fronds started vanishing, did the dinosaurs say, “So this is what extinction looks like”? When British troops signed up for a quick war in 1914, they expected to be .. submitted 05/22/12

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