In case you didn’t know, the South Carolina GOP in partnership with FoxNews, held the first presidential primary debate. The participants included  former-Pennsylvania-Senator Rick Santorum, former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, Tea-Party-Activist Herman Cain, Congressman Ron Paul, and former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson.

The first thing I noticed was that Ron Paul was sharper than he had . . . → Read More: The South Carolina Debate

WWDMedia has six photo editors examine the now famous situation room photograph.

I found myself agreeing with Scott Dadich of Wired magazine,

And the woman peeking over the guy’s shoulder? That’s to me the power of the moment. The cramming in. I don’t know who she is. But when you have the nexus of power in the Western . . . → Read More: The Photograph

The New York Times magazine’s blog, shows the process they went through before settling on their last cover design. The ink-dropper was a stroke . . . → Read More: Cover Design

I met Christopher Hitchens just for a few minutes at a conference of atheists that I was trolling for an article. After introducing myself, he invited me to call him and have a drink with him sometime. I suppose I was either busy or I lacked the proper social ambition to try it.

By the time he . . . → Read More: Hitchens in the Last Days

My latest profile is online now. In this one I get to know Mike Church, a.k.a. The King Dude on Sirius radio.

Mike Church is the King Dude behind the microphone. A 20-year veteran of radio-gabbing, he describes himself as a recovering “neocon” and red-team true believer. His daily show on Sirius XM radio was once a . . . → Read More: Radical Radio

I’m bringing back “Review Monday” to this blog. Here it goes:

There is a lot of buzz about the individual performances of Natalie Portman and  Mila Kunis in Black Swan. And this occasions a thought. We often praise actors for playing “against type” but there is something about our celebrity culture that makes Portman’s Nina more . . . → Read More: Black Swan and The Fighter

Some people who watched my recent diavlog with the Rev. Chuck Currie were asking for me to extend my remarks, or at least clarify them. So let’s try that.

Mass immigration mostly benefits the upper middle class.

Yes, my thinking on that is pretty influenced by George Borjas. Borjas’ essay may be 14 years musty at this point, . . . → Read More: Bloggingheads Show Notes

I was kindly asked to speak about immigration and faith on Bloggingheads.tv   The format was a little unfamiliar at first, so get used to watching me look down. Longtime fans may recognize the artwork floating behind . . . → Read More: Fear of a Talking Head

Brian Doherty points out that Robert Kaplan has (tentatively) advanced the idea that America should get comfortable with the possibility of engaging in a totally reasonable, eminently realistic, exactingly limited nuclear war with Iran.

Kaplan advances this argument by conjuring up the ghost of the still-living Henry Kissinger, and concludes:

The search for certainty, he goes on, reduces . . . → Read More: Nuke Iran, But In a Limited Way

In American Catholic parishes, the tension between the pews and the pulpit on immigration has been intense. Catholic bishops have argued for Comprehensive Reform with a generous amnesty or path to citizenship. But overwhelming majorities of Catholics have negative views of immigrants themselves and the immigration process. In a piece for the decidedly progressive (but independent-minded) . . . → Read More: The Borders Between Justice and Mercy

Wait: Who are you again?

I’m Michael Brendan Dougherty. But people call me “MBD” to cut down on syllabic exhaustion. You can read about me on the bio page. Basically I write about political ideas, culture – that sort of thing. Normally I do it for money. But since you don’t have to pay to read . . . → Read More: This is Unreal, I’m Blogging Again